Ownership Verified: Trifecta complete: 1988 Toyota MR2 with 2004 Celica GT-S engine/transmission swap

What's the ride like on it? Is this a car that's only good for a couple hours of weekend driving before your spine is ready to shatter or can it be used comfortably for longer driving trips (or even as a fun daily)?
 
It has Koni yellow struts currently set to maximum soft, so it's quite livable, but the seats aren't particularly comfortable over long distances. Right now I'm using it as a daily driver on Boston-area roads and it's surprisingly livable.
 
It has Koni yellow struts currently set to maximum soft, so it's quite livable, but the seats aren't particularly comfortable over long distances. Right now I'm using it as a daily driver on Boston-area roads and it's surprisingly livable.

Well, I guess if it can be liveable on Boston's lousy roads, it be liveable anywhere. I can't really think of any fun twisty roads for an MR2 inside 495, though, so I'd love to know where one goes to drive for fun around here.
 
Some of the roads by the river in Watertown and Arlington are good for short bursts of fun, and linking Storrow and the Big Dig tunnels have their own appeal. I do agree though that most of the time it's hard to find good fun roads around here.

So it's not entirely rust-free:



Quite a lot of rot behind the side skirts. Thankfully there are weld-in panels available from body vendors.

Spent a pretty nice day driving and fixing things up:
-Put dampening tape on plastic trim pieces to eliminate rattles
-Installed DIY t-top straps on one side so they don't flop about in spirited driving
-Tightened down suspension bolts to eliminate noises over bumps
-Started modding the Cadillac horns I got from the junkyard to replace the cutesey normal ones
 
Last edited:
The more I dig into this car the more goodies I find. In the front end there's stainless steel brake lines, polyurethane bushings for the sway bars, and a set of TRD strut bearings. The PO may have neglected the exhaust, but he sure put some nice bonuses into the mix.
 
Supertones?
 
Supertones?
Stock Cadillac Fleetwood horns; been having some problems trying to get them to work so am in the process of troubleshooting right now.
Video clips!!!
Soon as I get my latest fix out of the way: inner tie rod ends. Also, intake is in the mail.
 
Last edited:
Stock Cadillac Fleetwood horns; been having some problems trying to get them to work so am in the process of troubleshooting right now.

Soon as I get my latest fix out of the way: inner tie rod ends. Also, intake is in the mail.

Insufficient current, maybe? You could wire in a relay for them :lol:
 
Insufficient current, maybe? You could wire in a relay for them :lol:
I've ordered parts for that which are in the mail as we speak. Weirdly, if I grounded the horns to the chassis rather than through the horn connector they do work (and startled the shits out of me). Second problem is where to find the room to mount them, but that can come later.
 
I've ordered parts for that which are in the mail as we speak. Weirdly, if I grounded the horns to the chassis rather than through the horn connector they do work (and startled the shits out of me). Second problem is where to find the room to mount them, but that can come later.

Second the advice. Wire in a relay to the stock connector, provide separate power and ground, problem solved. Wouldn't be surprised if this car didn't have a horn relay to start with and was just using power switched through the steering wheel contacts.
 
Wouldn't be surprised if this car didn't have a horn relay to start with and was just using power switched through the steering wheel contacts.
Lack of surprise maintained; it is indeed a direct switch horn wiring setup.
 
Good news: the relay setup works.
Bad news: two of the four junkyard Cadillac horns don't work (multimeter says open circuit), though it's plenty loud with just two.
Worse news: had to replace a dying inner tie rod end up front (did both sides and outer ends while I was under there), and have rear strut mounts on the way to replace rusty and cracked original ones. Crazy thing is, everything else in the suspension is new: rear tie rod ends, springs, struts, front bearings, and polyurethane control arm bushings.
 
Vandal eyes?
 
:rofl:
Brilliant!
 
Right. New steering rack bushing and tie rod end end (yes, two "ends") later, it finally drives without front-end clunks. Drove it to a mountaintop in Vermont and took some pictures.



On the way home, I encountered the car's brother from another mother.
 
It looks so tiny. I love it. :D
 
Great, now I should get one...
 
Top