K10 First Car "Build"

[Beardo1998]

Eventually decided to do a thread for my Micra, partly for those who may be interested but mainly because I'm starting to forget how I got from where I started to where I am now. This can be my reminder. So. Got my K10 back in April 2014 (When I was 15) for £400 + £120 auctioneer fees. 2 owners, 61,000 miles, 1.0 4 Speed LS in mint and 100% original condition. Bought it with the intention of modifying, upgrading and simply making her perfect when I start driving in September this year and probably pass my test in early 2016. Time wasn't and still isn't my enemy ...

 

[Beardo1998]

Not a bad find

 

[Beardo1998]

First call was to repair the leaky offside headlight, lower with -35mm springs, get some "bright white" bulbs from TKMAXX, and some numberplate light upgrades.

Now one headlight is better than the other. Which still pisses me off

 

[Beardo1998]

Bought some wheels, waited months for paint and tyres which have just been done. For the meantime I borrowed some 5 spokes from Mums Honda Beat. Yes, my Mum is cool Borrowed the wheels because my old 155 tyres were, well, terrifying, old and worn

 

[Beardo1998]

Aside from odds and sods, a passenger side wing mirror, carpets, not much happened till Christmas. A nice, shiny stainless exhaust fabricated from the manifold back (Will post link to exhaust vid next)

Painted my wipers and mud flaps aswell. Its all coming back to me xD

 

[Beardo1998]

Exhaust video:

Then found that the -35mm springs were soft and the wheels scrubbed every now and then. Fixed that with spring assistors

 

[Beardo1998]

Happy with the exterior I moved onto the interior with a MOMO tuner steering wheel, MOMO Nero gear knob, and some half leathers from a Legacy Turbo that was Dads breaker (One is electric, a little hint of luxury).

Went from this:

 

[Beardo1998]

To this:

 

[Beardo1998]

Found out the car understeered.. a lot. So bought a strut brace to resolve this issue. I've no idea if its worked but it looks cool. Got sick of a mucky engine bay, scrubbed and jetted it, will be doing the same to the underside and wheel arches at some point.

Then bought some apparently mega rare square side repeaters because I think the circle ones are a bit ugly. Personal preference..

 

[Beardo1998]

Finally got my ENKEI's painted Gloss Black, then bought some Yokohama A539 to go around them and made them fit safely with spigot rings. Looks gorgeous I reckon. Will have to invest in coilovers one day to fix that arch gap though

 

[Beardo1998]

Latest modification was a Sony 55w stereo which will be connected to a single 4" Pioneer 60w speaker temporarily, when it arrives on Friday. Can't wait for the bass hahahaha, no. Stereo looks good!

Keeping all my old bits just incase I can take them into Antiques Roadshow in 50 years and make a fortune.

 

[Beardo1998]

Car gets washed every weekend, valeted probably once a month and polished about the same, even if it only travels a mile a week, or a mile a month. I don't care, I love cleaning her. She's well looked after!

Decided I'd had enough and was starting to get bored. Beautiful looking car, just missing something in the form of spoiler, skirts and arch trims. Yes, I'm on the hunt for a Super S kit. That's about where my build ends now. Looking for parts.

Refurbing bumpers with sand paper and paint will be the next job. But have pretty grand(ish) plans for the future I'll keep you/myself posted xD

 

[h701micra]

There's 1 rule about car suspension in regards to understeer/oversteer
"Its always opposite to what you think"
Rear brace (or better, stiffer rear springs) for that understeer

Good to see you've made a blog though, will keep an eye on it

 

[Beardo1998]

That's just a silly rule, you'd have thought it'd be the front, hence the rule. Cheers Andy! Always a good help

 

[Beardo1998]

Quick update. Went on a bit of a black streak. Bought a new bumper that was stored, so not perfect but can't complain for £20. Decided I'd paint my tow eyes while my bumper was off. That turned into painting both sides of the panel next to the rad, both sides of the cross section under the tow eyes and the bar that the bumper mounts onto (insert proper names). These were all painted matt black but I clear coated my tow eyes.

Why did I paint? Tow eye paint was naff and it bothered me that you could see the rust through the bumper. That's gone, I'm happy.

 

[Beardo1998]

Pictures are a bit naff. Phone quality and black doesn't go well. Looks great I reckon

 

[Beardo1998]

Damping and spring load adjustable coilovers at the ready, courtesy of www.brightsparkracing.co.uk They look good aswell!

Rears on. Lowered -50mm, could do with raising ever so slightly and rolling my arches. 185mm width tyres are pretty unforgiving. Not to worry. The rear coilovers are fantastic! Very stiff and can be easily softened, perfect. Fronts and arch rolling another day

 

[Beardo1998]

.

 

[MaxK11C]

Looks great, nice to see some K10 action.

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

Doing a fantastic job with the K10! I'll deffo keeping an eye on your blog!

 

[Beardo1998]

Thank you guys. Had a quick flick through yours Fujiwara-Ben. Saw it at JAE too, cracking thing Cheers Max.

 

[Beardo1998]

I thought I'd forgotten something. Wanted to replace my rear arch trims but Nissan charge £48 each?! Decided I'd work with what I had. Paint, cleaning up the factory adhesive and tigre seal them back on, took a while. But I like the 'original' look, worth it. Don't see them on so much anymore

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

You should have come over and said hello to me . I love talking K10's even when no one else wants to listen haha

 

[Beardo1998]

I think you were elsewhere. Didn't even know it was yours. Went blue so quick! Looks bob on. Doesn't even look patchy There's a good handful that are with you on that one!

 

[Beardo1998]

New wing mirrors courtesy of Reece Moore and it's completely changed the look of the car, in my opinion. Happy with these.

 

[Beardo1998]

Coilovers on. Sat a bit better, handles very well, quite flat. Just a hint of understeer, more than happy with them

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

Looking good! What coilovers did you use mate? Also hows the ride? I have some K11 front coilovers on mine and the ride is quite harsh

 

[1275]

Looking good! What coilovers did you use mate? Also hows the ride? I have some K11 front coilovers on mine and the ride is quite harsh

all revealed in this very thread. GAZ

Damping and spring load adjustable coilovers at the ready, courtesy of www.brightsparkracing.co.uk They look good aswell!

Rears on. Lowered -50mm, could do with raising ever so slightly and rolling my arches. 185mm width tyres are pretty unforgiving. Not to worry. The rear coilovers are fantastic! Very stiff and can be easily softened, perfect. Fronts and arch rolling another day

EDIT, and I forgot to say tastefully done so far.
I've seen a lot of K10's ruined on this forum over the years.

 

[Beardo1998]

Great to hear, thank you 1275

 

[Beardo1998]

(Quick update) Had some fun with polish. A few nicks, chips and scratches here and there. But I think it's a typical case of if you own the car and know where the naff bits are they stick out like a sore thumb. Doesn't look bad for 24 year old paint though I don't think.

 

[Beardo1998]

Once again, had some fun with some polish. Also clay clothed the paint to remove any contamination in the lacquer. Shiny.

 

[Beardo1998]

Latest purchase. Just needs paint along with a few other bits and bobs I'm not happy with.

 

[1275]

Hmm Roses

 

[Beardo1998]

Number plate illuminator units painted, spoiler painted and fitted. Not too sure at the mo, looks a bit much. I'll get used to it, can't grumble, came with all the fittings which is a rare thing nowadays.

Ignore the photo quality.

 

[Beardo1998]

Better photo of the spoiler after a wash.

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

Loving the spoiler, looks great

 

[Beardo1998]

Cheers Ben. Glad I did it now, colour match is good aswell. My paint hasn't faded at all over the past 25 years, thankfully

 

[Beardo1998]

New 2.25" x 10.5" x 300lb springs to replace the 8" springs in the front coilovers. Can finally have a little more than a -25mm drop. Rear arches need work though to make room for the 185 tyres.

 

[Beardo1998]

Now sitting perfect in my opinion Chuffed.

 

[Huggy444]

Looks crap m9

Never saw your thread before on here, hello Beardoo

 

[Beardo1998]

Looks crap m9

Never saw your thread before on here, hello Beardoo

Cheers Hugs. Yeh did it a while back when I started to forget what I'd done to my car. Good excuse as any to start a thread. Ey' up 'uggy.

 

[Huggy444]

What exhaust is on yours? I know it's custom but how many silencers etc and how loud is it?

 

[Beardo1998]

What exhaust is on yours? I know it's custom but how many silencers etc and how loud is it?

Just stainless pipe into a back box. Can't remember the exact measurements but I think it's a 2" pipe into a 2.5" pipe, then into the back box and a 3.5" outward rolled tip. I'd probably say about as loud as your K11 was at Japshow Finale. Maybe a tad louder. It's not shouty at all but can definitely be heard from a good half mile down the road with your foot down. We'll have to have a mini meet somewhere and I'll show you

 

[Huggy444]

Oh aye so just a back box?
Nice, I'll probably just straight pipe the rear section of the exhaust

Definitely, if my coilies get fitted before the end of easter I'll come over

 

[Beardo1998]

Just a back box yeh Get it done. If you get your coilovers fitted at BSR I'll just trundle along and meet you there. Should be free that week.

 

[h701micra]

March 28th folks I'll see you here

 

[Beardo1998]

Tub of 549 Silver mixed up, just need a small brush and I'll touch in stone chips and rusted areas. Get her minted up a bit.

 

[Huggy444]

hammerite silver is a perfect match...

 

[Beardo1998]

hammerite silver is a perfect match...

Really?! Damn. Nevermind. This was done by the guys who painted my spoiler which is the perfect match. Hopefully, this batch will be as good

 

[Huggy444]

Really?! Damn. Nevermind. This was done by the guys who painted my spoiler which is the perfect match. Hopefully, this batch will be as good

Well it's a good enough match for me and Andy