...Well at the moment its the MR2. As per the plan i have pulled the Camaro to the 'rents for storage so i can get this wee puppy back to rude health. Initial fears were that the non antifreeze'd engine had ripped a headgasket o something during the winter freeze. Turns out the worst i had to deal with was replacing some weakened coolant pipework and hoses. New rubber lines installed and its holding unpressurized water in the back. Tried to start it but the battery is fairly flat. Tomorrow should see it running and hopefully the coolant holding!
Next up i had to address the exterior. First was getting the old 3 spokes off and something a bit more appeasing to the eyes:
Same size as before but a bit more universal than the dated 3 spokes. So thats the wheels sorted, next i had to deal with the dented bonnet: £20 from eBay:
Sorted! Next i had to instal another little purchase i made, but cost a bit more than 20 quid. Scoop ahoy!
As you can see theres a charger on there too, battery seems to be failing to hold a charge... another expense on the list!
Moving on from mods, the window wipers were also a reasonably easy fix. The balljoints connecting the arms to the rods had failed so a second hand set were sourced and retrofitted. Wipers are fixed.
Engine coolant leaks were an easy fix too, transpired they were fractured metal pipes and perished rubber hoses. a wee bit of jiggery pokery had that sealed, and the collant topped up with antifreeze (fool me once...)
As we were half way through feb i saw no point in taxing the 2 and gifting governmental cunts with free tax. The MR had gained a couple of weeks grace in the garage so i decided to niggle hunt and futureproof the perishable items to prevent further breakdowns. I also decided to chop the springs to improve the rideheight a bit... First the front:
Strut removed!
Strut split
Front end split. Everything seems ok on the suspension front on this side, only areas needing addressed are the ratty flexis, a flexi retaining clip which disintegrated on removal and some better discs. Once reassembled with one coil removed teh difference was substantial:
Not ridiculously low but a definite improvement on stance.Certainly low enough for me to have issues getting the jack out!! Now the rear: Much like the front in every sense as the suspension is independant in the back too. In fact, its pretty much a FWD clip flung in the rear of a car and the tie rods clamped! Biggest issue back here was the droplinks which had siezed threads. Simple solution:
Chop clean through the bolt with a thin angle discs and give it a chap. Bye bye nut!! Sadly the links themselves are dead, so 2 rear links are added to the shopping list! Another coil out the rear and that was the drivers side of the car appraised and dropped!
So half way there! Got new discs and front pads on the way, and rear droplinks are ordered. Still need to source braided brake lines and some new retaining clips for them, and that should do it for the MR2! Oh, and drop the passenger side!
Not long till the Camaro returns and i have a fiesty roadster for the summer!!
