S15 Spec R

[trel]

I've always liked the s15, they were very ahead of the times looks and shape wise, even in 2020 they still look modern. Really a nice car, keen to see more updates! Keep em coming.

[robbo_rb180]

Those are 2 very tidy cars, great effort. 

[RP1421]

On 8/29/2020 at 9:00 AM, trel said:

I've always liked the s15, they were very ahead of the times looks and shape wise, even in 2020 they still look modern. Really a nice car, keen to see more updates! Keep em coming.

I absolutely agree. The S15 has held up incredibly well and incredibly fun to drive. 

On 8/30/2020 at 3:42 PM, robbo_rb180 said:

Those are 2 very tidy cars, great effort. 

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 

Edited September 4, 2020 by RP1421

[RP1421]

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. 

[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. 

[RP1421]

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).

[RP1421]

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.

[RP1421]

Updated with better picture of the Fortuna Lip 

 

[RP1421]

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

[RP1421]

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. 

[RP1421]

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. 

[RP1421]

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. 

[RP1421]

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. 

[RP1421]

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. 

 

[GTSBoy]

On 12/31/2021 at 11:12 AM, RP1421 said:

After some back and forth with rails,

I see what you did there.

[RP1421]

Some additional, better quality pictures 

[RP1421]

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 

Edited January 6, 2022 by RP1421

[RP1421]

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 

[Robzilla32]

The Fitmint mats look pretty decent. What's the quality like?

[RP1421]

On 2/12/2022 at 5:08 PM, Robzilla32 said:

The Fitmint mats look pretty decent. What's the quality like?

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.