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Eunos Roadster V-Spec Maruha 2.1L BUDDY's Build

90K views 277 replies 72 participants last post by  iRoadster 
#1 · (Edited)
So after a not so-responsive thread I decided I should start another one in the correct section of CR. If interested you guys can have a quick look on my previous thread here: http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/20-exterior-sponsored-r-speed/64690-buddys-new-look-thread.html

I have a 1992 Eunos Roadster V-Spec (i.e. RHD). Below is an overall outline of the things I plan to complete:

- Maruha 2.1L stroker upgrade with ITB kit (power)
- lowered and stiffer than stock suspension (handling)
- wheels
- cosmetic stuff to go for the vintage-style look
- minor transmission mods, engine cooling, etc. etc.

Anyhooo, the build starts with the engine upgrade. In search for a reliable tuner, I came across Maruha where they seemed to be quite internationalised with their English/US version of their website. A brandname parts manufacturer with quality products was very important to me. I was sure many manufacturers out there offered quality products. However, the brand was equally, if not more, important. I didn't just want a high-end modification giving me superior yet reliable performance at an economical price. For me as a Miata owner, I hoped to keep most of my mods as JDM as possible (yes, there is some insensible JDM fanboi thing going on here).

So, I came across Maruha and RS Aizawa, with Maruha being what I wanted. From a bit of searching I found out that Chikara was the authorized dealer. So I contacted Ocean and everything started from there.

One very challenging issue about this story is that I live in Hong Kong but I'm from Vancouver. Meanwhile, Chikara/Ocean is based in Vancouver while Maruha is in Japan. Although it makes more sense to work with Maruha directly according to my proximity to Japan, me and Ocean are both Canadians and we communicated very well. Hence, the engine upgrade part of the build starts with me committing to Chikara.

In a nutshell, the engine will be built by Ocean@Chikara, shipped halfway across the world to Hong Kong for my Roadster.

So far the engine is coming together. Maruha parts were ordered in two shipments previously.
Here's the first shipment which includes the 2.1L stoker kit (pistons, rods, camshafts, crankshaft, etc.)



Mahle Pistons, Maruha Racing camshafts, connecting rods, and other bits ordered from Maruha via Chikara










While this batch of parts arrived Chikara, Ocean had been working on my engine base. More pictures of his work will be posted in the next few days. Those would be more interesting than the parts pics I think....
 
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#32 ·
What kind of fuel do you get in HK? I think 160 whp seems a bit conservative, but then again it probably looks about right and you're just gonna have a huge bump in torque as well.

I'm a big fan of this car. Can't wait to see what wheels you get for it..

May I suggest Work Miester S1 in 15x7.5 with low-ish offset ? lol
 
#33 ·
I'm also planning for the wood grain hydrographics for VC. Quick question...did you entertain matte vs. gloss finishes? Any reason why you're going gloss and how much have you heard about durability with regards to heat? I've seen a bunch of other wooden ones on other motors but not so sure about heat resistance.

Anyway, subscribed. Looking forward to the progress!
 
#59 ·
I chose to go with the gloss finish. Seemed more elegant and easy to clean/wipe if dirty. However, no idea about heat resistance but it should be okay I'm guessing..

Great project, with top quality parts! The valve cover is very very cool!

As for the watch part, IWC have some really great watches, but in my mind they run a bit on the large side, which pleases the esthetic's that people are looking for now (or were looking for) but in the long run will look very dated I fear and believe. I just took a quick look through the model range and there's the portofino at 40 and 42mm which is the smallest watch they have, which will look huge on a typical asian wrist... Just my 2 cents.
Yea seems the smaller models are more accepted by the general public. But gonna look at other ones like Patek Philippe Datograph or A Lange Annual Calendar...

Drive at night; problem solved :p

Subb'd to this thread. Gonna me amazing once its done. Definately upload some videos of the engine revving
The night time is usually reserved for other *activities* :mrgreen:
 
#34 ·
Great project, with top quality parts! The valve cover is very very cool!

As for the watch part, IWC have some really great watches, but in my mind they run a bit on the large side, which pleases the esthetic's that people are looking for now (or were looking for) but in the long run will look very dated I fear and believe. I just took a quick look through the model range and there's the portofino at 40 and 42mm which is the smallest watch they have, which will look huge on a typical asian wrist... Just my 2 cents.
 
#37 ·
UPDATE!

The engine has been undergoing some serious work - cylinder enlargement, head porting, etc.

Before machining the block, Ocean first checked all the pistons' bore just to be sure. The pistons were measured to 3.3645" - all of them, which shows the precision of Mahle production and Maruha's highest quality standards!




After the measurement, the block was sent off for machining to 3.3663" bore.....0.0018" wider than the piston diameter for piston to cylinder wall clearance.





The machining was outsourced to a machine shop in Vancouver. Meanwhile, Ocean started work on the head by re-shaping it. The first step was to mark the shape. Tuners will usually mod the engine head in order to increase the volume efficiency of the engine (at least that's what separates a great tune from a normal tune). Stock engines run a volume efficiency somewhere between 70%-80%. This means that for one 400cc cylinder, only 70-80% of the volume is being used for the combustion cycle. One of the important factors of a great tune is to attempt to increase the volume efficiency as much as possible so that close to 100% of the cylinder volume is used - hence "efficiency".

As mentioned in my last post, since I'm only running 264 cams, making sure my engine's VE ratio is as high as possible will allow me to fully benefit from the current setup of the 2.1L kit. Btw, the head being used is not the head that came with the engine but rather a '99 head.



If you look closely, the chamber is enlarged so that more fuel and air can enter, allowing for more combustion. This was a custom job by Ocean. WOOOO HOOOOOO~~!!



Here's another picture that can hopefully show more. You can see in this picture that the shape of the chamber is now like a "butterfly" shape. Normally, the chamber is "pill" shaped which is evident in two photos prior. Although this minor yet troublesome mod isn't going to increase power vastly, Ocean's extra effort made me feel his dedication and consideration of every minor opportunity to increasing the performance. I applaud him.



So once this was done, the head was sent to a CNC machine shop. Of course, the CNC machining profile of the head is Chikara's intellectual property and cannot be shared. But obviously I have full confidence in Ocean/Chikara and this is why I am paying them to do the job. So in a nutshell, anyone who purchases the Maruha 2.1L kit w/ ITB will be in possession of the same hardware and have the same setup. Yet most importantly, what your tuner/mechanic does to make sure your build makes full use of the hardware is what makes them better (or worse) than other mechanics.

Anyway as the head is off to CNC machining, a second batch of parts for the engine build was ordered through Chikara. The parts were shipped from Japan to Hong Kong this time because Ocean was visiting.

So, one day, I received notification from the post-office to pick up a parcel as nobody was home during delivery. While waiting in line, I spotted my parcel behind the counter LOL~



Buddy with his box of new parts, waiting to go home. Hurray!



So, what does the 2nd batch of stuff include? Well some bits and pieces including the thermometer, OEM timing belt covers (as the extra engine I bought for this build was missing them)..



...also in the batch is the Maruha carbon cam gear cover which you are all familiar with...



...another picture...not sure if its clear but my turtle was trying to get into the shot..



...the metal gasket as well, one of the vital parts to assembling the block and head once the CNC machine shop is done with the latter...




...and as I promised, here is one of the surprises. Maruha is currently producing an all-new cam gear. Here are the ones they used to, and are still offering...in gold and silver (as on Maruha's website)...



I originally wanted the golden one but Ocean told me Maruha is going to roll out new cam gears and I would be the first and only in the world to have them :phillyb:. Two sets (i.e. four cam gears) were produced as prototypes. Maruha kept one set and the other set was sold to me~~~ Here are the official pictures from Maruha that are not even released on their website yet (got permission from Ocean@Chikara to post it):



And the actual thing..





Since we just started 2013, how about a few more pics of the wooden VC which was meant to be another surprise of this build? Quite a few members have been asking me about this. (Dang...I just realized I can only include 20 pics in one post :cry2:....I'll continue with a separate one.....)

......to......
......be......
.continued.
 
#39 ·
.....continued from above post........

So yeah, been getting a lot of questions about this...

Here's the other side (or another angle)...



What it looks like with less lighting...


Less lighting from afar....


For those of you who are interested you can contact Ocean of Chikara Motorsports. Its called "water transfer painting" or "hydro dipping". I hope my style won't be copied :blaugh: !

And that concludes this update!

Actually, there's one more addition to the "surprise" part of this build although some of you may not consider it to be much of interest I suspect :(....Anyhow, I'll bring this surprise forward depending on the responses~ Happy reading and cheers!
 
#43 ·
So jealous!
Originally I wanted to go N/A but after a while I realize how expensive it is and change my mind.
But then another build being done by Ocean pops up and I feel like I should waste the opportunity of having Ocean just a ferry ride away >.<

Looking forward to the rest of the build and I love the black cams! Although I think the gold would have looked awesome with the Wood VC
 
#46 ·
Just curious - With how much importance you are putting into making it not a super hot trackday type engine, did you bounce the idea of running the VVT head around at all? I would have thought it would be perfect for someone like you because it can maintain street manners while running a much more aggressive cam. Best of both worlds, and more torque to boot.
 
#47 ·
The idea of putting in a VVT head for this build is conceivable and you've raised a very good question.

In fact, this discussion did come up between me and Chikara. Its a bit subjective and depends on your personal preference but did make some sense to me: In order to capitalise on the VVT technology on a BP engine, the final product would be a high-rev engine as there seems to be no point to only limit a VVT engine to 7000rpms...naturally higher revving engines require more servicing. During my own research I read a post from Ocean (in somebody else's thread) saying that Chikara services their own race engines once a year. So for those of you who have been following the thread, you might (or might not..?) agree with me that Ocean doesn't just take off the VC to have a look. He'll prolly service the engine quite thoroughly.

Now, the biggest problem I have is that we don't really have such experienced engine tuners in HK, compared to US & Canada. A high-revving setup would add a very considerable amount of wear & tear on the engine internals. Although Ocean will be in HK once in a while, its just not PRACTICAL to go the high-rev route yet be able to maintain quality performance of the engine in HK.

That's the subjective part of the reasoning.

Meanwhile, mind you that the Maruha 2.1L kit's primary focus is on durability, with rpm limited to 7000 rpms. So the 2.1L kit was intended to offer consumers an alternative on the other side of the spectrum so to speak...but still providing power/torque, response (itb), etc. Although adding a VVT head is possible, I wouldn't want to modify what the 2.1L kit was originally intended to do. At least not until Maruha/Chikara offers this option officially, meaning that they have tests to endorse that it actually works. In other words, I wouldn't swap my own laces on a pair of Bally leather shoes unless its somehow endorsed by Bally the company/brand itself....because...its "BALLY". (hm....r u guys familiar with this brand actually?)

I understand why you are asking and I also ask myself the same qs as well. Another way of looking at it is: does combining vvt with 2.1L kit result in getting the best of both worlds? I'll leave that to you to answer. There's a lot of products out there, like the Samsung Galaxy Camera that's trying to combine camera+internet device, and so on....is it really better?

Btw, for agressive cams, I could keep in my garage an extra set of 300 degrees cams and get Ocean to swap it for me if there's a serious occassion~ LOL
 
#50 ·
Thanks very much for the support although I know there really isn't a "best" solution. It's all relative~~

I guess sometimes its wiser to get what you NEED and not what you WANT. I mean, who doesn't want the best or the most powerful or perfect engine?

Getting what is most appropriate for oneself = class.
 
#49 ·
Man I have to get me some of those Maruha parts!

Do you think the VVT head would fit on a 1.6? :haiguyths:

This build is going to be amazing I cant wait to see more, the Maruha parts are just out of this world and you really get what you pay for.

I was having a look on Maruhas website and they say the 1.6 isnt worth modifying Haha
 
#52 ·
LOL~

Actually I do not completely agree with that statement, yet some may disagree with what I am going to say (maybe incl. Ocean haha).

Imagine luxury mechanical watches. Just because one model is old doesn't mean its any worse than a newer model. Some limited edition vintage Rolex models may even end up to be more valuable as a collectible item than the newer models.

Your case is very similar to mine! My V-spec came with a B6 engine (NA1.6). Although performance wise, the 1.6 might be less desirable as a base for modification, one cannot ignore the intrinsic value of having an original engine in the original car it came with. I put a very high value to NA miatas with their original 1.6 engine intact. I put more value if it is V-spec (or limited edition) with the original engine unmodded and kept clean and in perfect running condition (which hints "rebuild"). Minor mods to an original engine that are not permanent is icing on the cake.

By now, some might think that my analogy using luxury mechanical watches is a bad one. Yes, its subjective. I tend to think highly of the Mazda Roadster as you can see. Its not just a car, its "taste", "lifestyle", etc...

Of course, if you're spilling money on the Maruha brand, its a bit ______ (fill in the blank yourself) to mod a 1.6 for the reasons above regarding the somewhat less desirable character of the engine. But conversely you don't have to monster-mod it. How about just put an ITB on the original 1.6 engine? No need stroker kits or anything, just go for the sound, response feel, and also capitalise on the Maruha brand enjoyment. You could also avoid porting the 1.6 block and head, keeping it original! Nice and simple, just like vintage Paneria watches (btw the new models are losing popularity...).

Oh, and if I am correct (& someone pls correct me if I'm wrong!), the VVT head doesn't fit on 1.6 since the 1.6 was produced before VVT which came on the 1.8 some years later. But as I said before, an original 1.6L with Maruha ITBs is also quite "classy"!

Just to explain myself, I'm also keeping the 1.6 original engine in storage while I have the 2.1L engine going on the car. The 1.6 engine will prolly be rebuilt sometime later. The 2.1L engine's main job is to kick some stock VVT ass in my local area haha.
 
#51 ·
Kudos to restraining yourself. If I had the money I'd build a sick 245hp race only engine... Lol but the reality is that your engine build is going to kickass. And you're adding to the rebuild intervals by not setting the rev limit so high. What valve springs are you going with?
 
#54 ·


Part restrain, part accepting reality. 245hp modded engine would mostly overheat in Hong Kong. Its nice to fantasize about smoking stock or slightly modded GTIs and Sciroccos and what not. But when the engine stalls in a traffic jam on a sunny day......REGRET.

For valve springs, I believe we are using Supertech (or however its spelled). Haha using the watch analogy again, I guess this is a minor "non-in house movement" of the engine build.
 
#65 ·
Well....my advice is keep your expectation on power increase from ITB-only mod on the conservative side. However, once you have ITB installed, power increase from any other upgrades to engine internals (such as a more aggressive cam) will be multiplied. :bouncin:
 
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