I bought this car late 2010 and finally got round to gettin the look I was going for.
heres how it was looking while I accumulated the right parts
first I needed some 13x7 wheels, my main project car is a mk1 escort mexico so I kinda knew what I was looking for.
I found these on ebay with 175/50/13 tyres, that'll do.
next was how to lower it, obviously coilovers are the best way to do but much more grief and money than run of the mill lowering springs. Rtlkyuubi's micra thread was pretty usefull as I could see what could be used and how to do it, after asking him a few questions I thought i'd take the leap of faith and spend some more money so bought these polo coilovers, I also needed a way of gettin the arches a bit wider so having looked at my mates mk1 golf gti decided I could modify the plastic arch trims to fit and cover the tread that was gonna stick out, so mr bay came in usefull again and I bought these.
so as soon as I picked up the wheels I put 2 on just to see how much they were gonna stick out by.
heres the result of wide wheels but no body drop.
front wheel from above.
back wheel from above.
so I took them off and went about gettin the coilovers sorted.
front needed a washer welding on to beef up the metal around where the new hole was gonna be.
and then obviously drill through the middle of the washer.
also the top cup needs sticking on a lathe to make it fit the bit that bolts to the wing, also this bit needs drilling out to 14mm to allow for the bigger thread to go through.
the back were a bit more grief as the main issue is that the coilover is wider than the standard shock so it fouls on the axle on the way up and that the bush is too wide, rtlkyuubi extended and widened the hole where it mounts at the bottom but I didnt have time to not have the car off the road so thought it's be better to do all the mods on the actual coilover.
first off I hacksawed the bushes off and turned some new steel sleeves for some new bushes. I had some mk1 escort anti roll bar poly bushes lying around so I made the sleeve to fit these.
then I mounted the shock at the top and put the bush in so I could tack weld it in the right place.
then took it all out and welded it properly (my mate did this as he's curse word hot on the welder)
you can see how offset they are so the shock now clears the axle.
now fronts and back needed a bit of paint so the raw steel wouldnt rust. I put on a bit of 2pac primer.
so I was looking in the paint room for a colour and thought we had some glow in the dark paint which I thought would be funny but we didnt. so I saw a pot with this green that looked like it was glow in the dark and thought "that'll do".
I wanted to make a cup for the top of the rears to try and elimimate knocking sounds and stuff. the old springs have a bit of rubber where they meet the car so I made a cup/ring to make the now skinny spring fit this rubber cup.
now it was time to fit it all, heres the fronts in. I forgot to take a pic of the back ones in.
so heres how it looked, the arches are still waiting to be done so I figured i'd see how I got on and if the rozzers bollocked me i'd get em done.
2 days in and I get a flat on the rear, I only noticed when it was in the driveway and the tyre shop said i'd killed it cos id driven on it flat so I put the standard steels back on. BAD move, I thought it would be a bit more forgiving but oh how I was wrong. it just bounced up and down constantly, seriously it was ridiculous. I was gettin to work everyday and feeling sick from the constant bouncing, I think its cos the tyres are softer than the springs as compared to having little hard wheels. so I got it sorted asap and my local tyre shop had 4 part worn 165/55/13's. they're a bit taller and narrower so it doesnt look quite as tuff but it looks way more legal plus they look a bit more stretched.
the handling is amazing, its like an F1 car, just a bit slower. seriously fun and highly recommended if you don't mind a bit of a hard ride. I think i'm gonna lower the front a bit more but i'm pretty happy with the way it looks and drives.
thanks for looking fellas, any questions feel free to ask
Joe
heres how it was looking while I accumulated the right parts
first I needed some 13x7 wheels, my main project car is a mk1 escort mexico so I kinda knew what I was looking for.
I found these on ebay with 175/50/13 tyres, that'll do.
next was how to lower it, obviously coilovers are the best way to do but much more grief and money than run of the mill lowering springs. Rtlkyuubi's micra thread was pretty usefull as I could see what could be used and how to do it, after asking him a few questions I thought i'd take the leap of faith and spend some more money so bought these polo coilovers, I also needed a way of gettin the arches a bit wider so having looked at my mates mk1 golf gti decided I could modify the plastic arch trims to fit and cover the tread that was gonna stick out, so mr bay came in usefull again and I bought these.
so as soon as I picked up the wheels I put 2 on just to see how much they were gonna stick out by.
heres the result of wide wheels but no body drop.
front wheel from above.
back wheel from above.
so I took them off and went about gettin the coilovers sorted.
front needed a washer welding on to beef up the metal around where the new hole was gonna be.
and then obviously drill through the middle of the washer.
also the top cup needs sticking on a lathe to make it fit the bit that bolts to the wing, also this bit needs drilling out to 14mm to allow for the bigger thread to go through.
the back were a bit more grief as the main issue is that the coilover is wider than the standard shock so it fouls on the axle on the way up and that the bush is too wide, rtlkyuubi extended and widened the hole where it mounts at the bottom but I didnt have time to not have the car off the road so thought it's be better to do all the mods on the actual coilover.
first off I hacksawed the bushes off and turned some new steel sleeves for some new bushes. I had some mk1 escort anti roll bar poly bushes lying around so I made the sleeve to fit these.
then I mounted the shock at the top and put the bush in so I could tack weld it in the right place.
then took it all out and welded it properly (my mate did this as he's curse word hot on the welder)
you can see how offset they are so the shock now clears the axle.
now fronts and back needed a bit of paint so the raw steel wouldnt rust. I put on a bit of 2pac primer.
so I was looking in the paint room for a colour and thought we had some glow in the dark paint which I thought would be funny but we didnt. so I saw a pot with this green that looked like it was glow in the dark and thought "that'll do".
I wanted to make a cup for the top of the rears to try and elimimate knocking sounds and stuff. the old springs have a bit of rubber where they meet the car so I made a cup/ring to make the now skinny spring fit this rubber cup.
now it was time to fit it all, heres the fronts in. I forgot to take a pic of the back ones in.
so heres how it looked, the arches are still waiting to be done so I figured i'd see how I got on and if the rozzers bollocked me i'd get em done.
2 days in and I get a flat on the rear, I only noticed when it was in the driveway and the tyre shop said i'd killed it cos id driven on it flat so I put the standard steels back on. BAD move, I thought it would be a bit more forgiving but oh how I was wrong. it just bounced up and down constantly, seriously it was ridiculous. I was gettin to work everyday and feeling sick from the constant bouncing, I think its cos the tyres are softer than the springs as compared to having little hard wheels. so I got it sorted asap and my local tyre shop had 4 part worn 165/55/13's. they're a bit taller and narrower so it doesnt look quite as tuff but it looks way more legal plus they look a bit more stretched.
the handling is amazing, its like an F1 car, just a bit slower. seriously fun and highly recommended if you don't mind a bit of a hard ride. I think i'm gonna lower the front a bit more but i'm pretty happy with the way it looks and drives.
thanks for looking fellas, any questions feel free to ask
Joe
