Congratulations
on winning April 2013 COTM Arron! Both yourself and your Nissan Primera P11 GT
Saloon, are a very worthy entry in the NPOC Hall Of Fame!! How does it feel
bagging this exclusive award and the awesome COTM trophy as well?
Thank you very much! Well, my initial
response was “Holy Mother of Wow” to be honest I didn’t think my car (or maybe
indeed myself) had enough of a presence to even be in the running! But as
someone who logs in on the 1st of the month, if I can get to a
connection to see who’s won COTM, I’m well chuffed and honoured to get the
Private Message!
Before we talk
cars, modifications and mechanics, we’d love to find out about you the owner. Please
tell us about yourself and what you get up to, away from the NPOC.
Well, it’s hard not to talk mechanics
as that’s my job! But, OK, I’m Arron, I’ve always lived in Folkestone, Kent, I’ve
just turned 30, and still feel 18, I went to University at Kent and got an
honours degree in Computer Systems Engineering, then proceeded straight into
retail in the now defunct Comet, then for a software company, who gave me a
very nice Passat and shoved me all over the country to work, which was great, I
loved seeing new places.
After that, I joined my best mate
travelling round Australia, Fiji and the US, which was amazing, I learnt to
surf and dive, saw some great things and met some fantastic people. Then, I
came back to the family business, as a qualified mechanic, the money’s not
great but I love it, and I’ve learnt happiness is far more important, if less
handy for paying bills.
Other than cars, my main passion is
music, (mostly rock/punk/metal) I learnt to play guitar at uni, (and have now
acquired 3, one modified! LOL) and was in a band rather briefly, and still jam
and create new stuff with a couple of members, and try to get to as many gigs
as I can. As some of you may know from my recent ticket misplacement incident!
I used to mechanic for a friend and
his dad tarmac rallying in a mk1 escort, and can often be found wandering round
at my local circuit (Lydden Hill) when an event is on.
How did you
find the NPOC forums and are we any good? Would you happily recommend the club
to other Nissan Primera owners?
Oh blimey, after 9 odd years…I can
barely remember the day before my last sleep! It would’ve been a pre Google
search engine, most likely Alta Vista, looking for somewhere to get some tips
on what to look for in the car I desired, and get some ideas of what could be
done with it. I’d absolutely recommend the club! The general level of support,
camaraderie and playful mickey taking is enough to keep anyone wanting to come
back. We’re just all so darned helpful.
What keeps
you coming back to the forums every day?
The idea I’m going to see something
new or entirely radical on a member’s car, (like “essNchill”s gearstick for
instance), the general nosiness of human nature to see what everyone’s up to, a
scour around the trading section, and to see if there’s anything I can help out
with, or just want to get my opinion in on.
What got you
into a Nissan Primera to start with, was it on the list of cars to own, or a
chance encounter?
It was very much on the list to own.
My dad used to work for the local dealer, and it was a black eZX P10 that
started the whole thing. I’d taken a shine to S12’s and a black Bluebird turbo
ZX, (it was the vents in front of the rear lenses…I wanted them) but the P10
was stunning, and we had it as a company car for a few weeks. I was little
then, but as I grew up, in the heydays of the BTCC, the P11 came though as a
new favourite, I fawned over getting one for ages, and then after I graduated,
I came back from a holiday to Mum saying, “hey, I found this from your car in
here” and handed me a 6-disc cd changer. I was baffled, as my trusty BX didn’t
have one, then I looked outside and they’d gone and got me a GT ‘loon in black
from Wales on an auction site, whilst I was away on the basis my graduation
present was the interest free loan of the money they’d just spent. Best.
Summer. Ever. (Once I’d gone and got a box without 5th gear pop
out.)!
Do you have a
history with the Nissan Primera brand, or is this your first time?
No owning history myself, but tied to
the brand through Dad’s old red J-suffix 120Y, and Mum and Dad’s White colour
coded B11 SGX, and obviously Dad’s employment. I spent many a weekend in the
showroom, parts department and workshop looking at these great machines.
Would you say you are a
car modifier, or just passionate about keeping the Primera on the road and
using the opportunity to replace failed factory parts with upgrades?
It’s mostly the former I’d say,
although quite often it’s the failing of parts that forces my hand to going for
those upgrades. I love taking something and making it mine though, we all know
cars are mass produced to certain tolerances, and we can improve them in our
own way.
Any previous cars, you have thrown a
lot of love and money at, in making it “your own”?
One specifically, a silver 1988
Citroën BX 14 RE. My first car, and with me until the P11 came along, it went
from a totally stock, to something a bit my own, but very OEM+. GTIs, GTI16vs,
they all donated to the cause, I loved that car more than I ever should have,
and was gutted to see the new owner failed to tax it, operation cubit took it.
I colour coded the bumpers, (after upgrading them to GTI spec, with front fogs
and lip spoiler) and the rear wheel trim piece. Headlamp protectors, a phase 1
GT vinyl rear spoiler, facelift short nose bonnet and grill. Facelift smoked
rear lenses, de-pinstriped, 16v interior with rear headphone sockets, rev
counter, and gauges. Oh, and an AX GT Weber carburetor. That hydraulic
suspension was so smooooth (but a bit soft in the corners).
On to the modifications,
now would be a great time to tell us all about your gorgeous Nissan Primera P11
GT Saloon! So please list your full spec and all modifications, inside and out:
Oh blimey!
On the outside:
Headlamp protectors (obligatory for me)
Clear side repeaters
De badged rear (started by some
thieving little twit one night)
Twin rear fog mod (value for
moneytastic)
Custom self cut-out front bumper,
meshed (I’m not paying for *another* A/C rad!)
Bonnet grills re-meshed to match the bumper
Front bumper corners splittered (off
something Renault, I found it in the boot of a P11 I bought to strip, from a
well known member on here!)
Aero blade wipers
White LED front sidelights
Amber LED front indicators
Amber LED side repeaters
Amber LED rear indicators
Red LED stop and tail lights
White LED number plate lights (to
complete the circuit so I can leave the sidelights on when parked on some of
our more scary country lanes)
Fortunately for me, the car already
had clear rears and red calipers!
Nissan Primera P11 114 rub strips, if
they make it out of paint by Friday! The pictures will tell!
Colour coded door handles
Colour coded boot trim
OEM mudflaps (these took so long to
get I’d just about given up!)
Inside:
Alcantara door re-trim (to be redone
thicker)
Short shifter (I got fed up of turning
the air-con on into 3rd gear)
Kenwood Bluetooth, USB, 3.5mm aux, Parrot
hands-free head unit.
Pioneer 6x9 rear speakers (mounted
under the shelf through original grilles)
Pioneer component front speakers, with
crossover (tweeters on the wing mirror covers)
Oil Pressure gauge (due to issues)
Centre console modified to house 3.5mm
jack lead that will reach all 4 corners of the car, and usb port
Original Nissan carpet mats (though, I
think it’s time to replace)
Under dash fuel pump cut-off switch
(again, due to issues)
Removed driver’s foot rest (long legs!)
Boot sound proofed
Nissan Primera P12 gear knob
Later P11 GT steering wheel with thumb
rests
Auction site special boot liner
Spare Alloy (well, 7 really…)
Engine etc:
KYB Excel-G shocks all round (Stock
replacement)
KYB K-Flex Coil springs all round
(Stock replacement)
De-rubbered offside driveshaft, re-balanced
with metal and underseal!
Goodridge stainless brake hoses
De-resonator boxed intake
Sticker bombed strut brace (why not)
Red coolant, washer, brake fluid and
PAS lids
Auction site Stainless manifold and
downpipe
Powerspeed Ashford hi flow cat and
stainless cat back
What’s the
most enjoyable change you’ve made so far?
Hard to call, the gear stick is
practical. The usb port is fly. That cat back is awesome, and I love the open
bumper, and re-spraying the rear corner from bare metal was a big achievement
for me (it was all crazed) but, I think the sticker bombed strut brace, just
because it gives me the giggles every time I open the bonnet.
Any horror
stories of something you thought was going to be an awesome idea but just
didn’t work when it went onto the car and can now be found in a bin somewhere
LOL??
Not checking the lacquer on my rear
trim panel was UV resistant! Or, my red cam cover. Lesson learnt never to trust
anyone’s work without checking. I trusted my local dealer to shot blast and
clean the cam cover, I failed to check and lost oil pressure in my engine. I
didn’t cotton on until I’d gotten another car and engine through “GT786” and
the same thing happened. I ripped the baffle off and there was sand everywhere.
I’ve since replaced the oil pump and big end bearings and thrust washers
in-situ on the current engine, whilst the other engine is becoming something
more.
If I gave
£500 right now and told you it had to be spent on the car, what would you buy?
Nistune without a doubt but I’d hold
off until the new bits are in, when it’ll be worth it.
If money was
no object and you could do anything you wanted to your Nissan Primera GT, what
would you do?
Hehe, don’t we all write this list out
a few times a year to ourselves? Well, not including the bits already in
progress…
Nistune
BMC CDA intake
Thermoblock intake spacers (as I’ve
not ordered them yet)
A second 12v socket in the front
A second relocated OBD port so I can
hook up the laptop without cables over the steering column)
Footwell and open door courtesy
lighting
Flock my spare non airbag dash
Re-trim my spare set of GT seats
Poly bush ARB and links
Poly exhaust hangers too, as there’s a
bit of back / forward travel I’d like to eliminate
Find some alloys I like with centre
caps to cover the nuts (pet hate)
It would most likely need a little
suspension tweak then too!
Some form of window tint, even if just
UV
Some custom rear bumper spats (though
I have some ideas on that)
Body work sorted and sprayed
Maybe a JDM dual din dash to fit some
vital gauges in (Oil Pressure / Battery Voltage)
Quaife LSD
I’m still undecided on the wind
deflectors…
I’d love to throw some R33 midnight
purple under the bonnet
New wheel bearings, hubs, and abs sensor
on the offside front! (oops)
It’s obvious from
the answers to a couple of the above questions, there’s possibly something in
the pipeline at the moment, care to share?
No! Hehe, of course. Well, as I got a
spare car, with all its spare car parts, I’ve got an engine in several pieces,
it’s currently a labour of love / first trial at something a bit serious, but
several members have supplied me with some parts and I’m trying to get it all
together between jobs, and tidied up when done. Spec wise, we’re looking at:
SR20VE oil pump kit, spacer etc
Lightweight crank and water pump
pulleys
Fidanza flywheel
Ishihara Johnson Crankscraper with
Teflon
SR16VE balanced and coated pistons and
rings
New graded shells and thrust washers
Exhaust port matched and polished
New chain, tensioner, guides, gaskets
It should be fun! And will be married
to my newly self refurbed 300zx front calipers.
All these bits are in varying stages
of being ready, due to family issues, work issues and generally life getting in
the way, but it’s getting there!
Do you carry
out most of the repair work yourself and is there anything you wouldn’t take on
and out of 1 – 5, what rated spanner monkey do you consider yourself to be?
I’m very happy to say I do most
everything myself. When I can find the time! I’d love to say 5 – Spanner
Orangutan, but, there is always more to learn, even for the professionals! I’m
happy to say there are very few jobs I’ve never undertaken on a vehicle.
Time for
the quick fire question round!
What
makes you smile? Induction noise, killer riffs, thoughtful good deeds. What makes you sad? Working on Renaults / Vauxhalls,
selfish actions, injustice.
Tell us something we don't know about
you..
I have three fake teeth, I’ve broken
several bones, I’m a Liverpool fan.
Your favourite colour?
Black. If you wish to argue that’s a
shade, then Blue!
Your lucky number?
52. No, really.
What will it say on your gravestone?
Should’ve cut the blue wire.
Your favourite drink (any)?
I drink more blackcurrant squash than
anyone I know.
Your sub £10K second hand dream car would be?
I’ve a list as long as your arm, if not
longer. Possibly a MNP R33 GTR. Though a Cerbera V8, BMW 850 or SupraRr would
be nice! Or a decent ‘60s Fastback Mustang GT to restore and modernise. If you
could steal the keys to someone else’s car (on NPOC) for 1 day, which car would
you steal and why? Ooooo, that’s a
toughie, there are many good choices, non Primera would probably be “Ant-Dat”s
180B, I’ve got a thing for older cars with new gear.
So you’ve
been an NPOC member for 9 years now (WOW!) and to date, we’ve never met you, or
seen you at any of our Club Meets – I’m genuinely interested as to why?
Hehe, drats, I was hoping no-one would
notice. *looks innocent* Mostly until the last 2 years I’ve been moving around
so much during the week my weekends were spent recovering, and the fact I
didn’t want to show the car until it was tidy enough. But I’ve come to realise
it’s never going to be tidy enough for me, so it’s time to start getting more
involved. Especially as I now make the odd trip down to Havant and I’m a bit
shy with new people.
Plus, you all scare me LOL!
Can you see
yourself owning this car for a long time, or will it’s time sadly come and
you’ll be driving something completely different?
This car is stuck with me ‘til one of
us dies. I will have other cars, but this one will stay. (The joys of being in
the trade, running costs are greatly reduced!).
NPOC for life
(regardless of what car you own and drive) or leg it when you change car?
Well, ignoring the not getting rid,
I’ll always be around, I like it here. This is the only forum on the internet I
still have any activity on!
Sum up in a
few words, why everyone should own a Nissan Primera??
Because they’re massively under-rated,
well built, decently designed, great handling, mostly reliable, and cost
effective motoring.
Tell Carlos Ghosn why he needs to bring back the Nissan Primera
brand:
Well, maybe he shouldn’t if Renault
are to be involved! But, the reasoned argument would be in recession people
spend more time in the bedroom, which means there will be more need for a
family car, and not everyone wants a crossover, you have a gap in your product
line up, fill it with a practical, well handling family car, with potential and
people will always buy it.
From 2013 onwards in every COTM feature, my final question to all
winners is going to be this one... If you could change 1 thing about the NPOC
Forums, what would it be and why (and don’t be shy)?
I can’t really think of anything
necessary, it would be nice if there was an option to have all the topic’s
you’re currently involved in (i.e. starting or posting) together, so you can
see what you’re actively interested in at a glance, but, the update emails do
fine for me.
Many thanks
for telling us all about yourself and your Nissan Primera P11 GT Loon Arron,
you have a cracking car! Congratulations once again for winning Car Of The
Month for April 2013! Please end this feature, in your own words and feel free
to thank anyone who’s made this one possible.
And thank you Shaun! Once again,
massively stoked to get the PM and award, really it’s a big thank you to
everyone at the club past and present I’ve ever interacted with, or read
anything by, that’s made me laugh or poked my interest. Massive thanks to you, “ragt20”,
“shade” and “Ant-Dat”, for all the conversations we’ve ever had and pointers
given, I know it’s not many, but they’ve always been important / useful for me.
“KeithSRI” for the wheels and tyres
(it got me a spare set, then I got another car with a set, yes I have 11
wheels, no, I’m not sure what I’m doing with all of them!)
“GT786” for helping me source another
black GT loon as a donor (yeah, 3 wheels came from that too)!
Everyone I’ve bought parts from in the
past, everyone I’ve joined in on a topic about music with.
And of course, world peac... oh hang on,
wrong speech, my Mum and Dad for not funding a dud on my behalf whilst I was
out of the country!
You guys are all legends, and anyone
still reading this, you are truly awesome (or bored) and that’s what makes this
club one of the first places I check when I wake up.
Much love, teacakes and rock hands!
|oo| Az
Congratulations once again to Arron! April 2013 COTM - Dunmanifestin
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