Sunday 12 July 2009

The NX decision

Well, after a bit of thought, and a lot of sitting around I've made a decision about the future of my NX.

We're going to rebuild it.

It's going to take a lot of work and effort, and a lot of time (which is something which is in short supply for me), but the cost to get it into a state where I could sell it wouldn't be returned - and I'm strangely unable to see it go to the scrapyard.

So for once I'm actually going to start planning it carefully.

First stage is to come up with a plan for the finished article - I'm giving myself 12 months to get it into a decent state again, which seems reasonable considering all work will be happening on my driveway unless I can find a good friend with a garage I can use or someone with a workshop sitting idle.

The basic plan is something fairly stripped and light, fairly subtle, and retaining a couple of creature comforts to have something that's usable but a bit quicker and more unusual than standard - I'm not going to go over the top with body mods, and I don't have the money to do something really bizarre.

I'm also looking at how to rebuild the engine for more power, or possible engine swaps. There must be something which is a better alternative in terms of cost than the popular Pulsar GTi swap.

Inspiration is coming from a range of places, including cars like the Integra Type R - something that discerning pople know is quicker than standard, but not something that shouts about how quick it is.

2 comments:

The Author said...

I can definitely relate to not wanting to see your NX go to the scrapyard. I'm trying my best to keep mine alive, but I'm afraid I'm rather auto-retarded, and have to depend on a garage to do the work. Thankfully we found a guy that's keeping it in great condition. I've got a question - I've got a 1600, and I'm wondering if it can run alright on low-grade fuel. We're hoping the issues it's been having are from the harsh winter with water/ice in the fuel lines, but my dad suggested I look into what grade of fuel it was meant to run on.

Dan Thornton said...

Hi,
Apologies for not getting back to you - I've been a bit quiet on the NX front for a while now...

As for the fuel - as far as I'm aware, low grade is fine, as it's essentially a Nissan Sunny engine under the bodywork...