My Eunos fundraiser and build

Hi everyone,

I have had my NA Eunos Roadster import since June 2020. However due to the weather conditions and living in Worcester the car needs body work repairs in time for it’s MOT in May. Being a University student and part time jobs being scarce, i have set up a fundraiser via gofundme. I hope this topic is allowed here and myself being apart of the Mx-5 community, i believe there is no better place to ask for help fixing and building the beautiful little car.!

The link for the fundraiser: https://gofund.me/5a2bc3f6

£100 on patching your sills, and £50 for a hood cover, and you’re good to go.

Looks like a G-Limited, when in better times

If it still has the original G-Lim ited seats, it would be a shame to ditch them. Money better off giving them a good clean, not replacing them.

Whats a “race warrior”?

Its a rare limited edition. Better to restore it than modify it.

Thank you for your input and finding the car in a previous life. I’ve made some changes to the fundraiser story. I bought it off a guy who did some restore work after the previous owner wanted to break it. I think that is where the mk2 alloys and TSI come from. As of now, I do want to restore it internally and externally, the seats are the original purple suede? but need re-bolstering and remounting. And the soft top window seals are gone at this point ideally want a hardtop.

Also i tried this post in a Mx5 facebook group and got ridiculed for the post and removed haha!

I see you changed it from wanting £3000 for a bit of bodywork to £1000 for a bit of bodywork, and now its all about restoring the car, then putting on a turbo and a targa top, bodykit etc.

Sorting the carpet out costs hardly anything; clean it. £50 on a hoodcap to tied you over until you can afford a new roof. Flooding of the car can wreck the ECU, then you are left with scrap. Car was extensively welded in June last year, and passed a MOT, so what went wrong with all of that? Can’t have been driven much. Seats can wait.

Sounds like not the whole story.

I shall not “subscribe” 1 penny to this…erm… “project”.
Got to admire the brass neck though!
I did not ask or expect anyone to subscribe to mine.
Either of them…
And, I’m a pensioner…who pays his own way.

I’ve never heard of a fundraiser for own car maintenance/restoration before. I could understand someone setting up one for something rare that is part of our motoring heritage, but I don’t think this qualifies. So on that basis…I’m out.

Well thank you for being honest and having the time to atleast look at it.

I understand where you are coming from, I do plan to pay my own way on this restoration. It’s just with job availability being flaky, I set this up incase people wanted to help.

Thank you for your opinion on the matter.

Thank you, it looks like I missed quite a bit when editing the fundraiser, the water has come in through the roof seals at the from the front and the windows, which is puddles form in the foot wells. The ECU luckily is mounted high in the passenger side under the glove box.

The underside damage was unknown until recently, either at a guess a big speed bump or when Jacking up the car. Though I have been using the appropriate lifting points.

There’s not much difference in anyone saying I’m setting up a go fund page for the purchase of a £30k 100th edition mx5! I hate the thought of it sitting in the showroom and not being driven!

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Do we all get part ownership? If so im in!!

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Its a global pandemic, none of us are exactly flashing the cash right now. As much as i am sure that this restoration would bring you joy, asking others to fund your hobby just isnt right im afraid.

There are plenty of jobs if you are willing to work for your money. Not all glamorous but we have to do what is required at this time.

My spare change would go to supporting those locally genuinely struggling to survive.

I understand your thoughts of wanting to make your car lovely but i am afraid this is neither the time nor the place for asking others to fund it.

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Afraid i can’t see you getting much love or donations in reality - we all have our own projects and this is neither charitable or beneficial to others - if you were restoring to raffle with proceeds going to charity, a different story.

However - don’t want to bash someone for wanting to restore a car. You don’t always need expensive tools or garages, sometimes you just need to get stuck in and learn along the way.

The hardtop is expensive - if the roof is leaking that bad, get a cheap car cover, problem solved until you have funds to sort if properly - that will stop more water getting in and causing more damage. The solution doesn’t always have to be expensive

If the carpets are currently wet - remove them now, get them inside and keep them dry until you’ve resolved the leaks - again will stop the problem getting worse. The leaks could be simple drains not being cleared - do some research on here and other forums as there is tons of useful materials available.

Make a list of the problems and tackle them one by one. Join your local regional club and some may be able to offer assistance for the more tricky bits either cheaply or you could trade skills - bartering is a long last art :slight_smile: Keep an eye out on Ebay and Facebook marketplace for cheap parts, and if you have a list of stuff you need, tick it off as you go along - you can save lots of money this way. Also look at what you’ve got and what you want to keep or replace - if you have after market mods on the car that you aren’t planning to keep, sell them and use the funds to buy 2nd hand replacements

You also need to decide what you are going to do with the car - restore to standard or modify - your fund page suggests a long list of expensive modifications - if thats the goal - great, but again, build up to it as you go along.

I can drive 5 miles from me and find 5 banged up mx5’s but I don’t feel the urge to post £50’s through their letterbox’s. You will have so much more satisfaction knowing you paid for it yourself even if it takes 5-10 years!

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I wouldn’t be so blase about water not reaching the ECU. If the carpet is wet, something called capillary action will make sure the ECU, or more particularly, the connectors, wil get wet, and corrode.

Underside damage? You’ve not mentioned this before. I assume you have bashed the chassis rails on a speed bump, and someone has told you this will fail a MOT. Unless they are split wide open, I doubt this will happen. Virtually every NA and NB has smacked in chassis rails. More so with imports, as they were often moved around on a forklift.

The MOT history indicates there was a lot of welding done to get a pass. On your charity page, you have posted photos of rust damage

How was this damage not spotted in June when it was MOT’s?

What’s going on here. You think because you bent the jacking point with a trolley jack, its going to fail?

Gently bend it straight, slap on some underseal, forget about it.

I assume your fundraiser is actually because you are worried about a MOT fail in 4 months time. Even if the chassis rails are torn up, its just a c-section to weld over on top, and underseal. This won’t cost £1000.

Maybe ask around if there is a mobile welder in your area willing to weld at cost/beer money. But before, post photos on the forum (start a new thread), to placate your worries.

Roof; if you can pack out the inside of the seals, bit of vaseline on the outside, use a bit of black silicone sealant on the roof rips, you can buy a bit of time. Meanwhile, peel back the carpet on the passenger side, allow it to dry. Buy a cheap hood cover. With lockdown, and given you are online learning, the car isn’t being moved around much.

I’m generous. If there was no lockdown, and you are able to get to LE7, you can have a brand new hood, ready to fit, from March 6th. Right now, no, because of lockdown, I want no visitors to that address beyond essential and support bubble. You’ll have to fit it yourself, something that is easy. Its black vinyl, plastic window, never fitted before.

But, why you? I know you are a student, but you are better off than when I was an undergraduate in the late 80s, surviving on £1800 student grant for the year. No car. Right now, because I am in a better position, I already donate £1000 a year to my almae matres, specifically to support hardship funds. What is it you are studying for?

I expected as much in terms of donations, but thought it was worth the attempt, as of now I have list of parts and pieces that need work.I’ve been using YouTube as a guide and learnt the basics and have most of the tools.

I appreciate the words of advice and hopefully if job applications to deliveroo and just eat work out I’ll never need the fundraiser.

The chassis rails seem in better condition then most I’ve seen on YouTube. It’s the body panel rust damage I was advised could be £500 upwards. Which I’ve now looked into and found to be cheaper. I’m originally from LE9 but in Worcester and I’m studying history. The maintaince loan as the gov. Call it is a good amount not going to lie, but budgeting food etc it doesn’t leave alot of room for car work.

I appreciate the offer on the new roof and will take your advice on silicon filler and vaseline. It does seem that the rubber has shrunk away causing the leak.

Look up foam inserts into the seals. Don’t put silicone in them. Silicone is for the tears in the roof.

Sounds like you brought a car with a bent MOT if that damage passed last June.

Ideally I would like to have 5-10 years to build it up, but I have a shorter time scale due to university plans. And also appreciate the fact that people will prefer to buy banged up mx5s for themselves.

The damage was found in the new year, after I went to give the car a run after the bad weather. And it wasn’t present on purchase or before I installed new spark plugs and sway bars. I would of refused purchase if it was a botched mot.