Greetings from South Wales. I joined the forum last week so thought Id check in to say hello. Bit of brief history on my Starlet ownership. Last year I decided I wanted a cheap, but reliable run-around to use as a second car, which has now turned into my daily. After much research on possible cars, it quickly dawned that only a Starlet would do! In September last year I found a rather unloved looking 1997 Sportif in the Birmingham area for a few hundred quid. The car was white but had all the sheen of a brick wall and a dented nearside front wing that looked as though a person of considerable heft had leant into it. I very nearly walked away from it, but in fairness it was actually a very straight, genuine car which drove absolutely spot on. Plus it only had 51k on the clock, FSH, only 2 owners and a brilliant DVLA MOT history. Money changed hands and it drove faultlessly the 110 miles back to South Wales. Sitting on the drive looking faded and unloved, I had to do something to pick it back up. So spent 4hrs with a DA machine polisher cutting the paintwork followed by a further 2hrs with the DA polishing it. What a transformation. So that was it......the modding had begun. After seeing the SR models I decided to go down the look-a-like route keeping it as faithful to the SR as I could. Unfortunately the Speedlines proved tricky to source, so I picked up a keenly priced set of BBS 15" wheels (6" wide with an ET45 offset) which I shod with 195/45/15 boots. The wheels were a tad shabby so I set to with the rattle cans and gave them a DIY refurb. Thought Id give the brake calipers a few coatings of red enamel whilst the wheels were off too. Fortunately a perfect white nearside front wing was easily sourced from a breakers yard for £30, so had a body shop do the swap losing that awful dented wing in the process. I sourced an original TTE rear spoiler which I had to prep and respray as it came off a silver SR, and I managed to find the repro SR stickers from a seller in Ireland on eBay. I did put clear front indicators on this week which aren't exactly SR'esque, but I think they freshen the front end up. I sourced a set of Toyota mud flaps and sprayed them body colour, and finished off with a fresh set of metal pressed number plates. The only thing left for me to do is fit a black front splitter (maybe a Skoda Fabia splitter as only £13.98) as I think the bottom of the bumper sits a bit high, and perhaps some 13mm or 15mm spacers to bring the wheels out a tad. Unfortunately I dont have any before pictures (wish I had now) but heres a few of the finished product.
