Dumb blonde newbie with lots of questions!

[annatoone]

Hi, I'm Anna and I think I've got quite a project on my hands!
I purchased a rather worse for wear Mk2 GTS turbo, T-bar rev 3. It's an import and I got it fairly cheap as I knew I'd want to do it up.

Firstly, it's in desperate need of a complete respray so where would you recommend and how much would be a reasonable price so I know I'm not being ripped off? (it's curently a faded pink colour that should actually be red!)

Secondly...The seats are in very poor condition so I'm going to have to replace them, I really like the leather seats that are in the new MR2's but will they fit straight onto the Mk2 fittings or should I not bother?

Thirdly. The local garage reckon that one of my alloys is buckled as the tyre does tend to go down every now and then and I sometimes get steering wheel judder over 65mph. Is this likely? Also what size alloys do I actually need? I'm not 100% sure that the ones on it are the correct size due to this juddering. They're SSR intregral 17" but not sure of the exact size. There seems to be a lot more to this wheel sizing malarky than I first thought!

That's it for now, (although there's other mods ticking away in my mind after having had a look at this forum!) any advice would be much appreciated.
thanks

[john_p_b]

is the paint beyond repair? could it not be machine polished back?

not sure on the seats so i'll leave that one alone!

does sound likely that the wheel could be buckled if it's lossing pressure and you're getting judder but the size of the wheel shouldn't cause the juddering

[annatoone]

thanks, the paint is definitely beyond repair, it's blotchy and incredibly faded plus there's a nasty scrape down the side and one panel has been replaced at some point and is a lot more orange than the rest of the car so I might as well respray the whole thing, especially as I think I might get a new bumper too! In for a penny, in for a pound!

[Vampire]

well im getting a full re-spray in a differnt colour and bodykit fited for £1500

If i stuck with the same colour (red) it would be nearer £1100

As for the wheels, if you want to keep comfort i wouldnt go above 16's.

But 17's defo look miles better.

get some pics up so we can give a better response.

[severn]

Paint job doesn't sound too expensive..

Seats can be re trimmed in leather for as little as £275, companies on ebay doing them

Wheels are a weird point as if you get the wrong sizes it will throw the handling right out the window and potentially become 'skittish'

I am not sure on exact sizes but fronts should be 7j wide and rears 8J. With tyres being 215 45 17 front and 235 40 17 rears. As I say 'I think' that is somewhere near but def make sure you don't buy the 1st set you see and hopefully someone on here has the exact sizes!?
A common trick is to stagger the tyre sizes front and rear but not the actual width of the wheel. It'll be stamped on the back '7J' or whatever it may be.
Hope that helps

In need of a set of wheels myself if you find any!!

[slipping clutch]

If your tyre goes down over time I guess the wheel could be buckled but surely the first thing the mechanic should have suggested when you mentioned the juddering is taking at least the 2 front wheels off and balanceing them - you will soon see on the wheel balancer if the wheel is buckled or not. My best guess though about the juddering is the arms on the steering rack have worn and have play in them - get the car up in the air and check this - if it is the problem dont be told "its a new or reconditioned steering rack required" the arms are available from toyota or any good motor factor. The seats - I am guessing you mean mk3/mrs seats will fit there are a few on here that have done it but I dont think it is just a straight swoop - will definatly need to change the mk3 subframes from the bottom of the seat but I dont know if your existing subframes will fit straight on.
As for paint - dont know to be honest.

[DavidM]

Putting mk3 seats in a mk2 has been done, but it is by no means a straight bolt in.
You need to keep the mk3 rails on the seats, but cut off the actual parts that bolt to the floor from the mk3 seats and replace with the same parts from your mk2 seats once they are cut off by bolts and welding.
They do look good when done, but having done it I wouldn't do it again.

[mmk]

Firstly, it's in desperate need of a complete respray so where would you recommend and how much would be a reasonable price so I know I'm not being ripped off? (it's curently a faded pink colour that should actually be red!)

The red paint is known to be quite rubbish. My red mk2 is also fairly pink, and so are a zillion others. You can usually get rid of the issue (at least for a few months) by polishing it.

Thirdly. The local garage reckon that one of my alloys is buckled as the tyre does tend to go down every now and then and I sometimes get steering wheel judder over 65mph. Is this likely? Also what size alloys do I actually need? I'm not 100% sure that the ones on it are the correct size due to this juddering. They're SSR intregral 17" but not sure of the exact size. There seems to be a lot more to this wheel sizing malarky than I first thought!

The wheel isn't necessarily buckled if it's leaking. Quite often the tire is just badly seated on the wheel due to bead corrosion or something similar. I'd recommend taking it to a proper tire place to have them check it out, in case you haven't yet. It might just be a matter of sanding the wheel beads to get rid of a bit of dirt. SSR Integrals are pretty nice wheels so don't lose them just yet

It's possible that the judder is due to somebody driving the car with a very low tire pressure -- tires don't really like this very much.

The size and width of the wheels doesn't matter that much as long as you can fit properly staggered tire sizes on them. You might want to take a look at the text on the tire sidewall (should indicate the size there, such as 245/45R17). Post what you see on all the tires here so that we can argue about whether that's good or not

[redmr89]

you say your thinking of other mods... what are they?

my point being. if your gonna go down the route of fitting bodykit. then do that first then have the respray.

[annatoone]

you say your thinking of other mods... what are they?

my point being. if your gonna go down the route of fitting bodykit. then do that first then have the respray.

I was certainly going to do that but maybe not a full kit. Other future things will just not have to affect the paintwork!

Front tyres are 215/40ZR17 83Y and back are 235/40ZR17 90Y. Does that sound ok?
I think I should probably get the SSR Integrals refurbed and then they'll be able to tell if one of them is buckled or not. Hopefully not. How much approx does refurbing alloys cost?

[mmk]

Front tyres are 215/40ZR17 83Y and back are 235/40ZR17 90Y. Does that sound ok?

That sounds fine. The tires have a slightly different radius but that's very common and won't cause any real issues.

I think I should probably get the SSR Integrals refurbed and then they'll be able to tell if one of them is buckled or not. Hopefully not. How much approx does refurbing alloys cost?

It does depend completely on what needs to be done and what the wheels are. At the cheapest it's something around 150 pounds for just painting them but realistically you should be prepared to pay about twice that if they're in a bad shape.

[Stef Derner]

One thing to watch for on big rims is that mud and stuff will gather inside the rims, this then settles as the bottom of the rim and throws the wheel balance out.

If you get judder, it's always worth cleaning the inside of the rims before getting them balanced as if you balance them with crud stuck to the inside, next time you wash the car the wheels will be out of balance again.

Make sure you have the correct spigot rings to ensure the wheel sits on the hub spigot correctly as this can throw the balance out too, but you won't notice this when you have the rims balanced.

[Tiny]

Red is never too far gone to get back As long as you dont have white patches where its down to the under coat it will be fine and just needs a Machine polish to bring it back

Mk1
Whole car looked like this


after about 15 minutes with My Makita and some compounding pads




and on a Lad called Andy I did his Red Mk2 Machine polished and still looking georgous.





There really is no need for a Respray with red cars

[benjo]

hey have a look at gabbat & brown for the seats ive just had some and they are spot on,they also trimmed the cubbie hole between the seats! and try having the car buffed before painting or even t cut it a few time if you dont mind the hard work! also id go for 17 inch wheels and lower it 30mm, dont put lexus is200 wheels on they dont fit properly and cause juddering at speed!

[matt_mr2t]

Rogue used to and may be still do fully retrimmed mk2 seats for a good price in any colour you like. I'd go that route personally.

[lee.w]

Red is never too far gone to get back As long as you dont have white patches where its down to the under coat it will be fine and just needs a Machine polish to bring it back

I have laquer bubbles due to bad fade I think, I got tired of those white bubbles and peeled the mothers off , which doesn't look as bad as you may think , but still not great