Newbie to Jap - my MR2

[chris1712]

Hi everyone, I'm a relative newbie to Jap motors as had VW's since I passed my test over 15 years ago, other than a brief affair with a Scooby STi.

Decided to have a change and also loved the look of the Toyota's and at a stage now where I can justify having a 2 seater (wife's just passed her test and we have a Picasso for us and our 3 kids!!)

anyhoos, back to the Toyota.

Picked it up last week, its a 96 UK N/A.



Couple of issues, such as exhaust blowing, paintwork faded badly and the horrid white wheels! but managed to get it for what I thought was a good price. Got 90k on the clock with full history, just had a fortune spent on it, including timing belt, rad, alternator and clutch, so hopefully good for a few thou miles more.

1st job was to give it a damn good clean and get it back to red.....





the photos dont really show how bad it was...but........




quick foam then wash with 2BM and a clay....then onto the polishing....









come up really well, just needs a final polish then will be getting a few good coats of wax (when I get a day off work!)



more updates as and when................

cheers,

Chris.

[marc GT Turbo]

it will come back to life chris . my car is a 92 and was like yours when i bought it, all milky and satin in appearance . ok i am a paint sprayer but i havent painted nothing on her yet ! i used 2000 flatting paper , then buffed mine , then used a quality wax. quite alot of people have mentioned just how shiney mine is for a red one ! and mine is keeping fine now , i use wash n wax to keep on top and wax it now and again . i quite like the white wheels but thats down to preference. enjoy the motor and welcome to mr2

[MRV6]

Hi mate, I think I've seen this car in Aycliffe. My mate was going to buy this car but you beat him to it. Looks a cracking car, good luck with it

Phil.

[chris1712]

Hi mate, I think I've seen this car in Aycliffe. My mate was going to buy this car but you beat him to it. Looks a cracking car, good luck with it

Phil.

Yeah I work in Aycliffe, live in Bishop Auckland.

Bought the car from a lad in Willington.

cheers,

Chris.

[MRV6]

Aye mate I work on the same site!

Might be having a mr2 meet soon if you fancy it?

[chris1712]

Aye mate I work on the same site!

Might be having a mr2 meet soon if you fancy it?

small world!!

not seen another one on there? where you work?

yeah would be up for a meet, work and other commitments allowing.

cheers,

Chris.

[MRV6]

I work at formica mate, don't have the car in very often to work. Bloody seagulls.

Will drop you a line next time we have a meet. Prob go for a spot of lunch if you want to bring the better half along.

[chris1712]

I work at formica mate, don't have the car in very often to work. Bloody seagulls.

Will drop you a line next time we have a meet. Prob go for a spot of lunch if you want to bring the better half along.

ah right, you'll probably have seen all my old dubs too then!!

yeah let me know when and where and I'll see what I can do!

cheers,

Chris

[Jevansio]

Welcome Chris. Congrats on the car, I was trying to get this one too, couldn't get hold of the guy though, looks like you did very well for yourself. Prolly see you at the next meet

[BiGWiLlYsTyLe]

I live in Darlington and i think we should all meet up sometime,there are quite alot of IMOC members around the Darlington area

[Scott Barton]

Amazing what a bit of polish does to a car. By the looks of it the previous owners did not think so!
Welcome to the world of MR2. They are great reliable cars if looked after properly.
Any questions you have fire away here on IMOC. We are a great club and community and we will all do our best to help you out.



Ps...keep the white wheels, they look good!

[chris1712]

well its taken over a month, but I finally finished detailing the car!

thought I may as well throw a couple more pics up...... so here they are...
















still undecided about the wheels, but the white is growing on me (when they are clean!)

cheers,

Chris.

[swisstony]

looks well! just bought a black one in need of a good buffing too , ! might have to wait untill i have re built it though !

welcome to the site, loads of great people on here when you need advice etc...

i live in aycliffe so will have to sort a meet up for everyone in the darlington area some time !

[chris1712]

looks well! just bought a black one in need of a good buffing too , ! might have to wait untill i have re built it though !

welcome to the site, loads of great people on here when you need advice etc...

i live in aycliffe so will have to sort a meet up for everyone in the darlington area some time !

cheers mate,

A meet up would be good, I dont see that many on the roads around here.

If you need a hand buffing give me a shout, got a PC and loads of polish sat here!!

cheers,

Chris.

[Ryan S]

well its taken over a month, but I finally finished detailing the car!


still undecided about the wheels, but the white is growing on me (when they are clean!)

cheers,

Chris.

i love the white wheels, first time i've seen standard ones done in white, that really suits it matey, what polish did you use???

[chris1712]

well its taken over a month, but I finally finished detailing the car!


still undecided about the wheels, but the white is growing on me (when they are clean!)

cheers,

Chris.

i love the white wheels, first time i've seen standard ones done in white, that really suits it matey, what polish did you use???

thanks, yeah the white wheels are starting to grow on me more and more. They need redoing really as the finish is not so great, so will decide after chrimbo what I'm doing with them.

As for polish, I've been building up a collection of detailing products for a while and not had a really good chance to test them together so when I got the MR, and the state the paintwork was in, I used this as a test bed so to speak.

First few pics in the thread where done with Menz IP on a PC, then followed by Menz FF. This gave a reasonable finish but was quite aggresive on the single stage paint and left a bit of marring and buffer trails. So then I tried some Poorboys SSR2.5 which gave a good correction really easily but did not last long at all before pinking again.

Finally used some Megs #83 followed by Megs#80, which is easy to use, gave good correction and seems to be lasting. Used this on the whole of the car, followed by a coat of Carlack Nano sealant and then a couple of layers of collinte 476.

cheers,

Chris.

[Ryan S]

excellent, thanks for that matey!!!