10 Years after I joined AOC and 11 Years after I bought this car, I think it’s time to start my own ride thread. I was going to wait until I finished it but it’s taken over a decade to get this far and I don’t think I’ll ever stop modifying it so what the heck!
This car was a gift from my dad who bought it back in March 2002, I was the 2nd owner from new, it originated from Chester, it was stock and originally I had no plans to do anything to it. My dad was Nissan bias at the time having been through a Bluebird, Micra, Sunny and Maxima so I was swayed to getting myself a Nissan too. I did want a P11-144 and also had an eye on a P1 GTi in red but the insurance people wanted £3K no matter what I was driving (even if it was a £150 suicide bucket) so the Nissan dealership recommended I get a 1.4 Micra or equivalent. I really didn’t want to be seen in a gutless shopping trolley and this blue one with 49,734 miles on the clock and a GA16 under the hood was the go-between compromise. I didn’t have much money at the time so I knew it would be a while before I could afford something nicer and sportier, I didn’t want to have to waste money by investing in a bigger four door saloon relatively soon so this 5 door model was intentional.
Since my first week of driving it, I got nothing but grief from my friends and family who took the piss saying that it was a lady’s car, a stagecoach, a people carrier and so forth. I knew nothing about modifying a car but I wanted to stop the jokes as it was getting annoying, inevitably I found the AOC off the back of a Yahoo group and looked to there for advice.
In the early days, nine out of ten people on the newly built Almera forum were a cunt to me, saying there’s no point in modifying a 5 door and people will just laugh at you for trying. At this point, I almost gave up... but because my dad spent a lot on this car for me (£5,995) which was a lot of money for us at the time (shocking by today’s standards!) I thought I’d just make a few improvements to slow down the number insults a bit. Much of the research had to be done by myself because back in those days there were no off-the-shelf items, nobody really modified 5 door Almeras and all almost all upgrades needed to be modified to fit/work. Initially I created a problem for every improvement I added and what started as a couple of minor upgrades ended up being a major overhaul, the bug caught on and the rest is history!
We all know what a stock Almera Ambition looks like so here’s the oldest picture I have before I started changing things. Since this picture was taken, it’s been through 2 bumpers, 2 windscreens, 2 front and rear skirts, 2 front and rear light clusters, 3 grills, 3 parcel shelves, 3 suspension systems, 3 sets of corner indicators, 3 spoilers, 3 engines, 3 sets of interior cards and seats, 4 batteries, 6 sets of wheels and 8 exhaust systems amongst other things I couldn’t care to count.
First proper mod after all naff Halfraud accessories we fall victim to at a young age were the wheels. At the time I’d seen another N15 with 19” alloys, although massively silly, I was determined to get rid of the 14” SRi wheels I was rolling on so I opted for the inch smaller 18” Mille Miglia HT3 with a 215/35 Toyo Proxes (tyre size was recommended by the now defunct C.A.R. company, bad mistake and I'll never buy that size again!). Immediately you can see a problem with it and unsurprisingly I never took a photo from the side as what I'd inadvertently done was glorify the stagecoach look. If it was any higher it’d pass for tractor.
So of course, to counter this issue the next mod were a set of PI 40mm lowering springs, 40mm my arse!
Unable to afford coilovers at the time, I decided to get a P2 GTi bodykit to help with the height gap. I got the side and rear skirts brand new from Bailey’s Nissan in Cantebury (they may still honour the AOC discount) and bought Flamera’s old front bumper. Why? Because back then, not many people were breaking their cars. Because I bought too much paint, I decided to use the left overs to colour-code the bump strips, door handles and fog light blanks.
Next up were my first set of coilovers, first generation DYM Daiyama front 8kg/mm rear: 6kg/mm CCGs, I was the first to install them and at the time, I wished it was the first mod I did before I even thought of buying the wheels.
After three years of owning the car, I was happy with the look of it and decided that it was time for more power. There weren’t many options for the GA back then and it occurred to me that the only way to get any decent power was to ditch the GA completely and seek a bigger engine of some sort. I started with an SR20DE from a GTi donor who’s clutch was failing, decided to buy the whole car, was on the verge of leaving the 5 door to keep the GTi and changed my mind after 6 months when my wife became pregnant with my first child.
I needed the 5 doors after all so I went back on my original plan by swapping the engine and to cut a long story short, I changed my mind again and swapped DE for a VE engine.
The biggest mistake I did here was to restore the donor GTi by downgrading the engine to my old GA16DE block. The amount of money I recuperated by selling it on in a working condition was less than the amount I spent on putting it back together. Oh well, you find out things the hard way.
A year later I set about getting the VVL working and thanks to Leigh, I was able to get a GReddy MSS. Whilst wiring it in, it became clear to me that the electrician I hired to help with the wiring from the engine swap had done a lot of weird shit to the external and dashboard looms. This would be a major setback for mapping as I needed to figure out what was changed from stock.
After a year of studying pin outs, wiring diagrams (half in English), wire colour configurations and countless threads on multiple forums I gave up and decided to play around with the ICE and a few other cosmetic upgrades. Years went by with me wondering what it’d be like to finalise the power setup and within that time, I changed alloys, exhaust systems, added an N1 spoiler and many other electrical upgrades.
I’ll update this post as I go along and add the little additions later when I find the images, for the meantime, here’s how the car is running at present.
Infinity G20/Primera N15 GTi+VE conversion | N14 Sunny Pulsar SR18DE ECU with H-Dev board | N1 Cams | Universal Metal Mesh Intake | Toyo 2.5” Manifold joined to a bent StuFAGti special 2.25" centre section Exhaust System | EuroTunnel DTM Muffler | GTi Fuel Pump | 333cc Fuel Injectors via dual FPR| Nismo Oil cap | JWT 9lb Flywheel | GSpec Stage 3 Clutch | ECU relocated behind glove box | Pivot RAIZIN Volt Stabiliser | Universal grounding system | Dual Battery Relocated to boot | Poly uprated engine mounts | Dual Front Strut and Rear Strut Braces | Poly Bushes everywhere | Whiteline Rear Anti-sway bar | Falcon EVO 4+ Alarm with Remote Start ignition & Boot release | SRi seats on GTi rails | Custom Interior cards | Black Rubber Nissan floor mats | White Dials | MOMO Gear Knob | GReddy MSS Controller | Pedal set | Full GTi Bodykit in Marine Blue | N1 VZR Spoiler - VZR Grille in BS7 Blue | Boot flushed with wiper deleted | Colour coded door handles | VZR Rear light clusters | GTi front headlamps | VZR front indicators - de-globed | Silvatec indicator bulbs | Phase 2 fog lamps | Clear side repeaters | Rear-view cam installed when the police don’t force me to remove it | HEKO Wind Deflectors front and back | 18” Lenso S73 with Polished lip | Falken 452 bi-directional 225/35/18R | GTi brake calipers | Mintex pads | MeisterR coilovers with adjustable Dampers and 2nd gen top mounts | Blue LED floor lights | Uprated dipped lights | Modified HID Xenon Conversion H4 8000k in headlamps | Ultra Slim HID Xenon Conversion Full Kit H7 8000K in Fogs | Sony XAV-7W Receiver with LCD screen | Sony XAV-R5 wireless DVD centre | Sony XVM-F65WL 6.5" Monitors | Universal Amplifiers | 500amp Stinger Relay | Kicker 12" 1000W Subwoofer | Revenge Digital RV6.5BM 800watts 2-Way 6.5' Component front speakers | 6.5 Bass Face SPL6M.1 600W 6.5 inch Mid-Bass Car rear speakers | Bosch silver 096 Battery (S5008) up front | Bosch blue 096 Battery (S4008) in boot | Autoleads PC4-28 - 2000 Watt 0-gauge Dual-Amp wiring kit | 12V Sinewave 300W Inverter with USB Charging Socket modified and hardwired in to centre cubby hole.
This car was a gift from my dad who bought it back in March 2002, I was the 2nd owner from new, it originated from Chester, it was stock and originally I had no plans to do anything to it. My dad was Nissan bias at the time having been through a Bluebird, Micra, Sunny and Maxima so I was swayed to getting myself a Nissan too. I did want a P11-144 and also had an eye on a P1 GTi in red but the insurance people wanted £3K no matter what I was driving (even if it was a £150 suicide bucket) so the Nissan dealership recommended I get a 1.4 Micra or equivalent. I really didn’t want to be seen in a gutless shopping trolley and this blue one with 49,734 miles on the clock and a GA16 under the hood was the go-between compromise. I didn’t have much money at the time so I knew it would be a while before I could afford something nicer and sportier, I didn’t want to have to waste money by investing in a bigger four door saloon relatively soon so this 5 door model was intentional.
Since my first week of driving it, I got nothing but grief from my friends and family who took the piss saying that it was a lady’s car, a stagecoach, a people carrier and so forth. I knew nothing about modifying a car but I wanted to stop the jokes as it was getting annoying, inevitably I found the AOC off the back of a Yahoo group and looked to there for advice.
As it was in 2003
In the early days, nine out of ten people on the newly built Almera forum were a cunt to me, saying there’s no point in modifying a 5 door and people will just laugh at you for trying. At this point, I almost gave up... but because my dad spent a lot on this car for me (£5,995) which was a lot of money for us at the time (shocking by today’s standards!) I thought I’d just make a few improvements to slow down the number insults a bit. Much of the research had to be done by myself because back in those days there were no off-the-shelf items, nobody really modified 5 door Almeras and all almost all upgrades needed to be modified to fit/work. Initially I created a problem for every improvement I added and what started as a couple of minor upgrades ended up being a major overhaul, the bug caught on and the rest is history!
We all know what a stock Almera Ambition looks like so here’s the oldest picture I have before I started changing things. Since this picture was taken, it’s been through 2 bumpers, 2 windscreens, 2 front and rear skirts, 2 front and rear light clusters, 3 grills, 3 parcel shelves, 3 suspension systems, 3 sets of corner indicators, 3 spoilers, 3 engines, 3 sets of interior cards and seats, 4 batteries, 6 sets of wheels and 8 exhaust systems amongst other things I couldn’t care to count.
First proper mod after all naff Halfraud accessories we fall victim to at a young age were the wheels. At the time I’d seen another N15 with 19” alloys, although massively silly, I was determined to get rid of the 14” SRi wheels I was rolling on so I opted for the inch smaller 18” Mille Miglia HT3 with a 215/35 Toyo Proxes (tyre size was recommended by the now defunct C.A.R. company, bad mistake and I'll never buy that size again!). Immediately you can see a problem with it and unsurprisingly I never took a photo from the side as what I'd inadvertently done was glorify the stagecoach look. If it was any higher it’d pass for tractor.
So of course, to counter this issue the next mod were a set of PI 40mm lowering springs, 40mm my arse!
Unable to afford coilovers at the time, I decided to get a P2 GTi bodykit to help with the height gap. I got the side and rear skirts brand new from Bailey’s Nissan in Cantebury (they may still honour the AOC discount) and bought Flamera’s old front bumper. Why? Because back then, not many people were breaking their cars. Because I bought too much paint, I decided to use the left overs to colour-code the bump strips, door handles and fog light blanks.
Next up were my first set of coilovers, first generation DYM Daiyama front 8kg/mm rear: 6kg/mm CCGs, I was the first to install them and at the time, I wished it was the first mod I did before I even thought of buying the wheels.
After three years of owning the car, I was happy with the look of it and decided that it was time for more power. There weren’t many options for the GA back then and it occurred to me that the only way to get any decent power was to ditch the GA completely and seek a bigger engine of some sort. I started with an SR20DE from a GTi donor who’s clutch was failing, decided to buy the whole car, was on the verge of leaving the 5 door to keep the GTi and changed my mind after 6 months when my wife became pregnant with my first child.
I needed the 5 doors after all so I went back on my original plan by swapping the engine and to cut a long story short, I changed my mind again and swapped DE for a VE engine.
The biggest mistake I did here was to restore the donor GTi by downgrading the engine to my old GA16DE block. The amount of money I recuperated by selling it on in a working condition was less than the amount I spent on putting it back together. Oh well, you find out things the hard way.
A year later I set about getting the VVL working and thanks to Leigh, I was able to get a GReddy MSS. Whilst wiring it in, it became clear to me that the electrician I hired to help with the wiring from the engine swap had done a lot of weird shit to the external and dashboard looms. This would be a major setback for mapping as I needed to figure out what was changed from stock.
After a year of studying pin outs, wiring diagrams (half in English), wire colour configurations and countless threads on multiple forums I gave up and decided to play around with the ICE and a few other cosmetic upgrades. Years went by with me wondering what it’d be like to finalise the power setup and within that time, I changed alloys, exhaust systems, added an N1 spoiler and many other electrical upgrades.
One of many shoe upgrades | RVS Supersport Twin 5 Spoke 18"
Simple cluster upgrade
2nd set of coilovers | MeisterRs - Genuine N1 Spoiler - Flushed Boot - VZR Rear Lights
8000K HID upgrade
How it currently looks
More Pictures to Come....
Simple cluster upgrade
2nd set of coilovers | MeisterRs - Genuine N1 Spoiler - Flushed Boot - VZR Rear Lights
8000K HID upgrade
How it currently looks
More Pictures to Come....
I’ll update this post as I go along and add the little additions later when I find the images, for the meantime, here’s how the car is running at present.
Infinity G20/Primera N15 GTi+VE conversion | N14 Sunny Pulsar SR18DE ECU with H-Dev board | N1 Cams | Universal Metal Mesh Intake | Toyo 2.5” Manifold joined to a bent StuFAGti special 2.25" centre section Exhaust System | EuroTunnel DTM Muffler | GTi Fuel Pump | 333cc Fuel Injectors via dual FPR| Nismo Oil cap | JWT 9lb Flywheel | GSpec Stage 3 Clutch | ECU relocated behind glove box | Pivot RAIZIN Volt Stabiliser | Universal grounding system | Dual Battery Relocated to boot | Poly uprated engine mounts | Dual Front Strut and Rear Strut Braces | Poly Bushes everywhere | Whiteline Rear Anti-sway bar | Falcon EVO 4+ Alarm with Remote Start ignition & Boot release | SRi seats on GTi rails | Custom Interior cards | Black Rubber Nissan floor mats | White Dials | MOMO Gear Knob | GReddy MSS Controller | Pedal set | Full GTi Bodykit in Marine Blue | N1 VZR Spoiler - VZR Grille in BS7 Blue | Boot flushed with wiper deleted | Colour coded door handles | VZR Rear light clusters | GTi front headlamps | VZR front indicators - de-globed | Silvatec indicator bulbs | Phase 2 fog lamps | Clear side repeaters | Rear-view cam installed when the police don’t force me to remove it | HEKO Wind Deflectors front and back | 18” Lenso S73 with Polished lip | Falken 452 bi-directional 225/35/18R | GTi brake calipers | Mintex pads | MeisterR coilovers with adjustable Dampers and 2nd gen top mounts | Blue LED floor lights | Uprated dipped lights | Modified HID Xenon Conversion H4 8000k in headlamps | Ultra Slim HID Xenon Conversion Full Kit H7 8000K in Fogs | Sony XAV-7W Receiver with LCD screen | Sony XAV-R5 wireless DVD centre | Sony XVM-F65WL 6.5" Monitors | Universal Amplifiers | 500amp Stinger Relay | Kicker 12" 1000W Subwoofer | Revenge Digital RV6.5BM 800watts 2-Way 6.5' Component front speakers | 6.5 Bass Face SPL6M.1 600W 6.5 inch Mid-Bass Car rear speakers | Bosch silver 096 Battery (S5008) up front | Bosch blue 096 Battery (S4008) in boot | Autoleads PC4-28 - 2000 Watt 0-gauge Dual-Amp wiring kit | 12V Sinewave 300W Inverter with USB Charging Socket modified and hardwired in to centre cubby hole.
193.4hp, 141lbs/tq running on Nistune mapped to 95ron whilst currently stuck on a 8,375rpm limit
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I know how much blood sweat and tears have gone into this so well done, even when it's seemed hopeless! Great that its broken its mapping cherry finally too.
