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Finnish Copen's modifications

Discussion in 'Modifications' started by Elem, Aug 9, 2018.

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  1. Elem

    Elem Copenworld Newbie

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2018
    Location:
    Finland
    Car(s):
    Daihatsu Copen 1.3 LHD 2006, Toyota Porte 150R 2008
    Thought I'd create a new thread here to start a story of all modifications to this car under it. So, here goes, done so far since I got the car exactly two weeks ago:

    Cleaned and painted the rear brake drums
    IMG_6370.JPG IMG_6372.JPG
    First I cleaned all the loose dirt and rust, then used a metal drill brush and finally treated the rear brake drums with brakleen and painted them with black zinc-phosphate high-temperature spary paint. Small detail, but a nice touch. Surprisingly laborious though, took about three hours in all.

    New stainless steel mesh radiator grille
    Original plastic grille was broken and even some pieces were missing.
    IMG_6480.JPG IMG_6482.JPG IMG_6472.JPG
    New stainless steel mesh radiator grille from a Dutch company Cabrio Supply adds some bling, but still with good taste, I like this new smile.
    IMG_6510.JPG
    Noticed while installing the new grille that the front bumber has taken some hits that might have also bent the very light and delicate aluminium hood. The gap between the grille and the hood is not even, but to fix this completely I think it would require a new front bumber and maybe a hood too. So, I'll just ignore that for now.. Anyway, this must be one of the easiest mods there is for Copen, took less than 10 minutes!

    New radio-navigator-computer unit
    As the old, there-when-bought, Pioneer head unit was just constantly displaying a reverse-camera warning on a black screen I decided to get one of those not-very-expensive Chinese head units running Android. I got an Xtrons unit off Ebay and it shipped (from UK by the way) in about a week, I chose a model with Android 8 and a lot of RAM and FLASH to avoid getting a sluggish feeling thing and maybe to prolong its usable lifetime. Installation was rather straightforward plug-and-play, old unit out, new unit in type of business. Most time went went to mechanically attaching the unit to the dash and prying the cables inside the cramped space..
    IMG_6476.JPG
    IMG_6490.JPG IMG_6497.JPG fullsizeoutput_146c.jpeg The new head unit booted right up, and now there's navigation, web browsing, Play Store, bluetooth handsfree, etc. and it even plays music too! Lot to configure and play with on this thing, maybe I'll follow up with the features on this thing later when I've had some time to play around with it.. This mod took a good three hours I think.

    Well, hmm, what next?
     
  2. BRUCE REYNOLDS (GTR)

    BRUCE REYNOLDS (GTR) Copenworld Member

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2014
    Location:
    london
    Car(s):
    copen 1.3
    Your Copen looks great.. well worth the time spent..
     
    Elem likes this.
  3. Kagu

    Kagu Copenworld Newbie

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2018
    Location:
    France
    Car(s):
    Daihatsu Copen
    You made other changes, I see the rims and the air filter?
     
  4. BarnsleyRob

    BarnsleyRob Copenworld Veteran

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2017
    Location:
    South Yorks
    Car(s):
    2009/59 silver Copen 1298 cc (now gone to a new home)
    Looks very good and the wheel hubs are in great condition.

    I shouldn’t worry too much about the panel gaps on the bonnet as you’ll probably have noticed that even when it’s fully closed, there’s still some flex in it. There are some bump stops but they’re so far up that they don’t really help to adjust the nose droop (the sloping front bit with the badge on). The only thing I looked for was the the rear edge didn’t catch the wings or scuttle panel when the bonnet was opened/closed.
     
  5. Elem

    Elem Copenworld Newbie

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2018
    Location:
    Finland
    Car(s):
    Daihatsu Copen 1.3 LHD 2006, Toyota Porte 150R 2008
    The rims came with the car. The "cold air intake" mod was already there too, it seems to have been installed well but I don't know what kind of filter element there is and when it should be replaced/cleaned? Also, the stickers were there too when bought, I'm not sure about keeping those.
     
  6. Elem

    Elem Copenworld Newbie

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2018
    Location:
    Finland
    Car(s):
    Daihatsu Copen 1.3 LHD 2006, Toyota Porte 150R 2008
    Thanks, good to know. I'm not going to worry about that too much then as the read edge of the bonnet doesn't catch other panels when opening/closing. Some paint chip work next maybe then...
     
  7. Salieri

    Salieri Copenworld Veteran

    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2012
    Location:
    Germany
    Car(s):
    Used to have a White Copen, but I sold it in 2023
    It seems to be something like a BMC Carbon Air Box: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox Nr. CDA85-150

    You should be able to open the box and take the filter out, then clean it like a K&N filter
     
    Elem likes this.
  8. BarnsleyRob

    BarnsleyRob Copenworld Veteran

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2017
    Location:
    South Yorks
    Car(s):
    2009/59 silver Copen 1298 cc (now gone to a new home)
    Don’t forget it’s an aluminium bonnet so you may need to be careful with primer etc. I had mine resprayed last year and it bubbled again. They resprayed it again this year but the paint “bloomed” in that it had a whitish pigmentation in some areas. The best paint match was from Chips Away who did my sill perfectly but when I sold Noddy, I chucked the leftover paint.
     
  9. Salieri

    Salieri Copenworld Veteran

    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2012
    Location:
    Germany
    Car(s):
    Used to have a White Copen, but I sold it in 2023
    I had mine resprayed in 2012 and now there is one little bubble on the edge, but I'm waiting for it to get worse so its worth respraying :D
     
  10. Lode

    Lode Copenworld Newbie

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2018
    Location:
    Belgium, 2400 Mol
    Car(s):
    Dark Green Copen 1.3
    Red Citroën Xantia Activa V6
    Red Ford Kuga 2000 Diesel
    Nice work !
    I'm looking for a car radio navigation aswell , what 's the type off xtron you have.... and are you satisfied with it.... how is navigation ?
     
  11. Elem

    Elem Copenworld Newbie

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2018
    Location:
    Finland
    Car(s):
    Daihatsu Copen 1.3 LHD 2006, Toyota Porte 150R 2008
    The exact model is TE706PL, 4GB+32GB, octa core, Android 8.0. Haven’t had much time yet to fiddle with it but I tried the stock Google Maps and navigation and it works just as expected. You could install any Android apps, navigation apps included. I created a new Google account and registered that to the head unit to make the Google navigation work. I didn’t want to use my personal account just to be sure.

    I’ll write about my experiences as soon as I’ve had time to use it more...
     

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