Project Turtle the Turquoise Miicra!

[Scott]

Sooooo we bought this little baby on monday night off Allan on here (cheers mate). and we paid a decent price for it. It failed its MOT on some small issues which will soon be rectified, mainly rust. Plan was to strip it down and make our money back but we all agreed the bodywork, bar the rust was too good to crush, but not worth fixing to sell on due to a rattly timing chain. So it was decided....Official RR Developments Track Car....

Good idea as our unit is located 5 minutes from Knockhill (cheap trackdays) and 45 minutes from Crail (cheap drag).

As we received it....

Nissan Micra SR 1996 (pre-facelift)
1.3l CG13DE
5 speed manual
comfy interior
lowered on springs (brand unknown)
14" alloys with new tyres.
front and rear disc brakes
infinity 6 x 9's in the parcel shelf
opening rear windows
cigarrette lighter!
electric windows
fog lights
sunroof

It has a great spec. Although none of that matters cause we've tore it up already. Full interior out. Rear windows out. Door cards off. Window regulators off. Headliner out. Sunroof coming out soon. All the sound deafening is already ripped out and gone, exposing a few rust holes in the process...

the plans :

SR20DE, thanks to chunky on AOC for supplying at a decent price!
AD22 almera GTi front brakes proportioning valve and Brake Master Cylinder
Corsa B coilovers
Plastic windows
Blank sunroof.
Weld in floor pan bracing
Put in a roll hoop with rear bracing legs (more for rigidity than roll safety)
4-2-1 header
2" exhaust exiting out the side
15" Almera GTi alloys
Green filter

Main focus is on the chassis works. more pics to follow as time progresses.

This wont be a short time project. Mainly when we have cash and parts. And for our own benefit of getting some experience in doing this sort of stuff!

Will update as time progresses

 

[will930]

wow been busy looks like you stole r-reg's car! haha well looks identical haha


good luck with the progress mate and keep us updated on how it all does etc!

 

[Eire]

Just seen this over on AOC, best of luck with it lads

 

[frank]

sounds like a plan scott (Y) i thought you would have kept it as a daily for yourself tho fwn

 

[Scott]

sounds like a plan scott (Y) i thought you would have kept it as a daily for yourself tho fwn

Well i considered it. But as im still only 16 and in full time school I couldnt afford to run it. I would be relying on my summer job cash which right now is all going towards actually learning to drive/insurance and any other fees and costs along the way. But dont worry cause my maw has a K11 so ill be using that

 

[r-reg-sr]

good save!!!!! shame you aint running him as is (with welds then mot)
amazing plans though ,,,,see em through!!!

QUOTE=will930;447762]wow been busy looks like you stole r-reg's car! haha well looks identical haha


good luck with the progress mate and keep us updated on how it all does etc![/QUOTE]

will i had to have a quick look outdoors stop scaring people,:grinning:
,my 1.0 lx got lifted exactly like franks 4-5 years ago

 

[tat2_mike]

i'm gay for this colour ! (got a chubby)

 

[Scott]

Update time :

Not alot has been done but enough to warrant some pics.

Most of this week and weekend has been spent on the turtle.

So far we have removed the whole interior. Seats, carpets, headliner etc.
We have also removed rear windows and sunroof which will be replaced with plastic windows. The front electric windows have now been changed for manual ones to save weight. All sound deadening in the car has been ripped out for weight saving. All the dashboard and heaters etc has been removed. and alot of wires that arent needed have been removed.

Along the way, alot of rust has been found on the floorpan, inner arches, outer arches and the front crossmember (main causes of MOT failure)

So we started on removing that :

Hole on floor pan cut, welded and coated in zinc primer!
Still alot more welding and rust removal still to go.

We then started on extra chassis bracing. With some spare 2" exhaust pole lying around a welder we started on the rear.

 

[Scott]

The rear seatbelt brackets has had the pole welded between them and we will probably just fabricate our own rollcage kinda thing.

And also the SR20 has been paid for and courier paid so it should be with us soon and then the real fun begins.

 

[karlj]

Nice progress, have you thought about removing the spare wheel well?

 

[Guy]

Just as an aside, I'd turn the voltage on the MIG welder up a smidge, the welds look a bit patchy . Fantastic project by the way.

 

[Scott]

Probably not. Dont particularly want to be taking massive chunks from the chassis and the welder we have is pretty sh#te.

With the SR20, we hope to have it running down at 600kg or thereabouts so it will be about 270hp / Ton. Which will be alot of fun.

 

[Scott]

Just as an aside, I'd turn the voltage on the MIG welder up a smidge, the welds look a bit patchy . Fantastic project by the way.

Its a cheap welder so were not expecting amazing result lol but thanks for the advice (Y)

 

[mullet]

Looking awesome quite a similar colour to mine So what's happening with all the parts you have taken out like the leccy windows?

 

[RR_dev]

the welder only has two power settings, 75 and 90amps. those welds were at 75amps

its quite terrible tbh lol.

further info for you guys here! i fitted an Almera GTi fuel pump to this tonight without any issues.

 

[Scott]

THey will be forsale

So electric windows, rear pop-out windows, sunroof, SR bumpers and fogs, 30mm lowering springs, SR mudflaps. 1.3 engine(cam chain rattle), SR alloys etc...

If anybody is interested in these parts just drop me a PM and we can sort something out.

 

[Scott]

Oh and we also swapped the Micra fuel pump for an Almera GTi one. Straight swap and works fine (Y)

 

[tat2_mike]

nice progress guys. (Y)

 

[Scott]

Front crossmember getting taken off so a new, non-rusty one can be fitted (Y)

 

[tat2_mike]

do i spy doghnuts ?

 

[Guy]

270hp / Ton

In a Micra? I think I've just had a man accident :laugh:.

 

[RR_dev]

do i spy doghnuts ?

nope, muffins, at the grand price of 30p. i love evening reductions at asda

In a Micra? I think I've just had a man accident :laugh:.

we are aiming for 600kg without the driver. and 160hp out of the SR20 with intake / header / exhaust / advance timing / other little tricks.

it'll pwn my autech at the least!

 

[tat2_mike]

the good old whoops section of asda. bargains to be had. nice progress btw. (Y)

 

[Scott]

Bit of a setback.

Engine was all ready for collection, courier came to pick it up...

Driver apparently said " aw its bigger than i thought it would be" and ######ed off.

An email to paisley freight and the reason was...it was leaking oil and there was nothing there to lift it onto the truck with. Which is a load of rubbish as the engine was drained of all oil and there was a forklift present....

I hate couriers

 

[r-reg-sr]

courers are good mate.........,,mainly the old school pigeons though

 

[Scott]

Losing faith in couriers...

They have an awful habit of breaking things such as camshafts that were packaged with enough wood,bubble wrap and fragile tape to survive a nuclear war, headlights, fog lights etc... ( do they play football at the depot with these items?)
One courier we used to send a bonnet took three weeks to just collect it.
Another courier lost THREE starter motors.

And the drivers are always in ####y moods.

So in my opinion, couriers are rubbish. But what can we do? Royal mail arent much better...

 

[Scott]

1.3 engine is now out

 

[Scott]

SR20 delivered today.

(Y)

 

[tat2_mike]

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes !!!!!

sorry :blush:

 

[mullet]

Exelent!!!

 

[Sunburn]

Very interesting project, with an awesome SR20 (Y)

Don't know in UK, but in italy that version is called Super S; SR is the name assumed after restyling.
The rear disc brakes means tha is equipiied with ABS, i suppose...
And those rims aren't 13''?

Anyway, grats and good work! :laugh:

 

[will930]

nice one mate what are you doing with the old engine? lol

(no i do not want another one)

 

[Scott]

Very interesting project, with an awesome SR20 (Y)

Don't know in UK, but in italy that version is called Super S; SR is the name assumed after restyling.
The rear disc brakes means tha is equipiied with ABS, i suppose...
And those rims aren't 13''?

Anyway, grats and good work! :laugh:

Thanks mate

We have both the Super S and the SR here.
Yes it has ABS with the rear discs.
And the alloys are 13s

nice one mate what are you doing with the old engine? lol

(no i do not want another one)

haha its up for sale mate no good to us

 

[Scott]

A productive day i would say

So we started off with an Almera GTi driver side engine mount, which was then grinded down so it would fit into the current space of the micra mount.

As you can see the Almera mount is alot bigger than the Micra one.

After that was done, the micra steering wheel and indicators were replaced with ones from an Almera, along with some GTi clocks.

Then the fun began, The engine pallet was pushed into the engine bay just to get it out of the way but then was lifted up into place and bolted onto the car (Y)

It was then jacked up into the right height.

Its a veerrryyy tight fit on the drivers side with all the pullys, maybe a bit of hammering should get some more clearence.

And clearence of the plenum,

We decided to install the custom dog-box we had floating around

Unfortunately it has a lot off tranny losses and has to crap every mile or so... so off it came, soon to be replaced with the Almera Gearbox.

I also started on removing the wiring loom from the donor car, the blue one you can see sitting in the background. Its fate is to be scrapped with parts going towards getting the micra running.
R.I.P S265CJL. 18.0 seconds to 14.9 in your lifetime. along with 4 engines.

We have decided to use the Almera engine loom, and interior loom and just splice into the loom that runs the stuff backwards of the dash (lights, fuel pump etc...)

When the gearbox was roughly put into place, we realised that the gearbox side mount would be needed some fabrication doing.
So far the conversion is going well,

 

[frank]

looking good scott (Y) i think i would have used the 1.3 g/box personally (to gain more clearance) and used a GA flywheel (redrilled for 8 bolt fitting)

 

[Seb_]

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx282/rrdevelopments/IMG_0745.jpg?t=1300573597

How many DogPower does he add ?

 

[Scott]

looking good scott (Y) i think i would have used the 1.3 g/box personally (to gain more clearance) and used a GA flywheel (redrilled for 8 bolt fitting)

Never knew the CG box would fit, but when we measured the length of each gearbox, there was only an inch or 2 diffrence in length, and the driveshafts were pretty similar in terms of length and thickness.

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx282/rrdevelopments/IMG_0745.jpg?t=1300573597

How many DogPower does he add ?

She doesnt add much. Normally cant handle the power and has to go eat.

 

[Guy]

Cool upgrade then, 160 horse power and 1 dog power .

 

[Dave Bull]

Never knew the CG box would fit

It doesn't!

 

[frank]

It doesn't!

different bellhousing bolt spacing no doubt, but would still be my choice for an sr16 or sr20 (with some ally welding ?)

 

[Scott]

It doesn't!

Thanks Dave (Y) p.s cheers for the knockhill passenger ride

 

[Scott]

I take it no-one got the dogbox joke? :laugh:

Oh well

RWD anyone?

 

[Scott]

Ok update time.

All necessary wiring was removed from the Almera today and inserted into the micra. Everything was put into place. Really all that needs done now is to connect to an engine loom and join it to the back wires and it should start when required....

It will then be joined to this big mess....

We also hit a snag today regarding the brake master cylinder. The Almera one fits fine without an engine in there. But with the engine in that place ^^^ it fouls on the whole unit. The Almera Brake master cylinder sits a good 2.5 inched further forward than the Micra one. So weve decided to swap to a non-ABS setup from a Micra.

 

[Scott]

Also coilovers have been purcahsed now (Y)

 

[Eliot]

I keeping my eye on this thread! Always wanted to see an SR20 done form scratch. You planning on running a turbo aswell?

 

[Scott]

No current plans for turbo. But maybe in the future.

 

[karlj]

Not chasing little bandits title?

 

[RR_dev]

Not chasing little bandits title?

thats not a title which can be chased on a low budget project like this.

Dave has been a great help to us through his knowledge, both with the micra and my pulsar builds.

 

[will930]

this is looking good and you know your stuff for only 16 mate big thumbs up (Y) if only i had space and a mig/tig id be well happy

 

[karlj]

thats not a title which can be chased on a low budget project like this.

Dave has been a great help to us through his knowledge, both with the micra and my pulsar builds.

Cool make it your own (Y)

And like Will said if I had the space and the equipment :down: