Micra project for young mechanic

[stripped fred]

3 hours ago, Fumbler said:

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...

There is a bit of gearbox whine but I don't think that's an issue. I actually like it. A modern mini. We'll probably change the fluid as we're actually looking for jobs to do. The gearbox has a really nice action as it is.

I think it might be the alternator, water pump or pulley. I don't think it has anything else, which narrows down the options! Could be the chain I suppose in which case we'll just ignore it as it's only slight.

[stripped fred]

3 hours ago, snagglepuss said:

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

It is a nice car to drive. We will look after it!

I've looked at aftermarket rev counters. The cheap ones look a bit rubbish bit might be worth a try.

[Fumbler]

It'll have 2 belts, an alternator and a water pump. Still cannot believe how simple it is! Some have an idler but that's only with air-con models IIRC, so there's equal chance of either being bad, however I recall there being more trouble with the alternator if there's an overtensioned belt. On a thumb press it should be stiff but not rock hard etc. etc. I'm sure this is standard with most cars now that I come to think of it!

[stripped fred]

Great, thanks. We'll have a look. It's great in that you can see everything working and there is space, which you don't get on most moderns.

[primeradoner]

22 hours ago, stripped fred said:

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!

Rev Limiter delete is a five minute job. Take off dizzy cap, rotor arm and remove the cover underneath (2 or 3 screws from memory) You will see  a disc that below that spins with the dizzy. It has a small square cut out which activates the rev limiter. Cover the cut out with tape reassemble and thats it. You can now hit the fence at Barford Raceway even harder now in my experience. Make sure you use thin tape and press it down as flat and neatly as possible or you may find the car develops a misfire or even refuses to start. 

We  might have a rev counter instrument panel somewhere in the workshop. I will have a look next time I am there. Its yours for the cost of postage if I have one.

Edited May 19, 2020 by primeradoner
more information

[stripped fred]

1 hour ago, primeradoner said:

Rev Limiter delete is a five minute job. Take off dizzy cap, rotor arm and remove the cover underneath (2 or 3 screws from memory) You will see  a disc that below that spins with the dizzy. It has a small square cut out which activates the rev limiter. Cover the cut out with tape reassemble and thats it. You can now hit the fence at Barford Raceway even harder now in my experience. Make sure you use thin tape and press it down as flat and neatly as possible or you may find the car develops a misfire or even refuses to start. 

We  might have a rev counter instrument panel somewhere in the workshop. I will have a look next time I am there. Its yours for the cost of postage if I have one.

Thanks for that info. I don't think we've approached the red line just yet but useful to know!

If you did have a binacle with rev counter then that would be brilliant. I'm keeping my eyes open. I think I've found a parcel shelf with speakers, which is the other upgrade we are keen to do. Many thanks.

 

 

[stripped fred]

Someone on here mentioned Facebook market place for parts. I never use it but I logged in and typed in K11 parts. About three photos in there was a Micra parcel shelf in good condition, with speakers! £20 plus some fuel later we have it. Will be fitted in next few days along with some gorilla glue between the passenger window and plastic holder. We tried no more nails but it's not a perfect fix and it made a right mess. Anyway, off to Facebook marketplace to look at the cheap cars...

[stripped fred]

Quick blast out in this earlier today, only about 5 miles. It turns me into a hooligan on the slower bends. Engine seems to have an immediate.oullnif torque and you can bumble along in 5th at 30mph if no acceleration is required!

Inoticed a whiff of clutch when we got back. I opened the bonnet and the smell is coming from the belt end of the engjne though. Could it be a smell of rubber instead? I only had a quick glance so will keep my eye on it.

I'm on the lookout for a white pre-facelift bonnet as the existing one has a dent. I did try a lump hammer and some wood on the front but it just made a lot of noise. Is there a way to do it with basic tools? If not then we'll just leave it.

 

 

[mitsisigma01]

I to have a Micra k11 1.0, had it a few,,,, quite a few months, driven it about 5 miles, to the mot station and back ?

More pics of the bonnet needed to decide what size of hammer to use ?

[Spiny Norman]

On 5/18/2020 at 8:42 PM, stripped fred said:

There is a bit of gearbox whine...

TADTS.

Change the oil (or at least look to see if there's any in there at all) and if that doesn't fix it (it rarely does) just move straight onto the next stage of the tinkerage and upgrade the stereo.

The Facebook K11 Owners group is pretty good for advice and sourcing spares and upgrade parts.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/163371760689929/

 

[stripped fred]

9 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

TADTS.

Change the oil (or at least look to see if there's any in there at all) and if that doesn't fix it (it rarely does) just move straight onto the next stage of the tinkerage and upgrade the stereo.

The Facebook K11 Owners group is pretty good for advice and sourcing spares and upgrade parts.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/163371760689929/

 

Thanks, we will try changing the gearbox oil. I have just applied to join the Micra group on Facebook, cheers for that.

[stripped fred]

On 5/25/2020 at 1:01 AM, mitsisigma01 said:

I to have a Micra k11 1.0, had it a few,,,, quite a few months, driven it about 5 miles, to the mot station and back ?

More pics of the bonnet needed to decide what size of hammer to use ?

I took some photos of the bonnet. You can see a dent in the bonnet where it has hit something, slightly off centre towards the driver's side. Probably only pushed it back half and inch or so. I am happy to find a used bonnet but I really need a white one as I am likely to make a right mess using a rattle can, although tempted to give it a go.

Is there any way the bonnet could be pulled out? What are those hammer tools called, slide hammer? Any good? It is quite strong and using a lump hammer and wood did not do anything. I am not trying to make it perfect, just less obvious. It might also sit a bit lower as there is a gap above the headlights.

Look king at those photos, might try painting the bumper too. Do I need a special type of primer that won't crack?

[gm]

12 minutes ago, stripped fred said:

I am happy to find a used bonnet but I really need a white one as I am likely to make a right mess using a rattle can, although tempted to give it a go.

there's are some pretty funky looking vinyl wraps available - buy any old bonnet and let junior's imagination go wild ? 

 

 

[stripped fred]

2 hours ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

How did I miss this. I've a 1994 (M reg) that just hit 96k miles today!.

 

 

 

Had a hit n run a while back, replaced the front drivers wing of which I got very lucky finding one in the same colour around the corner from my tame mechanics on eBay., rear 3/4 got pushed out and has worn the ripples as a battle scar since.

Just bought a SE parcel shelf which will give me rear speakers, the loom is all sat just behind the drivers rear headlight cluster, you slide it down and out and plug in.   Spoiler thing fell off ages back, left some annoying ugly black really stuck on what I presume to be adhesive in it's wake.

Overall never let me down, don't pay ECP prices for a throttle body either if you need one!

I'll make a thread again on mine at some point.  

That looks great. They are are nice shape and I want to get ours looking original.

We bought a parcel shelf with speakers last week! Thanks for the fitting advice ?

[stripped fred]

PS where did you buy your parts from?

[Eyersey1234]

Lovely looking Micra you and your son have, it's good that he is interested and wants to learn how to fix them, it will stand him in good stead later. 

[stripped fred]

5 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Lovely looking Micra you and your son have, it's good that he is interested and wants to learn how to fix them, it will stand him in good stead later. 

It's his 13th birthday today. He got a stop lock for it. He loves it. I's a shame he can't drive it for 4+ years, at least not on the road. Private test tracks are ok though and we want to start autotesting at some stage. I enjoy driving it anyway and there are still repairs and improvements to make. We are learning all the time!

[Eyersey1234]

44 minutes ago, stripped fred said:

It's his 13th birthday today. He got a stop lock for it. He loves it. I's a shame he can't drive it for 4+ years, at least not on the road. Private test tracks are ok though and we want to start autotesting at some stage. I enjoy driving it anyway and there are still repairs and improvements to make. We are learning all the time!

Happy birthday to @stripped fredJunior 

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, stripped fred said:

It's his 13th birthday today. He got a stop lock for it. He loves it. I's a shame he can't drive it for 4+ years, at least not on the road. Private test tracks are ok though and we want to start autotesting at some stage. I enjoy driving it anyway and there are still repairs and improvements to make. We are learning all the time!

This is it. You can’t put a price on learning as it pays for itself over and over in the future. Best present you can get him are some decent tools, I remember buying my first 3/8 ratchet god when I’d be about 15-16,  still got it 18 years later still giving good service. 

[stripped fred]

We searched for the rear speaker plug in the boot of the micra today, to connect our rear parcel shelf speakers. We searched a long time before finding it tucked up the back. Bingo! Will connect up the stereo tomorrow and see whether it sounds any better. I can see a small sub woofer on the shopping list at some point! 

[Eyersey1234]

I hope smol_strippedfred had a good birthday. 

[jcr]

glad this has gone to a good home. when I had it I did try knocking that dent out, the bonnet sat a bit better after my attempts. I bought it off someone a few streets away after not moving for a long time under a tree, here's a photo of when I got it

can't believe it's that shiny! 

 

 

[stripped fred]

I took the Micra out for it's longest run yet, in my ownership that is. 70 miles mixed roads. I've not driven a small car for a while but you know what, it was fun! Whole different experience compared with the Jag s type. I don't think I went any slower though! I got it up just past 70 and it was fine although I lacked confidence in it at first. I enjoyed timing overtakes and junctions to try and retain momentum which reminded me of cars from my youth. By the last half of the journey I was able to enjoy it in the bends a bit. I also found that on dry roads when going round a smaller roundabout on quiet roads you can get it to wag it's tail and then complete a very controlled four wheel drift! It reminded me that driving fun is not always about power as this only has 50 odd bhp. I'm 49 but I feel 19 again.....

[stripped fred]

Something else from the other day, when I went to collect it from the council lockup I realised the front n/s tyre had 6psi. I had just bought a new electric pump of Amazon so I rushed home to get it, quite chuffed with myself. Pumped it up to 30 and it doesn't seem to have down any in the last few days, although I haven't checked it with the guage yet. Very odd....

[stripped fred]

On 5/28/2020 at 4:59 PM, jcr said:

glad this has gone to a good home. when I had it I did try knocking that dent out, the bonnet sat a bit better after my attempts. I bought it off someone a few streets away after not moving for a long time under a tree, here's a photo of when I got it

can't believe it's that shiny! 

 

 

Sorry, I didn't see your post. It is definitely loved by us. It's in good condition apart from the bonnet and that's only dented not rusty, at least on the outside. I wonder if a body shop could straighten it?

How many people have had this on here, yourself and snagglepuss? Has it lived in the north all it's life? Any more history would be good to know.

It doesn't seem to need much doing. I would like to change the bonnet but I can't find a realistically priced pre facelift one and I would prefer it in white. I would also like to find a binacle with a rev counter. We need to change the cross member but apart from that it's all good, although the clutch can smell a bit if you're unsympathetic. Probably due to the autotesting!

Only problem is that I'm now attached to it and I'm running out of space! My son will keep it as it's his first car so it's staying!

[jcr]

20 hours ago, stripped fred said:

Sorry, I didn't see your post. It is definitely loved by us. It's in good condition apart from the bonnet and that's only dented not rusty, at least on the outside. I wonder if a body shop could straighten it?

How many people have had this on here, yourself and snagglepuss? Has it lived in the north all it's life? Any more history would be good to know.

It doesn't seem to need much doing. I would like to change the bonnet but I can't find a realistically priced pre facelift one and I would prefer it in white. I would also like to find a binacle with a rev counter. We need to change the cross member but apart from that it's all good, although the clutch can smell a bit if you're unsympathetic. Probably due to the autotesting!

Only problem is that I'm now attached to it and I'm running out of space! My son will keep it as it's his first car so it's staying!

Fantastic, glad it's enjoyed  

It had been in the family a few streets away since nearly new. Birmingham reg, but lived in South Wales for most of its life. Then inherited by the family I bought it from (in Stockport). I had it for around 9 months and due to space situation changing had to sell. I drove it very little during that period. Then went to Snagglepuss.

That's all I know about the history. Would love another prefacelift one especially with the earlier gearbox, much more nippy and lighter construction too if I recall.