1992 MR2 MK2 Project: A big drive

Looks great, shame about the run but things happen, must be a big mojo boost to see it in colour!

Great job. Did you use 2K paint?

With the car curing nicely i got on with the front wings.
The original plan had been to paint them while i painted the shell but i was a bit worried about space and time so i left them out the way..
I sheeted the car up to avoid covering it in overspray


So first up is a clean back and some wet primer.


Then colour and lacquer goes on.


Ill not pretend it went quite that smoothly. The first attempt had the colour running faster than a politician during an expenses audit. So i left it to dry, then sanded back and reprimed.
End result I can live with, some wetsanding and polishing will see it looking much better.



Up next i think is to paint the sills with raptor, fit the wings and get the sideskirts finished before rolling the shell out the way and getting on with painting the rest of the panels.

Slow changes. I have been making progress on the side skirts.
I needed to add some fiberglass to the top to hide the plate that was bonded on earlier and then a bit of flexible filler to smooth it in. i did all of that and got everything looking rather good.


You might notice masking tape on the car so i dont cover it in filler or fiberglass.


And then i fitted the door as a final sanity check.
Turns out its a mile off and catches the skirt even with the door as high as it will physically go which puts all the trim out of line.
So i went in and ground a load back out of the skirts.
It still wasnt enough so i went for a cup of tea and a bit of contemplation, this involved me deciding whether to just throw the damn things away and stop wasting time on them.

Unfortunately you cant buy new ones or copies of these skirts and i have so much time invested into them now i couldnt bring myself to get rid.
Therefore i had very little choice other than getting medieval with the doors instead.


Yep the doors i spent time repairing properly reinstating the original flange ect i have now ground a few mm off the bottom.
This separates the skin and frame, removing the flange so once i had it trimmed down to the correct height i waved the gun over it and welded the skin to the frame.
This means the skin isnt quite as easy to remove later on but i cant see why i would ever need to anyway.


With the door refitted we can see enough gap has now appeared and with a bit more tweaking it will look even.


Now just to fix all the areas i had ground out in a feeble attempt to get the doors to fit, before accepting my fate and taking it out on the doors.
We need a way to fix the lower back edge of the skirt and stop it flapping about.
The usual way of doing this is a self tapper into the back of the sill
.
.
.
Thats not going to happen.
I have a particular aversion to self tapping screws along with a strong desire to physically maim anyone that uses them to attach a part on their car.

Violent tendencies aside, i made a couple of little stand offs
They are stainless and fix inside the skirt to make use of the oem bolt hole for the side vent.


Bit of PU adhesive to hold them in place and then fiberglassed over.


With everything now having clearance i could take it all off the car and get the shell back onto the ground.


Its such a change seeing it on the floor again. You really forget how small/low they are.
Anyway she has now been pushed out the workshop and into the garage where it will be safe and i can get on with painting all the other bits without working around the shell.


Now i can get a few panels out to work on i need another stand, i looked online but they are an extortionate price so ill make one.
Going a bit more sturdy than wood this time and using up some of the inch box that i ordered way too much off for the horsebox project.


Ill make another one later but i didnt have enough chain so just one extra for now is all i'm getting.

Gripfill.....







....runs for cover!

Its a good emergency rad repair. Ripped one apart when i was banger racing during a huge roll... once glued back together it went on again for several seasons!

After a couple of weeks running around like a blue nose messenger imp i have finally found an evening to sit down with a strong drink and update you all.
When I last left it was time to get on with the doors and bumpers.
There was some filler needed on the doors where the new sections have been welded in just to make sure the profile matched properly.


Also a little bit needed on the front bumper where it had been repaired


And the rear bumper where the spats are blended on.
I also spent a bit of time stripping the engine lid, not the easiest thing to get into the rain trays and sand but i got it good enough in the end.


With those bits done i could clean the workshop down again, sheet the walls, don a new straight jacket and get painting.


High build primer


Lots of sanding and then cleaning ensues.
Followed by more primer, colour and lastly the lacquer goes on




Im pretty happy with all of those bits. I did have a slight issue where the heater blew bits all across the wet paint on the underside of the engine lid but i think ill live with it. I had some thoughts on making a custom one in the future anyway


I gave them a day or so to harden before moving them to the back and sheeting over to stop any overspray.
There has of course been more but ill leave it there for tonight.

Its coming on great now, really like the colour

I agree going from the sharp lines and angles of the MK1 the rounded shape of the MK2 never caught my eye to begin with but having had this one for a good few years I really love the shape.
Hopefully she will last many more years once I'm done as my daily and we will get some real miles logged.