The Ramblings and Diary of a Japanese Car Enthusiast

[craig]

Coming together nicely mate. Should look pukka when all done.

Defo looks a lot better with the stock front bumper on there.

Seems to be big in America rocking stock body with an aeroware front lip.

[Madabout]

Coming together nicely mate. Should look pukka when all done.

Defo looks a lot better with the stock front bumper on there.

Seems to be big in America rocking stock body with an aeroware front lip.

Thanks mate. It's getting there. Garage has found a few more issues I hadn't noticed like some poor wiring so whilst it's in sorting some additional work like that sorted.

When I got it I didn't like the Border front on just a standard body and wanted to keep it looking more stock as think with the Border front you need skirts or the front just looks too much.

I like the Aeroware front and Greddy front lip.

I've imported a lot of parts for my roadsters from Japan so once I've got my mr2 back and I'm happy I probably look on minkara at what tuners there our doing too.

[Gullzter]

Starting to come together nicely, a lot of work going on behind the scenes I imagine

[Madabout]

Starting to come together nicely, a lot of work going on behind the scenes I imagine

Thanks mate. Hope you've had a nice weekend?

Yeah lots going on. It's like you say quite a few other jobs behind the scenes - sorting a blow in the exhaust, new wiring to starter motor, single din cubby fitted, etc.

[Madabout]

From Gullzter on here I got a Rogue Rev 6 engine bay fan kit.



This is now all fitted and wired up in the car and a nice easy transaction from a fellow red mr2 owner.

Next job for the car is now the full re-spray which get started on tomorrow.

In other news for those who like mx5s I finally got round this week to fitting new parts from Japan in one of my mk1 mx5 roadsters. red leather dash top dash insert, heater control panel. There is a big scene for roadsters in Japan with lots of tuners and over the years I have built some good relationships.

[JLW]

Love the Red dash mate, such a great looking little car the MX5
I aim to own one at some point.

[Madabout]

Love the Red dash mate, such a great looking little car the MX5
I aim to own one at some point.

Yeah mate the red interior is one of the desirable aspects as only came in a few JDM limited editions.

MK1 MX5 (whilst I'm biased) is a great car. Good community, plenty of parts. 3 of mine are either turbo'd, supercharged or IRTB'd. They lend themselves to power as engine essentially is the 323 rally car engine.

Like the MR2 a lot have been broken for parts, rusted out so whilst more for sale then mr2s finding good examples not as easy as back in the day.

[Madabout]

The MR2 is back from RE Worx and today was the first time I got to drive it since buying it in January 2017. During the time at RE Worx the work is mostly documented but in the end it was -

1. Rust cut out of rear arch and new panel welded in.
2. Replacement front wing fitted.
3. Original bumper fitted to replace the Border front bumper.
4. Rear arches all under sealed to match the front arches already under sealed.
5. Blow on the exhaust sorted - sounds sweet now.
6. Electrical aerial deleted and aerial relocated to inside the boot.
7. Wiring tidied behind the dash and in engine bay - not sure if it was this or the blowing exhaust but car now idles correctly was a little high when I bought it.
8. Speedo wiring reconnected and UK 160mph speedo fitted - maybe me believing it but steering feels better then on the test run I got to begin with and old speedo not working, etc.
9. Proper radio cubby box fitted and radio brackets fitted.
10. Replacement sump pan fitted as old one was slightly bent incorrect fitting.
11. Rogue Rev 6 engine fan lid kit fitted and wired to a OEM looking switch on dash so I can switch on and off.
12. Personal Steering wheel fitted on new boss.
13. Fog light re-wired in.
14. Full re-spray in red - the paint wasn't bad before but it got to the point where doing panels like the rear quarter (plan was to begin with one side of the car) and the the front (which was to respray the whole front) it didn't cost a lot more to do the whole car. Only thing I left in the end was the engine lid which has buffed up and colour matched ok with the body shop.

Initial impressions of driving the car for the first time is I enjoyed it. It spooled up nicely (I didn't play with the electronic boost controller) and seems to have a fair bit of poke. Considering it was the first proper drive there was no abnormal knocks from top mounts, etc.

My aim for the car is kind of achieved as I wanted a fairly standard looking mk2 MR2 when I started on this project with some subtle period mods which the Blitz NUR spec exhaust, Advan wheels, HKS lowering spring, Personal steering wheel achieve.









There is still jobs to be done but I am happy with the work so far and whilst the car has gone over the budget I set I enjoyed driving it today and it is moving in the direction I want.

[Madabout]

Cleaned down the exhaust properly today as since I got the car there was some ingrained dirt marks that all exhausts get, etc. Likewise crawled underneath and gave the sub frame a nice clean.



Now the car is home I am using it for the first time and it had a couple of runs. Only used it on the low boost setting on the electronic boost controller but it picks up well and seems to have a fair bit of go.

[craig]

Car looks fantastic mate.

[androo007]

Looking superb. As a red owner I can really appreciate just how good these look when the paint is actually fresh. Awesome.

What's next? A tidy up of the engine bay would make it super smart no?

[Madabout]

Car looks fantastic mate.

Thanks Craig. I am happy with the changes. When I bought the car the plan was always to remove the border front bumper, the cheap eBay type clear front lights while the toberlarones had been wrapped in some crappy stick on mesh material.

Now it looks more stock with the subtle mods (if you can call a Blitz NUR spec subtle!) I think it works better.

It's needed a fair bit of maintenance along the way (speedo wired back in, replacement alloy radiator, a shed load of unnecessary wiring removed behind the dash, etc., starter motor rewired as that was on a very thin wire so tracked back to source and sorted, replacement cam cover gasket, dizzy o-ring, throttle body gasket, etc.

I learnt a bit more of the car yesterday as worked out the trim levels. I knew it was a rev3 turbo from the factory but understanding the other bits figured out it came with the LSD from the factory (I though it had been added) while also found out the trim level was FH23, which means I think this car came with fabric/cloth interior to begin with so a previous owner added the black leather seats and door cards.

Basic items I still want to sort are it's missing a lot of the under trays underneath, it's missing the front wheel arch liners, still haven't sorted how to the fit the mr2 battery clamp so wondering if I have a wrong sized battery, the flywheel cover on the car was damaged so I need a replacement on of these

Modifications wise on the bucket list moving forwards would be a few items I'd like such as recaro seats from the period a bit like I've done with some of my mx5s and welcome any other thoughts.

[Dale_V]

good job, standard looking mr2's always = WIN

[JLW]

Mate ! good job, so glad to see the car take back its former glory.
In regards to the battery clamp.. they are a nightmare !
Its a case of fitting and tightening but not to much as it pops off.
spent 30 minutes before trying to fit 5 times in a row, finally got it sorted
and have left since then.

[Madabout]

Looking superb. As a red owner I can really appreciate just how good these look when the paint is actually fresh. Awesome.

What's next? A tidy up of the engine bay would make it super smart no?

Sorry. I somehow didn't see your post yesterday. Appreciate the comments as your advice on the rust was spot on and prepared me better as I got hold of the rear panel before the car went in to have rot cut out. It surprised me from a small bit of rust on the top of the arch how bad it got when I really started poking away as photos earlier in the thread showed.

Next up the engine bay is maybe on the agenda. The previous owner was going to fit a aftermarket turbo (Blitz KKK) and had this and a HKS Fcon piggy back ECU I could have bought with the car he was planning to fit. I wouldn't mind tidying some of the silicone pipes around the intercooler for a smarter looking solution at some point.

For me more immediate is more maintenance work right now and missing items I want to sort like the under trays, a replacement for a cracked door handle cup, front wheel arch liners where they have been removed at point.

good job, standard looking mr2's always = WIN

Thanks. With the MX5s I have a good breadth of the wildly modified to the stock original limited edition JDM models. With my MR2 I quickly decided I wanted a fairly stock look but with the period modifications done as you see it done effectively on a lot of Japanese cars of the era. For me my car now reminds me of back in the day playing Gran Turismo as back in the day I had a red rev2 G-Limited and set up a modified red rev3 in the game.

Mate ! good job, so glad to see the car take back its former glory.
In regards to the battery clamp.. they are a nightmare !
Its a case of fitting and tightening but not to much as it pops off.
spent 30 minutes before trying to fit 5 times in a row, finally got it sorted
and have left since then.

Thanks mate. It is getting there. The previous owner had spent a lot on modifications so my work has mainly been deleting a few I didn't like, sorting maintenance issues, etc.

I have to have another go on the battery clamp. I cannot figure out how it attaches around the battery, which makes me think the battery is too big but I can see no where to hook it behind the bumper and guessing the front is where the spare wheel clamps onto too.

[Madabout]

Few car jobs done today - switched some interior plastics in the MR2 for some in better condition. The plastic gear gaiter surround had a hole from where a switch had been previously while around the ignition was a immobilizer plug that was redundant. Now new clean parts fitted.

Likewise after a winter hibernation started my Mazdaspeed Supercharged MX5, that is commonly known as the 'Corns Roadster' as believed to have been worked on in Japan by respected Tokyo tuner 'Car make Corns.' This car is essentially a track car as manual rack, stripped interior, fully forged engine by Tomei Racing. Took it out today and a my little boy said this is a proper race car!

[Magic Beans]

Two cracking little cars!

The more time goes by, the more I think I need to buy an MX/Miata at some point.

[Madabout]

Two cracking little cars!

The more time goes by, the more I think I need to buy an MX/Miata at some point.

The MX5 is a great little car. Back in the day I flirted between the MX5 and MR2 before really settling on MX5s. 13 years on and I appreciate having an MR2 again to go with them as lots of aspects of the MR2 I like.

The white one came in from Japan in 2008 with Weber twin carbs fitted, the full cage in it, stripped interior, SSR MK1 wheels, jubiride arches. I bought in 2009 and restored the bodywork (solid but poor paint), fitted and LSD, recaros, lots of the other rare JDM parts before selling in 2011. It won the Miss Banzai tunnel run with the guy I told it to before I bought it back in 2012. The carbs were worn so I swopped out the engine for a fully forged engine built by Tomei Racing out of another MX5 I had and the Mazdaspeed supercharger.

On the MR2 I picked up from the post office the passenger side door cup Craig on here had sent me. As per the photo below one on the car was cracked. Minor job but it's another job on the 'to do' list done in getting the car up to spec.

[craig]

When you said yours was cracked, I assumed it had the common hairline crack from an over tightened screw!

That one I sent you will certainly look better than that one! Little details that make all the difference.

[Madabout]

When you said yours was cracked, I assumed it had the common hairline crack from an over tightened screw!

That one I sent you will certainly look better than that one! Little details that make all the difference.

Yeah as soon as I got the car was on the 'to do' list. Alongside the other plastic trim replaced it's looking tidier.

Thanks for your help with the part mate.