Cost Recap, Test Drive, And Future Plans (#5 Josh's 1989 MR2 (AW11) Workout Project)

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Contact: [e-mail]
In this series, I'm doing a part tutorial, part vlog, part timelapse of my 1989 Toyota mk1 MR2 AW11 restoration project.
This video is just a little cost recap, test drive, and discussion on my future plans for the MR2 project. A new work video will come next, hopefully soon!
Contact: [e-mail]

[@RetraCast]

Instagram (car updates on my story): instagram.com/joshuagreenwalt/ Sorry for the lack of new footage this episode. I actually got straight to work on making more progress on the car instead of filming where it was at. But that means a new video should be out sooner than later. As the car gets more drivable I may also do a more formal review and cinematic of it soon as well (like the Celica video). If you want to contact me, comment on the video or DM me on Instagram or Patreon! (Still need to set up a RetraCast email) Thanks again to anyone donating money and even parts to the car. Seriously means a lot, and my new donors will be properly thanked in the next video when their parts come into play.

[@nickasaro7644]

Breaking news: Retracast will be voicing the MR2 in Cars 4

[@RetraCast]

Hahahahaha that is classified information I cannot confirm right now. I wish I could pin this but I already have my comment pinned hahaha.

[@scottthomas8136]

I owned 3 MR2’s. An ‘86, a ‘91 Supercharged, and a ‘91 turbocharged Gen II. I loved them all. Have fun and enjoy.

[@faultyserver2087]

I just bought an mr2 and was looking around at videos I used to live in bellingham during covid thats crazy

[@b.k.sautomarinedieselrepai5143]

These cars.... AE85/AE86's, and starlets are like a go kart on rails when set up proper! Nice car keep wrenching.

[@charlieindriago8609]

ik im a year late but this series rocks man

[@EddieS.97]

Hey man! Been watching this series while going through my own MR2 journey (Purchased my 86' with a rebuilt engine for $3900 in September). Your videos have been fun to watch, and above all it's made working on my car alot less intimidating since your videos cover the same issues that my car has (and then some). I could have easily saved money and traveled out of state to get a MR2 in a better condition but it's the pride of having this car continue to run because of me that makes me glad I decided to learn a thing or two and not take the easy route. These cars are special, driving mine gives me a smile every time, and it makes me happy seeing others give theirs the love that these cars deserve! Keep up the great content!

[@EddieS.97]

OH also my car has that same exact issue with the dash lights going out and you have to smack the top to turn it back on. I've read somewhere that the issue is with the dimmer switch and you can fix it by resoldering the end of the white box that the dimmer switch is connected to. Switch pulls off easily but you gotta unscrew the white piece off somehow, haven't gotten there with mine yet.

[@RetraCast]

Hey man I wish you luck with the MR2! And yeah that dimmer switch is my guess too. I plan on taking my dash apart soon and resoldering that and also my windshield wiper switch cuz the intermittent doesn’t work

[@rodneygass]

@@RetraCast Yep. If your intermittent doesn't work, there is a small circuit board behind the wiper switch that has broken solder joints that simply need to be resoldered. You are so smart to ditch those heavy wheels! I run Kosei 14in on my supercharged car, 9.6lbs/wheel. Light weight is our friend. Low rotating mass and less bump steer. So glad you changed back to the stock steering wheel. You have good taste.

[@XxskillfullxX]

Awesome series, thank you so much for this!

[@RedBlue9]

I had an aw11 1987 and although she was a bit rough around the edges she ran like a gem. Sadly I sold it to one of my buddies that needed a car and since it was my secondary car i did him the favor for only 1k and he tolled it ..... cries internally*

[@JustMatthew_48]

Great job :D original wheels looks great and very nice interior now, i think original looks very nice. Weld exhaust is difficult when it should look good because it is made from really thin steel .

[@JtheInvincible]

I might consider picking one up! Man such a cool classic

[@rdj2398]

Beautiful work man, car gets really special when you are the doing all the nitty gritty grinds

[@yeaaaaaaaaaaahff]

great work on the mr2, seems like a great project car, I want one ! Maybe when i'm old enough...

[@eliseiodagiu5519]

I vote we do the smoke machine door activated idea, hahahah.

[@RetraCast]

I think I would get some serious stares when I roll up to the grocery store or gas station hahahaha

[@xxdreadsaintxx]

Cool that you're in the Bellevue area. I'm down in Puyallup. My first goal is to get a house instead of apartment, after that I'm looking to get an MR2 and convert to electric

[@shidanli]

love to do what you have done for a long time miss my old aw11s. hope one day i can get one to do it again, but want to make it bit more modern. small details.

[@MegaEddie45]

Great video a 20v would be sweet with ITBs !! Any route you do I’ll be happy to watch

[@SpacehotelMusic]

Love the MK1 MR2, had 3 over the past 20 years and still got one (Dark Blue Pearl Super Charger version JDM 4AGZE engine with oversized pulley for +35bhp = ~180bhp total) 0-60 ~5.5 seconds. Best car I've ever owned even against more expensive stuff.

[@emanuelsousa1591]

0:27 So I am not the only one that does this. It gets to the point that the passager side footwell is dirtier than the driver side because no one fricking shakes their feet!!

[@RetraCast]

Hahaha yeah I usually only do it when I know my feet are dirty. But definitely worth it

[@tomkato6400]

Enjoyed your series. I have a red AW11 just like yours that I bought a couple of months ago. I changed the master cylinder on mine also. Your video was helpful. I also replaced the thermostat. It’s not very difficult, but one of the bolts on the thermostat housing broke when I was removing it. I ended up drilling it out from the housing. An extra step, but not a big deal. The cooling system itself was otherwise well maintained with clean coolant, so I only had to do a drain and refill. However, it’s a bit more involved to bleed the air out of the cooling system compared to a typical car. There’s an English KZbinr “Resto-Nation” who did a nice video on how to service the AW11 cooling system. Do buy the genuine Toyota Thermostat when you do this - It’s pricey, but I had too many cheap aftermarket thermostats that ran too cool. Also, while you are it, change the cap for your plastic coolant overflow tank. The stock translucent plastic cap on these cars deteriorate over time (mine was pretty bad) and that’s probably why the previous owner did a quick fix like that on your car, Go to a nearby pick-n-pull and find a ‘90s Camry (or similar Toyota) and get the black plastic cap. It fits perfectly and will cost you next to nothing. Be sure to get the 3 hoses attached to it also. The hose that goes inside the plastic tank attached to the bottom of the cap needs to reach all the way to the bottom off the tank to work properly. Reason why I mention this is because on the Camry I got my cap, the tank is shallower hence the hose attached inside the cap is shorter. You can reuse the hose from the radiator to the overflow tank from the donor Camry by cutting it to length to fit the depth of your plastic overflow tank. Be sure to attach the 90 degree hose that vents out of the plastic cap as well. I know what you mean about the wiper switch. Mine works just fine, but compared to a typical wiper stalk like on most cars, it’s not very intuitive.

[@RetraCast]

Yeah I just did the coolant and thermostat the other day and it went fine though one drain bolt snapped. No flush was needed so I just did a simple change. As for the cap yeah, mine is just straight up missing and I need to order a new one. I see you can actually get a reproduction one from Twos R Us. But I may try a pick n pull now that you mention it’s a common part

[@nealallen3049]

This is awesome! I have an 88. Black top swap, drop in cams, port and polish, ITBs, and now putting T-tops on it. Been looking for good rims for the car. I may just have to steal your idea with the OG rims and sanding and two-toned paint. Very rarely do I see a style that is not over the top on these. Keep positing.

[@collinlennon1181]

the light switch and dimmer switch is infamous for coming unsoldered. its an easy job to re solder together. I did it on my mk1a

[@RetraCast]

Yeah it surprisingly just kind of went away. I was planning on fixing it but haven’t had it go out for a while now

[@TeBiDoWil]

The dash lights is almost certainly your dimmer switch. They are always causing intermittent issues.

[@RetraCast]

Yeah not to spoil but I’m 90% sure too. I drove the car home and it’s all pointing to that. Will look soon enough. Hopefully not too deep a fix though

[@TeBiDoWil]

@@RetraCast luckily, the headlight switch can be repaired in some cases and easy to replace otherwise. Good luck buddy, always enjoy your videos! Mine is just about finished being painted with a controversial type of coating lol (hint: it’s Grrrrabber blue and Medium Quartz gray). Hope to share it soon!

[@HankBaxter]

Hey, I have the same shiftknob! 😂

[@edros221]

Show us that red Celica too!

[@RetraCast]

There are two whole videos on it on the channel. One when I first got it and another as a 1 year review.

[@camerongalbraith240]

Sick to see it driving man just brought a barn find supercharger manual t top

[@RetraCast]

Dang that’s a lucky find. Hopefully it’s decent. Wish you luck

[@camerongalbraith240]

@@RetraCast Thanks all the best for the future of your car

[@ModMINI]

I'm going to be watching all your videos... I found one in great condition that needs nothing for 10k in late 2022. Expensive but not expensive considering how much difficulty I would have finding a bunch of missing and broken parts. (Too old to deal with all that :P) Oh - I graduated WWU in 1995 by the way!

[@justinlizamor1541]

It had C-pillar Trim! Worth 3k alone.

[@jacoblatoria5692]

Dang man you really doing a fantastic job on that car! The neon lights sound real nice! Will you be doing any live streams?

[@RetraCast]

Live streams of working on the car or just random live streams in general?

[@bassicaw1143]

Hey I live in the Everett/Marysville area, so of theres any aftermarket parts like the straight pipe that you wanna get rid of I'll gladly take them off your hands. I've got a 1985 mk1a that I was given recently and I'm trying to restore and modify. You mentioned suspension which I've been doing some research on for a little while and I'm pretty set on BC Racing coilovers, they're relatively inexpensive and each part is upgradeable so you can slowly build them better and better if you don't wanna get a whole new set

[@EddieS.97]

I can't wait to get started on my 86's suspension. It's one of those things I can't get mad throwing money at because I know the car is only going to get better/feel better from here. I know in the community it's between the BC Racing coilovers and the Ground Control ones but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Best of luck on your 85!

[@zuhlera]

You found almost everything local teach me your ways lol

[@RetraCast]

Lots of constant checking of listings and a lot of luck hahaha.

[@DruggedBunny]

I have the original wheels on my UK '85, which is basically original-spec... which you addressed here (I sometimes wish I didn't have the responsibility I feel I've taken on)... but your wheels look great without the caps and the subtle paintwork on them, very tempting!

[@RetraCast]

Thanks! The idea came cuz I didn’t have the center caps and it looked so obvious. So the two tone paint was to make it look more like the center was meant to be indented rather than just missing the cap. It definitely makes the wheels look more sleek and stand out more too vs the kind of chunky look of the original all silver.

[@DruggedBunny]

@@RetraCast Yeah, they look fantastic in the early shots in this video I don't know if random links are allowed on KZbin, but you can hopefully see mine here... and maybe why I feel so 'limited' in modding it. It's maybe a little TOO original... definitely a downside in some ways! But at least removing the caps and painting inside would be reversible... hmmmmmmm: www.hi-toro.com/images/mr2/

[@DruggedBunny]

@@RetraCast Those wheels really are beautiful the way you have them

[@RetraCast]

Yeah that is mint hahaha. Glad to see one like that at least. If you really wanted you could plasti dip them. That way it is removable later. That being said I HATE plasti dip cuz the last owner sprayed the whole car with it and did a terrible job. If you did it on the wheels and did a good job it’d at least be a lot easier to remove and look decent. If you want you can check out my third video in the series and see how I taped them up for two tone paint

[@lesliemorgan1155]

I acquired an 85 in light blue metallic last week for the same price in Ft Worth, Texas! In terms of plans for the car, it seems like we have similar, if not identical, tastes and ideas - mine needs significantly more mechanical work (no compression in CYL2), however.

[@RetraCast]

I wish you luck! Yeah it’ll hopefully be a while before I have to do a rebuild or heavy engine work but I do wanna find a spare engine to rebuild on the side for people who do have to do those kind of things. I actually really like that color for those cars and considered it for mine. The only thing stopping me is my fiat spider is already that color haha

[@lesliemorgan1155]

@@RetraCastright back at ya! It was my ideal color so I had to jump on it, lol Came really close to buying a gold 87 for $900 that was in better mechanical shape but the deal fell through - ultimately glad it did.

[@RetraCast]

$900 is pretty insane deal. But yeahhhh idk about you but gold is probably my least favorite of the colors haha. Especially if it’s one that came with a tan interior

[@lesliemorgan1155]

@@RetraCast it had the tan interior. The price point was the only thing that was appealing about it lmao

[@hyenahallstrom7034]

Lmao the prices of these sky rocketted, one that needs minimal work now costs 7k

[@pauldawson9277]

I bought mine in good running shape with some interior defects and a fresh paint job for $2k about a month ago. xD

[@pauldawson9277]

fire extinguisher is hilarious cause I put one in too!!!! xD

[@RetraCast]

That’s the mystic of MR2s. They are either super cheap or overpriced.

[@pauldawson9277]

@@RetraCast Absolutely. I think it's that most people know what they have and some don't understand. I'm all for the higher prices though because they keep the value of these high. Just have to shop better and utilize patience when looking for what you want.

[@user-jj6xd9vj7x]

Ooo supercharged engine

[@RetraCast]

Yeah hopefully I can find one. Everyone always asks if my car is the supercharged one hahaha

[@rodneygass]

Love my supercharged car. Pulls hard from 3750RPMs to redline. HKS pulley and intake, Crower street cams, bored throttle body. 180HP.

[@jamesreeves4600]

Put a k engine in it, then supercharge it

[@erickphom5646]

boosted 2zz swap! i have a mk1.5 3S. 2zz revs higher, I wish I went that route.

[@RetraCast]

Yeah if I did a non 4age swap that’d be it simply cuz it’s a newer engine. I haven’t done a lot of research on it but I’d imagine it’s a super reliable engine and there’s lots of parts around since it’s newer. And yeah cuz the revs more match the 4age too haha.

[@WarCry389]

Buy the Prothane urethane bushings. You won't regret it! They cost around 100$ and you'll have a completely different car I also want to rebuild my 4age engine (I don't like engine swaps) Great content dude!

[@RetraCast]

I’ll look into it for when I get there! And yeah I would most likely do a rebuild but am open to a possible swap. It’s just simpler, cheaper, and works with little complication haha. I just haven’t driven the car enough or done research to know for sure what to do yet.

[@reneneron2971]

Nice work. Your struts and bushings is your next best bet. The engine is likely fine, but your struts and bushings are likely shot. Same with ball joints, tie rods, end links, and the steering bushing. Reach out if you need any parts or advice.

[@justaguy.6341]

Nice video, but at 15:15 you mentioned not taken care of...your car is a beautiful piece, so the ppl didn't do things professionally. It's in the top 20 I've seen vids of aw11's in my opinion.

[@janegoodall1837]

80's MR2s go for 15K where I live :-(.

[@reneneron2971]

Stock suspension is excellent, but likely worn out. Rubber bits do not age well. The strut mounts can also fail, particularly in the front.

[@RetraCast]

Yeah it’ll be on the to do after general maintenance stuff

[@ivanmeza5287]

@@RetraCast some nice coilovers will fix it. Just installed in my 1984 nissan 300zx, and it handles better! 😁

[@vitokosa]

Man in Europe where I live is only one and it is 12000$

[@RetraCast]

Yeah that’s whack and depressing. I hear they’re even harder to find there

[@vitokosa]

@@RetraCast It is only one but in near perfect condition and like 30k miles

[@quartz6239]

Jesus loves you

[@chriskaye1997]

Should turn the car electric with components from a crashed Prius, cheap to pick up the parts, would really give you great performance due to the lightweight MR2, and what better to ensure the future of such a classic!

[@RetraCast]

Maybe electric swap someday, but cheap is not at all how that would go. There would be so many custom parts and fabrication required to make something like that work.

[@josebriseno1931]

3000 in chicago illinois you find em for 500

[@Rickbearcat]

You and stop signs don't get along.

[@RetraCast]

Lol hahaha, Darrington traffic is non existent.