Agent_Sm1ths Activ

[Agent_Sm1th]

So I thought I better start a blog about my car and the stuff I've done to it.
It all started when my next door neighbour bought a new car and left the Micra on his drive for a year.
I had a brand new Fiesta just to use to drive to work and back, but never really liked it and to be honest I dont like driving new cars.
Anyway March 2013 and £200 later the Micra was mine and the Fiesta was on Ebay.
Friends and family did think I'd gone a little mad.
So here it is as I got it.

Almost forgot. It only had 24500 miles on the clock. Bonus.
So now I've started the blog ill have to keep up with it.

 

[r-reg-sr]

fiends and family's slightly overated

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

So first thing was to remove the only bit of rust. Fortunately it was the front wing and that just unbolts.

Managed to get a new wing all sprayed up from ebay so it was just a straight swap.

Fitted the new one.

Job done.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Now, I think every car I've owned has had alloy wheels.
The exceptions being my first car, a Capri, and this one.
The search was on to find some replacements.
£100 later and some Almera ones were purchased and fitted.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

One of the most noticeable improvements I made in my opinion was fitting the front foglights. Another really simple job as the wiring was already stowed in the main loom. I was lucky that I also managed to get the new lighting stalk with the front fog switch on. A rare find.

 

[Zazee]

Looking good

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Next on the agenda was to reduce that comedy ride height without making it feel like I'm driving on cobbled roads.
Old suspension struts off.

New ones with 35 mm lowering springs back on.

Needed to then shift the axle back with an adjustable panhard rod courtesy of Noddie.

Pleased with the final result and ride quality.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Now I don't know about you lot out there, but I like to know what revs I'm doing. Not for any real reason other than interest.
So stuck one of the Rev Counter clocks in.
Looks much better aesthetically.

Five dashboard screws later and its fitted.

 

[eiregti]

Next on the agenda was to reduce that comedy ride height without making it feel like I'm driving on cobbled roads.
Old suspension struts off.

New ones with 35 mm lowering springs back on.

Needed to then shift the axle back with an adjustable panhard rod courtesy of Noddie.

Pleased with the final result and ride quality.

What tire profile have you fitted to those alloys? I've the same ones but mine looks like it has a similar drop on stock suspension. I've got 185/65/14 I think or else 185/60 not 100% on that

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

It looks similar as you've got balloons for tyres. Mine are 165/60/14. I just swapped them from my steelies. Remember that the 65 or 60 profile is a ratio of the width. Your 185's will have a much taller sidewall.

 

[eiregti]

I've a set in the shed with 195/45/14's on the same alloys and it just looks weird even with a drop on smaller tire profiles. The falkens have a fairly stiff side wall so don't mind a bigger profile and the wider thread means a bit better grip too

Sorry for the micro photo haha

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

The original stereo that came with the car had no display so I put in a nice new one in with usb and blue tooth so I can use my phone hands free.

Then I realised there is only two front speakers and none in the back. A quick ebay later and these went in.

Much better all round sound now, and the great thing was that the speaker loom and plug was already stowed in the boot.
After popping to the scrapyard onetime I noticed some better spec Micras had speakers in the windscreen pillars.
I had to have some.

They weren't the right grey though so I wrapped them.

Sound quality is a lot better now.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

And so the money pit, aka my Micra still needed something else to set it apart from the majority of other one's that you see on the road.
A spoiler. Nothing too garish or extreme, else the kids won't get in it for fear of embarrassment.
Found one, but it was the wrong colour (pearlescent orange) hmmm.
Took it to the body shop and tadaaa.

Just needed to fit it.
Didn't want to drill any holes in the tailgate so I just bonded it with polyurethane adhesive.

Exactly the effect I was looking for.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Now in more recent times, all new cars seem to have privacy glass in the rear and side windows.
Let's give the Micra a more modern look and feel I think.

£80 and two hours later and I think it looks good.
They did say the rear window of the Micra is one of the hardest to do due to it being curved funnily.

 

[McMicra]

Get those grey bits blackened!

looking good though

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Get those grey bits blackened!

looking good though

Haha. Not a good look the faded grey is it. Those are old pictures you're looking at. . I'm just going through mods in the correct time line.

 

[skymera]

Bin that tax disc

 

[r-reg-sr]

Nice work even if the reg says nob I don't care.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Bin that tax disc

Already did. Those are airfield permits you can see. Apart from the older photos.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Nice work even if the reg says nob I don't care.

Me neither. If i was bothered what ppl thought, I wouldn't be driving a Micra at 43. Me and the missus always chuckle about the reg.

 

[r-reg-sr]

Its wicked from far it looks like N O B.only to get closer and be deflated.
We need more black micras!

42

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Its wicked from far it looks like N O B.only to get closer and be deflated.
We need more black micras!

42

Thank god it's not a B reg as well

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

I don't think there are many newer cars with orange indicator repeaters any more, so I ordered some of these from Germany.
They're actually smoked/tinted but you can't tell from the camera. I didn't want the standard clear ones.

Had to replace the fitting though.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

As I find more photos I'll keep adding more info.

 

[skymera]

As I find more photos I'll keep adding more info.

What lovely feminine hands you have. Someone moisturises!

I always liked the big orange indicators personallu

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

So, there just wasn't enough oomph with the 998cc engine.
Sourced this tidy little 1.4 with only 16k on it.

Took the lid off to check the state of it and was really impressed.

Now I just needed a good couple of days to do the swap.
Oh, and an engine crane.
Checked out the hire price of cranes and it was cheaper to buy and resell on ebay, thus taking the pressure off returning a hired item.

Took two and a half days to do on my own. One day to remove, one to fit, and then half to put all the pipes and aircon back. As you can see, it can be done with the bonnet and bumper still fitted. You have to raise the bonnet a bit higher than the stay lifts it.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Anyway. Ran it on the stock 1.0 ecu for a week or so. I wasn't really impressed as I do a lot of motorway miles and it under fueled until the ecu caught up with itself.
Rang up the place where I'd got the engine from and they had the corresponding 1.4 ecu.
Plug and play.

All I can say is that it was a world of difference even lower down the rev range. A much smoother and more torquey feeling car now.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Next on the agenda was to sort out some of the scratches on the tailgate. The handle was broken and had rubbed the paint away.

I got some carbon wrap for a tenner and sourced a new tailgate handle.

Stuck the carbon wrap on, and fitted the new handle.

Got carried away then, using up the rest of the carbon.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Spotted some mudflaps on an old GX in the scrapyard so thought I'd put them on.

Gives the illusion of the car being a bit lower due to covering more of the tyre.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

I missed not having an outside temp gauge.
Ordered a P.C case one from ebay and started to modify it to purpose.

The sensor lead was too short, and the display was just too bright.
Added a different resistor to dim the display and fitted a plug and extra wire to the sensor so it can be disconnected. (Never took a pic of that though)
Had to fit a delayed startup to the sensor as it didn't like coming on when starting the car.
10 second delay device fitted.

New aluminium panel to fit the display into.

Just needed to fit the sensor into the underside of the mirror like a lot of manufacturers do.

All fitted.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

I decided that as all my interior is blue along with the electronic stuff, that I'd fit blue leds to the dash. First attempt. There's not enough light spread to light up the needles properly and also the resistors that are fitted are to small in value. The leds kept failing after about a week or two.

So after a rethink I fitted white leds (which are closer to the blue spectrum than normal filament bulbs) in blue holders with the correct value resistors (620ohms).
Much better. You can't tell from the photo very well as the camera corrects the blue hue somewhat. But suffice to say it's better and blue.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Girlfriend bought me a new knob, as she said the old one was worn and tatty .

Had to cut two inches off the shaft to make it fit.
It just sounds wrong!

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

So there are lots of muppets on the road. Even more so it seems when I'm driving the Micra. For some reason they can't stand being behind one, or they pull out of junctions to get in front. I think they must believe it's an old dodderer driving.
I decided to fit a dashcam for my piece of mind.

It's an sj4000 if you're interested.
Had to fit a 5 volt supply to power the auto record on startup.

Hid it behind the windscreen pillar trim.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Brakes seemed a little small and weren't vented so I put these on from a 1994 1.6 100nx. These are a bit lighter and smaller than the 2.0 ones.

Needed to clean and refurbish them.

Had to pack out the hub with aluminium tape so they would be centred correctly and not cause vibration through the steering. Also needed a 1mm washer as a spacer between the carrier and hub.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Picked up an Almera 1.6gti Airbox from the scrappers.
It hits the carbon filter so I made a bracket to lower it.

Clears the Airbox now.

Removed the mesh and smoothed the area using an oil/fuel resistant silicone.

Had to make a small bracket to support the Airbox. You can't quite see it though behind the blue vent filter.
Also cut the air pipe to size and quickly made a bracket to hold it securly in place.

Really pleased with the result. Sounds nicer, and seems to pick up slightly quicker.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Fitted some opening rear side windows.
Now apart from all the trim pieces and windows etc, you will also need these rear seat belt top mounting longer bolts and spacers. As you can see the original ones (on the left) have shorter ones.
If you can't get the longer ones then just make up the spacer using multiple short ones.

Best to do inside stuff first that doesn't require the window to be removed, as I was outside and it may rain.
Remove the rear seatbelt topmount (17mm) all the rear interior trim including the parcel shelf and mount, along with the front seat belt topmount (14mm) and the lower belt mounts (17mm).
Where the belt goes through the rear side trim the hole needs opening up slightly if you use your original seat belt guide. I like the contrast of the different grey that's why I used it.
Be careful and use a knife blade to remove the front seat belt top mount cover or you will break the clips.

The square holes are already there for the hinge mountings so put a couple of 6mm rivnuts in. I've used flush ones like Nissan did.

Now that's done remove the window, fit the new rubber seal and bolt the new window in loosely to the rivnuts. Tape it up so it can be adjusted for an even gap and so it doesn't drop and scratch the body.

On the rear seat belt trim there are two holes for clips already there. These can be used to mark up the missing ones.
I painted the extra clips on the trim with a white paint pen, and clipped the top clips in place. This left two marks where to drill and cut. The new holes are 11mm x 7mm.
Once the rear trim can be clipped in you can align the locking latch.
Tighten up the main hinges when you've aligned the latch and got an even gap.
Now close the latch and place it in the trim. Press the outside of the window as if the latch had pulled it tight shut and mark where the new rivnut mountings need to be.
Drill and fit rivnuts.

The trim under the window needs four new mounting clip positions drilling and filing. Mark these the same way as you did the rear trim. This piece of trim is attached to the front seat belt trim so the clips are there already.
Fit all the trim together and tighten up the seatbelt anchors. There you go. Opening rear side windows.

The new trim has the added bonus of door pockets. Great for the kids to leave old sweets and other general crap in.

 

[r-reg-sr]

the pockets not water tight

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

So amongst other stuff to do to the Micra, I've decided to turbocharge it.
I got hold if a td04l off a wrx Subaru really cheap and thought that would be ok.

Thing is, is that I want it as a daily and to drive like it was oem built. I do not require huge bhp gains.
After speaking to Ed of Fusion-Motorsport I've decided to mothball the td04l and go with a ct9a or b (not bothered which).

These are off the Toyota Starlet Glanza. As it's designed for a 1.3 it should be great as a daily.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Next is to find some injectors to suit.
Now the original Glanza came with injectors with around 293cc/min flow rate. These are really too small. I'll be looking at ones with around 300 to 350 ish cc/min.
The hard part is finding 14mm high impedance top mount ones.
SR20 ones are no good apparantly as mine is a coilpack engine.
I would rather not modify the inlet manifold and injector rail.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Well on further investigation with regards injectors, Mini R52/53 appear to be 14mm. I shall pop to BMW and see if they've got some in to check out later in the week.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Another problem is that I want to keep my aircon, and it's right in the way of mounting a turbo. Think I'll have to have a new aircon pipe made.

 

[frank]

Next is to find some injectors to suit.
Now the original Glanza came injectors with around 293cc/min flow rate. These are really too small. I'll be looking at ones with around 300 to 350 ish cc/min.
The hard part is finding 14mm high impedance top mount ones.
SR20 ones are no good apparantly as mine is a coilpack engine.
I would rather not modify the inlet manifold and injector rail.

the post 2000 SR20 injectors are topfeed/direct fit, grey in colour (a very dirty grey in my case)

 

[frank]

Another problem is that I want to keep my aircon, and it's right in the way of mounting a turbo. Think I'll have to have a new aircon pipe made.

mount that CT9 facing forward then to clear the aircon pump

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Some great advice there Frank as always. I'll have a look over the next week where to fit it. Also I'll have a look into those injectors and see if they're still readily available. Ed is looking into it also. He said its been a while since they did a Micra coilpack conversion, and he's going to see if he's got any pics or info to send me.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

With a front mount I have to consider the quite large aircon radiator and fan, which is a pain.

 

[frank]

With a front mount I have to consider the quite large aircon radiator and fan, which is a pain.

i think you could just move the aircon rad forward mate, and not fit a panel filter and cowl like mine, but a 90 deg bend instead + remote cone filter ?

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

i think you could just move the aircon rad forward mate, and not fit a panel filter and cowl like mine, but a 90 deg bend instead + remote cone filter ?

The aircon pipes would still need remanufacturing as the ones off the rad are not flexible ones. The flex pipe comes straight off the pump.

 

[frank]

praps topmount is the best option then eh ? with plenty of heatwrap and a turbo jacket

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Think you're probably right there. That's what I was originally thinking. Will need a good shield so's not to cause damage to the bonnet.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

So not been doing much to the car lately as I've been too busy with work.
Finally got round to removing the wings and bumpers to have them sprayed up.
Went quite well. I even managed to remove the two lower wing bolts without shearing the heads off. Patience (30mins) and oodles of wd40.