That’s how much I spent on my old MR2 for the following upgrades and repairs:
ACT performance clutch
Water Pump, Timing Belt, Timing Belt Tensioner and Pulley, Cam Seal, Crank Seal, Oil Pump Seal
Front Motor Mount
Brake pads – Axxis Metal Master performance pads
Brake fluid – Super Blue high temperature brake fluid
Brake bleeders – Russell brake bleeders
Brake hoses – Goodridge stainless steel braided brake lines
A whopping $960.75 of this amount was spent on labor for the clutch, water pump, etc.
A garage with a lift and engine hoist, lots of spare time, and a spare car could save me lots of money.
Hopefully I’ll get some of this back from the insurance company.
I picked up the car on Friday, and noticed a weird noise coming from behind the passenger compartment. I’d noticed on the previous day when I test drove the car, but only heard the noise when I was on the freeway and not when I was driving on local streets afterwards.
Anyway, I jacked the car up and started jiggling the wheels. I could shake the rear left wheel much more than the right. I also noticed that tranny oil was leaking from the left axle. Ugh.
I’m going to take the car to Toyota this week and see if they can isolate the problem. Hopefully they can fix it. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive.
I still would advocate that people buy used cars, but now I’m going to start recommending that people spend the $75 and take it to a mechanic to put the car up and check out everything from underneath.
Tomorrow I will be picking up this 1991 Toyota MR2:
It has 167,000 miles on it. Aside from the aftermarket stereo, the car is completely stock, and in fairly good condition. In fact, this car has much better paint than my old car. My car had some bad oxidation on the spoiler and front bumper. My front bumper was also screwed up.
It has a leather interior and leather seats, but the leather on the seats is in bad shape, and will probably need to be replaced at some future date. There are other minor issues with it, but all in all, I’m quite pleased.
Modifications to be made:
Air intake
Timing
16″ wheels
Brake lines and pads
Motor mounts
Performance clutch
Suspension
Exhaust (high flow muffler and straighter pipe)
“PEERING THROUGH the sweat trickling into the corners of my eyes and the heat haze pouring from the bonnet, the lairy stickers and paint job really aren’t needed to reveal that this Vauxhall VX220 Turbo has been through a radical transformation. I press the throttle and further confirmation arrives with the cacophony of induction noise, turbo whistle, dump valve explosions and exhaust snarl.”
–Peter Grunert, Top Gear
Unfortunately, Top Gear’s taken down the story from which I grabbed the quote. Here’s more on the car from evo Car Reviews: Vauxhall VX220 Turbo Sprint
