- Jan 30, 2008
- 3,260
- 12
- 81
As a few of you know, I am the green mechanic who has been searching for a project. Well I found it. Here it is, a 1986 Toyota MR2 manual.
Link to old thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2153449
On first glance I think, hey its really not in that bad of shape. I got a little bit closer and noticed the horrible home paint job. That will definitely be something that will need to be taken care of at some point. Under the hood seems to be all decent, car started up with a throaty rumble, no obvious ticks, clicks, clanks, clunks, to pick out. They showed me an inspection sheet from November: it passed and was deemed road worthy.
It was parked over snow, this made it easier to see that there are no leaks. There are small patches of rust, but honestly, this is to be expected on a 26 year old car in this part of the world. In fact, there arent too many 26 year old cars around this part of the country at all.
(^^ zip ties :hmmm; )
The interior is quite ratty, but it looks like things that can easily be fixed or replaced. Headlights work, all electronics, gauges still work, stereo is ok (but I could care less about that for now). It also had been smoked in, Im hoping that after a thorough cleaning and carpet change that that will mostly go away.
I went for a little 15 minute test drive with the owner, a middle aged Chinese man. Hes actually quite nice and articulate and he tells me that he bought this car 15 years ago, but needs to sell it because his wife cannot drive a stick and she needs a delivery car for her new business, and this one is too small, so on so forth. The car actually drove quite solidly. Clutch was firm and smooth, shifting gears was clean with no sticking or stiffness, the brakes didnt squeak and gave solid pressure. He tells me he just had new brake pads put on and there are brand new tires on it as well. All in all, I really enjoyed the first drive and was impressed with how well it rode. It was a nicer drive than my dads 1999 grand am - and its 13 years older!
On the way back to their shop Mr. Bang (I know, awesome name huh?) tells me that there was actually a guy in yesterday that looked at the car, took it too a mechanic to have it inspected, liked it so much that he made a down payment of $500 but he wasnt able to pick it up for another two weeks because he lived out of town and wouldnt pay in full until then. Mr. Bang tells me if I like the car he will let me take it now. Awesome.
Back at the shop I run to my car, take out the cash, run back in and here Mrs. Bang is on the phone with this other guy from out of town telling him that they sold the car! Haha, and I could hear he was piiiiissed. After she hung up with him she says, well, he no want to pay all, and you here to pay all, we sell car to you now. Less problem. She obviously wears the pants in this household. I put the money down, he signed it over, and I went on my merry way, laughing. On the way home Im thinking to myself, wow, that was a bit of a douche move by the Bangs!
Oh well. You snooze you lose.
Winner.
Tomorrow Ill go register and insure, and get the car to my garage. ( its currently locked and parked under a light on a busy street - should be ok overnight).
Question now is where do I start.
Oh I know. I hear you guys talking about some manual that tells me everything I need to know with step by step processes about how to fix things on the car . What is it called and where can I get one?
/blog
Cliffs:
1) Bought an MR2 to fix up
2) turns out I practically stole it out of the hands of another dude who had already put a down payment on it.
3) Win.
Link to old thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2153449
On first glance I think, hey its really not in that bad of shape. I got a little bit closer and noticed the horrible home paint job. That will definitely be something that will need to be taken care of at some point. Under the hood seems to be all decent, car started up with a throaty rumble, no obvious ticks, clicks, clanks, clunks, to pick out. They showed me an inspection sheet from November: it passed and was deemed road worthy.
It was parked over snow, this made it easier to see that there are no leaks. There are small patches of rust, but honestly, this is to be expected on a 26 year old car in this part of the world. In fact, there arent too many 26 year old cars around this part of the country at all.
(^^ zip ties :hmmm; )
The interior is quite ratty, but it looks like things that can easily be fixed or replaced. Headlights work, all electronics, gauges still work, stereo is ok (but I could care less about that for now). It also had been smoked in, Im hoping that after a thorough cleaning and carpet change that that will mostly go away.
I went for a little 15 minute test drive with the owner, a middle aged Chinese man. Hes actually quite nice and articulate and he tells me that he bought this car 15 years ago, but needs to sell it because his wife cannot drive a stick and she needs a delivery car for her new business, and this one is too small, so on so forth. The car actually drove quite solidly. Clutch was firm and smooth, shifting gears was clean with no sticking or stiffness, the brakes didnt squeak and gave solid pressure. He tells me he just had new brake pads put on and there are brand new tires on it as well. All in all, I really enjoyed the first drive and was impressed with how well it rode. It was a nicer drive than my dads 1999 grand am - and its 13 years older!
On the way back to their shop Mr. Bang (I know, awesome name huh?) tells me that there was actually a guy in yesterday that looked at the car, took it too a mechanic to have it inspected, liked it so much that he made a down payment of $500 but he wasnt able to pick it up for another two weeks because he lived out of town and wouldnt pay in full until then. Mr. Bang tells me if I like the car he will let me take it now. Awesome.
Back at the shop I run to my car, take out the cash, run back in and here Mrs. Bang is on the phone with this other guy from out of town telling him that they sold the car! Haha, and I could hear he was piiiiissed. After she hung up with him she says, well, he no want to pay all, and you here to pay all, we sell car to you now. Less problem. She obviously wears the pants in this household. I put the money down, he signed it over, and I went on my merry way, laughing. On the way home Im thinking to myself, wow, that was a bit of a douche move by the Bangs!
Oh well. You snooze you lose.
Winner.
Tomorrow Ill go register and insure, and get the car to my garage. ( its currently locked and parked under a light on a busy street - should be ok overnight).
Question now is where do I start.
Oh I know. I hear you guys talking about some manual that tells me everything I need to know with step by step processes about how to fix things on the car . What is it called and where can I get one?
/blog
Cliffs:
1) Bought an MR2 to fix up
2) turns out I practically stole it out of the hands of another dude who had already put a down payment on it.
3) Win.
Last edited:
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