started to change my cars look :P

[north]

well today ive had a good old shop around with some money i got refunded frm my insurance so naturally went out to the local car place got me some black matt spray new hub caps and finally my nissan micra haynes manual!

so far ive sprayed the metal bit of the tyre (not a clue what u call it) black and fitted my new hub caps

ill post pictures of these when the computer finally flaming loads them ill add them on later

also im gonna respray my grill section so that the black bits are actually back but mine seem different i dont no if they are but its one whole section and i want to change it coz i dont like the big blastic bars and was thinking of mesh but how do i go about it? ill add a piccy of the grill section aswell asoon as i can

 

[north]

as promissed some piccies

new hub caps on my sprayed tyres (obv not the rubber)

and how do i go about modyfying this type of grill?

 

[will930]

thats the rim my friend

and you can cut away the middle but it takes work though

 

[tomwest]

it shouldnt be too difficult to modify the grill so its 1 hole, as long as you're pretty adept with a dremel and a set of files! as for the mesh: if you look on the back of the grill, you'll see theres like a lip that sticks out (towards the car) where the nostrils are. you need to leave this in place, despite cutting the rest out. when youve finished making the cut, drill small holes in the lip you left on, and bang a bunch of cable ties through. how i did it on my old car. would suggest though maybe do it with the front bumper as well, could look out of place otherwise. check some of the guys threads on here theres loads of great pics of micras!

 

[tomwest]

you could even spray the nissan badge black and then glue that to the mesh! just a thought eh?

 

[north]

hmmmm if i take the middle bars out of the black bits using my dremel and then secure some mesh behind it and try and sooth where the od bars where maybe with some filler and black spray would that look all right and ye im thinking of doing the same to my bumper gona be spraying my bumper completly matt black coz its abit grey XD:doh:

 

[CraigIC]

I did this to my grill which was the same shape as yours (before going on to cut up an older grill with a squarer hole).. I cba to finish stonechipping/painting it though, hence why it looks so bad (Y), but there's an idea of what yours might look like when on

If my dad doesnt want this grill for his car ill probably sell it to someone on here if anyone wants it for a few quid :laugh:..
Anywayyy, is that the shape youre wanting to do yours matey? Its quite easy to bodge the gaps up and make it look respectable aswell so you shouldnt have too much trouble doing it , i managed doing it almost the same as tomwest suggested, although to mount the mesh I built up a blob of fibreglass then screwed into it through the back of the mesh and used bits of metal/washers so the screws wouldnt go through the gaps in my plastic mesh . Good luck with it (Y)

 

[tomwest]

good plan hadnt thought to use fibreglass! does it hold the mesh tight enough?

 

[north]

hmmmm i quite like that look yer it is something i want to do in that sort of way but (i know people dont) but i want to keep the nissan badge in the center only because when i sell it on later itll give me a bigger market to sell it to do you think having the 2 holes with chrome painted mesh would look neat?

dont get me wrong yours looks preety damm slick i like how youve got it to look so natural

 

[CraigIC]

Yeah tom , the screws and makeshift washers dont allow the mesh to move at all (Y)

You mean like this north?

This is the other grill my dad has to choose between, and it does look nice with the chrome mesh and silver outline too, so theres a rough idea of what yours would look like (Y).. Also, i dont know what colours youve used around the rest of your car, but red and black would be my choice for it, having a red grill with black outline and black mesh would be nice imo .. But if youve not used that throughout the rest of your car then gan with whatever you like,, afterall its your own car not mine bud! . This mesh is also held on with tubes and tubes of tigerseal/silicone lol..
Also in the backgrounds a mk1 escort (Y).. sat next to a mk2 escort as well.. these are the reasons ive not done anything on my own car! Theyve taken priority over it lol :glare:

 

[north]

PERFECT they look well sweet well my theme is actually red and black under the bonnett is red black and chrome tho so you reackon the black mesh would be better? ill buy chrome mesh see the look if i like it it will stick if i dont itll get sprayed black

dont suppose you can let me in to how u made the edges so smooth did you use a fibre glass filler?

EDIT: also could u take a piccy of it from the back just so i can see how youve fixed it on i know youve said but i get betters isdeas from seein things XD

ALSO where can i get a cheap mesh from

 

[Daniel]

ALSO where can i get a cheap mesh from

Chicken wire sprayed black :laugh:. Nah, the best place to get it from is either Euro Car Parts or Halfords (but I get trade discount, so maybe that's why everything has been so cheap recently :wasntme. If not, try looking in DIY shops - they must sell something similar for a lot less money than if you went to a car shop (Y)

 

[Shaun]

Chicken wire sprayed black :laugh:. Nah, the best place to get it from is either Euro Car Parts or Halfords (but I get trade discount, so maybe that's why everything has been so cheap recently :wasntme. If not, try looking in DIY shops - they must sell something similar for a lot less money than if you went to a car shop (Y)

i bought my K10 mesh from B&Q.... it rusted. lol
spray it silver or black if you do get normal steel...

 

[Daniel]

i bought my K10 mesh from B&Q.... it rusted. lol
spray it silver or black if you do get normal steel...

There's nothing wrong with some home DIY materials on your car :wasntme:. Robbs splitter is made out of the same stuff you'd normally find on the roof of your shed, which quite frankly is an awesome idea and I can't believe I didn't think of it :laugh: . But if you do buy mesh from B&Q or wherever, spray it with a lot of paint and laquer, then it should be ok (Y)

 

[north]

well what im after is quite a thick sort of mesh well not thick but like wide diamond where chicken wire is quite thin and squarey is there such thing as a thickness grade with these things XD

also while ive got u all here in my little thread i bought my haynes manual now after asking the rude gentleman at the local car shop if its the right one for diy i some how dont trust him but its the roadside works and servicing one now ive been told there a workshop one but apprently according to halfrauds and this rude man the 1996 k11 dosent have a haynes workshop manual? anyone shed me some light did i buy the wrong book gonna keep it anyway has usful wiring diagrams in it

 

[Daniel]

I think there should be a workshop manual for it - there's generally a workshop manual for every single car and motorbike on the planet. And I've worked for a few car and motorbike dealerships/garages in the past - all of them had workshop manuals for the cars that they usually had in to work on, and if they didn't, they'd normally order one in for the car they were working on. So yes, there should be one. Don't trust the rude man, because he sounds like a dickhead, and don't trust the Halfords guy either - no offence to anyone who works or has worked for them, but they generally don't seem to know what the hell they are talking about (personal experience :laugh

Generally I don't think there is a universal size or thickness grade for wire mesh, different shops seem to have their own measurements (although they all look the same, just with a different brand on the packaging :glare

 

[north]

lol cheers ill have a look round i couldnt find one in halfrauds they had the workshop maual for the 1998 one but mines a 1996 model so i dont think that 1998 one wouldnt be right would it?

 

[Daniel]

I'm not sure how different they would be between 2 years, not much but still not worth risking buying the wrong one

 

[north]

exactly so im gonna try and find an actual workshop one lmfao dont suppose anyone has actually got a 1996 workshop haynes manual lol

 

[karlj]

My Haynes manual is from 93-00 iirc, I haven't seen it for quite some time though

 

[CraigIC]

dont suppose you can let me in to how u made the edges so smooth did you use a fibre glass filler?

EDIT: also could u take a piccy of it from the back just so i can see how youve fixed it on i know youve said but i get betters isdeas from seein things XD

ALSO where can i get a cheap mesh from

Yeah id just buy normal chrome/silver mesh then decide on the colour yourself, make sure its on the car though so your definitely sure (Y)
Not sure where you could get the mesh, id say my local car parts shop sells it for a similar price to halfords.. better off taking advice from everyone whos already suggested places ..
Ill take a pic tomorrow when i get chance, to show you all the tiger seal on the back ..simple method but the mesh doesnt move around :laugh:
And we didnt make the grill, but its just fibreglassed and sanded flat then painted im guessing, thats what we did with my open mouth grill..We roughed up the grill around where the bars were cut so the fibreglass would stick, then stuck a load on and shaped it using masking tape while it was still soft lol.. then sanded it flat (Y)

 

[CraigIC]

Pics from the back as promised matey (Y).. Horrible method and bad job, but the mesh doesnt move at all, and from the front, noone will ever know unless you tell them :laugh: haha.
The mesh has been bent to fit around the plastic as ya can see, then stuck in place with that black mess:

Easy to do at least, saves alot of effort with more fibreglass and screws i suppose
Good luck with it mate (Y)

 

[north]

that look preety much what i want to do something quick easy and hell its at the back nobody sees that bit but me anyway lmfao that black stuff where can i get that from do my local halfrauds have any

 

[north]

hey guys more updates on the inside of my car takes me a while as im busy as hell but heres the new speakers head unit and gear knob
head unit

head unit in the dark

new gear nob

one of my new speakers (passengers side)

passengers door with sprayed handle

and this is just a little bit of everythin ;P

 

[north]

just to add the speakers look a bit different now with new screws in tht are shiny not got an updated pic did it today but was ina ruch and dint get any pics sorry

 

[Daniel]

Good to see my old head unit, speakers, and gearknob on your car (Y). Gearknob is a nice touch as well, found it very comfortable when it was on my Micra

 

[north]

haha yer its really nice quite smooth sadly cant drive my micra till i can afford to insure it im just hoping it dosent rot past being moted lol