• Please only use these forums for blogs, they are not a discussion forum

Horkan's Shamalam

Hey guys, been meaning to do this for a while now, finally got some time to do it.

Anyway, as some of you may know i have a 2002 Micra 1L Tempest in a delectable silver. I'll apologize now for any grammatical errors, i'm on my mother's craptop.
(TLDR the lower bit if you fancy)
So the story starts when I was 17. My first car was a P reg stock as could be Micra. I absolutely adored the thing. It was covered in stickers...

(not in a stickerbombing sort of way, but in the way that you would cover a skateboard in stickers. As at the time all I used it for was for skateboarding and hauling my mates around. As you do at that age.)... and I stupidly used to smoke copious amounts of cheeba in it, not something I do today that's for sure. I got caught once or twice, both hilarious stories I'll tell ya'll in the future. I "bought" it from my auntie with about 60k on the clock, my auntie being a slightly posh essex'ite meant that she kept the car in perfect condition. Drove it for another 70k and had no problems what so ever... until I hit a blind spot on the way to work and I got hit by an angry Volvo estate. The arch enemy of all small cars. Needles to say I had a massive dint in the side of my Peter(it's name) so scarred but not destroyed. However because of the sills it wouldn't have passed it's MOT. Did think about modding it at the time but all my moolar was spent on boards. I was so gutted at the time, it seemed like the best thing in the world at the time and it never let me down.(bar needing to kickstart it off the drive everyday as the alternator was working correctly, got a cheap battery and it was alright for a while.)

Then I got a new car, easily one of the worst decisions I had ever made was buying a 5 door 04 Renault Clio. Why 5 door you may ask? I figured it would be easier to ferry my mates about. Didn't think about the added weight. D'oh! I got it for a whopping £3650 with 36k on the clock, the gear knob had some awful signs of wear which I should have used as an omen for the rest of the car but I didn't. The car was alright on the whole, handled and seemed to perform better than my micra but it had no proverbial soul whatsoever. I just felt totally detached from the whole driving experience. Something that I used to love my Micra for and something I definitely now love in my current car. So I drove to about 75k and for some reason I had an inclination that when the car hit 75k it was going to die on me. ANNNNNDdd it did, I work/used to work 30 miles from my home and I was/am doing a delivery job on top of that so I was doing a ridiculous amounts of miles a month. As such with the car being french It was always going to give up the second it needed someone to rely on it. I could have sold it to webuyanycar for a grand but I didn't manage to do it before it went kuppet.

======TLDR END======

So i got the my current car for £500 of some bloke on gumtree, apparently he buys ruined cars, fixes them up with his mate and then sells them on. The car seemed alright on first inspection(as it always seems to... annoyingly)few cosmetic problems, key marks here and there but no rust. The bumper is dented the roof has 2 dents on it too just by the windscreen. Looks like it was just painted up to cover it over as it seems to have started to turn that ominous colour.

From the looks of the Pink CD player in it and the rub a dub ( a local club night ) sticker on the back I figured that some dumb blonde promoter had owned it. So i thought, meh the engine should be in alright knick I'll take it. The car did have some mega lows on the way home, mostly because of the seller who would have given a sumo a run for his money. It seemed pretty nippy too when i was driving behind in my coughing spluttering clio. Even with all the added weight. Got home swap the keys and proceeded to peruse my new purchase.

IMG_0148_zps7eb6258d.jpg


These aren't the alloys that came with the car btw, I got these wolfrace ones from the scrappy for 100. Turns out one of them was buckled, that or I needed sprigot rings.

IMG_0201_zps52ce51a9.jpg


Pic of when i was going to sell them. They look reeeeeeally nice when new on this car, if you've seen The dutch silver surfer you'll know what I mean. His car is something I'm taking inspiration from but putting my own style on mine.

A few weeks after getting my car I locked myself out after finishing a long day at work. Luckily this (see below) complete legend show me how to get into my car.

IMG_0160_zps21c559d5.jpg


He was just coming to get some stuff from my work and he kindly helped me to get my door open again.

IMG_0161_zps849de233.jpg

Success!! Stoked.

Around this time I was starting to post on the forum's so after chatting to SrSteve for a bit i went and seen his former gorgeous green 1.4 and he was selling his induction kit because it was draining too much fuel.

IMG_0258_zpsd2d7ad8b.jpg

As you can see I've modded the stone guard to let the intake through. Not bad for a single cut.
IMG_0262_zps14e80eb3.jpg


IMG_0225_zps633a3914.jpg

Sprayed my grill chrome pieces. Pound land primer and matt black. Never really sprayed anything before so I was pleased with the results.
IMG_0224_zpsdc3154a3.jpg

Speakers from my old micra getting wired in.
IMG_0227_zps88471c01.jpg

Sprayed them BLACCCK too.
IMG_0231_zps991db39e.jpg

Speakers in, note the ****ty pink CD player. And the free gear knob(which just so happens to be the one I had in my old micra) that the bloke at the scrappy said I could have.

IMG_0228_zpsdcbd29ff.jpg

Grill on and the alloys that I swapped for the wolfrace ones, getting a scrapyard owner to take something back is one hellofa task.
IMG_0229_zps23dd9222.jpg

Rev counter clocks in, note the super low 600 rpm idle. mmmm. Oh also....!!! These are the stalks I have, fat ones. If anyone has a fat stalk with front fogs on PLEEEEEEEEEEEASEEE let me know.

IMG_0243_zps8e9832ea.jpg


Swapped the dash surround and fascia plate with my mam's facelift. I preferred the silver effect as opposed to the anthracite I had previously. Probably going to spray them anyway but ah well. Again, fat stalk in shot.

Got some Zenon bulbs next. And an LED interior light.
IMG_0252_zps68ecb6aa.jpg

Before...

IMG_0251_zps9131560e.jpg


After, much nicer.

Then went about foil tapping my air intake. Not sure if it helps much, surely cannot have 0 effect on temps at the end of the day. Micra mclaren f1 engine bay init. anyway, if anyone's bothered you can get some from B&Q for £5 for a 50m roll.
IMG_0277_zps39cd3de2.jpg


I know my engine bay is filthy too; before people start telling me to clean it :p Anyone got any recommendations on Oil and Grease cleaner and wheres the cheapest place to get it?

Then finally I got my fogs and splitter from the scrap 20 for fogs and 10 for splitter.
IMG_0288_zps0c931273.jpg


Pretty pleased with how it looks. Might fill the gap from the bumper to splitter one day when I get round to painting all my plastics.

So TLDR I know but I wanted to finally get round to posting a thread. I apologize now for the sheer mass of the post.

What do you guys reckon then, should I debump strip?
 
Lookin good mate, nice motor! To be fair, I'm usually all for de-bump stripping but yours look quite nice, nice shape & colour coded so don't think they'd ruin the look of the car if you left them on!?

I'd spray the splitter & grey bits of plastic the same colour as the grilles though... They're the worst part of the late facelifts imo...

Where did you get the LED interior light from? Any pics?

Also, oven cleaner is meant to be really good for cleaning & de-greasing the engine bay, haven't got round to trying that myself yet though so don't quote me...

All in all, lookin good mate, can't wait to see where this goes, defo one to watch!...
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Cheers guoys XD

Something that should be done this week is spraying the plastics. Might try and get my lows sorted too.

Gonna chop my springs at first, then get coilies and corsa b shocks when I've got the cash.

As for the interior light, I got 2 from eBay for like £1.99. 42mm is the size you need. Zenons were only £7 too. H4 472.

Today though I'm gong to install my pioneer door speakers.

On that note, what's the deal with needing a different battery for extra power needed for a sub/240v socket? Would love a little sub amp combo for the boot, nothing too loud, just something to deepen those 90's dance tune lows.
 
Cars looking good mate not a fan of the tin foil wrap though lol. Other than that I'm free this weekend if your wanting.lows. DoD you say you got a job in Gateshead?
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
I know, it does look a bit daft, should help temps till I can get a decent silicon tube. I've broke the original pipe in a few places so its duck taped together. Haha

And aye I got a job at teleperformance, next to Harry ramsdens area next to the metro centre. So yeah Gateshead ish, still a bit of a mish to yours but still.
 
I know, it does look a bit daft, should help temps till I can get a decent silicon tube. I've broke the original pipe in a few places so its duck taped together. Haha

And aye I got a job at teleperformance, next to Harry ramsdens area next to the metro centre. So yeah Gateshead ish, still a bit of a mish to yours but still.
Just 10 mins down the western bypass really. Not too far :)
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
FFS I'm sick of this snow!! I've got **** to do! Will someone please tell the Gulf Stream to sort it's life out! :p anyone know the best places to get good rattle cans? Need to spray my plastics and I was wondering do I just need to prep the plastics. What sort of grit paper should I use to get a super fine finish? Would 1200grit be ok?
 
Halfords isn't bad like. Use it all the time. Or if you want to go for a bold colour get a tin of montanna which they use for graffiti. They have some lovely colours
 
I use simoniz paint from my local autofactors... Both primer & paint are good quality, quite cheap & go a long way... Just use the normal primer rather than plastic primer (I wasn't fond of the results on the plastic primer)

Also autotek etch primer is brilliant on any surface but pongs quite a lot so use in well ventilated area!...
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Halfords it is then. Choices choices choices. Might go for satin black, I think gloss would be too much to keep clean. You ever tried one of their scratch removal kits?
 
Also, for any colour coded bits you need to do I've heard really good things about auto-paint.co.uk from a few people & they sell colour coded paint in rattle cans too!

But honestly, for black bits whatever you used on the grilles looks like a good finish so keep it cheap... Wilkinsons is good for spray paint too!...
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Also, for any colour coded bits you need to do I've heard really good things about auto-paint.co.uk from a few people & they sell colour coded paint in rattle cans too!

But honestly, for black bits whatever you used on the grilles looks like a good finish so keep it cheap... Wilkinsons is good for spray paint too!...

Thanks mate, ill check them out. Need to fix the scratches and dents before they get any worse. So ill need a good colour coded paint.

Want to get a facelift spoiler fitted and that could do with a respray also.

Is it worth drilling the holes to fit it? Or should I just saw them off and use a load of tigerseal?
 
Can't comment on that myself really... I've got a rare OEM spoiler painted up waiting to go on but it bonds to the glass...

My thoughts would be you can always fill & paint holes if you ever wanna remove the spoiler, tigerseal would goose it up but best getting the opinions of people who have done both methods...
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Can't comment on that myself really... I've got a rare OEM spoiler painted up waiting to go on but it bonds to the glass...

My thoughts would be you can always fill & paint holes if you ever wanna remove the spoiler, tigerseal would goose it up but best getting the opinions of people who have done both methods...

Aye you're right. Ill just do that. Peace of mind too.

Steve you up for giving me some lows this weekend then?

When painting the greys, is it better to take the bumper off or can I achieve a good finish leaving it on? Given that I mask up fully.
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Right guys, bit of an issue with my car. I've got white smoke coming from the exhaust.

I've got an induction, could it have something to do with the air fuel mixture?

I've also seen it could be the beginnings of a blown head gasket. My coolant reservoir seems to be emptying faster than I thought it would. Oil seemed a bit low but could be to do with the miles I've been doing.

Anyone got any idea what might be causing this. Just had a full service too.
 
Right guys, bit of an issue with my car. I've got white smoke coming from the exhaust.

I've got an induction, could it have something to do with the air fuel mixture?

I've also seen it could be the beginnings of a blown head gasket. My coolant reservoir seems to be emptying faster than I thought it would. Oil seemed a bit low but could be to do with the miles I've been doing.

Anyone got any idea what might be causing this. Just had a full service too.

Your coolant shouldnt really be emptying at all bud, if you take your oil filler cap off look for white gunk (like off yogurt) if you have this you've probably mixed oil & water (as you say blown headgasket)
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Every car Smokey at the minute mate. I'm no scientist but it will be the same result as your breath out in the cold?

I only say as I never had this problem with my old Micra.

UPDATE;
• cleaned engine bay with WS, cheers Steve.
• stripped the paint from the centre plastic grill piece back to chrome. Looks sweet, like 2 eye brows. (Needs a respray when I get time too
• wire brushed the bit of white paint off my polo splitter, 30 second job but looks 10times better.
• Pound shop valve caps in anodised orange(looks nice honestly)
• foam cleaned my tyres and they're looking good too.
• got some ex. trim wipes from halfrauds, £4.49, good make and they work better than the black pack stuff does.

Had a browse at some bumper paint but I'm still sceptical. Anyone used it?

Also some old geez with his facelift micra was getting a universal roof rack fitted by the "we fit" morons. I told him he could get a car specific one, over the moon to hear it. Gave him a few service tips and window/radio/fuelboot release system info. He was dumbstruck by how good mine looks.

His words not mine. Now he's either partially blind or my paint work isn't as bad as I reckon.
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Also need to sort my pollen filter and or heater controls.

Getting sick of the asthmatic baby coughing gently to warm the windscreen up.
 
did the ws work well then? be carfully with dust caps some of them ones are designed to self weld o. i wanted to blow a tyre up once. had to go and get valve replaced
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
I had but it was flaking so I just stripped the centres back. Was just a test when they were black anyway, never sanded them up before I painted them.

Not sure what I prefer now. Defo not all chrome that's for sure


... Thinking about it, it matches the lights like this. However when I Matt black the innards of the lights ill go full Matt black with the bumpers reprinted too. Need to wait for some good weather for that though.
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Just cleaned my pollen filter, massive difference in blow rate. Just need to get some new heater controls to fix only working on full speed issue.
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Look under your glove box for a couple clips either side. Pull those out and the glove box will come out.

Behind that there is a black box with 2 gold screws in. You should have a perforation in the plastic, cut that perforation and you'll see the clip/slider that blocks the filter access. At the bottom of that thing will be either a clip or a screw, black small screw. Undo that, slide the guard down and you'll see the filter behind.

Pull the filter out(might need a jiggle), clean it and replace. Then just go backward through the steps.

Job done.
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Update:

Hey guys, so this car is no longer going to be my project car. My GF is having it instead.

So today I went and bought an R red 1.3gx.

Usual stuff needs doing, arches need doing sills ok though. Apparently been driven by an old woman from new, it's still got the stock CD player in so it probably has.

Engine seems alright, pulls well. Wheel bearing on offside needs doing and the wheels need swapping for my alloys.

Crossmember is fine and there's no rust in the boot which is always a good sign. By the looks of the paint work though it looks as though its never been washed! Haha

Pics soon, this will be my project from now on.
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Update, this is the new car guys. 1.3 GX 5 door 108k(elderly owner)

It had all kinds of filth on when I bought it. Looked like it hasn't been cleaned in years.

F19DF278-D190-47BC-B351-539997CAEBC2-713-0000006DF9A353F8_zpsf93693b3.jpg


A6BB7922-625A-4F61-B556-322090CE4080-713-0000006E0196086B_zps69855bce.jpg


2627DAB1-81F0-4E4A-8ED0-4E718252A895-713-0000006E07683183_zpsc6dc9f2c.jpg


Now after a clean...

97434C49-DDF6-4D0D-9F86-C6DEF371501C-713-0000006E172B4F77_zps03fb2cf0.jpg


4E715C59-85DB-4AF0-B185-DE38FD16C3C4-713-0000006E1CC4B0AF_zps349797bf.jpg


647DB34C-4A1E-4430-8334-9206C2F6DC2F-713-0000006E22A0FEED_zps2affc6a6.jpg


085568D7-3DC6-4869-BEF6-092566E380F3-713-0000006E32B0BA4E_zpsc3cd2ee8.jpg


Thanks to SrSteve for the debadge!

More updates coming soon, bodywork is going to need a lot of work afterall.
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Sounds good belly. Waiting till I've got something done first haha

Right, update, should be getting the following very soon:
421 mani through to a sportex
Super s clocks
Alloys and splitter swapped over cars
Lowering springs 40fr 50rear
Adjustable Panhard rod
And the MH rally induction kit
SR front seats

Possibly a strut brace in the future too.

Then I need to sort the shifty stock radio and sound system.

Hoping the exhaust ain't gonna be too loud haha

Fingers crossed.
 
OP
OP
Shamalam
Here's what my car will look like lowered(3 heavy men in back)

B94FC484-7B74-499B-9C18-C0044D4CA4D2-1936-00000191068230B6_zpsfac7c94a.jpg


Painted my wheels today too

D9434DF8-EDF2-4B31-A73F-C19358122928-1936-00000191127F874E_zps862be78f.jpg


620926EA-EB78-4496-9ECD-8BDCA0AE3D84-1936-000001911D2029C2_zps2be84143.jpg


F6B09ECD-8D50-404B-88B5-592A057E022A-1936-0000019122E926DA_zps49bfb9ed.jpg


Also got part one of my new exhaust setup...

Sportex

74188CC6-7BDD-409C-8FA7-7A3EC278100D-1936-000001912975D037_zps3f88c9cf.jpg


Manifold etc coming soon. Hopefully getting lowered tomorrow too.

Wanting to get rid of these hideous bumpstrips and also going to colour code the bumper plastics/door handles.
 
Top