The £80 Micra

[Ihtisham Rauf]

So it turns out the 105.5 bhp and 86 lb ft that I got at the dyno was at the wheels, NOT THE CRANK.

This means we did pretty well!

Been told to expect around 20% more at the crank which means around 125bhp and 103 lb ft!

Very happy with these numbers. It makes sense as the car is reasonably nippy.

Can't wait to see the result once it gets redynoed after the bike throttle bodies!

 

[MattInARedMicra]

exhaust manifold running blue hot looks good anyway

You know what else had blue exhausts? Spitfire ????

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Finally got a Magazine feature!

Check it out here! http://www.stanceauto.co.uk/ihtishams-sleeper-nissan-micra-k11

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Update:

So the bike throttle bodies were recently installed in the car. But we had a lot of problems:

1. MAF Sensor - Car would only work using TPS, which wasn't a long term solution since the car was overfueling so bad, it was doing 15mpg and pumping out black smoke! As soon as we connected the MAF up (which was mounted at the airbox inlet), it refused to run - it wouldn't recognise my throttle input at all and made me look like a fool when it stalled in the middle of my road, creating a roadblock, and then my neighbours came!

Now, using the advice from people on this forum, we mounted the MAF back in its original housing (its an Almera MAF) and then directly mounted this onto the airbox inlet. This has worked! The car starts up easily, idles nicely, doesn't hunt, and goes like stink! Drivability was always a concern when getting ITB's fitted to a road car, and I must admit, without the MAF connected, the car was becoming a nuisance to live with (stalling at every set of lights and 15mpg etc). Now it drives just as it did before the ITB's, but obviously more powerful and an amazing soundtrack! The MAF wiring did need extending. Only one out of the 5 wires needed extending, the others could just be pulled back from the loom. The 5th wire went into this gooey mess in the loom, and I didn't want to pull it out any further, so left it in place and just crimped some wire to extend it! Here is the setup:

The wiring was tidied up so exposed wires weren't hanging out! Currently the car has no air filter since my setup clearly doesn't fit in the gap! But I am waiting on a silicon bend so that I can fit the intake pipe and cone filter in there!

I drove with the airbox off (MAF disconnected) and it is ULTRA LOUD! Almost too loud for me to even concentrate driving. Quite happy the airbox drowns some noise out, but not enough noise so that I still get to experience the ITB rumble!

2. Cylinder 4 Misfire - I was getting a fault code of cylinder 4 misfire. Changed the injector on that cylinder the code has gone away, hurray! The header on cylinder 4 was quite blue (seen in photos above, indicates cylinder 4 was running hotter) but now its starting to go back to the golden colour that it should have been initially. However, it still has a little blue tint to it, which, as pointed by members on this forum, is most likely down to the fact the radiator is next to it, so the hot air from there causes the header to be hotter.

3. New Spark Plugs - I was recommended some Denso Iridium IK20TT spark plugs as these are one level colder. These are in and that's as much as I have got to say on them!

3. Upgraded Fuel Pressure Regulator - So after checking my old spark plugs, it showed signs of running lean, so I got some advice from Peter Vaughan on installing an in-rail 4.0 Bar FPR. This looks exactly like the original but offer's one bar higher pressure. This seems to have sorted the issue out, as I reinspected the plugs. The photo is of the old regulator but the new one looks pretty much identical. A literal 2 min job to swap it out!

Overall, the car is running really nicely now. We got 105bhp at the wheels last time we went to the dyno. Can't wait to get it redynoed again! It certainly feels much more powerful, especially after 60mph, it just keeps going!

4. 774 Exhaust Cam - I have purchased the 774 Exhaust Cam as planned. Just need to get around to fitting it in!

5. Upgraded Radiator - I have purchased an auto Micra radiator as its 26mm thick, rather than the manual Micra's, which is 16mm thick, as a way to upgrade my cooling system. I am planning to track this car in the summer!

6. Upgraded Brakes - I am in the process of getting some upgraded brakes, as mine aren't really cutting it anymore. Out of all the options given to me, I have decided on vented Almera 247mm discs and V22 calipers. Jack, on this forum, (check his blog out! - bumblebee 1999 inspiration 1.3) also runs these and I have taken his advice. This option seems to be a good balance of stopping power without going overkill and adding too much to the unsprung mass, and of course, I needed a setup that fits under 14 inch wheels. Still deciding whether to go standard discs or performance Black Diamond ones.

7. Selling Preface Lights - I am selling these lights. Message me if interested. They are unique in that they are wired for second facelifts, and are twin reverse light, as the driver side light is from Germany. The driver side light has a red bulb in the reverse housing, so its all legal for MOT. You still have one reverse light. The setup only 'looks' like you have two reverse lights.

This is how the car looked with them on:

A little exciting thing though! I managed to get a CGA3 cylinder head, complete with the sought after 1.4 cams, for a decent price. Thinking to do a little project on it - head skim, port and polish etc. And then once its all done, I can put it on the car! And then sell my existing cylinder head and sell the 1.4 cams! In this way, I can get lots of work done on the donor cylinder head and take my time with it, while still having a car that works (i.e not off road). And recoup some money back in the process!

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Okay so its been a rocky few weeks! This post is a perfect example of the little things that can constantly go wrong on a project car!

Basically, the car was running on the Micra MAF and it would drive well.

But then, I starting experiencing an issue where the cyl 4 header would get too hot, so much that it would turn blue. And plus I was getting a cyl4 misfire fault code. I ruled out the possibility of a faulty coilpack or spark plug by swapping them over and the problem persisted. I was then told it could be a faulty injector. I put a new injector in and hurray problem solved, for about a day!

Then the fault code came back, and now I noticed that if I start the car and let it idle for a few min, cylinder 4 header would remain cold. I bought an infrared thermometer and discovered that after a couple of min of idling, cyl 1 is at 110deg, cyl2 and cyl3 similar and cyl4 at 40deg! Clearly an issue!

So before it was too hot and now too cold! What is life! So I thought the replacement injector that I put on cyl4 must be almost completely blocked. So instead of buying a new injector, I swapped the injectors from cyl1 (which we know works fine) and cyl4. Cyl1 continued to function correctly and I continued to get cyl4 misfire, thus ruling out the possibility of a faulty injector.

I then realised, there was a small hole on the wall of the cyl4 throttle body, which I plugged with a plastic blanking plug in the past, but it must have fallen out, therefore, allowing unmetered air to seep in/out of this 10mm hole. I sealed this hole up and now cyl4 header still remains cold for about 30 sec, but now, the main difference is that it then shoots up to temp and quickly catches up to the others - confusing right!
For example, after 1 min of idle, cyl1 is at 80deg, cyl2 and cyl3 are similar, cyl4 is at 30deg. Another min later, cyl1 is at 110deg, cyl2 and cyl3 similar, and cyl4 is also at 90deg, so it catches up! I realised that if I adjust the idle to be slightly higher, then cyl4 would take less time to 'catch up' to the other cylinders.
So the idle stands at 800rpm, up from the previous 500rpm. However, I STILL GET THE CYL4 MISFIRE FAULT CODE!

Now I drive the car (still on the Micra MAF) and it doesn't feel right anymore. Lack of torque is very apparent. Before, it used to drive fine on the Micra MAF, even with the cyl4 misfire fault code, so why isn't it driving fine now?! The ECU has been set up by Tornado Systems to run the Almera 0280 218 005 MAF. But, I am using the Micra MAF. This is because I have tried 2 Almera MAF's already with no success at all - I can't even drive off my road on the Almera MAF! It completely bogs down under throttle and eventually stalls.
Note that when you use an Almera MAF, since they don't come with a temp sensor, you have to transfer the temp sensor from the Micra MAF over to the Almera MAF - very easy to do with a tiny screwdriver and some tweezers! But like I said, 2 Almera MAF's later, the car still wouldn't run. It would, however, run fine on the Micra MAF, (although it developed the lack of torque issue recently) despite being mapped for the Almera MAF.

One thing I found VERY INTERESTING is that when using the Micra MAF, I have the cyl4 misfire fault code. When I use the Almera MAF, despite not even being able to drive on this MAF, I get cyl3 misfire fault code. So the cyl misfires are dependent on the MAF?!

After nearly giving up due to all this hooha and nearly buying a DET3 piggyback ECU, which uses MAP rather than MAF, and doing away with the MAF, airbox and Tornado ECU, I decided to give it one more shot, and so I bought one more Almera MAF (and one more Micra MAF for the bloody temp sensor!). The lord must have mercy as this has finally worked! The car is finally running on the Almera MAF. There is heaps more power and torque than when it was on the Micra MAF, so I must have been maxing the threshold of air flow measurements on the Micra MAF!

Cyl3 now still takes a slight bit of time to get up to temp, and I do get cyl3 misfire fault code, but I genuinely am clueless as to what to do with this. As I know that if I put the Micra MAF in, the misfire will move over to cyl4. Like I said though, the car drives amazing now! It idles perfect, and it doesn't even hunt, and there is HEAPS more power and torque due to the Almera MAF!

At this point I am giving up with the cyl3 misfire! If anyone has any ideas, do chip in. I thought this post by be interesting to some as its a
completely honest recount of the troubles I've had with the car over the last few weeks!

I have to say, after nearly 4 years of owning this car, which I bought for £80 back in 2016, I am as excited to drive it now as I was 4 years ago! I just can't get tired of it yet! However, my brother has had his daily car since 2006, so thats 14 years,, so I don't think I'll beat that record, unless of course I keep the Micra until 2030!

Thought I would attach some photos from back in 2016 and some more recent photos! I can't believe how shiny my car used to be back when 18 year old me used to wash it every 2 days lol!

Back in June 2016 on the day my insurance started!

Taken Dec 2019.

The engine bay as of June 2016, before it had its first ever clean!

My first ever clean of the engine bay. Miss the old 1.0 as it was so reliable!

Current engine set up!

My first ever wax and polish job back in the summer of 2016! I remember I even resprayed the wheel trims in silver!

Some more recent photos!

MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE 2 PHOTOS OF MY CAR!

Hope this post brings a smile to people's face during these difficult times. Thanks for reading!

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Okay so something funny happened!

Basically, my Almera MAF sensor (that was on the car), was a bit dirty. So I sprayed it with some MAF cleaner and this got rid of all the deposits. But when I plugged it back in, the car would refuse to run! I wrecked the MAF by using the cleaner! I had to record a YouTube video so I though, you know what, lets just drive with the MAF unplugged, and MY GOD! The car is much quicker with the MAF disconnected! It bogs down at the lower RPM's but after 3500rpm, it is like nothing I have ever experienced!

So I have removed the MAF and the MAF housing and am getting a DET3 piggyback ECU, so that we can map this thing properly. Currently, with the MAF disconnected, the car is brutal quick after 3500rpm, but at the lower revs, if you full throttle it, it just overfuels and bogs down, since it is just using the default map and just using the TPS.

Can't wait to get this thing properly mapped using a DET3!

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

So I fitted the 774 exhaust cam today.
I felt decent gain in the top end of the rev range - from 5500 onwards.
I haven’t really felt too much losses in the low end, but this may all be a placebo.

For now, I’m sticking with it installed, and have sold my 1.4 exhaust cam. It sold within an hour of me putting it on sale!

One thing I did notice is that my inlet cam is slightly retarded. I can see that it isn’t properly centred in the dowel.

774 cams don’t have locating pins, so they allow for adjustable timing but they have an indented notch to indicate where the stock cam position should be.

A retarded inlet means I can gain some low end torque in exchange for some high end power when I adjust it to be correctly timed.

Out with the old, in with the new...

This is how the cams are timed at TDC.

The best way to check you have correctly timed the cams, is to check you have 5 full links in between the dots (not including the end links). Sometimes you have to rotate the engine a full 360 to get the dots to line up with the main bits of the chain rather than the intermediate bits of the chain.

You can see here that my inlet cam is slightly retarded:

Ran out of time today but will need to sort this at some point soon. Although it’s been like this for ages without me realising!

 

[frank]

measuring the height of the piston at the point of the cam releasing the bucket will give you some idea of the valve timing ihtisham
i used to determine that valve event by checking when the bucket would rotate freely
pretty awkward to do when only turning the crank pulley clockwise

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

measuring the height of the piston at the point of the cam releasing the bucket will give you some idea of the valve timing ihtisham
i used to determine that valve event by checking when the bucket would rotate freely
pretty awkward to do when only turning the crank pulley clockwise

interesting, thanks for that Frank

 

[frank]

its useful to get your overlap at tdc equal on both inlet and exh, and to determine the compression drop from the late inlet closing event

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

its useful to get your overlap at tdc equal on both inlet and exh, and to determine the compression drop from the late inlet closing event


View attachment 69327

I’ve wanted to see that graph for ages but couldn’t find it, thanks for the info man

 

[Low Rider]

Neither the 773 or the 774 cams come with dowels. The idea is you remove the dowels from your existing cams and press them in.

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Neither the 773 or the 774 cams come with dowels. The idea is you remove the dowels from your existing cams and press them in.

it’s always bizarre how aftermarket parts made specifically for micras still need modification to fit micras!
Another example is the GizFab 4-2-1 - you have to bend the oil dipstick out of the way to make space for the 1st and 2nd headers!

 

[Low Rider]

They come from Newman Cams, who just don't supply them. However, Catcams do provide their cams complete with dowels.

 

[Skinner_87]

They come from Newman Cams, who just don't supply them. However, Catcams do provide their cams complete with dowels.

Been browsing Catcams all morning!

 

[Low Rider]

Been browsing Catcams all morning!

Very good quality cams Paul. All their cams are billet with 32mm base circles. I went with their 1601214 profile this time around to replace the previous cam grind.

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Time for an update:

1. Standalone ECU - After ignoring most people's advice and sticking with the stock ECU and getting it remapped by Tornado Systems, it seems everyone else was right and I was wrong! Lol the joys of learning! The Tornado Systems ECU is great on a single throttle body setup as the dyno graph shows, but it just can't handle individual throttle bodies. The car runs very lean when the MAF is connected, so it is quick but not as quick as when I unplug the MAF. With MAF unplugged, it overfuels too much though. In one sense, I am glad I gave it a solid try to get it to run properly on individual throttle bodies on the stock ECU, but it just doesn't work well!

Next steps are to get a standalone. I am going for a Speeduino-based standalone plug-n-play ECU from RM Electronics. They said they are very busy currently and there's around a 2 week wait time until they can take my order, so its a waiting game. In the meanwhile, my Pipercross Airbox became defective (it has cracked at all parting lines!), so Pipercross sent a replacement which is obviously useless now since the standalone ECU will allow me to delete the MAF and so I have no need for an airbox. Thus I have sold the replacement Pipercross Airbox and am just going to make do with my damaged airbox until I can get the standalone in, and then I can throw this airbox away as it's so damaged!

The ECU will come with a basemap, and it can be tuned using TunerStudio. RM Electronics have recommended I get the ECU mapped by DanSTEngineering (the same people who supplied me with the baseplate and sillicon hoses for the ITB kit).

The Speeduino ECU is £300 and then mapping on the dyno at DanSTEngineering is another £350. So £650 altogether. I have already sold the brand new replacement Pipercross airbox for £230 (what I paid for it) and have put my Tornado Systems remapped ECU provisionally on sale on eBay for £410 (I paid £430 for it). The ECU obviously works brilliant on a single throttle body setup, but it just can't manage fueling on ITB's. Overall, I should be able to recoup most of the money and then use this for the RM ECU and mapping (what I should have done in the first place!)

In all fairness though, I did not have any idea about RM Electronics offering £300 standalone ECU's, which are plug-n-play. I was under the impression that I would be looking at around £1250 to get a full standalone, like an Omex, fitted in and mapped. Without a doubt, the RM ECU won't have the same flexibility and advancement as a Haltech, Link Atom or Omex etc, but I know someone who uses the RM ECU on his CG13 turbo and he speaks highly of it. And the best bit is that it is a plug-n-play, as RM custom-make the ECU so that it plugs into the original Micra ECU connector!

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

It has been a while since I updated this. Uni exams have been my priority for the last month and I'm on the home stretch now. My last YouTube video was a few weeks ago as well!

1. ECU - I am on a LONG waiting list for the RM ECU and so for now I am running open trumpets without the MAF. It needs a bit of persuading in the mornings to get it running and then its fine. My air filter should arrive very soon so I can put that on.

2. Vacuum Manifold - I recently installed the vacuum manifold and plumbed a vac line from the top of the fuel pressure reg to the vac manifold, this has helped the overfueling issue a lot, by reducing the fuel pressure at low revs and at idle. I had my crankcase PCV valve plumbed into the same pipe as my brake booster, which was giving me poor brakes. Thanks to people on this forum, this is now sorted. However, now I just have a pipe coming out of the PCV valve and not going anywhere, I don't know where to plumb this pipe or whether it is okay to just put a small oil breather filter on the end of the PCV valve??

3. More Power! - I also trialed a few different fuel pressure regulators. When I replaced the stock 3.0 bar regulator for a 3.5 bar regulator in, I got a noticeable increase in power. I then trialed a 4 bar regulator and got another noticeable increase in power - not bad for £12! This just goes to show that the car needs mapping asap lol! I am sticking with the 4 bar reg for now and enjoying the strong increase in power! So glad I decided to do this. Yes I understand this will make the low revs overfueling issue slightly worse!

4. New Oil - The car drinks some oil. I've got some thicker Fuchs 15W/50 racing oil. I've been told this is a top oil for an engine that gets pushed and goes to hot temps and high rpms. Checked the reviews online and a lot of people use this oil on their old project cars, saw references to Skylines, Escorts, Lotus's and a few others. The idea is that because this is a thicker oil, it should reduce my oil consumption. If it doesn't, then I will add some oil additive into it, because I paid decent money for this Fuchs oil and the last thing I want is for my car to burn it off!

Photos are from before I plumbed the vacuum manifold in. I love how standard it looks on the outside! Quite a few people have now said I need to get some alloys but I actually really like these wheel trims!

 

[tuneds2k]

Mad. I love this project. Planning on doing something similar to this. Why don’t you stick with Tornado systems for the ECU?

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Mad. I love this project. Planning on doing something similar to this. Why don’t you stick with Tornado systems for the ECU?

Thanks!

The tornado ECU has been designed to work with the MAF sensor. I used to run this setup for a while. One day, my MAF decided to go faulty, so I had to drive with the MAF unplugged, and I was met with loads more power!

At that point, I realised that with the MAF connected, the car runs very lean. The tornado ECU has been mapped to work with a MAF. Currently, I am using the tornado ECU with the MAF unplugged, which results in the ECU resorting to a default base map and it just overfuels. Overall, I just want to move to a MAFless system, and use a MAP sensor instead so a standalone ECU is required for this.

I could keep running the car as is (tornado ecu with maf simply unplugged) but its difficult to start in the mornings and overfuels at low rpm.

In short, the car needs mapping on a rolling road so we can make an accurate map

 

[tuneds2k]

Just use a micra maf? You said you just had a warning light with the micra maf in? (if i’m not mistaken)

Then again, you did say you were running the car at the Maf’s limit

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Just use a micra maf? You said you just had a warning light with the micra maf in? (if i’m not mistaken)

Then again, you did say you were running the car at the Maf’s limit

When I used the Micra MAF, the car wasn't that quick and was causing cylinder misfires
Switching over to the Almera MAF made the car noticeably quicker, but was still causing cylinder misfires.
Running no MAF has made the car much quicker than when using the Almera MAF, and it doesn't misfire at all anymore.

I have tried several Almera MAF's so we can rule out that it was a faulty MAF sensor.

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

I don't get to update this as much as I should! The car has been getting abused as a work horse recently, ie not been washed or cleaned for a while, and just used for making YouTube videos, shopping, taking rubbish to the recycling centre etc etc. So I thought I should recalculate how much I like this car! The end result, I spent a full 8 hour day to somewhat restore it! I gave the car a proper clean! I mean proper clean! It hasn't had one of these since 2016 when I first got it!

What I did:
1. Vacuum inside
2. Wash inside interior
3. Clean interior glass
4. Use traffic film remover on the exterior
5. Wash and dry exterior
6. Clean wheels and wheel trims
6. Clean exterior glass
7. Respray front bumper trim
8. Renew all fluids - oil, coolant, power steering fluid, windscreen washer fluid
9. Half a bottle of injector cleaner in the fuel tank
9. Washed engine bay

Not tooting my own horn at all, but I am genuinely surprised at how good quality the paint on some of these old Micra's is. The shine is amazing considering its an 18 year old car. Maybe its because some of the second facelifts got metallic paint?

I resprayed the front bumper black again as the paint was peeling off. I used VHT paint which seems to bond to the plastic a LOT more better than normal gloss paint. The VHT has a matt finish but its okay since you can be excessive with the lacquer in order to make the whole thing shine.

The result from just a simple wash and dry has given me the motivation to clay bar, polish and wax the car within the next few weeks!

I still need to do the tyre pressures, change the oil, oil filter, fuel filter and wack some beautiful brand new injectors in there!

This first photo is my new favourite lol! I wish you couldn't see the exhaust pipe and that it was tucked away as that would make the back look a lot more cleaner! I am having thoughts on removing the 'Micra' and 'S' badge, thoughts?

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Small update for today:

1. Instead of only taking vacuum from the runner on cylinder 4, I am now using the individual vacuum take-off's from cylinder 1 and 3 as well. Still need a few tweaks to the vacuum system (still need to plumb cylinder 2 but I ran out of piping, and need quite a few more jubilee clips!) and then we should be all good. With the way it is set up now, the brakes are slightly better since we are now getting vacuum from cylinders 1, 3 and 4 rather than just cylinder 4. Someone commented on my YouTube channel that taking vacuum only from one cylinder can cause the fuel pressure to pulsate as the piston goes up and down in cylinder 4, and this is why I have now decided to take vacuum from all cylinders.

2. I have reconnected the carbon canister up. Vacuum for this has been plumbed into the vacuum manifold. The carbon canister was removed by Slide Motorsport in order to make space for the throttle bodies. By putting it back on, it has reduced the fuel fumes that surround the car while idling. I still need to make a bracket for the carbon canister so that it is fixed somewhere properly. The original mounting holes for the carbon canister are currently used for mounting the vacuum manifold. Currently, the carbon canister has just been cable-tied to the fuel filter, not a long term solution although pretty solid! Tornado Systems did suggest plumbing an idle air control valve in and this is something I may do in the near future.

I am at the stage where I want to make the car a bit more easy to live with on a day-to-day basis, hence fitting the carbon canister and looking at fitting an idle air control valve. My standalone should make the car even more drivable, that is of course, when I finally get my hands on a standalone!

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Wow it has been a while since I last updated!

My main focus recently has been to vastly improve the quality of the build. This meant I had to find all my previous bodges and sort them out, so that we have the car running as normal as possible. This has actually been my focus for a while now, which is why I fitted the vacuum manifold in and the carbon canister in etc. Continuing this theme:

1. First thing I did was to tidy the loom and make sure there were no exposed wires. The bay looks a lot better and safer now. Unused sensors, such as the Idle Air Control Valve and the Mass Air Flow sensor, have been cable tied away from sight. The bay shots below are from before I did any of the above work. I forgot to take any photos after!

2. The carbon canister was reinstalled but not fixed in position properly. I have now drilled it into the corner of the engine bay near the passenger side strut.

3. I have ordered more vacuum pipe so that I can take vacuum from all 4 throttle bodies. This will allow me to reconnect the PCV valve back up to the inlet manifold so that I don't get oil mist spraying out of my passenger side oil breather. The way it is currently set up is that I am only taking vacuum from cylinder 1 and 3 on the throttle bodies, so I have to use my single vacuum take-off on my 4th runner to feed some more vacuum into the vacuum manifold, so that I have enough vacuum for the brake booster. Once I plumb all 4 throttle bodies into the vacuum manifold, I will have enough vacuum to power the brake booster, so that I can connect the vacuum take-off on my 4th runner directly to the PCV valve to suck the oil mist, rather than it splashing through my other oil breather.

4. I suspected a faulty PCV valve, so I have replaced it.

5. I had lost a couple of injector retaining clips so I went and got some spares and fitted them in.

6. I had lost both my fuel rail levelling bosses, and so again, I went and bought some spares and fitted them in.

7. I have replaced my injectors. I was using a set of second hand CR12DE 220cc/min injectors. I have now replaced these with brand new CR12DE injectors along with a fresh new fuel filter.

8. I was considering a radiator upgrade. However, it turns out my car already has a thicker radiator fitted (possibly from an automatic Micra, as I know these have much thicker radiators). This must have been done by the previous owner for whatever reason, and I am not complaining!

9. The rocker cover gasket is leaky on one side. I was going to replace this, but since I am not sticking with this engine, I am leaving this as it is.

The car is currently in the garage for extensive maintenance:

1. I have sent the car in for extensive rust treatment. There was a decent amount of rust on the sills and underside. which meant the car was difficult to jack up, amongst other issues, such as soggy carpets and water accumulating in the spare wheel well after rain. Water also accumulates in the passenger side foot-well. New sills will be fitted if my mechanic thinks it to be necessary.

2. Tracking was out badly, and so this will also be sorted.

3. The power steering pump has been leaking for a while, and so will be replaced. The fluid has been leaking all over the side of the engine and I think this is what has been causing the drive belts to squeal. New belts will be put in if needed, although they look in great condition, so maybe just need to be correctly tensioned, and wiped down of any oil and power steering fluid.

4. The throttle cable will be adjusted. The throttle pedal hasn't felt great since the throttle bodies went in, and occasionally gets stuck, which means that full travel on the pedal is actually around 3/4 throttle. Sometimes it gets stuck the other way, resulting in an idle of around 1500rpm!

5. The exhaust system needs to be fixed in position. The exhaust fouls the anti-roll bar any time I go over a speed-bump at over 10mph. This will also be sorted.

As you can see, it is a lot of things and I am expecting a decent-sized bill!

I also bought another couple of Micra's to take a few bits off. The left one was very rusty, and so it is currently sitting at a banger racer's yard. The second one is also at the same yard, but because the shell is very clean, this car has been prepped for banger racing now. It looks so mean now and sounds great!

This is a third Micra, also just prepped at the initial stage, ready to be converted into a another racer! This one also has a very clean shell.

I quite like the idea that these cars go to live on after death. A normal car would just be scrapped and crushed at the end of its life, yet these go on to have some fun!

The next step for my own Micra once I get the car back from my mechanic, is to unblock the little black windscreen washer things on the bonnet, as the spray pattern is all over the place, and the spray is weak as well. The second thing is to replace the pollen filter.

Once all this maintenance has been done, then we are looking to fit the new high compression 1.4 engine in. Once the engine is in, the first drive will be to the rolling road so that we can get the car mapped as soon as possible, without driving it too much on the stock ECU.

For the ECU, after hours and hours of research, sending emails, phone calls etc etc, I have narrowed it down to two options that seem to tick all the boxes. It is quite easy to get some standalone engine management sorted - many companies in the UK are happy to supply, fit and map something like an Omex or an Emerald, but the costs are around £2000. My main barrier was budget and this is what has made things so difficult. However, I have still, nevertheless, narrowed it down to two options!

Option 1 - use a Speeduino ECU. John Sleath Race Cars Ltd are happy to map this on the rolling road, but the difficulty with this would always be to find one and get it fitted in. I am working on this currently.

Option 2 - if option 1 is not successful, then I am planning to use DynoTech in Derbyshire for their supply, fit and map service of their own in-house RS600 standalone ECU. Because the RS600 is their own ECU, they are able to offer a competitive price for the supply, fit and map service, when compared to the equivalent service for an Omex or Link Atom etc. My main concern with this would be that when I come to break the car down for parts (hopefully not anytime soon!), then it may be difficult to sell the ECU for even a fraction of what I pay for it, as DynoTech are the only people who are able to map it, whereas the Speeduino can be mapped more easily.

I would much prefer to go for option 1, option 2 is more like a last-resort, as I have exhausted every other option!!!

So...its maintenance, new engine in, new engine management in! This post ended up being wayyyy longer than I'd realised, but I guess it somewhat makes sense, as I don't update as regularly anymore. Thanks for reading!

 

[richardwbb]

I've read the Speeduino manual and seriously thought about it but I like my MAF and since you don't have it it will run. I bet you can tune it yourself. What you will want to know is what lambda (λ) is and you will find the knowledge on the internet on how to program for a Nissan. I recommend to build a bullet-proof Speeduino similar to a Nissan ecu. Look at it's IDE cable, be sure to get a proper one. You will find out about it in the Speeduino manual. Insane project! Since my engine is N/A and I decided to keep it that way because the Speeduino won't add much. Be aware of VE. Speeduino will calculate how much air went in and MAF based ecu measures air mass. Big difference but without having a MAF and keeping an eye on your wideband output this is certainly doable.

 

[fuzzy-hair-man]

Get your mechanic to check / set your valve clearances if you're going back over things and tidying it up as on mine after putting in 774 cams my valve clearances were way too large, so you're probably losing some timing, power and efficiency.

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Get your mechanic to check / set your valve clearances if you're going back over things and tidying it up as on mine after putting in 774 cams my valve clearances were way too large, so you're probably losing some timing, power and efficiency.

Handy to know. The new engine to go in has Autosprint cams, will double check the valve clearances of these before the engine goes in.

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Another update:

1. New engine sent off to builders. Can’t wait to get it back and in the car.

2. In terms of engine management, we’ve decided on the RS600 stand-alone from DynoTech. As soon as the new engine is ready and running, the car will be mapped on a dyno using the RS600.

3. Also got some upgraded brakes and an upgraded clutch as supporting mods. The standard clutch was already slipping and I’ve actually still not felt the need to upgrade the brakes but have decided to do it anyway as I don’t want to be arrogant. Car already has the thicker Nissen’s radiator installed so we should be good on the cooling side of things.

4. Also got a new car finally after 4 and a half years of owning the Micra! An Audi S6! It’s taking a bit of time to get used to it as it’s a lot larger than the Micra and automatic as well, both of which I’m not used to! It sounds great and goes like crazy though!

 

[richardwbb]

What go happen with Cg13DE engine? Oh hey you have another car to play with

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

What go happen with Cg13DE engine? Oh hey you have another car to play with

The CGA3 was sent off to be built
Yes one more car!

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Wow it has been so long since this was updated!
The £80 Micra is still alive and well.
I recently got it back from the mappers who have fitted a standalone ECU to the car. The ECU we are using is a Dynotech RS600.
The car has been mapped using Alpha N.
Recently, the car had a bit of air leak on the throttle bodies which has now been sorted.
We also got a few others things done on the car:

1. Fit Oil Catch Can
2. Sort Power Steering System Leak
3. Sort Engine Oil Leak
4. Sort Rocker Cover Gasket Leak
5. Fit Launch Control

Yes there were a lot of leaks!

The launch control is absolute banter. With a switch, we can limit the car to 4000rpm and then its the classic very loud pops and bangs with flames out the back. It is SO loud when on launch control! I haven't actually launched the car off the line with the launch control activated due to fears of the gearbox breaking!

The car is now limited to 7600rpm on the new ECU as thats roughly when the power levels off, so its not an 8000rpm screamer anymore, but from my understanding, these 1.4 engines wear exponentially after 7500rpm, so its probably better for the engine that we are limited to 7600rpm rather than 8000rpm.

The car currently has 5W30 oil but this needs to be changed out for 5W40 ASAP.

Overall though, I am really glad the car is finally back now and all the little issues have now been sorted, it feels great to be able to park the car somewhere and for it to not make a mess underneath due to the previous leaks!

On the stock ECU with no MAF, the car used to overfuel and so cold starts were very difficult and the car used to stall every time unless you had the foot on the throttle which made it very difficult to use on a daily basis, not to mention the huge lack in torque. However now, even at these 0 degree temperatures, it starts up first time and idles so nicely, you wouldn't believe it has individual throttle bodies! I'm definitely staying on top of compression testing to see what happens to that classic cylinder 3 but for now we still have solid compression readings.

The car was dynoed at 130bhp on a Dyno Dynamics dyno but this was with an air leak on the throttle bodies. We have sorted the air leak now and so we definitely need to get it back on the dyno (maybe we can get an extra 1-2bhp! LOL!)

I definitely love my Passat W8 and Audi S6, but in all honesty, I don't think anything (other than a supercar!) could give the same driving experience as the Micra in its current form, it is literally a go kart!

We have fitted an upgraded clutch but we are still get some clutch slip, so an even better clutch is on the menu at some point.
The car could also do with some better suspension as its currently just on eBay springs and some OEM roll bars, but BC coilovers are out of my budget.

On the bad news, the subwoofer has stopped working! I was thinking to get an auto electrician to take a look at the sub and wiring, but I'm leaning more towards getting rid of the sub and spare wheel altogether as part of weight reduction!

Our last 0-60 was that signature 5.8 seconds and this was done before we got the new engine and standalone ECU in, but now, we are struggling to get back into the 5 seconds as we just can't get the power down. The car just loves to spin the wheels and the clutch is also struggling!

But overall, for now, it feels great to finally have the car back and everything working as it should!

Little gallery of the little collection!

 

[Low Rider]

Upload the printout...

 

[Chie]

As above, dyno sheet please. Also is the w8 manual?

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

As above, dyno sheet please. Also is the w8 manual?

The W8 is not a manual unfortunately!
Its a Jap import and Japan only got the auto's! Manual swap is on the list but it does end up costing quite a bit!
Here's the printout, to be honest, I'm not too experienced with power curves so if there's anything I should be concerned with, please let me know!

 

[Low Rider]

Pretty much where it should be given the setup. To get where you were hoping, (circa 150bhp), you have to do a considerable amount of work.

Attached is a dyno of a CG13DE, 773 cams, Omex 600 ecu, group A exhaust and a set of NME spec Jenvey throttlebodies. FYI, that would do a timed 0-60mph run (GTech Pro) on a level surface of 7.6secs.

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Pretty much where it should be given the setup. To get where you were hoping, (circa 150bhp), you have to do a considerable amount of work.

Attached is a dyno of a CG13DE, 773 cams, Omex 600 ecu, group A exhaust and a set of NME spec Jenvey throttlebodies. FYI, that would do a timed 0-60mph run (GTech Pro) on a level surface of 7.6secs.

Thanks for sharing that printout, and yes I agree that 150bhp would need a lot more work.
Was that 7.6 sec done on a CG13 gearbox?

 

[Low Rider]

Thanks for sharing that printout, and yes I agree that 150bhp would need a lot more work.
Was that 7.6 sec done on a CG13 gearbox?

Yes, 1.3 box with LSD, so no traction issues and 60mph in 2nd gear. CG10 box doesn't quite stretch long enough to hit 60mph, so is slower due to an extra shift.

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Yes, 1.3 box with LSD, so no traction issues and 60mph in 2nd gear. CG10 box doesn't quite stretch long enough to hit 60mph, so is slower due to an extra shift.

Makes sense then, I'm running a CG10 box on higher rev limit so it just about hits 60 in second. This was the main talking point for me and Mark when we were first discussing mapping, the thought of hitting 60mph in second gear!

 

[Low Rider]

Same, 7600rpm rev limit.

That's why I favour the CGA3 box on the turbo, 60mph comes easily in 2nd. Never timed a 60mph run though as I sold my timing gear ?

 

[tuneds2k]

Wow it has been so long since this was updated!
The £80 Micra is still alive and well.
I recently got it back from the mappers who have fitted a standalone ECU to the car. The ECU we are using is a Dynotech RS600.
The car has been mapped using Alpha N.
Recently, the car had a bit of air leak on the throttle bodies which has now been sorted.
We also got a few others things done on the car:

1. Fit Oil Catch Can
2. Sort Power Steering System Leak
3. Sort Engine Oil Leak
4. Sort Rocker Cover Gasket Leak
5. Fit Launch Control

Yes there were a lot of leaks!

The launch control is absolute banter. With a switch, we can limit the car to 4000rpm and then its the classic very loud pops and bangs with flames out the back. It is SO loud when on launch control! I haven't actually launched the car off the line with the launch control activated due to fears of the gearbox breaking!

The car is now limited to 7600rpm on the new ECU as thats roughly when the power levels off, so its not an 8000rpm screamer anymore, but from my understanding, these 1.4 engines wear exponentially after 7500rpm, so its probably better for the engine that we are limited to 7600rpm rather than 8000rpm.

The car currently has 5W30 oil but this needs to be changed out for 5W40 ASAP.

Overall though, I am really glad the car is finally back now and all the little issues have now been sorted, it feels great to be able to park the car somewhere and for it to not make a mess underneath due to the previous leaks!

On the stock ECU with no MAF, the car used to overfuel and so cold starts were very difficult and the car used to stall every time unless you had the foot on the throttle which made it very difficult to use on a daily basis, not to mention the huge lack in torque. However now, even at these 0 degree temperatures, it starts up first time and idles so nicely, you wouldn't believe it has individual throttle bodies! I'm definitely staying on top of compression testing to see what happens to that classic cylinder 3 but for now we still have solid compression readings.

The car was dynoed at 130bhp on a Dyno Dynamics dyno but this was with an air leak on the throttle bodies. We have sorted the air leak now and so we definitely need to get it back on the dyno (maybe we can get an extra 1-2bhp! LOL!)

I definitely love my Passat W8 and Audi S6, but in all honesty, I don't think anything (other than a supercar!) could give the same driving experience as the Micra in its current form, it is literally a go kart!

We have fitted an upgraded clutch but we are still get some clutch slip, so an even better clutch is on the menu at some point.
The car could also do with some better suspension as its currently just on eBay springs and some OEM roll bars, but BC coilovers are out of my budget.

On the bad news, the subwoofer has stopped working! I was thinking to get an auto electrician to take a look at the sub and wiring, but I'm leaning more towards getting rid of the sub and spare wheel altogether as part of weight reduction!

Our last 0-60 was that signature 5.8 seconds and this was done before we got the new engine and standalone ECU in, but now, we are struggling to get back into the 5 seconds as we just can't get the power down. The car just loves to spin the wheels and the clutch is also struggling!

But overall, for now, it feels great to finally have the car back and everything working as it should!

Little gallery of the little collection!

View attachment 73546
View attachment 73545
View attachment 73548
View attachment 73549
View attachment 73547
View attachment 73550
View attachment 73551
View attachment 73552

Would reccomend higher grade plugs?

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Would reccomend higher grade plugs?

Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[S Gault]

So I recently made an account on this even though I've been looking at the MSC for quite a few months now.

I bought my first car in June 2016 for £80, yes £80! Its a 2002 Micra 1.0 S at 60000 miles.

View attachment 54214

View attachment 54215

View attachment 54216

It's a beauty!

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

It's a beauty!

Thank you appreciate it!

 

[tuneds2k]

Any recommendations? Thanks.

NGK’s, only ones i could think of

 

[fuzzy-hair-man]

NGK’s, only ones i could think of

I went for ngk 6's the standard is 5's I saw a post from Ed at Fusion suggesting 6 or 7 for a NA build.

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

NGK’s, only ones i could think of

I went for ngk 6's the standard is 5's I saw a post from Ed at Fusion suggesting 6 or 7 for a NA build.

Thank you to both

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Time for a little update:

The Micra is running pretty nicely now. We had a few issues with it struggling to start while it was below zero degrees but this has now been sorted out.

Quite unsure of which mods to do next to be honest! I have bought some Almera alloys for it but having second thoughts on them now as I kinda like my wheel trims...

The car had been to a lot of garages in the past few months and the interior was in a bit of a state, especially the seats, and the interior just smelt like fuel and engine oil. So I got the full interior valeted and I'm very happy with the results. The seats and carpets have been rejuvenated and I've officially banned anyone else from sitting in the car from now on!

Jokes aside though, the car is running great now, I just wish it would be a little bit more quieter when doing city driving (below 2000rpm). However, the exhaust system already has a huge silencer and a backbox, so I don't think we'll be able to make it any quieter.

Next on the list is a nice wash, wax and polish within the next few weeks as the weather improves, maybe change the headlights for something a bit more custom and at least trial fit the alloys to see if I like them.

In terms of issues (there are always issues...), the oil sump is leaking very slightly, and the spark plug seal on cylinder 3 is letting oil into the spark plug well. So I need to replace the oil sump. In terms of the spark plug seal, I couldn't find anywhere that sells new ones and apparently, they are bonded onto the rocker cover anyway, so a replacement rocker cover, ideally from a low mileage K11, is needed.

So what I did was I bought a spare coilpack CG10 engine with the intention of using the rocker cover from that for mine, and then stripping the rest of the engine down for parts, however, I was unfortunately sent the incorrect engine, it isn't the one in the ad photos. What I have received is still a CG10 but with a HUGE dent on the rocker cover, not to mention that in the photos, it showed as including the exhaust manifold, cat, alternator and all 4 coilpacks but what I received has none of these. Seller is now not responding which is far from ideal, however, eBay did mention that I should be able to get a full refund so hopefully that will fall through. Kinda feel bad for the seller as well but there is nothing I can do. I doubt its worth them paying £60 to get the engine collected and returned to them.

I've now bought a rocker cover for £45, kinda wish I just did this in the first place, yet now I have a CG10 lying in my garage hahahah. I still need to fit the rocker cover on but just waiting on delivery of a new rocker cover gasket.

Before valet:

After valet:

 

[Milohak11]

Time for a little update:

The Micra is running pretty nicely now. We had a few issues with it struggling to start while it was below zero degrees but this has now been sorted out.

Quite unsure of which mods to do next to be honest! I have bought some Almera alloys for it but having second thoughts on them now as I kinda like my wheel trims...

The car had been to a lot of garages in the past few months and the interior was in a bit of a state, especially the seats, and the interior just smelt like fuel and engine oil. So I got the full interior valeted and I'm very happy with the results. The seats and carpets have been rejuvenated and I've officially banned anyone else from sitting in the car from now on!

Jokes aside though, the car is running great now, I just wish it would be a little bit more quieter when doing city driving (below 2000rpm). However, the exhaust system already has a huge silencer and a backbox, so I don't think we'll be able to make it any quieter.

Next on the list is a nice wash, wax and polish within the next few weeks as the weather improves, maybe change the headlights for something a bit more custom and at least trial fit the alloys to see if I like them.

In terms of issues (there are always issues...), the oil sump is leaking very slightly, and the spark plug seal on cylinder 3 is letting oil into the spark plug well. So I need to replace the oil sump. In terms of the spark plug seal, I couldn't find anywhere that sells new ones and apparently, they are bonded onto the rocker cover anyway, so a replacement rocker cover, ideally from a low mileage K11, is needed.

So what I did was I bought a spare coilpack CG10 engine with the intention of using the rocker cover from that for mine, and then stripping the rest of the engine down for parts, however, I was unfortunately sent the incorrect engine, it isn't the one in the ad photos. What I have received is still a CG10 but with a HUGE dent on the rocker cover, not to mention that in the photos, it showed as including the exhaust manifold, cat, alternator and all 4 coilpacks but what I received has none of these. Seller is now not responding which is far from ideal, however, eBay did mention that I should be able to get a full refund so hopefully that will fall through. Kinda feel bad for the seller as well but there is nothing I can do. I doubt its worth them paying £60 to get the engine collected and returned to them.

I've now bought a rocker cover for £45, kinda wish I just did this in the first place, yet now I have a CG10 lying in my garage hahahah. I still need to fit the rocker cover on but just waiting on delivery of a new rocker cover gasket.

View attachment 73891

Before valet:

View attachment 73884
View attachment 73886
View attachment 73887
View attachment 73888

After valet:

View attachment 73890
View attachment 73885
View attachment 73889

Hi mate.

Just seen that you bought some almera alloys. If you change your mind about them, let me know as I would be very intererested in buying them.

 

[Ihtisham Rauf]

Hi mate.

Just seen that you bought some almera alloys. If you change your mind about them, let me know as I would be very intererested in buying them.

No problem mate, if I change my mind, will drop you a message