Getting the mark ii

Super belated post but better late than never right? Also apologies for my posts jumping timeline like The Witcher on Netflix.

I unfortunately had been hanging around too many JZX peeps and ended up selling my type x to the homie Wes then finding an ad for a mark ii in SA a few days later.

I'd always had a soft spot for these after the first time I saw one as a teenager parked at my local Maccas in white with a Vertex kit and dished wheels. At the time I didn't know exactly what it was but it had such a cool presence and that memory stuck with me ever since.

Anyways, after a few messages to the seller and seeing I had enough credit card points I booked some flights to SA that weekend. Perry came along for the journey too though I don't think he was expecting the mission we had getting the car back and me learning the lesser known weakness of JZX/Toyotas.

After a short flight to SA the owner picked us up from the airport and we stopped at a nearby servo so I could have a look over the car.

It's a series 1 with converted rear so unfortunately it has the uglier interior trim and it was also auto but cheap at the time. The sunroof was a bonus too.

Panasport G7's are an interesting choice to say the least. 

After a quick look we shook hands and a deal was struck but it wasn't like I had much of a choice anyways as I'd flown all this way.

We quickly dropped past his place to pick up some spares for the car.

Then dropped into supercheap.

After a quick lunch at Maccas we embarked on our journey home.

Which was rudely interrupted a few hours into the drive. The car would randomly lose all power and electronics for a few moments then come back alive.

Bridged the diagnostic port with a breadtie that I stripped the plastic off of lol. It came back with a bunch of different error codes which was strange but the car started back up after a few minutes resting so we figured we'll just keep sending it and see how we go.

Passed the rapey koala.

Annnd then once we had almost approached Ballarat which was just over an hour away from home the car completely died and wouldn't start back up. I started panicking etc and was trying to think what to do.

I made a few calls and luckily Michael Luong was enough of a legend to come out with his trailer and rescue us.

Hopefully the only time it's on a trailer.

Towed it back to Perry's garage then I came back the next day to try figure out what happened to the car. We checked a few things and then I swapped in a spare ECU that Diep brought up with him and the car fired back up. 

The original ECU had unfortunately died on us during the drive back which explains why it was just throwing a bunch of codes when we tried to run diagnostics. After speaking to a few people, I discovered that it isn't an uncommon issue where the components die on the ecu due to age on these and also Soarers. So if anyone's thinking of picking up a JZX from interstate maybe bring a spare ecu with you?

Gave it a quick service while i was there too changing the plugs and oil/filter. 

Chilled for a bit then took it home.

What a mission that was. First time flying to buy a car then driving it back. Not sure if i'd do it again to be honest. In my head I thought "It's a Toyota, what could go wrong?". Famous last words...

Bonus pic here’s how it looks now.