samos69

Ok so instead of working on my skyline I've had to troubleshoot a bastard altezza (turns out no1 injector was toast when warm) source a new injector, get it cleaned then refit. Aaannddd then the head unit in my ute took a dump which was awesome, $500 down the toilet for a new one :splat: I then unwrapped the nsmo diff I had bought some time ago that was in my damp-a$$ garage I had thought because the backing plate was on and it was in shrinkwrap on a pallet it would be ok... Fecking rust! Asked around and a bit of google lead me to believe it wasn't too big of a deal so cleaned it up and then sealed the back on with high temp RTV, will fill it tomorrow if I get a chance. Put together the passenger side handbrake, no pics as it looks like the drivers side Sourced some new (to me) rear discs to replace the rust buckets I had been using for mockup. Fitted Then went to work fitting the swaybar, the bushes I got aren't for a skyline but they did match up measurement-wise. Was a right #$%# to fit, had to bend the brackets out a bit and then the mounting holes didn't match up so enlarged them slightly with the dremel. Result: Starting putting together the universal swaybar link kit, it's a jigsaw! Luckily I had one of the old links to use as a guide for setting up the length Loosely fitted the drivers side until I get the passenger side started as well. And that's all I got done before having to attend to dad-duties. Hopefully it will be on it's wheels before the end of easter, maybe even fire it up to turn the motor over.

Yeah had a look and they all seem ok' date=' blurry photo... [img']http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/samos69/Skyline%20Project/DSC04973.jpg[/img] Only had an hour tonight so bolted up the other side and ran into an issue, it seems there are two lengths of bolt for the suspension arms and some are a bit short as there is no thread showing once done up tight... I'll have to scrounge the bolt box, if not off to pick-a-part or maybe the local fasteners place will have something suitable. Also had this turn up today... so can put some oil in the LSD and mount it this week. Soon it'll be back on it wheels for the first time in about 9 months!

Ok so finally managed to get a bit done! Bolted up the subframe with the locking collars Got all my china-spec arms out and set them to approximately factory length except toe (replacing a hicas lock bar so no arm to compare to) Then hit a problem. I bought all my arms new except the camber arms I got second hand cheaply about 9 months ago. The guy said they had only been fitted up then not used. I guess I found out why they were only fitted then sold.. Notice the gap... On one arm the weld is too close to the bolt hole I inspected the arm and decided that with the extra material bracing it that a little tickle from the grinder wouldn't hurt. Result: Took a bit of head scratching to remember how the handbrake goes back together as it's been so long since I took it apart! Finally back together with the mock-up disc and caliper in position. My postman delivered me some stuff from the good old USA seeing as how I couldn't find a local source from some steel open end 45mm+ lugnuts. Threw on the 25mm spacers I'm gonna run on the rear and put on one of the 9" wheels (yes it's the wrong one, it was closest!) Then jacked it up to check clearance. I'm happy :jack: Just a little bit of guard work required. And that was all I had time for, should get the other side done tomorrow night, mount the diff, swaybar, shocks and drop it back on it's wheels.

Now that I had cleaned up the boot jam and por15'd the small amount of surface rust I wanted to get some painting practise. The car is never going to be a show car but I at least want it tidy, and I intend to restore a classic of some sort down the road so this is perfect for practising on (I've never used a spray gun in anger - plenty of rattle cans though). Bought a cheap 3 pack from Supercheap ages back to get the hang of things, and I have about 1.5 litres of the original paint (over 6 years old!) hanging around but there was a nice thick skin inside the paint tin I had to get rid of first.. Thought I'd use the small gun for such a small job. Primed up with rattle can primer a while back after the por15 was set. Then gave some colour a go. Mixed at 20% thinners it came out with a pretty good gloss, no runs that I can see. Overall pretty happy for a first attempt with the gun, it'll be way brighter than the rest of the old paint when I unmask but it'll be hidden when the boot is shut. Next step - mounting the new subframe, hubs, arms, diff, etc. Just waiting on some diff oil for the nismo LSD..

I also bought a new tool... check this out! Rivnuts.... my new favourite thing. I'll be using this instead of the usual self tappers everytime I want to mount something in the engine bay or boot such as my surge tank, etc.. The tool itself is just like a riveter but has different inserts to do different size rivnuts (or nutserts as the yanks call them). I'll be using the M4 or M5 a lot I'd say... Also picked up some skid rims, trying to sell off all my 16s and these came up for an ok price so they will be on drift / burnout comp duties if I decide to do some events other than grip. That's all for now, hopefully the courier brings some goodies soon and I will progress some more (I had hoped to lift in the subframe last week but that is off the cards for a bit now..dammit).

Right so slow progress due to a broken / bruised rib Only light duties for about 3-4 weeks... That said I ordered in some proper brackets from nzkw and they fit pretty good, even though they looked used.. Brand new my #$@% But it all lines up ok - I need to get some m8*15 as my 20mm ones are a bit long. Now since this is taking forever and I'm in jeopardy of losing interest I decided to leave the lower arm bush replacement for a winter task. Dulux overhaul for now it is... cleaned up ready for some por15 And done

Sooo not a lot of progress which has been frustrating. Borrowed a little 6 ton press off my boss.. I've never used one of these so this should be interesting. Removed the circlip An old AF socket as a drift And pop, well that was easy Full of confidence I move onto the bushes... bugger. The "mouth" of the arm is too shallow to get the bush in underneath the press. As the press is just the right height I put it under a floor joist to brace it and set this up thinking it wouldn't take much pressure to get the bush out (yes I know this isn't the conventional way to do things!) Which promptly bent the arm... $#%^&^ Off to pick-a-part and a new arm was acquired for $19 in much better condition than mine so I won't replace the balljoint for now. But I'm still stuck with trying to remove the bushes to replace them with poly.. So I migged a nut on some threaded rod and built this And as it wasn't high tensile rod...stripped it. So that's me stuck, I am thinking of getting some steel and making a modified seat for the press, or I'm back to burning the bushes out and cutting the casing out after (like I did with the hub bushes earlier). The only good news, these turned up at Repco for me All new bushes and links for the GTR swaybar. Nolathane don't make a specific bush for the GTR swaybar (25mm) so I had to spend an hour looking at all the bush measurements on their website to find some with suitable dimensions. Should get a crack at things over the long weekend so more progress!

Right got a bit of time today so decided to tackle my bucket seat. The old mounting system was a bodge job and not that stable... Handily this had just turned up in the post And I had got these a while back.. My trusty seat - unfortunately while in storage at the olds it was the defacto bed for the cat, and one of the plastic harness protectors has gone missing... no doubt impossible to replace so I'll have to make something, I'm not keen to change seats as this one is very light and is a bit wider than some which fits my arse just right. Tried to mock it up and it was a damn tight squeeze... Bit of dremel action to elongate the holes.. And still no dice! On closer inspection I have a mis-matched pair of brackets. The right hand side one is too short when trying to use the correct holes... So my options are to either buy some 3mm steel and make a replacement, or order a set of brackets from NZKW for $45.... Given the amount of work still to be done on the car my time is better spent on other stuff. I'll probably place an order tomorrow... Not a lot done but it's all progress

Now if you recall way back I had pressed out the bushes in my rear hubs ready for the swanky orange driftworks items I had ordered in. Well my tardiness in getting the bushes installed meant that the fresh metal exposed from removing the old bushes corroded somewhat... So onto the wet and dry and soon enough all was smooth again.. On to the bush installation. This would be easier with a second set of hands or a press but you can manage with just a vice and a few swear words.. Grease up the bush and the hole it's destined for.... Put some wood or thick cardboard in your vice to protect the bush, line it up and..... I had to carefully coax out the lip of the bush on the other side with a small screwdriver.. Repeat the grease process with the centre tube and then have a beer. Actually, don't have a beer, repeat the process until you have this: Test fit a toe arm... looks good (centre tube not quite even in the pic but this was remedied with a set of multis..) And that was all I got time for.... things are looking hopeful for another session on the car tomorrow, all in all a good Friday!

What I got done today... The axles were in need of a clean up so after a buzz with the wire wheel on my drill they got some treatment from good old CT18 degreaser. Pre degrease Bit of a pain, the passenger side end cap keeps popping out and oozing grease everywhere, notice how it's got a bulge compared to the drivers side... weird. Got rid of my hose clamp solution and used a few metal cable ties, two pairs of pliers and I got it pretty tight - the special tool for these is stupidly expensive! Trimmed Masked up for a bit of my favourite, POR15! Had too much paint out of the tin and you aren't supposed to transfer it back so grabbed my GTR swaybar and gave it a tickle up while the brush was wet..

Right so this parenthood lark is far more time consuming than I anticipated.... that coupled with work being mental up to the xmas break and the skyline hasn't even been looked at let alone worked on So to cheer myself up the daily driver got an upgrade, new wheels / tyres and a nudge bar. It's also been tinted since this photo. I got a small window recently and dropped my old subframe... yuck. Surface rust everywhere and oh look, a leaking bush and a split bush.... good thing I've already got the lock collars and my non-hicas subframe is in better condition. Unfortunately a leaking balljoint has previously given the passengers side a good coating of grease And I should do something about this bodgy fix I did years ago... Going to need some new swaybar links...luckily they were already part of the plan

So I've been MIA from the forums for a bit.... shedloads of house stuff to get done, rooms to be painted, etc and then BAM! instant loss of all free time, but she's worth it So the poor skyline has sat completely untouched, I even had the hubs on the bench ready for the new bushes which are sitting alongside waiting for installation... Hopefully in the next few weeks I might get some time, but in the tradition of not doing things by halves I've resigned from my crappy govt job and start a new one in 2 weeks time which will no doubt leave me even less free time! So with the life story over onto car related stuff. I decided to buy myself a "new job" present, the last piece in the rear end / subframe puzzle - a nismo 2 way (trademe vendor photo as I'm at work and the diff is on the floor of my garage). Some b@stard had a bidding war with me and I may have paid slightly too much, due to the fact that there hasn't been a 2 way on TM for ages so I wanted this one pretty badly. This week there's been 2 more listed :boohoo: but who cares, I have now have my diff :jack: All that remains is to have new balljoints fitted to the lca's and I can swap in the new subframe / adjustable arms, etc and reassemble it all.

Thanks! It's a dump of about 2 years elapsed time I've been rather slow I'm a few pages away from up to date, the car arrived back this weekend with it's cage so I'm pumped to get stuff done on it!

Ok weeks are pretty full at the moment but I managed to knock out a bit of work on the car tonight. Touched up a couple of spots on the hubs and then began on the non hicas subframe I acquired a while back. This is purely for rust prevention so a quick scrub, dry and then on with the POR15. If it were a restoration I'd sandblast it and spray the POR15 on for a better finish. Still came up alright I reckon. Then I've sold my factory front pipe to another member so the exhaust had to come off. Mmmm Tanabe Super Medallion 3.5 inches, fark all mufflers What is replacing the factory pipe you might ask? 3.5 inches of Trust goodness. It's bigger than the factory pipe is even with it's heat shields on! I can't find my only dyno plot but the car tapered off up high with the RB25 turbo on so I reckon it was down to factory dump / front pipe restrictiveness. I also need to get some flanges and make a bigger decat pipe just to ensure it's not a flow restriction either... or cut and extend the exhaust... That's all tonight.. this weekend is full of stereo installs and storage shed building to try and regain some room in the garage as I can't really move about at the minute... hopefully I might get some bushes into the hubs as well.

As for the skyline, got the balljoints (and a couple of bushes) pressed out for the princely sum of $76 + GST. Highly recommend this if you are removing bushes as it's so little money for a big time saving. BUT - I left the hubs on my garage floor near the door which is south facing and has a small strip along the top that is open... turns out Wellington air is a bit salty and there's surface rust inside all the bush casings (apologies if the photo quality is a bit crap, the mrs dropped the slr and it's gone away for a new casing so I'm on a little cheapy point and shoot) Still a bit of fine wet and dry will clean it up just means a bit more work. I thought while I'm here I'll do a bit of rust prevention so out came the POR15. Just need to clean up the casings and then grease and press the bushes in using my new 150mm vice, hopefully this one doesnt break Once that's all done it'll be subframe assembly time with these bits I have collected That's toe arms, traction arms, rear camber arms and front castor.

Since I'm swapping over to a non-hicas subframe I need to remove the balljoints that the hicas arms normally attach to. A bit of google-fu seemed to think that a large clamp and some sockets might do the trick. First remove the circlip on the back Then have a go at it, using a large pipe as a lever only resulted in the clamps arm trying to bend. So I thought I'd set it up in my vice instead to get more leverage on it! I didn't have a before photo of this but as I was busy tightening up the vice using a long steel pole on the vice handle there was a loud crack and everything fell to the ground :confused: The remnants of my vice, though cheap he served me for over 10 years... Also this punch gave his life extracting the previous bushing casings... A bit more google suggests that the ball joint can become "fused" and require over 11 tons of pressure to be removed so if anyone in Wellington has access to a press - HELP! If I had a bigger garage it would almost be worth acquiring one... That's all I got done today, still got the other side to go and both lower arms need the fire / chisel treatment or I may just get them pressed out to save time.

Now onto a job which took way longer than I anticipated. First we need to remove the old rubber bushes, the best way to do this according to Driftworks and the internet? With fire Then using a hacksaw cut a notch in the sleeve you supposedly chisel the sleeve to collapse itself in all while taking care not to damage the carrier. After over an hour of being careful! Then finally it let go The second one came out much more quickly as I got rather agressive once I had hit my thumb a few times with a 20oz hammer trying to be gentle Still I marked the insides a bit, nothing too major and a quick once over with a file ensure no sharp edges so it should be all good. One Two

So today I planned on putting the front on jack stands and dropping the exhaust but due to the height I put the rear at my piddly little jack can't get the front up high enough so I'll need to borrow / purchase a bigger jack... With that plan failed I thought I'd start on another side project. Step one remove the brake caliper (the copper grease I posted earlier came into it's own here everything I had done up was easy to undo once loosened) and brake disc. The pop the handbrake shoes off and loosen all the suspension arms. Rattle gun made short work of the centre nut, luckily I had these off before so I had already purchased a 36 (!) socket years ago for the job. This balljoint was a pain in the ***, also none of my metric spanners fit but my biggest AF which was lucky. A few solid whacks with a hammer and using a pry bar separated it. Why am I removing the hubs you might ask? Because a care package from Driftworks arrived this week all the way from Birmingham (and only 5 days after ordering!) With a bit of tat included

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm over all this stripping / maintenance stuff but the reason I'm starting at the back is because I know if I started in the engine bay I would never get around to doing this stuff! Couple more pics of the tow hook mounting. I've cut enough out that I can attach / reattach the hook with the fuel tank in place (otherwise I would have had to drop the tank if I ever needed to remove the bumper!) I can mount it this way as I'm not running a rear bumper iron - wooo more weight loss

Yeah he's definitely got the legend tag now Well just a small amount to show for what surprisingly took quite a long time. Finally used some of the por 15 to tidy up the rear seam. I got 30ml out and put it in a jar. this is how much it covered!!!! This area won't be seen so I just keep brushing it on. Great stuff but it ruins paint brushes. I also wanted to cover just above the number plate as that used to be visible when it was white and annoyed me. I then dropped the fuel tank, couple of 17mm bolts on the straps and 1 10mm by the filler and it just dropped out. I then attacked the tow hook with a grinder I managed to get it removed but haven't uploaded the rest of the pics as it isn't finished but here's the mock-up of why I removed it Previously my outings at manfield resulted in some errrr, regular use of the tow hooks and they are just too small to hook onto properly so I thought I'd put something a little better on just in case! That's all for this update, but once again the postman delivered me some goodies so lots more work to get on with!

Well I've been tied up with work and family stuff so not a lot of actual progress on the car, although just dropped the other half off at the airport headed for Sydney so I've got 7 days to crack on with no distractions Now even though no work has been done, the bank balance has taken a thrashing. Here's what's arrived and I have to get on fitting. First up a set of Falken Azenis in 245/45/17. Not my first choice in tyre but they are brand new and I got the whole set fitted and balanced for under $700... beats $500 per tyre for R888s! Also I don't think tyres will be my limiting factor on the track for quite some time... Wheels are unknown from Japan and have AMP carving on the back, as far as I can tell from some research they may have been made in the same factory as work or something? Either way the are 17x8 and 17x9 with 35p offset and the 9 inch rims weighed under 10kg without a tyre so not the lightest, but also not as heavy as the cheap rims floating about. Rear fitment (yes the tread is backwards, just grabbed the first back rim to test) Hmm, may need some guard rolling or removal of the 15mm spacers... but I have these as well - 20mm spacers! Hmmm, decisions... maybe frp wide guards at some point I think. Side shot Bought this even though I don't need it yet. T3 to T3 with 38mm wastegate flange. Means I can retain the factory manifold instead of a cheap stainless job that would no doubt crack.. It's the only one I've seen on trademe so thought I'd snap it up. And this all turned up so I can begin mocking up the fuel system. Bosch 044 and braided line, I already have a surge tank ready as well. Fancy fittings are out of scope for now as money needs to be spent elsewhere on the car! On a garage related note, I've spent 10 years working out of this tool box and assorted socket set cases... it's about end of life so I was hunting for a new 9 drawer unit. I mentioned it my old man and he said he'd hunt something down through the farm suppliers and get a good price. He rang me up and said he'd found a deal but it was a bit more than I'd wanted to spend but he'd bought it anyway as a xmas / birthday gift. I was well shocked when this turned up. Absolute legend my dad! Hopefully tomorrow some real work will get done!

So not a whole lot of progress due to work / family commitments etc but I'm still plugging away. I'm now done inside with only a few seams to wire wheel at a later date. Thanks to the previous owner's chisel method of removing the sound deadener the worst of the surface rust was under the back seat. It was taking too long so out came my trusty grinder and flap disc Also I wasn't going to do the boot but the previous owner had removed one sides seam sealer so I guess I should even it up. Almost done... Picked up this during the week, R32 non-hicas subframe which I'll clean up and get some adjustable toe arms for. I was hoping to mock up the fuel system and the rear firewall this weekend but the guy I bought the fuel line off is hopeless and hasn't sent it yet and the receptionist at Ulrich failed to mention they are open on Saturdays except when it's a long weekend (i.e this weekend when I showed up at 8.30am to a closed factory ) I have to go away this weekend for a wedding so better get into it in the evenings to make up for lost time! (and I have to fit a stereo + reversing camera to a dirty toyota highlander so that'll soak up one of my evenings!)

I was thinking satin or matt black to minimize reflection but I do have a bunch of gloss white spare so that may be it. Well it's already about 2kgs of deadener I reckon as the bulk of it is already gone maybe another kg to go. Here's some weights from a thread I saved over on SAU, it's for a gtr but lots of the stuff is the same: rear seat back 6.5kg rear seat bottom 6.5kg front ds seat 15kg front ps seat 15kg main carpet 6kg rear trims in back seat 5kg parcel shelf 1kg space saver wheel 15kg boot trims 6kg jack/toolkit 4kg boot brackets 3kg air con/heater/blower fan 10kg firewall sound deadener 4kg rear seat belts 2.5kg spoiler 7.5kg air con pump 8kg air con bracket 1.5kg charcoal canister/bracket 1kg washer bottle 1kg hicas pump, engine bay lines 7kg abs unit 8kg hicas undercar lines 2kg cooler piping/bov's 15kg fusebox loom 7kg front bumper support 6.5kg sound deadener 11kg dash loom 4kg fuel tank 13kg (fuel cell = 6kg) interior/attessa/boot loom 6kg rear wiper motor 2kg coilovers 6kg lighter than stock hicas pump rack 9kg boot with spoiler (no hinges) 15.5kg front axles x 2 12kg sump/front diff(gtr=24kg, vl=2.5kg) 21.5kg air con condensor/lines 5kg battery 15kg wiring harnesses 8kg drum brake assemblies 5kg hicas ecu 2kg heater hoses 1kg bumper reinforcements 8kg transfer case 33kg oil cooler block 2kg So at the moment I've removed 141.5kg according to that list (once all the sound deadening is gone) and the only thing to go back in is my very light Bride drivers seat and a harness. Of course the cage will add a bunch of weight as well as my fuel system but at the same time I have a few lightweight items on route to replace heavy factory items to counteract the weight-gain

7.5 hours today.... and this was all I got done. Still got drivers side rear footwell and under the back seat area to go... I'm aching like a mofo.... I better not crash this thing cos never again!!!

Got a bit done today. First up finished painting the front calipers and fitted some bendix race pads I got cheap Continued removing the interior so I can clean up the floor and ready it for a cage. console out And carpet out, pretty happy its only got bits of surface rust on the floor no repairs needed. I said previously I bought this shell with sound deadening removed, well I never did check it closely or I was lazy and just put the carpet down cos it was a crap job they did!!! Not enough to go out and buy dry ice so I resorted to the heat gun method which takes longer and is much messier.... but got the drivers bit out And then with some wiping down with thinners the dark bits are patches of surface rust left to be treated. Here's a comparison with the other parts I'll have to tackle tomorrow, it took a few hours to get one bit done so lots left to do.