[Mibo]

Alright, well i'll start off by saying I currently live in France, right outside Paris in a town called Antony. Originally from South Carolina, USA I've had a few cars already, mainly civics, all off them modded, engine swapped, lowered and all that jazz. I like to do all the work myself and hardly ever ask for help, seems more of a personal car that way.

Anyway I just moved to Europe at the end of august and got my first car, an Opel Corsa 1.4i 16v, ya know, the ecotech model. Its got some nice pickup and a decent look already. I've been KILLING this website with searches as well as Google to see what can possibly happen with these cars, and I gotta admit that I do like the look of the car and the possibilities.

Heres a photo of the the day that I got it, it had some ugly hubcaps on it so i had to take them off and throw them away, one was also missing lol.

Its in pretty decent shape, one dent on the driver rear quarter panel, havn't tried to take it out yet but the paint isn't chippped so i'll just leave it for now.

Got lots of plans for this thing tho, first off its gotta be lower, can't stand it sitting that high. Was thinking about going with a 60mm lowering springs and just gonna ride out the shocks on the rear until they die(which won't take to long) then replace with proper.<- chime in if people have had issues with fitting the springs onto stock shocks. Wheels of course, my dream is Volk TE-37's but any 5 thick spoke will probably do.

Issues with the car now, other then the brake pads/rotors needing changed the car is is pretty good condition. Gear linkage needs to be swapped out as well as the air filter, which i'll probably just switch to a cone filter instead of de-restricting the airbox(honestly I think it looks a bit tacky). Of course all the normal stuff as well, stripping badges, side bumbers, repainting stuff, and interested in adding a GSi spoiler and roof racks(probably not till its lowered).

Anyway as progress goes along i'll be adding stuff, might be slow at first but there will be lots of photo's of before, during, and after progress.

Glad to be here and I'm sure i'll be asking alot of questions about these cars as we don't get them in the states(tho its got GM parts all over it lol).

As it stands now, this will be updated as things progress. as well adding a todo list which i'll keep updated

to do list will be short term and long term goals, as money is tight with wife and kids and trying to save up money for our move(after the first big move from the states to france)

Short Term:

repaint all plastics on exterior blackDone
semi-referb steelies to black
black depo
hid "style" bulbsdone
stereodone
replace speakers
fit new gear linkagebought, not installed
new tow strapbought not installed

long term

Lowering probably 60 all around at least
new 15" alloys probably not vauxhall wheels but something different
exhaust setup, not sure what kinda/style yet
plasti-dip whole car
GSI spoiler
Actual 6k Hid kit
Rebadging Vauxhall

maybe some other stuff but wanna keep it simple.

things may change here and there who knows. Kinda got a general idea what I wanna do. but things change.

 

[Bradders]

Pics of said civics and keep text talk off the forum please its da roolz! lol

 

[Mibo]

well i'm not really sure what text talk is, but i'll have to go thru all my photo's and see if I can find some pics of it. They were on my old pc that I left in the states, not sure if I moved them over.

 

[Bradders]

well i'm not really sure what text talk is, but i'll have to go thru all my photo's and see if I can find some pics of it. They were on my old pc that I left in the states, not sure if I moved them over.

Thats a text talk word lol. Its spelt through

Ahh no good, Civics ftw! i own a del sol.

 

[KingoStarr]

Thats a text talk word lol. Its spelt through

Ahh no good, Civics ftw! i own a del sol.

No text talk Brad, its the rules

 

[Bradders]

thats not text talk lol. read the text talk thread!! its an abbreviation(sp?) not like 4 da win lol.


Anyway, you got a nice corsa base to work on, get looking through some of the threads on here and get some ideas!

 

[steve85]

edit
never mind

 

[Mibo]

yea i've been scanning through the site and ebay, stuff like that. I have an idea of what I would like to do, maybe something matte black, low, some wheels with a lip and possibly a roof rack. Just gonna stick to minor engine upgrades, ya know the regular intake, cat-back system, nothing serious. Who knows tho, plans change all the time.

 

[Bradders]

alm: Though*

 

[Mibo]

alm: Though*

oh shit, lol I thought i was typing it out, so use to just typing "tho", i play alot of diablo 3 and you don't really have time to type on there while killing.

regardless small update's, got a new stereo coming as this one had the stock unit in it, which is locked so unusable. Got the dent out of the rear quarter panel as well. Unfortunetly I have to go back to the states to get my visa figured out so i'll be leaving the car for about a month, but when i return I plan on probably lowering it at the same time as replacing the front rotors and pads.

 

[Mibo]

Ok well I got the new stereo in the mail today, I guess I should of asked my wife to translate the amazon page(as it was all in french). I guess they are making unit's without CD slots now lol, because this actually doesn't even have one. Doesn't really matter, everything is on phones or cards now. What is actually kinda neat about it is that it does accept SD cards up to 32 gig and its got a hole behind the faceplate for you to plug your phone/mp3 player and store in there. Not to worried about the lack of cd spot since it was only about 40 euro shipped and still 50w x 4. Might swap it out for a nicer headunit at a later date, just had to get something in there for now since the stock stereo is locked, and correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't there a red/gray wire coming from the stock unit that needs to be cut or else it will cause flickering in the clock(I think i read that somewhere already).

Heres a few photo:

and here is the inside that you can keep your phone in I guess....

anyway gonna go ahead and wire it up with leads out the back for an amp incase in the future I wanna go ahead and put one in, don't know if thats in the plans, but I always hate having to take them back out and redo it all.

Other then that I just went ahead and repainted the rear arches, didn't really feel like doing all the sanding because I wanted to keep the texture for now, That and I plan on doing the car in a matte black anyway later on, which is when I'll do all the sanding. They turned out fine and look alot better then the old run down black/gray color they were.

Anyway thats about it for now, heading off to the states to get my visa in order then when I get back hopefully suspension and brake work.

 

[Mibo]

Well I finally got the project underway again after getting my visa settled. Got the. Um head unit installed. Speakers are crap and will be swapped out shortly. Only gotten to a few things thus far. Just reprinted the scuttle panel gonna do the bumpers and front arches tomorrow. Lowering is planned next as well as redoing all the lights in the car.

One thing u do need to do is a good clay and wax. There is almost a sandyness to the paint I'm sure from years of not being taken of. I can get auto glym products do need a little insight on which ones to use.


More pics to follow

 

[Aaron_d95]

This car has good potential and by the sounds of what you've said it will look good once you get started on the bigger mods
Have you thought about the face lift colour coded bumpers

 

[Lee]

You still in Frances mibo? Love the fact an American is embracing euro. Also..... You:thumbs_up:

 

[dragon2309]

You still in Frances mibo? Love the fact an American is embracing euro. Also..... You:thumbs_up:

Pretty sure that's a keyboard mis-click of "I" not a text talk spelling of "you". Unless hes telling himself he needs to clay the car but talking in 3rd person whilst doing it? Which is odd? "You need to clean the car dont you, yes, yes I do need to clean the car, good thinking, no problem, thank you later"

 

[Mibo]

I was typing that on my phone, it must of autocorrected me, I guess that isn't the worst it could of done lol.

but yep sticking it out here in france, my wife and me moved here for a better education for our kids, who are 3 and 4.

 

[Mibo]

This car has good potential and by the sounds of what you've said it will look good once you get started on the bigger mods
Have you thought about the face lift colour coded bumpers

I'm just respraying them black for now beacuse the plan is to plasti-dip the whole car for the matte black look, that and people in france are so inconsiderate and always bumping into other cars so the rubber coating would help lol.

 

[Lee]

Pretty sure that's a keyboard mis-click of "I" not a text talk spelling of "you". Unless hes telling himself he needs to clay the car but talking in 3rd person whilst doing it? Which is odd? "You need to clean the car dont you, yes, yes I do need to clean the car, good thinking, no problem, thank you later"

I was a bit drunk when I posted that anyway.

 

[Aaron_d95]

I'm just respraying them black for now beacuse the plan is to plasti-dip the whole car for the matte black look, that and people in france are so inconsiderate and always bumping into other cars so the rubber coating would help lol.

Very true. If its going Matte black then guess I'd doesn't matter if you change the front bumper or not

 

[Mibo]

Is there any shape difference with the post 97 bumpers or is it just the paint and bump strip on it?