Hi all, long time member, but I don't normally post. However, I've been working on a GRM-style project and wanted to share with you guys 
. The post is copied from a 3-parter on my local car club, so apologies for any formatting problems, it was quicker and easier to link all the pictures this way.
Hey everyone, been meaning to post a thread for a while, but I wanted to wait until it was mostly done before posting pics. I sold my rusty 1991 Miata and picked up an (almost) rust free 1985 MR2, for no reason other than I've always wanted one. Bought it from a nice guy in Indiana who had put it into storage after it got a little tore up at its last track day.
From the day I picked it up:
And the boatload of parts that came with it (including a parts car with the rear subframe practically rusted apart.
Overview of the rough spots:
Previous owner's friend thought it would be funny to open the MR2's door more with his own car, not realizing he jumped the hinge-stops and banged the fender 
. Not structural, just cosmetic. Definitely destroyed both driver's hinges though, the door sags 3" or so.
Front from cones and curbs:
Engine bay is a bit dirty:
The interior was showing its age and cigarettes:
One weird thing, sand? The trunk was literally FULL this is after one completely shopvac's worth emptied, the trunk wells on either side deep into the fender still haven't been touched:
And up front, almost empty:
Last major repair, it was advertised as having a clutch hydraulics problem. I drove it around the block and thought clutch was toast. Seller was an honest guy, and said he really didn't know much about mechanicals, and we came to terms on price. Turns out I was right:
Car still drove over 200 miles home on the above clutch though. She's a tough little thing.
Overall though, the car was straight, not rusted to pieces (which is the biggest thing with these cars) only had 115K miles, and could tell it had been cared for most of its life.
So, onto the rehab:
Cleaning inside and out (this is probably one of the only pictures of myself you'll ever see):
Stripped the car to a bare shell, interior-wise, then scrubbed the sheet metal:
Washed the seats and carpet, I found a capful of laundry detergent in a bucket (just like washing your car) and a medium bristle brush in the driveway with lots of rinsing and good drying time do a damned good job on seats and carpet:
New radio/speakers, shift boot, console liners (above HVAC and in rear center console). Everything else was just removed, cleaned like crazy, and re-installed.
Clutch was replaced, along with some other misc maintenance items, with a couple left to do (plugs, cap/rotor, belts, etc.) and I cleaned the engine bay:
Also rebuilt and replaced some missing items (full intake snorkel system, resonator, few misc bolts). The exhaust manifold bolts were all finger loose except for one, and the oil filter had two gaskets on it and was leaking everywhere. Trunklid is still rattle-can flat black over red because the rest of the body parts are off being painted. When I get everything back the new silver lid is going on.
Speaking of, my roomate does a fair bit of metalwork, gave me a hand straightening that fender:
rough fit:
better fit:
final fit before sanding and filling:
She's running and driving right now, but still looks the same as this picture (when the transmission was out):
Update! Been driving the car a couple months, and put it away around Thanksgiving because its cold and things look like this:
Here's the finished pictures:
Need to look at the "cone and curb damage" pic at the top to appreciate this one:
Fender, fixed and clean. Also rebuilt the door hinges:
And a couple overall shots:
Hopefully you enjoyed the story, I've always wanted an AW11, and am pretty excited to have this one running and driving. Originally I was hoping to bring it the $2010 challenge, but ended up blowing the budget making it DD-nice. Going to try again with an FC, E30 or Miata next year 
Dude...you rock.
