Newcomer to the K11 Micra cars

[David52]

I am a newcomer to the Micra/March family of cars. I am located in Nashville Tennessee and recently purchased a 1994 Mitsuoka Viewt with about 57000km, which is based on the Nissan March. Turns quite a few heads when I drive it. I am a bit of a gearhead and am willing to do as much of the service as I can. My main problem is, since the Micra was never imported into the States, finding parts and service information is a bit of a challenge. Through searching the web, I came upon the Micra Sports Club. I will say your club is about the only one like it in the world, with a decent amount of information and activity.
I have purchased the Haynes manual and it is helpful. I would like to replace the CVT fluid and Dexron II is not available here or made anymore. I am looking for a suitable replacement. This car has front disc and drum rear brakes. The left rear brake cylinder is leaking and I suspect a similar problems with the right side also. I would like to replace the entire drum brake assembly on both sides with new parts. I am just not sure of what parts or kit I should buy. Thanks to the internet, I am happy to purchase parts from any UK dealer that you might recommend.
Your thoughts are appreciated.
David Rogers, Nashville, TN

 

[Kitami]

Hey David!

I'd recommend looking up and making sure the parts are identical before purchasing, but there are plenty of guides on youtube and forums for the K11 Micra (that your car is based on) that can help you out. (Cisco's Micra Files, This forum, Random uploads etc. can be found on google).

Fantastic that this car is in the states! What drove you to purchase it and what plans do you have if any for modification? Who did you buy it from and did they have any normal Micras?

 

[David52]

Thank you for you input and advice. Searching and reading on the web has been my main source of information, plus reading the Haynes manual.

There is a site called www.bringatrailer.com which lists many vehicles for auction. Most of the cars end up selling for more than my budget. The Mitsuoka Viewt looks a bit like a 1963 Jaguar Mark II. However when you look inside its all Nissan Micra/March. It is quirky, different and folks stop me with questions!! So the price was in my range and now I have a rather odd little car.

I purchased it from a gentleman in Virginia via the "bringatrailer" auction site. The car originally was brought into the states by an importer of JDM vehicles. Non USA speced cars after they are 25 years or older may be imported into the states. www.duncanimports.com is how this little Mitsuoka made it over from Japan. I have not seen any Micras on their website.

As I said in my first post, my main goal is to perform basic maintenance and correct a few of the mechanical issues I have discovered. I have some drum brake parts coming from several UK parts suppliers. So I should be able to replace the leaking brake cylinders and I am going to replace the rubber brake hoses with new ones. Beyond that I really just want to have a unique little car I can drive around.

My other little fun car is a 2006 NC Miata. Improvements to that car have been Ohlins DFW shocks, PPE catted header, GWR mid pipe and Super Q muffler, Progress sway bars, cold air intake, TDR tune, factory LSD, front shock brace, several under chassis braces, Enkei wheels with Michelin Pilot 4S tires and Wilwood 4 caliper disk brakes. A very nimble little car and with the new header, mid pipe, muffler and a new computer tune I have gained 20 or so horsepower.

David

 

[CapitanXeon]

Welcome to the Micra family! This seems to be about the best place to get help about the micras, and it's kind of the de-facto place to go as well, no other forums like this one. As you say, the car is based on a Micra so whatever help you need, there's a very big chance that the info is already here, so the search will help you tons.
About the fluid, Dexron VI is specced as a replacement for Dexron II and Dexron III, so maybe you can find Dexron VI in the States. For my parts needs, i usually shop in Autodoc, but i don't know if they send to the US, as i'm from Spain, but they seem to be kinda international.

 

[David52]

Sadly Autodoc doesn't ship to the US. Ebay vendors in the UK will, so I have all of the drum brake parts coming via that route.

 

[CapitanXeon]

Sadly Autodoc doesn't ship to the US. Ebay vendors in the UK will, so I have all of the drum brake parts coming via that route.

For the drums, if available, i recommend getting prebuilt assemblies, they allow to just drop in the complete thing without having to mess around the springs and all that. I did the same thing when a rear wheel bearing kicked the bucket, it was much easier to just replace the entire hub than it was to replace the bearing inside it, and the price difference was very low.

This kind of kit will make your life so much easier

 

[David52]

Well finally got the brakes done on the Micra/Viewt. I ordered some parts off of Ebay from some UK vendors and sadly in my case most of them didn't work out for my needs. The drums were perfect. What I did find out, was Nissan shared the drum brake assemblies across several of their products. It turns out the 1994 Sentras and the Micras share the same rear drums. So a trip to my local car parts shop supplied what I needed. If anyone else is looking the brake shoes that fit or either Z638 or S638 depending on the manufacture. Also the Sentra brake cylinder works. A bit larger chamber, but the dimensions are perfect.
The rear left drum brake had a leaking brake cylinder, now all better
Several photos showing the results. The old, and the new.
Thanks all.
David, 1994 Viewt/Micra/March in Tennessee

 

[David52]

Added a new fuel filter to the service. What a challenge to remove the fuel lines. Not sure if the filter had ever been changed. Next up is changing the CVT fluid. Hopefully that goes well