OzanMakinaci

haha, yeah give me time. Gotta get a digital camera first, I work in IT and I have none of the gadgets... how lame of me. Fretwekk: My Trading is just an exporter in Japan, whereas Prestige is an import broker in Australia. You pay an bit extra for an import broker but they will take care of all the organisation for you so you only have one company to deal with. If you use an exporter from Japan you will need to organise customs clearance (yourself or through a customs broker) and compliance as well, but you save the import broker fee. It's all about which ever suits you better. Geoff at Prestige has been doing this for many, many years and I have heard great things about him. Mark has great rep also, so it's up to your preferences. Cheers, Ozan.

You guys have any preference as to what type of paint to use for doing the calipers? I have heard VHT is good, but then I've also heard of people using kits with a cleaner and 2 paint components that you mix together and apply with a brush. What's the general consensus on brake caliper paint? Cheers.

Hi All, I have finally reached the end of the long importing process and thought I would post up a summary of how everything went for two reasons:- I’ve seen a lot of others ready to bring in an R34 and they are welcome to use the same companies I did as I would recommend them highly! A shameless plug for the companies that helped me so much throughout the whole process. I won’t get into the details about importing as all the details about the importing process including costs, procedure etc. can be found on this forum. However please remember to not take everything you read to heart as at the end of the day it varies greatly based on what you want. I am happy to answer any questions you have if you are about to import an R34 yourself. Firstly, finding your car and getting it to Australia. I chose to go with Mark Hocking from My Trading and I would have to say that everything you hear about this man is without a doubt true! He is, in my opinion, the best person out there when it comes to finding exactly the car you are looking for. Mark made the whole process so easy and clear and would not settle for any vehicle other than the best. There were points when I was getting impatient and was willing to settle for second best but he made sure we kept looking and found the car that I was looking for. Mark is very happy to talk and provides you with his mobile number so you can reach him whenever you need to. In all the time I was searching the auctions and calling him to get cars inspected he was always patient and helpful and kept things on track. I cannot express how important this part of the importing process is as if you don’t get the car you want, it doesn’t matter how well the rest of the process goes you will not be happy. You need to make sure that the person buying your car from the auctions knows exactly what you want, hence the reason why working with Mark is so good as he is the one you talk to and he is the one that buys your car from the auctions (after inspecting the vehicle personally). My one bit of advice here is, get involved in the process. Call your import borker or exporter A LOT! The more you keep in contact the more they will think of you when vehicles come up for auction. Sure it may cost you a lot in phone calls but it can make the difference between getting an alright car and a fantastic car. Search the forums for Mark’s name and you will not find one bad word about him. That was the reason why I chose to import my R34 through him. After the car gets to Australia you will need someone here to handle the wharf paperwork and get it to the compliance workshop. Although you can do all this paperwork yourself, I would recommend strongly against it. Simply because it isn’t really that much of a cost when compared to the price of an R34 and it will ensure that your car leaves the wharves as soon as possible. Customs brokers have been doing this for a living for ages and they know exactly where things can go wrong and get on top of any issues that arise. I chose Sunstate Customs & Cargo as my customs broker and I couldn’t be happier with the service. Adam at Sunstate was very helpful and informed me of everything I needed to provide along the way as well as doing everything on time to make sure I got the car quickly without incurring any storage. Once again I recommend getting involved and getting on the phone to the customs broker as often as you can. Basically I found that if I was very polite but persistent they were always happy to help me out and update me on the status. I have to emphasise however, be polite, it is hard as you may get anxious and frustrated as delays occur but anger isn’t going to resolve anything. Just keep updated and do everything you can to make sure you never hold up the process. Once you have cleared the wharves you need to get your car complied. There is a lot of talk about what you can and can’t have on your car with regard to compliance and how you can keep your Xenons etc. Those issues are a discussion for another topic so I won’t go into them here, but all I can say is search the forums. Whenever I wanted an answer I found it in the forums. I have said it many times but I will say it again, please remember to get on the phone and get involved in the process. This will make sure that you will find out about any issues quickly and get them resolved before they cause major problems. I followed this rule and I have come out of the process very happy with an impression that the importing process is smooth and trouble free if you keep on top of it. Apologies for the freaking long post, but I have come out of the whole process so happy that I had to give credit to all those who helped me out along the way. Once again, many thanks to Mark Hocking (the most important person in the whole process). Adam Kemp from Sunstate Customs & Cargo (who kept everything under control at the wharves). Last but not least, all the great people at Shogun Car Company (who performed mechanical surgery on my R34, fantastic job!!). I may have missed parts of information and I know I haven’t answered everything but please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Cheers, Ozan. P.S. If you got this far, thanks for reading the whole post

Anyone? I need to get some marks on the seats cleaned up. Surely someone must know a professional detailer they have used before and would recommend.

Hi All, Am looking to get my R34 professionally cleaned, inside and out. Anybody know a good detailer they have used before? Cheers, Ozan.

I'd probably like to replace the entire assembley as I hear this is the least intrusive method. Not sure if there is anything I can do with the stock Xenon's afterwards, since they aren't legal here. Maybe I could replace the Xenons with legal one (I heard certain types are OK?).

Does anyone have a set of instructions for replacing the stock R34 Xenon lights with some Halogen ones? Cheers, Ozan.

Hi All, On the hunt for a good customs broker... can you guys please let me know of any customs brokers that you would reccomend and have had a good experience with please? Thanks in advance, Ozan Makinaci. P.S. I'm based in Brisbane, QLD.

Fantastic! Thanks mate, really appreciate that. I owe you a beer if I see you.

Hi All, Could someone please translate the key areas of this auction sheet for me? Much appreciated, Ozan.

I've read a lot that brokers will 'ASSIST' you along the process. I was under the impression that for the $1000 (or thereabouts) you can sit back and answer questions. I though they were supposed to organise and carry out the entire process, shipping, customs clearance and compliance. Is this right? Thanks.

Checked out that site, and I hate to admit this but I was a little lost as I have no idea what 'Evidence' is (and I thought I read enough internet doco). So yeah, if you wouldn't mind, what's the concept of evidence about? Thanks, Ozan.

Hey Ladies & Gents, About to have a go an imporitng a '98 34 GT-T, so I am at the book a compliance plate stage. Was just wondering if you guys could give me a few opinions of good RAWS you have used. I am based in Brisbane so one that is close would be good but if there is a excellent one out Gold Coast or Sunny Coast way I may well consider them too. Cheers, Ozan.

For my benefit, can someone explain how the timing belt breaking can cause so much damage? Cheers.

ed... That's brilliant mate, exactly what I was looking for... any more gems like that?

Hi All, Does anyone know a good website or store that sells R34 GT-T body kits, I have been looking for a kit but can only find kits for R33's and other nissans. Cheers, Ozan.

Fantastic, thanks for that RyanN... Looks like the series one is the way to go. I can always get more torque in the car but build quality is very important. Thank you all for your response, much appreciated.

RyanN, Don't supposed you still have the link for this thread do you? I'd love to take a look at it.

Hi All, I have been a long time reader on this forum but this is my first post. Before I get to my questio though I would like to thank all the people that research the answers for people like me, I have found so many answers in these forums and saved myself so much time so thank you all again. Recently I have been trying to collate a complete list of the differences between the Series I and Series II R34 Skylines. Using the Motor Traders website I have got this information so far. The Series I Specs: http://imports.motortraders.net/imports/sp...spec.asp?id=549 The Series II Specs: http://imports.motortraders.net/imports/sp...spec.asp?id=533 As you can see this information is pretty thorough and the two things that I cannot confirm is how the LSD was changed in the Series II R34 (I read once that this is modified in the Series II model). The other item that is unclear is the colours that are available for the Series II (I also read somewhere once the you could get the Series II in 'Lightning Yellow'). The biggest gap in my list of differences however is the differences in the interior of the two models. I know there were a few changes but I have not been able to find accurate and confirmed answers. I have also read somewhere that in the Series II model the manufacturers started to reduce costs by skipping out on some smaller build finish items such as painting the 'Turbo' engine label clip-on. Is this true? If so, what other smaller items were skipped in order to reduce costs. I appreciate all your input! Thanks in advance, Ozan.