How did I get here?
Sounds like a Talking Heads song, eh?
Well, I've had an idea for a website/blog like this for over a year now, but never had the true motivation to start it. Then, for no reason at all, I went and crashed my finished 1991 MR2 at a rainy track day event this winter. After the wet Seattle winter subsided, I stopped spending lonely nights in the garage wimpering at the chassis that used to be a lot longer, and got a plan together. It was time to rebuild... faster! stronger! lighter! better balanced! more expensiver!
Before I get to the big reveal with a new car, crazy suspension and aero sketches, inboard air jacks and KERS systems plans, let's back up a little bit. You may or may not know me. You may think "this guy... we all see the race car projects start... let's see the finished product!" Let's go over my resumé. My first MR2 chassis was a total piece of crap when I bought it, and over the 3 years of ownership I managed to turn it into a pretty capable driving machine.
I know, "buzz, your girlfriend, woof". But I saw potential. After doing the basic maintenance, upgrading to some BC coilovers, and everyone's favorite, XXR wheels, it was starting to look and drive better!
Over that following winter, I bought a new-to-me hella tight yo JDM gen3 3sgte motor complete with new LSD transmission and all the bells and whistles. With nothing but a cold Colorado garage, my trusty ACE socket set, and ignorant bliss, I went to work. That spring, I emerged with the same looking car... but now with more than double the power!
Mixed with super rare authentic JDM parts like a Phoenix Power exhaust and Bomex Drift wing, I sprinkled in some eBay crap parts. I didn't know what was good, and what was terrible. I had to buy a lot of parts twice, sometimes three times before I learned my lesson. That following summer I enjoyed the car and upgraded parts here and there.
That fall, I decided to chase my girlfriend up to the fabled Pacific Northwest. Seattle; the land of big trees, coffee, Amazon, and rain! The car made the drive up surprisingly uneventful.
The next winter I decided it was time to get this project really going. I had dreams of an aggressive, almost over the top MR2, and doggonit, why not?! Out came the sawzaw, on went the flares, and now I could fit HUGE-for-MR2-size 17x9.5 front and 18x10.5 rear wheels on the car. Grip felt endless!
Now she has some hips, right? I know, I know, there's a big elephant in the room. Paint the damn thing! It's hideous! Well, after months of research I decided to tackle it myself. At that point in life I was jobless, so why not get in over my head with a skill that some take lifetimes to master? Well, I went to work again, this time though I was armed with a big 60 gallon air compressor and all the harbor freight air tools my $1500 budget could buy. After a hard fought two months... the car came out fantastic in my eye.
Wow! Now we're getting somewhere! That following summer I drove the car often, and even entered a few track days. But, I haven't had much luck with these... My first track day resulted in a disintegrated clutch. Like, blown up, rats nest of clutch material all over the bellhousing. My second track day resulted in something even worse, a blown motor!
Don't worry though, another gen3 3sgte was sourced rather quickly (and cheaply too) and swapped in over another month or so and the car was back up to it's old self. Drive, upgrade, break, fix, upgrade, drive. That kind of routine. It was becoming a pretty polished project (but never really "complete"). I was so smitten with it I had a local photographer take a whack at it one summer evening. His photos did not disappoint.
After all that, the car was even featured on Petrolicious. They primarily focus on true classic cars, 1970's and older, so I was flattered they chose my resto-mod. You can view the small feature here: http://petrolicious.com/a-restored-toyota-mr2-that-lives-for-the-twisties
That brings us to this past winter. After a brake and turbo upgrade, I was itching for another track day. I really like The Ridge Motorsports park in our area, but will also go to Pacific Raceways when I have the chance. The day started wet, dried up, and then got wet again. During the last wet session I was taking it very easy, going about half pace in the long straights due to standing water and hydroplaning.
Even with my over the top caution (read as: granny on the track being passed by everyone), I hit a tricky patch of standing water, hydroplaned out of my control, nicked the wall on the driver's side, and ricocheted into the opposite wall. Funny thing is I remember tagging the first wall and thinking "Damnit Mike! There goes my paintjob!" and as I was careening towards the opposite wall I thought "crap, this might hurt." Thankfully, it didn't hurt. The car however...
Yup, the chassis was about a foot shorter in some spots, you can see I actually moved the concrete barrier back about a foot too. But, in the end, the wall won. The car was totaled. I borrowed a trailer, got it in the garage, and poured a beer out for the fallen soldier.
Then, I got to work. Motor, out. Suspension, pulled. Brakes, yanked. Any useable body part, impacted off in haste. It's amazing how quickly you can take apart a car that's never going back together again.
There we are. Thanks for the taking the trip down memory lane. If you read the whole post, you have a great attention span! If you read the whole thing and want to go into excruciating detail on all the ups, downs, and in betweens of the build, you can go full nerd on the original build thread: http://www.mr2.com/forums/threads/84610-She-s-Ugly-91-MR2-Build
Up next, let's check out the replacement child currently in the garage. Stay tuned, leave a comment, join in on the fun.