I wanted to change the clutch on my MR2 and also get my syncros looked at due to grinding/crunching and generally old cantankerous behavior from my e153.

SlipsliderG and Spidey put me in touch with the guy that fixed up their clutch probs: Ronan from Elm Hall clutch and gearbox, in Celbridge, Dublin.

I called Ronan and let him know what I wanted to do, he said no problem, was able to give me a fixed price quote over the phone (for labour) and a commitment that the work would take two days.

I dropped the car down to him with thoughts that it would take weeks (Toyota told me the syncros would take a couple of weeks to get in to stock). Two days later Ronan range me and told me the car was ready - I was shocked

He let me know that all of the parts he needed to recon the box he had access to in storage so in two days he was able to drop the box & clutch, inspect the flywheel, rebuild the box, and put it all back together again with the new clutch. He also checked all of the linkages and shifter assembly to ensure it was nice and smooth.

I've taken the car for a drive and so far the gearbox is shifting nicely and everything is working how it should do. Sometimes little problems take a while to show up so I'll wait to see if everything stays tip top, however for the minute I wanted to get a note up to recommend Ronan, professional guy and sticks to his word - that's invaluable considering the amount of cowboy mechanics there are out there.

cool im getting clutch done very soon and this soon perfect for me as im not to far from celbridge so could you pass on his number and il give him a call.cheers

Sent you his details by pm

thanks alot man

Wow that was fast work Geoff, Can I ask which parts was changed and how much was the labour cost ?

+1 on the recommendation

Marty J wrote:
Wow that was fast work Geoff, Can I ask which parts was changed and how much was the labour cost ?

I don't have an exact break down but there were various inner and outer syncros that needed changing out (not a full set). He charges 450 eur for a drive in drive out pickup next day clutch swap then the gearbox work is on top. Wear in gearboxes is going to be different dependant on the box so the price will always be different too. In my case it was 750eur and done in two days.

When I got quotes from Toyota on just the synchros for the box they were telling me 650eur in parts alone!

That's a lot of cash to splash out, but providing it is done properly then it is worth it for the amount of labour involved. Toyota dealers must think it's Christmas every time somebody needs parts for their car

I have read about stripping and rebuilding gearboxes but never done one myself. Something to look forward to in the future.

I think Mark239 did his one himself. In my case myself and Slipslide were not even able to get the gearbox off of MR.2's 3sgte and that put me off a lot. Plus I was going to have to bring the gearbox to get reconned anyway. So it was just easier to get a drive in /drive out and pay the money.

It's made a night and day difference to driving the car though so it's worth it for me. That's why I laugh when people say 'such and such a car is overpriced' it's not the price of the car you are buying it's what's the cost of keeping it on the road is the real question.

Better to pay more for a car that's been well maintained than save yourself a grand underpaying on something that needs everything done.

Quandry wrote:
It's made a night and day difference to driving the car though so it's worth it for me.

Glad you got the quality service you needed Geoff

Geoff are you staying with your recent shifter bearings or are you going to try the type I have ?

Marty J wrote:
Geoff are you staying with your recent shifter bearings or are you going to try the type I have ?

I think I'll change to the type you have as it might account for why it's hard for me to get in to first - sometimes.

Hi Quandry!

Would you still have the number for these guys?
I would bring my box to them as the synchros for the 2nd and 3rd are worn.
Tried MT-90 + new linkage bushing kit (from twos r us), but no significant improvement.

Thanks!

Ronan 01-6102131