Modification Update Thread.

[slip]

Ok guys, here's something different. This thread is here so that when you upgrade your car, you can keep everyone updated with each others progress.

Heres mine....

Well after a few years, I am finally becoming happy with my car.

What we started with was a basically standard R31 with an exhaust. Money has been the limiting factor in the evolution of this car. It has probably looked like ive been talking shit in the past, as the car hardly changed for a long time, but now its all happening.

My custom brake upgrade has just been completed, and is a massive improvement and total success.

We have gone from standard single sliding piston brakes front and rear, with small solid rotors on the back, to....

R32 GTS-t Master cylinder, booster, front 4 piston callipers, slotted front DBA rotors, rear 2 piston callipers.

Import R31 Turbo front hubs.

New rear handbrake design.

HSV slotted vented rear rotors.

Billet alloy spacers.

All custom mounted to existing original struts and diff.

No one we know of has ever done the rears before, so I was a bit of a guinea pig there, these ended up being easier than the fronts due to some misleading information supplied to me before and throughout the upgrade regarding the fronts. To do the brakes this way, with brand new rotors and all custom fabrication is not cheap, but it IS track ready and will be fully engineered.

Cost : Lots

Time taken : Over 1 month, longer than it should have due to parts hold ups and problems with information.....

Stress level : off the scale.

Other changes to the car are in the suspension department, with the car now sporting...

Koni Reds

Kmac adjustable strut tops

Whiteline front strut brace

Whiteline swaybars

King springs

16x7 and 16x8 wheels.

Cost : $1500. Springs/strut brace were free.

Time taken : Too long, had the rears out about 6 times to adjust and sort them out due to being assembled incorrectly on the car i got them off.

Stress level : 6.5

The car is a totally different piece of machinery now. No longer does it handle dangerously and repeatedly run out of brakes on mountain runs. It can be slid in a corner safely, does not understeer like a pig, has heaps more mid corner grip, and pulls up very hard, with heaps of control, repeatedly.

Very happy.

Moral of the story - if youve got some performance mod's you want to do, and you have the financial backing to do so, go for it. You will enjoy you car so much more, have so much fun, and unless it involves more hp, have a safer vehicle, more able vehicle as well.

What have you done recently, and how did it go?

[locutus_of_bris]

Well the only thing I have done to my car so far is put a full set of decent tyres on it (SO3's) and got an alignment (after changing the rack ends that were stuffed). Don't underestimate the difference good tyres can make to a car. It makes the car a lot more stable and predictable, and then controllable. In terms off track times I have done the same time with good tyres on and 7psi as I did with crap tyres and 10psi (to the 100th of a second). Power won't get you far if you cant corner at the ends

Brakes will be next as I met Slips brake man at the last track day, so new pads soon, then rotors some time later. Also looking at having my exhaust checked out to make sure it's decent and then ECU upgrade. Anyone who has any suggestions for ECU of place to talk to please let me know.

Thats it for now. More news/plans after I get paid again

[MotoX]

hehe looks below.

o and i got a dirty looking momo steering wheel and i cant see my spedo and tacho at the top.

putting new plugs in this weekend, and gaping them to .7 so that i can run more psi

[jlnewton]

My car currently getting the stereo fitted. Should get it back tomorrow. The stereo has been sitting under my bed for 18 months! Should be good, The standard Clarion unit had the worst radio reception and it was only a tape deck as the factory stacker had been removed before I got the car.

Just last week I fitted Cusco pillow-ball tension rods and a Whiteline camber adjustment kit to the front of my car. Makes the car feel totally different. Steering slightly heavier, feels more stable at high speed. Just has more feel.

This goes with the new tyres about a month ago now. Yokohama A539s all round at 235/45 R17. Made a huge difference to the car. Have total confidence in the wet now, where before I use to dread driving in the rain. Very happy so far.

In march I got cusco rear camber adjustable arms for the rear as I have been chewing the inside of the rear tyres and didn't want to do that to my new ones. I also got front and rear Cusco strut braces and Bilstein shock for the rear. Certainly stiffened things up a little. Also got a HKS type 1 turbo timer then, which I have had lots of fun with, testing the speed timing functions.

The only other things I have added were in Feb, during a trip to Sydney. While I was there I bought an 02 Rush Pod filter, a UAS Cold Air Box, Nismo clear blinkers (side and Front GTR ones), Nismo Key.

I have some whiteline pineapples in the garage. Next will be to fit them, get bilstein shocks for the front and possibly a disc rotor upgrade and possibly whiteline swaybars. Then I shall file for bankruptcy!

[MotoX]

jlnewton: how much was it for your cusco rear camber arms.

and did you install them yourself?

are they jsut a bar? with an adjustment thing?

my rear wheels have a little bit of camber and with wide rears my insidses always go bald.

i recently installed an mp3 player, mb quart splits and a big **** off alpine v12 amp, and kicker 6.5" rears. now i jsut need to find an amp for my 2 12" kicker comps which are just sitting there.

hehe i am runniong snow tyres on my stocko rims, my rear 17" have very bald tyres. and ill take a pic of my snow tyres, they have eaten up so badly it isnt funny.

o and i bought a smelly thing for my car.

[[ABU53]]

Ok, here goes my tale of go and woe (not a spelling mistake).

I bought the R32 GTS-4 stock standard a little over a year ago. The car had around 80,000 km's on the clock, was (and still is) immaculate inside and outside.

First mods were on the inside with the addition of a Kenwood head unit, Sony 6 x 9" speakers, 600 watt amp and 12" Sony Xplod sub in the boot all from my old car.

Of course, driving around with no 'real' mods was frustrating so next came a custom 5" straight through stainless steel exhaust made by a friend of mine.

To go with the cannon, I had a 3" mandrel bent system with high flow cat and dump pipe fitted.

Next mod was on the inside with the addition of an autometer boost gauge, apexi turbo timer, alarm system and, in the engine bay, a Turbo XS bleed valve.

Now that I had boost and a good exhaust it was time for handling. I was extremely lucky to chance upon a full set of fully adjustable Bilstein coil-over struts for $100 per corner! Buy of the century!

Next up was a custom clutch from Direct Clutch Service. A 3,000lbs job is still doing the trick now (my third clutch so far due to dumping it in 4WD)

The car stayed unchanged for a while after this until I put it into a guard rail down Mt. Coot-tha at around 110km/hr (or so my passenger says).

This was the longest mod to perform as it was in the panel shop for a good 7 weeks and $8,000. I suggest you don't try this mod yourself as it isn't much fun. (the crashing part that is).

While in the panel shop, I decided to have the car de-badged, had all bumps and scratches removed before it was given a full fresh coat of paint and a Blitz bodykit minus the wing.

I loved the look of the car and had done for 1 month after it was finished until some dickless asshole felt the need to scratch my bonnet.

All that aside, I had also fitted a K&N air filter and personalised plates. Oh, and a switch to be able to alternate between 2WD and 4WD from in the cabin.

Of course, I still have plans for it so I am nowhere near finished yet.

[hungry6]

well my car is totally stock!!! and my next mods will be ppq plates [DUZ13]

[jlnewton]

Originally posted by MotoX

jlnewton: how much was it for your cusco rear camber arms.

and did you install them yourself?

are they jsut a bar? with an adjustment thing?

my rear wheels have a little bit of camber and with wide rears my insidses always go bald.

i

The attached pic should tell the story. Can't remember (or don't want to remember) exactly how much they ended up being. I got them through Takas, as that worked out to be the cheapest at the time but I am sure it ended up around the $550ish mark. JMS wanted $750. Quite dear, a twin whiteline rear camber kit is probably better value, but the adjustable arm allows more adjustment and takes out the soft rubber bushes. Besides, the arm looks really cool! Really easy to fit. Took about 20 min per side, that included jacking and taking the wheels off. Must get an alignment afterwards though. I am running about 1 deg of neg camber at the moment, i will see how that goes, it was over two. My car has been lowered about 30mm I think.

[Guest 382 GZV - 4 Door R33]

Originally posted by locutus_of_bris

Anyone who has any suggestions for ECU of place to talk to please let me know.

I am thinking of getting autronic put in my car - some people think anything not power FC or HKS is evil but I think if it is properly tuned the autronic will be as good. As well it has anti-lag giving you full boost from idle and (with SM2 about $500 more) you can get traction control and launch control and flat shifting - if you feel the need to rush out and get yourself a sequential shifter and want to get the most of it. I don't think the Power FC does these things.

The factory ECU will stay in place to control speedo and air con I think.

At the moment I'm getting down at a place in underwood - CNJ motorsport - unless anyone has had trauma with them!

*jlnewton - do you have standard height bilstein struts? or shortened? Did you change your springs? Where did you get your work done?

I didn't know you could get bilstein coil overs - I think that maybe the way to go. The guy at Fulcrum was bent on winning me over from Bilsteins and Kings to Fulcrum coil-overs :-| I still want good ride quality for the wife...

[WHITE R32]

my car is slow....... that is all.......hoping to be slower in the future i know its a big ask but its something to aspire to......

[slip]

382 - heard good things about CNJ. Just watch Fulcrum on their pricing, do as much research as you can. They arent the only people out there that can do the job.

[NissTrust]

Ok Well i brought my car about 2 years ago, it aint a skyline but a S13 SR20DET Silvia.

I brought that car with the following mods, exhaust, Pod Filter, HD clutch, Frontmount Intercooler, HKS GT2510, and a Link Engine Management System, also came with a set of Yokohama A032R's, KYB SR Specials, and GTR 4 piston calipers.

About a year later i blew the engine, it spun a bottom end bearing. And rebuilt it with Forged Pistons from Cosworth blanks. The quality of the rebuild was not up to scratch, resulting in the engine dieing again just 3 months ago. (Not happy Jan)

I am now undergoing rebuild number 2, this time with a balanced and blueprinted bottomend, and titanium valve train gear, with a larger fuel system to boot which includes 850cc SARD injectors and Bosch 984 fuel pump. Got some extra toys whilst i was at it, including Apexi AVC-R and M&W Pro12 CDI. Thought i should also grab a new diff, now i have a NISMO 4.11:1 LSD, and OG Giken twin plate.

I was told the engine build would take 3 weeks, its 3 months down the track and still no engine

Cant wait till its all back together tough. I will be selling the 2510 down the track in search of a larger turbo, maybe a HKS GTRS, 3037s or 3040? who knows where the path to more HP will lead me.

Cheers guys, btw i'm am a frequent although silent visitor of these forums.

[jlnewton]

Originally posted by 382 GZV - 4 Door R33

*jlnewton - do you have standard height bilstein struts? or shortened? Did you change your springs? Where did you get your work done?

The lowered springs on my car were on it when I got it. Don't know what they are. I think they are lowered 30mm. I had to get new rear shocks as whoever owned the car before me lowered it and left the standard shocks in place. Needless to say they flogged themselves out. When I got the Bilsteins, I asked for them to suit a lowered car so I assume they are slightly shortened. All suspension work so far I have done myself except the shocks, but I won't tell you who did them as I am not going back to them as they were crap!

[jlnewton]

Originally posted by slip

382 - heard good things about CNJ.  Just watch Fulcrum on their pricing, do as much research as you can.  They arent the only people out there that can do the job.

I agree with slip, I have got a couple of quotes from Fulcrum and have found very expensive. And if you hit them with prices their labour time always seems to make up the difference!

[rb26dett]

ok here goes...bought my car last year...slip was there...

got the guy to put in tint, cd player.

put in the immobiliser myself after i got the car.

then i had a custom straight through catback exhaust put in and hks air filter kit.

then had the car lowered on king springs and while it was in the garage, had the mechanic hack into the ecu to reprogram fuel maps.

that was last year.

this year, i put in hks front pipes, hks cam gears, hks twin plate clutch, apexi power fc, apexi avc-r and nismo fuel regulator.

if anyone wants to get a twin, don't ever get the hks one. ask slip and abu53. they noe how it behaves.

next on the list (finances pending), would be trust oil sump, trust oil pump, bigger turbos, probably hks 2530, hks step 2 camshafts + jun titanium valve springs and retainers, 750cc injectors and of cos, bigger fuel pump and afms.

if u guys pray for the global economy to pick up so my cash flow is better and i can get my stuff, i'd bring u for a ride...

[MM2death]

Well in January this year i bought my Skyline....here were the specs and mods at the time of purchase:

1992 Nissan Skyline GTS-t Type M

-5spd Manual

-Silver Colour

-72000 km's

-GTR Bonnet and Grille

-Aftermarket Garret Turbo (unsure what type)

-3 inch Zorst Turbo Back with 4 inch Tip

-K&N M's Air Pod

-GReddy Boost Guage

-Strut Brace

-Volanti Steering Wheel

-Aftermarket Adjustable Suspension

-R33 Wheels

-Tinted Windows All Round

-Pioneer CD Head Unit c/w Kenwood Rear Speakers

First thing i did after i bought it was got it up on the dyno.

I got Turbosmart Bleed Valve fitted. Adjusted boost to 12psi and was tuned. Made 151.4 rwkw, but was leaning out. So then i got a 550HP intank fuel pump fitted.

Then i did my own service to the car which included engine oil change (Mobil 1), oil filter and gearbox oil change (Motul 300) among various other small things. I have yet to change my fuel filter (sitting in my room still ).

Next thing i want to do is see what quarter mile times i can put in.

Then mods after that will include:

-Front Mount Intercooler

-EBC

-Run 1 Bar

After this i hope to achieve 175rwkw.

I will update this post as i do more work/mods to my car.

Scott.

[Blackness]

Cost : more then I will ever get back on resale, but awesome fun

Time taken : 3 months

Stress level : pretty good ... so far

bought my 33GTS in Feb 03 with tein, cusco lsd, body kit, zorst etc

have fitted or fixed

second hand wheels 17 X8, 17X9

FMIC (easy, rewarding job)

hooked up aerial so radio works

removed high rise wing

fiting stealth wing

play around with ride height

cold air induction

insulated intercooler pipe and other boring reliability mods

Jaysons leather handbrake and gear boot kit

now waiting so far for 3 weeks for my car to be fixed after being rear ended, hence no drift days :bahaha:

future plans: power fc, larger turbo, electronic boost controler, larger injectors, camber kit (reality check: at least a year away cash wise )

[nismoman18]

Nothing serious on mine, of course its a matter of money

Simota POD filter mounted in front bar (cold air Induc.)

Lukey Catback Exhaust

Lowered King Springs

99' WRX Front indicators

Neons here and there

Dark Tint, new windscreen

Spotlights

all right stereo system

I would like to get a bomex bodykit, 17's or 18's, cams and gears, extractors however itll be awhile before they are a possibility

[dAVE]

okay - my car came in from the land of the rising sun with:

- remapped ecu (adv ignition, fuel maps, boost at 0.7 bar)

- cat back tanabe exhaust

- tanabe shocks and lowered tanabe springs (rear left leaking)

- hks bov

since then I have mainly riced it up but this is what I have done

- hks bov wasnt installed properly so I blocked off factory and got it working - result, nice PSSSHT sound

- put on a K&N pod filter - result, nice sucking sound

- installed a daiken exedy hd organic clutch - result, great! it grips wonderfully and is soo easy to drive with

- ohlins adjustable rear suspension - result, just as harsh as the old stuff but working properly.. still yet to adjust it

i have just bought a set of 17" wheels with 235 tires all round. I am hoping this will make a huge diff as my 205's suck balls.

[MotoX]

jsut finshed regaping my spark plugs to .75

and toped up my fluid levels with 2x 2L and 1 1.25L coke's mixed with the ramaining bottle of jim. jims been a personal friend for a few weeks now as its getting cold, think im going to be using it all winter. i love jim. but jims gone now. and my cars finished and like yeah i better go to sleep cyas gotta work tomorow and see waht boost i can run. l8ers