1L tempest from scratch

[tomwest]

As the title suggests, i've got a standard 1.0L tempest from 1998, and i'm going to modify it.

firstly, the suspension, stiffness and wideness must be addressed.

here she is, in the garage, ready to be worked on by me for the first time. i hope she's ready!

So i'll do the suspension first.

Front suspension gives me a choice. i can either use my cut micra springs, or i can try my dads old springs off his merc c-class. obviously i wanted to use these because they're so much stiffer. so i fitted them, and woe betides me, the ride height is larger than normal. back off they come then, to have 1 1/2 turns cut off. back on and its a beauty!

Rear suspension leaves me with no choice. i've put my old cut micra springs in, and cut-and-shut the panhard rod to keep it all straight.

 

[tomwest]

next up is the bushes. i've got a range to put in so its gonna take a while. here's the website i buy bushes from. i admit they are from poland, but their website is easy to follow, and even over christmas, they sent me bushes in less than 10 days!
http://www.strongflex.vot.pl/index....ategory_id=192&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Front wishbone front and rear bushes
Rear trailing arm bushes
Rear ARB bushes

The wishbone bushes prove to be a pain. cutting the old rubber out, then slicing through the outer sheath before chiselling it out of place. Neither of these front bushes are easy to do, in fact, it took me 6 hours to do them both. 5 for the first, 1 for the second!

the rear ARB put up a fight as well, with both of the mounting bolts shearing the head off. these were eventually pulled out and replaced, and the bushes went on pretty easily.
the trailing arm bushes are the same style as the front wishbone front mount type. these took much less time than the wishbone ones, but were still a massive pain.

 

[tomwest]

next is to put spacers on the back end. i've chosen 19mm spacers for a nice wide stance. this does mean however that i needed to change the studs for longer ones. not a problem though. remove the hub from the rear axle, bash the old studs out, pop the new ones in and robert is indeed your mothers brother!

38mm wider at the back!

 

[tomwest]

the only problem now is the rear arches. do i widen them with a roller, or put bolt on ones on instead?

 

[McMicra]

roll them , what wheels are the tom? look pretty good

 

[tomwest]

almera GTi i believe. bought them off here a while back! just a warning though. the standard 13" steels with 155/70/13 and wheel trims weighed 11.2Kg. these weigh 15.5Kg. these wheels are NOT A LIGHTWEIGHT OPTION!

yeah i'm pretty happy with them, they really set the looks off. home painted white. i didnt expect the white to work so well with the orange, as my last one was black!

 

[McMicra]

ahah, direct fit or need some tweaking? i dont mind about the weight, so long as it looks good ill find someway of replacing power for the weight haha

I'd roll them if i were you unless you can find some bolt on ones, filler it so it runs smooth with the body work and spray them

 

[L.Williams]

quite a nice little project going on there mate! i like!

 

[L.Williams]

im getting 32mm spacers for the rear totalling in 64mm rear track width

 

[tomwest]

like it! i ran 60mm wide rear and 10mm wide front on my old fiesta. so stable didnt dare go further with the front for fear of messing up the steering feel.

 

[tomwest]

sadly, the spacers are coming off for a while. until i pesuade myself i can spray and lacquer metallic orange well enough to roll the arches. probably some time when its warm!

Also, the merc springs are going to have to come off, as they're just too short and don't seat properly. the micra cut springs will go on tomorrow, and i'll see about making a front upper strut brace as well. if it goes to plan, then i'll have a go at a front lower brace.

 

[tomwest]

p.s. because the merc springs were so stiff, i removed the front ARB. on the little drive i had, it responded much better to mid turn bumps, and odd camber changes as well. once i've solved a minor issue about the strength of a damper rod, i'll put the merc springs back on.

 

[SuluR]

sadly, the spacers are coming off for a while. until i pesuade myself i can spray and lacquer metallic orange well enough to roll the arches. probably some time when its warm!

Also, the merc springs are going to have to come off, as they're just too short and don't seat properly. the micra cut springs will go on tomorrow, and i'll see about making a front upper strut brace as well. if it goes to plan, then i'll have a go at a front lower brace.

You could always get the short corsa shocks for the rear so the shorter springs sit properly

 

[Jager Jon]

where can i get spaces for my micra and can you simply just put them on or does it take a lot of doing ?

 

[Low Rider]

almera GTi i believe. bought them off here a while back! just a warning though. the standard 13" steels with 155/70/13 and wheel trims weighed 11.2Kg. these weigh 15.5Kg. these wheels are NOT A LIGHTWEIGHT OPTION!

yeah i'm pretty happy with them, they really set the looks off. home painted white. i didnt expect the white to work so well with the orange, as my last one was black!

So far the lightest option I have found, (OZ SL + Toyo T1S), came in at 12.2kgs, which was 100g more than the stock 12.1kg 175/60/r13 package that came on the SuperS.
It's possible to get below standard weight but the costs are quite ludicrous

 

[tomwest]

@ Sulur: which corsa do they come off, B or C?
@Jon you'll find the best value and delivery times at demon tweeks. you'll find spacers in "wheel accessories" and the studs (you'll need 25mm extended studs for 19mm spacers) in the badly names "nuts and bolts" section of wheels.
@Low Rider: i suppose its a silly game really, trying to get lighter 15" alloys than the standard 13" pressed steel wheels!

Does anyone around manchester have a lathe that will fit a front suspension leg in?

 

[Low Rider]

@Low Rider: i suppose its a silly game really, trying to get lighter 15" alloys than the standard 13" pressed steel wheels!

Easily dropped under 11kgs using a 13" billet split rim but cost quickly kills that idea

 

[Chogy]

@ Sulur: which corsa do they come off, B or C?
@Jon you'll find the best value and delivery times at demon tweeks. you'll find spacers in "wheel accessories" and the studs (you'll need 25mm extended studs for 19mm spacers) in the badly names "nuts and bolts" section of wheels.
@Low Rider: i suppose its a silly game really, trying to get lighter 15" alloys than the standard 13" pressed steel wheels!

Does anyone around manchester have a lathe that will fit a front suspension leg in?

Corsa b lowering guide
http://www.micra.org.uk/threads/vauxhall-corsa-b-coilovers-on-a-nissan-micra-k11.52234/

 

[tomwest]

cheers chogy. have previously found and read with interest your blog.

 

[tomwest]

@ Low rider: haha yeah. i'd have the lightest micra in the country if money were no object!

 

[tomwest]

ok. so this morning i've taken the spacers off. its narrow again!

I've also swopped the springs back from merc to micra.
you can see from the thickness of the merc spring that its loads stiffer than a micra spring. bear in mind that although the springs are very different lengths, there's only 10mm ride height difference.... and the micra spring is the lower of the 2!

I will be looking at making at least one strut brace today/tonight.