'96 "R2 Limited" build.

[R2Limited]

So...early this year I decided to replace my supercharged NB with a vintage-style NA. I knew of (hell...everyone knew of) a very vintage white-over-red NA that was being parted out down in Florida. To make a long story short: through a series of conversations with the owner (Randy/Phatmiata) I cut a deal to pick it up. It had been 90% returned back to stock - but there were some goodies that I wanted included in the sale. So I had Randy put the red interior back in, the GV tail lights back on, and bolt the sexy hard top on.

I flew down from Dallas to Tampa and drove it back.

Saturday morning: near Tampa, FL.


Sunday evening: near Dallas, TX.


I had already accumulated a garage full of parts to put on the car. So I literally got to work the minute I pulled it into the driveway. The engine wasn't even cooled off before I pulled out the somewhat ratty, tan '95M seats and started breaking them down for the new, LE-Red skins I had.

[R2Limited]

The seats were apart and a little rusty. So I had a go at refinishing the seat pans with POR-15. Here's how it went:

Before starting the process you want to basically remove any huge chunks of rust and any other foreign substances that are stuck onto the metal you'll be painting. For me that just required taking a flat head screw driver and scraping off some chunks of seat foam that had bonded to the rusty surface. If this were a part that would actually be visible in the car (like, say, a rusty corner of the engine bay due to a leaky brake master cylinder) I would probably have taken a wire brush to it in order to really get as much coarse rust scale off as I possibly could. But I didn't because this is not a part that will ever be seen and because I read that POR-15 sticks better the more rusty the surface is.

So once all the "foreign substance" is gone, it's time to crack open the first bottle in the POR-15 package. It's a degreaser that you coat the parts in to...well...degrease them. I would have preferred a spray bottle, but I didn't have one handy so I just poured it on. I let it sit for about 2 minutes and then hosed it off per the directions. After letting them thoroughly dry under a box fan for about an hour, this is what they looked like:



Pretty gross, right?

The next step is to etch the metal with the second product. This product gets brushed on with a foam brush (included in the kit). For our method it said to let it soak for 10-20 minutes before rinsing it off with water. I was close to the 20 minute mark. It's pretty amazing to watch this stuff work. I don't know exactly what the chemical reaction is - but the rust turns black and actually quite a bit of it dissolves in the liquid. According to the instructions if you bathe the part in this stuff for 30 minutes or more it can completely remove rust. I believe it.

Here's what it looked like after my application:



Another 45 minutes under the box fan to dry the pans off and I was ready to paint with the actual POR-15 product. (FYI - "POR" stands for "Paint Over Rust"...if that wasn't already obvious)

This was very undramatic - apart from the effect of the paint fumes. Definitely do this in a well-ventilated area. Application is via brush (included in the kit). The paint self-levels very quickly and smoothly. As you can see in the photo below - had I taken the time to actually wire brush these pans they probably would have ended up with an all-over smooth, shiny finish. As it is - I'm just happy they won't leave ugly brown rust stains on my nice red 93LE carpet when I'm done.

Photo below is after one coat of POR-15 - still slightly tacky.



What's most impressive is that this photo was shot on 1/4 sec shutter speed, hand-held after inhaling all those paint fumes.

One thing to note: this stuff takes FOR. EV. ER. to dry. I had wanted to do the top and bottom of both pans tonight but I'm going to have to get up early tomorrow to do the other side of the pans. They're still too wet to flip over and they've been sitting for about an hour and a half under a fan (on low). Granted - it's about 50 degrees out right now so that's probably not helping.

The instructions say to do 2 coats. If I have enough paint left over I may do a second coat on the bottoms of the pans. No sense in doing 2 coats on the pan tops because they'll be covered in foam and leather, in the end.

If you're reading this and so inclined, you can actually sand, prime and topcoat POR-15. So if you're restoring a rusty part of your car that people will see, this should make for a good stop-rust solution that you can cover with a spectator-friendly finish.

[R2Limited]

After it was all back together I was so excited I took this pic at the gas station with my phone.



By that point, the seats and R-package lips were done. Next up was the exhaust.

I should probably mention my thoughts on the leatherseats.com covers. A while back I had the privilege of doing this exact same process on the seats in my 1991 MR2 Turbo using Classic Soft Trim covers. For one thing - the CST leather kit was less than 1/2 the cost of the leatherseats.com kit. And the former came with door card inserts. It was also custom colors (black with grey inserts). Like the leatherseats.com kit I just finished installing, it was 100% leather with no vinyl panels.

I think the quality of both kits is comparable. I experienced a little bit more wrinkling/tufting from the leatherseats.com kit. I would say it fits 90% as well as the CST kit did on my MR2. For twice the price I was mildly disappointed.

To be fair:

A) I got the CST kit on a group buy and it was fairly heavily discounted.
B) The '95M seats are rare, in the grand scheme of things, and the fact that ANY aftermarket company has taken the time to develop a kit to recover them is pretty impressive.
C) I can't believe how closely the red matches the '93LE interior. It's spot on. It would have been really easy for it to be off by a few shades or have a slightly different hue. I can't say enough how excellent it matches. I was extraordinarily happy about this.

Also - for anyone in the future looking to do this project - SKIP THE HOG RINGS. I wrestled with those things so much trying to use them. Maybe I didn't have the proper gauge...maybe my hog ring pliers were crap. Whatever the case....I switched to zip ties and my life instantly got a lot easier. Next time I'll do zip ties from the start.

[R2Limited]

About that time I started browsing Yahoo! Japan auctions and picking up some items as I saw good deals.

R-Limited boot cover.


Runabout fuel lid.


Runabout M2 Mirrors


M2 Incorporated 1028 Steering Wheel


This was the epic unboxing photo that so many people love.

[R2Limited]

Also, another rare item became available again. A red Nakamae carpeted center console in great nick. This console was actually originally in my car back when it wasn't my car. It was nice to reunite it. (One day I'll have the shotgun exhaust back, too. You know who you are...watch your back.)

[R2Limited]

M2 wheel and runabout mirrors installed.



Also installed a set of vintage-style "EUNOS" stripes along the rocker panels. These are now items that I sell at www.r2-limited.com.

[R2Limited]

This is jumping out of order a bit (as you can tell by the last photo above) but I also installed a set of 949 Racing XIDA CS coilovers.



They took forever to get to me and the installation didn't go quite as smoothly as I'd liked. But that was mainly because I didn't know (not sure anyone really knew) that these coilovers put your car LOW. My car in the photos you see in this thread is as high as I can get it on the XIDAs. I was hoping they'd be a bit taller. That said, they ride like magic. Love them to death.

[R2Limited]

A little photo shoot:

[R2Limited]

In my quest to remove all references to "Mazda" and "Miata" from the car I installed a pair of "Roadster" polished side sills in place of the "Miata" ones that were there. The red Limited Eunos Roadster floor mats compliment this nicely. Though, admittedly, I wish the metal plate on the floor mats wasn't a bronze color as it's the only metal in the interior that is like that.

The auction that I got these floor mats from said they're from an R2 Limited. If they are...that's pretty awesome. But they're undoubtedly the same mats used on any Eunos Roadster with a red interior. So they're not as rare as the R2 Ltd itself.



The color of the mats is a bit faded and mis-matched to the rest of the red interior. It would be nice if they matched a bit more closely but it is what it is. I spent a lot of time cleaning them using a solution of vinegar and water that I read about on a few auto detailing sites. I didn't want to use anything that might pull more of the red color out of them.



And...a close up of the decade-plus old sill. They cleaned up really nicely.



This is what I used to polish them. It's a powder that you sprinkle onto a damp rag to create a paste. It's just abrasive enough to scrub the metal clean without scratching it up. The sills in this photo are the "Miata" ones that I just pulled off the car. They're not as clean as the newer ones.

[R2Limited]

This was an epic update for me. I installed a set of über-rare Bellof low-pro headlights on the car. I also replaced the NC-style "Roadster" badge that was on the back with a "EUNOS" emblem.

Pics of the lights up, on and bright.



The install was very straightforward. Take out the old lights, install the new ones. The instructions that came with the lights were nearly impossible to decipher because they appeared to be a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy of tiny japanese illustrations. That said, there was one little part that I wouldn't have figured out without the instructions. They give you a spacer that you need to use for the inboard-front headlight lid mount. It moves the screw point up by about 3/4" - which is necessary if you want your headlight lids to sit flush with the body when they're retracted. Without the instructions I wouldn't have figured out what that little piece is or how to use it. Or maybe I would have...who knows.

I tell you what...getting those headlight lids to line up perfectly with aftermarket headlight buckets on a car that's had body work is NOT fun. It took me about 40 minutes to get the passenger side lid to line up. I used a couple small washers as spacers and also bent the mounting ears on the headlight lid to make it work. I finally got it as good as I wanted it to look. It's still not exactly perfect - but it wasn't with the OEM headlights, anyway.

Also - when the lights are up, the passenger side is a little bit higher. That's because the headlight retractor rods (on both sides) need replacing. The little nylon cups that are in the ends of the rods are almost completely shot. On the driver's side I got the assembly to stay together for the photos. But the rods on the pass side kept popping out of the lip on the cups. This left the light with almost 1/2" of slop. Once the rods are replaced (new ones on the way from Rosenthal) they'll be perfect.

On to the ass.

When I bought the car from Randy it had a really cool "Roadster" emblem on the GV tail panel. (See earlier pics). I liked it a bit. But it's from a NC Roadster and the style of it was a bit too modern for my taste. To stick with my theme I wanted a Eunos badge. I managed to find one from a Eunos 800 (Mazda Millenia) that I really like. The standard "Eunos" badge that came on the Roadster looks like this:



That's actually a photo of one I got in case I changed my mind on this other one.

Here are the pics of the one that's on the car now...

Finding the perfect spot for it while my son plays with one of my old helmets:


Mounted pics:






I like the look of this a lot. The wife prefers the bar emblem. We'll see if I ever end up agreeing with her. If I do, it's good that I have one I can clean up and install.

[R2Limited]

And about a week after installing them, I had a chance to take the car out and grab some proper photos of the new headlights.

The location kinda sucked. Lots of random stuff in the background. But I didn't have tons of time.



This is with the low beams on:



This is with the brights on:



A detail shot. The low beams (not on in this pic) have a bit of a yellow cast to them. The high beams do as well, but the projector lens in front of the bulb also creates a prismatic effect which is kind of weird. I'll have to take pics in the pitch dark some time to show it.



When I opened this one up and decided it was my favorite, I realized it's a very similar angle to the pic of my NB that was in the CR.net calendar. I think I just really like the body of our Roadster from the high front 3/4 view.



And, I took this pic since I had the 3-window top up...I really like it on this car:

[R2Limited]

Recently, I had my gracious wife help me pull the hard top down off the garage wall so I could put it on for the couple of cold months we get here. Ironically, it was a decent day to roll with the top down and heat on and I would have liked to do that. But it gave me the chance to take a few snapshots of the car with the hard top on for the first time since the rocker stripes have been installed.





Pardon the awful retouching. The shots were crap and I don't feel like spending lots of time on them tonight

I also recently got my hands on a very, very mint MSSS2 head unit courtesy of Phatmiata. I plugged it in and was A) delighted that everything works wonderfully B) found an extra bonus, easy-listening/light jazz CD was already in it.

I think it looks great. Now I'm really jonesing for an aluminum shift knob/ebrake handle combo.





Next time I'll have a chance to tool around with the car will likely be the first Saturday in 2012 when I take it out to Dallas Cars & Coffee. Can't wait!

[FooSchnickens]

Loving those headlights. Square low-pros are what these cars should have shipped with.

[—atank—]

Lovely Car!!!!!!!!!

[Oldgrayfrog]

If only Mazda had sold the M2, as you have interpreted it here. Just a lovely car. The 95m seats reupholstered in 93LE colored leather look totally at home with the rest of the 93 LE interior. The stripes balance the car well. It is one of those rare cars that is more than just the sum of it's individual pieces. This car is a cohesive vision. Well done!