is that Finland, judging by the tree's?
There's something nice about older cars, even the lights have a personality
There's something nice about older cars, even the lights have a personality
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Ryan's Micra Blog
- Thread starter flyboypuoi
- Start date
OP
OP
It sure is. And they sure do. Especially when you fiddle with the lights and make them extra nice.
I made the sidelights yellow, added side markers where the JDM indicators would be and gave it two extra tail lights (inner ones are tail/fog on a dual filament)
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
You wouldn't be able to recommend a bright t10 led (red) just I need something for my foglight as normal red bulbs go white quick and some red LEDs are just too dim
Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app
OP
OP
Your fogs use T10 bulbs? Can I see what they're going into?
Assuming it's a reflector housing with a lens, I guess the best option after a regular T10 would be one of those new COB LEDs. Not the cheapest but they're bright, work alright in a reflector usually, and can be red. I don't know if the red ones are as bright as the white ones though.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Yeah it uses the reflector and yeah cause it's a later facelift march light and I'm using the reverse ,
I've tried the 5 bit led dash/side light and they are crap , filiment bulbs go white really quick (it's uses the same fitment as a t10 but bigger bulb forgot the model lol)
Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app
OP
OP
So are you using the right reverse light as a fog light? I'd be surprised if those are T10, that would be too small, you sure they aren't T20? My lights are.
When you say the bulb goes white, do you mean the red coating comes off?
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
OP
OP
My holiday became a lot more complicated due to a small disaster, hence no updates until now.
So, picking up from where I left off. Oh, and there will be a K11 after this post, to keep it valid. I just had to use a different post as I'm limited to 30 pictures. (I couldn't use all of them!)
So, we needed our car to pass the yearly inspection. This is just the equivalent to the MOT.
Despite it leaking petrol, it passed without any remarks. Very nice, will visit this guy next time.
I couldn't just let petrol leak from the line though, so I repaired it. Got myself some nice tools for home too, assuming they get through security tomorrow.
I noticed a sedan N13 shortly after. Looks like they have bigger windows on the rear doors. Damn, I knew I should've got a sedan.
Someone let us use their car pit to repair the fuel leak, which made it much easier. I just cut the rusted line and replaced with some hose which was very clamped in.
And so, we were off.
I had a great time driving on the country lanes, which are what get raced on in rally events, including the WRC (which I watched!)
There's still some dust settling here after pulling a little skid.
All of this dust, however, means that cars get very dirty very fast.
So that needed to change.
Much better.
Not bad.
I found out that someone has repaired this side indicator poorly. The lens doesn't really fit to the wing, and the bulb socket has been replaced with a generic one. What's worse is that it's all held in with some kind of sealant, which was coating the bulb. The bulb wasn't even in the lens properly.
So I decided that I would probably grommet off the euro indicators, and rewire the side markers to their JDM origins.
Warning: NSFW:
So, everything was going according to plan. We had made half of our journey. I went to overtake someone at 100+kmh, and suddenly, violent vibration happened from the rear left. The car was still stable, but it sounded like the wheel was trying to break free. We feared that it was a puncture, and stupidly enough, the wheel in the spare compartment is the original rear right wheel with a puncture!
Luckily, the tyre was fine.
But upon inspection, I noticed something was broken...
This is when the complications started showing.
Oh yeah. That's pretty bad.
Not many photos for a while as there wasn't anything to photograph.
We gingerly limped ahead to the nearby city we were aiming for, which was a bit precarious as motorways over here don't have much of a hard shoulder, if at all in some places.
I couldn't get the car any faster than 50kmh without it shaking.
Now, imagine being somewhere you've never been, in a foreign country, with nowhere to stay, no eBay or Amazon, heck, even posting items in general is so much more complicated.
So I reached out to the Nissan Club of Finland, which I joined when I got the car.
After a few days of last-minute hotel booking, and plenty of awkward language-barrier phone calls, one person found us a lower control arm. We gave him extra cash and a chocolate gift to come and drive to us to give it to us. We got really lucky finding this part, and I can't thank the guy enough for selling it to me, and for extracting it from his car (which I'm guessing by the body-cutting wasn't the most easy).
Now then, it wasn't over yet. I still needed to get the old one off and this new one in. Luckily the car shops around here are incredible. You can buy a million different types of tool for any purpose, so I was going to buy individual spanners.
Then we got lucky once again!
Someone who lived in the city we were in offered us the use of his garage and tools. Suddenly this started to look good!
So, off to his garage, wheel off, and here's the control arm.
But, there were complications again.
First of all, the new arm wouldn't let go of its bolt and bushing. We did eventually get the arm free, but at the cost of destroying the bolt and the bushing.
Next, of course, the inner bolt on the broken arm wasn't moving at all. I managed to at least get the nut off of it, but we had to cut the bolt and bushing free from the car, destroying those too.
Carefully I took the car back to the hotel once again, now with just one control arm holding the wheel on (along with the coilover and ARB). At least this time if I went faster than 50kmh, it would wobble but not rattle loudly.
At least I got some cool car park shots.
The next day or two consisted again of parts searching. This was happening on the weekend, which over here means every single shop or whatever is closed.
And without websites like eBay, finding a new bushing wasn't easy. In fact a Nissan dealership told me that there wasn't even one in the whole country! Importing it would take weeks, and, I forgot to say. I had a plane to catch back to the UK in a few days!
An additional obstacle here was that the bolt we cut through wasn't just a 33-year-old generic bolt, it was a camber bolt, for aligning the rear wheel. Our new garage friend turned out to be one of the committee members of the Nissan Club of Finland! So we went on a little road trip to the NCF headquarters, where an old-new-stock camber bolt was waiting for us. The box looked 30+ years old, but the bolt looked new.
I've seen many interesting Nissans, mostly from the 80's, but I can't dump all of the photos here. This one I had to add though. This is a rare Nissan Echo. From the mid 60's! This is the club bus, which is now a camper.
We went for a drive with it, to a motorcycle meet!
The NCF kindly gave me a magazine before I left, and they gave me an official NCF window sticker!
It was an awesome day with some awesome people.
While we were getting the bolt, we found what may have been the only new bushing for the rear control arm for a mid-80's Nissan. We paid extra to get it delivered ASAP to the local car shop. But... it wasn't there on the day.
We had to get the car back to where it stays when we're not there, which was 5 hours away, we had a taxi booked and tickets for a train. We really had only a couple of hours to get this done, and the bushing hadn't arrived!
After maybe an hour of rather painful waiting, it finally got there, and we all rushed to the garage (Well. Went at 50kmh).
So, wheel off again, showing the lack of control arm...
New camber bolt with the old nut...
Originally this was just so that I could see the orientation of the camber bolt, but hey, here's that picture.
We borrowed the use of a hydraulic press, got the new bushing in, got the bolt in (had to find a spacer that we lost), and, at long last, it was in.
No more shaking, wobbling, all good as new. It even drives straight too.
I've run out of photo space now, but we managed to drive to the opposite side of the country in time and get our taxi and train.
And it was all thanks to the Nissan Club of Finland, and a handful of people that I had only just met.
I seriously can't thank these people enough, especially the one who let us use his garage & tools, tirelessly searched for our parts, drove long distances for us and much more. There's only so much chocolate and fuel money I can give, but my pockets are pretty empty after all of this last-minute hotel booking. I promise to help all I can if you're in my country and have a problem.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
So, picking up from where I left off. Oh, and there will be a K11 after this post, to keep it valid. I just had to use a different post as I'm limited to 30 pictures. (I couldn't use all of them!)
So, we needed our car to pass the yearly inspection. This is just the equivalent to the MOT.
Despite it leaking petrol, it passed without any remarks. Very nice, will visit this guy next time.
I couldn't just let petrol leak from the line though, so I repaired it. Got myself some nice tools for home too, assuming they get through security tomorrow.
I noticed a sedan N13 shortly after. Looks like they have bigger windows on the rear doors. Damn, I knew I should've got a sedan.
Someone let us use their car pit to repair the fuel leak, which made it much easier. I just cut the rusted line and replaced with some hose which was very clamped in.
And so, we were off.
I had a great time driving on the country lanes, which are what get raced on in rally events, including the WRC (which I watched!)
There's still some dust settling here after pulling a little skid.
All of this dust, however, means that cars get very dirty very fast.
So that needed to change.
Much better.
Not bad.
I found out that someone has repaired this side indicator poorly. The lens doesn't really fit to the wing, and the bulb socket has been replaced with a generic one. What's worse is that it's all held in with some kind of sealant, which was coating the bulb. The bulb wasn't even in the lens properly.
So I decided that I would probably grommet off the euro indicators, and rewire the side markers to their JDM origins.
Warning: NSFW:
So, everything was going according to plan. We had made half of our journey. I went to overtake someone at 100+kmh, and suddenly, violent vibration happened from the rear left. The car was still stable, but it sounded like the wheel was trying to break free. We feared that it was a puncture, and stupidly enough, the wheel in the spare compartment is the original rear right wheel with a puncture!
Luckily, the tyre was fine.
But upon inspection, I noticed something was broken...
This is when the complications started showing.
Oh yeah. That's pretty bad.
Not many photos for a while as there wasn't anything to photograph.
We gingerly limped ahead to the nearby city we were aiming for, which was a bit precarious as motorways over here don't have much of a hard shoulder, if at all in some places.
I couldn't get the car any faster than 50kmh without it shaking.
Now, imagine being somewhere you've never been, in a foreign country, with nowhere to stay, no eBay or Amazon, heck, even posting items in general is so much more complicated.
So I reached out to the Nissan Club of Finland, which I joined when I got the car.
After a few days of last-minute hotel booking, and plenty of awkward language-barrier phone calls, one person found us a lower control arm. We gave him extra cash and a chocolate gift to come and drive to us to give it to us. We got really lucky finding this part, and I can't thank the guy enough for selling it to me, and for extracting it from his car (which I'm guessing by the body-cutting wasn't the most easy).
Now then, it wasn't over yet. I still needed to get the old one off and this new one in. Luckily the car shops around here are incredible. You can buy a million different types of tool for any purpose, so I was going to buy individual spanners.
Then we got lucky once again!
Someone who lived in the city we were in offered us the use of his garage and tools. Suddenly this started to look good!
So, off to his garage, wheel off, and here's the control arm.
But, there were complications again.
First of all, the new arm wouldn't let go of its bolt and bushing. We did eventually get the arm free, but at the cost of destroying the bolt and the bushing.
Next, of course, the inner bolt on the broken arm wasn't moving at all. I managed to at least get the nut off of it, but we had to cut the bolt and bushing free from the car, destroying those too.
Carefully I took the car back to the hotel once again, now with just one control arm holding the wheel on (along with the coilover and ARB). At least this time if I went faster than 50kmh, it would wobble but not rattle loudly.
At least I got some cool car park shots.
The next day or two consisted again of parts searching. This was happening on the weekend, which over here means every single shop or whatever is closed.
And without websites like eBay, finding a new bushing wasn't easy. In fact a Nissan dealership told me that there wasn't even one in the whole country! Importing it would take weeks, and, I forgot to say. I had a plane to catch back to the UK in a few days!
An additional obstacle here was that the bolt we cut through wasn't just a 33-year-old generic bolt, it was a camber bolt, for aligning the rear wheel. Our new garage friend turned out to be one of the committee members of the Nissan Club of Finland! So we went on a little road trip to the NCF headquarters, where an old-new-stock camber bolt was waiting for us. The box looked 30+ years old, but the bolt looked new.
I've seen many interesting Nissans, mostly from the 80's, but I can't dump all of the photos here. This one I had to add though. This is a rare Nissan Echo. From the mid 60's! This is the club bus, which is now a camper.
We went for a drive with it, to a motorcycle meet!
The NCF kindly gave me a magazine before I left, and they gave me an official NCF window sticker!
It was an awesome day with some awesome people.
While we were getting the bolt, we found what may have been the only new bushing for the rear control arm for a mid-80's Nissan. We paid extra to get it delivered ASAP to the local car shop. But... it wasn't there on the day.
We had to get the car back to where it stays when we're not there, which was 5 hours away, we had a taxi booked and tickets for a train. We really had only a couple of hours to get this done, and the bushing hadn't arrived!
After maybe an hour of rather painful waiting, it finally got there, and we all rushed to the garage (Well. Went at 50kmh).
So, wheel off again, showing the lack of control arm...
New camber bolt with the old nut...
Originally this was just so that I could see the orientation of the camber bolt, but hey, here's that picture.
We borrowed the use of a hydraulic press, got the new bushing in, got the bolt in (had to find a spacer that we lost), and, at long last, it was in.
No more shaking, wobbling, all good as new. It even drives straight too.
I've run out of photo space now, but we managed to drive to the opposite side of the country in time and get our taxi and train.
And it was all thanks to the Nissan Club of Finland, and a handful of people that I had only just met.
I seriously can't thank these people enough, especially the one who let us use his garage & tools, tirelessly searched for our parts, drove long distances for us and much more. There's only so much chocolate and fuel money I can give, but my pockets are pretty empty after all of this last-minute hotel booking. I promise to help all I can if you're in my country and have a problem.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Last edited:
OP
OP
Now for those K11 photos, because after all, this is Ryan's Micra Blog.
On the road trip with the NCF friend, we spotted a heavily modified rat-style preface. Too bad I couldn't get a photo.
There was this first-face at the NCF HQ. Second-face headlights, with the indicators desaturated, some alloys with NS2 tyres (everyone seems to have them over here), and smoked side indicators.
At the rear it had JDM facelift tail lights, which I had not seen in person until now, and they look much much nicer in person. It had some kind of custom exhaust too.
I had a look inside the interior, I should've got a photo. LHD cars don't seem to have a foot rest for your left foot! That sucks!
The Scandinavian cars have heated seats, and the switches are in the centre panel, where we have an empty compartment.
They also have a headlight washer switch next to the headlight aim switch (either a blank panel or literally empty space on our cars). It looks really out of place, it looks like a preface switch, which of course is different.
We also checked out this customised first-face on the way back. Nice.
Anyway, that's all for now.
I have a plan ready for when I get home. Eddie and I are going to be leaving for JAE in the early hours on Saturday.
So, I get home on Friday afternoon/evening. I need to:
Change my rocker/valve cover screws for some nice bolts that should be on the other side of my letterbox at home,
go to the hand carwash assuming it's still open,
get back and cover my car in wax,
clean grease off of the interior and other areas, and assemble the interior which is still kind of in pieces,
buff off the wax,
and get an early night as we're leaving at like... 5am.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
On the road trip with the NCF friend, we spotted a heavily modified rat-style preface. Too bad I couldn't get a photo.
There was this first-face at the NCF HQ. Second-face headlights, with the indicators desaturated, some alloys with NS2 tyres (everyone seems to have them over here), and smoked side indicators.
At the rear it had JDM facelift tail lights, which I had not seen in person until now, and they look much much nicer in person. It had some kind of custom exhaust too.
I had a look inside the interior, I should've got a photo. LHD cars don't seem to have a foot rest for your left foot! That sucks!
The Scandinavian cars have heated seats, and the switches are in the centre panel, where we have an empty compartment.
They also have a headlight washer switch next to the headlight aim switch (either a blank panel or literally empty space on our cars). It looks really out of place, it looks like a preface switch, which of course is different.
We also checked out this customised first-face on the way back. Nice.
Anyway, that's all for now.
I have a plan ready for when I get home. Eddie and I are going to be leaving for JAE in the early hours on Saturday.
So, I get home on Friday afternoon/evening. I need to:
Change my rocker/valve cover screws for some nice bolts that should be on the other side of my letterbox at home,
go to the hand carwash assuming it's still open,
get back and cover my car in wax,
clean grease off of the interior and other areas, and assemble the interior which is still kind of in pieces,
buff off the wax,
and get an early night as we're leaving at like... 5am.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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Hi mate, loving the engine swap!
Did you use the CG10 ECU or the CGA3 ECU?
Did you use the CG10 ECU or the CGA3 ECU?
OP
OP
Hey. I used the CGA3 ECU. Apparently the CG10 ECU underfuels under load. You can use it though.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
OP
OP
Right! Back in the UK. There's no time to waste!
Some stuff had arrived while I was gone. The bottom two I had sent ASAP while I was away, the top one is for a later mod.
The engine was pretty gross from the swap, so I cleaned it up a bit, and swapped over my new bolts for the cam cover. Looks good! Probably should've gotten myself some washers too as the bolt heads are small. Maybe some time later. They're M6x25mm I think.
Time for a wash... The bonnet, bumper, both doors and other various areas were caked in grease and oil and stuff from the engine swap. Oh and I had Eddie with me.
Cars looking nice, tyre shine and all. Time for some wax. Except. It's kinda raining. Hmm.
Well, we did a little interior work, then I went ahead and waxed most of my car.
Meanwhile Eddie finally sorted out his floppy door card fabrics.
What I thought was a good photo actually required some censoring. Too bad the wiper arm in the foreground didn't quite do it.
Securing the ECU was such a pain. In fact I didn't even bother with one of the bolts.
Car buffed off and looking quite tidy. Of course we'll need to clean them up again when we arrive tomorrow. But for now it's good, and hopefully the wax keeps the dirt off a bit.
Interior fully assembled, and LCD backlight changed for a fresh white one. Still needs cleaning in here because of the engine swap, but I may not have time for that.
I kept forgetting that the rear right mudflap was looking crap! I ghetto-ly chucked some vinyl paint on it, which promptly all ran off of it (carwash might have left some waxy stuff on it). It's looking pretty dire now, but better than before, hopefully nobody notices it.
Ripped off a bunch of skin pulling off Eddie's doorcard handle.
JAE Here I come! See those of you who are going (or are there already) tomorrow!
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Some stuff had arrived while I was gone. The bottom two I had sent ASAP while I was away, the top one is for a later mod.
The engine was pretty gross from the swap, so I cleaned it up a bit, and swapped over my new bolts for the cam cover. Looks good! Probably should've gotten myself some washers too as the bolt heads are small. Maybe some time later. They're M6x25mm I think.
Time for a wash... The bonnet, bumper, both doors and other various areas were caked in grease and oil and stuff from the engine swap. Oh and I had Eddie with me.
Cars looking nice, tyre shine and all. Time for some wax. Except. It's kinda raining. Hmm.
Well, we did a little interior work, then I went ahead and waxed most of my car.
Meanwhile Eddie finally sorted out his floppy door card fabrics.
What I thought was a good photo actually required some censoring. Too bad the wiper arm in the foreground didn't quite do it.
Securing the ECU was such a pain. In fact I didn't even bother with one of the bolts.
Car buffed off and looking quite tidy. Of course we'll need to clean them up again when we arrive tomorrow. But for now it's good, and hopefully the wax keeps the dirt off a bit.
Interior fully assembled, and LCD backlight changed for a fresh white one. Still needs cleaning in here because of the engine swap, but I may not have time for that.
I kept forgetting that the rear right mudflap was looking crap! I ghetto-ly chucked some vinyl paint on it, which promptly all ran off of it (carwash might have left some waxy stuff on it). It's looking pretty dire now, but better than before, hopefully nobody notices it.
Ripped off a bunch of skin pulling off Eddie's doorcard handle.
JAE Here I come! See those of you who are going (or are there already) tomorrow!
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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OP
OP
Early next morning we set off. So early that we were alone on the roads. We went and got some fuel from a 24/7 card-only station.
It was a very long but somewhat uneventful ride there. Somewhere around 240 miles I think, but our trip counters differed because of our wheel radius difference.
Eventually we were there. Eddie tried to sneak some last-minute Sharpie repairs to his paint but was busted.
I haven't got a lot to say about the event really, the pictures say it all!
The next morning...
As we were about to leave. nissan boy came with us so we were a trio. We drove line abreast in the field, looked like Top Gear (or GT). Damn, we really need to convince someone else to get one and ride with us, three is awesome.
Obligatory Maccas shot.
Halfway home, a little more of an interesting ride. Had to share the outside lane breifly with someone who thought that he'd move into my lane despite me approaching much faster.
We stopped to cool down, and Eddie forgot his Fanta on his spoiler.
There were some amazing looking skies on the way home (at the top of a massive hill too) and other than some congestion at a few exits, it was pretty clear, and we could drive next to each other. We had handheld radios for the trip which really adds to a road trip with someone.
Our cars looked pretty low with this curb.
It was an awesome time, and I'll do my best to go again next year. Nice to finally meet people that I'd only heard of for all these years.
Good photo of me sitting in the shortie:
Maybe there will be more K11s next year?
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
It was a very long but somewhat uneventful ride there. Somewhere around 240 miles I think, but our trip counters differed because of our wheel radius difference.
Eventually we were there. Eddie tried to sneak some last-minute Sharpie repairs to his paint but was busted.
I haven't got a lot to say about the event really, the pictures say it all!
The next morning...
As we were about to leave. nissan boy came with us so we were a trio. We drove line abreast in the field, looked like Top Gear (or GT). Damn, we really need to convince someone else to get one and ride with us, three is awesome.
Obligatory Maccas shot.
Halfway home, a little more of an interesting ride. Had to share the outside lane breifly with someone who thought that he'd move into my lane despite me approaching much faster.
We stopped to cool down, and Eddie forgot his Fanta on his spoiler.
There were some amazing looking skies on the way home (at the top of a massive hill too) and other than some congestion at a few exits, it was pretty clear, and we could drive next to each other. We had handheld radios for the trip which really adds to a road trip with someone.
Our cars looked pretty low with this curb.
It was an awesome time, and I'll do my best to go again next year. Nice to finally meet people that I'd only heard of for all these years.
Good photo of me sitting in the shortie:
Maybe there will be more K11s next year?
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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OP
OP
About time to clean up the engine swap mess. I dragged the CG10 to the back of the garage and onto a pallet. It's heavy.
I decided to take the taillights that I had pre-packed out, just to display them on my shelving.
And decided to start taking off some final parts from Cassie...
Got a little carried away with a mod I've had in mind.
New backlight for the AC switch. A naked T5.
Damn, it's bright.
That lights up very very well!
Unfortunately, it stops the switch from actually functioning. So I had to tear it down to figure it out.
A small blob of solder to bridge a hole, and the switch worked. But now the backlight didn't...
I tried various attempts at getting it to work, one way around actually made the light come on when the switch was off, and the switch functioned.
I ended up damaging the switch too much so I had to reassemble it. The light doesn't function, and the switch doesn't pop out on it's own, so I have to pry it.
So I'm gonna get a new one. I think I know how I'm wiring up that backlight now though.
So what actually is the mod?
Well it's my new and improved BigMac Lights. This time instead of a couple of orange LEDs drilled into the indicator reflectors, I've used dual-filament orange bulbs. Here's how they look. Smart! Not as bright in reality.
I linked them to a separate switch, because I don't want to reduce how noticeable the indicators are. Especially as they don't have the lens to light up anymore.
I linked it to the AC button, which now stands for "Activate Cornerlights".
Being linked to the switch also means I can have only the orange ones on and nothing else, which would look cool parked up at night.
Here's now it looks with sides on and the oranges...
The next day, I got news that Cassie could be removed that day!
But it turns out she wasn't. So she's still here.
The next day after, after work, I took off more parts, since I still could.
The whole exhaust. Damn it's tall.
As well as a bunch of other parts.
Here's how the BigMac Lights look with indicators turned on on one side. Fairly noticeable still, especially with the mirror indicator to back up. Good thing those things point forward, unlike usual designs. Still, I'm glad I have the option to turn them on. They're actually quite yellow.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
I decided to take the taillights that I had pre-packed out, just to display them on my shelving.
And decided to start taking off some final parts from Cassie...
Got a little carried away with a mod I've had in mind.
New backlight for the AC switch. A naked T5.
Damn, it's bright.
That lights up very very well!
Unfortunately, it stops the switch from actually functioning. So I had to tear it down to figure it out.
A small blob of solder to bridge a hole, and the switch worked. But now the backlight didn't...
I tried various attempts at getting it to work, one way around actually made the light come on when the switch was off, and the switch functioned.
I ended up damaging the switch too much so I had to reassemble it. The light doesn't function, and the switch doesn't pop out on it's own, so I have to pry it.
So I'm gonna get a new one. I think I know how I'm wiring up that backlight now though.
So what actually is the mod?
Well it's my new and improved BigMac Lights. This time instead of a couple of orange LEDs drilled into the indicator reflectors, I've used dual-filament orange bulbs. Here's how they look. Smart! Not as bright in reality.
I linked them to a separate switch, because I don't want to reduce how noticeable the indicators are. Especially as they don't have the lens to light up anymore.
I linked it to the AC button, which now stands for "Activate Cornerlights".
Being linked to the switch also means I can have only the orange ones on and nothing else, which would look cool parked up at night.
Here's now it looks with sides on and the oranges...
The next day, I got news that Cassie could be removed that day!
But it turns out she wasn't. So she's still here.
The next day after, after work, I took off more parts, since I still could.
The whole exhaust. Damn it's tall.
As well as a bunch of other parts.
Here's how the BigMac Lights look with indicators turned on on one side. Fairly noticeable still, especially with the mirror indicator to back up. Good thing those things point forward, unlike usual designs. Still, I'm glad I have the option to turn them on. They're actually quite yellow.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Last edited:
OP
OP
So, I'm pushing for Cassie's removal. I guess it's good that I need it gone ASAP, otherwise I'd be feeling sad that my OG car was getting taken away.
There's nothing left on the car at all that I want, except for the wheels and bonnet hinges, I've left those on so it can easily be transported, then I'll go and get those parts when I can.
I even chopped out spare electrical connectors, and the entire fusebox. There really isn't anything worth anything in there now.
So I got my hands on a new AC switch. This time I knew what I was doing and was more careful, I knew what bits would break.
First of all the quick dab of solder in the hole near the light socket. Of course I'm soldering in my car on my jeans. You know me.
I couldn't figure out why the BigMac lights had failed. At first I thought it was the cable, which was pretty beaten up from being pulled through everything. It turns out it wasn't! But, at least this time I have a much cleaner install, so that's good. This time I used a grabbing tool which was long enough to go in the wing hole for the side indicator and grab the wire from where some loom comes into the engine bay.
The solder dab wasn't working, seemed to be too greasy or something near the switch contacts. It was also getting in the way of the switch slider. So I went for a more delicate wire across the contacts (After, I removed the solder dab).
It took a long time to think of something, but eventually I had an idea for the light wires. Very very little space in this example, however through a hole in the switch frame, and a long hole in the slider, a wire could come from the sides and just barely squeeze in a small gap between the switch and the air controls box.
So it would look like this. The LED would simply float loosely in the slider, which luckily it looks like it was designed to fit in.
Unfortunately, this became too complicated, even for my expertise in custom switch backlighting. Sorry to fail you all.
I decided to reassemble the switch one final time as it was beginning to get sticky, and fall apart just like the last one.
For now, I'll have no backlight. I was going to use the extra output from the switch (there are two) to power the backlight.
Well, I'll keep a lookout for a third AC switch, and just use an LED T3 instead. Maybe I'll put some chrome paint and a little foil in there. We'll see.
For now though, the BigMac lights are functioning and look sweet.
I noticed today that all that time wiring yesterday, with the bulb out and above the headlight (so I could see if it worked while I was inside), in all the rain has caused lots of moisture in the light.
So I've been using my headlights as much as possible (even had them tilted down) to heat up the glass, I've removed one of the vent caps (couldn't find the other while it was installed) and while parked had some bulbs out too. It already looks clearer.
I only now noticed that there is a manual headlight aim adjust in addition to the electronic one.
I think I'll make sure both of my headlights are level with eachother. Can't stand others with one headlight pointed directly in my eyes.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
There's nothing left on the car at all that I want, except for the wheels and bonnet hinges, I've left those on so it can easily be transported, then I'll go and get those parts when I can.
I even chopped out spare electrical connectors, and the entire fusebox. There really isn't anything worth anything in there now.
So I got my hands on a new AC switch. This time I knew what I was doing and was more careful, I knew what bits would break.
First of all the quick dab of solder in the hole near the light socket. Of course I'm soldering in my car on my jeans. You know me.
I couldn't figure out why the BigMac lights had failed. At first I thought it was the cable, which was pretty beaten up from being pulled through everything. It turns out it wasn't! But, at least this time I have a much cleaner install, so that's good. This time I used a grabbing tool which was long enough to go in the wing hole for the side indicator and grab the wire from where some loom comes into the engine bay.
The solder dab wasn't working, seemed to be too greasy or something near the switch contacts. It was also getting in the way of the switch slider. So I went for a more delicate wire across the contacts (After, I removed the solder dab).
It took a long time to think of something, but eventually I had an idea for the light wires. Very very little space in this example, however through a hole in the switch frame, and a long hole in the slider, a wire could come from the sides and just barely squeeze in a small gap between the switch and the air controls box.
So it would look like this. The LED would simply float loosely in the slider, which luckily it looks like it was designed to fit in.
Unfortunately, this became too complicated, even for my expertise in custom switch backlighting. Sorry to fail you all.
I decided to reassemble the switch one final time as it was beginning to get sticky, and fall apart just like the last one.
For now, I'll have no backlight. I was going to use the extra output from the switch (there are two) to power the backlight.
Well, I'll keep a lookout for a third AC switch, and just use an LED T3 instead. Maybe I'll put some chrome paint and a little foil in there. We'll see.
For now though, the BigMac lights are functioning and look sweet.
I noticed today that all that time wiring yesterday, with the bulb out and above the headlight (so I could see if it worked while I was inside), in all the rain has caused lots of moisture in the light.
So I've been using my headlights as much as possible (even had them tilted down) to heat up the glass, I've removed one of the vent caps (couldn't find the other while it was installed) and while parked had some bulbs out too. It already looks clearer.
I only now noticed that there is a manual headlight aim adjust in addition to the electronic one.
I think I'll make sure both of my headlights are level with eachother. Can't stand others with one headlight pointed directly in my eyes.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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OP
OP
Today I greased Eddie's brakes in an attempt to kill him. It didn't work, I should have probably covered more areas than just the backs of his brake pads.
Still, at least his brake squealing has stopped.
We also put new smaller wheel nuts on, as his old ones (the same as what I use) weren't fitting under his centrecaps, and made them sit funny. Lighter too!
No pictures, sorry.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Still, at least his brake squealing has stopped.
We also put new smaller wheel nuts on, as his old ones (the same as what I use) weren't fitting under his centrecaps, and made them sit funny. Lighter too!
No pictures, sorry.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
OP
OP
Last Saturday, the 31st of August 2019, I finally parted ways with Cassie. I was at work all day, which is probably for the best, otherwise I'd have gotten sad. I gave her to a friend with no cost, partly because I really really needed her gone, partly because there's almost nothing of value left, and partly because she'll be 10 minutes away for now, so I could get my wheels and bonnet hinges.
You know, it's really weird writing this post.
You don't really think about your pride and joy one day having to leave you, at the end of its life.
It's weird that I have spent many years with this car, posted hundreds of photos to proudly present it, I've gone to a million places all because this car let me. Not a single day, in all of the five years, has she broken down at the side of the road. I've taken friends, many of which I don't even know anymore, to places in this car. I've experienced every emotion possible in this car, I've even slept overnight in it, for both good and bad reasons.
I always used to tell people "I'm keeping this car until one of us dies".
Well, 'til death do us part I suppose. I guess I'm the lucky one in that case.
It's weird. I only got this car because I realised that insurance can be paid monthly. I had just turned 18, and still lived with my Dad. A friends mum was selling it so I thought I could use it to get some no-claims years on insurance.
I bought her for £500, paid in £100 monthly installments. There's no way I'd pay £500 for it now, being bottom spec, having damage on the rear arch, and being horribly rusty underneath.
I didn't even like the colour back then.
But it turns out, this car was fun. It was fun to accelerate in town, and it was fun in the corners. Eventually I learnt that it could corner well. I pushed the limits, span out many times, and found just how hard I could drive. I guess at this point we had a connection. I knew what it, and I together, were capable of.
Soon I realised that I could feel everything that was happening with the car. A little vibration on the rear left? Something creaking on the front right near the top? It's a weird bond you get when you're completely familiar with, not just a model of car, but that specific unique one. After all, every car is a tiny bit different, and the differences only grow exponentially with this kind of age.
Not only was it fun to drive, it was cheap. I wasn't rich in the slightest back then. But (despite my age) the insurance was manageable. Fuel and tax was also well within my reach. And if anything ever needed repairing, not that it did, it was easy enough to do myself and parts were cheap.
On top of that, it was remarkably practical. Perhaps not the best car for carrying four people, but with the rear bench folded down, it was always suprising what would fit in the car. I once got a king-sized mattress in, of which was only folded once in the middle! And the size of the car means that if you see a little gap, you can probably fit the car in there. You can avoid hazards easily as the car is just small enough to be hard to hit.
As if that's not good enough, the visibility from inside is remarkable. Big windows and little pillars. The rear window even curves around the boot. My car without rear headrests meant that I could see so well outside.
Then there's the customisation options. Not only were there three different facelift options in Europe, but the car is Japanese. There are tons more mods available from the other side of the world. More than you'd imagine. Even to this day I'm finding about parts I didn't know about. Just off of the top of my head I can think of ten different OEM taillight options, that's not including the aftermarket ones. There are probably more!
Saturday morning wasn't the last time I saw Cassie though. I went today to collect my GTi wheels and the bonnet hinges.
So for one last time I did a little work on her.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
You know, it's really weird writing this post.
You don't really think about your pride and joy one day having to leave you, at the end of its life.
It's weird that I have spent many years with this car, posted hundreds of photos to proudly present it, I've gone to a million places all because this car let me. Not a single day, in all of the five years, has she broken down at the side of the road. I've taken friends, many of which I don't even know anymore, to places in this car. I've experienced every emotion possible in this car, I've even slept overnight in it, for both good and bad reasons.
I always used to tell people "I'm keeping this car until one of us dies".
Well, 'til death do us part I suppose. I guess I'm the lucky one in that case.
It's weird. I only got this car because I realised that insurance can be paid monthly. I had just turned 18, and still lived with my Dad. A friends mum was selling it so I thought I could use it to get some no-claims years on insurance.
I bought her for £500, paid in £100 monthly installments. There's no way I'd pay £500 for it now, being bottom spec, having damage on the rear arch, and being horribly rusty underneath.
I didn't even like the colour back then.
But it turns out, this car was fun. It was fun to accelerate in town, and it was fun in the corners. Eventually I learnt that it could corner well. I pushed the limits, span out many times, and found just how hard I could drive. I guess at this point we had a connection. I knew what it, and I together, were capable of.
Soon I realised that I could feel everything that was happening with the car. A little vibration on the rear left? Something creaking on the front right near the top? It's a weird bond you get when you're completely familiar with, not just a model of car, but that specific unique one. After all, every car is a tiny bit different, and the differences only grow exponentially with this kind of age.
Not only was it fun to drive, it was cheap. I wasn't rich in the slightest back then. But (despite my age) the insurance was manageable. Fuel and tax was also well within my reach. And if anything ever needed repairing, not that it did, it was easy enough to do myself and parts were cheap.
On top of that, it was remarkably practical. Perhaps not the best car for carrying four people, but with the rear bench folded down, it was always suprising what would fit in the car. I once got a king-sized mattress in, of which was only folded once in the middle! And the size of the car means that if you see a little gap, you can probably fit the car in there. You can avoid hazards easily as the car is just small enough to be hard to hit.
As if that's not good enough, the visibility from inside is remarkable. Big windows and little pillars. The rear window even curves around the boot. My car without rear headrests meant that I could see so well outside.
Then there's the customisation options. Not only were there three different facelift options in Europe, but the car is Japanese. There are tons more mods available from the other side of the world. More than you'd imagine. Even to this day I'm finding about parts I didn't know about. Just off of the top of my head I can think of ten different OEM taillight options, that's not including the aftermarket ones. There are probably more!
Saturday morning wasn't the last time I saw Cassie though. I went today to collect my GTi wheels and the bonnet hinges.
So for one last time I did a little work on her.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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OP
OP
Best Photos of Cassie
9th of October, 2014. I bought Cassie, my first ever car.
Some time in October, 2014. Feels like a lifetime ago. Me and an old friend at college about to hit the gym, him seeing me (a diehard biker at the time) in a car for the first time.
4th of June, 2015. A friend and I went for a cruise to a nice view, and I chilled out in the boot.
14th of August 2015. Looking at Cassie from a hotel room in London. Visibly smaller, not even parked up to the wall.
17th of July, 2016. With fresh new wheels, grille design, taillights and black trim. In Exeter.
17th of July, 2016. Heavy fog near my home, north Devon. I drove on the beach.
30th of September, 2016. I had just got my socket set and jack, so much more stuff was unlocked. Just started university and had moved to a different part of the country.
31st of October, 2016. Dressing her up for Halloween. First time putting effort into Halloween, not one trick-or-treat-er. Bought red sidelights that didn't arrive in time.
1st of August, 2017. A cool little modification to make my car stand out in the dark a little.
1st of March, 2018. Heavy snow for the first time in many years. First time driving in snow. Extremely fun.
20th of April, 2018. #teamtornadogrey.
22nd of May, 2018. More squad goals.
29th of May, 2018. First time swapping an engine over. Cassie, now a 1.4L, looking at her old engine.
29th of May, 2018. Me, starting the new engine up for the first time after the swap. One of the best moments of my life so far.
29th of May, 2018. Testing the engine and gearbox before putting the car back together. Not often you get this opportunity.
20th of June, 2018. New home, new cool viewpoint to look at Cassie.
10th of August, 2018. My favourite photo of Cassie. This was her in her best, and final form. It was only a month later that I would buy a replacement.
29th of September, 2018. The final time Cassie had a running engine, before it was shut down. Running oil flushing liquid.
7th of January, 2019. Simply captioned: "I mustn't forget about Cassie."
Goodbye, old friend. I'll miss you.
9th of October, 2014. I bought Cassie, my first ever car.
Some time in October, 2014. Feels like a lifetime ago. Me and an old friend at college about to hit the gym, him seeing me (a diehard biker at the time) in a car for the first time.
4th of June, 2015. A friend and I went for a cruise to a nice view, and I chilled out in the boot.
14th of August 2015. Looking at Cassie from a hotel room in London. Visibly smaller, not even parked up to the wall.
17th of July, 2016. With fresh new wheels, grille design, taillights and black trim. In Exeter.
17th of July, 2016. Heavy fog near my home, north Devon. I drove on the beach.
30th of September, 2016. I had just got my socket set and jack, so much more stuff was unlocked. Just started university and had moved to a different part of the country.
31st of October, 2016. Dressing her up for Halloween. First time putting effort into Halloween, not one trick-or-treat-er. Bought red sidelights that didn't arrive in time.
1st of August, 2017. A cool little modification to make my car stand out in the dark a little.
1st of March, 2018. Heavy snow for the first time in many years. First time driving in snow. Extremely fun.
20th of April, 2018. #teamtornadogrey.
22nd of May, 2018. More squad goals.
29th of May, 2018. First time swapping an engine over. Cassie, now a 1.4L, looking at her old engine.
29th of May, 2018. Me, starting the new engine up for the first time after the swap. One of the best moments of my life so far.
29th of May, 2018. Testing the engine and gearbox before putting the car back together. Not often you get this opportunity.
20th of June, 2018. New home, new cool viewpoint to look at Cassie.
10th of August, 2018. My favourite photo of Cassie. This was her in her best, and final form. It was only a month later that I would buy a replacement.
29th of September, 2018. The final time Cassie had a running engine, before it was shut down. Running oil flushing liquid.
7th of January, 2019. Simply captioned: "I mustn't forget about Cassie."
Goodbye, old friend. I'll miss you.
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OP
OP
Today I collected my GTi wheels, bonnet hinges, and also the wheel spacers.
I bought a Simoniz seat/carpet cleaner. It's really good. Starting to really like Simoniz as a brand.
I didn't even vacuum the boot, it seems that all dust and foliage just gets caught up in the brush, which opens up and can be washed clean. Pretty awesome.
It's made a remarkable difference to my seats and doorcard fabric too. Hasn't removed stains from the seats, but they look much better, and now don't emit dust like an old bus seat.
The parcel shelf looked much nicer after too. Not to mention the clean smell it leaves too.
Funnily, the stack of the GTi wheels sits about as high as the stack of steel wheels, despite there being one more steel wheel. The GTi wheels are each a whole inch wider. I guess it makes sense, left is 5x5" and right is 4x6".
I also cleaned my driveway now that it's empty. Just a few spots of oil that need tending to. It's so empty here now.
I need to fill the space with somthing... perhaps... maybe... a preface that might get modified for track use..?
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
I bought a Simoniz seat/carpet cleaner. It's really good. Starting to really like Simoniz as a brand.
I didn't even vacuum the boot, it seems that all dust and foliage just gets caught up in the brush, which opens up and can be washed clean. Pretty awesome.
It's made a remarkable difference to my seats and doorcard fabric too. Hasn't removed stains from the seats, but they look much better, and now don't emit dust like an old bus seat.
The parcel shelf looked much nicer after too. Not to mention the clean smell it leaves too.
Funnily, the stack of the GTi wheels sits about as high as the stack of steel wheels, despite there being one more steel wheel. The GTi wheels are each a whole inch wider. I guess it makes sense, left is 5x5" and right is 4x6".
I also cleaned my driveway now that it's empty. Just a few spots of oil that need tending to. It's so empty here now.
I need to fill the space with somthing... perhaps... maybe... a preface that might get modified for track use..?
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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LiamC
I've ruined my car 🙁
That was an emotional read. It makes you think just how much your life would be different without our little #### boxes. We've all done so much with our cars, both working on them and also doing life things. So many memories because of these pieces of tin, they aren't just cars to us anymore but friends in a way to accompany us through new things in life.
Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)
OP
OP
You see all of those scratches in my boot panel? Yeah, you don't, because I went over them with touch up paint.
Something that was in the boot really left a nasty mark, which is now just a slightly off-colour line.
Time to fix this boot handle once and for all. The two left bolts weren't bad (#2 was perfect!), but the right two were completely broken.
It took a decent amount of glue, but it's back together (complete with the spider resident evicted).
My car was disgustingly filthy. I don't think it's ever been this unclean in my ownership. It doesn't really show in the photo, but it was gross.
I decided to take it to the hand-carwash. This time without the boot handle (I even told them "DON'T OPEN THE BOOT."). As it was them who yanked the damn thing off.
After the wash, I tidied up this rusty bit above the boot handle. Some sand paper and paint, and it looks good.
I also coloured in the bits where paint had been peeling off!
And I covered the spoiler where it had rubbed on the roof, and put a little paint along the top of the gap where it's rusty. I also had a go at rubbing away all that white you see on the spoiler, which I'm guessing is wax that has gotten into the not-so-smooth paint.
Of course, approximately 57 seconds later it started to rain.
Whatever. I coloured the bits I sealed up from adding the spoiler. They were just primer grey.
And so the boot handle has returned. It's pretty soft now, so if anyone goes to use the boot I'll tell them to politely relocate themselves. As for myself I may just open it from the base (like on Marches). There is a slight gap but it's even and pretty minimal.
I noticed that the centre brake light wasn't very tight. So I got curious and took it off. I had not too long ago done the same with Cassie, but this time I was wondering if I could improve this setup at all.
Managed to pull out the lights this time. There's a very simple PCB with a lens clipped over it. The lens has a really cool diffuser on it which makes the light shine really bright.
In the end I figured I'd leave it how it is. The light is very directional, so not much actually shines on the black surface, so it wouldn't be worth foiling or spraying it chrome. It'd look too shiny and eliminate the slightly stealthy light (combined with the spoiler).
Damn, I love having super bright brake lights.
I also love having cool looking, effective fog lights (ignore the right numberplate bulb being half-broken).
I manually adjusted the headlights for the first time, I lowered the left side to match the right. It looked a tiny bit too high anyway.
I always have the electrical adjuster set to 1, as 0 seems too high. Also I can set it to 0 if I really really want to be noticed (say, if I'm really rushing).
I added some engine oil too as it's starting to disappear again (oh yes, this engine does that).
I noticed that at enough distance, you can see both side indicators on the wing from the front. That's pretty cool. My custom ones actually sit further out from the wings compared to the stock ones.
Later, I added some paint to a huge area that was bald on the upper sill. That's better.
Looks like the paint I added on the spoiler has gone from a small drive in light drizzle. So has the rest, probably (I added some on the front bumper...).
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Something that was in the boot really left a nasty mark, which is now just a slightly off-colour line.
Time to fix this boot handle once and for all. The two left bolts weren't bad (#2 was perfect!), but the right two were completely broken.
It took a decent amount of glue, but it's back together (complete with the spider resident evicted).
My car was disgustingly filthy. I don't think it's ever been this unclean in my ownership. It doesn't really show in the photo, but it was gross.
I decided to take it to the hand-carwash. This time without the boot handle (I even told them "DON'T OPEN THE BOOT."). As it was them who yanked the damn thing off.
After the wash, I tidied up this rusty bit above the boot handle. Some sand paper and paint, and it looks good.
I also coloured in the bits where paint had been peeling off!
And I covered the spoiler where it had rubbed on the roof, and put a little paint along the top of the gap where it's rusty. I also had a go at rubbing away all that white you see on the spoiler, which I'm guessing is wax that has gotten into the not-so-smooth paint.
Of course, approximately 57 seconds later it started to rain.
Whatever. I coloured the bits I sealed up from adding the spoiler. They were just primer grey.
And so the boot handle has returned. It's pretty soft now, so if anyone goes to use the boot I'll tell them to politely relocate themselves. As for myself I may just open it from the base (like on Marches). There is a slight gap but it's even and pretty minimal.
I noticed that the centre brake light wasn't very tight. So I got curious and took it off. I had not too long ago done the same with Cassie, but this time I was wondering if I could improve this setup at all.
Managed to pull out the lights this time. There's a very simple PCB with a lens clipped over it. The lens has a really cool diffuser on it which makes the light shine really bright.
In the end I figured I'd leave it how it is. The light is very directional, so not much actually shines on the black surface, so it wouldn't be worth foiling or spraying it chrome. It'd look too shiny and eliminate the slightly stealthy light (combined with the spoiler).
Damn, I love having super bright brake lights.
I also love having cool looking, effective fog lights (ignore the right numberplate bulb being half-broken).
I manually adjusted the headlights for the first time, I lowered the left side to match the right. It looked a tiny bit too high anyway.
I always have the electrical adjuster set to 1, as 0 seems too high. Also I can set it to 0 if I really really want to be noticed (say, if I'm really rushing).
I added some engine oil too as it's starting to disappear again (oh yes, this engine does that).
I noticed that at enough distance, you can see both side indicators on the wing from the front. That's pretty cool. My custom ones actually sit further out from the wings compared to the stock ones.
Later, I added some paint to a huge area that was bald on the upper sill. That's better.
Looks like the paint I added on the spoiler has gone from a small drive in light drizzle. So has the rest, probably (I added some on the front bumper...).
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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OP
OP
When starting your engine, it's often best to check that your oil cap is fitted. Otherwise a small amount of oil may be deposited upon your bonnet, windscreen, alternator and exhaust manifold.
Brought out the soap to get some tree sap off.
Very nice. Wanted to do some waxing but ran out of time. Damn, the photos never capture the subtle glow of the BigMac Lights. They aren't that bright. In fact the background wasn't this bright either, looked like a great photo opportunity until I actually took one.
Today, I bought some more oil as mine is escaping me!
I also bought a tin of some fluid that supposedly stops oil leaks! After using it for 200 miles. Well, I'm highly sceptical that something can both glue up gaps and not ruin the lubrication of an engine. Probably should've looked into it before buying, but let's see how it goes.
At least I'm quite sure the oil isn't coming from the crank seals, as they looked fine when the engine was out.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Brought out the soap to get some tree sap off.
Very nice. Wanted to do some waxing but ran out of time. Damn, the photos never capture the subtle glow of the BigMac Lights. They aren't that bright. In fact the background wasn't this bright either, looked like a great photo opportunity until I actually took one.
Today, I bought some more oil as mine is escaping me!
I also bought a tin of some fluid that supposedly stops oil leaks! After using it for 200 miles. Well, I'm highly sceptical that something can both glue up gaps and not ruin the lubrication of an engine. Probably should've looked into it before buying, but let's see how it goes.
At least I'm quite sure the oil isn't coming from the crank seals, as they looked fine when the engine was out.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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OP
OP
I apologise for not posting for so long. I'm ill currently, university has started (and boy did it kick off hard). Plus it's been raining every single day for weeks. On top of all of that, I've been working on a different, non-car project.
I've been taking photos here and there, so now I just need to remember what was happening in each photo...
One night my throttle suddenly felt... flaccid. On the way home. Still driveable, but definitely not nice.
Seems that the adjuster bolt I kept tightening by hand needed to be tighter, as it fell off.
Silly me went and overtightened it that night, the next morning the car started and jumped right to about 4500rpm. So I adjusted it, and adjusted it a little more on the journey. Back to normal!
Got a nice shot in a car park in Bristol. Friend was more excited at the Tesla in the background, so I made sure to include that in the shot.
Washed the car again. Think I did something else while I was here. Don't remember.
I've been having a real problem with my left headlight fogging up in the last couple of weeks. Just can't air it out when it's raining so much. I'm thinking of buying a new set with nice clear glass and starting fresh.
I added some oil additive that supposedly stops (or at least limits) small leaks. Seems as if the leak has actually stopped now. At least more or less. Hard to tell because my oil cap got loose and leaked, and my cam cover also got a little loose.
I noticed that my front tyres were getting a little low on tread. Not suprising, given how much I've been making the most of them.
So I swapped over the fronts and rears, and pulled out a bunch of stones that were really stuck in the tread.
I bought a new AC switch. Once again starting fresh, as these switches begin to get tender if you modify them too much.
I found a cool new type of LED bulb. Which is absolutely massive. It looks like a really old traditional LED, but it's contained in some hard, almost opaque plastic. It's a tight fit to get it in the hole, and it's a little too tall, so it needed sanding down a little.
There's a joke in here somewhere.
Today, I tried it out. Holy crap. It's bright. Like really bright. I'm going to have to put tape over the back of the bulb as I can see white light coming out from above the switch!
Without the button cap... This is really how it looked, this isn't just the camera doing camera stuff.
Thought I'd take a look at the backlight for the rear demister switch, as it wasn't really working anymore. And it was upsetting me greatly.
Seems that I'll need to remake that internal design. Shouldn't be too hard, I think I have a few T5s somewhere from that urgent dash LCD fix for JAE.
For now though, I was too ill and hungry to do anything.
So, there's still a problem with the switch here. It lights up now, which is great. But it doesn't light up the actual cornerlights.
I've been talking to the forum's electrical expert, and I think we have a solution. Which will envolve a relay.
I got some washers for the cam cover. Well, I lost one, but that one is at the back under the throttle cable and out of sight. I put some random, slightly cut from something, washer in that one.
One or two of the bolts weren't tight... I made sure to do them fairly tightly this time. Need to stop throwing oil overboard. As much as it's been good to add fresh oil so often. Speaking of which, a new magnetic sump plug should be arriving soon. I also bought a brand new MAF sensor today. They're only like £16! Brand new!
Oh I noticed that my slam panel was only held on on one side by a single loose nut and bolt. We just grabbed what we could during the engine swap. So I tightened it a bit and added an extra bolt.
Thinking of changing a few of the engine bay bolts for pretty ones.
Also thinking up how to implement the cam breather hose to the intake tube.
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I've been taking photos here and there, so now I just need to remember what was happening in each photo...
One night my throttle suddenly felt... flaccid. On the way home. Still driveable, but definitely not nice.
Seems that the adjuster bolt I kept tightening by hand needed to be tighter, as it fell off.
Silly me went and overtightened it that night, the next morning the car started and jumped right to about 4500rpm. So I adjusted it, and adjusted it a little more on the journey. Back to normal!
Got a nice shot in a car park in Bristol. Friend was more excited at the Tesla in the background, so I made sure to include that in the shot.
Washed the car again. Think I did something else while I was here. Don't remember.
I've been having a real problem with my left headlight fogging up in the last couple of weeks. Just can't air it out when it's raining so much. I'm thinking of buying a new set with nice clear glass and starting fresh.
I added some oil additive that supposedly stops (or at least limits) small leaks. Seems as if the leak has actually stopped now. At least more or less. Hard to tell because my oil cap got loose and leaked, and my cam cover also got a little loose.
I noticed that my front tyres were getting a little low on tread. Not suprising, given how much I've been making the most of them.
So I swapped over the fronts and rears, and pulled out a bunch of stones that were really stuck in the tread.
I bought a new AC switch. Once again starting fresh, as these switches begin to get tender if you modify them too much.
I found a cool new type of LED bulb. Which is absolutely massive. It looks like a really old traditional LED, but it's contained in some hard, almost opaque plastic. It's a tight fit to get it in the hole, and it's a little too tall, so it needed sanding down a little.
There's a joke in here somewhere.
Today, I tried it out. Holy crap. It's bright. Like really bright. I'm going to have to put tape over the back of the bulb as I can see white light coming out from above the switch!
Without the button cap... This is really how it looked, this isn't just the camera doing camera stuff.
Thought I'd take a look at the backlight for the rear demister switch, as it wasn't really working anymore. And it was upsetting me greatly.
Seems that I'll need to remake that internal design. Shouldn't be too hard, I think I have a few T5s somewhere from that urgent dash LCD fix for JAE.
For now though, I was too ill and hungry to do anything.
So, there's still a problem with the switch here. It lights up now, which is great. But it doesn't light up the actual cornerlights.
I've been talking to the forum's electrical expert, and I think we have a solution. Which will envolve a relay.
I got some washers for the cam cover. Well, I lost one, but that one is at the back under the throttle cable and out of sight. I put some random, slightly cut from something, washer in that one.
One or two of the bolts weren't tight... I made sure to do them fairly tightly this time. Need to stop throwing oil overboard. As much as it's been good to add fresh oil so often. Speaking of which, a new magnetic sump plug should be arriving soon. I also bought a brand new MAF sensor today. They're only like £16! Brand new!
Oh I noticed that my slam panel was only held on on one side by a single loose nut and bolt. We just grabbed what we could during the engine swap. So I tightened it a bit and added an extra bolt.
Thinking of changing a few of the engine bay bolts for pretty ones.
Also thinking up how to implement the cam breather hose to the intake tube.
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New MAF sensor in. No more engine warning light. Also revs up fast much more consistently.
The ECU is doing some hardcore adjusting though. Kept stalling at first, stalled at every stop.
Leaving it idling for a while, I noticed it figuring out how it's supposed to run.
I reckon by tomorrow, or at least the end of this week it'll run just fine.
I could reset it by disconnecting the battery, but I can't be bothered to set up my radio and the clock again.
The learning experience is invaluable for the ECU. It will shape it into a better being.
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The ECU is doing some hardcore adjusting though. Kept stalling at first, stalled at every stop.
Leaving it idling for a while, I noticed it figuring out how it's supposed to run.
I reckon by tomorrow, or at least the end of this week it'll run just fine.
I could reset it by disconnecting the battery, but I can't be bothered to set up my radio and the clock again.
The learning experience is invaluable for the ECU. It will shape it into a better being.
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Yesterday, I got some good work done at Eddies.
He's now got a jack and stands (and chocks that weren't in yet in this picture).
I set out to fit an old mod from Cassie, but got distracted by the heat sheild at the front of the exhaust. It's been rattling for weeks and driving me crazy. It's not going to be a problem any more. I ripped it off, fuelled by pure anger. I was lucky that there was a crack in the shield around the oxygen sensor, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get it off.
Back to the mod. It's what I've always called "The Succ Pipe". Basically, a flexible tube (which is far less ribbed on the inside) gets fed into the inner cone (so it's actually inside the filter).
This pipe comes out under the bumper, where it's pulling in air nice and low.
Because it's not actually going into the intake past the filter, nothing like dirt, debris or water will be a problem. In fact nothing will actually get sucked in, it'll just fall out of the front again.
But it will provide a nice little air scoop for when at speed.
Funnily enough, I had problems last time with the pipe clashing with the wheel when at full lock, but this time, the wheel wasn't even vaguely close to the pipe. These wheels are tiny.
The next thing I did was replaced the cam cover gasket, with a nice new one. It looked like it was getting old and going bad. Plus I had taken the cover off and reused the gasket. There was a little oil coming out.
Actually, another weird sound that I was experiencing was coming from oil that had gotten on the belts. So I cleaned them off with some degreaser. This made the belts slip on the pumps, so I poured hot water on them, and ran them a little. Now they're fine.
I cleaned off the oil on the side of the engine here so I could see if it leaked again.
Another reason for oil trying to escape could be that the cam cover breather I'm using is pretty blocked, and the pressure wasn't escaping from inside the engine, so it found its way out through some old gaskets that were falling apart.
I'm going to try to make a stock-like breather to go into the custom intake pipe.
Today, it was exceptionally foggy. Much more so than in the photo at times. On a bridge, the visibility was almost zero.
I love an excuse to use my rear foggies. And to see others doing the same.
That is, if they even have any lights turned on...
I'm trying to convince a friend to return to K11 life, so we've been shopping for some today. Found five potential good ones!
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He's now got a jack and stands (and chocks that weren't in yet in this picture).
I set out to fit an old mod from Cassie, but got distracted by the heat sheild at the front of the exhaust. It's been rattling for weeks and driving me crazy. It's not going to be a problem any more. I ripped it off, fuelled by pure anger. I was lucky that there was a crack in the shield around the oxygen sensor, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get it off.
Back to the mod. It's what I've always called "The Succ Pipe". Basically, a flexible tube (which is far less ribbed on the inside) gets fed into the inner cone (so it's actually inside the filter).
This pipe comes out under the bumper, where it's pulling in air nice and low.
Because it's not actually going into the intake past the filter, nothing like dirt, debris or water will be a problem. In fact nothing will actually get sucked in, it'll just fall out of the front again.
But it will provide a nice little air scoop for when at speed.
Funnily enough, I had problems last time with the pipe clashing with the wheel when at full lock, but this time, the wheel wasn't even vaguely close to the pipe. These wheels are tiny.
The next thing I did was replaced the cam cover gasket, with a nice new one. It looked like it was getting old and going bad. Plus I had taken the cover off and reused the gasket. There was a little oil coming out.
Actually, another weird sound that I was experiencing was coming from oil that had gotten on the belts. So I cleaned them off with some degreaser. This made the belts slip on the pumps, so I poured hot water on them, and ran them a little. Now they're fine.
I cleaned off the oil on the side of the engine here so I could see if it leaked again.
Another reason for oil trying to escape could be that the cam cover breather I'm using is pretty blocked, and the pressure wasn't escaping from inside the engine, so it found its way out through some old gaskets that were falling apart.
I'm going to try to make a stock-like breather to go into the custom intake pipe.
Today, it was exceptionally foggy. Much more so than in the photo at times. On a bridge, the visibility was almost zero.
I love an excuse to use my rear foggies. And to see others doing the same.
That is, if they even have any lights turned on...
I'm trying to convince a friend to return to K11 life, so we've been shopping for some today. Found five potential good ones!
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I'd becarefull with the induction pipe specially as it's starting to get more wet ect,
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At least wait for me to write the text first!
I just drove home in exceptional heavy rain on the motorway. That pipe isn't sucking air in, it's just guiding it to the filter, water won't be a problem.
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Slow updates again, sorry.
This was a while back, fitment looked better with one wheel on a curb.
We've always noticed that Eddie's tail lights weren't lined up right. Turns out mine aren't very much either! But his ones were actually letting in water now. So he added some sealant behind the light where the old gasket stuff was. To align the light better, I bent in the middle bolt tab on the body. I should do the same on mine!
Eddie painted his cam cover all by himself while I wasn't there. Looks nice! Much much thicker coat than my one, very glossy too. I still think it'd look better with the letters filed down. He's also put some fancy bolts in areas and changed the gasket.
We had a problem with his JDM tail lights, there was a bad connection on the left tail light itself. Thought it was the pins, then the bulb, then the wire.
Actually seems like it was just a crappy bulb, which is an odd one.
Always try to park next to other K11s. Then they can see how cool their car could look.
Their car was the total opposite of mine, so dirty it had moss/algae all over it, and lots of crap scattered everywhere inside. Eugh.
An oil leak is really an annoying problem.
I seem to remember seeing the oil near the filter. Maybe the filter is just loose? I hope that's all it is! That would be awesome. But then again, the oil was leaking when I first got the car that had this engine...
I pulled off the blocked breather filter.
Right, back to today!
A cool picture for my friend of which better damn join us again.
After a jetwash, back home, I decided it was time to retire the Nankangs for the year. They're still good, but I can't stop the car from spinning up the front wheels. And I don't want to chew away the tread too much.
So I've chucked on the old steelies, with last years winter tyres on them. Gone for winter fronts and all-season rears. At some point I'll get similar tyres on the GTi wheels, and maybe bin the steelies.
They've gotten quite rusty, but it's all bright orange surface rust.
I went to the local hand car wash. Cleaned up pretty good. I did tell the guy "Don't open the boot. The handle will break off." and he proceeded to try and yank open the boot as usual, popping off the handle that now won't go back in.
I was going to chuck on some wax too, but ran out of time, had to drive somewhere, then it just rained heavily anyway (after washing my car twice, when else would it..?).
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This was a while back, fitment looked better with one wheel on a curb.
We've always noticed that Eddie's tail lights weren't lined up right. Turns out mine aren't very much either! But his ones were actually letting in water now. So he added some sealant behind the light where the old gasket stuff was. To align the light better, I bent in the middle bolt tab on the body. I should do the same on mine!
Eddie painted his cam cover all by himself while I wasn't there. Looks nice! Much much thicker coat than my one, very glossy too. I still think it'd look better with the letters filed down. He's also put some fancy bolts in areas and changed the gasket.
We had a problem with his JDM tail lights, there was a bad connection on the left tail light itself. Thought it was the pins, then the bulb, then the wire.
Actually seems like it was just a crappy bulb, which is an odd one.
Always try to park next to other K11s. Then they can see how cool their car could look.
Their car was the total opposite of mine, so dirty it had moss/algae all over it, and lots of crap scattered everywhere inside. Eugh.
An oil leak is really an annoying problem.
I seem to remember seeing the oil near the filter. Maybe the filter is just loose? I hope that's all it is! That would be awesome. But then again, the oil was leaking when I first got the car that had this engine...
I pulled off the blocked breather filter.
Right, back to today!
A cool picture for my friend of which better damn join us again.
After a jetwash, back home, I decided it was time to retire the Nankangs for the year. They're still good, but I can't stop the car from spinning up the front wheels. And I don't want to chew away the tread too much.
So I've chucked on the old steelies, with last years winter tyres on them. Gone for winter fronts and all-season rears. At some point I'll get similar tyres on the GTi wheels, and maybe bin the steelies.
They've gotten quite rusty, but it's all bright orange surface rust.
I went to the local hand car wash. Cleaned up pretty good. I did tell the guy "Don't open the boot. The handle will break off." and he proceeded to try and yank open the boot as usual, popping off the handle that now won't go back in.
I was going to chuck on some wax too, but ran out of time, had to drive somewhere, then it just rained heavily anyway (after washing my car twice, when else would it..?).
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Got that curb fitment once again. Already feeling a little tired of the steelies.
I tried to find the oil leak, with a friend. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it's coming from the filter. It wasn't that tight though, so I tightened it as much as I could.
The oil just seems to appear from nowhere all over the sump...
And splashes back on everything behind it.
Waxed my car in the dark while a friend was fixing something on his. Good night with some pals. Fireworks firing everywhere around as it was bonfire night.
Car wasn't entirely clean, and it was a humid night, so the wax job wasn't perfect.
The next day, looked alright though.
At another time I was airing out my tail lights, as one had developed a little moisture on the inside. I noticed that they looked pretty cool without the orange colour.
So I bought some chrome T20 bulbs.
They arrived today. They look awesome! Hopefully the colour and brightness is alright.
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I tried to find the oil leak, with a friend. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it's coming from the filter. It wasn't that tight though, so I tightened it as much as I could.
The oil just seems to appear from nowhere all over the sump...
And splashes back on everything behind it.
Waxed my car in the dark while a friend was fixing something on his. Good night with some pals. Fireworks firing everywhere around as it was bonfire night.
Car wasn't entirely clean, and it was a humid night, so the wax job wasn't perfect.
The next day, looked alright though.
At another time I was airing out my tail lights, as one had developed a little moisture on the inside. I noticed that they looked pretty cool without the orange colour.
So I bought some chrome T20 bulbs.
They arrived today. They look awesome! Hopefully the colour and brightness is alright.
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Sump gasket?, Rocker cover, timing cover, looks a fairly new sump or just me?,
Looks decent on steelies with the colours , be putting mine one soon if it snows ect kill the old tyres off lol, also not the crank seals,?
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Looks decent on steelies with the colours , be putting mine one soon if it snows ect kill the old tyres off lol, also not the crank seals,?
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It won't be the rocker cover as I just changed that gasket. I mean, that was leaking too, but that was a different leak.
The sump has maybe three nasty rust spots on it so I'm concerned it's coming out of the sump itself. Unless they're thick enough that that isn't going to happen?
Apparently the crank seals look fine, I was told during the engine swap and flywheel/crank pulley swap.
I guess it could be the sump gasket, seems to be quite a daunting job if it is. Is there an actual gasket in there or is it that sealant stuff?
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Today I had a go with these chrome indicator bulbs.
Here's how they look normally (ignore the dried wax, that'll disappear in the next photo):
And then with the chrome bulbs installed. Damn, that does look good!
However, the moment I tested the bulb, I realised that it's way way less bright. Like, really bad. Couldn't show it in this photo because it was so bright at the time. But it wasn't very visible during the day. So I took it out and put the orange one back in.
I had another look when I got home. At night you can of course see the bulb light up, but you can see in this photo just how much worse the chrome one (on the right this time) is.
It's even worse when the taillights are on. This isn't with the brakelights on, this is just tail. That's crap. I'm going to send those back because about £5 for the two isn't the cheapest as far as bulbs go.
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Here's how they look normally (ignore the dried wax, that'll disappear in the next photo):
And then with the chrome bulbs installed. Damn, that does look good!
However, the moment I tested the bulb, I realised that it's way way less bright. Like, really bad. Couldn't show it in this photo because it was so bright at the time. But it wasn't very visible during the day. So I took it out and put the orange one back in.
I had another look when I got home. At night you can of course see the bulb light up, but you can see in this photo just how much worse the chrome one (on the right this time) is.
It's even worse when the taillights are on. This isn't with the brakelights on, this is just tail. That's crap. I'm going to send those back because about £5 for the two isn't the cheapest as far as bulbs go.
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Action photo of me rushing into university after setting up camp for several weeks in Bristol's insane traffic.
Eddie's painted his heat shield!
Time to give my engine some love. It's been making diesel sounds since adding that oil seal additive, and even though the oil was changed when I got the new engine in, the filter was only new when I got that engine in my old car, over a year ago.
I'm using some engine oil flush again to get as much bad oil out as possible. Using thicker oil than usual so hopefully the leak is reduced a little.
This time the magnetic sump plug is ready and stuck to the bonnet.
New oil filter. Turns out this one doesn't fit, thanks, eBay seller.
Quick dash to Halfords, and they got me the right one. With a trade discount, it was £3. Neat. On it goes.
Magnetic plug time. Shiny.
Oh yeah, that looks nice.
Eventually I got it done. Spent some more time cleaning the belts, hence the water. The thinner belt still seems to have oil on it, which is annoying.
The backlight ring on my rev counter has started flickering! No!
Now, I've got something really cool to show you all.
Don't get too excited, it's not mine. I'm just looking after it for a while.
This was on my driveway when I got home.
I first got to see one of these in person at JAE, but I've been wanting to see a fresh, stock one since forever.
Unfortunately the interior is in pieces, but I'll reassemble it some time soon, maybe Friday, when I may replace my exhaust.
Ew, euro tail lights.
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Eddie's painted his heat shield!
Time to give my engine some love. It's been making diesel sounds since adding that oil seal additive, and even though the oil was changed when I got the new engine in, the filter was only new when I got that engine in my old car, over a year ago.
I'm using some engine oil flush again to get as much bad oil out as possible. Using thicker oil than usual so hopefully the leak is reduced a little.
This time the magnetic sump plug is ready and stuck to the bonnet.
New oil filter. Turns out this one doesn't fit, thanks, eBay seller.
Quick dash to Halfords, and they got me the right one. With a trade discount, it was £3. Neat. On it goes.
Magnetic plug time. Shiny.
Oh yeah, that looks nice.
Eventually I got it done. Spent some more time cleaning the belts, hence the water. The thinner belt still seems to have oil on it, which is annoying.
The backlight ring on my rev counter has started flickering! No!
Now, I've got something really cool to show you all.
Don't get too excited, it's not mine. I'm just looking after it for a while.
This was on my driveway when I got home.
I first got to see one of these in person at JAE, but I've been wanting to see a fresh, stock one since forever.
Unfortunately the interior is in pieces, but I'll reassemble it some time soon, maybe Friday, when I may replace my exhaust.
Ew, euro tail lights.
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Nothing like seeing your car through a window.
Let's look at this in the daylight, now that it's dry! What a cutie.
Early facelift March headlights are interesting. Plastic lens as opposed to glass, a bit like first-face headlights with the light diffuser being in the lens rather than the reflector. Indicators are much larger, reflectors are more square, and sidelights are part of the reflectors.
Definitely looks cool because it's different. But also isn't really that good.
Some pretty shots now.
I tried to tackle the broken exhaust on my car. I had hoped I could put a spare on.
That angle though.
I'm not entirely suprised, but the bolts wouldn't move.
I tried to grind off the tops of them, but I wasn't really getting anywhere and it was getting dark fast. 5pm was also approaching fast which is my deadline for using loud tools.
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Let's look at this in the daylight, now that it's dry! What a cutie.
Early facelift March headlights are interesting. Plastic lens as opposed to glass, a bit like first-face headlights with the light diffuser being in the lens rather than the reflector. Indicators are much larger, reflectors are more square, and sidelights are part of the reflectors.
Definitely looks cool because it's different. But also isn't really that good.
Some pretty shots now.
I tried to tackle the broken exhaust on my car. I had hoped I could put a spare on.
That angle though.
I'm not entirely suprised, but the bolts wouldn't move.
I tried to grind off the tops of them, but I wasn't really getting anywhere and it was getting dark fast. 5pm was also approaching fast which is my deadline for using loud tools.
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Just flexing my parking at work.
Early March Facelift sidelights in action!
Classic duo.
Eddie was forced to resort to tape to stop his sunroof situation. It leaks so badly these days, the drains aren't blocked, but the glass seal is completely saturated and mossy. Seems like water might be running around the seal, onto the wind deflector and into the car. His rear footwell is like a swamp. I'll spare you the after-tape photo.
Just deciding on snow tyres for the glorious moment the ultra-skid-lubricant begins to fall from the sky.
I wanted to get something close to a 180/45/R15, but it seems that nobody makes that. I was planning on 185/60/R15, but I realised that my existing tyres on the GTi wheels are 195/55/R15 (pretty sure). And it seems that one of those tyres is actually in good shape! But... just one. So I have two options:
Go for 185s, 4 new tyres, bin a decent condition tyre
or (and I'll more likely do this) get 195s, get one rear tyre and have mismatched rears (not that it matters too much for snow skids).
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Early March Facelift sidelights in action!
Classic duo.
Eddie was forced to resort to tape to stop his sunroof situation. It leaks so badly these days, the drains aren't blocked, but the glass seal is completely saturated and mossy. Seems like water might be running around the seal, onto the wind deflector and into the car. His rear footwell is like a swamp. I'll spare you the after-tape photo.
Just deciding on snow tyres for the glorious moment the ultra-skid-lubricant begins to fall from the sky.
I wanted to get something close to a 180/45/R15, but it seems that nobody makes that. I was planning on 185/60/R15, but I realised that my existing tyres on the GTi wheels are 195/55/R15 (pretty sure). And it seems that one of those tyres is actually in good shape! But... just one. So I have two options:
Go for 185s, 4 new tyres, bin a decent condition tyre
or (and I'll more likely do this) get 195s, get one rear tyre and have mismatched rears (not that it matters too much for snow skids).
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The exhaust nissan welded the studs in lol,
Looks well both,
195/50/15 , 205/50/15, 195/45/15 , or can run 185/55/15 , on Almera wheels, tho Toyo have the new versions of the proxes for £125 on eBay a set
Not the usual scuttle?, Or sunroof out of alignment, glass frame rotted,??
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Looks well both,
195/50/15 , 205/50/15, 195/45/15 , or can run 185/55/15 , on Almera wheels, tho Toyo have the new versions of the proxes for £125 on eBay a set
Not the usual scuttle?, Or sunroof out of alignment, glass frame rotted,??
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Engine full of oil and ready for an adventure. Well, kinda. The oil leak is pretty minimal right now. Also the belt that drives the pumps is oily and I can't seem to get it clean.
So, those of you who know me on Facebook know that my engine seems to be dying.
So commiting to a trip around Wales was a little scary.
But it seemed to do it fine! Other than the horrific sounds coming from the car.
Another day, Eddie seems to have bought himself a pure-grade Chinesium intake kit. It is acutually metal. Even if it's pitted quite a lot on the inside. The clips holding it together are ultra-crap plastic, and really really hard to get on.
The filter is actually quite nice though (bought separately).
Next to mine as a reference.
Some friends like clubs, some like pubs, me, I like gaming and hanging out with my friends faffing with cars, especially K11s.
Unfortunately the intake pipe clashed too much with the bonnet, too bad.
Yesterday.
The gear knob in the cabrio had gone mouldy! Eugh!
So I put a spare on. Now I can actually touch the gearstick.
It's wash time.
New wiper blades arrived. I bought them both separately. One from eBay and one from Amazon. Ended up costing like £4. Nice.
Today.
Brake pads have arrived. The front right is nearly down to metal.
Also a fun little (actually quite big!) rotating beacon has arrived. It's actually because I'm concerned that my engine will explode at any moment.
I've got tow rope in my car, and this beacon to slap on the roof if it really does go bad.
Tested it out (after cleaning the fingerprints off of the reflector and inside the lens, how has that happened?). It's pretty good actually! The cable is pretty short though. If it was raining I'd rather not have the sunroof popped out. Instead under a wind deflector would be much nicer.
Maybe I could extend the wire. Either way it's a fun thing.
On the lookout for a new engine. Hopefully a CGA3 again, but I have a backup CG13 which can be modified to have coilpacks as an option. There's also an option of using my spare CG10, with some CGA3 bits to make something cool. We'll see.
I guess otherwise I have the original CG10 in my garage, which just needs a new thermostat, I think (would just steal the one from my CGA3).
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So, those of you who know me on Facebook know that my engine seems to be dying.
So commiting to a trip around Wales was a little scary.
But it seemed to do it fine! Other than the horrific sounds coming from the car.
Another day, Eddie seems to have bought himself a pure-grade Chinesium intake kit. It is acutually metal. Even if it's pitted quite a lot on the inside. The clips holding it together are ultra-crap plastic, and really really hard to get on.
The filter is actually quite nice though (bought separately).
Next to mine as a reference.
Some friends like clubs, some like pubs, me, I like gaming and hanging out with my friends faffing with cars, especially K11s.
Unfortunately the intake pipe clashed too much with the bonnet, too bad.
Yesterday.
The gear knob in the cabrio had gone mouldy! Eugh!
So I put a spare on. Now I can actually touch the gearstick.
It's wash time.
New wiper blades arrived. I bought them both separately. One from eBay and one from Amazon. Ended up costing like £4. Nice.
Today.
Brake pads have arrived. The front right is nearly down to metal.
Also a fun little (actually quite big!) rotating beacon has arrived. It's actually because I'm concerned that my engine will explode at any moment.
I've got tow rope in my car, and this beacon to slap on the roof if it really does go bad.
Tested it out (after cleaning the fingerprints off of the reflector and inside the lens, how has that happened?). It's pretty good actually! The cable is pretty short though. If it was raining I'd rather not have the sunroof popped out. Instead under a wind deflector would be much nicer.
Maybe I could extend the wire. Either way it's a fun thing.
On the lookout for a new engine. Hopefully a CGA3 again, but I have a backup CG13 which can be modified to have coilpacks as an option. There's also an option of using my spare CG10, with some CGA3 bits to make something cool. We'll see.
I guess otherwise I have the original CG10 in my garage, which just needs a new thermostat, I think (would just steal the one from my CGA3).
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You have to cut the 90 , cut the flange and push the sleeve and keep the orignal rubber off the Tb on and clamp down, it's how I got it low enough, , I got one of them on a Micra , found it decent for £18, and used the old mounts on the strut to mount it using the rubber bit as damper for flex
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Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app
OP
OP
Neat little pic from late at work.
Here comes the cold, then!
I figured I'd have a go at fixing the door rattle. It's been driving me insane! With even moderate music volume the bass rattled the door. It was a bit better with the window open a little.
After lots and lots of prodding and tapping (using Blue Monday as a bass-y test song), I found two rattles. One, which was very minor, was coming from between the window motor and the door panel, at high frequencies. I fixed this by taking the extra foam (used to fill up the deeper parts of the doors) and chopping it a bit, and taping it in place.
But that wasn't the main problem. It was beginning to get dark, and I eventually found the main bad vibes. It was the speaker itself. The way it was mounted to the door panel. The three screws holding it in place weren't exactly tight, but they wouldn't get tighter. Pulling the speaker away stopped the vibrations.
So I took the rest of the foam, and lined the back of the speaker.
At first, that seemed to do the trick. But unfortunately it just replaced the vibration with a new kind of noise. So I'll have to look in to that again later. I'd also like to upgrade these speakers.
I replaced an already-blown number plate bulb.
I tried to adjust my left headlight. It's been pointing way too high (something that really annoys me to see!) The adjustment motor had gotten stuck on, so I unplugged it. I twisted the manual adjustment screw all the way until the top broke. Even then, it's aimed too high, but it's much better at least.
I'm just going to put on one of my spare sets. There's so much wrong with these headlights.
Yesterday, my front tyres for winter arrived!
I'm going to be unstoppable in the snow!
Just waiting on the single rear tyre (I'm reusing an old one).
Today, I dirtied up my car and got a Christmas tree.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Here comes the cold, then!
I figured I'd have a go at fixing the door rattle. It's been driving me insane! With even moderate music volume the bass rattled the door. It was a bit better with the window open a little.
After lots and lots of prodding and tapping (using Blue Monday as a bass-y test song), I found two rattles. One, which was very minor, was coming from between the window motor and the door panel, at high frequencies. I fixed this by taking the extra foam (used to fill up the deeper parts of the doors) and chopping it a bit, and taping it in place.
But that wasn't the main problem. It was beginning to get dark, and I eventually found the main bad vibes. It was the speaker itself. The way it was mounted to the door panel. The three screws holding it in place weren't exactly tight, but they wouldn't get tighter. Pulling the speaker away stopped the vibrations.
So I took the rest of the foam, and lined the back of the speaker.
At first, that seemed to do the trick. But unfortunately it just replaced the vibration with a new kind of noise. So I'll have to look in to that again later. I'd also like to upgrade these speakers.
I replaced an already-blown number plate bulb.
I tried to adjust my left headlight. It's been pointing way too high (something that really annoys me to see!) The adjustment motor had gotten stuck on, so I unplugged it. I twisted the manual adjustment screw all the way until the top broke. Even then, it's aimed too high, but it's much better at least.
I'm just going to put on one of my spare sets. There's so much wrong with these headlights.
Yesterday, my front tyres for winter arrived!
I'm going to be unstoppable in the snow!
Just waiting on the single rear tyre (I'm reusing an old one).
Today, I dirtied up my car and got a Christmas tree.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Last edited:
Just wondering how much of a difference has the sound deadening on the doors made?
(My aftermarket speakers also make the doors rattle so much as well and its so annoying.)
Also for the speaker, there should be abit of foam behind it either on the speaker or weather cover to stop it hitting the window frame ,mine was like that , but interested about the rear of the door
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Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app
OP
OP
Very little to be honest. I did have some nasty rattles when I first got it, which went away with the foam. Other than that I guess it keeps some warmth in the car.
But it was cheap and easy.
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OP
OP
Ah yes I know the bit you mean. On the plastic. I'll give that a check next time I'm in there.
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Ah right fair enough, cheers for the reply.
OP
OP
No more dampness for me! Not that it's been a problem, but now it shouldn't be anyway. The air has been crazily humid lately so these could help.
My third tyre arrived. It's pretty weird. It's an all-season tyre, the compound certainly feels like it, but the tread is interesting.
Of course it's got a combo of straight and angled blocks, but weirdly enough it's also got sipes for snow use. I've never seen that on a generic all-season tyre.
The sipes aren't cut particularly deep into the material so they'll be worn off in little time. These look like they'd be good in any weather, which is actually a bit lame as I bought these as the cheapest tyre for snow skids, cheapest I could find on the internet.
I went to my friend's place and we checked to see if the noisy engine was just a chain tensioner problem.
At first, it seemed like it. The tensioner wasn't moving freely, like it was full of crap where the oil flows (perhaps it was that anti-leak additive!).
So after a decent clean up, we chucked it back in there and fired it up.
But still the sound happened. A really bendy-rod sound.
So, I headed off to new-engine-land. I kinda hoped I could also fix a few other things like the exhaust, and maybe some new brake pads.
What a slightly annoyingly familiar sight. And hey, I recognise that other car...
So, goodbye CGA3. You were great. Across three cars, literal lunar miles, and even with an oil leak for years, and many times running on effectively no oil*, it was still super powerful and great fun. It was also a clean looking engine.
*Now that I've seen inside an engine with no sump, and seen where the dipstick sits, knowing that many times the dipstick read nothing, even after pouring in several litres of oil, I realise that this engine may well have had effectively no oil at all on many occasions. Hmm.
Here's a cool mod. The gearstick was really floppy and flaccid, and one reason is the gearbox mount.
So I found this nylon mount, which I'm now using! The gear linkeage attaches to this mount so now the stick doesn't flop 5cm when I accelerate. This mount also stiffens the engine in place to a degree too (being a rear mount, that's quite important for accelerating).
There aren't really any unkind vibrations as a result, so win-win so far.
The ol' 'A3.
Empty once again.
So. We needed to pinch this intermediate gear from the timing, for a reason I'll get into soon.
Most of the new engine quite bare.
There it is. My friend got the timing set up, which was good as I'm well and truly out of my comfort zone here.
Stole this shot from his phone. I'll never be clean again after that night. My hands and face are now at least 5mm wider due to surface dirt.
I think I'm reattaching the sump here, and praying that nothing leaks.
So, the end result.
"Is it a coilpack, or dizzy?"
"Yeah"
It's a CG13 engine. We've used the A3 fuel rail, inlet manifold and throttle body. The intermediate cam gear is from the A3 because it has a dowel on it for a cam sensor to operate (so we've used the side panel with the sensor too). The coilpacks are temporarily held in place by some studs. My friend drilled and tapped the cover. The distributor is functionless, other than covering up what would be a hole.
We've used the CG10(C) flywheel and clutch, with a brand new release bearing in the CG10 gearbox. The crank pulley is the much lighter CG10 one to match the lighter flywheel. As before we've used the best condition mounts, belts, and so on from both engines.
It's not finished yet, but it works.
I need a new MAF (and possibly even plug for it). I also really want the CGA3 camshafts, as they have a slightly higher lift apparently. Also they wouldn't be driving the distributor, which is wasted rotational energy. The exhaust is blowing from the block which can be really loud, and is missing the rear section and hanging still. So that needs fixing soon.
The clutch is making a crazy loud noise, so we'll look into that soon too. The sound dies when the clutch is engaged.
My friend is going to weld on some proper coilpack mounting bits onto a fresh cover, then I'll paint it.
We didn't add the carbon canister, but I'd like that back.
But otherwise, I have a really really healthy engine (despite being a high mileage one). Many internal parts have been changed lately or looked after so well that they all look great.
I've just added fresh oil but I'll change it again with a filter soon as lots of bits went in the engine during the swap.
Not entirely sure, but I may have the only functioning CG13 second facelift right now. It's been done at least once before but that car is long gone.
I learnt also that my smaller belt wasn't slipping due to oil any more. It was just slack. I didn't even know that that belt was tightenable, though it makes sense. The power steering pump pivots just like the alternator. Don't know how it would be with models without PAS.
I've learnt so, so much over the last couple of days.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Extra stolen photos:
My third tyre arrived. It's pretty weird. It's an all-season tyre, the compound certainly feels like it, but the tread is interesting.
Of course it's got a combo of straight and angled blocks, but weirdly enough it's also got sipes for snow use. I've never seen that on a generic all-season tyre.
The sipes aren't cut particularly deep into the material so they'll be worn off in little time. These look like they'd be good in any weather, which is actually a bit lame as I bought these as the cheapest tyre for snow skids, cheapest I could find on the internet.
I went to my friend's place and we checked to see if the noisy engine was just a chain tensioner problem.
At first, it seemed like it. The tensioner wasn't moving freely, like it was full of crap where the oil flows (perhaps it was that anti-leak additive!).
So after a decent clean up, we chucked it back in there and fired it up.
But still the sound happened. A really bendy-rod sound.
So, I headed off to new-engine-land. I kinda hoped I could also fix a few other things like the exhaust, and maybe some new brake pads.
What a slightly annoyingly familiar sight. And hey, I recognise that other car...
So, goodbye CGA3. You were great. Across three cars, literal lunar miles, and even with an oil leak for years, and many times running on effectively no oil*, it was still super powerful and great fun. It was also a clean looking engine.
*Now that I've seen inside an engine with no sump, and seen where the dipstick sits, knowing that many times the dipstick read nothing, even after pouring in several litres of oil, I realise that this engine may well have had effectively no oil at all on many occasions. Hmm.
Here's a cool mod. The gearstick was really floppy and flaccid, and one reason is the gearbox mount.
So I found this nylon mount, which I'm now using! The gear linkeage attaches to this mount so now the stick doesn't flop 5cm when I accelerate. This mount also stiffens the engine in place to a degree too (being a rear mount, that's quite important for accelerating).
There aren't really any unkind vibrations as a result, so win-win so far.
The ol' 'A3.
Empty once again.
So. We needed to pinch this intermediate gear from the timing, for a reason I'll get into soon.
Most of the new engine quite bare.
There it is. My friend got the timing set up, which was good as I'm well and truly out of my comfort zone here.
Stole this shot from his phone. I'll never be clean again after that night. My hands and face are now at least 5mm wider due to surface dirt.
I think I'm reattaching the sump here, and praying that nothing leaks.
So, the end result.
"Is it a coilpack, or dizzy?"
"Yeah"
It's a CG13 engine. We've used the A3 fuel rail, inlet manifold and throttle body. The intermediate cam gear is from the A3 because it has a dowel on it for a cam sensor to operate (so we've used the side panel with the sensor too). The coilpacks are temporarily held in place by some studs. My friend drilled and tapped the cover. The distributor is functionless, other than covering up what would be a hole.
We've used the CG10(C) flywheel and clutch, with a brand new release bearing in the CG10 gearbox. The crank pulley is the much lighter CG10 one to match the lighter flywheel. As before we've used the best condition mounts, belts, and so on from both engines.
It's not finished yet, but it works.
I need a new MAF (and possibly even plug for it). I also really want the CGA3 camshafts, as they have a slightly higher lift apparently. Also they wouldn't be driving the distributor, which is wasted rotational energy. The exhaust is blowing from the block which can be really loud, and is missing the rear section and hanging still. So that needs fixing soon.
The clutch is making a crazy loud noise, so we'll look into that soon too. The sound dies when the clutch is engaged.
My friend is going to weld on some proper coilpack mounting bits onto a fresh cover, then I'll paint it.
We didn't add the carbon canister, but I'd like that back.
But otherwise, I have a really really healthy engine (despite being a high mileage one). Many internal parts have been changed lately or looked after so well that they all look great.
I've just added fresh oil but I'll change it again with a filter soon as lots of bits went in the engine during the swap.
Not entirely sure, but I may have the only functioning CG13 second facelift right now. It's been done at least once before but that car is long gone.
I learnt also that my smaller belt wasn't slipping due to oil any more. It was just slack. I didn't even know that that belt was tightenable, though it makes sense. The power steering pump pivots just like the alternator. Don't know how it would be with models without PAS.
I've learnt so, so much over the last couple of days.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Extra stolen photos:
Last edited:
Looks amazing mate.
Its so good that you haven't given up!
Love your no-nonsense attitude to swapping engines!
Good luck with next steps.
OP
OP
Time to get the GTi wheels on!
Loaded up once again. I would have put these wheels on if I had my tools, I left everything at the engine swap location. Even my jackstands!
There they go... I forgot how these looked on the car. Quite smart actually.
At first I wanted the snow tyres on the back, so I could wear in the generic ones a little, and save the snow tyres for skid-time. But, it seems that 195/60/15 with ~30mm lowering springs clashes too much with the rear mudguards. So, I got them put on the front, and the generic 195/55s on the rear.
The rear right, as per tradition, does rub. Quite a bit at this stage, though it could have just been because the back of the car was loaded with steelies (5 I guess).
If it continues to rub (I know it will over speedbumps or if I have fatties in the back), I'll remove the spacers. If that doesn't work, either I'll remove the rear mudflaps (rather not) or replace the springs with standard ones while these wheels are on.
I'm also curious, since the axle swings over to the right when it's compressed, and the right side is catching only, could I just remove the spacer on the rear right wheel? It would make sense to me, the wheels would both be in about the same space. But would it upset the handling?
Happy Christmas, car. For the first time, I've got a wheel alignment. It was significantly mis-aligned at first. I think the photo below may have been after the right wheel was adjusted. No wonder my front tyres have worn like they did. I thought it was just down to hard driving.
I would be interested in adjusting the front camber if it was possible. I'd like to experiment with some extra negative camber to see how it corners, and how the tyres cope.
Anyway, the steering wheel for the first time sits completely straight. I'm sure my tyre wear, speed, and fuel economy will love this. And finally I've gotten it done with new tyres. Should have done this with the Nankangs.
I forgot to bring my alloy wheel nuts to the tyre place, so the steelie ones will do for now. They have the wrong taper on the nut, but I know from experience that it's fine.
I won't bother adding the centrecaps until I do that.
This car needs plenty of work right now!
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Loaded up once again. I would have put these wheels on if I had my tools, I left everything at the engine swap location. Even my jackstands!
There they go... I forgot how these looked on the car. Quite smart actually.
At first I wanted the snow tyres on the back, so I could wear in the generic ones a little, and save the snow tyres for skid-time. But, it seems that 195/60/15 with ~30mm lowering springs clashes too much with the rear mudguards. So, I got them put on the front, and the generic 195/55s on the rear.
The rear right, as per tradition, does rub. Quite a bit at this stage, though it could have just been because the back of the car was loaded with steelies (5 I guess).
If it continues to rub (I know it will over speedbumps or if I have fatties in the back), I'll remove the spacers. If that doesn't work, either I'll remove the rear mudflaps (rather not) or replace the springs with standard ones while these wheels are on.
I'm also curious, since the axle swings over to the right when it's compressed, and the right side is catching only, could I just remove the spacer on the rear right wheel? It would make sense to me, the wheels would both be in about the same space. But would it upset the handling?
Happy Christmas, car. For the first time, I've got a wheel alignment. It was significantly mis-aligned at first. I think the photo below may have been after the right wheel was adjusted. No wonder my front tyres have worn like they did. I thought it was just down to hard driving.
I would be interested in adjusting the front camber if it was possible. I'd like to experiment with some extra negative camber to see how it corners, and how the tyres cope.
Anyway, the steering wheel for the first time sits completely straight. I'm sure my tyre wear, speed, and fuel economy will love this. And finally I've gotten it done with new tyres. Should have done this with the Nankangs.
I forgot to bring my alloy wheel nuts to the tyre place, so the steelie ones will do for now. They have the wrong taper on the nut, but I know from experience that it's fine.
I won't bother adding the centrecaps until I do that.
This car needs plenty of work right now!
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Last edited:
OP
OP
Did someone say "flexing parking while at work"?
I've been leaving oil everywhere at work. So that's something else that needs checking ASAP.
The Cabrio had a flat battery. Jumping it off of a spare one I have got it going again. I almost got it dry on the inside this time.
I also noticed that the roof seemed to seal better at the windscreen when I helped it close with the handle.
So I noticed something interesting at work...
As always, the right side at the back is what catches. In fact I've lost the mudflap screw now, the tyre chewed it off.
But check out the fitment on this side...
Compared to the left...
I'm going to try the right wheel without the spacer.
Driveway clean time.
Had to of course move the Cabrio for that.
Ended up with some really nice photos.
Right then.
2019 is over, and I actually have a little time during the weekdays to do things with my car. I still haven't got my tools, and the engine swap is still half-done. Another session is required, then I can get to sorting out finer points (like alloy wheel nuts and wheel centrecaps). Also my car has never been this dirty. I know I say that a lot, but it's once again at a record level of dirt. Really sits at the back of my mind on top of everything else, so this needs to change soon.
Sent from my F8331 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
I've been leaving oil everywhere at work. So that's something else that needs checking ASAP.
The Cabrio had a flat battery. Jumping it off of a spare one I have got it going again. I almost got it dry on the inside this time.
I also noticed that the roof seemed to seal better at the windscreen when I helped it close with the handle.
So I noticed something interesting at work...
As always, the right side at the back is what catches. In fact I've lost the mudflap screw now, the tyre chewed it off.
But check out the fitment on this side...
Compared to the left...
I'm going to try the right wheel without the spacer.
Driveway clean time.
Had to of course move the Cabrio for that.
Ended up with some really nice photos.
Right then.
2019 is over, and I actually have a little time during the weekdays to do things with my car. I still haven't got my tools, and the engine swap is still half-done. Another session is required, then I can get to sorting out finer points (like alloy wheel nuts and wheel centrecaps). Also my car has never been this dirty. I know I say that a lot, but it's once again at a record level of dirt. Really sits at the back of my mind on top of everything else, so this needs to change soon.
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Last edited:
Mine was the exact same on the read axle, was a about 2 mm off parts of the mudflap but hit the bumper mount, the adjustable panhard ended up been a inch sorter +, about 3mm extra
Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app
OP
OP
Did a speed test. At displayed 70, we were going at 73 GPS actual. That means that with these wheels and tyres, my speedometer reads +4.29%. Compared to the SRi wheels with the thin summer tyres (which was about -13%), that's quite a change to get used to.
I noticed that the snow tyres aren't on the right way around (not that it makes much difference currently). So I'll soon swap them over.
I noticed that the snow tyres aren't on the right way around (not that it makes much difference currently). So I'll soon swap them over.