I wanted to combine everything I have done as well as everything I will do to my 93 MR2. I first purchased this car 03/21/09 from Joe (91MR2). The car was in great shape when I first brought it home. The only real issue is the poor excuse of a paint job when the car was re-painted some time ago and some horrid patch work on the driver’s rear quarter.
This was how the car sat in the Early Spring of '09.
By Summer of '08 not much had changed. I put together my mod list and just drove it.
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Here is the “list” as it stands now. I keep coming up with little side projects that are not on it. The main goal was to improve the interior and get the suspension and brakes done.
Exterior
- Repaint 3E5 (Super Red)
- JDM Clear Corners
- OEM Fog Lights
- Solid Molding
Interior
- Pedal Upgrade
- Steering Wheel Upgrade
- Rearview Mirror Upgrade with Dome Light delete
- Re-upholster Seats, Door Panels, Visors, and Headliner
- LED conversion for interior illumination
- Gauge Rings
Wheels and Suspension
- 5Zigen FN01-RC
- Cooper Zeon 2XS
- Muteki Spline Drive
- Hub Rings
- TRD Springs
- Koni Dampeners
- Poly-urethane Bushings
- High and Tight end links
- TRD Frt/Rr Sway Bar
- Reinforce Sway Bar mounts
- New Strut Mounts
Brakes
- Upgrade to 93 Turbo Setup
- SS Lines
- Refurb/Replace All Components
Misc.
- Rebuild OEM Clock to light White
- Lit “MR2” garnish
- Gas Charged Props (Front Compartment, Engine Lid, and Trunk)
- Rebuild Intake
As for the Motor, I have not decided what I want to do yet. I built this as something I could cruise around with the T-Tops off. I’m sure it will see some track time but I am not looking for much performance gain, at this stage anyways.
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I spent the better half of '09 basically transforming the interior. I had seat covers and door panels made from http://www.leatherseats.com/ which is known for quality and durability. For the seats I had to strip off the OEM covers, made a few repairs to the 17 year old foam, and put on the new covers. It is amazing how much goes into this. I recommend doing it yourself if you are considering it. It is time consuming but the results speak for themselves. All told it took me 6 hours to do both seats and maybe an hour to do both door panels.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
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Here is the drivers view from OEM to now. The “MR2” button, which I made, is my favorite mod on the whole car:
Pedals:
Here is the lighting upgrade. The OEM Bulbs are on the Left. The LEDs is used are on the right. The light output is very tolerable and adds a modern look to the outdated green look:
OEM Cluster (Hard to see, huh?):
After “Slight” modification (Much better…):
OEM HVAC:
Again, after “slight” modification:
A lot of work went into the interior. Many of the existing clips where busted, which are now replaced, and some wiring issues had to be corrected. I ran new wiring for my Audio setup as well as created a custom harness for my HU that uses a separate 9-pin connection for the Front/Rear speakers. This way I was able to run a larger gauge wire while still leaving the OEM harness intact.
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So here is the Car as it stands now. The suspension is still OEM for now:
No much in the go fast department as of right now but this thread will be its showcase as this evolves. Not much will happen for the next few months. I am attempting to have the entire car re-painted sometime in the Fall/Winter '10. Once I have that done then it is time to tear into the motor.
I love this thing. Such a joy to drive.
