Mir 1993 GTS & Mini Mir 1987 AW11
Now updated to include our new addition, see the bottom of this post...
Hi All,
Long time lurker on here, reading through what the guys across the ditch were doing to their MR2's. But now living in oz but more importantly only recently have I had my car back to enjoy after a very long rebuild by Terry at Road & Track.
The car was first purchased back in 2004 while I was in NZ. It was a Japanese import GTS. I was looking for a black hard top that wasn't optioned with all the extra bits but had the basics. No ABS, basic electric mirrors, no cruise. A real drivers car. Most importantly it was a turbo with manual gearbox.
It was an August 1993 manufactured car so missed out (but only just) all the Revision upgrades. It had the bilsteins suspension upgrades and everything else that went with the changes end of 91.
Apart from a pod filter, some spark plug leads and different wheels the car was unmolested. The only issue was the heater didn't work and had been bypassed. This made for some very chilly late night drives in Wellington.
And for the princely sum of $6500 New Zealand Peso's it was mine.
It got driven for a couple of years before Tessa and I moved to Oz. It was then driven on a dark and dreary day to New Zealand Van Lines where it was put in a container. Below is it's last day on New Zealand soil
With the car landed in Brisbane and passed through customs Wridgeways passed it on to compliancing which entailed new indicator lenses at the front, seat belts, back tires (they were pretty bald) and a new battery as the 6 weeks in a container had drained it.
Finally in a country where a heater is an optional accessory for a car and I could finally make use of the air-conditioning.
I drove it like this for about 6 months before taking my brother for a drive and doing a quick change between 1st and 2nd the car's exhaust note changed as the exhaust pipe behind the flex snapped due to the rust that had been growing. I tried the cheap weld it up but there wasn't much to weld on to.
So now was time to do what I had been planning for a few years.
The car was then booked in to Road & Track and the build process begun with me emailing Terry every few weeks with a new idea and a little bit more to do to the car.
Started off as just a rebuilt engine and box to freshen things up.
Then I though why not get a gen 3 gearbox rebuilt for it. And why not get some forged pistons and conrods for as well. How about the higher lift cams. WTA intercooling. Oil cooler and filter relocation.
In the end Terry had it for 12 months of build time. All for just getting the exhaust replaced.
Here's a couple of photos part way through with the front off and awaiting the parts for the intercooler. Doesn't it look dejected and lonely done in Terry's Toyota graveyard?
The car was finished up and ready to come out for my 30th. Since then it has had the first 1000km to let the engine bed in then it's first run out with the QLD chapter.
Now that the cars back I've been able to start putting on the bits of collected while it was being built and so far it's looking like this.
Interior:Twos R Us shifter surround with solid steel knob
TRD Short shifter with Two R Us brass shifter bushings
Pioneer head unit
Suspension, Wheels and Brakes: Bilstein shocks front and rear (all replaced)
Lowered springs
Lucas pads
Enkei GTC01 in 17x7 and 17x9 with Falken 452 in 215\40 and 255\40
Body:Twos R Us bonnet struts
Twos R Us engine cover strut
Optima yellow top battery and new terminals
Mongoose alarm
TRD front strut brace
Engine:Another block (the original was warped)
Forged pistons
Lightened conrods
ARP head studs
Mild head porting
KO Racing valve cover bolts
264 degree cams and heavy duty valve springs
TRD Alloy oil cap (Super Rice!!)
All new hoses, gaskets, seals and everything else
KO Racing ceramic coated 3" exhaust
Heavy duty engine mounts
Rebuilt and flowed turbo
ST205 water to air intercooler conversion
Arc cold airbox
Walbro fuel pump
Remote oil filter with oil cooler in stock intercooler spot
Lightened flywheel & heavy duty clutch
Twos R Us braided teflon clutch cable
Gen 3 gearbox with LSD
A big thanks go to Terry and the crew at Road and Track for helping me get through a long and adventurous build.
And lastly a picture of the front showing the heat exchanger fitted in front of the standard radiator.
Now the question is what mods are next.
Interior:Some more stereo gear, the stock speakers just aren't doing it
Some new seats (Bride Gias??) or retrim them and the doors
LED dash cluster change
A couple more gauges nicely intergrated
New steering wheel, the stiching is coming off the current one
Body:Toms front sides and rear spoiler (ready for fitting with new paint)
Rev 3 wing
Clear indicator lenses (ready for fitting with new paint)
New paint, 16 years and it's showing it, some exterior trim pieces are fading and need replacing too
Engine:Motec ECU
KO Racing GT3071R turbo kit
Wolfkatz fuel rail and new injectors
Some new leads the dodgy no brand yellow ones poo poo me
Suspension, Wheels and Brakes:Still looking here, but 17" with Toyo RA1's in 255/40 and 205/40
Leaning towards Enkei RP01's or some SSR's.
Slotted disks
Braided brake lines
Cusco cylinder stopper
TRD rear strut brace
AND NOW FOR THE NEW ADDITION....Mini MirWe recently picked up this Oz delivered 1987 AW11 Hardtop manual in Gunmetal Grey with 203,000km's on the clock from another forum member.
We got her for a good price without a roadworthy cert, so we knew that there might be some issues but weren't too worried as the intention is to use it as a project car with the eventual aim of turning it into a track car (and for Mrs Kodaz to learn to drive a manual in
)
As it turned out she passed the roadworthy ok, with the exception of needing 2 new front tyres, so that was good news.
We also replaced the battery as the old one had died.
Overall the exterior paint is good with the exceptioon of the front bumper which is peeling and a few scratches here and there.
The interior is in pretty good condition and has come up nicely with a bit of elbow grease. We'll look to get some MR2 mats from TwosRus to finish it off for the moment.
