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Isabelle the K11

Hi there! My name is Rey, and I've only just considered the fact that I could, instead of making multiple lists of things I need to do to my lovely little K11, Isabelle, just make a blog thread on this wonderful forum. That kills 2 birds with 1 stone; tracks my progress, and tells me what I need to do next!

The only problem is I've had this car for a little under 6 months now, so I've done quite a bit to her already. To recap, then;

I bought Isabelle in September 2018, for about £400, I think it was. She was a bit of a sorry looking thing, but I am too, so it was a perfect match!

buying her.jpg


Quite the battered old girl, huh? But, for 74,000 clocked, she ran fine, and was a lovely little bargain in my broke teenage eyes.

Having managed to get her home on a provisional license after a 5-month gap in learning to drive, she was dubbed Isabelle thanks to the Nintendo character being announced for Smash the same day!

first wash.jpg


After a wash and in the light, she looked pretty good, but there was a few things I had to do before I was prepared to properly proclaim her a part of the family. Which, being a teenager, meant replacing the broken and battered stock head unit with a banging Pioneer one!

After that, she was mostly just used to learn in out of lessons. She was so small it almost presented more problems switching to the instructors '16 Fiesta, but I digress. I thought I'd get a bit lonely once I passed, so I quickly got a dashboard buddy to keep me company on long trips!

isabelle gets isabelle.jpg


Isabelle, meet Isabelle!

Anyway, after passing my test (!!) I decided it was time to tackle some little things before moving on to fixing her blemishes and problems. First of all being the interior fans not working properly, which turned out to be the fan resistor, which was quickly taken care of, marking my first successful mend on a car ever! Pretty chuffed.

Having then made a catalogue of stuff I still need to do, I made the executive decision it was time to take care of those nasty bonnet marks. I was told by the previous owner it was all sun damage, and I suspect it's from not being dried properly after a mid-summer wash. Anyway, one 7-hour round trip later, I had a slightly off-coloured new bonnet for Isabelle to don proudly!

picking up the new bonnet.jpg


bonnet on.jpg


It ended up looking a lot better than I thought it would!

I then turned my attention to the interior, as it still felt a bit cold and heartless in there, even with a friend on the dash to smile me up the M25. So, 4 screws, a can of blue spray paint and a sorry face mask later, this was the result!

centre console painted.jpg


I'm quite chuffed with it, actually. And after a trip to Halfords, the sorry-looking floor mats, blemished beyond repair by a probable 15 years of neglect, were replaced too!

fresh floor mats.jpg


They look a lot better in person.

And today, I turned my attention back to the exterior to fix a pretty big problem; I bought the car with a hole in the passenger headlight. So, after picking up a basic tool set and cracking it for the first time in my life, I went about it!

new passenger headlight.jpg


I'm really quite happy with it! It works all good, and looks even better! It was, however, pretty grim watching half a pint of water and what looked like a bit of seaweed pour out of the old one. Oh, and I also pulled out the trim underneath the windscreen, and silicone-filled the nooks and crannies I've read cause the passenger footwell leak I've had issues with since I bought the car. Nice!

So, you're all caught up. My plans now are:

  • Fit the parcel shelf I have coming in the post tomorrow
  • Flush the engine and change the oil + oil filter
  • Change the coolant reservoir, and replace the coolant
  • Fit some new wheel trims (MAAAYBE get some alloys on there if I can find any going super cheap)
  • Replace the interior bulb with something brighter and less yellow
  • Take the seats out and give them a proper good scrub, along with replacing a broken rear seat belt that doesn't lock in
  • Install footwell LEDs and get a new gear lever knob to make the interior much cozier
And, after that, I want to give the entire car a good clean, engine bay included (I had to wrestle with the battery clips to get them off the terminals thanks to an obvious lack of care), and then maybe give the plastic on the bumper a good once-over, and if I can't get it to come up nicely (which I expect), I'll probably just spray them a matt black or something to freshen them up.

After that, who knows? If you have any ideas that won't shoot my insurance through the roof, I'd love to hear them!
 
Oh, another problem I forgot to mention; she has a very rattley boot lid. Hopefully the parcel shelf will reduce the annoyance a bit and serve to lock the sound in the back, but it would be nice to eliminate entirely. I think the boot handle is rattling, as it seems to be prying off on the right side outside, but it could also be the boot lid not locking properly to the rest of the body. Although I want to replace the boot handle with a pre-face lift one, does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be causing the rattling?
 
Welcome to the club. You'll find all the information you need to fix those little bits, try the boot lid panel inside for rattles and if it is that then put blue tack around the outside edge of it to stop them. The boot handles are just crap and bend like that anyway although you could tighten them from inside when you're checking that bootlid panel, but a pre facelift handle is much nicer anyway
 
Great looking car and nice to see a fresh blog! You'll find plenty of tips and tutorials here so I hope we can help with everything.
It's also cool to see you going straight in to fixing or modifying things. This car will probably look amazing soon enough.
Nice profile pic by the way.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Micra Sports Club mobile app

Hey, thanks! I got loads of inspiration from the forums, so I couldn't wait to start modding ;)
Also, Yuuko is my spirit animal :ROFLMAO:

Welcome to the club. You'll find all the information you need to fix those little bits, try the boot lid panel inside for rattles and if it is that then put blue tack around the outside edge of it to stop them. The boot handles are just crap and bend like that anyway although you could tighten them from inside when you're checking that bootlid panel, but a pre facelift handle is much nicer anyway

Cheers! I did try and pop the cover off on the inside, but someone before me has stripped the plastic screws holding them on. I'll do my bloody best to get in there, but I have plenty of people to ask if I can't!
 
Excuse the clutter in the boot, but this showed up while I was at work today!
Feels a bit weird installing it at 10pm, but a trip to McDonald's later tells me its improved the stereo quality, reduced the engine noise in the cabin and actually made the rattling I mentioned before not a problem!
Of course, I'll still be looking into it, but I don't have to worry about it driving me mad up the M23 anymore. :D

parcel shelf.jpg
 
Nice nii San ha ha, I got a miku hatsune in my bumblebee lol
may want to play with the audio setting on the stereo, use bass boost and loud setting for one (you will be very surprised ) tweeter do add a little as well
Is that shelf black? Just original black speaker shelf are kinda rare as only fitted to one model ,
Just a little warning engine flushes can be weird , depending on past services it can kinda not do the best (carbon build up can be a friend ) , if you look in the oil cap.into the engine , so long the engine isn't black or dark everything should be fine ,and 10/40 semi oil and ngk plugs have proven strong
 
Nice nii San ha ha, I got a miku hatsune in my bumblebee lol
may want to play with the audio setting on the stereo, use bass boost and loud setting for one (you will be very surprised ) tweeter do add a little as well
Is that shelf black? Just original black speaker shelf are kinda rare as only fitted to one model ,
Just a little warning engine flushes can be weird , depending on past services it can kinda not do the best (carbon build up can be a friend ) , if you look in the oil cap.into the engine , so long the engine isn't black or dark everything should be fine ,and 10/40 semi oil and ngk plugs have proven strong

shelf is "charcoal" according to the seller, but yeah its pretty much just black
it does have a bit of damage to it tho. either way im happy with it, and it being kinda rare makes it sweeter!

i shall have a look down the oil filler, thanks for the heads up! now all i need to do is find a car jack, lmao
 
Right, so! 850 miles later and I have completed a trip around England and through a bit of Wales!
Nice of Isabelle to accompany me through the country on my first visit. And, I had the pleasure of driving through the Brecon Beacons too! It's an absolutely STUNNING drive, I can't wait for the next opportunity to do it again!

And, because I'm a sucker for taking photos, here's a few shots I got.

isabelle in wales.jpg


brecon beacons.jpg
 
Right, so! 850 miles later and I have completed a trip around England and through a bit of Wales!
Nice of Isabelle to accompany me through the country on my first visit. And, I had the pleasure of driving through the Brecon Beacons too! It's an absolutely STUNNING drive, I can't wait for the next opportunity to do it again!

And, because I'm a sucker for taking photos, here's a few shots I got.

View attachment 62691

View attachment 62692

I was there not too long ago!
20190202_143130.jpeg

If you're ever in South East Wales again let me know!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
 
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