Mr2 To Ferrari 355 Advice Needed

[Cockney355]

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to look and I apologies now but I am a newbie so some questions may sound stupid

I went to look at a Ferrari 355 Replica yesterday that is on a 1992 Toyota MR2 Turbo frame, it was at a garage but there were a few concerns before I decide to buy it and they are as follows:

1) The steering felt very very heavy, the garage owner says the wheels need balancing? (surely the power steering would still help).

2) The Turbo seemed very loud when I accelerated, it was making a constant massive sucking sound (is this normal?).

3) The engine seemed to have no power or response when I accelerated and just slowly built up speed.

4) None of the dials worked on the dash the needles were all sat still at the bottom, when I pointed this out he said "Oh,thats new to me, I can only put that down to being the fuse" ... Does all the dials have a fuse?

Sorry if these seem a little silly but any answers or guidance would be great. Hope to hear from you soon, Have a great day!!

Regards,

Billy

[Parts-King]

There are quite a few of those conversions around and the ones I have seen are , well..........Naff!

Depending on the spec, not all MR2 built before Dec 91 had power steering, you need to check if it has, and I would be worried about a noisy turbo. Sounds like a pig to me, better putting your money into a decent MR2 me thinks

Kingo

[bothwell_buyer]

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to look and I apologies now but I am a newbie so some questions may sound stupid

I went to look at a Ferrari 355 Replica yesterday that is on a 1992 Toyota MR2 Turbo frame, it was at a garage but there were a few concerns before I decide to buy it and they are as follows:

1) The steering felt very very heavy, the garage owner says the wheels need balancing? (surely the power steering would still help).

2) The Turbo seemed very loud when I accelerated, it was making a constant massive sucking sound (is this normal?).

3) The engine seemed to have no power or response when I accelerated and just slowly built up speed.

4) None of the dials worked on the dash the needles were all sat still at the bottom, when I pointed this out he said "Oh,thats new to me, I can only put that down to being the fuse" ... Does all the dials have a fuse?

Sorry if these seem a little silly but any answers or guidance would be great. Hope to hear from you soon, Have a great day!!

Regards,

Billy

I've seen one conversion - and its way too heavy - the added weight is too much for the engine. If its a turbo MR2 engine it may have had a larger turbo fitted (quite common to get round the extra weight) and maybe it either really big and noisy or its knackered.

If the engine had no power, then if it has a turbo, then its knackered. If it doesn't have a turbo, then the engine needs more power to shift the added weight of the kit.

Dials - no idea but might be a clue to a naff wiring loom job.

If built on the MR2s of around 1992 then it doesn't have power steering..... and the steering will be heavy cos of the extra weight up front.

AS PK says - I'd give it a body swerve.

[Phoenix999]

Buyer beware

[cfc1]

With all those faults (and probably more you don't know about) and a dealer who appears, on the face of it, to be absolutely clueless... I would walk away now.

Now the personal view....

Not to mention that a poor MR2 has been butchered up to look like something that it completely fails to resemble any any way shape or form, if you want something that looks like a Ferarri... buy a Ferarri, if you want a fast MR2 buy an MR2 turbo, you will get a far better car for your money and it will turn just as many heads if you do some tastefull modifications.

[bothwell_buyer]

With all those faults (and probably more you don't know about) and a dealer who appears, on the face of it, to be absolutely clueless... I would walk away now.

Now the personal view....

Not to mention that a poor MR2 has been butchered up to look like something that it completely fails to resemble any any way shape or form, if you want something that looks like a Ferarri... buy a Ferarri, if you want a fast MR2 buy an MR2 turbo, you will get a far better car for your money and it will turn just as many heads if you do some tastefull modifications.

There lies a man of good experience.

[peggyontherun]

put up the link to which garage has it or pm me the link sound a bit dodgy

[GTForbes]

My mate has one of these, the power steering has blown, the head gasket has blown and so has the clutch. To lower the car the springs have been cut to the extent it's sitting on the bumpstops. It handles like a big dollop of brown stuff and doesn't fool anyone except maybe a 9 year old.

Plain and simple it's far to wide and heavy for the mr2 to handle. Kit cars are meant to be light weight cars which are a joy to drive, this is neither