1991 Toyota MR2 Project

I really do believe this car has a lot of potential for winning ITA, which is why I started it. However, I've simply decided that I do not want to spend the money on another vehicle build right now, so I'm putting this not-too-much started project up for sale. I'll build one some day, but not right now...

1991 Toyota MR2. Red. Roughly 126k miles. Manual steering rack, no ABS. Sunroof (t-tops are most common). Decent condition, although it has some palm-sized rust on one rocker panel and thumb-sized rust on the top of each rear wheel opening; all easily repairable. Left front fender is Bondo'd but I've got a good used fender that goes with it. Paint needs to be compounded out. Other than having a sunroof instead of a hardtop (the H/T cars are impossible to find at a decent price) this was the perfect race-car-build candidate. Came from eastern PA.

The car started, ran, and drove fine when I bought it in August, but as I was driving it home on the Jersey Turnpike the radiator failed and the engine overheated (just as I was about to get on the GW bridge. That's a fun story all by itself). I have not checked out the engine but I'd plan on the head gasket being blown. The car still starts and runs, but with no coolant in it (and the potential for a popped head gasket) I'd not plan on driving it home... Needs a clutch, but comes with a generic parts-store new-in-the-box clutch. Trans shifted fine otherwise and there were no gear pop-outs. I was pretty psyched about it as I was driving it home (well, before it overheated, anyway...)

Its current condition is that the interior has been completely stripped out and discarded. There's not even a driver's seat still available (I disassembled the tracks to use for mounting the race seat). The large majority of the airbag system has been removed. Doors have been stripped of power window motors, glass, and mechanisms. All the fender liners and plastic undercovers have been removed (still have 'em). The radiator and (original) hoses have been removed and discarded, and I've stripped out and discarded all the A/C components except for the evaporator/housing. I still have the glass sunroof panel and it works, but it's got a crack in it (you'll need to replace it with a steel panel anyway for IT). We weighed it before starting disassembly, and I'm confident it'll make minimum ITA weight with minimal effort (hell, just the exhaust system was 70 pounds of cast iron!)

I do have a nice list of new race-related parts to go with it, all new still-in-the-box, none have been installed:

- Six Kosei K-1 15x7 wheels, 5x114.3 pattern (no longer made or available). Look below for the guy selling the 15x7 Volks TE-37s in 5x114.3 pattern...those are the wheels you want to buy for this car.
- Four Ichiba 15mm wheel spacers (with built-in hubcentrics)
- Earl's stainless-braided brakes lines
- Full Prothane poly suspension bushings set
- Brand-new-in-the-box factory Toyota radiator for a turbo MR2, all new hoses, new lower rad pin mounts, new upper rad mount straps
- ARP wheel studs
- Summit Racing lug nuts
- SSAutochrome header (not bad a peice, actually)
- Walker Dynomax 2.5" stainless muffler (and the design ideas for building and installing the exhaust)
- Two sets of spare stock strut tubes. I have a very good suspension design worked up for the car using Koni 8611 or 8610 inserts, Eibach springs, and Ground Control coilover and camber plates, all in the factory tubes.
- Momo Start seat
- A pair of brand-new-in-the-box Koni gas strut inserts for the front (came with the sale)
- Momo Monte Carlo steering wheel
- Momo steering wheel adapter
- LTB Motorsports quick release
- 1991 factory shop manual
- 1995 factory shop manual (the injection system for the non-turbo was changed in 1993; you might consider making the change)
- Window net, handheld fire extinguisher, kill switch

The nice thing about these normally-aspirated MR2 is that engines and transmission are available like water. Most folks rip out the engine and drop in JDM turbo engines (you can buy complete car rear clips for about $3000...). There are pullled-out 5SFE engine in garages all over the country; in fact I know of an engine and transmission sitting in a garage in Bangor ME and the guy wants $250 for it. I bet he takes less. There's another one in Danbury CT that was offered to me for simply removing it myself. This is also the same engine that was used in the 5th and 6th gen Celicas, and the Camry (world's best selling car?). You can find these things CHEAP.

Further, I think the engine has a lot of potential. It's a torque monster, starting with 135hp and 140 ft-lbs of torque. They can run either batch (early) or sequential (late) injection, and with a good aftermarket ECU tuning (I was leaning towards Megasquirt) I'm confident you can build some good ponies.

I'd prefer that you arrive and put it on your trailer and take all the parts with you, but if you'd like to have some of the work done I'd consider it. Maybe you'd like Matt Kessler to build a cage for you prior to delivery? We can work that out. Or, if you're just interested in buying the car itself, I'd consider parting out the rest of the stuff (it should all sell easily).

So, the bottom line: you drive up here with your trailer, we drive it on and load up the stuff in your truck, and I'll take $2400 for the whole shebang plus whatever TRD charges me for the radiator and hoses (I've not gotten a bill from them as of yet. A WAG? ~$300-350?). Or, I can try and flip the radiator and hoses to another MR2 owner. Look at that list of parts above and mentally tally it out, then add the price of any Toyota MR2. It's a bargain.

Car is located in Middletown, CT.

grega-at-pobox-dot-com