I've had my MR2 since 2008 and I was a fairly regular poster under the username chunkmo when i first got it, but haven't really been active for the past 4 years. Times have changed and I felt that username was a bit immature, so i've created this account to start fresh. 

It all began when my mates were getting into cars around the age 18-19. I remember trying to narrow down what I wanted for my first performance car. RWD, turbo, 2 doors, Japanese - that's what it had to be. I dont know why but thats what resonated with me the most. I wasn't even looking when I came across the SW20 by chance. It checked all the boxes and I couldn't get over how amazing it looked! Mid engine was the selling point for me. There were dozens of other cars which fit the bill, but this was unique. I lusted after an SW20 for about a year and a half until I saved enough to buy it outright.  I hunted high and low until a good one finally came up on carsales in Bundaberg - a mere 5 hours drive away. I still have the original ad.
 

 
I contacted the guy shortly after this ad went up, but he decided to keep the car and took the ad down. A month later it was back up for sale and I organised to have a look at it. As I was still living at home at the time, in a moment of adolescent deviance I bought the car while my parents were overseas (who weren't very supportive of this whole "fast car" business). Drove up and back in 1 day with a mate. I still have the very first fuel docket I filled the car with (although the text is fading, i tried to sharpen it up)


 
Shortly after arriving home


I started going to club cruises and doing general maintenance on the car for a year or two. Like a lot of owners who buy stock examples, I was set on keeping the car in pristine stock condition.... Until the exhaust sprung a leak and started sounding a bit rough. I drunkenly purchased a berk exhaust in a group buy as a bribe for myself to get my fitness sorted (which worked, but that's another story).
 


 
And spent the better part of a weekend fitting it all in

 
Right around this time, my car had major electrical problems which cost me thousands to get fixed and left me a bit bitter about trusting other peoples handywork. I'm going to do as much work as possible on my own - 3rd parties never get it exactly how I want it. I eventually got it back on the road, my mate bought an AW11 and times were good.



In late 2010 I got sick of the working conditions with my job, so I decided to ditch everything and go back to uni to change careers. Because I basically had no money as a student, the MR2 was the last thing on my mind. I basically stopped driving it (fuel costs), stopped posting and reading car related articles (too much temptation). I still did intermittent things like fixing some little niggly things like the rain guard and plastic clips here and there. But for the most part, the car sat undriven in our lock up garage for 3 years.

2014 gave me a new career and I spent the first 7-8 months deciding what I wanted to do car wise. I started looking for another car to drive and/or modify. Dozens of cars tickled my fancy, but I could never shake the idea of parting with my beloved MR2. So I made the decision to stick with it. I started acquiring parts to make it into the car i've always dreamt of.
 
First I bought a whole lot of Toyota gear, trying to update a few worn out bits... 

94+ lights, stainless sills, new wipers, clear front indicators, solid front side mouldings and some other little bits and pieces.
 
I was on a roll, which quickly turned into a bunch more parts




 
So i'm thinking it's looking pretty good now. Some of you may recognize the wheels.


 
I figured that the aesthetics of the car was coming along pretty well, so I got myself an early Christmas present (thanks Dylan) to bring the performance up to par.

 
Now that i've got some cashflow going, i'll be able to participate in forums again. I'll be sure to keep this updated. 2015-16 will probably involve 2.2L, GTX3067 and E85 if everything goes to plan. So thats how i'm building my dream MR2...

Looks good. Are they totens old rims?

Yep, those are totens old RE30's. The rubber on them is getting a bit old and brittle, so i'll replace them before I start driving it regularly again. Might splurge for some Toyo R888's

Yeah its a shame, they only have a few thousand kms at most on them.
 
They suit the black very well.  I tried them on mine but didn't work on red.

Love your car, will keep checking this thread :) 

Welcome back! I'll keep an eye on this thread.

Keep the updates coming... We all need inspiration lol

So the car has been basically collecting dust for the past few months, especially since I got the wheels. Here's a close up of the wheel nuts, just for the hell of it:

 
So the 225/45/R17 tyres up front rub up against the spring perch. Originally I thought i'd be able to use some spacers to bring it away from the strut, at least enough for me to be able to drive it (it didn't) but there's also a seam running down the inside of the wheel well which restricts the turning to about 1/2 lock... Not very much at all. Should I be running a 40 series tyre or is there a way to fix this? I could grind the body seam away but I'm not too keen on that.
 
I've got some KW V3's on the way which will give me a much needed suspension refresh (and fix my wheel fitment issues), but in the mean time I decided to fix the lock cylinder on my 94 tails since I upgraded from the old style.
First, get your new and old cylinders:

 
With some careful bending, you can uncap the end and seperate the locking mechanism from the rest of it.

 
Then you've just gotta take out the tumblers (don't lose the order!) and swap them from the old to new. Then hey presto, you've got a new lock cylinder which works with the old key!

 
And upon reassembling everything, I found out why I always needed to jiggle the key to get it to turn - one of the tumblers is about 0.5mm too short, making it a bit difficult to turn. Thats a job for another day though. The old lock also had 1 extra tumbler. Didn't seem to make a difference though.
 
I've also been doing a little body work. Just recently picked up some shine auto skirts and rear pods off some forum members. It's just a trial fit right now - they're literally just held on by gaffa tape and a few bolts so fitment isn't perfect yet but I couldn't resist snapping some pics.
 




 
You'll also probably notice that my side mouldings aren't on (the left side mostly). Just before my original post I started stripping the side mouldings and painting them black (they were originally grey and dated the car horribly in my opinion) and since doing that, I've taken an interest to paint and body work. I'll probably get a compressor and paint gun soon as well as some impact tools and grinders etc. to paint the new body pieces myself. Any recommendations? Will 2.5hp and around 15CFM be enough to run pneumatic tools for general car work? The rattle gun would be the most used item, but i'd also (if possible) want to be able to run a sander and paint gun.
 

About the front tyres, you can only go up to 40 profile for 17s or 35 profile for 18s. If the rolling diameter is larger then you will have tyre scrubbing issues when you steer, as described.

So the past few months i've just been collecting parts and fixing up minor issues. The most exciting thing is that my KW V3's arrived last month! I managed to fit the fronts but i'm still waiting on the rear top mounts to arrive from Gorilla Industries before the rears can go on. In the mean time, I updated some worn interior pieces with mostly aftermarket items. Here's a list of things i've done since the the last update:

Boot lining clips
Brake and clutch pedal rubber

Works Bell short boss kit
Works Bell Rapfix quick release
Nardi 330mm perforated deep corn wheel

98+ JDM shift knob
Redline shift boot
Redline handbrake boot (not yet installed)

Carbing front strut bar
Carbing rear strut bar
Carbing radiator cooling plate

KW Variant 3
Tein pillow ball front and rear top mounts

Slimline number plates

Next on the list are some Bride Gias seats which i'm about to order and some new OEM interior pieces like the ashtray and door cups. I'm also trying to source some new floor mats. Two's R us have some nice ones for LHD, but unfortunately there are no RHD options. Anyone know where to get new floor mats?

I'll also need to get some new tyres as the current ones are shagged from sitting in James' shed for the last few years. After finally getting coilovers on the fronts, I could actually drive the car (as they used to rub on the spring perch). Wanting to test out the new wider tyres, I gave it a mild launch; something that would have made my last tyres (225 Toyo T1R's) just chirp a little then dig in. I completely lit up the rear and went sideways! Even with 275's, I could easily overpower them with my stock gen 2. I'll be going Falken Azenis RT615 again but changing the fronts to 40 series as the current 45 rubs the inside wheel well (thanks for the advice robk). 215/40/17 front and 275/35/18 rear. Hopefully in time for the next monthly meet, but definitely before the MR2 Nationals.
 
And because I love pictures, here's what she's looking like at the moment: