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Joey's Retro Eunos Roadster.


JoeyEunos
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Ok, it's outside of the Lupo-scope but I came to the conclusion that if I'm 'in for a penny' then I might as well be 'in for a pound' as it where given this is the 'member's cars ' section of the forum :rolleyes:

Here she is, my legendary 1989 Eunos Roadster, bought last year on the basis of never having been welded/repaired (Quite a rarity for a Jap cars of this era) and being a deeply original first year of production import car... I soon put the originality problem to bed :P Here's how she stands today...

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Pushing a mighty 115BHP from standard only tells half the story, with no ABS or nonsense extra weight added from unnecessary stuff like airbags or PAS coupled with 50/50 weight distribution, rear wheel drive and a limited slip diff makes these cars great fun to drive at a low entry cost :D

I've had a couple of these but this one's really struck a chord with me and provides a sublimely 'pure' driving experience, so far I've...

Refurbed a set of 15x8j Rota RB as per the pics... The rims on these corrode badly under the lacquer, my solution was to go through progressivley deminishing grades of sandpaper followed by Autosol on a drill mop to bring the rims up to scratch. They went from this...

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Mid flow...

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To this...

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A bit of elbow grease really paid off ;) Fair enough, I'll have to whip the Autosol out again every few months to keep them in check but that's a small price to pay given the saving made on the wheels due to  a minor aesthtic issue!

Then I made my own doorcars using a quilted leatherette jacket liner and bespoke door pulls and fitted a rare Nardi Classic wheel sourced from a recently impoted car changing them from this...

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To this...

The finished job inc retro door pulls and DIY quilted door cards (Note vent trims removed/dials changed in this pic)...

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Other than these bits the car has had new shocks/springs, gearbox/diff/engine oil coupled with all filter being changed, uprated HT leads and timing advanced coupled with a mystery JDM exhaust (I've had three!) plus some paintwork and all dealt with including purchace of the car for under £2k! This little motor has brought me untold amounts of pleasure. There's very little in life that brings me more joy on a Sunday morning than to take her out and get things warmed up before giving it absolute death and getting sideways on every corner :P... Compared to my current Lupo the car is really easy to work on and is basically a giant mechano set! Go out and buy one chaps ;)

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Edited by JoeyEunos
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Very nice indeed.

An original MX5 is still on my wish list, however I would need to ditch one of these awful VWs to make space for one!

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Some minor jobs completed on the little Mazda over the last week or so :)

Front number plate refresh taking things from this...

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To this...

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It's the little things that all add up to make a clean car IMO ;) I've also replaced the tired OE lights up and hazrd switches from the central 'tombstone' area of the dash to these vintage toggle types moving things forward from this...

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To this...

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Absolutely love these! To me they scream Bond-esque levels of 70's sportscar chic, as above, it's the little things that make a difference...

Edited by JoeyEunos
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  • 2 months later...

Minor update on the Eunos front, my upper an lower shift boots had seen better days...

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Old stuff was shot (To be expected really at 27 years old). Out with the old in with the new...

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Whilst in there I replaced all bushings and changed the turret oil too, then out for a quick spin to test... As expected gearchanges are now silky smooth :)

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  • 1 month later...

Another small Eunos themed update. This week I've be mostly fannying round with shifters, mostly.

The standard MX5/Eunos short shifter is a great bit of kit and helps provide the 'rifle bolt' gesrchanges that these cars are so famous for, it is however fairly boring to look at...

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As a bit of an experiment I've now installed a 6" JDM 'long throw' shift extender. This ties in nicely with the 60's/70's sportscar theme I'm trying to channel and further ramps up the rero feeling in the cabin...

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As a side note it's worth mentioning that the shifter itself came from a fairly well known throttle bodie'd car on the MX5 scene having been featured in Banzai magazine etc...

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Within the MX5 circuit lots of the aftermarket parts we use have their origins in the 90's and have by now passed through many sets of hands! For the most part I know the history behind many of the bits that have come together to make my Eunos what it is, and also the cars that they came from. Another good example of this would be my current wheels, I know of three other forum members that they belonged to before I got them :o

I love the fact that lots of the bits fitted have a history and a story behind them, it seems to make the whole 'modifying' process feel much more wholesome :)

 

 

 

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After a lengthy drive this afternoon I can confirm the extended shifter will be staying. The more and more changes I make to the interior the more it feels like getting in and out of a gentleman's club in the seventies.... Perfect.

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Whilst on the subject of the interior, today brought with it a further changes. The original seats had taken on a washed out colour, exactly as you'd expect given the car spent 13 years baking in the Japanese sun befere being imported here in 2002...

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Que some early Mk2 UK MX5 seats...Here's a pic of them side by side for comparison of new vs old...

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As luck would have it, the breaker car that these came from also benefited from a Mk2 windbreaker with cargo-net. These things really work and stop much of the blowyness (Oi oi!) in the cabin whilst the hoods down...

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All fitted...

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I'm pleased to report that whilst tidying things up nicely, the later seats also seem to offer much better support whilst simultaneously lowering driving position by an inch or two. It's nice to see that despite loosing lot's of the magic (Pop up lights etc) in later generations, the seats got better, much better :)

Edited by JoeyEunos
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On 31 August 2016 at 6:19 AM, twisty b-road said:

Love the door cards B)

Thanks, they weren't too hard to make. The material is actually quilted leatherette intednded to be used as jacket/bag lining.

Edited by JoeyEunos
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  • 3 weeks later...

After a long time umming and ahhing antoher change has been implemented.

Measuring up :)

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Stripes intalled...

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Closer...

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And a wide shot...

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I'd procrastinated for ages about whether or not to install these :o I'm relieved to say that (To me) they look perfect and turn up the retro vibe I'm looking to achieve with this car by another couple of notches :)

Edited by JoeyEunos
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1 hour ago, T3LLIOTT said:

I was thinking about doing this on mine but could never bring myself to do it! I must admit they look quite good and tie in with the rest of the car, but I think I'll hold off this time ;)

Firstly, it's always nice to see that we've got other Roadster men on board, get some pictures up :)

RE the decals, I agonised for over a year deciding whether or not to do it... The fact that my car is an original production year model (89) and has the original spot welds around the sills/arches made the decision even more difficult. Modifying it always seems somehow wrong. I wouldn't like to guess, but if I had to then I wouldn't be surprised if there were less than one hundred or so 1989 cars left in the country in an unwelded/never repaired state and I always feel I've got a 'duty of care' to an extent to ensure I preserve it and don't ruin it by modding too much...

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21 hours ago, JoeyEunos said:

Firstly, it's always nice to see that we've got other Roadster men on board, get some pictures up :)

RE the decals, I agonised for over a year deciding whether or not to do it... The fact that my car is an original production year model (89) and has the original spot welds around the sills/arches made the decision even more difficult. Modifying it always seems somehow wrong. I wouldn't like to guess, but if I had to then I wouldn't be surprised if there were less than one hundred or so 1989 cars left in the country in an unwelded/never repaired state and I always feel I've got a 'duty of care' to an extent to ensure I preserve it and don't ruin it by modding too much...

I'm loving your retro side indicators too, they look great!

I understand where you are coming from regarding the originality point of view. Mines a 92 and was bought with a few goodies on (steering wheel, wheels, full exhaust system), so I don't feel as guilty putting my mark on it! :P Although I quite like where it's at right now, so I don't foresee any big changes tbh.

 

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  • 6 months later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Always pleased to learn of another 5 owner on the board :)

RE updates there's not much to mention really, I seem to have reached a stage where the car is pretty much as it was planned to be. I often toy with the idea one of the many turbo conversions that do the rounds but given it's such an original and early example it seems like a bit of a shame to modify it too much.

For now I'm just enjoying the occasional blat round country lanes/B-roads, very little intervention has been required as she's in really good shape.

This season I've changed the coolant and thats about it really...

35736948445_e0a51314c2_b.jpgSAM_5437 by

 

 

Edited by JoeyEunos
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  • 2 months later...

World's my oyster at the moment mate...

I've tried to persuade 'her indoors' that the Lupo is too small even for her needs now and I will pass on my Mk4 SDI complete with new wings/cambelt/LUK clutch/GTDi interior cupholders etc (It's lovely) and I'll move on to a Mk5 SDI which now seem to be firmly in the  sub £1k bracket trade value as diesel becomes more and more of a dirty word....

Upshot is, she won't have it and has bonded with her little tractor in a way I'd never have sen coming (She's not really a car person). Weird right?

Either way, that still leaves me a space under the carport for something new.... Nice Mk1 TT 225, old Volvo estate, T4 camper, maybe even a LWB Pajero... Not really sure yet :)

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