my micra, the phoenix

[Dragonmaster_uk]

seeing as i`m now starting to do a fair bit of work to my car over the summer an into next year thought i would start a blog to tell everyone the story so far the reason it is called the phoenix is i brought it new on 3rd july 2006 and sadly it`s already had to be in the repair shop twice first time not my fault second time maybe was my fault but not sure


first the day i got it parked up at work

after two days someone decided to nick the numberplates whilst it was at work so phonecall to the police which wasn`t much help but quick trip to the local nissan garage got them replaced for nothing(Y)

then not much happend except putting my private reg on for a few months then in december 2006 on my way to work some old guy decided to cut me up and bust the mirror cave in the front wing scrape the alloys both sides somehow an do a massive cut out of the front bumper :-(
luckly my insurance were very helpful getting t sorted quickly the claim ended in a 50/50 though in about march 2007

got it back an first place i went was to take some more pictures as it was nice and shiney

a few more random pictures once my club stickers were on + a silly mod i did to the door handels still there though

then this feburary came home from work one day parked up on the drive went inside about five mins later knock at the door "did you know your car was across the road" all i can think is i must have left the handbrake off but somehow it managed to go down my drive across the roadway up the curb the other side across the pavement an into a wall

damage pics

and how far out the bonnet was

needless to say i was heartbroken as i thought it was a gonner
phonecall to the insurance and £500 excess luckily got it back however was not very happy with the insurance as haven`t heard from them since and it took the repair garage a week to pick the car up an then another month to get it fixed and back to me
if it had died though i had already got my eye on a pre facelift k12 to buy and mod up

will update with the modding as it begins as soon as it`s had the next service due to the warrenty however i have some smoked side repeaters and a bargin ebay shark fin aerial to go on however the aerial will be going body coloured first
plus a 12" orion sub to go in the back not sure if thats this year or next
pics of that lot to come soon not sure where camera is

forgot to say thanks to kev for the sub

 

[squarepants]

is it me or are k12's cursed? lol

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

don`t think so my mums has bin fine
actually that had an o2 sensor go in march so u might be onto something
lol

 

[joesouthgate]

Nice (Y) Whats the plans for it?

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

the plan for this year is mainly making sure all the little scrapes an bits are sorted so that it`s looking mint for jae an just having a few mods done that can easily be switched back if it has to go for warrenty repairs

the grand plan after the warrenty has gone is to have something like the nismo march k12 in japan i was lucky enough to get the full catalogue off ebay about six months ago and from what i can tell the bodykit is front splitter rear spoiler side skirts an lower rear bumper at the edges
and diffrent indicator grilles will put some pics from the catalogue up when i can get to a scanner

now i already have side skirts and spoiler on that i`m happy with the indicator grilles i quite like the ones that are on so probably won`t change them
front splitter i would like as the one it kinda has at the moment is hidden underneath the bumper but maybe one off a clio would fit unless someone knows of one for a facelift
the rear bumper i`m thinking some corner splitters an then smooth them out but i want to keep the middle piece high as i have something special planned for the exhaust
other than that exterior i`m thinking window tint`s not sure wether full or just the back three yet would like opinions on this
i have already uprated the headlight bulbs to blue xenon ones but would like some angel eyes instead of the fog lights
what i would love to source to finish the outside off is the nismo rear light clusters will upload a pic later but the part number is 26650-RNK20

engine wise not much planned as i plan on moving on to something with a bit more power (hopefully a silvia s15 ) in a few years time after this has been finished off
however k&n induction kit hopefully nismo manifold downpipe and cat and a custom catback ending in a 350z style twin exit tailpipe

interior wise retrim interior in leatherette not sure what colour yet thinking either silver/blue or black/green
uprated speakers in front doors and rear quarters, sub mounted in false floor in boot with cover so boot can be used normally without risking damage to sub and amps, maybe 6x9s but not sure if this would be overkill
other than this will probably have to upgrade the headunit so something nice will come then and maybe a car pc

alarm wise will probably get the nissan upgrade fitted before all the ice goes in
anything that people think i`ve missed just post up or any suggestion i`m open to criticism on this an if i don`t like what you say then i`ll do it my ownway anyway but i`m sure there are some people here that know tips that could make this easier most the work will be being started after 3rd july 2009 so plenty of time for comments if anyone could do some photoshops though that would be nice as i have a picture in my head but confirmation would be nice

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

update

some of you have already seen the few bits that have been done but basically for jae i fitted custom sunstrip smoked side repeaters wind deflectors and shark fin ariel then whilst there i bought a d1 spec carbon gear knob and fitted that but i still need the spacer bit fo between the new gearknob and the gaitor pics when i have that fitted

a few pics showing whats been done exterior wise

 

[curtis]

Car looked good at JAE (Y) sunstrip is cool

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

sunstrip was printed late wednesday night at a mate of my bro`s house fitted in a rush on the thursday evening with darkness coming quickly an hoping that no rain came before i got to JAE because i had no clue wether the wipers would go over it luckly they do

thanks yours looked mega clean my brother who was with me wanted it

next plans are finish off the gearstick and maybe do something with the handbrake handle it`s a great big bit of plastic at the moment mesh front grill and indicator grilles in black and maybe a big oval backbox as it looked tiny compared to the rest of them

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

update coming very soon just need the rain to stop so i can finish off grr

update have now fitted the cusco front strut brace from tse_adam and tigtened it as much as i possibly can with minor injurys from scraped knuckles etc will go for a drive as soon as the bleeding has stopped just hope i don`t have to change a headlight bulb as there is no room to get at the back of the lights without taking the bumper off an headlights out
some bad news though last sunday on the way out of work one of my collegues decided that my brakes were better than his so i`m in need of a new rear bumper undecided as yet on wether to get another standard uk one or use yahoo auctions to get a jdm one as they look better

also have a set of angel eye front fogs to fit but i think it may be a while before they are fitted now

pics

 

[joesouthgate]

Strutbrace looks good (Y) You don't have much luck with ur car do u?!

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

thats why it`s the phoenix it has never failed me it has just had a few problems with bodywork

new rear bumper will be coming as soon as i get payed maybe uk maybe jdm have bid on a jdm front bumper so hopefully will win that and it will start looking a little diffrent the angel eye`s will go on with the front bumper and be wired in

as for the strut brace went out this evening an there is no body roll at all you cannot even feel speed bumps
also have the sub ready to go in the boot and hopefully window tints done on the back three windows before christmas so will be a busy winter hopefully without any other mishaps

well new front bumper is on it`s way now just gotta wait for payday 10th october to order the rear pic of the front to follow if someone could photoshop it on that would be nice

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

pics

 

[joesouthgate]

looks good (Y) do you have that now or is it being imported?

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

being imported gonna wait till i`ve got a rear till fitting them might have to get a jdm bootlid for it to look right have to wait and see

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

for anyone thats intrested this is the design rear bumper i want to get

 

[tse_adam]

i am glad the strut got there and you like it...looks good btw!

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

very impessed mate ta just keep checking the bolt whenever i`ve driven anywhere to be sure it`s on tight enough
makes a lot of diffrence may try and get the rear one aswell when i`ve finished playing with bumpers to get it looking how i want some intresting stuff on yahoo auctions i would recommend it seeing as you said you were going for looks much more of a selection over there
also screwed in break cylinder thing and to me it makes the breaks a lot smoother so i think i`ll leave it as is for the moment

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

got bored today so decided to have a mess about on paint with a few ideas i`ve had

also ordered some more bits that should be here in a few days still don`t have the front bumper here waiting till i have rear bumper and march bootlid and then getting them all sent across at the same time not looking to fit till after the winter anyway as i have to drive in some terrible weather

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

small update more to come soon finally got the gearstick finished off

 

[tse_adam]

ooo thats nice, how did you take off the existing white plastic thing? it looks as if it's glued up very well!

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

pair of mole grips and keep twisting it till you either break it off or twist it off the top you will also need the joining peice to match with the original gaitor about £15 from ebay

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

small update got a k&n panel filter today will fit it tomorrow might upload some pic`s later but it`s an airfilter so might just fit it few more plans in the pipeline which may make me change my mind about the back

still waiting for the front bumper want it here now really will update with more plans tomorrow

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

not happy

recieved an e-mail about the postage for the front bumper today i have to say i was shocked

Due to its size, this item cannot be sent by Japan Post and DHL quoted 112,500yen

now using the little tool on google
112 500 Japanese yen = 641.455915 British pounds

£650 to deliver a bumper i wasn`t expecting much change out of £100 but that`s just ridiculous to me i`m thinking there must be an extra 0 on the end

here is the rest of the email

In this case, we can offer an optional “cutting service” to you.

We can take it to a repairman shop who can cut the item using an air grinder with a cutting disc straight and with minimal material loss as possible.

That's what we did many times before and the fee we charge for cutting is 5000yen.

This way we can send it by Japan Post for a much more affordable delivery fee.

Then you’ll have it reassemble in your country.

i have sent asking for a rough price on this method as i was planning on doing some work before having it sprayed

--------------------------------------------

so i have the problem of the back which needs repairing the guy who hit me should be paying out this weekend which will leave me with about £200 to sort it out now i did have the idea of fitting a prefacelift rear bumper (brand new £70) and getting one of the add on kits and using the rear corner splitters and arches then using the front arches and maybe front corner splitters later on using my oem side skirts
opinions anyone i don`t really want to order another £30 bumper to be hit with a £600 postage bill

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

it`s a standard jdm bumper there are`nt any in this country

 

[joesouthgate]

where did u get the gearknob from mate?

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

got it from jae mate race design carbon weighted i`ll have a look see if i still have their website somewhere

think it was these guys http://www.epracing.co.uk

 

[joesouthgate]

cheers mate.

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

fitted the k&n on friday evening and it`s made quite a diffrence no change in noise at low revs but when you get past around 3500 the sound is brilliant i will try and get a recording tomorrow should have all the money for the bumper repair on next friday ( have half now ) so shall be ordering a prefacelift back bumper and the add on kit for the prefacelift for some custom bodywork have to wait for next payday to get it painted though

got the latest issue of banzai mag on friday though with the review of jae in it and the back part of my car is in one of the pictures will scan it in soon was well pleased

after the rear has been rebuilt then its back to performance with uprated front brakes and possibly a rear strut brace then let money build up for the winter

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

small update from when i went to santa pod i`ll let the pics do the talking

 

[jyauluke]

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn191/dragonmaster_uk/my%20micra%20the%20phoenix/mybaby.jpg[/IMG]

Hi

May i ask...ur headlight issit D.I.Y LED inside?

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

Hi

May i ask...ur headlight issit D.I.Y LED inside?

the headlights are not LED inside at the moment that picture was done on computer to see what it would look like i am currently looking for a spare set of headlights to test it properly

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

new bumpers

fetched new rear bumper at the ferrybridge meet carcept basic will be being painted very soon as i`m bored of having a crack in the standard one

and finally the jdm front bumper arrived in two boxes this morning opened them when i got in from work and i had managed to find one in perfect condition the same colour as my car shame i had to have it chopped in half gives me chance for some mod`s though plate recess is being smoothed out and middle is being open mouthed and meshed black mesh front and rear

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

test fitted the back bumper today needs painting now

 

[nissanmicrak12]

my god that bumpers been around now lol good job bud

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

just a small update have fitted a carbon handbrake cover and leather gaitor to get rid of some more plastic will get a pic next light day get also had these arrive today can anyone guess what there off ??

and a couple comparing them to my spare normal k12 mirror

 

[jim_bling]

electric mirrors with heated bits as well

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

they may be heated not sure, there not off a standard uk k12 though

 

[Tazmaniac]

Ooooohhh, K12 March JDM mirrors!!!

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

close electrically folding JDM March mirrors with the switch

there gonna be fun tricking people on motorways

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

pic's of interior as promised

 

[squarepants]

i reckon you should keep the JDM bumper as is, (once in one peice) dont smooth it, keep the plate recess so you can have a 12X6 jap plate so it looks like a March

smoothing defeats the whold point for buying a JDM bumper lol, will look like a slightly modified stnadrad one if its smoothed.

will aslo save you money!

but thats my opion.

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

i reckon you should keep the JDM as is, (once in one peice) dont smooth it, keep the plate recess so you can have a 12X6 jap plate so it looks like a March

don`t worry mate a pair of 13 x 6 plates are on order perfect size for the recess i used my head and went and measured the bumper before ordering i`m gonna open mouth and black mesh it with angel eye fogs
removing the recess would`ve lost the jdm look of it plus i have the mirrors now aswell

 

[squarepants]

normal jap size should be 12x6...thats the perfect size for the JDM recess on 9/10 JDM cars

will look awsome when finished carnt wait to see it this year...JAE maybe?

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

even if i have to ring in sick to work i`ll be at jae this year with full bodywork interior retrim full audio visual system and maybe some engine work if i get time

 

[squarepants]

carnt wait ..the vibe should be even better this year, i get goose bumps thinking about how exciting its gonna be...or iam i just sad? lol

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

my whole winter has been spent planning to have my car ready for next year so if your sad i`m sad too think we might have to have a mids meet once the bodywork is done

 

[squarepants]

lol everyone plans to have there car ready for JAE each years...theres a few things i want to do to mine before then...might keep them screct tho

midlands meet would be awsome when its finished...after the sheffield one, i reckon one around chesterfeild, matlock or derby would be good.

 

[dock10]

where did you get the rear stickers from?they really stand out in a good way

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

got them from santa pod dragstrip last time i was down there

 

[Dragonmaster_uk]

another small update got some new mats yesterday so fitted them this morning just waiting for my plates to get here and then thats eveything thats ordered at the moment just need a new numberplate light and some black mesh then can get on with the bumpers