Freebee's project MR2 (selling or part-out)

thought id finally create a worklog thread, gonna save this first post for some info, an up to date pic or two and links to milestone posts..
 
the car is an imported 1993 g-limited hardtop with an automatic gearbox, would love to find more info on its history as its got Toyota Australia stamped into the compliance plate, which just seems odd, especially considering it was probably driven around in the land of the rising sun for a while due to the presence of Japanese coins in the lockable compartment behind the drivers seat
 
I bought it for a ridiculously low price, which I will not disclose for the sake of having some chance of selling it on.. (although it was 2.5x what I wanted to pay for it :P)
 
work ive found so far:

• sorting out p/s (have diagnosed a dead relay, with any luck thats all it will be)
• sorting out the auto box, currently won't go into first (need it for a few months till i get onto green p's)
• passenger side handle and lock need to be replaced (they were damaged in a break-in)
• muffler needs to be replaced as half of it is missing.. (gotta love that straight pipe sound )
• needs a new windscreen due to a reasonably large crack
• needs the dents in the rear quarter panels fixed (see pics)
• paintwork needs attention and likely a full respray (opinions on what colour it should become are appreciated)
• needs an orange tail light corner
• the brakes will need some attention to pass a rego inspection
• the passengers seat won't move (found the wire sitting on the floor)
• the radio antenna needs to be replaced/sorted (tempting to remove it altogether and use a hidden one)
• needs a new plastic trim piece for the back of the front drivers side quarter panel (in front of driver door)
• needs the drivers side sunshade re-attached (plastic bracket is destroyed, will likely make my own replacement out of steel)
• the right indicator is temperamental (won't work at certain steering wheel angles if the lever is fully down - will work if the lever is 1mm or so up from fully down)
• its got some oil leaks that need to be found
• various electrical oddity's (eg. passenger side window wont move with drivers side switch - although I haven't tested the passengers side switch either... and if its a jap spec g-limited the mirrors should fold, but I haven't found the switch ect.)

should be a heap of fun and im looking forward to getting it on the road at some point

some rushed photo's I  took just after getting it home (had about 10min before heading off to a family Christmas thing)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freebee
OK guys, heres the pictures of the unusual/strange build and compiance plates.... could also use some help with the detective work to figure out the history of this car... esp. what gearbox is in it now
 

its an import, yet the complance plate says toyoya australia for some strange reason....
 

the first thing that came to mind when I saw this is "WTF!" it has an auto box in it now and yet it was apparently built with an s54
 
oh and if there's anything seriously wrong with sharing a vin no. let me know and ill pull the photos down and re-upload them with it covered....
 
 

 

Carmikey
Something looks a little doggie going on there... AFAIA compliance plates show its an ADM. but it has loads of JDM smell to it. G-limited should have leather / suede seats, pwr side retractorable mirrors etc.
saying that, it does have jdm front indicators, front and rear bars front guards etc.
U have a weird one alright. But you know what? It's an mr2 at the end of the day, so all is GOOD! 😉

 
Something looks a big doggie to me.
The only things that are ADM about that car are the compliance and the VIN plates, and the scratch marks around the rivets make me think the rivets are ADM (Auburn Dodgy Market) 
AFAIK a 'G-limited' could be optioned in any which way by the buyer, which ranged from totally basic autos (which this car seems to be) through to GT type trim and engine options.
 
That VIN shows an ADM T-top manual MR2, colour code 040, which as far as I can tell is super white.
 
Have you got any evidence of the car being registered anywhere?  I'd be having a close look at the REVS paperwork, there has to be some switcheroony going on somewhere.
 
I hope you didn't pay too much for this car, did you buy it off some bloke who was reluctant to give you any paperwork or show you proper ID? Get on to REVS and your state RTA thingy before you spend any money on it, it may be carted away.

Freebee
 
i hadn't been bothered to do a rev's check up until this point, but definitely will (on a side note revs comes up with nothing under that vin if you don't select grey import, so as far as they are concerned its an import) but im not overly worried as it was previously regoe'd in SA for many years up until about 4 months ago (I have seen the most recent rego papers) and if anything dodgy was done it was likely so long ago that nobody cares anymore

 
I don't think it works quite like that, but good luck with it. Let us know how you go.
 
Now being the pessimist I am, and when it comes to buying cars I tend to check things out for theft etc, here's what may be the case here.
 
REVS will show you clear title, no write off damage, for a nice super white ADM t-top manual SW20. The car that the compliance and VIN plates came from was either a non reported write off, or just a ruined car. Bought from wherever and title clear.
 
That white t-top was registered in S.A. - i'm assuming it was kept in NSW and the rego was paid as it was only in NSW 'temporarily'... Who knows, the white SW could have been bought in SA and the compliance and VIN plates removed there and posted over. 
 
Along comes a JDM hardtop auto, it could have been imported as 'race only, never for road use' or just plain old stolen.
 
Take the compliance and VIN plates from your SA registered SW, and whack them onto the JDM car, it's called rebirthing. Nothing to do with being born again and free from sin. 
 
This swap could have happened at any time in the past, not sure about SA but NSW needs 'safety checks' each year for NSW registered cars, taking a NSW car for this check would find problems with the colour mismatch. But hey, if you don't need annual checks in SA, its not going to be checked over. And a SA registered car driving around NSW generally doesn't get too much attention from the authorities unless the drivers have been up to no good.
 
Easy way to tell if the car has ever been registered in australia is to see if it has had anti intrusion bars fitted to the doors. As an import it needs an import compliance plate or it just won't get registration anywhere in australia. Having an ADM compliance plate on a JDM car won't get you too far.
 
Have you seen the VIN on the body of the car? it should be here...

 
If that's been fiddled with or covered over you are out of luck.
 
 
 
 

Carmikey
Funny that dudeman... i recall a white 94 Bathurst smashed over here in adelaide just over 18mths ago.
I will see if i can find the link....wouldn't that be a coincidence.

You'd hope its not the case, but this car is ticking a lot of the wrong boxes.
 
Do S.A. cars need to be inspected yearly to renew rego? 

Dudeman

Carmikey
Funny that dudeman... i recall a white 94 Bathurst smashed over here in adelaide just over 18mths ago.
I will see if i can find the link....wouldn't that be a coincidence.

You'd hope its not the case, but this car is ticking a lot of the wrong boxes.
 
Do S.A. cars need to be inspected yearly to renew rego? 

No.
 
In other news, that VIN is an early '93 one. Facelift cars started from around 87400 or so, from memory. My old one was 885xx.
 
Sounds like you may well have bought a dodgy pup.
 
 

Eric
You can look frame numbers up on toyo diy and it returns the result.

See here for your car
http://www.toyodiy.com/pa..q?vin=Jt763sw2000076946

Somthing is dodgy. This is most deffinetly not an aus delivered car.

Can you take a photo of the frame no on the firewall?

I posted this in the other thread