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1988 Toyota MR2 NA
Owner since October 31st, 2009. My first and only project car and how I discovered the joy of driving. It's not my ideal dark blue pearl 1989 supercharged manual AW11 with T-tops, but I can always pick up one of those at a later time. For this one, I have no fears of messing it up while getting some much needed hands-on experience with working on and driving cars.

Originally, the goals were to fix it up just enough to make it roadworthy and learn how to drive manual. Now that I've accomplished these goals, it's time to fix up the rest, restore it a little, and possibly give it more character. The only confirmed modifications done at the moment are TRD springs. The items with ? are possibilities.

I have little time and even less money so updates will be slow. Below I've listed my upcoming plans in order of approximately when I'll get to them. Any tips and help will be appreciated immensely. Budget is $1k for everything, excluding tools but including parts and labor.

Repairs Needed
Sunroof leak
Trunk release
Exhaust leak - Gaskets?
Reverse lights - Loose wire?
Suspension-related bushings - Steering Rack ($15), Control Arm ($20 each), Front Sway Bar ($10)
A/C (Needs to be recharged. Compressor doesn't engage)
Minor oil pan leak - $14
Hand brake - possibly bad rear brakes
Valve cover leak - $38
Fluid flush

Upgrades Wanted
Headlights
Front lip - Repair own?
Bodywork and Paint - Hammer, bondo, and Rustoleum
Audio system - Fix rear speakers and subwoofer?
Seats - Cipher Auto ($450/pair)
Wheels - TR Motorsports C1 ($356/set; $308 for Yokohama S. Drives)

I'm always looking for authoritative resources about driving, race car design, etc. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to post it and I'll add it to my list of things to read/watch.

Driving
http://www.speedsecrets.com/

Aerodynamics
Race Car Aerodynamics: Designing for Speed by Joseph Katz
Competition Car Downforce: A Practical Handbook by Simon McBeath
http://www.up22.com/Aerodynamics.htm
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/Racecar/

General
Automotive Chassis Systems by James D. Halderman
Automotive Engine Performance by James D. Halderman
Automotive Technology: Principles, Diagnosis, and Service by James D. Halderman
Street Turbocharging: Design, Fabrication, Installation, and Tuning of High-Performance Street Turbocharger Systems by Mark Warner

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Exterior
Front
Headlights Up
Driver Side 1
Driver Side 2
Passenger Side 1
Passenger Side 2
Rear Upper
Rear Lower
Underneath Front
Underneath Center
Underneath Rear
Frunk (have spare tire)
Frunk Rust
Driver Side Dent 1
Driver Side Dent 2
Front Left Valence Rust (have replacement part)
Front Bumper and Left Fender
FL Damage Overhead
Right Headlight Closed
Passenger Side Dent 1
Passenger Side Dent 2
RL Fender (have triangle protectors)
RR Fender Rust (worst spot on car)

Interior
Driver Side Doorway Front
Passenger Side Doorway Front
Passenger Side Doorway Rear
Driver Side Seat
Driver Side Floor Pan
Dashboard
Radio
Split in Dash
Temporary Sunroof Leak Fix
Broken Passenger Side Rear Speaker Trim
Trunk
Trunk Pan

Engine Bay
Engine Bay Pic 1
Engine Bay Pic 2

I will update this post as I go along.

This post has been edited by Kiroshino on Mar 15 2012, 04:13 PM

You'll be alright. Older Japanese cars like your MR2 or my Impreza or Vivio are like toys. They're sorta easy to dig into and repair on one's own - that IS, with the right tools.

Goodluck

That could be a problem, seeing that I don't have too many tools available to me. It doesn't help that most of the tools that I do have aren't in metric units.

I'm glad everything is more basic than a modern-day car, though. No power steering, no power locks, no power windows... Fewer things to worry about going wrong or, if they do go bad, they're probably easier to fix.

Thanks.

You know, when I started out with my first car, I had no tools either.

But now, (back home in Canada at least) my garage is loaded with tools - and even a powerful aircompressor and an impact wrench.

The key is this - as you repair your car one step at a time, you'l require a new tool, one step at a time - eventually, your car will be completely repaired aaaand your garage will be stocked with useful tools.

Baby steps, step by step.

Hehe, no doubt. Taking on everything at once might be too overwhelming anyway. XD

Yep, usually when a beginner is looking to buy a car, he or she tends to look at the BIG picture and gives up on a bad car. If you're serious - you'll take things step by step and eventually the car will transform into the way you want it to be.

Looking at all it's problems at once and thinking too hard about how to repair them all, it is definitely overwhelming.

Well, here's my proposed first step: repair everything that needs to be fixed for inspection. This would include:
1) Fixing the central brake light (probably just replacing the bulb)
2) Patch up the muffler
3) Replacing the broken side mirror
... and that's pretty much it that I know of. After that, as long as I pass emissions, I should be fine getting the car street legal.

This post has been edited by Kiroshino on Nov 1 2009, 05:02 PM

That's an excellent first step.

When I got my red impreza, my first step was to change the snow tires to all seasons (cuz it was summer), swap the ricer muffler it originally had for a quieter muffler off a WRX, and swap the feeble rear sway bar for a slightly thicker WRX rear sway bar (which too, after having served me for 4 years, will be swapped to something thicker).

You make it sound like those things were the easy to do. XD

From what I've been reading, the AW11 didn't have rear anti-sway bars after 1985 so I don't think I'll need to mess with one just yet.

YES, as with any new car, especially an old car that has been sitting around for a while, an oil change is the best way to start so just for peace of mind, rather than "might" need an oil change, it simply "needs" and oil change

As for the rough idle, could be anything from spark plugs, to faulty MAFs (mass air flow sensors), quite a few possibilities, but just start with the basics, take out the plugs, see their condition, measure the gap etc

Good luck with the car, I almost bought the SC version a few years ago

Well, I also had help from friends.

LOL, which reminds me how I got a friend to help - the previous owner had a big subwoofer box in the trunk and an amp. Really heavy things, just weighed the car down sorta, but he was looking for a subwoofer and amp for his sister's car - so I (who didn't have the facilities at the time), arranged it so that if he helped me install the rear sway bar, I'd give him the subwoofer.

LOL, it was a double win situation for me, and a win situation for him.

First tools:

Socket sets. One regular depth, one deep well. The only reason you need the regular depth sockets is for tight spaces, which you will inevitably encounter in that car. If the deep well fits, use it. Get impact sockets if you can, you'll end up buying an impact wrench later on.

Socket wrench. While not necessary, it's nice to have. It's effectively just for getting out bolts that have already been broken loose, but won't turn easily by hand (aka rusty ones).

Breaker bar. A 12" bar with a 3/8" end should be fine. This will always serve you well. You can pick up larger ones, but you're better off getting a torque wrench (and you will, later) at that point.

Combination wrenches. If they're ratcheting, they're of that much more valve to you. These are great for small stuff like battery tie-downs and belt tensioners, but come in real handy where you can't get a socket in.

A pipe. Preferably of the smallest diameter that fits over the largest of your combination wrenches. It's effectively free mechanical advantage, but be careful not to snap stuff off. A 3 foot length seems to work pretty good for me.

Buy brand name everything. Snap-on or Craftsman. Snap-on tools are much sturdier, much more expensive, and if you break one you're SOL. I prefer craftsman because while they can break easier, you take that broken tool into your local Sears and they hand you a brand new one, no questions asked.

You can probably do 90% of all work on your car with that list.

aw man, those adjustable torque wrenches have saved my balls when I did engine work.

djmisio85: My dad said the same thing about the oil change. Going to change my "might" to "need".

I'm going to research what's involved in a tune-up. If it doesn't seem too difficult, that's probably where I'll start to diagnose the engine problems. Otherwise, I'll just go to a Toyota dealer and get it done there.

The SC version costs double that of the NA version for some odd reason. Personally, I'd rather have a NA version and swap in a 20v 4AGE for the same price or less, but that's not going to happen for a while.

WRX Demon: Ah, none of my friends are interested in cars. In fact, I don't really trust them anywhere near a car (unless I'm the one driving). So, I guess it's time to make more friends.

cmspaz: Thanks for making me a list. Looks like I have some shopping to do. Fortunately, I already have a good socket wrench and set (a little less than half are in metric units, but hopefully those are enough). I'll have to get a new set of combination wrenches since all of mine are in inches.

Two questions:
1) What's this "pipe" you're referring to and what is it used for?
2) Is a torque wrench absolutely crucial (aside from doing engine work), or will a socket wrench be adequate? What type of torque wrench do you recommend?

see, the thing is, alot of times (more than often) bolts need to be tightened to a certain amount of torque. Overtightening something can cause it to break or not tightening something enough will result it in falling out.

I use both - and it depends on what I'm working on.

As for the pipe - a pip is literally just that - a steel or iron pipe that you use to get better leverage on a stuck bolt or something (usually for work done on the parts that make up the actual drivetrain of the vehicle). Basically, you put your socket wrench over the bolt, then put the pipe over the socket wrench and push/pull.

I'd be careful with a pipe.. I've snapped a few bolts in the past that resulted in my having to get a new bumper re-bar for my car. Thing is this - shit happens. Bolts WILL break. On an older car - especially one from North America (or anywhere where it snows and salt is used), bolts rust, and they break.

For times like those - I keep a drill! Drill that snapped bolt outta there, then weld your own bolt in, and screw that.

Just be careful when working on the engine. A snapped bolt into an engine block... and you're sorta screwed...

Depending on what you have for that socket set, you may end up needing to redefine your definition of "good". I had what I thought was a good socket set, and I cracked and bent two of the sockets trying to get a heat shield bolt out of my manifold. I ended up needing to break out the mapp torch for that.

However, I strongly suggest you do pick up a set like this socket set just so you have something of decent strength.

The only thing I've ever used a torque wrench for are bolts that you need to make sure are tight, but can't be too tight (banjo bolts on water lines, manifold/turbo bolts, etc). I'm not going to lie, I don't own one yet, in the one case I needed one I borrowed it ahead of time, and that was when i did my turbo. When I do pick one up, it'll be an adjustable one.

And yeah, the pipe is as Demon described it. I usually go in this order for getting bolts out: Breaker bar by hand, breaker bar with foot (kicking), breaker bar with pipe by hand, breaker bar with pipe with foot. Normally the last one will either get it free or twist it off. And whatever you thought you knew about bolts and rust, you'll rethink. I twisted off a 1/2" thick suspension bolt (strut to lower control arm) with a breaker bar and a pipe on my car last year. That's one of those "Oh shit" moments.

Once you get an impact gun, that pipe will generally stop coming out, but it served me well for a year before I picked up a compressor and gun.

Thanks you two.

The socket set that I have has served my dad for longer than I've been alive. I know that it's been used to maintain lawn mowers and build random things, but I wouldn't surprised if it has been around a car before. I've broken Craftsman tools many times before, but these don't show any sign of giving out anytime soon. The only thing that might be a problem with it is that I don't have a complete set of both regular and deep well so I may have to look for a complete socket set, but I think my socket wrench should be okay.

Rust is a pain. Good thing I made sure that this wasn't a rust bucket before buying it. It does have its share of rust, but not nearly as much as other cars I've seen in this price range and year.

Mmmmm... Tool discussion.

This might turn out to be a bit of a ramble, I could post about this the whole day.

Husky is identical to Craftsman ( or at least their older stuff is ), same warranty, and is about 30% cheaper. That would be something to look into as far as socket sets are concerned. I'm also under the impression that Kobalt sockets are also made by the same company that makes Craftsman sockets but I never actually checked that out ( so don't quote me on that ). Husky ratchets can be taken apart, the parts mixed with parts from Craftsman ratchets, then reassembled, and they still work normal, that's how close they are. The Mastercraft Maximum line is of comparable quality and warranty as well, but I don't think that's available over there.

I would not bother with a pipe, i.e. "cheater bar". That just takes your tools beyond the force that they were designed for. It's actually a pretty unsafe practice, especially if used in conjunction with a ratchet. I personally don't recommend doing that at all, and instead recommend getting a set of breaker bars, in increasing lengths. I would not even bother with something that's around 3' in length if it's only 3/8" drive. That's just to much torque for the tool, better to use 1/2" drives by that point.

For torque wrenches, I would just pick up one the same time as the socket set. They're not that expensive and they do take the guesswork out of "did I tighten that enough" situation.If you are serious about doing all the work on a car, you might as well have one from day one. I don't like the beam type torque wrenches, the adjustable "click" ones are not prohibitively expensive and are much simpler to use.

One thing that wasn't mentioned, but you will most likely need it seeing the model of your car is an extensive selection of extensions and universal joints. Or even, wobble extensions. The thing with these is, you never know if you have enough and of the right sizes, until you run into a situation where you don't have what you need. a 3", a 6" and a 12" extension and a universal joint in each of your drive sizes should be enough for starters. I had one issue where I need to make up about 5' of extensions to get at a bolt and that's on a FWD platform.

The more I think of it, the more I just want to advise to just get a new brand name set of sockets ( Craftsman or Husky, either is good, I don't think Mastercraft is available over there, if it is, their Maximum line is pretty decent as well ), one of the bigger sets that include a set of sockets on 3 different drives ( 1/4" , 3/8" and 1/2" ), that should include a small breaker bar and a set of extensions as well, as well as ratchet for each drive. Hopefully it includes a set of Torx bits as well. Then all you need to buy separately ( for now anyways ) is a couple of bigger breaker bars, and you should be set for a while as far as sockets are concerned.

A couple more items not mentioned are, not necessarily in order of importance, but they are both very important in your case :

SPOILER

Haynes manual for the specific model of your car. Takes the "now how does that come out" guesswork out of disassembly, and the "Oh crap, I didn't realize that had to come out first". The best $20 or so spent on getting ready to work on your own car, IMHO. Pic is clickable and takes you to amazon.com

And the other is :

SPOILER

PB Blaster. Best penetrating lubricant I found so far, Liquid Wrench has nothing on it. Spray it on the offending bolt/nut, give it a couple taps, and walk away ( have a beer/smoke or chat with the girl next door, whatever you fancy, just give it time to work ). Chances are you won't need a huge breaker bar for it anymore.

And the use of cheater bars made think of this, but it's a good practice nonetheless, make sure you wear safety glasses at all times when using hand or power tools. Goggles are not necessary, but a good set of wraparound safety glasses can mean the difference between something that's not an issue, to losing an eye. Number one rule, think safety first. There's no sense fixing your own car if you can't drive it, now is there?

One thing I don't understand :

QUOTE

Breaker bar. A 12" bar with a 3/8" end should be fine. This will always serve you well. You can pick up larger ones, but you're better off getting a torque wrench (and you will, later) at that point.

Torque wrenches are for tightening fasteners to the proper torque, how would they help in a "removal of rusted bolts" situation? I know they are longer than regular ratchet, but still... >_<

Torque wrenches are for tightening fasteners to the proper torque, how would they help in a "removal of rusted bolts" situation? I know they are longer than regular ratchet, but still... >_<

+1 on pb blaster, it is the stuff of gods

I dont have much, just simple tools and you can do everything you will ever afford to do with the car

This post has been edited by backalleyracer on Nov 2 2009, 08:41 AM

Sprays are great, if you do it right. You have to soak stuff for a while preceding the work, otherwise they don't do anything. Just spraying a bolt and immediately attacking it with a wrench does nothing.

I don't think that was ever implied, on the contrary, I think I elaborated on this.

Apex: That's quite a post. Thanks.

What did you mean by "drive" when you were talking about "cheater bars"? Are cheater bars essentially home-made breaker bars?

Fair enough. I clicked the spoiler, saw the yellow cap, and closed it.

And Kiro, the cheater bar and the pipe are one in the same. And Apex is right, it does push the tools beyond their designed limitations, I stripped the teeth off the gear on one of my ratchets with it a while back.

I know that.

Just wondering about the relationship between cheater bars and breaker bars.

First thing I would do to that car is;
#1 full ignition tune up (cap, rotor, plugs and wires)
#2 change the main bodly fluids (tranny fluid and engine oil)
#3 go for a test drive and see if you can get past 65