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k11stew's Micra Blog

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
edit to the new 'blog'

well the project started back in june 2001 when i bought a 1995 micra lx 1.3 as my first car, it was white, had colour coded bumpers, and side strips and was in pretty good nick. i paid £2200 for it which id saved up with my jobs since leaving school 10 months earlier.

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the car stayed standard for a couple of months, with the first mods being a k&n induction kit, clear side repeaters and some 15" almera gti alloys.

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the next few months saw the first big changes, wanting a car that stood out i was on the hunt for a bodykit, eventually finding a modified corsa one! this was fitted and painted by hadrian coachworks. next was to be my first ever attempt at fibreglass and filler work, making a custom grille. this went smoothly and really complimented the bodykit giving the front end a bit more aggresion.
after this i decided to smooth out the number plate recess from the front bumper, this would give it a deeper look, i just got a mate to paint the bumper quickly when id finished, i added a custom and slightly illegal number plate, which looked pretty funky!

around the same time on a random trip to ripspeed i found some second hand corbeau targa reclining bucket seats for the bargain price of £150, these were eventually fitted after alot of messing around with the original subframes!

pic which was in revs ages ago...

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next up was a flush tailgate, again done by hadrain coachworks, i also did a bit of messing about with one of the side strips id removed and smoothed them into the rear of the skirts! the car by this stage was painted 3 different shades of white as i knew i was going for a full respray! also added was joey sheks old dual exit exhaust off his silver k11, i think this would of been early 2002?

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as i was saving up for the respray i did a few little jobs like delocking, smoothing the side repeaters off and fitting dtm indicator wing mirrors.

heres a pic i randomly found on cisco's site of the 1st ne meet...

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a few months went by and i had a plan to fit mk4 golf headlights to the car, this was when conversions were rare! so me and alan at hadrian gave it a bash over a few nights, it went really well with the only hitch being the wiring, as the micra ran a dim/dip system and the golf lights were seperate. this kept us baffled for a while, with one headlight coming on with the sidelights, we eventually sussed it out!! no pics of it in this state, but it basically had a standard bonnet which didnt fit the lights and a grille with the 2 upright legs chopped off! the golf lights caused a stir down at our old local cruise spot 'spillers'.

not long after this it went in for the respray, while it was in i got all dents and dings removed, the ariel smoothed off, bonnet bad boy'd, and made a grille to suit the mk4 golf headlights.

general prep...

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add a bit primer...

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then the paint! wasnt sure on it but was loving it when it was on the car!

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almera gti alloys off, 17" boss xts on...

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and final paint and put back together!...

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and some arty pics!...

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*going out now, will update later*


another year, another time for a change!

having totally gone off the bodywork as soon as i finished last time i knew id have to think properly about what route i was gonna take this time.

it was a 1950's english motorbike which spurred me on, after he politely drove into the back of the car! that smashed the back bumper and scratched the tailgate.

so off came the bumper and after a month of choppin, 'glassin and fillin' it was nearly there, the extended bonnet was binned for the 'normal' bad boy id done for the wide arch k11, the front bumper went the same way and was replaced with pink princess's nippon item.

heres the w.i.p pics at the minute, there will be plenty more to come aswell!

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Allan

Ex. Club Member
Thats look well mean at the front mate, gonna look the nuts.

You do the inside of the doors yourself?
 
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bal

Guest
i think bass mechanix did it all

i havent seen this car in real life yet, do you ever go to shields or any local cruises stu?
 

goldstar0011

Ex. Club Member
Awesome man, looks to have a proper custom grille now, am loving the work you guys do, looking forward to seeing the end product and SAJ.

Again man, impressive work!!
 

micra man

Golf GTi Turbo
Nice work mate. Always thought it looked good before, however thought that the front bumper looked as if it wasn't angled right to the lines of the arches and that the lights somehow didn't look right, but that seems to have been sorted now and it should look loads better!!! Keep us updated, what colour are you going for, same again or something different?? I know what you mean about changing your mind with the styling, I've pretty much had to have the whole car redone, and I'm making sure its gunna be right this time. B)
 
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Ben

Guest
micra man said:
Nice work mate. Always thought it looked good before, however thought that the front bumper looked as if it wasn't angled right to the lines of the arches and that the lights somehow didn't look right, but that seems to have been sorted now and it should look loads better!!! Keep us updated, what colour are you going for, same again or something different?? I know what you mean about changing your mind with the styling, I've pretty much had to have the whole car redone, and I'm making sure its gunna be right this time. B)

even if it is taking4 months :p
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
not sure yet, plan is to properly finish it, feature it, then sell it, but after 5 years of ownership, i dunno!

the basis of the doorcards was done by bassmechanix, finished and painted by me and a mate.

update pics 2morro...

and goldstar, i made the custom grille months and months ago! its just been hidden behind the cacky bonnet!
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
as a few of yous know i relocated my filler to the passenger door shut, and it never really worked. the reason for that is a mystery but now its impossible to work on it because of the fibreglass 'build!

all work is being carried out at mel horn, east cramlington ind est...

so ive decided to put it in the original postion, with a little twist, which wont look standard!

was scary, but heres the before and now w.i.p!!

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micra man

Golf GTi Turbo
Looks interesting. How you planning to do it this time?? Mine seems to works fine where it is. Did you have the breather pipe put on too when you had it in the B-pillar?? :)
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
yeah, the breathers worked fine, its a total head scratcher as to why it didnt work.

but should look canny when its done!
 

micra man

Golf GTi Turbo
Strange that. The first time I used mine it didn't work, yet after that it has been totally fine lol. :) Good luck with the plans anyway. :D
 

goldstar0011

Ex. Club Member
Man I hate you!

Have always planned to do different door handles but of course you're first!
Nothing but impressive from you and your mates.
 

micra man

Golf GTi Turbo
I THINK you push the button and the handle comes out so you can open the door. Sure I have seen them on something else before. Think it was a saxo.
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
spotty dog mate!

press the button in which opens the handle out slightly (enough to get youre hand in) then pull it more to open the latch mechanism.

in reality i think the latch might open when the button is pressed but that makes no odds!

and gary...im sure we can come up with something, give me an idea of what you'd like! will have to be different to the ones im putting on the gf's k11 though lol!
 

goldstar0011

Ex. Club Member
I'm going to use corsa B handles to make the door flush without going the flushed handle route. Should be easy enough just need a door to practise on.
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
slowly but surely lol!

been waiting on a custom milled filler surround for 2 weeks which is holding everything up! couple update pics none the less...handles done.

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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
more update pics...

well the custom milled filler surround didnt turn up so it was decided we would make our own and fanny on for a bit getting it right!

that was welded in , ground down, 'glassed and filled...and everything seems hunky dory with it so far!

a couple other prep jobs were done like bringing the body line back in under the rear side windows as i want it flushed out at a differnet point. the rear bumper and back panel have been mated closer together to give a nice panel gap aswell.

bought some second hand fiesta sideskirts at about half 2 this afternoon and had a bash at shortening them to fit. passenger one is ready to go on now, drivers one is another job for after work tomorrow!!

filler cap....

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bodyline and bumper...

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sideskirts....

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getting there!!
 

micra man

Golf GTi Turbo
Coming along mate. Petrol cap looks small lol, I'm guessing you left the outer ring off it?? Can't wait to see it finished... again lol. :p
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
it is slow mate! just some days are more productive than others!

micra man - nah didnt leave the surround off the filler cap, wouldnt have anything to turn and lock it into then! bought a weld in one from atl only to discover when it came it was all aluminium! no good to weld to steel eh! thats where the 2 week delay came from, a guy said he could mill the sleeve in steel but when he brought it over it didnt lock and looked a load of ####e tbh!

will be alot of progress and late nights over the next few days to try and get it sorted for a memorial cruise on saturday for one of our boys who died in a crash last week.

doubt it'll be finished but we can but try!
 

micra man

Golf GTi Turbo
May be at that cruise if I don't go to JAE. Depends on the state of the car etc, and whether I can actually get to JAE lol.
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
more progress, but no pics!

front end is on getting re alligned, wings, bonnet, lights, grille.

new filler is now connected back up to original filler and breather!

new mirrors are fitted, little bit more prep to do on them, not aftermarket mirrors, just some off another car, answers on a postcard!

90% of prep done, just finishing off to do now tbh. not gonna rush them to be done by saturday though, another week wont hurt.

wish me luck with the last week lol!
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
more progress!!

side skirts fitted,
fiat coupe wing mirrors fitted,
grille rebuilt and fitted,
general prep...

getting primed later...

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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
whole loada primer whacked on just before...

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flattening down tomorrow, so should be paint on thursday...

then its a mad rush of new discs and pads and refit all ice ready for a car show on the weekend!
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
like a colour i dont like!?

got a full fibreglass install in there aswell remember mate!

and doing everything a different colour isnt within my budget!
 
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k11stew

k11stew

Ex. Club Member
todays progress saw:

prime,
d.a flat back,
stopper,
guide coat,
hand flat back.

more or less ready to mask up now, should be masked and papered by 11ish tomorrow.

then if the paint comes, painted in the afternoon.

few more pics, mainly guide coat and hand flat...

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actually getting excited by it again!!
 
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