The Little giant killer

Well… The turbo plans are on hold for now and the K3 swap plans will be moved up.
Cause i just found out that my engine is going back to it’s oil addiction. :sob:

Because the 3 cylinders are notorious for having a taste for oil i’ve decided to go for the K3 much sooner than planned.
It needs about a liter of oil every week now out of the blue. Since the rebuild i never needed to add oil until recently. The engine is bone dry so there are no leaks.
I top it of every couple of days cause even when the level is just slightly below max it sounds so freaking rough.

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Holy Snap, that brake piston is insane :open_mouth:

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I’m going to have to wait a little longer with the swap. Cause it’s legally not possible, at least not for a reasonable price if it even survives the tests.
I could buy a L7 from 1998 which would make it cheap and legally ok (don’t ask me why, i don’t know why either). So that might be a future project but not now.

So instead i’ve been thinking about buying a cheap Sirion or YRV with a K3.
And this morning i found a YRV real cheap just a couple of km from where i live. With no intention to buy it right away.

Well…
I failed. It’s been paid in full and i’m going to pick it up Saturday.







It doesn’t come with AC, but i’ll take care of that.
However it did come with a poorly installed stereo and VERY rusty rocker panels.

No plans yet except for the AC and some rust repair.
Any ideas???
No worries, the L7 won’t go anywhere

I’ll start a separate build once this project gets of the ground.
Again any ideas are very welcome!!!

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Stick to pragmatic decisions and perhaps keep it purely as transport. Fix rust, install AC and tinker with the L7.

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Been really busy, so not much happened unfortunately.
But i did get some new wheels and tires. And i couldn’t be happier.
It just looks so much better and drives much better.



Recently i got a message from my local wreckers saying he got a set in. So i went over to take a look. They weren’t bad but also not great. But the price was pretty good. The tires that were on it were totally the wrong size, so i took them of and left them there and ordered 4 new tires through my work and the boss offered to pay for them. So i got free tires. :grin:
They came out pretty nice after a wash despite the curb rash.

After a week i already noticed a little difference in handling. But a yesterday when it rained i noticed the biggest difference. No sliding around and no wheel spin when accelerating from standstill.

About a week earlier a had to tow the trailer a couple of blocks back to the storage lot. The boss told me i could use any car i wanted , so chose my own (i just couldn’t resist and let the chance slip by).



Anyway… Now that i’m running 14’’ wheels, i can finally install the YRV brakes i rebuild ages ago.
That reminds me… I still have a set OE 13’’ alloys that are useless to me now. They currently don’t have tires fitted, but can come with the tires fitted from my steelies if interested. So if anyone (in the netherlands) is interested…
(Photo is from when i picked the donor car).

Hopefully i can share more with you guys soon!

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Wheels do look fantastic

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I really need to make some more time. With this rate i’ll never be finished.

Past saturday i made some time free to finally do the brake upgrade.
It was a good thing i wanted to change the front brake hoses anyway, cause 1 of them was damaged.

The parts box filled with new goodies! :smiley:

The buggered brake hose.

It’s so weird… The difference in size seems so much bigger in person. You can also see the disc has turned blue from the heat. (Got a heavy right foot and therefor have to brake quite hard. I’m surprised they’re not warped).


Before :roll_eyes:

After :grin:
(I know… I have to touch up the paint on the caliper a bit. No wonder after being tossed around a bit).

I think i need to either roll the guards or install stiffer springs. My new tires have been rubbing on the lip of the rear arches. :cry:

But back to the brakes…
I decided to remove the rear drums for a minute to inspect the rear brakes, replace a wheel stud that was damaged when changing the wheels and to chance a wheel bearing that was ever so slightly starting to become audible.
Got to love those slight pressfit studs.

When i took the drums of and hit the rear brakes with some brake cleaner i was pleasantly surprised…


I’ve never seen a japanese car that’s over 10 years old that has such rust free drum brakes. Correct me if i’m wrong, but they even look like they still be the ones installed in the factory 18 years ago (except for the white lithium grease of course).

I hope to go to the paint store tomorrow to get some color matched paint for some upcoming stuff.
And i might place an order tonight or tomorrow for something unique (something i’ve never seen on a Dai).

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Allot of work for such a small car. Love it.

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Stiffer rear springs will send more grip to the front. That will make if feel sweet. Keep the front rate std (should be about 140ft/lb). Rolling may not be enough. Look up under the guard. Typically some of the inner sheet needs beating. I cut all the inner guard away so as to fit 15 x7 rim.

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Wow that’s a lot of work!
Nice thread with lots of explanatory pics :+1:t5:

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if i were to fit stiffer rear springs… Are there any of the shelf springs that you’d recommend? Or do i have to look for performance springs on ebay?

I am not aware of anything off the shelf. King Springs would make custom for you. I made spring perches to accept 2 1/2" coil over springs. That way it was not going to cost a fortune to test and tune, and I ended up with about four sets over a range of rates.

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I’ve been away way longer than i realised. :grimacing:

After all of this i bought 2 more blue Cuore’s. One of them was purely for parts, the other was used a ‘‘temporary’’ ‘‘replacement’’ for the one in this build thread. I did some disability mods to this one for my mom (she needed a better seat and the ‘‘go fast pedal’’ on the left) because my moms car blew a headgasket and needed a replacement engine.


The parts car before.


The parts car after.
You can also see my moms car (the gray swift).


Here you can see my two nuggets before i sold my first.

After my moms car was fixed and she no longer needed mine, i sold it.
Not too long after i also sold the YRV.

I did quite a bit with my (now) current Cuore before i moved cities. Afterwards not too much but there were quite a few things in the pipeline.
Some of the major things i’ve done were (in no particular order)…

  • Got some interior bits flocked
  • Got my TR wheels FINALLY powdercoated
  • Painted some interior bits
  • Got a Sirion steering wheel and not much later a sports steering wheel :joy:
  • The same with the seats… first a set of Sirion seats and again not much later a sports seat :rofl:
  • Painted my cluster and later bought a JDM cluster from a club member
  • Installed electric mirrors
    Here are some pics of the things i’ve done. (Some of them are poor quality cause i lost a lot due to a crashed HDD and needed to get them from my insta).


The cluster i’ve painted.


The JDM cluster (at day).


The JDM cluster (at night)







The flocked interior bits.


Fresh from the powdercoater.



I also painted the center trim, but i can’t find a decent pic of it. The center trim didn’t turn out great anyway so it’s fine with me. :joy:


My current steering wheel (the hub is from a Toyota Supra).

Before i moved i managed to total a vw polo with the Cuore. :rofl:
All the Cuore had were some scuff marks, broken headlight and a dent in the fender




And because i saved the parts of the parts car i managed to fix the damage the next day. :grin:

As i said after moving i didn’t do much. But i bought a ton of stuff (before and after moving).
Some of which are…

  • JDM heater panel with hazard switch
  • JDM column switch without hazard switch
  • L7 turbo windshield washer bottle
  • A ton of new (stock) suspension parts
  • New engine mounts
  • A bunch of genuine O-rings and gaskets. And a few bolts.
  • YRV brake calipers (and a genuine repair kit to rebuild it).
  • A underseat tray (bought i from a club member who got it from japan).
  • Electric folding mirrors (which are on the way from japan right now).

I’m sure i forgot plenty of stuff. But i’ll leave at this as this update is already long enough.

The things i was planning to do will probably never happen. Cause i recently came across a once in a lifetime opportunity. And am currently busy trying to make it happen, and when it happens my cuore will be sold (to a friend). It’s JDM and 100% Dai related, but that’s all i’m going to say for now. :grimacing: :grin:
And for those who already know… :shushing_face: :zipper_mouth_face:

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Who are you selling to :poop:

She’s sold :cry:
But she’s going to a good home.

But on the bright side I got the chance to buy a Gino because of that. :grin:
Drove all the way to the UK with @marc0tjevp to pick it up.


It’s going to take some time to get it registered. But that’s not going to prevent me from having fun with it.
Already went to a car show with it (for unknown and underrated cars).




I’ll be making a new thread for the Gino soon.

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