SuperDave

Got MCA coilovers on a couple of cars at home. They are fine, nothing wrong with them. I'm not sure how anyone could have anything negative to say about them.

Do you mean it is slipping above 3000rpm? I'm not sure what you mean by torque grip. Adding more mods to it won't solve the problem. Are you sure it's not placebo? Do you have base line dynos or drag times to compare against?

Any pics of the tyre wear?

If your mate is a mechanic, your best off letting him have a look at the bushings to see what his opinion is on getting them replaced now rather than later. The rotors and struts probably are on the way out if original. Normally you'd get a second opinion after those $28 checks. $1400 for all that doesn't sound too bad based on these rough numbers; rotors: $200, labour 1hr struts: $300, labour 2hr lower bushings: $100, labour 2hr wheel alignment: $100

Not owning one, nor having any experience in one. I'm assuming it's to get the engine up to temperature for the stop-start function to work properly.

You might be able to get this one quicker than 4 weeks. http://www.monkeywrenchracing.com/product_info.php?products_id=1415 As for if that is the issue with the car, I'm not sure. Hard start can be a sign that the timing is out. I assume a compression test was also done? There are a couple of things an engine needs to run; fuel, air, compression and timing. No doubt being a mechanic he'd be on top of these things. Unfortunately, sometimes you need to take a bit of a best guess at a solution with all the sensors/electronics on cars these days. Best of luck.

If the front end is diving under brakes, it probably needs new front struts. As for the recall, check it out here http://www.recalls.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/952839

Holy *shit*, Tats lives!

Racing makes no difference to the torsion going through it. It's not unheard of for anti-roll bars to snap on road cars, especially if you have sloped driveways that require an angled approach. Any shots of the fracture? Being spring steel, any unpainted sections very quickly rust, so it might not have been like that from new. I don't think you'll have much luck with warranty after 3 years.

Except DOT5, don't mix that with the other DOT series! DOT5.1 is different to DOT5 though, just to make things confusing. DOT3 is as rare as hens teeth. Just run a DOT4 in there, as that's most likely what Toyota used. As for bleeding the brakes, you'll be waiting hours for them the gravity bleed. I haven't uses the one man bleed system, but my system involves 2 people. person 1, mans the brake pedal and fluid reservoir. person 2 works the bleed nipple. You'll need a 10mm and 8mm spanner, 15cm of small silicon hose that fits over the bleed nipple, and a container. 1. Jack car up and take all the wheels off, and make sure to use chassis stands, and top up the reservoir. 2. Person1 pushes on the brake pedal, calls 'on'. Person2 opens the bleed nipple and called 'open'. Once the brake pedal is on the floor, person1 call 'down'. Person2 closes the bleed nipple, and calls 'closed'. Person1 does not lift the brake pedal until the nipple is closed! It's a pain to get the air out of the system. Repeat until fluid comes out clean (or if air in the system, until bubbles stop coming out. Notes: after about 15 pumps (IIRC), the reservoir will need to be topped up again. Start at the rear left, then rear right, then front left, then front right; the idea is to work furthest to closest. Pretty simple really.

To push the dint out, you'll need a narrow cold chisel. Bash it out as much as you can, doesn't need to be perfectly round, as undoing it will force it close to round again.

If the brake calliper piston was rusted (seized?) then it might be getting stuck. The brakes getting hot from brake drag are likely caused by this. Might need to rebuild the calliper/get a new calliper. 6mm sounds thin for the rear rotor.

That looks to be it. Since oil costs money, try the free fix first to see if that solves your problems.