Wednesday 8th February 2012

PH Fleet: Mazda Eunos Roadster

Snowed in Eunos gets mini facelift to while away hibernation

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It was there, carefully leaned against the garage wall every time I went to get the car out. And if a piece of plastic could throw accusing glances, the freshly painted Eunos nose cone I picked up back in December from Dent Wizard would have done exactly that.

Eunos moonlights on Classic & Sportscar

The back story to this is long and tedious, but can basically be abridged thus: man buysEunos, attaches stick-on numberplate wonkily, tries again, stick-on plate comes unstuck and takes paint with it, man gets angered by lack of interest from bodyshops to repaint said bumper, man finds one on eBay for £60.

You get what you pay for though and while vaguely the right colour, the eBay find had some crazing around the indicators, some nasty scratches on the underside and a suspicious dull patch on top. Even the guys at Dent Wizard and their associates at Flying Colours said it was beyond the scope of a smart repair so I shipped the original one to them to repaint properly in their own time. Then picked it up. Then left it untouched for a couple of months.

Snow stops play
Then came the snow and, much as I like skidding about, not exactly Eunos weather. More fool my MX-5 owning brother Will to pop over at the weekend too (on the back of a flatbed, long story) meaning motive, opportunity and willing associate neatly coincided.

Hardiman's book an absolute godsend

Now I've done the swap once before and didn't remember it being that tricky. The Paul Hardiman book I've relied on heavily since buying the Mazda did hint that it was a bit of a sod, but the bonding process with Paul (we've never met, but I feel like I know him!) has taught me he overplays the difficulty at times. Which is a smart move, because when you finish a job and you think 'phew, that wasn't as hard as it sounded' everybody's a winner.

I must have selective memory, because this time around there was much knuckle-skinning, swearing and, at one stage, a very real risk of freezing to death, trapped with my arm embedded deep inside a Mazda. That or providing inspiration for a Home Counties-based sequel to Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. I'll be taking that chunky TW Steel watch off next time I do anything like this, that's for sure.

Who you gonna call? Not these two...

10 years younger
So it's done and all it needs now is a good wash and brush up and I reckon the paint should all match up nicely. A perfect test for the new, remixed and apparently improved Autoglym Super Resin Polish currently sitting beside my monitor.

Before all this kicked off the Mazda had a cameo appearance on Classic & Sportscar'sblog where new boy and fellow Eunos/MX-5 fan James Page had a quick go in mine, inspiring a bit of musing about whether they're best left alone or can benefit from a bit of gentle tweakage. Another Eunos-owning journo - John Simister - has also been out in it recently and is pondering taking the plunge with the Performance 5 SportDrive kit and frame rails having successfully de-chavved his now very smart looking £900 Mariner Blue Eunos.

(Almost) ready for its close up

He's going to talk about the wheels again...
It's a dilemma for sure. I take James's point that Mazda's obsessive approach to the whole Jinba Ittai thing means dicking about with any one aspect of it could ruin the whole experience. I was chatting with a Mazda engineer who'd worked on the original project (and a Eunos owner still) on the CX-5 launch last year and showing off about the P5 kit, only to feel a little crestfallen at his suggestion that stiffening the body and/or suspension actually ruins the purity of the concept.

Simister did pick up on the fact mine does feel a lot less flexy than his - currently - stock bodied car. Which is better? Depends on your definition, but there's plenty in the theory that doing anything to raise the grip levels simply highlights the lack of power. Having gone for new Contis all round he has donated his Triangle tyres to go on my 14-inch 'daisies' and assures me, having tried the now-defunct Tigars, that they're even less grippy. I suspect there'll be a bit more wheel swapping yet.

First I've got another dilemma to solve. Another attempt at the stick-on plate? Or just screw the regular one on and be damned?

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Fact sheet:
Car: 1993 Eunos Roadster (JDM import model)
Run by: Dan Trent
Bought: January 2011
Purchase price: £1,250
Last month at a glance: Repainted nose cone finally on, nearly lost arm in process, resulting emotional and physical scars almost healed

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Previous reports:

Taxed, insured, MOT'd, re-tyred - it's been an expensive month
Eunos gets a loud exhaust and new suspension
New suspension offered but am I worthy?
Purchase price only half the story...
Open Season heralds rare 'money where mouth is' moment...

 

 

 

[Watchman]

There's a technique for putting stick-on plates on which involves soaking the plate in warm water which has a little washing-up liquid squirted in. You then apply to the car, move it around until satisfied (it slides easily) then mop up the excess water with dry cloths. Leave to dry and it will be fine. Many Caterham stick-ons are done this way.

Practice on the spare bumper maybe? Buy a couple of blank plates for that purpose.

[Dan Trent]

Good man, thanks for the tip. They supplied some off-cuts with the plate so I'll give that a whirl.

And with luck hopefully not inspire another year-long bumper replacement saga!

Much obliged to you.

[Krikkit]

You don't even need to soak it, just get a spray bottle with soapy water and apply liberally. Get a credit card handy for removing air bubbles, and a piece of masking tape to line it up against so you know it's straight!

Did the decals on my 106 Rallye that way and it worked brilliantly.

[Pints]

A thread title would help, chaps.

[redgriff500]

"but there's plenty in the theory that doing anything to raise the grip levels simply highlights the lack of power"

So increase the power too !



Mine is very modified 200+bhp and a good LSD (as found on the 1.8 imports) transforms the car.

I'll admit a GOOD standard one is arguably more fun on a clear country road (as you can throw it around at lower speeds) but when you get stuck behind a dawdler it's very frustrating.

[Robmarriott]

I ran mine (both of them in fact) with an aluminium number plate bracket which bolted to the nearside 'towing eye' living comfortably in the boot. Looks much better sans plate anyway and I never got pulled for it. *flamesuit on*

[Watchman]

Pints said:

A thread title would help, chaps.

Probably caused by my initial post. Went in through the article on the Home Page via a Blackberry. Thought the article title would carry over but it didn't.

[HorneyMX5]

Good stuff, hopefully we'll see this motor at the Sunday Service?

nick

[Dan Trent]

That's the plan!

[Xenocide]

"Ruin the experience" or not, it makes driving it a lot nicer being stiffer *fnarr*

[KevSeymour]

I wouldn't ruin that smooth bumper by screwing a plate onto it, at the very least if the stick on plates don't do it for you get an offset plate bracket.

I've got a certain amount of respect for the "don't dick about with it" approach, having put Gaz Gold Pro's, T1R's and wider wheels on mine - with a fast road geo - it's almost impossible to unsettle the rear end because there's just not enough power, even in the 1.8.

Seriously considering going back to the standard geo and buying some ditch finders for the summer.

[Baked_bean]

Looking good, i might be undertaking this little job over the weekend.

Do i need to stock up on any clips or bolts that could potentially break during the process?

[Alfa159Ti]

I picked up a low mileage S- Special Eunos for £1,300 for the missus just over a year ago.

We had fun with it but it began rusting through the rear arches and the missus lost interest in it, so I got rid for £1,100 as I could see big bills looming.

Glad we did it though - I think all petrol heads should own a MK1 MX5 at some point.

I still fantasize about buying a Jap semi-shed (MR2 Turbo if your interested) as a weekend car, but the potential bills are putting me off.

Dan - is it wrong of me to ask how much you have sunk into the car in maintenence since you bought her?

[Dan Trent]

Hmm, now there's a question. Purchase price over I'd safely say. Blokenomics but it still seems a bargain for the amount of fun and is still cheaper than my mountain bike!

[g00chy]

god no do not put on a stick on (i thought they were illegal anyway) and dont drill those lovely smooth lines and slap a billboard on the front.

buy or knock up an offset ally bracket, get a nice smaller (its an import) square plate

mine looks spot on, not chavvy, and almost makes the little lady look a bit more purposeful

[jimslops]

g00chy said:

god no do not put on a stick on (i thought they were illegal anyway) and dont drill those lovely smooth lines and slap a billboard on the front.

buy or knock up an offset ally bracket, get a nice smaller (its an import) square plate

mine looks spot on, not chavvy, and almost makes the little lady look a bit more purposeful

I had both and whilst I like the square plate as it is neater and keeps Jap look etc, I feel that the 'normal' number plate does not make it look better but makes the car look more grown up. IMHO.

[suffolk009]

Have done thirty five thousand miles in mine. Mostly top down, always fun. It's utterly bog standard (well, except for having removed the aircon). I wouldn't change the wheels, suspension or anything...except the stereo.

Jobs to do: new stereo and speakers, bit of repair and paint to rear wheel arch, new hood (it'll be at least it's third).

Blokenomics aside they are a bargain to buy and run. A perfect third car.

[jimslops]

suffolk009 said:

Have done thirty five thousand miles in mine. Mostly top down, always fun. It's utterly bog standard (well, except for having removed the aircon). I wouldn't change the wheels, suspension or anything...except the stereo.

Jobs to do: new stereo and speakers, bit of repair and paint to rear wheel arch, new hood (it'll be at least it's third).

Blokenomics aside they are a bargain to buy and run. A perfect third car.

Totally agree.

I have found that simply upgrading the head unit (in my case to Alpine) makes a big difference in quality and haven't felt the need to upgrade the speakers.

[g00chy]

suffolk009 said:

Have done thirty five thousand miles in mine. Mostly top down, always fun. It's utterly bog standard (well, except for having removed the aircon). I wouldn't change the wheels, suspension or anything...except the stereo.

Jobs to do: new stereo and speakers, bit of repair and paint to rear wheel arch, new hood (it'll be at least it's third).

Blokenomics aside they are a bargain to buy and run. A perfect third car.

i know what your saying about bog standard fun, but cant recommend enough the mx5parts single stainless exhaust,it fits perfectly no messing around,sounds fantastic without being too loud no huge sewage outlet hanging out the back either!! much better soundtrack to a drive than a decent stereo

[Dan Trent]

Baked_bean said:

Looking good, i might be undertaking this little job over the weekend.

Do i need to stock up on any clips or bolts that could potentially break during the process?

It's all relatively straightforward - especially if you follow Hardiman's book to the letter - but the awkward bits are the four studs buried deep within the front wings. It's apparently easier if you remove the wheelarch linings but I struggled with the little plastic 'spreaders' that didn't want to release the screws so had to just push it aside (painful) and try and manhandle the socket driver into the space (awkward) and then unscrew them an eighth of a turn at a time (mind numbingly time consuming). I don't remember it being a pain last time so I either applied selective amnesia or must have used some sort of lateral thinking that got me around it.

Make sure you put plenty of penetrating oil on the bolts for the stays within the wheelarches too - I broke nearly all of them through lack of patience.

Bon chance.