G'day all, Barina owner here (2000 SB)

[da_houghsta]

Hi all,

Just joined up recently, I'm Ben from Perth, WA, I have a red 2000 Olympic Edition SB Barina that I have had for about 100,000km and 5 years. Originally a gift for my ex, I got 'stuck' with it and honestly I have been quite happy with it. It seemed quite stable and actually pretty agile too. With a tow bar fitted and roof racks, it is now my fishing car with a kayak on the rood, or towing the boat trailer with my mates and my kayak in tow. I have also had a 4.2m fibreglass boat on the back without too many problems, launched and retrieved as well. However, 5 years of pretty much abusive driving and 4WD tracks with the occasional trip to Exmouth (1300km north) fully loaded with boat trailer on the back has seen a few problems come about. Which brings me here to be honest. I have, in the past, toyed with the idea of fitting a larger engine (1.8L) and I have got 15" rims on (with 195/50 series rubber). The back seats have been removed and a slab of wood fitted behind the front seats to stop things entering the front of the cab. I can store fully rigged rods up to 7'6" in there, though I need to get a false floor installed so that it is level.

Got some photos of my ride here too,

May 2009 trip to Exmouth (at Cataby roadhouse)
http://a.imageshack.us/img188/3695/090523001.jpg (http://img188.imageshack.us/i/090523001.jpg/)

Same trip, different angle (had some rear tyre rubbing over the cattle grids too)
http://a.imageshack.us/img36/453/img1166c.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/img1166c.jpg/)

October 2009 - solo trip to Exmouth
http://a.imageshack.us/img8/1710/pa080557.jpg (http://img8.imageshack.us/i/pa080557.jpg/)

Bogged....
http://a.imageshack.us/img691/2410/pa110605.jpg (http://img691.imageshack.us/i/pa110605.jpg/)

Towing the boat did about 110km each way at about 100km/h, launched and retrieved on a dirt ramp too
http://a.imageshack.us/img843/2986/p3200144small.jpg (http://img843.imageshack.us/i/p3200144small.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[guy 27]

nice one mate, not something most people would do with a barina but good to see its very well capable of everything you have done.

welcome to the forum.

[btm]

that's fantastic! impressive what the old gal can do

welcome to the site :)

[gmonkey]

Hahah love it mate ! I like what ur doing to it giving the car a good run :p deff looks like a good example of the corsa b aswell, paint is in real good condition still

[Scott]

No need to have a ago at me there is there brenton!

Welcome mate :) should be good to have another B here :)

[ChrisMaz]

Welcome to the forum. Mate. Very Tidy B.

Lets just say, The B's don't like having racing stripes applied to them :lol:

[da_houghsta]

Cheers guys,

The paint has held up (mostly), except for the passenger door. I often cut and polish it to bring it up nice, but soon fades the same as the fuel filler cap. Some small rust spots as well (doesn't help having a wet kayak on the roof...), but overall not bad. I did get T-Boned at 60km/h when I pulled out in front of someone almost 3 years ago now - they hit the front drivers side wheel. Should have been a write-off but the folks helped me out and got it fixed (suprisingly not as much damage as I thought and no injuries to me besides a chipped little finger). That's why I have got the new rims as the front one was damaged and had to get new front suspesion parts for that side. Actually still has the same front bumper fitted as well (was just pushed back in shape), but is missing the black inserts on the front intake. Sorry about the large picture sizes - I'm at the work computer as I have no internet for a couple of weeks and so can't edit photos yet.

[da_houghsta]

one more photo

launching the boat - note the ramp? It was rather slippery, but didn't even spin the wheels when pulling it back out which I was happy about
http://a.imageshack.us/img440/7202/p3200148small.jpg (http://img440.imageshack.us/i/p3200148small.jpg/)

[metry]

welcome to oa

[Vectramatic]

Great photos, very nice clean Barina. Amazing what you can do with them. Welcome to OA forums
Blake