88 MR2 SC

My title came back from the DMV... That fuck head I bought the car from refuses to answer my calls to sign over the title so I just forged the signature myself... Stupid young kid who refuses to deal with what he thinks is an uncomfortable situation ??? anyways... yet one more bump in the road to getting this car ...

Found a fender locally so I decided to ask Calvin if he was sure he didn't need it... he replied back that the car was done and he was going to look at it later that day and would call me... No call back that day... I texted him the next day asking how the car looked... he told me that it was the wrong car and would be done the following week... Just add this to a growing list of confusion and incompetence... On a side note... I ordered a Cusco- Rear Strut Bar cus-136-541-a  Also ordered ST Anti-Swaybar Set Item# 52220   The strut bar is coming from Japan 6 to 8 weeks... 

Well here's where I am now... Calvin talked me out of ordering a front fender because his friend can fix it... Also let me know that his friend won a contest for best Automotive paint job... I just don't know what to think anymore... my last conversation with Calvin was to tell his friend to please do the best job he can on the car... Also mentioned to him to cover the antenna hole and remove the break light which he dodn't do the first time...  The speedometer had still not been repaired yet ??? Worst case situation... The car looks like shit and I find another body shop and pay $4,000 to get it done right ( hopefully ) Average case situation ... Car is acceptable for 3 years and then I get a proper paint job Best case... He actually does his job properly and everything looks great.... I'm already thinking about the transmission to do next... and since were going in might as well replace the clutch with a heavier duty one and a lighter flywheel and why not a Li...

Went to look at the car yesterday ... first impression pulling up is it's not really the color I wanted... but close enough.... then I was impressed with the shine which the car never had... but then I started to see all the little flaws... I rationalized in my mind that this was a cheap paint job, but then I noticed that the front quarter pannel that was "fixed" was way off from the other side... The idiot didn't bother to match but just repaired it to the shape of the bent out one... WTF.... so many little things wrong with the paint I can't mention... also the antenna wasn't removed... the rear break light wasn't removed...The wheels and tires were over sprayed... Calvin is going to send the car back but I'm hesitant.... I dont know what to do at this point.... windshield looks good... When my car was at the other shop I was always stressed about the cost but not the quality of work... with Calvin now I'm stressed about the Quality and not the...

Calvin called me the other day to tell me the body damages fixed and the car is painted... also the front windshield is replaced... I gave him $2,000 for the repair... which was $1,500 so far... He's going to be working on the car this week I hope... I found some seat belts from some strange redneck in Lancaster for $60... So this Friday I will be dropping them off at Calvins shop and take a look at the car.... I'm excited to see it and a little nervous...

Spoke with Calvin yesterday at the track... I'm excited that he has my car... Doug told me that he was talking about the MR2 for 2 hours before I got there and what he wants to do to it....  he's looking for a racing transmission and will replace the clutch with a centrifugal force one ? Anyways, more gripping power... all sounds good to me :) He told me all will take about a month so I'm expecting early to mid January to see her again....

Dropped car off with Calvin's place yesterday... He already called me back with a quote from his body/paint guy.... They claim they can fix the front spoiler ???? really ??? that's amazing... I trust him... anyways... $1,200 ... that's a great price.... Looks like car will be in shop for maybe 3 weeks... That's fine... he's also pricing out  new transmission... I'm confident leaving the car with him... much more then with the preferred auto place...

Dropping the car off tomorrow at Calvin's shop in OC.... Have him try to fix the cold start problem, fix the AC and a few other things... also give me a quote on rebuilding the transmission.... I'm in contact with Gabriel who drives a 85 MR2 who I met at Willow springs track.... very cool dude who also used to race Nitro RC cars... he also works on his own car which is great for getting advice from...

Racing this car on the track was amazing.... Holly shit it drives well... best lap was a 1:58.3 Bought 6 more track days for $400 :) Good for 4 years

Picked up my car two days ago.... steering wheel installed, with shift knob although they didn't fix how the shift boot is attached ??? I don't think I will be going there anymore except for oil change maybe... pedals put in , also new battery... and my windows now work :) Car drives so good and feels better with the new wheel... Going to Willow Springs tomorrow ... should be an interesting experience....

Leaving for Japan tomorrow... just dropped off the car at the shop... There going to fix the cold start problem... also install steering wheel, shift knob, peddles, new Optima red top battery... replace the dash, and inside window frames that are cracked... Oh, and also the speedometer :) we will see on that... I found out that this Asian dude ( Jason ? ) at the track owns a paint and body shop... so when I get back I will be taking him my car to give me a quote.... Monterey Park Auto Body 401 Monterey Pass Rd Monterey Park , CA 91754 Also registered for a track day at Willow springs on November 16th... turns out it's the same day as the UF1 winter series race start...

went to get a quote this morning.... 6 months, $14,000.... nuff said... moving on....

Had a chance to clean the car out better... and driving through the hills is amazing... holly shit I love this car sooooooo much... WOW.... and I haven't even pushed it to it's limit.... Going in tomorrow 8AM to talk to Alex at Body and Paint place to see what he can do and maybe get a price... I'm hoping they will be able to do some of the work on the interior ???

Finished work early today and had time to go through the car for the first time since I bought it... Removed useless crap like speakers, tire jack, and misc parts sitting in frunk...

Picked up the car this morning.... First impression is that it drives way better, but not perfect... The transmission has to be fixed... The steering wheel still makes noise when I turn... But over all it pretty damn nice... I don't need to change the muffler... sounds great.... Hopefully I'll have time Sunday afternoon to clean the inside and maybe fix the rear box...

Well my car passed smog... He still hasn't fixed speedometer yet ???? Said he would try before this morning when he's sending someone to pick me up from home at 8AM... The AC still needs a part but I will just return car back when he gets it... Looking forward to driving her today... coming home from work I'll take the mountain route :) Packages of parts arrived yesterday....

Spoke with Anthony today.... They are still trying to resolve smog issue... they think it's the ignition switch which they ordered but arrived broken from Toyota so they have another one coming in tomorrow... He said that might also fix my speedometer issue ??? I'm hoping car will be ready Thursday morning... Also received my rear center storage box... more parts should arrive tomorrow and dash should get here Thursday... Then I need to get the car into upholstery place Anthony said can replace my dash...

Drove to the shop this morning to see if the car was parked outside... The wheels look nice and the tires look bad ass... car doesn't seem lower though ??? maybe a little... The new instrument cluster is still sitting on the passenger seat ???

Looks like my car didn't pass smog even with a new catalytic converter... also he didn't get around to fixing speedometer and AC... WTF are they doing... Anthony always has en excuse... so now were looking at next week sometime... I think there open tomorrow and Saturday... I might just drive down to look at it....

Bought a complete front dash in black for $235 shipped from North Carolina... Spoke with Anthony again today... looks like they didn't get much work done on the car,,, hopefully be able to pick it up Friday morning...

Spoke with Anthony yesterday... pretty much all done... they fixed the AC but there is still a leak, so there going to find it Monday... also going to check the speedometer and possibly install the new gauge cluster that I brought him... He said he drove the car and was impressed at how well it handled... He did say that there was still a little grinding going in 3rd gear but suggested to leave it alone for now and maybe down the road... Last thing is to check out the Catalytic converter and see if the car will pass smog... so I'm hoping to pick up the car next Friday first thing and then take the car to the paint and body shop he suggested... just so I can get and idea of what I'm looking at and maybe get that shop to order a front bumper and whatever other parts they might need now, so were not waiting later...

Momo package arrived today :)

Missed my baby, so drove to the shop which is closed today to look at her... she was parked under a tree...

Placed an order today...

Gave Anthony credit card number to get things moving... I really feel like he wasn't sure if he could take me seriously or not.... I did drop off a beat up $3,000 car and wanted him to do $7,000 worth of repairs... way more then what the car is worth... Now I think he knows I'm serious :) anyways, he mentioned that he was able to find those missing parts and that the estimate will be a little less... The waiting is the hardest part of all this...

Talked to Anthony today.... He mentioned that some parts were going to take a little longer to get... his main source are out but he felt confident he would find new parts... Also he confirmed the arrival of shipment from Tire Rack... Tomorrow I'm going to call in a credit card deposit for the work...

Went to AAA yesterday to get Title over to my name and pay taxes on the car... Turns out Oscar Gonzales, the previous owner did not sign title... They said it might be fine without it but better to get it signed... after talking to him and showing up at his house he wasn't there and did not respond to text messages and phone calls... what an irresponsible ass hole... On a high note, suspension parts from Tire Rack should arrive Monday... Enkei RPF1 wheel ( 9.8lbs ) Dunlop Direzza ZII ( 205/50 15 )

Talked to Anthony again this morning :) Asked if I could ship to the shop, wheels, springs and shocks to his shop and how much to instal... he said $250 which is great... Tomorrow I will order from TireRack ... Here is a breakdown of the current wheel/tire setup on the car now VS whats going on...

So the bad news from the shop is that I'm looking at $6,500 in repairs and that still does not solve my transmission problem... he's going to try a replacing the fluids in hopes that solves the problem... I spend all day and night trying to figure out what to do... after a lot of rationalization I decided to take out a $12,000 loan from the bank plus the $6,000 I have in the bank and go for it.... which means I will just look at this as a car payment for 3 years of $390 and I have exactly the car I want in very good condition...  I just hope the shop doesn't come up with more things wrong with it... All I know is that driving this car makes me really happy, so what the fuck... YOLO....LOL

Dropped car off this morning at Preferred Auto Center... recommended by my Honda service place... I'm afraid it will be a little expensive but we will see... Spoke with Anthony this afternoon and he told me a long list of what needs to be repaired... he needs more time tomorrow to steem the engine and look for an oil leak... He's then going to break down a list of importance with an estimate cost... Keeping my fingers crossed it's not like $4,000 or something crazy... cause I still need to fix the interior and exterior...

September 13 2013 ( Friday ) Found ad in Craigs list… posted around 10AM….I contacted owner at 11:30 AM…. made appointment to come see the car at 5:30PM… Stopped by bank after work but Well Fargo system was down…. went to another branch but same problem… 3rd Wells Fargo near the guys house was OK… The system shut down just minutes after my withdraw went through…. Test drove the car, decided to buy and a few minutes after that another buyer showed up… I'm not sure if the forces were against me or for me :) Car parked outside and I'm excited to get it for $3,000…. Needs a lot of work and I'm hoping it won't cost more then $6,000 to finish it all off… going to take car to Service Center next week hopefully to have it all checked out… Checked out the CarFax info before driver over... September 15 2013