PollyMobiles Rebuild

[pollyp]

Didn't have much energy today but I managed to crimp the new relay wires together

Reassembled the loom & dash

Couldn't be bothered to correct the wideband wiring (connect 12v supply to the original O2 pink wire, add toggle switch to power-up wideband separately after cranking), check the ECU loom connectors are clean, and many other minor tasks cos it ain't essential yet and it still works ok.

Pump sounds abit stronger during cold priming with the higher voltage. She still drives like normal tonight, the odd rattle in the dash at specific rpm still there

 

[pollyp]

2025-02-15 Replace Walbro GSS250 255lph Fuel Pump

With approx 75% fuel level I removed the fuel pump assembly out of the tank.
Not a fun procedure, even with gloves

Opened the container & oh my god!

This clean face-lift fuel tank was swapped over 1 yr ago but now after filling it with mostly tesco / occasionally morrison fuel, there's soo much crap dirt in the tank/strainer

Poor pump strainer is covered in filth

Look at this tank!
I guarantee this tank was clean when it was swapped.
Non of this rust crap came from my car (old/new filler pipe wasn't rusty, pump itself ain't rusty).
It must certainly come from the old, badly maintained, cheapo supermarket fuel pumps

Old vs new Walbro GSS250 pumps

I flushed out as much of the debris off the strainer with can of carb cleaner

Fitted onto new pump

Pump, strainer & swirl pot all clean for now

Here's a comparison of how the pump sounds before/after.

First two clips were with fuel hose unplugged and fed freely into a fuel can with 0psi, while the last clip was with the hose connected onto fuel rail supplying 3 bar of pressure.

Old pump had a higher/faster/louder motor whine whereas the new pump (with fresh tighter tolerances?) has a lower pitch, especially once it's plumbed into the 3 bar fuel rail.

 

[Micra Paul]

Didn't have much energy today but I managed to crimp the new relay wires together

View attachment 89801

Reassembled the loom & dash

View attachment 89802

Couldn't be bothered to correct the wideband wiring (connect 12v supply to the original O2 pink wire, add toggle switch to power-up wideband separately after cranking), check the ECU loom connectors are clean, and many other minor tasks cos it ain't essential yet and it still works ok.

Pump sounds abit stronger during cold priming with the higher voltage. She still drives like normal tonight, the odd rattle in the dash at specific rpm still there

Loads of good work however may I suggest it would be advisable to replace all DIY temporary crimp joints with professional married electrical inline & tee joints soldered & sleeved?

Manifold fuel line/regulator pressures?

Married Electrical Inline & Tee Joints Soldered at DuckDuckGo

Keep up the good work!

 

[pollyp]

Loads of good work however may I suggest it would be advisable to replace all DIY temporary crimp joints with professional married electrical inline & tee joints soldered & sleeved?

Manifold fuel line/regulator pressures?

Married Electrical Inline & Tee Joints Soldered at DuckDuckGo

Keep up the good work!

Gradually working through my to-do list to replace all my nasty old weak solder with crimps
Next on my wiring list is to sort the wideband wiring.

 

[pollyp]

2025-02-17 Walbro GSS250 Fuel Pump Detailed Look

For a closer look at how the Walbro 255LPH internal gear type pump works and it's condition after 13yrs, I stripped it all apart

& 3D modelled it too

The port in the front plastic cover simply feeds fuel into the pump via this narrow slot.
The round hole at the bottom isn't used for output (maybe on a different model?) but instead it's just blocked off & keeps the front cover aligned

The pump unit separated from the motor casing, driven by these 4 prongs

This thin rigid backplate & brown slippery layer simply keeps the back of the gear pump sealed with minimal wear

The front brown gasket, which does most of the work sealing & controlling flow, seems quite worn.
Potentially the scoring marks maybe due to trapped debris from dirty supermarket fuel getting past the pump strainer

The gear pump face is also little worn. This will reduce sealing efficiency, less pumping performance, which may explain the higher motor pitch due to loose tolerance, less friction, less hydraulic pressure

In the model you'll see as the motor spins the pump clockwise, fluid enters the top slot as the gear teeth opens up.
At the bottom part of the cog, the closing teeth squeezes the fluid out (this additional loose brown 'tab' on the gasket might be used to smooth out the flow?)

Fluid then enters the casing via a narrow slot at the bottom. Seems like a kinda restrictive/rough path?

From that small slot, fuel flows through the motor casing, cooling the motor

The copper longitudinal commutator track, similar to the face-lift fuel pump, looks a little worn by 1mm.

Stator has a clear wrapping maybe for insulation & smoother fluid flow?

After cooling the motor, fuel goes to the rear section through these two holes & gaps in the graphite brush holder

In the rear section, most of the fuel flows through the regular output, which has a 1-way check valve to maintain fuel pressure after shutdown.
For non-return fuel systems, there's also an over-pressure relief valve which bleeds excess pressure back into the tank

The graphite brushes has plenty of life left

I believe these conductive end-caps are press-fitted into the rear section at the last-stage of manufacture so it's easy & fast to assemble the graphite brush springs and test the motor circuit simultaneously

Overall an interesting design to check out

Here's a look at the pre-face & face-lift pump for comparison
https://micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-203#post-884005

 

[pollyp]

Recently noticed hearing a slight rubbing noise once-per-wheel turn only at low speed, shortly after applying brakes and after driving for few mins.
I suspect it might be the caliper rubbing on the edge of the discs (considering they were rebuilt recently)

Looking under the passenger caliper, not much signs of rubbing, just some brake pad dust

But the drivers caliper definately has some rubbing from the disc edge

I tried to shift the whole brake carrier further outward slightly but it still rubs after warming up the brakes from few mins driving

May have to remove the carrier cage and mill the hub upright bolt hole slightly oval to install the whole thing further outwards by 1mm till the top of pads sit flush with the disc edge and caliper has a larger gap from the disc

 

[pollyp]

The caliper carrier has upto 2mm gap from the disc edge

Whereas the caliper sits abit closer upto 1mm gap from the disc

notice the top of the pads have always sat 2mm too low from the edge of the disc

I drilled the bolt hole slightly further outwards to shift the carrier approx 0.5mm from the disc

Can see the top of the pads now sit past the old line on the disc

Went to heat the brakes up in country roads and Nope it still rubs
It sounds more like a rubber seal noise than a metal to metal sound,
Gets louder when cornering right,
& mostly under slight brake pressure but quieter under hard braking

The last time I experienced a similar thing was a loose wheel bearing due to the LSD.

I lifted the front on axle stands, run it on 3rd gear, apply slight braking and listening to the brakes for any rubbing, nope they're both quiet so they're definately not rubbing.

Both wheels don't show much side-side or vertical play but let's check the passenger shaft nut (which historically tends to loosen with the vibration off the LSD),
& sure enough the driveshaft nut was only loose by 5-10deg

Tightened the nut hard as I can and went for another drive and that's finally fixed the rubbing noise

 

[Micra Paul]

The caliper carrier has upto 2mm gap from the disc edge

View attachment 89842

Whereas the caliper sits abit closer upto 1mm gap from the disc

View attachment 89843

notice the top of the pads have always sat 2mm too low from the edge of the disc

View attachment 89845

View attachment 89846

I drilled the bolt hole slightly further outwards to shift the carrier approx 0.5mm from the disc

View attachment 89844

Can see the top of the pads now sit past the old line on the disc

View attachment 89847

Went to heat the brakes up in country roads and Nope it still rubs
It sounds more like a rubber seal noise than a metal to metal sound,
Gets louder when cornering right,
& mostly under slight brake pressure but quieter under hard braking

The last time I experienced a similar thing was a loose wheel bearing due to the LSD.

I lifted the front on axle stands, run it on 3rd gear, apply slight braking and listening to the brakes for any rubbing, nope they're both quiet so they're definately not rubbing.

Both wheels don't show much side-side or vertical play but let's check the passenger shaft nut (which historically tends to loosen with the vibration off the LSD),
& sure enough the driveshaft nut was only loose by 5-10deg

View attachment 89848

Tightened the nut hard as I can and went for another drive and that's finally fixed the rubbing noise

Quote; “carrier cage and mill the hub upright bolt hole slightly oval”

Well investigated however needs comparison of discs outside diameter dimensions equality & compared to OEM discs?

Milling/drilling out mounting holes on critical brake components would not be advisable & may introduce parts movement together with stress fractures in future?

Good luck

 

[pollyp]

Quote; “carrier cage and mill the hub upright bolt hole slightly oval”

Well investigated however needs comparison of discs outside diameter dimensions equality & compared to OEM discs?

Milling/drilling out mounting holes on critical brake components would not be advisable & may introduce parts movement together with stress fractures in future?

Good luck

Cheers
All of the GTIR discs I've ever brought have the same dimensions but the main problem is that the carrier cage and/or K11 hub bolt holes on mine makes the whole assembly sit 1-2mm too close to the disc until it rubs at high temp
But I remember other owners with same brakes didn't have this issue?

Yrs ago I had new discs machined smaller before fitting, but was uneconomical.
Then I later grinded the bottom of calipers 1mm to clear the disc, but couldn't grind too much out.
This last option here was to just slot 0.5mm of the hole to nudge the assembly out just enough to clear the disc, but given the remaining 10-15mm of thick steel around the hole I doubt it'll affect overall strength enough to worry about for daily driving unless i start fitting extremely oversized racing brakes and increase the stress loads on those bolt holes from more trackdays

 

[Micra Paul]

T

Cheers
All of the GTIR discs I've ever brought have the same dimensions but the main problem is that the carrier cage and/or K11 hub bolt holes on mine makes the whole assembly sit 1-2mm too close to the disc until it rubs at high temp
But I remember other owners with same brakes didn't have this issue?

Yrs ago I had new discs machined smaller before fitting, but was uneconomical.
Then I later grinded the bottom of calipers 1mm to clear the disc, but couldn't grind too much out.
This last option here was to just slot 0.5mm of the hole to nudge the assembly out just enough to clear the disc, but given the remaining 10-15mm of thick steel around the hole I doubt it'll affect overall strength enough to worry about for daily driving unless i start fitting extremely oversized racing brakes and increase the stress loads on those bolt holes from more trackdays Many

Many thanks for your interesting experience based response.

May I suggest shape overrides minimal material removed in order to equally distribute stress lines in circular lacuna compared to oval lacuna stress concentration of the resulting critical brake mounting stress ellipsoid.

Stresses At Elliptical Holes

Good luck

 

[pollyp]

It's been 1yr since I last checked the compression and 2yrs since checking valve clearances

Insides look good from regular 6mth servicing with 10w40 castrol gtx

Compression on all 4cyls are really good & equal

Ever since I rebuilt this engine with perfect piston ring gaps in 2019 and then tweaked the valve shims in 2022, all of the intake & exhaust now have perfect equal clearances

Nice

 

[pollyp]

2025-03-08 Check Peugeot 307 Fuel Pump

After seeing the terrible rusty debris in kassandras tank (suspecting it's either from the old rusty steel filler pipe or dirty tesco fuel?) I figure it's best to check out the 20yr old peugeots fuel tank

The peugeot uses a return-less fuel system & plastic filler pipe (so minimal chance of rust forming) but oddly it has no in-line fuel filter? purely relying on the rough little fuel pump pickup strainer

Unscrewing the huge 20yr old plastic collar without breaking it was a little tricky but some gentle leverage got it loose

Here's the whole fuel setup, the spring loaded top cover keeps the lower section pressed down close to the bottom of the tank

Very interesting that it features 2 separate swirl/reservoir pots, good for reducing starvation

Fuel first gets sucked into the 1st chamber via this orange 1-way valve close to the bottom of the tank

This lower chamber keeps the pump pickup submerged with afew ml of fuel at all times, even while the rest of the tank is sloshing around

The tiny pump strainer sits at the bottom of this primary chamber and is the only filter throughout the whole system

You'll see the pump in the center feeds fuel into a secondary pressurised swirl tank reservoir surrounding it, maintaining a consistant fuel supply.

1 output at the top feeds fuel to the injectors while the bottom output with the blue o-ring leads to the fuel pressure regulator

1 of the black hose from the center pump feeds into the secondary reservoir while the other hose sends fuel from the reservoir to the fuel rail

Looking inside the tank, reservoir & pump strainer it's surprisingly clean & rust-free, even after 20yrs filling up with cheap morrison fuel, which is a relief

 

[pollyp]

2025-03-18 Rebuild Garage Roof

My garage roof consists of a steel mesh cage covered with a mess of clear corrugated sheets, which tends to break from UV damage, high winds or being walked over, leading to annoying leaks over the car for the past few decades and I figure it's time to improve it

I modelled the roof & designed an arrangement of 1220x610x4mm polycarbonate twinwall sheets (durable enough to stand over, UV resistant, & most cost effective panel size)

Stripped all the old brittle sheets off the roof shell

Good time to give the rusty frame a lick of paint

Laid a waterproof sheet over the far wall to form a sort of lower rain gutter and bolted the 1st set of panels onto the sloping roof side

finished bolting the rest of the top panels & sealed all the joins with Gorilla crystal clear tape & regular flash tape

After 4 labour intensive & exhausting days luckily with good weather, I just managed to finish the roofing right before the rain was forcasted that evening.
The next morning with heavy downpour it's a relief to see that my idea worked and I finally have a waterproof dry garage to park kassandra in

 

[pollyp]

2025-04-19 FLIR One Gen3 Thermal Camera

Brought myself a FLIR usb-c thermal camera for many reasons including:
- check home insulation & heating system
- finding home appliances/electronics that wastes too much power/heat
- checking the cars cooling system, exhaust, brakes etc

After buying it I was disappointed to find that the FLIR app wasn't compatible with my Huawei phone
Thankfully I had a spare samsung tablet with a usb-C port which was FLIR compatible

Initlally thought I brought a faulty used FLIR off ebay cos the camera wasn't connecting with the app but soon got it working after several restarts, reboot, replugging, recharging etc I think it might be a software bug or FLIR battery issue

It's a really annoying bug but once successfully connected, it'll keep running till the battery runs out.

First thing I did was check/fix the home heating, insulation holes and disable any electrical wasters like TV, Stereo, network adapters, routers, power adapters, fish tank pump, game consoles etc

Then I tested it out on Kassandra during a cold start, which is fascinating & cool seeing how stuff warms up
The camera had trouble reconnecting again after I stopped recording



Figured the camera will connect to the app more likely by restarting the tablet, restart the app & reinsert the camera.
The next day I did a more detailed FLIR look at the car.



@00:05 Exhaust manifold heats up
@01:02 Warming up catalytic convertor
@02:05 Check brake temp after a short drive & coming to a stop
@03:05 Check engine bay temperature
@05:30 Exhaust silencer temperature
@05:50 Test cabin heater
@06:15 Hot engine bay after parking car in garage
@06:45 Engaging radiator fan
@08:25 Testing universal ebay catalytic convertor

So it turns out that the cheap 2.25"universal stainless sports cat I brought off ebay used on this new manifold might actually be a fake

After warming up the engine and holding high rpm, the core of the cat doesn't get hot at all and there's no temperature difference between both ends, meaning there's no reaction or any catalyst material within that fake honeycomb core, which might explain the really high emission readings during her MOT in january, even after revving her nuts off for 3min, and yet she passed easily after reinstalling the standard cat.

Also the rear left brake might be sticking slightly, making the disc appear a little warmer.

 

[pollyp]

2025-04-19 Replacing Catalytic Convertor Core

After discovering my current universal cat is fake & doesn't work, I wonder if I could replace it with some used oem cats I had in the garage cut to length

This cat from an Octavia had a spiral steel mesh core, which made it really difficult & slow to cut through

Unfortunately the rough bandsaw teeth would end up bending all the fine steel mesh, clogging the whole thing

The other longer bigger cat was from a peugeot 307, which has a regular ceramic honeycomb core.
I cut both ends off

Due to the softer ceramic honeycomb it was easier for the bandsaw blade to cut through and the hard/brittle ceramic material would cut/crumble cleanly

The result is a clean, flat cut with no clogged pores, so it's possible

The universal cat is 102mm diameter whereas the peugeots cat is 105mm diameter, near enough.
Plan is to cut this core off the current exhaust

Cut the peugeots core to length (want to use as much honeycomb length/volume as possible to give it more chance to help improve emissions) and weld it on like this

 

[pollyp]

2025-04-20 Compare Fake Cat vs Genuine Cat Using FLIR

Here's a comparison of the fake catalyst on my Micra vs a working cat on a Peugeot.

During Cold Start: The manifold gets hot immediately, catalyst core stays stone cold, and downpipe begins to warm.

After Driving 10min: manifold is very hot, catalyst core & downpipe are at their warmest.

After Idling in Garage: manifold stays hot but catalyst & downpipe has cooled down.

Holding 3k rpm for 3min: manifold gets hotter but catalyst core & downpipe stays same temperature.

The Peugeot 307 with a working cat is very different.

During Cold Start: manifold & downpipe gets hot immediately, upper half of the catalyst is cold, lower half of catalyst warms up quickly as the gas flow reacts & gets hotter.

Idling 1min: upper half of the catalyst begins to heat up from reacting with gases.

After Driving 10min: the whole exhaust system is very very hot beyond the 150c limit of the thermal camera

Comparing the brakes & exhaust silencer temp of the Micra with the Peugeot after 10min of cruising and both appear with similar appearances.

 

[pollyp]

2025-04-21 Replacing Fake Cat with Genuine Cat

Began removing the fake universal cat

Looking at how close the cat is to the block, I decided not to fit a longer catalyst core

Can see some signs it only got hot at the top near the manifold but the fake honeycomb core and the lower outlet never got hot enough

Chopped off the funnel ends.
The fake stainless cat is 101mm diameter while the Peugeots cat is 105mm diameter.

Top of the honeycomb only a little soot but doesn't look like it got hot

Bottom of the honeycomb looks the same light pink as when new, indicating no reaction or high heat.
Normally the hotter exit end of a used cat would appear pale & white from the intense heat of reaction.

I chopped the spare Peugeots catalyst core to match the same length

Clean cut

Dremelled loose some of the white insulation fibres between the honeycomb and steel casing to allow the smaller funnel ends to slot within the groove

Tacked & welded together

As a reminder, here's the thermal image of the fake cat which never got hot at all

And now with a working genuine core taken from a spare Peugeot 307, you can clearly see the cat & downpipe getting hotter from reacting with the exhaust gases and high rpm

Here's footage comparing the two



Hopefully for her MOT next yr this will help with emissions

 

[pollyp]

2025-04-28 Testing Fake Cat vs Genuine Cat with Blowtorch

I discovered a difference between the fake cat and the genuine cat using a blowtorch.

When I aim the hottest part of the flame at the honeycomb they both get white hot as expected.

But once I move the torch closer so that the cooler & butane rich part of the flame reaches the honeycomb, the fake cat has no catalyst coating to react with the cold rich mixture or any flame to maintain heat therefore it cools down instantly.

Meanwhile the catalyst in the genuine cat continues to react with the butane gas keeping the honeycomb white hot & notice it also cools down much slower after I remove the flame.

 

[pollyp]

2025-05-05 Repair Headlight Mount

One of the headlight mounting point has again cracked off, so I printed a new section to superglue on attached with an M6 coach bolt

Headlight secured in place

 

[pollyp]

2025-05-06 Weld Squeaking Chassis

Today I managed to find the cause of that annoying hidden squeak which appears to be a cracked spotweld in the door frame

Wedging it with a screwdriver clearly shows the crack.

Little odd to see that the cracked passenger side are two thin sheets whereas the drivers side has this extra thicker reinforcement plate added on the back

Adding afew plug welds along the cracked seam

Grinded & painted

Cruising along the motorway she is now FINALLY nice & quiet with no more annoying rattles/buzzing

 

[pollyp]

2025-05-07 Removed Rear Door Handles & Window Mech

Since the rear door handles & window mech are never ever used, I decided to remove them all to eliminate any rattles and hold the glass solid with these brackets

The brackets secure the glass onto the door panel

Drilled 2 holes to fasten the brackets

No more things to rattle in the door, save afew grams too lol

 

[pollyp]

2025-05-11 Battery Terminal Cover

This old temporary battery cover trimmed to clear the cable terminals is getting rather loose & exposed

I printed a new cover to protect the terminal better

 

[pollyp]

2025-05-17 Swap Back to Standard Engine Mounts

Whilst cleaning the garage I found some spare oem engine mounts and decided to swap them back to reduce the shaking

These firmer mounts I got from matt humphris yrs ago are still soo stiff/rigid compared to the mushy oem mounts
No wonder it's been shaking kassandra apart for the past decade

cba to replace the front & rear mounts but after simply changing to softer left & right engine mounts, the vibration through the steering & door mirrors overall seem to be halved and alot smoother & quieter when cruising

 

[Micra Paul]

I rather suspect that the original K11 Nissan Micra design engineers & Sunderland factory got the K11 right from the get go in 1992?

My 1998 K11 1300cc is all original unmolested & just keeps going with only my simple DIY servicing in my shed every 2 or 3 years & no worries. My K11 still has the original Nissan exhaust system!

The only design flaw was putting the MAF sensor & air temp sensor + PCB card rigidly fixed inside the TB where it is too close too the the intake manifold & subject to engine heat & operating & air harmonic vibrations?

That’s good enough for me.

 

[pollyp]

I rather suspect that the original K11 Nissan Micra design engineers & Sunderland factory got the K11 right from the get go in 1992?

My 1998 K11 1300cc is all original unmolested & just keeps going with only my simple DIY servicing in my shed every 2 or 3 years & no worries. My K11 still has the original Nissan exhaust system!

The only design flaw was putting the MAF sensor & air temp sensor + PCB card rigidly fixed inside the TB where it is too close too the the intake manifold & subject to engine heat & operating & air harmonic vibrations?

That’s good enough for me.

Yeah good enough compromise for a smooth comfy drive.

Fitting my PTFE manifold gasket & removing the TB coolant lines made a huge difference in keeping the intake stone cold

Yup I can't imagine all that heat & vibration is good the delicate MAF electronics

So tonight I swapped it all back to standard engine mounts and removed that solid printed rear mount insert to allow movement

Standard front mount has upto 20mm of loose movement which doesn't help

The previous solid mounts gave a sharp, instant, visceral, positively engaging & enjoyable feeling of being connected to the cars machinery.

But now with standard mounts, jesus! she feels completely different

Firing up the car no longer shakes the body, it just poofs into life quietly.
When idling, the steering & body no longer shakes and is really quiet, I had to check if the engine was running
The biggest change is the mushy clutch engagement and lack of vibration in the steering, so setting off from standstill and acceleration feels soo disconnected, floating, hard to judge.
Cruising at speed is very nice & smooth
Without the shaking steering/dash/body, the boomy exhaust at the back is now more noticeable

Think I'll reinstall the solid front mount to see if that improves the feeling slightly

 

[pollyp]

The standard front mount has soo much slack upto 11mm that I could noticeably rock the engine back/forth & see the softer left & right oem mounts move, overall this leads to a spongey disconnected feeling with the clutch & throttle response.

I swapped back to a solid front mount, left & right mounts are the softer oem, rear mount is the firmer version but without the solid 3d printed inserts.
This made a noticeable improvement. The sharp connected feeling of the clutch & throttle is back to normal while most of the harsh noisy shaking vibrations at low rpm & cruising are gone, a good compromise

 

[pollyp]

The completely solid front upper & lower mount (on right) with firm rear mount and OEM left & right mounts was still transferring abit too much vibration to the dash & steering.

The standard front mount (left) has a medium-soft upper bush but the large lower bushing fits soo loosely upto 11mm vertical play and 6mm lateral play

So the next layout to try is OEM front upper, left & right mounts, firm rear mount, and a solid front lower bushing.

Went for a drive in the sun and yup it drives very lovely now
The front/rear/left/right rubber bushings absorb most of the engine vibrations throughout the rpm range while the solid front lower bushing prevents large rocking movement improving the feel & response of the engine/clutch

 

[pollyp]

2025-05-27 Reroute Front Breather Pipe

The front crankcase hose is at a tight angle making the route for future catch cans a little tricky

I removed the 90deg elbow from a spare cover

Welded together to form an S-bend

Now the hose has a smoother curve and will be easier to plumb the catch cans to the right side of the bay

 

[pollyp]

2025-06-05 Remove Rear Axle

The rear axle was starting to get abit crusty and needs repainting

First I removed the brakes, the inner side of the discs towards the caliper piston appear slightly pitted (maybe from sitting in garage for weeks?), the left disc is less pitted & more scored probably cos the left caliper sticks more than the right

Wheel bearings still nice & tight

Left hub nut was really tight to get off

Stainless fuel filler pipe still clean, slight surface rust at some of the welds

While removing the panhard, I found the lower half of the bracket has now cracked off the axle probably from rust and fatigue of the solid polybushes bending it as the axle swings & tilt naturally during suspension travel & braking

I'll weld a stronger box mount onto the axle.
Ideally I should probably convert to a rose-jointed panhard rod allowing the axle to swing freely without putting extra stress on the mount & panhard

Axle removed, right spring was stuck on the axle so I'll try remove it tomorrow

 

[pollyp]

2025-06-19 Wirebrush Rear Axle

Managed to pry the RH spring off & snapped the rest of the panhard mount off

Wirebrushed as much rust off the axle, overall it still appears solid

Grinded the old snapped bracket flat

Removed most of the rust

Cleaned the whiteline trailing arms too

Removed the stuck solid bushing off the snapped panhard mount, there was literally zero clearance in that bush, woops

The mount itself uses quite thin brackets thich eventually rots & snaps off

Forgot which way this OMP left/right hand adjuster screw on the panhard rod loosens and it was seized

So I chopped the end off

Cleaned the threads, not that it'll be used again

The whiteline panhard uses a 27mm x 3mm thick tube

Brought a new 1m length of same tube to make a new panhard

Sourcing new polybushes for this whiteline panhard was difficult since it's no longer available and universal replacement bushes online don't show any dimensions to check if it fits

Machining new bushes on a mini lathe with soft polyurethane rod I heard is also very difficult.

The only other option is to convert to a custom rose-jointed panhard rod, which also turns out slightly cheaper than buying polybushes
Brought a pair of M16 left/right threaded rose joints, nuts and dust boots

 

[pollyp]

2025-06-21 Weld New Panhard Rod Mount

I was waiting on this ebay M16 bolt for the panhard mount but realised it's coming from china & won't arrive till next month
Halfords sold M16 towing bolts but imo they were too short (rose-joint would be resting on the weaker threads rather than the solid shank).
Returning home I stopped by my local fastener shop who actually had the correct M16 x 100mm bolt and much cheaper too

Begin making these large washers for the mount from 1.5mm steel

& machined the bulky hex head off the bolt to help fitment against the axle.
New mount is assembled like this

Welded the supporting washers onto the bolt

Attached the assembly onto the 57mm round tube body

Welded the backside

Trimmed the mount to sit on the axle at exactly the correct position & angles after alot of fiddly grinding

Welded new panhard mount onto the axle, hopefully it'll be much stronger than before

 

[pollyp]

2025-06-21 Make Rose Jointed Panhard Rod

Welded the nuts onto the new steel pipe

Attached the rose joints

Machined this tapered spacer to help spread the load

Rose joint sit on the shaft like this.
Overall length is 50mm same as the original bushing, therefore if rose-joints didn't work out I could revert back to poly bushes

New panhard rod & axle mount finished. The rod can now swing freely with zero friction and no play

 

[pollyp]

Wirebrushed & cleaned the light surface rust off all the parts

Applied the initial layer of Jomastic epoxy primer followed by a polyurethane top coat

 

[pollyp]

Axle overhauled & ready to reinstall

 

[pollyp]

2025-06-24 Install New Rear Axle

Had to trim the inside lip off these spring cusions so that the spring doesn't jam on the spring seat

Now the spring has room to move without binding

Installed the axle.

When moving the axle up/down it's full travel without springs, I can clearly see it tilt forward by approx upto 10deg probably due to the upper trailing arm sitting at a steep angle and the lower arm sitting flat when lowered 50mm.

No wonder the old stiff panhard with solid bushings snapped the mount
This new rose-joint panhard with high range of movement should stop it happening again.

 

[pollyp]

Attached brakes & aligned the wheels

Printed this cover to protect the exposed adjustable trailing arms from rust

Going for a test drive after waiting 3wks, I forgot how nimble she is
Handling feels sharp, quiet with no knocks/rattles

 

[pollyp]

2025-06-26 Inspect Fuel Tank for Debris

So I swapped to a clean facelift tank since March 2024

Changed to a stainless filler pipe in Dec 2024

Replaced the Walbro pump in Feb 2025, which had all this dirt around the pickup

Lets quickly check the state of the pump in June

Pump removed

Hmm not bad, just a small amount of dirt

Little specks in the tank but ohh..

ohhh looks like poor little Geoffrey the spider got inside the tank and half dissolved

 

[pollyp]

Personal Update 2025-08-17

It's been a difficult 2025 for me with no signs of hope

Left a terribly uncomfortable & brief job in January as a caretaker, realised I got used & manipulated again by women & close friends
Which inevitably triggered me to delete everyone & everything out of my life since I can no longer trust anyone or even myself.

No social media, no friends or social life, no income, completely self-isolated, lost all confidence, lost interests in most hobbies, no exercise, & suffering through my 4th depression & anxiety

Obviously I needed to find some sort of job or income while in a bad state to pay bills etc, so signed onto Universal Credit in Feb in hope of refining my CV, seek advice on what jobs suit me, & getting some small financial support.
But still after 7mths of trying to apply for jobs in design/engineering/CAD/delivery/factory/etc with zero results or replies, I feel completely useless, lost, broken, stupid, scared, sad, wanna give up
Years of studying product design in college & universities wasted, unsure where I belong anymore

Going through this depression alone with the same patterns/mistakes, I've often wondered what dafuq is wrong with me!? Why can't I find any job while I've seen everyone else doing it easily like buying groceries?

I've long been suspecting I might be autistic with ADHD? so I seeked ADHD diagnosis since April and after a brief video call in July I was told I have inattentive ADHD and will be given some meds soon, which I guess is a slight relief towards explaining my life struggles and hoping it'll help me focus on job searching with less anxiety or distractions

I'm aware no one will probably see this message since this forum has long been deserted, but I have nowhere else to talk to/express myself and just wanted to document my thoughts here alongside my project blog

 

[pollyp]

2025-07-04 Shorten Bonnet Hook

The bonnet seems to sit slightly too far up and the latch is already at it's lowest position, so the only other option is to shorten the bonnet hoop itself

Chopped

Welded, and now the bonnet can sit lower to the headlights/grill

 

[pollyp]

2025-08-10 Convert Heater Blower Resistor Card into PWM controller

Recently noticed the battery is again not fully charging up towards 12.6v cos it's only receiving upto 13.9v while the running alternator produces 14.2v

Some of the voltage drop came from the main battery 65a fuse in the engine bay (-0.05v)

Tested the resistances of all the spares with no difference between them at 0.01ohm, so nothing I can do about that

The worst drop comes from the heater fan resistor card constantly draining at least 0.1v even at low speed, which won't help with battery life or mpg.

I had a spare 12v PWM controller and was curious to see if it'll work more efficiently than the old wasteful OEM resistor pack

Roughly wired up the PWM controller inbetween the fan motor & circuit, turned the micra fan dial to a full #4 (bypassing the resistor card circuit & sending full 12-14v to the PWM controller)

Results are:
*Fan turned off, ECU not signalled to "idle up" : 14.05v
*Fan ON with PWM at 0% : 14.04v (really low PWM duty cycle doesn't consume much voltage)
*Fan Speed #1 with PWM at 25% : 14.02v (some of the energy is still being wasted by the resistor card)
*Fan Speed #4 with PWM at 25% : 14.00v (PWM runs fan at same rpm as OEM dropping by only 0.05v)
*Fan Speed #1 with PWM 100% : 13.95v (running the factory low fan speed through the resistor card drops it by 0.10v, wasted as heat)
*MAX Fan Speed : drops to 13.62v

So the PWM does work better than factory. Next task is to neaten the installation.

 

[pollyp]

The other day I was only briefly using this old battery grinder for just 10sec and whilst looking away finishing a task, I suddenly noticed the workshop is abit smokey only to see the lithium pack firing up!

ohshtohshiiohhshyt

1st time I ever had a lithium thermal runaway, I calmly picked up the smoking grinder and quickly took it outside in the back alley to soak with the hose while just one of the cells gave a flaming pffffffsh

Good thing I was able to spot the smokey grinder in the garage otherwise it could've been bad

 

[pollyp]

2025-08-16 Fix Citroen C3 Master Cylinder Long Travel Issue

For the longest time ever since I fitted a larger Citreon C3 M/C in 2015 to match the bigger volume of the GTIR front calipers, it's always had this annoyingly long initial dead-zone in the pedal before any braking pressure is felt so I had to extend the pedal resting point high up to compensate

There must be some issue between the citreon MC & micra servo, so I began to remove the assembly

Split the MC, which I had tigersealed tightly onto the servo

After a quick measure, I realised theres actually a big gap between the pushrod in the servo and the MC piston it engages with

Here's the factory servo pushrod, which has a threaded & crimped round tip

It was crimped but can be unscrewed/adjusted

Dismantled the rest of the Citreon MC to measure & assess

Here's the primary piston. Notice the square rod in the middle, which is part of a relief valve (allows fluid to flow freely to/from the reservoir only when the piston is fully retracted back)

Here's the secondary piston. The little pin at the front is also the relief valve, activated by this vertical rod when piston is fully retracted

I modelled all the components

So in the old layout you can clearly see the factory servo pushrod was upto 10mm far too short for the Citreon MC, no wonder there was soo much floppy pedal travel

The solution is to simply lengthen that pushrod by 10mm, whether by simply unscrewing it (barely enough thread left and too weak), or preferably by machining a longer/stronger M6 screw to fit

This is when the MC is fully compressed, checking the servo diaphram has enough travel without hitting the end of the MC

Tomorrows task is to machine a longer pushrod for the servo and reassemble everything

 

[pollyp]

Managed to find an M6 screw of the correct length

Pushrod sits at the right spot where the CAD model says

Machined a deeper groove for an O-ring to seal onto the brake servo

Filled & bled the air out of the MC like this

MC & servo ready to fit

While bleeding & checking brakes, may as well check how straight the discs are too.
Brake disc run-out limit is 0.07mm
all the discs are 0.05mm except for the rear right corner which has a massive 0.30mm run-out

Tried wirebrushing both surfaces clean and remounting the disc onto the hub at 1/4 turns with no improvement.
Apart from remachining the disc straight or replacing it, the alternative option is to simply apply a layer of tape inbetween the hub face to straighten the disc alignment

And now it's at 0.05mm within the factory limit

Reassembled the car for a test drive.
After starting the car & leaving the garage, initially I thought the pedal travel seemed extremely short, instant braking response with absolutely no dead-zone, really sensitive braking

Moving the car really slowly, I could feel the brakes are actually dragging slightly
Lets drive round the corner, maybe it'll loosen up?

Hmm it actually got worse as all 4 brakes quickly heated up, expanding & binding up even harder to the point where I had to floor it WOT in 1st/2nd gear just to keep moving till I found a parking spot

Erm yeh so I guess the servo pushrod was a bit too long, jamming the MC on and unable to release.
No wonder the pedal felt too firm & sensitive.

With the hot brakes jammed on hard, I had to briefly loosen the MC pipe to relieve the pressure allowing the calipers to release so that I'm able to nurse her back home. Instead of pressing the pedal and jamming the brakes again, I ended up using the handbrake to slow down for corners

Back at home wondering what I got wrong, I guess the pushrod was moving the pistons further than expected when operating with engine vacuum.

To check the rods resting position with or without vacuum, I removed the MC and simply covered the hole with clear tape, run the engine and I could see that the rod moves forward by 1.3mm under vacuum

So with the vacuum nudging the shaft forward slightly and the M6 screw slightly too long, this pushes the piston away from their full retracted position, where the relief valves are actually kept closed and unable to bleed any excess pressure from the calipers back to the reservoir, basically keeping the brakes locked on

I've now shortened the screw by 5mm, which should hopefully allow the pistons to retract fully, opening the relief valve and allowing the calipers to relax

Just need to rebleed the system tomorrow for another test

 

[pollyp]

With the pushrod shortened by 5mm, I bled the brakes again,
started the car with wheels lifted,
pump the brake pedal few times,
recheck none of the wheels are binding,
went for a drive and now it's working properly

*Pedal has approx 20mm if initial travel before it reaches the bite point & firms up (much shorter than the previous 35mm of travel) meaning the pedal can rest at a lower point, closer to the throttle pedal.

*Braking sensitivity is back to normal compared to when it was stuck on

*Brakes fully relax without any binding when releasing the pedal

 

[Micra Paul]

The other day I was only briefly using this old battery grinder for just 10sec and whilst looking away finishing a task, I suddenly noticed the workshop is abit smokey only to see the lithium pack firing up!

ohshtohshiiohhshyt

1st time I ever had a lithium thermal runaway, I calmly picked up the smoking grinder and quickly took it outside in the back alley to soak with the hose while just one of the cells gave a flaming pffffffsh

View attachment 90360

View attachment 90361

Good thing I was able to spot the smokey grinder in the garage otherwise it could've been bad

I have always associated rechargeable battery equipment fires with cheap rechargeable equipment fire starting thermal runaway when charging unattended & with mismatched cheap chargers?

To avoid such unnecessary risks I always run out an extension lead & use power tools which are more powerful too get the job done quicker when working near where mains power is available.

 

[pollyp]

I have always associated rechargeable battery equipment fires with cheap rechargeable equipment fire starting thermal runaway when charging unattended & with mismatched cheap chargers?

To avoid such unnecessary risks I always run out an extension lead & use power tools which are more powerful too get the job done quicker when working near where mains power is available.

I brought the cheapo small & large batteries & charger as a set on ebay yrs ago.

Could it be the charger or battery controller slightly overcharging & damaging a cell over time or is it a random roll of the dice?
Both batteries are also beginning to hold less total charge.
Just odd how it didn't catch fire on the charger or while under full load and instead fires only after a brief use?

While the regular corded grinder is reliable & powerful, great for very long cuts or wirebrushing, it's just too noisy and violently runs at full whack, not ideal for a quick gentle wirebrush.
Cordless grinder is a lot more convenient, portable, runs quieter and kinder on wirebrushes with the variable speed but due to the battery issues I may just have to store it away from anything flammable

 

[pollyp]

2025-08-25 PWM Fan Controller Extension Wiring

To make a longer & neater loom for the PWM controller, I grabbed a spare blower fan from Jack to use the extra connector terminals

The newer fan on the right sits slightly further up, probably due to the rubber mount inside

Same components

The older fan on the left is certainly more worn out with the brushes sitting further down compared to the newer fan on the right with brushes sitting higher up

Made this 1m extension cable from the old blower connectors

Taped the controller here temporarily for now.
One day I'll eventually integrate it into the factory fan knob

 

[Micra Paul]

I brought the cheapo small & large batteries & charger as a set on ebay yrs ago.

Could it be the charger or battery controller slightly overcharging & damaging a cell over time or is it a random roll of the dice?
Both batteries are also beginning to hold less total charge.
Just odd how it didn't catch fire on the charger or while under full load and instead fires only after a brief use?

While the regular corded grinder is reliable & powerful, great for very long cuts or wirebrushing, it's just too noisy and violently runs at full whack, not ideal for a quick gentle wirebrush.
Cordless grinder is a lot more convenient, portable, runs quieter and kinder on wirebrushes with the variable speed but due to the battery issues I may just have to store it away from anything flammable

Quote: “cheapo small & large batteries & charger as a set on ebay yrs ago”

I automatically associate cheap tools, equipment & aftermarket parts from such sources as being of unregulated unknown provenance & or quality control rejects that find their way onto the UK secondary market?

When we go on holiday three times a year, I store my laptop battery in a fire proof metal box outside the house.

When using power tools I always use industrial hearing, eyes & hands protection to get the job done safely asap.

Welcome back to the MSC after your break, & I have learnt much from the details & photos in your blog over the last 15 years.

Good luck.

 

[pollyp]

Quote: “cheapo small & large batteries & charger as a set on ebay yrs ago”

I automatically associate cheap tools, equipment & aftermarket parts from such sources as being of unregulated unknown provenance & or quality control rejects that find their way onto the UK secondary market?

When we go on holiday three times a year, I store my laptop battery in a fire proof metal box outside the house.

When using power tools I always use industrial hearing, eyes & hands protection to get the job done safely asap.

Welcome back to the MSC after your break, & I have learnt much from the details & photos in your blog over the last 15 years.

Good luck.

That's true

Thanks m8

 

[pollyp]

2025-08-29 Inspect Worn Denso K16TT Spark Plugs

These Denso K16TT I fitted in 2021 are getting old now.
You can see in the following pics how the sharp square tip has worn away after approx 10-20k

Here's a timelapse of the tip wearing away

Time to replace them