hahahaha! that name is the best ever! I did laugh too much
3 Likes
When my crack is creeping I usually use lanolin to sooth the pain. I must see about getting some of this to fix leaks.
6 Likes
Hilarious name. But I don’t think It’s gonna help me. Sadly the place where I see water come in has a big tear.
Honestly all rubbers on this car have seen better days. Perhaps best to order new ones at this point.
I did give them a good clean and protect though. Might help at least somewhat.
4 Likes
I’m in search of a Copen workshop manual or anything JB-DET related. If anyone has a digital copy I’d love to hear from you.
I’m specifically looking for IAT temp sensor values and/or fuel pressure numbers…
1 Like
Yep, it’s winter. We’ve had a lot of rain and even some snow. Not a lot of sunny topless days…
But even in this weather it’s a super comfortable car! The small cabin heats up quickly and the seat heating is amazing.
Rubbers
The tires that were on this car were of an unknown brand to me and they were very very dry. It was obvious that new tires were a must from the get go. I went for a set of Nankang NS-2 tires.
I’ve previously ran more budget Nankang tires on my L7 and I really really really enjoyed them. So the choice was easy, and I do not regret it at all. Performance in the wet is actually not bad at all. But in the dry, they are very sticky. No problems whatsoever. Plus they look good 
.
I also installed some rubbers I got from Buyee that supposedly make the roof rattle less. And damn, it works. Really well. It’s so silent in the car, it’s spooky. Best 5 euros I spent on this car.
Psssht
Some time ago I disconnected the recirculation to get some BOV sounds. The stock BOV actually sounds pretty nice. I used a blanking cap so to prevent air being sucked in into the airbox. I’d love to remove the whole re-circulation pipe, but I’m not 100% sure on how to do so yet.
Lastly, a nice pic with @Aaron’s Classic.
9 Likes
My Copen never came with a key fob. I picked up a remote from an YRV at my local scrapyard hoping I would able to sync it.
Turns out it’s super easy. It’s a welcome option as I’m always struggling to open the boot from the inside while carrying too many groceries. It feels so luxurious seeing the boot open while walking towards the car 
5 Likes
Misfires
Woops, that’s a first for me. My first check engine light ever lol.
So, out comes the cheap bluetooth scan tool.
Misfire on 3 out of 4 cylinders, woops. I didn’t change my sparkplugs last service because I couldn’t find the Denso sparkplugs I wanted. Not the smartest move.
Now I still couldn’t find the Denso sparkplugs I wanted, the once that are specified in the manual, SVK20RZ8. But the Toyota dealer had these around and those should be the same spec.
They seemed to have 4 electrodes instead of 1, but that’s fine. Obviously the old sparkies were long overdue…
It seems she’s running lean. But I already know why that is. She’s been pulling some air from a crack in the intake duct on top of the engine. More on that later c:
Connector time
Now changing the sparkplugs fixed everything, although it took a while for the car run at it’s best again. I guess the ECU had adjusted a lot, but I don’t know how “smart” these ECUs really are when it comes to that. There’s one more thing to rule out, and that’s a connector for the coil pack that is missing a clip and has been held in with a ziptie.
So I went to the junkyard and stole this clip from an YRV with a K3.
A quick depin with some pliers and it’s ready to be installed.
Now this should stay in place just fine c:
Yep, no clip. Very broken. Not good.
6 Likes
Some goodies from Japan 
I had been bidding on this set for a bit, but I thought it was only the top pipe. Surprisingly it came with everything after the intercooler, which is a nice bonus. Especially for the money I paid.
The diameter is up to 42mm and the part before the throttle body is supposedly a “throttle chamber”. Supposedly it should improve torque delivery when used with induction. I personally couldn’t find much about that online, so if anyone has some knowledge or experience with these I’d love to hear it!
And after a quick install, everything seemed to fit quite nicely. The only thing I had to do is reverse the BOV as it would block the throttle pulley otherwise. But that BOV is going to be replaced and relocated soon anyways.
But, did it change anything?
The original resin piping is said to expand a lot on boost. I can’t verify that, but once the engine was warmed up I used to have less of a kick. That problem is solved with this. It seems to have more torque in the lower revs too, and the rest of the revs are way more linear where it used to stutter before.
I’ll hook up my reader soon and check if there’s actual differences in numbers as this might all be placebo. But the car just drives great right now!
7 Likes
I had a similar intake setup on my copen when I had it. I saw someone else with this kit on a copen also and really feel that last bend before the intake is flaw in the design for air flow path. I noticed a difference with mine when I put the standard intake piping back on. I felt it lost performance.
I also tried heat shielding mine as much as I could.
1 Like
Thanks for the insight. I had the same thought but it really does feel more performant…
Intake temps are very good, better than with the resin piping. But I would love a heat shield between the piping and valve cover, that’s certainly on the list.
2 Likes
I had some recurring boost leaks at certain temps since I fitted the new piping. The provided clamps were annoying. I’ve always hated these type of hose clamps. I had to tighten them more but they wouldn’t allow me without the bolt going past the seat. I bought some clamps I’ve been using for my Astra for a while now. They are so overkill for this tiny car, but damn do they work .
I noticed the ECU took it’s sweet time to adjust, but the car is back to it’s normal performance again. I’ll make sure to pressurise the system soon in the workshop to make sure there’s no leaks anymore, as the car runs super lean when there are leaks. Not gud.
3 Likes
Nice little car. I do have a soft spot for these and would own one if it came up at the right time 
Good to hear you got most of the wind noise out. New rubbers if you can find them, and a section of a similar profile might help too.
2 Likes
Thanks! I’d certainly recommend getting one. It’s such a fun and weird car.
New rubbers are definitely on the to-do list, but 
.
1 Like
I had some nasty oil spraying under the bonnet. Somehow the oil got on the alternator and accessory belts and got launched everywhere. The rocker cover breather valve seemed to be stuck internally. So the oil was getting pushed out of the dried out grommet.
Done about 300km with the new valve and grommet and everything stays dry
5 Likes
This car is just too much fun, especially with the good weather now. I can’t keep the roof closed, even when it’s overcast. But who doesn’t love topless, right?
Anyways, I was watching the latest MCM episode. And it touched on something I had been thinking about as well. They changed out the air filter housing for an HKS intake mushroom.
Personally I’m not a fan of those HKS mushrooms for “historical reasons”… But I’m still looking for a less restrictive intake. I’ve heard the original intake is quite restrictive, maybe there’s something to win performance wise. If not, I’ll be happy with the succ noises 
So if anyone has some inspiration, ideas or recommendations please let me know.
Progress
There’s a few bits I’m collecting right now to finish a few things up:
PCV and recirc
Whatever you might think of the environment. I don’t want that oily gunk in my intake. So I’d rather vent to atmosphere directly instead of the delayed burning off said gasses. Of course I’ll be catching the oil.
It just does not sit right with me to feed that yucky stuff back into the engine. This goes along with my idea to remove the last bit of the recirculation pipe, which is now solely transporting breather hose juices into the intake…
Wind deflector
Recently got one made in the UK, I’m very happy with it. Just missing new pins at the moment as my old ones were glued on. I can’t wait to peel the film off
Exhaust
I booked a day in a local exhaust shop to redo a few bits of the exhaust system. The one I have right now is stainless but it’s a botch job. Lots of size differences and weird kinks.
Fuel delivery
I have a nice high flow fuel pomp and an external regulator on the shelf right now. Just looking for base values at the moment.
Bits from Japan
Also have a few bits on it’s way by boat, so it’s taking forever. Noteworthy: a bigger intercooler and an external BOV.
4 Likes
i send you some base values before reading this. 
1 Like
Haha true, testing time then
1 Like
Thanks to @Aaron the recirc is now plugged by this amazing butt plug he made.
Now both sides of the recirculation pipe are no longer used. It’s just venting the rocker cover to atmosphere. Catch can will be added on that breather next.
It’s probably a temporary thing, as I’m probably replacing that rubber intake part for alu when I make something for the intake filter.
6 Likes
It’s been a while since I worked in the garage. This was due to the other renter making a big mess of the place by sanding polyester putty inside.
Recently, he left. So it was time to clear things out. It was bad.
This is the state I found the Astra in. It started fine at least 
It was everywhere, so we started taking things outside to dust them off.
Next, we transformed the whole thing into a pool area.
Cleaned the Astra and went for a fresh petrol run after a year or so.
We’re certainly not done, but the place is usable again. I hope I can pick up some speed on my projects again
Here’s a bonus video
5 Likes