1993 Nissan Micra K11 1.0 16v

[markbognor]

Here's my current ride. Its not very cool, not very old and not even mine. Its my lovely wife's, who great as she is doesn't see the point of modifying cars and has vetoed my making any modifications to it whatsoever. Bumhats. Before we had that "discussion" however I had already removed the rubbing strips and binned the soppy wheel trims. Got a right bollocking for that.



With a little bit of scope to change it slightly, and some money to buy the parts, It'd be rolling like this:



I'm still hoping I might get clearence at some point.

[tonycocacola]

haha, im in the same boat with my micra.
got mine off my mam when she became too ill to drive.
no mods rule sucks as these little beauties can look really good with a bit of treatment.
the benz mafia becomes the micra yakuza, lmao.

[JohnnySomersett]

hahah, I was just thinking how uncanny it was for two luxo-german barge owners come to both running micras!

[briandamaged]

K11 Micras rock! I was playing with a photo of one in MS Paint, I'd LOVE to do this (without the stripes, I know...they suck).

[tonycocacola]

Jan 19, 2009 15:33:23 GMT 1 JohnnySomersett said:

hahah, I was just thinking how uncanny it was for two luxo-german barge owners come to both running micras!

lets get one thing straight here, i dont run mine!!!
if i had my way it would have been sold on a long time ago.
it gets started once a week and maybe a ride out and about once or twice a month.
i kinda like it in a perverse kind of way, but i couldnt drive it daily.
the benz is much more me.
its comfortable, fast, doesnt rattle and most importantly it doesnt have a clutch.

[markbognor]

Some time later..........

Its had a little tidying of the body with the removal of the rubbing strips and the mud flap spats. Its rolling on 6.5x13 Wolfie slots with an offset of -13.



Originally supplied in 4x120 these were re-drilled by a previous owner with 4x100. I gave these a bit of a lightweight refurb with a bit of polishing and painted the centers satin black. I didn't think that the full polished look would have worked on a pretty modern car with so much black trim. The slots are wrapped in stock 155/70/13s, I'd have fitted 65 profiles, but the 70's were good and I couldn't justify the extra money even though it's only £30 a corner!



It's still riding so high it gives me a nosebleed, alas no lowering will take place until May becawhen I re-new my insurance.





Bolt on arches are an idea for next year two.

Sometime during last year the slots got some centre caps vacuum formed,







I've been playing with Knobs. I had an idea a while ago that a dinky 150ml pop can would make a fun gear knob. I had an idea that I would open from the base, empty out the contents and fill with fiberglassing epoxy resin. My first go was not brilliantly sussesful.



I mixed the incorect ratios, I also think that the filler powder may have worked as a catalyst and set the reaction off quicker, because the second time I tried with simmilar ratios of resin/hardener but no filler it was fine.



Part of the can was left open as a shoud round the gearleaver shaft, and to set the height of the can down slightly. The hardened resin was drilled and tapped to suit my gearleaver shaft.



There it is in position, the Bitter Lemon was chosen to go with the girly turquoise car.



I also turned and polished an aluminium knob.



The can isn't particuarly comfortable so after the novelty has worn off I'll probably use the ally one.

[markbognor]

I got into a whole world of trouble in the autumn when I bought a pair of wide wheels.



13x8

When the wheel arrived I got on with some measuring. They have a 101mm backspacing, exactly the same as the current wheels, which is a shame, I had hoped that they had a bigger back space to move them in a bit, this equates to an offset of -13, the current 6x13s are +13.


The fronts are going to need a little spacing, just to even the poke up a bit.
They are pictured here with the 5th 6x13 with the backs/mounting faces level. I currently need to own some 7x13s!



A Bit of research has shown that 175/60 is probably the size to run,



The re-drilling is underway, I'll get some pics up but basically it has involved the manufacture of a jig to show the stud hole positions, which has been centered on the wheel and used to center drill a pilot for the stud holes, which are then drilled out using larger and larger bits, with a final 25mm bit used to form the taper.

Drill jig,



In place,



First two stud holes drilled.



Got Poke?







Shonkey ass photos, taken in a hurry as the kids arrived for school that morning!

Here's the wheels after machining, re-drilled to 4x100 with a 60 degree taper.



I was Going to try and get tyres on them and get them on a couple of days after they were done. Unfortunately there was some drama at home, which meant that I wanted to stay with Nikki, so I didn't get the wheels and I still haven't had a chance, but I have got on with the refurb, I'm filling the old stud hole, and I think the insides and centres will be going gold. Photoshops of that in a bit.

Inspired by Johnny's mighty sword I've also been playing with gear leavers again,



I've turned up an adaptor to take the thread on the top of the leaver from 10x1.25 to 10x1.5, mainly because I only have a tap in 10x1.25 and no die. I made up a rod with a 10mm thread on each end. Its about 300mm long but its easy to make a longer one if I decide I'd like a little more.

Because my other two gear knobs are threaded with x1.25 I've had to come up with a stop gap topper, using an old skateboard wheel. I have a scheme for another knob though that will fit the general theme better.





The knob sits about level with the top of the steering wheel. Clearence is a bit tight in 5th and reverse.

This arrived recently too.

[markbognor]

The idea for the new gear knob went into production. The plan was to layer up alturnate colours of acrylic disc, then machine and polish to form a nice shiney bar.

Here it is after a first pass on the lathe



And done, after the tapers were machined and many grades of wet and dry were worked through.





It has not worked brilliantly, there is some residue from the polish that has worked its way between the layers. The machine screw in the top is because I made it with a hole all the way through so that I could support it on the tail stock. I tapped both ends so that one end can screw onto the shaft, the other has the machine screw. I might swap this for something more interesting, maybe an allen or torx head bolt.



I had a bit of discussion with the guys over on RR and I think the left hand wheel is what I'll be doing, and re-painting a pair of my black ones to go on the front, unless I can find some 7" wide fronts.



At the begining of Jan I recieved a couple of parcels



JDM Rear number plate nipples. I'll get these on at some point after they have gone satin black. Removal of the UKDM handle leaves a couple of holes in the top of the number plate recess. I'll either fill these and paint the whole resess satin black, kind of inspired by Escort GT rear panels, or I'll just chuck a bung in the hole and leave it, with a veiw to getting some colour matched paint at some point.

And from Thiland,



So of course I went out the front with a big ball of blue tack and gave the resulting photo a 'shop to remove the door mirror.



I think it looks ace.

I'll get the fender mirrors on as soon as there is some car tinkering time.

So far one of the 8" slots looks like this:



Hammerite Smooth Gold. I've got some brush on to do inside the slots as well.
Its not a very good job and the rim still needs a polish. I'll get the other done when I can and I'll be re-doing a pair of the 6" to match.

mmmm bubble gum.



I got sent the air freshener as a little bonus as part of a little project I've been working on for some WW merchandising.

There's a pair of 7" slots on the bay, which must be mine but alas there are no funds. - Any one fancy buying and stashing them until such a time comes that I can have em off you? ;D ;D

[tonycocacola]

im liking the cut of your micras jib, mate.
good job i got rid of mine, other than the wolfies it would have looked like i was copying the look.