Things are afoot at Lawnmower HQ. 

Floorspace cleared?

A list of problems?

What's this all about then? 

Hands up who chose 'He's bought a MOT expired Daihatsu Sirion Rally 2'? Yes, the 'Halo' model of the OAP car of the year 2006. 

Yep, thats right. 110bhp of tuned Toyota 2sz-fe goodness, fitted to about 670kg of the finest Japanese steel available in the mid-00's. Purchased through a car forum I run, it was kindly delivered it from Sunny Devon to Sunny Hampshire this afternoon. 

I've hooked its tiny battery up to my trickle charger for now, there is a snagging list I need to work through before its MOT ready. I've already splashed the cash on an alternator belt, inlet manifold gasket, throttle body gaskets for the ICV and baseplate and I need to extract the alternator this weekend to drop it off at www.jasm.co.uk for a refurb next week.

We used to have a Daihatsu Cuore (the UK demonstrator, S201 UKL) which was an absolute riot to drive with its 54bhp 989cc triple, this is its big brother, with twice as much power so should be a lot of fun once its road legal.

My plan is to work through the idle issue (it sits at about 1800rpm) which I think is most likely an air leak somewhere after the MAP sensor, then replace the mid-rear exhaust section which has a speed hole in it currently, then have my brother weld up the rear suspension mount which is rather crusty, then fit 4 tyres then put it in for a test. This will take me a while but it can stay garaged during this time to keep it dry and warm.

I can work on quite a bit of the rust with a wire wheel and Vactan while the alternator is away being fiddled with and while I wait for the gaskets to arrive.

Its the highest revving car I've ever owned, with a redline at 7800rpm, I'm very much looking forward to testing that out once its road legal! Hopefully the fact that Daihatsu pulled out of the WHOLE CONTINENT OF EUROPE in 2013 won't hinder my work too much!