Hi folks,
 
Have been on these forums for a month or 2 & I'm really feeling welcome, big thanks to everyone who has offered advice, encouragement or sourced parts. This is my first MR2, I've owned it for a bit over a month, so here's an introduction to my car.
 

Dirty, cracked & broken.
Fresh off the back of the tow truck on a wet, gloomy morning.
 
 
There's stuff missing, it's grimy, it doesn't run. Its rough as hell, whole panels are peeling or faded. The key needs to be finessed & jiggled to even get in the lock. It finally opens forcibly & makes a loud velcro ripping sound as the door rubbers yield reluctantly for the first time in half a decade. Inside it smells like a stale tweed jacket. There's so much dust caked on every surface that I cant even see the cluster. Amazingly, I'm able to renew rego online, last registration early 2015! Huge relief, the idea of Regency going over a 30 year old import didn't exactly fill me with joy, was glad to have dodged that.
 
 
   
My snaggletoothed front end. The rain is hiding the peeling clear coat on the roof & hood. Notice the chunky moss above the license plate & along the frunk line.
 
 
   
It starts! Burbling away at home, full of fresh filters & fluids.
 
Fires up no problems, I get about 200 metres down my street & have to turn back. It's driving like a clown's wonky bicycle. Get back & all 4 tyres are massively egged. They were nice Kumhos but they're all dead. Needing 4 new tyres wasn't an expense I had even considered.
 
 
 
4 new soft Kendas, probably not ideal but same price as ultra budget cheapies. Very happy with the grip considering the price. Would buy these again.
 
So the plans from here on are just to catch up on maintenance before anything else. It seriously needs a respray but that's a long way down the road. The idea is to get it vaguely presentable then later improve the performance. The MR2 has such nice lines, the rough paintwork doesnt really bother me for now because it's such a sleek shape.
 
I've got a bunch more parts ready to go on the car, will follow up soon with specs plus more progress & more photos.
 
Cheers,
Adam
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Fantastic :) thanks for saving another.

Hope you love it

Hard top! Will you be keeping it wingless? Enjoy the MR2 ownership journey.

From one Adam to another, welcome!
 
Look forward to seeing what you do with it 

Thats awesome, not too many hardtops floating around.

Welcome Adam, Its quite a nice little car, thanks for showing me in person. Keep the updates coming!

Nice project. If the key has issues, take the drivers door lock out and the key number cut code will be on the barrel, any locksmith can then cut you a new key that will work like new.

Cheers guys!
 
Mike: Huge thanks for all the much needed parts, threw on the new toblerones & mouldings a few days ago. Subtle improvement, they look great. Exhaust will be fitted in the near future, just gotta buy a jack & some stands & I'll have a go at fitting it myself, hopefully within the next month or so.
 
Tony: On the first day I got the car home I lubed all the hinges & latches, then squirted some graphite powder into all the locks. Highly recommend the graphite powder, locks went from dry, craggy & jagged to buttery smooth. 
 
Adrifto: We are the first men, the men of red earth! (I think thats what our names mean anyway)
 
Lumix: Im a big fan of the rear spoiler delete, others will disagree but I think it really accentuates the nice lines. From a side profile, a wing maybe looks marginally better to me, but definitely staying wingless for now.
 
Rynex: I think the car was too complete for a part out, even considering the tired paint, but I definitely saved it from languishing on an exposed driveway & an uncertain future.
 
Dudeman: The hardtop was a "must have" when the previous owner was looking to buy, it ended up that it had to be sourced interstate for that reason. Targas are great & have their own unique appeal but I couldnt be happier with the lines of the hardtop.
 
Just got back from the car for its first long drive. Got to stretch her legs along the southern expressway. Car performed flawlessly, kept perfect temperature & generally felt great. It seems the more I drive it, the better it gets. The idle is gradually improving: it wasnt really bad to begin with, just wavered a bit & had the odd slight stumble at first. That seems to be cleaning up over time & is now pretty smooth & solid. There was a small vibration as the car came on boost (felt like maybe the exhaust or a heatshield was rattling slightly), that has almost totally disappeared. All to be expected really, given the car cost me $2k & was in hibernation for 5+ years.
 
The handling is pretty sublime. Hard to describe but it feels like the car just has almost zero lateral inertia. It just feels... light. It corners without any body roll, the steering feels so direct & positive, its just point & go. I'd heard that these cars handled beautifully but was thoroughly impressed, even compared to other light cars Ive owned which had nice suspension & a 50/50 weight balance. Pretty incredible.
 
More stuff in the pipeline, will keep everyone posted.
 
 

Hey Adam, happy to lend you a jack and pair of axle stands if that helps. Let us know.

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