Ideas for my K11

[Splyzer]

Hey guys,

So thanks to Tony, I got my K11 running again, just need to replace my vc gasket, either way while I await my test I want to customise her but preferably easy stuff I can do myself to start with

so other than a good clean...if this was yours, what would you do? I don't plan to race or rag her....just want to roll around in style especially as people at work laugh at me for getting a micra....but I ignore the haters because I see potential

 

[r-reg-sr]

rims and done

 

[Splyzer]

lol fair enough I was thinking of taking the badges off and replacing with the transformers logo...maybe sub woofer and in the distant future a body kit as well as rims lol and replacino black bumpers with white ones

 

[karlj]

Do what YOU like it's your car

 

[Splyzer]

I thought I'd ask so if someone saw it they'd say damn that's cool lol

 

[r-reg-sr]

You can do much minor stuff but shoes make the car

 

[Splyzer]

Fair play ill check some out

 

[Splyzer]

Fair play ill check some out

 

[infinity]

Color code bumpers. Make nismo style grill maybe cut out inserts on bumper for open mouth style

 

[r-reg-sr]

do what you like on you k11,i was driving mine years before doing what i felt,still haven't done much.good touch for me is light flywheel and short shift gear stick being 1.3 gives a bit of kick.
most serious people do the handling soonish first

 

[Splyzer]

That's fair play

I'll probably get a set of rims first along with the transformer badge then get same coloured bumpers unless I see them cheap enough, I don't really want to mess with engine or handling etc as I knowing my luck I'd ruin it haha.

Maybe some cool head lights if I get brave enough then save for a new coat of paint!

thing is it'll never sound like a racing car at 1 litre and being an automatic. ..I'm a manual guy who just got a good deal with this car and took it

but you're right I'll drive it about a bit before going crazy lol as a bike rider I'm always doing something and when I'm rolling around in this...I'll probably push Jenny v2 to side for a while to enjoy my Jenny v3.

 

[Mark :)]

@Splyzer check out my build project I'm new to the micra scene too!

 

[Mark :)]

also if you want your micra all shiny again give it a good polish with a buffer! will make it look brand new!!!

 

[infinity]

Just paint the bumpers. Apparently halfrauds sell specific spray cans

 

[Mark :)]

@infinity i second that

 

[Splyzer]

Oh cool I thought it'd come out rap if I painted it myself could always give it ago

and mark will do Bro

 

[infinity]

Youtube is your friend for learning to paint

 

[r-reg-sr]

see what mark done with the steels.you could do white on your dish instead of red

 

[Andy5077]

Hi,

Bling it like mine got some original shiny brand new Nissan chrome handles very rare only seen them on "posh" top end Micra's lol!

Cheers
Andy

 

[Splyzer]

Definitely going to do my wheels white
and paint my bumps white too, wouldn't mind getting a splitter too

As for my handles...going with my current theme I'll probably sand them down and paint them white too along with my mirrors.

Definitely want all the stock textured black a smoothed white.

 

[Mark :)]

when you go halfords to get the paint make sure you get scotch brute or the paint will just blow off like this...

Oh cool I thought it'd come out rap if I painted it myself could always give it ago

and mark will do Bro

just remember to scotch brits it or this will happen...trying to upload a video but basically I've got an airline on the k12's front bumper and the paint is just blowing off!!!

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

Colour coding the car gets rid of the cheap plastic bits and makes it look far better, did my door handles silver to match and turned out very well

Sand your steels down and spray or paint them white or black, i just brush painted mine silver and black with tins of rustoleum, turned out well and about 10er a tin, stay away from hammerite, horrible thick stuff to paint with

I got some LED sidelights and xenon bulbs off ebay for a few quid and make a big difference to the headlights as you were saying you wanted to do something with them

also get some clear or smoked side repeaters to get rid of the horrible orange

and de bump strip it

all that wont cost much and your car will be looking much more respectable

 

[infinity]

Wouldn't recommend xenon without projectors. 80euro from aliexpress will get you my ones

 

[Mark :)]

@infinity didn't realise they were that cheap might get me some as got hids

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

didnt know they were that cheap either infinity, happy enough with mine at the moment though, not bad for a few quid.

 

[Splyzer]

Sounds like a good plan
Will xenons pass an mot?

I'm looking forward to painting although I might try to restore all the black to it former glory just to see what it looks like before I paint just to be sure lol

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

Most new cars have xenon bulbs so yes they will pass, if you are going for just the bulbs and not the HID kit then they just give a whiter light and dont make a great deal of difference, those with LED sidelights look quite smart though, gives a nice crisp white light

Id leave your bumpers black because thats would be a lot of spraying, and i like the look of them anyway, just get rid of all the rest of the black plastic

 

[Splyzer]

oh that's cool, I'll grab a Haynes manual before I do lights.

I'm going to check some pics of moved lenses ando painted insides to see what I prefer.

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

if you get some tint spray and spray it on the inside of the headlight cover over the indicator part it would look good, would leave the main headlight clear though

 

[infinity]

Mine have the BMW style angel eyes 6000k projector bixenon. In Spain his won't pass if not original

 

[Splyzer]

I like the sound of getting xenons and tinting the inside of the headlight

a lot of people seem to love angel headlights.

 

[Splyzer]

Will Maguiars swirl remover do anything to my paint work without the cutting compound?

 

[TonySLX]

Before spending lots of your hard earned on the car check the sills thoroughly ...... inner and outer, also front crossmember (thats the bar that the radiator sits on under bumper) and inner rear arches near the sills for rust .... then if its all good and you plan on keeping the car for a good few years...... waxoyl it ... my 95 has only lasted because i did the underneath yearly with waxoyl....also did the inner arches ...rear axle...even filled the front crossmember with it lol .... .. its a horrible job but worth it if you want it to last because the Micra will last if you keep the rust at bay.

Mines totally standard as I am an ole fart and just wanted cheap motoring .. so can live with paint peal and skinny wheels ... peashooter exhaust.

As for those who may laugh at your micra .... i always laugh back thinking "cheap petrol, tax, tires, parts, reliability"

Mods .... definately colour code bumpers etc and some second hand wider wheels/tyres ..... that`s gonna make the biggest difference visually for your money .... then if you want to go with lowering etc ..dustbin for an exhaust ...... thats where it begins to cost. ...... and remember you dont ever get your money back for add ons........ but that`s the fun of it !

Some here have pretty much stripped the cars to nuts and bolts and re built ..... so skys the limit.

 

[Splyzer]

with the checks you mention, what am I looking for? And if it's bad is repairable?

 

[infinity]

Swirl remover is a VERY fine polish mainly for finishing. You should use some other polish or even a compound first depending on the state of the paint

 

[Splyzer]

Cheers bud will do

 

[TonySLX]

Rust wise ..... on the underside of the car look for rust or rust bubbles mainly along the inner and outer sills and usually towards the rear .... also check rear inner wheel arches on the sill side as these can split .. let water in and rust the buggery out of the sills ..... catch it soon enough and you will get away with it ... leave it and the car will rot .... same with front cross member ....... and also check rear axle ......... push the sills with your hand .. if it feels weak anywhere it needs looking at ..... MOT tester uses a small metal hamer like a rock hammer ... so you can use something like that or a screwdriver .... but try not to chip off paint as then it will rust lol. Use waxoyl ..... dont use nasty thick underbody crap stuff that dealers cake the undersides of rotten cars to hide rust ... because this stuff splits and then holds water and make cars rust even more.

If you find some surface rust under there .... but its just on surface thats fine ..... clean it off with wire brush and then waxoyl it ..... you have saved yourself a welding bill !
Pot of waxoyl is about £10 on fleabay ... couple of old brushes and you will want some white spirit or petrol to get the stuff off you when your done !

In the summer i hose all the inner wings off ..... (mind some sharp parts) ... get all the mud out of the wheel arches .. especially near the lip all the way round ... then give a good coat of waxoyl... and you wont get rotting wheel arches ....... and plenty on where the arch meets the sill.

There was a K11 micra advertised on here this week and there is a picture of the sill where you can see the sills are just starting to rot out...... thats what your looking for and this would need some welding in the near future...... and also finding where the water is getting in...... likely the arch has a small split ..... link below

https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/k11-2001-1-0-micra-vibe.64082/

 

[Splyzer]

Ah I see well I will definitely check all of the in the morning although I was looking at the outer sill earlier and that seemed good but will have a closer inspection to be safe Thanks again Tony...you the man!

 

[TonySLX]

Make sure you check the inner sill as well ... that pic only shows the outer sill ..... ... sorry to nag but it pains me to see so many spend a fortune on the car only to neglect rust and after a few years the gleaming car with a 2k paintjob is sent to the big scrappy in the sky because its being eaten alive from the inside lol .......

lol i also just found my old thread from 2009 when i had just bought the car .... was looking to replace the cross member as it looked really rusty and then found it was all surface rust .... waxolyd it all and its still solid 6 years on

 

[Splyzer]

It's all good Tony, much love on the subject! to be fair I want to be the last owner of it and then and my brother can project it somehow so I want it for the long haul and you gave a very good call

I did notice on one of my doors and a tiny spot on the boot door the tiniest amount of rust we're talking tiny...

boot door a rust scratch 1cm

the door was smaller than a bit of paper left over from a hole punch....analogy of the year!

so I'll treat it anyway but more so the items you addressed

 

[Splyzer]

Okay Tony this is what I got...little worried now haha so throw a little genius this way

this is directly underneath at the front underneath licence plate.

That is under the engine ish, from behind the front right wheel.

this is the most worrying ):
this under where I think the front bumper connects to the car...its like that under both front head lights.

and this is my rear axle...looks okay with just a bit if surface rust..

also looks like I need a new exhaust lol

 

[Splyzer]

lol are they not working?

 

[infinity]

Nope pic links broken

 

[Splyzer]

lol bare with me

 

[infinity]

If you're uploading from the app don't use direct upload use attatchment

 

[Splyzer]

in order as above...

 

[infinity]

Picture 3 looks bad and pic 1 on the right hand side needs checking. The rest looks like surface rust to me. Not expert on rust though, not a big problem where I am

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

3rd pic looks nasty

rest doesnt look too bad to me

 

[Splyzer]

Yeah even I can tell that one looks bad lol hopefully I can save it all

 

[Splyzer]

It's the same under both lights too ):