After selling my mk3 Polo GT with a lust for mid-engined, rear wheel drive thrills I went for an original 1980s MR2 T-bar; This being my 2nd one after finding obscene amounts of rust on the floorpan of the 1st! They are great cars to drive but rust proofing lets them down badly.

The current one is a targa roof model with leather interior and strut braces as standard! It was a mere £400 although admittedly it wasn't without its own problems. Most notably the bottom end had completely gone!

So when the car was towed home it received a new engine, which is a fully rebuilt, ported, polished and gas flowed Toyota 4AGE motor (1600cc, 16-valve with a variable inlet manifold known as T-VIS) producing 131.5bhp. The car was already lowered 35mm on KYB springs and shocks.

The body needs quite a bit of attention even though the chassis is solid. The front wings were rusted so they were replaced by fibreglass versions but the front bumper bar is bent along with the slam panel after the previous owner had a slight bump. The rear arches need cutting out and re-welding as the rot has set in pretty badly:

When that is taken care of, there are some HKS high-lift cams and vernier pulleys are in my garage awaiting fitment. I have also got a set of 8x15" OG Oldskool wheels that were refurbished by JimmyB!

So the plan is to slowly renovate the car over the next few years, suspension, brakes etc. I'm using it daily at the moment but hopefully that will change before too long.

Edited 16 August, 201016 yr by 2Fchris

Hi Nice 2

Looks just like my old one would show you a picture but they are all too big!!!

I would keep the standard wheels just works better with the old school 80's looks.

had to sell mine because it was starting to get like the underneth of the first one you had!

Like HKS bits keep that going!!!!

mr2 looks absolutly top notch with the new wheels - i like a lot :)

that mk3 on steffans was luush

loving the mr2 wheels + interior :)

Alex

Some pics of the wheel refurb! Newly polished rims (they were machined finish before) and gold centres.

Edited 16 August, 201016 yr by 2Fchris

Here she is with my mates Clio 172 Cup after a drive round Bristol:

Here are a few images of the seats being refurbished. They are 'only' sprayed so it isn't a permanent fix but not bad for the money!

My seats were looking a bit tired:

Then Jimmy B from Perfection popped round:

He attacked my seats with sand paper:

Then got filling the cracks with leather compound filler.

Tidied the edges of the holes and filled them with vinyl repair filler and superglue:

Then got spraying with a flexible rubberised paint for leather:

And this is how they look now! Pretty good as I'm sure you will agree.

He also sprayed up the doorhandles as they were faded!

Here are a few images of the seats being refurbished. They are 'only' sprayed so it isn't a permanent fix but not bad for the money!

My seats were looking a bit tired:

Then Jimmy B from Perfection popped round:

He attacked my seats with sand paper:

Then got filling the cracks with leather compound filler.

Tidied the edges of the holes and filled them with vinyl repair filler and superglue:

Then got spraying with a flexible rubberised paint for leather:

And this is how they look now! Pretty good as I'm sure you will agree.

He also sprayed up the doorhandles as they were faded!

what kind of money was it to refurb the seats???

Speak to JimmyB, he carried out the work :) I've known him since primary school so I just paid him in beer and KFC

Just invested in a JDM/US spec rear panel/light clusters:

am amazed by that seat refurb :)

Just got it back from the bodyshop. It's had new rear arches welded in and was painted white over black. 2 tone paint was an option on these cars from Toyota back in the 80s and it is a look I have always wanted on mine!

Pictures taken by a friend with some serious photography skills - his car is the lowwww MX-5.

Edited 8 July, 201115 yr by 2Fchris

nice 2 mate always liked the mk1, get yourself over to mr2oc.co.uk great sites lots of help

Seriously hot.

nice 2 mate always liked the mk1, get yourself over to mr2oc.co.uk great sites lots of help

Cheers mate. I'm registered on all the MR2 forums that I know about! Most of them are very focused on the mk2/3 and the mk1 forums are very quiet. Love popping back to my old stomping ground (clubpolo) every now and again

Seriously hot.

Ta :)

That just looks so sick. Two tone for the win.

Thats pimp! I love MR2s, shame most of em are either ponced about in or end up like my mates:

Oh dear!

Awesome lookin car, two tone = winning! That mx5 is also a beaut.

Love it :-)

Thats pimp! I love MR2s, shame most of em are either ponced about in or end up like my mates:

Oh dear!

Haha, yeah the mk2s do seem to be modded badly quite often. Still, all MR2s are great cheap cars. Brilliant for a taste of the MR layout (that's what got me in to them) and the turbos can be made to go stupidly quick.

chris! thats proper sick mate. Love it

Looks amazing, I bet it's a bloody riot to drive! Gotta love how epically boxy it is too! I'd love one if I could find a cheap one for a project.

Edited 9 May, 201115 yr by iwantcheese5