Idea on costs

[Maverick9999]

Hi there,

I'm going through the process of finding a decent MR2 Rev2 and I've found a nice example but there are a few things which I'd want looked at. Being inexperienced in repairing work on the MR2 , I was wondering whether people could give me an estimate on how much the problems would be to fix so I can ask the owner to come down in price. The problems are:

- 2x5cm rectangluar section of paintwork peeling (with what looks like light rust underneath) on the roof where the T-bars come together. I presume I'd need to have the whole roof bit sanded and resprayed if I wanted it corrected?

- The speedo has been changed to display mph by changing the background so it reads mph. But the background seems to be peeling off on both sides, exposing the backing light that illuminates the dials. Is this easily fixable? How easy is it to get at without looking like i've tampered with the odometer (which would affect resale value)

- The car seems to be pulling to the left, something that the owner is going to have looked at but I don't know what the problem could be. If its a trackrod or suspension arm, what sort of price would I be looking at?

- Seats are fabric but have been well and truly munched. How much would a replacement set cost? Do people replace them with nicer ones?

I'd really appreciate any help you have to offer, even if it's ball park figures...

[jasongtr]

Hi there,

I'm going through the process of finding a decent MR2 Rev2 and I've found a nice example but there are a few things which I'd want looked at. Being inexperienced in repairing work on the MR2 , I was wondering whether people could give me an estimate on how much the problems would be to fix so I can ask the owner to come down in price. The problems are:

- 2x5cm rectangluar section of paintwork peeling (with what looks like light rust underneath) on the roof where the T-bars come together. I presume I'd need to have the whole roof bit sanded and resprayed if I wanted it corrected?

- The speedo has been changed to display mph by changing the background so it reads mph. But the background seems to be peeling off on both sides, exposing the backing light that illuminates the dials. Is this easily fixable? How easy is it to get at without looking like i've tampered with the odometer (which would affect resale value)

- The car seems to be pulling to the left, something that the owner is going to have looked at but I don't know what the problem could be. If its a trackrod or suspension arm, what sort of price would I be looking at?

- Seats are fabric but have been well and truly munched. How much would a replacement set cost? Do people replace them with nicer ones?

I'd really appreciate any help you have to offer, even if it's ball park figures...

seats will be about £75 for cloth or £150 for leather (may vary a little)
clocks are so easy to tamper with so i wouldnt believe any mileages anyway, clocks can be bought for about £30, pulling could be a sticky caliper, see if one side gets hotter than the other side. calipers will be about £100 for a full set (you may get some selling individaully)
only get a t-bar if you like rain inside the car

[Maverick9999]

Hi Jason,

Thanks for this info. The only ones on sale are T-bars at the moment, probably due to it raining more How reliable are the methods on the forum trying to fix the leaking?

Also, when you say the clocks are £30, do you mean the whole clock display unit or just the speed/odometer backing? Do you now how legal is it to replace and how does the mileage change work if you fit one with less miles...?

[jasongtr]

some say the 'fixes' work, others buy new seals, i know someone that bought new seals and it still doesnt seal properly, although this maybe down to the fitter not the seals, i have a NS seal that didnt leak £25 if any good to you, but i think if you want to enjoy the sun on ya bonce in the summer you need to expect it to get wet too

clocks will be the whole assy, just make sure you get the right ones later ones are electrically driven form the gearbox off a sensor, early ones are cable driven, never had a rev2 so dont know what yours will be.
I changed a set of clocks over once and opened it up to read the same mileage as the car did on the old ones - hence my comment, they dont even need winding on just taking apart and setting to what you want them to read

[cvega666]

any proper clock conversion should be documented, i.e. mileage from before the mod should be taken down somewhere. Nobody should be adjusting clocks to match the prev mileage...but as jason says, it's pretty much a wild guess.

Also, unless this rev2 is super cheap - get yourself a rev3+....

[Maverick9999]

Think I'll contact the DVLA before I make any changes to the clocks, to be honest all I really want is the background changed so that it reads miles and that the backing stays on (rather than pealing at the edges and letting in the light from the bulb behind).

As for the price. It's going for £2k (originally was £2700). But given the problems, specially with the paint problem, I'm trying to get it to £1900. Bargain?

[jasongtr]

i would hope its a turbo for that money (i just bought a rev4 NA for under £800 - needs a new bumper and has a touch of rust on the door)

also bear in mind new t bar seals are quite expensive (£100-150 a side i think)

[Maverick9999]

Yup. It's a turbo (GTS). Rev2.

Wow, that's super cheap, even for an N/A. I've been looking on Pistonheads,Autotrader and Ebay and this and another one (in Bristol at a similar price) were the best I could find. Mind you I have a specific car in mind (Black Turbo) with an even more specific budget of 2k

Keep hold of your NS tbar seals as I might need to use them!

[jasongtr]

it is cheap, and i only bought it as it was white and a tin top to drop my v6 in it from my rev1

[cvega666]

if all goes well i'll also be looking for a turbo with a 2.5k price bracket.. good luck with that one!

[Maverick9999]

Sarcasm? lol you'd better not get to it before I do!

[GaryJ]

Could you not verify the millage with previous MOT's or by checking it online via the goverment website if you was to buy/sell this car?

[StevenstonWullie]

ive got a set of rev2 seats in vgc going spare ...

[Maverick9999]

I'm going to investigate the mileage issue with the DVLA and see what they say.

StevenstonWullie, would be interested but postage of seats from scotland will probably cost more than the seats themselves Are they leather?

[Shmed]

I have a T-bar, and it doesn't leak

I also only paid £500 for mine - Rev2 GT-S. Bodywork is (I'm using this phrase with the age in mind) mint. Needed some mechanical work, but only of the bolt on variety (turbo, exhaust, intercooler) as it previously had a KO kit, which was sold separately.

Mileage is a difficult one. I changed my clocks as I had the original 110MPH ones, and with them the odometer was reading in KM. I swapped for a set of 180MPH clocks, with the odo reading in Miles. If you look at my old MOT certs, it will show one year running around 150000, then the next at 89000, which uncannily isn't that far different (150000km = 93000 miles), but will still look pretty wrong to a would be buyer.

I took photos of the original clocks in the car, with the new dials in the picture. I took extensive photos so I had some proof that I'm not dodgy, but at the end of the day, it doesn't prove all that much.

Agree with what someone said on here, go rev 3 if you aren't planning really big things for the engine. (although if you are replacing as much as I am, then it really doesn't matter - just avoid rev1 IMHO).