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Skinners Sprint Micra

Skinner_87

Skinner_87

Alrite Guys, been meening to do a blog for a while so here goes nothing.....

This is my 1.3si car i use for sprints/hillclimbs and a bit of drag racing :) Iv built it over the last 3 years but hopefully its coming togeather know!
 

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@ Airmike cheers yeh im going to find a good few just need to remember were i left my memory card!

@ Frank i know iv been on here long enough :)

Engine 1275cc
Gas Flowed Polish & ported head with hardened valve seals
Kent Fast Road Cams with custom shims
Bottom end stripped clean & rebuilt with new rings & shells
Flywheel slightly lightened
Bogg Brothers manifold with CBR900RR Carbs jetted to suit spec
 

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New disc handbrake cables arrived today :) Next up taking the old drum beam off & painting & fitting the stregthend disc beam and pressing in nismo bushes to the trailing arms............

More than likely in the rain!
 
Skinner_87 said:
Just been to pick up some carbon mirrors :) only 2 or 3 pairs ever made to date (Y)
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*cough-cough........Rallytech ;)

Nice looking car. If you're still on the standard 1.3 gearbox you can pretty much work out top end power depending on how much rpm you can pull in 4th before it flattens out.
 
Low Rider said:
*cough-cough........Rallytech ;)

Nice looking car. If you're still on the standard 1.3 gearbox you can pretty much work out top end power depending on how much rpm you can pull in 4th before it flattens out.
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You got it in one Low :) http://rallytech.co.uk/index.php/products/formula-1000-parts/120

One of their guys is doing a rally here tomorrow so i got them off him today... xmas prezzie from the gf!

Cheers mate... i have the 5.1 CWP fitted i guess i could still work it out some how....
 
Skinner_87 said:
You got it in one Low :) http://rallytech.co.uk/index.php/products/formula-1000-parts/120

One of their guys is doing a rally here tomorrow so i got them off him today... xmas prezzie from the gf!

Cheers mate... i have the 5.1 CWP fitted i guess i could still work it out some how....
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Yeah, got a set of those lined up for when the car finally graces the road, really nice bits if kit!

5.1 CWP will make it pretty quick through the gears no doubt! You'll be able to top out in 5th I'm sure :)

Bit of a pain living in Norway, but will hopefully make it to some tracks depending on time available. First shakedown is planned around Goodwood in May when the Jag boys book the circuit out.....may even bag some vids of it :)
 
Low Rider said:
Yeah, got a set of those lined up for when the car finally graces the road, really nice bits if kit!

5.1 CWP will make it pretty quick through the gears no doubt! You'll be able to top out in 5th I'm sure :)

Bit of a pain living in Norway, but will hopefully make it to some tracks depending on time available. First shakedown is planned around Goodwood in May when the Jag boys book the circuit out.....may even bag some vids of it :)
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They do look good il stick a pic up late on...

It goes through the gear pritty rapidly... only had chance to drive it twice after the carbs went on... (got a bad habbit of taking it appart and putting something new on lol) according to a few gear calculators it shoudl top out about 110mph which is plenty in the lanes on the Isle of Man (Y)

Yours should sound awesome with the jenveys around goodwood! Good to watch the mini's fighting with the ford falcons around there!
 
110mph in 5th is much better for short sprints etc. We're topping out at 100mph in 3rd and almost 130mph in 4th on the standard box :( which is ridiculous really......5th is pretty useless other than to cruise on the motorway.

We're looking at topping out at around 130-135 in 5th on the next gearbox, which should give us a nice spread between 1st & 4th, (100mph tops depending on powerband), for the track and something of a 5th gear for the road, although we'll still be sitting at around 4200rpm in 5th on the motorway, which wont make it very efficient. Not a huge problem really, as the car barely does 1500miles a year now ;)

Would obsoletely love to do the TT circuit one of these days....
 
Low Rider said:
110mph in 5th is much better for short sprints etc. We're topping out at 100mph in 3rd and almost 130mph in 4th on the standard box :( which is ridiculous really......5th is pretty useless other than to cruise on the motorway.

Would obsoletely love to do the TT circuit one of these days....
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As Low mentioned above im lucky enough to be on the Isle of Man so have the TT course to drive around. The 3rd day of the Manx Classic hillclimb which in doing aging in 2012 :) has a run that uses the course coming out of Ramsey onto the mountain... heres a video from last year (guys is the bike powered cars are like lightning!)

[video=youtube;VXfw21xQgCM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXfw21xQgCM[/video]
 
Happy New Everyone!

Been a long time waiting on parts before i can get some serious work done on the car but at last its all come togeather! Rose jointed rear link bars arrived today which should stiffen up the rear end a treat

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Also as the powersteering cooler pipes have seen better days iv got hold of a suzuki bandit oil cooler to use instead... plan is just to run two fittings from the top to the P/S tank & the rail itself...

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Off to the Autosport show this weekend but the weekend after there will be a much better update as (fingers crossed!) the car will be read worthy again (Y)
 
Nice additions, we fully upgraded the rear swing arms a few years ago with Nismo bushes and it firmed up the rear end nicely even if it did add a few more rattles, so I would imagine RJ arms to be pretty hardcore lol ;) Our front end could do with a new set of replacement bushes to be honest, as our Nismo ones are getting on for around 7 years old now and will be past their best.

Really looking forward to getting the car back with the roll cage in though to see how it feels with increased rigidity in the corners. How did yours fair before and after?
 
The ride was bone jarring enough before so this should do my back the world of good lol anything to go quicker hey :grinning:

With the cage in everything feels very stiff. Makes the steering input feel all the more responsive when your harnessed in.. not too much over factory but deffinatly know its there (besides the obvious bars all around you) My cage isnt welded to the front A pillars however so maybe this would give a more rigid feel... not that Micra shells have a great deal of flex in them anyway..
 
They can flex a bit in the rear but the front isn't too bad. It all depends on how much you are pushing things really, there's a limit to everything but we'll be switching to separate master cylinders and semi slick tires, so will be loading things up a tad more than before. There's a lot of triangulation in the cage we're having fitted, so it should sharpen up things nicely. We couldn't however take advantage of the additional 3 a-pillar mounting points, as that required the windscreen to be removed.

I'm not hugely fussed with having to lose the sunroof either, as that's 20kgs saved in offset to the circa 40kg cage weight.

4-points are going to be fun that's for sure :eek:
 
That would explain why the back end got a little jumpy last year with the cage in but pritty unmodified back end, so that should be solved now :) For the same reason i didnt have the cage welded in at the front just to much hassle/expense. I didnt realise the sunroof added so much weight!

Im using a 6 point at the moment & once your in your deffinatly part of the car :grinning: wouldnt mind slicks but carnt use them for the events i do which is a shame.. List 1b it is then..
 
I believe we have a hybrid Safety Devices cage, it's sort of a mix between the 6-point and 17-point cages they offer as standard. It's the usual crossed rear cage with mount points at the rear on each of the arches with a horizontal brace between them, by each b-pillar floor and the chassis tunnel. the b-pillar bars have an additional tie-in 1/2 way up the b-pillar with rear triangulations and a bottom brace between the arch and b-pillar mounts, so well triangulated. Only single door bars though but that makes getting in and out easier. It's a shame not to be able to tie-in the a pillars, have cross braced door bars, a dash bar and strut strengthening to tighten up the front end plenty and try to transmit more suspension loads but such is life and the cage was an after thought rather than a stripped shell build, so I can live with it especially for the price! I'll no doubt have some pics of it when it's completed.

We just track rather than doing actual events, so as long as the tyres are road legal, (A048R for example), it's ok and I'd really like to load things up this year, especially with a twin master cylinder upgrade, so we can adjust brake bias on the fly and help to maximize braking as I find the rear axle mounted valve does next to nothing and the stock setup is far from optimal in my humble opinion once you've upset things with a front upgrade.
 
I have a (very!) modified OMP cage with an extra rear bar for the harnesses.. agreed a near FIA spec cage would be great but its just the cost!

Il get a picture up next week...

I removed the stock bias adjust way back & have a Tilton valve inside to through bias back & forth depending on what im coming up to (sprint use mostly) but alot of reg's state they cannot be used its up to the event your in..
 
Skinner_87 said:
I have a (very!) modified OMP cage with an extra rear bar for the harnesses.. agreed a near FIA spec cage would be great but its just the cost!

Il get a picture up next week...

I removed the stock bias adjust way back & have a Tilton valve inside to through bias back & forth depending on what im coming up to (sprint use mostly) but alot of reg's state they cannot be used its up to the event your in..
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Oh right, we were thinking about doing that a while ago but I decided to get the wonga together to go for twin cylinders, as it makes more room in the bay for air filters, as the AP master cylinders are only 80mm long and we can remotely mount the reservoirs out of the way.

Do you have good adjustability with the bias valve? i.e. can you get enough pressure to the back to lockup the rears for example, (not that you would want to but to give an example of line pressure variables). I have never been able to get enough braking spread for my liking, that could bite me in the backside later but it would be nice to find the limits and play with them rather than not knowing what they are.

We opted for a bolt in as one came up and it was too good to turn down ;) Full weld in cage are just a tad ;) over the top for what we want and they get very expensive very quickly :eek: I think my dad comfortably blew a couple of K on a Custom Cages cage for his E-Type eek!
 
hopefully the rosejointed links have a bit of "give" eh ? iirc one of the rally guys fitted some and the rear suspension locked up :eek:
 
frank said:
hopefully the rosejointed links have a bit of "give" eh ? iirc one of the rally guys fitted some and the rear suspension locked up :eek:
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Thats just it Frank need a bit of movement, they have tapered cups either side that have a shamfer down to the joint itself to allow as much rotation as it can get so hopefully that & some copper grease will keep all well (Y)
 
Skinner_87 said:
Thats just it Frank need a bit of movement, they have tapered cups either side that have a shamfer down to the joint itself to allow as much rotation as it can get so hopefully that & some copper grease will keep all well (Y)
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(Y) its just the geometry of the arms eh, they said that the rear would lower down so far then the links got to a point where they were pushing against each other and locked any further movement
(i think theirs were solid rosejoints tho)
 
@ Frank
Thats a bit drastic eh! Wouldnt want that happening on the manx lanes!! I had an idea to use a strap on the rear axel to stop the rear springs coming out of the cups if the car ever gets airborne so maybe i could kill two birds with the one stone & guard against the link arms locking out... thanks for letting me know Frank (Y)

@ Low
There is alot of adjustabilty though i have never got the back to lock up (unless i used the hydrolic handbrake) but had up untill now been running quite tired drum brakes.. hopefully with the disc's there will be alot more stopping power & put the bias to good use. Did you race your Jag in the Gold Cup in 2011 by any chance?
 
After an awesome visit to the Autosport show i arrived back to find the Suzuki oil (soon to be powersteering) pipes after a lil chopping and changing:

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Pickedup up a new to hook at the show as well (nearly matches the car):

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& was sent a new photo from the Hillclimb last year... only 15 weeks to go and a list as long as my arm of things to do (Y)

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Very late Happy new year guys, time to update this i recon!

Finally got the back disc beam all assembled, all pads & discs bedding in nicely now :)

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Swapped to braided brake lines over the new year whilst the back end was appart. Once you have the nac making the lines is is quite enjoyable! Plumbed the handbrake this way as well

DSCF0453.jpg


Round the front end the standard powersteering cooler was tired & corroded so the Suzuki oil lines were cut, cleaned & new braided pipe was installed (went with clear so i could see and trapped bubble's) all seem to be working well

DSCF0452.jpg


Also a small oil catch tank has gone in mounted to the original fuel filter point. Fuel filter has been relocated to behind the battery & the piping for the carbs re done as i wasnt happy with the first attempt!

Filter socks need oiling but i am toying with the idea of an enclosed airbox at some point in the future!

DSCF0451.jpg


Finally a scoop has gone onto to get some cooler air into the path of those carbs though iv read they can be more effective the other way around :)

DSCF0449.jpg
 
+1 looking good for the next season. Our shell is done and will be painted this week, I'm STILL hung up on the modified pedal box though :(
 
Well after going out to bed the brakes in in the week the front left caliper seized solid on my! (probly from being sat around all winter) donar caliper fitted today & upper trailing arms swapped from rose joints to Nismo bushes (rides just too harsh for local roads) so it will be tested tomorrow to see how the handling has faired... then its time to make up the ARB drop links :)
 
Skinner_87 said:
Ta low... Hows everything coming along for you now? have you got around the pedal box problem?
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Pedal box is still in the pipeline. It's gone to someone else, as the last company said it was 'too much work', so we're looking at 2-3weeks for it to arrive but it will be supplied with 80mm AP master cylinders, so hopefully the car will be back before the month is out. Engine is still in the works too, mainly being held up with the cylinder head but that's because we are wanting more than just the standard 'port and polish' jobs most people talk about.

Engine bay is done, all bar the drilling for the pedal box, few pics attached after paint showing the modified bulkhead to make more room for the ITB airbox/filter :)
 

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Spent the day tuning by changing the timing back and forth & am now happy with the carbs :) about 17 degree's seems to be the "sweet spot"

About 7 weeks to go untill the manx classic : (me at 1.22 last year)





The class im in runs up to 2litre so im not looking for a class FTD but il give it a shout
 

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