1986 Toyota MR 2, Good first project car?
Posted by Loganskdz@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 13 comments
Hi all! I have no experience working with cars but have been looking at potentially getting a project car to start my car journey.
I often browse FB marketplace just for the hell of it but stumbled across a 1986 Toyota MR2 for $3000. Some notes about the car its self:
- Owner was working on the car but never got a chance to finish it
- Car was able to get running but still needs work
- Headlights are out
- One turn signal doesn't work
- Cooling fan needs to be replaced
- Rust on exterior and interior
- Interior needs work in general
Despite the work needed, it seems like this would be a decent price, especially for an MR2, and I might be able to bring the price down a bit too. If this car were to be my first project, is it a good car to start? I don't want to dump a lot of money into it and would treat it as an investment of sorts. Would I be way in over my head with this or is this something I should seriously consider? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
OofNation739@reddit
If you dont know anything, youre pretty much going to have accept you will make alot of mistakes during the entire process.
Some will be expensive. Literally I had to pay $300 because I broke trim doing the same thing.
Youre going to dump money into it. Thats a fact. Choose a car with good body/no rust and mechanical/electrical issues as imo body work is the hardest part to get right. Mechanical can be harder but easier to be perfect.
Really if your looking at not spending money, dont do a project car.
Loganskdz@reddit (OP)
The more I am reading about stuff the more I am realizing I’m gonna have to put in more money than I’d like… but I will definitely take you advice when I eventually start looking down the road!
OofNation739@reddit
Theres plenty of ways to get into it while not dumping money at the start. Just the more work needed the more money needed.
Its a good way to learn, but just doing basic car maintenance can suffice.
If you want to do a project car. Remember this fact, most vehicles 80s onward are unibody besides trucks. AKA the body is the frame. So if its rusted and bad, it makes everything worse. Your body is what parts attach to and also is what gives it structural integrity.
If you just want something, do a car that has alot of parts avaliable(lowers cost), buy the factory repair manual (will tell you how to fix everything), tools cost money too, make sure it isnt a one off vehicle.
My project car is a 98 subaru kei truck. It has a great body. I just been slowly replacing old parts with new ones and doing little mods here and there. $8k for the vehicle and about $12k total in it now with replacments/mods etc...
You can get a great project car that can be a DD like mine was or one thats got so many issues youll spend a year hoping to find out why it runs like shit and throwing money at it and not solving the problem.
Its really about money and time. If you dont have the tools you can easily spend $2-5k just to have the ability to do the work. But it is possible to do shit cheap and effective. You just gotta know how
Loganskdz@reddit (OP)
I will definitely keep this in mind, thank you!
OofNation739@reddit
Tbh, its doable cheap. Just I had bought a handful of cheap DD cars that were project cars. I learned alot and never wanted to dump money. Then I kinda knew what to look for and what I wanted and it worked out.
Chainsawsas70@reddit
The biggest red flag... RUST . A little surface rust is fine and cleans up quickly but if it's inside and out and without getting it on a lift to see the extent of it... Hard pass, those cars aren't much metal to start with and any amount of rust could take a long time to get it all dealt with and that's not even the electrical or mechanical. Now if it was A classic American car say pre 1975 you would have more and thicker metal to deal with and not as many tight spaces to fix and many cars you can get whole replacement sections for common spots of rust or damage.
ShatterProofDick@reddit
Rust - yikes.
Also parts availability. A neighborhood kid near me bought one of these as his first car and it turned into an utter nightmare for him. He lost what little money he had on it.
VoidingSounds@reddit
Yeah, parts were a problem when I was restoring an AW11 twenty-something years ago. You'll be able to get mechanicals easily but unless someone is making repros any plastic trim or interior bits are going really hard to get and probably pre-broken for you.
Fantastic cars though, hopefully I'll get a chance to spend 2-3x what they cost new on a 6/10 example someday.
ShatterProofDick@reddit
Yeah don't get me wrong. If I had infinite money to build a dream garage I'd have a spot for a MR2 turbo stick shift.
Cool-Bunch6645@reddit
PARTS!! Say it louder for the kids in the back!!
DaishiGD@reddit
My bro had one for around 10 years. The engine bay is super small and tight so it'll be a b*tch to get ur hands in and work on that car. I'd suggest against it. Pick an old classic car like a Datsun S30. Any work put in just adds value immensely. You can buy them cheap $3-5k and restomod ones sell for $60k+ Huge engine bay.
unpolire@reddit
I have one. Well-made and inexpensive fun. A good car to easily learn on.
OkCartographer175@reddit
Good first project cars usually don't involve rust unless you're really looking forward to learning how to fabricate and weld