Finally it's mine! Help needed with service advice and more!!!

[munter]

Well at last after almost a month I've made my mate an offer on the Japanese Supercharger and he's accepted. Got a great price as it needs MOT and Tax and fingers crossed there are no hidden nasty surprises... I somehow doubt he'd be selling it to me if he knew of any

Here's a pic of the car:



What I want to do is get a local garage to give it the once over, put it through it's MOT and give it a good service. Ignoring the known issues I'd like to make sure that they service the car properly and put the right oils in/parts on it. I've searched most of this forum and whilst alot of the information I'm about to ask is listed randomly in other places I don't think its available in one post. (Apologies if it is - I'm sure you'll point me in the right direction!)

So what are the best service parts to use and is there anything I've left off my list?

Oil filter
Engine Oil
Air filter
Fuel filter
Coolant
Supercharger oil
Plugs

Anything else?

Should I also run some of that cleaning adative to the engine to flush it? If so what do you recommend?

I'm going to need new discs and pads. Not going to be racing so ones that will be solid but not stupidly priced for normal road use.

I think I'll need to put four new tyres on, if its only two should I put the best on the front or back (sorry for newbie question its the first rear wheel drive car I've had!) Seems to be loads of fans of the T1's on here and they are cheap, so they will be contenders.

Finally the black paint on the exterior of the A-coloums is coming off. It's polished steel underneath and seems like a kind of rubberised feel to the paint. Is this normal? What paint is this and can I just respray in the normal way? appears like the car came with stainless steel trim here and was sprayed black - would have been a bizarre look with the white...

Thanks a bunch and stoked to be (almost) an offical member of the MR2 owners club!

Cheers
P

[cartledge_uk]

Great stuff


Oil filter - motor factor, fensport, camskill halfords
Engine Oil - Anywhere, oil is oil
Air filter - motor factor, fensport, camskill halfords
Fuel filter - motor factor, fensport, camskill halfords
Coolant - motor factor
Supercharger oil - Just needs topping up, not changing. JAguar or mercedes supercharger oil does the job.
Plugs - motor factor, fensport, camskill halfords

Anything else?
If your doing all the above, may as well do the distributer cap and rotor arm

[TonyDUNT]

Hey nice one! Good luck with it and let us know how the MOT goes.

I think my first major concern when buying an old car would be making sure the cam belt is in good shape, do you know when it was last changed? If not it's probably well worth getting it inspected. I've had a cam belt snap on me before and it badly damaged the engine, so this always makes me paranoid when buying a car of this age.

I'm not sure what you mean about the black paint, mine also has black paint on the frames which is rubbing off in places to reveal alloy or stainless steel, I think this is normal.

[sketch]

Although your intentions are good, I personally would never flush an old engine. You may end up opening up tiny leaks here and there that are currently bunged up with age old "gunge".

[elbon50]

Although your intentions are good, I personally would never flush an old engine. You may end up opening up tiny leaks here and there that are currently bunged up with age old "gunge".

Yes, I have an uneasy feeling that Alex's (Pk090) engine troubles started when he flushed the cooling system and installed new antifreeze Sketch

Etheleyne glycol is a very searching substance

[pk_090]

Im not sure of that Peter. I wasnt leaking any fluids and the colour of the water that came out was very very very rusty id tbh id rather not have rust floating around my engine. Normally i dont flush engine oil, as it can often make engines "tappy".

[Rob66]

Congrats on the car looks like a nice one.

Re the black window frames, yes they all came black over bear metal, and nearly all chip away over time (especially on t-bars).

I would probably sand it all back give a coat of decent primer and then re-do in satin black, dont think a special paint woul dbe needed. IIRC the wing mirror surrounds are done in the same paint and these also chip and peel badly (mine started when the car was a year old and was done under them warranty). From memory the metal used for the wing mirrow surrounds is pretty poor compared to the window surrounds and needed specialist primer prior to paint.

Rob

[elbon50]

Im not sure of that Peter. I wasnt leaking any fluids and the colour of the water that came out was very very very rusty id tbh id rather not have rust floating around my engine. Normally i dont flush engine oil, as it can often make engines "tappy".

I'm not sure about that either Alex

Was thinking of doing mine but feel uneasy about it

[cartledge_uk]

Great stuff


Oil filter - motor factor, fensport, camskill halfords
Engine Oil - Anywhere, oil is oil
Air filter - motor factor, fensport, camskill halfords
Fuel filter - motor factor, fensport, camskill halfords
Coolant - motor factor
Supercharger oil - Just needs topping up, not changing. JAguar or mercedes supercharger oil does the job.
Plugs - motor factor, fensport, camskill halfords

Anything else?
If your doing all the above, may as well do the distributer cap and rotor arm

Doh!! And of course you can get everything from toyota! Personally i would only use toyota for the dizzy and rotor arm.

[sketch]

Yes, I have an uneasy feeling that Alex's (Pk090) engine troubles started when he flushed the cooling system and installed new antifreeze Sketch

Etheleyne glycol is a very searching substance

Sorry, I was referring to flushing an engine while doing an oil change not coolant. I have always flushed old coolant out before putting in new, especially on my old mk1, the orange slime that came out with a hose pushing fresh water through was worrying but once done and filled up with nice new stuff, I never had any issues at all.

[munter]

Hey Tony,

Regards the cam belt I'm fairly sure it'll be ok for a while. It was changed at 95,000 kms and is at 140,000 kms now so only a few miles and years on. I'll be looking at getting the oversized pulley and ABV bypass mod done in a few months so will get the belts replaced then.

It doesn't come with a stereo so I'm delighted my mate just offered me his old Pioneer with Blaupunt amp for free! The current owner mentioned that the ariel wouldnt work with his stereo because the ariel was japanese and therefore built to work at different frequencies to UK radio stations... is that right? Doesn't seem to fit with my limited knowledge of how radio works... more likely the Japanese stereo didnt pick up UK stations I would have thought.

Anyway close to getting a reasonable insurance offer so hope to get the V5 tonight.

Happy days

P

[TonyDUNT]

I think all aerials are tuned to work optimally within a specific frequency range. So while the Japanese aerial might work, you may find that you struggle to get good signals at one end of the UK range.

There is a topic on Wikipedia about "FM broadcasting in Japan", I can't link to it because I haven't created enough posts.

I'm not sure if mine has the original aerial or not, I don't use the radio enough to really worry about it. I guess just try it with the the above in mind and see how you get on.

Good luck with the insurance, I'll be interested to see what deal you end up with. Lots of good advice in that other thread.

[jimi]

Doesn't seem to fit with my limited knowledge of how radio works... more likely the Japanese stereo didnt pick up UK stations I would have thought.

I think your correct nothing to do with the aerial and everything to do with the stereo

[munter]

Ok so this is it!

Completed the V5 tonight and shook hands on the deal. Insurance is sorted from midnight and tomorrow... drum roll... it's the moment of truth, MOT time!

Must say I'm a little nervous. First time buying without being on the road MOT'd and taxed but have given the car a good going over and with your expert input I'm fairly relaxed all things considered. Plus the fact I got the car at a pretty reasonable price... cheapest Supercharger I've seen in the UK looking at this forum and others!!

Call me anal (I've been called worse) I have a nice list for the garage tomorrow to keep them on track for the service once the MOT is done and I know if there are any major issues I haven't spotted. The service stuff is pretty much all needed really but will consider only changing two tyres rather than 4 and so on if I need to find extra £££ to get legal.

Let me know if anything on this list looks odd to you. I've included the best prices for parts (incl VAT) I could find quickly tonight. Want to keep the budget tight so hopefully I have some left over for toys!!

Oil: Castrol Magnatec 10w-40 (avoid a flush or fully synthetic)
Oil Filter: Toyota OEM only £8
Transmission oil: 75w-90 GL5
Coolant: Toyota For Life red only £20 5l
Fuel Filter: OEM spec (fuel addative//flush will be done as well) £10
Dizzy Cap: Toyota only £18
Dizzy Arm: Toyota only £6
Plugs: NGK or Denso £30
SC oil: Jaguar/Fensport or Toyota £30-35 incl. syringe
Battery: Varta 054 Asia £45

If needed:

Rear discs: OEM spec £60
Front discs: OEM spec £67
Rear pads: EBC Ultimax or similar £16
Front pads: EBC Ultimax or similar £14
Rear Offside Calliper: New - Brakes Int £90, 2nd Hand eBay £30

Tyres:
Between Uniroyal rainsport 2 and Toyo T1-R - possibly Hankook V12 EVO
All around £180-200 for 4 fully fitted

Cheers
Paul

[Finn]

Grats on your new ride!

[cartledge_uk]

Doesn't seem to fit with my limited knowledge of how radio works... more likely the Japanese stereo didnt pick up UK stations I would have thought.

I think your correct nothing to do with the aerial and everything to do with the stereo

Yes, you should be able to pick up radio 2, and then pretty much nothing else

You can get band converters though fairly cheap.

[cartledge_uk]

Just make sure the sc oil is only topped up and you get the rest back, its ££

[munter]

That's it dropped into the garage for it's MOT despite the efforts of some idiot driver cutting across me at some traffic lights!

Seemed to drive fine. Lots of little rattles in the interior. However will have to think again about spending time putting a stereo in given I couldn't hear much over the engine/supercharger and exhaust!

Even the wife (who followed me up with jump leads and a tow rope just in case) was impressed with the car.

Now fingers crossed nothing really nasty shows up on the MOT!

Paul

[andyj]

Can see you've really thought this through and though there will be times of doubt, you have bought one of the most sensational machines ever made IMO. I would recommend you go for the Jaguar oil that comes with syringe not Fensport. Though Fensport show a nice little plastic botle labelled SC oil in the website picture it comes in a bigger unmarked plastic bottle...a third full. They obviously buy in bulk and repackage. Not in itself worrying but it's not a sealed labelled bottle as you'd expect. Also, no syringe supplied with it ...whereas think Jaguar do supply ...and at a cheaper price.

I've white tin top ...bought cheap like you. Easily best decision I have ever made - buying a ropey SC and over 12 months making it nice. Got a bit carried away and had it completely restored but I'd do it all again. You've made the right decision...

[munter]

Thanks for the tip on the SC oil Andy. I'll make sure they just top up if needed and go with the jaguar option.

MOT wasn't completed today due to a problem with the MOT computer at the garage. Will be done tomorrow am so the wait to hear what the damage is goes on for another day!

If anyone else has the auto SC can you shed some light on the various auto box modes, what they do and what settings you need on the gear stick? I also believe there is a switch so you can use normal unleaded in the SC. any idea where this is? I've downloaded the workshop manual but don't have the owners manual. Tried everywhere online but couldn't find it.

Any place I can download/buy a copy for the SC?

Thanks
Paul