New to this website although I've only ever owned k11 micras, I'm on my 3rd now (the micrawave cos its silver and has about the same amount of power as one). First 2 k11s were lost to the dredded rot and when it came to buying another one I made sure to get one with mint sills and crossmember. But 6 months after i got it I decided to inspect the underside for rust to deal with any before it got out of hand and found a hole in the passenger rear footwell. Anyway long story short I've stuck with k11's too long too change and have the tools and experience to do just about any mechanical repair on a k11 on my home drive. But the rust will always be a relentless cancer on these things! Right getting to the point now, I want a brand new k11 micra shell that I can use to built my own k11. The finished product a couple of years down the line will be nothing special, infact ideally made with all the most common parts so the parts will always be available cheap from new or salvaged. So is there a way to get hold of a brand new k11 shell? or is there somewhere out there that recondition k11 shells with rustproofing superior to the way it came out of the factory as new? I know I can't be the only person out there with this kind of problem and there must be a solution! haha
Sick of rust, want a k11 that will last
- Thread starter The_Micrawave
- Start date
Interesting topic, I don't think there's a way of getting a brand new shell, although I'm sure someone would correct me if I'm wrong! In my experience I've found that its the second facelifts that are the best protected from rust, maybe start with one of those and strip it down to a bare shell and re rust proof it from there?
Or the more expensive route would be to look for an ex rally car and convert it back to a road car, rally cars are always the most solid examples!
Or the more expensive route would be to look for an ex rally car and convert it back to a road car, rally cars are always the most solid examples!
OP
OP
Yeah thats where i got the idea, I've saw so many threads on here showing examples of rally builds where they start off with all fresh and shiny shells and I thought, thats what I need! haha It's a 2nd facelift model I have just now, gona get the hole in the floor welded up at the MOT then gone get underneath with the wire brush and rust curing stuff. Don't know whether to go with Dinitrol ontop of the cured underbody or stonechip then dinitrol, or stonechip then hammerite then dinitrol haha It seems though theres alot of mixed information on under sealing, like alot of people say it can actually trap salt and moisture and cover up rust until its got way out of hand and beyond repair. Just can't win! lol
I feel your pain mate, i loved minis in the UK and always longed for a heritage shell to build my dream mini from. Now i live in Oz and the two micras i own are about as rust free as a twenty plus year old car can be [ just a tiny bit of surface rust under my front cross members ] other than that sills, arches, floorpans are all mint. I cringe when i see what you UK guys have to put up with.
I think the best thing to do would be to seek out a very solid car, possibly a car with minor damage from Copart, then pull it to bits and do what Pete does to his cars in this link.
http://sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?...96-S13-25K-miles-1-owner-from-new-full-refurb
http://sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?...96-S13-25K-miles-1-owner-from-new-full-refurb
Early K11 pre-face and first face lift Micra's suffered from corrosion problems through bad design and not being factory rust-proofed. Particular areas of concern was the: cross member, open box ends that the cross member is welded to, t bar which supports the bonnet and bonnet catch, front bumper leg ends that connect the bumper to the chassis, L shaped lip on the rear wheel arches, around the rear light clusters and the back bumper valance (bar that connects the rear bumper to the chassis), window guides/runners especially in the doors.
Most of these design faults had been rectified when the 2001/2002 2nd face lift Micra was produce and factory rust proofed, models that had the factory fitted slide/tilt sun roof had a unbelievable major fault concerned with the rear water drainage hose which ran above the roof liner and down the rear C pillar and fed into the side sill box section just forward of the rear wheel arch. The water drainage relied on 3 rubber/plastic one way plugs that were positioned under the sill and if these plugs clogged up (which they did) the result would be water pooling in the sill! The front water drainage was not much better with the hose running down the inside of the A pillar and ending in the gap behind the front wing! Even though the cross member was rust proofed the underneath could corrode due to the black plastic protection trims being connected to the underneath of the cross member which can collect water.
The following pics are of my 2003 1.4SE+ (one of the last K11's built in the UK)!
Most of these design faults had been rectified when the 2001/2002 2nd face lift Micra was produce and factory rust proofed, models that had the factory fitted slide/tilt sun roof had a unbelievable major fault concerned with the rear water drainage hose which ran above the roof liner and down the rear C pillar and fed into the side sill box section just forward of the rear wheel arch. The water drainage relied on 3 rubber/plastic one way plugs that were positioned under the sill and if these plugs clogged up (which they did) the result would be water pooling in the sill! The front water drainage was not much better with the hose running down the inside of the A pillar and ending in the gap behind the front wing! Even though the cross member was rust proofed the underneath could corrode due to the black plastic protection trims being connected to the underneath of the cross member which can collect water.
The following pics are of my 2003 1.4SE+ (one of the last K11's built in the UK)!
