My 1988 MK1 MR2 T-Bar

[corkcorolla]

Its about time I got one of these posts up here!

So the story goes I've always been a fan of MR2's,but especially the MK1's,just something about them,loved the pop up lights,the retro styling,and the fact that i'm a big fan of older Toyotas,all these made me want one for years!
Plus I saw a supercharged one donutting at a cruise a few years back and I was hooked from then :+:

Nothing really happened until Aug/Sept/Oct last year when I started looking properly for one,was watching Ebay and Pistonheads like a hawk.I had a budget for the right example,a nice 88-90,T bar and had to be white,no other colour would do!

Missed out on a nice 89 on Ebay,and then this popped up,again on Ebay.
http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2010/01/88MK1MR2Tbar1-1.jpg
Ticked all the right boxes,1988,T-Bar and white.
Long story short ( but the most important bit )I posted the link up here,asked for opinions and AW11Forever helped me out bigtime.Basically he went out of his own way to check out the car for me as it was localish to him,rang me later with a full report on the car,and even offered to pick me up at the airport!Its members like that keep a club going,soundest man ever!

Anyhoo,after a few glitches,I got the car off Ebay,flew to Newcastle,met the owner and went to pick up the car,here it is at his lockup.
http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2010/01/MyOldCars049-1.jpg
And again at a Toyota meet the following day after a long drive across the UK and back down into Ireland
http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2010/01/MK1MR21-1.jpg
I've had it just over a month now,hardly driven it since,gonna get it out of the shed someday soon and get some fresh pics.

All comments welcome :+:

[Ben]

I really like that, looks a good tidy example. Big kudos to Mike for going out of his way to help out as well :clap:

Those wheels suit it as well. Any plans?

Glad you managed to find one that was right for you :)

[corkcorolla]

I really like that, looks a good tidy example. Big kudos to Mike for going out of his way to help out as well :clap:

Those wheels suit it as well. Any plans?

Glad you managed to find one that was right for you :)

Thanks Ben.

Yeah Mike is a true example of a gentleman.Didnt know me from Adam and yet did all that for me,as we say in Ireland sound as a pound!

Few plans alright,hence this thread to ask questions.I'm going to try and get some detailed pics up,and find out what im missing/whats not right/etc etc.

I'd like to lower it a bit more,get the original wheels on ( the last owner said he'd courier them over ) and fix up a few bits in the interior.

New T-Bar seals are a must ( surprise surprise! ) and a good service.

[corkcorolla]

Quick one lads,is this a factory day one interior in my car,or should it be black leather?

I'd love black leather seats,are they hard to get?

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2010/01/88MK1MR2Tbar5-1.jpg

[Ben]

How are you going to lower it more? It looks about as low as any I've seen (Koni kit?).

It's making me miss mine :( Although I've got to say it's nice not having to battle with T-bar seals in this weather!

That looks a standard interior to me (apart from the black steering wheel which should be blue, but no biggy) - the doorcards and seats match. Black leather seats in good condition are hard to come by, and usually about £200 a pair. After having both I found the cloth seats more comfortable and more grippy in the corners :+:

[corkcorolla]

How are you going to lower it more? It looks about as low as any I've seen (Koni kit?).

It's making me miss mine :( Although I've got to say it's nice not having to battle with T-bar seals in this weather!

That looks a standard interior to me (apart from the black steering wheel which should be blue, but no biggy) - the doorcards and seats match. Black leather seats in good condition are hard to come by, and usually about £200 a pair. After having both I found the cloth seats more comfortable and more grippy in the corners :+:

Do the leather ones not come as standard so in the T-Bars?

Might stick to the cloth so.....

Em dont worry,i'll get it lower alright :D

[alpha13]

good man. that is a lovely example of a mk1 :) :) they are lovely in white. and it looks a very clean tidy one too.
i tried to send you the bgb, but your hotmail email wont allow it,because the file is bigger than the 10 mb allowed with hotmail.
hope you get lots of enjoyment out of it like i am sure you will. :+:

[scoobyblue]

welcome to the madhouse and hopefully we will all get to see it in person and yourself too of course , as for lowering , that does look as if it is already lowered , and as for the rims , i would stick with them they suit the car, but you would have no problem selling them if you do decide to go with the originals . forget the lowering at the minute and concentrate on the essentials like mechanical and if you want to throw money at it then upgrade the brakes first , again it looks like a very clean motor and you have many years of pleasure to come , and heartaches too ,as you will find that they are very much a labour of love :+:

[Kateg28]

Although I've got to say it's nice not having to battle with T-bar seals in this weather!


That is one reason I prefer the leather when you have a T-Bar, easier to wipe the water off the seats :think: . Treating them with a nice waterproof sealant means it runs off nice and lovely! :wtf:

[AW11 Forever]

Hey! glad you got home ok and you are happy with your purchase and thanks for the kind words, extremely appreciated, just glad I could contribute in helping a fellow enthusiast to find the right MK1, I would have hated for you to have come over to buy the car blind and to go away disappointed.

The interior is definately standard, its the steering wheel that the previous owner replaced, I asked him about this and he could only find a black one, keep looking on ebay, good blue ones do pop up now and again. Its completely normal for your interior to be cloth, they did a run of TBARS with the blue interior and cloth velour seats from March 88' - September 88' and then from October '88 to the end of the production all TBARS had leather seats and door cards.

Its definately a good example and a good basis for a potential future show/club car, have fun and enjoy, hope to see it in the UK one day.

Cheers
Michael

[glim-1]

Looks amazing.

White T-bar in mint condition, does it get any better?

Enjoy. :+:

[Handsome Rob]

(Mods - maybe move to Projects?)

R

[corkcorolla]

good man. that is a lovely example of a mk1 :) :) they are lovely in white. and it looks a very clean tidy one too.
i tried to send you the bgb, but your hotmail email wont allow it,because the file is bigger than the 10 mb allowed with hotmail.
hope you get lots of enjoyment out of it like i am sure you will. :+:

Thanks man.
The BGB,whats that?
Yeah I hope so too,its nice and cosy in the shed at the moment,gonna take it to my mate whos a mechanic sometime soon,get the once over and start from there,replace or service alot of whats there,start from scratch so I know whats good and whats not in the mechanical side of things.

[corkcorolla]

welcome to the madhouse and hopefully we will all get to see it in person and yourself too of course , as for lowering , that does look as if it is already lowered , and as for the rims , i would stick with them they suit the car, but you would have no problem selling them if you do decide to go with the originals . forget the lowering at the minute and concentrate on the essentials like mechanical and if you want to throw money at it then upgrade the brakes first , again it looks like a very clean motor and you have many years of pleasure to come , and heartaches too ,as you will find that they are very much a labour of love :+:

Thanks lad,hope to meet some of ye too at Mosney 2010,hence why i'm starting on this project soon.

The lowering side of things is very much a thing around Cork,theres no such thing as too low with cars around here,i'll see what its sitting on suspension wise when the mechanic looks at it,then we'll see what the options are for going lower. :+:
Dont worry,its going in for a full service soon,as there was no history with it when I bought it,one thing that did annoy me,but we'll start from scratch,timing belt,water pump,plugs,leads etc etc.The brakes are a bit shy arlight,another thing that will be looked at.
Yeah apart from the odd rust bit and the T- Bar leaking I love it. :)

[corkcorolla]

Hey! glad you got home ok and you are happy with your purchase and thanks for the kind words, extremely appreciated, just glad I could contribute in helping a fellow enthusiast to find the right MK1, I would have hated for you to have come over to buy the car blind and to go away disappointed.

The interior is definately standard, its the steering wheel that the previous owner replaced, I asked him about this and he could only find a black one, keep looking on ebay, good blue ones do pop up now and again. Its completely normal for your interior to be cloth, they did a run of TBARS with the blue interior and cloth velour seats from March 88' - September 88' and then from October '88 to the end of the production all TBARS had leather seats and door cards.

Its definately a good example and a good basis for a potential future show/club car, have fun and enjoy, hope to see it in the UK one day.

Cheers
Michael

Your welcome Mike,i'll definetly try and get it back over to the Uk sometime for a show or a meet,be nice to meet all ye other members.

Thanks for the info on the leather seats,i'll stick with the blue cloth ones so,at least for the moment anyway,until maybe a nice set of leather seats pop up :+:

[corkcorolla]

Looks amazing.

White T-bar in mint condition, does it get any better?

Enjoy. :+:

Thanks man,I wouldnt say amazing,few jobs to do to it before im completely happy,but its a start.

[alpha13]

the bgb is the toyota workshop manual. the proper manual for the car.
very handy to have :)

[corkcorolla]

the bgb is the toyota workshop manual. the proper manual for the car.
very handy to have :)

Ah I see,hmmm,i'll have to find a way to get that off you.

[FossMan]

Lovely lovely car! I have a white t-bar and I hope it looks like this one day. Good work.

I've got the BGB saved on my hard drive somewhere, don't know what the easiest way of sending you the entire pdf would be?

edit: Try here? http://manual.teq.org

[alpha13]

thanks for that fossman.. couldnt find that link anywhere.. that swhere i got the 88 bgb...
now i have the 89 one too :) :) cheers man.

[corkcorolla]

Thanks Fossman.

Someone asked me to resize my pics,i'm trying but I'm having a few problems,i'll try to sort them asap.Sorry :-:

[mr2mk1chick]

Someone asked me to resize my pics,i'm trying but I'm having a few problems,i'll try to sort them asap.Sorry :-:
No need for the sad face - its the forum rules to have pics 800 pixels so it dosen't prove hard to view or open with older pc's or bad download speed.
sorry you are having trouble resizing them.
try the guide here for help

viewtopic.php?p=4763#p4763 (http://www.mr2mk1club.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4763#p4763)

:+: