Primera #2 Modified 2.0 SRi saloon P11

[johnbr6]

As some of you know, I recently bought myself a stupid rare P10 Primera on a H plate, built 2 months after they started production. It's an entry spec, but its 2.0 and a saloooon, which is all that counts!

Next to my recently sold Micra

The Primera needs a bit of welding but who cares old cars always do. Now I've always been a secret lover of P11s even though I've only been part of the P10 army... and there was a local modified one that always always always caught my eye.

Recently. I got in touch with the previous owner to see if it was for sale, and to my surprise... it is/ was.

Back in 2005, it was one of the fastest N/A Primeras. Standard, the car topped 128bhp but in it's prime this one was pushing 186bhp.

This week. I am living a small dream of mine and will be buying it.

It's going to save me about £2k + with it having already having the bits on.

JWT S3R Camshafts
Custom Exhaust
CAI kit
Hotshot manifold
H&R lowering springs with Eibach shocks IIRC
Apex-i VTEC air/fuel controller
Full GT bodykit and interior
GT 280mm front brake conversion with braided hoses
Team Dynamic Pro Race 1.2 alloy wheels
Rainguards

I will buy coilovers and a centre console from JDM land with cupholders and an arm rest. But that is it. I am not forking out so much for bumpers, rev counters, pop out windows like I was doing with my Micra, I already have a sorted car right here.

I said goodbye to Mike/ the Micra last Wednesday, the 28th of November when I dropped it off in Gosport.

I will miss having power that was impossible for me to get caught doing stupid speeds, and I will miss just how much potential the K11's have in terms of standard kit. I will get another one day, possibly fit a 2.0 TDi lump out of a Golf in one haha.

So yeah I am staying on here as I like seen the cars evolve but I am out of the army. Enjoying been back owning lots of prims.

More pics when I get it!

 

[johnbr6]

got it home, what a monster! 20% throttle (according to Apexi AFR) is what it takes to accelerate the same as the Micra did, then it's a completley different ball game! LOVE IT

 

[karlj]

the p11 looks spot on shame about the shopping list though

 

[johnbr6]

will be removing it when I have time Karl guilty confession is I quite like it, but I know it will look cleaner w/o so I will be taking them off.

 

[johnbr6]

well, been a car of high mileage... I have had to do a LOT more work than I thought I would have done...

I was told the front panel/ radiator support was replaced... was it fook... so booked it in to get that replaced. Also whilst it's there the rusty bootlid is getting sorted too.

It is now reliable enough to do any sort of journey. For a while the bonnet would pop up, it would overheat and generally make so many stupid noises. But I've sorted most of them out and now do not worry about going out for a drive

 

[VitzJoe]

cracking car! i think the only thing it really needs is some wheel spacers, and then it will look perfect!

 

[johnbr6]

been in garage for 4 days getting the dam front panel and bits of welding around front panel sorted

this was taken last Sunday at a massive meet held at local Tesco. plod were there it was all good.

lovely stuff however taking the piss with how long it's been in the garage for now! -_-

 

[johnbr6]

Couple of weeks after that picture, got to work restoring the plastics. I genuineley thought that I'd need to get them re-sprayed... but even though a lot of the paint on the front bumper is cracked (laquer has anyways) it has come up brand new.

in that last pic I only managed to get the bumper done

A week later

engine seized mid journey... due to a bonnet that doesn't like opening, without knowing the engine ran dry of oil.

A month and two weeks later on (today/ 8-4-2013) work has finally started now funds are here to sort the thing out

he was only on here briefly but thank you to Jimmy and his brother Stu for helping out with the conversion. Work will finish friday, meaning I'll be back on the road in the evening.

There we go

 

[johnbr6]

Just under a year has passed. A lot has happened



End of April the car finally returned to the road.



The car was back on the road, fantastic! It was for a bit.

The driver's front wheel bearing was f*****, I soon found that the engine had a huge oil leak, The manifold had a crack in it and the flexi-pipe needed replacing. The first job that I wanted to do was to get the manifold repaired, but it was cheaper to get a brand new Toyosports manifold. Reviews said that they are fantastic! And the gains got from such a cheap manifold is un-believable





turning the key and listening to the car purr, rather than blow its guts out was awesome, and a quick spin up the road showed instantly what people's reviews were about... Where the car struggled to hit 70mph before, I had to back off from 100! It was shocking just how much the car was slacking before. However the next day a plug for an un-used hole for the 4-branch blew off on the motor way, and the car was off the road for a week until it arrived, as it sounded like it had no exhaust.

Then as I had a day off I scouted through the garage to see if I had any bits I could fit. and I did



And I replaced the pollen filter (I try my best to keep bits genuine)



There again, the difference in how pure the air now was, and that cold was actually cold now? Even with the air con removed there is a difference.

Last part of this post.. I am a member of the local forum Unit-13, I am sure some of you have heard of it? A few of us got together, I quite like how mine stands out, even though the other cars are of much higher standard.

 

[johnbr6]

However, the wheel bearing issue was making the car almost un-bearable to drive, along with the rediculous oil leak it had... along with knowing that the underneath of the car was rotten to high heavens... I decided that it was time to stop trying to fix it (I honestly hadn't spent a dime on anything cosmetic!) and to cut the losses.

However Grim/ Graham off NPOC offered to fix all the mechanics if I drove the car down to him (I think it was a 300 mile trip)

Long story short, I did. I didn't even hesitate. As I knew it was in good hands, I felt sorry for him, and he soon found out why... everything was buggered, virtually everything was replaced with working/ good/new parts. He dismantles Primera's, or did, so he had the resources and the knowledge to do what he did.

2 months later, I got a text saying it was ready, so me and my friend set off to go to pick it up.



for the two months that the prim was down at Graham's, I was using my Mums 308 which is a 1.6 HDi 90bhp.

..... to have the car working as it should, with the new engine and the GT gearbox (HOLY **** THAT GEARBOX!!!), it was a very very enjoyable drive home To this day I thank him and without his hard work the car wouldn't be with me, but he fixed it, he got it working. No more leak, no more using water, no more wobbly wheel.... etc etc etc. The only issue I had now was that the suspension (front spring, rear shock) had snapped/ was leaking.

Taking it to ATS to get laser tracked, confirmed his suspicions. And I took a very long think about what I wanted to do about the suspension. But then I decided.

For years, and years over on NPOC I watched people sing BC Coilover's praises, I think one of the NPOC members was one of the first ever people to purchase a set of BC's. A few friends run them and it always saddened me that I knew about the company far longer than them, yet I could never get them. However, I was able to afford them, and a quick e-mail to Driftworks to confirm the spring ratio's and I had a set of BC Coilovers on their way.

I actually cried with joy when they arrived, ha. big big thing for me.



Then December the 14th arrives, the day organised to get these fitted......... YEEEEESSSSSS.... and a front wishbone but I didn't get a photo of that, and my first non-genuine part, and it fitted no problem... faith in pattern parts restored... well it is blue-print!











The old rear suspension was seized on all 3 bolts either side. So we left it as it was until the next day... and then, in some ways, a saving grace happened.





SHAGGED. And I was driving it like that for the year or so I had it without knowing it was this bad. So I break down again, Ben said he could have fixed that small patch by the suspension but when I told him about the chassis leg rot and the boot floor rot he found he said he didn't want a job like that on his shoulders so he said he couldn't do it.

It is left there for a short while, until out of the blue, a friend on Facebook got in touch, saying he could do the welding. Ben knew the bloke and rated his work, so I decided to give it one last go, after having the mechanics of the car almost 100%, and knowing Graham worked hard to fix the mechanics, I drove it VERY slowly down to his shop, which thankfully was only 3 miles doen the road. It was odd driving it as it sounded like the rear doors were missing with the amount of holes we'd found.

The car got to Roger's shop 28-12-13. a few shots with my friends Volkswagen Bora. Which he claims "well it's miles lower than your prim".....

 

[johnbr6]

then the work began.









"The more you dig the more you find"















I think there used to be a sill there!







yes it has neons (that no longer work) on it LOL



That is the last of the photo's I have of the welding work done to the car. It will be back on the road at the end of this month, the bill is priddy massive, but it is worth it. Graham and Roger have done the impossible, they fixed the un-fixable. I like to think that when people see this, and then think about the rust on their car, they think positive knowing that actually there are people out there, who can fix anything.

I am very happy with the quality of work from Roger, and the excitement of the return of the Prim is beyond words.

Now it is all good etc welding a car, but what about preventing it from getting this bad again?

Again, re-search is key.



Gone are the days of having the worst road legal P11 out there, times have changed. Patience has payed off and now I am not that far from been able to say that I own one of the best examples (where it matters) out there.

The car has been off the road for 9 of the 15 months I have owned it, getting work done or simply not working. Admittedly one month it was due to a blowing manifold gasket and I didn't want to drive around with it sounding crap.

But along with the rust, I have sourced replacement parts for the performance side of the car (you might have noticed the shopping list)

• New 8mm Magnecor HT leads
• Iridium NGK spark plugs (BKR5EIX-11)
• Apex-i Cone filter
• AEM Bypass valve
• Repaired the Hotshot header/ downpipe (FAR better design than the toyosport)
• New Genuine distributor
• New Gen belts, oil, oil filter, fuel filter
• UR lightweight pulley set

I am yet to replace the pressure plate on the Fidanza Flywheel, one that has been done, that will be going back in.


The old engine has JWT S3R camshafts in it, however I have seen S3R's deteriorate if not submerged in oil, so I am fearing the worst, if they are ok then I am booking the car into the local engine shop here to get them fitted along with a new timing chain kit and a good clean of the head of the engine. I might possible invest in HKS cam gears.

Then after than I can finally think about cosmetics! Ha. Though other than folding mirrors and Xenon duals and JDM foglight's I don't really know what to get.

Thank you for reading few more photo's










It may seem a bit silly to some that I have actually gone ahead and fixed it. But I wanted the car for years before it became mine, without sounding silly it was a dream, and although yes my old Micra caused me NO trouble absolutley whatsoever, the work and the length of time for all of it to be done has been worth it so far

 

[MicrAde]

Bloody hell, a proper labour of love but a nice prim saved
Pretty scared to start poking and prodding at my P10 too much now :/

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 4

 

[johnbr6]

Bloody hell, a proper labour of love but a nice prim saved
Pretty scared to start poking and prodding at my P10 too much now :/

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 4

the majority of p11's aren't as bad as this buddy! spending all it's life parked not far from the sea is what's caused this. What year is your p10?

 

[McMicra]

If I ever got a p11 I'd do it like this one. My kinda style

 

[skymera]

If I ever got a p11 I'd do it like this one. My kinda style

Full of holes ?



This one looks sweet. Maybe its dat colour doe

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[MicrAde]

the majority of p11's aren't as bad as this buddy! spending all it's life parked not far from the sea is what's caused this. What year is your p10?

Aah, I lived in St.Ives for a year and a half so know all about what the sea air (and seagull $hit!) does to cars :/
My p10 is a '96 SRi mate

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 4

 

[johnbr6]

getting there

 

[johnbr6]

25th of April, was the last day it was at the garage.

It had been in there since the 28th of January, though the work could have been done quicker, all I cared about was that it was ready to go back to my friends garage.



It was sitting on all 4 wheels for the first time in a while too, giving it the first glance with how it sits with the BC's fitted







I was speechless, and couldn't stop taking photos haha.

we got it back in Bens and we started to work on getting it serviced, fitting the rear coilovers, etc.





I started on prepping the arches



downside of having a C.A.I, though that filter was probably 10 years old.

work done after the welding for the M.O.T

• Oil/ Oil change (both from Nissan)
• Iridium spark plugs fitted
• New Magnecor (8mm) leads fitted
• New fuel lines (copper)
• New brake lines (copper)
• New rear brake flexi hoses
• Brake fluid
• Made adaptor for Apexi filter
• Fitted Apexi filter/ new AEM bypass valve
• Re-fitted fuel tank, new straps, etc.
• Partly sealed the underneath

And then the MOT date, and then the time arrived... and after all the work done over the year or so, by certain individuals across the country, she passed her first proper MOT. with just one advisory and that was that the rubber bush on the track rod has started to perish.






<3 I drove to work that day with the biggest smile on my face









And that's it

I have a few teething problems, the MAF needs a quick spray of carb cleaner, it needs alignment, the coilovers have settled un-evenly so I need to get them adjusted again, and it seems my engine mounts and exhaust mounts have passed their best so I am going to be ordering them next month

The car has gone back into the shop it got it's welding done to get the bottom of the doors re-sprayed

I am also going to be ordering Cusco negative camer top arms/ links. These are -5mm and are the only way other than what the coilovers give you that you can get any sort of camber on these. I am actually coping pretty well with it as low as it is, I can still get over speedbups, and if it doest bottom out it is the crossmember coping it, the sump sits quite high up on these which is another bonus.

Thanks for reading

 

[johnbr6]

A couple of weeks ago now, it had the bottom sections sprayed. Only a temporary job but now it's all one colour you can't really tell!

Still scrubbin' but no f's mateeeeee. all part of the low game. Absolutley loving the car <3