Stan Guzell (fr078001@ysub.ysu.edu)

Location: Poland, Ohio,   USA
     Car: 1985, MkI, red
 Mileage: 118,500 miles

I bought my 1985 mr2 from a Canfield "ambulance reconditioning" company         
and I loved the test drive, but the car I drove away a week later sounded       
like a totally-different car (in need of serious suspension work).  I was        
right about that, in addition to an amazing amount of other work that has       
brought the reasonable-looking price of this car from $1600 to about $3200      
and still climbing.  The most discouraging thing of all was the incredibly      
rusted-out floors in the passenger compartment, and, to a lesser extent,        
in the trunks, too.  The metal sections of coolant tubing running under the     
front "firewall" and then up and over the middle gas tank were so rusted        
out that they broke and sprayed coolant when I bumped them while scraping       
the rust flakes from the floor!  My Toyota dealer quoted me $550 for new        
pipes, and that still would take about 5+ hours (at $55/hr.) to install,        
due to the hassle of dropping the gas tank in the way.  So I decided to try     
cutting the most rusted tubing to splice-in rubber hose and clamps, but my      
Sawzall vibrated too much and the blade cut a nice sliced through the gas       
tank, and left me with gas spraying all over my tools and hot electric light    
bulbs.  I'm happy to be alive, and, believe it or not, I still look forward     
to cruising in this great-looking little car!  I just hope it happens before    
the summer is completely over, and before I drop the equivalent of the cash     
I would have spent if I had bought the new Firebird I'd been dreaming about.    
If anyone has any thoughts on any of this (and can write without making me      
feel like a total idiot), please mail me!           

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Last Update: Jul 1 97