Alec's 87 AW11
I figured I should start a build thread for my own reference, hopefully it brings entertainment and inspiration to other members of the forum.
My name is Alec Cutler. I live in Sydney and have owned my aw11 (aptly named "scraps") since ~November 2012.
I fell in love with this car as soon as I saw the gumtree ad, but couldn't afford it... I kept an eye on it until I saw the ad get removed from gumtree.. I assumed it was sold. About a month later it went back up for sale with some front end damage and a cheaper price tag. Apparently the PO hit a wombat.
I sold my st204 celica as quick as I could to get the money together for this. I arranged to have the car shipped from Victoria to Sydney.
These are some pictures of when it first arrived.
So this is my 1987 aw11 mr2.
- 4AGZE
- C52 transmission
- D2 coilovers
- Supercheap auto cannon
- xxr 513's (16x8 +0)
- very poorly painted to a dark purple
- nardi wheel
So the car needed a little more work than I was expecting... It was in worse condition than I was hoping.
I took the front end apart to inspect the damage.
Radiator crossmember was ruined
Valence panel was ruined
Pretty bad, but nothing that can't be fixed.
At this time, I was (and still) was short on money, so I threw it back together as best I could on my own.
I picked up a new rad crossmember from Paul Sims I think..
I didn't have the ability or availability of a welder, I decided to bolt the crossmember in.
I had the radiator pressure tested to make sure it was still fine. It was good, no damage to it at all amazingly!
I picked up a new lip, some new indicators and put it back together.
The next thing I needed to do to get it registered was the exhaust. It was pretty damn loud.
This was clearly a quality muffler..
Surprisingly my quick fix wasn't good enough!
So I went to Liverpool exhaust to get something made up.
This exhaust got the job done, it did drone a fair bit but it sounded great at 7k RPM ;)
More importantly, it got my through my blue slip.
YEP! somehow this passed a blue slip.
I am fairly certain my mechanic felt sorry for me. after several weeks of this sitting outside his shop I think he decided to just pass it and get it out of the way :P
Now at this point in time I had not driven the car more than ~30m so I still wasn't sure what it was like.
It was horrible.
I have never been as terrified of a car as I was the very first time I drove this on a road.
It was sloppy, it would try to pull itself in every direction except straight. Turning corners, the tyres would skip and chirp.
So I immediately took it to get an alignment. and then I washed it.
The alignment helped a lot, the car was actually a drivable car now which was nice.. but more could be done.
I ordered
- steering rack rebuild kit
- poly bushing kit
- all ball joints
- rear tie rods
And I replaced all of these in my garage over a few days.
I got a better alignment done and the difference was incredible. I have not had a better car related feeling than the day I drove this thing home after getting it registered compared to the day I got it aligned after putting all this in, my heart had a boner.
This is the mr2 everybody loves. This thing is literally a go kart.
So I think currently I am up to the 4th time that my speedo has stopped working.
(doing 110 in my driveway while the car is off.)
The first time I replaced the key
The second time I replaced the gear and the housing
The third time I replaced the assembly that bolts to the transmission
Currently the speedo cable is snapped... it never ends.
I also had to replace the fuel pump which, as we all know, is not the easiest of jobs.
I had a bit of brake fluid leaking from the booster which i cleaned up and primered the frunk to avoid rust where the paint had peeled
I spent some time chasing down issues with suspension.
I hit a speed hump a little too hard one day and ripped the sway bar link connector off the coilover ring
I got that welded back on and a few weeks later it happened to the other side.
I took it to Pedders to ask for advice and they told me that the drop links were too short.
I got Pedders to make up some new ones for me but they still weren't quite right.. With them in, the steering didn't want to correct itself after a corner.
The pedders drop links seized after about 3 months so I took out the front sway bar.
The D2 coilovers are so stiff that the sway bar wasn't adding any benefit anyway.
Who says mr2's aren't practical? I can fit my bike in the passenger seat.
I did pick up the stock intake piping to replace the pod filter that was in the boot.
My friends decided they would make their own intake.
and exhaust.
This car was my daily and the noise was getting to me.
The road noise, the exhaust, the stiffness was all incredibly tiring, so I started to do stuff about.
I got a new exhaust.
This is a Fujitsubo Power getter cat back exhaust.
Very pricey, but if you're willing to spend the money its probably the best bolt on option. I love it!
I decided to take it a little too far and I dynamatted the interior
This did make quite a difference to the sound level inside the car, I think it was a little unnecessary.
I would recommend doing the insides of the doors to most cars, that is where the biggest difference came from.
I also picked up some amp/sub combos for cheap
My brother picked up a 3sgte sw20. 1991 model, gen 3 engine with a ct26
I upgraded from Federal 595's to ATR sports, 195/45/16... I wasn't a fan of the federals but I am enjoying the ATRs.
in the future I will probably use wider tyres.
I picked up the NST pulley kit. I am running around 14psi now.
I've had the bearing in the tensioner fail on me twice
I got some new plates
I still have some issues with the headlight wiring, the drivers side motor won't work.
I went to buy a new motor and it was cheaper to buy 3 motors, 2 headlights and a bunch of other pieces for $50.
But when I went to go replace it, i tested all 5 of my motors on both sides of the car... it seems to be a wiring issue with the drivers side, not a faulty motor.
Shortly after I started having some more electrical troubles, I was getting the alternator error code and for whatever reason I was convinced it was the voltage regulator that was at fault.
It wasn't easy to track down a voltage regulator since they are specific to the GZE AW11's. I was quoted $300 from castle hill toyota for a brand new one.
I picked up a second hand one and found out that wasn't the issue. My next place to check was the alternator.
Again, the alternator is specific to the GZE AW11's.
I pulled mine out and had a look inside
My issue was the brush assembly had melted (mine is on the right)
Using toydiy, I found out that the brush assembly is also used in some cressidas and either camrys or corollas?
So I went to a wreckers and picked up the brush assembly for $2.
I cleaned it up, put it back together and its been going fine ever since.
I have always been very budget conscious so $2 for an alternator repair vs $250 for a rebuild, i was cheering!
met some friends over time..
squad goals.. some of my friends cars
its a rare sighting to see an mr2 at a western sydney meet, but we managed to find one of each gen at a downshift meet.
toyotafest 2014
Went to Bathurst with the mr2 NSW crew
I picked up a starlet as a cheap daily/ second race car :P
a starlet was my very first car so it is nice to be back in one!
There is a member on the mr2Australia forum that I owe a huge thanks to...
alex90gt Has (had?) a 1mz sw20. He originally had a gen 2 3sgte.
Alex90gt was kind enough to give away his 3sgte for a case of ciders worth ~$50.
Yep, he gave me the whole engine with most accesssories, loom, turbo, manifolds for $50.
It was an incredibly generous offer.
I have had the head and the block reconditioned... They were both in pretty good condition, I had to replace 1 valve.
I picked up a ct20b as well.. need to get that reconditioned. (hoping to do a ct21)
Now it is all sitting around waiting to go back together.
I picked up some 4 pots to go with the new engine. I also have sw20 rears waiting to go on.
Whenever I see this radiator cap it reminds me of the slow demise of my car.
A few months ago I started chasing some cooling issues.
The car overheated out of the blue one day, then it started doing it every week or 2.. something was wrong.
All the coolant was being transferred to the overflow tank because it was boiling.
One time I had a hose burst off while driving.
I tried replacing the radiator cap
I tried replacing the thermostat
I tried flushing the radiator and the coolant lines
I replaced a rusted pipe
Nothing worked and it kept happening.
This brings us to now.
The car has a blown head gasket and is sitting under a car cover at my parents place, being neglected.
Heres some pretty pictures, until I start making some more progress on the car.
Money is tight so progress is slow :(
