Hi All,

I am doing an engine swap... a K11 Micra with SR20DET engine.

I am wanting to have the front end strengthened for the Gearbox and Engine mounts, I see that Dave Bull welded in a N15 front subframe from an Almera.

I just wondered if anyone could give me some tips.

Is this the best way to go about it? weld in an N15 front subframe, then drop in the engine & gearbox once theyre prepped and ready to go.

Obviously I will be using a full whiteline custom suspesion setup with coil overs and panhard rods etc etc... also a roll cage will be implemented once the car's done.

I will be collecting the car in the next couple of weeks and im having an engine and gearbox sourced for me then it will be time to have the engine fully rebuilt with forged internals, im expecting to run upto 400hp of power, just have to see how it goes.

Anyways - thanks in advance.

In a word mate, it's a lot of work...well if you want it done right anyways.

The problem is the lack of space in the K11's engine bay.

To get the SR20 to fit, and in your case a DET, you will have to do some chopping and welding.

First problem is the blkhead. The bulkhead on the K11 has a section in which it juts out from the rest of the bulkhead to accomodate the heater assy'.

What you have to do is strip out everything from the dash assy, cut the raised section out and then weld a sheet of metal back in it's place but at the same height as the rest of the bulkhead. That should give you a good few inches more to play with and remounting the heater assy' is pretty easy and still fits behind the dash OK.

Next problem is the bracing...want you want to do is get yourself an Almera front crossmemebr assy'. Cut out the original Micra front crossmember and then weld the Almera unit in place.

You can then modify the Almera GTi central engine mount / brace to fit onto the front crossmember and rear mount points on the Micra.

You will have to dent the n/s/f chassis leg to allow for the gearbox to fit without hitting the chassis, but it doesn't take much to do this.

Then it is a case of mounting the engine and gearbox in place and making mounts to suit.

Once that is done, a=you will want to get a hold of some Almera GTi front hubs. Remove the Micra front hubs from the hub bearing and machine down the Almera hubs to fit into the Micra bearing. This allows you to use the Almera driveshafts as the Micra units are shite.

Hoping that you have the engine & gearbox in place, you will need to modify the driveshafts to fit. You will need to cut them to shape and reweld them or measure how much you need and have a new set forged for you. Option one will only last so long, especially with a DET.

Then you have the wiring...

The list goes on and on...but it is isn't a job that you could do in two weeks, especially one with a rebuild as well.

It took us in the region of nearly 3 months to get everything right and get it out on the road. The only issues then were the driveshafts, which I eventually had to have made by a specialist company at a high price.

I then crashed the car a number of months later.

I will warn you...mine nearly cost my life and that was in a controlled environment with proper safety equipment.

A Micra with a DET is one hell of a toy, but it comes with a lot of responsibilty.

You have been warned...

Oh and good luck

If you need anymore advice, then just ask!

Cheers

Dave

Thanks for the detailed post Dave.

You have pretty much answered most of my questions...

Now - it's upto the guys at Finishing Touch Auto's if they want to undertake the work...

Finally - I understand how dangerous this car will be, I doubt i'd be using on a track, i simply wanted to build another "Little Bandit"

In the past I had chance to get a GA16 for my first Super S but then on reading up, I thought there was no point as the power gains arn't worth it for the .3 of a litre more over the CG13 and it would cost nearly as much to turbo or supercharge the CG13 as it would to have an SR20DET transplant, ive been quoted in the range £400 - £600 for a manifold making for the CG13, then another £600 on a turbo, FMIC £180, piping etc etc around £300 and then labour - another £1000 then there's tuning - all this to get 150WHP tops... so i'd rather spend a little extra and go for a full blown strengthened SR20DET like you did.

Right mate, no doubt ill be contacting you for help again, I will be using the car until the engine and gearbox have been sourced and rebuilt to my specification.

P.S - if i was to source an Almera GTI - then convert the SR20DE to a DET, would there much cost's involved and what parts are involved other than, manifold, turbo, FMIC and ECU - I was thinking of doing it to the Almera GTI becuase it already has the SR20DE - just needs to converted to a DET if it's not too tricky.