You dont mess with the Zohan!

[Smokinscotty]

Tag, Im it! Thought Id start a garage thread.

It all started for me when I went looking for a AH Sprite or MG Midget to do motorkhanas and some track days in, and couldnt find a solution that met my needs as ready to go fast and street regoed. I frequented My105 and carsales looking for that perfect bit of something and stumbled across this

The guy selling (demon on here) was a top bloke and spent heaps getting the car circuit ready, and after a 2 minute lap of his block, I knew it was the car for me. Heres a copy and paste of the spec sheet as per his ad;

Make/Model: 1990 Eunos Roadster
ODO: 161,000kms
Colour: Red
Engine: 1.6 litre, 4 cylinder
Trans: 5 speed manual

Factory Options

- Air/con (removed but have all parts)
- power steering (removed but have most parts)
- Roadster scuff plates
- comes with soft top and hard top
- 4.3 LSD

Modifications

Engine/Power/Drivetrain

- TD04L hi-mount turbo (water and oil cooled)
- Custom made steam pipe turbo manifold
- 3 inch exhaust from turbo back + metal hi-flow cat
- larger injectors
- Bosch fuel pump
- Pod Air filter
- Front mount intercooler
- 2 litre oil catch can
- Cooling Pro 52mm radiator
- Adaptronic ECU
- Turbo smart bleed valve
- Excedy heavy duty clutch

Suspension/handling

- Yellow speed Coilovers (height and damper adjustable)
- Signature front and rear adjustable sway bars
- 15x8 +25mm Konig Wideopen wheels with near new Nitto NT01 semi-slicks (Wheels purchased from USA and weigh 6 kgs each)
- NB8B front and rear brake upgrade with Hawk HP Plus pads
- Motul RBf600 brake fluid
- Cusco Front tower brace

Interior

- Brown Davies CAMs approved Roll bar
- Sparco "Sprint V" bucket seat (with leather bolster protectors)
- Autotechnica 6 Point Racing Harness
- Momo steering wheel
- Rhino insurance approved 3 point immobiliser + alarm
- no stereo and no speakers in doors
- no passenger seat
- soft top removed (still have it)

Exterior

- OEM Hard top roof
- tow hooks front and rear
- Cosworth bonnet Vent above turbo
- Garage Vary front lip

Service

- Timing belt replaced at 160,000kms
- water pump replaced at 160,000kms
- Spark plugs replaced at 160,000kms
- Changed oil (Penrite 15w-50 full synthetic) + oil filter (3 changes so far, one after purchase and one after each track day)

Below performed within the last month (have receipts from MX5 Mania)
- New rocker cover gasket
- New CAS seal
- New rear main seal
- New top radiator hose + new turbo water lines.

Bad points

(all cosmetic)

- prior repair and paint to front left guard and bar is not the best
- bonnet has scratches and dent
- small scratches and dents mostly on rear of the car.
- rubber mould around windscreen is cracked

Extra Info

Car made 149rwkw @ 9psi on MX5 Mania's dyno and 155rwkw @ 10 psi on CRD's dyno (have dyno sheets).

The steering was heavy, it was a tight squeeze, and low enough to be a nuisance on kerbs.... I was in love! the fact that it went like a rocket was still an unknown quantity at this stage, I had only tested it up to full boost for half a second (his block is a heavy suburbia type of joint) That was enough to realise this thing was going to give me more joy than any car Id had before, and would be a potent competition vehicle in whatever event I wanted to run it in.

I got it home, got it regoed, and got the roof off!


And so it began, Only thing left was the name... after copping alot of greif for buying a hairdressers car (working in the trucking industry) I decided that "Zohan" was a perfect title for my little hairdressers car with balls of steel!

I will leave it there for now, but I look forward to sharing my experiences over the first two rounds of the NSW Khana series, Driftmob Peanut night, MDTC day, JDMST EOMM and of course updates on mods and I will even share some pics and stories from my short stint in Drifting.

Catchyas trackside,

Scotty

[PaulF]

Good stuff. So the car has depowered steering?

[Smokinscotty]

I beleive its a completely new rack in it as the PS rack came with the car, but not fitted.
Was a bit heavy with the 205/50 NT01s on the street, parking and such was a chore, but great when getting angry with it!!

[Old Dude]

Nice car scotty

Cheers
Dale

[deanb90]

awesome, would be a blast to drive. How did you get rego with all the mods?

[greenMachine]

Those wheels look like RPF1s ... or is that because Konig made them that way?

I assume it has been engineered, as the rego transfer went ok.

One thing to confirm is that it has the later diff - the early cars had a small, rather fragile diff which would not take 150rwkw for very long.

Very nice car - the smart thing is to buy someone elses modified car, less heart ache and you normally get the mods for a major discount on DIY.

[PaulF]

Those wheels look like RPF1s ... or is that because Konig made them that way?

They are Konigs, in the style of RPF1's (but wider with a lower offset). It has been suggested that they are actually made in the same factory.

[Hellmun]

I'd find yourself a 6 speed gearbox as with that power and semi-slicks your 5 speed may not live all that long. Also if it hasn't got a coolant re-route you may struggle with overheating so I hope it has temp gauges.

Looks like it'll be a ball of fun though, lot of important mods done for you already.

[Smokinscotty]

Konig and Enkei are both part of the YHI group. They also do Advantis plus more!

Came with a blue slip, so I it took for rego was pay the bill online.

The diff is something I have on the cards for upgrading, in the few events I have done in it, it has been a little disappointing but has taken alot of punishment

Guages are also on the cards! Oil and coolant temps. It runs very smoothly and the standard temp gauge never moves, but after a solid workout at marulan it did get a little rattly in the top end

Greenmachine; buying modified isn't always a good thing, initially I was very concerned about buying someone elses half baked pipe dream. You have to be quite careful buying pre modified anything!

[Apu]

Scotty,

That's not quite right. YHI are a Singaporean group - they do ODM, but I don't think they own Enkei. They contract manufacture, but the brands have separate owners.

There are a couple of organizations like them in Asia...including the ones that manufacture for Works Engineering.

Anyway, probably busted the bubble for a few of the "JDM Yo!" guys here...Enkei Japan does not equal Made in Japan. Same for a number of other Japanese and Euro brands.

Bryan

[Smokinscotty]

Right on the money there Brian, when I was there a few years back, I was led to beleive they owned a majority of enkei, and defiantly the manufacturer of said wheels.
More to the point, as a previous owner of Enkei RPF1 17x9.5 +15 on my old Sil80 and the konig wide opens on this, they are identical less the enkei stickers. They are still very light and look fantastic. Politics aside, they're a great wheel, and I'm a proud owner.

[NitroDann]

Identical less the stickers is VERY common among wheels...

Dann

[Smokinscotty]

Agreed but usually you'd expect a cheaper material or construction method.
Vorks are very different from Works yeah?

I'm interested to see how good the konig CE28 style wheels are, if they are light like the RP style, I will be getting a set of them for my spare/street rims. Eventually, they're far from top priority ATM.

[evil_weevil]

so you bought George's old car!!

I was tempted to buy it also.

the best thing is George doesnt do things half assed and has always looked after his cars so this MX5 will be great guns and a ball of fun!!

see you at MRA in July?

[NitroDann]

I meant that like tvs, computers, etc lots of wheels are actually made in the same factory and in fact are identical, but with different stickers.

Like cans of peas.

Goes down the production line and half labelled cheap and half labelled expensive at the end.

Dann