MadaboutKitcars

Woohoo!!! Look what turned up in the post today!!!



Aaaaaaaaaand then I found that I have locking wheel nuts and no key. My mate at Toyota is coming to the rescue with a bag of wheel nut keys. Fingers crossed or else it'll be a socket and a lump hammer.

Also, the work recycle bin strikes again with some aircraft fixings for my windows (as I want them removeable) complete with really funky plated purple crush pins!

Bit of a nightmare day today. Broke my audi changing a tie rod end, went to change the rocker cover gasket and euros have given me the wrong one, then started on wheels on the mr2 and realised I don't have any wheel nuts. Could have sworn i bought a set ages ago. I'm watching the telly for the rest of the day

Here's how she stands at the moment. Couldn't rock it to get the suspension to drop as it's too late for mucking about. Well pleased with how they've turned out though

Thanks given what they looked like when I bought them, they've come out so much better than I expected. Just got to sort the fronts now but at least having the rears on will aid getting the back end lined up.

Nice to get out to do something, Hammerite!



Fitted my Markiii pipe to the airbox (meant to increase torque) and also waiting for spacers for the front wheels to turn up. Oh and I've also built a stud wall and a cupboard in my house

It does look pretty good doesn't it. I'm quite impressed that it all just smooths itself out. Annoyingly, I think I made a fair bit of dust while I was pratting about in the garage so i'll have to have a look this evening to see whether it still looks as nice. Can you put a piccy up of yours as mines not the smooth hammerite, its 'direct to rust' which still seems to give a smooth finish. Just be interested to see if theres a difference.

Aww really? It even advertises that its meant to repel moisture. Ok, well its on there now so if it starts to peel, i'll attack it with a jet wash... maybe not on the inside of the car though obvs. It looks pretty good at the minute

I finally got outside and did something!!!



Cut the bottoms off the doors! All went quite well but then the cat turned up looking a bit rough so had to get him to the vets So, as you can see, theres now nothing for the door seal to attach to at the bottom and as much as this is to be a fair weather car, I'd still like something there just in case. Suppose i'll worry about that when the cars ready to go outside. A bit of additional bracing will be added and I need to remove some more door metal at the rear so that it clears the rs200 bodywork before they can go back on... maybe a bi of rust repellant too!

It'd be good to see what you've done Swifty before I go attacking the doors again. I'm looking forward to getting some bits actually attached. I'm bursting to get the rear end fitted.

It hasn't really changed to be honest. I did just get my front wheel spacers through so its got a good stance if nothing else. The house is just about there now so I can finally start to spend some time on the car.

Can't believe my last post was May! I've actually been quite busy since. Finally got round to fitting the door skins. They're not quite as straight forward as I'd hoped and although once they're attached to the doors, they look quite good, once they're on the car, it's very apparent they're going to need some serious work. Basically they're too far in at the bottom and too far out at the top nearest the b pillar. I'm hoping that spacing the bottom edge will bring the top edge in. We'll see.





Finally tech screwed the side skirts into place and made up some brackets to hold the edges where they're meant to be.

Made a big decision on the rear clam section. I was originally going to have it hinged with a fixed window but due to the shape of the bottom edge at the rear of the clam and the position of the bumper bar, the decision has been made that it will now be a fixed (but removeable) clam and easyish removable rear window come engine cover for getting to the engine. I would have had to remove a LOT of rear edge to clear the crash bar and that just wouldn't look right.



Have ordered some bits and pieces to build an induction kit and some more bits for an exhaust. My dad actually gave me an exhaust from his old TVR which has actually turned out to be a bike exhaust which at first seemed a good idea but unfortunately there's just not much room under the MR2.


Bit too bling


Cutting holes in the roof!

Also, have decided to use the MR2 bulb holders and attach them to the Sierra lights rather than use the Sierra bulb holders. I think unless I buy new ones, I'll struggle to get good contacts.


Bought some nice little wing mirrors

Think that's about it in a large nutshell. Will hopefully have the bonnet pins fitted on the roof and another set on order for the rear above the wheel arches to hold the clam in place by the end of the weekend and also hopefully have a fettle with the rear lights if my looms turn up tomorrow. Happy days

Induction kit fitted. Wanted it closer to the vent on the side but theres not enough room down the side.

And a very awesome cast iron 1912 ford sign that my wife found in a antiques shop.

I bought a window!!



It was expensive now I have to drill some holes in it. I've had plenty of tips on how to drill lexan but nothing decisive. One guy suggested using a soldering iron to melt a hole which actually sounds like quite a good idea but then what would I use to tidy it up?

I wasn't sure what to use to hold it down but they seem like a good idea. I was looking at some phillips headed screws with massive flat heads o get a decent surface area for them to hold on to then gluing a nut underneath for it to screw into.

With regard to the clam, I've also gone for fixed for now and used bonnet pins front and rear then will nut and bolt/quick release the sides where the clam meets the side skirt to hold it all in place.

Thanks for the info on drilling the screen. Yeah, some people have said you'll not crack lexan, just go slow. And others have said about using a really blunt drillbit. I'll give it a go and see what happens.

How have you got on with your doors? I've not attempted straightening them up yet but its on the list.

Been quite busy with the car just recently and managed at least an hour each day outside having a fettle.

Have done some work on getting everything aligned and closing in the shut lines. It's quite slow work and the driver's side seems to be much better than the passengers but it'll get there. Doors are now in just about the right place and have made up some brackets to go inside to push them out to the right place to meet the side skirts. Have also made up brackets to hold the skirts in place and now started on some more for the front bumper.

I've also sprayed up a couple of bits in the engine bay, hinged the bonnet and strapped it so it doesn't open too far. Pictures of stuff below.

I've gone back to looking into hinging the rear end although it'll be a little less elaborate and a little more wobbly (when open) than Wozzys frame that he's made. The main issue is the crash bar is too deep so you'd need to remove some of the clam to clear it. My plan is to get hold of some thinner box section and make up my own shortened less deep crash bar because I just don't want to cut the clam about. It may work, it may not...

They're actually pretty good but more through luck than anything else. It's not that easy to explain (I'd take a photo but I'm at work) so at the rear edge of the door, I've managed to trim the door skin so that the top half of the mr2 door is inside the door skin, and the bottom half is outside of it which pushes the bottom of the skin outward and the top of the skin in then I've bent some brackets to space the bottom of the mr2 door out a touch more to meet the side skirt. I hope that the addition of bit of rubber door seal at the top will give it some extra rigidity as it'll push the top of the door out a bit more.

I'll take a photo this weekend.

Have done a lot of work on the door skins to get them to sit better onto the doors. They're finally starting to come good. The rear edge of both doors are impacting upon the clam so will trim them back once the doors are fitted. Overall quite happy with how they're comin along.



Made a new exhaust out of the old one and a new muffler



Fitted (although it needs a bigger exit)

Well, those photos are bigger than the moon aren't they...

Little bit noisier than standard on tickover but its peppered with air leaks at the moment so could get a tiny bit louder. I've not sealed it up yet. It could be the noisiest thing in the world when I get to drive it but the plan for now is to have two exhausts. One like this (for MOTs and things), then another deleting the cat for when I feel like being obnoxious... which will probably be most of the time.

Fog lights - went for Rings as the hellas are just a bit too expensive for me at the moment. Could always just buy a set of hella covers I suppose.



And my new tail pipe. 3.5 inch... not too ott.



Have also started on a bit of fiberglassing. Never done it before so it's a big step.