RP1421

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.

An eventful few things have happened since the last post. Since the 110 is a daily and I'm also specific about how the car looks, one of the first things I actually did was a detail. I had all the supplies at home and some time off work and I got to it. This makes all my maintenance for washing a lot easier and I got to refresh some areas which were oxidised. Certain areas of the car still have scratches but the clear is quite thin in those areas and I didn't want to chance it. Additionally, some parts like the spoiler will be removed, so it made no sense to chase perfection. The flakes in the paint really pop. You may also note the side skirts are installed. After some issues with the payment systems, I had some major service parts arrive (timing belt, water pump etc etc). This will be the next priority item That's not to say I wasn't keeping an eye out on other parts. To really push that VIP look, I scored a set of Leon Hardiritt Bugels. I love the look of these and they're a lot more unique to what most people run, the design is catchy and I think it'll match well with the 110. They are 19x8.5 +25 and 19x9.5 +26. The likely plan being to run the 9.5 on the front and rebuild the 8.5 to something suitable for the rear. I'll also refresh the paint as though it looks good in the picture, they are a little rougher on closer inspection. Now turning to the Silvia. Things have been fine with it, took it out for a drive and I got a hole in my tyre. However, the problems didn't end there. Since I relocated my oil filter, it has been sitting next to my oil pan, which isn't an issue really, except for the fact that Z442 oil filters are ridiculously tall. My ground clearance being kinda shit has always made me concerned and sure enough, as a result of my flat, was enough make my filter catch and completely destroy itself. Thankfully though, this happened in my driveaway and my dash would have alerted me of low oil pressure, and I didn't do any critical engine damage. However, as you can see, I snapped the bracket in half that holds the relocation block. Bracket has since been fixed and I am now running a HKS oil filter which is much shorter and causes me no angst now.

I absolutely agree. The S15 has held up incredibly well and incredibly fun to drive. Thanks mate, much appreciated! The 110 is now registered so I can now start its life as a daily here. It drives really well, very smooth power delivery and extremely comfy. Compared to the Silvia, I'm really appreciating all the extra storage and extremely excited to make some changes performance wise. The car itself was imported in 2016 as a Grade 4B, which is quite impressive. Imported to be the daily of the owner of a import workshop and then sold onto his friend (who I bought it off). It has seen some mileage since import but overall, in quite good nick all things considered. Things on the to-do list in the short-medium term: Major service - Parts ordered from Toyota Radiator upgrade Exhaust - I'm thinking of a custom system Intercooler - SMIC isn't great and I'm told these respond quite well to a cooler upgrade Remove BOV - As you can see in the engine bay pic above, the white BOV piping isn't great and I'm not a fan at all. I'll just remove the BOV altogether Exhaust side breather - Car had a J-Pipe delete and the breather off the rocker cover has seen better days especially due to the heat. I'll come up a solution Security System - A must for my own peace of mind Detail - I can do my own correction with D/A polisher and I think this will significantly improve the look of the car and assist in keeping in clean Try and find front and rear lips Coilovers + Wheels (planning to retain comfort but require the adjustability) I did receive some new parts this week in the form of a 35th anniversary edition grill and OEM grey side skirts (not pictured). I've installed the grille and I think it ties up quite nicely. Side skirts to installed soon Before After

S15 is going great, prices are all kinds of weird right now. I've always wanted a JZ-powered daily, preferably a JZX100. But with the market as it is, I couldn't justify it. So I ended up going for a JZX110. Originally I was going to import as I couldn't find one locally in the spec I wanted but managed to get one that wasn't advertised for a good price. While this will be a daily, mods will be happening and I've already got parts on the way. Rego asap (driving around on VIC plates in QLD might get some funny looks with current situation). Camry life is great.

Detail Time! Some years back I did a Duragloss paint protection kit and it worked quite well for my purposes and provided excellent gloss and beading. It was time to renew the coating to renew the bead. However, this time I went with Gyeon Mohs. With some planning and scheduling, Easter weekend was a perfect time for this task so I could take my time. It ended up taking 17.5 hours over approximately three days to complete. Day 1 Strip foam wash + normal two bucket wash Iron fallout remover spray (surprisingly not a lot of fallout shown in the paint) Clay towel (wasn't a fan of the towel over the bar) Masking up of trim Plates cleaned up Day 2 I did not enjoy this day as it was very tiring and a lot checking, rechecking to check for effectiveness. I ended up doing a heavy cut all around but there were not many scratches except for "high traffic" areas meaning the wash procedure is going well. Did not chase down every single scratch, keeping in mind this car is 20 years old. So areas likes the bonnet etc will have some obvious chips and scratches. Finished up with a polishing step using Menzerna Super 3500 but did not feel like it added anything of benefit to the finish. Quickly moved onto removing the residue to prep for coating. Day 3 Very important to do this after a good rest as this step needs a lot of focus to make sure you're keeping on top of the instructions for application. Double checked for any compound residue and watched Esoteric youtube application video. Focus needed to ensure you're covering all areas of paint, buffing off prior to full flashing of product and then follow up. This was a relatively easy process compared to day 2. I did two coats and I used the last drop as I was on the last panel. Overall: Very happy with outcome, lots of depth and shine. Coating is still curing so cannot test beading yet. Time-lapse of the job http://youtu.be/mvfjFncY1tI

Next up on the to-do list is a thorough decontamination, paint correction (where required) and application of a new protection kit. Perfect isolation activity and I'll be utilising the Easter long weekend to good effect. Further details and write-up coming shortly.

Major update time. After many months of researching and planning, this is the end result. Items added: - Garrett GTX2867R II - HKS 264 12mm Cams - Supertech Valve Springs and Retainers - Turbosmart Kompact BOV - Koyorad Alloy Rad - Greddy Intercooler - Catch can Tuned once again by 101 Motorsport who did the tune back in 2016. Car made a healthy 230kw which is what I was expecting. Haven't had much of a chance to drive it given COVID-19. All important pictures! New cooler peeking through (much larger than my old Gktech return flow) At 101 Custom made catch can and Koyorad. We found the stock rad struggling to keep temps down. I was planning to upgrade the rad sooner or later but this necessitated it now. Rocker cover redone in wrinkle red and I managed to nab a Top Secret oil cap Turbosmart Kompact BOV + all new piping Fab work is top notch Turbo at home Defi is not new but shot this while out taking the first picture. It actually came in handy because I was too busy enjoying the car to notice the temps. I had set up limits on the Defi so once it started beeping at me, I quickly realised something was up (the rad).

July 2019 This weekend, a set of MCA Blues were available for a reasonable price. My Endless Zeal coilovers, while good, have a tendency to crash over bumps a lot and as such, is not giving me the handling I'm chasing. With the MCA blues, I will be able to utilise their advice and get the car handling how I want to. The MCA workshop is only about 15 minutes from where I live, so I can drop them in if required and get help in getting the car handling properly.

July 2019 Two updates in a week! Again, after a lot of reading and learning, I decided to go with a Gen II GTX2867 .64 rear. The plan being that this will be a replacement for the factory turbo fitment-wise, while complementing the current modifications and standard engine. While I had planned to run these in conjunction with some drop-in cams (Tomei Poncams), I may push to have the turbo done on its own to see how things are. It may well be the case that cams will not be needed for a turbo of this size. Hopefully I won't have this sitting around for too long!

June 2019 Update time! As I probably posted a few years ago now, I had collected the following: Defi Zd Gauge System PWR Oil Cooler Tomei Oil Filter Housing block Greddy oil filter relocation Finally, these parts are on. The cooler core tucked in nicely behind the driver's side foglight and the filter has been relocated near the sump. I will likely change from OEM filter to a HKS filter (using S13 filters) as the OE filter sits a bit too low for my comfort. Setting up and changing the settings on the Zd are horrendous, given the various combination of buttons you have to input just to get a certain menu and then the menu controls change in each menu. But whatever, most of the default settings are quite good and required minimal tweaking. Also for whatever reason my defi control unit was dead but thankfully a friend had the exact same model sitting around which did the trick. Here are some pictures. Another update coming very soon [video=youtube;jbrGyehjRZM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbrGyehjRZM&feature=youtu.be[/video]

January 2019 Minor update this time around. Car had reached its minor service interval which consists of oil, filter and spark plugs. I maintain a spreadsheet which I keep track of what needs to be change at certain intervals (based on the service manual's recommendations). This has made me realise that next service will require a gearbox and diff oil change which is not fun doing off the floor, so I'll be trying to sus out a friend with a hoist to make life a bit easier. With my current mileage, I don't anticipate having to do this until Winter, which is some consolation. Though prices can be absolutely insane, can't say enough good things about this Snap-On torque wrench. The battery connector is a bit finicky but it is miles easier just selecting the specified torque and then just waiting for the tone. Very simple and intuitive. I've known in the back of my mind that my tyres are/were getting close to their end of life. However, I didn't realise how soon until this morning when I was undergoing some other inspection. The picture says it all really, this is the front passenger side. The driver's side wasn't anywhere as bad. You can see the aggressive camber wear but this was expected, based on the size of the front wheels and the requirement to have the wheels inside the guards. Had a fairly good run with these tyres (about 4 years) including a track day. Given my use of the car (primarily street), I again went with RE003 in 225/45 (Front) and 245/45 (Rear). While they are quite pricey, they've given me a good balance of dry and wet weather performance. Thankfully I have a contact who had the tyres in stock and by lunch time I had the new tyres on, balanced and aligned.

December 2018 Earlier in the year I picked up a genuine aero bumper with the intention of having it repaired (see back a page or two) and then painted to match. After letting it sit in the shed while I was attending to other things, I found a workshop who fit my criteria. Some don't want to take a few minutes to chat and having to transport a bumper around as well as the car is a hassle in itself especially living on the north side when most decent shops are south side. Eventually I found a shop who were close to me, had excellent previous work with other cars and gave me the time of day. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves but I am very stoked with the outcome. The bar came up great. I also took this opportunity to have the bootlid holes filled (where the centre post sits on the factory wing). After getting the car home that afternoon, I immediately pulled the front bumper off and did the Wisesquare headlight lens replacement. This task was daunting but a guide helped a lot in easing those tensions. Just needed to increase the heat to 90C and the lenses came off quite easily. Then just a matter of getting the butyl tape out while it was hot. And the results speak for themselves. Took off the bumper to get better access to the bolts securing it to the inside of the front guard. You can see the condition of the lens, a lot of the damage was inside so a simple restoration (which I had done) was fairly limited in the benefit achieved Baking in the oven to get the tape/glue nice and soft With the two pieces apart. Best to get the glue out while it's hot out of the oven, otherwise it stiffens up significantly and you want to remove as much of it as possible to get the new tape in and create a good seal. Sealing the two new pieces together was the hardest part in my opinion because the butyl tape is quite unforgiving and you need to apply a lot of pressure to get it right. The new lens waiting to be installed with the shroud transferred over. Some people opt to paint this but I quite like the dark grey colour The all important finished result

November 2018 Small update for today. Not quite sure but I had managed to crack one corner of my coilpack cover, so it wouldn't seal up properly. Must have accidentally overtorqued it or something after a service (see picture). Not a big deal really , but it was something I was looking to address. Just so happened this week, a parts reseller had what I needed. With the Weld covers being a lot harder to come by second hand, a Tomei one would work just fine. This looked to be in brand new condition and priced very well. Although upon picking it up, I had noticed a blemish/burn of some sort at the back of the cover. Not necessarily a major issue as that sits at the back of the engine bay. I knew this would be a job for some metal polish. This stuff I rarely use but it always manages to surprise me. Cover was fairly clean but gave it a quick clean and then applied the metal polish to a buffing pad (a hand pad, not machine) . To my surprise, with very little effort, the blemish lifted off very easily. Applied it to the rest of the cover to get it looking nice and job done. No picture mounted in the car because my rocker cover needs to be redone, but at least I have a good reason to. I did notice however the cover does not sit very flush in its spot, not sure what the go is there but it bolted up just fine. On that note, I do need to change the OEM cover bolts for something a little newer, maybe with a hex head instead of T25. Enjoy the remaining pictures (note the metal polish: California Custom Purple Metal Polish [got it from Autobarn]).

November 2018 Only a minor task but it might help somebody in the future. My TE37 stickers on the front drivers side has become quite worn out and with my regular cleaning, the pressure washer kept lifting the edges. So I had ordered some stickers along with the wheel nuts (better for shipping prices than just shipping stickers from Japan). I recommend giving the wheels a good clean beforehand. Now you can choose to do this with the wheel on or off, depending on the space you have. I opted to leave it on the car since it was comfortable enough for me to work on the floor in my garage. Before beginning work, I masked off the corners where the stickers are so that I know roughly where I need to apply the new stickers. This tape is 3M painter's tape, can get it from bunnings for a few bucks and pretty handy for a number of things (like when I do paint correction). From here, you have in my opinion, two options. A plastic scraper or a razor blade. The plastic scraper works better when the edges are lifted like on the Volk Sticker. However it will struggle to get under stickers like the Rays one which had mostly stayed on. Best to use a new single edge razor (can get them from the chemist) as this will allow you easily get under the edges. As long as you approach the sticker with a very shallow angle, you will not damage the wheel surface. I had no issues using a razor and had no damage. Once the sticker is off, just a matter of prepping the surface. I used Bowden's Own Orange Agent for the heavy lifting then finished with Gyeon Prep Spray (love this product) to remove any remaining residue. Now you can apply the sticker. If you applied the masking tape well before hand, it might be a bit difficult to apply the new sticker without catching some of the masking tape (very easily noticeable with green tape!). So I recommend removing one edge, so you've got some room to work with. These stickers have a double layer type application. So you apply the sticker itself and a larger clear sticker. This allows you the chance to line things up before applying even pressure. I left the big sticker on while I applied the other to give some time and avoid lifting the main sticker. Once you're sure there's enough adhesion for the main sticker, you can lift the larger clear sticker. If all goes well, you'll have now applied a new sticker successfully. Tidy up the surrounding area and you're on your way.

November 2018 Ever since changing over my accessory belts, I had developed a power steering leak. After becoming sick of having to top up my fluid every few weeks since I couldn't accurately identify the exact location of the leak, I narrowed it down to the feed hose from the reservoir (the hose dead centre in the picture, below the banjo fitting). Best to remove the intake so you can get a good look at the hoses (don't forget to plug up the intake pipe, I've used a glove here, see the black round object at the top of the image). The picture doesn't exactly show it, but the lower area below the hose had become coated in oil and just looked nasty in general. I had to remove the bracket on the reservoir which holds it to the strut tower to access the hose clamp properly, as the reservoir didn't want to slide up off the bracket, and I didn't want to risk cracking it. It's only three bolts holding it in place, so no big deal. I did empty out the fluid in the reservoir using a big syringe and bit of plastic hose. Then it's just a matter of removing the clamps, pulling the hose off either end and installing the new one. Fairly painless all in all. Got the other bits back in, then gave the area a bit of a clean with some Bowden's Orange Agent. So far, looks to have solved the issue.

October 2018 OEM boost gauge has been dead and not functioning for a while. Basically stopped lighting up when lights were flicked on. And the gauge itself would only work for a few minutes before dying and sitting on zero for the rest of that drive. Decided to go with a 52mm Defi Racer Gauge. Which meant that although I have the control unit for my Advance Zd, I can run this separate and install this with just the sensor module. A 52mm also fits the factory boost gauge location on the A-pillar without any modifications. The racer gauge is also much much cheaper and has more or less the same functionality while looking just as good in my opinion. Mounted up against the firewall In-place Start-up animation with bonus glorious VCT rattle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CtftS6FJrU

October 2018 Front bar still isn't painted because I can't seem to find the right opportunity to have the car away which is now delaying a bunch of other things such as the headlight covers, oil cooler and Defi Zd Install (I've had this for way too long lol). In the meantime, I got ordered some new Rays gear since my stickers were looking a bit haggard and my gold advan wheel nuts weren't exactly complimenting the wheels and have weird discolourations on them (I suspect from the wheel cleaner I use)

May 2018 The car over the past few months had developed an issue on cold starts where the accessory belts would make an atrocious noise for a good 15-20 seconds. Those belt sprays only worked for a bit so ordered some new OEM replacements and got work. Generally not the most mechanically minded person but I did some research, took my time and got through it all without any major issues. Cautiously optimistic still but it seems to have solved the problem. Also my new flex-head ratchet came perfect use to tension the PS belt, allowing me to angle it amongst the pulleys and other random crap in the way, saving me having to pull it all out to adjust one bolt. Definitely worth the money! Gearwrench 81009F if you're curious

March 2018 Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback! So the front end I was talking about. Scored this quite cheap a bit of a drive away. Not in the best of condition but it will be going to a body shop in any case to be painted. Along with this, I've purchase a replacement pair of headlight lenses. I have refurbished my current headlights a few times however the sealing is quite poor on the driver's side so it takes in water and there are a number of cracks in the lenses themselves. I think the replacement lenses are an excellent choice as it saves me having to purchase new headlights entirely. They're made by 326 Power/Behrman/Wisesquare. They're plastic like OEM items and look exactly the same in design. They also come with the top seal and butyl tape to secure them to the headlight housing.

March 2018 Been some time since I've posted here but in any case, things have more or less remained the same until about now. My floor mats were in a pretty sorry state. Unfortunately Nismo ones are now discontinued and I'm not particularly interested in getting Aus-spec mats which have 200SX on them and I didn't really like the pattern effect on the JDM version. After some researching, I came across these. While they were a little more costly compared to OEM, upon arrival it definitely seems worth the extra cost. They're made to order, high quality finish and a lot thicker and overall I'd say OEM++. Prior to just swapping these in, I spent a good few hours going through the interior, scrubbing down panels with the pictured cleaner + pad and then buffing with a MF Towel. While it didn't look drastically different, I knew it was worth the effort because the amount of dirt I pulled out was crazy. Definitely good piece of mind knowing everything is nice and clean. Was hoping to do a wet vac clean of the interior mats and seats but I haven't been able to secure the appliance. And here's the final look, I much prefer the simplicity of black and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like the OEM ones do. Coming soon is a much much improved front end which I've really been looking forward to !

August 2017 Delivery time! Ever since I purchased the car, I've been wanting to buy a Nismo cluster. I prefer the clean, black aesthetic over the stock cluster (even though it's quite good in its own right). Got it brand new for a good price, so I can't complain. On the bench, packaged very nicely in a massive box (not pictured) and the cluster itself surrounded with very soft, plush cushion type material (the white stuff under the cluster) Installed! Very easy to install, just a matter of undoing a couple of screws, pulling off fascia and unplugging some plugs for the cluster. Probably would have been faster if the fiddly alarm light which sits on the steering column panel wanted to play nice but when is anything ever straightforward? Glamour shot. That's what we're here for right ?

Thanks mate haha Finally hit the track today and having never been on this track other than as a passenger on happy laps, the goal was to familiarise myself with the track and car. It was an extremely packed day with 5 groups in total and it was difficult to put together a good lap whether it be due to traffic, flagged session and/or my own mistakes causing me to abort the lap. All that aside, I was aiming to lap at least 1:10 and anything faster would be a bonus. As luck would have it, the GoPro didn't my best session but my fastest time was a 1:10.74, which I was stoked with. Overall, the car felt extremely good out there with strong points being the brakes and power. Still got plenty of time in it with better driving. Will try to find some half-decent footage from one of the sessions but otherwise a photo will suffice for now The aforementioned footage, wasn't my fastest lap since I was easing off for S2000 (much faster through the corners) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxdNRPKOTtk

July 2017 So super long time since the last update, mainly since there haven't been any modifications made to the car. I'm still enjoying the heck out of it, it's been reliable and always a joy to drive (it is my daily after all). Additionally, most finances have been directed to setting up a toolbox and financing new tools not only to work on the car but also a space to work on other household jobs. That's not to say I haven't been working on the car. Just routine maintenance, the transmission and diff oil seemed to be in fairly good condition which is a good sign. PS: Would highly recommend the Hafco service tray, makes doing things like the spark plugs so much faster and eliminates the risk of dropping things in the engine bay etc. Also has some holes to stash pry bars and screwdrivers etc. Have also been dedicating more time towards taking photos, the local cars and coffee meets are going great here (can post some pictures here if there's interest otherwise, can see them on my insta https://www.instagram.com/raunak_/ Will finish up this post with a "glamour" shot of my car I took some months ago

December 2016 Wheels are on finally (now featuring carbon gt centre caps)

October 2016 So the wheels are still not on yet, got a fair bit to do such as ensuring it's within guards so guard work, rear camber arms, swap tyres over and mess around with the height till I find something suitable. All of which I don't have time for at the moment. I did however apply Gyeon rim to the wheels. Very happy with how they performed on the Advans and any brake dust struggles to stick the coating. So much so you can just wipe it off with your finger even on the backside in the barrels, certainly makes cleaning easy as I don't need to use a brush to agitate the dirt. I do apply Bowden's Wheely Clean but this is to just prevent buildup of tougher grime but it's a spray and rinse affair.