Hey spike 10000
 
You would be correct in your assumption, this is the car from the central coast. Sorry for waisting your time with my huge write up .
 
The fine gentleman i bought the car from said he didnt do any of the half baked interior mods. It was either one of its jap owners or the guy he got it from. The guy I bought it from seemed very down to earth and had an appreciation for these motors, so I couldn't imagine he being the one that did these mods.
 
It is running a higher rated boost pulley, I can't see many other mods. There was a boost gauge installed that was causing a monumental boost leak. The pipping leading to the gauge was cracking in multiple locations. The guy that owned the car previous to your mate really did a hack job on this thing. 
 
Ill be posting soon all the work I have done on the cars mechanics, so keep an eye out on this space.

Awesome, sounds like a plan. This means I could organise the suspension and exhaust through you. look forward to doing business.

Respect for restoration! Love AW11's with a passion. I know you've decided to go another way, but after owning a 87 SC & driving a 89, I couldn't see any need to stray away from the original OEM parts (with exception of adjustable sways, springs/shocks/coilovers, strut braces). Correctly aligned, I really couldn't fault them even with hard driving.
 
Can't wait to see this thing progress. Blue AW11's are ugly as hek when the paint's faded etc, but are one of the best looking when fresh.

Hang in there mate, don't despair.
 
As my PM's suggest, it's quite possibly just the rear cooling outlet, not a BHG.
 
Once you clear the area, two 12mm bolts are all that's needed, just need to be careful as these bolts usually slightly corrode so might get stuck, plenty of WD40 or a penetrating oil helps.
 
Then just a gasket scraper or careful with a stanley knife blade, and give it a clean up with 240grit emery paper. New gaskets are metal whereas the old ones are some kind of crappy cork/cardboard.
 
Will await the video to confirm where it's coming from.

Welcome to MR2 life. Don't worry, it'll be worth it. Hang in there.

There's always light at the end of the tunnel with these cars.....followed by more tunnels & lights.....hehehe

Definitely looks like a head gasket :(

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!
 
Over the weekend I decided to pull down my engine and have a look at the head gasket. As you all could see from the Vid the leak was an odd one. I compression tested all cylinders and found no issues at all. All cylinders were on or just beyond ideal compression, not bad for an old girl.
 
I knew then there was no head gasket issues at least around the cylinders. I next thought I would check the torque/ tension of all bolts and fasters as I had noticed many loose bits around the car previously. Top of the engine was fine till I got to the engine head bolts. The bolts on the leaky side of the engine were not tight enough, at least by the BGB ratings.
 
I proceeded to use my trusty torque wrench to pull out and once again install the bolts to the correct tension. I put the rest of the engine back together and cranked it. To my joy and surprise the leak was GONE! I ran the car at idle for about 30 minutes without an issue.
 
I was so happy latter that night I took the car for a spin around Wisemans Ferry with some mates and a support MX5 following. Checking the engine every so often I found still no leak, this was with some heavy driving as well. Here is a link to a photo of the car during it triumphant problem free drive.
 
https://plus.google.com/u...7480647365/posts 
 
At this time I can say the leak has been solved. In the next couple of weeks after I run the car for a bit I will once again check the tension on the bolts. I want to make sure there isn't an issue with the block or head. 
 
Now that the leak issue has been fixed for now its back onto the hard core interior and exterior restoration.
 
Wish Me luck

Just FYI new head bolts specify you need to torque them to 60NM, then run an additional 90 degree pass over them in correct order, then another 90 degree pass.
 
If you've torqued them higher than this, it'll be with the old method but if they are original factory head bolts, this should be fine, and yep good idea to check in a few weeks time, wouldn't hurt just giving them an extra one eighth turn if you feel they need it.
 
Great to hear you sorted a dreaded issue so easily :)