Mommy-Wagon Obsessive
This blog post is a bit about me and my ever growing Toyota obsession, more accurately, my obsession with somewhat mediocre Toyotas at that.
Since my first Toyota in 2013, I’ve been able to maintain a steady state of denial; believing that owning a second or even third car allows more progress on whatever project I’ve got for the first. Anyone who’s adopted this mindset knows that there’s rarely truly anything other than more project cars.
I’ve bounced around various "Sensible Support Cars”, but in recent years nothing’s quite given me the trouser fizz like a minivan - and in Toyota’s playbook the options are pretty clear cut.
The First One wasn’t a great purchase
My first date with Toyota’s minivan offerings was an XR20 Estima Emina 2.2 turbo diesel, four wheel drive. A completely blind purchase, made in a shameful and frantic torrent of self imposed buyer excitement. I had this car delivered to my door and it turned out to be one of the worst purchases I’ve ever made, fan belts squealing on arrival.
Chassis rust, oil leaks, blown turbo and what became a massive blown head gasket - the Estima, even after hundreds of hours of tinkering, only lasted a few hundred miles before completely breaking down. Not one thing worked right for its short time with me, yet I grew so fond of the space and driving experience. I still believe Toyota were at their best in the late 90’s after owning even this rough example.
I was heartbroken, and I needed something else to fill the mommy-wagon spaced hole in my life.
The second one was arguably worse
The second purchase was an early ACR30 Previa CDX 2.4 petrol. Learning from my previous purchasing mistakes I went to go see this one, after shaking the seller's hand and driving off, not 15 miles later, the head gasket blew.
There’s a specific denial anyone who’s had a head gasket let go on them adopts, like the stages of grief; first there could be a number of reasonable explanations for those symptoms, then the spiralling denial despite growing overwhelming evidence, before finally, acceptance and internet searches for local machine shops.
I was forced to turn the Previa around quite quickly once home, given we’d already booked the NC500 two months later. I somehow managed to get it all back together, cleaned up and roadworthy just days before the 1500 mile round trip began.
Quite far and for quite a long time
Not only did it manage the NC500, but in fact followed up with a trip around Ireland the following year. Over the course I swept up all the other faults and even added a roof box and tow bar, neither of which were used in serious capacity even once.
The Previa ended up cementing why this form factor made the ideal support vehicle. Happily seating the boys for big days out, easily carrying huge marketplace hauls, and even converting into a survivable living space - but I knew there was just something missing from the formula.
Several previous repairs to the rear sills had begun to let go, and not even a rigorous undersealing regime was going to keep the Previa roadworthy for another MOT, so something had to step in to replace it….
I’m not even pretending anymore?
Having not been satisfied with the Estima (4 months before breakdown) or the Previa (20 minutes before breakdown) - I took to CoPart to purchase something that had already been ruined.
The idea being that a Japanese spec Estima could provide all the quirks and features I’m missing, restoring the Previa to a “better than marketplace used” state. However I soon discovered this to be a project so ludicrously time consuming it was almost a year to date before any real progress was made.
The one thing this slightly bent egg shaped Toyota did provide was a new engine; the famously mild 1MZ-FE V6. This engine saw new parts, timing and gaskets whilst being sat cosily on an engine stand for almost 14 months.
With the idea of welding what equated to a whole new car’s worth of metal to the Previa rapidly becoming even less viable than first thought, I needed a new plan.
Fourth Time’s a Charm
The Toyota gods must have been smiling upon me as a Toyota Estima came up for sale locally for a bargain price - the reason: its 1MZ-FE had locked up. I’d call the timing perfect were it not for the several years of missteps and bad purchases up to date.
I snapped it up, now looking to converge a “best of” from all three previous vans into one ideal spec. The new project got underway: An engine transplant, an Interior transplant and everything else a 25 year old used Toyota might need.
The chassis was a real peach, with only a few cosmetic issues and the smallest rust patches. It even had pretty mint pockets.. The Aeras T body kit is also my personal favourite from the smorgasbord of model variants Toyota sold over the years - I could hardly wait to build my dream minivan.
Doing everything wrong and twice
Despite having plenty of big engine-out projects under my belt at this point, the 1MZ-FE transplant into the new Estima proved to be a huge undertaking. Much like the trial by fire the Previa engine work became, the Estima was proving to be a whole new challenge.
The major components came together quickly over several days, but time after time there were trip ups; a destroyed gearbox oil pump discovered after fitting, a no start no crank that required an engine loom replacement, a leaking gearbox seal and failed CV shaft and last but not least - a damaged timing belt guide that tore the timing belt up within 100 miles.
Regardless the project marched forwards, counting into the 100’s of hours even before the first start.
Finally, all stuck together, mostly working…
I’m still in the trust building mileage with the Estima, but it’s finally a roadworthy vehicle.
There’s not much serious mechanical work left on the Trello board at this point, and I’ve already indulged in vanity work such as mix and matching my favourite door card features (Blue cloth over grey, with light wood plastic trim and facelift uprated speakers). Each time I spend longer with the Estima, the closer I get to the vision of 2000’s Toyota perfection in my head.
Eventually the Estima will become a worthy overnight sleeper tow car, taking the MR2 by trailer, with spares, to various track destinations.
A project car isn’t the valueless used vehicle you end up with,
it’s the expense and time you’ve spent along the way.
