Scruffs scruffy MR2 - new wheels fitted. Help please?!

[Scruff]

My other halfs dads neighbour was getting rid of his GT. Only wanted £200 for it as its a bit of a fixer upper with a brand new MOT. Seeing that i've had a couple of mk2s before and loved them both, it seemed like a perfect little project. The plan is to fix it up and get it looking nice so that the mrs and i can take it to france next year for a little tour of Normandy.

Some pics:







As you can probably see, the paintwork is absolutely flat as a pancake. The interior needs a bloody good clean and removal of some stickers. The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed the boot lid is knackered and bent. Inside its actually cracked the metal around the hinge so i'll be needing another one of them. The standard 14s are well... rubbish aren't they. The bite point for the clutch is right at the top of the pedal, unsure whether i can adjust this or if its just time for a new clutch? Basically, as it was cheap and its never going to look great without some serious cash being thrown at it (can't polish a turd as they say), i've decided to do it all on quite a tight budget.

So far, i've T-CUT the whole car and got a bit of a shine back. Some of the lacquer has peeled off on the roof but i'll address that later. Polishing to take place soon.

Found that the boot was wet and noticed the seal around the aerial was pretty much non existant so got a new one of them from Toyota. I think the wet boot is probably due to the bent bootlid.

Have been searching for a boot lid in 3j6 red for a couple of months now but had stuff all luck. One of the lads on here had one but unfortunately managed to run it over the day he was going to send it. Found one on ebay, paid for it and what turned up? An engine cover from a turbo i know i said its all on a budget but the turbo covers do look nice so i kept that. After searching high and low (and being on a budget remember) i've decided to get a boot lid of any old colour and wrap it in carbon fibre vinyl. Bit chavvy some may think but i've got a load of vinyl kicking about so why not. Maybe i'll do some other bits while i've got nothing to do one day. So the boot lid is on its way and should be with me on monday.

Wheels - not gonna go for anything special. Am after a set of standard 15s which i'll respray myself.

Engine - can't fault it really. It works so i'm happy. Actually, even though i'm happy with it, i bought an induction kit for the extra little bit of noise Its been serviced just before i bought it so no issues there although it does have a low down squeal noise sometimes. Will look into that another day.

Suspension - again, i know i said i'm on a budget but the car is ridiculously high being a rev 1 (thanks JasonGTR for correcting my rev inaccuracy ) so i'll probably get some APEX springs for a 40mm drop. Shocks are quite new so should be ok with that.

More pics to follow...

[jasongtr]

isnt it a rev1 mate

[Scruff]

Um... i thought the rev 1 had no spoiler or fogs? I've always been a bit sketchy on differences between the revisions. How can you tell if its a rev 1?

[jasongtr]

the 3sfe ones i thought were the ones without fogs and spoiler, are they not 14" wheels on it?

[Scruff]

Oh ok. They are yes. They're rubbish. Are they a sign of a rev 1? Its definately got the 3sge lump.

[jasongtr]

rev1 then if it has 14's, the brakes were made bigger on the rev2+ cars hence the 15's, your current rear calipers will have 16v stamped in them, later ones say 22v

[Scruff]

That would explain the shocking stopping distance i experienced the other day. I'd best update the OP too then. Cheers chap

[jasongtr]

if the brakes are working fine they are not too bad, my rev1 v6 had std rev1 brakes and they were ok

[Scruff]

As its just passed its MOT i can probably assume the brakes are all working as they should be so maybe its the pads. What do you use on yours?

[jasongtr]

ah i dont have one now, and to be honest i cannot remember what ones were fitted now

[Scruff]

I've found EBC greens are always quite a safe bet, maybe i'll get a set for the fronts unless anyone else can suggest anything better suited.

[jasongtr]

theres a few different upgraded pads, you could end up spending as much as bigger brakes all round though, depends how far you want to go

[craig]

Looks like a nice little project you have there.

[Scruff]

Got my black boot lid and attacked it with the vinyl:



Not bad i think given that i've never done something that big before!

[Scruff]

And started making it shiny again

[Scruff]

Having found that the boot lid is knackered and bent:


I've Have been searching for a new one for a few weeks now but had stuff all luck. One of the lads on here had one but unfortunately managed to run it over the day he was going to send it. Found one on ebay, paid for it and what turned up? An engine cover from a turbo, i know i said its all on a budget but the turbo covers do look nice so i kept that - note the difference in colour!:


After searching high and low (and being on a budget) i decided to get a boot lid of any old colour and wrap it in carbon fibre vinyl. Found a black one, turned up yesterday so today i did this:


So far, i've T-CUT the whole car and got a bit of a shine back. Some of the lacquer has peeled off on the roof but i'll address that later. Spent a bit of time polishing it yesterday and heres the result:




I think its amazing that the colour was literally matt and now with a bit of elbow grease, its gleaming again. I reckon it needs another going over but i'm quite pleased so far.

Found that the boot was wet and noticed the seal around the aerial was pretty much non existant so got a new one of them from Toyota. I think the wet boot is probably actually due to the bent bootlid.

Oh, heres something you might be interested in - Flyeyeskit. Brilliant stuff and its what i used on my back lights. MOT friendly vinyl for rear and front lights!


Thats where i am so far

[CRAIGROBBO]

Nice little project you have there! I want to a do driving holiday next year but round Norway....

Keep the updates coming

Craig

[Scruff]

Here it is with boot lid fitted. I quite like it actually... shame its not real carbon fibre! Think i'll do the inspection panels too so that the very red engine cover doesn't stand out so much.





The sticky stuff is trying to lift itself of where i've wrapped it round the underside of the lid. Anyone know what i can do to help it stick?

[Scruff]

Decided to cover the inspection panels in vinyl too. Not sure if its made the engine cover stand out more or not.

[Scruff]

Just bought some new wheels! Wool! Pics to follow.