New MR2 Owner Finally! with pics.

[james123]

Well I've finally become an MR2 member!! So Happy!

I've been looking for one for a while now, as I live on the Isle of Man theres only 6 over here that i know off.

Mine is a 87b sunroof in matt black, but bonnet and engine lid is gloss black, I'm not sure if to keep those bits gloss black or paint the rest matt.. what are your thoughts???

Heres a few pics i took...











needs a few things doing to get it running and it needs to go through its manx test as it has ran out off tax so it really needs to be in good condition.

Thanks for looking.

[yellowmitch]

Hi James!

Congrats on getting a mk1.

Yours is a mk1a, and not a 1b as you had thought.

I can tell this by the front valances, the door panels inside and the engine cooling vent.

If your car was originally black then you should keep it as such, but spray it gloss black please. Matt is horrid

[Kateg28]

I have seen a matte black car in the flesh and it looked amazing but it was done realy really well. Normally I would prefer gloss as when they are polished up they look amazing too.

So I am not much help really. If I really had to choose one, and it was my car, I would go for gloss.

[chgough]

Its all a question of taste - but matt black cars look like the inside of a frying pan to me!

Welcome to the MR2 'clan' - hope you have fun with it.

Cheers

[james123]

i would like to go all gloss black but most off the car is matt so i'm just going to wait a hopefully give it a full respray in the winter...

I'm still confuesed as weather it is a a or b.. initally i thought it was an a but i then thought it was a b as the cam cover writing was red, the air filter looks like it was in the boot before it had a k&n, and the reciept for the koni suspension was for a 87-89 b.
I'm confused... any body know any differences between the a and b so i can tell for sure what it is??

[Kateg28]

The quickest way for me is the air intake. On 1a it has a vertical stripe (like yours), whereas on the 1b it has 4 (or maybe 5) horizontal stripes. However, you may be able to swap them so might not be absolute way to tell. Put a 1a and a 1b together I can tell from the nose, the 1a is more rounded/blunter than the 1b but I struggle unless I see them together.

There are other visual ways but lots of these can be changed. Other people on here are far more knowledgable than me so you will get some more answers.

[Jak_01]

Hello,
I personally like the matt black on it, gives it a nice touch and is something a bit different
My dads black MR2 is a mk1a/b cross over as his as mk1b side intake but mostly mk1a things on it such as the wheels, seats and front bumper and valance, centre console etc.
As said above by Kateg28 the only differences I also know of on yours is the side air intake (mk1a), front valance and bumper (mk1a), then again there are leather seats which I think were MK1B only?. Also the centre console has the ash tray towards the drivers side which is mk1b feature. You can also tell by the centre radio/heater controls surround but I could not see these in the pics.
So it looks like your MR2 is truly a half MK1/a and B

Thanks
Jack

[james123]

I asked the last owner and he's confirmed it is a B

The things should arrive tomorrow to get it running so gonna hopefully get it running after work

[No3157]

Engine bay/boot bulkhead is the ONLY non-replaceable piece which dictates engine type(well, can be replaced, buta damned lot of work)...

1b has air filter hole into boot on left hand side, 1a doesn't

Everything else on a car could be retro fitted to look factory, bulkhead replacement of that level WOULD be noticable in ~all cases, I'd say...

James, nice car chap...but I'm biased(we like black)...

[james123]

Cheers Mate

I'm going to keep it as it is for now and save up for a full respray in either red or gloss black, reason being because half off it is already black from recent resray, but the inside is still red.