My K10 project

[LiamC]

So, after being in the Micra game for about 3 years now, I finally got myself into gear and did something I always wanted and buy myself a K10. I own two K11s currently so I only thought it fair to add to the collection. It's a 1991 MA10 4 speed, not sure on the exact model and spec but I gather its fairly mid-spec with pop out rear windows and a few little interior bits like door pockets etc.

The car was a half finished project that has actually been up on the forums before, but the PO ran out of money before getting it sprayed and had to temporarily pause the build (which was 5 years ago). It has been fully dealt with rust-wise underneath, having layers of various products applied to the whole underside, every bush and brake like was bought new and replaced, and it has also been kept in a dry shed since the build began back in 2011. It was going to be a sort of 'restomod' restoration, and had a lot of work put into moulding skirts and lips onto the factory bodywork, some of which isn't to my taste but other parts are quite nicely done and I have to say I appreciate the level of work in it so I might end up using some of these parts.

So currently what I have is a car that is fully rust proofed, has had every rubber and consumable part replaced and is now just needing a little TLC and a paint job to get it over the line. As it stands, I need to:
-do a full service including oil, fuel and air filters plus I'll change the timing belt while I'm there
-get the car running (hasn't started in 5 years so it will need fresh fuel and a batter, if not a carb rebuild
-clean up the little spots of surface rust that have crept up in areas and reprimer the car
-get it professionally painted (already have someone lined up to do that, who is a fellow K10 owner and lover of all things Nissan)
-take a stock check of every part that came with the car, and possibly get some spare parts like lights, interior plastics etc
-I know I'll need to sort seats and carpets out but as I have a friend who owns a scrapyard this won't be difficult
-put everything back together (currently the car is essentially a rolling shed, with a lot of parts inside it such as the windows, exhaust and bumpers)

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[Deleted member]

You buy that off LENNY ha

 

[LiamC]

Apologies for the missing updates, my pictures weren't playing ball and I didn't want another post without pictures so here they are

The first few pictures I'm posting are ones taken off the forum from roughly 2014, when the car was due to be painted but the owner ran out of money and left it sitting until I picked it up. As you can see, the bumpers, grill and spoiler had been played around with and left in a nearly finished state. They aren't quite to my liking, but as the car was started around 8 years ago I'll forgive the styling choices as they were very different times in regards to modifying. They are stock bumpers with lips moulded into them, you can see the evidence of this from the inside of the bumper. I'll be further modifying these parts (starting with the citroen spoiler being broken in half and binned) to make them more to my liking. I'm thinking of taking a sander and plenty of filler to the bumpers to flush them out a little more and make them slightly more angular. It also had EG Civic side skirts moulded into the body which are actually nicely done so they will be staying as they are.

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[Confused Bear]

I saw that on a k10 Facebook forum the other day lol.

What colour are you thinking of spraying it? Will look pretty awesome when its done

 

[LiamC]

I saw that on a k10 Facebook forum the other day lol.

What colour are you thinking of spraying it? Will look pretty awesome when its done

Yeah I just got the car so I was photo whoring it on Facebook already. I actually can't decide yet, white was the original plan but I've also been thinking a metallic black, yellow or even gunmetal grey

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[Confused Bear]

I also thought black really suits the K10 or white or both, go two tone lol

 

[LiamC]

I also thought black really suits the K10 or white or both, go two tone lol

Yeah two fine with black over grey has been a thought too but I'm not sure on the whole white over black panda look

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[Confused Bear]

Ive seen a few panda k10s and Not a fan either, black over grey would look pretty damn good though

 

[LiamC]

Ive seen a few panda k10s and Not a fan either, black over grey would look pretty damn good though

And another thing I was thinking was silver over grey, as much as I hate silver for being the most boring generic colour out there on modern cars I think it actually suits k10s (and other boxies) very well. So many ideas but I'll have to learn photoshop and get them on a picture of the car

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[Confused Bear]

Need a photo shop section on this site, be good to test out some colour schemes on mine lol

 

[LiamC]

Need a photo shop section on this site, be good to test out some colour schemes on mine lol

Yeah exactly, I'll just have to find a friend who's good with it though

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[LiamC]

OK sadly I've only made a miserable amount of progress on this car due to personal circumstances but that is all about to change this week. I'm picking up a Nissan Figaro engine, ECU and fuel system. This means turbo time for my little K10.

The plan is to pull the original MA10s engine and box out of my car, make a Frank special hybrid-clutch and use the original 4-speed box on the new engine. Obviously a full service and flush is in order for the engine (hopefully there won't be any stupid small differences between the engines but knowing Nissan.......). I'll be using the figgy fuel tank and lines so that's all hopefully bolt in and go. The ECU side of things should be the same story, all going well.

Body-wise the car is getting un-facelifted, but I'm keeping the original modified face-lift bumpers and civic skirts I got with the car. I need to do some research on exactly what's needed for the pre-fl swap but I know I need the slam panel and bonnet hinges for sure. I found a New Old Stock bonnet from a Nissan dealer that wasn't painfully expensive which I'm very proud of, and I already have some head-lights which came with the car.

I've also bought two pairs of Datsun style rear lights as I much prefer the smaller size, and I'm hoping to get Datsun front indicators so I can flush the side indicators out.

I'll finish this update with the small amount of work I actually have done to the car. I've properly flushed the number-plate light/rear wiper/lock holes on the bootlid as imo they had been done very poorly, as well as the fuel flap lock hole. I've now fibreglassed and fillered the holes and I'm very happy with the result. Next on the list for this type of work is to flush the boot handle/indicator/aerial holes, then that's all the fibreglassing work done.

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[LiamC]

That Figaro engine that I mentioned previously is in the process of being stripped, bored out 0.5mm and then being put back together. I'll make up my own exhaust manifold and system too, thinking of mounting the turbo more to the Cylinder 1 end, and maybe using a CT9 turbo off a Toyota Starlet Glanza, since they are readily available and water cooled too.

I've also been doing some other work, pulled out the old fuel tank ready to fit the figaro one in its place. The engine and box is ready to come out, and I'll be using a 5-speed early K11 gearbox mated to the MA10ET. Found a few spots of rust on the passenger sill and under the rear seats, I'll crack out the welder and get them sorted while we are on lockdown.

And lastly I've been doing some body work too, I've decided to play with the custom bumpers that the last owner had started making up and changing them to suit. I've been sanding back the plastic to match the shape I want the lower lip to be, and then adding layers of fibreglass to strengthen and shape. The photos show the original contour of the bumper compared to what I am working it to be. It's getting there and still pretty solid so I'm happy so far. I'll be looking for Super S skirts too down the line to finish off the body work.

Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)

Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)

 

[LiamC]

Another update with the time off from the corona.

I decided to strip the Figaro engine bit by bit, and started with splitting the inlet manifold into the two castings to give it a general clean up and learn what goes where (I'm a very hands on learner, what I mean by that is I take it apart and break it but gain some knowledge in the process). The split in the casting is the red line, the green circles are the injector seats.

I found that the ports between the two cast parts are miles off from each other, cylinder 1 and 4 have up to a 3mm step between the two castings. This is how I set about learning about porting, using my trusty ALDI dremel set. I have to say, I'm quite pleased with the results considering I didn't even do any research before hand. I came up with my own way of doing it as I went along, making a centre line along the ports as measured off the holes on each side of the manifold, and then sticking on masking tape and making a template to copy to the other half of the manifold.

. Here's a nice little pile of aluminium that's been taken out from smoothing and shaping.

The plan was the clean up the manifold and paint it, but I'm just thinking ill get the car together and running first and then go back for little jobs like that.

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[LiamC]

After I had roughly put that back together (currently waiting on gaskets for the split in the manifold), I started onto stripping the two engines to see what was different and what could be swapped. I pulled off the front coolant pipe with the extra drain for the turbo, the thermostat housing since it has no mechanical fuel pump, timing belt covers, sensors and general crap like that, only leaving the sump and the head left now.

I ended up with a fine little pile of bits to swap.

I realised that as I was doing this, this engine was clearly run on straight water as coolant and all the water jackets are completely gummed up, and since the block is worn out anyway, I think I might just scrap it now. Would have been nice to have the original code on the turbo engine, but it isn't worth it now.

As I started doing the same to the stock engine, I found that there were more similarities than I thought. I also found that the thermostat housings weren't different, but they have a small blanking plate that bolts on to the stock fuel pump housing, which I set about swapping the studs for.

I had an argument with one, I knew I could feel the thread stripping as I was taking it out, but I'm stubborn and wanted it out even if I couldn't use it. I ended up using an inlet stud anyway

Stuck the turbo on for the laugh just to see it in the engine bay, it's a motivational picture if nothing else.

The plan is to carry on working out what wires do what in the Figaro loom, and once all my gaskets and timing belt stuff arrives, swap the manifolds, sump and piping over and maybe even run it if the ECU and wiring cooperates.

Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)