My first Micra

[Theo]

Hi all, got my first Micra yesterday. I did have a Mazda 323f 1.9 petrol which I loved but was just too expensive to run. So after a bit of looking around on what to downsize to a friend recommended a Micra as the possibilities of modifying them are endless so I went and swapped the Mazda for this Micra...

As I say I only got it yesterday so haven't had a chance to do much to it so far other than take off the wheel trims and strip out the back (needs a good clean I know . ) . I'm going to have it as 'Track day' spec so strip it as much as possible. The plans for the next few weeks are...
Lower the car by 60mm
Fit a direct air filter
Thinking of spraying the steel's white
Strut bar's front and back
Remove the air con system (shh . )
New middle and back exhaust system
Bucket seat for the drivers seat (Cant change the passenger seat as I've got a child seat to go on it :'(
Little mods to the exterior (tow strap, mesh grill, wind deflectors and change the radio controlled car antenna to a bee sting antenna)
And maybe eventually if I can be bothered put a turbo conversion on it and a roll cage in the back < big 'if' for these two as they are pretty big jobs in regards to cash and time.

All in all im looking forward to modding this over the next few weeks / months and making a bit more respectable and will be updating on here as the work goes on. Let me know what you think of my plans and any ideas / feedback would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Theo

 

[1275]

That's surprised me, no power-steering?

 

[Theo]

Yeah no power steering, bit tough but I'm sure I'll get used to it .

 

[Jay101]

A facelift r reg. That's interesting. I had an r reg. That was pre facelift. Must have been the swap over year. Look forward to your progress

 

[skymera]

No power steering ftw. I HATE power steering.

Paint looks tidy, welcome to the forum

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[1275]

No power steering ftw. I HATE power steering.

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But isn't none power steering much lower geared? so lots of arm twirling required?

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[frank]

But isn't none power steering much lower geared? so lots of arm twirling required?

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a bit lower geared eh
"Power steering: 3.1 (Super S: 2.9)
Conventional: 3.8 (Super S: 3.6)"

 

[skymera]

But isn't none power steering much lower geared? so lots of arm twirling required?

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I've never had a car with power steering, so very much used to it. I like the feel of the road surface and bumps. Also I find it easier to tell when steering goes light in the wet.

When I have used power steering I feel a loss of connection between me and the road.

Lots of arm twirling? Never thought they'd be different? I think mine is about 2.5-3 turns lock to lock

 

[1275]

Ah OK cheers guys. I was perhaps under the false belief that the none powered steering Micra was getting close to 4 turns lock to lock. I guess I'll have to try one myself to see the difference. I drove Mini's and Mini based kit cars for 25 years with 2.7 turns lock to lock, but these days due to a permanent illness I need a little help, I'd very quickly be worn out without power-steering, which is a real shame as I really miss driving my Midas.

 

[Theo]

Righty then I;ve done a couple of mods today including slamming the car !! put some much wider tyres on as well so it now handles a gazillion times better than it did before! To be fair with the lack of power steering you don't even notice when you're moving, just parking or very slow manoeuvring is a bit tough, as Skymera mentioned I do much prefer the road feel, it's a LOT more responsive than power steering so I'll be keeping it that way . Anyway here's a couple of before and after shots of the work I've done today .
Before;

After;

That's my mates turbo'd Starlett that he's seriously contemplating selling to get a cheap Micra and do it up !!!!

 

[Theo]

Been doing some more work on the Micra over the last couple of days. Since I last posted I have removed the black plastic trim on the side of the car, de-badged the car a bit, removed the air con system (there was no gas in it thank god!!) I haven't removed the air con motor because the belt will be too big off the alternator so if anyone knows where I can pick up a belt to fit the engine w/out the air con motor I'd be very appreciative. Other work includes fitting a mushroom air filter, relocating the horn and last but not least got some very well priced 15" alloys but am running 55 tyres on it at the mo but need 45's as its a tad tight under the arch :/. All in all relatively small mods but they all add up I guess let me know what you think!!

 

[sr_steve]

looks clean like. reminds me of my old micra ally lol

 

[Jay101]

If I'm honest and don't take it personally but I don't like the tape on the lights. In my opinion would look much better without and maybe with flyeyes tint or what most members have done is open up headlights and sprayed inside.

 

[frank]

you would probably be best to get the lower alternator brackets and stock belt theo

 

[Theo]

If I'm honest and don't take it personally but I don't like the tape on the lights. In my opinion would look much better without and maybe with flyeyes tint or what most members have done is open up headlights and sprayed inside.

s'alrite mate. I fancy getting the flyeyes tint but the tape is a bit of temp solution until I get round to getting em tinted, also going to get some fogs lamps tinted as well eventually

you would probably be best to get the lower alternator brackets and stock belt theo

Never thought of that! Cheers

I'm loving the Micra at the moment, Just looking forward to payday so I can purchase some more mods for it, think I'm officially addicted now

 

[Theo]

Sprayed a few bits n' bobs on the car today and personally think it looks much better than the girly chrome smile it was sporting previously! also looking at getting a splitter pretty soon, I'll be getting a laguna splitter from the scrappie for the time being but is it the Cupra R splitter that fits thes? as they look reeee nice! Ta muchly! Oh also anyone know where I can get some fogs to fit the bumper on this? (the bits that bolt out on the bottom grille. cheers!)

 

[Theo]

Still modding the car with a few bits here and there, Put an induction kit (ghetto) on the car with a few old bit's I had lying around, I'm going to be moving the filter to the end of the blue pipe soon rather than having it sitting right on top of the engine, Just need to go to the good ol' scrappie to get a extension pipe to move the filter. Also got a splitter from said scrappie and it fit treats! whady'a guys think? Also does anyone know where I can get some wheel arches from that would allow me to put some 30mm spacers on with my 15" wheels? Ta muchly!...Photo's;

 

[EnterScott]

That a polo splitter mate?

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[Theo]

indeed it is mate...fits treats. got it for next to nothin from Mr scrap man n all! . I've had a look at your Micra on here before....very nice mate!

 

[EnterScott]

I've been thinking about the polo splitter, it looks class mate! What was it like to fit, any trimming needed or anything?

Cheers mate, still got a bit to go though

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[Theo]

thanks! nar no trimming needed. it was dead easy to fit....literally just screwed it into the bottom of the bumper! the hardest part was taking the towing eye out as I'm putting a strap in....seriously fiddly!!

 

[EnterScott]

I got a trs tow strap sitting in my house just now,and the tow hook stumped me! Haha honestly don't how to get it off! Haha how many holes did you put into the bumper?

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[Theo]

I put about 5 screws into the lip to get it to sit nice n' tight! works treats now . Man the tow hook is a nighmare to get off...took me about an hour! there are the two bolts that hold it onto the bottom of the car but a futher 3 that hold it to the inside of the wheel arch!! you have to push out the plastic wheel arch thingy and get your arm up inside the wheel arch to undo the top bolt...its a complete **** to get to but worth it to get it off! One of my bolts rusted through as well so I had to cut around the hole to get the tow hook off, like I said a comlete **** to get off!!

 

[EnterScott]

See the bolts that hold it under the car are already off but I just can't find the rest of it! Haha think I'll need to jack the car up to get into it then due to lack of wheel arch gap haha what side, passenger or driver side?

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[Theo]

Yeah my car was up on a lift when I did mine. the bolts that hold on the rest of the tow eye are on the passenger side wheel arch about a foot up inside the arch but you can only get to it from underneath, it'll all make sense once you're under the car, just fiddly as hell to get to!!

 

[EnterScott]

Ah okay, ill have a look tommorow , cheers buddy

 

[Rangerallen]

That looks tidy mate i like the blue

 

[Theo]

Ah okay, ill have a look tommorow , cheers buddy

Any luck with getting your towing eye out mate? My tow strap came today so put that on, havent got any photos, bloody crappo weather!!
In other new I took noonoo the air induction / hoover intake off and salvaged a rather handy elbow to put on my air intake thus moving the air fitler to a more reasonable place, Plus my mate had a spare air filter going so I chose to swap over the mushroom filter for this one. Had a lil' engine breather come today as well as I was driving around with no filter on at all .
In other news I've got some bucket seats to put in the car as well, Just need to make a subframe with some steel piping from good ol' B&Q and they'll be in! can't wait! anyway enough of me rattling on! photos;
New air intake pipe / filter & engine breather fitted.

My very well priced bucket seats, Just got to get my engineering on the go to get them fitted!

 

[EnterScott]

Never got a chance to properly look, was going to do it while I was putting my alloys om but was using my dad's factory and he was in a rush to lock up so couldn't have a good look, I did see a bolt under the wheel and thought it might have been it though haha is it quite a big bit that comes off? Or is it just that little hook?

Seats look class mate

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[Theo]

yeah its quite a big bit that comes off. where you can see the tow eye that bolts into the bottom of the car the rest of it bends 90 degrees up behind the wheel arch with further 3 bolts in it. you can't see it unless you take the side panel off but if you get your hand up there next time your cars up you'll be able to feel em...like I said before it sooo fiddly. yeah I'm pleased with the seats. just got to go to B&Q to get some materials to make a safe subframe as I've got a two year old son so don't want to bodge it!

 

[Theo]

Haven't uploads any photos of the actual car for a while so took some whilst the sun was out today also since I've last posted any photos of the car I've rolled the rear arches to give a bit more room for the back wheels (not that you can tell . )

New tow strap fitted;

Worse for wear looking passenger side;

The Micra's backside;

Backside from another angle;

Gave the engine bay a bit o a degrease to get the gunk off!;

Clean(er) engine bay;

 

[SuluR]

Haven't uploads any photos of the actual car for a while so took some whilst the sun was out today also since I've last posted any photos of the car I've rolled the rear arches to give a bit more room for the back wheels (not that you can tell . )

New tow strap fitted;

Worse for wear looking passenger side;

The Micra's backside;

Backside from another angle;

Gave the engine bay a bit o a degrease to get the gunk off!;

Clean(er) engine bay;

Looking good mate

 

[Theo]

No new mods for now but got a couple of shots of mine and my mates Micra's together. He's had his a couple of weeks now from standard and has already stripped it, put some bucket seats in, put a roll cage in and banged on some nice 13x8 steelies! very nice if you ask me! Micra fo lyf!

 

[Theo]

Right then guys, I know its been about 10 years since I updated the build but I've slowly been fettling away. Not done much other than strip the car out a bit more, fitted the bucket seats (need to get another harness for the passenger seat). Decatted the second cat on the car, fitted a deep dish steering wheel and boss and thats about it.
I had a right game fitting the new steering wheel as when I fitted it and took out all the old airbag sensor system, the dash including the speedo, fuel gauge and indicators decided to stop working all together, after checking and rechecking all the fuses me and a friend came to the conclusion that a circuit must not be meeting up on the steering column, after removing the boss there was a little white plastic shim type thing that cancels the indicators when you turn, it turns out that this was spring loaded and needed to be wedged in so as the dash and indicators work! **** knows how it works like this but we got it all working again after a good hour of head scratching!! anyway enough of me rambling, heres some photos!!

 

[Dougyledds]

Right then guys, I know its been about 10 years since I updated the build but I've slowly been fettling away. Not done much other than strip the car out a bit more, fitted the bucket seats (need to get another harness for the passenger seat). Decatted the second cat on the car, fitted a deep dish steering wheel and boss and thats about it.
I had a right game fitting the new steering wheel as when I fitted it and took out all the old airbag sensor system, the dash including the speedo, fuel gauge and indicators decided to stop working all together, after checking and rechecking all the fuses me and a friend came to the conclusion that a circuit must not be meeting up on the steering column, after removing the boss there was a little white plastic shim type thing that cancels the indicators when you turn, it turns out that this was spring loaded and needed to be wedged in so as the dash and indicators work! #### knows how it works like this but we got it all working again after a good hour of head scratching!! anyway enough of me rambling, heres some photos!!

Eurghhhh its blue!

Get a picture of pedo George on the dash! lol

 

[Theo]

Ah maan Doug, you told me it was red! This colourblindness is taking the piss now!
Pedo George gets a bit shy, he might make an appearance at a primary school near you soon

 

[Theo]

Salvaged a noice stainless steel backbox from the scrappy today with the brackets already on thanks to a tip off , will be fitting asap!!

 

[skymera]

Salvaged a noice stainless steel backbox from the scrappy today with the brackets already on thanks to a tip off , will be fitting asap!!

What's your plan to fit it?

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[Theo]

Lots of banging and swearing later on today most probably! I decatted the car a while back but thats blowing like **** so I've got to sort that today as well.
I'm just going to cut off the old back box where it's welded to the pipe, make a shim then slide this back box over the current pipe, clamp it on and put on a healthy dollop of exhaust putty and hope for the best The hangers more than likely won't line up perfect as it was custom made for a 106 but I'm sure I'll 'engineer' them to fit!!
I'll more than likely be reporting back later on of how it goes, maybe even with a lil' video of the result

 

[Theo]

Hi guys! been a while since I've updated the build. I got bored of the ally's on plus they looked a touch chavvy so I thought I'd go for something a little more suited to the car. Pretty much purely by luck (but mainly my best mate owning a garage and knowing loads of people) we sources to staggered banded steelies, they are 13x8's and even came with some 175 / 50 / 13 Dunlops pretty much brand new just a bit grubby! so awesome find by my standards!! I've also got some polo 6n coilovers to put on but the drill is broke so need to wait to get hold of one so we can modify the fronts, so hopefully they'll be going on next weekend!. any way enough of me rambling on, here she is with new shoes

 

[MicrAde]

Really liking this.....

 

[Harlen]

This car is so cool Ever run into any problems with that front plate arrangement?

 

[Theo]

Thanks! no problems as of yet, although I am planning on getting a square plate and fixing it to the left

 

[markbognor]

Nice.

 

[AlexMck]

Loving this build!!

 

[mphgoose]

This is looking really awesome! Love it!

 

[Matt Finn]

Bit of a thread ressurection here, Just wondering how you lowered it originally?
More interested in the rear setup tbh

It looks insane on those steelies!

 

[Dougyledds]

Bit of a thread ressurection here, Just wondering how you lowered it originally?
More interested in the rear setup tbh

It looks insane on those steelies!

It was cut springs mate if i remember, he's a local lad to me but this micra was swapped in the end it was planned to have polo coilovers on but they went with it i think

 

[RyanEllis]

Any luck with getting your towing eye out mate? My tow strap came today so put that on, havent got any photos, bloody crappo weather!!
In other new I took noonoo the air induction / hoover intake off and salvaged a rather handy elbow to put on my air intake thus moving the air fitler to a more reasonable place, Plus my mate had a spare air filter going so I chose to swap over the mushroom filter for this one. Had a lil' engine breather come today as well as I was driving around with no filter on at all .
In other news I've got some bucket seats to put in the car as well, Just need to make a subframe with some steel piping from good ol' B&Q and they'll be in! can't wait! anyway enough of me rattling on! photos;
New air intake pipe / filter & engine breather fitted.

where did u get this induction pipe from?

 

[Theo]

Off a Van out the scrap yard, paid £4 for it . I've sold the Micra now and now have moved up to a MX5 (want to jump on the drift bandwagon!!). I loved doing my Micra up and do miss it a lot! but a local guy has had it and he's into modding his cars as well so hopefully it should live on! In regards to my '5 I think I'm going to go down the time attack look route , I learnt a lot from modifying the Micra and a lot of hours went into it but hopefully what I learnt will help me in future with the MX5 . Peas out boys!