RP1421

Good news (relative to the last post)! The S15 still lives! The cause was found to be a loose oil line fitting on my filter relocation. ECU did it's job, fingers crossed no major damage. Having it driven it, seems to run and drive just fine. Got lucky this time, touch wood. Wheels are on the 110! Had to play around a little with heights, rolling guards and adjusting the overall geometry without having to fork out big money for adjustable arms. I've got it somewhere reasonable, I think at least that balances daily driving. I do a decent bit of driving in this car to and from work, on mostly okay Brisbane roads. I think once I get the rear lip put on, it should "balance" the look of the car. Ordered some centre caps to finish off the look. In the few weeks of driving, it's definitely an effort to keep these wheels clean (even with a ceramic coat applied). Pictures, of course.

Good news and bad news for this post. Returning from a cars and coffee event, whilst cruising at ~60km/h, the S15 went into limp mode. To cut a long story short, for reasons still unknown, I lost all oil pressure. Pulled the car over and all the oil was dumped onto the bash plate. I've checked visually to date, but can't figure out where/how it occurred. Suffice to say, losing all your oil is likely going to be a major failure of some description. Update on this topic once I've got things pulled apart and diagnosed the cause. In better news, I received my new coilovers and wheels for the JZX110. I opted to purchase from Shockworks and had them built to focus on comfort above all else, 20/14kg spring rates. The wheels came out incredible, and I'm glad I went the way I did. I opted to go with gold hardware, which will tie in with some gold accents on the car. I ended up replacing all the lips, as they were in various states needing some love and I ended sizing up the rears half an inch. Details: Leon Hardirrit Bugels - 19x8.5 +25 & 19x10 +26 After 2.5 years of going through various vendors, extremely glad to finish these. The plan is to have these on before the end of the year. I do need to find some tyres to suit. Happy to take some recommendations! Michelin PilotSports seem overkill for this car (for the moment at least). Picture about 1hr before all my oil said goodbye

I'm sure I'd posted this in a previous post, but I'd purchased a rear bumper for the 110. It's been sitting in my storage, whilst I've focused on all the stuff you've seen in the content since. In talks with another owner, we ended up trading parts, so he got the rear bar and I got an OEM rear lip. I always prefer OEM stuff and this should (hopefully) not cost as much to paint and fit. I might actually end up putting an exhaust on this car finally (which will require making a cutout) Whilst not the most interesting update, useful to post this for future JZX110 owners. I updated the failing bonnet struts. Repco RGS14695 is what you need + 4 x 10mm ball stud WITH 14mm long M8 thread + 4 x M8 washers. Don't even bother trying to lever the stock arms off the balljoints, especially when the ball studs cost you <$15 for 4 (work smarter, not harder). Also shoutout to Costco for having some useful kit. This light is $50 and has been pretty solid Rechargeable via USB C Has hooks on either end Has magnets on both ends with swivelling ends (see picture) Centre body can rotate Plenty bright! Luceco 10W LED Rechargeable Inspection Light Racked up some miles on the 110 over the past few weeks. I've dropped off the centres to be reunited with the barrels, new lips and hardware. Very excited to have these complete in the next few weeks.

Nick, hit him up via Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nickthefourdoorfreak

My new wheel centres have arrived back from chrome. I've been waiting to have these done for nearly three years! After going through multiple vendors, I found the right person who had them done in under two months and for nearly half the price of others. Now to get these built, throw some tyres on and add some upgraded coilovers.

I wound them in. Many many years ago, when I first did the brakes, I wasted a lot of time trying to compress them in (silly me didn't read the service manual). This time around, it seems I didn't line up the notch properly (not sure how because I did keep this in mind specifically).

I forgot to add this to my previous post, but it may serve useful as a separate guide. I don't believe they are compatible with Skylines, so the following applies to S15s (sorry). My washer pumps started shooting a fairly weak stream. Turns out that the Nissan Patrol pumps are compatible with Silvias. See the image for part number and for a side-by-side. Can be purchased for ~$60 off eBay or similar. Removing the pumps were a pretty basic affair, though the hoses tended to want to not come loose. I couldn't be bothered removing the front bar so my leverage was limited, I resorted to cutting the hose off (plenty of slack in the line anyway). Do note however I did have to swap out the brown tab on the old connector, as the new pumps I received, had the open slot on the other side. So don't throw away your old pump immediately, as you may need to swap in the tabs from the old to the new, to match the plug. Next step is to find a washer nozzle that provides a better spray pattern. I did find this in relation to an R33 with a fluidic nozzle upgrade, but the fitment looks not great. Honda seems to have made some too (P/N 76810-TK8-A01), which I might try to obtain and try. http://www.r33gt-r.com/2013/04/another-modern-upgrade-fluidic.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR3e0_1DTDtPNV3UrnbGHZKGlidzjDQNV33rLBKeFr-Hx8bzOZZHelkIi7o

Update time! The 110 had its diff upgrade done, alongside diff bushes (from Serialnine). Diffs from the 86 swap right in and since installing the diff, the car feels much better to drive. I also threw in a new set of brake pads (from Intima) at the same time. I should also have a rear lip on the way soon, which will need paint but this will mean I can start getting towards an exhaust made for the car. As a sidenote, I'm not sure if many users here have seen these new type of fire extinguishers. I won't bother rewording what is already a great explanation, but the space saving is quite significant. Though these cost more than a traditional bottle, the space is important to me and you also don't have the messy powder to clean up (in the worst case event). Added a picture to show the size difference. Around April of this year, I also made the decision to make an upgrade to the S15s engine management system. I chose to go with a Link G4X plug and play unit, with all the associated sensors. This would do away with the Apexi PowerFC + HKS EVC combination and bring the car into 2023. Additionally, I saw the availability of some new trigger kits, and I thought what better time to add this. The 5-0 ignite unit is great unit and works with the factory wiring perfectly. Again, I won't reword the sales pitch I got the car back recently from the tuner and suffice to say, the car feels great and more lively. The entire package feels really responsive and everything works really well. I didn't make any more power, but for those interested, I made 230kw at 19psi. Which is two psi than the previous setup on the PowerFC. Added some pictures of the added parts I should also have my wheel faces for the 110 back shortly, they're finally done! The chrome job looks fantastic but I haven't got them in hand to take nicer pictures yet. As always, closing out with a nice picture.

A general update, mostly because I'd love to keep this forum thing going. I wish I could say I had better news, but it's been an interesting time, since my last update. The S15 has been off the road between approximately June 2022 to now February 2023. What should have been a simple swap of brake pads turned into an ordeal of sorts. I was negligent in checking the rear inner pads, so I had ran the pads down nearly to the backing plate (see image below). I picked this up when I noticed the pedal feel was very odd. I ordered a set of rotors for the rears, with new pads for all for corners (Eligs for the fronts and Forza FP3s for the rear). Upon reinstalling and servicing the brakes, I realised now I had a failed seal in the rear brakes. I was able to easily source a kit and passed the work onto a brake specialist nearby. Several weeks passed until I called up the shop myself and they told me they couldn't finish the job due needing new brake pistons, as the current ones were too far gone. They'd been trying to source it themselves to no avail. Fair enough, not exactly the easiest thing to source, except had they told me, I could also help in finding some. Same day, I was able to get some brand new from Japan (thanks as always for Jesse Streeter for this and all the other buys over the years), but now of course adds extra time for shipping etc. It's hard now to recall how long this took, but overall I'd estimate maybe 2 months to have my brakes refurbed (maybe more). Once they turned up, the shop was able to turn it around the same day, and I'd also organised for braided lines (GKTech) for the rears (fronts already had braided lines) as extra insurance. After reinstalling the brakes and new parts, I took it out for a test drive to bed in. This didn't go so well. Now my brakes were dragging, badly. To the point that I managed to ruin a set of rotors and bad enough that I needed to organise a tow home. Life happened in between, I didn't really have time to work on the car and diagnose the issue, despite using the factory service manual to ensure it was done properly. If you're familiar with these brakes, the brake pistons have a specific pattern and you need to align the brake pad so that it basically 'indexes' properly and prevents dragging. Given I had already spent so much time & money trying to get the car back on the road and also having little time over the months to work on the car, I passed the work onto a trusted mechanic. Who was able to properly seat the pads in and get the car back on the road. That's not to say other things didn't happen in between. I've been slowly building up my collection of parts for the 110. I've been able to source a new intercooler, cam gears and 4.1 Toyota 86 LSD. I also managed to score a set of plates, which describe the car aptly. On top of all this, I've had quite the saga with the wheels for the 110. As you may have noted in previous posts, I had sent these to a workshop in Sydney. I will update this in the future with perhaps more detailed information, but the short story is that it's been close to 9 months, and I'm no closer to having my wheels completed. It's been difficult to get updates in a timely fashion, with most of my calls and messages going unresponded. It wasn't until I made a social media post, that garnered some attention that I received a response. Despite being told my wheels would be ready by end of 2022, I'm now being told this will not occur at a minimum until early June (pending other things falling into place). I'm extremely dissatisfied with this, as this is over a year from when I originally requested the work, and I may have mentioned this before, but I had already spent 2021 trying to have another workshop do this work, who could not. All in all, an incredibly frustrating exercise. As I usually like to do, I'll close out with a nice picture.

General update this time around Wheel faces are now in Sydney, to hopefully be completed. I would have liked these completed last year, but here we are, due to various reasons. While fixing a dead battery in the JZX, I noticed somehow the oil cap has failed . I've never experienced this before, but easily fixed. Similarly, the coilpack connectors are in awful condition. Due to the design of the engine, but mostly the cover , a lot of heat is trapped in the coilpack area and with a car of this mileage, the plastic has become extremely brittle. With the most recent service and armed with a replacement kit from Goleby's, I set about replacing the three connectors. They were in such poor shape that the white retaining clip has come apart and even the retaining clips for the pins had failed. I'm glad I got on top of this when I did. It will be replaced with R35 coil kit once I go for more power. I also picked up a set of diff bushes for the JZX110, as they are a commonly worn item in these cars. These are made of Delrin, so it should be reasonable for street duties. Additionally, I'm planning to change to the 4.1 LSD out of the 86/BRZ, so a reasonable upgrade to do at once. The Silvia has been largely trouble free thankfully. The most eventful thing being a dead indicator bulb, which was not an easy 'bulb out, bulb in' affair. This is an opportunity to show the oil cooler is setup in my car (being fed air through the fog light 'intake'. Additionally, a showcase of the fabwork done with the FMIC to avoid the foglights, oil system and not cut my front bar. The cooling package is very very effective in these car, almost too good for the street (oil is thermostat controlled, water is not). I had upgraded my FMIC to a Greddy item and a Koyorad Radiator (back in 2020 with the turbo upgrades). Otherwise, it's been raining a lot in Brisbane, but I've been out at any opportunity, so what better way to sign-off on this update but a glamour shot. Fingers crossed the next post will be my completed wheels.

Yeah pretty good in terms of material quality and overall finish. The fitment is very good as well, though I would have liked one fix for the rear centre piece (that goes over the trans tunnel). The factory item has buttons on the underside which then clip in on either side of the passenger sides to keep it secured in place. For the price you pay, I would expect that. I've got a pair of Prodrive mats in the S15 (from Japan) and I'd say these are fairly comparable.

A number of updates with respect to both cars, some performance related and others just quality of life things. I was never really a fan of the greyish floor mats that came with the 110. I like plain black and very pedantic about keeping the interior clean (good thing I have no kids!). Fitmint had their Black Friday sale, so I picked up a full set at a nice discount. I was also able to score brand new floor hooks for the driver side (same as the Supra) as mine were missing. Thankfully my local dealership just had them sitting around and they were only a few $ too. Another quality of life upgrade was changing the headunit in the 110. I've wanted to try Android Auto for the longest time and the Atoto units seem to be extremely good value for money ($300 before discount + $50 for the reverse cam). I was able to get an adapting ISO harness from Supercheap and it genuinely just plugged in and worked. There are gaps on either side and the fascia plates provided don't fill it. Given the price, this unit is honestly amazing and I'd recomend it to anyone (does Carplay too). I'll also be purchasing one of the AA wireless modules so that I don't need to plug in my phone either (handy since I can plug it into a proper fast charger if needed). The reverse cam had to be wired in, which was daunting for me, since I really don't know much about wiring. I got all the necessary bits together and got it working. I did manage to find out there's a leak in the rear somewhere causing water to pool up in the boot (about 12L worth). The drive out to Toowoomba confirmed to me I needed some new tyres on the S15. Decided to move away from RE003s into Michelin Pilotsport 4s. More or less retaining the same alignment as I did when I installed the MCA Blues. I had the chance to do a few mountain drives over the past week and the tyres are fantastic, just so much grip and instills a lot of confidence. If you've been reading through prior posts, I kept the same tyre sizes. Square set of 17x9 +15 TE37s + 225/45 (F) and 245/45 (R) I also upgraded the door links in the S15 to the R35 ones which allows the door to "lock" open in 3 positions. Super handy and such an easy upgrade to do. Part numbers if you need (I believe this should work for skylines too but I can't confirm, I've got a mate with a R34 GTT trying soon). Nissan 80430-KB50B - STOPPER, DOOR Nissan 80431-KB50B - STOPPER, DOOR Nissan 80440-AG000 - COVER, CHECK LINK RH Nissan 80441-AG000 - COVER, CHECK LINK LH 4 x M6 nuts - The silvia hinges are bolted in (may differ for Skylines), whereas the R35 has studs built into the item My Bugels are still not done but they're close (hopefully). I couldn't help myself and snapped a set of Rays wheel nuts

Is there a particular model of the box that is recommended and where are you sourcing it from? This has me pretty interested as well for my 1JZ (currently with the standard A343 box). Also very interested to see how the turbolamik TCU goes. Is Tuned Performance assisting with this too?

On Christmas Eve, after stocking up on the usual items and parking the 110 up, it wouldn't turn back on. Thankfully, I didn't need to travel anywhere! After diagnosing the usual things, I came to the conclusion it was the starter. I had some random issues over the past few months where the car wouldn't start, but eventually it would. After pulling out the Denso unit and sending it off to a specialist, they quickly informed me that the starter was well beyond repair. The fields were completely trashed and taken the brushes with it. I was hoping to reco the stock unit as it was within the weird period between xmas and new year, so usual suppliers were closed and I was hoping to have the car back running before 10 Jan. Not wanting to wait for delivery which would further delay the work, I made the drive out (4-5hr roundtrip) to Goleby's in Toowoomba in the Silvia (perfect opportunity to road test the seats!). A plethora of extensions were needed for this job as I was boxed in by the gearbox (right) and body (left). And that is just the lower bolt in the picture, there is one further up which is even trickier to work with (especially on install). Unfortunately I did have to extend the lead circled in red in order to make the install work. On a sidenote: The Bride Euros are very comfy! I've managed to do ~500kms in the past week

Some additional, better quality pictures

After some back and forth with rails, I got brand new rails from Japan and threw the seats. Very simple changeover and it's been such a great change. The seats are comfortable but snug and really bring up the feel of the interior (S15 interior never really felt dated to begin with). Hoping to get the JZX110 aero parts organised but I was able to change the tailights over to the S2 versions which have a much nicer look compared to the S1. Unfortunately, it does appear the starter has given out on the JZX110, which I've already pulled out and hopefully I can have it refurbed and back in before my holidays finish up.

A few updates since the previous post: Wheels have been away for the refurb for a few months now. A little slower than I'd like but it'll be worth the wait 110 now has a security system and I was able to get rid of all that old crappy, turbo timer and remote start system Switched some interior trim to the Blit version to blend it in a little better Bought a roof wing, boot wing, Series 2 tail lights and gold badges for the 110. These are all the pieces I've been chasing to freshen up the back end. Will require some body shop help to get done I've also been making a list of all the exterior bits that I need to replace, thankfully much of it is available from Toyota still and mostly reasonable prices I've changed my mind on the seats. Getting the Recaros in was going to take some fabrication work which is costly and I think it would be tricky to keep the seats low with the work required. Plus, the Silvia roof line is quite low. As luck would have it, a friend had a pair of new near Bride Euroster IIs for sale at a fair price, so I've made the decision to go with these over the Recaros. They're a little less snug by comparison, however they will sit much lower in the car. Only issue is, my rails for the Recaros don't fit these. So it will still require modifying these rails or ordering Bride MO rails from Japan. Otherwise the Silvia has been seeing some mileage even though I daily the 110. It's just a very reliable, turn-key car I can take out most nights and it always is a load of fun. The seats should hopefully up the experience that little bit more.

Car is now aligned and setup how I'd like it to be. As reported earlier, car is much more composed through the corners, handles bumps and so on with ease and provides a nice a balance through the corner without the worry of becoming unsettled. The nose feels more or less as before in terms of initial turn-in and responsiveness which is something the previous coilovers excelled at. All in all, I'm very happy with the outcome. Once I finished up the S15, I got to working on the JZX110, installed the J-pipe back in, the trickiest part being some lines for the BOV and the unusual routing it takes as it is a combination of hard and soft lines. The car works as normal now, as it should have and I picked up a cooling plate from a friend who incorporates a duct to scoop in more cool air through the front grille and directs it into the snorkel.

The rails will turn out to be a slightly different ordeal given these mount a little differently, most likely requiring modifying a seat rail. In other news, I needed to service the Silvia but I thought what better time to swap the coilovers in. When I bought them, I failed to notice I was missing the bracket on one side to mount the brake/abs hardware onto. Not a problem though, as I mentioned in an earlier post, MCA is just around the corner from me. A few messages and a short drive later, I was at their new workshop with a new bottom mount and the guys also gave me their newer dust boot. I was also able to grab all the associated brackets and so on the make my life easier. I had the MCA team last year put the coilovers in for a service which included revalving the rears, a non-inverted strut conversio and changing the front springs to 6k and the rears to 3.5k. At the workshop As you can see, missing the brackets. Silvia was on the stands for a standard oil, spark plugs and filter change, but additionally the gearbox and diff service. I did promise myself I wouldn't do the gearbox service without a lift, however this time around it was the diff fill bolt which gave me the most grief. It's in a terrible location and getting a ratchet onto it is tricky at best. A few extensions, busted knuckles and swearing later, it came loose. See the picture for where the plug is (just behind subframe and near the exhaust). Penrite also has a new shifter additive for gearboxes, supposedly Nulon stopped making it for whatever reason. Also picked up this little Milwaukee light at Sydney Tools over the weekend on an impulse and I have to say it's a little ripper of a light. Super compact, punches out 300 lumens, runs off AA and has magnets on the bottom and back (once you remove the clip). Pricey at $50 but honestly, the convenience it offers is well worth the purchase price. It spent most of the weekend in arms reach or stuck inside the wheel wells while I worked. The coilovers went in without much hassle up front. The rears were a little trickier inside the car as I have a Nismo strut brace over the top of the parcel shelf (see Google for the design of it). Even with those two items out of the way, it's a tight space to work in exacerbated by the fact I have to put the strut brace support bracket back on when installing coilovers, making access to the coilover top nuts even more difficult. After that it was really a matter of getting the heights right, which is where I would have loved having a lift. I aimed to get it sitting exactly as I had it before with that slight rake, I liked that look, the front had excellent clearance for speed bumps, driveways etc and the rears were just right for the exhaust clearance. Car hasn't been aligned yet, but I can certainly feel a significant improvement in how the car rides over the bumps and harsh roads, much more composed. Additionally, I can go WOT with confidence as the car squats better and is less likely to get unsettled by the roads and hop around. Finishing this post off with a nice little glamour shot in the air early Saturday morning before I got stuck into it, with my bumper discolouration in all its glory lol.

In my everlasting quest to find parts, I finally found a pair of seats for the Silvia. The standard seats, while alright, aren't that great in term of holding you in. I found a seller locally who had a pair of Recaro SR11s for sale. These came in the Evo X and they're a very nice seat in terms of build quality, weight, OEM+ look and overall support around the shoulders, core and thighs. They didn't come with rails, but that can be sorted easily enough, although the pandemic is doing no favours for shipping prices at the moment. Additionally this week I picked up some Nismo items, pretty self-explanatory items. The shifter I'll actually use, though I do really like the leather Nismo one I've been running for many many years now. Also I picked up the stock air box and J-pipe from the seller of my car. The J-pipe delete hasn't really been that good for the car as many a JZX owner will know and causing stalling issues when you come off the throttle at low speeds (pronounced in the automatics). Not only that but, the intake is just sucking in the hot air, even though I've got the factory ducting pointing at the intake.

In further updates for the 110, I received a big delivery which I'm very excited about. Plan is still to stay auto because daily. Garrett G30-770 .83 (T3) 6 Boost manifold Turbosmart 50mm gate

Updated with better picture of the Fortuna Lip

Completely forgot another fun experience I had with the Silvia very recently. Took it out for a drive late one night with some mates through the mountains and noticed on the drive back the car handling a bit weird getting hard to steer. By the time I made it back onto normal roads, I very quickly realised my power steering was gone. Pulled over and checked the resevoir an it was completely empty. Filled it up fluid on the side of the road and almost immediately it started shooting out from the underside once steering was applied (high pressure line). Got it home eventually and investigated the issue and the fitting which was steering rack had come completely loose. Thankfully an easy fix but extremely fortunate that the fluid didn't catch the tyres causing me to spin or worse yet, the fluid caught on fire. I've been slack in putting in a fire extinguisher in the car but this was enough to prompt me to get it done. KAP Industries of course has this well sorted so got that organised fairly easily. I really would have liked to put this on the passenger side but anyway, it's done now. Another minor issue I noticed was that I had no fluid from my windscreen washers, thought it might just be a failing pump. Did some basic testing and noticed that a bulk of the fluid was ending up under the car, near the driver's side front tyre. Pulled out the guard liner and found the lines looking like this. The car use to be quite low when I had bought it and the guard liners had taken a beating and worn through certain sections of it and I suppose over time, the leak got worse but I didn't notice either because there was enough fluid coming through despite the damage or that I kept the car clean enough to not need it. A bit of two I would say.

Major service on the 110 is done. Radiator was a slight problem in that one of the brackets didn't quite line up and had to be moved to suit. Additionally, one of the water lines for the turbo sprung a leak. All minor things but resolved relatively easily. Transmission lines to the rad were also modified to AN. I also managed to pick up a genuine Fortuna front lip which mounts directly onto the standard front bar. The picture I have is pretty horrible right now but it gives the front end a nice look, especially once the car is lowered. I've also made an exciting purchase for the 110 which is on the way and will really see things ramp up and pave the way for some other parts to be collected. I'm anxiously waiting for MCA to release their Voston line of suspension and that IS200/300/JZX110 are one of the cars they produce for. I'm only chasing comfort really. Though I should start getting my wheels refurbed soon too. The Silvia saw some more regular use while the 110 was off the road for servicing. Really need to get the MCA coilovers into because otherwise the car is fantastic to drive, plenty of usable power for the street, stops well and sounds great (for an SR).

Additional parts coming in Dump pipe from Kurt down in Vic who is highly rated and I'm told makes quite the difference. Car has no exhaust currently but the idea is to have one custom made (see further below) Ideally I would have liked to buy a lip for my rear bumper but they seem hard to come by. This Origin bumper was being sold locally, so I figured why not. It looks quite good, new condition and already has the exhaust cutout (OEM bars don't and you have to cut them). Since this will need painting, I will also try and get the boot and roof wing asap and have all those items painted at once. This also means my dump pipe will have to wait until I have the exhaust built which requires the bumper installed. Frustrating as it is, it creates a logical pathway to follow but allows me to pursue the wheels/coilovers in the interim.