Hi AoC

wraith

wraith

Hi all.

I have just became an Almera owner by (happy) accident;

I was grumbling last week that with my horrifying credit rating I'd have no choice but to save for months to replace my current car when my Dad says 'Oh, I'm getting a new car next week so you can have the Almera for a grand if you want it'.

Problem solved, I've been driving for it a week now and love it.

It's a N16 W reg (March '00) Almera S (I think) , light metallic blue with 50k on the clock in (almost) pristine condition. I know for a fact it's been serviced religeously and probably never been taken over 70mph so for £1000 how could I say no?

I want to make a few minor mods (will post about them in the appropriate places) - nothing OTT; just enough to satisfy my innate urge to customise anything that sits still long enough.

See you around!

[edit: turns out it's an Almera 'E' according to the original reg docs - mind-you they say it's a grey saloon so what do they know? :) New version docs got the hatchback bit right and the colour is apparently 'Typhoon Grey' so I'll let the DVLA off on that even if it looks blue to me]
 
welcome to the club mate, feel free to get involved and start posting, everyone is welcoming and freindly

you got any pictures of the car?
 
Hi,

I haven't taken any pics yet - I've not really had a chance to yet and as I have not changed anything on the car yet (fluffy dice, leather steering-wheel cover and help-me-I'm-desperate-mp3-player-to-cassette-tape-adaptor excepted) I haven't had an excuse!
 
Hi & :welcome:

Get some 17" alloys & either coilovers or lowering springs on it (make sure you get the right size rear springs though, as there are 2 different internal sizes), as the alloys leave a big arch gap!

As illustrated here.
 

Attachments

  • N16 guy pics 005.jpg
    N16 guy pics 005.jpg
    58.4 KB · Views: 138
Hi,

Obviously I have to get 17s or 18s on there as soon a humanly possible (that's next on list after an MP3 player) but with the cavernous potholes and mountainous speed-bumps around here I'm always worried I'll ground the thing first time out if I lower it.
 
Coilovers would be best then, as they have about 10 different height settings!

I`ve was in Yorkshire on Saturday, & they`ve put some dirty great big speed bumps (the little squares that you don`t know are there if you line them up right & a big line of bricks) on the road that goes up to Ilkley Moor via Burley in Wharfedale railway station & Burley Woodhead (that weren`t there the last time I was there), & all I can say is thank buggery I haven`t lowered mine yet, as these little buggers only just miss ripping out the sump with standard suspension on! :eek: (& one of them already has a deep grove down the middle of it where something too low has gone over it :eek: )
 
welcome along to aoc mate, hope your enjoying your mera' get some pics up soon!!! good luck with getting the headunit and that.. have a look in the for sale section, they come up now and again!!!!
 
Almera Guy said:
Coilovers would be best then, as they have about 10 different height settings!

I`ve was in Yorkshire on Saturday, & they`ve put some dirty great big speed bumps (the little squares that you don`t know are there if you line them up right & a big line of bricks) on the road that goes up to Ilkley Moor via Burley in Wharfedale railway station & Burley Woodhead (that weren`t there the last time I was there), & all I can say is thank buggery I haven`t lowered mine yet, as these little buggers only just miss ripping out the sump with standard suspension on! :eek: (& one of them already has a deep grove down the middle of it where something too low has gone over it :eek: )
Click to expand...

Dont even talk to me about those speed bumps. they seem to have a fetish with massive speed bumps all over this county!
 
Hi there mate welcome to the AOC

1) the mp3 player to cassette converter you can get from Argos for £15 (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5344912.htm) immense we dudes!!

2) 16" or 17" wheels are a good size to start with before you lower your car... Here's mine's lowered on 16's with dumper truck stylee tyres :roll:

N16Rear.jpg


N16Front.jpg


I wouldn't go for anything bigger if you plan on fitting coilovers at some stage...

3) Get your gearbox checked out before 60k if i were you - my gearbox packed in last week as my service manager who used to work for Nissan says the N16 gearboxes have a design flaw... The oil filler plug on the side to indicate how much oil you've got in the 'box was designed an inch TOO LOW and over time the primary shaft bearing wears and eventually collapses and that had a knock on effect with the rest of the internals

Just to show you the extend of the damage i'll be posting up a video tomorrow of the fucked gearbox


In other words mate take care of it LoL

Apart from that enjoy your stay here :thumb:
 
Hi

Welcome to the AOC.

Get your gearbox checked as i just found out yesterday that my gearbox is on it's way out :( and i don't have the money to get the gearbox replaced.

Baz
 
Hi and Hi,

Thanks for the welcome and the advice everyone,

I'll play safe and get 205-40-17 wheels/tyres just in case I do get coilovers.
17" wheels should be fine, I figure that 18" would maybe be heavier then the original wheels anyway, which means more unsprung weight, loss of acceleration and adverse handling effects (right/wrong? I'm just guessing).

I'm just pissed 'cos my old car has a 100mm PCD* and I recently bought it new 16-inch Fox Premier 5 Evo's with Toyo Proxes.
With new tyres they would have been fine apart from the PCD.
Ahhh sod-it, I'll just weld them onto the 'mera's hubs. :sinister:

What's worse is that some pillock in a BMW who was arsing about with his phone drove me into the kerb a week after I got the Foxes and I scraped one of them really badly. I was too busy avoiding the cyclists in front and behind of me to get his reg' or I'd certainly have stuffed his no-claims-bonus for that one. If I could have pulled a u-turn there I'd have stuffed his phone somewhere too. :mad2:

I've looked around for coilovers but could not find any for sale online but I was only looking for N16 Almera specific units and not 'compatable' units.

I've got my trusty Pioneer mp3/cd head unit in my old car that I'll use for now and I can get the fascia adaptor and harness adaptor no problem. My biggest headache will be interfacing the OEM remote-control with an ISO head unit but I figure I can suss something out with an ISO plug, spare wire, a multi-meter and some luck. The ISO pinout surely has to be online somewhere.

I'm damned if I can find decent rear-seat covers that have suitable cutouts for the Almera's rear seatbelts. Guess I'll have to go cheap and customise what I've already got or go expensive and get something cutom made. I wouldn't bother but coffee, ciggie-ash and velour don't mix.

I'll get my gearbox checked ASAP, though - good tip, thanks!


* PCD = Pitch Circle Diameter (or Pole Center Diameter if you're an engineer) is the diameter of the circle through center of the bolt-holes on a hub or wheel. It's 114.3mm or 4.5" in my 00 N16 'mera but you probably knew all that anyway :lol:
 
hi and welcome to aoc if you browse the events section there is a big almera meet here in newcastle in oct so get ya self down and meet us all .
 
Welcome to the site mate, I'm also from Edinburgh, so no doubt i'll see you around sometime.
 
Hi back to you.

Is it just me or is Edinburgh a hotspot of Almera ownership? There has to be at least five people from Edinburgh posting on these forums and I must have seen at least eight Almeras on the half-hour drive home today!

I may even have seen you around already - did I spot you and your 'mera early last week around Leith Links in the early evening?
 
wraith0x29a said:
I may even have seen you around already - did I spot you and your 'mera early last week around Leith Links in the early evening?
Click to expand...

Probably
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom