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Okay, so basically the car was involved in an accident. The brown station wagon with the cheap-ass bull bar hit me on the left side as I was crossing an intersection. The end result was me copping the blame and being fined $160, and then there was the matter of my own car. With the left side damaged and the front bar damaged by the tilt tray driver, the final bill came close to $20k. I fought the police on who was actually at fault, and after some well written letters they ruled that they did not have enough information to rule either way, so they refunded my fine and cleared my name. Had to replace master and slave clutch cylinders (clutch pedal stuck to the footwell...lol). Carried out by Brian Turner Automotive Service Centre (high-quality work, so much that there is a waiting list).

Future goal is to get some new slotted rotors.

HKS Ultra-Light Chrome Moly Flywheel waiting to go in.

Custom twin 3" stainless steel turbo exhaust system.

Full **Genuine VeilSide** bodykit with alloy racing mesh covering intakes and radiator. The kit had to be privatly imported from VeilSide USA as I could not find a distributor in Australia. Trust me when I say knock-off kits are NOT WORTH THE TROUBLE. Spend the money on the originals and you will NOT be disappointed. Air freight took 3 days from the USA to Perth via singapore, then 5 days on a truck to Darwin. Fitted perfectly!

Fiberglass power intake feeding onto a reusable K&N high-flow pod filter. Mandrel bent stainless steel piping all the way through the intake system.

Isotta Nivola Evoluzione 121 steering wheel trimmed in yellow to match the car. Isotta GPR 1 Special short-throw shifter and Isotta Type 6 pedals. SplitFire mechanical boost gauge (30HG/20PSI) mounted on the A-Pillar.

18x8.5 ANZ "Velvet" rims with Ventus (Z rated) tyres. Stuart at City Tyre Service hooked me up with both.

JVC MP3 head unit, 10 inch Sony Xplode Sub in a custom housing. AvantGard Competition Series 45dxi amplifier (4 channel 300W). Recently replaced the in-door speakers with some Sony Xplode 2-way speakers. Future goal is to implement a digital system when they release the amps for it and get some crossovers for the tweeters.

Had a strut replaced recently...does that count? lol. 11cm ride height, legal limit in the NT.

Custom intercooler in standard location (fed by the intake on the right side of the body). BOV replaced the standard bypass system. Crappy ULTIM countdown timer replaced with a Type-1 HKS turbo timer. HKS EVC EZII Electronic Boost Controller to be fitted when I feel like doing some work lol.

14PSI boost, standard turbo (CT26), outstanding MR2 handling (super-car like) although with a tendancy to over-steer it can be very unforgiving. This was subsequently toned down with the later models and many critics were saying that the car was "dangerous" to drive. Naaahhh, pansys!

$2912.20 later and its registered and roadworthy.

Initial inspection at the MVR revealed cracked rubber on one of the rear engine mounts, a fairly nasty oil leak and the handbrake in the left rear wheel was not working.

On face value it looked like the oil leak was only happening when the engine was under pressure. This was fixed by replacing the gasket of the rocker cover (at which time I took the oppertunity of replacing a few more suspect gaskets).

Closer inspection (at Brian Turner Automotive Service Centre in Finnis St, great guy that produces quality work and always goes the extra mile) revealed a botched repair of the CV joints, these were replaced along with new inner and outer boot kits, replaced rear engine mount (ordered from Japan), degreased the entire engine and underbody of the car. Also got the car serviced (replaced oil, oil filter, fuel filter, checked all fluids etc.) and tuned up (resulting in the engine noise dropping a bit..hey I can hear the radio now).

This friday (14/01/05) its going in for a full wheel alignment (RE: CV Joint replacement) at Peddlers (the only guys that can do it due to its ground clearance). It needs it..steering is a bit shakey at speed (hmm) and I risk wearing out the tires (doh) driving it anywhere but to work and back, its also not as nippy in the corners as it used to be which should improve once this work has been done.

Oh yeah..on a more funnier note.

I got caught out in the sun for half an hour last weekend when I pulled away from the traffic lights on the way back from Palmerson. The car hit 6000rpm and blew apart the join between the intercooler and engine intake manifold when shifting out of second resulting in a rather fierce hiss from the blow off valve followed by shuddering and gurgles as it staggered off the road (poor baby). I had to wait for the piping to cool off before I could touch it to knock it back into place and adjust the hose clamps to get on my way again.

Thank god I carry a tool kit heh. I suspect it was not screwed on tight enough when they did work on the engine the week before. Its not coming off now though..

bro thats a big air scoop there now ay, what happened. nice car ne ways man u put it in ne shows b4 the ding?

hey man if u ever wanna get ur dash done yellow and white or what eva colour u want give me a buzz 0434414342 im at underwood. cheers ( aprox $250) u wont find cheaper plus wont scratch.

The Interior at the moment is all leather, did you mean re-trim that or paint plastic? The car was featured in hot4's a while back, but apart from that no, no shows (not like there are shows in Darwin now anyhow). It is well known around the traps because it was the only one of its kind, now there are a few "imitations" popping up with bits of veilside kits and what not, including a black one that looks almost exactly the same as mine (grr). It doesnt look like I will get the car back before christmas because there was a mix up with parts, the panel beaters supplier thought they didnt want them because they were ex-japan. While its getting fixed I got a rego-renewal notice in the mail and I need to take it in for an inspection...doh. Nothing a few cartons on melbourne wont fix up with my mechanic hehee. And its sitting there with a tank of 104 RON fuel!

Yeah one of the big problems with the MR2 is getting cool air in the right places. Its not like a front mounted engine where air is forced in while you drive. My IC gets heat soaked on a hot day pretty quickly, and short of something drastic like putting it in the boot with a scoop theres little I can do. An Air-Water IC would be ideal. The scoop helps get the cool air in the engine as (if your not aware) the intake is mounted on the left hand side. I have rearranged my piping while I had it apart and placed the filter right near the intake (kind of visible in the engine bay picture). When its cool outside the heat from the engine actually makes the back window fog up while stopped at red lights

One of the biggest things I am annoyed about is two of the rims were damaged in the accident, so now I need to buy 4 new ones, and finding nice 5 spoke 18x7.5 is a mission in itself. ANZ no longer make 18x7.5, only 18x8 but they are too big

Im still in communication with the police about getting the money they fined me ($160) back. I dont believe it was my fault and the police there made a number of mistakes, such as the speed limit of the road in particular, and although there is no giveway sign the officer tried to say that she did not have to give way even though there are giveway lines on the merging lane. The police commissioner didnt even reply to my letters so I will be sending a followup one shortly.

When I get it back I will put in my flywheel and get it balanced to the clutch and do other maintenance while the engine is out.

sorry bro i thought u was in brisbane i saw the add stickers i thought it was aspley drag n drift. coppers r dicks down tere to ay, i got defected for a heap of things one of the more stupid things as for not havin a switch to turn the turbo off(smart twit ay) i had to send a hap of letters than had to go ova the pits. ne ways bro good luck with urs i hope u get it back soon and speed safely bro. nice car.