Tramp Spec

[doniel]

Right, project thread time. Initially, I had planned for this to be a temporary car, but plans change and here we are.

The idea is to spend as little as possible as my past builds have always ended up spiralling

22/4/14 K11 1.3 GX Bought for £400 with 12 months ticket.

Bit of surface rust here and there.

The first job was to clean it of all the dog hair and old person goz. I stripped it a bit to do this so decided to tie it in with a couple of other jobs. The driver's seat came out and got a foamectomy.

Then I fitted my headunit and underseat subs. (These don't count cost wise as they get moved from car to car hehe)

The centre console cubby seems badly designed as there is no top to it... Found a load of weird things lost behind it; titanic audio anyone?

Next I set to work on the engine. This one has covered 84k, but sounds a tad rattly at the chain side... I'll come back to that one later I think!

I know CAI aren't much good for huge gains, but it makes me feel like some super illegal pro tuner street racer. Plus I had all the bits lying around so went ahead and rigged one up. I had to get rid of the charcoal canister to make way for it.

Anyone else here a fan of cowl intakes? There's a good bit of info on them here: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=110680

I wasn't much into the off-roader look so I started looking around at coilovers. But... I remembered this is a budget build, so choppies it was.

However, when I got it up in the air, I saw that all the bolts were too corroded for me to attempt without oxy on standby.

So I got the modified spring compressors on...

...And cut them in situ. Possibly the safest thing I've ever done.

I went for 2 coils off each corner. The fronts are just about captive, but the rears are a tad wobbly.

For sale: Super-low racing springs. £100 for the set.

Anyway, this is how she sits now after settling.

The rears look a little tucked, but I'm not sure I like the idea of spacers...

It has begun.

 

[Enuo]

Yes! Moredoor preface crew!

 

[Magpie42]

How does the other side rear look?

I bet it's all sticky-outy....eh?



Cutting springs in-situ...like a boss.......a mental boss....but a boss nevertheless...

 

[r-reg-sr]

It's boss.but if remove clean renew whatever needs tend to loose top mounts.floss





teeth clean floss ping still yellow as old gloss white ting

 

[cgten]

I was thinking of getting some under seat subs to conserve boot space. Are they any good?

 

[doniel]

Cheers for the feedback everyone!

It lashed it down this morning and I discovered I have a leak - passenger footwell area. Possibly many leaks as the water did not seem to be too fussed as to where it gushed out of. Hopefully tackling this one when it dries up a bit out there.

How does the other side rear look?

I bet it's all sticky-outy....eh?



Cutting springs in-situ...like a boss.......a mental boss....but a boss nevertheless...

It's pretty much the same actually. I read about all of that panrod stuff, but it would seem I have gotten away with it! Maybe I need to cut some more off...

It's boss.but if remove clean renew whatever needs tend to loose top mounts.floss





teeth clean floss ping still yellow as old gloss white ting

Dafuq?

I was thinking of getting some under seat subs to conserve boot space. Are they any good?

Well these that I use are In Phase USW-10. Plenty loud enough and there's tons of room under there to fit them. They vibrate the entire seat when they kick which feels lush. The rear seat passengers sometimes complain that they can feel them rumbling in their feet, but meh. I love em!

 

[MicrAde]

Your leak will probably be from these...

These live underneath the scuttle cover at the base of the windscreen and need sealing with silicone, sooner rather than later as you may end up with a soggy ecu :/

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 4

 

[McMicra]

1000% with Ade on that one^

Out of interest where have you routed that CAI to?

 

[doniel]

Thanks Ade! Yep, judging by the state in which I found mine, I would say that's pretty plausible. However, underneath these clips is a channel that I would have assumed can drain water away? And when I peered inside, I saw that the heater inlet is raised up about an inch? So I'm stumped as to how the water makes it into the car after getting past the clips...

Nevertheless I siliconed them in. Better safe than sorry

I'll report back when the rain hits again

McMicra, I cut a hole in the bulkhead and mated the tube to it. It's an area of fairly high pressure and it requires less pipework than a more conventional bumper one

I decided to revisit the rear suspension as the uncaptive springs make me nervous..

I moved the rubber bush from under the chassis to the top. The springs are still loose, but to a lesser extent now, hurrah!

 

[frank]

those clips just enter the same void as the (open-air) air intake eh, praps a trickle runs along the scuttle panel and drips into the heater inlet/chimney ?

 

[doniel]

Thanks Frank. That must be it, a well aimed drip. Because I can't see the scuttle filling up to that level!

 

[doniel]

Update: After a week of daily use, sealing up the holes has definitely stopped the leak! I was prepared for a long fruitless struggle possibly entailing a spot of welding and some small fires, so needless to say, I am chuffed.

However... The carpet (and more importantly) the foamy stuff underneath were saturated. After 20 mins with the hairdryer, it became clear this wasn't going t0 cut it, so I ventured onto ebay and bought this.

2kgs of silica gel packs stuffed under the carpet seemed to do the trick. I also picked up an air, oil and fuel filter as I suspect it has been a while.

After this I had a look at the tailgate, as it was struggling to stay up on its own. I didn't fancy forking out for a new pair of struts, so I dewipered it to loose some weight. I'm glad I did as its made it look a lot cleaner back there.

I read about a few people on here removing the reinforcer out of the back bumper. Mine wasn't sitting particularly straight anyway, so off it came.

I'd never have known those flaps were there. Something to do with cabin ventilation no doubt?

Reattaching the bumper without the reinforcer was simple enough. Few holes, 4 cable ties, jobs a goodun.

I quite like the idea of cutting a bit off to reduce the parachute effect too. Have many people done this to theirs?

 

[Dougyledds]

Love this thread, dont see many to this level still keep it up

 

[Jamie R]

You say the springs were wobbly when you cut them, what do you mean? Bit confused

 

[doniel]

You say the springs were wobbly when you cut them, what do you mean? Bit confused

Jamie, that just meant they weren't quite long enough to be seated properly in the cups. Hence they can wobble about when the car is jacked up

 

[markbognor]

Fronts, drill a small hole each side of the top and bottom cup and wire the springs into the cup - stainless garden wire lasts a fair while. At the rear you can put a strap round the axle to prevent it dropping, or use shorter Corsa rear shocks.

 

[Jamie R]

Jamie, that just meant they weren't quite long enough to be seated properly in the cups. Hence they can wobble about when the car is jacked up

So if they are VERY wobbly and you go over a VERY large bump, potentially they could de seat.

you might be able to help me with another thing. The rear springs have a top and bottom coil that are of smaller diameter than the others. If you cut the rear springs, couldn't this cause a problem?

 

[Magpie42]

Rear micraaaah springs are the same diameter all the way...so cutting them will only really change the angle of the next coil (as the top and bottom coils are nearer horizontal to help it seat correctly)....

 

[Jamie R]

Oh, I thought they weren't. Do corsa springs fit right on without modifying? If you put them on, do they lower it?

 

[cgten]

I thought Corsa springs were egg shaped.

 

[Jamie R]

Thats what I meant haha. Did you have to mod them? Are they the standard ones off a corsa? (What corsa?)

 

[McMicra]

If your still having trouble with the leak iv concluded it was my windscreen seal, the rubber seal was missing at the bottom under the scuttle panel so a bead of silicone sealant and it hasn't leak, even with this torrential rain we're having

 

[Jamie R]

Fronts, drill a small hole each side of the top and bottom cup and wire the springs into the cup - stainless garden wire lasts a fair while. At the rear you can put a strap round the axle to prevent it dropping, or use shorter Corsa rear shocks.

Thats what I meant haha. Did you have to mod them? Are they the standard ones off a corsa? (What corsa?)

 

[doniel]

If your still having trouble with the leak iv concluded it was my windscreen seal, the rubber seal was missing at the bottom under the scuttle panel so a bead of silicone sealant and it hasn't leak, even with this torrential rain we're having

Yep, that's all sorted now, t'was the exact same thing as yours. I was sceptical about it working, but as suggested by Frank above, it must've dripped into the chimney.

 

[doniel]

I returned home from work today to be greeted by this:

I've missed having a tach, so it got dropped in straight away

I took it out for a run and discovered that my car redlines at 5400... I knew these cars were reined in somewhat, but this surprised me nonetheless. So I checked that It was set properly and wasn't getting interference off anything and it gave the same reading.

I've seen people fiddling with the dizzy wheel in various ways to back off/remove the limiter so the next step is going to be reading up and experimenting with this

 

[cgten]

5400 seems a bit low. Thought it was closer to 7000.

 

[Warijo]

"I'd never have known those flaps were there. Something to do with cabin ventilation no doubt?"

Yea that too. Also it won't make pressure inside car. When you close door those flaps release the pressure. Like some cars have that feature when you open door the window goes down abit.

I had to make new ones for mine. I have about 2mm thick flaps and I can hear those flaps moving when I close door

 

[McMicra]

My redline is marked at 7000 mabey 7500

 

[Enuo]

Mine is at 6900.

 

[doniel]

T'has been many moons since I posted an update here... This is of course owing to some days of the hectic variety brought on by Tramp Spec's ill health. All shall be elaborated upon. Regarding the lowness of the redline, the tach merely required setting so all is fine and dandy with that now.

19/06/14 Being the kind and caring hero that I am, I embarked upon an epic quest to Harrogate so that my friend could view and perhaps purchase a new automobile. The journey was not without its perils however, as we encountered traffic, the likes of which we had never before set eyes upon. We bravely soldiered on unaware that soon a terrible fate would bestow upon us.

Travelling along the A1(m) and fast approaching a particularly complex set of junctions, Tramp Spec suddenly began to hiccup and lurch. Almost completely frozen with panic and just a small amount of embarrassment, I attempted to pull over to the hard shoulder, only to discover that it was about 23 (appprox, as there was no time to count) lanes away on one of the slip roads leading to another main road. Thinking fast, we turned all electrical items off and miraculously, Tramp Spec continued as if nothing had occurred. Finding unwitted complacency in this, I chose to resume our journey without pause; a mistake that would soon cost us greatly.

Homing in on our destination, the dreaded lurching returned and this time forced us to find a side street and seek refuge. Tramp Spec unleashed one final burst of power, bringing us to a halt in the relative safety of a loading car park outside a small carpet shop. A turn of the key confirmed our worst fears. Tramp Spec was down. We dissolved into tears replaying the whole event back in our minds as the satnav calmly repeated out instructions to make a u turn, oblivious to the chaos that had just unfolded.

After composing ourselves, we feasted on an asda meal deal whilst my friend made alternative arrangements to view the car and I sent out a distress call to my breakdown company. Upon arrival, the recovery driver informed me that the alternator was to blame for our ordeal and that we would need to be towed home.

Upon returning, I set about pulling out the old alt

Noticing that the belts were demonstrating all of the properties of chalk, I decided it best to replace these too.

Sitting back, I awaited the arrival of my postman, who would undoubtedly come bearing gifts in a few days time.

Sure enough, said gifts were beared upon the postman's arrival. This resulted in some much needed brightening of my engine bay. Fluorescent orange bits on the belts, yo!

A week later however, upon leaving Tramp Spec for just a couple of hours, I returned to find her sitting there lifelessly. My predicament did not go unnoticed for long and soon the Mafia arrived.

Offering help, we attempted to get her running again, to no avail. I was dragged home again to ponder the mystery electrical fault further.

After about a week of testing and poking, I admitted defeat and sent it in to a garage (coincidently the same one I had bought it from). They made embarrassingly short work of the problem, tracing it back to corrosion under the fusebox. Upon receiving the car back however, I was greeted with another surprise. While working on the car, the garage must have stumbled across a spare key in their files as I found a shiny fresh one sitting on the passenger seat - NATS chip and all.

Being all fixed up now, I have planned to take Tramp Spec away round Europe next week; a trip of around 2000 miles. I decided it best to treat her to a set of plugs in the hope of deterring another tantrum.

I also rigged up some fresh HTs from a knackered set and some copper wire. (Yes, I've been reading EBB's blog...)

Finally, I haven't forgotten about raising the rev limit! After a bit of reading, I decided that the optical disk blanking idea isn't something I'm going to do. It prevents the car from running sequential injection if I understand correctly? Nope, I have a cunning plan that should raise the limit without forcing the car into batch... Stay tuned.

 

[r-reg-sr]

EBbraps vibe

 

[doniel]

Tramp Spec has returned from our venture over the pond. It never missed a beat!

Front row

The car in front is a Suzuki Baleno that I was travelling with. They're getting pretty rare now!

We spotted this being road tested:

And made a point of stopping for tea at every available opportunity, eager to live up to our stereotype.

Customs noticed that the car was sitting a bit low, but couldn't work out why...

Time to give her a well needed clean!

 

[r-reg-sr]

They need more r-reg's overseas!

 

[r-reg-sr]

They need more r-reg's overseas!

oh shhhhhhhhh im already overseas exactly where my lands GDP goes and breeds more money so thank me very please and spank you very fleas





ragousness you either like it or just high tit

 

[Kaptain Klang]

I found water in my passenger footwell; it turned out that the grommet around the wiring from the A pillar to the door had come adrift. A quick wiggle to refit it properly into the bodywork and I'm waterproof again

 

[doniel]

I'm taking a pretty drastic turn with this now. I've always wanted to do a homebrew turbo build, but hadn't initially planned on it happening to this car in particular... Throwback to my comment in post 1 about costs spiralling!

This is my manifold and T25 Garret :') Fuelling is going to be taken care of by a Nistune, supplemented by a few other tweaks.

I got the front off to mock up where the intercooler could go and suddenly remembered that the front cross member had been replaced just before I bought it! Felt like I'd just found a twenty in an old coat pocket.

If anyone in the Nottinghamshire area is able to map a Nistune then shout up?

Peace

 

[doniel]

I'm steadily making progress with this, as and when I get moments.

The manifold looked horrendous with all of the corrosion. I was pleasantly surprised however when I managed to remove it without sheering and studs and only rounding one nut!

It didn't take me long to encounter a proper problem though...

The turbo didn't fit properly against the block with that shroud around the dipstick ^

So out came the grinder.

And now turbo not hit block.

Then I sorted my oil feed and return. The grub screw in the hole next to the exhaust ports rounded on me And I had no luck with an extractor. Reluctently, I came up with a bodge involving drilling it through and aralditing a plumbing fitting into it:

I'm actually quite pleased with how it went!

The sump was too rusted on for me to want to risk removing. So I used and old trick that was passed onto me by a mate: I drilled through the sump with it still attached, then flushed the sump through to remove any swarf using some meths.

Cheeky exhaust pic...

...And we're done again for now.

 

[Enuo]

Let me guess, azzydot "kit"?

 

[Huggy444]

Think it is, will be good to see it running

 

[doniel]

Let me guess, azzydot "kit"?

It's mine now )

 

[doniel]

Another update.

I've bolted all of the major bits down properly: Mani, tubby and exhaust. The exhaust ran where the fan used to sit, so I had to relocate it to in front of the radiator.

The bodywork took a bit of fettling and cutting, but it doesn't look horrendous

I'm not quite sure how these pipes were cut, but I thought it best to sand them down a bit...

Unfortunately, my oil feed bodge with the brass connector sprung a leak. However, it prompted me to have another bash at removing the stuck grub screw...

Success!

BUT. Its got another leak now. This time on the hose itself, so I'll have to look into a new one. 1/8 tapered male for the head and a female for whatever the T25 takes (thread identification isn't a skill I possess). What oil lines have others used??

 

[MaxK11C]

I love the purple!
Can't help out on oil lines though

 

[doniel]

I've fixed the oil line leak and had it running (without boost connected). I took it out for a test run and came back deaf. However, I was happy that I could hear the turbo spool up nicely.

Upon getting back though...

I opened the bonnet to find that she had been sick

On closer inspection, I've still not been able to pinpoint the leak(s)... The oil feed line is clean, as is the thread holding it into the block. It had no leaks before fitting any of this and it seems odd that it'd just suddenly develop one.

Hmm.

 

[frank]

crankcase pressure blowing past the crank seal maybe ? have you altered any breather pipes ?
and i thought that front exit would prove to be LOUD

 

[doniel]

I kinda expected to get oil leaks... just not before connecting up the boost!

I removed the charcoal canister when I first bought it, but that's it. Yep, obnoxiously loud. Corsa fart can loud.

 

[frank]

i used banjo fittings personally (leak free) http://www.micra.org.uk/threads/turbo-oil-feeds.55668/ and restricted the flow to a trickle

 

[Azzydot]

it always has been loud, and sounds sweet, frank is right it's more likely the crank seal, it happend to mine and put lots of oil splattering the downpipe causing it to steam up and smell of burned oil

 

[SirChris]

it always has been loud, and sounds sweet, frank is right it's more likely the crank seal, it happend to mine and put lots of oil splattering the downpipe causing it to steam up and smell of burned oil

Alternator... Chassis leg

 

[doniel]

I've had to remove the turbo and go back to n/a as I can't be doing without a car and I don't have room for two!

I plugged the oil feed with a grub screw and used a bit of hose and a wooden bung for the sump return.

Since I'd had to cut the old exhaust off, I needed a bit of creating to get it back on...

...Beans tin, exhaust paste and jubilee clips.

I had to move the fan to the front of the rad to make room for the turbo downpipe/exhaust side exit. I decided to leave it there as I kinda like being able to see it through the bumper

I've decided to abandon turboing this one, but I plan to get a slightly newer and less rotten k11c one day when I can have two cars at once and put the kit on that instead. This won't be for a while though

 

[Azzydot]

I've had to remove the turbo and go back to n/a as I can't be doing without a car and I don't have room for two!

I plugged the oil feed with a grub screw and used a bit of hose and a wooden bung for the sump return.

Since I'd had to cut the old exhaust off, I needed a bit of creating to get it back on...

...Beans tin, exhaust paste and jubilee clips.

I had to move the fan to the front of the rad to make room for the turbo downpipe/exhaust side exit. I decided to leave it there as I kinda like being able to see it through the bumper

I've decided to abandon turboing this one, but I plan to get a slightly newer and less rotten k11c one day when I can have two cars at once and put the kit on that instead. This won't be for a while though

mate u was only 4 hours away from having it all running, I did say to take my sump as it was made to fit on my turbo, ( it's very tight pipe from drainage to turbo) also the fan I used was same bracket as the k11 but used a slimline fan so the downpipe don't touch by 1inch. My downpipe and exsaust was all heat wrapped so it's safer for no burning, all this was made to suit which I offered, I think your car is nice and rotten is minor just get a new cross member and new sills welded, keep this Micra mate it will make a nice sleeper as I seen the car