Craig's Almera Track Project!

[craig8585]

I've recently bought an old Nissan Almera N15 as a track car project so thought I'd post some progression up here. I bought it off eBay last week for a whopping £255. The interior was really clean and tidy but the bodywork is suffering from the classic Nissan rust bug.


Here are some pics of when it arrived..

And here's what happened shortly after..

I popped the air filter lid off to take a look at the filter and going by the unbelievable state of the filter, I guess it hasn't had a proper service in a good few years, so I'll be sorting that out with this..

I'll also be changing the thermostat as a precaution but will do it at the same time as fitting an alloy rad.

 

[S15AK]

nice Craig, looks like a great little project good luck with it... wish I had the balls to buy something and work on it myself..

Love the seat cloth pattern, very 1990's

Could a Sr20DET fit in one of them? as didn't the sunny GTiR have the Sr20 and is a simlar chassis?

 

[craig8585]

Yeah, it has a SR20DE at the moment so the DET swap is fairly easy and common but I won't be doing it unfortunately. It would be a nice addition but this is fun on a budget so all of the mods will be cheap! The most expensive parts I need are the coilovers but once they are on it should be sub 1000kg so fairly nippy and half decent around the corners too.

It really is so easy to do things like this Adam. Most of the interior just pulls out. The only technical bit will be removing the air con but even that is relatively easy. The worst that could happen is only going to cost me £250 (aka, a new car!).

The first trackday is booked for the 5th November at Bedford Autodrome. The only difficult bit now is how I'm going to get it there with no tax or MOT?! Any ideas??

 

[spoonman]

rent a car trailer, do any of your other cars have tow bars? this is why own the opposites of vehicles, a 4WD navara and a S15.

just an idea, but i know a local who track races primera's he thinks the P11's SR20VE is a best option even over a DET for a track going FWD, simply due to the cost and the fact that you just make them rev, great response through tight tracks, and he got his to 210bhp approx still on the factory ECU, his laptimes are a good reflection of this setup. since they use a much larger MAF then silvia's just ram air down its throat, no filter just a bit of mesh, and then vent the exhaust out the side spit flames like a mad man.

 

[craig8585]

I can't tow a car trailer as I havent got a big/heavy enough car to tow that weight and I can't tow that much weight on my normal car licence either

Yeah, the P11's are really good track cars from what I've heard, but hopefully I can make up for their extra power and handling with my lack of weight! A friend of mine has one and he tells me how good it is on track. Funnily enough we've both booked the same trackday on 5th November so I will report back with how we got on! Will try and get some video evidence too!

 

[pegliobaglio]

looks like fun mate! i know someone with a white one they are good fun!!! defo the cheapest mod for more power is weight loss!!

 

[craig8585]

Yeah, loosing weight only has advantages so I'm getting rid of as much as possible!

Since that photo was took, a lot more has come out and there's still a fair bit to go I'll get some more photos up soon with the latest progression!

 

[spoonman]

dry ice the sound deading and seam weld the hell out of it to stiffen it up

 

[ichigo-300]

Looks like a lot of fun Craig, keep the progress pics coming

 

[spoonman]

got a update on this craig? and a vid of that track day maybe

 

[craig8585]

The last track day was a real blast and the little almera gueninely surprised me and a lot of other drivers with its speed and handling! I had to fly out to Africa the day after the track day (still there now) so haven't had chance to upload any pics yet apart from the one below.

All in all I have spent just under £2000 on it but it was out performing cars costing many times that amount. Closet comparisons were a brand new £30k 211bhp TT, track prepped Peugeot GTi-6, Civic Type-R's etc. Even though it's FWD it's still a lot of fun to chuck around on tracl

 

[spoonman]

good stuff, are you less worried about scratching it so therefore drive it harder and go faster then you would have thought? i want a track hack

 

[spoonman]

also have you parked it on a weigh station just to see what you have got it down to?

 

[pegliobaglio]

Awesome news mate! Looks like fun,one of my mates has a white one and he loves it! Any further plans for it or are you happy with how it is?

 

[craig8585]

Yeah, the bodywork on it is pretty rough so not worried in the slightest about damaging it. Even if I stove it into a barrier it doesn;t matter that much as the whole car only cost £250. I haven't weighed it yet either but I expect it to be slightly under 1000kg now and aiming for 950kg when everything is stripped - then I'll get it weighed


Not really got any further plans for it at the moment apart from further weight reduction and maybe another set of wheels so I can have wet and dry tyres. Also going to sort out a bit of the rust around the back arches when I get home so it doesn't look quite as bad!

 

[spoonman]

i was eyeballing the wife's swift last night with what it could be like as that's only 1050kg from the factory, but some how its just not going to happen

 

[meddler]

lol. what you think she would notice?

 

[S15AK]

really starting to think of doing something like this. Did you figure out a way to get it to the track? as I remember you wasn't sure about using a trailer etc...

Fancy getting another renualt 5 GTT and stripping that out.

 

[spoonman]

lol. what you think she would notice?

well i managed to get a set of nice black 17's on it which i have told her are time attack wheels, might try and see if i can sneak some lowering springs in.... dont think i will get away with removing all the interior to the extent craig did

 

[craig8585]

Adam - I ended up swapping my S15 insurance over to the Almera (off the road for winter now anyway) and Taxing it for a month! I'm going to try and get trade insurance next year though which means I can just have one policy instead of the two I've got running now, and saves any faffing around when I want to drive other cars.

I did consider trailering it but you can only tow upto 750kg on a normal licence, and my other car can't tow the 1300 or so kg's that the Almera and a trailer would weigh.



Spoonman - I have a soft spot for the little Swift's! I'm sure she wouldn't mind a set of lowering springs! Ease the mods in gradually!!