Micra project for young mechanic

[stripped fred]

I've been meaning to document this project on here. Bought off snagglepuss for my son, age 12. He's into cars, like his dad, and I went halves on it with his mum to give him something to work and learn on.

The car came with front disc and pads so they got changed first. We have also fitted a stereo, changed the coolant, changed the oil and filter, checked the spark plugs, put the passenger window back on it's runners, painted the battery tray and started t-cutting it. All jobs have been done by Stripped Fred Junior, under my supervision. He's learnt so much already.

We benefitted from the 6 month MOT extension and I taxed and insured it on a limited mileage policy so we have been out in it a few times locally. I'm teaching him to drive when we can find somewhere quiet. After 2 hours he can drive with the occasional stall, as you would expect. He loves it!

The car runs well and I am looking for an excuse to take it on a longer run myself. It rides and handles well and the engine feels willing. Slight rattle from the back box and the bonnet has a dent, so on the lookout for a replacement, but overall a nice little car and ideal for learning the basics of mechanicing. It wouldn't start once but I think we had flooded it as it now starts straight away. Very easy to work on with most things accessible. We need to fit a new crossmember, which snagglepus kindly supplied, but otherwise not a lot more to do and we are running out of jobs! I can see why the K11 is still a popular choice. It just feels right.

[Quintus]

Fab little cars. My very first car was a 1993 L reg 3 door that I owned for about five or six years before selling to a friend.

Very prone to flooding if started from cold, moved a short distance, then switched off again e.g. moved from driveway to road.

Is yours a 1.0 or 1.3?

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[stripped fred]

It's a 1.0l, plenty fast enough for us.

Reminds me a bit of my first car which was a mini clubman.

[sierraman]

We did this when I was a kid, my brother gave me his Rover so me and my dad used to work on it. Happy memories there. Funnily enough it never saw the road mind but we learnt a lot, can remember at the time having it when I’d be 15 and making great plans to drive it to Newquay. Most of my mates had cars as well, old Fiesta Mk1’s, Volvo 340s, Skoda Estelle, giveaway stuff at the time. Strangely despite setting out with the mindset we’d all move on to better cars were all still driving clapped out bangers. 

[Quintus]

It's a 1.0l, plenty fast enough for us.
Reminds me a bit of my first car which was a mini clubman.

Same as my old one. A nice simple car so those 55 horses don't have much weight to move about!

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[stripped fred]

55 minutes ago, Quintus said:

Same as my old one. A nice simple car so those 55 horses don't have much weight to move about!

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk
 

We, me driving of course, have only driven it locally so no dual carriageways or motorways yet but it moves along nicely. I love the gear change and the engine feels willing. It rides nicely too. I would be happy driving this a long distance and I think it would be comfy. I like it and as it's technically my son's we can get away with another addition to the fleet!

[Spiny Norman]

K11s are great wee cars and ideal for a proto-shiter to cut their teeth on.

Chances are he'll want a MIG for his birthday now.

[stripped fred]

5 minutes ago, Spiny Norman said:

K11s are great wee cars and ideal for a proto-shiter to cut their teeth on.

Chances are he'll want a MIG for his birthday now.

Yeah, we could both do with learning how to weld. Apart from the cross member this one is pretty solid as far as I can tell. A bit on the sills but not too bad. My MK1 MR2, which has been off the road for 2 years may be another story!

[stripped fred]

If anyone spots a pre facelift Micra bonnet, 1997ish, can you let me know, especially if it's white. We tried hitting ours with a lump hammer, as it has a knock to the front, bit it did nothing other than make a lot of noise! Cheers.

[Fumbler]

1 litre is all you need! It's an absolute joy to work on and you'll appreciate its willingness to help teach the beginner mechanics- everything (apart from the belts) is placed really well and is accessible to a good degree. Apart from the metalwork, mine's definitely helping me learn how to work on cars!

[stripped fred]

2 hours ago, Fumbler said:

1 litre is all you need! It's an absolute joy to work on and you'll appreciate its willingness to help teach the beginner mechanics- everything (apart from the belts) is placed really well and is accessible to a good degree. Apart from the metalwork, mine's definitely helping me learn how to work on cars!

Definitely, it's the perfect car for us and I'm really pleased snagglepuss offered it ?

[Mr Laurence]

The more time passes, the more I find myself liking these. They seem to have almost vanished on the roads the roads around me though, so it’s great to see this one getting some love

[UltraWomble]

10 hours ago, Quintus said:

Very prone to flooding if started from cold, moved a short distance, then switched off again e.g. moved from driveway to road.

 

This

My L reg one used to do it - but not the T reg one  - there is a modification that can be done to prevent it but Im buggered if I know what it is.

[stripped fred]

47 minutes ago, UltraWomble said:

This

My L reg one used to do it - but not the T reg one  - there is a modification that can be done to prevent it but Im buggered if I know what it is.

Thanks, It only happened the one time and I think the battery was low too at the time. It now starts immediately, better than my other cars.

[stripped fred]

My son asked whether we could fit an instrument binnacle from another model, like the 1.3, as they have a rev counter. Plug and play apparently. Fine I said, until I saw that they go for around £100! Can't quite stretch to that.

[St.Jude]

Proper dadding that. Good job!

[UltraWomble]

1 hour ago, stripped fred said:

My son asked whether we could fit an instrument binnacle from another model, like the 1.3, as they have a rev counter. Plug and play apparently. Fine I said, until I saw that they go for around £100! Can't quite stretch to that.

Keep an eye on ebay and Marketplace  - they pop up periodically for less.

Other mods from higher spec models - pop open rear windows, rear coin holder / ashtray ( no idea why this is popular, but it is)

Swapping the cam shaft from the 1.3 supposedly helps the acceleration. Never tried it so I cant comment. 

Removing the rev limiter ( snaggle might have done this as it was discussed when he got it) also helps responsiveness for quick getaways.

Fag lighter wiring is there if it doesnt already have one - handy for 12v power point. Rear speaker shelf from a higher spec model just goes straight in - wiring for speakers behind OS trim in the boot - best sound system mod for very little cash.

Keep an eye out for rust.

[sierraman]

The wife had one of these once, the instrument cluster bulb went, for whatever reason it couldn’t be replaced, so I put another cluster in from the breakers. Maybe that’s why they’re in demand. Remember the MAF being an issue on them when they were current. 

[beko1987]

Nice! Sounds like you and your lad need to drive it to the next chumly or FoD meet and he can do some more off road learning! Get him to do the cambelt too, that'll be a big thing that'll be good for him not to be too scared of

@Lord Sterling will be happy there's another micra botherer in the making! 

[stripped fred]

My son has already wired in a lighter socket, kindly supplied. We would like to put some rear speakers in, either a parcel shelf with speakers already fitted it a makeshift mdf one with aftermarket speakers. Still deciding on that. Would be interested to know if it did have the rev limiter delete.

A 1.3 can change sounds fun but I'm not sure we're quite up to that job yet!

[stripped fred]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

The wife had one of these once, the instrument cluster bulb went, for whatever reason it couldn’t be replaced, so I put another cluster in from the breakers. Maybe that’s why they’re in demand. Remember the MAF being an issue on them when they were current. 

I thought it was mainly because most did not have a rev counter. The standard ones are available quite cheaply on eBay.

[stripped fred]

3 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Nice! Sounds like you and your lad need to drive it to the next chumly or FoD meet and he can do some more off road learning! Get him to do the cambelt too, that'll be a big thing that'll be good for him not to be too scared of

@Lord Sterling will be happy there's another micra botherer in the making! 

We will definitely be along to some event when out of lockdown. We were planning on attending the autoshite camp.

No cambelt on these. It's a chain and it seems ok at the moment, thank goodness!

[beko1987]

Ah good! (although check the tensioner and guides, their more likely to cause issues) 

Being as your lads only 12 in 4/5 years I expect to see it being wired up for a phat banging sound system... 

 

[Fumbler]

2 hours ago, stripped fred said:

No cambelt on these. It's a chain and it seems ok at the moment, thank goodness!

The chain will be good for ever IIRC, Parents' Micra Tropic lasted until 120000 miles on the original chain just fine.

[stripped fred]

42 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Ah good! (although check the tensioner and guides, their more likely to cause issues) 

Being as your lads only 12 in 4/5 years I expect to see it being wired up for a phat banging sound system... 

 

He's been talking about coil overs and asking how he can get flames out of the exhaust. We've agreed on an uprated sound system and a rev counter! ?

[stripped fred]

5 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

The chain will be good for ever IIRC, Parents' Micra Tropic lasted until 120000 miles on the original chain just fine.

That's good to know. It's only on 67k and it doesn't seem particularly noisy. There is a slight whine from somewhere but it's not too bad. Possibly the alternator? Nothing you wouldn't expect on a 23 year old car though and it seems smoother after the recent oil change, although this could be imaginary!

[Fumbler]

Just now, stripped fred said:

That's good to know. It's only on 67k and it doesn't seem particularly noisy. There is a slight whine from somewhere but it's not too bad. Possibly the alternator? Nothing you wouldn't expect on a 23 year old car though and it seems smoother after the recent oil change, although this could be imaginary!

Is the whine coming from revving the engine or from when you're driving? My car's gearbox whines on first and second, but that might be due to its massively low mileage...

[The Moog]

Good to see this being loved. I do miss it so much as it was just a wee go cart.

I didn't do the rev mod as I was autotesting it with Krujoe so didn't want to risk killing it.

Why not stick in an aftermarket rev counter - you could get one with a shift light for full fast and furious points

[beko1987]

36 minutes ago, snagglepuss said:

I didn't do the rev mod as I was autotesting it with Krujoe so didn't want to risk killing it.

 

Poor things probably still crying now... At least it's had some prep for what a 17 y o will do to it! 

[Fumbler]

2 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Poor things probably still crying now... At least it's had some prep for what a 17 y o will do to it! 

I must be doing it wrong...