Friendship ended with L251, now M100RS is my best friend.
I found this Sirion on Gumtree Saturday night (18/9) and knew I had to have it, so I picked it up today (20/9).
Cosmetically it’s incredibly rough, but that can easily be fixed. Mechanically it’s as tight as a drum. It has 157,xxxkm on the clock, two keys, all the books and seems to have lived a very good life. It was sold to me by the nephew of an elderly lady who chose to stop driving due to failing eyesight and she told me the last and only other owner was a female teacher. I don’t trust easily but I like to believe octogenarians are on the level.
From the conversation on the test drive it was apparent her nephew didn’t know that he was selling something more than the average Sirion.
Driving it today I had a flashback of seeing the GTvi in Gran Turismo and wondering what on earth a Sirion was doing in a racing game but now I understand.
This will be my daily as I already have another money pit, but here is what I have in mind.
Immediate plans:
Deep clean the interior
Source a straight front end
Refurbish headlights and fog lights
Enlist panel beating friend to straighten out miscellaneous body dings
Ad Hoc plans:
Perishables such as bushings, brakes, plugs, leads etc.
Future plans:
Headers and exhaust
Struts and lowering springs
Copen brakes (?)
Aesthetics (tint, wheels etc.)
Imagination land:
LSD
Copen final drive
K3-VET
I welcome any and all advice when it comes to this vehicle as I am very new to the Daihatsu life.
Another M1xx that is on the road and driven - not just used for its engine, love it.
What do you want to do with the car? That usually dictates what sort of mods you might want to do.
Have a look at a few of the Sirion / M1xx build threads here for some inspiration.
Along the lines of what you want to do:
Brakes; the Daihatsu Copen front rotors and calipers are a good fit and a slightly larger size.
No spark plug leads as the K3ve2 has Coil-on-plug ignition
Wheels, 15x6 or 15x6.5 can fit with the right offset - give a good choice of common tyre sizes.
I’ve actually perved super hard on your build thread. I don’t intend to seriously track this car so I won’t be going all out on the modifications but I do like the look of those SuperCircuit 4-1 headers and the BRAVE 2" exhaust (the current exhaust is rusted and rattling).
There’s the question of whether to upgrade to Copen or Materia front brakes but I have a set of 14x6" +38 Tom’s New Action rims I’ve used on my small cars (NA MX5, AE82 Corolla) that I’m not sure would fit over the larger diameter.
Even though I have no intention of getting into circuit racing I’d still like to have the car planted to throw through some twisties when the opportunity strikes so any recommendations on struts, springs and other suspension tweaks would be appreciated. Quality coilovers are worth the money but not worth putting on a daily. I do intend to hunt down the rear sway bar I missed out on though.
And really that would satisfy my requirements; An exhaust, suspension and brakes. But before all of that I just want to get her straightened out, tidy, and catch up on maintenance/perishables. Of course if there’s any “must-do’s” I’d be glad to hear them.
Edit: Oh my, browsing other build threads leaves me so many questions about choice of brake upgrades. For my purposes it looks like Copen fronts would be sufficient but I have this ingrained dislike of drum brakes as “old technology” that makes me desire Copen front and rear.
@Mokeman Cheers! That’s good to know. Probably not worth doing for my purposes anyway. I think I remember reading you’d really only want more rear braking in the wet or for events like gymkhana, but I’ve consumed so much Daihatsu information recently my head’s still spinning and I could have my wires crossed.
@evilhighway Yeah the very same one. When I saw how many of you guys are from SE QLD I didn’t think this was one to sleep on.
@b_hoves Well colour me embarrassed! Thanks for the info. From what I’ve read I think the go-to’s for rear calipers are from an Applause or an early NA MX5, right? And probably not worth doing for me anyway.
Yea, probably not worth the upgrade, unless after the copen front upgrade you are noticing a lot of fade in the rears. Having tracked an m101s on standard Sirion GTVi calipers, slotted rotors, race pads and absolutely noting done to the rears other than a fluid flush; There was no fade in the rears at all.
applause rear’s for a copen is just as difficult as it is for an L200 Mira. Having done the upgrade myself it is not a bolt-on situation like it is for the charade’s.
I saw the car as I keep an eye out but not at a point where I can really get any more cars. Though you have only just got it keep a good eye on your engine oil level. K3’s can chew through the oil quite well.
Brakes:
Rear: If you have the tools / skills / time / money etc - then the disc rears are a no-brainer and you should do them. If nothing else, brake pad changes in the future will be easier and you have more choice of pads.
Is it a necessity for street? Not really.
Nice to have? Of course.
Front: the factory 14" GTVI fit over the copen front brakes. I had an unfortunate flat in the front of one of my track tyres and chucked the factory 14’s on to drive to the tyre shop to get it changed, so Copen rotor/caliper fit. I’m not sure if the slightly larger again Materia will fit under 14’s though. Harder to source in Australia though.
Wheels:
Those TOMS wheels specs should fit from a wheel arch / proximity to suspension strut etc.
Unless their barrel shape / spoke shape is quite different they should fit over the Copen Brakes.
But if the barrel steps down in the inside or spoke shape fouls where the caliper is, they may not.
I feel you’ll have about 8-10mm to push the wheel out with spacers if the spokes of the rim foul the brake calipers, before you would foul the outside lip of the guard.
