AOTB's random fleet - one out, one LCBL in!

October 30, 2021

Might as well make one of these to keep on top of some of the ongoing projects. The current status is:

2005 MR2 Roadster: Current daily driver and I've just got back from a 3000 mile roadtrip to Italy with no major issues.. Considering it was in pieces a couple of weeks before leaving with a major transplant occurring, that was a great success but i'll post about that later.

The only issue was a wheel arch liner that made a bid for freedom somewhere around Baden-Baden. Chopping it out got some odd looks at the services.

2004 Ignis Sport

Mostly languishing, I was using it while working on the Roadster, but it's mostly a backup or when I need something with a bit more space. I'll get a set of tyres before the winter, the current ones are pretty ropey.

2003 Corolla 190- It's bean tins now, Got the parts I wanted and ended up making a profit once selling the extras and weighing in what was left. Result!

1959 International Metro Mite

Still in the workshop and not much progress has been made. That should change over the next few months.

Now for the newcomer- a 1986 Mk1 MR2. As much as I wanted one I wasn't really looking for to buy one at the moment, I was mostly looking for something to use as a winter commuter. However I have @Schaefftto blame for sending me this(as seen in the ebay thread) , and who could resist a cheap Mk1? It's a 1986 so is a bit of a crossover bewteen Mk1A/B versions. No real collection photos as I got it delivered after taking a quick look earlier in the week. Someone had already shown an interest as an engine donor, but vanished before stumping up the cash.

It photographs well, but does need a fair amount of work. It's not been on the road for 10 years, and while previous owners have done a lot of rust repair, according to the stack of recipts that came with it that was all in the late 90s so it is coming back. At some point it's had heavy underseal applied, I suspect after the last batch of MOT repairs in 2010. Stripping all that off will be fun*. The wheels will be going, I've had a set of these TSWs on the Ignis and they must be filled with lead for how heavy they are.

Sills look like they need attention, and have been repaired before.

.

Hole in the inner wing by the fusebox.

Small bubbling along the top of the screen, the scuttle looks to be OK

Some perforation on the rear valance.

.

Yeah, that needs sorting out.

Y

There's leaking coolant from a perished hose and I think it's alternator bearings are making a lovely noise. Other than that it runs beautifully,

The upsides are that that interior is in good shape, much better than the mileage would suggest, and the outer panels are in reasonable shape (but with iffy paint) the rear arches seem good and the front wings are already Fibreglass replacements. From just punting it around the yard I can tell it's a ton of fun so hoping to put it back on the road. The Metro does take priority and there's a SIIA Land Rover taking up a lot of space that could also do with being put together, so it may be a while before that happens.

22,767 · October 31, 2021

It'll definitely be interesting to see this one coming along. I still cannot believe that nobody picked this up earlier. It'll be worth the time and money spent on it.

11,144 · October 31, 2021

A nice list of stuff there.

I remember seeing a MK1 having a LOT of welding done in the mid 90's

It was quite a mess to start with. Hopefully it was done well previously.

28,691 · October 31, 2021

Ha, great! Doesn't look too bad for an MR2 of this price, actually.

17,636 · October 31, 2021

Nice fleet! Is the engine from the Corolla now in the Mk3 MR2?

November 1, 2021

On 10/31/2021 at 9:12 AM, dome said:

Nice fleet! Is the engine from the Corolla now in the Mk3 MR2?

Yes, still got some fettling to finish it off.

November 1, 2021

Underseal: Just say no!

I can't say I'm that surprised. It does show how bad underseal can be, it's actually wet behind it, and has been for a long time. A lot of previous MOT patching hasn't helped as the rot has just carried on behind the plating. Unsurprisingly the passenger side is worst, with some big holes.

The driver's side is somewhat better, a lot of the uglyness is from the previous welding burning off the factory sound dampening. There's still some holes.

Other areas aren't too bad, everything forward of the front bulkead has so far looked servicable.The passenger side rear swing arm mount area is pretty crusty so that will also need some attention. Repairs to areas that weren't covered in black snot look to have been well done and are holding up well enough. I think I'll completely strip it and get the shell on a rotisserie to make things easier instead of trying to do everything upside down. Floor cut sections with the sills are probably the way forward, and not overly expensive.

14,411 · November 1, 2021

tickle with sparkly stick and be as good as this ..

November 2, 2021

Following, if only for the MR2 😃

My first roadster had similar issues with the arch liners. They made a bid for freedom on the very first outing!

I actually have a spare set of front ones here, but the current car has minty ones already. If you're near Milton Keynes, I paid £20 for them and would happily let them move on for the same amount. You can come and look at my brown 2zz too 🤣

November 2, 2021

10 hours ago, TheOtherStu said:

Following, if only for the MR2 😃

My first roadster had similar issues with the arch liners. They made a bid for freedom on the very first outing!

I actually have a spare set of front ones here, but the current car has minty ones already. If you're near Milton Keynes, I paid £20 for them and would happily let them move on for the same amount. You can come and look at my brown 2zz too 🤣

This was caused by a suprise pothole on a gravel track to an abaondoned Ski jump. I only have myself to blame for that! I think I have some in storage somewhere from my first one, but if I can't find them I might take you up on that.

29,668 · November 3, 2021

The Metro has piqued my interest...Details please!

US commercial vehicles are so different to those over here... astonishing how long vans that looked almost identical to that were still in production!

1,908 · November 4, 2021

Nice MR2 content! My first MK1 had been plated in the drivers foot well same region. The MK3 should have come with the 2zz from the factory

November 4, 2021

1 hour ago, Liggle said:

Nice MR2 content! My first MK1 had been plated in the drivers foot well same region. The MK3 should have come with the 2zz from the factory

I'll be honest, it's a fantastic engine and great fun, but now having had one, there are a number of reasons why I'd actually say no (and I was previously a "why didn't they offer it?")

Firstly, it was the 2zz that caused the demise of the Celica. As I've found out this week, it's notoriously difficult to get them through emissions. The cat for the 2zz celica costs about double that of the 1zz. The 1zz is a big engine in a little engine bay, but there's just about enough room for a proper cat. I'm not sure you'd actually get the 2zz Celica cat anywhere near the MR2. It's huge!

But more importantly, the 1zz in the Roadster whilst not that powerful, was also put in the Elise. That should tell you enough. 140bhp in a mid engined, lightweight RWD is enough for those who aren't used to driving sports cars. It's not like an MX5 where if you get a little out of sorts, a quick correction or a squirt of the throttle will bring you back round. Once you're in a spin, you're in a spin (ask me how I know). The 2zz takes it up a notch - if you're not straight when lift kicks in, you're likely to spin it - think of turbo lag, but x3. It kicks in so quickly. Now that's fine in a FWD Celica, but really, it needs 4wd to really complement it in the MR2.

Of course, the 300+bhp Turbo 2JZ Roadster owners will tell me I'm talking out of my arse, but quite honestly, I think for most people, the power to talent ratio of the average driver, the 1zz is perfectly adequate. Of course, if you want something bonkers, there are plenty of 3.6 and 4.3 400bhp+ TVRs floating about.

1,908 · November 4, 2021

Interesting! No plans to fit the compressor from a Corolla then 😂

November 4, 2021

14 minutes ago, Liggle said:

Interesting! No plans to fit the compressor from a Corolla then 😂

I did consider it. The torque would be useful, although issues as above ^. The actual BHP increase (around 15) is absolute nonsense for the extra £1200 it would have cost to fit. If I was going to put a supercharger on, I'd use a proper one.

23,499 · November 4, 2021

55 minutes ago, TheOtherStu said:

I'll be honest, it's a fantastic engine and great fun, but now having had one, there are a number of reasons why I'd actually say no (and I was previously a "why didn't they offer it?")

Firstly, it was the 2zz that caused the demise of the Celica. As I've found out this week, it's notoriously difficult to get them through emissions. The cat for the 2zz celica costs about double that of the 1zz. The 1zz is a big engine in a little engine bay, but there's just about enough room for a proper cat. I'm not sure you'd actually get the 2zz Celica cat anywhere near the MR2. It's huge!

But more importantly, the 1zz in the Roadster whilst not that powerful, was also put in the Elise. That should tell you enough. 140bhp in a mid engined, lightweight RWD is enough for those who aren't used to driving sports cars. It's not like an MX5 where if you get a little out of sorts, a quick correction or a squirt of the throttle will bring you back round. Once you're in a spin, you're in a spin (ask me how I know). The 2zz takes it up a notch - if you're not straight when lift kicks in, you're likely to spin it - think of turbo lag, but x3. It kicks in so quickly. Now that's fine in a FWD Celica, but really, it needs 4wd to really complement it in the MR2.

Of course, the 300+bhp Turbo 2JZ Roadster owners will tell me I'm talking out of my arse, but quite honestly, I think for most people, the power to talent ratio of the average driver, the 1zz is perfectly adequate. Of course, if you want something bonkers, there are plenty of 3.6 and 4.3 400bhp+ TVRs floating about.

Interesting viewpoint. As you say, the 1ZZ in the MR2 Roadster chassis is actually a lot of fun and still quite capable. I guess the thing which always made me think 'I'd love to drop a 2ZZ in mine one day' is knowing I'd be able to upset a range of unsuspecting cars and I'd never tire of the sound of the lift kicking in and the engine doing its finest Jekyll and Hyde impression.

November 5, 2021

8 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Interesting viewpoint. As you say, the 1ZZ in the MR2 Roadster chassis is actually a lot of fun and still quite capable. I guess the thing which always made me think 'I'd love to drop a 2ZZ in mine one day' is knowing I'd be able to upset a range of unsuspecting cars and I'd never tire of the sound of the lift kicking in and the engine doing its finest Jekyll and Hyde impression.

That was exactly the reason why I did it 🤣 but I'm also very glad I learned the hard way how to deal with the 1zz before I did it. I think if I'd gone straight into 2zz ownership, I'd have probably either crashed, or scared myself stupid and sold it on.

It's more like an Elise now, but I definitely don't think the MR2 was originally aimed at someone that might buy an Elise, more as an alternative to the MX5. I'm trying not to overly generalise, but frankly, I think Toyota initially aimed the model at the female of the species.

I don't know the MX5 community that well, but know that there's a well known Turbo option. But I don't think it's overly popular.

The 124 Abarth is probably the nearest we'd get to something to the bonkersness of the 2zz. It's a couple of gee gees short, but a pal of mine who's swapped his MR2 in for one, says they have very similar qualities. So perhaps I am being a bit unfair, but I definitely think if Toyota had done a 2zz MR2, it would have been limited and marketed at petrol heads.

Changing the subject slightly (sorry OP, I'm taking over your thread), but the GT86 wasn't what we expected either. Prius wheels, a fairly mild engine. Although they have now finally announced the GR86, but it's a little too late. The widely anticipated Supra turned out to be a BMW in a skin.

November 6, 2021

No worries about taking over the thread! I'm still running the MR2 gearbox at the the moment which does take the edge off a bit as the gearing is longer, but it was either that or drive the Ignis to Italy, which I wouldn't inflict on my worst enemy. There's a converted box waiting to be fitted with a lightweight flywheel when I get a chance. I had no real issues with the power level of the 1ZZ, but it's not exactly special and needed work anyway. Getting a cheap donor car sealed the deal on that. Now it's more than quick enough but I haven't really been pushing it too hard yet. Once the gearbox is swapped it should be better at lower speeds and bring the lift point down to a more usable speed.

I can see why it wasn't 2ZZ from the factory, it's competitors at the time were all around the same output, and it was marketed towards normal people. They did manage to shift plenty of them so that was probably a good strategy. I have no idea why they stuck it in the Corolla which is totally unsuited to the character of the engine - I had no qualms about ripping it out.

The only MX5 I've driven is the Auto donor for the Metro, and that was around a field, which isn't really a good comparison!

On 11/3/2021 at 12:48 AM, Zelandeth said:

The Metro has piqued my interest...Details please!

US commercial vehicles are so different to those over here... astonishing how long vans that looked almost identical to that were still in production!

Sure, it's very unusal for a US commercial as it was IH's attempt to build a small van and quite forways looking for the time. This model was built from (I believe, information is hard to come by) 1957-1962. It was a replacement for the Raymond Lowey designed vans from the 40's which are much more of a collectors item now. The Mite was the smallest in the range, there were larger models that were more conventional but kept the same styling- I think this was the van that set the style for American step vans up to the current day. It's much small than it looks at only 4m long and 1.75m wide, about the same size as an NA MX5 as it happens.

Something very unusal is that it's not body on frame but a monocoque construction. There's a box section frame at the front but behind the gearbox there's just a couple of thin rails and it relies on the rest of the body for strength- the advantage of this is that it was easy to lower the floor to create more headroom in the rear, which we needed for what it's going to be doing (Ice Cream). The rest is a parts bin special, the rear axle is from a Willys Jeep with a crazy low diff ratio- 6.13:1 which I can only assume was to make the most of the power put out by that famous American muscle of the BMC B series engine. Not even the 1.8, the 1.5 with 51hp and a four speed column shift manual from the Nash Metropolitan. By all regards this was incredibly underpowered and was replaced by an IH 6 cylinder for later years.

This one came from Minnesota, but someone else did the hard work of importing it. It was a rolling shell, the engine was siezed and it looked to have been sat for a very long time. There's minimal rust- just a couple of patches to repair but the driver's side rear panel has had bondo over dents so I need to get a new panel for that. I've got the underside cleaned up, put the lowered floor section in and primed underneath. So far the MX5 engine is mounted and fits quite well. Why MX5? Reliable, cheap, simple and with a ton of aftermarket support available. I've got the passenger door partly changed to being a swing out instead of sliding- otherwise it interferes with the opening side. There's a new frame to go in to strengthen that wall- from the factory it's flimsy before trying to cut a section out of it. The interior is mostly mapped out, the plan is to use LiFePO4 batteries to run the refrigeration equipment. There will be a scooping cabinet as well as a storage freezer, based on my back of the envelope calculations around a 10kwh bank will be enough capacity and take up a similar space to what a generator housing would need.

It's a project that kind of ground to a halt as I'd lost motivation on it, which is kind of why I bought the AW11 as the van needs to be done before I can enjoy that!

April 1, 2022

I’ve left this a bit long for an update, so here we go:

Roadster. It’s the daily driver, with no issues up until yesterday when a coil pack gave up by splitting open.

They probably have 100,000 miles on them, so I can’t complain too much. £65 for a replacement still stings! A quick look underneath revealed a torn engine mount, which explains some of the clonking I’ve been hearing recently.

I think the bushing can be pressed out without buying the whole replacement mount.

Ignis. As the roadster is out of action that means the Ignis actually gets some use. Other than a getting an MOT a month or so ago it mostly just sits gathering moss.

The Red AW11

I’ve now dug in to it and it’s going to need a lot of work. Both floors, Passenger sills, rear quarter and inner wings. Possibly more one I get it on the spit. I did buy a new welder so I may as well get as much use out of it as I can.

Ventilated floors!

That’s the leading edge of the passenger footwell, looking rearward. This is by far the worst area, and shows what underseal can do. Peeling it off and it was wet behind it. I have replacement floors and sills now, but this is going to be a longer term project.

I did buy an engine, for the simple reason that it was cheap. Underestimated the weight slightly having to lift it in the back of the Ignis!

Metro. Not much to report, A little bit of progress and parts sourcing. I’ve cleared some space around it and will be diving into that as the main focus once I’ve MOT’d:

The Blue AW11. Purchased very much on a whim, I think the eBay listing went up at 2PM, I’d messaged the seller almost as soon as it went up and had seen and bought it by 6pm.

Obviously it’s not pristine, but it’s much more solid than my other one.

Luxurious Accommodation. Seats/Belts/Fire system are out of date now, but still find for targas and stuff. It does need some interior parts for that. The cage is a Safety Devices one, though I’m not sure if it would pass for a logbook however that would be a long way off.

The worst area is on the drivers side rear arch, there’s a lot of wob in there. It could be from a shunt as opposed to rust, either way it needs some attention to get through a test. The sill is solid, its the quarter panel over the top that’s the problem. For now I’ll patch it so the sill and panel are attached to each other and cover up the step in the filler with the sill covers. The front wing needs a bit of love too, but that’s a much smaller issue.

Taking it around another farm tracks it’s a riot. The engine was rebuilt by the last but one owner, the cams look new and it’s plenty fast enough.

MOT is booked for the 13th…

August 27, 2024

Holy Thread Resurrection! Had a hectic couple of years so kind of just drifted away and not really documented what's come and gone. I've still got the MR2 Roadster and both Mk1 MR2s, with not much of a change to report. The Roadster would definitely benefit from a bit of love over the winter, recently some rust has appeared around the windscreen which needs sorting. Other than an alternator failure it's been plain sailing. The Blue Mk1 I have done some work on, mostly with the intention of getting it Hillclimb ready- maybe next year? I did make it to FOTU with it this year (Was planning on taking something else, but we'll come to that!) and have been commuting with it a bit. The big trip was taking to to Slovenia this Easter. No issues from the car and it was fantastic on the gravel roads in the mountains. The wet Autobahn less so, I think my hearing and back has just about recovered now.

Rolling back to 2023's trip, I decided to get something totally the opposite to my usual thing, and I think ended up buying a bargain barge. Turns out you can buy an X350 XJ for £1000, but you probably shouldn't. Now, this had a reasonably long MOT when I bought it, but I do question how legit they were. No troublesome Air suspension to worry about, that had been ripped out for a set of BC coilovers. A janky 'straight' pipe and (semi working) ebay HIDs & light bar behind the grille were just the start of it. The wheels were 19s from a later XK ( I think) shod in the finest Mazzini Tyres. Now these don't actually fit the XJ, so every arch had been trimmed with varying levels of neatness. Every single bush in the suspension was totally shot.

Only one of these is still on the road- the GTV got vandalised in the owner's car park.

This was absolutely the car for a trip to southeastern France, and I do keep an eye on them. Maybe next time an XJR? The only trouble I had was with the random choice of how many cylinders it would run on when it was a cold morning. This one ended up selling to a car breaker advertising exclusively on TikTok for basically what I paid for it.

The plan was always to unload the XJ after the trip, there was no way it was going to pass another MOT. Sat around the big communal table of the Airbnb with a bunch of car nerds and beer the question of what would replace it came up. I've always liked the Fulvia and the memory of missing out on one ten years ago when they weren't silly money still haunts. The Italians of the group checked subito- yes they days of cheap rust free ones there have gone too. Oh well, what harm could an ebay search do?

WTF IS THAT

Not sure if it was the wine talking, but I knew I needed it. The price was a little high for me, but the seller would do a deal without the alloy doors and bonnet which do go for a fair price on their own. Messaged the seller and arranged a viewing for once I was back. I already knew I was going to buy it. Hightailed it down to Somerset after work and did the deal. I'd actually been there the year before to buy a set of stairs from the seller's grandfather for a building project which was a strange coincidence. It was being sold by a young lad who I think had realised that it needed a lot of work- rot in all the usual places (everywhere!). It did come with some parts, but not a complete engine.

From what I know of the history it was built by a guy in Aspatria in the 70s to give more space for his children. It was last on the road in 92 and I think he kept hold of it for a while after that. He was into Citroen's which is I guess where the inspiration for the GS came from - everything behind the B pillar and above the belt line is GS break. The tailgate has been cut down to just below the glass. Somewhat concerningly the rear bulkhead of the coupe has been removed so the rigidity may be somewhat compromised (part of the plan is to fix this!) So far my progress has mostly been stripping and parts gathering. The worst part is the rear chassis leg on the passenger side- the spring mount has completely disintegrated. The parts availability for the rest of it is mostly good- I think all of the panels I need are available as reproductions. I've been doing a lot of travelling to gather parts- Engine and Subframe from Hexham, Doors from Kent and Essex and a rear cut of a GS from Grenoble.

That's led to 'needing' a sensible load lugger, so in possibly the most boring thing I've ever bought, a Grey 2006 320D Estate. It's a car! Just passed a year with it and plenty of miles. Average of 50ish MPG, easily carries by bike and all sorts of other junk. Just ticked past 170k miles and the only real work I've done is suspension (which I'm fairly sure was original) and a couple of rear wheel bearings, one of which made itself apparent on the Grenoble GS trip. No chance of getting it fixed over the armistice weekend led to a mildly uneasy trip!

So what with the Fulvia, Metro and various MR2 Projects on the go, what I needed was another abandoned project!

An ebay search for Classic Cars <£1000 and a recent trailer purchase is a dangerous thing. The incredibly poor AI description led to a non running Lotus Elite for £600. Crucially though, one of the few bits of info that the seller did write himself was that it had a Galvanised chassis, so it was worth a gamble. I borrowed my brother's luxurious* Defender and set off to Farnham to rescue one of a pair that were being sold as the seller was extending his house and they were now in the way. It really was a game of extracting it, the brakes were seized on the rear and with inboard drums releasing them isn't a case of popping the wheels off. At one point the seller suggested using the Defender to nudge the Lotus as 'the bumpers on these old things are much stronger than modern stuff'. The Elite having bumpers made from fibreglass and the Defender's being made entirely of rust made me not peruse that. Much dragging and shuffling later the finest cheapo winch got it on the trailer.

I've got it running and was hoping to get it to FOTU, but that was just to much. Now I've got until mid October to get it finished* for an NC500 trip. The slowdown was mostly as I got the dumb idea to paint it myself- it had been resprayed at some point and that was just flaking off. The original colour was turquoise which I had been thinking of for the Fulvia. It's a Polyurethane enamel type paint - had some issues with the fancy HVLP setup I bought but did get a better result with the cheap generic compressor spraygun in the end.

Now it's a long way from perfect, but I did learn a lot so that's all that matters! It had been left under a tarp with the window open for a long time so the interior needs work, picked up a set of seats from a couple of places that are slightly less of a habitat than the ones it came with. Underneath the Galv chassis, despite being fitted in 1987, is still in great shape. Everything else is just a good going through, cambelt, cooling, brakes & suspension. It's been fairly simple to work on so far, with the exception of the rear brakes/diff. The access for that is possibly the worst I've dealt with. This weekend I've been refitting the door parts which has been a slow process of figuring out what goes where.

Another lowball bid tied in with collecting some Lotus bits, so I've found myself owning a Celica. Really just a parts donor for a 2ZZ, the rest is a bit of a shed.

Need to get this stripped and weighed in so I can free up some storage space for the latest arrival.

I really should learn and stop buying other peoples £500 abandoned projects, but where's the fun in that!

Yes it's another weird fibreglass wedgy thing! Looks like a shed, but it's actually really solid, which is the critical thing for these. It was imported in 2021 having previously lived in Angoulême. The guy selling it had another under a tarp, as well as a parts hoard, some of which I made a return trip for. So far I've stored this away as something for next year, it did come with a 1442 but I'm wondering about going for something more potent as the Simca engines were never the strong point.

So there's a little update! Currently I own 8 cars, three of which are on the road (dropping to one once winter rolls around) and five major projects. Once the Lotus is driving it will be pretty much full on to get the Metro Van done for spring next year. I have been working on that- a fair bit more bodywork as well as the disk brake conversion.

August 27, 2024

Some Photo's of the Lancia's current condition

I am not sure what the utility of this patch on the sills was.

That's the rear spring mount, which is probably the worst part of the car.

Previous repair is not so good now. From the old photos the doors have never fitted well, it looks like this panel was replaced but positioned too far forward so the door doesn't sit inside.

That's where the subframe top mount sits. There's a parts shop in Italy that has replacement sections for here.

The join between the GS and Fulvia has rotted through on both sides. The GS cut I have is long enough and the Fulvia panels for here are available. Will be a lot of fettling to join them up . The actual roof panel is very solid and will probably stay,

The floors need work, but that's the least of the problems. A lot of the work will be replacing previous repairs, especially on sills and arches. It's certainly a big project and one that makes no financial sense, but it deserves to be back on the road.

22,767 · August 27, 2024

Great to see an update of all of them together, I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing the Lotus in October. Fingers crossed it'll be ready by then!

14,411 · August 27, 2024

i wish you all the luck !!

3,989 · August 28, 2024

Watching the Fulvia with interest, as in another life I was heavily involved with these. Would it be worth looking for a better shell to build it into?

27,938 · August 28, 2024

Jesus helicoptering Christ, that's a comeback.

[Waves from the Autopian discord]

August 28, 2024

1 hour ago, Mr Pastry said:

Watching the Fulvia with interest, as in another life I was heavily involved with these. Would it be worth looking for a better shell to build it into?

The problem is they are either expensive or just as rotten as what I’ve got. Or in some cases both. Plus then there’s the thought that it would be taking away another coupe that could live on.

August 28, 2024

10 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Great to see an update of all of them together, I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing the Lotus in October. Fingers crossed it'll be ready by then!

It’s a big task, but I’d be disappointed if I didn’t try.