For a road car only. The KYB should be fine. If you were to do any comp it really needs the 100pcd conversion and doing this means L700 or M100 (Sirion) hub/upright. Doing this would mean the BC Racing would bolt straight in. Pedders won’t be interested in anything unusual. They make money doing bread and butter boring stuff that they can turn over in high volume. The Koni would be a lot more expensive, but you do get what you pay for. I would look for a Suspension place that does club race cars. Up here King Springs factory is 20km away and the place I get springs through is close by so it does not take long to get bits. That suspension business does a lot of club race cars. It is more expensive to go there than to a “Pedders” but the service and understanding outweighs price when it comes to the possibilities they can provide and the results make one forget the price. Point being, you perhaps need somewhere that understands you don’t just want a solution to fixing a car back to factory but improving it with an engineered solution.
This all sounds very reasonable.
I’ve got my ebay cart loaded and my mechanic ready to go. I will use KYB stock front struts. King sping lowered front springs. Replace the rubber in the strut mount.
For the rear KYB excel shock.
I will call around today to find someone who can get the custom King Spring.
The only question I have is, given what I’ve settled on above, the best rate to have the custom rear springs at? I realise a lot of this is quite subjective and also depends on how the car will be used / comfort / ride / grip.
Hopefully, though, you have enough experience to suggest a number for the rear rate given the front is at 140lb and this is a fun road car at this stage. Note it will never have rear passengers and rarely a front one. I also intend to put a lower bucket seat and steering wheel in it. It never goes far and will always be driven hard. I will also be driven on poor quality roads in inner sydney.
Get some spacers and lower the column. I started with 25mm long, 8mm id, 20mm od spacers. That was good until I lowered the seat. My current iteration involved re fabrication of the pedal box and column to bring the steering wheel rear ward 150mm and down “alot” (it also done with a longer steering rack pinion).
I’d go 430 - 450ft/lb with the rear springs.
Update time
- Bought front and rear king springs online as per the spec in the catalog in the hope to save time but unfortunately still have to wait 4 weeks which means after christmas (i was told after placing the order). So I’ve requested a refund. I’ve reorder fronts online from sparesbox in the hope that theyre actually in stock. If not I havent lost anything.
- Ordering a HKB boss kit today from rhdjapan (https://www.rhdjapan.com/hkb-sports-boss-kit-hub-adapter-daihatsu-mira.html)
- Ordered an AutoTechica steering wheel yesterday (mainly because its padded center and should be legal here in aus)
- I’ve taken delivery of rear Hyundai dampers (KYB)
- Front KYB struts will be delivered early next week.
- I’ve discussed and confirmed with mechanic how to fit the strut tops and got a good cash price to fit everything else
I am so far unable to find anyone in Sydney to custom make the rear springs. If Accurate can do this for me and get them here before xmas Im happy to pay now? Otherwise I still dont know how can make them up for me in NSW.
I’ve been looking at pillow tops and strut braces online. Pillow tops on rhdjapan.com and brace on ebay. Any ideas whether or not https://www.rhdjapan.com/cusco-pillow-ball-upper-mount-set-front-l210s-l502s-l512s-l600s-l602s-l610s.html would fit my car? OR the brace https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CUSCO-Front-Strut-Bar-For-DAIHATSU-Mira-L200S-L210S-2WD-4WD-660T-750-510-A/192658794102?hash=item2cdb5be676:g:fJgAAOSwwERbnSg0:rk:23:pf:0
The cusco stuff mentions the L502s which was the turbo in Japan… I assume the strut tops are the same and that the brace should still work but maybe its the L210s I need? Any help here would be appreciated. Im also curious if the brace will work with the OEM tops?
In other less pressing matters I’m looking at getting some of these http://www.performancewheels.com.au/product/superlite-12/.
I will wait until i’ve lowered it because they’re going to stick out 15mm towards the fender and I need to sure that they will actually clear the fender.
I’m also looking at my seat options. I want to be somewhat subtle here but I also have a bad back and really want to get something in there ASAP. I noticed there was a guy selling seats from a Copen and it got me thinking. Theyre not super aggressive style and would really just be a bit nicer than stock. But they could easily be reupholstered to be slightly more supportive in future. If I knew that these would bolt in I would go and buy them yesterday. Any ideas if anyone have tried this conversion yet? I’m guessing based on the size of the car that they would fit quite nicely.
Just my opinion but the braces are a styling thing and almost pointless. They do not provide the strength where needed.
Give Ken at Accurate a call 07 3808 2878. May not get them by Chistmas, but they are only 20min basic install that would be worth the wait.
I’ll give him a call tomorrow. I was snowed under today.
Can you help with sizes for Boss kit? I need to double check my order and/or get spacers. I assume it’s just the internal bolt size that matters? Shame most don’t list measurements.
I continuously get confused where my car sits among the L numbers. Sometimes its a L200 and others its a L500 depending on where I look. For things like a seat adapter or Boss kit i have no idea whether to hit go on the L200 listing or the L500. When the parts are special I wonder if the L502 parts would fit?
The boss kit will suit the spline outside diameter and number of splines. Then there make sure the pcd of the mount holes fit the steering wheel. I really can’t help there as I have a Subaru shaft installed in the column. Something I did to really get the steering wheel rearward - it’s nice and long.
L2 and L5 all pretty much the same. Esp the latter L2s which had the EF-EL like the L5. The L500/502 is just a styling update and a bit rounder. Bonnet, guards, tailgate, outer panels, are a little diff. And on the two door the rear windows are fixed.
Went to double check the boss kit and it turned out one was for cars with an airbag. This means I ordered the correct one.
Spoke with Ian who is going to enquire about the height of the spring with weight in order to figure out what the 450lb spring length should be.
I’m still unsure whether or not these will fit https://www.rhdjapan.com/cusco-pillow-ball-upper-mount-set-front-l210s-l502s-l512s-l600s-l602s-l610s.html
The tops will not fit without at least re-drilling the plates and pressing the studs back in.
That’s nice and clean 
Bought some Copen seats the other day
Excited to fit them. My lack of garage is killing me though as the copen seats are very different mounting to the Mira. The job wouldn’t be that hard if I had a mig and a workshop but unfortunately I don’t know anyone in Sydney.
Tough gig doing mod’s without workshop. All my car stuff has halted while I work on such.
As it turns out. Nothing cash cannot fix. Got a guy to install them for me. He cut the old mounts and welded up new ends and painted it. Looks imaculate. Cost me $600 for the work though.
So after driving a few kms today it’s fair to say these seats are brilliant. They’re going to server me well. I’m sitting a lot lower. I would guess around 3-4 inches but it’s hard to say exactly. They’re very comfortable and since your ass drops down so though, your hips don’t move at all. Much better than the autobarn cheaply I had in my old ae86.
Steering wheel is a little bit closer to the dash than the old one. Fine for now but I will likely get a spacer. There’s a 45-75mm adjustable one on eBay I’m looking at. Might be nice to have the option to adjust it but not sure if 45mm will be too much. Will measure it tomorrow.
Another 4 weeks for my springs according to eBay store who said king springs had an issue with the fronts. I’m finding this hard to believe but I will just wait it out I guess. They’re a reputable mob.
Any thoughts on installing a taco? An ad on gumtree seemed to suggest a Sirion cluster would screw in work with a few wires attached. Any knowledge on this ? Unsure how to wire an aftermarket for 3cyl (6 / 2 ??) but there also no where inconspicuous to mount it so I love the new cluster idea, assuming it would actually fit.
Tachos aren’t to hard to install. Just make sure it will run 3cyl and is okay with coil packs for when you go EJDE. I don’t run a tach at the
on the 3cyl but a series of programmable shift lights instead.
Typically the top of the steering wheel should sit about level with the base of your skull. There is variation on this but that is a norm for race cars and translates well to road cars.
Sirion tacho’s won’t work with an EF motor as the sirion uses a coil on plug setup, there is a Speco aftermarket tacho that does 3 cyl https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SPECO-520-03-IN-DASH-TACHOMETER-GAUGE-2-5-8-3CYL-WHITE-DIAL-FACE/332892058147?hash=item4d81e9b223:g:2XsAAOSwDuxcFtnu:rk:6:pf:0
So your advice on suspension things was very good !
I installed lowered king springs all around. Default rates from their lowered option. Hyundai excel rear shocks and stock front struts both KYB.
I also installed a spacer to get the steering wheel where it should be.
I’ve just driven it back from an alignment. 2.5 castor. -1 camber and 0 toe front with 1 toe rear.
It handles way way better than I thought it would! Obviously the ride is a lot harsher but mainly in the back as it quickly stabilises over small bumps. Larger gradual loading of the rear through a corner seems to be where it really works well.
Importantly I can adjust the line of the car while loaded in a corner with predictable results. Extreme difference from when I first got it and it was outright dangerous.
Hi guys
After storing this car in a factory for around 8 monrths and buying an e500 mercedes ive decided to sell
Likely this will go to auction through grays online.
wanted to give this forum a chance to make me an offer if there is anyone around that might be interested
The car is very original apart from the front seats which are from a Copen, an aftermarket steering wheel, lowered king springs and all round new kyb shocks (rears are hyundai excel).
I spent quite a lot of time fixing every little issue and replaced with new parts:
- front wheel bearings
- front brake pads
- control arms
- rack ends
- tyre rod ends
- sway bar bushes
- valve cover
- oil changed 3 times in 5000kms
- spark plugs
- ignition leads
- century battery
- air filter
- rear brake cylinders
- <5000kms hankook tyres (profile is bit too big but drives well)
- drive shafts
- brake master cylinder
Runs very well after cleaning dissy cap points and adjusting the timing. The only thing required for a RWC was the rear muffler according to a RWC mechanic. Car is located in Gisborne Victoria but could easily be driven long distance with a valid permit.
It also comes with a genuine Daihatsu rear spoiler which has not been fitted (black) and a tr-xx cluster with a taco
Any help with pricing this car would be appreciated.
Can provide more photos or details if required