The Premier 118 NE thread

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Karthik - Nassan A12 engine with Mikuni carburettor will develop around 49 BHP as against 52 BHP it develops with Hitachi carburettor. Fuel efficiency will also be lower. Hitachi is the best. Why did you change it?

Best regards,

behramDhabhar

[funkykar]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Dear Karthik - Nassan A12 engine with Mikuni carburettor will develop around 49 BHP as against 52 BHP it develops with Hitachi carburettor. Fuel efficiency will also be lower. Hitachi is the best. Why did you change it?

Best regards,

behramDhabhar

Non availability of spares of Hitachi carb suggested me to go for the Mikuni setup. In Bangalore, literally no spares including the packing is available. Since Mikuni is on many other cars, spares are very easily available. Moreover, after chaning to Mikuni, I do not see any change in power or pickup. Since both the engines are pretty old, I believe there is no noticeable change. May be at a very high RPM power difference can be found. It is exactly how it was before. In fact, both the cars start at a single crank now. On Hitachi, many a times, I had to slightly pump the accelerator while cranking.

I have not checked the Fuel Efficieny yet. But for sure on my 92 NE, I feel its improved as I visit the petrol pump less often than before. I havn't noticed anything on my 91 NE yet. I will keep an eye on the FE.

I will do a mileage test with a bottle some time and post the details here.

[funkykar]

Behram sir,

Any reason why the mileage would drop when a Mikuni is used on an older 118 NE. I dont seem to notice any change in mileage, may be because of the headers and free flow exhaust that I have. Moreover, I felt its good to have since I can make use of the fuel return.

I have anyways kept the original Hitachi and its manifold safely at home. In fact, I have 4 hitachi carbs, 2 manifolds that suit hitachi and couple of Mikunis stocked up.

The main issue for me was spares and also to an extent most mechanics werent able to tune it properly. Either performance was bad or FE was bad. I ended up buying 2-3 hitachis in last couple of years due to lack of spares. The idling thing (solonoid I guess) is difficult to find for Hitachi and once I had to shell out 800 bucks for it. I am sure that many parts are available in Mumbai much more easily. In Bangalore, its a bit different as many dont keep any NE items compared to Fiats.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Karthik guru

Need an A/C kit for the 118NE. Need a real good one.

Let me know, when and where shall i come to pick it up.

Thanks in advance.

[funkykar]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Karthik guru

Need an A/C kit for the 118NE. Need a real good one.

Let me know, when and where shall i come to pick it up.

Thanks in advance.

Is this for Joy? Have been seeing many many NE's with AC's being broken down. I myself picked up a AC unit for one of my NE's. I am not too satisfied as it consumes too much juice and feels like I am towing a car. I hadly use it. I infact picked a decent one and replaced/reconditioned some of its parts like the gas bottle, bearings and stuff. I think my NE's engine is little too old for the AC. Its clocked 90k kms. Moreover, I dont prefer to use the AC nor blower. For some reason, it makes me a little sick. Even at home, I dont even use a fan even when summer is at its peak. I only put the AC on my NE to modernize it and that was the only missing bit.

My other NE (maroon) too has a AC unit. It is not working. May be it needs gas filling to be done. I never bothered to check it.

See if you want to pick one of the units from my cars itself?

[sarmarishi]

We used to have a lovely NE for a lot of the years and was later used by me when I used to go for tuitions (when back at home). It was a special car not only for us but also as an NE as it was actually one of the first NE's to be made (from the first batch). Was specially ordered by my dads friend who was the sole dealer for NE's in the North-East for himself. It came stock from the factory with a Nissan engine and lots of original spares (everything written in Japanese) in the boot, which never had to be used. Some of the special features that the car came with apart from the totally Japanese mechanicals:

1) National Air con
2) Factory tinted (dark brown) glass all around including the front windscreen
3) Automatic radio antena controlled from the head unit.

We then picked it up from the owner and had it till about 2004. It used to run like a dream. I have never come across gear shift like that ever. Was a pleasure to drive. Had to give her up due to parking problems at home. That was one car my dad never wanted to part with. It was somehow special to him and had his favourite no. on it (AMU 9000). Was a grey car. Will post photos of the car when I go home to Assam sometime this year.

The only problem with the car was constant repainting and body work (every 2 years). Apart from that it was very comfortable.

[funkykar]

Originally Posted by sarmarishi

We used to have a lovely NE for a lot of the years and was later used by me when I used to go for tuitions (when back at home). It was a special car not only for us but also as an NE as it was actually one of the first NE's to be made (from the first batch). Was specially ordered by my dads friend who was the sole dealer for NE's in the North-East for himself. It came stock from the factory with a Nissan engine and lots of original spares (everything written in Japanese) in the boot, which never had to be used. Some of the special features that the car came with apart from the totally Japanese mechanicals:

1) National Air con
2) Factory tinted (dark brown) glass all around including the front windscreen
3) Automatic radio antena controlled from the head unit.

We then picked it up from the owner and had it till about 2004. It used to run like a dream. I have never come across gear shift like that ever. Was a pleasure to drive. Had to give her up due to parking problems at home. That was one car my dad never wanted to part with. It was somehow special to him and had his favourite no. on it (AMU 9000). Was a grey car. Will post photos of the car when I go home to Assam sometime this year.

The only problem with the car was constant repainting and body work (every 2 years). Apart from that it was very comfortable.

Nice experience! When did you sell the car? Do you have any old pictures of the car?

[sarmarishi]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Nice experience! When did you sell the car? Do you have any old pictures of the car?

Yup have some. Will have to dig them out though so will need some time. Will try to put up original and when I had it.

[funkykar]

Originally Posted by sarmarishi

Yup have some. Will have to dig them out though so will need some time. Will try to put up original and when I had it.

Appreciate any pictures you have. By any chance, do you have the excess spares with you? I know I am being too very optimistic

[sarmarishi]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Appreciate any pictures you have. By any chance, do you have the excess spares with you? I know I am being too very optimistic

Sorry mate.. Gave it with the car to the next owner. Never know when it will come in use for him. He likes collecting slightly older cars so I am sure it is very well looked after as well and sparingly used so I wont be suprised if those part are still with him. Unfortunately, I lost his contact info.

[funkykar]

Originally Posted by sarmarishi

Sorry mate.. Gave it with the car to the next owner. Never know when it will come in use for him. He likes collecting slightly older cars so I am sure it is very well looked after as well and sparingly used so I wont be suprised if those part are still with him. Unfortunately, I lost his contact info.

No problem dude

Are you considering buying another 118 NE ?

[sarmarishi]

Here are the pics.

Pic 1: As is from the factory.
Pic 2: Changed HL to Maruti ones as the stock ones were not powerful enough. And Foglamps added. All this was required due to heavy rain and fog in the winters in Assam. Also the dark winshied is clearly visible here.
Pic 3: Car in the background. To showcase the spoiler. I think it looked good on the NE

[funkykar]

Wow! Your NE looks great. The spoiler too looks great. Wish you had a closer pic of your NE with the spoiler.

[sarmarishi]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Wow! Your NE looks great. The spoiler too looks great. Wish you had a closer pic of your NE with the spoiler.

Thanks. Yup she was a beauty! And the aircon it came with (National) was the best I have experienced till date!

[funkykar]

Took my NE to Premier Land in Bangalore. It is being run by Mr. Govindan. During the Premier days, he had an authorized service station for Premier on Bannerghatta road. Now he runs a garage from his house in Jayanagar. He is too choosy on which car he selects for service/repair/restoration. He always prefers his good old customers who are regular.

Myself, Arun and Sujith had a very long chat with him today. He was sharing a lot of his experiences with Premier and their cars. He did agree to take my car in next week.

By the way, my NE is not in a perfect condition. Its just in a very good running condition. I have lot of tiny niggles with it. Suspension is not all that good. Gear box has a noticeable humming sound. He will check the car thourougly for any mechanical problems and fix it