Bringing it back from SAD!!

[Starbaby]

I bought a 1991 Eunos Roadster In January, it was sitting in a snow bank and had been outside of a garage and under some trees(for the first time ever apparently) for 3 years, winters and summers.

A huge block of ice slid down the hood when I dug it out of the snow bank...nice gouge all the way down and it was covered in tree sap, some spots an inch long, BADLY oxidized as well as having the engine compartment and under the wiper cowl STUFFED with leaves. It HAD been on a trickle charger so started right up and I was lucky to be able to drive it home 2 1/2 hours on the ONE night in January that it was only minus 20 and the highways were clear.

I had bought it sight unseen(always liked them and this one just sort of appeared) and did not know where any of the controls were, how to run the heater, or open the gas cap OR for that matter how to get the barn doors up and had never driven a RHD before. Interesting trip!

It was in really sad shape, cobwebs inside, leaves in the engine compartment tree sap and dirt covering it, scratches everywhere.

So far I have concentrated on cleaning it up, did a complete interior detail and then moved to the engine compartment and scrubbed that down. Removed peripherals and cleaned under them and while doing THAT,...sigh...ripped the AFM module circuit board (so dirty I couldn't see the retaining clip) a week later of course. car would not start...hmmmm.

I went back over what I had changed and what I HAD done and came to the sad conclusion that it was something stupid. Internet search, yep, stupid...took AFM apart and re-soldered the connections I had ripped out BUT in trying to adjust the pin broke it! BACK to the internet, found a used one, cleaned it up and installed it...perfection. (after the carbon left for other parts)

Windows quit working...research and with some help from a UK forum, took the switch apart and repaired it (super glue is a wonderful thing) and cleaned the terminals really well.

Power TO the switch, power FROM the switch nothing to the window motor...huh!

Got one of my guys in on a Sunday to the shop and had him test all connections...i held the connectors together and he worked the tester. Heard a pop, checked the fuse box, 30 amp fuse blown and one side scorched.

Replaced it, still nothing.

Took the passenger door panel off, cables were PRISTINE, no dirt or water or rust inside the door but it was really DUSTY. we checked the window motor, the window went up, would not come down when polarity was reversed...HUH!

By this time my guy was getting pretty choked with the entire thing...it just did not make SENSE, the windows had been really slow and sometimes stopped for a moment before sluggishly moving up or down which I knew was common BUT what the HECK?

Then I thought about the way the fuse looked...scorched on one side but only blowing when we put direct power to it....hmmm...why was it scorched on only one side?

I took the electrical connector apart at the motor and used rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip and some emery cloth to clean the terminals, there WAS corrosion on some of them.

Then I started the motor (reading somewhere that the passenger window didn't LIKE going up or down in accessory power) hit the window switch and both windows went up and down as if they were flying in comparison to what they had been. I mean, ENTHUSIASTICALLY up and down!

I don't know much about electricity but it appears to me that power was not going through the corroded terminals which at times when it COULD partially at least, got the fuse HOT but not enough to blow until we tested it directly and once that was cleaned up and put back into play the problem disappeared.

I have read a LOT of posts about how the windows might need to totally taken apart (if not replaced)in order to cure problems but I have never heard of anyone trying this...and I only tried it because when I am frustrated I usually clean something and the terminals and the inside of the door was the only thing that were LEFT to be cleaned.

Wouldn't it be amazing if this simple event could solve at least SOME of the window issues that people have instead of ripping the entire thing apart? Just check the connectors to make sure there was no corrosion blocking the current or diverting it or whatever it DOES???

So once that was done, I changed out the shifter (piece of junk that will not set properly and rotates while shifting and which is coming right OUT) and took off all the fender inner skirts and the front dam and crawled under there , cleaned that out and brought the skirts back to new condition, replaced the tail and signal lights and took out the barn doors and motors and put in some recessed Oracle headlights.

THAT was a struggle as one of the shrouds had come out of the mold with half in inch missing and so there was no way to keep the lens clipped on it but the people at GoMiata and Oracle were swift in sending out a new shroud and lens for me when I sent them pictures of the defect...AND paid the shipping! WOW, that is service.

I did this ONLY because on the trip home in the dark, it was really windy, a semi passed me and when his backflow hit me the car got thrown towards the ditch...i don't LIKE that and I often travel through Montana and Wyoming on a stretch of highway that has such bad wind that I have seen semis blown over on their backs. I figure that the more aerodynamic the car IS without the barn door, the less issue with wind and semis.

About that time although I had washed the car, I had not succeeded in having the ice block scratch polished out and THEN our 20 pound shop cat fell off the roof on the ONLY day I had not put a cover on the car and left claw marks all down the front on the OTHER side from the ice block one. and having two extra toes on each foot, that is a LOT of claw marks. NOTHING I tried got rid of them.

Nor would anything I tried get rid of the lumps of tree sap and prying them off with my fingernails (I was desperate) only scratched the paint more.

Then I hit on trying nail polish remover ( the clear stuff) and Q-tips...carefully wiped each one and kept rolling the Q-tip to a clean spot and it WORKED but etched the paint somewhat as it dripped off and ran down the paint. To minimize that impact I did that with one hand and had a really wet cloth in the other and I wiped it as quickly as I got the sap off and that seemed to minimize the impact.

so now I had claw marks, Ice scratches, nail scratches, cloudy spots from the nail polish remover AND all the scratches that had come WITH the car!!!

Went online, did some research and bought McGuire's 105 and 205 cutting compound and started working on correcting the paint with a power buffer and really it is amazing...time consuming but AMAZING, I could, when I started, see a vague reflection of myself when I stood over the car...now i see a full reflection in COLOR on the British racing green paint.

While doing that I reconditioned all the rubber moldings that I ran into, pried them open and washed the dust and dirt out and then put conditioner on all of them and rubbed it in.

so far have only done everything front of the door hinges and the car looks as if it is shedding its old skin and trying to get AWAY from its back end which has not yet been done.

At this moment it is at the dealership getting front seal and timing belt work (only 46,000 miles on it but the timing belt had to be removed anyway for the seal work so decided to do it all) and a full going over as far as lube, tune-up, brake and compression tests and rad flush.

Oh, and a roll bar because I have no wish to be the SECOND tallest thing in the car if something happens on the highway and the car flips!

When it gets back from its spa week, I will replace all of the under skirting and supports and finish detailing the back end and then it is ROAD trip to Michigan!!!

My friends and family are laughing about my "obsession" of working on the car in any free moment and are afraid that driving it will be a letdown for me... but somehow I don't think it will be. I am in my Zen place bringing it back from where it WAS and I am sure it will be another totally DIFFERENT Zen place driving it.

One thing I do need to say is I don't think all of you on this forum or other forums really have any idea of how much support you give to newbies when you post your journeys, problems, repairs and enthusiasm about these stunning little cars.

I know that no matter what happens I have a data base to search that a service manual will never hope to compete with and that is reassuring in the extreme.

I didn't know WHAT an AFM was or what it did, but instead of having the car hauled to a mechanic I figured it out for myself using everyone else's experience.

It's really too bad that I had to break it but because I did, I know have learned more about the workings of this fun little car.

AND, well...got to clean UNDER it while it was off!!!