Good day one and all

I was browsing through here to update my build thread, when I realised that despite owning the car for 3.5 years I never put one up for it.

Long story short, my old 1AO Si was written off (along with 2 other cars) when I got rammed at some traffic lights by a crazy granny. After receiving my insurance payout and shopping around for months I still couldn't find any car I liked, as I didn't want to have to get some piece of euro-tat that everyone else has.

In the end I decided I was going to have to find another Paseo. The only colours I wanted were either blue or silver and it took another couple of months before any suitable ones came up for sale! In the end, I had to travel from Somerset up to Leicester to pick up a silver ST from a backstreet dealer. Unfortunately it was a bit overpriced (even though it only had ~ 65k on the clock) and there was some tiny bubbles appearing on the arches. Hey ho, beggars can't be choosers!

Here's a picture of the beast on the day, as well as a shot of it next to Rhys (Galliano was good enough to run me up there and back):




The very next day after getting it back to the south west, I took it up to my parents and transferred over a couple of bits from my old Si:




Following this I didn't do a huge amount to it for a while, although my magpie tendencies do mean that I end up amassing a good heap of parts. The auxiliary belt was squealing something awful so that was sorted, then the brake lines burst and I lost all my braking while I was out and about (brown trousers moment there), so that was also sorted.

To be honest I'm not sure where the time has gone - I've always had lots of 'fantasy plans' in my mind but a lack of time, disposable income and a suitable work space meant that none of them ever really materialised, although I have made the few odd tweaks over time - I'll keep an up-to-date spec list below.

However, this summer I have committed to actually carrying out some of my dastardly schemes. I have an optional lip kit ready to be fitted and the rust bubbles that were present when I bought the car have now grown in to something a bit more serious, so next week I plan on getting some quotes from local bodyshops to have both these items dealt with.

Following that I will be looking at the handling, with my current plans being to stick with the standard wheels (I'm feeling the OEM+ look) and add springs with gas dampers, a front strut brace, front lower arm bar and wheel spacers (20mm front / 30mm rear). I'm also eyeing up a Cusco rear panhard rod to go with it.

My most recent addition to the car was only a couple days ago, in the form of a Hypersport short shifter. For those of you who haven't seen them, it's essentially just a machined alloy bracket which attaches on to one of the arms on the gearbox and alters the pivot point of one of the gear cables. The result is that it has much shorter travel and hence gives you a much shorter and crisper gear throw - the difference is honestly like night and day, so I would thoroughly recommend one.

Anyway enough waffle, here's the current spec list as promised and I will try to keep this thread updated as I get things done!

Interior
Panasonic headunit
FLI 6.5'' rear speakers
Glanza V front cupholders
GT Turbo 3-spoke wheel
Alloy gearknob
Black leather gear gaiter
Optional Rescueman III

Exterior
Optional ST rear spoiler
Clear front corner indicators
Celica Mk7 clear wing indicators
6 x 12 import rear plate

Chassis & Suspension
14'' Toyota 'Griffin' 7 spoke alloys
Uniroyal Rainsport 185/60/14 tyres
Standard springs
[FR] Monroe oil shock absorbers / [RR] KYB Excel-G gas shock absorbers
Hypersport short shifter

Engine & Exhaust
Standard 5E-FE
Longlife T304 cat-back stainless steel exhaust

Sup all!

Thinking of buying an old Paseo to strip down for parts, as I could do with some for myself. Was wondering whether there was much interest on here for the other parts, see if I can't try to offset some of the cost.

Available would be; gearbox, both front headlights, both front indicators, both side indicators, both rear lights, bootlid, both electric mirrors, both front wings, bonnet, both doors, possibly front and rear bumpers, most of the interior and most of the engine parts, as well as any smaller sundries that people may want specifically.

Everything would be going for very reasonable prices as I'm not looking to make cash on it, just help decrease the total cost to myself.

Anyone interested in any spares or replacements?

Hey all, newbie on UKSC so thought I'd drag my sorry ass over here too and help boost the numbers!

To those who haven't seen me on UKSC already, my name's Phil (predictably), I'm 23 and live in Somerset. Had my '96 Si for about 6 months now and got lots of ideas floating around in the old loaf, so hoping I'll get to crack on with some of them in the near future!

I'll start a build thread when I finally get things underway