PollyMobiles Rebuild

[pollyp]

new floor pieces welded on. just need to finish the back 1/2, grind it down, paint and that's all the big welding jobs done ?

 

[pollyp]

2019-10-19 Replace pug 307 gear selector cables

ever since 2004 our old 307 had a very worn & sloppy gear shifter with upto 5cm of lateral play and 2cm of back forth play. the central LCD screen also gets fuzzy when hot.

I recently got a new screen on ebay, replaced the primative dull bulbs inside with a 12v LED strip which is soo much better.
and got a new selector cable off ebay for £30

stripping out the mid console to remove the gear stick & cables

but then found a big problem. the new cable was 2-3" shorter, the two cables were the wrong way round in the rubber gromet and finally the actual relative angle of the ball-joint end cups on the cable are a complete opposite.
this is clearly a friggin LHD cable ? ?

I even tried slicing the cables off the gromet to flip em left to right but the cable was simply too short and won't reach the gearbox ?

refitting the old cable was pointless and returning the new cable ain't possible since I need to use the car tomorrow and already voided warranty by chopping it.

I had no other option but to simply chop off the new ball-joint ends (since thats the bit we need to freshen up) and weld it onto the longer old cables (good thing the cable ends are solid steel)

grinded the welds smooth so it can slide fully in/out

reinstalled the new cable and wow with only 1.5cm of lateral play and 0.5cm of longitudinal play it feels soooo much sharper to shift gears now.
job done although it took 3hrs longer than expected ? typical french cars

 

[pollyp]

2019-10-20 Install Corsa B Coilovers on micra for Jamie LetsTorqueCars

after making his duck-bill splitter & fitting wider banded wheels, Jamie needed help with replacing the standard front struts with corsa B coilovers to lower the front end

the spring top cup has the steering bearing built into the mid-part, which we will bolt onto the micra top mount

but there is a big gap between the thread and the spring top cup

there is a gap between the bottom of the top mount and the rubber cusioned plate which the strut bolts onto.
so if we simply fully tighten the top nut, the spring top cup will simply jam into the top mount

a 25-40mm spacer collar is machined to separate the top mount from the spring top and allow the top cup to spin on it's bearing freely

it took upto 6hrs of tweaking but it eventually sits much lower, with the standard arch barely missing the tyre and the splitter just missing the floor

changing the struts with no time for any alignment, the wheels will obviously have excessive toe-in but I had to drive his car back to his house from his grandmas garage.

it was a very nervous drive as the tyres were skipping & understeering all over the road & corners while trying to miss any humps with that low duckbill splitter will be realigned soon

here's the new video

 

[pollyp]

the rear floors are finally welded up

 

[Tommysmicra44]

Why don’t people do the neat tidy thing and order replacement sills ??

 

[Low Rider]

it was a very nervous drive as the tyres were skipping & understeering all over the road & corners while trying to miss any humps with that low duckbill splitter will be realigned soon

Yeah, but the scrub radius on that thing will be pretty appalling.

 

[pollyp]

Why don’t people do the neat tidy thing and order replacement sills ??

for me, having a neat looking original sill wasn't a priority cos it was mostly hidden & gonna be undersealed anyway.
main reason is cos it wasn't economical since just a pair of "outer" sills cost over £60 whereas I could buy £30 of sheet steel enough to form both sides of the inner & outer sills

 

[pollyp]

Yeah, but the scrub radius on that thing will be pretty appalling.

aye but he's only doing this for looks and fun performance/handling ain't priority.
I must say that it doesn't have PAS so doing any slow turning is a damn hard on these insanely wide poking semi slicks lol ??

 

[pollyp]

grinded smooth & painted the floor

 

[pollyp]

finished the sills with hammerite waxyoil underbody seal

the drivers door hinge is abit worn & sags down slightly. tried to swap the rears to the fronts but soon discovered the rear hinges poke out more, aw well

also found the front wings upper bolt has seized and had to yank it out so thats another thing to weld

and yet more rust under the bonnet hinge ? all this flippin extra rust issues has drained me and just cba this weekend ?

opening up my old boost gauges to fix the lighting and remove the shiny silver trims

 

[SuperUno]

The joys of owning a Micra, I was doing the usual pre event car spanner checks when I found yet more rust in one of the rear wheel arches on Saturday, meaning a couple of hours of metal work and welding....

 

[pollyp]

The joys of owning a Micra, I was doing the usual pre event car spanner checks when I found yet more rust in one of the rear wheel arches on Saturday, meaning a couple of hours of metal work and welding....

Yea rust never sleeps

Sent from my CLT-L29 using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[andy]

strip it and dip it, the pace you work at, ya turn that around in less than a week

 

[fuzzy-hair-man]

Paul, I recently watched a YouTube that talked about ensuring good oil supply on track and high performance engines, it mentioned AccuSump as a cheaper and easier method than either a dry sump or baffles etc, just wondering if you'd seen them? It works similar to a air cell on top of a house water pump to store oil at pressure to inject into the engine if pull supply is interrupted.

 

[pollyp]

strip it and dip it, the pace you work at, ya turn that around in less than a week

hehe if only I had as much stamina as before to regalvanise the whole thing but I'm abit older & tired & skint nowadays

 

[pollyp]

Paul, I recently watched a YouTube that talked about ensuring good oil supply on track and high performance engines, it mentioned AccuSump as a cheaper and easier method than either a dry sump or baffles etc, just wondering if you'd seen them? It works similar to a air cell on top of a house water pump to store oil at pressure to inject into the engine if pull supply is interrupted.

oh yeah I remember watching something like that used in Nascar?

googling says they're over £200-£500! but just had a thought I could perhaps make a simple much cheaper prototype using some old monotube shock absorber,
- removing the main piston/shaft, plumbing the engine oil supply (with a valve) into the hole where the shaft used to go through,
- utilising the seperator piston to allow engine oil pressure to compress the gas chamber (storing the accumulated oil pressure and volume)

be interesting to test out one day

 

[pollyp]

2019-11-03 Correcting Jamies (LetsTorqueCars) Corsa B coilovers part 2

since fitting the coilovers for Jamie, it sat abit too low, I couldn't wind the spring up any higher, we needed to replace the improvised 38mm long 17mm sockets with proper top mount spacers, and I had to straighten those wheels

so here I made some extra 10mm spacers on top of the previous 25mm ones totalling at 35mm long so that the top nut tightens onto enough threads

notice that even at full droop I had to compress the spring all the way up to stop the tyres hitting the arch but with the helper spring totally squashed, it's literally useless

I removed the un-used helper springs, wirebrushed all the threads clean so I can now wind the stiffer main spring all the way up

at it's highest setting it now sits much better with 10mm droop and 15mm bump travel and clears most of the minor bumps.

I also crudely straightened the alignment using a long wooden pole against the rim & tape measure against the sills.
it must've had over 2-3deg of toe-in beforehand with it skipping everywhere but now with roughly 0deg toe Wow it's soo much better, sharper and no more scrubbing when turning

that's a mean stance

 

[pollyp]

for a long time on my to-do list I knew that I needed to get some special helper springs for my stiffer 6kg BC front coils to sit properly.

but after fixing Jamies coilover yesterday, I discovered that the corsa B coilover helper springs he didn't need anymore were conveniently exactly the right size I needed (60mm inner dia, 80mm outer dia) ?

so I don't have to buy any from BC. free stuff ftw yay ??

 

[fuzzy-hair-man]

googling says they're over £200-£500! but just had a thought I could perhaps make a simple much cheaper prototype using some old monotube shock absorber,
- removing the main piston/shaft, plumbing the engine oil supply (with a valve) into the hole where the shaft used to go through,
- utilising the seperator piston to allow engine oil pressure to compress the gas chamber (storing the accumulated oil pressure and volume)

Oh I like that idea! Mind if I steal it some time?
Yeah for a simple item they are pretty dear, the video was an interview with mountune developing race engines so in comparison it was cheap, (they made it seem like baffle sump design was a more difficult thing to get right?) I like the pre oiling aspect too, kills two reasonably big birds with one relatively simple stone...

 

[pollyp]

Oh I like that idea! Mind if I steal it some time?
Yeah for a simple item they are pretty dear, the video was an interview with mountune developing race engines so in comparison it was cheap, (they made it seem like baffle sump design was a more difficult thing to get right?) I like the pre oiling aspect too, kills two reasonably big birds with one relatively simple stone...

go for it, I think a tiny front strut won't hold enough oil capacity but worth a try to see if it's possible, especially if the parts are almost free. jamie just said he won't need the old strut since we drilled the top mount holes so I can have em to mess with ?

yeah hydraulic accumulators are really simple and a £200 accumulator vs £thousands engine is a no-brainer choice.

I saw these two gr8 videos explaining the inner workings of it




I love the fact that it can prime the engine & turbo oil beforehand

 

[John_D]

go for it, I think a tiny front strut won't hold enough oil capacity but worth a try to see if it's possible, especially if the parts are almost free. jamie just said he won't need the old strut since we drilled the top mount holes so I can have em to mess with ?

yeah hydraulic accumulators are really simple and a £200 accumulator vs £thousands engine is a no-brainer choice.

I saw these two gr8 videos explaining the inner workings of it




I love the fact that it can prime the engine & turbo oil beforehand

Will a strut assembly reliably hold the engine oil pressure, on initial start up, when the oil is cold (80psi?) A failure could cause a wrecked engine..... for under thirty quid this looks to be a better bet.....https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Professonal-Aluminum-Autos-Engine-Oil-Reservoir-Catch-Tank-Vacuum-Pressure-Gauge-/152699564653

 

[pollyp]

the previous cooling fan & part cooling duct on my 3D printer was quite inefficient so I redesigned it many times into this layout where the 30mm fan cools the E3D cooling fins 1st (it prevents heat from the hot end from prematurely melting the plastic filaments before it's been fed from the extrusion motor above it), and then it's smoothly ducted down to cool the freshly extruded plastic too

assembled like this

printed it in 3 sections and glued together

the ducting is removable so if part-cooling ain't needed, the E3D cooling air is simply exhausted out without cooling the extruded plastic

 

[SuperUno]

Where do you run your 3D printer? The fumes from those are not good....

 

[pollyp]

Will a strut assembly reliably hold the engine oil pressure, on initial start up, when the oil is cold (80psi?) A failure could cause a wrecked engine..... for under thirty quid this looks to be a better bet.....https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Professonal-Aluminum-Autos-Engine-Oil-Reservoir-Catch-Tank-Vacuum-Pressure-Gauge-/152699564653

I believe so, considering a front hydraulic strut is designed to withstand the huge suspension forces and intense oil pressure of a piston shuving rapidly through the cylinder full of stone cold suspension oil when it strikes a big bump at high speed.

haynes says the engine oil system ranges from 11-60psi, I doubt the strong cylinder will rupture.
at worst case if the oil/gas separator piston seal fails, it's still a closed hydraulic chamber so it won't completely drain/starve the engine of oil.
the only major possible failure of the accumulator is from the hydraulic hoses/connectors themselves.

that link is for a hollow catch can with all those screw fittings along the cylinder, not suitable.
it basically needs to be a simple smooth hydraulic piston chamber.

 

[pollyp]

Where do you run your 3D printer? The fumes from those are not good....

I only run it for short bursts and the PLA plastic fumes ain't as bad cos it's much lower temp with no smoke, whereas say ABS plastic is at much higher smoking temps

 

[fuzzy-hair-man]

go for it, I think a tiny front strut won't hold enough oil capacity but worth a try to see if it's possible, especially if the parts are almost free.

I was thinking of using some stuffed Landcruiser shocks we have at home somewhere, given the cylinder is possibly only about 1/2 full it would need to be a decent sized shock, I agree worth your comment the duty required of a shock is far beyond that of an accumulator.

 

[pollyp]

I was thinking of using some stuffed Landcruiser shocks we have at home somewhere, given the cylinder is possibly only about 1/2 full it would need to be a decent sized shock, I agree worth your comment the duty required of a shock is far beyond that of an accumulator.

to hold a decent volume of oil & gas, I wonder where you could find a big & low cost hydraulic piston cylinder?
front shock absorbers from off roaders, long engine crane hydraulic rams, power steering racks?

 

[pollyp]

2019-11-09 Fit Matthews pneumatic exhaust cut-out valve

the cheap electronic cut-out valve that was fitted on Matthews octavia few months ago has failed and stuck open till he was recently pulled over and advised to get it fixed within 14days ?

here's the rubbish electronic valve on the left VS the new pneumatic valve which was simpler & abit cheaper

looking inside the motorised valve, the tiny teeths on the final gear simply shredded off ?

welded the new valve onto the existing un-used V-band flange

plumbed the vacuum hose into the inlet manifold.
it's a really simple system.
when off, the sprung loaded actuator pushes the valve closed.
when on, a solenoid allows vacuum from the inlet manifold to pull the actuator diaphram back, which opens the exhaust valve

removing a ton of luggage from his estate to route the vacuum lines

new valve bolted on and welded an extra muffler onto the end of the tip to make it abit quieter ??

 

[pollyp]

before Jamie bins the standard front struts from his mcira, I was curious to see if it's a monotube design I could use as an oil accumulator.

nope, it's just a normal twin-tube type

inner chamber with the base-valve

shaft seal & bushing

piston shaft

 

[pollyp]

removed the bonnet & hinge to wirebrush & assess the rusted panel

chopped the rusty section off, look at all the rubbish clogging up the drain holes below. vacuumed it all out

made a new section

welded on

wirebrushed & painted other rusty bits of the chassis

to replaced the old seized rivet nut on the chassis which held the front wing, I made this tapered nut from an M6 wing nut

put on the end of a long M6 bolt to miss the door frame, I hammered it into the hole till it's flush

and welded in place

and then the damn british rain comes to ruin any more progress ?

 

[plmval]

Rain stopped play for tea more like?

 

[pollyp]

Rain stopped play for tea more like?

yup with rain and vanishing daylight, it's more of this ??

 

[pollyp]

2019-11-18 Drill Bit Sharpener

after many days of calculations, 17 iterations of models and cups of tea, I've finally comeup with a jig on the bench grinder to sharpen all my drill bits accurately.
first with a 5deg tip and then a 17deg tail before finishing the middle point with a dremel.

this is the modelled jig

cut the initial 5deg tip like this

and then swivel the jig up 17deg for the tail to clear the cutting face

modded the bench grinder rest with a square end

made the jig

and it works lovely, all my bits are nice & sharp now

 

[John_D]

2019-11-18 Drill Bit Sharpener

after many days of calculations, 17 iterations of models and cups of tea, I've finally comeup with a jig on the bench grinder to sharpen all my drill bits accurately.
first with a 5deg tip and then a 17deg tail before finishing the middle point with a dremel.

View attachment 66302View attachment 66303

this is the modelled jig

View attachment 66304

cut the initial 5deg tip like this

View attachment 66305

and then swivel the jig up 17deg for the tail to clear the cutting face

View attachment 66306

modded the bench grinder rest with a square end

View attachment 66307View attachment 66308

made the jig

View attachment 66309

and it works lovely, all my bits are nice & sharp now

View attachment 66310

Where did you get your profile information from Paul? I was always told to re-grind drill bits like this:-

'Machinerys Handbook' is the 'bible' for most of this sort of information...And of course the trusty Zeus book....

Available HERE in pdf format

 

[pollyp]

Where did you get your profile information from Paul? I was always told to re-grind drill bits like this:-

google

I kept the point angle at the generic 118deg for normal steel, and figured the rest of the cutting angles in CAD

 

[pollyp]

Matthews bmw had a broken gear stick from the previous owner

so I machined this plastic rod into an adapter

wedged into the gear knobs bore, the screw is added to secure it to the broken shaft

 

[l_jonez]

You really shouldn't use the side of a grinding wheel

 

[pollyp]

You really shouldn't use the side of a grinding wheel

I used the flat side cos the grinding angle doesn't change amongst all the various drill sizes, hence only make 1 jig.

don't worry I've just redesigned the jig geometry to suit the curved front side of the wheel.

 

[pollyp]

welded the spacers onto the front wings

the wheel arch liner holes on the offside wing has rusted away so I welded some new bits on

tedious job of body filling & sanding the wings ?

and red oxide painted the insides

 

[pollyp]

primered with red oxide

painted & laquered

bodyfilled the ariel hole to seal it up (welding this close to the new windscreen would've been too risky)

 

[pollyp]

2019-11-24 Drill Sharpener v2

redesigned the jig to work on the front of the grinding wheel as advised.
the V-bar for holding the drill bit is positioned at an angle so that as drill diameter & center axis change, the middle axis of the shaft changes along the axis of the grinding wheel, meaning it'll cut the same 2 angles on all the drill bits

made the very simple jig

grinded the drill bits very nicely ?

 

[pollyp]

sanded down the aerial hole, some air bubbles below

refilled

finally sanded smooth

primed & painted

 

[AdamR]

New to Micras and new to the forum - had to sign up to say a huge thanks for keeping probably the best car blog / thread I've ever seen updated with so much useful info! I have a few niggles to sort and already your (much earlier, ha) posts have been extremely useful. Thanks a lot!

 

[pollyp]

New to Micras and new to the forum - had to sign up to say a huge thanks for keeping probably the best car blog / thread I've ever seen updated with so much useful info! I have a few niggles to sort and already your (much earlier, ha) posts have been extremely useful. Thanks a lot!

thank you soo much for the compliments Adam ? I'm proud that the info in this blog has helped ya ??

 

[pollyp]

brought this mini-lathe tool holder to bolt onto the hub uprights and machine rusty brake discs smooth

overhauled. will make a jig soon

was curious if this office chair piston was big enough as an oil accumulator

nope, it's exactly the same twin-tube layout as the micra struts.
binned

 

[pollyp]

2019-12-05 Install Alarm & Cellular GPS Tracker

the wiring that came with my new alarm was wayy too short so I had to tediously lengthen all 20+ wires

it took me weeks (3hrs per night after work) to carefully dismantle the drivers side loom, fit the alarm, integrate all the wires into the loom neatly, solder everything, rewrap the loom

fitted the dash

the radio had a long chain of adapter plugs so I shortened it into a single plug

interior is back together. alarm, tracker & immobiliser all working lovely ?

?

 

[Deleted member 31521]

brought this mini-lathe tool holder to bolt onto the hub uprights and machine rusty brake discs smooth

View attachment 66525View attachment 66526

overhauled. will make a jig soon

View attachment 66527View attachment 66528

was curious if this office chair piston was big enough as an oil accumulator

View attachment 66529

nope, it's exactly the same twin-tube layout as the micra struts.
binned

View attachment 66524

Hi Paul I have these gas struts they look smaller than I first thought I also have a chair or two that might contain one that's not damaged.
Not really sure how catch cans work or if you are interested in these but I show you them and can give measurements.

Sent from my ASUS_T00P using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[pollyp]

Hi Paul I have these gas struts they look smaller than I first thought I also have a chair or two that might contain one that's not damaged.
Not really sure how catch cans work or if you are interested in these but I show you them and can give measurements.
View attachment 66548

Sent from my ASUS_T00P using Micra Sports Club mobile app

hiya
it seems that most gas struts are just twin tube design and way too small for the idea of making an engine oil accumulator. I would need to find a much much bigger but low cost piston.

 

[pollyp]

removed the un-used intercooler and reassembled the front end

time to fill, smooth & paint the gauge pods

removed the shiny chrome gauge bezels and fitted a different boost gauge which is back-lit compared to the old dull side-lit carbon fibre gauge

 

[pollyp]

2019-12-18 Widen Scissor Jack

The oem scissor jack no longer fits my new rebuilt thicker sill so I'll have to mod it wider

chopped a 30mm section out

and welded a new 30mm wide groove to match the new sills

fits like a glove