Workhorse becoming a classic? Worth to Restore? Where to get parts?

[3706mht]

Morning all. My 94 base K11 we consider our workhorse. It's tows, roof carrys and interior is always full of various projects.

But it's still in great overall condition and we have maintained it well. Every month we get at least 2 folks knock and ask if we want sell it. This started maybe 3 years back and it's getting more and more.

We want to keep it and I'm seriously considering renovating it to a good standard. E.g a professional respray and replace any external trim that is decaying. But where to find the parts? Things like:

Window black strip .... rusting at ends
Bump strips .... have come loose a time or two and were glued back a bit uneven
Sunroof red press button ... one missing
Some dash plastic faded

Actually not so much but is there a special or a professional breaker .... you know the sort of place you see them visit on Wheeler Dealers or Salvage Hunter Classic car program ... blokes who have a shed full of old, new hard to find parts?

I also need restore the driver seat properly ... and maybe have the lot done if I can find a specialist who can match the original fabric. Again anyone know of anyone?

I think finding specialists who can source the parts is key to making this work. Would appreciate any sources, leads or contacts that could be useful. Thanks in advance

 

[Micra Paul]

Any repair is becoming increasingly marginal dependent upon how much time from your life & money you are prepared to spend endlessly repairing an old vehicle that is well beyond its design economic useful life cycle?

I run my sole vehicle as cheaply as possible via simple & minimal DIY maintenance to MOT standard that has never been welded & it just keeps going with no problems at 26 years old.

Previous Japanese K Series cars, Suzuki Alto, Nissan Cherry, K10 & K11 etc., have not been regarded as classics to date mostly because they were originally designed & built to be cheap as chips, economical lightweight & above all, disposable.

Following is where I first latched onto bangernomics & Japanese K series cars nearly 30 years ago having been guided by the principles to this day.

Bangernomics - a beginner's guide

What is Bangernomics?

bangernomics.tripod.com

Japanese K Series cars at DuckDuckGo

 

[3706mht]

Any repair is becoming increasingly marginal dependent upon how much time from your life & money you are prepared to spend endlessly repairing an old vehicle that is well beyond its design economic useful life cycle?

I run my sole vehicle as cheaply as possible via simple & minimal DIY maintenance to MOT standard that has never been welded & it just keeps going with no problems at 26 years old.

Previous Japanese K Series cars, Suzuki Alto, Nissan Cherry, K10 & K11 etc., have not been regarded as classics to date mostly because they were originally designed & built to be cheap as chips, economical lightweight & above all, disposable.

Following is where I first latched onto bangernomics & Japanese K series cars nearly 30 years ago having been guided by the principles to this day.

Bangernomics - a beginner's guide

What is Bangernomics?

bangernomics.tripod.com

Japanese K Series cars at DuckDuckGo

Hi Paul. Yes I agree and that's in reality what we have been doing for many years now, including the welding .... this thing has been used hard, maintained hard, And yes we do follow and discuss the bangernomics principles on the site. It's had the front ripped off it and replaced, been used by daughters on a budget living in London day in and out, by other daughters during divorces and on several of our property renovations. It's even done a Shrewsbury to Lands End to John O groats to Edinburgh 26 hour non stop (bar petrol top up) trek in 2019. In short, we cannot kill this thing!!!

But practicalities, hard life and economics aside, it still looks good ... inside and out. So at this point I'm less interested in the practical and more the fun of returning it to as near perfect condition as I can. Not show room but near on. It's a fairly simple job to do in fact .... professional respray, steel wheels refinishing, some professional upholstery fixes and some rusty and loss bits of plastic and metal.

Life means that were it was an essential practicality, now we can afford to approach it in a more hobby based way. We have now moved onto a high end EV but the Micra still does the donkey shift every day. I.e the rough stuff.

So I can afford now not to approach and use it as we have for the last 28 years and lavish a little polish on it. But I have no idea where to get these bits of trim and cosmetics, hence trying to find specialist suppliers etc.

If you think about it, it's the nicest of conclusions .... it was bought new, looked after well, then fell into grunt work for the majority of it's life and now we have the opportunity to return it to near perfect condition and grand kids can learn to drive in it and suchlike then maybe pass it on to one of these folks who keeps knocking on the day asking if we want to sell it.

 

[Soft-top]

If you really want a mint one to keep you could look into importing one from Japan, quite a few still come up in the auctions there and are often completely rust free. A mint one will probably cost you a couple of hundred thousand yen - just a thought.

 

[3706mht]

If you really want a mint one to keep you could look into importing one from Japan, quite a few still come up in the auctions there and are often completely rust free. A mint one will probably cost you a couple of hundred thousand yen - just a thought.

Agree they look great and have looked at a few of these. Very tempting.

But the whole point of this one it that it has done the full journey there and back over many years. It's the carry on the journey with the same car but to give it a late life refresh. Even if that has a cost to it. Probably a disproportionate cost but what the hell, it would be a nice way to see the old girl back to here she was in 1994

I like the idea of the imports but reality is that now it is a second division car for us ... we made the big step to EV for social and work. But keeping the one that went the distance is the motivation for us, not replacing it.

It really is just the case that I'm trying find component / specialist suppliers or indeed folks who could work on it. Maybe there are specialist suppliers in Japan or here that we can source these parts from? Resprays and refinishing are easier to source but the specialist replacement cosmetic parts seem a lot harder to find.

But surely if there are specialists for Alfa Romeo and odd car types like they show on these TV channels that do restorations then surely there must be a guy somewhere in the world doing the same for K11 Micra's?

 

[Micra Paul]

Wow that’s an exceptional 28 year family history heritage from new & still going strong, credit where it’s due.

Banger economics principles save loads while keeping just one vehicle pays for multiple all-inclusive holidays every year for the Mrs & I.

Perhaps the interesting potential priority now is establishing the practicalities, economics, logistics, low energy costs reality of the EV experience with the potential for a genuine EV comparison repeat “Shrewsbury to Lands End to John O groats to Edinburgh 26 hour non-stop (bar petrol top up) trek in 2019”

Substantive “essential practicality” time/costs comparisons with the EV & the 28 year old K11 performance on the same reality trek without big business marketing hyperbole smoke & mirrors distractions may be ground breaking?

 

[3706mht]

Wow that’s an exceptional 28 year family history heritage from new & still going strong, credit where it’s due.

Banger economics principles save loads while keeping just one vehicle pays for multiple all-inclusive holidays every year for the Mrs & I.

Perhaps the interesting potential priority now is establishing the practicalities, economics, logistics, low energy costs reality of the EV experience with the potential for a genuine EV comparison repeat “Shrewsbury to Lands End to John O groats to Edinburgh 26 hour non-stop (bar petrol top up) trek in 2019”

Substantive “essential practicality” time/costs comparisons with the EV & the 28 year old K11 performance on the same reality trek without big business marketing hyperbole smoke & mirrors distractions may be ground breaking?

100% and had thought similar.

The Micra ate that journey and it wasn't years ago it was days before the pandemic 1st Jan 2019. Think I did a post and photos on here somewhere. I'm not good at searching but yes I definitely did a post on it which you can find and read. Never missed a beat.

In fact the hotel we checked into in Edinburgh, when they heard the story and grabbed the bags, they gave us the suite that George Clooney used when he stays ... they were that impressed. True story.

The EV is a work of art. No doubt. It should be, it cost and arm and a leg. But would it match the Micra on CO2 emissions for life time? Absolutely not. The Berners Lee Oxford model clearly and absolutely shows that owning, running it clean, maintaining and stretching life span for that length of time is considerably better environmentally than taking a box fresh EV. We are no doubt or dilemma about that. And it never once failed an emissions test.

Mind you never did our 1994 106 1.5d XN .... which has done nearly 3 times as many miles .... will be 300k end of next year. Same principle ..... that one on semi permanent loan to our Ukrainian family until they fully on their feet with new place and car. That one is doing 60+ miles a day since last March every day to various farm locations. It just burst a couple of long copper brake pipes and we replaced. But again they were 29 years old and original.

The new EV is a flagship and has huge range. It would eat the lands end JOG trip but would it be as much fun? No chance.

Still need my specialist K11 component suppliers mind .... has to be someone in Matsumoto or Macclesfield?

 

[3706mht]

Wow that’s an exceptional 28 year family history heritage from new & still going strong, credit where it’s due.

Banger economics principles save loads while keeping just one vehicle pays for multiple all-inclusive holidays every year for the Mrs & I.

Perhaps the interesting potential priority now is establishing the practicalities, economics, logistics, low energy costs reality of the EV experience with the potential for a genuine EV comparison repeat “Shrewsbury to Lands End to John O groats to Edinburgh 26 hour non-stop (bar petrol top up) trek in 2019”

Substantive “essential practicality” time/costs comparisons with the EV & the 28 year old K11 performance on the same reality trek without big business marketing hyperbole smoke & mirrors distractions may be ground breaking?

I found the post! .... have a read. ....

Lands End to John O Groats 94' K11 1703 miles .... Never Missed a Beat!

Happy New Year Micra People. Well we talked about it on PollyP's excellent blog a few days back and now we've done it! 15.00 pm December 31st, I collect the wife from her shift at work and straight off down to Land's End. Arrived at 20.30! Nearly zero traffic .... managed a comfortable 70-75...

micra.org.uk

 

[Twincam-Alex]

Morning all. My 94 base K11 we consider our workhorse. It's tows, roof carrys and interior is always full of various projects.

But it's still in great overall condition and we have maintained it well. Every month we get at least 2 folks knock and ask if we want sell it. This started maybe 3 years back and it's getting more and more.

We want to keep it and I'm seriously considering renovating it to a good standard. E.g a professional respray and replace any external trim that is decaying. But where to find the parts? Things like:

Window black strip .... rusting at ends
Bump strips .... have come loose a time or two and were glued back a bit uneven
Sunroof red press button ... one missing
Some dash plastic faded

Actually not so much but is there a special or a professional breaker .... you know the sort of place you see them visit on Wheeler Dealers or Salvage Hunter Classic car program ... blokes who have a shed full of old, new hard to find parts?

I also need restore the driver seat properly ... and maybe have the lot done if I can find a specialist who can match the original fabric. Again anyone know of anyone?

I think finding specialists who can source the parts is key to making this work. Would appreciate any sources, leads or contacts that could be useful. Thanks in advance

Apart from looking on eBay and the like, some parts are manufacturer specific such as your window strip may be hard to get.
There is also a Facebook Micra club may be of help.