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Weekend: Mostly tidying and trying to do that "relax" thing. Took toys over for kids on one day, the next day took the MR2 over to Kelso since it was sunny, and collected a fishtank for Siani. Yes. In the MR2. Big boots on those cars for what they are. Can feel, on familiar roads, the play in the front is a nice, even combination of steady wear (on a decade old, 100,000 mile car, it's actually very good) and new wishbones/balljoints will sort it nicely.
It will get new suspension overall, but it will be done when it gets bad, not when I can tell it's worn.
However, the parts I ordered sadly don't fit, so I have to send back the plug leads and pay the dealer price (bah!). Dizzy cap and rotor arm are fine, though, and will be fitted when I can find my damn ratchet drive.
Alternator day: broken one was indeed collected (they better refund me fast, though), and the brand new one from eBay was delivered. So hints - if you're looking for cheap parts, don't be fooled by Iezura - they sell expensive, second hand shit.
The £90 (vs. £180+ most places) alternator appears to be correct; it's clean, new and smells new inside. It's fitted, has a 12 month warranty, had the correct connectors all the way around, and the Delica is now running again! Doesn't seem to have suffered much, either. Pig of a job to do, though.
MR2 radiator is now ordered; because I am a perfectionist and fitting the MR2 radiator is easy, but draining the cooling system and refilling is not, I have not only opted to get a proper radiator from Toyota (I simply don't trust a £119 one from eBay), and inevitably wanted new hoses, clamps and mounts, the additional £100 or so in labour to have the dealer do it seems worthwhile. To expand on this - the MR2 is mid engined and watercooled. It's also rather complicated in that the cooling system has about four bleed points, gradually increasing in height, to get air out of the system. There are two large cooling pipes under the car that also need to be drained and flushed through. Finally it's a traditional heater rather than the open-circuit air-blending type, so the heater matrix must also be bled correctly (one of the bleed points) and filled properly.
To do all this in a muddy, gravelly yard would not only take me more than a day, it would also be deeply unpleasant. The dealer has lifts, proper tools inclusing pressurised filling things, and can do it properly with the correct red 4Life coolant.
Given that the coolant needs to be changed every four years and a new radiator should last another decade (and be perfectly suitable for the planned V6 upgrade) - worth every penny IMO.
In the end, swapping the alternator took an hour, so it wasn't so bad. I think I can also take the old one to a reconditioner and get £35 back for the core.
It will get new suspension overall, but it will be done when it gets bad, not when I can tell it's worn.
However, the parts I ordered sadly don't fit, so I have to send back the plug leads and pay the dealer price (bah!). Dizzy cap and rotor arm are fine, though, and will be fitted when I can find my damn ratchet drive.
Alternator day: broken one was indeed collected (they better refund me fast, though), and the brand new one from eBay was delivered. So hints - if you're looking for cheap parts, don't be fooled by Iezura - they sell expensive, second hand shit.
The £90 (vs. £180+ most places) alternator appears to be correct; it's clean, new and smells new inside. It's fitted, has a 12 month warranty, had the correct connectors all the way around, and the Delica is now running again! Doesn't seem to have suffered much, either. Pig of a job to do, though.
MR2 radiator is now ordered; because I am a perfectionist and fitting the MR2 radiator is easy, but draining the cooling system and refilling is not, I have not only opted to get a proper radiator from Toyota (I simply don't trust a £119 one from eBay), and inevitably wanted new hoses, clamps and mounts, the additional £100 or so in labour to have the dealer do it seems worthwhile. To expand on this - the MR2 is mid engined and watercooled. It's also rather complicated in that the cooling system has about four bleed points, gradually increasing in height, to get air out of the system. There are two large cooling pipes under the car that also need to be drained and flushed through. Finally it's a traditional heater rather than the open-circuit air-blending type, so the heater matrix must also be bled correctly (one of the bleed points) and filled properly.
To do all this in a muddy, gravelly yard would not only take me more than a day, it would also be deeply unpleasant. The dealer has lifts, proper tools inclusing pressurised filling things, and can do it properly with the correct red 4Life coolant.
Given that the coolant needs to be changed every four years and a new radiator should last another decade (and be perfectly suitable for the planned V6 upgrade) - worth every penny IMO.
In the end, swapping the alternator took an hour, so it wasn't so bad. I think I can also take the old one to a reconditioner and get £35 back for the core.
