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July 2015 - Dad's Taxi

Printed From: Nissan Primera Owners Club
Category: General Open Forums - NO TRADING!
Forum Name: 2015 Archive
Forum Discription: Winners from 2015
URL: http://www.npoc.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=74111
Printed Date: 28 Mar 2024 at 6:03pm


Topic: July 2015 - Dad's Taxi
Posted By: NPOC_MOTM
Subject: July 2015 - Dad's Taxi
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2015 at 2:05pm

Congratulations on winning July 2015 MOTM John! How does it feel to be our exclusive Member Of The Month and having your name up in lights?

ERM.. Brilliant. I have always taken the time to read the “COTM” features and the recent “MOTM”. It is always nice to find out a bit more about the member and their car.

We’d love to find out about you the person. Please tell us about yourself and what you get up to, away from the NPOC.

Well where do I start? I am 31 years old, father of two and I’m getting married in August to Amanda. We met online playing a PC game eight years ago. She came with me to the NPOC Ace Xmas Meet in 2012 and 2014. Phil “Twelve” had a field day at Ace Café when we explained how we met and got told “it’s like some Jerry Springer stuff right here”.

I work for ASDA as a driver tied to the Click and Collect service. So when not tinkering / driving a Primera, I drive an Iveco Fridge on wheels.

I know it’s been a while now but can you remember how you found the NPOC forums and are we any good? Would you happily recommend the club to other Nissan Primera owners?

I found NPOC via Google when I had a problem with my car. I had just got a 1.6 Primera from a dealer for £900, overpriced I know but at the time I had little idea of their value. The accelerator would stick and needed a jab everytime. I Googled for help and NPOC came up. I found the forum welcoming and surprisingly helpful too, (the last few owners clubs I had tried, seemed to be dead or elitist) so I signed up to the forums and then quickly paid up, to become a full access member.

Would I recommend the club to others? Yes! So much so I talked my Ex’s chap into getting a Nissan Primera P12 and joining up too.

This month celebrates your 3 years of NPOC Membership now - Well done! What keeps you coming back and signing in every day here?

A few things, the comunity, the info, the trading sections (Amanda hates this bit). I have made a few friends here and there are a few project threads I take a lot of interest in and follow.

You’re an Elite Member here (our highest level of paying membership and respect to you too)!! Are you still getting value for money with that? And please sell us the reason, why everyone should become Elite.

I went Elite for two reasons. One was so I could see the Elite Members Section of the Forum. The other is it felt a good way to give back to the club, for what I had got from it. If you look at how much the club gives back to its members, it is easy to see why more people should take Elite Membership.

So let’s get to onto cars.. Give us your car ownership history from the day you passed please and I’d love you to accompany this lot with some olde photos if you have them? Leave any Nissan Primera’s out of this lot for the time being John.

Well my first car was a Fiat Cinquecento 899cc. I paid £50 for it and put it into a wall after a few weeks.

Then came a Rover 414 in blue. I had a play at modding this including picking up a fiberglass body kit for it, I never got to fit it. The gearbox turned into a blender.

Next was a Rover 414 in silver. Typical K Series, after around 2 months the head gasket had blown.

Finally followed by a Rover 600 2.0TD. It felt like a tanker and it loved the motorways but the gearbox housing split after hitting a pothole on my street.

What was your favourite out of all of them and why and any you really regretted letting go?

That would have to be the Rover 600, such a nice drive. It also felt the most executive of them all.

What got you into a Nissan Primera to start with, was it on the list of cars to own back in the day, or a chance encounter?

I moved onto Primera’s after the Rover 600 as we needed a car fast and something reliable. It would ideally be Japanese and had to be a 4 doors, cheap to run and with a boot big enough to fit a pushchair in. We found a silver Nissan Primera in a car lot and took it.

And whilst we’ve moved on to Nissan Primera’s now, you joined us 3 years ago with a Pov Spec 1.6 P11 144, then acquired a 2.0 Sport P11 144 and finally a P11 GT! I’ll treat the GT as your own main one, so tell us more about the other 2 144’s! What’s the status of the 144’s currently? And yep, let’s see some photos please chap!

Well yes “Pov spec” is one way to put it. When someone walked into a showroom to buy it, they didn’t have a single extras box ticked at all! But she did the job and I even took her to Japfest / JAE 2013. She held up well and when I saw another 144 for sale locally on the forum, I spoke to Amanda and we went for it. The second 144 was in black, slight bump on the front wing and exhaust blowing (but it came with part needed) but with a much higher factory spec list!

All this talk about the Primeras, let’s find out more about yours please. Let’s see some photos of your DR2 P11 GT Loon and tell us all about the spec and all the goodies she has:

She’s standard… Kinda LOL.

Well she has a few bits but only small / minor things.

She came from NPOC member “Grim” with a 4-2-1 header and stainless steel exhaust.

I have removed all the bug-eye tint off the lights.

Replaced the cam cover with a repainted one as the seal had blown anyway.

New Headunit and Sub fitted in boot.

Exhaust had some damage so had it repaired by some local stainless welding pros.

Fitted Nissan Primera P10 wiper spindles and painted the wiper arms and wing mirror backs in DR2.

Got hold of some standard Nissan Primera P11144 alloys.

Stainless steel HT cover and cone filter.

Stripped down a set of lights and a dash and personalised them with some hints of red.

Stainless steel door trims.

I’ve replaced the top links, ARB links, drive shafts, drivers’ side hub, both front ABS sensors, HT leads, plugs and dizzy arm/cap – All just maintenance.

Fitted an HID kit to the front headlights.

I’ve rewired the stereo leads, as someone had chopped them all and put plugs on everything.

What’s your favourite thing / part about the GT?

The exhaust.

So imagine this.. Money is no object and you can build yaself the ultimate Nissan Primera, you can do anything you want here John – What would you create?

Haha I thought about this a few times and it would be an RB26 + 4WD running gear.

One of the things I like about you, is your passion for keeping your Nissan Primera(s) on the road and going, you’re very hands on with maintenance and repairs. What would be the final straw, to see you and the car part company?

Rust. The reason we looked at a third Nissan Primera was the KL0 144 had such bad rust at the back end suspension… And the radiator support… And exhaust... And… Well yeah, you get the picture LOL! She’s now on bricks getting pulled apart for spares.

Is there anything you’d never take on or attempt, when it comes to car mechanics or repairs and what’s your spanner rating from 1 - 5?

Hmmn 3 or 4. I will have a go at almost anything. I went to college to learn about motor mechanics and I can strip an engine down but I don’t have much experience so takes me a little longer sometimes. I also started out with almost no tools when I got the silver 144, so “ghetto” methods had to work untill I built up my collection of spanners.

Time for the quick fire question round!

What makes you smile? 

My kids, my wife to be and my car.

What makes you sad? 

Rain and Politics.

Tell us something we don't know about you..

I don’t have a middle name as my mum only wanted a girl, so didnt plan on any boy names. Still love her I guess.

Your favourite colour? 

Green.

Your lucky number? 

17.

What will it say on your gravestone?

 “Oh Shi....”.

Your favourite drink (any)? 

Southern Comfort, lime and lemonade.

Your sub £10K second hand dream car would be? 

RB powered S14a, I just love the look and sound of them.

Your sub £30K second hand dream car would be? 

R34 Spec 2 with all bells and whistles and yes I like Fast and Furious LOL!

If you could steal the keys to someone else’s car (on NPOC) for 1 day, which car would you steal and why? 

“TheStigP11GT”s N1 Nissan Pulsar VE monster! Pictured directly below.

You’ve shown up at a loads of club meets over the 3 years (respect!), do you have a “best meet ever” out of those, tell us which one was memorable and why?

JAE 2012/2014 - The longer bigger event. I had a few to drink, amazing weather and amazing people too. I got to know a lot of members better. Small fact though, I don’t get drunk around people I don’t trust, but I got well mullered so must love you all!

Tell everyone who has never come out and joined us at a Club Meet, why they should..

The crowd - The NPOC is a people first club and the people are some of the best around.

As we’ve covered all the cars now, I remember you taking on a motorbike project at some stage.. I believe you were looking at getting on 2 wheels. What happened with this whole lot?

Well cash mostly. It’s a Yamaha YBR125. My brother hit a car and bent the front a tad. I fixed her up and planned to get on it as a work mile muncher but the whole licence thing seems so bloody confusing and the DVLA just make things worse! Either way it looks like I’m gonna have to pay out £300+ before I even get the MOT / Tax / Insurance.

So 3 years of NPOC membership John, is there a defining club memory in that lot somewhere?

Yes you! Donington services and the pre-meet for Japfest 2 2013. I was just starting to pull out when you put your window down and gestured to me. I had to undo my belt, lean over and WIND the pasenger window down by hand and yelled “what’s up?”.. You replied something along lines of “I have electric windows haha!” and drove off, leaving me sprawled out across passenger seat laughing!

NPOC for life (regardless of what car you own and drive) or leg it when you change car?

For life I think.

Tell Carlos Ghosn why he needs to bring back the Nissan Primera brand:

It’s about the drive, the passion, the feel of it. However after seeing what he has done with the Pulsar name in my local showroom, with a 1.2 TD engine???? That’s like giving the Terminator a paintball gun.

Most petrol heads have a nick name / pet name for their cars. What’s yours and why?

“The noise”, self-explanatory really but Amanda calls it “The green machine”.

Member Of The Month is all about highlighting the unsung / unknown heroes around this club and also their cars, should they be driving a Nissan Primera. You’ve been here for years now and as well as owning a lovely GT Loon and a P11 144, you are always a regular at all our National Club Meets up and down the country and lining up with the rest of us, to represent the NPOC - Thank you John! With my thanks out of the way, it’s over to you to see us out.. Congratulations once again for winning Member Of The Month for July 2015! Please end this feature, in your own words and feel free to thank anyone who’s made this one possible.

Thank you. I came to the NPOC looking for answers to a problem yet I found so much more. I found friends, fellow petrol-heads and nutters too. I love the events the NPOC take part in both club only like ACE and at the larger events like JAE and Japfest. Such a shame so few Nissan Primera owners are in Yorkshire though.

My first car problem was solved with the help of a local (Leeds) NPOC Member called Steve, “Redshark1”. He came over and lent me his MAF to rule in / out that as the cause and hey presto! When he had a crash with a bad driver I tried my best to return the favour, including when he somehow put a hole in his oil sump. I got a new one and fitted it and got another Primera back on the road.

Amanda once joked not long after we got the P11 GT, that I should change my name to John “Primera” Bird. I would love to give her a HUGE thank you for putting up with my car related madness, including taking up around a third of the kitchen with parts. She’s a truly wonderful woman, who I will have the honour of marrying on August 19th 2015. Without her and my two kids I am not sure where I would be, apart from maybe in a GTR / S14 LOL!



Congratulations once again to John!

July 2015 MOTM - Dad's Taxi

Written by essNchill




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