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Breaking Moomin... :(

vixen_fix

vixen_fix

Good evening chaps and chapettes,

I would like to introduce myself and ones wee Micra, Moomin.

Bought for £165, MOT'd and passed for a hefty total of £60 (track rod end replaced) and taxed 6 months n we're rockin!

Second car and second licence after having it revoked back in '09 and boy, am I glad to be back on four wheels! 2 this time of year is too damn cold and I never win with ice :(

Anyways, as you can see he's has a swift boot up the arse bless him so he'll be no show winner buuut I like the idea of achieving some sort of 'euro' look?? Yellow fogs, stickers, slammed, roof bars etc?

All the best for 2014 guys!
Nice to be here :D
 
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vixen_fix said:
Light units blacked. Looks like eyeliner!

View attachment 27247

Question now is do I colour code the bumper strips or just black them with the rest? Decisions.
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Loking good ;)
Just paint those grey bits satin black ^_^ colour coding can be more hassle than it's worth (getting the match just right)
I've actually been looking for roof bars for my k12, I think they can look great :D

Lost licence? Illness? Or silliness?
 
Jen319 said:
Loking good ;)
Just paint those grey bits satin black ^_^ colour coding can be more hassle than it's worth (getting the match just right)
I've actually been looking for roof bars for my k12, I think they can look great :D

Lost licence? Illness? Or silliness?
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Thanking you :D it has certainly enhanced his eyebulbs!
I was thinking that re: the bumper strips, however I do have a can of red to tidy the damage up at the back so we'll see how well it matches, or not :p

Ah, roof bars are the way forward!! I love how it looks on Moomin.

Unfortunately ignorance, it wasn't blissful :(

My '84 Fiesta died so I bought a 106 off a friend and after dropping him off home that day, I got pulled. Turns out, because I was 19, my comprehensive insurance on the fiesta didn't cover me third party on others. Car impounded and crushed (lack of £), 6 points slapped on me and as I'd been driving only 9 months, my licence got revoked (had to start from scratch).

Gutted.
 
vixen_fix said:
Thanking you :D it has certainly enhanced his eyebulbs!
I was thinking that re: the bumper strips, however I do have a can of red to tidy the damage up at the back so we'll see how well it matches, or not :p

Ah, roof bars are the way forward!! I love how it looks on Moomin.

Unfortunately ignorance, it wasn't blissful :(

My '84 Fiesta died so I bought a 106 off a friend and after dropping him off home that day, I got pulled. Turns out, because I was 19, my comprehensive insurance on the fiesta didn't cover me third party on others. Car impounded and crushed (lack of £), 6 points slapped on me and as I'd been driving only 9 months, my licence got revoked (had to start from scratch).

Gutted.
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Yes, see how the paint you have matches before taking the plunge on the grey bits ;)

Ooh, you silly sausage you, at least it was only a pug and your pride that got crushed, eh? ^_^

I'm 27 and my fully comprehensive still doesn't cover me for other cars either, even if they are fully comp under someone else's policy (which is the usual condition of getting the 3rd party)
I just made sure to be a named driver on my dads Almera policy :D
 
Ooooo moomins cute! :D welcome to the club :) and what a beauty at a steal of a price :O black bump strips... Black and red is the way forward ;) look forward to seeing more progress :) x
 
Jen319 said:
Yes, see how the paint you have matches before taking the plunge on the grey bits ;)

Ooh, you silly sausage you, at least it was only a pug and your pride that got crushed, eh? ^_^

I'm 27 and my fully comprehensive still doesn't cover me for other cars either, even if they are fully comp under someone else's policy (which is the usual condition of getting the 3rd party)
I just made sure to be a named driver on my dads Almera policy :D
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I think I'ma agree with the majority n satin black them :) cheers!

Haha yep, the pug was jewish racing gold with the drivers seat held down only by the rear bolts o_O so perhaps it was a blessing in disguise!

Ey, I wouldn't mind but before the court hearing, I got Fester (the fiesta) sorted until one day en route to the centre of Manchester the bugger just died. Thought it was the ol' faithful 'whack the carb with a hammer' job which didn't work. After much fettling and a missed interview, it was finally deemed game over. Got a lift back home, called the garage the morning after to, jokingly, confirm Fester was still there... and he wasn't! :eek:
Turns out the police had recovered it due to being a hazard because it was ablaze! I tried to get him back regardless of his condition but in my final conversation with the recovery company I was told 'Sorry, it's just been crushed'. :(

Crickey, I had no idea insurance were THAT stringent, awkward gets. Ahaa see now, you've got it sussed there Jen :D

Clodo said:
Ooooo moomins cute! :D welcome to the club :) and what a beauty at a steal of a price :O black bump strips... Black and red is the way forward ;) look forward to seeing more progress :) x
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Thanks Clodo! Aye he's a wee charmer int he haha. I couldn't believe it when MOT man said it'd passed?! :confused: For scrap value I'd expected to spend at least the same again to make it road worthy. But hey, no complaints!

Black n red it is then ;) watch this space :p
 
vixen_fix said:
Ey, I wouldn't mind but before the court hearing, I got Fester (the fiesta) sorted until one day en route to the centre of Manchester the bugger just died. Thought it was the ol' faithful 'whack the carb with a hammer' job which didn't work. After much fettling and a missed interview, it was finally deemed game over. Got a lift back home, called the garage the morning after to, jokingly, confirm Fester was still there... and he wasn't! :eek:
Turns out the police had recovered it due to being a hazard because it was ablaze! I tried to get him back regardless of his condition but in my final conversation with the recovery company I was told 'Sorry, it's just been crushed'. :(
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:O
I don't think oh noes quite covers it :(
Poor fester...did you get any kind of compensation?
I mean, was it alight when it was supposed to be in their care? (The garage) o_O
That entirely sucks <_<
 
Jen319 said:
:O
I don't think oh noes quite covers it :(
Poor fester...did you get any kind of compensation?
I mean, was it alight when it was supposed to be in their care? (The garage) o_O
That entirely sucks <_<
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Nope, we were a side street away from the garage, juuust in view. They had offered to leave him in there over night but a wagon was parked blocking the street and when my mum arrived to pick us up she was pretty irrate for ruining her day so I daren't ask her to wait till we could push him to safety (for my own safety lol) :p

Annnd I managed to have the excess on the policy as £300 (because I was clever enough to find out what it actually meant first) and guess how much I'd valued the car at... yep, £300.

I was a winner that day :oops:
 
Might not mean much to some but he now has a bloody matching boot that actually works!! Happy days.

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Now then, what do we think to this for sus setup:
Bilstein B4 Corsa B rear shocks £50 for 2
Alto springs all round £60 hopefully.
New Micra front shocks? Think that might be a waste but dunno. Been studying on here and it ends up more confusing with all the chefs than when I first started ;)
 
Matiz front struts n springs and rear corsa b struts en route :) no idea what the drop will be like. Alto springs on the rear? Meh, we'll see.
 
Well, what a nightmare!

Let's just say - makeshift spring compressors - BAD idea! I was pottering along today getting the standard shocks off thinking about making a spring compressor like I'd see one online. I asked the Mr his thoughts which then turned into trying these out using the old shocks as practice (my back up ones!) the first one ended up in the jaws of a Massey Fergie mercilessly grabbing it and pushing it into the ground o_O
Realising that even as effective this may be, it wasn't possible to undo the top nut without the strut spinning. So the next revelation was the fixer of all - cable ties :eek:
After getting it zipped up and in a vice, I joking said, let me take a picture of this before it all goes wrong.
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I disappeared for 3 minutes and came back to find that it had :'(

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Needless to say, it was quite disheartening. So using the opportunity to suggest my idea, we made this:

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There's been a lot of lessons learned today, I can't say I trust this poor shock, It's back together but I can't tighten the top nut without the strut spinning :( Have I, by drilling instead of filing the micra top mount to fit the matiz strut, prevented a way of locking the top mount to keep the strut still?

I hope someone out there can shout at me and tell me what to do so I don't ruin this next one!
 
Can you take a photo of the end of the threaded portion of the shock shaft? There should either be a flat to get a small spanner on or an allen key slot on too to hold the shock shaft while you tighten then nut up
 
This is the untouched matiz strut:
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And this is as far as I've been able to tighten the one with the micra mount in situ:
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Not ideal! Gunna struggle to get that back off if I need to.

Thanks for replying Enuo, I know I've cocked up.
 
Looks like you have been supplied damaged shocks, there should be a flat nipple on the end you can get an adjustable spanner on, yours looks snapped off:
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A garage may be able to tighten it with an impact driver however, just a pain to DIY without air tools.
 
We're on and rocking! Wedged a socket on a drill which helped but decided to risk mole gripping the strut to keep it still. Once they were on and the car down, I tightened them up even more. Hopefully this will do, I will check it again. Can't believe the difference in ride on the road! Surprising improvement!

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I do have corsa rear shocks but going to get over this weekends fiasco before doing them.
 
I like skymera's idea, don't want it to struggle with a car full either. I have seen on here that Passat springs are harder? Or alto ones lower it? I'm wide open to suggestions as to what is reckoned best.
 
passat rear springs are slightly stiffer than stock springs yeah but only about 10% I reckon but that means that cut the same length as the stock micra springs you'll actually be slightly higher at the rear as the weight of the car won't conpress them as much. You might be better off just using lowering springs at the rear... any lower than 35mm and you will probably need an adjustable panhard rod...
 
Ahh of course, I'd forgotten about that. D'ya think 35mm would look daft against the front, possibly too high. I'll be putting 185/50(55?)/15's in there next month and my guestimation suggests it should fill the arch the same as it does now.Tryna imagine that if the passat springs were laden on the rear with lard arses and stuff it'd compress the springs sweetly for a decent ride but be too harsh (or better?) when I'm on my own? Or do the lowering springs offer the same preload to deal with passengers. I hope I make sense with all that.
 
lowering a car is always going to limit your load carrying ability unless you put rock hard springs in, but if your rear springs are too stiff compared to your fronts it can cause massive oversteer! You can try getting a spare set of stock rear springs and cut 1 1/2 coils off and see how you get on with those? No shock mods required.
 
But oversteer equals fun right? :p or it that just for RWD? Right, so all I need to do now is cut the springs I have, get some others on the way just in case and not fit the corsa B's? I thought they aided in lowering the rear, or is that when we're talking lower than 35mm. I've been told a few horror stories about cutting springs, taking too long and heating the spring to inefficiency, which I understand. I've got an angle grinder with a 2ml disc on. Surely that'll be fine? Oh how I wish I'd have done Motorsport or mechanics at college.
 
Ok, first I'll address the excess heat myth. Unless you get the spring RED hot (glowing) there is no change to the metals structure (no change in spring efficiency as you put it).
As strange as it sounds, cutting a spring makes it stiffer, and stiffer springs ideally need stiffer shocks as the shocks job is to take the bouncyness out of the springs. Stock corsa b or c shocks aren't alot stiffer than stock micra shock imo, the only thing you gain is they are shorter, so you can cut the springs even shorter without them being loose. But that just makes the springs even stiffer still, so you end up with a very bouncy ride so unless you are only interested in looking good I'd hold off on the corsa b shocks.
As for the oversteer, its fun until you have your 9 month old niece in the car and the back goes on a roundabout in the wet and you're not even going particularly fast...
 
Well, in that case, I think I'll be leaving the corsa shocks n cut springs for when meeting up with you lot in the future or whatnot for aesthetics! Thank you for clearing up thou mythical bullshizen.
I too will have precious souls to look after in my vehicle and don't wish for such an experience to occur!
So next job will be to take 1 1/2 coils off the springs I have n are how it goes. Lazy question, taken from the top or bottom? I'm gonna guess top but haven't even seen the back yet so its a wild one. Enuo you're priceless buddy. Can't thank you enough for the info dude.
 
From the bottom, the top is flat ended, the bottom open ended. If you cut the top you would have an open end at both ends, and it's dangsrous to have an open end of a spring sitting in a spring seat designed for a flat ended spring (you'll see what I mean when you get the spring out).
And don't worry, messing with suspension setups has become a hobby of mine on these, I'm about to switch to my 7th suspension setup ;)
Make sure before you take your precious cargo on board you get your tracking done and have gone for a test drive on a road you know well to make sure you are confident that the car isn't going to try to kill you (matiz fronts have a bit of a reputation for inducing oversteer, removing the rear anti roll bar should help a small amount to cure this if its the case)
 
Crickey, think I best stop with the guessing haha. Grand, ta. 7th setup?? Matiz encouraging oversteer? Blinking oracle of suspension ere! Tracking doable DIY (lasers/string) or is that one for the pros? Noticed steering being heavier since changing legs but deeming that normal.
What setup are you going for now?
 
Ahh, my bad :p

I haven't, if you mean what bits of which leg I had this copied on my phone off here haha:

'yep, matiz top spring cup, matiz plastic bearing, micra topmount with the hole filed out to fit the matiz strut top, i then used the matiz spring washer and top nut. You will also have to slot one of the lower 2 hub mounting holes on the strut, i slotted the bottom one to give me about 8mm more lows, you can do either top or bottom but make sure you do both sides the same'
 
I'd say keep an eye on the top nut make sure it doesn't undo... it might just be that you need the tracking done :)
 
Right, I've got a knocking/rattle on both sides going over little bumps. Gunna guess it's because the top nut isn't fully tightened, I hope. Gotta find or make a tool to grab the but so I can hold the strut still too. The joys of not having correct tools. Wary of this tracking business now. Do I get it checked now or once it has alloys on doesn't it make a difference?
 
get tracking done once topnut is tightened, once its done it won't need doing for a while. What I do is find a friendly garage and toss them a fiver to wizz them up with an air powered impact gun (takes them literally all of 30 seconds)
 
Right, popped down to John's garage and got the windy gun on them till it span the strut too and splashed out 40p on some nylock nuts to but up to the top mount nut. Still getting the odd knock but dunno whether its me being paranoid.

Went to pick some gas up and it sat quite nicely with a full tank in the boot. Bollocks to messing about with the rear setup, I'll just carry a water one around :p
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Feeling defeated and impatient, I decided to mask n paint the front.
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It'd dried by the time I'd picked my mother up so has a satin finish.
 
Haha, I was a tad stuck for time so just left them out. Plus popping them off to do is easier and I'm hoping to put some fogs in the instead. Thank you for the compliment! Makes it worth it :D
 
I'm in the middle of doing the rear, I've cut 1 1/2 coils off and am a bit nervous of just how slack the springs are when the axle is just hanging. There a re a lot of canal bridges round here and if I go over one a little quickly I think the spring will just fall out! I think I'm going to cable tie them in but struggling to see how I can get one through and down the top cup. Ima grab a drill and make moomin lighter :p Bleating for a bit of reassurance!
 
If they ARE too slack you can always fit the corsa shocks... won't be any stiffer but will be shorter and keep the springs captive if you accidentally cut a tad too much off :)
But 1 1/2 coils should be fine on stock shocks, just make sure the top nut is done up TIGHT :)
 

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