Hello from Ayrshire Scotland!. Just bought an MR2 MK1b 1987...

[Acollectionofrust]

I bought a bargain Mr2 !!!.........after a £5000 restoration it is almost finished. It has had new cills, arches, joining pieces, wings, front and rear bumper bars, completely polybushed and grease nippled, ball joints replaced,track rod ends, new springs, new shockers and drivers seat rails shortened to give my 33" legs a bit more room and a new windscreen. It has to be resprayed yet though. There are a few problems to sort out yet like door hinges-I can`t find new ones anywhere. And high compression pistons would be nice !!
Anyhoo, I have always loved the MK1 shape and Miami vice and Starsky and Hutch. Yes I am an old bugger !

[autobody]

Welcome to the club. Sounds like all the major rust issues have been dealt with. And should be a nice solid car.

Nice buy.

[Sillyhatday]

Looks like a lot of effort has gone into this.

What sort of exhaust is that?

[Acollectionofrust]

Looks like a lot of effort has gone into this.

What sort of exhaust is that?

Hi, I am not sure what kind of exhaust it is, it was on it when I bought it. It looks unmodified and similar underneath to the standard exhaust. Can you point me in the right direction on how to repair / replace door hinges please. Thanks for your interest !!!

[Sillyhatday]

I can't help with the door hinges, sorry. There are some real knowledgeable people here who will be by soon enough.

[Vistalite]

Good evening and welcome to the club.

If you are in need of door hinges you should get in contact with Paul Sims, who has plenty of spares available. He is currently offering on his website a pair for £12:

http://www.mr2mk1toyotaspares.com/pr...c-2c03ef0664af

[Acollectionofrust]

Good evening and welcome to the club.

If you are I. Need of door hinges you should get in contact with Paul Sims, who has plenty of spares available. He,is currently offering on his website a pair for £12:

http://www.mr2mk1toyotaspares.com/pr...c-2c03ef0664af

Thank you, I have contacted Paul and he has helped me out a lot during my rebuild, he is always helpful and reasonable !. I have also asked for an aerofoil visor as mine has cracked !

[Monkeymax]

Welcome to the club!
Looks great now that all that work has been done. Looks like there was some serious work needed! What was involved for the £5k?
It's going to be stunning once painted.

I'm going to ask a question that may be really contentious... So, I apologise in advance for this question but I have to ask... Why didn't you spend the money buying a more solid Mk1? That is strong money for a Mk1... Were you after a project, or was there something specifically about this car?

Just so you know I'm not being a complete plonker... I have a Mk1 that I've also just spent a fair bit more than its value on, in sorting bits out. I could easily sell it and get a nicer one (or a different car) but I have a connection to this car from my childhood days, (admittedly a distant one) so it's the only Mk1 I want to have (at the moment - though I do often miss my supercharger). So I do get why people spend more than the cars value on sorting them out... Just being nosey as to what your reason was?

[Martin42006]

Welcome to the club, nice to see so much work going into saving this car.

Whilst I agree with Monkeymax that 5k is a fair amount on a mk1 I think it is definitely worth it even if it's not particularly special one to you.
As we know all mk1's have or will require work doing to all the major areas which you seem to have addressed, if you are planing to keep the car for long time then you will never have to worry about rust springing up from what you were told was a "solid car", sills and arches aren't made from filler ect. Which isn't unheard of to happen.

Good work, looking forward to seeing more

[Acollectionofrust]

Hi Monkeymax and Martin42006, Thanks for your interest and hopefully a few tips.
It is a lot of money don`t I know it. I saw the car on gumtree for £800....I got it for £300 whoopee I thought, a bargain. It was only when I started work on it that it literally started to fall to pieces. The costs just kept mounting up and after a couple of grand in panels, windscreen, poly bushes springs shocks bumper bars front and back and labour for the welder/fabricator I couldn`t stop and throw all the money away.....sob...sob. I would not spend that kind of money on repairing a modern car. I have always Liked the shape of the Mk1 as I remember them from my teens. I also like 1980`s bikes. I like the rawness and the fact that they are pretty much unique. Yes you can get a better car for the money and more modern.........I have a modern car so does Tom, Dick and Harry oh and the Jones`s next door lol....they don`t have a MR2 MK1b !!!. To me it is a special car and without cutting corners that`s what it has cost me and I hope to enjoy it for years to come.......fingers crossed !