Island Girl!

[Andy5077]

Hi fellow Micranauts!

I guess most of you now know I am now looking after the "Softie" that was previously with fellow friend and forum member Davy Boy, she has now "retired" to a life of luxury in the southern sub-tropical island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands!

The trip to meet her was a long one due to fog descending on the island delaying my flight 8 hours, and all respect to Davyboy for making the journey twice to pick me up at Exeter Airport thanks for that mate, it was great to meet you the wife and your famous Grey Micra and to actual be able to have a ride in it!

After meeting her (the softie) we travelled down to Newlyn to enjoy a few days to get to know each other staying at a fantastic B+B with stunning views over Newlyn and Penzance, it was good meeting old friends again and cruising around with the soft top down and with the softie attracting plenty of stares and attention what a celeb and within 12 hours of owning her 2 offers to buy her lol!

We cruised effortlessly up to Portsmouth and stayed overnight before starting the leisurely ferry trip south to the Channel Islands arriving in tropical weather at St Peter Port Harbour and almost immediately she (softie) started to attract attention the most common phrase was "I never knew they made a Micra Cabriolet"! Other comments about her have been cute, sexy, sexy bum, nice bum, nice arse, lovely shape she's a beaut etc! I suppose I will have to get used to her celebrity status now lol!

I have already started to give her a makeover and will as well as Rouge 5's thread be posting updates on her progress!

Here are a few pics of "my" Island Girl!

Sexy Bum Lol!

To be continued.......................

Cheers
Andy

 

[andy]

should call her KAF

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

You should get a 13x6 number plate for the back Andy. Would fit in the number plate recess better and look 10x better!

 

[MicraPRO]

You should get a 13x6 number plate for the back Andy. Would fit in the number plate recess better and look 10x better!

I thought it was 12x6?

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

Apparently the actual size of a Jap plate is 13x6.5 (or metric equivalent) or so i've read on the interwebs, but i could be wrong, but 13x6 is a good size just fitted em on the Micra today and they look awesome

 

[Andy5077]

Apparently the actual size of a Jap plate is 13x6.5 (or metric equivalent) or so i've read on the interwebs, but i could be wrong, but 13x6 is a good size just fitted em on the Micra today and they look awesome

Hi mate thanks for the reply
Could you please post a pic of the plate on this thread so I can get an idea what the size of the reg plate looks like on the car?

Cheers
Andy

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

I will get one for you tomorrow Andy It's on a K10 but it will suit your March perfectly! Make sure you get one for the front too

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

Just wondering, what happens with the reg and stuff now you've got your March over in Guernsey ? Is it fine to leave the mainland uk plates on or do you need to re register it?

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

As promised, here are some pics of my 13x6 plates. Not got one of the back sorry as i gotta sort a few things out on the boot before fitting it
f

I donno if you can see on this one but the bumper has a cutout in it for a Japanese plate, pretty much a perfect fit

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

Hope that helps Andy!

 

[Andy5077]

Just wondering, what happens with the reg and stuff now you've got your March over in Guernsey ? Is it fine to leave the mainland uk plates on or do you need to re register it?

Hi mate,
I have a 2 week period since arriving in the island to re-register the March Cabriolet to a local plate costs £40 I will transfer the reg plate 26767 from my donor parts Micra SE+ to the March Cab!

Cheers
Andy

 

[Andy5077]

Hope that helps Andy!

Thanks for the pics mate I like the look of the 13x6 plate for the Cabs sexy bum, here in Guernsey we can have a black plate with silver numbers!

Cheers
Andy

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

It seems so odd to be able to have black plates with silver lettering on a Modern car. I think over here you can't have them unless your car was registered before 1972 :L
I'm glad you like the plates! It will deffo make the back of the cab look even more sexy

 

[Andy5077]

Hi,
When I acquired the "softie" she was in fantastic condition in appearance and mechanically but I knew that I could sympathetically enhance her and rejuvenate her to a more modern spec. I have started the project by first undertaking to upgrade the head lights, the original 1998/99 units were made of plastic and the lenses had become obscured and crazed so I decided to retro fit some spare 2002 glass units I had.

I knew there might be some moding to install the newer units but the body of the units and fixing bolts fitted perfectly to the chassis and the only modifications I needed to do was replacing the original loom plugs for the 2002 FL ones. I first tackled the near side unit removing the battery and unclipping the fuse boxes from the battery support base plate, I removed the battery support base plate which had surface rust and refurbished it whilst it was out by removing the rust and treating it with Kurust and then applying 2 coats of smooth black Hammerite paint I then cleaned the area which the battery support plate sat on and luckily there was no corrosion I gave the area a wipe over with light oil, then I removed the coolant reservoir which gave easy access to the headlight bolts.

The bullet connectors ready for connecting to the 2002 unit

The old and the new head light units

One side done!

The drivers side headlight was a lot easier to remove with only a few cables to unclip and move

Replaced the existing horn with a spare 2002 one much better!

A re-furbished battery base support plate re-fitted

Umm.. what's the next thing to do in here?

Before..

and after..

The next upgrade will be the front door speakers which are sounding muffled and distorted which is due to the old expansion membranes I am going to replace them with some spare 2002 units!

To be continued...........
Cheers
Andy

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

looks a lot fresher, jap plates will look well too

 

[Andy5077]

Here are some pics of both my babes together lol!

Cheers
Andy

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

Lucky man

 

[Andy5077]

Thought I would do a bit of investigation and see if the softie's front end could do with a clean and a bit of attention and one thing lead to another lol!

I started by taking off the both front wheels and what a good surprise she has ventilated front discs (I was going to upgrade them if they were single to ventilated), I then undid the wheel arch liners and then cleaned of the dirt and revealed perfect corrosion free wheel arches bonus!

Just a tiny bit of surface rust on the drivers side front bumper valance!

That's what she looks like with no front on!

The cross member looks brand new, just a small bit of surface rust on the bottom of the bonnet catch support bracket!

Wonder if this 2002 2nd FL bumper when colour coded/matched would look good on her what do you think??

Think I will clean/refurbish (new seals etc) and paint red the front disc callipers!

Been thinking of a name for my new "fun" babe maybe Steffi or Fizzy what do you think??

To be continued...........

Cheers
Andy

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

I think that bumper colour coded would look great on her, a lot of people would probably be against changing her too much as well though

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

I would say to keep the Original Jap spec bumper as it has a maadage cut out for a Jap plate and that addds to the effect that it is something completely different.
However it is your Micra and i'm not going to have ago at you for doing what you want. After all it is yours haha

 

[Andy5077]

Hi I have been busy working on both of my babes, I have refurbished the bonnet catch support bracket now why do they always attract corrosion?? I have also replaced the rear near side light cluster that was cracked with one davyboy gave me!

The refurbished bracket

The old and replacement rear light cluster

No corrosion underneath the cluster looks factory fresh!

Replacement cluster fitted job done (I know there's a small crack inside the lens but it will do till I get another)!

I am going to get the 2002 2nd FL front bumper colour coded up and have chrome bumper corner inserts I think it will look good if not I can always change it back to the original jap bumper? Next job will be to replace the front ventilated discs with new ones and to strip down the disc callipers and fit new seals and pads and paint the callipers red or blue any suggestions on which colour??

To be continued.............

Cheers
Andy

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

Looking good Andy, I do love your cab! Can't believe how clean it is, so little rust! It really shows that the Japanese take such good care of there cars

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

Also no salt used on the roads in Japan, ruins our cars over here

 

[Fujiwara-Ben]

Yep

 

[Andy5077]

Hi I have been busy working on Steffi I have at last nearly completed the refurbishment of her front ventilated disc brakes, I stripped them down decreased them and using a wire wheel in my cordless drill I got them back to a nearly new condition I then applied 3 coats of mellow yellow calliper paint and will now replace the gators and seals!

I have also colour coded her headlights to her bodywork colour and for good measure have polished up and lacquered her manifold cover!

Dirty callipers!

De-greasing tank

Clean callipers

Mellow yellow callipers lol!

Shiny new calliper parts!

Colour coded headlight inserts

Re-assembled colour coded headlights they do look cool if I say so myself!

Refitted to sexy Steffi lol!

Hopefully the next instalment will include pics of Steffi's refurbished alloys!

To be continued...................
Andy

 

[davyboy]

Nice work, looking good bud........bring her back when you've finished........LOL

 

[Andy5077]

Today I completed the refurbishment of Steffi's front brakes and with the help from a mechanic mate I decided to remove the brake calliper pistons and replace the seals. First job was to remove the pistons with the aid of compressed air both popped out with not much effort but this revealed how badly the pistons were corroded! We decided to try some spare 2002 brake pistons I had and to our relief they were a perfect fit, new seals were greased and fitted and the callipers were re-assembled with the new pads.

The badly corroded pistons

The re-assembled callipers

Calliper re-fitted on Steffi

I also polished up and lacquered Steffi's manifold cover lol!

To be continued............

Andy

 

[davyboy]

Nearly as clean as mine Andy LOL. My sister borrowed mine this week, said it looked like something out of Mad Max LOL
Actually - she's probably right

 

[Andy5077]

Hi here are a few pics with Steffi's new shoes on, they are 1997-1998 original Nissan Micra alloys and could possibly be the same factory fitted type she would have originally had, I have had them refurbished and lacquered to showroom condition and I think they look good on her!

Next job is to fit the back new shiny mellow yellow drum brakes and new shoes!

To be continued...............................

Andy

 

[fooby]

Loving the OEM+ style on a very nice example. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

Looking good mate, that arch gap is hurting my eyes though

 

[Andy5077]

Looking good mate, that arch gap is hurting my eyes though

Lowering Steffi Cab is on my 2do list but first need to replace exhaust system with a stainless steel system also trying to source JDM side skirts, genuine Nissan March Cabriolet front fogs and also retro fit Nissan remote locking system if possible!
Andy

 

[Se@n]

Where you get them light inserts from @Andy5077

 

[huntr_micra_sport]

Lowering Steffi Cab is on my 2do list but first need to replace exhaust system with a stainless steel system also trying to source JDM side skirts, genuine Nissan March Cabriolet front fogs and also retro fit Nissan remote locking system if possible!
Andy

Sounds good mate, also you can get some nice shiny wheel nuts on ebay instead of the standard ones (turquoise would be cool if you can find any), just something to add to your long list haha

 

[Andy5077]

Where you get them light inserts from @Andy5077

Hi mate,
I disassembled my headlight units removed the chrome surrounds and spray coloured coded them for more pics/ details see previous posts in this blog.

Andy

 

[Andy5077]

Hi just a quick update on Steffi Cab, will post pics of my rear brake overhaul next time!

I have been very lazy lately but the suns been shinning and Steffi likes to get her top down when the weather is hot so she has been cruising around the island topless at weekends lol!

Hopefully I will finish the refurbishment of the rear brakes this weekend with the help of my mechanic mate, having already bought brand new shiny drums (painted mellow yellow), new brake shoes and cylinders I have now ordered stainless steel braided hoses for front and rear brake assemblies from hosetechnik this is now becoming a nuts and bolts rebuild!

I bought Steffi knowing the exhaust front box was blowing but my thinking is it's a false economy not to replace the whole exhaust system so am sourcing a stainless steel one, I am also seriously thinking of replacing her shocks and coils and lowering her by 30mm?

Steffi enjoying thre sunshine!

To be continued.................................

Andy

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Looks good. Got to lower it though. It'll look even better with a normal arch gap.

 

[fooby]

Lurvley I'll be watching your drum rebuild closely. I'm looking forward and also somewhat dreading the job of re-building and re-furbing mine.

 

[Andy5077]

Lurvley I'll be watching your drum rebuild closely. I'm looking forward and also somewhat dreading the job of re-building and re-furbing mine.

Hi fooby mate,

I have got all the brake parts from Blue Print apart from the brake hoses which are from hosetechnik which I would highly recommend! The Haynes manual is a very good point of reference for overhauling the brakes but I am also really lucky to have a mate who is a ex-Nissan mechanic/technician who advises and helps me!

Andy

 

[fooby]

Hi fooby mate,

I have got all the brake parts from Blue Print apart from the brake hoses which are from hosetechnik which I would highly recommend! The Haynes manual is a very good point of reference for overhauling the brakes but I am also really lucky to have a mate who is a ex-Nissan mechanic/technician who advises and helps me!

Andy

Awesome I'll keep that in mind I've got the service manual, it all seems a bit alien but this video is helping me get my head around things more than reading the manual alone.

 

[Andy5077]

Hi,
I have been busy over the weekend including removing the front bumper and splash guards to check Steffi's cross member for corrosion, I was amazed not a spot of rust the cross member is as brand new has when she came out of Manufacturing Plant T in Japan! Have also done some preliminary detailed styling on Rouge 5??

As an extra precaution I coated the underneath of the cross member with tough stone chip resistant paint and sprayed Waxoyl in the chassis box ends and I also replace the metal box section front bumper stays (bumper to chassis connectors) with brand new Nissan ones from Japan!

Next on my to do list is the complete overhaul of the back breaks I will post pics in my next update!

To be continued............................

Andy

 

[Andy5077]

Hi everyone I know I have not posted on this thread for a while but I thought an update was long over due! Since the last update I have done and had done a load of work on Steffi Cab so here goes:

Although when I bought Steffi off davyboy she was in very good condition little things were niggling me which I needed to rectify and upgrade. Although I have done some cosmetic upgrades they can all be easily returned to JDM OEM!
The first obvious upgrade was the OEM JDM headlights they looked very tired and were plastic which had gone opaque so I sourced exact glass copies of the original 1997 JDM ones which were 1997 UK spec ones, but I had these UK spec 2nd FL 2002 ones so I color coded these to match the paint work which looked great if I say so myself!

New replacement items:
Engine:
Engine oil, oil filter, sump magnetic nut, transmission oil, spark plugs, air filter, PVC filter, coolant, NCVT electromagnetic brushes and brush holder, new OEM rocker cover bolts.
Drive:
New drive shafts, CV joints, front wheel bearings and seals, refurbished and re-painted rear axle and springs.
Brakes:
New front ventilated discs, brake pads, caliper pistons (pots) and seals. New rear brake drums, cylinders, shoes. New Hosetech braided stainless steel silicon covered brake hoses and connectors all-round, refurbished copper lines all-round and new brake fluid.
Chassis:
Not much work needed here due to the whole underside has been rustproofed including the cross member but I did remove the plastic covers attached to it after removing the anti-rust proofing coat (it looked brand new with no corrosion) I re-coated it twice with a good quality stone chip resistant paint and then applied a new coat of anti-rust proof coat! Replaced the original front bumper leg ends (connection struts) which connect the front bumper to the chassis with new JDM OEM Nissan ones!
Exterior Light Clusters:
Replaced the front headlight units with colour coded OEM UK 2002 spec 2nd face lift units fitted with Xenon bulbs.
Because Steffi Cab was imported into the UK by Nissan UK her rear light cluster units were replaced with UK spec ones so replaced these with new JDM OEM Nissan March K11 Kouki units!
Wheels:
Replaced the steel wheels with refurbished (grit blasted/sprayed/lacquered) Almera Alloys fitted with new Toyo's, also replaced the emergency spare wheel with a brand new full size spec one.
Bodywork:
The bodywork and paint work is in great shape with only a few of the usual minor shallow scratches/scuffs which will be sorted out in the spray shop in a few months time!
I have replaced the Nissan chrome emblem on the boot lid with a brand new shiny one and have also ordered from Japan a new OEM march kabriolet emblem for the boot lid!
Interior:
The interior is in showroom condition so not much to upgrade here apart from the center armrest which was missing so I have ordered a new OEM one from Japan. I have replaced the after market audio system with a top of the range Sony unit and have also replaced the original front door speakers with upgraded Nissan Micra 2nd face lift UK spec ones which are much better quality!

Future upgrades include fitting JDM OEM front fog lights and maybe replacing the front windscreen which has a few scratches so watch this space for updates with pics!

To be continued...............................

Cheers
Andy

 

[davyboy]

Hello Andy. You should change your name the from Micranaut....to Micranut.
Good job you had her, if I had kept that little girl god knows what she would look like now !!!! You know what I'm like - always cleaning my micra. ERMM maybe not
She's looking spot on buddy, you have to take her to JAE one year, you'll be star of the show.
When you do, I'll see you there for a few beers with the members. I know its a long old trip, its 400 miles for me, so a bit further for you living out on that little rock in the water, still, you're all tax exiles on Guernsey, so cost no object....LOL
Cheers buddy.

 

[Andy5077]

Steffi Cab smiling! B-)

 

[Andy5077]

Steffi Cab smiling! B-)

 

[davyboy]

Those colour coded lights are spot on the money mate....I love them.