Nissan Micra k11(s) Welcome along Number six.

[xsspeed]

[yoeddynz]

oooh... 190bhp on stock cg13 internals...

[87creepin]

You have to make those costumes and do a re-make of that ad now haha

[xsspeed]

in auckland feat 'suck-guy-roo' tower

[yoeddynz]

Update time before the weekend when our stable of k11s is reduced to 2.

Mandy first. We stripped her down, removing both guards. Only needed to remove the drivers side to fix damage but as we've learned they all collect a load of dust/dirt at the back bottom of the guard so its worthwhile removing to clean it out.  Took off the bumper and the headlights.

It looked like this behind the bent wing.. (I took no photos. These 2 following pics are screen captures from a video I had sent my brother. Yes. He's that lucky)

I then used many various tools including hammers, slide hammer, dollies, vice grips, pliers, blocks of wood, long lengths of steel etc to carefully reshape the inner guard front until it sat where it should. Lobbed some black zinc on and fitted the white guard we had scored from the parts car at the wreckers.

Then I had to fix the bonnet corner.  Same again.. lots of tools and some patience rewarded me with a bonnet that you'd hardly tell was damaged but for black paint and some dents.

Classy.

The headlight next. Turns out the back of it was smashed more than I thought and its not one that's so easily found locally , the car having facelift 2 lights, among other 'updates' (even though on the tintop cars facelift 2 updates didn't happen for 2 more years. Maybe the cabs were used as a test bed. Or maybe they were seen as extra special, got these new upgraded bits and then the thought to fitting on the tintops 2 years later?  Very interesting I know! I can tell you're impressed )

So the headlight. It got some Barry levels of diy plastic welding using a big soldering iron, plus some riveted on alloy brackets. Shame I did not get a photo. Its beautiful. I earned extra milk arrowroot biscuits for that effort and was talk of the blokes shed that evening.

So now the front end looked straight and the headlight pointed in roughly the right direction we swapped the alloys over onto Minky and Minkys steels went onto Mandy. Then we went for a drive to town. I spotted another local k11 and nabbed this shot to the amusement of the other carpark dwelling folk..

Cute k11 - nice colour and PFL2D !  I shall add it to the list of k11s I could have in the future when its elderly owners die.

But for now I was happy with the look of our yard...

Now I turned my focus to the mirror. Luckily the mirror housing is actually the same as a tintop item. They just fitted a different stalk. So I striped down the wreckers one and swapped bits, after having cleaned out a family of spiders.  I had to fabricate a special tool to hold down the large spring and remove a clip. Prick of a thing but got there in the end.

While I did that Hannah cleaned out the interior. She found the coin one should usually find in such jobs, so knocking the purchase price down. By how much I don't know as it depends on inflation...

There was also this unit under the passenger seat. Some sort of television control? Figuring this car must have had the very latest in car entertainment back in the day...

Next major job was to make a side window. I had rang about various wreckers all over NZ looking for one but no luck I even emailed the main garage in the cook islands where there's apparently loads of these cars but no luck there.

So a plastic window it is. Anyway- its a convertible. The windows shouldnt be up when you're driving. I got a bit of plastic big enough from a Nelson outfit (bendy stuff that doesn't crack - not sure what) and we removed the passenger window.

Actually a really easy and quick job which was a relief. Used it as a template and traced around it, cut it to shape plus measured the curve depth.

Dropped the plastic back in to the specialist and they heated it up and formed the curve.  It turned out good. Fitted and now a window we have.

Next job to do before we can go for a wof is replace the cracked windscreen. But it had to wait until we had some decent weather because for seemingly 2 weeks it rained. Finally it was back to the wreckers to (carefully) remove the screen (inc as part of the sale) from the ever diminishing parts car...

This we'll gloop into Mandys aperture, probably with the help of our friendly tame window fitter person. For now we are driving about ignoring the crack, which has not grown but it just too long to get pass a wof test with.

Meanwhile the other two k11s were probably sulking because until we sort out the tears in the roof Mandy gets to stay inside.

Minky got Mandys alloys as a treat although we are not 100% sold on them. They just seem a little bit too big. Really nice from some angles but from others just wrong..

So we'll keep looking for 'the wheels' and probably just sell these on.  We actually really quite like her with the steels so possibly some 14" steels with 60 series tyres could be spot on.

Martha has found a new forever home and we are super stoked about who's getting her.  She will be picked up this weekend. A few weeks ago we decided that the ripped passenger side CV boot needed replacing. I bought one of those really stretchy universal items but jeeez it was tight and I ended up having to remove the axle to fit it. Sorted now and also good to know that the drain/fill plugs on the gearbox aint seized in place , given the fiasco we had removing Minkys filler plug.

So that's that for now. Get Mandys windscreen swapped asap and then go for a wof...

[yoeddynz]

The last few months we've used Mandy the cabriolet quite a bit and its been super enjoyable. Its our first convertible and all a bit new.

On the first decent outing on a hot as day was a trip to Nelson where we both learned why it is we'd always seen convertible owners wearing caps and its not because they are a suitable place to put an MG or mx5 logo.  Without a peaked cap the sun in pretty intense when there's no roof. Duh.

Another thing we learned is you get baked!!! Its like a little oven. Tops of our legs. Ouch.

So caps and lots of sunscreen became a thing.

Took the car over to Blenheim via the lakes for Dads funeral. Kevin came with us. Great drive. Really nice scenery and a new outlook with no roof.

Took some pics on the way...

Kevin wasn't that impressed with the lake ..

He likes the little nook he had under the seat...

Found this aptly named street near Blenheim - that's my younger brother with a childs cap he'd found on the footpath ..

So yeah- this little car has been great fun. Even used it to collect some alloy- the drop down rear seat centre was very handy...

But we had never intended on keeping this car forever as we've enough cars and more projects on the way. We have had it advertised on trademe for a while now and there was plenty of interest but we wanted it to go to the right home where it would be cherished and adored. A few folks who enquired were blatantly going to trash it as a cheap car.

Finally the ideal new home was found - a young fella in Auckland who'd owned a k11 before, missed it after it was gone and really wanted another one. He made his way down yesterday via plane, ferry and bus with his Dad and was super enthusiastic about his new car. He works in a race car preparation workshop and has some cool ideas for future Mandy.  I think he's already sorting out a new roof from some guy in the Netherlands who makes them to order.

So that's the short story of Mandy and here's a pic of the excited new owner and his Dad just before they headed off to make their way home - and it looks like they'll be avoiding the upcoming next lot of rain expected luckily.

Of course, as seems to be the case with us, when one k11 goes another pops up. On our way home we stopped to check out a k11 that has been left dormant on the side of the road for the last two weeks. I've located the owner and I'll be asking what the deal is - does it need rescuing

[Flauski]

On 06/12/2021 at 12:21, yoeddynz said:

 

 

 

We also changed the dizzy out. The facelift cars ditched the Mitsubishi dizzy for a beefier Hitachi unit that apparently has a more robust coil. There was a bit of heat decay to the plastic trim on the ignitor terminals so I plopped a bit of epoxy on them. While in there I noted that it has a 4 point optical trigger. Just the one I couuld see. So without an obvious cam angle sensor this surely means that the injection must be batch - not fully sequential. Discuss...

 

Hey @yoeddynz question, when you swapped from a Mitsi distributor to a Hitachi, did you have to change any of the wiring? I have tried the same swap and it won't start on a Hitachi.

Any idea what part numbers the distributors you used are? Looks like the one you used epoxy on might be a 22100-72B00?

I have only established my original one is a Mitsi clone (no part numbers) and the Hitachi is 22100-AN200 and it has a massively different trigger wheel.

Cheers

 

[yoeddynz]

 I don't think we had to change anything because whilst we were upsizing the engine to a pfl 1.3 the electrics that ran the new engine were all still facelift spec. So essentially the later facelift hitachi dizzy never really left the engine bay. I think the only thing I had to change was a an alternator plug because we kept the alternator that was on the 1.3   iirc.

 

[yoeddynz]

Oh and while I'm here..  an update on our K11 life which is now Z11 life.

Minky was sold to a friend of @Shakotom up in Auckland. We met him at Nelson airport and he drove minky back, the boot fillled to the brim with k11 spares.  The PFL guards, bonnet, bootlid, front spoiler and grill etc we later dropped off at my mums and the new owners grandad picked it up on their way back up north.

He's sent me some pics of Minkys new home.

Very happy with it. First job he did was whack the lowering springs back in place and I think he's bought some new wheels for her.

Pic of Minky at his grandads place next to some ford things..

 

[xsspeed]

A pre face-lift swap on pinky will look right at home next to that p10 primera, lush combo

[yoeddynz]

5 hours ago, xsspeed said:

pinky

Minky

[yoeddynz]

But yes. A lovely combo. The fella is a super nice chap and really chuffed with Minky.  Gone to a good home   which made it much easier for Hannah and I  because we were quite attached to the little hatch. 

I'll  miss not having a k11 but the Z11 is so much more practical for us even on the same size foot print and is interesting, quirky, fun to drive and cheap to run.  K11s still run rings around it for handling and prowess on twisty roads though. 

[Mattc]

🙋‍♂️ this is me. Not very good with posting haha. Yes I’m super happy with minky. Such a clean clean k11. And Alex has been a huuuge help with sorting parts and helping get her to our place! 
have a few plans for her, but will see how things go. 

[xsspeed]

welcome aboard/giz p10

[yoeddynz]

We couldn't resist a bargain 😁

Meet Mavis. She's a PFLBB4DM.   A# model with sway bars and disc brake rear end.

Picked her up this morning from out near Collingwood so this meant first drive home was back over Takaka hill. I'd forgotten just how fun a manual 1.3 K11 is on the hill. We stopped a few times and swapped cars so each of us got to drive Mavis. Such a great little manual box these have.

Got home. No fuss. Needs airing out as she's sat a while. 

Reason she's a bargain is a rusty radiator X member. I've done a few K11s with this rust now. 

Only other noticeable bit is the bottom of the front guards where mud collects. Otherwise very solid underneath.

Plan is to fix, wof, drive her for a while, probably list for sale at sensible price and enjoy owning her till she finds a good home. I forgot just how tiny they are. Not ideal for 188cm me but still comfy enough.

Amazing that the Cube z11, only a touch wider and longer than a k11 was able to carry so much in the back. A boot lid and two doors plus other bits swallowed easily.   It really is the sensible 11. Very comfy and a bit quieter but certainly not as fun on the twisties.   If only the Cube was a manual too 😞

[yoeddynz]

The following day I ripped into that rot on the radiator support. I cut out far more than expected but its all solid new steel now (nice thick steel too rather than two thin bits to trap moisture as was factory)

in pics..

We removed the leaf guard below the windscreen and luckily its very solid under there. Just some surface rust in places.

Even the windscreen locating clip seal is intact so no wet carpets..

Car came complete with a pretty little spider..

Next job is to spray bomb the underside with some 'new car in a can' black zinc. Then sort the stuck rear calipers, reassemble and take it for a wof test.