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The Mean Green Scene Machine

Barker

Barker

Hello Gadies and Lentlemen.
I have way too many questions to ask so I figured I'd just make a blog rather than starting a million threads.

The Specs
1998 Nissan Micra k11 Facelift (Si model)
1.3
16v
DOHC

The Story so Far
Well i picked it up from Salford just outside of Manchester on Saturday (ater paying a silly £1785 TPFT insurance off in one go). Then drove it 2 hours home. £500 completely standard + £71.50 tax. Longest drive ive ever done and I'd not driven a car in a good few months! Happy to say it made it home very well actually. Been running okay will outline the problems in the next paragraph...

Current Problems
1. Offside wing rust. Not tooo bad, but will need replacing at some point, think someone has one for me though.

2. Squeaking on full lock. On another forum people mentioned the power steering could be on its way out, but it really does sound and feel like rubber rubbing. However the car hasn't been lowered, nor does it have huge rims, so im not sure.

3. Rust on the engine bay side of the offside arch. Got a pic to show it, how bad does it look to you guys, any advice on how to sort it?

4. Offside spotlight is out, any ideas?

5. Coolant bottle has a chunk missing out the top, been told this could lead to the engine running hotter due to the lack of pressure. However ive not seen the engine temp go above half way yet.

That's all i can think of right now, any help much appreciated. Will cross them off as i sot them.

Plans
Well unfortunately progress is likely to be slow as i have little mechanical knowledge, and i can only really spend decent time on it at weekends. However the plans as follows...

1. Lower 45mm. Anyone know where i can find 45m springs? Im not allowed to go 50 due to insurance crap. (also are cut springs legal or not? Want to do things by the book really)

2. White banded steelies, not much to say about these really apart from theyre just awesome.

3. Almera airbox. Not 100% sure on what im looking for. Is it just n15 1.4 or 1.6? Either saloon or hatch?

4. Cat-back exhaust. Also want to make a bosozoku style removable tip(s).

5. Xenon bulbs. Right are these legal? if so will the 55w ebay ones be okay? I do a lot of night driving.

They're the main ones. Obviously there'll be more like painting rocker cover, stickers, yellow film on spotlights, painting other bits and bobs etc. Any advice and help on the ones posted is also much appreciated!

Right enough waffle...
Pictures so far Make of them what you will! (first 5 are sellers pics, cant see the rust on the wing!)
img0737gy.jpg

img0738hc.jpg

img0739h.jpg

img0740dy.jpg

img0741rh.jpg

Next to my dads car at a service station..
img0746hze.jpg

Rust and hole in coolant bottle
img0748ya.jpg

img0750nb.jpg

The first mod!
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Any idea what the rims are? Not seen them on other micras, and considering a woman owned it before theyre in good nick! :laugh:
I also have a quick 5 min photoshop of some plans but its very poor and will need to do another one as plans have changed slightly, but will upload on request for giggles.

That's all for now folks, once again help with the problems and advice on the plans will be much appreciated.

Cheers (Y)
 
5. Coolant bottle has a chunk missing out the top, been told this could lead to the engine running hotter due to the lack of pressure. However ive not seen the engine temp go above half way yet.

Had this on my first micra and it never caused a problem

1. Lower 45mm. Anyone know where i can find 45m springs? Im not allowed to go 50 due to insurance crap. (also are cut springs legal or not? Want to do things by the book really)

You can only get 35/50mm springs I'm afraid, and cut springs are fine as long as they stay captive when the cars jacked up

3. Almera airbox. Not 100% sure on what im looking for. Is it just n15 1.4 or 1.6? Either saloon or hatch?

There all the same as long as you get it off a N15 almera

4. Cat-back exhaust. Also want to make a bosozoku style removable tip(s).

Google peter lloyd rallying for a cheapish system (price went up after I bought mine)

5. Xenon bulbs. Right are these legal? if so will the 55w ebay ones be okay? I do a lot of night driving.

Yeah they're legal, but what's wrong with normal bulbs?
 
Thanks for the reply, by captive regarding springs do you mean keep their tension within the shock? Forgot the name of the things that hold it in place. So chopped springs are legal, wont void insurance or fail mot?

And my bulbs seem a little dull and like the look of the white light from xenon bulbs. Is it easy to get inside the headlights to change them?

Cheers
 
Congrats with your new car!

Could look really sweet all cleaned up: Remove side bumpers, all logos etc. 50 mm drop, white banded steelies. No more. Clean and simple! Gonna look nice with that color too. :p

Regarding the coolant bottle. Mine has the same. No problems. Just put some duct tape over the hole for a quick fix.
 
Think ill probably keep the rub strips for now seeing as they're colour coded anyway. Will be a 45mm drop as insurance wont allow 50mm. Also probably wont remove all the badges, just relocate them etc. Plus i like my 'Si' badge ;)

And it wont be simple i cant see myself stopping throwing money at it haha. Going for the jdm scene look, i know a lot of you hate it but i'm making it how i want it to look and i will like it. Plus its far better than rice :)
 
Thanks, and nooo it wont be going past 49mm ;)

Can get an Almera airbox for £20.00 +8.00 delivery +vat. Sounds a bit steep is it even worth it? That's not to mention the £30 k&n panel filter and all the messing about getting it all to fit.

Also noticed a faint squealing noise when accelerating in 4th and 5th, any ideas?

Wheres Frank when you need him he seems to be the guy in the know on this forum :laugh:
 
Also ordered some Kurust to attack a few rust spots. Will pick up some primer tomorrow probably, anyone know how i can find out the name of the colour of my car? And where to get matching spray?
 
Nice car mate. It will look great, but £1750 for insurance !!!! OMG!! That's nasty!!!

I just paid £155 for mine TPFT, but then I am an old git now lol
 
looks sweet that mate :) for the oil leak check around the filter, sump, cam cover with the engine running and see if you can see where its dripping also check the timing chain side of the engine
 
Well spent some of today looking for the leak today. As far as i can see its in between the engine and the gearbox. It's definitely not the head gasket, filter or sump plug. And im not getting black smoke. Anyway tightened the lowest bolt where it seems to be around and will just watch it some more. Also whacked some Kurust on some rusty spots. Then took the top off my airbox to have a think about drilling it and blew some bits off the top of the mesh, couldnt resist starting her up with the top off...phwoar. Also added a sweet decal ;)








 
A change from the usual dice you see!
56137437-3fe8-22d9.jpg


Also my carb spray came today, do i just take the top off the airbox and spray through the mesh?

Will be booking it into the garage at the weekend too
 
Cannot ****ing believe this!
Right so i get a call from insurance. Some guy that seems an alright bloke just doing his job trying to sell me ****, ended up adding a hire car to my policy, not sure why i agreed to it but its only like £1.50 a month or something.
Then he tries to sell me key care and im like ner ill pass cheers and he was decent and didnt try to push it on me. Then i ask and say can i have a quote about adding some modifications and he says sure ill just put you through to customer services.
So he puts me through and im now speaking to someone of a 'certain' race. So after me trying to understand him and him trying to understand me i get a quote of £200 to add air filter, lower it less than 5cm, new alloys, and an exhaust. So whatever. Then i remember i didnt realise my car had an immobiliser when i bought it so though okay ill just add that seeing as its a security advice.
'Okay Mr. Barker to add an imobiliser to your policy it will be 17 pounds and something something pence.' WHAT.
So im like what do you mean 17 pounds extra its a security device there so people can't steal my damn car!
'yes m.r Barker but we take lots of things into account in your policy such as engine size, security features etc.'
WHAT!!!!
Felt like saying only joking i havent really got one you money robbing crettin.
Then to top it off we said bye and he wished me a good day etc (yeah alright then) put the phone down and said 'F*ck sake'. Next thing i hear is 'Erm Mr. Barker you have not ended the call.' Haha!
Only £17 but that was going to go towards an Almera airbox.

Also someone please answer my question re: Carb spray!

Cheers.
 
Barker said:
Cannot ****ing believe this!
Right so i get a call from insurance. Some guy that seems an alright bloke just doing his job trying to sell me ****, ended up adding a hire car to my policy, not sure why i agreed to it but its only like £1.50 a month or something.
Then he tries to sell me key care and im like ner ill pass cheers and he was decent and didnt try to push it on me. Then i ask and say can i have a quote about adding some modifications and he says sure ill just put you through to customer services.
So he puts me through and im now speaking to someone of a 'certain' race. So after me trying to understand him and him trying to understand me i get a quote of £200 to add air filter, lower it less than 5cm, new alloys, and an exhaust. So whatever. Then i remember i didnt realise my car had an immobiliser when i bought it so though okay ill just add that seeing as its a security advice.
'Okay Mr. Barker to add an imobiliser to your policy it will be 17 pounds and something something pence.' WHAT.
So im like what do you mean 17 pounds extra its a security device there so people can't steal my damn car!
'yes m.r Barker but we take lots of things into account in your policy such as engine size, security features etc.'
WHAT!!!!
Felt like saying only joking i havent really got one you money robbing crettin.
Then to top it off we said bye and he wished me a good day etc (yeah alright then) put the phone down and said 'F*ck sake'. Next thing i hear is 'Erm Mr. Barker you have not ended the call.' Haha!
Only £17 but that was going to go towards an Almera airbox.

Also someone please answer my question re: Carb spray!

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Not being funny but are you sure he wasn't quoting you for all the modifications including an immobiliser? Which would mean that you've saved £175ish on the mods. Make sure he knows that it's a factory one and not an aftermarket one too.

But £200 for the mods you listed sounds about right aswell, I had the same mods on my 106 and it bumped me up about the same when I was 17.
 
Harlen said:
Not being funny but are you sure he wasn't quoting you for all the modifications including an immobiliser? Which would mean that you've saved £175ish on the mods. Make sure he knows that it's a factory one and not an aftermarket one too.

But £200 for the mods you listed sounds about right aswell, I had the same mods on my 106 and it bumped me up about the same when I was 17.
Click to expand...

Positive, he quoted me on the mods and then i said id like to add an immobiliser and he gave me the price for that. I also stated that it was completely stock and from the factory like that.
But yeah im not too bothered about the price of the actual mods i expected that, but not for the immobiliser.
 
Right just picked her up from the garage (took her about an oil leak i thought was coming from the sump gasket)
They haven't charged me anything cause he said he's cleaned it all down and cant see much of a leak apart from a little bit around the crank case. Said he doesn't think it's the sump although it does look a bit grubby. Said to bring it back in on Tuesday (means im gonna have to bike to work ffs) and they'll have another look at it and probably put some sealent around the gearbox. He also mentioned that it'll probably cost around £200/300 cause when you take all that apart you might as well replace the clutch. Erm no my clutch is great.
They havent charged me for cleaning it up and taking a look which i suppose is alright just a bit miffed ive got to take it back!

Anyway bought some Lenso BSX 15" 7j rims last night for £250

Edit: Just done a search on here and some lad had the same problem in '07 and cost him £140 to get new sealant. Looks like mods are on hold for a bit.
 
Rims shouldve arrived today but didnt, was excited :(
Added a new sticker (far left) to the glove compartment PROPER sticker bomb. No cheating pre-made sheets!
Also hes off the the garage thursday to get the oil and oil filter changed and an additive added to the oil thats supposed to give the seal its elasticity back.
56137437-e8c2-5f97.jpg
 
Got the car back from the garage and nearly floored the old bastard when he told me the price '£97.20 unfortunately'. Thats for flushing the engine, new oil, new filter, and seal conditioner, plus labour and vat. Stung me a bit but glad to have her back just gotta hope it stops leaking soon. Could've had a new ****ing seal for that price though. He did say at the end 'if you've got any bits and bobs need doing just pop in and well help you out with them on terms', or something like that, could perhaps tell it was on its way to being modded.

Anyway...
IMG_0787.jpg

I'm sure ya niggaz can guess whats shopped and what isn't.
 
I think y'all has shopped the plate homez. Welcome to the filler flap vinyl club :).
 
More scene points...
56137437-e3b4-1524.jpg


Rims came. 7x15, et20. Was gonna buy 20mm spacers but looks as though it might be enough poke stock. God knows how people ran et-8
56137437-e414-0f84.jpg

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56137437-e440-e6b7.jpg

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Also put some yellow film on the fogs but done it a bit small and forgot one of them dont even work.

Also painting my grille black but its going tits up as per so im driving round without one
 
Quality wheel choice - They're Lenso BSXs aren't they?

ET20 will be bang on for poke, mate! I run ET40 and the front wheels are pretty much flush with the arch. The rears need a 10-15mm spacer to make them flush though. Tinted fogs look pimp too.
 
Harlen said:
Quality wheel choice - They're Lenso BSXs aren't they?

ET20 will be bang on for poke, mate! I run ET40 and the front wheels are pretty much flush with the arch. The rears need a 10-15mm spacer to make them flush though. Tinted fogs look pimp too.
Click to expand...

Cheers mate, and yeah they are. Will need a bit of work on them at some point, wanna go with red centres but just going to run them yellow till i can be bothered! Probably wait for some more wamrer weather too to get a better finish on the paint aswell because when i paint in the cold it just comes straight off.

And yeah et20 seems to have done the trick but i posted a thread about wheel fitment and people with et0 with 7 inch wide rims seemed to have a similar poke so i assumed id need spacers, will see how they look with tyres on!
 
I'm liking the yellow too. That green is one of my favorite colours on a Micra, I've always thought that it could look particularly splendid over gold wheels.
 
Well ive got plans to go red with the wheels. I wanted to go white and red with everything (Japanese theme) but could turn out just looking italian.
Will keep them yellow for a bit anyway because painting bores me, see if i decide to change them when they're on.

anyway...
Black grille is in, could be better but got bored with it so just whacked it on, then decided i wanted another coat of lacquer so just did it while it was on the car haha.


 
Just noticed, we obviously have similar JDM aspirations :).

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I'm liking the yellow alloys as well but dark gold or bronze would look even cooler :).
 
Cheeky bugger, I only spotted yours about 10 minutes ago. Anyhow, you copied my filler flap :p.
 
Yellow is nice but bronze or dark gold would also be cool. I think my Tokyo grab handle arrived at my dad's yesterday - I'm temporarily out-JDMing you now :p.
 
UH ****ING HUH!













Sorry but i am slightly buzzing. I love them.

Went to the place i was getting them fitted at at 9:30am. Saw a slammed golf outside on BBS with a WW sticker so thought okay these guys know what theyre talking about anyway. Went in the front door and mentioned im here to have some tyres fitted to which he asked 'oh yeah, stretched?' with a smile on his face and some hand actions to imitate sidewalls. Went round the back and saw some sound bloke who said hell just try one see if he can do it. Had a chat, he had some Rotiforms there to go on his golf, i love people that have a sense of style. Anyway after him and his colleague talking they couldnt really do it but out of pure luck another guy turned up from another garage and they asked if hed be able to do it. So we went over to the other garage and he did it a piece of cake.

He asked what theyre off on and i said the Micra, some other lads that work there came out and were talking to each other about how sick it's going to look. They also said if i pull it in theyll fit them on for me, might as well theyll do a quicker job of it than me! Anyway got them all on and we all loved the look of it, apart from that damn arch gap! He asked what phoenix motors (first place) were charging i said £6 a wheel. He said he wasnt going to bill me on the machine cause they charge more for it i think so he said just pop a tenner in when i can!!! Buzzing, £2.50 a tyre for mounting, balancing, new valves and fitting on the car! One of the lads there had the same wheels on his Passat, went to look at it and it was sick. Slammed on the same rims but with purple centres, so awesome. Starting to meet people with a bit of taste now rather than all the chavvy **** i see!

Only thing is i left my spigot rings at home cause i thought id have to fit them so will need to put them on at some point. However theyre 73.1 rather than 73 so may need filing a bit. Also have weird tabs on them that will need snapping off. I also asked about springs and the guy said his manager wouldnt let them fit other peoples parts, but if i pop round on a saturday one day hed do it after work in the cheap!

Also front offside wheel looks a little flat, hoping to god its not leaking air, but apart from that im so happy with them. Will need spacers on the rear im guessing about 20mm.

:)

p.s Guy have i taken the lead ;)?
 
Definitely get those bad boys spaced at the rear. Oh and some lows could help too :D Still think you should stick to the yellow too mate.
 
Yeah gonna stick with yellow, they all need touching up a bit though and the bmw centres need doing so gotta email the seller and hope he remembers what yellow he used!

Also gotta fit the spigot rings after ive had a few bacon sarnis down me. Thing is theyre 73.1 and the CB is 73! Might just banf them all in with a mallet, but theyve got tabs on them too that need bloody filing off.

Anyone else with stretched tyres give me any advice? How safe are they, how much loss of grip am i going to experience? I know theyre reasonably safe as a lot of people do it but im just a bit nervous when driving about now!
 
:cool: that's quite a bit of stretch. Agree the arch gap needs removing next to complete the look, but that front offside tyre doesn't look good.
 
Barker said:
Yeah gonna stick with yellow, they all need touching up a bit though and the bmw centres need doing so gotta email the seller and hope he remembers what yellow he used!

. Thing is theyre 73.1 and the CB is 73! ?
Click to expand...
If u wanted to bodge it, could you not wrap insulation tape around the hub lip to get your 0.1mm
 

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