PollyMobiles Rebuild

[pollyp]

time to rip out the engine loom to replace that faulty alternator wire

oops, with half the wires snapped off the terminal, a blotch of bad solder plus a loose connection where I crimped this red cable to the original/oxidised alternator 14v cable, no wonder there was a huge voltage drop to the battery

peeling all the old tape off, most of which was all brittle & very oily inside after 24yrs

so here's the layout of this engine loom.

I had a dilema of whether to keep the 24yr old white/red alternator cable & "black connector block" (neater) and crimp a new section of cable to the alternator end (more connections, more voltage drops, more failures),

or run a single, fresh, thicker cable (less connectors, less resistance, more reliable) from the alternator and simply bolt it to the cars loom separately to the "black connector block" (cos it uses a special blade terminal).

...decided to just replace that cable and began wrapping it all together (I only had red electrical tape )

fed it through the engine

you can see where I bolted the new thicker red alternator wire to the white/red wire leading the to the fusebox (bolt was later heatshrinked).
so the original "black connector block" just holds the black/yellow starter solenoid wire now.
I also joined the white/green cable & white/red cable into 1 lug terminal (make it neater) where it's bolted to the battery cable.

tomorrow I'll finish securing the new loom, and the new earthing wire

 

[pollyp]

the old P-clips are too small for the thicker cables, so I just flattened them out like this and tied the harness to them

all secured and now battery reading a good 13.2v (loaded) 14.3v (unloaded) and 0.3v voltage drop from alternator to battery.
I think the battery fuse section of the fusebox still has abit of resistance there but overall it's a big improvement

 

[pollyp]

my centre punch broke few months ago, so I just machined a new piece on the lathe and it's working again, easy fix

wednesday we had the last car meet of the year plus a secret santa gift round

one of my good friends also surprised me with a nice drawing of kassandra
luv it soo much, I added it to my wall of driving memories

 

[pollyp]

Good news, she passed her MOT with flying colours this year!
only advisory was a small nail on the rear tyre.

I'm used to seeing her initially fail on some minor things each year like worn joints, blown bulb, sticking seatbelt, rust, emissions, etc
I even ordered another spare set of spherical bearings just incase.

but nope, everything was tip-top.

This makes a nice change for xmas

 

[pollyp]

shortly after passing her MOT, Kassandra finally surpassed her magical 200k mile mark

 

[pollyp]

my friend with a Zafira was after some custom side window louvres

I traced the window shape from clear vinyl onto some perspex sheet (was suppose to order tougher polycarbonate but ended up with more brittle acrylic perspex sheet)

trimmed into shape

marked the louvres

dremelled & cleaned the slots

clamped down each section and slotted a steel sheet under the slot

after warming with a heatgun, I lift the steel plate at a set angle to evenly open the louvre shape

I accidentally snapped a brittle section off whilst removing the clamps hopefully I can glue it

vents all formed

painted the backside black, leaving the other side glossy

 

[pollyp]

the old brittle switch cover on my pillar drill was recently damaged

so I printed a new one

fixed

time to replace this loose fabric under my boot lid

fastened a spare cover with rivet nuts

 

[pollyp]

brought this independant 4-jaw chuck on ebay in the hope of centering the part for better accuracy

100mm dia 4 jaw independant chuck vs 3 jaw self-centering chuck

the backplate has holes for the 3-stud & 4-stud pattern

unfortunately it turns out the jaws are not machined perfectly parallel to the spindle axis so this rod piece spins wonky with some serious run-out (rod axis doesn't follow the lathe spindle axis)
guess I'll have to figure later how to regrind the jaws straighter

swapped back to the original 3-jaw chuck and is perfectly straight. guess the cheap 4-jaw chuck skipped some quality control

 

[pollyp]

grabbed a few slim drinks can to weld onto my decat pipe hehe

 

[pollyp]

was thinking the oyster sauce covered air filter was probably picking up some warm air behind the radiator so sometimes it feels pokier when the coolant or ambient air is cold vs other warmer times

perhaps I could relocate the coolant tank and duct the filter over to the wing panel away from heat & rain much like on Dave Shaws blue turbo micra

wiring loom may have to be rerouted from the bottom hole

printed this adapter cone for the oyster sauce can to fit some cheap 100mm flexible ducting

selected 100mm for larger area, less restriction to compensate for the turbulate tubing, plus it's only £2 for 4" duct compared to £30+ for the 2.5-2.75" duct

shortened the excess length of the pipe too

once ducting is finished it'll hopefully keep heat away from the intake

 

[pollyp]

made a compact coolant tank from an old bottle of vinegar, alloy pipe and a bracket sandwiched between the cap (which as a bonus prevents the cap top from fully sealing, allowing air to leak past the thread gaps and venting the bottle. could drill extra holes if needed)

fitted next to the radiator

enlarged the hole in the wing section to slot the flexible ducting through

 

[pollyp]

tday I chopped the larger hole for the ducting

cusioned the sharp edge with some silicone tubing

and fed the ducting through the hole

also curled up this coolant bottle hose to keep the fluid level nearby the rad cap & reduce the air gap

ducting taped onto the air filter shield/adapter

went for a test drive and oooh there is definately a noticeable difference, it feels more pokey throughout the revs with less flat spots whether the engine is hot or cold

also fitted my m8s new window louvre onto their zafira, had to patiently bend it with the heatgun to follow the curvy glass. looks cool

 

[pollyp]

decorated the de-cat pipe with some beverages

the tape melted off so I'll probably have to jubilee clip it next time

 

[pollyp]

designed this mount to fit my dremel onto the mini lathe to straighten the 4 jaw chuck

3d printed the parts

bolted onto the slider

dremel clamped on

used a loop of steel wire to preload the ends of each jaw under tension to simulate the clamping stresses

marking the jaw face with red pen and then doing a light initial pass, you can clearly see just how warped these cheap jaws are to begin with.

this explains why they only held at the very tip of the jaws allowing the rod/material to move/wobble around inaccurately

going through several very light passes with the dremel until all the red pen was machined off resulting in a straight surface aligned to the spindle axis

 

[John_D]

Very inventive solution to the problem Paul

 

[pollyp]

thank you John

just numbered each jaw and then re-centered the chuck & rods and the run-out is a lot better.
it ain't perfect, there's a 5thou difference between near the chuck and 6 inch along the straight rod, but it'll do

 

[LordJunk]

tday I chopped the larger hole for the ducting

Didn't that hurt? i couldn't...
Couldn't you get the tubing to the driver side front grille? Could have gotten a little bit of a ram air effect as well.

 

[pollyp]

Didn't that hurt? i couldn't...
Couldn't you get the tubing to the driver side front grille? Could have gotten a little bit of a ram air effect as well.

hurt? not at all, I used the dremel cutting disc on it but it was a tight space to cut around (a hole cutter would've been better but didn't have the right size).

while the slightly +ve ram-air pressure from an open CAI funnel would've been nice at high speed it has a few issues such as:
- the oil catch cans are already behind the grills,
- heat from the manifold would cook/melt the intake ducting when stationary,
- rain/snow/water would flow directly into the filter

plumbing it over to the wing panel provides a consistantly cold & clean shielded air source with non of the drawbacks listed above

 

[pollyp]

comparing the fitment of my old bumper vs a spare one

the spare bumper mount looks more original than my old ones which seems to be a poor copy part with a missing captive nut & bracing.
the old mounts are also tapered by 1mm to fit deeper into the old bumper.
so the spare white bracket mounts with a broader front section won't fit onto my old bumper

ended up having to bend/squeeze the front parts more slimmer so that it can slot deeper into the bumper without fouling

so slotting the old bumper onto the car in it's relaxed state, it's very clear to see that the drivers side of the bumper it about 10mm too wide, so bolting the sides to the wings would often deform it out of shape. I suspect this might be a cheap poor quality copy-part

whereas this spare bumper (probably original oem) fit's much closer to the wings

later in spring I'll repair & paint this spare bumper

 

[pollyp]

repaired the bumper LED wiring which snapped off

this cheap PVC flexible hose for the intake kept breaking apart from repeated bending & engine vibration

so I brought some aluminium semi-flex hose from B&Q, but it has a 103mm ID/114mm OD whereas the 90mm hole I cut was suited for the PVC hose with 90mm ID / 105mm OD

printed this 90mm - 103mm diameter adapter

the inside bore is also smoother as a bonus

now that fits snug, the semi-rigid duct holds it's shape much better and it's soo shiny

after a few days commuting, it's held up much better than the PVC hose

 

[pollyp]

the loose headunit buttons had an annoying rattle

so I wedged some card in the gaps

the plugs are still fine after 3 months

the 9yr old washer pump was starting to make an odd noise, probably worn out motor, so I ordered a new one from ebay

 

[pollyp]

haven't recorded a video & datalog for the past 6 months and now it's s bit drier but still cold Feb.
to fit the GoPro I first have to print a new better mount for it

much more rigid

went for a drive through the usual route. unfortunately the stereo cockpit mic wasn't connected properly so I ended up editing the remaining muffled audio from the exhaust & foot well camera

and here's a datalog of it.

battery is running 13.3v compared to 13v previously.
MAF at low rpm is reading slightly lower than last yr, maybe dirty.
as a result the injectors are running slightly less duty.

 

[pollyp]

cleaned the potentially dirty maf sensor & IACV after seeing a slightly lower reading in datascan

catchcans done a nice job keeping oil away from the manifold

time for a coolant change after 2yrs

wasn't happy with seeing some debris on the TB mesh and it's been 4yrs since my last air filter so I brought a new one on ebay

just look at the filthy dark old filter vs new red one

cut it open to look inside at the elements, can see tiny gaps of light where dust could leak through. been told they should be re-oiled frequently rather than left dry?

the element itself looks like a woven plastic fibre

new one installed

 

[pollyp]

time to replace this old flimsy rusty broken center bar with a new stiffer tubular pipe

this is a lot stiffer and the bonnet, catch & headlights no longer vibrate as much

 

[pollyp]

the CCS wednesday car meets at portrack lane stockton has resumed in the new year

 

[pollyp]

didn't like this tight restrictive elbow on this GT15 turbo

which limited the wastegate opening & flow

so I chopped it off

now the WG can fully open and I could fabricate a better flowing elbow onto the end

 

[pollyp]

the wheel arch lining had some annoying rattling rusty screws & loose push rivets

so I replaced them with rivet nuts & stainless fasteners

really nice to drive along with no more rattles

replaced the screenwash pump which has been whining

as usual, the shaft rubber seal was worn, allowing water into the motor to rust

graphite contacts still had plenty of life left

 

[pollyp]

removed the front wing

removed the loom to reroute it from below

chopped the hole larger for the 100mm ducting

spotted this rust hole which was letting water leak down into the a-pillar/sills, so I welded it up

but had a brief panic! when I saw smoke coming out the dashboard.
looked under the footwell behind the welding section and saw a little FIRE

as I ran to look for the garage extinguisher like a headless chicken I immediately decided to grab the nearby garden hose and soak the area.
the wiring may not like it but thankfully it worked
turned out it was just the damn seam-sealer catching fire as usual and the insulation/dash/wiring etc was fine.
that was scary.

printed this adapter plate for mounting the ducting to the wing panel

that's a straighter path

went for a drive and it's a slight improvement plus there's a bit more induction noise coming through the wing panel and into the passenger footwell

 

[pollyp]

I've been designing a new manifold for the past few months and one design requires lots of precise 10deg mandrel bend pie cuts, so I made this quick jig for the bandsaw

it was tedious work cutting, deburring & smoothing all 18 pie-cuts from 1 U-bend, 3 more to go

it's a starting point

 

[pollyp]

friends suzuki swift was having a lack of power issue recently, I tried testing every single possible mechanical/electrical issue with no faults found.

the only last resort is to check if it's starved of fuel, so I brought a fuel pressure tester

tested it on kassandra first, she reads normal.
43.5psi when first primed on IGN,
34psi when pump stops after 4sec,
34psi with cold engine at idle,
constant 43.5psi at any rpm with fuel regulator vac line unplugged.

ready to use the gauge on the Swift in few days

 

[pollyp]

extended the scissor jack head slightly taller so that it can lift the car without damaging the LED strip taped along the sills

the first intake ducting adapter didn't align well with the hole and the perpendicular angle was bending the ducting & putting stress on the pod filter

so I designed it with a smooth bend pointing towards the filter and a thicker base to stop it flexing

lined up better

now the ducting is straighter, less stress on the air filter mount and a smoother airflow

 

[pollyp]

brought some fresh covers for the new coilovers cos the old ones are slightly torn

the white alloys were absolute filthy with iron so I swapped over to my track wheels to clean them

buffed all 4 wheels with G3 compound to remove the caked iron oxide

back to wearing her pearly whites

fill this gap in my seat belt bracket so I can use the seatbelt locking clip during trackdays

replaced the fuel filter

the old WK66 filter was still intact and clean after 1yr

brought a pair of GTIR caliper rebuild kit I found on ebay for £18, hopefully replace the torn piston dust boot soon

 

[pollyp]

2022-04-02 Fit new BC BR coilovers

Time to install the new coilovers, but first I was curious to see her slammed low
so I removed the springs off the old BC V1 coilover

sickk!
the rear was wayy too low with the tyres rubbing/ripping the bumper mount off whilst pushing her out the garage, had to remove the spacers to narrow the wheel track & allow it to move

looks neat but highly impractical & inconvenient for me

removed the old dampers

swapped the rear top mounts over & matched the bottom mount length

comparing the various lengths of BC rear springs

left: the original BC V1 rear coils are 3kg/mm and 200mm long

middle: new BC BR rear coils are also 3kg/mm but only 180mm long, which might cause issues with being uncaptive when you lower it too much considering the new dampers have a longer travel

right: the 5kg/mm rear coils I brought for the V1 is 190mm long, has a wide ball shape and is curved over

the old spring perch screwed under the chassis was really seized, so decided to leave it on

cleaned the threads and screwed the new BC BR adjuster rings onto the old perch and fitted the new dampers

adjusted the bottom ring to set the rear bumpstop

until the tyres clear the arch/bumper/exhaust etc by 5mm when you jack up the axle beam

with the bumpstops set, I fit & adjust the rear springs till it sits at the target -50mm height

now for the fronts, removed the springs, roughly set the bottom hub upright ring to match the old setup

fit the unsprung strut & wheels

lift the wheel up (lock to lock) with a jack underneath (wedging the brake pedal on helps to lock the wheels steady) until it hits bumpstop and lifts the body.
measure the gap and readjust the bottom ring till the tyre just clears the arch & chassis by 5mm

reinstall the front springs with zero preload

the new front springs sit 15mm too high even at zero preload

my options are either:
-raise the bottom hub ring without touching the bumpstops, which drops the height but tyres will hit the arch during bumpstop.
-raise the bottom hub ring (to drop the height) and increase the bumpstops with washers on top to prevent tyres rubbing the arch but at the cost of reduced droop travel.
-fit helper springs to drop it by 35mm but retain the same bumpstop, bottom ring position & full suspension travel, which is my ideal choice

I first fitted the helper springs & set the adjuster ring at the lowest relaxed position to see where it sits.
it now sat 20mm below target

so now I can raise the adjuster ring to increase preload, squishing the helper spring and raising the height back up to my target -50mm lowered height

fitted the protective coilover covers

new coilovers sitting at the correct ride height

needs an alignment & corner balancing soon

 

[pollyp]

realigned the wheels with 2.4deg camber & zero toe

went for a drive and noticed a few differences to the old BC V1, which had stiffer springs btw:

• Steering doesn't 'clunk' anymore when jiggling left-right whilst stationary (the old coilover had slightly worn top mounts & damper shaft bushing)
• Much better traction (during launches, fast cornering, over crests, cornering over rippling road) with dial at full soft, probably due to softer dampening & softer springs
• Absorbs bumps alot smoother with less harshness with dial at full soft (maybe softer fast-bump setting)
• More progressive handling/weight transfer during cornering
• Passenger mirror no longer shakes as much (means less vibration is transferring to the chassis)
• Old coilover has lost 10mm of available travel compared to when new (meaning it's lost some oil over 11yrs and the floating nitrogen piston has travelled further up, reducing the overall travel space inside)

 

[pollyp]

Manual cruise control

With an upcoming long 4hr journey to/from Silverstone for japfest, I decided to make this crude hand control so that I can switch between using my leg or hands on the throttle

printed & glued handle together

cut a slot across the pedal to hold the bicycle cable, which can also be easily slipped off by my foot whenever I wanna disengage it

works nicely along the motorway

 

[pollyp]

with an upcoming trackday, my current GTIR front brakes (2yr old) seemed slightly too rusty, worn & scored.
so as a precaution I brought a fresh set of disc & pads (blueprint ADN14364 & Borg&Beck BBP1156) for use on trackdays, and use the old set just for daily commutes.

soo shiny, I just had to fit them immediately

the rim of the discs are stamped:
BLUEPRINT E11 90R-02C01275/30986 ADN14364 0141 BD26360 0208 MIN THK 23.9MM

the old discs have a larger 9.25mm vent but less mass,
whereas these new blueprint discs have a thicker mass but reduced 6.50mm vent slot.

removed the old brakes

hmm the lower ball joint dust boot is ripped, needs replacing soon

wirebrushed rust off the hub face

old brakes are slightly worn.
FR disc worn from 26.05 - 25.56mm (0.20 inside, 1.04 outside)
FL disc worn from 26.05 - 25.47mm (0.43 inside, 1.20 outside)
minimum limit is 24mm

pads have worn from 14.90 to 13mm

cleaned the carrier cage to make sure the pads can slide smoothly

new brakes fitted ready for bedding & the long journey down on the weekend

 

[pollyp]

new brakes assembled. they feel like slippery stones at the moment until they are fully bedded in after few hundred miles

began wiping & polishing the engine bay

all clean & ready for the show tomorrow

 

[Micra Paul]

My error

 

[Micra Paul]

Quote (9 April); “my current GTIR front brakes (2yr old) seemed slightly too rusty, worn & scored.”

I noticed your photo shows 2 year old discs that appear more scabby & wear rigged then my K11s 24 year old 61K Nissan OEM discs & this effectively questions the efficacy durability of GTIR & other aftermarket brake parts?

 

[pollyp]

Quote (9 April); “my current GTIR front brakes (2yr old) seemed slightly too rusty, worn & scored.”

I noticed your photo shows 2 year old discs that appear more scabby & wear rigged then my K11s 24 year old 61K Nissan OEM discs & this effectively questions the efficacy durability of GTIR & other aftermarket brake parts?

bare in mind they're driven to work every day, through all weather including salty winter, and pushed extremely hard during occasional trackdays , I'd say it looks normal given it's application and budget.

the piston or inner pad sliders might've been sticking, causing the inside to wear more with a lip.

 

[pollyp]

my sister & niece made this lovely cute ceramic model of Kassandra for my bday

 

[pollyp]

2022-04-10 Japfest Silverstone

After not much sleep, I set off at 3am to meet with a convoy in leeds

8am we all arrive at Silverstone to join the MicraMafia stand. a lot more cars & members turned up this year

it was a lovely sunny day and omg this show was insanely huge & brimmed with cars & crowds. I only walked round 75% of it till my legs had enough and I was overwhelmed with the ocean of cars to look at

everyone leaving the show at 3pm was a gridlocked nightmare

whilst stopping over for a break, fuel & checking the car, I noticed the coolant tank was almost empty
eek that could've almost overheated.
I topped it up with water and it leaked out

found the plastic bottle had a tiny crack at the bottom
bit of ducktape sealed it enough to get me home

 

[pollyp]

brought some gearbox oil to change before the upcoming trackday

 

[pollyp]

The 2yr old lower ball joint has been knocking really badly whenever the offside wheel go over bumps and also found the 5yr old ball joint dust boot has torn from the steep angle, allowing water in

taking the lower cover off and eww
the water & crap leaking through the broken rubber boot has turned the red rubber grease into solid rubbery gunk which obviously ain't helping the bearing

moving the suspension throughout it's travel, I discovered that the bearing sat at the wrong angle relative to the hub extension and the lower arm.

the bearing is only aligned straight when strut is fully compressed
but rests at a steep 22deg when fully drooped/relaxed.
SKP says the max bearing misalignment angle is just 19deg! so it's definately damaging the bearing & stretching the dust boot everytime I lifted the car

calculated I'll need to angle the end of the suspension arm by 12.5deg to keep the new bearing within it's operating range

removed the lower arms

there's always one last bolt that fights to come off

bit of patience & lube and bolt finally comes off without sheering and both arms removed

jesus, look at the horrible offside bearing

nearside bearing ain't as bad but still contaminated with moisture and worn slightly sloppy

removed the bearings and cleaned up the arms

the nearside bearing still has a shiny ball but the teflon lining has worn out & turned mushy

the offside bearing was seriously ruined by water, turning the grease to goop, rusting/pitting the chrome ball which shredded the teflon lining apart and making it loose

chopped it open for a better view

wirebrushed all the rust off to inspect the old welds

passenger arm still intact & ok

drivers side also fine

measured the bearing mount angles relative to the arm and found the passenger arm is 2deg steeper and 1mm shorter than the drivers side

to correct this issue I cut a slot near the ends

angled them upwards from 12deg to 24.5deg

and welded small plates over the slots from both sides

this should hopefully reduce premature wear for longer.
just need to paint them & fit new bearings

 

[pollyp]

brushed KuRust all over the arm to slow down the existing rust

primered

black was bit too boring so I sprayed it red instead
I recall from matt endeans comment that the brighter colour may also make it slightly easier to spot any cracks earlier

fit new bearings

reinstall the bushings & dust boot

new dust boot seems ok

arms installed

measured the new range of motions and it's perfect

the ball joint angles only max out at +-6deg from compressed to drooped (SKF bearing max angle is 19deg),
and at normal ride height, the joint sits pretty straight, which will help reduce bearing wear when steering and reduce stress on the rubber boot

 

[Chie]

Looking good mate

Sent from my SM-F926B using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[pollyp]

rest of the suspension installed & swaybars regreased

went for a test drive, chucking it round corners & bumps etc and it's fine. suspension is soo much smoother & progressive feeling with no more little clunking noises

resprayed & labelled the old rusty catch can lids

went to a last minute classic car meet over the easter weekend

visited a local m8 Jack to grab a few spare goodies
-pair of front windows (my 1993 windows are really scratched)
-rear bumper beam (min has rusted away & bent upwards)
-rear 1/4 (hopefully a bit easier to chop out the rotten lip & weld on this spare arch lip instead of rebuilding it from scratch)
-modify these manual window mech to fit my electric window motors

 

[pollyp]

cleaned the new door windows with glass polish

installed them both and wow! it's soo smooth glossy with no more eye sore scratches

 

[andy]

well i was just coming out of asda at about 5:45 tonight, and there was you walking in the door by the time me brain fucntioned and i turned around and trying to remember ya name it was to late

the motor is looking better in the flesh like had a quick look at it

 

[pollyp]

well i was just coming out of asda at about 5:45 tonight, and there was you walking in the door by the time me brain fucntioned and i turned around and trying to remember ya name it was to late

the motor is looking better in the flesh like had a quick look at it

Hehe alloallo

I was just heading straight over to portract Lane for the usual Wednesday car meet

Sent from my CLT-L29 using Micra Sports Club mobile app