Should I scrap it

bushmonkey

bushmonkey

Hi all. So BC coilover are on the way buy I'm really considering scrapping the micra already. I got it for 300 quid. It's fine, engines fine but the rust on the rear arches are worse than I thought. Should I scrap it or you guys think it's an easy fix?
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Really depends upon how much time you want to invest / access to tools etc. Might require some welding but might not, you probably won't know until you take a proper look under those bubbles. The sills on these are horrible for rusting through if you don't re-direct the drains early on.
 
I've had success on other cars with sanding back to rust + surrounding metal (so you know have far its spread) & using fertan after getting rid of the loose stuff. Its a little pricey but a little goes a long way.
 
Pull the plastic rear quarter panels either side of the rear seat(if its a 2 door) and look down into the back of the sills to see what the damage is. If this looks good, its probably worth saving/investing time in the car if you really like the car. I have patched and rustproofed insides these rear quarter panels and have not needed any welding needed for at least 18 months now. If you don't rustproof this area, it will be the end of the car once rust gets in there.
 
scorpio said:
Pull the plastic rear quarter panels either side of the rear seat(if its a 2 door) and look down into the back of the sills to see what the damage is. If this looks good, its probably worth saving/investing time in the car if you really like the car. I have patched and rustproofed insides these rear quarter panels and have not needed any welding needed for at least 18 months now. If you don't rustproof this area, it will be the end of the car once rust gets in there.
Click to expand...
Shall do. At work atm. Will get some pics if there's a small amount and see what you rekon

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Its a tough call on whether to keep this car due to this rust. Its the inner sill that you can't see in these pics that will give you problems as well unless you rustproof and ideally get the rust out. I put camera down in mine and the rust didn't look too bad. Then I cut a small hole with dremel big enough to get the dremel in with a small wire brush to get the rust out. Then painted or u can spray with a waxoil type liquid called bilt hamber dynax s 40 cavity wax that runs into the seems as well.

My car was pretty good all round and engine sweet as a nut so I thought it was worth preserving though the cars not worth much more than yours and I had it 15 years anyway with hardly any trouble.
Maybe you could take your car round some garages and ask their opinion if the sill is worth treating.

Personally, if it was me and I could get my wire brush dremel into the rear of the inner sill and get the rust out of the back of the sills, I would do it and rustproof. Though I am obsessive and maybe most garages will tell you its not worth doing. Really, it comes down to how much like the car and how much effort you are prepared to put into it.
 
It looks like some work has already been done in the inner sill. There's a plate welded. Could be a good sign that it's actually been slightly treated.

I don't do much anymore so this would be a nice project for years too come. Hopefully rust free in a few months of graft.

Thanks for the tips

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Tbh ,I've welded up worse on coil pack micras and I wonldnt scrap it , what spec of inspiration is it , does it have the pop out rear Windows ,remote locking and such , cause as well a been /a 1.3 it makes it kinda desirable over the normal 1.0
As for rust look where the fuel filler is inside the wheel arch ,rear floor, boot floor and where the floor meets the wheel arch , also in the boot you can pull back the inner carpet panels and look inside of the wheel arch
 
It's a 1.3 inspiration with rear pop out Windows, aircon, NATS, Central locking. Was hoping for rear discs but there drum.

I checked under the boot carpet before i bought it and it's clean.

Like I said though. I'm going to strip back and check everything. Car has a nice character too it. Drove it back from Doncaster to Manchester down snake pass. Fun drive.




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bushmonkey said:
It's a 1.3 inspiration with rear pop out Windows, aircon, NATS, Central locking. Was hoping for rear discs but there drum.

I checked under the boot carpet before i bought it and it's clean.

Like I said though. I'm going to strip back and check everything. Car has a nice character too it. Drove it back from Doncaster to Manchester down snake pass. Fun drive.




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Click to expand...

Did this drive yesterday at around 5am on my 600 mile parts collecting loop, was far too misty to enjoy :confused:
 
You have caught the micra bug, the inexplicable reason as to why to save these cars. I had the same, even though my parents were on at me to scrap it, I had the work done and I'm glad I did. Make sure to check behind that fuel filler pipe, as nissan boy said, it's an awful mud trap. I also have some in front of my axle behind the fuel tank along the bottom of the floor

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bushmonkey said:
I'll give it a go. I do have a dremel.

While I'm there I may as Well strip out the back completly and see what else is hiding

And by inner sill, how do I get to that??

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Click to expand...
Its hard to explain but if you look down into the bottom of the sills, around 6 to 8 inches from the back you will see a little square cutout about 2 x 2 inches, next to that is a little flap of metal also about 2 x 2 inches. Get the dremel whitha a grinding wheel or saw and cut out this little flap. Then you have enough room to put the dremel with a little wire cup brush into the back of the sills and run it along the last 12 inches along the floor of the inner sill where they rust. Also up the back of the sill, where the rear of sill follows the wheel/tyre.

You can get a cheap cam or or a cheap endoscope camera to see where you need to focus on. I used a computer
cam and a maglight torch to illuminate this cavity. Then I knew where to focus the dremel on blindly.
I can see from your pics that you do have rust in the inner sill the seat belt end. If you don't treat this, the rust will eventually make its way up the side wall and rust round the seat belt anchorage point. which loads micras fail on.
Its a pain in the ass job but if your inner sills have any rust or already patched there, unless you get the rust out and treated, the patch will require another patch over that patch around it ina few years!

If anyone can think of another way to do it, I would love to know
 
bushmonkey said:
It's a 1.3 inspiration with rear pop out Windows, aircon, NATS, Central locking. Was hoping for rear discs but there drum.

I checked under the boot carpet before i bought it and it's clean.

Like I said though. I'm going to strip back and check everything. Car has a nice character too it. Drove it back from Doncaster to Manchester down snake pass. Fun drive.




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Click to expand...
scorpio said:
Its hard to explain but if you look down into the bottom of the sills, around 6 to 8 inches from the back you will see a little square cutout about 2 x 2 inches, next to that is a little flap of metal also about 2 x 2 inches. Get the dremel whitha a grinding wheel or saw and cut out this little flap. Then you have enough room to put the dremel with a little wire cup brush into the back of the sills and run it along the last 12 inches along the floor of the inner sill where they rust. Also up the back of the sill, where the rear of sill follows the wheel/tyre.

You can get a cheap cam or or a cheap endoscope camera to see where you need to focus on. I used a computer
cam and a maglight torch to illuminate this cavity. Then I knew where to focus the dremel on blindly.
I can see from your pics that you do have rust in the inner sill the seat belt end. If you don't treat this, the rust will eventually make its way up the side wall and rust round the seat belt anchorage point. which loads micras fail on.
Its a pain in the ass job but if your inner sills have any rust or already patched there, unless you get the rust out and treated, the patch will require another patch over that patch around it ina few years!

If anyone can think of another way to do it, I would love to know
Click to expand...

Most people find it cost effective & less timewasting to trade it in/sell on a problematic vehicle & simply buy another all in good condition for those “happy days’ fun drives out & about when the sun is out”
Perhaps that’s what it’s all about & sidestepping those PIA endless menial manual jobs?

One Track Single Micra Minded?

“Jonnie was driving home last week when his hands free car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Jonnie, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on the M4, you must be careful".
"You are right" said Jonnie,
"But it's not just the one car, it's all of them!" (y)
 
plmval said:
Most people find it cost effective & less timewasting to trade it in/sell on a problematic vehicle & simply buy another all in good condition for those “happy days’ fun drives out & about when the sun is out”
Perhaps that’s what it’s all about & sidestepping those PIA endless menial manual jobs?

One Track Single Micra Minded?

“Jonnie was driving home last week when his hands free car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Jonnie, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on the M4, you must be careful".
"You are right" said Jonnie,
"But it's not just the one car, it's all of them!" (y)
Click to expand...

Very true, if it wasn't for people who have caught the micra bug with their dog eared determination to preserve the things, there would not be micras in museums in the future..
 
Just stripped out the back just in case there's more. There's nothing else. Just gotta check the inner sills as you said but I'll do that tomorrow after work

Then the Dremel fun begins

Also can tiny left over flakes of rust cause more rust??

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Any remaining rust can spread, unless you're going to cut out the area and put in fresh metal there's always a chance it can come back mate.

At the very least you should think about rust treating it with por15 or BH product to save yourself doing it again within the next couple of years tbh.
 
also going to be checking my internal sills tomorrow. Fingers crossed they’re good and I can got some wax spray in there after I extend the drains.
 
Just checked and a replacement sill is only £25. So if it's bad I may as Well just cut open the sill, get the rust off the chasis and then weld on the new sills.

Would be more future proof this way right??

Don't suppose any of you guys are Manchester way and have a welder handy

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Yeah putting in a replacement panel is the best repair you'll be able to do- You'll still want to rust proof it but then you'll never need to do it again.

You could always buy a cheap welder and learn? You seem willing to put the work in yourself and It's not rocket science mate just trial and error so practice on scrap metal and you'll save yourself a few quid and learn a new skill.

You can get decent 2nd hand ones cheap, try and get a decent make though- a 2nd hand one made by a good company will be much better than spending twice as much on a cheap new one in my opinion.

Then once you've done yours you could do the odd job for people cheap and it pays for the time/money you've spent doing the Micra- win win.
 
Well that's that. I'm getting rid. I would advertise on here but rules say I can't. I don't have the time to sort it. There's some rust underneath the spare wheel bit coming through too

Can't really spare much money atm to fix it. Any advise how much it's worth to sell? Engine is perfect it's just the rust

Cheers for all the advise and help btw guys



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bushmonkey said:
Well that's that. I'm getting rid. I would advertise on here but rules say I can't. I don't have the time to sort it. There's some rust underneath the spare wheel bit coming through too

Can't really spare much money atm to fix it. Any advise how much it's worth to sell? Engine is perfect it's just the rust

Cheers for all the advise and help btw guys



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Click to expand...
Depending on condition / length of MOT left it might be better stripping for parts if its something that'd need money sunk into it. Everyones always after parts in good nick!
 
As Storm says you'll get the most money back stripping it.

But you'll need to remove the parts yourself, you could just list the parts and remove them as they sell or remove them and store them in the car if you've got nowhere else.

Rash Developments was after an engine
 
bushmonkey said:
Yea I thought about this. Mot is until July, and as for stripping for parts I have nowhere to keep them. People would have to remove the parts themselves when they collect. It's a pain lol

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Click to expand...

If it’s drivable with valid MOT, I would sell it ASAP on Gumtree as a good runner for £250/best offer, as it stands with all its faults & get it gone.
That’s the best economic return solution. Do it now. Go for it. (y)
 
With only a month left on MOT and a definite failure I think you'll struggle to sell it for anything more than scrap tbh.
 
Six to 8 weeks MOT summertime runabout, put it on Gumtree ASAP, someone may go for it hoping to get it through a new MOT with a little tlc?
I have sold many of my old leave off runabout bangers with similar status for much more than scrap value over the years.

A BS salesman’s positive proactive approach, I can & will succeed is half the battle

Accentuate the positive & ignore the negatives. Sell, sell, and sell. Just try it? (y)
 
Last edited:
Yeah you're right, a positive attitude makes a difference but realistically it all comes down to what someone wants it for.

If someone already has one and wants/needs parts they'll give you more than scrap-not as much as you'll break it for yourself though (well very doubtful)- but it's worth more to those buyers definitely.

Anyone looking for a cheap daily isn't going to give you more than you'll get breaking it because it's pretty much scrap value as it stands as a useable car to joe public considering there's 4-6 weeks worth of driving left in it knowing how much money they'll need to put on it to get it through another.

He doesn't want to repair it because he knows how much work is involved and most people who haven't got a preference to Micra's/non-enthusiast will have pretty much the same opinion if they're looking for a run about.

They'll pay £100 more and get a years ticket instead more than likely.
 
I sold d my 1998 last leave off K11 two years ago with a very stiff clutch problem, 2months ticket and numerous rusty welds on patches, from the previous year’s MOT welding fiasco, with much sales BS cheap runabout patter for £550!

I got a buzz as I saw it driven off, sold & gone, up the road from my place, job done. I was doing a hop, skip & a dance up my drive on my way in to tell “her indoors who must be obeyed”, & who doubted I could get anything like that much for it.

Self-belief & BS can make it happen in my experience over 44 years of driving & buying/selling my old leave off bangers. (y)
 
Hey, I know my opinion is going against the grain here but hey, god loves a trier. I think if you got that rust out with a dremel and waxoiled, you would not have much trouble with that sill may take you a couple of hours but hey ho. I can get my car welded down here for 20 quid a patch so you don't have to spend a fortune on that bit of weld.
I think the car is a great colour and quite rare I am guessing, you may be throwing away something that will appreciate but hey ho, needs must and all that.
Its been a great debate anyway and only you know whats best for you. Like i always said, depends how much you like the car an your resources/ time as whats best.
 
Yea I know. It is a shame. If I could keep it I would. Thing is I can't even drive it atm either. Can't insure 2 cars yet. Missis was supposed to be on road but it's not happened.

Other thing is, it needs brakes, mot runs out in a month and it won't pass mot without new tyres,brakes and rust fix. People can't even test drive it soon and won't buy with grinding brakes lol



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scorps said:
Hey, I know my opinion is going against the grain here but hey, god loves a trier. I think if you got that rust out with a dremel and waxoiled, you would not have much trouble with that sill may take you a couple of hours but hey ho. I can get my car welded down here for 20 quid a patch so you don't have to spend a fortune on that bit of weld.
I think the car is a great colour and quite rare I am guessing, you may be throwing away something that will appreciate but hey ho, needs must and all that.
Its been a great debate anyway and only you know whats best for you. Like i always said, depends how much you like the car an your resources/ time as whats best.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree, it’s been a very good lively discussion melting pot of the many & varied approaches on how best to deal with an old banger at the end of its useful economic life cycle.
In summary, the most suitable solution utilised is mostly an “efficient division of labour “ personal choice that is largely predetermined by each person’s time value preferences, resources & transferable skillset abilities.

“We pay our money (dues) & take our choices”. :)
 

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