Remi the Eunos Roadster
Discussion
It turns out that Miata IS always the answer...
For the last few years I've wanted another Japanese car to take to shows like Japfest - the Volvo (thread here) wouldn't exactly fit in there. My last visit to such a show with my own car was in 2019 with the Civic I owned as a daily driver at the time. I'd owned 4 MX-5s already (3 mk1s and a mk2.5), so surely I should go for something different; a look at current Japanese car prices quickly put a stop to that train of thought, and I decided to stick to what I know - it would be another MX-5 after all, 7 years since crashing my last one.
Several months of scouring eBay, Facebook marketplace and even Gumtree ensued. Eventually, this one appeared in September...
A 1990 1.6 Eunos Roadster (import) that had been imported in late 1998, off the road since 2008 and lightly recommissioned for sale. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?
A couple of viewings later, one with my mechanic best friend in tow to make sure it wasn't a total shed, Remi was mine. The obligatory forecourt shot on the way home:
The 2 hour journey home was a success, apart from finding out just how light that recommissioning was. The tyres had flat spotted badly - upon checking, one of them turned out to be from 2002(!)
70mph wasn't really possible as things would get very shaky at that speed, so I avoided the motorways all the way home. Other than that, the car performed admirably considering its 16 year slumber. The dog wasn't as impressed as I was, though:
So, what do you do with a new toy that you don't really need? Well, you modify it of course. The first thing to go, the nasty 90s Ripspeed gearknob. Replaced with the threaded pool ball I've run in all my MX-5s:
New tyres - budgets for now, as the wheels will be changed, but just to replace the 2000s vintage rubber with something a little less death-y:
During the tyre change, a quick look under the arches confirmed that this appears to be a solid car - a rare thing these days...
A job that I like to do on any MX-5 I own, refurbishing the shifter mechanism - often overlooked, and it definitely needed doing as the upper boot was in desperate need of replacement, and the turret oil was totally dry:
Remi's first show was Japfest Classic 2024, at Goodwood:
No dramas, the car did very well on what was its longest days work in years!
A week or so later though... it failed to proceed, leaving me stranded at work. A quick poke around under the bonnet revealed that whoever had previously fitted a new alternator had re-used the old belt. I'm not sure why, but at least it was a simple fix:
Correct Eunos front badge fitted in place of the UK badge someone had superglued on:
Maiden voyage to Caffeine & Machine for Daikoku Night:
Instagram sticker applied:
Nasty Ripspeed steering wheel replaced with a much more tasteful Motamec item:
Correct JDM plate plinth and new plates installed:
The headrest speakers have never been great, and having found out that someone had previously replaced just one in each seat with JVC items, leaving blown factory items alongside them, I decided to do it properly, by ripping out all 4 speakers and replacing all of them with Alpine SXE-0825S':
Borrowed a set of 15s from my best friend to check fitment and see what I could squeeze on without cutting or rolling the arches - bonus background Volvo:
The Team Dynamics were previously on his Starlet, now replaced with a set of 2-piece Work Meister S1 splits:
The most recent C&M trip:
A Stagea really does make the '5 look small...
Here is where the thread starts to get interesting - as Japfest 2025 gets closer, and I apparently love doing things at the last minute, a couple of weeks ago I thought the best possible course of action was to take the car off the road and make a few changes. Piggy bank emptied, and the to-do list was...
-Fit BC Racing coilovers
-Fit new Ultralite wheels
-Replace radiator
-Replace starter motor (it had been acting up lately)
-Fit new crystal sidelights
-Fit RS-style front lip
-Paint the windscreen frame, as someone has painted it previously and the paint has reacted, resulting in a wrinkle finish.
Replacing the starter was made far more difficult than it needed to be by an aftermarket oil filter relocation kit which sat right in the way of removing the faulty starter. That has now been binned and the filter is back in the standard location.
Mid-surgery, looking sorry for himself...
Lights and front lip on:
Good paintwork there, previous owner.
Mid-sanding, back to bare metal to remove any chance of future reactions:
Wheels on:
Coilovers on, and wheeled outside to set the ride height:
Awful (and incorrect) aftermarket badges removed:
I'll get the correct Eunos badge at a later point - the rear plate panel isn't in great condition so it'll be coming off and being painted most likely this winter:
Sheeted, masked up and primed:
A couple of coats of metallic black to start with:
Followed by 3 coats of blood black pearl - black with red flake in it, which shows up more in the light:
The current state of affairs: the sheeting is off, all that's left is to wet sand the fresh paint once it's had a chance to harden, then put the seals back on, connect the radiator up and do a few flushes to get rid of any rubbish in the system.
How long until Japfest?
For the last few years I've wanted another Japanese car to take to shows like Japfest - the Volvo (thread here) wouldn't exactly fit in there. My last visit to such a show with my own car was in 2019 with the Civic I owned as a daily driver at the time. I'd owned 4 MX-5s already (3 mk1s and a mk2.5), so surely I should go for something different; a look at current Japanese car prices quickly put a stop to that train of thought, and I decided to stick to what I know - it would be another MX-5 after all, 7 years since crashing my last one.
Several months of scouring eBay, Facebook marketplace and even Gumtree ensued. Eventually, this one appeared in September...
A 1990 1.6 Eunos Roadster (import) that had been imported in late 1998, off the road since 2008 and lightly recommissioned for sale. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?
A couple of viewings later, one with my mechanic best friend in tow to make sure it wasn't a total shed, Remi was mine. The obligatory forecourt shot on the way home:
The 2 hour journey home was a success, apart from finding out just how light that recommissioning was. The tyres had flat spotted badly - upon checking, one of them turned out to be from 2002(!)
70mph wasn't really possible as things would get very shaky at that speed, so I avoided the motorways all the way home. Other than that, the car performed admirably considering its 16 year slumber. The dog wasn't as impressed as I was, though:
So, what do you do with a new toy that you don't really need? Well, you modify it of course. The first thing to go, the nasty 90s Ripspeed gearknob. Replaced with the threaded pool ball I've run in all my MX-5s:
New tyres - budgets for now, as the wheels will be changed, but just to replace the 2000s vintage rubber with something a little less death-y:
During the tyre change, a quick look under the arches confirmed that this appears to be a solid car - a rare thing these days...
A job that I like to do on any MX-5 I own, refurbishing the shifter mechanism - often overlooked, and it definitely needed doing as the upper boot was in desperate need of replacement, and the turret oil was totally dry:
Remi's first show was Japfest Classic 2024, at Goodwood:
No dramas, the car did very well on what was its longest days work in years!
A week or so later though... it failed to proceed, leaving me stranded at work. A quick poke around under the bonnet revealed that whoever had previously fitted a new alternator had re-used the old belt. I'm not sure why, but at least it was a simple fix:
Correct Eunos front badge fitted in place of the UK badge someone had superglued on:
Maiden voyage to Caffeine & Machine for Daikoku Night:
Instagram sticker applied:
Nasty Ripspeed steering wheel replaced with a much more tasteful Motamec item:
Correct JDM plate plinth and new plates installed:
The headrest speakers have never been great, and having found out that someone had previously replaced just one in each seat with JVC items, leaving blown factory items alongside them, I decided to do it properly, by ripping out all 4 speakers and replacing all of them with Alpine SXE-0825S':
Borrowed a set of 15s from my best friend to check fitment and see what I could squeeze on without cutting or rolling the arches - bonus background Volvo:
The Team Dynamics were previously on his Starlet, now replaced with a set of 2-piece Work Meister S1 splits:
The most recent C&M trip:
A Stagea really does make the '5 look small...
Here is where the thread starts to get interesting - as Japfest 2025 gets closer, and I apparently love doing things at the last minute, a couple of weeks ago I thought the best possible course of action was to take the car off the road and make a few changes. Piggy bank emptied, and the to-do list was...
-Fit BC Racing coilovers
-Fit new Ultralite wheels
-Replace radiator
-Replace starter motor (it had been acting up lately)
-Fit new crystal sidelights
-Fit RS-style front lip
-Paint the windscreen frame, as someone has painted it previously and the paint has reacted, resulting in a wrinkle finish.
Replacing the starter was made far more difficult than it needed to be by an aftermarket oil filter relocation kit which sat right in the way of removing the faulty starter. That has now been binned and the filter is back in the standard location.
Mid-surgery, looking sorry for himself...
Lights and front lip on:
Good paintwork there, previous owner.
Mid-sanding, back to bare metal to remove any chance of future reactions:
Wheels on:
Coilovers on, and wheeled outside to set the ride height:
Awful (and incorrect) aftermarket badges removed:
I'll get the correct Eunos badge at a later point - the rear plate panel isn't in great condition so it'll be coming off and being painted most likely this winter:
Sheeted, masked up and primed:
A couple of coats of metallic black to start with:
Followed by 3 coats of blood black pearl - black with red flake in it, which shows up more in the light:
The current state of affairs: the sheeting is off, all that's left is to wet sand the fresh paint once it's had a chance to harden, then put the seals back on, connect the radiator up and do a few flushes to get rid of any rubbish in the system.
How long until Japfest?
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff