[MR2] door power window switch - 86

[William Brandt]

Honestly Byron I came to the sudden realization that I am being stupid at 
these Pick & Pulls. Some of their stuff cheap - for example just because it 
was good I pull a door sill - the tabs tend to break on them - they charge 
me $7 for the thing and I am sure it wouldn't be that much more through 
Aaron. And now I have 2 extra of them.

The best way to shop at a P & P is to have a need for something - find that 
need - and just buy it. I gave the cashier about 7 things - and get a $70 
bill. I wasn't paying attention to the ring up. And I got tired of trying to 
scrape off the paint markings on parts so I ask them not to mark it. So No 
returns.

One of the things was the igniter - some nimrod - not wanting to spend 2 
minutes undoing the distributor to igniter plug, cuts the wire. Urgh! My 
late friend Bob S Master Mechanic taught me to take some pride in whatever 
parts you are working with.

Anyway the car had 164,000 miles on it and I asked the cashier if I could 
have a break on that part - he gives me $5 off. So now I have 4 of these 
things - my investment about $100 for 4 used igniter/coil assemblies- a new 
one at $450 or so is bad but buy it once and not worry about it going out. I 
have to get a wire from a bad one (presumably when my current one goes bad), 
unsolder the cable - it is only 2 wires. I may drive the car another 10 
years on the same igniter - meanwhile I have another 4 used ones. See why I 
am starting to see the stupidity?

Some of the P & P stuff is a fantastic value other things are not. Replaced 
the steering box on my MB for $50 - rebuilt ones are $600 (which if I had a 
job would be the way to go)....well, you guys get the idea ;-)

The ebay stuff - some of it is a bit perplexing. Some guy sells the little 
storage box at the end of the console (on the firewall) for $50 - one bidder 
only - which tells me that was his asking price. These things are a dime a 
dozen at the P & Ps. I suspect he found a buyer that needed one - saw this - 
and paid the starting price.

The Mk1  frunk emblem - for some reason these are hot. Last year they went 
for maybe $15 - now $40. Are people stealing them? It looks a bit like a 
Nazi eagle to me ;-) Are they still available?

Anyway I put one of those up.

Oh, radio speakers - these are unavailable now. I bought some new ones about 
5 years ago and surprisingly one went bad. So I put an old one in from my 
stash (still have one left) and everything's fine.

How many extra speakers does one need?

I have to start buying a bit smarter...

For some reason I have seen in all my P & P visits only 1 2nd gen - I know 
they made fewer but not that much...

I was thinking of pulling the head on that 164K car...but then again how 
long would an old head sit in my garage until I need it? Maybe it would 
never be used - that's the kinda stuff I'm talking about ;-)

Bill
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Byron" <autoxer at sbcglobal.net>
To: "William Brandt" <wbrandt1 at sbcglobal.net>
Cc: "MR2 List" <mr2 at mr2.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 7:15 PM
Subject: Re: [MR2] door power window switch - 86


> Just think of the fortune you can make selling the parts on ebay :) Wish I 
> could find some MKII parts locally, but most of the places have closed due 
> to EPA requirements and high bay area rents.
>
> Byron
>
> William Brandt wrote:
>> Thanks Aaron - I have always thought that part was a Toyota "we got you 
>> by the short hairs" part. ;-) I have found that you no longer can get 
>> speakers for the AW-11 - they have a nice 85 at P & P but with my last 
>> bill of $70 I have decided that just going to get parts is stupid.
>>
>> I have 4 used igniters. 3 rubber spoilers. I'm closing in on Steve 
>> Bagdon's parts stash I fear ;-)
>>
>> Bill
>>