Munters SC Restoration Thread *pic heavy*

[Lauren]

I've just seen this SC for sale, looks in good condition.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C285262#

Auto though.

Red is a great colour to have one in, as it's rare and desirable.

[Andy137]

Hope it passes mate, would be fun to have someone around the area to 'play' with, especially with the supercharged one.

[cartledge_uk]

Make sure the MOT is from a garage of your chosing and so youve not not a dodgy MOT on the car

[munter]

Hmmm... well even though we agreed a price conditional on MOT he seems to be dragging his feet. Not sure he actually wants to sell when faced with it!

Going to need to find some other options. Some of the SC's for sale elsewhere are going nowhere at around £4k so might be worth a punt at a lower offer but cant see the owners going for it.

Any leads much appreciated!

Thanks
P

[Charged]

You need patience when looking for a specific rare car like this. They do not come up often. Wanted adverts are a good start though. Personally, I'd leave this one and look for a manual tintop.

[cartledge_uk]

There are cheaper cars for sale eleswhere, they do pop up from time to time.

[munter]

Hey mate do you have a link to the ad for that one? Just about in my price range and looks quite nice even though its missing the decals.

Thanks
Paul

[FossMan]

...even though its missing the decals.l

It's ' missing' a bit more than the decals

[munter]

Car is still in the garage getting the MOT sorted and a full service but found some documents in it today when popping down some parts.

Seems a few years ago it got the following parts fitted:

Kayaba shocks
HKS power flow air filter
Work RSB alloys
Tanabe exhaust (pretty sure this isnt the exhaust currentely on the car)
HKS ignition leads

Expect all of that little lot should be in a serviceable condition but will probably change out the air filter. Are the Kayaba shocks any good? Anyone else got experience of them?

I know alot of people seem to run the Work RSB's without the centre caps but if I am going to put them in where will I get them? have tried quite a few places online already with no joy.

cheers
P

[Lauren]

It's upto you what you think of the dampers. Aren't Kayaba just KYB?

Personally I don't think Japanese dampers work well on UK roads.

I had TRD on my car and I don't like them all that much. Handles great, but shocking ride.

I have a Tanabe exhaust on my car. Is an okay exhaust to be fair.

Pity about the alloys that would have been nice. They aren't amazing, but real ones would have been cool.

It's always interesting to build the history. It's a shame most of it is lost when the car is exported from Japan.

[munter]

I guess right now I have nothing to judge the suspension by so anything will feel good to begin with as this is my first MR2!

Not sure I follow you on the alloys. The Work RSB's are still on the car minus the centre caps. I quite like the look of them but the condition isn't that great - if I can get some cheap centre caps I plan to keep them for a while at least.

Think the Tanabe exhaust died before the last owner got his hands on the car because the current exhaust looks like a home made effort. Still despite the noise from it there was no problem through the MOT which is good.

I'm a total sucker for finding out the history of a car so am enjoying the detective work! Will keep the garage record up to date on here so if anyone else ever buys it they'll have some sort of record of the things I do to it.


P

[Lauren]

Keep the alloys, if they are real ones and not copies. I would try to source genuine centre caps though. Could be worth refurbing.

[TonyDUNT]

Keep the alloys, if they are real ones and not copies. I would try to source genuine centre caps though. Could be worth refurbing.

I concur! The wheels look good on the car, a refurb will make them look great.

[munter]

Hey,

I've changed the thread title now that I've actually bought the car and aim to keep it updated with some regular posts on what I'm doing with it. As I said before I'm not all that mechanically experienced, but up for having a go and am good at following instructions, so the plan is slow and steady!

So as I'm spending more time with the car I'm finding out lots of new things - such as the annoying cow bell alarm that goes off when you are traveling at over 100 kmph!! That is getting disconnected asap!

So since I've had it I've done the following:

• New front and rear ball joints (fronts were MOT fails)
  New front anti-roll links
  New oil, fuel filters, oil change, transmission oil change
  Coolant flush and change
  New plugs, dizzy cap and arm
  Fixed a wonky nearside headlight cover
  Fitted "new" 2nd hand headlight eyebrows
  Fitted "new" 2nd hand wiper arms (with the funky aerofoil)
  Fixed a very squeeky steering column.
  Changed the oil in the supercharger.
  4x new Uniroyal Rainsport 2 tyres and alignment
  Cleaned up most of a horrible silcone job on the t-bar panels and seals.
  Given it a good clean inside and out - not forgetting the magic tree!

Right now it's in generally very good condition but could be excellent with some work. A/C works and even the ashtray has its handle on still! Runs pretty nice, idles at 1400 cold, 800 warm, engine and tranmission smooth but perky when foot to the metal. It is very loud though!!

This morning I changed the Supercharger oil (used the XKZ Jaguar stuff on eBay with the syringe kit) which was fun. The neighbours must have wondered what on earth I was doing putting a syringe into the car!!!)

The oil that came out looked like this (gravy):



Next up is to touch up various bits of paintwork particuarly under the front splitter where a bit of rust is evident and then to fix the leaky t-bar (see the leaky t-bar thread for a full shopping list of parts).

You know apart from how much fun this car is to drive I'm amazed at how hard it is to actually work on. Not so much the space in the engine compartment but the fact that people keep stopping as they drive by to talk about the car!! It really is an attention grabber

P

[Charged]

such as the annoying cow bell alarm that goes off when you are traveling at over 100 kmph!! That is getting disconnected asap!

ding - dong, ding - dong, ding - dong, ding - dong, ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong!

Run it up to 180KPH and it goes nuts!

[munter]

Cracking weather up this way so decided to get moving on a few respray bits and pieces. Got word that my repaired and resprayed Buddy Club splitter will be back with me this coming week so decided to focus on getting rid of the rust that sits behind it where its rubbed on the body work. Got a little bit carried away though!

Here's the car all masked up.



First area to work on was the front area that usually sits behind the splitter. Pics show post rust removal and treatment before primer goes on.



Next area was the front bumper which has been resprayed badly previously leading to some peeling between the original paint and the respray.



A really nasty area on the drivers side wing where a sticker looks like its been removed with a stanley knife.



Finally the top of the rear bumper on the drivers side was really worn and cracked with black plastic showing through. Photo of before didnt come out so nothing to show here but this was the bit I was most pleased with.


So still need to add the laquer coats if the weather holds, but fairly happy with the results thus far. The Toyota Super White aerosol matched in pretty well. One problem is that working that close to the body means I've discovered lots of areas where the previous respray jobs are peeling! Could be a full respray in the future....

Along with the paint jobs I also took the dashboard apart and disconnected the annoying chime. Managed to disconnect the rev counter by accident so need to go back and sort that!! Also got the wheel alignment done on saturday morning. Handling nice and tight now.

Next big job is to fix the leaky t-bar once Mr T gets all the parts in stock - hopefully not too long as snow and rain are on the way...

P

[munter]

Just got my Buddy Club splitter back from it's repair and respray and it looks amazing! Can't wait to get it back on the car - will post some pictures asap but it's almost as good as new.

Have been looking into the t-bar leak and have found a short term solution - blu tac! All my parts are in at the Toyota garage for the full t-bar repair job so will be getting that done soon.

Oh and I also got a stereo in for a test. Good news is the electric aerial works great, bad news is that there is no clear place to earth from the stereo and no sign of either of the antenna leads (there is also an after market aerial fitted as well - which I will be removing asap)

P

[elbon50]

no sign of either of the antenna leads (there is also an after market aerial fitted as well - which I will be removing asap)P

The signal lead from the electric aerial passes into the cabin near the bottom of the O/S B-post, then along the bulkhead to the tunnel

It continues, under the carpet, along the side of the tunnel into the central console near the radio

Perhaps the end is tucked out of sight

[ulysess1966]

Nice looking car, in better condition than mine

What sort of oil did you use for the supercharger? I've had my car 10 years and have never gone near the SC, but one look at that photo and I think I'd better change mine.

Health to enjoy you new car!

[munter]

Hey Ulysess this is the stuff I used. The kit was handy as well to get the old oil out and the new stuff in!

XKR Supercharger Oil on eBay

Enough in the bottle for two refils if you're careful.

I'm glad I decided to drain it and refil - whatever was in there certainly didn't look anything like the stuff that went in!

Cheers
P