Greetings from the Netherlands

[EddieR34GT-X]

Hi all,

Soms 15 years ago I drove with the Dutch Skyline Owners UK to meetings and shows 🙂

Met a lot of guys back then.... and then it was over for some 10 years: my kid was 13 back and started playing icehockey..... so we were together for 10 years on- and off the ice and on- and off the inline tracks in Germany(played for 2 German Teams and we had a LOT of fun together).

Now, 15 years after my first drive and ownership (and LOTS of new friends in the UK) I bought myself a R34GT-X as a daily drive: a Turbo version is simple to thirsty, but DAMN how I love the Nissan's from the "pre-Renault" time.... You know what I mean 😉

I purchased a 1999 4 door R34GT-X automatic with only 118000km's on the clocks and it's a grade 4 B: it's as clean as they come new as you can see from pictures.

Why a "slushbox"? I was in a motorcycle accident(I was a mechanic at that time) and can't use my foot since then, some 27 years ago. Because I always loved the R33 and was not able to find a good looking R33 4 door I just had to have something just as great.... and this one just came in my path and couldn't be happier(with the current prices rising in Japan I could only dream I would ever own one again, so i'm over the moon with this completely bone-stock car that looks like it has been parked inside a warm garage for the last 21 years 👌

So now you know me: i will be around more to get info on "tuning" a R34GT-X with simple mods like airfilters/ exhaust/ etc. and will probably attend some shows with my now grown-up son..... at least.... that's what he thinks 😉😋

So.... cheers from the Netherlands, Zoetermeer(15 km's from The Hague). greetz, Edwin a.k.a. EddieR34GT-X

[GoHashiriya]

Congrats on the purchase and welcome. It actually looks cleaner than mine and im JP-based.

[EddieR34GT-X]

Back on the street after 1.5 years in storage. Wheels have been powder coated in Gun Metallic Gray and the rear quarterpanel had to be resprayed because a couple of kids got their scooters "planted" and made a big dent. To bad there was no "paper with info" who did it so a lot of money to the paintshop instead of upgrades 😒 Small bootspoiler and roofspoiler wil go on and got me some "Labo headlights" because these days the original headlights are to expensive to be stolen from the car 😅

[GoHashiriya]

Sad to hear about the dent but doesn't sound too bad.

It's strange I was last to comment here and since then, some developments have occured that it seems I will be moving to the Netherlands at the end of the year, shipping my skyline with me of course. 

What do you mean by lambo headlights? I've been assessing headlight options recently and have been leaning on picking up a set before I leave Japan - mine are just old, the plastic is like cheese and since I track the car am worried about damaging them.   

[sammi_d]

Very nice indeed!!!! Welcome @EddieR34GT-X!

[EddieR34GT-X]

Look at "Origin Labo": they are the lights they use in D1 🙂 Great to hear you move from Japan to the Netherlands: any idea where you want to go? I know people that can help you with getting the car on Dutch plates, so let me know 😃 The rear quarter panel-, rear door and rear bumper(touch ups to make it perfect) have been painted at €1320.- 🙄 The "Labo's" only go in when the car has had it's yearly APK check: it's like "shaken" but not as strict as you have in Japan 😉: it's an anual check for safety, but from the 1st of May I got my own garage(with 3 friends) in Leiden where I will be helping out and doing maintenance in my spare time 😏 We are currently getting the place into shape and we will have 2 hydraulic lifts 😎

[GoHashiriya]

On 4/11/2023 at 4:26 PM, EddieR34GT-X said:

Look at "Origin Labo": they are the lights they use in D1 🙂 Great to hear you move from Japan to the Netherlands: any idea where you want to go? I know people that can help you with getting the car on Dutch plates, so let me know 😃 The rear quarter panel-, rear door and rear bumper(touch ups to make it perfect) have been painted at €1320.- 🙄 The "Labo's" only go in when the car has had it's yearly APK check: it's like "shaken" but not as strict as you have in Japan 😉: it's an anual check for safety, but from the 1st of May I got my own garage(with 3 friends) in Leiden where I will be helping out and doing maintenance in my spare time 😏 We are currently getting the place into shape and we will have 2 hydraulic lifts 😎

 

Yeah I know the ones, they're pretty cheap out here. I was thinking about running them for drifting as the headlights are so expensive now but just got lazy with everything else breaking on the car.

My company's office is in Eindhoven, but I suspect my girlfriend will work in Amsterdam so we are looking to move somewhere in between; Utrecht is what we've been looking at for reference.

I'll DM you about the getting the car legal. Honestly, shaken is not that strict, more strict than the UK but essentially just tick boxes. Good to know the Dutch one is more relaxed as I don't even have the original suspension equipment anymore. I've been in contact with importers who say I need to modify the headlights and add a fog lamp, which should be easy.     

[EddieR34GT-X]

If you "end up" in Utrecht it's not that far from Leiden (like 45 min travel depending on where you live). The lights indeed have to be modified because we drive on the other side 😉 We changed the lights to a "horizontal" beam, which is allowed in the Netherlands. At the moment I got an external fog light but will change the smaller "brake lights" in the back so I can take that one off 😎 On part of the suspension: if needed i have a set..... but if the car is already lower I would let it go to the inspection so you can get smaller number plates: I have these TOO BIG number plates because the car was standard: if it was already lowered there is a chance they let you have those smaller plates. You can't "re-register" the car to have the smaller plates after you lowered the car 😒 On part of the exhaust they are stricter: it has to have the catalytic converter and not make too much noise: I still have the standard muffler lying around, so if needed I can help you out.

Keep me informed on your plans on when to move to the Netherlands 😎

 

[niZmO_Man]

I've been to Eindhoven, lived in Amsterdam for half a year for work.
I miss that place
I ended up randomly at Zandvort beach, didn't know there was a circuit there until I heard cars haha.

[GoHashiriya]

18 hours ago, EddieR34GT-X said:

If you "end up" in Utrecht it's not that far from Leiden (like 45 min travel depending on where you live). The lights indeed have to be modified because we drive on the other side 😉 We changed the lights to a "horizontal" beam, which is allowed in the Netherlands. At the moment I got an external fog light but will change the smaller "brake lights" in the back so I can take that one off 😎 On part of the suspension: if needed i have a set..... but if the car is already lower I would let it go to the inspection so you can get smaller number plates: I have these TOO BIG number plates because the car was standard: if it was already lowered there is a chance they let you have those smaller plates. You can't "re-register" the car to have the smaller plates after you lowered the car 😒 On part of the exhaust they are stricter: it has to have the catalytic converter and not make too much noise: I still have the standard muffler lying around, so if needed I can help you out.

Keep me informed on your plans on when to move to the Netherlands 😎

 

It will be somewhere in that direction. I will be living in Maastricht initially as my boss intends to rent a house there that I can use. But around the time the Skyline arrives - March-June - is when I will be looking to move somewhere central. 

The car is low, suspension is almost entirely aftermarket, it's a bit lower than I'd like but it's set up well now. I don't really mind the larger plates but the front needs to be square to fit in the bumper recess.  Exhaust front pipe and cat is standard. Won't change this until I get to Europe as the pricing for these parts is the same as Japan. Rear is noisy but I have a silencer (butt plug) which makes it similar to OEM Nismo exhaust sound levels.

Rear fog light I can probably 3D print a bracket at work that sits below the number plate in the black area of the bumper. I was thinking to convert one of the reverse lights initially - see pics. 

Sorry to hijack thread like this.

16 hours ago, niZmO_Man said:

I've been to Eindhoven, lived in Amsterdam for half a year for work.
I miss that place
I ended up randomly at Zandvort beach, didn't know there was a circuit there until I heard cars haha.

Eindhoven was beautiful when I visited last summer, really liked the place. I have been really surprised at how different the rest of the Netherlands is to Amsterdam. 

Circuits in NL are unbearably expensive compared to Japan unfortunately. 

[niZmO_Man]

On 13/04/2023 at 3:53 PM, GoHashiriya said:

I have been really surprised at how different the rest of the Netherlands is to Amsterdam.

this! Amsterdam felt like Sydney, everywhere else felt like... Netherlands haha.

[soviet_merlin]

3 hours ago, GoHashiriya said:

It will be somewhere in that direction. I will be living in Maastricht initially as my boss intends to rent a house there that I can use. But around the time the Skyline arrives - March-June - is when I will be looking to move somewhere central. 

Hah, small world! Maastricht is a lovely town. Proper old fashioned cobble streets and battlements and all that. We were there just at the end of the year. I used to study in Aachen which is just across the border on the German side.

I love the idea of bringing something JDM to Europe. Driving on the Autobahn, in the Alps, the Scottish highlands. Man, it's just a pipe dream for me at this point but maybe one day.

Looking forward to see how you go

 

@EddieR34GT-X, does it raise a lot of attention driving the Skyline? I don't think I have ever seen one in Europe. Very different to Australia.

[GoHashiriya]

26 minutes ago, niZmO_Man said:

this! Amsterdam felt like Sydney, everywhere else felt like... Netherlands haha.

As a Brit (Pom), the right of passage that is going to Amsterdam at 18 to nail your brain cells to the bottom of a canal scarred me. Going to Eindhoven (at 32), as you can imagine, was a much more serene experience.   

14 minutes ago, soviet_merlin said:

Hah, small world! Maastricht is a lovely town. Proper old fashioned cobble streets and battlements and all that. We were there just at the end of the year. I used to study in Aachen which is just across the border on the German side.

I love the idea of bringing something JDM to Europe. Driving on the Autobahn, in the Alps, the Scottish highlands. Man, it's just a pipe dream for me at this point but maybe one day.

Looking forward to see how you go

 

@EddieR34GT-X, does it raise a lot of attention driving the Skyline? I don't think I have ever seen one in Europe. Very different to Australia.

Ah perfect, cobble streets for my Japan-height car. It is a beautiful area around there, especially if you're lucky enough experience it in summer. 

With my one billion pictures of the car I always intended to set up a build thread but you know how it is, the car is usually broken or I'm at the track so that's where the time goes. I'll do what that other guy did, kinkstah* (or something like that) and do a backdated one. But you're right, those environments are wonderful; you should also add Norway/northern Sweden to your pipe dream.