My Daihatsu Charade

[eiriksmil]

Hello,

As some of you know, I have previously owned a Daihatsu Charade, however in the end the car owned me. It was a lot of work to get it finished, a lot more than I could do in the family garage.

However, I am currently sourcing a new Daihatsu Charade, the model type G102. G102 is the 5-door version of the Charades built between 1987 and 1993, and the model itself is called G100.

My car was equipped with a 1.3 litre engine, called HC-E by Daihatsu. The C means it is a 1.3 litre, it could also be a HD-E with 1.6 litres (found in the Applause). The HC-E is a SOCH and makes 94 bhp and redlines at 7000 rpm, which is very good for a 1.3 litre engine, naturally aspirated.

I have only a few hard plans for the car, it shall be painted dark red with a black roof and black details. I haven't decided on wheels yet, however I am considering some Work Equip 03s. In addition, I have the possibility to get some Porsche wheels for a relatively cheap price, and I'm thinking to either get these painted matt black or get them fully polished.

Engine-wise, I am going for either a lightly modded HC-E to pass the 100 bhp marker, or getting myself a HD-EG engine from a G201 DeTomaso, making 130 bhp in stock form.

I need to find out the details later, but I've got some words for you, low and clean are the most two important goals.

I only need to find a decent, rust free chassis and I am ready to really start the project. However, I have front seats and rear bench from the G101 Charade Turbo/GTti, that will fit my G102. In addition, I've got a repainted, black interior for the G102.

A do not have pictures of the plastic parts from the interior, as I am not complete with it, I still need re-trimming of the insirts in the doorcards, in addition I am going to trim different interior parts in either suede, leather or alcatara. I guess I'm going with a leather-look, in full black that also, trying to get the exclusive look in the interior.

Some details in the interior are painted silver, only some inserts "here and there", to have something different. In my eyes it looks very pretty, but as I said, I won't post any pictures of the interior before I'm done with it.

Here are the seats:

Eirik

 

[Keef]

Well cool, you're getting another project started! I hope the chassis you pick won't have much rust at all. It's amazing how just the noisture in the air can rust bare steel in days, isn't it?! Good luck finding a body, and I hope to see your updates.

 

[a6m5]

I still see Charades, great once in a while. I've never driven any Daihatsus, but owners seem to love them. Still trying to keep their Charades and Rockys after all these years. In America, however, Daihatsu parts to maintain those cars are very hard to come by.

 

[eiriksmil]

Bilstein shockers, bought from Camskill.co.uk. Thanks, Mike!
Combined with 40/40 lowering springs, lower strut bars and upper tower bars all around, I think my suspension is going to be fairly stiff.
Anyway, some pics for viewing.

Eirik

 

[Freddie]

I've driven a Daihatsu Charade 1.3. It's a very fun engine, both frugal and with a motorcycle's personality - it revs 3500 rpm blipping on the throttle. Mind you, it's not the torquiest, but the car is still very light, weighing far under the magic 1000kg.

The car I drove, is now deplated since the owner, the local mechanic, didn't bother to pay road-tax on it. You should take a look at it, since I have a feeling you could get it rather cheap, probably kr 5-7000. It's roughly an hour's drive from where you live.

It'll need a new transmission (the old one sounding like it's in reverse in the three first gears), the seats you've already got (the original one are completely useless, it's the only car I've driven that I've needed to shift my weight so I wouldn't fall of.). I think it's a worthy project.

 

[eiriksmil]

Time to bump this. I finally managed to source a new car in August. I haven't upgraded it that much, I've installed the seats, bought a steering wheel and got myself some rare JDM parts. Plans for this winter is lowering, which is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Seems like the only lowering springs with TÜV do not include the 1.3 litre..
The car has rolled a little under 70k miles (or 109k kilometres to be precise), is a "one careful lady owner" vehicle and it's a '93 - the final run of this chassis to be sold in Norway (I have seen a G100 '95 from the Phillipines).

Clean exterior

Night picture (orange 5W bulbs create a nice change)

Steering wheel and seats (look a couple of posts above)

JDM mirror adjuster (all black)

It's in winter storage now and it has told me it can't wait to be driven again.

Eirik

 

[socomplayer2]

Awesome man! I really liked reading about the red one you had, what happened? Anyways keep us updated.

 

[Diego440]

Are Charades really that good that you'd want to own more than one? I ask only because the few pre-1995 Daihatsus I've seen around here look very poorly maintained and about to fall apart, and can't think of people wanting to spend that much on them, especially since there are other Japanese cars that could appeal more.

 

[eiriksmil]

The red was parted out November '06. Some of the parts live on in the new machine. Call this the continue.

-Diego-, I'll try answer your question the best way I can. First of all, I've actually never seen a Charade in Spain, only Ferozas. The only Daihatsu I saw when I was in southern Spain in October was from Belgium. Maybe it's different in the Canary Islands? I have been there once, but I wasn't paying too much attention to Daihatsus back then.
You're spot on that most Daihatsus are poorly maintained. But every car that is very poorly maintained looks as if it's about to fall apart. A well maintained car is another story. It's a blast to drive, good power-to-weight giving nippy performance. Of course there are many other more appealing and faster Japanese cars out there, but I haven't got hundreds and thousands to spend

 

[Diego440]

I've seen about 3-4 Charades around here, but they're pre-1990 models. Good luck either way with the restoring. I can relate to having a go at fixing up an otherwise non-appealing car, since I did it with a couple of turds (1964 VW Beetle and 1981 Ford Mustang) in my younger years.

 

[Jim Prower]

Nice little 'Hatsu!

 

[eiriksmil]

Thanks mate.

Diego, who can resist a '64 Beetle? Proper front tuck and rake is where it's at

Got new wheels for it.

 

[Jim Prower]

Now they need tires. :3

 

[High-Test]

Thanks mate.

Diego, who can resist a '64 Beetle? Proper front tuck and rake is where it's at

Got new wheels for it.

Toyomatt will be most pleased with your selection, methinks.

Nice car. 👍

 

[DustDriver]

The car looks good, although not my style.
My dad has a Daihatsu Rocky (actually 2, but he used the second to restore the first,
only the chassis of the second and the body of the first remain.)

it's a bit stiff, so not really suitable for real offroad work. But capable of bad winter weather (like we have all the time here in Belgium )

Rockys were used a lot in 4x4 rallys around here before that sport died.

 

[Venari]

I remember driving an old GTti 3-pot - what a hoot! Nice wheels, good luck in finding some lowering springs.

Try here: http://www.apexsuspension.com/gb/index.php?page=homepage

And the exact parts you want from a good UK supplier I know and trust: http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m14b0s874p3165

 

[Joey D]

Were JDM mirror switches really needed . Nice car though, I've never seen something like that before 👍.

 

[socomplayer2]

Oh man, those are some rims. All you need is some nice tires and sports suspension.

 

[eiriksmil]

Were JDM mirror switches really needed . Nice car though, I've never seen something like that before 👍.

I can't say it was needed, but I never turn down hard-to-find parts at classifieds for cheap money

Oh man, those are some rims. All you need is some nice tires and sports suspension.

Thanks, man. Tires, check. Suspension, check?

Yeah, I had the Bilsteins. Yeah, I still have the Bilsteins. Guess I've got coilovers now too. Lowers someplace around 20mm to 70-80mm, with adjustable spring rates and adjustable camber plates up front. I ended up paying around $2k, but with lowering springs and new top mounts the Bilsteins would have cost about the same and given me less. Weird philosophy, I know..

 

[ferrari_chris]

I know someone who'd go ga-ga over those wheels.

So I'll say 👍 for him.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

You're all rich and know too much I'd love to have a project car and actually aford it.

 

[eiriksmil]

Priorities mate, priorities

Lowered the front today.

 

[ferrari_chris]

Doing the back tomorrow?

 

[eiriksmil]

Certainly not. I was on holiday, it started snowing and then rained some, plus I had to take care of some rust in the strut towers. We did the rear on Sunday, though.
I'm bringing it lower in the front, it's got a slight reverse rake now, which I don't like. My mate there is 6ft 1" tall..

 

[High-Test]

That is really low! (Or, as you said, your friend makes the car look small) 👍👍

Whatever happened to the Ronals? Did I miss something?

 

[eiriksmil]

That is really low! (Or, as you said, your friend makes the car look small) 👍👍

Whatever happened to the Ronals? Did I miss something?

The car looks tiny, yeah. The Ronals are in the basement, haven't got around to fit tires yet. The rear arches are filled with the 5.5J ET35 wheels, 7J ET37 won't work without arch modification. We got the rear wheels in, but we can't get them out without loosening the top strut mounts. It's that low

 

[High-Test]

The car looks tiny, yeah. The Ronals are in the basement, haven't got around to fit tires yet. The rear arches are filled with the 5.5J ET35 wheels, 7J ET37 won't work without arch modification. We got the rear wheels in, but we can't get them out without loosening the top strut mounts. It's that low

Where's the :jawdrop: smiley when you need it?


It is very slick looking. And it's in great shape, too. 👍

 

[buickgnx88]

Looks good but I'm not too fond of the rear wheel lip. If you raised the rear a bit so you could see most of the wheel/tire, it would look much better IMO.

 

[ferrari_chris]

Looks great at the rear mate! 👍 Don't touch it, just wind the front down a little.

 

[Omnis]

I think you should raise the rear and throw on some mudflaps and a vertical spoiler. You could call it the S4 Charade.