Hello all, nice forum which has been very informative prior to me looking for a Copen 600cc. Found one this week but after checking it over, speaking to the owner and checking previous MOT data it seems to have had a major issue with rust and corrosion all under the chassis and in the boot failed several MOT's over the years but corrected and passed subsequently including the current one which has now passed after rectifying the advisories on corrosion. I know they are prone to corrosion due to UK road salt/weather etc but is this a normal amount each year for the last 5 MOT's? as it has never been under sealed. Only has two owners from new and a 55 plate a bit tatty inside but reflected in the price and I'm looking for a project and this seems to be it just need to know if this amount of corrosion repair is a no no! Any advice welcome on your experience with the rust and costs approximately for chassis welding and under seal? Much appreciated!
I would personally steer clear of a Copen with anything more than surface rust as it’s likely to be a money pit. I’m sure you’ll eventually manage to source body panels via eBay or even imported from Japan but they’re unlikely to be available when you need them. The chassis will be a completely different beast and if it’s already failed MOTs, it means it’s structural and sounds like the rot has well and truly set in. You’d be better off saving your money and maybe spending a little bit of what would have been your project fund on a better car. What’s your budget ?
Hi thanks for the quick reply, initial budget was 1-2k for a project Copen to be stripped and rebuilt as a learning curve, I have basic mechanic knowledge but welding is another thing all together especially to rectify a chassis if as you say "rot has well and truly set in! I like the idea of taking a car and bringing it up to show standard but not if I am going to be onto a loser from day one. Any idea of welding costs for a chassis? Thanks again.
Thee was a member on here that had some work done up in the North East but I don’t recall his name. I think the cost was easily upwards of £3k for a restoration including paint. Edit. Found the link but the user hasn’t been around for several months now. One week in...out of three!
Well I finally took the plunge and bought a Copen (turbo engine). Will post some images shortly. She is a fixerupper but I decided to go down this route as a hobby/project. It needs the following: 1. Only has 1 key (need to source additional key and a fob, any good places?) 2. Has had a leak in the boot (never fixed), which has caused rust and holes, will need welding (currently lined the boot with paper towel to gauge where the water ingress is to fix this) see photos above, anyone experienced this level of rust? 3. Rust on body work (various places, doors, sill, arches, etc) 4. Wheels need a regurb various kerbing and pitting 5. De-rust and underseal of the car First port of call is to blitz the car with cleaning products inside and out (not been cleaned in a long time!) and fix the boot leak! Going to have my hands full but I have already grown attached to this car.
@Copen_NW_UK Yup. I guess you didn’t really want to know what we thought. I wish you all the best but I’d have walked away from that one. If the boot is in that condition, you need to wonder about the regular oil changes etc.
Thought that might be the response from the pictures, I guess this is why there will be very little of these cars left soon. Anyone know how to get hold of new keys and fobs?
You can get a key cut with the transponder chip at Timpsons. They seem to have an outlet at most Morrison’s these days so you can try it before you leave the car park. If you have a Cobra alarm, duplicate fobs are available from Cobra Car Tech.
Excellent cheers there is a Timpsons at the local Tesco here, is there a simple way to check if it’s a standard alarm or a cobra one as there is no remote? Cheers Ian
Look for a Cobra sticker on one of the side windows. If it’s a Cobra, then a relatively cheap fix. If it’s not and you need a Daihatsu fob, I think you’ll be in for some serious money.
If it's a turbo then it's Daihatsu as far as I know, I've only seen the cobra alarm on 1.3's. The alarm fobs are about £70 new, just look for copen's breaking on Ebay and contact the breakers about buying a fob off them. I did that and got mine for £20 delivered.
Well today I took the seats out of rusty to ascertain carpet condition and to give it a deep clean (don’t think it had been cleaned for a long time properly) thankfully carpets where good condition and came up a treat, so did all the plastics and seats after 4hrs at it! Next is a trip to the welders for the boot floor and rusted boot lip to be fixed.
Well got some spare time today and took the rear bumper off fully to see rusty’s rear end, she is certainly living up to her name! Booked in to be sand blasted and welded next month. Good news is the underside chassis looks good as it has previously been undersealed and there is minimal rust spots where the underseal has chipped. Next is to clean the engine bay and remove front bumper to inspect further!
So managed to get a key cut and programmed today (Timpsons) and also bought a fob (ebay) so cheers for the heads up on Rob and Vin. The process for me to programme the fob if anyone else struggles was this: 1. Put your interior light in the central position, close the doors and check the light goes off (if so skip to step 3) 2. Mine didn’t go off so checked the door closure rubbers on both doors and found the passenger side was the problem so a bit of tape to make the button longer (temp measure) closed the door and the light went off, result! 3. Disconnected the negative terminal on the battery and left for 2 minutes 4. Put the terminal back on but didn’t tighten it 5. Pressed both unlock and lock buttons at the same time until the doors locked and unlocked (about 5 seconds of holding the buttons down until it did this) then let go 6. Pressed the unlock button once and the doors locked and unlocked...now it was paired, even the boot opens after holding the unlock button for 3 seconds! 7. Secure the negative terminal connector properly, shut the bonnet and perform a victory arm raise (punch the air!) It took me 2 hours to sort this out due to not doing step 1 first and several trips to the shops to source a fob new battery, which wasn’t needed but at least I have a spare now! Hope this is of help to someone!
Ive seen this post about reprogramming the new fob in on FB....seriously does it work? Which fob did you buy? Have you a link from eBay please?
@Copen_NW_UK Looks like you’re making good progress. Just one thing I’ve noticed is that your drivers floor mat looks a bit loose. You’d be better securing it to the carpet somehow because if it slips, there isn’t much clearance under the pedals and you don’t want to jam one of them in an emergency.
Can anyone confirm the above method for coding a fob in works? And which fob off eBay works? The OP hasn't been back on here since October....not answering on Facebook either!! Thanks
