Gadget Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Bonjour! My name is Richard and I am from Kingston, Surrey (not Jamaica) but I am currently living in Bristol.I have been on both UKSC and TGTT for quite some time now and thought it was time to say hello and tell you about my Glanza. Warning: This is more of a story than a build thread at the moment, the building will be coming soonWarning mk2: Picture LightFirst EncounterI remember the first time I came across these wicked little cars. It was in September 2008 and a friend of a friend rolled up in a mean looking Starlet, I think he was pushing around 200BHP on CT9! (Pretty sure he was/is a member on here, he has moved onto an S14 now for something called drifting?!) I could hear it coming from a mile off and just assumed it was another Halford modded up car, little did I know! We were heading into town so I nominated him to drive as I had a â??need for speedâ??. As a side note the only â??fastâ?? car I had ever been in before this was another friend of a friends Corsa Redtop.So the four of us poured into the pocket, I was immediately impressed with the dials and gismos he had on display and the bucket seats were amazing. It even had that â??Jap smellâ?? (you know the smell of fresh importsâ?¦.no?.. just me then).Anyway he fired her up and I heard the deep rumble of the exhaust, at this point I thought to myself that it must be carrying some power. The first chance he got he floored it and fook me. I can only describe it as the same feeling I got when I first went on a jetski and floored that. It was incredible, I had never felt acceleration like that and that was with four of us in the car (2 girls 2 boys if it matters?!). Pretty much there and then I was hooked and wanted one, immediately. For the rest of the day I was hassling him with constant questions about his car. It was such an anti climax getting back into my mumâ??s Honda Civic â??Maxâ?? which I was using at the time. Donâ??t let the Max nametag fool you, it was a 1272cc car with the gearstick in some weird place and the owners had an average age of 60 and thatâ??s a scientific fact. (And yes my mum fits into this category!)As a little side note hereâ??s a pic of the car in a spot of bother (proper shat myself)Banter!Anyway after I got home I started looking at TGTT and UKSC, mainly in the classified section trying to find a starlet in my price range. Unfortunately I couldnâ??t afford one and being at uni meant I would have to wait along time before I could. BuyingJanuary 2010, I was in my last year at uni and I needed a car for when I would graduate in May. The Honda Civic Max had been written off by my sister in law (cheers!) which pretty much gave me the opportunity to buy a car for myselfâ?¦. I mean buy a starlet for myself.I ended up landing this weapon, it was bought off a guy from Hatfield, was in good condition although it had been keyed down one side. Here are some of the add pics, maybe you remember it?It was pushing around 180bhp which I though was a good start for a beginner. I ran it at 0.7 bar for the first couple of months as I couldnâ??t trust myself with it on 1 bar. Not straight away anyway! Basic Modding, if thatNot much changed in the first 6 months of ownership, I added some simple mods like:- Laguna splitter- Replaced headlights, cloudy as fook- New radiator- New gear knob and shroud- New windscreenI also bought a scratch repair kit (proper job) which helped but it needs a re-spray to reach its former glory.Hereâ??s a pic I found of the splitter fitted:(Sorry for the Shoddy phone pic, if I had known I was going to do a build thread I would have bought a digi and taken a lot more detailed shots)Pivotal Point Apart from a service I gave it in February 2011 not much had been done to her and I hadnâ??t enjoyed her through the winter months as much as I had when I first got her so I decided to put her up for sale before my next years insurance kicked in. I chucked her up on pistonheads, i got some interest but nothing solid.I was so confused with what car to get next, i pretty much looked at every car out there, here are some of the main ones I was considering:-S15-Intergra DC5-Civic Type R (even after owning the â??Maxâ??!)-Ford ST2-Audi S3-Vauxhall vx220-BMW 330D or 330i-BMW Z4 coupe (was dreaming!)Anyway after yonks of searching I couldnâ??t find anything that I wanted as much as I wanted my Glanza so I decided to keep her for a bit and spend some monies giving her some more beans. (little did I know how much those beans would cost!)Pretty much in the same week I decided to keep her, the mani crackedâ?¦ bad omen? Anyway this pretty much forced me into action.ShoesFirst things first, I hadnâ??t properly put my stamp on the car yet and I was eager to change this. Another side note: My friend owned a G40 (which I loved) and he had some mint Supalights on it, he soon sold his G to get a S13 Aka Night Halk, seen below: This was on the M4 near Bath, the S13 had a tyre blowout, seen below:Scary.In tyre place next dayThe following day we were heading back from Brissy on M4 and the same thing happened, turns out he had a crack in his alloyâ?¦bad times.Anyway, he sold his G without the wheels so I thought I might as well â??chuck em onâ?? and see what they looked like, turns out they have a different PCD (who would have known!) But this got me thinking, how would a Glanza look with some cheeky dishes on. A few searches later and Dean@DW developments gave me the answer, epic! His whole car is pretty amazing. At this point I need to thank Dean for his advice and for putting up with my bombardment of questions.So I started looking for some good dished wheels for the glanza, turned out that popsy on TGTT (solid lad) had some mint XXR 501â??s with a gunmetal centre for sale, so after some quick fire questions and a bit of negotiating I got â??em!Pretty sure you donâ??t need any more photos than this one, oh the quality! Them on my floor (Donâ??t worry I think I got 4)After getting some firestone tyres fitted for £184 all in I was pretty happy. I opted for 45/195/15 to give a little bit of stretchA few pics of them fitted last weekendIts sitting a tad high but I need to do some arch work (rolled and/or flared) before I can lower them.Once again a general apology for the lack of and quality of the pics I will invest in a digi. (Thatâ??s a lie, all funds are buying beans)EngineAs the mani was cracked I had a couple of options-1.Weld mani and put back on2.Buy cheapo ebay chocolate one3.Upgrade the mofo and get some more bhpI went for option 3, which pretty much required a new turbo kit. Now there comes a point in everyoneâ??s life where they ask themselves the question, â??TD04 or Hybrid?â? I was at this point in my life and luckily there were a couple (fook loads) of threads about this dilemma.It was a hard choice especially with Enzoâ??s TD12 kit trying to tempt me.But timing is everything and The Notorious Cat had a completely new Race Tech TD04 kit for sale. After a lot of umming and errrring I decided to dive in and get it!!!!After all if I didnâ??t like it I could sell it. (Watch this space for a possible TD04 Kit for sale) (but donâ??t get your hopes up!)(Iâ??d just like to say that Notorious C.A.T is a real credit to the site, in all honestly everyone that I have come across seems to be really helpful and friendly. â??Propsâ?? to all.)And this is currently how it stands I am awaiting many new things including:- Depo Racing Gauges (Water and Oil Temp, Boost, Volt (for shits and gigs), and tachometer) - Externally Gated Race Tech TD04 kit- Civic Rad with fan, pipes and water temp adaptor (ideal) - Walbro Fuel pump- HDI pipework to TD04- TD04 Gasket Set- Boss kit with horn button (on this note I cant get the steering wheel off, I have undone the main centre bolt but its on their pretty good, before you ask I have tried WD40, ideas on a postcard please?!)- Oil sump plug (rounded the old one)Also I am currently shopping for an ECU and some injectors.So watch this space as this thread is in danger of actually becoming a build thread. All comments welcome and 'Thanks for stopping by'.Stay Classy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
miib14 Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 one hell of an intro... lol.. car looks nice pal..the civic and the blow out of the s13 ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dan507 Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Thats a pretty cool story/build thread!Keep up the good work Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Amjad Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I like stories Welcome along bud, fine Glanza you have there ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeSR Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Cool stories bro.. (No sarcasm lol) Epic LOL @ that civic hahahaa!Loving the Glanza though mate ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mo3 Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 lol another black glanza welcome tot he club Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brendanlez Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Welcome lad, great story there Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iamlegend Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Cool stories bro.. (No sarcasm lol)LMFAO i was waiting for this hahahha Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hazzagray Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Love the story behind it mate!Welcome to the club....and where did the sparcos go?!!?! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gadget Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 Cheers for the welcome lads got a lot that will be done to her in the next couple of weeks.... i hope. I keep boasting to my mates who own, listed in order of best mate-ness, an S13 (Night hawk), an S15 and a civic type r, that my car will be hitting around 230bhp with the new kit on and will pretty much 'merc them'.....'blud'. .. and i am sure it will. Can't wait. *Mini Mani Update*Have been desperately trying to get my Wepr mani welded as my car is pretty disabled without it. So I set about taking it off last Saturday, after wrestling with it for a couple of hours i managed to free it from the engine bay. But only after i removed the heat wrapping (possibly the cause for the problem in the first place?) would i know the true extent of the damage. Unfortunately i found two large cracks, i am unwilling to take the blame for both of them... the small one might have been me! Anyway it was pre-organised that a guy at my work would very kindly have a crack at welding it (pun), this was pretty perfect as it meant it could be done whilst i pretended to work and it would also cost me nowt. However, he looked and it and said he wasnt able to do it 'there and then' and would in fact need to take it home and spend the weekend on it. I was chuffed that he was willing to do this but i immediately thought "Thats not good enough!" but as i wasn't paying him for his services i felt it wouldn't have been appropiate to say this.The issue is that i need the car to be running by this weekend so i can take it through it's M.O.T before the TD04 kit is fitted, but mainly as i am due home this w/e for a St Georges day piss up and i will be stranded without it.After phoning a large proportion of my local garages it seemed unlikely that i would be able to find anyone that was capable of welding it?! They all seemed to think it was a massive/complex job and that was before i told them it had two dirty cracks. But out of the blue a mate recommended a bodyshop garage, it was the kind of garage that an internet search wouldn't bring up. Thinking i had nothing to lose i stopped by after work and he blitzed it out in like 20 minutes and charge me 20 snut.. which i was pretty happy with. (As a side note it turns out his son has a Glanza, described as "Yellow with a Black roof" anyone on here? )So pretty much its a 'go go' to fit this back in tomorrow, just waiting for the new gasket which should be waiting for me at the post office.. we'll see. Looks like the princess will go to the ball after all! ;) Stay Classy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Liam_D Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Welcome to the club dude! Glanza looks great mate. Make sure you keep us updated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bucketep91 Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 nice car buddy! welcome on board!loved those wheels on popsys car too, what happened to the sparcos tho? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gadget Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 nice car buddy! welcome on board!loved those wheels on popsys car too, what happened to the sparcos tho?The sparcos are still here, they could benefit from a cheeky refurb though. I might use 'em as winter wheels or sell them, currently undecided! Bucket do you remember me p'ming you ages ago about buying a Glanza? I had to chose between a white one and a black one, do you want to know which one i went for?! I think it was you anyway?! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Liam_D Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Are you selling the Sparcos dude? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gadget Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Are you selling the Sparcos dude?Yeah possibly mate, depends how much they are worth Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Liam_D Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 I could be interested price dependant dude! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gadget Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 What a massive c-unitAfternoon all, so i was driving home from gym (important to get that info in there for the ladies ) and i managed to ram my car deep up a tractors arse. In all seriousness, i was driving home from gym and i noticed a tractor ahead of me on my side of the road, initially i thought there was enough room for me to overtake safely. At this point I saw a car on the opposite side of the road coming past it, so i hit the brakes they locked up and started to skid. I had three routes to take1- To the left which lead into a ditch followed by a lamppost2- To the right which lead to the oncoming car3- Straight ahead which lead into the back on the trailer the tractor was pulling..I chose to stick my course and hit the tractor, ironically i had enough time to think about this but not enough time to stop the car??!?It was weird though as the car must have skidded a good 20 meters, i know my car (well i thought i did) and normally the braking distance i had would have been enough, not plenty, but enough. Either way here's the damage:Poor car.So i managed to take her back home as i was only 1km away, took off the bumper and analysed the damage, on first looks i need the following parts:- Bonnet- Driverside headlight bracket - Vertical strut bar (the one that the bonnet catch is attached to)- Crash bar- Air filter I think that's it, the rad is fooked but i have one coming in the post already.I will also post in the 'Wanted' thread, but this is a massive pain in the arse as i have the mot due on the 15th.. can it be done?Also insurance is due this weekend... half of me wants to close up shop. Thoughts?Stay Classy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lew777 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 dont think cars are ever the same after a crashEDIT : i think you should give up driving after driving your civic over the edge and now crashing your glanza Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gadget Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 dont think cars are ever the same after a crashEDIT : i think you should give up driving after driving your civic over the edge and now crashing your glanzaCheers for the positive comments :rtfm: .....but yes you might be right! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Liam_D Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Gutted for you dude! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Russleh Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 aww thats a right kick in the teeth. id say if you can put your car on hold for a while just dont renew the mot or insurance for a while till your sorted out money wise Quote Link to post Share on other sites
redz11 Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 no way dude :rtfm: such a lovely car too! main thing is you're alright!!!! it shouldnt be hard to find replacement body parts lolatleast the front bumper looks ok.i`d agree with russleh, put it on hold and sort it out in the long term, times are hard with money thesedays hope ye sort it out bud Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Ahhh what a shame Although lucky the trailer was high and just took the top end of the front out, could of easily destroyed your FMIC and chassis legs etc.Doesnt seem impossible to repair to her former glory as you said.Let us know what you do with it :rtfm: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gadget Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 Ahhh what a shame :rtfm:Although lucky the trailer was high and just took the top end of the front out, could of easily destroyed your FMIC and chassis legs etc.Doesnt seem impossible to repair to her former glory as you said.Let us know what you do with it Yeah you're right mate after closer inspection i think it may look worse than it actually is... just trying to get all the parts to fit this weekend.. not going to happen. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ollie ryan Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 mate if you need any help sorting te car out i work in accident repair nd only live 20minutes from you, pm me if you want and i will send you my number and textme when you want a hand mate Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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