G's Garage. MR2, Land Cruiser, Rav4, Motorcycles (?), and Garage Stuff

Im making the executive decision - Im making a new thread that will serve as one location for all my stuff. Currently I have a thread for the MR2, the Land Cruiser, the parts car MR2 and some garage cleaning/organizing etc...it's too much.  As much as this forum moves, and I dont find it particularly easy to search, threads move down far too quickly and makes it difficult to find my threads when 'needed.'

So yeah, hope yall enjoy, I'll start posting pics, info, and videos as I go.

To start, lets talk about the rides. Currently my lineup consists of:

1991 Turbo Mr2

1991 Turbo MR2

1988 Land Cruiser

2019 Rav4

2008 Buell 1125R

2008 Buell 1125R

1999 Buell S3

1974 Suzuki TS100

I'll post up about the vehicles, my laser engraving, wood working etc as it goes, as well as garage cleaning and organization etc.

Current LC thread

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/1988-fj62-land-cruiser-get-it-back-to-stock-and-newish/198252/page1/#post3997756

MR2 thread

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/my-long-overdue-mr2-build-thread/188073/page2/

pics and such to come later tonight or tomorrow.

1988 Land Cruiser, FJ62

145k miles on it currently, and it's basically stock. When I bought it it had some Old Man Emu suspension on it and an old aftermarket radio. Besides that...stock. Oh, and it had a Surco roofrack, but missing some parts to it. Honestly, the parts were probably in the guy's shop, but they couldnt find them when I was buying the car. Whatever, I now have a replacement set at the house.

I first spotted the truck while taking stuff to the wedding venue the day before I got married, August of 2022. I called about it, chatted with them, and then though on it while on our honeymoon.

Bought it about ten days later.

Drove it a couple hundred miles, max, and then just stopped. I dont know why, but I did.

Two years of not driving it has not been good to it.

So lets talk 2024 (so far)

When I bought it, the rear tires were shot. I mean almost BALD. Real bad. The fronts were about 20 years old, too. I think it was 17, I'd have to find pics for exacts.

So, yeah, I had some BFG-MayPops

So back in May(ish) I thought, "that's it, Im fixing this thing up!"

I started with some Falken Rubitrek tires.

Then I bought a new Aisin waterpump, Toyota thermostat and radiator hoses, and some Continental belts to pair up with the Cruiser Corps aluminum radiator I had bought a while back.

Around the same time I bought a knuckle seal kit from...someone (I forget the Cruiser company, has a kangaroo logo and came with some fun, "Jeeps are S__t" stickers lol)

"im going to work on this truck over the summer while Im out of work (teacher...at the time). Wife said, 'Just pay someone..."      "No way, I got this!"

Well, here we are, truck is at a local shop and hopefully back to me very soon.

Needed a new battery, one that was in it was weak two years ago. So that's in there.

Coolant system refreshed with the above-mentioned parts.

But then the mechanic calls/texts - "Hey, does your fuel gauge work?" "Yeah, it did" "Well it's not reading anything"

So he started diagnosing stuff, including pulling the tank. He put a few gallons in and it read it. But wouldnt pump - so a new pump was put in. Then it started leaking - that's where my fuel had gone. So that got fixed up.

I told him, also, that there was some sort of brake fluid leak. Before I parked it I had to top off the MC a couple of times. Well, he said that he couldnt find any leak(s) by the calipers or drums, and that he adjusted the drums while in there, but that it looked like the MC wasnt operating properly. So a new one was ordered on Thursday.

Im already in pain by how much this trip to the mechanic will cost me. But at least it'll run.

My wife wants me to drive it, she likes it...in fact, it's the only car in my fleet she really likes. Rav4 is ok, but she likes the LC a lot.

Here are her thoughts on it. Enjoy her goofiness.

What she DIDNT know, was that I had already contacted a mechanic about fixing this. The guy, Ive used before, lives in my neighborhood and really helped me on my MR2 when I did the Willwoods - more on that later/another post.

Also, in the video she complained about my janky antenna - I had one ordered/bought already and on the way. It's now in the garage.

Over the summer I took a trip to see my friend in Fredricksburg VA, on the way stopped in Warrentown (or it is Warrenton?) VA to see a Cruiser guy who parts trucks out. There I bought the missing sway bar bracket, bought a spare-tire carrier, and a spare wheel (no tire, yet lol).

Ive been building up parts over the past year or so, now it's time to put them to use ,and I have.
Before it went off to the mechanic, I washed it. WOW, it looks ok! Not good, calm down, but ok. Getting rid of 2 years of crud made it look much better.

Im excited to get it back. Hopefully this coming up week. We'll see. More to come.

1991 Turbo MR2 (the good one, the green one)

First fell in love with the MR2 when I bought a 1993 turbo model in late September of 2001. Loved it. Had so many fun times in it, really enjoyed its reliability and fun factor. But I got a sales job and started driving my SUV for it and it sat a little and I just lost the energy for it at the time. And then I needed some money, I wanted to go back to college and get a degree. So I sold it. Big mistake...sort of. The college thing worked out and I made more money that I had before. After a few years I thought, "it's time to treat myself" so I wanted a fun car to play with again.

My list of potential cars was short due to my requirements.
-Fun

-Semi-fuel efficient

-Space for two people to take a multi-day trip/vacation in it

It came down, basically, to either an E91 wagon or another turbo MR2. And then I found a rough, but good running, MR2 turbo about an hour or so away from me. Right price and just before the pandemic hit and prices skyrocketed.

Pics of it are in link in original post.

So where is it now?

About 143k miles

Gen3 engine swap

Racer-X intake, TCS intercooler kit, manual boost controller, some random Japanese single-exit exhaust

Koni shocks, TRD springs, poly bushings, Willwood BBK from AlexW at Wilhelm Racing

Kouki tails, ebay front lip

MR2-Spyder/Matrix/Corolla S red-stitch steering wheel, pioneer Double-DIN stereo, pioneer speakers

SSR Integral A2 wheels (17x7 and x8) on Falken RT660 (? Is that the model? Whatever their good 200TW is) tires.

I think that's it.

And she just runs so well.

And, much like I stated in my LC post above this one, I have accumulated a bunch of parts that I need to put on this winter.

-RacerX catch can and a lightweight alternator bracket from them, too.

-Berk 3" downpipe

-Omori boost gauge to replace the stock unit (there's a VDO unit on the Apillar and I'd like to replace it/get rid of that)

-Greddy BOV

-And I have an Apexi AVC-R that I got from a guy who sold his MR2 for more forge stuff (he makes knives, Fermin!)

-...and I have other things, too, from the parts car, that may or may not go on this. Greddy T67 turbo, 800cc injectors, Hydrya standalone etc.

Hell, I probably have other stuff sitting around, too, but who knows, I buy too much! I know I have 1994 seat covers and just small things here and there. Too much MR2 stuff.

But I love driving it around and doing some track days with it.

So, speaking of track days and such - I did the big brake kit back in July, finishing up the night before the track day. Next morning I go on my first drive with it and have a weird noise. I try and try and cant figure anything out at all. Decided "F it, Im taking it to Jimmy!"

Jimmy is the guy in my neighborhood who has a local shop, Ive used his services before with alignments etc. I took it to him, he took it for a drive, heard the clunk, and then put in on the lift to find this mystery clunk. For an hour and did everything he could, eventually taking it on another drive and the clunk was still there. Drivers front corner. It braked fine, but what a wierd noise. He said, "I mean, it works, but I dont know what that noise is...I dont recommend going without knowing for sure why it's doing it"

He was right. So at 10am (was to leave about 11:30 to head to Charlotte) I headed home from his shop and hit the brakes really hard...and there was no sound. So I tried again. And again. On and on - no noise.

Went to track day and it ran great! And Jimmy charged me nothing for his time, was happy to help a motorsports person. So he really earned my loyalty that day.

Now, that track day was fun! But I had an issue - I had to run a spacer to clear the new calipers. I got a '5mm' spacer from a local shop and it worked great but the wheels stuck out a bit too far and on hard braking would force the tires into the fender arches, creating little grooves in the front tires. very annoying.

So last week I decided I would go from the '5mm' to a 3mm and hope that would be enough to miss the shoulders of the tire.

Notice how I keep saying, " '5mm' "

Yeah, When the new 3mm came in I noticed a huge difference between existing and the new ones, so I broke the calipers out and measured - new were, as advertised, 3mm. the 5s were actually 8s.

So I ordered some 5mm from the same company (stancemagic) and tried them - great! Now I still have the 3mm, but the center bore is too small, so I cant test them.

So I'll keep driving the car, keep upgrading and fixing little things as I go. Keep having fun in it.

I'll post more videos with it as I go, but most of what Ive done lately has been small and insignificant. But more changes, and miles, are coming!