advice and suggestions please peeps!!!

[ratermc]

Hi guys firstly a bit of background. My first car was a gorgeous K11 1.0L Micra which i dearly love. I had big plans for the little car but needed wlding put it off of the road. I needed another car quickly and settled for a nice ford escort which i also love. Now i was going to sell the micra but having driven the escort round for a fair bit it really lacks the fun and excitement that the micra gave to me. I considered dropping a 2L lump into the ford, but it will only ever be a boring family car unfortunately I love the micra with a passion and my aim now is to use it as a project car.

I want to turn it into somewhat of a street and track sleeper, able to turn a few heads and really shake off this idea that the Micra is a car not worth working on. I really need advice about what is going to give me the most for my money. As i said it is only a 1L at the moment, would it be worth sticking the 1.3 engine in and using that for my build? what are the potential gains of the engine in terms of bhp and torque and is it worth spending money on?

The other option is to go for a higher powered engine (ie 1.6 or 2.0) and work on that. However, does this shoot the cost up greatly? i'm more than willing to spend money on this project but do not want to spend dead money on gains that are hardly worth it. As i said my aim is to create a decent street sleeper capable of surprising people, but what would the outcome be compared to say, the corsa 1.6 GSI (a greatly tunable and quick sports engine).

What would you guys say is the best way to go about this as i'm slightly out of touch with the nissan engines now. Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

[Dr Zoidberg]

1.3 will give you plenty fun if tuned right, some have been turbo'd and are pushing 150 - 200 BHP at the fly

as for 1.6, 2.0 they will fit, as will the 2.0 turbo engines.

1.6 is the easiest conversion from what i've read

 

[ratermc]

Cheers for the reply! Yeah there are so many options its quite scary lol! exciting to think of though! The 1.3 seems like a nice option to do but how cost effective is it to get it up to those kinds of figures? would it be more worthwhile getting the 1.6 put in and then modding that engine as a base? i'm really drawn towards the 1.3 option but don't see the point in modding the hell out of it and pushing it to its limit if it would be cheaper to go for a bigger lump from the get go.

 

[NeX]

I'm going for a 2.0 from a sunny gti. the engine, disks, gearbox, ecu etc for £375 and then it's the cost of fitting it which if you know what you're doing and have the equipment then it will cost you nothing. so thats 250 BHP for £375 and a whole lot of work. when I finally get the cash together I'll make a guide because there doesn't seem to be any definative documentation on this convertion.....

 

[ratermc]

Wow £375 is a very good price. Is that a general price for the bits or just the price you managed to pick them up for (as a special)? I think insurance would prevent me from those kinds of power figures so would you recommend the 1.6 lump? or do you think the gains acheivable from the 1.3 make it worth sticking to? I'm sure i could sort the 1.3 fitting myself, but im not as confident in being able to do the 1.6 because as i understand it the engine mounts need moving and welding, and also (as i understand it) the loom needs to be modified? this may stretch slightly further than my knowledge lol. the time itself i have no problems with as i have another car to get me places, its just whether or not i'll have the knowledge to do the 1.6 conversion. what kind of power outputs does the ga16 offer above the 1.3?

sorry for all of the quick questions, just my thirst for knowledge taking over

 

[Dr Zoidberg]

for a 200 BHP 1.3 will cost a fair bit

so maybe a 1.6/2.0 would be more suited. a 1.6 has about 25 more BHP than the 1.3

you can quite easily tune a 1.3 to about 120 - 130 BHP should be more than fun with the cars light weight

 

[ratermc]

yeah i mean 130ish would be more than enough for what im after really considering insurance limitations. 200bhp would be a bit excessive, im after a street sleeper not a drag beast lol!! i want very good handling round country roads and a nice off the line response. maybe 1.3 would be best in my case then? and you say 130bhp is fairly easy to attain?

 

[Stuart]

I dont want to steal your post but i was thinking og putting a 1.6 with a manual box into my k11 aswell but i dont know the work invovlved. i can get the engine and gearbox for free. but its changing from a 1.3 auto to a 1.6 manual. is this going to be a huge job and not worth it?

 

[ratermc]

no problems about posting here, the more the merrier, and its about the same subject so all good

 

[hughes_16v]

iam not sure about this but in sunnys u can get 1.4 engines. never hear of any1 doing that conversion or if it be done,

just a suggestion