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Revmau5 Bikra Build

How to ruin a Micra...
So...finally got round to starting this. Apologies for the lack of pictures as I go through, and gaps in the story. Feel free to enquire though! I had more pictures but I guess if they ever turn up, I’ll add them in.
So…October 2011 I purchased my lovely Micra. A nice off white (no idea what colour code, looked like a 1980’s fridge though).
Upon general inspection it wouldn’t start or run (did take a jump start though). It had a hole so big in the sill I was considering installing stairs through it into the cabin. Also needed 2 CV joints, unless something had got in through that massive hole and was knocking furiously at my harsh cornering. On the plus side - new crossmember though, so I was happy at that.

Step 1: Buy Micra. Nissan Micra Shape. (Poverty Pack by the looks of it!) Total Cost: £80
Step 2a: Inspect all fuses and relays. (Fuse missing from the charging circuit, might explain why it wasn’t charging and thus flat battery?)
Step 2b: New battery and new fuse. Starts fine now, also replaced 2 CV joints. Total Cost: £50
Step 3: Rust. :(
Step 3a: Cut the rust out. Ouch!
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Step 3b: Cut some pieces of plate, roughly the same size is fine. :D
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Step 3c: Weld & Grind - Repeat.



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Step 3d: Isopon and Paint!
Step 4: Respray (I had some Ford Diamond White...looked fine lol)
Step 5: Lowered - Daewoo Matiz Rears and Corsa B Shocks. [Thanks go to Frank] Total Cost: £40
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Step 6: MOT'd Total Cost: £37.50 (Ridiculous!)
Step 7: Number Plate Relocated to OffSide. (My Black Mazda 6 hiding there too!) Total Cost: £10
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Step 8: Backbox Removed - Slightly larger tail piece. Total Cost: £20
 
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Revmau5

Step 9: Green Wheels! Kawasaki Green and a Brush! :D
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Step 10a: Buy Some Spares. Total Cost: £20
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Step 10b: Buy and Scan Inlet Manifold Gasket. Total Cost: £1
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Step 10c: Convert to DXF in Adobe.
Step 10d: Laser Cut flange. Total Cost: £10
Step 10e: Make "minor" adjustments due to ID10T error lol.
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Step 10f: Respace, cut and weld. Boo. :( Not too concerned about inner lip as pipe will fit in here and be filled with nice smooth weld.
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Step 10g: Tack 10mm holes for injectors, checking spacing issues caused by any warping. Nice fit though!





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Step 10h: Purchase Throttle Bodies. GPz1100's - Total Cost: £10 (eBay - delivered.)
 
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Revmau5

Step 10i: Blank off injector holes. Turns out these are ideal for vacuums later.





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Step 10j: Compress pipe in vice to make oval. Tack and mock up with throttle bodies.
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Revmau5
Awh thanks chaps! Trying to get some budget bhp's!! Built not bought - loved that methodology! Not sure what to do next. I'd love a high-linkage rally style gear shifter, possibly going to make an exhaust mani too. I'll dream something up but ideas always welcome!

Cheers Frank, inspired by you - as you well know haha!!
 
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Revmau5
LOL! Excellent. Do you just sit an offer up random car manifolds until one fits?! Genius like.

4-1 though? Then where to take that flange? Gearbox in the way? I was thinking about some tight mandrel bends and another CNC'd flange lol. I was gutted when my inlet mani didn't fit right lol, seriously need to measure like 60 times, cut once. Can the exhaust be done on separate flanges? Would allow slightly more room for my excellent ability to make a hash of things.
 

frank

Club Member
equal length 4 into 1 for top-end eh, and the flange is where you fit the turbo onto :D
you could cut-n-shut the headers i suppose
 
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Revmau5
Don't even start me...you know i want to do a backyard turbo build! Maybe if i had a spare engine and crane i'd do a full rebuild.

Daunting though, turbo's are something i know little about. If only Northern Ireland had a Frank!
 
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So what's next in backyard'ing? Are bigger injectors worthwhile? It feels as though it's lacking some real kick mid-upper rev range. Could be my lack of proper inlet trumpets mind you. Like i said i need to dyno it, but would rather have all the mods in place first. Just a feeling like it's a little hesitant you know? Maybe this is a known issue and has been explored?

Either way, next steps welcome. Promise one day i'll turbo it Frank - before you say it lol.
 

frank

Club Member
yes i was daunted about fitting a turbo mate, but it turned out a lot easier than i thought. and wished i tried it years ago. ;)
you need to read your a/f/r,s really, usually if any of my projects have flatspots or is gutless, its just because its leaning out and needs more fuel
 
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Revmau5
Yeah see that's what i thought!! How do i increase that, without making my car as un-conomical as my Mazda lol.

Fuel Pressure Reg? Injectors? Rail?
 

frank

Club Member
you tend to need the extra fuel at the topend eh, so higher pressure and/or bigger injectors will overfuel lower down and give a boggy throttle response.
so you either need some management or rising rate reg
 
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Revmau5
That's a pretty impressive fit too. I love how these things just work haha.

So frank, are you saying Nistune to me here? I'm in Northern Ireland. Might as well be the Easter Islands when it comes to getting work done from mainland UK!
 

peposhi

Once I win the Euromillions...
Excellent work, man!
... Just a thought...
What would you think about a self built roll cage?

For the extra bhp you'd need some extra safety perhaps :)
 
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Revmau5
Fantastic idea. Even just for looks i'd have one.

Problem for me though is weight lol. Mild Steel is wayyyy to heavy and i can't weld anything else.

Then MOT, so it'd need to be removable. I couldn't have a decent one and rear seats either. So that would again be no good for MOT. Things are MUCH stricter in Northern Ireland where you have to MOT at a DVLNI Test Centre. I'd need SVTC (Change) certificates and such, it's probably more hassle than it's worth.

Safety is critical, but i guess i'm not racing it...nor driving around with the pedal welded to the floor. That said though, brakes are high on my list of priorities probably in the next few weeks in fact. No point in going faster if it takes you longer to stop!

How do I find out about Nistune, Emerald etc? Any good right-ups around? Literally know zero about them.

Also, what are these Wideband and Narrowband Kits? Again something i know nothing about.

Knowledge please! :D
 
Personaly I'd ditch the Nissan efi and go for the likes of DTA, emerald, megasquirt etc they give you a lot more options but they are expensive
 
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Yeah, im not liking this. Goes against the build not bought mantra! :( If you look up, you'll see none of my individual mods cost more than £80 which is the price of the car...lol.

Makes sense really lol. Are these the only sole option? *Big Sigh*
 
I'd imagine there's a way to keep the Nissan efi it's just that a new stand alone system would give better results. Megasquirt is a build yourself system.
 

Low Rider

Poindexter
Founding Member
Moderator
Club Member
Yeah, im not liking this. Goes against the build not bought mantra! :( If you look up, you'll see none of my individual mods cost more than £80 which is the price of the car...lol.

Makes sense really lol. Are these the only sole option? *Big Sigh*

'Bought' on the MSC is a myth :rolleyes: Most cars on here get 'built' then 'broken', someone else then takes the parts and another car/cars gets 'built'. A sticker saying '100% recycled' would be much more appropriate given the amount of parts whoring on here :p

I wouldn't worry too much about mantras, you seems to be doing just fine :)
 
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Also, you need to simply that turbo build thread for idiots like me.

I need a step by step guide!! Either that or you can double the amount of questions i already ask!
 
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Revmau5
I know I'm getting a bit post-aholic here but also wondering what diameter of exhaust for the manifold and rest of the system we were all using? Cheers as always!
 
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Revmau5
I read this so much i ended up printing it out!!

Not sure i understand RRFPR's though, or how they work. Your DIY builds are so complex! Different springs, all these different add-ons to get fuelling right. My brain can't cope. Really!

RRFPR is one solution yes?
As well as a rubber coller to decrease the diameter of the inlet?
 

frank

Club Member
you just use the manifold vacuum to lower the fuel pressure basically, so that during idle there is about 10 psi of vacuum in the inlet mani (or minus 10 psi of boost).
and as you open the throttle the vacuum gets less (minus 5 psi @ cruise etc)
so @ low throttle the fuel reg is holding the pressure in the rail at 20 psi or whatever, and when you whack the throttle open that vacuum disappears and the spring in the reg cranks the fuel pressure up to 40 psi.
and as the boost kicks in the diaphram pushes the spring down even harder (to 60 psi or whatever)
the rubber insert consentrated more air onto the maf to recalibrate it basically, and my cut-off maf is a bigger 60mm dia, so the maf senses less air around it (and does,nt top-out/max so early)
 
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See...since my throttle bodies go into a common plenum, with the MAF...I could just specify the correct diameter or plenum for the same results? Just hack a bit off the lower end of the air flow channel on the MAF then? Lol.

[EDIT]: Also, what's that random component you removed behind the dash?!
[EDIT II]: When are you making me a set of Frankensteels?
 
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Revmau5
Bikra has died.

Oil still in it - hard cornering, won't tell you what speed. Noticed a little rattle in the bottom end which has led to my Micra dying a big end bearing sort of death. Such is life.

Bought a new Micra, and at least now i have a test bed for all my stupid Motorbike throttle body work so i'm not ruining my only car. Once i get a to do list sorted i'll start a new blog. :)
 
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