Hey Poly, have always loved reading your threads but now that i'm beginning to put together my own little road legal track toy I could think of no better man to ask on the matter. How do you find the 15" wheels on the Micra? I've heard a lot of people criticize them for being too big and unable to go from lock to lock, how do you find them??
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PollyMobiles Rebuild
- Thread starter pollyp
- Start date
I Dunno about pollyp but when i ran 15's they were fantastic, full lock both ways was fine, only problem i had was with me and 4 guys in the car the suspension offset under loading with standard bushes meant one side on the back caught the arch, easily fixed when lowering with adjustable bushes though. Possibly other people had trouble with full lock cause of the offset on the wheel meaning the inner edge was too close to the car...
hope this is useful
Ps soz for the hijack polly
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pollyp
Club Member
one of the many best upgrades. comparing to my old 13" the lower profile sharpened up the turn-in response and maintained a consistant stable mid-turn grip which gains confidence.
the larger rim also allows the upgrade to a softer compound toyo t1r's which dramatically increases overall grip that its on rails.
it also allowed me to upgrade to massive Pulsar front brakes which i found essential for resisting fade on the track with this much puwer. the brakes were alot heavier than stock but the lightweight forged Rotas helped counter that
depending on the profile, the outer rotating diameter of the tyre is near the same. mine's slightly larger using a 195/50/15 cos that's the perfect dia where the speedo is bang on.
going from 185/70/13 to 195/50/15 and depending on wheel offset, the tyre will prob rub the plastic inner splash guard or the arch guard at full lock, i'm removed all my inner guards plus the guards under the crossmember cos they're not important.
if u lowering beyond 50mm and increasing camber it may also rub on the chassis at full lock.
bump ride quality on street will obviously be slightly harsher than stock profile, also bear in mind when ur fitting very wide alloys the inner rim will be prone to buckling too so try avoid speeding through potholes etc.
aesthetically i think 15" with the right profile tyre is the perfect proportion once its lowered enough till the wheel & arch are concentric
the larger rim also allows the upgrade to a softer compound toyo t1r's which dramatically increases overall grip that its on rails.
it also allowed me to upgrade to massive Pulsar front brakes which i found essential for resisting fade on the track with this much puwer. the brakes were alot heavier than stock but the lightweight forged Rotas helped counter that
depending on the profile, the outer rotating diameter of the tyre is near the same. mine's slightly larger using a 195/50/15 cos that's the perfect dia where the speedo is bang on.
going from 185/70/13 to 195/50/15 and depending on wheel offset, the tyre will prob rub the plastic inner splash guard or the arch guard at full lock, i'm removed all my inner guards plus the guards under the crossmember cos they're not important.
if u lowering beyond 50mm and increasing camber it may also rub on the chassis at full lock.
bump ride quality on street will obviously be slightly harsher than stock profile, also bear in mind when ur fitting very wide alloys the inner rim will be prone to buckling too so try avoid speeding through potholes etc.
aesthetically i think 15" with the right profile tyre is the perfect proportion once its lowered enough till the wheel & arch are concentric
It was useful, won't have trouble with loading the car especially with 4 people as currently this is how the car stands....
But with 15" wheels it would certainly open up my options for tires as well as currently the best i can seem to find for 14" are Yokohama A048's at €130 a piece
but I would probably make due with only two at the front and some budget tires like T1R's on the rear as I doubt the arse of a Micra is prone to stepping out
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pollyp
Club Member
for a 720x480 res the qualitys not bad when viewed in player at 100% size, full screen quality is meh to be expected at this res.
has 3 vid formats AVI, MOV & MJPG. test 1min footages of each and Divx AVI is 17mb, MOV is 19mb and MJPG is 25mb due to higher bitrate but imo no noticable difference in compression quality.
i like the wide fov gives a perspective of whats going on all around.
i'll be moving it to the very left so the mirror & sunscreen isn't blocking the road view ahead. also i'll test reducing the exposure so the outside scenes not over-bloomed.
i like this height so that i could see the dials and keeping it close to the beam reduces shaking.
the cabin vibration noise tends to resonate at certain freq cos of the hard engine mounts and the muffler thats zip tied to the chassis.
the camera mic hole originally had this tiny slit to keep it water resistant so that was cut off to expose this
i opened the casing, really simple
ha this is prob why it sounded so muffled n boxy. this little mic is just hovering loosely inside
slotted back into the silicone hole
so its right back out into the open to pickup the high freq
seeing how i could reduce wind noise, i tried covering it various foams n fabrics round from the house, socks seemed to work best. but i'll leave it exposed for now to see if it improves high freq cos there's not much breeze in a cabin
has 3 vid formats AVI, MOV & MJPG. test 1min footages of each and Divx AVI is 17mb, MOV is 19mb and MJPG is 25mb due to higher bitrate but imo no noticable difference in compression quality.
i like the wide fov gives a perspective of whats going on all around.
i'll be moving it to the very left so the mirror & sunscreen isn't blocking the road view ahead. also i'll test reducing the exposure so the outside scenes not over-bloomed.
i like this height so that i could see the dials and keeping it close to the beam reduces shaking.
the cabin vibration noise tends to resonate at certain freq cos of the hard engine mounts and the muffler thats zip tied to the chassis.
the camera mic hole originally had this tiny slit to keep it water resistant so that was cut off to expose this
i opened the casing, really simple
ha this is prob why it sounded so muffled n boxy. this little mic is just hovering loosely inside
slotted back into the silicone hole
so its right back out into the open to pickup the high freq
seeing how i could reduce wind noise, i tried covering it various foams n fabrics round from the house, socks seemed to work best. but i'll leave it exposed for now to see if it improves high freq cos there's not much breeze in a cabin
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pollyp
Club Member
the built-in mic looked tiny n puny so was thinking of maybe modding these clip-on mics to improve the freq spectrum
http://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=2218
but checking out the audio bitrate of the rec devices i have i doubt it'll make much difference
drift cam: 64kbps
ipod touch: 64kbps
LG viewty: 64kbps
jvc cam: 256kbps dolby stereo
seems its best to use the jvc as the high qual audio source during edit
http://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=2218
but checking out the audio bitrate of the rec devices i have i doubt it'll make much difference
drift cam: 64kbps
ipod touch: 64kbps
LG viewty: 64kbps
jvc cam: 256kbps dolby stereo
seems its best to use the jvc as the high qual audio source during edit
I noticed that in the first vid Paul. It's because the camera can see more 'in car' than 'out car', the auto-exposure's locking onto the interior. If you moved the camera forward with more road view, it'd lock onto that .
Oh, and just for anyone who's not seen it, this is the wee beastie's 163 hp engine:
.Oh, and just for anyone who's not seen it, this is the wee beastie's 163 hp engine
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pollyp
Club Member
I noticed that in the first vid Paul. It's because the camera can see more 'in car' than 'out car', the auto-exposure's locking onto the interior. If you moved the camera forward with more road view, it'd lock onto that
yea the auto exposure seems to pick the average field exposure. shame there's no static override function. the auto expo is also annoying when it can't decide and makes big step changes.
though i'm more interested in capturing the interior than the road.
the bloomed winscreen was bad in 1st vid cos it was near sunset and windscreen was dirty so the vast contrast was confusing the expo.
the 2nd vid from tday was much better cos it was an overcast rainy day
i'll look into making another mount that extends 1/2 way down and inbetween the seats
cheers for the pic
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pollyp
Club Member
Video and sound are top quality ! Tracks days recordings are going to be awesome
yes they are
i was also tempting to try out mounting it in the engine to monitor WG function (need a glass shield) and in the wheel arches & underfloor to monitor suspension movement, would be cool
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pollyp
Club Member
i noticed tday i forgot that i needed a little bit of 25mm SS tube for connecting the BOV to the pipes.
searched online, cheapest was on ebay 1/2m length for £6 but would have to wait couple days.
rang some local merchants/fabricators/recyclers but none have em.
went to diy stores to look for SS 25mm handrails, b&q only had 32mm dia but was also £40!
saw that maybe i could use the attaching point of a SS shovel found in tesco/b&q but its tapered and its £12-£30
went to asda and by chance i spotted this SS towel pole that was 25mm dia and was only £4 ha result
really thin walled though so will have to turn the welder down
silicone piping off
measure up the first piping, needed an extra 30mm of straight tube
taped up to check its correct
cut n taped the second pipework to check
all ok
marked the pipes
tacked, double checked it fitted
and finally welded it all up
notice the pics abit smoky. i forgot to close the house doors and smoked the whole house, woopsy. sister thought the house was on fire when she was back home, was not pleased
searched online, cheapest was on ebay 1/2m length for £6 but would have to wait couple days.
rang some local merchants/fabricators/recyclers but none have em.
went to diy stores to look for SS 25mm handrails, b&q only had 32mm dia but was also £40!
saw that maybe i could use the attaching point of a SS shovel found in tesco/b&q but its tapered and its £12-£30
went to asda and by chance i spotted this SS towel pole that was 25mm dia and was only £4
ha result
really thin walled though so will have to turn the welder down
silicone piping off
measure up the first piping, needed an extra 30mm of straight tube
taped up to check its correct
cut n taped the second pipework to check
all ok
marked the pipes
tacked, double checked it fitted
and finally welded it all up
notice the pics abit smoky. i forgot to close the house doors and smoked the whole house, woopsy. sister thought the house was on fire when she was back home, was not pleased
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pollyp
Club Member
this morning tacked the pipe into the MAF plate
welded it up
some bits were good but some were messy. but the welding has warped the plate heavily. would have to use alot of gasket to get any seal
so rather than use the ugly piece, i cut it off
and use the original fitting that fits right
no need to buy an o-ring cos the sealant has already formed one
tried to weld the very thin 25mm tube onto some 2.5mm tube and the thing just vapourises like paper, even at the lowest amp. ok no BOV for the moment then, need to order on some thicker 25mm tube & silicone coupling
all fitted up
blanked off the ports for the missing BOV
trimmed the coupling for the turbo
fits nicely
went for a drive. the missing BOV creates a squirrel munching flutter-like boost surge noise at 3:45 & 5:00, quite like it. wont do it too much cos it cant be good for the compressor
took apart the spare alternator with the broken terminal to see if any bits can be used
all the parts are non servicable so its going in the skip
my box of spare tubes n bits getting full
welded it up
some bits were good but some were messy. but the welding has warped the plate heavily. would have to use alot of gasket to get any seal
so rather than use the ugly piece, i cut it off
and use the original fitting that fits right
no need to buy an o-ring cos the sealant has already formed one
tried to weld the very thin 25mm tube onto some 2.5mm tube and the thing just vapourises like paper, even at the lowest amp. ok no BOV for the moment then, need to order on some thicker 25mm tube & silicone coupling
all fitted up
blanked off the ports for the missing BOV
trimmed the coupling for the turbo
fits nicely
went for a drive. the missing BOV creates a squirrel munching flutter-like boost surge noise at 3:45 & 5:00, quite like it. wont do it too much cos it cant be good for the compressor
took apart the spare alternator with the broken terminal to see if any bits can be used
all the parts are non servicable so its going in the skip
my box of spare tubes n bits getting full
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pollyp
Club Member
guys i just got a call from me cousin bout oulton park and its on march 7th wednesday, thats only over 2weeks away gotta put a work holiday in. he's booked a garage so i'll be in one of the many bays with my cousins civic type r
he suggested i just change the clutch/fly & replace the lsd clutch pack myself for the time being cos fitting the new forged engine, refine the mapping, fully bed it in and sending the lsd off for gripper to rebuild, all before the day is too much of a risk cos sumthing may go wrong.
keeping the current engine in with the mapping just right ensures it'll be ready n reliable.
afterwards i then have time to fit & bed the new engine and convert the lsd from 2way to 1.5
so better get a move on. dads gonna be back home from holiday so i'll have help with the crane now.
gonna ring matt tomorrow to see if he or gripper can supply lsd rebuild kits and if mine needs a particular specced arrangement
i propose a meetup at oulton? if someone fancies a ride for afew quid (of course depends on if the cars working and if i get enough runs to take ppl so not a guarantee) (Will i believe you missed out at jae last yr?) i think you have to register at the cafe bout 7.30 and goto briefing at 8.00 and helmet hires bout a tenner
gotta put a work holiday in. he's booked a garage so i'll be in one of the many bays with my cousins civic type rhe suggested i just change the clutch/fly & replace the lsd clutch pack myself for the time being cos fitting the new forged engine, refine the mapping, fully bed it in and sending the lsd off for gripper to rebuild, all before the day is too much of a risk cos sumthing may go wrong.
keeping the current engine in with the mapping just right ensures it'll be ready n reliable.
afterwards i then have time to fit & bed the new engine and convert the lsd from 2way to 1.5
so better get a move on. dads gonna be back home from holiday so i'll have help with the crane now.
gonna ring matt tomorrow to see if he or gripper can supply lsd rebuild kits and if mine needs a particular specced arrangement
i propose a meetup at oulton? if someone fancies a ride for afew quid (of course depends on if the cars working
and if i get enough runs to take ppl so not a guarantee) (Will i believe you missed out at jae last yr?) i think you have to register at the cafe bout 7.30 and goto briefing at 8.00 and helmet hires bout a tennerJust a question on the subject of oil... what gearbox oil does the k11 take? mines pissed it all over the floor and i need to top it up.
I dont think its seriously bad as its stopped now but after a very cold night a few days ago it had dropped some (possibly the seal shrinking so much in the cold that it leaked past??) Hasnt leaked since then i think and i drove to bradford and back over the weekend (150 miles) and no problems... Kinda hoping that means its fixed itself.
I dont think its seriously bad as its stopped now but after a very cold night a few days ago it had dropped some (possibly the seal shrinking so much in the cold that it leaked past??) Hasnt leaked since then i think and i drove to bradford and back over the weekend (150 miles) and no problems... Kinda hoping that means its fixed itself.
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pollyp
Club Member
I used to use that castrol 80w90 manual gearbox oil u get from halfords. its either £9.99/L from local halfords or £4.50/L & £3.95 delivery from online like feehilymx.co.uk
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pollyp
Club Member
Righteo. Same here too
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pollyp
Club Member
just called Gripper bout replacement lsd clutch plates and each plate of any thickness are £3 + vat + £9 delivery. would also like to change to 1.5way ramp and they're £25 each + vat + delivery.
guy says the speedo version only uses one sided ramp so just need the one but i recall mine has two ramps? edit-nope i've got just one looking back
i dunno what thickness the plates were originally but they're prob alot thinner now due to the zero preload.
tried calling matt bout the original spec & quote from him but he's busy at the mo and'll call me.
maybe i should strip the lsd down first, measure the plates, compare to the original specs if matt knows em before I order new plates n ramps?
guy says the speedo version only uses one sided ramp so just need the one but i recall mine has two ramps? edit-nope i've got just one looking back
i dunno what thickness the plates were originally but they're prob alot thinner now due to the zero preload.
tried calling matt bout the original spec & quote from him but he's busy at the mo and'll call me.
maybe i should strip the lsd down first, measure the plates, compare to the original specs if matt knows em before I order new plates n ramps?
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pollyp
Club Member
just thinking bout making a new better catch can with the pipes i have i thought instead of the normal straight vertical enclosed baffles which could suck oil out the outlet if it was too full nor the two ports nearby each other design (like my current config) that won't do much cos the flow takes the shortest route rather than seperate through the rest of the filter, i thought what if it flows through a vertical spiral wall?
air/oil enters at one end, flows through the spiralling galley of SS mesh filter, the caught oil flows down to the base spreading equally cause the galleys are not enclosed, the filtered air flows back out the other port. unless its brimmed with oil, the air always has a clear flow path through the spiral
now gotta figure how to make it
now gotta figure how to make it
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pollyp
Club Member
Matt just called gripper and the guy said cos there's so many variables they don't sell lsd service "kits" and suggested i give john at gripper a call to discuss my requirements then just send em my diff to assess n rebuild. They have a turnaround of sending back next day which is really fast so thats the plan. I take out the diff, maybe disassemble cos i'm curious, then send it off to rebuild.
so thats the plan. I take out the diff, maybe disassemble cos i'm curious, then send it off to rebuild.
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pollyp
Club Member
just taking the box out with engine in place would be the least hassle but i needed a better way to support the gearbox stably compared to trying to rest it on a dolley or trolley jack last time which was a farce.
picking up the spare gearbox i noticed its centre of grav is near the clutch support bracket so i made this out of the spare steel bar
tested hanging on the crane and hey presto tis near enough level, allowing me to carefully nudge it in place rather than trying to lift and lineup the box like last time
drive her around to heatup the fluids. drained all fluids now.
still some cog bits in the drain plug
taking the dizzy off i noticed this little piece in the hole, oh heck where that come from, wheres it broken from?
upon closer inspection i recognised that its actually slag, prob from when i was tacking the IC pipes to the MAF. phew
all upper bits cleared, just need to remove the driveshafts, left hub to replace bearing, disconnect the selector linkages, prop the engine sump onto the centre beam with some wood then i could remove the box with help from dad once he's back home tomorrow
putting the bracket on the box, part of the coolant return pipe is very close but it'll clear
picking up the spare gearbox i noticed its centre of grav is near the clutch support bracket so i made this out of the spare steel bar
tested hanging on the crane and hey presto tis near enough level, allowing me to carefully nudge it in place rather than trying to lift and lineup the box like last time
drive her around to heatup the fluids. drained all fluids now.
still some cog bits in the drain plug
taking the dizzy off i noticed this little piece in the hole, oh heck where that come from, wheres it broken from?
upon closer inspection i recognised that its actually slag, prob from when i was tacking the IC pipes to the MAF. phew
all upper bits cleared, just need to remove the driveshafts, left hub to replace bearing, disconnect the selector linkages, prop the engine sump onto the centre beam with some wood then i could remove the box with help from dad once he's back home tomorrow
putting the bracket on the box, part of the coolant return pipe is very close but it'll clear
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pollyp
Club Member
thx chris. hope ppl find it useful. my index page is already maxed out lol. gonna need a bigger page. things are moving along nicely now that i'm just having to change clutch, gearbox n lsd.
just thinking bout making a new better catch can with the pipes i have i thought instead of the normal straight vertical enclosed baffles which could suck oil out the outlet if it was too full nor the two ports nearby each other design (like my current config) that won't do much cos the flow takes the shortest route rather than seperate through the rest of the filter, i thought what if it flows through a vertical spiral wall?
air/oil enters at one end, flows through the spiralling galley of SS mesh filter, the caught oil flows down to the base spreading equally cause the galleys are not enclosed, the filtered air flows back out the other port. unless its brimmed with oil, the air always has a clear flow path through the spiral
now gotta figure how to make it
is this not like the oil spinners you get on v8 lorrys like the big v8 scanias and dafs??
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pollyp
Club Member
i'm not sure. will look into it
...naa the oil spinners on HGVs uses massive centrifugal force to filter out particles.
mine is basically just a simple low-speed rolled up mesh filter
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pollyp
Club Member
tonight took off the left hub to replace the wheel bearing
both shafts out
front struts off
almost ready to remove box
the right balljoint rubber has split. i think may as well replace both arms cos the front bushes also look abit worn backwards n tired, prob from the longitudinal stress of the pulsar brakes after various tracks
so ordered pair of wishbones off ebay
and some 16mm silicone tubing for the oil catch can
both shafts out
front struts off
almost ready to remove box
the right balljoint rubber has split. i think may as well replace both arms cos the front bushes also look abit worn backwards n tired, prob from the longitudinal stress of the pulsar brakes after various tracks
so ordered pair of wishbones off ebay
and some 16mm silicone tubing for the oil catch can
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baguete
Site Supporter
Now i just repair them, with new ball-joints and bushes from a parts shop, no more eBay stuff for things like this...
I replaced the wishbones with Nissan OEM parts, pressed out the front OEM bushes and replaced with 2 piece bushes from Matt, threw away the crappy carbon steel inner casings and replaced with 316 stainless items which were turned to be a better fit than the ones supplied. Together with A4-80 bolts that means we don't have to worry about corrosion issues or greasing regimes
nice one Polly will have to start my blog some time, far too busy at the minute with other projects besides the micra like a Mk3 Ford capri... hate that thing lately lol.seriously keep it up buddy.
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pollyp
Club Member
gr8 tips guys though i don't have a press so can't replace bushes n joints here unless i pay someone.
the front bush does seem to experience most of the enormous stresses while the rear one does tos all.
maybe they should be replaced by a smoother robust joint like PU bush to stainless tube insert or ball bearings or a rosejoint or thrust bearings to withstand the longitudinal forces?
anyway will see how the ebay arms work out for now
the front bush does seem to experience most of the enormous stresses while the rear one does tos all.
maybe they should be replaced by a smoother robust joint like PU bush to stainless tube insert or ball bearings or a rosejoint or thrust bearings to withstand the longitudinal forces?
anyway will see how the ebay arms work out for now
