Third Total is the Charm? 2000 MR2

What the Berkley have I gotten into? It came across the local Auto cross mailing list. This is the third time it has been totaled….  The SWMBO ok’ed it as long as it was not in the garage for more than 24hrs at a time…. So it’s going to be a driveway project. Long story there, but that was her conditions. The car: totaled three times, 2000 MR2 ~40k miles. Has TRD exhaust, TRD struts, strut tower braces and aftermarket wheels and tires (well three, one is missing chunks), should be a fun autox and summer DD. Trailer rented, off to pick it up, a couple hours away though rush hour. Pics from the PO, doesn’t look too bad. The good end: Not so good end, it slid backwards into a tree. After crossing the median and 4 oncoming lanes of traffic…. Now I need a wheel, and to see if I can get it running and driving, so it can get itself in and out of the garage. Also have a tarp carport to set up…. In the PO’s driveway. He had some extra parts, mostly from the first rebuild. But needless to say my truck and trailer were packed to the gills. Very full…. Its home! There were just a few extra parts…. Now to find some replacement ones I need. These don't seem to come up in junk yards often. I got it off the trailer, radiator is toast, puked coolant all over the trailer. I couldn't resist so out came my jump pack and it fired up! OK back inside to spend time with my lovely wife.

Awesome! Free cars are like stray dogs, you get them home give them some love and they are better than anything you could of bought.

Wow. If I got that for free I'd round up all the parts it needs and just drop it off at a local body shop and tell them to spend as little time on it as possible but make the outside look good.

jimbob_racing wrote: Wow. If I got that for free I'd round up all the parts it needs and just drop it off at a local body shop and tell them to spend as little time on it as possible but make the outside look good.

Thats not in my budget unfortunately. But I will be rounding all the parts up and doing it myself, it's just going to take a little longer.

Did I mention my wife is awesome?! A wrecking yard 2 hours from my house has a Spyder that got t boned. Sweet they have rear end parts still! She says if you want the parts before September go now, we are booked the next three weekends. We have company coming over this afternoon, I have to be home for that, I have exactly one hour to spare.

Made it home 1/2 hour before people showed up, with a bumper cover and rebar to show for it. The deck lid they said they had was trashed.

Lucky find in the junkyard. Too bad about the deck lid, but those are probably easier to find than the common accident repair pieces.

I thought maybe you were going to do engine work on it, but it looks like the engine hasn't been harmed. One of my customers stuck an EcoTec LNF motor in his MR2. You can see a picture or two in this product page (not the best pictures). http://www.modernkitcar.com/collections/parts/products/lnf-gm-ecotec-engine-wiring-diagram-standalone I sell a wiring schematic for a standalone application for that engine. 300+HP without having to open it up! Your wife sounds like a nice lady, bless her heart!

ssswitch wrote: Lucky find in the junkyard. Too bad about the deck lid, but those are probably easier to find than the common accident repair pieces.

Yeah the local Toyota/lexus only place has two, but they want like $300 for them! I may not have another choice though.

maccos wrote: I thought maybe you were going to do engine work on it, but it looks like the engine hasn't been harmed. One of my customers stuck an EcoTec LNF motor in his MR2. You can see a picture or two in this product page (not the best pictures). http://www.modernkitcar.com/collections/parts/products/lnf-gm-ecotec-engine-wiring-diagram-standalone I sell a wiring schematic for a standalone application for that engine. 300+HP without having to open it up! Your wife sounds like a nice lady, bless her heart!

Yeah engine is in great shape! So nothing there for now. Maybe turbo at some point, or 2zz swap.

Shes a keeper. Stayed out till 11 last night helping put the new "garage extension" up. It cant go in the garage full time but it can be covered. I love not having an HOA!

Worked on the rear end. Got the frame rails within 3/8" of each other in length, and got the new rebar bolted on. There was some come along action, didn't work well, then some tugging with my truck.

Getting better!!

New rear rebar in place

New bumper cover.

On to the front.

tweaked lower core support.

Loving the Spyder ressurection, but I'm going to need to see more of that 4Runner if you're inclined to share.

ValuePack wrote: Loving the Spyder ressurection, but I'm going to need to see more of that 4Runner if you're inclined to share.

Ask and you shall recieve Its an 03 4runner, v6, lift, bumper etc etc my DD/camping mobile

OK and just for the sake of a challenge budget. (if it wasn't on the other side of the country completely Id try to make it!)

429.95 to date, including the trailer rental. I found a deck lid locally. Those are spendy.....

Free cars are the most expensive ones.

This one seems to be treating you well so far, knock on wood.

Is that the black plastic undertray that got wrapped around the muffler by the impact?

ssswitch wrote: Free cars are the most expensive ones. This one seems to be treating you well so far, knock on wood. Is that the black plastic undertray that got wrapped around the muffler by the impact?

Yeah... Hopefully this one isn't too bad. I have a 2k cap.

The black thing is a huge heat shield. It started on the back luckily :)

The front undertray looks like an accordion...

After few fixes and upgrades, who would thought you got it as a free car? this is awesome!

In reply to CarLava:

Yeah its been fun so far!!

This piece is giving me a hard time. Does NOT want to go straight again. And its freaking expensive to replace!! All it does is hold the top of the bumper cover. Arrg.

Also cant find the bent spot on the muffler, I got it a lot closer (all the rubber mounts were straining) But the tip is still pointing a weird direction.

Tabs are glued back on the tail lights. Not exactly sure how you get road rash on the inside of the light and not break the cover?! Needs some file work to make one of the mounting "nubs"

This wrinkle in the radiator support is being difficult too.... I may just cut the welds out and do it on my bench.

Deck lid latch, and new radiator acquired. New total : $579.94

My co worker also loaned me his porta-power. That should help with straightening, maybe....

After a nice weekend away from work/phones everything, I made some progress last night.

New radiator came in.

Original radiator, its tiny!

new one.... Over cooled?

Picked up my deck lid

Wife is out of town, which means I can work on the car late. Which mean I need light. Sooo I cleaned enoguh room in the garage and it came in.

The lower core support is killing me. I cant get it straight. I spent hours on it last night. And now its straighter, but the berklying AC condenser doesn't fit now. The hole is too big....

I had enough, decided that if the radiator fits, its close enough, because racecar, it doesn't have to be perfect, just work.

New radiator went in, being quite thick compared to the old one, there is a little interference between the upper core support and the radiator. Nothing a little bending cant fix.

Deck lid got fitted.

And a trip to the DOL happened too. Its in my name now, and being free, somehow they did not assign a value to it to pay taxes one. Sweet! I think it was my cheapest DOL trip ever. Still need to get an emissions test before I can get plates and registration.

Total incl taxes etc 776.18, almost halfway though my budget!

In reply to java230:

Gut the precat. I bought a Spyder with a thrown rod for 1500. The precat will fail at some point and destroy the rings.

I'm in the middle of replacing the engine, let me know if you need some pics or measurements of undamaged superstructure (bumper and exhaust are off)

In reply to eebasist:

It's on the to do list. This one had then fail early on and the motor was replaced by Toyota under warranty. It's running a full TRD exhaust now I believe, the heat shield bolts are being very stubborn. ...

One measurement that would be great is the firewall to the center of the deck latch

In reply to java230:

I'll be back home Friday and take a pic and dimensions

eebasist wrote: In reply to java230: I'll be back home Friday and take a pic and dimensions

Thanks!

Odd balls and a porta power to clamp the core supports in place.... Time to brn it in. (and i forgot the good welding helmet at work. Old school ones SUCK)

I couldn't get this straight, but the radiator fit, so I left it. But the hole was acting like a hinge now, so it got plated. Much more stifferer

Next up, cheap bumper cover repairs. Get out the drill and zip ties! Before:

After! These are the only two that will be visible.

Should be good enough for racecar.

I also got the radiator put in, and the rear end straightened out enough for the bumper cover to fit. Bleeding the cooling system on this thing is a huge pain. I finally got the radiator full, but nothing to the heater core yet.

The one problem I ran into, the cross member that hold the deck latch will not be going back where its supposed to wihtout cutting the whole thing out and getting a new one. Not interested in that. I will make spacers to move the deck lid latch back to where it needs to be.

Total cost is now at 792.58, challenge budget at 736.40

Just got home and took the below pic/measurement This is from the top firewall. The tape is resting on top of the small 10mmx 1 inch stud. I'd say the mounting ears are 17.25 from the firewall above the engine.

Let me know if you need something else

I was just at an autocross over the weekend, and there was an NA-converted-to-turbo SW20 MR2 where the owner had backyard-fabricated his own deck lid scoops out of fiberglass. It looked, uh, "different."

Lucky you got your new deck lid before we had to resort to arts & crafts hour.