Looking for a MK1 - happy medium between immaculate/rust-bucket?

[Mattish]

Hi all, I have been looking for a mk1 mr2 for some time now and its really hard to find an acceptable one, I cant afford any of the fully restored or immaculate ones and the cheap ones just tend to be cack, does no happy medium exist ?

I saw one today which had what I belive is the front cross member allmost rotted through, but other then this seemed quite up together. Is this a big job to replace? Is it welded or just bolted on? how much and where could I get this part?

On a side note with the new computer MOT's if I asked the seller to put it in for an MOT even though it hasn't currently run out would it invalidate the current one when it fails ? I was thinking of asking him to put it in for an MOT just to see what the issues are going to be.

Thanks in advance for your time

Matt - hopefully an MR2 owner soon

[mr2mk1chick]

Hiya.
The search can be a little frustrating.
You don't mention what your 'affordable' budget is. Thsi will depend on how realistic you finding a good-ish one will be for the money you have.

If you put the car through an MOT early and it fails i guess this would invalidate the old one, as the car is then deemed not roadworthy - perhaps do a search on the MOT website.

It depends on how adventurous you are with a spanner or welder as to what to go for.

Personally, i wouldn't tackle teh front crossmemeber. And they could prove difficult to get hold of a second hand on ein goo condition.
For example, i would find it easier with my spannering ability to replace a front wing that was rusty or replace bolt on off suspension parts etc, but i can't weld for toffee!

So you see what i mean.
You should be able to get a roadworthy example that dosent need much TLC for around £1000-1500

[Mattish]

Thanks for the reply, I am perfectly happy hitting most stuff with a spanner but sadly I cant weld. My budget is £1250 top

So you suggest forgetting about the one with the rusty cross member, thats the bit behind the bumper right

Cheers
Matt

[mr2mk1chick]

So you suggest forgetting about the one with the rusty cross member, thats the bit behind the bumper right

Cheers
Matt

Maybe wait a mo to see if anyone here has replaced theirs....

£1250 'should' get you something thats reasonable

check the sale pages on the mk1 club website too

[skinthespin]

They do come up from time to time mate, I paid £850 for this SC cos it had some engine problems, it does have rot underneath the blown over body but its perfectly useable and prime for a winter project (havent told the missus yet though).

It passed the MOT first time too, not even an advisory!





Just keep your eyes open!

[coverco]

A new bumper bar is around £100 including VAT from Toyota. Replacing the bar is easy, you need to remove four bolts. However these bolts can be a pig to get off, and to get at them you need to remove the bumper which will be a real pain. There are a series of nuts at the top and bottom of the bumper skin which will most likely shear off, and you need to remove the lights (usually fairly easy as they don't rust as much) to get at the three bolts at each end of the bumper skin which attach to the front wings.
I have just done a front end rebuild so you will probably need new insert strips for the top of the bumper skin as well.
Have a read of the following article
http://www.mr2mk1club.com/repairsp99.html

Hope that helps.

[Mattish]

Yes I think it is the bumper bar, sorry I'm getting parts mixed up I guess it would still be an MOT failure with it rotted?

The guy was asking £800 for it with a wedge of MOT's and touch under 100k on the clock belived to be genuine. Had a new oem exhaust fitted fairly recently and the clutch/cambelt changed with gearbox having some work done too. Had the usual rust starting to show at the arches but not really through the paint yet. It only had MOT until late July which is what put me off

Also the sheet above the exhaust, looking from underneith, is that just a heat sheild sort of thing? it didn't look structural but was fairly rusty.

Matt

[skinthespin]

Unfortunately your always going to get some rust coming through unless its been recently restored, its a 20+ year old car after all.

[Mattish]

Sadly true My current car is 17 so thats no picture of good health either

Would it be a bit odd to upload pics of his car here for opinions?

[midenginedmaniac]

Mine cost me £1500. Minter.

[skinthespin]

very nice Mid, pity you like Harleys so much.... ......


yeah post some pics!

[midenginedmaniac]

I love anything I can polish.

My new toy. As well as the Twin Tractor

[skinthespin]

I'm not against a bit of polishing either.....





well, that was until it got nicked after having it for a whopping 300 miles.....

[midenginedmaniac]

Nice. Like the daytona. Tank Looks like cryton from red dwarfs head

[skinthespin]

your not the first to notice that!

The lumps were actually added to get decent tank volume, it was a little short initially (I wasnt involve with that btw!) as the tank is rotationally moulded the wall thicknesses are significant.

I had a bit of a soft spot for the 600 (owned a couple) even though it was far from best bike in class.

[andytame]

My mk1a will be up for sale towards the end of may, after my SC arrives from Japan
Pics in my gallery and I work in Bristol too

[Mattish]

Nice to see some shiney bikes, here was mine before it got total'd by a saxo driver not needing to look before pulling out



Anyway thanks for the replies and I will continue on the mr2 hunt, Im very tempted by the one I saw today as it would leave me alittle in my budget for repair when it comes to MOT time.

[Soupasam]

I had lots of trouble finding a respectable MK1.... After around 4 months of solid searching I found a nice red one with 63000 miles and FSH. It is completely solid underneath, but has a couple of patches of rust on the rear arches. I ended up paying £700!

For some reason its really difficult to find decent MK1's in the South West (I live in Bath). After keeping my eyes open and phoning numerous people I ended up with a bargain!

Good luck with your search, make sure you know you've found the right one, as once you've bought one, a load of nice ones will probably appear the next day!

[shepz]

back onto the mr2's!

just keep on looking mate eventually you'l find one that will meet the requirements out there. just as long as your open to a bit of travelling.

i bought my mk1 (first) last august mechanically perfect since iv owned it has been perfect absolutely nothing gone wrong starts first time every time. just a rusted/holey janspeed which needs replaced!

the previous owner had welded new panels and de-rusted the chasis superbly! only thing wrong is that the paintwork is dodgy! needs a re-spray but i'l be attempting some paintwork sometime this summer!

i paid £800 for mine which i'v been really happy with. with your budget you should get a good example. best of luck mate.

[OriRacer]

I found one for £400 on ebay had been garaged for 5 year, little ruff round the edges but started first time with a new battery