fill or weld rusty front member?
- Thread starter asdame
- Start date
pollyp
Club Member
i looked in B&Q and there's loadsa sealant to chose but dunno which'll be suitable. i like the translucent ones cos it wont show after i've glued the spoiler on.
they don't have tigerseal or stikaflex so dunno where to get em
diy guy says any of the waterproof flexible sealant will do as i'm also bolting it on.
speaking of bolting, i found the boot didn't have any socket access holes for fitting the spoiler so i'll have to drill it myself
in other news, i think i found why the engine's been rattling whenever it's under load cos this bolt was loose and the washer rattles around causing the noise. tightened it up and most of the rattle is gone, just a tiny one left somewhere, barely noticable.
they don't have tigerseal or stikaflex so dunno where to get em
diy guy says any of the waterproof flexible sealant will do as i'm also bolting it on.
speaking of bolting, i found the boot didn't have any socket access holes for fitting the spoiler so i'll have to drill it myself
in other news, i think i found why the engine's been rattling whenever it's under load cos this bolt was loose and the washer rattles around causing the noise. tightened it up and most of the rattle is gone, just a tiny one left somewhere, barely noticable.
pollyp
Club Member
well, since i've already done 5k miles in 6months, insurance'll be extra £16 for 8k annual miles.
and the spoiler'll be another £12.
oh on another note, i have 10days of allocated holiday at work till march and no plans to go abroad cos too £££ so i just had an idea of touring around UK in my micra instead as my holiday.
maybe visiting lake districts, cornwall, scotland, etc
it'll be my first big micra adventure
it's a big drive, my back'll b wrecked and the car'll be shagged but will be awsome and prob cheaper in fuel than a couple £100s flying to asia
the current micra seat at the moment gives me a sore upper back during long drives. is there a recommended seat i could fit, maybe from other micras, or recaro, or scrappies or shall i put up with this one? preferably simple installation cos cant weld
and the spoiler'll be another £12.
oh on another note, i have 10days of allocated holiday at work till march and no plans to go abroad cos too £££ so i just had an idea of touring around UK in my micra instead as my holiday.
maybe visiting lake districts, cornwall, scotland, etc
it'll be my first big micra adventure
it's a big drive, my back'll b wrecked and the car'll be shagged but will be awsome and prob cheaper in fuel than a couple £100s flying to asia
the current micra seat at the moment gives me a sore upper back during long drives. is there a recommended seat i could fit, maybe from other micras, or recaro, or scrappies or shall i put up with this one? preferably simple installation cos cant weld
hey everyone. has been awhile since me last post.
massive update coming.........
* SPOILER
I dremeled off the bolt brackets and side brackets, scrape off the original sticky foam strip on the edges and decided to bond it to the boot. found my local partco shop sells their own branded PU sealant.
The inner corners had split cracks which i glued and body filled. after hours of sanding i primed the part
then patiently painted, sanded & laquered
closeup of laquer
to bond it to the body i first roughened up the boot surfaces
applied PU sealant along the mating faces of the spoiler and then very very carefully align and sit the spoiler onto the boot, the PU stuff gets everywhere.
important to smooth the exposed bead of sealant with finger before to cures. held it down with sticky tape overnight. thankfully the cured excess sealant can be scraped off or wiped off with alchohol/petrol
finished. proper mint now.
* Boot Handle
had some paint to do the bumpers but decided the boot handle needed doin instead
now that bit's not an eyesore anymore
* Windscreen Edge
the rubber strips along the windscreen were in tatters after 10yrs so i ripped it all out to either replace or sealant it as some ppl have done.
i rang nissan bout cost of new strips and it woulda been in the £100's !! they're having a laugh
so i guess i'll use sealant instead
at first i used this B&Q gutter sealant, twas utter crap cos it never cured at all
so had to scoop it all out, clean off with petrol (amazing how strong petrol is. I accidentally poured some in a polystyrene cup which was instantly destroyed, used plastic cup afterwards), and used the PU sealant.
trimmed off the excess with craft blade
neat job
* Brakes
took off me old tatty rear discs
replaced the pair with new discs from partco for £62
* Intake
i thought the entire inlet pipe n port were quite tiny compaired to the 70mm port of the TB so i dremeled off n enlarged the airbox inlet port, bonded bit of 70mm gutter pipe to it.
attached a flexible Alu tubing to gutter pipe with 90deg piece
feed it down between the ABS module n clutch bracket, tis a tight squeeze
scoops cool air from below
sand blasted n painted the airbox clips
bypassed the TB coolant pipes. now the TB barely gets warm which is good for keeping inlet air cool
to further improve breathing i cut off the TB screen n smoothed the edges
tis more responsive n revs easier now
* Sway Bar
the car use to understeer unpredictably when conering hard with the rusted original bars so brought a front n rear whiteline sway bar from demon tweeks for £200
installed front
the rear bracket bolt snapped off, replacing it with nut n bolt anyway
the seized drop link bolts were a pain. didn't wanna destroy n buy another expensive droplink, plus it's the weekend n needed car soon, so i carefully dremeled the nut edges the chiseled it off
regreased n retapped the droplinks
the rear bracket nut was just corner welded on, so i dremeled the lower corners n pryed of off
attached droplinks
bushes n bracket bolted on
the sway bar occasionally shifts to a side where the bar ends would catch on the trailing arms causing a knocking noise while the exposed grease also dries and seizes the bar over time. so i clamped a piece of PU pipe near the bushes to keep it centred
the result is incredible. with the droplink set at middle or hard it's a lil too oversteery especially in wet. but its set a lowest stiffness now and omg the car is a friggin go-kart. the sluggish response is gone. move the wheel and it just turns hard n flat n well balanced & predictable. i'm certain this mod has caused my recent increased fuel usage lol.
* Seats
now that the car corners hard, keeping seated n comfy is difficult in the old seat so n got these for £70
just comes with rails. the original subframe didn't fit so i had to mod my own.
cut the bracket off the frame
i wanted to retain the original brackets n weld em to the rails but the new rails were a tad short so i got a garage to weld an extending square pipe under the new rails, then weld the original brackets onto the entension. painted em black later
seats fitted in
seatbelt buckle anchored to the pivot
it's well comfy now and hugs nicely during cornering
* Sill Rust
just MOTed me car and it failed cos of sill rust under both rear doors, bah. i wonder, did the prev MOTer not poke hard enough? i scrambled around local garages and a small company repaired it for £70. other dealers n big repairers quoted £130-£250 !! no thxs
guy welded n undersealed the sills. now it passed the test
Phew Thank God
NOW
on the 27th i'll be starting my mega UK micra trip holiday from england to scotland to wales to london and back home which is well exciting. will be pretty wrecked in the end i figure but to cheer me up on the 30th, i'll be going to silverstone where i've booked myself a Ferrari Experience Event !!
omg i'll first be driving the lotus exige then a 360 Modena :wow:
looking forward to it, will be mind blowing i'm sure
i'm preparing a small box of essential tools incase summin goes wrong (or i could ring me breakdown cover)
i just hope the micra's up for the trek
thx for reading.
massive update coming.........
* SPOILER
I dremeled off the bolt brackets and side brackets, scrape off the original sticky foam strip on the edges and decided to bond it to the boot. found my local partco shop sells their own branded PU sealant.
The inner corners had split cracks which i glued and body filled. after hours of sanding i primed the part
then patiently painted, sanded & laquered
closeup of laquer
to bond it to the body i first roughened up the boot surfaces
applied PU sealant along the mating faces of the spoiler and then very very carefully align and sit the spoiler onto the boot, the PU stuff gets everywhere.
important to smooth the exposed bead of sealant with finger before to cures. held it down with sticky tape overnight. thankfully the cured excess sealant can be scraped off or wiped off with alchohol/petrol
finished. proper mint now.
* Boot Handle
had some paint to do the bumpers but decided the boot handle needed doin instead
now that bit's not an eyesore anymore
* Windscreen Edge
the rubber strips along the windscreen were in tatters after 10yrs so i ripped it all out to either replace or sealant it as some ppl have done.
i rang nissan bout cost of new strips and it woulda been in the £100's !! they're having a laugh
so i guess i'll use sealant instead
at first i used this B&Q gutter sealant, twas utter crap cos it never cured at all
so had to scoop it all out, clean off with petrol (amazing how strong petrol is. I accidentally poured some in a polystyrene cup which was instantly destroyed, used plastic cup afterwards), and used the PU sealant.
trimmed off the excess with craft blade
neat job
* Brakes
took off me old tatty rear discs
replaced the pair with new discs from partco for £62
* Intake
i thought the entire inlet pipe n port were quite tiny compaired to the 70mm port of the TB so i dremeled off n enlarged the airbox inlet port, bonded bit of 70mm gutter pipe to it.
attached a flexible Alu tubing to gutter pipe with 90deg piece
feed it down between the ABS module n clutch bracket, tis a tight squeeze
scoops cool air from below
sand blasted n painted the airbox clips
bypassed the TB coolant pipes. now the TB barely gets warm which is good for keeping inlet air cool
to further improve breathing i cut off the TB screen n smoothed the edges
tis more responsive n revs easier now
* Sway Bar
the car use to understeer unpredictably when conering hard with the rusted original bars so brought a front n rear whiteline sway bar from demon tweeks for £200
installed front
the rear bracket bolt snapped off, replacing it with nut n bolt anyway
the seized drop link bolts were a pain. didn't wanna destroy n buy another expensive droplink, plus it's the weekend n needed car soon, so i carefully dremeled the nut edges the chiseled it off
regreased n retapped the droplinks
the rear bracket nut was just corner welded on, so i dremeled the lower corners n pryed of off
attached droplinks
bushes n bracket bolted on
the sway bar occasionally shifts to a side where the bar ends would catch on the trailing arms causing a knocking noise while the exposed grease also dries and seizes the bar over time. so i clamped a piece of PU pipe near the bushes to keep it centred
the result is incredible. with the droplink set at middle or hard it's a lil too oversteery especially in wet. but its set a lowest stiffness now and omg the car is a friggin go-kart. the sluggish response is gone. move the wheel and it just turns hard n flat n well balanced & predictable. i'm certain this mod has caused my recent increased fuel usage lol.
* Seats
now that the car corners hard, keeping seated n comfy is difficult in the old seat so n got these for £70
just comes with rails. the original subframe didn't fit so i had to mod my own.
cut the bracket off the frame
i wanted to retain the original brackets n weld em to the rails but the new rails were a tad short so i got a garage to weld an extending square pipe under the new rails, then weld the original brackets onto the entension. painted em black later
seats fitted in
seatbelt buckle anchored to the pivot
it's well comfy now and hugs nicely during cornering
* Sill Rust
just MOTed me car and it failed cos of sill rust under both rear doors, bah. i wonder, did the prev MOTer not poke hard enough? i scrambled around local garages and a small company repaired it for £70. other dealers n big repairers quoted £130-£250 !! no thxs
guy welded n undersealed the sills. now it passed the test
Phew Thank God
NOW
on the 27th i'll be starting my mega UK micra trip holiday from england to scotland to wales to london and back home which is well exciting. will be pretty wrecked in the end i figure but to cheer me up on the 30th, i'll be going to silverstone where i've booked myself a Ferrari Experience Event !!
omg i'll first be driving the lotus exige then a 360 Modena :wow:
looking forward to it, will be mind blowing i'm sure
i'm preparing a small box of essential tools incase summin goes wrong (or i could ring me breakdown cover)
i just hope the micra's up for the trek
thx for reading.
kennierobo
Buy & Sell Member
Done some nice work there mate but a little safety advice, I have those same seats and where you have anchored the seat belt buckle wont hold in a smash bolt is to thin and flimsy your best welding buckle to some flat bar drilling and attaching in the correct place on rear seat bolt on tunnel that way if worst comes to worst your face wont get all mushed up........
hey japseye
the buckle is trapped inbetween the bracket that comes off the seat base, and the seat back. but aye that seat base bracket is not the sturdiest point to withstand mega stresses. MOT garage guy says as long as the buckles attached to a solid point of seat/car incase ur upside down then it's fine.
i thought bout salvaging a seatbelt buckle with a longer bracket (eg off a transit etc) to anchor to the rear tunnel bolt but had time & cash constraint.
Sonic
nope no probs with the CAI. the feed is only just below the axle height so won't scoop in puddles. also taking it slow if there are puddles just incase.
the buckle is trapped inbetween the bracket that comes off the seat base, and the seat back. but aye that seat base bracket is not the sturdiest point to withstand mega stresses. MOT garage guy says as long as the buckles attached to a solid point of seat/car incase ur upside down then it's fine.
i thought bout salvaging a seatbelt buckle with a longer bracket (eg off a transit etc) to anchor to the rear tunnel bolt but had time & cash constraint.
Sonic
nope no probs with the CAI. the feed is only just below the axle height so won't scoop in puddles. also taking it slow if there are puddles just incase.
aye. gives better cooler air than either the warm engine bay (tried running without inlet pipe once) or the restrictive original pipe.
was dawsons car lowered or the inlet pipe sticking out too low below the bumper?
cos my ride heights stock and my inlet pipe is level with the front bumpers lower lip.
was dawsons car lowered or the inlet pipe sticking out too low below the bumper?
cos my ride heights stock and my inlet pipe is level with the front bumpers lower lip.
good luck with it sonic
oh a note about the seats i fitted, i retapped all the threads and some bolts were replaced cos they were stripped or stuck.
heres a estimate of my adventure
will clock up at least a thousand miles, whole days worth of total driving, 111L of fuel = £115
should be fun, apart from the back & bum pain
oh a note about the seats i fitted, i retapped all the threads and some bolts were replaced cos they were stripped or stuck.
heres a estimate of my adventure
will clock up at least a thousand miles, whole days worth of total driving, 111L of fuel = £115
should be fun, apart from the back & bum pain
i have a couple of problems tday
i'm finding that the polyurethane bushes on the whiteline rear sway bar always tend to seize up, even after using several types of grease, and probably causing this occasional knock noise when cornering.
was changing the bars setting tday and with the drop links unbolted, i cant barely move the sway bar.
tis a pain to jack up the car monthly, disassemble the bushes to regrease em.
any suggestions?
or maybe i should use the old rubber bushes and bore it out to 20mm to fit the bar?
2nd problem
i was trying out this cig lighter inverter device earlier, but now the interior roof light won't turn off automatically after 10secs like before. both contact terminals in the roof light assembly shows full 12v.
the car has deadlocking central locking and according to the wiring diagrams, i think somethings gone wrong with the deadlock module cos the light no longer turns off when the ignitions on.
with the headlights on, the reminder buzzer only sounds when i open the driver door, so the door switch is workin ok.
think i'll just leave the interior lighting fuse out for now to prevent it drainin the battery.
i'm finding that the polyurethane bushes on the whiteline rear sway bar always tend to seize up, even after using several types of grease, and probably causing this occasional knock noise when cornering.
was changing the bars setting tday and with the drop links unbolted, i cant barely move the sway bar.
tis a pain to jack up the car monthly, disassemble the bushes to regrease em.
any suggestions?
or maybe i should use the old rubber bushes and bore it out to 20mm to fit the bar?
2nd problem
i was trying out this cig lighter inverter device earlier, but now the interior roof light won't turn off automatically after 10secs like before. both contact terminals in the roof light assembly shows full 12v.
the car has deadlocking central locking and according to the wiring diagrams, i think somethings gone wrong with the deadlock module cos the light no longer turns off when the ignitions on.
with the headlights on, the reminder buzzer only sounds when i open the driver door, so the door switch is workin ok.
think i'll just leave the interior lighting fuse out for now to prevent it drainin the battery.
asdame, i have banned your duplicate account. If you wish to continue using the MSC please look into the very reasonable membership rates
http://www.micra.org.uk/payments.php
Hi
This is my first post on the forum so be gentle lol.
I am about to start stripping my micra vibe to change out the lower front crossmember.
It would be really good to know what needs to come off in order to change it out.
Do i need to take just the bumper off if i'm just doing the lower cross member?
Also are there any potential problems to look out for?
I have MIG Welder etc.
Any help and advice would be much appreciated.
Paul
This is my first post on the forum so be gentle lol.
I am about to start stripping my micra vibe to change out the lower front crossmember.
It would be really good to know what needs to come off in order to change it out.
Do i need to take just the bumper off if i'm just doing the lower cross member?
Also are there any potential problems to look out for?
I have MIG Welder etc.
Any help and advice would be much appreciated.
Paul