R32 Nostalgia

[funkymonkey]

More or less decided that I need to have an R32 in my life. In the process of finding and importing yet another R32... but in the meantime I figured it'd be good to take stock of all the R32 and Skyline stuff i've got littered around my house and my parents garage from when I first started playing with 32's back in 2001.

First visit to my folk's garage saw me find these nuggets:

Do-luck floor brace, spare R32 dash that I was going to reupholster at some point

tucked in behind it a couple of R32 GTR front quarter panels from a previous GTR and a JUN fibreglass front bumper

couple of pov spec headlights and there's a box somewhere next to it that would have the N1 GTR brackets to turn them into the elusive "N1 headlights"

factory light up LCD panel (yup - not LED... LCD), fibreglass knockoff Nismo bonnet lip and JUN grille

[MBS206]

This thread feels like a very slow way to claim to be a millionaire these days

 

What sort of R32 are you in the process of importing?

[funkymonkey]

On 29/4/2023 at 1:25 PM, MBS206 said:

This thread feels like a very slow way to claim to be a millionaire these days

 

What sort of R32 are you in the process of importing?

Lol at the rates these parts are selling for I might have a million sitting in storage.

looking specifically for an R32 GTS-4. The poor man’s GTR. I kinda have a soft spot for them and I don’t feel bad modding them. Plus they’re about 1/4th the price of a GTR of the same vintage and kms, but go 80% as fast. There’s heaps of aftermarket GTR bits that bolt on including drop in engine swaps if I decide to go for big power.

Altho Andrew probably won’t let me into GTR Festival with one lol

[funkymonkey]

Today's nugget find:

factory option centre console cup holder extension!

[GTSBoy]

Does it have the lid also? The lid on these is shorter than the lid on the normal lower armrest.

[funkymonkey]

On 02/05/2023 at 3:20 PM, GTSBoy said:

Does it have the lid also? The lid on these is shorter than the lid on the normal lower armrest.

Good point. From memory 10 years ago I took it apart to repair the loop on the second cup slot, now it's somewhere in the shelving, gotta hunt for it! 

[GTSBoy]

They're miserable things at this age. The top hinge on mine broke and I made a replacement that then broke a few years later and I haven't gotten back to fix it again. And the vinyl on top is cracked like the elbow point on the armrests does and now I have to open a vein and talk to a motor trimmer!

[funkymonkey]

On 02/05/2023 at 4:24 PM, GTSBoy said:

They're miserable things at this age. The top hinge on mine broke and I made a replacement that then broke a few years later and I haven't gotten back to fix it again. And the vinyl on top is cracked like the elbow point on the armrests does and now I have to open a vein and talk to a motor trimmer!

I'm hopeful things are better this time a decade later cos I now have a 3d printer and can make my own fiddly parts including changing up the material so it isn't as weak or brittle.

[GTSBoy]

If you could print me a hinge (that would work, which might be hard for a printed part) I'd happily send you beer. I made mine by using some mystery plastic sheet (nylon or something) about 2mm thick and partially scoring it to fold it to make the hinge. Worked, but was always on a limited future.

[MBS206]

1 hour ago, GTSBoy said:

If you could print me a hinge (that would work, which might be hard for a printed part) I'd happily send you beer. I made mine by using some mystery plastic sheet (nylon or something) about 2mm thick and partially scoring it to fold it to make the hinge. Worked, but was always on a limited future.

You should see the compliant mechanisms / moving parts the mechanical engineers are printing these days!

Not to mention, you could just print it as a real hinge with a pin in it...

 

Also, Donut Media did an interesting video on repairing an S model Nissan dash, one of the ways they did it was using flocking. Could work for the centre console and be cheaper than a trimmer if cost is a factor...

[funkymonkey]

On 2/5/2023 at 7:07 PM, MBS206 said:

Also, Donut Media did an interesting video on repairing an S model Nissan dash, one of the ways they did it was using flocking. Could work for the centre console and be cheaper than a trimmer if cost is a factor...

Not a fan of flocking personally, done it before on race only cars but I’m going for a M Spec vibe for the interior of the 32 eventually.

First step is to acquire car and enjoy driving it. Funnily enough my wife has never known me to own a Skyline - she’s only heard my tales of yearning. She’s only ever known me to own Euros so I kinda want to introduce her to that part of my life.

My old man used to run around in a turbo Ceffy about 10 years ago, and he just passed away last year… so there’s a sentimental connection with an RB there too.

Currently negotiating on a car that has an immaculate dash with no bubble… so we’ll see how that pans out.

[funkymonkey]

On 2/5/2023 at 6:03 PM, GTSBoy said:

If you could print me a hinge (that would work, which might be hard for a printed part) I'd happily send you beer. I made mine by using some mystery plastic sheet (nylon or something) about 2mm thick and partially scoring it to fold it to make the hinge. Worked, but was always on a limited future.

Happily. Did you want the top hinge or the bottom hinge

[GTSBoy]

3 hours ago, funkymonkey said:

Not a fan of flocking personally

4 hours ago, MBS206 said:

Could work for the centre console

I think Matt was talking to me.

It's not that money is an issue. It's just that once you pick off one scab, you have to pick them all off, and you end up doing the door trims, and then something else (say, the dash, even though it is almost perfect it is 30 years old and does not look new any more) starts to look scaly and down the rabbit hole we go.

Plus, flocking is not a hard wearing surface, so it's not gunna last long on an armrest. Needs to be leather/pleather. I have alcantara(ish) seats now, so I need to step my game up if I'm going to trim anything.

[GTSBoy]

3 hours ago, funkymonkey said:

Happily. Did you want the top hinge or the bottom hinge

The top one. Pretty please. Now you have to find that lid!

[MBS206]

18 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

I think Matt was talking to me.

It's not that money is an issue. It's just that once you pick off one scab, you have to pick them all off, and you end up doing the door trims, and then something else (say, the dash, even though it is almost perfect it is 30 years old and does not look new any more) starts to look scaly and down the rabbit hole we go.

Plus, flocking is not a hard wearing surface, so it's not gunna last long on an armrest. Needs to be leather/pleather. I have alcantara(ish) seats now, so I need to step my game up if I'm going to trim anything.

Materials Eng really isn't my strong suit (control, and software is), but, if you knew of a suitable low melting point material (I'll check specs later, but believe it is sub 400c we'd need) that can be easily be bought as raw pellets, and someone feels like 3D scanning and drawing up a 3D model of said smaller part (console lid etc), I do have a plastic injection machine at my disposal, just need the 3D model of said part so I can get suitable mould tested...

Could do a hard plastic for main part of lid, and then a softer material as a second injection onto it...

 

Not sure if such a material exists that can be injection moulded that way, there has to be some way that the big manufacturers are automating those items for production...

[funkymonkey]

Potential...

[The Bogan]

How is the potential rust?

[r32-25t]

 

32 minutes ago, The Bogan said:

How is the potential rust?

To a minimal 

[funkymonkey]

On 3/5/2023 at 6:26 PM, The Bogan said:

How is the potential rust?

Little rust on the battery tray. Other than that it’s clean. From a non snowy region so I’m a bit reassured

[Duncan]

Nice, limited edition KH2