I purchased this 1989 MR2 AW15 about two months ago now with the intention of using it as a daily driver. After a few cooling issues and and good look around the engine I've discovered that this car needs a fair amount of minor work and that I'll have to pull the engine to do most of with reasonable accomodations. I figured if I'm pulling the engine might as well turn this car into my full blown dream machine for this chassis. I'll try and update this thread as I progress through this project, but not having any employment currently will slow my progress once the actual building starts. For now I'll work on pulling the engine and ripping aparts the block and head and giving everything a good solid cleaning. Here's a basic list of my plans for this vehicle, but nothing is set in stone:
-Rehone block, possibly machine head if it's needed
-Install new water pump, oil pump, timing equipment, alternator, belts, freeze plugs, etc
-Clean entire engine bay including all electrical connectors and vaccum lines
-Replace radiator, thermostat, radiator cap, coolant resevoir, and cooling fans
-Replace fuel pump, fuel filter, clean injectors, and inspect all lines
-Refinish the body and re-paint the car Ferrari Red (I think the official name is Monza Red, not sure)
-Build a custom interior with full toggle switch control system, bucket seats w/harnesses, and custom guages
-Re-vamp the suspension including new shocks and springs (pretty sure it's on cut springs currently, rides very rough and bottoms out often), sway bars, aftermarket strut bars, etc
-Upgrade the wheels and tires (one of the last things I'll be doing)
-Give the engine just a little something extra (keeping this a secret for now)
I plan to do everything I can myself either at home or at my school (I'm on track to get my master tech license and a degree in automotive technology within the next 2-3 years) and leave areas I don't feel comfortable with (such as body work and painting) to better qualified individuals. I don't have a time table or strict schedual for any of this, but obviously the sooner the better. Finding solid employment will be the only thing that impeeds my progress since time is no issue. I'll try to keep this thread updated as much as possible with pictures and comments and I'm sure I'll come across many problems and questions to share as well. Feel free to leave me a comment in this thread or give your two cents, I'll make my best attempt to read them all.
February 9th Progress Report:
-Got the coolant drained and the resevoir removed, coolant in the system wasn't as bad as I suspected but the resevoir was disgustingly dirty and gummed up. Removed the alternator as well which is in rather sad shape and will need to be replaced soon. The belts are pretty frayed, glad I stopped driving the car when I did! Just draining the coolant and getting in and around the water pump area took me all day, I plan to get as much extra stuff off the engine as I can in the next few days so that I can borrow a friend's cherry picker to pull the engine and transmission. No pictures of todays progress but I'll try to get some next time I do some major work.
Forum for every generation Toyota MR2. Including the AW11 and SW20.
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