Thought I'd put this up. I bought Ste's crashed MR2 earlier in the week, and have spent the past coupla days going over it. I was looking for a decent 4A-GE engine for my '84 Corolla, and just ended up with it! It came with a =shitload= of dealer receipts and all MOT history!

I drove it up to Tescos, and it wouldn't start again on a new battery. Gave it a push start and it was going again:



Anyway, yesterday I struggled getting the bonnet open, and removed the wing, and today got at the rest.



The floors had gone a long time ago - 20 year old car, wouldn't expect anything less!





Didn't think it would be this bad, the mount is crumpled:



And part of the inner wing has been pushed back:



But looking at it, it's a day's work straightening it out and welding a new corner on. The nearly new crossmember is bent and will need replacing.



There's no saving that!



Fortunately, it hasn't touched the chassis and everything is straight:



How I left it! I've never done anything like this in this car park area, and the neighbours have been asking.



I also made use of a 'Rug Doctor' hired by the missus from B&Q and gave the seats and carpet a good clean. It really shifts ground in stuff and brings it back to new:



I've got a bonnet and bumper, just need a wing ... from somewhere. And a load of interior bits (just because they were there):

Replaced the O-rings in the manifold to exhaust today, and it no longer blows!



The old ones were totally buggered!



A bloke called Jon who drops kids off in his bus saw what I was doing and said his neighbour had broken his crashed red MR2 and he had a wing and basically 'half a car' and said I could have the lot for 50 quid. It included glass, all the suspension/running gear, boot, engine cover, some trim and rubbers, headlights and covers, and most importantly a rust free, undamaged wing.

It was like a miracle. What's the chances of that happening?!

That's what you call a R E S U L T !!!

great to see this being repaired

let me know if you want to sell the dampers and springs

I just can't say no to anything! Anything I'm offered I have to buy it! I've got the dampers and springs in the garage, there's driveshafts and roll bars. Haven't really looked at them yet.

Got a letter through the door at my folk's from someone who wants to sell his MR2 to me for spares.

excellent mate.

Looking good matey

Been driving this round a bit, haven't made much progress, but done a bit.
Bodged an MGF alternator on as the old one wasn't earthing (and wasn't charging).





Got the alloys old paint removed and cleaned and resprayed:



Received new sills, rear quarters and front corner in the mail so will start welding them in this month some time. Fixed the niffy petrol smell by extending the tank vent pipe into the back of the car (and not the chassis).

Ahhhhhhhhh so thats what causes it

Yeah, there's a pipe coming from the tank and it goes straight into a valve and into the chassis under the car. Valve wears out and leaks.

cool, good to know, have you done anythink else yet?

Just resprayed the bonnet and bumper.
Been tidying out my garage tbh, I've got a skip's worth of plastic trim that needs to go!

Few more pics:





Still needs a big load of work, but at least it's no longer half white!

Looking good mate. Keep up the good work

Looking good matey seen you the other day by the halfway house

I put the car on the bay of e, and was asked to take some photos of the rusty floors. I started to pick around with a screwdriver, and then got the drill with a end on it to get the sound deadening off for a better look, Before I knew it, I'd gone too far and ended up cutting out the bad bits with an angle grinder.
Not sure if it's worse than I expected, but it's never nice! I think the leaky t-bar roof's cause this much on the floor?
Driver's floor was welded up years ago, but was not rust proofed, so was rusted worse than the 20 year old rust. It was also welded over the old rusty metal. Totally pointless.

There's meant to be a rail running the full length under here, but it's gone - Toyota, why did you make this car so rust-prone?!?!


Driver's side is an "easy" job, there's a few patches on the back:



But passenger's is worse - all the corners are gone, under the seat rail, etc.



The front isn't too bad, the rail was totally intact. A few patches will get it through an MOT!



Hooray for my unbelievably crappy welding:

So, are you keeping it now you have done this work

As long as the welds are up to the job - its not like anyone is going to see it all under there

No, someone won on ebay and it's going to Plymouth on the weekend. There's no more rust and no holes. I'd deffo have another one of these but no more rust thanks.

fook!

Shame all that work and you're not keeping it

I'll be working away next month so I can't keep much anymore. I didn't really mention in the ad about massive holes in the floors, there's a couple of other things as well, it doesn't take too long and I quite like doing it. I did the other side today (got too dark to finish it properly), will hopefully do the little bits tommorow:

Car was picked up today and taken to Plymouth (!). Spent nearly a week getting it looking nice.