Jett; The K10 Super S

[porkpie700]

This little fella was going to scrapped by it's previous owner, all because he was quoted hundreds of pounds to weld up a hole no bigger than a penny coin... Makes you sick what people charge these days. Aside from the wheels and bumper it's a very origional, un-tinkered with car with a full Nissan service history. I couldn't let a genuine Super S get scrapped or stripped for the sake of £10 worth of welding so i bought it, and i'm glad i did.

I can't tell ya how glad i am that the engine is 100% stock and un-molestered, and even more so that the exhaust guards don't rattle. :grinning:

There will be no tweaking or performance mods under the hood as i want this car to be as factory as possible. The V8 is my toy, the SS is going to be a concorse car, at least that's my intention anyway.

I haven't yet done much other than wash the interior, replace the window seals, and re-condition the calipers. But this going to be a nice steady restoration over a year or so, eventually getting it something close to new. Having the V8 to drive gives me the luxury of not having to rush this one, so i'm taking my time and doing it right.

To do;
Since the SS was Waxoyled from new, it's totally rust free underneath with the exception of the rear arches. The previous owner has had a go at "rolling" the rear arches so they clear the tires, common sense would say "just fit low-profiles" but he didn't. The problem with him rolling the arches is that he chipped all the paint and Waxoyl off them.
So i need to rust-treat them, then straighten them back out to the way they're suppost to be then (like i did with the V8) do it mercedes style; by fibreglassing ontop of the lip inside the arch. Doing this creates a steep slope that water and dirt cannot sit on like the standard flat arch lip, instead they run simply run off it.

Underseal the whole car from underneath, plus insides of wings and cross-member.

Replace the tires, not just to fit low profiles but because the one's on there are on the limiters almost.

Bodywork; metallic domino black isn't an easy colour to match apparently, or certainly whoever did the touch up work on the car couldn't match it, and made a mess in places. Mostly the passenger side door, looks like it's been opened onto a wall at some point.

New front shocks and springs, it currently has sloppy k11 ones on there and they suck butt-cheeks. So i'm going keep my eye out for some proper k10 ones, or even better Monroe's.

Finally; that engine has to be cleaned!!! After looking at the engine in the V8, this one in the SS is a disgrace!!! That said, i am definatly not pulling it out and painting it yellow lol There's no way i'm doing a 3rd ma12 in goldseal yellow, silver and black maybe...

P.S; How tiny is that exhaust? :laugh:

 

[Vitus992]

What a super looking car - good for you.

 

[r-reg-sr]

can look at him all day
Nice ' mopd up?

 

[porkpie700]

Took the front foggies off today, separated the glass from the cups and started the un-lovely job of rust repair. It seems that at some point in the past someone has had the glass off for whatever reason but didn't seal them properly afterwards. I figure that metallic silver and glossy clear laquer will be much more reflective than rusty pits.

 

[Diskwiped]

Took the front foggies off today, separated the glass from the cups and started the un-lovely job of rust repair. It seems that at some point in the past someone has had the glass off for whatever reason but didn't seal them properly afterwards. I figure that metallic silver and glossy clear laquer will be much more reflective than rusty pits.

you can get Chrome paint. Surly that would be the closest to the real thing

 

[porkpie700]

Update; The front-end strip begins.

The foggies have been rust-repaired and painted, just the glass to seal in and the frames to finish painting and then they’re all done for the next five or so years. Also while I had the side-lights and indicators off the car I took them apart, cleaned them up and painted the insides to replace the original silver, which had faded away.
The photo was taken before the laquor was applied, they currently have a very glossy, almost a wet looking finish and although it's not clear in the picture the silver paint is actually metallic. It's difficult to take a decent picture of something that is designed be highly relective :laugh:

I took the bumper and front arch covers off the other day in prep for the waxoyling and undersealing of the front end. The cross-member is in pretty good shape which is nice, then again I don’t think I’ve ever seen a k10 with a bad cross-member, it’s usually the cills, arches and back valence that go on them. Any who, the wings were indeed grotty behind the arch trimmings but fortunately are not rusty. The wings will be coming off to be coated in waxoyl on the inside, especially on the arch lip.

Whoever fitted the foggies used very thick, long bolts and didn’t cut off the excess length once the nut was on there. Consequently when they fitted the bumper, no doubt with some force, they smashed the bolts back into the valence and bent it out of shape. Causing one of the wing bolts to shear off and allowing the wing to wobble.

It ain't difficult to fix, just work...

Once all the rust-proofing is done and dusted I can start work on refurbishing the front bumper which is currently not only the wrong colour but is scared with a ton of spider-web like impact cracks in the paint. Lots of sanding and filling ahead of me I guess lol.

Oh yeah one thing I thought I’d ask while I’m here, and this is probably more for those who own/have owned a catalysed MA12. What’s the word on how much water these things should normally blow out the exhaust? The super s I have here just throws it out constantly regardless of how hot or cold the engine is. From as soon as I turn the key it chucks it out, much to the annoyance of anyone parked behind it lol.

 

[Shaun]

My Super S never spat out any water after i changed my back box. and when it did on the original it was mainly cold mornings, so was probably just a cold pipe. :grinning:

 

[porkpie700]

Update: 08/10/10

It's been a good few weeks since i've played with Jett but after jacking in my job today over pay disputes i decided to do something constructive to help heal my mind, so i resumed my steady work on the Super S.
I removed the drivers' side wing so that i could underseal the chassis behind there, as soon as that wing came off i was taken back by how much rust there was.

I know, it's completely rotten isn't it. Doesn't all that rust just make you sick :laugh:
So anyway here's the before and after shots;

Before

After

I haven't finished it yet, that was just the brush on coat, i'm going to take off the shocker, mask off the brake pipes and then use the spray-on underseal to really blast it right up into those tight corners and slap it on super thick. After the underseal is dried i may consider coating it in that stone-chip guard stuff but i'll have to wait and see how i feel when it's done.

Next up was the wing, which i haven't undersealed yet because there is some rust-repair work to be done to the bottom of it as well as one other spot on the arch. Both these areas are covered by the body kit but i want rid of the rust completely rather than just cover it up.

The offending bottom

I'm not going to underseal the inside of the wing until i have all the rust repair and paint repair work done and finished, otherwise it could get very messy.

 

[porkpie700]

Wing Sorted

The bottom of that wing turned out to be a bit more than just rusty, it was holey.

But fortunately for me i have a very good welder just down the road. With a quick look with the measuring tape he cut out a peice of steel and made a duplicate of the affected section. A few months ago he the same job for my white Foha micra, however for that micra he had to make the entire 12" bottom section, which was completely missing (eaten alive by rust).

Now my wing is solid, rust-free, undersealed and back on the car. Now i have to do it all over again on the other side but hopefully that wing won't need welding.
Oh yeah, and happy birthday to the super s, he's turned 18 this week (Y)

 

[aLLeKs]

This spot ist rusty on every K10

 

[porkpie700]

It is if you don't clean the guttering out every time you wash the car. Dirt and soil collects behind the wing and over time makes it rust. It's a simple job to prevent it, all you have to do is pour hot soapy water down the air grills on the scuttle pannel (ledge under the windscreen) and it washes out the gutter tracks and the back of the wing. It's like cleaning the inside of the wheel arches, it's a simple job but not everyone does it.
A lot of the k10's i've seen in scrap yards seem to rust badly on that part of the wing, it's annoying because you think it has a perfect, solid wing and then you see the holes in the bottom. :glare:

 

[porkpie700]

I've got the Super S on the road now, thought i had a lot of play on the steering so i fitted new trackrod ends. The play was still there, so i decided to check the nutorious common fault, and sure enough the chuffin steering rack was loose!!! Just sliding around in its mounts before moving the wheels! Even though this is considered a common fault, it's the first time i've ever come across it on a K10.
So i'll be sorting that out at the weekend, removing the brackets and padding out the mount with a few more layers of rubber, and possibly a little bit of very strong glue before fe-fitting and super tightening the brackets back on there.
Dangerous man...

 

[porkpie700]

Big Fat Update

The last couple of months have been very busy but now I finally have some time to do a propper update for this blog.
The whole car has been undersealed and waxoyled from underneath, including the insides of the wings. Inside the car there’s been lot of waxoyling too, inside the boot lid, the rear wings/rear quarters, inside the cills, and inside the doors.

On the outside, I’ve fitted two new front shocks, I couldn’t find any k10 ones so I had to settle for k11 shocks instead but they are surprisingly stronger on the lighter k10. With the alloys on there too there is hardly any body roll now.

Excuse the gold; it’s the only paint I had laying around at the time :wasntme:

To get the k11 shocks to fit properly there was some modification needed. They had to be fitted with the brake pipe bracket facing to the front end of the car; the brackets had to be bent backwards by about 20mm (bending from the base and not the tip because it needs to remain facing forwards).
After that, the pipes went on and the clips could be tapped into place.

And last but certainly not least, the windows got a visit from the dark bandit known as; El Tinto.

It also has its alloys back on now which is nice, the red micra was just “looking after them” for a while :grinning:

When we get some clear weather I’ll give it a good clean and take a few pictures of the whole car now it’s finished, well except for a few odd bits here and there, like adjusting the headlights and getting some new number plates made (that nasty blue GB/euro strip has to go. I’d rather have Nissan stamped plates).
Then it's just a case of getting the replacement stickers made for the boot, ready to put on after it's re-spray next year. I've been thinking about having a pair of smaller Super S stickers made to put on the sides, either the front of the doors or on the rear wings in front of the rear wheels. I'm not sure if would look good or just come out looking tacky, has anyone else done something like that?

 

[karlj]

looking good mate... don't put ant other stickers on it other than the standard ones, like you said you want to restore it to it's glory

 

[gtsnissanb]

Very nice indeed
N.b. The suspension from a k11 fronts fit what about the rears? Also there is a cheap coilover kit for the polo on eBay brand new about £170 ish for the set

 

[porkpie700]

Thanks Karl, yep ill keep it original.
gtsnissanb; The rear suspension from the k11 wont fit the k10 because it's a different set-up altogether. The k10 uses coil-overs on the rear, not quite McPherson but close enough. Whereas the k11 has it's shocks and springs separate to each-other, and a funny double axle which I can't remember the name of. But the standard k11 set-up is purely for comfort, soft and bouncy, which is why they are notorious for having a saggy ass whenever there are passengers in the back

My super s already has a solid set-up on the rear; Monroe Gas Reflex shocks and springs with additional KYB bump-stops added to reduce suspension travel. I didn't add all that stuff, the previous owner did, I think he did it to stop the rear wheels from rubbing on the arches. But the standard anti-roll bar together with the rest makes for a very solid back end with virtually no roll. The wider tires reduce the roll even further so the whole car feels more like a modern car does.

The K11 shocks do have one big fat downside; they raise the ride height of the front end by some 3inch, so the car permanently looks as if it's accelerating at full bore :laugh:
But the ride comfort more than makes up for it, so I’ll forgive them of their sins lol.

On a last note, I just re-timed the engine this week because it was drinking fuel and very sluggish. It was set at maximum retard when it's supposed to be 3 degrees After TDC (ATDC). It's right where it should be now and I have to say what a hell of a difference it makes. I can't even hear the engine anymore, it just glides silently lol. But it does give a rather nice little rumbley-growl when it accelerates. The tiny little exhaust on the back takes away all the classic k10 low-buzz tone which makes for a much quieter ride, but being a super s it really should have a little bit of bark to go with it's looks...

It's six of one and half a dozen of the other :laugh:

 

[gtsnissanb]

Ah didn't know k11 had a different set up can't say I ever thought to check
I might have a check at the timing, seen as I bought a nice snazzy snap on timing gun just before I lost my job at fords, so never got to try it!

 

[superls]

Thanks Karl, yep ill keep it original.
gtsnissanb; The rear suspension from the k11 wont fit the k10 because it's a different set-up altogether. The k10 uses coil-overs on the rear, not quite McPherson but close enough. Whereas the k11 has it's shocks and springs separate to each-other, and a funny double axle which I can't remember the name of. But the standard k11 set-up is purely for comfort, soft and bouncy, which is why they are notorious for having a saggy ass whenever there are passengers in the back

My super s already has a solid set-up on the rear; Monroe Gas Reflex shocks and springs with additional KYB bump-stops added to reduce suspension travel. I didn't add all that stuff, the previous owner did, I think he did it to stop the rear wheels from rubbing on the arches. But the standard anti-roll bar together with the rest makes for a very solid back end with virtually no roll. The wider tires reduce the roll even further so the whole car feels more like a modern car does.

The K11 shocks do have one big fat downside; they raise the ride height of the front end by some 3inch, so the car permanently looks as if it's accelerating at full bore :laugh:
But the ride comfort more than makes up for it, so I’ll forgive them of their sins lol.

On a last note, I just re-timed the engine this week because it was drinking fuel and very sluggish. It was set at maximum retard when it's supposed to be 3 degrees After TDC (ATDC). It's right where it should be now and I have to say what a hell of a difference it makes. I can't even hear the engine anymore, it just glides silently lol. But it does give a rather nice little rumbley-growl when it accelerates. The tiny little exhaust on the back takes away all the classic k10 low-buzz tone which makes for a much quieter ride, but being a super s it really should have a little bit of bark to go with it's looks...

It's six of one and half a dozen of the other :laugh:

haha i know a few girls like that lol

good work with the car btw, hats off to you keeping things as stock as possible and restiring it, it would be so easy to change things to make it'better' but would be criminal on such a well looked after car.

 

[porkpie700]

:laugh: Cheers dude.

 

[porkpie700]

A "Holey Cow" Moment

So i was changing my coolant the other day and while i was waiting for the engine to warm up to bleed air out of the cooling system, i have no idea why but i felt the need to have a look underneath the battery tray.
Three words came out of my mouth; "oh... my... god". The nut was missing from the bolt that clamps the gearbox mounting to the body.

The bolt had wiggled itself almost through the hole, only about 5mm was showing on the nut side.
I have no idea how or when it happened but i stuck another nut on there and nailed it on tight. Never buy a car from a student mechanic that's all i say.

 

[porkpie700]

Well my brand new super s front bumper arrived at my local nissan dealership yesterday, i picked it up today and am chuffed with it. (Y)
Just waiting on the spot lamps now which should be 1 to 2 weeks then it's paint time, and my super s will be origional at long last! I'll stick up a picture tomorrow for y'all coz pictures are awsome, and hopefully i'll be able to get it sorted and fitted in a month but i'm not rushing.

 

[Scott]

ooooh how much did that one cost?

 

[porkpie700]

£104, brand new, in it's box. Thinking about getting a new back one too and making it concorce condition (Y)

 

[Scott]

Not that bad a price haha.

Thought about having copies made perhaps?

 

[porkpie700]

Why bother when i can buy new. For what it costs to have one copy made i can buy four brand new genuine parts.
I've already priced it up and unless you're running a business and selling at least a few douzen copies, it just isn't worth it. For the super s spoiler alone i was quoted £400 to make the mould, then each part produced would cost 45-60 pounds depending on weather i wanted the threaded studds fitted or not. A tad pricey when i buy a new one for £145.

 

[Scott]

True.

 

[pjg1979]

Very nice looking K10 you have there. Will you be cleaning up the engine block so it looks new as well?

Also The reflectors on your fog lamps do you have the size of them as they look familiar.

 

[porkpie700]

The reflectors on my fog lamps? The rear is standard k10 parts, the fonts i don't know, i haven't measured them. I have new front fogs on the way anyway so i'm not too fussed about them.
The engine bay is being cleaned up to be as smart as possible but i won't be painting the block on this one like i did with my GS, maybe brackets and other little things like that. It is currently looking a lot cleaner under the hood than it does in the photo above, i took that picture last year lol. There's been lots of degreasing and autosolve-ing going on since.
My goal is to get it up to showroom condition, or at least as close to it as possible. But obviously that's gonna take a while :grinning:

 

[superls]

Very nice looking K10 you have there. Will you be cleaning up the engine block so it looks new as well?

Also The reflectors on your fog lamps do you have the size of them as they look familiar.

i think there ring ones from memory, but im not sure as i cant see pics at work

 

[jowley]

that is a beautiful example

 

[porkpie700]

Photo Time

New bumper finally comes out of it's box for the camera;

With the spotlights just sat in their places;

Smiles all the way :grinning:

 

[karlj]

looking good mate and you have a pm :grinning:

 

[r-reg-sr]

:grinning:

 

[porkpie700]

Little Update; 04/04

Brand new rear bumper now ordered & is expected to arrive this week. (Y)
After a good long look at the current bumper i thought; it's fixable with time, filler and paint, but i don't have the time and if i'm putting a new front one on there then why not do the back too?
So aside from ordering the back bumper, i also ordered all new brackets and strut braces for front and back. Well i figured; if i'm investing in new bumpers then why not go the rest of the way and do it right, so i have lol.

On a separate note, i took the ss to the crypton tuner for a check over and discovered that the valve timing was out by some 20+ degrees, he suggested that whoever fitted the timing belt hadn't lined up the cam sprocket correctly.

So i got a brand new belt and decided to sort it all out over the weekend, sure enough, the cam was out by at least a whole tooth. It was a total cow to change the belt with the engine in the car (as i knew it would be) but it's done, lined up and re-timed.
What a hell of a difference it made, it's so quiet that i have to keep checking my rev-counter to make sure that it's still running :laugh:

 

[porkpie700]

Captain SunTop To The Rescue

You know they always say that with a 1.2 k10 you should always change the water pump whenever you change the timing belt, and that's good advice. The Super S was the fourth k10 timing belt i'd changed and i have never changed a water pump, and never had any problems. But this time i struck out of luck and the Super S is leaking, slowly slowly. :glare:

Well it's my own fault, the trouble was that i just didn't have the time and i was under the gun to have it ready for work the following day.
The leak is only minor (about 250ml per week) and only drips when the engine is off. So the plan now is the press on with getting the SunTop done and on the road so i can take the Super S off the road and really take my time going over everything with a fine-tooth comb. I've already gathered up all the new parts i need except for the water pump but that's no problem. I'll be able to crack on with getting the mechanicals all 110% and then start on the re-spray work.
Unfortunately it means that the Super S won't be ready in time for JAE this year, but the Suntop will happily take his place.
Captain SunTop to the rescue *trumpets* :laugh:

 

[K10 SHED]

maybe because you have just put the belt on you may get away with re using it when changing the water pump as it's still new ish :grinning:

 

[porkpie700]

Well its a £30 belt and it's only 3 weeks old so i'm not replacing it with another new one, nooooooo way.

 

[porkpie700]

Lower Foha Spoiler Arrived!!!

Yeah man!

Sorry about the crap photo quality, phone camera in a poorly lit room, what can you do?

 

[gtsnissanb]

I'm guessing that's a mid spoiler lol that is a poor pic

 

[porkpie700]

Bath Time

I know it's been months since i said that i would put up a few pics of the car as it is now, but hey better late than never. And when better to take pics than right after bath time :grinning:

This one was a bit of a cock-up but i'm posting it up because it looks weird and kinda cool, apparently Jett has blue eyes.

Where's steven king i think we have a follow up to christine right here :laugh:

 

[gtsnissanb]

Looks a bit high but otherwise sweet

 

[James]

That is without question the cleanest and nicest looking black K10 i've ever seen, I love it.

 

[porkpie700]

K11 shocks on the front dude that's why. Will be getting some KYBs with standard ride-height springs eventually. There's no way i'll lower it below factory ride-height and if you saw the speed ramps around here you'd know why :doh:
Plus i would have serious clearance issues with those rims on there so keeping it stock saves me a ton of hassle, i need my cars to be practical.
And if there are any counsil pen pushers reading out there, let me just say this;
Speed ramps don't slow down idiots coz they don't care about thier cars, that's why they drive like idiots. They just wreck all the nice cars and low-riders.
Speed cameras on the other hand do slow the idiots down because they'll loose thier licence if they dont and best of all they don't damage anybody's car. Hows about that then counsil chumps?

Cheers James

 

[gtsnissanb]

K11 shocks on the front dude that's why. Will be getting some KYBs with standard ride-height springs eventually. There's no way i'll lower it below factory ride-height and if you saw the speed ramps around here you'd know why :doh:
Plus i would have serious clearance issues with those rims on there so keeping it stock saves me a ton of hassle, i need my cars to be practical.
And if there are any counsil pen pushers reading out there, let me just say this;
Speed ramps don't slow down idiots coz they don't care about thier cars, that's why they drive like idiots. They just wreck all the nice cars and low-riders.
Speed cameras on the other hand do slow the idiots down because they'll loose thier licence if they dont and best of all they don't damage anybody's car. Hows about that then counsil chumps?

Cheers James

Lol I doubt many on here will be old enough to be in charge of road safety
Mines had the springs cut (not by me I would never do that bought that way) and I want mine at stock height as my alloys rub enormously plus with my foah kit big ass skirts and massive arches it'll look low anyway

 

[Guy]

That is without question the cleanest and nicest looking black K10 i've ever seen, I love it.

Completely agree. As much as I'm into modding, there's something so satisfying about a mint older car that hasn't been messed with :grinning:.

 

[porkpie700]

Old?!!! It's an October '92, it's a brand new car still!!!

 

[porkpie700]

80,000miles today. Happy 80th Birthday (Y)
Still good for another 920,000 :grinning:

 

[porkpie700]

Update; Another Foha Grill

Well the plan was to keep the Super S totally origional, however... i though, genuine factory extras don't count as mods :laugh:

So i figured i'll have just two little "none-stock" extras on there just to give it that little bit of individuality when it's all finished.

First up, foha grill number two;

Those fogs will be wired up to a 2nd dim-dip box and i'll have it wired up in such a way that the grill fogs will come on at half power to match the headlights when the headlights are switched to normal beam (not side-lights). Then when full beam or flash is selected both the grill fogs and the bumper fogs will come on at full power with the headlights. It should give the car a meaner look at night (Y)

The lower foha spoiler;

I finally got around to taking some decent quality photos of it. This should give the back end a more retro-jap sport-hatch kinda look, which is always cool.
I hope when this Super S is finished that it looks as good as the picture i have in my head.
Next job; set the valve clearances as close to perfect as possible (they're way too loud as they are, especially compared to my other k10's). After that's done i'll be ready to drop the engine, change the water pump then and paint the whole thing.

 

[superls]

Well the plan was to keep the Super S totally origional, however... i though, genuine factory extras don't count as mods :laugh:

So i figured i'll have just two little "none-stock" extras on there just to give it that little bit of individuality when it's all finished.

First up, foha grill number two;

Those fogs will be wired up to a 2nd dim-dip box and i'll have it wired up in such a way that the grill fogs will come on at half power to match the headlights when the headlights are switched to normal beam (not side-lights). Then when full beam or flash is selected both the grill fogs and the bumper fogs will come on at full power with the headlights. It should give the car a meaner look at night (Y)

The lower foha spoiler;

I finally got around to taking some decent quality photos of it. This should give the back end a more retro-jap sport-hatch kinda look, which is always cool.
I hope when this Super S is finished that it looks as good as the picture i have in my head.
Next job; set the valve clearances as close to perfect as possible (they're way too loud as they are, especially compared to my other k10's). After that's done i'll be ready to drop the engine, change the water pump then and paint the whole thing.

You will get pulled up with them on like that, i was pulled twice in my k10 with those centre lights on at half power. blagged my way out of one ticket but got one the second time

 

[porkpie700]

Damn :doh:
Thanks for the advice though dude, saves me doing a lot of work just to get pulled for it. The daft thing is that you always see people in new cars driving with their front fogs on, even in daylight. I think the cops are too keen to pull up older cars for trivial stuff like that. Oh well i'll just pipe em up to come on with full beam like the bumper fogs.