Mazda Eunos Roadster/Subaru Forester STI: PH Fleet
Bye-bye Eunos - you'll be looking good next time I see you though!
I know it's soppy but I've got a strong emotional bond with my little Eunos and dropping it off for a big job like this represents an emotional wrench, never mind a financial one. I know it'll be a 'different' car when I eventually pick it up and I'm curious to know how that'll feel. Dave and his colleagues from Deepcar will be doing a proper job too and the doors, bonnet, roof and bootlid will all be coming off. Glass will come out - chance to address the pitted seal around the screen and faded door cappings - and all those little scratches, scrapes and parking dings will all be dealt with. Most crucially the signs of the rear-end repair the car had at some stage will finally be addressed.
It's to my shame I didn't spot the very obvious signs of this in my excitement in buying the car. I was so fixated with sill and arch rust I didn't spot the seam just behind the aerial mount where a new rear end had been fitted. To be fair it's only really obvious in direct sunlight. But all the same...
And the Forester? Mrs Trent drove the Mighty Duster the other day and moaned about the slow steering, spongey brakes and lack of power. "I like the Subaru!" This is good news in its way, the exhaust seemingly accepted as a permanent fixture too. With this, the new tyres and the head unit it's pretty much sorted. The only blot is the paintwork, which is looking somewhat tired and not helped by that bluff front end seemingly being vulnerable to stone chips. Japanese paint is never that sturdy it seems and some manner of professional attention is required. And, no, that's not a second job for Deepcar. At least not yet.
FACT SHEET
Car: 1993 Eunos Roadster (JDM import model)
Run by: Dan Trent
Bought: January 2011
Mileage: Enough to justify pending expenditure? Probably not...
Purchase price: £1,250
Last month at a glance: How strong is the man maths then Mr. Trent?
Previous reports:
The answer to everything?
More exhaust noise? Don't mind if I do...
Skidfoolery at Silverstone on the eco tyres
Er, more skidfoolery at Silverstone on the eco tyres!
Hibernation? Not for this Eunos!
Sell it? Nah, I'll just drive it, ta
Spring comes along and heating mechanism packs up
Skids on hold as LSD bites the dust
Eunos out of hiding and expenditure looms
FACT SHEET
Car: 2005 Subaru Forester STI (JDM import model)
Run by: Dan Trent/the long suffering Mrs Trent
Bought: December 2015
Mileage: 122,843km (at purchase)
Purchase price: £9,500
Last month at a glance: Tired paintwork may need addressing soon
Previous reports:
Dan scores himself one of his all-time dream cars
Living the Subaru lifestyle dream
Dan versus JDM wind deflectors (with a little help from Sticky Stuff Remover)
JDM habit runs deep in the Trent family which could prove costly
Just out of interest, can you explain what the benefit is in taking the panels off. Glass, I understand, panels less so.
I went for a mohair hood with glass window. I haven't bothered to connect the demisting option. It looks so much better than the vinyl. The black is blacker, deeper and non reflective. Amazing the difference it makes. And I belive they tend to last twice as long.
BTW - I still can't get my mind around that wheel colour of yours.
And the wheel colour was just meant to be a bit of a laugh but has kind of become a defining feature! Tempted by the idea of colour matching the McLaren ones too, like the plan!
Noted on the hood too - my brother got a mohair one for his and it does look plush. As I say though, if the car is out 99 times out of 100 the roof will be down. I'm sounding all rational and sensible now. No doubt when the decision is presented to me I'll blurt out 'sod it, just put a mohair one on it......' and be done with it!
Cheers,
Dan
And the wheel colour was just meant to be a bit of a laugh but has kind of become a defining feature! Tempted by the idea of colour matching the McLaren ones too, like the plan!
Noted on the hood too - my brother got a mohair one for his and it does look plush. As I say though, if the car is out 99 times out of 100 the roof will be down. I'm sounding all rational and sensible now. No doubt when the decision is presented to me I'll blurt out 'sod it, just put a mohair one on it......' and be done with it!
Cheers,
Dan
And the wheel colour was just meant to be a bit of a laugh but has kind of become a defining feature! Tempted by the idea of colour matching the McLaren ones too, like the plan!
Noted on the hood too - my brother got a mohair one for his and it does look plush. As I say though, if the car is out 99 times out of 100 the roof will be down. I'm sounding all rational and sensible now. No doubt when the decision is presented to me I'll blurt out 'sod it, just put a mohair one on it......' and be done with it!
Cheers,
Dan
When I took the car to Dave it was showing a few bubbles on the sills but didn't look too bad (turned out it was really bad and had been covered up by a mountain of filler in the past). The paint was 21 years old and very faded/marked and there was a few dents and a big ripple in the rear quarter:
Dave cut out all the rust and replaced with new metal. I changed a bunch of the panels to carbon (which Dave kindly fitted for me) as man maths dictated that they were being replaced anyway so why not? Any remaining metal bodywork was painted a nice pearl black to compliment the carbon.
When I picked her up she looked like this and I was over the moon!
A couple of moody shots including one with a PH smiley I bought at Ginetta Sunday service a year ago:
And then I went full rudeboi and got some dishy wheels and sent it off to Dave to fit some bolt on carbon flares...
I've now sold the car and bought a 300ZX Twin Turbo because I saw prices of them were rising and couldn't afford both. I do miss it though and Dave was a top bloke from start to finish with the bodywork and it looked great (to my eyes at least) when I got it from him.
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