Welp...after 6 months of working during the school year and 3 months of 40+ Hours a week during the summer I finally bought a car! Got a Naturally Aspirated 1991 MR2 with 177000 miles on it, and I love it. Got it for $2700

Yesterday evening my parents flipped ish, so I was uneasy that night. I wake up the next morning and my mom tells me to take her for a drive lol

That being said here are the pros & cons of the car

Things to be fixed:

- Relatively high idle when car is warmed up. 950rpm...I think I am going to adjust the throttle cables
-Accessory belt has to be replaced. I looked at the engine bay, and although it will be interesting working with an engine in the middle, hopefully it won't be too bad
- Some play with the clutch pedal, I think it might be a linkage or bushings. Clutch hooks up good though
- Rotors will have to be replaced eventually as they are warped. I can drive around with them. Might as well upgrade
- Interior is ish, but I have to compromise somewhere.


- Pros:
- Weird stick in the middle, and I have two brake pedals!
- Has TEIN Coilovers, which make the car hella low and awesome at handling. Stiff as hayle though
- Has a Cold Air Intake which sounds awesome right behind my ears
- Has Window tint
- Exterior is good

Here are the pics! My good camera's battery took a poop, so I can't use it :'(












Interior is poopy. Missing glove compartment and crappy headunit install. Gotta compensate somewhere for the price -shrug-






Pop Up headlights =




Just to get an idea of how low it is




The two steeds. Time for the I30 to go. It's been an awesome car, but ready to head in a new direction with the MR2



And cleaned the interior today




Yeah. Gotta get them brakes and belt done. Brakes are driving me nuts. OnceI take care of that, I want to get into Auto-X again and possibly Track Days with SCCA

 

Looks nice plus its a rare car

 

Nice! I love the styling of the SW20.

 

Should of went turbo. I have a 1991 mr2 turbo.

 

Oh word! Yeah I didn't have enough for a proper turbo, all the ones that were in my price range were absolute garbage. Still the N/A suprisingly has enough torque and power to make it fun. I expected it to be dreadfully slow, but it isn't!

 

Thank you ^___^

 

Yeah, I was so drawn to it once I saw it in person. And driving experience from the test drive sold it for me.

 

Starting small, took off that stupid TEIN sticker on the back bumper and unbolted some stupid grounds & wires the PO had in the front trunk smh. They were just lying around, attached too!

Also tied down the battery, man that thing was jiggling around

 

Nice Toy! Excited to see where you take it!

 

looks sweet, SW20 just rip especially in winter and handle so well. turbo are funner, but NA are less of a headache for a daily

 

Car looks good :-)

 

looks good mang. Mount that radio up right and then get to cleaning.

 

Thanks! Aiming to get it ready for the track

Much appreciated. The Turbo would be awesome to own, but yes you are right that engine bay is a nightmare compared to that of the N/A. There is surprisingly a decent amount of room to work on it, it just seems that I have to get under the car for half of the jobs. I'll take a picture

Power of the N/A is also pretty nice, lots of torque. Since it's a light car, makes the car seem really quick and agile. It doesn't have the top end to make it "fast" but it's definitely a rev happy motor = fun

Thank you sir. I normally don't like red cars, but this one was an exception once I saw it. Ferrari red as I like to call it lol

Yar, I will find out if I can patch up that ugly empty space

 

Sweet find... But be safe, that thing is a death trap

 

So I have been told...

 

V6 swap start making plans, Camry's 3.0 or 3.3 with the TRD S/C, the extra wieght on the rear will probably cure the lift off oversteer.

If anything do it for the sound:

 

Death Machine. Get it straight.

 

Crusher - Ha we'll see. I first have to get acquainted with working on it

 

Oh dont worry i got more ideas for you:



Wrap your mind around that, 320hp and 315tq in that light chassis. All aluminum V8 too so it tips the scales at 470lbs fully dressed, 400lbs bare long block, do it.

 

Smh that's asking to be killed

A lot of people on grassrootsmotorsports have provided a lot of information about the suspension geometry and how I should adjust the suspension, get parts, and bla bla bla to get the handling down. I think that's #1

Thanks for the ideas though the V6 & 3SGTE swap seem common though

Edit: RWD is fun...tehe

 

-sigh- and now the fun begins.

Car stalled on me twice, second time left me stranded just now. It will turn over but it won't start. I think PO said he replaced ignition ish, so going to go with coil packs IIRC that's what he said

 

you sure its coilpacks? i dont think ive ever seen a coilpack make a car not start, just run like *****. unless coincidentally all your coilpacks crapped out at once which is a 1 in 10,000 chance lol

Northstar V8 are to boot, they just pizz oil everywhere. only one engine belongs in this thing

 

Crazy talk. Dont even start with your bias BS.

 

This also fits



This is also another featherwieght V8, at 450lbs fully dressed, and they are cheap, get them out of the old A6s. 302hp and 295tq.

 

dam right son, this is a JDM thread

 

I spent the entire day tearing my engine apart. The car isn't getting any spark, but the ignition coil tested out fine. So...either a bad ground or a bad igniter. I'm banking on a bad ignitier since the one I have is old as hayle and the old ignition coil was replaced recently

It comes at a price though, the ignitier isa jaw dropping 300 dollars! iA I really hope this works, I've been stressed out & exhausted. No piece of mind

 

Cam position sensor&Crank position sensor, check em both.

 

maybe try a MR2 forum and get a used igniter? if thats indeed the problem

i bypassed my Supras igniter with a MSD ignition box as well, thats another option if you can do wiring

 

I've always loved that body style too especially in red....I saw one fixed up many years back the same color and it honestly looked like a mini Ferrari 308/328 with the wheels and body kit. I'd love to have a turbo model to play with...

 

Neither one exists with this engine. Distributor takes their place.

 

My ignition coil took a poop. Holy crap lol:



I still don't think this is the root of my non-starting problem

 

PO had the ignition coil and plugs replaced. So this is what I have been doing...

1) Checked spark plugs, all look fine

2) Checked the individual coils. Aside from the one in the picture, they are alll good. I haven't been able to check the resistance from the distributor cap to the inside of the coil though. I may not be using the multimeter right

3) Checked out distributor cap. The ignition relay hooks up fine onto it, and the relay is new. Again, don't know if I'm putting the multimeter probe on the right piece of the cap. Have not replaced this, but looks clean/new...

4) Ignition coil is new, but I checked out the resistances anyway. I bought a new one just in case. I don't get a primary resistance for both coils, but the secondaries check out with 12-13 ohms. So they're good

5) Bought a new igniter for 300 smackers. Didn't work -___- but hey I got a new igniter shrug

6) All harnesses connected. Not sure if I am missing any grounds

Working the ECU:
1) I shorted diagnostic ports E1 & TE1 with a paper clip lol, CEL light flashed code 14 which is the IGT or ignition system - as stated in the BGB

2) I also shorted ports FP and B+, and the fuel system was whirring. So I know I am getting fuel and air. Just no spark! UGHHHHHHHHHH

 

Wow, seems like I've missed a lot already

But this is going to be awesome!! I've seen a couple V6-swapped cars come to auto/rally-x and they are always seriously fast. I've actually considered getting a swapped one as my next toy. Congrats, and bring it out ASAP!

 

So I sent this ish in. I was right about the distributor but he told me there are electrical issues...FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU!!!

If it's fixed, he's still going to give me a fair deal -mega crossed fingers- I hope its not too big of a problem

 

Nice new to you ride. I've always liked those MR2s.

 

Thanks man ^__^

 

I picked up my car today, 10 miles later it broke down again. The PO really fudged up the wiring with the aftermarket head unit. I don't know how to work with wires so I left it with him.

Really upset. Could be worse though shrug

 

Alright...so I picked it up again and the car stalled at the same exact spot on the highway! This is from driving highway speeds for 5 minutes then coming to a stop

The car was hesitating a lot this time. After it stalled, I waited 10 minutes to allow the car to cool down. When I went back to it, it started fine. So I am thinking it's an overheating issue as well as a bad MAF

 

Lemon.

Sorry man.

I feel for you.

 

So far it is.