Hey all,
My name is Jacob Nolan im 20 and from Brisbane Australia. I have a love for all cars but a even bigger love for daihatsu’s. Have always had a love for these small bois even before I could drive and I have owned a couple so far.
My history with daihatsu’s starts with my first one a 1992 L200 Mira with a efel and auto box. This bad boy set me back $500 and was in pretty shocking condition, it had been sitting for a year or so in someone’s front yard. Was leaking every liquid imaginable, a steering wheel with no nut, tyre’s older than me, a gearbox that didn’t know what to do and was missing half the exhaust.
My dumbass drove it from Logan Central all the way to burpengary on the northside. Let’s just say It didn’t like the part where I went over the gateway bridge almost causing it to overheat. By the end of the trip back home I had no oil burnt coolent and was high from the exhaust fumes.
I ended up fixing up this little boi giving it fresh new parts, good clean and took it to lakeside to have some fun. I had planned to manual swap and do and ej swap on it but another l200 in better condition showed up. Sadly my og mira has been cut up and parted out but will always be in my memories.
My next daihatsu was also a l200 but this time it was a series 1 manual one with lots of cool little goodies. This rig cost me about $1000 and it came with a turbo kit, new alloy radiator and some other bits and bobs. This car had one of the cool factory decals on the side and look sick.
My goal with this one was to make something I love. i got help from another daihatsu enthusiast with importing a wing for the car, I also found some side skirts and a cool twin exist exhaust from another new daihatsu’s friend. I also managed to get some old 70s 12" enkie wheels for it too.
The car was coming together well here is the list o Mods/Replacements.
- New Nason Timing Belt Kit
- New water pump
- New head gasket
- New Permaseal valve cover gasket
- New NGK spark leads
- New Spark plugs
- New intake manifold gasket
- New alternator
- New radiator
- New Trupro engine mounts
- New Protex rear brake drums
- New Protex rear brake shoes
- New Trupro front lower control arms
- New Denso fuel pump
- New coolant hoses
- New Tyres
- S13 front coilovers
- Excel rear lowered shocks
- Commodore rear springs
- Goodgun X N-Style Collaboration Steering Wheel
- HKB Sports Boss Kit Hub Adapter
- Aftermarket head unit
- CUSCO Sports Shift Knob - M12x1.25
- CUSCO Front Strut Tower Bar Type AS
- Savage Performance volts gauge
- Savage Performance water temp gauge
- Savage Performance oil temp gauge
- faf auto taco gauge
- saas oil pressure gauge
- Rare Rear chassis brace
- Mishimoto x Rockstar overflow can
- Custom front lip
- Rare side skirts
- Rare wing
- Rare parcel shelf with speakers
- Custom twin exit exhaust
- 12x5 Enkei mag racing wheels
- Battery Relocation kit
- OMIR4 JDM plates
Ended up taking taking this nugget to Lakeside for the live to dai track day and had a blast the thing performed amazingly. Was good to meet everyone and see all the other dais out having a go.
I then ended up selling this bad boy as a car I had been waiting to come up for sale finally did. Unfortunately the car I sold this nugget for didn’t fall through and made me regret putting my nugget up for sale.I then went through a two e30s and a eg civic before I got my next daihatsu.
My next daihatsu is one I still have but don’t think I will have for long as I’m collecting another haha. This one is a 2001 l700 cuore with the ejde and a manual. It’s pretty rough and has had some accidents, the original owner was a farmer who drove it from Woodford to Mackay. Its had some run inside with kangaroos and is pretty filthy on the inside.
My plan with this nugget was to build another track focused car that’s somewhat reliable, fun, cheap on fuel and easy to maintain. So far it’s got a boss kit with a Aftermarket wheel, a underbody chassis brace, battery relocation and Aftermarket tail lights. I have replaced the engine mounts as they were basically none existant. There is still plenty of things that need to be fixed on it but I probably won’t get around to it.
The next daihatsu that I hope I can keep for ages is a l80 handi van and I will be making a build thread with this nugget and I will also be making a YouTube series based on its restoration. Hopefully I can get it back to its former glory and give it new life.
Thanks you for reading my extreamly long introduction post.
If you want to ask any questions feel free to find me on the live to dai Facebook page and also on my instagram @lowhp.media
good intro I’m sure I will see you at more track days in the future. Good luck with the L80 build I look forward to the build thread to follow