Whoops!

I just bought a 1996 Camry located a couple of thousand km away:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170534145674&autorefresh=true

If it's in the condition the seller claims, I'm going to fly up, then drive it back down. Then put the engine in my green MR2.

Impulse purchases FTL.

V6 with a 5-speed? I don't think they ever sold those here.

thats nice. i had a camry of that gen for a while but it was an auto 4cyl.

hey some asshole put the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car

is it going to fit?
more importantly is it going to throw off the Mister's balance?

The gearbox either needs to be modified or the MR2's can be used instead. Apart from that the wiring is tricky and one engine mount needs to be fabricated (some UK company makes the custom part). The 3MZ-FE (this engine) will bring the total weight of the car to something similar to my red one (which has a heavier duty gearbox, turbo, intercooler and extra electrics such as turning lights, folding mirrors etc.).

A 1MZ would be the lighter option due to being all-alloy, but it's apparently nowhere near as bullet proof and also not in the car I accidently bought...

Anyway, the trip is going well so far. The drivetrain is in great condition and I haven't been pulled over in this first 500 or so km despite having no plates. This will undoubtably change once I reach my own over-policed state.

For all you Google Map boffins, I've made it from Brisbane to Coffs Harbour. Will stay in Sydney tomorrow.

quite a trip ahead of you, isn't it? you think you can get back to Melbourne in your third leg, or are you probably going to need to make another stop before then?
So why no plates? didn't the seller have them? are you not allowed to use those or something?
sorry for all the questions, I'm just a sucker for a good road trip. I'll have to experience this vicariously through what you post..
take pics of the harbour area, or you're gay.

no jz no care

Doesn't the MkII MR2 share the same drivetrain(s) with the FWD JDM Corolla Levin/Trueno of the early 90's? I know the MkI did with the AE92 FWD Corolla FX16 and GTS.

Turbojett wrote:quite a trip ahead of you, isn't it? you think you can get back to Melbourne in your third leg, or are you probably going to need to make another stop before then?
So why no plates? didn't the seller have them? are you not allowed to use those or something?
sorry for all the questions, I'm just a sucker for a good road trip. I'll have to experience this vicariously through what you post..
take pics of the harbour area, or you're gay.

The answer was going to be one more stop, but I've arrived in Melbourne a bit ahead of schedule. That meant driving the Illawarra Sea Cliff Bridge at night, so I didn't get to see the sea or the cliff. But the bridge was nice.
I have done Sydney to Melbourne several times in one trip down the most direct route, the Hume Highway. But in the interests of avoiding that overpoliced area and also getting a chance to enjoy the coastal roads, I took the longer (and more interestingly twisty) Pacific/Princes Hwy this time. It was pretty awesome and not that much more time consuming if you avoid detouring down all the scenic tourist turnoffs.

The car was sold unregistered so the owner kept or returned the plates. I organised a month's unregistered permit, but a piece of A4 printer paper sticky-taped to the windscreen may not satisfy passing cops.
Amazingly, in 2,000km I was only pulled over once. It was leaving Sydney last night at about midnight. He obviously hadn't seen one of these permits before and lost interest while peering at it through the windscreen. Which was lucky, because the permit technically only allows to driving between 7am and 7pm.

All in all, I doubt too many unplanned, highly ambitious adventures have been so lucky. The car is mechanically excellent and if I didn't already have plans for the engine, could probably turn it over for a quick profit.

SBF wrote:Doesn't the MkII MR2 share the same drivetrain(s) with the FWD JDM Corolla Levin/Trueno of the early 90's? I know the MkI did with the AE92 FWD Corolla FX16 and GTS.

The Mk2 shares Celica drivetrains. The turbo model has the same engine as the WRC GT4 (3S-GTE), except with a small air-to-air intercooler to fit the tighter space.

Pics from the trip:

Think I need more practice with the POSEING!

Harbour pic for Turbojett. Unfortunately, I didn't get any from the above perspective.

Well, a couple of the bridge. No plates meant free travel on the toll roads..the best part is I'll never get my comeuppance.

That's awesome that you just didn't bother with tolls.

True, but unfortunately I got mono riding the monorail.

Monochromatic from the looks of it.

To deflect negativity about cutting my girlfriend out of the above pic, here's a picture of a mother kangaroo and its baby (which is called an omelette). Unfortunately, I still had the exposure turned up from the previous night.

Swerve wrote:Harbour pic for Turbojett. Unfortunately, I didn't get any from the above perspective.

baw, you went through the tunnel.
more direct route I guess.

and i thought a baby kangaroo was a joey.

That's only if the parents name it Joey.

Actually, from the pics you can see I took the bridge in. I actually took the bridge in. I got frustrated trying to find the way out of the city southward, so I took the bridge back north, then U-turned and took the tunnel because it comes out in a part of the city easier to exit in the right direction. Not having to pay tolls was definitely a plus....

"Joey" is just what we tell foreigners as a joke. The real term is omelette.

Also, I did have dinner by the harbour. But it was Darling Harbour, which is inside Sydney Harbour. Still very picturesque.

Since I was passing through the town of Bega, I couldn't resist stopping at the cheese factory - Bega is probably the largest Australian cheese company.
The visitor centre was disappointing, even by cheese factory visitor centre standards.

That's a hell of a joke if we teach kids that in school

yeah i saw the bridge pics, i figured the pic of the tunnel "hey, here's the harbor!" was at least halfway in jest. but all the pics from the monorail and Darling Harbour are still pretty cool looking.

Wally would kill to live in that house.

Those are awesome pics. That bridge looks magnificent.

I like how your reflection in the monorail pic doesn't show the camera you're holding well, and it makes it look like you're making grabby hands at her.

Are you cutting your girlfriend out of your pictures cause she's asian?

No, it's just VS.

SBF wrote:Are you cutting your girlfriend out of your pictures cause she's asian?

That was my old girlfriend (who I believe I have posted previously). Just for you, here's the original picture from this trip:

Awesome

well arent you mr. handsome

He certainly is

does this have aircon?

Swerve wrote:True, but unfortunately I got mono riding the monorail.

When did you meet up with VS?

ascona wrote:does this have aircon?

The air con is crazily powerful. I kept turning it onto the lowest fan speed, then off after two or three minutes because it was too cold. Could have just set a slightly warmer temperature, but I was also trying for max economy.

i'm really considering this, but at the same time, this might prove to be a huge headfuck, or hassle, anyway...

then again, as long as i'm doing nothing wrong... bah i don't know... cheap as, though...

You'd only be doing something minorly wrong. Who knows what you'd tell any cop while heading north or in NSW. Coming back you could just say I was too busy and asked my foreign aircraft mechanic friend to do me a favour...

You've missed the window for me to get an unregistered permit.

Anyway, watch out for the locust plagues. I knew we shouldn't have let gays into our armed forces...

i accidently got a falcon XR6 rental :)