Saturday 31 May 2008

Insuring a modified car...covering the Nissan 100 NX

I managed to ignore all the wise advice I've ever read or heard about car insurance, and instead of planning ahead to phone numerous companies, I left it to the last minute.

I thought all the constant advertising for insurance comparison websites might mean they would save time, but it seems the combination of a modified car, and a non-UK driver (my partner has a full European licence), meant that I only got one or two quotes at the end of the process, and Tesco Compare managed to bring me about 15 companies that all refused to quote me!

More annoyingly, when I phoned a couple of the firms listed, it turned out they were happy to give me a reasonable quote!

In the end it came down to a choice between my current insurer - Direct Line -, and a policy sourced through Adrian Flux. The financial difference was only about £25, but the Adrian Flux option was far more suitable to someone modifying a car - cosmetic upgrades won't increase my premium, and performance upgrades are calculated on a percentage increase based on the performance increase.

Mind you, as the Nissan is 15 years old, and as powerful as a slight breeze, I can probably fit a nitrous bottle, and it would only boost things back to the level it left the factory!

Right...off to tackle some rust, and finally give the carpets a good clean. I'm debating whether to just get some shiny new car mats, or go the whole hog and fit a custom aluminium floor. I think it'll depend on what horrors might be lurking under the carpet!

Monday 19 May 2008

A leaking fuel hose - and a lost Nissan 100NX mudflap

Well, the joys of owning a 15-year-old, 1993 Nissan 100 NX have finally turned from the thrill of a new car, to the fun of keeping an automotive antique on the road.

Having completed a 300 mile round trip for work, I got home pretty late on Saturday, and had a bit of a sleepy start to Sunday. Which wasn't helped by the smell of petrol throughout the house, traced to the innocent-looking Nissan parked 2 yards from my front door.

Walking outside I couldn't miss the puddle of petrol, and flipping the bonnet showed a lovely hole in the fuel hose. So of course I took it off to fix it without taking the time to work out whether the fuel pump was gravity fed or not.

It is.

So I then added to the petrol lake, until I'd cut away the offending section and reattached the hose.

I've got some replacement fuel hose now to be fitted within the next day or so.


And then, as I was sweeping some dust around to soak up the excess fuel, I looked under the rear of the car to find that one of the branded 100 NX mudflaps had disappeared at some point. Ruddy typical.

Tuesday 6 May 2008

Good news on the Nissan NX handbrake

I have some good news about the dodgy handbrake on my 93 NX.

I've had to ignore the car for a bit for a huge number of reasons, so the main work done has been to hoover and polish away about 2 tonnes of crap that was filling the interior.

But I've also managed to fix the handbrake - by breaking it! When the gaiter and cover came off in my hands I was a bit fed up - until I suddenly realised that the handbrake itself is fine, and it was the cover and handle causing the problems...

Perfect excuse to see if there's a Nismo replacement available?