1991 Eunos Roadster V-Spec - Photo & Mod Thread

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

OK, so I have created a few different threads in here since I bought my wee Eunos, so I thought it would be better to have one thread that I can come back to with updates as and when required.

So, copied from my equivalent thread on Pistonheads, here it is...

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

I thought it was about time I documented everything I have done to my wee Eunos since I bought her in March 2015.

She was bought from Goodwood Sportscars in Berwick as a fresh import from Japan and I am the first UK owner.

She's a 1991 Eunos Roadster, V-Special in Brilliant Black.

Before I bought her, she had:

Replacement long nose crank engine
New mohair hood with glass screen
Retrimmed seats
Replacement doorcards
Respray
New exhaust backbox
New battery
Full service

The front bumper had no holes drilled into it so I asked Steve if he would fit an offset plate rather than drill holes in the bumper, and to be honest, I am not a fan of the black plastic plinths a lot of 5's have.

Here she is after getting her home and giving her a good wash:











First things first, replace the MX-5 badge for a proper Eunos one and the obligatory PH smiley!



Then the spending started

I bought some Koni shocks and Eibach springs from a guy on MX5 Nutz and had them fitted.





I couldn't really get on with how the car sat on these. She was a bit too high at the rear, and too low at the front (we have loads of high speedbumps around where I live) so a search for new suspension was on.

I bought a windbreak from a mk2 as I find them pretty useful and make a big difference to buffeting in the cabin.



I also fitted a new headunit - the old one was a real mess of wiring and the new one is USB input only so is only half the depth.



I bought a gearshift boot kit from MX5 parts and fitted that as the old one was pretty torn up.

I then saw a group buy over on MX5 Nutz for Meister-R Zeta S coilovers.

These get great feedback so I decided to go for some - they really are beautiful things, almost too nice to hide under a car



I also bought some mirrors to replace the OEM chrome ones as the spring on my drivers mirror has broken and the mirror won't stay in place. To be perfectly honest, they weren't the best but would do for the timebeing.



Sitting on Meisters and new mirrors:







I saw a guy on one of the MX5 Facebook groups making reinforced door stops so decided to go for some as they apparently help a little with stiffening things up.

Next up was a replacement exhaust - Moss had a deal on and it was too good to pass on - the car had a new OEM exhaust fitted when I bought it but I wanted something with a bit more burble...





I spent an afternoon in the local scrappies, looking for some wee bits of trim my car was missing and struck lucky with the only mk1 that was in there! It's the small things..

Bonnet trim


Headlight trim


Then came another big spend - I had been looking for some aftermarket alloys. I knew I didn't want to go too big, and in the end decided to stick with 14" although went up from 5.5 to 7" width. I absolutely love these alloys!! Note: Still not fitted, need to get them coated i G-Techniq C5 and some tyres on them ready for this year.







How light?!


Around the end of September the weather was turning and my thoughts were towards making sure my wee Eunos didn't rot away to nothing (not that she sees many inclement weather days to be honest). So I took her through to Preserve & Protect in Johnstone for a full Dinitrol underseal - what a great job!







Next up were some retro toggle switches for the hazards and headlights from Revlimiter. Adam makes some really cool stuff and these had been on my list for a while!





I then decided to de-tango the sidelights, and sand off all the raised letters on the outside of the lights/indicators/reflectors - stops wax getting stuck in amongst them and freshens everything up a bit too.

I also fitted some LED sidelight bulbs and silvatec indicator bulbs.











I then saw some lovely Zoom bits for sale on Nutz - I missed out on the Zoom filler cap but I did get my hands on some lovely carbon mirros to replace the dodgy ones I had fitted previously.







I bought an induction kit (cone filter and heatshield) from a guy on MX5 Scotland - I am in the process of fitting this currently.

Next up were some matching window toggle switches and built in cup holder from Jass Performance. I also bought some brushed metal vent rings.









Whilst she has been in the garage over the winter, I have been attacking her with my dual action polisher and loads of wax:



Which brings me up to this month.

I have had the car in the garage, up on my new CJ Autos adjustable car ramps as I wanted to remove the aircon (I also have an annoying oil leak to source/sort). This never worked, and with it being old, illegal gas required, I decided to junk everything - the pump, radiator, condenser, pump bracket - all that lot weighed in at around 18kg of weight savings! I have sourced a non-aircon crossover pipe to connect the heater to the blowers behind the dash.

I decided to keep the aircon fan for some additional cooling to the engine should I need it.

Quite a lot to remove:


Those car ramps..


With the aircon rad removed, my main rad was in the firing line for any stray stones, so I have fitted an IL Motorsports grille.



I removed the washer reservoir and header tank to clean them (dishwasher tab & boiling water works wonders!) but when I filled my header tank I noticed water coming out a hairline crack in the corner so a replacement was sourced from Autolink.

I saw someone selling a silver strut brace, the same as the yellow one fitted to the S-Special, I had never seen one in silver and was lucky enough to nab it.

I have also got some silicon coolant hoses from Stoney racing.







[

So, what's next?

Well the car will be taken off SORN in April and MOTed.

I need to get the new tyres fitted to the Enkeis and get them on the car.

Hopefully fix the oil leak and cure the gear lash that she suffers from on overrun as well.

I still have further plans and will update this thread as and when they happen.

Thanks for viewing, apologies for being a bit of a photo whore

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

I fitted my new Zoom filler cap yesterday - been after one for ages to go with the Zoom mirrors!

Love the look of these, although I did strip the threads on the remote opener when putting it back on so a wee call to Autolink tomorrow methinks.

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

I fitted my replacement filler cap release tonight (bought from Autolink) and everything closes nicely now.

I finally got my induction kit fitted - I know about heatsoak and all that, but I love the induction roar you get with these so i'll run it for a wee while to see how it sounds.

I just need to refill the coolant system and get everything nice and hot to check for leaks.

Then it's to be booked in for a fresh MOT and get the ting off SORN and on the road for the better weather.

[OldSpice]

I've got an SS heatshield I had custom made a while back.
You are welcome to it FOC if you pay my fuel or collect.


No idea if it really did any good, but it looked good.

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

Thanks for the offer bud, but I've already got a heatshield fitted, although not as tight to the filter as yours. Your filter also looks longer & narrower than mine so probably incompatible?!

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[OldSpice]

I wondered about that. Mine was a K&N..glad to be rid

[tjay tom + Jen mcginnis]

Hi , car and mods look fab, btw the underside looks great too, very clean !!

[gm]

you finally got that induction kit fitted car looks great

do you need the two grommets that fill the former aircon holes in the bulkhead ? I have a pair that came from the local breakers recently - pm me your address and I'll 'bung' them in the post

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

you finally got that induction kit fitted car looks great

do you need the two grommets that fill the former aircon holes in the bulkhead ? I have a pair that came from the local breakers recently - pm me your address and I'll 'bung' them in the post

Hiya mate thanks for the offer!- I've bodged a solution for the timebeing - smaller grommets glued into the originals to fill the holes.

Hoping they hold and I don't need to source an alternative.

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

So, after passing her MOT last week with no advisories, I thought it was a bout time I got my new alloys on.

I went through to Skidz in Falkirk to get the tyres fitted yesterday, decided on 195/60/14 Vredestein Sportrac 5 and really glad I went for the slightly wider tyre and bigger sidewall - I love the retro balloon tyre look.

The wheels look ace, I gave them a coating of G-Techniq C5 before fitting. The only slight issue is the balancing weights are just skimming the brake callipers (running 1.8 brakes) so I need to take a wee bit off them to stop this.

Makes a massive change to the car and I am completely chuffed with how she looks now.

**Warning - loads of photies ahead **

[plumber]

Your car looks stunning. Can you tell me roughly how much Preserve & Protect charged for the work they did? I'm thinking of getting mine done and didn't know about them till I read your post.

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

Your car looks stunning. Can you tell me roughly how much Preserve & Protect charged for the work they did? I'm thinking of getting mine done and didn't know about them till I read your post.

It works out about £400 bud, but money well spent in my opinion!

The MOT tester was commenting on what a great job they had made when he was inspecting the underside.

[scotia_steve74]

Can I just say what a great thread - my favourite colour combo!!

[CaptainNorth]

Great stuff and a crackin car - and thanks, your mods have given me a few ideas!
Cheers
Dave

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

Thanks guys.

I took a couple of photos with her next to her "big sister" on Saturday (Wee Maz and Big Maz) as I had spent the day cleaning the big bus inside & out - long overdue!

I taxed her yesterday for another 12 months so she is good to go - just waiting on the biblical rain to go away

[71NotOut Steven Hedley]

So I finally got round to filing down the front callipers slightly to prevent the wheels weights from rubbing against them.

There is now a slight gap,I believe the official measurement is a bawhair

Gave the filed areas a coat of the g-techniq c5 polymer coating I put on the alloys to kep rust at bay.

I also checked my drain channels using my new trombone cleaner but nothing came out as they are clear which is peace of mind!

[Sprockutt]

Stunning looking car and love the 14" Enkei wheels and 'Baloon Tyre' look. This will be my next wheel upgrade if I ever want to change the 14" Minilites I have on mine at the moment. But would also need to go for the Meisters S coilovers to get it sitting a bit nicer if I did so a sizable outlay!

Hope to make it along to the Braemar Highland gathering so maybe get a closer look at the car then.

[OldSpice]

Stunning looking car and love the 14" Enkei wheels and 'Baloon Tyre' look. This will be my next wheel upgrade if I ever want to change the 14" Minilites I have on mine at the moment. But would also need to go for the Meisters S coilovers to get it sitting a bit nicer if I did so a sizable outlay!

Hope to make it along to the Braemar Highland gathering so maybe get a closer look at the car then.

Hi there!
How is your car after it's altercation with something?
Is the cylinder head still going strong?
It should be.

[Sprockutt]

Stunning looking car and love the 14" Enkei wheels and 'Baloon Tyre' look. This will be my next wheel upgrade if I ever want to change the 14" Minilites I have on mine at the moment. But would also need to go for the Meisters S coilovers to get it sitting a bit nicer if I did so a sizable outlay!

Hope to make it along to the Braemar Highland gathering so maybe get a closer look at the car then.

Hi there!
How is your car after it's altercation with something?
Is the cylinder head still going strong?
It should be.

Hi OldSpice!
2015 was an expensive year...
I ended up adding to the insurance repair and having the full car repainted. The full o/s was being repainted with a new rear bumper and front wing being fitted. Plus the front bumper would also be being painted. Also the N/S front wing was starting to display signs of corrosion where it met the nose. So decision taken to take advantage of the insurance company paying a sizeable chunk of the bill to take the hit and get the bodywork 100% sorted.

Then the oil control rings started to fail at which point I was either going to torch it or again take the plunge and get the engine up to the standard of the rest of the car. So off to Dan at AK Automotive it went and had a full engine rebuild with a slightly higher compression, ported & polished and a 3 angle valve job. In addition to this we also fitted a full Racing Beat System.

If anything else goes wrong you may hear a loud boom from around the East Kilbride area

I think I have a pic thread on here somewhere that I'll add some update pics to rather than hijacking 71NotOut's.