The story begins in the summer of 1999.
It was time to buy myself a new car. Id always loved the mr2 mk1 and mk2. Being young insurance was a massive factor when purchasing a car. I already had a works van so used this to get around.
The mr2 mk1 wasnt so bad on insurance for me.
Iirc it was around £1500 per year. In the summer of 1999 i purchased my first mr2, a red 1989 mk1b. The mk2 was far to expensive.After a couple of years my brother bought a 1990 mk1 from his mate for
£500, i paid £3750 for mine. Mine was much cleaner and his had little dents and such on most of the panels.Fast-forward a few years later.
My F reg mk1 was suffering from a rotting chassis. It couldnt pass the mot anymore so something needed to be done. My brothers car had been broken into and had the stereo stolen so was just parked up on the drive with plastic over the window. He now had another car anyway.His chassis was in excellent condition and my car had all the other bits in good condition but rotten chassis.
The plan was to take everything off the F reg and put them onto the Greg. 
The car was finished in late spring 2007.
Due to women issues, i was pressured into selling my little red 2.
Ill always regret selling the car. It wasnt the best mr2 in the world but i knew every single inch of the car. I was gutted to see her drive off. Christmas 2009
After finding out my girlfriend was crazy, i managed to get rid of her so i moved back to my parents home.
Living costs were low and i fancied a new car. What to buy??? I wanted a second car, something fast for the weekends. I knew it had to be an mr2 turbo. I decided which car to go for, a rev3 turbo tbar in black. After looking for a couple of weeks i saw one advertised by a dealer in Sheffield. When i rang to confirm it was a rev3 the garage owner assured me it was a rev2. He meant mk2 and thought i was after a mk3. I went down to view it knowing the sales men knew less than i did. It was exactly the model i wanted and completely standard in every way and still had the man in dandism glass tints. After a quick test drive i bought it. STANDARD PICS AS PURCHASED
She was imported in 2006 and owned by a single owner who then went on to trade it in to garage i bought it from.
51000 miles on the clock, everything standard but with no real service history. No evidence of cam belt change etc. It was all fully under sealed and under sealed well. The car came with the standard wheels with Nexen boots. Not ideal but they didnt need changing straight away. I gave her a good service and used it for the summer as i bought it.In April 2010 i took her down to Rogue motorsport for a cam belt change.
Whilst there i also had a few other little bits and pieces sorted, slave cylinder change, drop link. Thor racing was on the same ind estate so i wanted to go on the dyno to see what she makes. Whilst waiting for them to setup it was noticed my car had a leak from the radiator. Whilst on route to rogue that morning, Id pulled over to smoke a bine. I noticed a little wet spot under the car but thought it must have been there when i parked, not from my car. It was from my car though. Took her back to rouge from Thor and hoped they could replace the radiator. This was Friday afternoon, an hour or so later and the rad change was finished, topped up and burped. They were very good. Went back to Thor and had a run on the dyno. Numbers all seemed to be about right.During the past year Id also purchased RedMr2s old rev2 turbo with rev 3 conversion from a guy on here.
He didnt have much luck with it and after spending a small fortune, hed given up. I only went to buy the wheels but whilst there we discussed his situation and i bought the whole car from him for a steal. It was packed with all the good xxxx i was in need of, plus extras.I kept the wheels and tyres plus the Fujitsubo Legalis Exhaust, suspension with new springs and a few other bits and sold the rest on.
Id also bought a few other parts along the way, berk downpipe, new disks and pads and braided lines, whiteline front roll bar, Apexi filter.Al/c, who I met on here, came over and we fitted the lot.
He did a great job and was a pleasure to work with. A thoroughly good chap who knows his mr2s inside and out. The car felt so much better. New tyres on 16 inch wheels, new brakes, plus the new downpipe and exhaust sounded sweet. I then fitted a rev5 spoiler to complete the look.
June 2010 i took her over to Pete at Sbits in Barnsley.
Had all the suspension bushes changed and also changed the gearbox oil, replaced with MT90. Plus the shift bearings. Driving the car home, she now felt tight and agile. Its only after the new bushes did i realise how sloppy the old bushes must have been and mine werent that bad on removal. Id recommend this to anyone. 
September 2010 Nurburgring.
After everything had been done and tested it was time for a visit to the Nur. We went up to Hull then over to Rotterdam on the overnight ferry. We had a drive into Amsterdam for some light refreshments upon arrival in the morning then cruised down to the Nurburgring. The best holiday Ive ever had. The car was faultless from start to finish. And it was also fast. 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t4KTGz4kI_0
I enjoyed the car for the next couple of years.
Ive not really gone into detail on the amount of oil changes and replacement tyres but there have been many I started to get itchy feet and fancied something else. In Feb. 2013 i took a new contract which involved travelling 90 miles per day and also callouts. The MR2 was used for the first two weeks and was perfect to drive but the salty roads and general use every day was going to take its toll and kill her over time. I could feel it wasnt good for her.In March 2013 I arranged to meet MR2 Rich at Sbits so he could see the car with a view to buying it.
Pete could check it over for him and make sure it was as described. I explained there were a few issues with the car that wanted attention but nothing major. Brakes were juddery when pressed hard, cam cover gasket weeping, a few paint imperfections. Nothing that wasnt easily sorted.Unfortunately for Rich, the drive over to Sbits from Manchester is very good and one of my fave roads.
By the time i arrived at Sbits i felt really bad but Id already decided i wasnt going to sell the car. Its my baby. Took Rich for a quick spin to show him what he was missing and i was back in love with the MR2. Id bought a Mondeo as a daily driver for work. I gave the Mr2 a good cleaning and parked her up whist i planned the work which needs doing to get her back to her best. MOT time came around so i took it in just to see what needs doing under the car. I knew it wouldnt pass, the handbrake needed attention and the exhaust had a small leak right at the flange that i didnt know about. It would need a new centre pipe.After returning from the mot station with a fail cert, she was parked up.
New parts to be bought and fitted. I just seemed to lose motivation, work commitments, other stuff and she sat for a year on the drive getting dirty. She was started and moved around on the drive every 12 weeks or so but little faults occurred. PAS didnt work and the drivers door lock now didnt work on the remote. Over time this has now developed into the drivers door lock not even turning with the key. Probably just a seized something or other.July 2014 Time to get the Turbo back to its glory days.
Id disconnected the battery and had it on charge in the garage so once reconnected she started first time and the PAS now works.
Ill get a new relay at some point soon. Id already sourced a replacement pipe for the Legalis so changed that over yesterday and gave the back box and tail pipes a good polish whilst removed.Next job is to fit the cam cover gasket Ive had for 2 years.
Whilst removed ill give the cover a clean and paint. Then inspect the front brakes to investigate the brake judder. My guess is that its going to be a warped disc but Ill check over all the brakes before change of fluid and bleed.
