**UPDATED** 1991 Rev 1 (Beastly V6 1MZ-FE VVTI) **UPDATED**

[craig]

What you been buying

[KarlBristol]

Nearly all of the parts are going on tomorrow, so I will leave you wondering what they are till then (some are service parts, others are cosmetic ... if I pick them up from the post office, lol)

In the mean time I've cleaned my engine bay up a bit:


BEFORE





AFTER

[KarlBristol]

Well after x2 12 hour days my car is now running a lot healthier, and I'm just about to drop it down to the bodyshop to have the sill and rust all sorted and resprayed tomorrow.

The bodywork shop will start tomorrow and will take a week in total - don't worry there will be after photos when I pick it up! lol

Theres very few photos from this weekend I'm afraid as I was so busy, but heres what I've done this weekend:

The parts I've started with:








So this weekend I've done the following:

- New brake discs (thanks to g.lewarne)
- New brake pads (also thanks to g.lewarne)
- Oil filter
- Air filter
- Fuel filter
- New magnetic sump plug (flourescent blue)
- Engine bay clean
- Iridium NGK spark plugs
- New distributor
- New dizzy cap
- New Rotor arm
- Oil change
- New altenator/fan belt
- Single DIN blanking plate for my empty radio space
- Blue metal dust caps
- Blue steel wheel bolts/nuts
- Leather clean/fill on the seats
- x4 calliper overhauls/refurbs including calliper covers
- Fitted the seat bolt covers

Its been a long hard weekend, but was certainly worth it!
When I get the car back it will see a full coolant change, braided brake lines, and then I'll see what else I can fiddle with! lol





The most knackering job was the calliper overhauls and unfortunately the disc replacements. The discs are such an easy job, but they were the originals (now nearly 21 years old!) and decided that they didn't want to move at all from their original placement. That resulted in them having a slight run in with a blow torch;



Mechanically I cannot fault it now; it is perfect and runs better than the year old astra!!
I will slowly do a complete nut and bolt overhaul but I intend to do it bit by bit keeping it all usable in the mean time. Roll on summer time when it can go to classic car shows, and be enjoyed aswell.

So this'll be my last update in about a week

[craig]

Good work dude, nice little project you got there!

Looking forward to seeing bodyshop pics. Wonder how long before you start looking for a 3S-GTE engine

[KarlBristol]

Ok well I said that I wouldn't be posting another update for a while but oh well! lol...

I have just agreed to buy these wheels off of Mick on here:



They will be delivered next friday at the earliest. So when I get the car back it'll be rolling on newly painted proper split rims

I am a very happy bunny!!! I think that they'll set the car off perfectly, especially in such a nice colour! It beats my current ones which are flaking as we speak, lol. Also they're an inch smaller than my current ones and won't be rolling on low profile tyres so my ride will be a lot smoother. Its a winner on all fronts.

I've recently replaced the wheel bolts with ionised blue ones and blue dust caps so I'll probably have some blue centre caps made up for me to set it all off perfectly.

Obviously I be posting pics of the car with the sill repair, rust repair and panel respray first.

[HighwayStar]

Looking good fella... spoilerless is the way forward. Maybe spray the new flaps to match and a tubby cover? Just beefs up the back in the absence of the spoiler (I've done mine that way.. loadsa pics in my garage).
I actually really like the current wheels (again they look like mine) but look forward to the new pics....

R.

[KarlBristol]

Looking good fella... spoilerless is the way forward. Maybe spray the new flaps to match and a tubby cover? Just beefs up the back in the absence of the spoiler (I've done mine that way.. loadsa pics in my garage).
I actually really like the current wheels (again they look like mine) but look forward to the new pics....

R.

Thanks for the nice comments, I'm really pleased with it so far.
I've had a look at your photos, and wow! I'm very impressed, it looks absolutely spotless!! Mine will take a while to get to the standard of yours, but I'm trying desperately to flood it with money and time and its going the right way now.

I've got to agree to love the spoilerless look. Its unusual and I think it works with the curves of the car and makes it look more refined. Reminds me of a dino a bit aswell; you certainly get some looks as you drive down the road!! lol

I've been considering spraying the rear flaps to match. Great minds think alike! lol. Maybe a job for a couple of weeks time.
I had contemplated a tubby cover, but I think I actually prefer it with a standard one as it looks more streamline.

The main reason for changing the wheels is that its working out cheaper to change then refurb! Although I like my current ones the new ones look a little more OEM but unusual enough to do a double take. Also I can't wait for it to not give me whiplash when I drive over a pot hole! lol

I'm looking at taking it back to the bodyshop in January of Feb potentially to fill the aerial, and badge pin holes in the bonnet in boot and spray those. I've re-badged but ideally a badgeless look is the way forward for me I think.

Any other suggestions?

[KarlBristol]

Just noticed you've colour coded the vents by the rear windows - I love that, certainly on the too do list now

Leather door cards are on my to do list aswell to match the seats

Also contemplating sticking a grill between the front bumper and radiator to protect the rad. Not sure exactly how this would look as I wouldn't want it noticable. Having replaced the wing (and knowing what a pig of a job it is) I would also be inclined not to do this if it involved dropping the front bumper. So I'll do some research on this aswell...

[craig]

Nice wheels!

[HighwayStar]

Get the grill done fella... it could well save you a fortune. You can do it without taking off the bumper just get yourself to Halfords and buy £15 worth of whatever grill you fancy... secure with cable ties then hide those under the 'covers' of the vertical bars at the front.

[cvega666]

+1 on the grill, I've done it after a replaced rad. Cheap and effective. Buy some steel mesh, paint it black and you won't notice it, but it will save you a radiator in the future.

[KarlBristol]

I will definately be doing a grill once I get the car back cant wait.

Had a small trip to the bodyshop today to take some photos as to how its looking ... will upload them shortly

Lets just say that its looking great currently!!!

[KarlBristol]

Here is the car as it was this morning

Its moved on a lot from the patch of rust on the arch and the door sill

Should be another week to finish prep, then spray up and do a final fix. He's also fixing a few scratches to the air vent on the other side

[KarlBristol]

I picked up the car from my bodyshop at 09:00 on the 19/11, and where do I start!!!

To give you an idea as to the person I use for my spray work this is what I saw sat outside





He tends to work on specialist and unique vehicles and is always overworked. He produces such an amazing finish though!!

On the MR2 he cut out all of my old rust, cut, moulded and welded more metal in place. He then filled, sanded, primed, painted, blended and lacquered the finish is unreal!

You cannot see where the old paint ends and the new paint begins!!!
Heres some pics:


















Heres a slight comparison for you:

BEFORE



AFTER



BEFORE



AFTER



The car is now classes ahead of where it was when I first bought it and I am so pleased with the results so far. In fact today I even got rid of the 80s worn chrome replacement gearknob for a more subtle OEM leather one:





Wheels are being delivered Tuesday or Wednesday, then I need to have a think as to what to do next on the my list....

All in all today was a good day

[craig]

Fantastic job mate! Looks 100% better

[KarlBristol]

Today I received my new wheels

Unfortunately its too dark to put them on tonight, so when I get back from work tomorrow morning they'll be going straight on:

[DAN_REV1_TURBO]

Mate if you are going this crazy sorting the car, you gotta give it a 3SGTE, or at least 3SGE transplant and ditch the FE. It`s getting the looks overhauled it will deserve to have a bit more grunt!

A great thread this btw, good to have plenty of pics from start to finish, I have taken loads of mine from day one too.

[craig]

Mate if you are going this crazy sorting the car, you gotta give it a 3SGTE, or at least 3SGE transplant and ditch the FE. It`s getting the looks overhauled it will deserve to have a bit more grunt!

A great thread this btw, good to have plenty of pics from start to finish, I have taken loads of mine from day one too.

Totally agree! Wheels look awesome, and a 3SGTE motor would finish it off nicely.

Sleeper!

[KarlBristol]

Well after my night shift I set about changing the wheels, and couldn't help but post a ridiculous amount of photos as always!

The wheels look perfect on the car and really set the colour off

And the change begins....





First wheel on:



The reason why I changed the wheels originally (and the fact I fell in love with the proper split rims):



One side done:

[KarlBristol]

Awaiting delivery on new ball joints as well as new drop link bars all around

Thats the next job set then!!