We finished a rebuild of Daihatsu Copen today. Alhumdulillah it has turned out to be flawless. But we had our doubts during the job. First up Copen is probably the only car in 660cc class with a H4 (Horizontal 4) engine. Consequently the valves in this engine are actually even smaller than other Daihatsu 660cc class cars. The Piston size is also smaller with very high compression ratio. The next learning is that you may find Copen as a bit regular sight on roads in Lahore but engine parts are difficult to come by. Young guys are buying this compact sports car as being a good two seater but as yet the spare parts market is not keeping enough spares for these models atleast in Lahore.
The car we worked on had broken/ bent valves, damaged valve seats, damaged pistons and Head.
In the end the result was very satisfying, overall this car really packs a lot of punch. It might be small but it is very light (830 Kg). Only downside is that brakes can't keep up all the time with the speeds this car can generate.
