# My new steed - 80's flashback!



## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

After much searching and pondering I finally settled on a Mk1 Toyota MR2 as my 2nd car. Bought to tinker with, polish and clean and generally return to a condition I'd be happy with as well as provide me with a fun car to compliment the Audi A4.

I saw a lot and I also saw a lot of rust. They seem to rust from the bottom up, doors, rear arches, sills, floor etc.. and lots I saw had been tarted up with clear signs of serious rust starting to come through again.

I also settled on white as the red ones fade badly with years of sun and each panel fades at different speeds. I also think the white ones look nicer!

Next and most difficult criteria was for it to be a very early model, I like the simpler lines with no add on sill skirts or fairings. This proved to be a problem as there just aren't any for sale.

Anyway, enough waffle. Here she is!


P1270236 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270237 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270239 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270240 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270241 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270242 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270249 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270245 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

There are two slight rust gremlins, one on the rear drivers arch and one small chip on the edge of the drivers door. I've treated both with rust remedy and intend to get them properly sorted during the winter months.

The only semi-serious rust problem is the front boot under the spare wheel where a rust has eaten through approx 3 inches by 1/8 inch slot. This will get stripped back and welded up pronto.

So far I've just treated it to some fresh plugs and air filter, topped up the coolant and given the filthy hair infested interior a good clean up.

The rear boot had a very rotten carpet which despite a session in the washing machine still didn't look great. eBay supplied two rolls of good quality car carpet material and that is now done.


P1270235 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Overall I'm really pleased, I've stuck 160 miles on it in the last two weeks and have averaged 35mpg despite the lead foot. Water temp is good even in traffic in hot weather and oil pressure readings are spot on.

I'll keep this thread update as my tinkering progresses but the idea is to spend little and slowly improve the overall condition.

The only possible expense on the horizon is 4 tyres. It's done very few miles over the last decade and the tyres are Goodyear Eagle 2's of an early noughties persuasion. They have good tread and grip well but I may splash out for peace of mind.

Thanks for looking and if anyone has any good ideas for cleaning the inside of the engine lid without damaging the original stickers there I'd much appreciate hearing them. See pic above.

Andy


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

p.s. I do have a spare wheel, it's in the house as I've been cleaning and polishing it to death!


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

You will enjoy


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## iPlod999 (Jun 23, 2012)

If I ever sold my 205 GTI this would be next on my list. Dark blue for me though.

Very very nice!


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## T.D.K (Mar 16, 2011)

love these cars.

Looks like a really tidy example. 

Look after her :thumb:


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## triggerh4ppy (Jul 15, 2011)

Classic!


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## pooma (Apr 12, 2008)

Looks good in the pics, have fun with it.

I'd love a toy/project, mine'd be 2 seater jap as well but from mazda


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Simply love the mk1 models:thumb: I always liked how the word Toyota reflected onto the rear screen. 

Having drooled over them for enough years, I eventually bought a 1994 mk2 Tbar in Goodwood green. Even to this day, it was the best car Ive ever had.

Yours looks a fantastic example:thumb:


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Thanks everyone, love the Toyota reflection too. That and the pop up headlights, never get tired of them! 

I have a feeling this will be a keeper.


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## johnnyguitar (Mar 24, 2010)

brinks said:


> P1270249 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


Fair play to you mate, that's some project you've taken on there. I wouldn't have bought a car without an engine, but good luck with it!

I'm joking!!! :lol:


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## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

Thats pretty cool!


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

minimadgriff said:


> Thats pretty cool!


Ta very much, your lads remapped my A4 a few weeks back. It transformed it, so much more torque and power!


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## The_Bouncer (Nov 24, 2010)

Awesome car - good find as I know a lot of these have hit the rust grave.

Very retro, win, win - can't wait to see it highly polished up :thumb:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

looks good, have fun and keep us updated...

:thumb:


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

A very small update today, the joys of shift work meant I had a spare afternoon to do some little bits.

The previous owner told me the central locking didn't work and that it was maybe something to do with the alarm module retrofitted inside the door.

Not really sure what kind of half wit would fit an alarm unit inside a door but today I set off to find out!

Took a couple of minutes to remove the passenger door trim and find the offending item. It was so poorly fitted 5 minutes and it was out.


P1270253 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Yes, that is a freezer bag with masking tape around it to keep the water out :lol:

Needless to say water and electronics don't get on!


P1270256 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

I returned the door wiring to standard but still no locks, after a quick read of the excellent free PDF manual I found there is a circuit breaker in the fusebox for the locking.


P1270257 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

I measured this with a meter and found it had tripped, you push a small probe into the hole to reset and now it's good again. Unfortunately when refitted to the car still not locks so will have to revisit that another day.

Next up was to fit the missing engine bay fusebox lid, after a quick clean up of course. Thankyou eBay!

Goes over the fusebox next to the battery


P1270248 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270250 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Lastly, found myself chuckling when reading through the original brochure. I think it's an anti-corrosion fail considering most of them started rusting after about 6 years!


P1270252 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270251 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

 Polyvinyl chloride coating seems to be in all the areas that MR2s rust like mad.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Todays efforts, tarted up the air filter housing.


P1270259 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270258 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270260 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Some of the lip has rusted away but generally beneath the surface the metal was in good nick. Still seals fine in the housing despite the missing chunk.


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## VAG-hag (May 14, 2012)

looks well mate :thumb:


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## mattcoupturbo (Aug 14, 2006)

I used to love those when I was a kid, they did one on Wheeler Dealers iirc and the main problem with that was rust. Great little motor.


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## Grawschbags (Apr 15, 2010)

That looks a cracking example mate. Nice find. 

I used to have a MK2 MR2 and I loved it. I was always envious of MK1 owners though as it always looked a great little car for hairing about in.


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## totters (Apr 29, 2012)

Great car I owned a mk1 for a few years. Just watch em in the wet and leaky roofs.


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## rtjc (Apr 19, 2009)

Nice mk1a, The first mk1 i ever drove was a silver 86 mk1a... Absoluetely loved it. I've had my mk2 G-Limited T-Bar for about 8 years now, and i've always wanted to get a mk1 too at some point. Yours looks nice, and that bit rarer being white. Can't remember the last time i saw an early model in white up my way.

Good luck with you car, Toyota MR2's get under yours skin, you'll enjoy it


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Sorry for the lack of updates, the part of the car I had no worries about let me down.

A couple of days before I was due to take it on a 10 day European holiday it started misfiring and then would stall when hot. I buggered off on my hols in the Audi and left it until yesterday.

I've done a compression test and cylinder 1 is the only good one at 180psi. All the rest get gradually worse until No 4 which is about 50 psi. Shame really as the engines are pretty bombproof normally.

I've got my friendly local mobile mechanic coming over to do the head gasket and poke around for any other faults so hopefully she'll be up and running properly again soon.

So glad it failed before the hols and not during them, very lucky escape.

I had the cam covers off and all looks good with the cams and valves so hopefully the HG and a skim will be all she needs.


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## TRN Ent (Nov 16, 2008)

Very tidy MR2 you have there, I have a rusty one on eBay atm, spent too much on it in the past year to keep spending more on it.
Good luck with it!


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## VW STEVE. (Mar 18, 2012)

Looks tidy enough.


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## TubbyTwo (Apr 14, 2011)

Classic!


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

TRN Ent said:


> Very tidy MR2 you have there, I have a rusty one on eBay atm, spent too much on it in the past year to keep spending more on it.
> Good luck with it!


Thanks! I know what you mean about spending money on them though. I could easily spend thousands and mine is relatively rust free. Just needs the spare wheel bay bottom plating up and the drivers rear arch sorting properly.

You can easily drop a grand just refreshing the suspension and brakes, I've got some uprated rear tie rods ready to go in when the engines sorted as the rear alignment is out and the old ones are rusted solid.

Then it's a fresh set of tyres and the aforementioned rust removal and it should be a good solid example for a year or two of fun motoring.

Sadly I think chasing the rust is never ending job as it will always come back eventually in one place or another.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Ok, I thought I'd pop up some photos of the progress with the headgasket.

I had to first find myself a little lockup to work in as typical Autumn weather and working outdoors don't really mix. After lots of searching I've got a slightly large than normal single garage about 10 minutes drive away. Unfortunately no power so the headtorch was put to good use!

After removing the inlet manifold I found the cause of the advisories on the last couple of Mot's. It was down as "Oil leak" but turned out to be the clamp missing from the inboard end of the driveshaft gaiter. Something to sort later in the job, horrible gooey mess all over the lower block and the back of the engine bay.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Inlet manifold and TVIS (Toyota Variable Intake System) gubbins out.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Very dirty, a quarter century of debris on them!


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Having managed to snap off the stay bolt in the inlet manifold and break a pressure sensor, I also managed to snap and eazi out in the bolt. Decided to visti eBay and got this beauty for £15 


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Lots of cleaning up later


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

More joy was to follow when the exhaust manifold came off. Virtually all the cover bolts snapped and then I found the No 4 branch was cracked all the way around. 
New manifolds aren't available anymore but I picked up a 2nd hand one and had mine welded by a mate.

We'll see how long the welded one lasts as he's never done cast iron before.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

A week passed while I waited for a puller to turn up to get the crank pulley off. Then the top end could be dismantled to get to the head bolts.










All pretty good nick for the age but the inlet side was pretty baked and gooey showing the oil changes hadn't been as frequent as they should have.










With the head gently pulled free the damage to the gasket was obvious.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

I had the head cleaned , pressure tested and refaced. Came back looking much better but needed more careful cleaning to remove leftover swarf from the oil and waterways.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Decided not to go the whole hog and do the valves but they had a light face clean before refitting the head.


P1270514 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Went down the lockup to fit the head and came across yet another problem.


P1270529 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

To be fair Camskill sorted out the wrong bolts within a few days.

While waiting decided to clean the old grease and dirt from the engine bay (surface rust to be treated later)


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Engine bay with head and manifolds off. Ideally I'd have the engine out and do a full clean/respray job on the bay but time and space means not this year.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr
New clamp fitted to the driveshaft boot. Tried degreasing and cleaning the block but to be honest it is so baked on it needs to be done with the engine out and a pressure washer.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

New Toyota Genuine head gasket bought


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

As the motor factors supplied one was crap....


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

New water pump (cheap at £30) and cambelt tensioner (how much £££) fitted while in bits.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

All the crud at the bottom was also cleaned up, slight oil leak from cam seals but new seals are on now.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Again given more time/money I'd refresh to water supply pipe but it's out of view when the inlet manifold goes back.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Thought I'd throw a new fuel filter in too. Looks fairly original.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Would be a pig of a job with the engine in one piece.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Airbox latches refreshed, sad I know. Probably spent 1 hour on each latch with various grades of wet and dry!


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

After spending hours carefully removing old gasket from the block face and inspecting it fully it was time to apply the new gasket.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Head back on


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Cams back in and cam pulleys refitted. Set to TDC No 1 for timing belt.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

I'd also cleaned up and resprayed the cambelt backplate with VHT paint as it was in a horrible condition.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Cambelt fitted and tensioned and covers refitted. Engine mount also refitted.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Bit of a leap, after a couple more hours I had both manifolds back on and lots of bits connected up.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

As she stands now, brake system vacuum hose and a few plugs to connect as I'm waiting for new bolts and gasket for the coolant housing.


MR2 Head Gasket change by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

I'm also waiting an exhaust manifold bolt. It was missing when I took it all apart and failed to make it to my list of bits!

It's been a month or so all told, with work and family getting in the way. I have to travel to France a bit for work so can't work on the car in the evenings.

Hopefully tomorrow she will run again. I'll just need to bleed the coolant, do the timing and check for leaks.

I have a new oil filter, 4 ltrs of oil and a magnetic sump plug to change after I've run the car for 100 miles or so.

I take my hat off to anyone who owns and works on a car this old or older. Everything was either seized or snapped. It's been an interesting job though and I feel I could now do it all again in a day. It's probably cost me £300 or so in spares and fluids/cleaners etc. Surprising how the costs add up, £80 for the tensioner, £35 for head gasket, £40 for the bolts etc....

Next up for the car is new front pads which I have ready to go and then back to front attack on surface rust and grime. The rear drivers arch needs some attention as does the front boot floor so plenty to keep me occupied.

All good, thanks for reading!


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

p.s. The battery tray is next on my list. Will have to be treated in situ as it's welded to the engine bay.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

She lives! Took a fair bit of cranking to get the fuel to fill the filter but once it started it was all good. A quick tune up with the timing light and she's running lovely and smooth now with no leaks anywhere!

It's lost that horrible misfire at idle too so I guess the gasket was already on it's way out when I bought it. Also starts first time when hot which it wasn't doing before, lesson learnt when buying a car I guess.

A very happy boy!


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

some great updates... well done... 

:thumb:


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## Mick (Jan 23, 2010)

Cracking writeup, this sort of thing is right up my street :thumb:


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## PootleFlump (Jan 1, 2006)

Nice little motor, I remember collecting the football pools and one of our customers had a brand new matching pair of matching his and hers Mk1 MR2 in red and blue. As a teenager I was in love with those cars!


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Just another small update, the exhaust manifold didn't last long before the welds started leaking so that one was whipped off and my £15 2nd hand eBay one was fitted. Also got some stainless M10 nuts for the manifold support as I'd lost one.

Moved onto a job that was lingering well before the head gasket went.
At high speed (ie 70+) the car is very wandery from the rear and tracks to the left badly when you loosen your grip on the steering wheel.

I had the tracking checked and the rear toe is miles out, they couldn't adjust it as the track rod adjusters had rusted solid.

I bought this improved kit from Twos R Us in the USA. It is has spherical bearings at the chassis end so should tighten things up as the original rubber bushes are shot. Comes complete with new balljoints and is all very heavy duty. I priced up the Toyota parts and this compared very favourable at around £120 inc shipping for both sides.










This is the old L/H side one. Quite easy to remove as the balljoint nut split pin had corroded badly and just crumbled when I undid the nut!










New one in place, just matched the length to the old unit.










Treated the old girl to a set of 4 new tyres too. I knew the car had been laid up for at lot of years but the tyres that were on were Goodyear Eagle NCT2's. Apparently they stopped making them in 1995!!










I'm pretty happy with these tyres, they are quite soft but get excellent reviews for wet and dry handling and were £50 a corner from Mytyres fitted.

All it needs now is the rear alignment adjusted and I'll be hibernating her over winter except for the occasional dry run out on those crisp sunny winters days we get. Must avoid the salt at all costs :thumb:

When my MR2 fund grows again I'll be treating her to a new set of shocks all round and some new rear top mounts as they are pretty scabby.

Thanks for looking, she's turned into a lovely little driver and although it was a pain the engine work has done it a world of good.


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## Princy (Dec 14, 2011)

Some nice work on a very nice motor, love a car with a bit of character

I know first hand the sort of dedication you have to have to take on a project like this. I've put a mammoth amount of work into my daily driver which is a Gen 5 Celica and when that's finished I've got a widebody Gen5 gt stripped and ready to start as a long term, no holds barred 400bhp nut and bolt rebuild to tackle


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

I've just started to realise! This is just a very light fettling and it takes a lot of time and effort. With a double heated garage and lots of spare cash I'd love to do a strip and rebuild job to better than factory but I have neither so it will remain a useable classic with a bit of "patina" to show it's age 

I've come to realise that Toyota spares are bloody expensive too. It's great that they still stock most bits for a near 30 year old car though.


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2012)

Great work and lovely car. Excellent effort. :thumb:

Had the same engine in my AE86 Corolla Coupe. Ahead of it's time 

Keep them coming.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

The results of todays wheel alignment. The rears are now spot on but unfortunately even with copious amounts of heat they couldn't loosen the front track arm lock nuts. Not too fussed about the rear camber angles as it's getting new shocks sometime in the future and it'll need adjusting then.

I think I might take the rack off over winter and give it a good refresh. There are some plastic bushes at the inner end that are notorious for wearing out so it'll give me a good chance to change them out.

Took it for a nice long motorway drive before tucking it up under cover in the lock up. Discovered the heater seems to have gone from poor to woeful since I did the head gasket. Not good for defrosting.

Another job for the list 

p.s. Can everyone see the images ok? Still learning how to share images using Google+ as I exceeded my monthly upload on Flickr


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## TRN Ent (Nov 16, 2008)

Hi brinks.
It may be not relevant at all, but regarding the heater after the head gasket change, did you follow the recommended coolant bleeding procedure? From what I've read the engine really needs a proper good bleed.
Tom.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

I'm going to bleed it all again Tom thanks. I did follow the procedure and gots lots of air out of the heater bleed under the front bonnet but apparently you need to raise the rear of the car really high to get it bled out completely.


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## rtjc (Apr 19, 2009)

They can be a little tricky to bleed that's for sure, Only helped do a mk1 once, but the MK2 is also tricky. There are set procedures for as & when to raise the front and rear of the car. I have a MK2 and only have the Toyota BGB (big green book), but if you need any info from that just ask.

Not read every post, but it might be worth getting onto the forums and looking the info up. They're usually very good for help 

http://www.mr2oc.com/

http://www.mr2oc.co.uk/

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/

Three main ones for you 

P.S You might want to get a 'Jimi Bracket' for the throttle cable in the engine bay. Some googling should get you there.


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

What an awesome thread. Good to see an old classic brought back to life :thumb:

If I had the car mechanics knowledge I would love to do something like this.


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## -Jamie- (Nov 6, 2012)

Awesome little cars, My mate had one when he was 18 and it flew, scared most of us who went in it LOL!


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## hibberd (Jul 5, 2006)

Superb thread, you have the basics of a pretty good car there and now with all the bits you have done its a very good one.. I love the angular look of it since I first saw one in red many years ago..lovely job, and super work..


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Went down the garage today to try and sort my cold heater.
First job was to jack the rear as high as possible then locate the heater bleed in the front stowage


P1270584 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


P1270585 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

I only got a small amount of air out but quite a bit came out of the rad screw and the heater now has at least a bit of heat. Time will tell if it's sorted or not. Too wet and crappy to drive it for now.

Plastic front stowage cover refitted along with some Audi trim clips I had lying around.

Also gave the spare wheel a good clean up.


P1270586 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Next up is to clean up and refurb the second hand calipers. Fronts are a bit of a weak point, new boot, seals and a good clean and paint should give them years of life.


P1270583 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Finally tucked her away again in my dank dark garage. At least it will keep the rain and frost off her and slow down any rot.


P1270590 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Not too much to add, been too busy with work and Christmas prep to do much to the car.

I did however get some Bilt Hamber Deox C and try it out on the calipers, fantastic stuff and brought them up great with minimal effort. Non toxic stuff and doesn't vent off nasty fumes so a thumbs up from me.


P1270596 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Took from this


P1270582 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

to this


P1270605 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

in a couple of days with just the odd rinse off and agitate with a small wire brush.

mounting brackets came up great too.


P1270607 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

All ready for a coat of paint then new seal kit and hardware before refitting to the car.

I used a mix of approx 8 water to 1 deox c and just immersed them in a bucket of the solution. You can actually see the rust lifting off and it eventually turns the solution a dark colour with the heavy pieces falling to the bottom.

At around £10 for a 1kg tub it's great value and doesn't cause surface damage like a wire wheel or scrabbler might do.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Better comparison shot

After


P1270606 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr

Before


P1270583 by brinkmanandy, on Flickr


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

I've just been using the car for dry days and not really tinkering but I did find my heater output was still as poor as before my last bleeding attempt.

I got some clear hose the correct size from work and followed the manual to the letter to try bleeding it yet again. There was loads of air still trapped in there which has now come out, heater working perfect!










I'm not sure what the science is behind this but the tube being support high up like it says in the manual drew loads of air out.

Thought I'd do the same for radiator and loads came out of there too.










Brake calipers, I haven't made any progress with Christmas and New Year but I will get on to them next. Front shocks to replace too along with the steering rack inner plastic bushes.

On a slightly different note, I noticed these small paint defects near the drivers door on the roof - is it corrosion below or something else? They are hard pimples of paint.










They weren't there last time I drove the car last week and it's been sat under cover in the garage since then. I'm slightly concerned I may have rested a rag there for a moment but not sure.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Spent a couple of evenings stripping out the front struts and the steering rack.

The rack had to come out as we couldn't adjust the front tracking due to the inner and outer tie rods being rusted together, no amount of heat or force would undo them.

New inner rods are coming from the USA, Toyota GB wanted £110 each for them on special order from Japan. Outer rods are £25 a pair!

Also gives me a chance to change the rack inner plastic guide bush and the rack mounting rubbers (again coming from the USA as they are obselete OEM parts).

New shocks I got from Fensport, even though the car passed a bounce test the old shocks were completely toast. You can push them in with 1 finger and they don't come back out again!

Again, rust has had it's way with the top spring mount. £100 each from Toyota or £35 a pair for a good set from eBay?

I've rubbed down and coated with hammerite all the parts, just need to wait until the weekend to change the shock inserts over at work










Thankfully I only found one small rot spot while under the front of the car, parts are proving to be either extremely expensive or hard to get hold of so I can see why this and rust is slowly killing them all off 

Once the front is rebuilt, I'll have the rear struts off the car for inspection although I suspect the shock inserts at the back will be toast too.

Once that's done, I'm just going to enjoy driving her for the summer before deciding what to do with the bits of rot on the bodywork.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Calipers done at last!


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## Dift (May 22, 2011)

brinks said:


> I've just been using the car for dry days and not really tinkering but I did find my heater output was still as poor as before my last bleeding attempt.
> 
> I got some clear hose the correct size from work and followed the manual to the letter to try bleeding it yet again. There was loads of air still trapped in there which has now come out, heater working perfect!
> 
> ...


Plastic roof by any chance?


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Dift said:


> Plastic roof by any chance?


Nope, definitely metal roof. I've been led to believe it's caused by brake fluid, as even small amounts on a rag can do this.

Shouldn't take much to sort out anyway as the roof is tiny!


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## Dift (May 22, 2011)

N


brinks said:


> Nope, definitely metal roof. I've been led to believe it's caused by brake fluid, as even small amounts on a rag can do this.
> 
> Shouldn't take much to sort out anyway as the roof is tiny!


They look like micro blister than plague composite cars like the Elise and Noble, so wondered if the roof was plastic.

In regards tithe Elise etc, its water trapped in the composite which freezes and lifts the paint in cold weather. For some reason this is exacerbated by keeping under a cover in winter.

Good luck repairing it.. It's a lovely car, and your obviously enjoying tinkering :thumb:


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

It's been a bit quiet for a while, I was waiting for some decent weather to actually use it!

Think I've only done 300 miles in it this year. I've given up on the weather and just decided to get it use it now its a little warmer.

The micro blisters mentioned were possibly there all along, just never notice. Haven't got any worse and you really need to go looking to find them.

All I've done since is sort the door locks out, the car wouldn't lock. Turns out both central locking solenoids had seized internally. I've removed these now and just have manual doors locks which is fine. As with many things they aren't made by Toyota any more and 2nd hand ones are a risk for the £30+ people are asking. I do have some locking motors to fit when the sun finally comes out.


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## theshrew (May 21, 2008)

I used to have one of these a Red T bar with leather absolutely loved it. 

How good is the driving position  

Check the front panel under the bumper before you get a tow if you ever need it they rust like crazy and you will end up pulling the bumper off :-( I learnt the hard way lol

I've got a few parts kicking about in my dads garage if you need anything give me a shout


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## tPIC (Jul 14, 2013)

Hi Brinks - I have a similar car in project form in my garage at the moment.

Have you still got hold of yours? If so, how's she doing? I look to have a few similar jobs to tackle that you have already done, so it was good to read through this thread.


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

tPIC said:


> Hi Brinks - I have a similar car in project form in my garage at the moment.
> 
> Have you still got hold of yours? If so, how's she doing? I look to have a few similar jobs to tackle that you have already done, so it was good to read through this thread.


You may very better messaging him as it's been 19 months since he posted on this thread.


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## tPIC (Jul 14, 2013)

Ok, thanks Shaun - I'll do that. I was hoping he'd still have this thread sub'd.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

I have subbed this thread, apologies I got busy and lost momentum with the car and the thread.

I ended up getting it into great shape mechanically and enjoying another summers worth of driving but when I started tackling the rust issues they started to look like a never ending job.

I advertised it on Pistonheads and a great enthusiastic chap came along and took it off my hands for pretty much what I paid for it. He was a dab hand with bodywork and looking for a mechanically sound car to play with as a project.

Hopefully shes gone on to live another day in his hands.

I bought a Mk5 Golf Gti this year and enjoy driving that so much I don't fancy another project car just yet.....:driver:


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## tPIC (Jul 14, 2013)

Thanks for the update Brinks. Well, I hope that the rust won't be the stopper for my project, but I know that they do suffer badly from it. I'm also focusing on the mechanicals first, purely because that's what interests me. I'll keep my fingers crossed on the rust front. 

If she makes it though an MOT early next year then I may start a "bodywork fund".

I'm just hoping for a few summers of decent T-Bar action.


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

No problem and good luck with yours.

Mine had spent some years in Portsmouth so I suspect the sea air hasn't helped when it comes to rust.

It was everywhere, although not immediately visible everything I poked had a soggy rotten metal feel. This was floorpans, sills etc. The painted metal work was in pretty good condition apart from one bubbling rear arch.

If I had my own garage I'd probably still have the car and be tinkering but my rented garage was a fair drive from my house so it became a pain just popping over there for an hour or so


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