The MR2 is Back from Camp

Michael, again.  In just a week, the rest of the automatic to manual conversion was done by ETL Motorsports.  There was also a small oil leak from the distributor o-ring that was also fixed.

Diane and I drove out to pick up the car and I drove the car home; all was fine.

Amazingly, on Craigslist, I was able to find a manual shift boot for the interior, new in box, purchased by the seller from a Toyota dealer in 2002.  So that solved the problem with that ugly old part.  With that part I could reassemble the interior.

The Interior All Done

And here's the Frunk also Re-assembled

I knew the suspension and tires were old.  But driving in the rain last week it was clear that there was a safety problem.  So, lastly, I took the car to the mechanic on the corner, Carlos, and he put on new tires (I ordered from Amazon) and new struts (I ordered from Rockauto).  Can you believe it?  The car had the original struts from 1988; no wonder!

Now things are proper, wet or dry, and I have confidence in the car's handling.

It's impressive how inexpensive things can be on an itty bitty car.  The struts were about $30 each, and the tires $40 each.  One thing I've learned is that cars with 14" wheels are rare now, and all the big tire companies don't make any tires for these any more.  So it took a little searching.

Happy driving!  For me that is.

MR2 is at Camp ETL Motorsports Garage

I figured that while the MR2 was at the garage we'd have a photography blackout, but these guys have been documenting progress.  ETL Motorsports specializes in mid-engine cars like the Toyota MR2 and Porsche Cayman.

Here's the old automatic transmission removed from the car

...and the spot it came from

New pieces going in

Clutch in

And here's ETL's Instagram Page