agree with cotton, let's hear more about that truck!
agree with cotton, let's hear more about that truck!
Did you check everywhere in the car for the wheel lock tool? Under seats, under trunk carpet, under floormats, etc.
Robbie wrote: Did you check everywhere in the car for the wheel lock tool? Under seats, under trunk carpet, under floormats, etc.
Oh, the humor, when the wheel lock shows up later!
when you stumble onto the missing lug key after you already destroyed a wheel to get it off....
I'm excited for your project. Your work bench looks great and those attic stairs are sweet too. Could you not find a MR2 wheel lock key on ebay or are these wheel locks aftermarket?
The wheel locks are aftermarket I believe. They're McGard locks and I suspect the key is in the gutter on 315 or down the storm drains. The frunk was pretty torn up by the accident so if it was loose up there it's gone. It wasn't in the tool roll or in the glove box or storage bins or door pockets.
Anyway the lug nuts are off! A better quality 1/2" drive 12 point 19mm socket did the trick. I bought two Huskys from Home Depot, $3/ea. I drove it on hard and hit it with the impact and the nuts spun right off. If only I had done that first it would have saved me about four hours of very valuable time! And two wheel center caps and some damaged paint and weld spatter on the wheels. Oh well! Pics tomorrow it's time to go to bed.
Why are you parting out a midengine ghettocet in need of a K24 swap for challenge greatness?
I'll never get around to getting one of these as a project, but have often had evil thoughts about things that could be done to them. Ecoboost, K series or J series evilness.
In reply to captdownshift:
This thing is seriously tweaked. I have no doubt someone could make something with it but that someone is not me. Everything forward of the front firewall (?) is bent.
@cotton : my truck is awesome! It's a 1970 F250 long bed standard cab 4wd manual trans with a big block. Some better pics here: GRM thread I should update that thread but it's not appreciably different.
Don't rely on the gear position indicator on the dash. Check the gear shift shaft located below the airbox. Be sure the hole in the shaft is vertical which means the trans should be in neutral. You can stick a screwdriver in the hole and twist to adjust it. A SMT car won't start in gear. Getting it started could be a simple as taking it out of gear.
Parts started falling off fast once I get over the initial stumbling block of the wheel locks. I'll update with more photos, but the rear tail lights, bumper, trunk lid / engine cover, quarter panels, and convertible top are all off. So's the exhaust. I sold my first parts - the radio and left rear caliper went to a local for $60, so no fees or shipping. Total so far:
Car purchase: $1500
+Towing: $125.78
-Part sales $60
=Total $1565.78
Should I count tools? I need to return some of the tools that didn't do me any good (too-big wheel lock removers, wheel lock set w/key that didn't fit), but will hang on to the sockets and bolt extractors that I actually got to use or try to use. (Obviously I'm not going to return a socket I beat on with a hammer!)
Rande, thanks for the tip! I'll have to look into it, but at this point I'm not going to try to start the car again. But it would be good to know for future reference.
Loving this thread. Keep it up!!
A nasty cold has knocked me flat - I've been going to work and taking care of the kids but by the time everyone's in bed, I'm too tired to go to the garage. I'm starting to feel better so hope to get back to the parting and on to taking photos of the parts for sales.
I've had a few people respond to my generic "parting out mr2" ad on Craigslist but so far no sales beyond the radio and caliper.
The buyer of those parts is trying to talk me into converting the SMT 6-speed into regular stick shift using parts from my 5-speed and putting it in my to-be-kept Spyder. He says the gear ratios 1-5 are the same and 6 is a taller overdrive. Is that true? I'd be tempted...
I found this that seems to support the idea: https://midshiprunabout.org/mk3/gear-ratios/ I wonder if the swap is worth it. I'll have everything out and it's just a question of swapping things over. In fact it might be easier if it meant I didn't have to separate the engine and transmission on the donor engine/trans. I'll have to look into what the swap over the standard (non-SMT) shift entails.
It's amazing how fast parts can come off a car when you have help and things like missing lug nut keys aren't in the way.
The car's coming apart nicely. Next up is the engine/trans combo and everything that comes off with it. I managed to sell the seats locally. They weren't in perfect shape - the driver's side had a tiny bit of wear to the bolsters and the passenger side had one puncture hole in it, probably from someone putting car parts inside the car after the accident.
But they were still nice and clean. The buyer drove his MR2 here from about an hour away, we installed the seats in my driveway, and he left his old ones. I think I'll make shop chairs out of them. They're a worn, and cloth, but that's perfect for guest chairs in a workshop. The best part of the whole deal is that the buyer was over the moon to see them in his car. His MR2 is black, and the black leather really dressed up the car compared to the old chalky cloth seats.
He also needed the wiper motor and wanted the passenger side wiper arm.
New budget:
Car purchase: $1500
+Towing: $125.78
-Part sales $280
=Total $1345.78
I've got a big family gathering at my house this Saturday so might not make much progress this week. I'm not listing actual parts for sale yet, just have a generic "parting" post on Craigslist. Once the car is done being stripped, then I'll start listing the parts more aggressively.
I'm picking up a 2000 spyder in a couple weeks and I know of a couple things it needs. The third brake light on the engine cover is broken, and the plastic under tray under the engine has been torn off the car and the heat shielding disappeared. If you have those still, shoot me a PM.
In reply to Spoolpigeon:
PM Sent, I have all that still.
Still interested in that little trim piece 
In reply to java230:
I sent you an email (pm via board) an hour or two ago - did you get it? If not, drop me a line at my user name at gmail.com. I pulled the trim piece for you and it's in good shape. I have a pic I can send you. You mentioned unspecified other little pieces; anything else you want? :-)
Sold the wiper switch for $20.
New budget:
Car purchase: $1500
+Towing: $125.78
-Part sales $300
=Total $1325.78
Am I updating the total too frequently? I could just do it weekly or something. The pace will pick up on the sales as soon as the car is stripped and I start actually advertising parts.
Java, check your junk mail again. :-)
Radio brackets?
Keep the updates coming. It's fun to watch the progress. I've been really surprised how well my old TR4 parts have sold. In converting to race car, I've just about recovered the initial cost of the car on stuff I originally thought was junk. Considering doing this.
sesto elemento wrote: Radio brackets?
I have them, I think. I sold the radio but believe I unbolted it from the brackets before doing so. Email me at my user name at gmail.com if you're interested, and I'll look for them tonight after kiddo's bedtime. Sounds like a $10 + shipping item to me.
@oldtin - thanks. I'm amazed at how easy it is to recover money from a car like this. I paid a lot since I wanted this car for my own purposes, but still I'm $300 into recovering $1500 without even having sold anything I would consider valuable. And no eBay sales or shipped items yet!
And guess what someone threw out at work last night.. an office chair with a really sweet aluminum base and a broken seat. I'm going to salvage the base and mount one of the cloth mr2 seats to it. I don't even need chairs really but I'm excited about this for some reason.
sesto elemento wrote: Radio brackets?
I looked and looked, but apparently I left them on the radio when I sold it, sorry.
Birthday parties, non-car eBay sales, and other mayhem like a yellowjacket nest in the wall of my house have kept me from pulling parts. I hope to get back to it tonight. Sold a little more so we're at:
Car purchase: $1500
+Towing: $125.78
-Part sales $315
=Total $1310.78
Ill see if I have the brackets on my OE radio still.
Looking forward to more updates. This makes me want to do the same thing!
I got a couple hours in the garage last night with some help so parts were flying off.
Current state:
Doors are off, frunk is devoid of all valuable parts, and next is the dash and all accoutrements. After that I will move to pulling the engine and transmission. I hope to do that over the holiday weekend, between kids and repainting the older daughter's room. I set a goal of done stripping the car Monday at 11:59pm. I doubt I'll make it but it's always good to set goals!!!
Then starts the listing parts on eBay and the like. It'll be about as much work as pulling the parts was, just less noisy.
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