My names Matt and i thought i may as well start a thread to catalog the happening of my new little toy, a 2003 Daihatsu Sirion Gtvi that i had a “moment” and purchased to tickle my modification/hillclimbing itch i let go when i parted out my suby (RS liberty turbo) track car
Shes fairly rough paintwise with a fair bit of flaking clearcoat unfortunately, but the mechanicals seem solid for a 190k car, no real rust and seems straight…and will get some love before eventually moving everything into a Cuore if i find one clean enough
But in the meantime i wanna keep it happy and have some fun with Betty and ill share what happens to her when i can
Heres the listing, lets just say i low balled the guy a bit lol…iffy paint, higher kms, rego almost due…i wasnt paying asking
Update!! Michael Rattenbury @601to602 kindly sold me his tidy white M100 shell for a great price with some epic mods, so the green GTVi (ugly betty) is giving up its guts to power the M100 (betty white). Along the way the engine and gearbox will be refreshed with some supporting mods.
Driving home, via the city and freeway i was pleasantly surprised with how nippy and rev happy it was…and sat on 110kph smooth as overtaking with ease dropping back into 4th…no abuse until i refresh ALL the fluids but lol
You can see shes lived a life out in the weather, and since this is a toy and the mechs will go into another car im planning to rattle can (decentish) paint the upper half and a few small parts and do a quick clear coat patch repair on other parts to satisfy my OCD
First things first, before bed i went and ordered all new fluids and new brake gear. All penrite fluids and got some T2 DBA rotors, HEL braided lines and sports pads to refresh the setup a bit.
Next morning i gave betty a good first scrub, washing mud/crust from the underside and inspecting it all and the paint got a good soak and handwash…honestly made bugger all difference but hey its the thought that counts
The planned to get my old race car plates swapped to the sirion but that planned failed so i just got slimline white/blacks as the yellows are terrible
Had some heat tape laying around and got bored so taped the underside of the hot air duct for shits and giggles
Also put a fresh air filter and front wipers (they were non existent) in whilst i was pulling bits apart
Few things ticked off the list yesterday prepping the car for some fun
wiped down the interior and gave it a vacuum, was a bit filthy! And installed the obligatory vanilla smelly tree
new slimline plates installed, rear left some ugly foam thats stuck in the paint, i have an old nostalgic daihatsu dealer plate trim i want to use for laughs that will cover it
rear door speakers removed completely and hole covered over for weight
front door speakers removed and some cheap 6.5in speakers installed to have sound in staging. Didnt use spacers and was able to trim the OEM rain cover to suit
rear wiper/motor deleted and hole plugged for weight and i just think it looks better
throttle body coolant pipes bypassed and bungs capped to stop cooking the intake (was able to utilise the shorter line in reverse to loop the T pieces together)
Seriously amazed how hot the intake got, was burning my hand almost when revving the engine spraying upper engine cleaner…now its not hot at all…as it shouldnt be having a composite intake and no real metal touching the hot engine…air should be way cooler now, happy days!!
measured up pipe sizes and fitment for a catch can and a power steering cooler that’s been recycled from the old race car
fitted a spare scangauge i had laying around (not working but )
nutted around with a ecliptech shift light i had from the race car
noticed the steering wheel out cover is a bit loose in one section on the inner metal, will attempt to reglue later before grabbing a new one
Until I drove one my opinion of these was pretty low. But wow, what a good bit of gear. From std the only thing that I felt needed changing was the (for me) high driving position.
Cheers mate! Its got a big to do list but im slowly ticking it all off
Yeah factory aside from the radiator T piece been some aftermarket brass setup
New t and all new pipes on order along with heaps of other bits….but refreshed and flushed all the coolant today as it looked average, and put new clamps on as they were running gal clamps and the old spring clamps lol
Radiator itself looks good but and the hoses arent too bad, just a bit worn/loose at the clamps
Yeah im amazed by it, its no 300kw subaru…but its a good laugh
Ive scored some epic mods on the cheap off a fellow member, just need to go grab them soon…and some little mods to make it breathe better and handle better asap
And yep being 6 foot 4 the seat is way too high…got a bucket seat base coming and may throw a sparco sprint or velo gp90 in asap
Coolant looked average yesterday when doing the throttle coolant bypass so i dumped, flushed with freshwater, put a flush product through and refilled with new stuff
Checked the thermostat and replaced the gasket, as new one hasnt arrived yet…but ill change it all again soon
Because, the previous owners removed the OEM T piece and made up a brass one? It works but hose fitment is meh
So gonna order all brand new hoses and new T piece to swap in
Another thing ticked off the list
Also placed a decent amayama order today, spring rubbers, full shifter bushes set, filters, engine mounts, exhaust gasket, PCV grommet and a few other bits
Full complement of coolant hoses and a spare V belt ordered today, new exhaust/head gasket ordered (cheap as local from toyota)
Also installed my old Subaru STi shift knob for some nostalgia
The knob has been across all my subarus since i imported my first half cut to recently in the RS turbo before i went a higher circuit inspired set up….so i figured it very fitting (it also feels decent) and whos to know the sirions not a 6 speed? Hahaha
Super circuit 4-1 headers on their way…super happy with the welds on them (this my one) compared to some others brands that dont even weld the engine side of the flange and the pipe fitment is way off
These will probably be ceramic coated before fitment as ive dealt with it in the past and have always been impressed
Plan to get the speakers sorted and at least engine oil changed this weekend so i can go for a little spin, may even throw some tint on it as sitting in staging can cook you in summer!
[quote=“Lando, post:11, topic:6565”]…they bolt to the cuore?..[/quote]Mine do. Both floorboards are identical[quote=“Lando, post:12, topic:6565”]…the previous owners removed the OEM T piece and made up a brass one?..[/quote]He likely did so, because the original plastic Ts tend to get brittle and break, while removing a hose. He likely didn’t bother gathering proper-sized tubing or was using non-metric piping?[quote=“Lando, post:9, topic:6565”]…being 6 foot 4 the seat is way too high…[/quote]In that case, both Sirion and L5/L6 seats are likely identical to one another. I’ve got more than plenty of room between floorboard and roof in my L601, so that I could raise the seating as far as my legs will allow, before they start touching the steering wheel. Our equivalent to M.O.T. here didn’t approve on my method of raising my seat. That’s why I’m searching for an original that sits higher
Michaels @601to602 little 3 cylinder shell is going to live on with betty guts
The legend made me an offer i found impossible to refuse, was going to gut his cars good bits and put them into betty…but with the paint being way better on his car and it being lighter overall i just couldn’t do that
So the plan is to swap the box/engine, abs etc into this 3 cylinder shell, probably paint the skirts, spoiler and rear bar and fix the dented drivers side door and scratch in the roof
Also came with a few boxes of fancy bits that will be discussed later…probably in its own thread
Must say its much nicer working in the garage than out on the driveway!
Interior of Betty White stripped, vacuumed of 20 years of grot (very minimal as Michael is a gentleman ) and all ready to grab an esky full of dry ice tomorrow or friday to strip all the sound deadening
Also cleaned and rust converted two spots of rust on the rear hatch seal (same as on my m101) will paint it and apply some rubber grease to the seal when putting it back on
Surprised how much sound deadening there actually is! The front bits are a 5mm and 3mm doubled up, rest is two 3mm bits layered
Will wash the carpet while its out and remove the rear speakers and its wiring before plugging the old wiring holes
Also the more i see it i think i may keep the blue door trims, its what the X4 storia runs, wont need to replace trim on the rear manual winder trims…and it reminds me of my STi blue trimmed interior……also the rear seat is waaaaaay lighter than the GTVi as it doesnt have the split fold, arm rest or extra headrests (and less weight is a good thing)
No i wont remove the rear altogether as the kids love zooming around in Betty
Found out these have a very heavy plate just sitting under the carpet in the drivers foot well that seems to only support the right heel? Worst case ill remove it, but i think it supports the heel well so ill cut out the heel part which removed about ¾ of the weight and sika rivnut/sika it in place
Also whilst thinking damn this footrest is crap, i noticed the X4 had a proper raised one? Wtf?
With some help we found the part number of 58190-97201 and i placed an order vix (update - order failed as the footrest is out of production ) if its crap ill grab a copen dsport alloy one and make it work (now ordered so heres hoping i can make it fit otherwise a generic OMP one will be acquired )
And finally, a used rack came to replace the brand new x4 koyo i have in betty…but its a copen 2.9 turn rack! Vs my 3.5 one…ill swap the new rack ends and tie rods off mine, replace the input gasket and hardlines and hopefully speed the steering up a bit more (the subaru i raced was 2.1 lock too lock )
And then the new koyo 3.5 can get tucked away as a spare
Pulled the dash to prep for the loom swap and also remove the firewall mat for another 3kg weight cut…along with a kg of cockroach pooh and a rogue cocky!
Mounted the fullriver HC20 battery under the passenger seat and wired in and fixed some cable and a CB thats accessible beside the seat, just need to tidy up the bay wiring and earth cable…pics to come later
Also the obligatory cams spec fire extinguisher mounted below the passenger seat
Cleaned up all the black trim and hit it with some mr black to bring it back to like new!! Wipers are getting a sand and hit with rustoleum satin black as we speak too
Acquired some muteki open ended black wheel nuts to replace the rusty ones…came a decent weight loss too of 140g a wheel and will be good for an eventual ARP extended stud set (will probably go m12x1.25 then as well but already have a set from the subaru)
Replaced the broken drivers side door hinges, popped out the creased panel a touch and swapped the bonnet cable that came with it and while the fender was off i tidied out tonnes of dirt, sprayed some lanolin and took the headlights off ready for some sanding/polishing
) if its crap ill grab a copen dsport alloy one and make it work (now ordered so heres hoping i can make it fit otherwise a generic OMP one will be acquired 
