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Esskay's AW11

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esskay
MR2 Enthusiast
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Re:New AW11 owner! (56k warning!) 2013/01/21 19:07:01 (permalink)
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Ok, so I've been a bit (very) lazy with updates to my car... Didn't realise it's been almost an entire year since my last post.
 
Until recently the car hasn't changed too much - it took me about 10 months to get around to fixing the watanabe, thanks to All Aluminium Welding in Chipping Norton the wheel is repaired beautifully - I wasn't sure whether it'd be repairable until they showed me some of the other stuff they were working on (think rims with fist sized chunks taken out) and I wasn't worried anymore :)
 
The only Mod I've really made has been fitting some sway bar endlinks from Twos R Us to sort out the annoying noises that the stock ones were making - the new endlinks seem to have sorted this now, so that's one less thing to worry about.
 
I had been struggling to find time to drive it, and I guess that was why It had taken me so long to do anything to it...
 
Anyway, about a month ago a mate needed a car to drive whilst his was in the smash repairs.
 
A few days later, I got the phone call...
 
 
A Camry, in the left lane, had suddenly decided he wanted to turn right into a street - without checking. Mate braked in the MR2, but had nowhere to go and there was contact...
 
The result: 

 

 

 

 
The car being so low probably saved it from any structural damage - the rear of the camry effectively went over the top of the mr2, so rather than pushing the front in, or hammering the side, it looks to be mainly panel damage. (the bumper was looking pretty tatty anyway, so I'm not particularly bothered about that).
 
Luckily both I and the camry had insurance, so it went off to the smash repairs....Word came back this week that it's a total loss, the repair price is too close to the insured value. I've got the option of taking the money and walking away, or I can have the car at salvage value plus the remainder of the insured amount - I think I'm going to take the car+cash, since I reckon I've got a good chance of finding cheap parts (theres a few Adubs being broken at the moment, I'm sure more will be in the future) plus I'm saving for a house deposit, so having cash + the car (but not paying rego, CTP, insurance, petrol, etc for a while) and taking my time to fix it actually helps me out a bit.
 
Anyway, thats where it's at for the moment, so it might be another twelve months before the next update ... In the meantime the watanabes still need paint and a set of tyres, so that'll probably happen whilst I'm gathering parts to fix the car, but It still may be a little while before it's back on the road.
 
Will still be reading up on all the other beaut rides though, and will try and stay a bit more active than I have been ;)
 
Stu
#31
RdS
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Re:New AW11 owner! (56k warning!) 2013/01/21 23:05:21 (permalink)
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Shame to see that happen to your AW11. :(
 
If you're going to be repairing it yourself, pull it apart and see what bits you're going to need.
Front end parts are a pretty hot item for AW11's in Australia; so you might struggle getting all of it here. I've bought my last few bumper skins from the UK (the cars rust away, but plastic and trims are perfect with no UV damage!).
The quarter should be around - try and find a white one.
There is a white bonnet on ebay atm afaik..
buy the headlight mechanism, bumper, foam support, eyebrow, and headlight cover from the UK. Small parts. Parts are cheap, and from memory a bumper was around 100pounds to post (the other parts should go it with it okay).
The bumper reo and other front corner inner body may just need a little pulling. It gets covered anyway, so as long as the mounts are in the right places!
The black Toyota pinstriping should still be available from Toyota (I've been ordering the gold/silver striping right up to very recently without hassle); otherwise almost-perfect reproduction striping is available from the UK (should see it on ebay..)
 
Good luck. Should clean up fine. :)
 
#32
esskay
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Re:New AW11 owner! (56k warning!) 2013/01/21 23:58:31 (permalink)
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Thanks for all the advice! Yeah I've ordered a few bits and pieces from the UK before, there's a guy called paulsims2001 or something (not sure if he's still on there) that I've bought stuff from about a year ago, I'll have to have a look if he's still there... There's a couple of very slight bends on the beaver panel where the bonnet support lies, I'll go down to the smash repairer hopefully this weekend and see what he's found underneath but the damage definitely hasn't travelled back past/into the frunk.
 
Thanks for the heads up on the parts, I agree on looking for white parts - I don't particularly want to respray anything if I can help it since I'll never be able to do a factory-quality job - time to scour ebay, I think :)
#33

na/sdub
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Re:New AW11 owner! (56k warning!) 2013/01/22 06:01:13 (permalink)
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That's cool your household has a mini And an aw11 as well. My missus has a 88 model grey import rover mini. I've got a red Aus spec aw11. Shame about the fender bender. Your not having the best luck with your mr2's! looks clean anyway. I used to clean a White one regularly, years ago while working for a car detailer in Richmond nsw. I wonder if it's the same one. 
#34
Whore of Babylon
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Re:New AW11 owner! (56k warning!) 2013/01/22 09:29:11 (permalink)
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We have identical AW11's with identical damage, i bought a whole AW11 to get enough stuff to fix my car. Good luck on your parts hunt.
#35
Mrskylighter
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Re:New AW11 owner! (56k warning!) 2013/01/22 09:36:49 (permalink)
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Sorry to hear about your car damage man.
 
There is a complete white AW11 headlight on Ebay Aus but the price is a tad high at $129.
 
I actually need a drivers side headlight (the whole mechanism) so if you can only find a pair of them I'd be happy to buy the other one.
 
Hope the repair goes smooth
#36

esskay
MR2 Enthusiast
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Re:New AW11 owner! (56k warning!) 2013/02/05 22:36:46 (permalink)
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Thanks very much for all the sentiments guys, Whore of Babylon I'm considering doing the same thing... Just comes down to avaliability, I guess, whether I can find individual parts cheap enough or whether I end up going with a 2nd AW11.
 
na/sdub, are you a member on ausmini.com by any chance? AW + mini seems to be a fairly popular combination, quite a few people seem to have both in their household... Both are really great little cars, completely different and completely unique, and able to have huge amounts of fun without damaging the licence too much  Although I have to admit you can get away with a lot more in a mini than in any other car 
 
So I'm definately keeping the car, got the payout from shannons, getting  a bit of structural stuff fixed by the repairer and doing the panels myself... Since the car's off the road now (rego expired) I'll probably do a few other little bits and pieces too, it needs new pads (already bought), possibly reco'd brake master cylinder, replace the vacuum lines to try and rectify rpm hunting at idle, new discs(already bought), and it's probably time for a coolant flush - if there's enough money left over from repairs also finishing off the Watanabe's and getting some fresh rubber on them too. 
 
Lots of work ahead!
#37
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