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Nippa for my Nipper !


Steve G

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Not much to report other than the knocking from the passenger side is getting worse and the drivers side brake caliper is sticking ! 

I did fit new CV boots to the passenger side driveshaft and these nearly fit although the clips supplied didn't. I think the correct term is well packaged. I had to fit a couple of stainless steel band type bands to clear the gearbox casing.

I've also bought some front shocks. I think they are going to fit but won't know for sure until I remove the old one and have a proper look.  Perodua UK don't have stock and there aren't many aftermarket options. I will report back with my findings. 

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I've been collecting parts, or at least trying to. Something front shock related is banging and crashing about so I now have a pair of new KYB ones to fit. I don't know if they are the right ones but were listed for a Daihatsu Mira of the right age so I have my fingers crossed. I've also ordered a set of rear ones, from Germany and got a dipstick from the Isle of Wight. 

I really wanted a parts book of some sort and spotted a Mira microfiche for sale, also in Germany.  I got this today so dug out the old reader I have and gave it a try. It seems that some of the more important bits at least have the same numbers as the Perodua so I might have got lucky.  I could photograph each page but think I might go mad before finishing it !

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On 9/28/2019 at 8:17 AM, castros_bro said:

My Nippa went for pre paid MOT and the MOT man gave me my money back if I promised to scrap it ASAP then  showed me how bad the under body rust was.  

If you need some used bits like rear lights, engine etc I may have some.

Sorry to hear yours is so rusty. I would be very interested in some parts if you dont mind. I would just come and get it all but I am seriously over my limit of cars and don't have any more room. I had to collect a Spitfire I hid in my father in laws garage today.  I'm trying to work out where to put that.

 

 

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11 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Not sure how I missed that, unless it's only just been put on. Thanks very much for spotting that. I would have been fixing bits on it this weekend but have been busy moving stuff. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finally got the chance to fit the new front shocks I bought today. I was a bit worried they might not be the right thing as I had to special order them and they couldn't be returned. 

Fortunately my luck was in and the ones I got are the same apart from the lower spring pans being between 5 and 10mm lower on the strut. This has lowered the car slightly which is no bad thing. 

The front brakes have been sticking slightly so as a first step I de-rusted the caliper sliders. It's had new pads fairly recently so it's likely the pistons are sticking but I am hoping that the sliders will fix it. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thought I ought to update the pictures although it's a bit dull outside. The new bumpers that I got with the car are now fitted. The front one was broken and the rear just faded. The main reason I got involved with the front one was that the drivers side corner had been walloped at some point. There wasn't much visable on the bumper but the inner wing /healdamp panel were a bit bent. Worse still was that the headlamp mount was broken.  I'd spotted some headlamps on ebay so grabbed them quick. 

After a fair amount of bashing I got the headlamp to fit OK and the bumper was then fitted. 

 

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While I was messing about under the arches I remove the mud flaps. They have steel re-enforcement's in them which were very rusty so unless I can find some new ones I will leave them off.  The scuttle panel was also flapping around as some of the plastic rivits had gone missing. It got caught and damaged by the bonnet hinge so I fitted rivnuts and fixed it down properly with some fancy stainless bolts. 

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One thing he has been waiting for is the new steering wheel. The original one was a bit grotty so when I spotted this one come up on ebay with a nice padded centre pad I bought it.  The boss was another abay find and was listed for a Mira so on the strength of my shock absorber purchaces I took the chance. I had to re-drill the one in the back for the indicator cancelling mechanism but it fitted OK apart from that. Does look too out of place fortunately other then being black not charcoal grey. 

I had to repair the column cowl as it had cracked by the hazard switch. The switch isn't very obvious so to cover up the repair I stuck a bit of orange vinyl over it so it's almost supposed to be like it. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I bought and fitted a set of new ARB to lower arm bushes but wasn't happy with the way they fitted.  I have been investigating the options and bought a set of Polyurethane ones but they are a lot too small . They are listed for a  Daihatsu Mira but either they are for an earlier spec Mira or Perodua have changed them. After a lot of searching I have bought a set of bushes from Superpro and another set from Superflex who used to be the UK devision of Superpro. Confusing isn't it.

I got one set this morning which should work once they are trimmed off to the correct length but I will wait until the second set turn up as they might be a closer fit.

I have also placed an order for springs from a UK manufacturer. They list a set to lower the car 40mm front and rear which I think is a bit low on the back. I have asked if they can do some 10mm higher on the rear so I will see how these work when they arrive.

I'm not sure if modding is in keeping with the Autoshite way but it's my sons car so I have to do what he says. I bought him a model kit of a slightly earlier Mira for his Birthday and he want a set of wheels like the ones on that. Getting any wheels that will fit is going to be a struggle. I've had nasty thoughts or 6x12 trailer wheel rims on standard centres but her wants alloys !

Found a picture of a kit someone else has built. 

 

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5 hours ago, barefoot said:

Very nice, but won't a modified car be impossible to insure for a 17/18 year old?

That's a good point but seeing as he is only 10 at the moment he has a while to save up !  It's his car so he gets to say what gets done to it and he will have to make do with the odd drive around an empty car park or field if we can find one. I offered him a kart but he wasn't interested so the plan is to take the car to shows etc to get him out and about and off whatever game he is playing.  The way things are going it might be difficult for anyone to insure an old car by the time he is old enough to drive. 

One thing I could argue is that original parts are not available. With things like the bushes there isn't an option.  The steering wheel was pretty horrible and well worn and the fact that bottom is dragging on the floor, well just tired springs, honest !

 

 

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I sorted the bushes out for the front suspension today. The Toyota AE86 ones turned up this morning and it turns out they are the better fit. I had to cut them down length wise as they needed to be 20mm. The standard tool on the lathe just about cuts them so once I had mounted them on a suitable mandrel I trimmed them down and rounded the end off that goes into the lower arm. 

It's back togethr now just need to set the tracking prperly and hope I don't have to mess with them again for a while. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've finally got the sticking brake caliper rebuilt and on the car !  I had to get a repair kit from Germany in the end as I knew the pistons would be rusty. The bleed nipple broke off despite my best attempts to remove it whole. A benefit of my new job is that I have access to a shot blaster so one side looks like this now.  

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I ordered some springs from Springcoil. They list some for this giving a 40mm drop all round.  I wasn't sure about the back so I asked for some slightly taller rear ones.  The 10mm difference means the car is actually 10mm higher at the back (measured from the swage lines) but looks lower due to the rear wheel arches. 

I only put it all back together earlier so haven't had a chance to drive it yet. 

 

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A quick drive up the road confirmed the rear springs are too soft. I was a bit suspicious that there seemed to be slightly more coils and the length was only just shorter than the standard ones.  The fronts however seem fine so I have re-fitted the standard rear ones and will get in touch with the suppliers tomorrow if I get the chance. 

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1 hour ago, DodgyBastard said:

corsa b rear springs up front, almera lowering springs chopped a little at the rear.

Sent from my G3121 using Tapatalk
 

What he said. Not my car. 

Although looking at the strut diagram posted in this thread, Corsa B coilovers could be made to fit... 

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  • 4 months later...

Bit of an update. This has been tucked away in the garage over the winter. 
I managed to get hold of some Daihatsu wheels before Christmas, had them refurbished and fitted new tyres but haven't had a chance to fit them.

Quick test fit before the were painted. 

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Part of the problem was finding suitable centre caps and wheel nuts. They are both odd sizes. I bought some centre caps off ebay that were slightly oversize and turned the OD down so that would fit. The nuts were a pain though. The originals are very short and re-chroming them very expensive. A far cheaper option was to buy some new open nuts and some plastic covers. I had to cut all of these down though as they were too long. 

The end result was this, far better.  IMG_4652.thumb.JPG.feb2bd72261b8889a113a579483fd520.JPG
 

The paint of the car isn't great but it's come up a bit better now it's had a bit of a clean and polish. 
I gave up with the rear springs as the new ones were just too soft. For now I have refitted the standard rear ones and it looks OK really so I might just leave it alone for now. 
The new bumpers really tidy it up a lot, very lucky the previous owner thought to grab them when he did. IMG_4655.thumb.JPG.74b4b6494a4625581c5a385528086502.JPG

Next on the list is to do something about the exhaust. It doesn't fit very well and it seems a good excuse to relieve it of a silencer as it's far too quiet ! There is one in the tunnel, one huge one under one side of the rear seat and a silly little one right at the back. 

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  • 1 month later...

After the first lot of heavy rain we had, it's a while ago now, the inside of the Nippa turned into a small lake ! The previous owner had fitted a new screen rubber and I had noticed a small amount of water on the passenger side rubber mat. 

This was different though and the rear foot well was full.  Nothing for it but to remove the seats and carpet, dry it out and then find where the water was getting in. Running the hose on the windscreen it looks like it was coming in the top edge of that. I did spot a suspicious looking gap where the roof panel joins the side though. It should have a trim stuck in the channel but both are long gone now. Because the mastic used to attach them was sticky I had removed it which had reviled the gap in the seam sealer. 

Seems the big leak was my fault so I re-sealed the gap ad so far no more water has got in. 

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Close contact with the seats made me realise just how horrible they were. They are vinyl with a cloth centre which has started to rot. 

Due to the limited (non existent) supply of good used seats an alternative was needed. I started to look for MX5 seats but none were available locally and seeing as we weren't allowed out it made things a bit tricky. I started wondering if other Daihatsu/Perodua seats might fit in he way you can swap some Vauxhall seats for example. Very little available apart from a few Sporttrak and Terrios seats but no way of fitting seats from these in the back.  I found a picture online that you could just see the Terrios seats had similar looking pressed steel bases so I ended up buying a pair to see. 

The result after much swapping of parts now means we have a pair of reasonable front seats in the car. The base pans are the same apart from a few welded in thread inserts and the only problem is that the bases are slightly wider meaning less room to grab the handbrake.  

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The problem now is what to do about the rear seats. My son wanted to take them out anyway, I think he was planning a roll cage next although where you could get one of those I don't know. In the meantime I might make a new floor as the loadspace without all the folded seats looks very handy.

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I've set up a facebook page for Nippas in the UK to try and gather anyone interested together. So far the majority of interest has come from Malaysia. There are thriving businesses who import half cut Miras from Japan and swap all the interesting bits into the vast quantities of Nippas they still have running around. 

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