hoodedreeper

Back in 2020 I applied for a show called Players Classic held at the Goodwood Motor Circuit. I got accepted but my wife was heavily pregnant with our first child. The Covid pandemic started and all tickets were transfered to the following year. In 2021 car shows started to happen with restrictions, but we were expecting our second child so I had to get a refund. Fast forward to this year and I applied again on a whim knowing I probably wouldn't get chosen. To my surprise the R34 got accepted into the show's 'Parc Du Concours' area. I don't think the Work Emotions have had a good clean in a long time. So I took this opportunity to remove them from the car and clean the inner barrels thoroughly. The calipers hadn't been cleaned since I painted them Thats much better! Another little job I've been meaning to do was to repaint the wiper arms Next was to give the interior and exterior a good clean With the kids dropped off at the grandparents and the car loaded up it was time for the 4.5hr journy south west to Goodwood. We arrived at the show in good time and were parked up about half way amongst the other cars Having only been to Goodwood for the Festival of Speed a few years ago, it was a great experience visiting the Motor Circuit for the first time. I've read and seen some very good things about this show so expectations were high, and it didn't disappoint! Yes there were alot of stance builds but we all know its one of the biggest followings/trends, but there was also a great mix of other types including track ready, resto mod,drift and just clean and simple. (I would say the R34 falls into the last category) Many many photos and hours walking around it was time to head off to the hotel. Sat Nav took us through a twisty mountain road which felt like a budget touge. Was certainly looking forward to driving it the following morning! Sunday morning was here and we ventured off to the show. This time a silver Evo 8 followed us through the english touge (haha) which put a smile on our faces. The symphony of a screaming turbocharged 4 banger and an RB25DET was certainly enough to fuel you for a day full of awesomeness. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos or videos. The Sunday part of the show allows all of the cars parked in the Parc Du Concours area, to move across and park on the circuit. This did make for some nice photos Unfortunately we left at mid day, purley because my feet couldn't take any more walking and I knew the drive home wasn't going to be much fun with the M25. Another show I applied for and surprisingly got accepted for was the Pistonheads 25th Anniversary. This is on Saturday 12th August at Bicester Heritage Very nervous about this one! Being apart of a show and shine area parked amongst hundreds of other cars is one thing, but being a part of a limited number display for the Readers Rides display is a whole new level.

No updates on the car I'm afraid except it's been getting plenty of use. I got married a couple of weeks ago and of course we had to get some photos with the car

You may remember me making my own rear diffuser back in June 2020. The company who powder coated it, didn't do a great job and it was flaking after a year. It's been one of those jobs I've been meaning to do and I finally had a chance to sort it. It was most noticable along the edges and around the bolts/rivets I found someone new to sand blast, he had them for a couple of weeks before they were ready (he does it in his spare time). I didn't take any photos during this next process, but I did film it for the Youtube video which will be at the end of this post. I started by cleaning up the parts with a wire brush, wiping them down with white spirit before I started the painting stage. I gave the parts a coat of Kurust to help with any corrosion followed by Zinc Primer, black stone chip and then Hammerite Smooth Silver. There was an issue with the main body of the diffuser, the powder coat just wouldn't come off. The guy who blasted it said he tried various ways including increasing the pressure but didn't want to go any higher because he didn't want to distort the panel. He tried a carpet pad with 40 or 60 grit paper and it still wouldn't shift. I thought about getting it acid dipped but it'd already took more time than I had hoped to get to this stage. In the end I purchased another sheet of mild steel and re-made it. It didn't take long to get it cut out and drilled It then had a coat of stone chip and 3 coats of Smooth Silver To help prevent it going rusty and prolong its life I decided to add a bead of clear silicone around the edge of the fins and over the top of the rivets. I know its not a very neat thing to do, but I don't think many will be on their hands and knees to check the condition. While the diffuser was off I checked the condition of the boot floor and found alot of surface corrosion. I did my best to get the majority of it down to bare metal and treated with Kurust. I found my first hole With the wedding just weeks away I'll have to get this sorted at a later date I then did the same with the diffuser and gave it a coat of zinc primer followed by underseal. (I didn't have any stone chip at this stage) The exhaust heat shield got painted in VHT Black and refitted with stainless hardware. Sadly no photos of that. The hicas wiring wasn't secured very well, I honestly can't remember how it was prior to removing the diffuser. I found the grommet inside the boot and pulled the wiring through It always seem to rain on my days off so refitting was no different haha But I'm glad its all back together now, it looks complete now I'm very happy with the result, it'll be much easier to touch in any stone chips or sort any corrosion/damage in the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52d79-maH_Y

One thing that kept sticking out like a sore thumb were the chipped intercooler pipes visible through the grille. "Taking the bumper off and painting the pipes won't take me long"...a phrase I said to myself numerous times, how wrong was I. The rubber couplers put up a fight but they pipes were finally removed. Unfortunately I forgot to take some photos along the way, but it's all shown in the Youtube video at the bottom of the post. The pipes were badly chipped/corroded so I took them right back to bare alloy with a wire wheel brush ready for painting. The bumper brackets underneath the headlights had corroded badly and were in desperate need of a repaint too. A minor set back but a job I thought wouldn't take too long. There were stripped back to bare metal too, followed by Hammerite Kurust and then Hammerite Smooth Black Thats when I noticed the holes in the engine bay had chipped and corroded. I couldn't leave it like it so I got stuck in sanding that down ready for rust treatment The opposite side was quite bad too so I did that at the same time The area was keyed,cleaned and masked up ready for primer and paint I wish I had known about this sooner, I would have taken it to have the paint scanned for a colour match aerosol. Unfortunately all I had was gloss white, so the shade is waaaay off, but at least its treated and sorted. The turrets will need sorting at some point so I'll get the engine bay re-painted at the same time. The side areas underneath the headlights also had light corrosion so they received the same treatment I ran out of daylight, impatience got the better of me and rather than waiting a week for my next day off I carried on into the night under an LED work light. There's something about freshly painted parts and new hardware that gives you a great feeling of achievement no matter how big or small the job is/was. I wish I had taken the front reinforcement bar off to treat and paint but I wanted it back together so I could drive it. When the bumper is next off I'll do it then Here's the Youtube video with more details https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJKvthyFoNI

Apologies for the thread bump, another year has passed since the last post, hopefully 2023 will have more updates. As always, the daily driver gets more attention and the R34 gets neglected. The Colt CZT was sold last August and I purchased an MX5 NC1 Sport. From October 2021 > October 2022 I had only driven the Skyline 1000 miles I'm due to get married in April and have been holding out spending any money on mods for the MX5 till after the big day. Rather than doing that I promised myself I'd drive the Skyline more and sort out a couple of minor things on it. I usually wait until March/April to put it back on the road, but the UK weather had been dry and the roads reasonably salt free. So with that, I decided to tax the car, give it a clean and blow off the cob webs (litually). I remember driving the car last year and hearing a whistle/whine on acceleration aswell as a struggle to build boost. I did a smoke test and there were no leaks. I also did a vacuum pressure test on the actuator and it held pressure no problems. I removed the intake hose to check the play to find it does have about 1mm in-out play, the same amount the last time I checked (April 2020) Not ideal! With the car back together I took it for a test drive and it all seemed fine. The Greddy Profec OLED boost controller was set to my low boost setting (7-8psi) and it built up boost with no issues. The whistle/whine noise had disappeared too, strange. I also blanked the blow off valve to see if that eliminated any issues, but it drove the same. I made a video for my Youtube which goes into more detail of getting to the turbo etc including some in-car footage of me driving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JQzwBkaaBk I purchased a used turbo with the intention to send it away to be rebuilt, easier said than done. I contacted the first 1.5 pages of a Google search and not a single company can do a standard rebuild on this turbo, only a Hybrid rebuild. Not wanting to constantly buy used turbos to get by, I started to crunch the numbers on what was required to go the hybrid route. The kick in the teeth was having everything previously purchased but it all got sold to pay off debt The cambelt is due this summer as it'll be 5 years since it was last done. The clutch will also need replacing because I don't have any history or evidence of what it currently has. I don't want to go through all of this effort and it slips on the dyno. I've spoke to a local tuner (J's Garage, whos very very familiar with RBs) and he's advised on what needs doing. Hybrid Turbo rated to 450hp (AutoExtreme) Fitting Kit braided lines, genuine gasket set (AutoExtreme) Xtreme Heavy Duty Clutch & Lightened Flywheel GTR Injectors Link G4X IAT sensor J's Garage Trigger Kit Boost solenoid Injector flow test & fitting Fitting and Mapping Tie rods/track rod ends/wheel alightment needed too With a geniune cambelt kit/waterpump the total for the whole lot comes to around £6800 GBP / $8k USD / $12k AUD Which means the MX5 will be up for sale in the coming months to help pay for it.

It was very fun to drive even on its first track day. The reason for selling was to gain any more power would cost a considerable amount of money (80hp aint much on track). SR20DE could have been on the cards but i'd need another daily haha Turret repair prices vary alot on condition and whats hiding underneath, it also depends who you go to. It can be from £1500 ($2860 AUD) to £4500 ($8580 AUD) A friend has a converted R34 GT which had rust bubbling when he first bought it 5 years ago. Didnt do anything and left it, now its undrivable and he's now at the higher end of the price bracket

The turrets are now showing signs of corrosion so I need to start saving for the work to be done. I knew it was coming and we all know its nevitable

Its been a year since I last posted anything constructive (new coilpacks, rocker cover gasket etc) The R34 had taken abit of a back burner, I got sucked into building a couple of daily drivers 2001 Micra K11 Started as a faded red 1.0L and a year later was a 1.4L with a 1.0L box, stripped, single bucket and a whole bunch of other stuff painted with graffiti paint I sold that last August and bought a Mitsubishi Colt CZT which is currently under going some performance upgrades Anyway, onto the (small) update Back in 2020 when the UK went into its Covid lockdown, I repainted the intercooler pipes in a stone effect paint. While re-assembling I noticed the paint had started to come off, thinking it'd be fine. Fast forward a year or so and the paint didn't last as long as I had hoped. With the car currently off the road for the winter, it was a good opportunity to sort this. I went with a VHT wrinkle black paint, something subtle but not plain and boring. The wrinkle texture wasn't as pronounced as I remembered but its a big improvement from before Heres a before photo (Apologies for the phone photos) Sorry its nothing exciting. Next up is a service and a good clean ready for spring to arrive

Sadly no updates with the car Took the car to a couple of local meets

I've been wanting to try a new photo look/technique for awhile but hadn't had the spare time. The car had been neglected since the end of summer last year and I can't remember the last time it was washed. Unfortunately with winter and moving house it wasn't at the top of my priority list (plus living in a flat didn't help) With the car washed, now was the time to go out and take photos. I'll let them do the talking A big thank you to David Cox aka Shooting Dave for videos, it certainly helped. Just need more practice now

I can't believe the last update was in July! In September I was lucky enough to attend the 2nd show of the year dodging the national lock downs, this was Modified Live Snetterton. Would have been rude not to as the circuit is only a 20min drive away. On the drive home the car threw up the TCS,SLIP and EML lights on with no change in the drive of the car. I took it to work the following week and I experienced a very bad misfire on the way in. Not having access to Nissan Consult I did the paperclip trick and code 21 appeared, which points at the coil packs. I removed the coil packs to check the resistance to find 4 out of 6 had no resistance. I'm guessing they're fine on initial start up but break down when they get hot (driving for 10mins after start up the misfire reappears) I also noticed 3 out of 6 cylinders had oil down the spark plug chambers and on top where the coil pack sits. So I started to strip it down while I wait for a replacement gasket and half moons to arrive from Conceptua Tuning. This was the first time working on the engine especially an RB, and wow what a ball ache this was haha With the gaskets and spark plugs changed it was a waiting game for the OEM coil packs to arrive from Auto Extreme Refitting is very straight forward so it didn't take too long to put everything back together With the car reassembled it was time for a test drive. What better way than a 100 mile trip around the Norfolk coast. The car didnt play up at all and ran like a dream. An added bonus Mia had slept for the whole time, winner! I'm looking forward to the salt free roads so I can enjoy this again

On Monday 27th July we welcomed our daughter Mia Rose into the world. Mum did an absolutely amazing job and active labour was just over 3hrs long. She's yet to go out in the R34 yet as we still need to sort out the car seat (isofix in the daily Mazda 6 is a god send) After damaging the Work Emotions back in February, they were refurbished during the Covid-19 lockdown. From the factory in Japan the inside of the spokes are darker with a very bright outer face. The company were able to replicate it,but unfortunately the outer face is slightly darker. I had all 4 wheels done so they all match and they look just as good as before! The car is filthy and is in a need of a deep clean but couldnt resist getting some photos

I've always loved the look of the BNR34 V Spec II rear diffuser, unfortunately they're expensive second hand and even carbon fibre copies are £1k. So i decided to attempt to make my own using inspiration from it. I'm by no means a fabricator so please be easy on me lol The first decision was material, I wanted the brackets to be strong, the main diffuser strong enough to be sturdy but doesn't weigh a tonne. I decided to use 2mm thick angle iron for the side and rear brackets and 1.5mm steel box section for the front bracket. Looking at mounting points and there is a part of the chassis that sits lower than the bumper, this should be ideal The diffuser and fins were going to be made out of 0.9mm sheet steel. I did think Aluminium as its easy to work with but its too soft IMO. I started off with a card board template, unfortunately the exhaust sits too low at an angle for the whole diffuser 'body' to be a single piece. I tried cutting a hole to try and clear it but it left minimal material at the bottom and it would eventually snap. So i went with a 2 piece design instead I started off with the passenger side as it was smaller and easier to mount. A slot was cut for the exhaust hanger with enough room for any movement. The rear is braced with a piece of 2mm flat bar which uses a bolt in the wheel arch to the right side of the shock absorber. The box section bolts through the boot floor, this helped angle the diffuser down rather than having it flat. This was the first prototype for the box section, later on I made it longer so it covered the width. You may remember me making a rear tow hook awhile back. I decided to incorporate it into the design by cutting a slot, again enough roof to not catch it when fitting/removing. I seeked help from some friends as I don't have the skills/equipment to weld or fold sheet metal perfectly. With the fins folded I could mock the ends up. These would be bolted on and use the same mounting points as the diffuser itself The rear bracket was made and mocked up at the same time. I also marked the holes for the centre fins ready for drilling. At this point I decided to give the front of the diffuser a minor bend upwards rather than leaving it straight. With everything fitted for one final time,checking clearances and everything was solid and not rattling/vibrating it was time to drop it off for powder coating. Originally I thought about having it done in black, but with the lower black trim just above it, I feared it may get lost and wouldnt be seen. Only other option was silver, the powder coater only had a satin silver so I bit the bullet and went with that. I ordered stainless nuts, bolts, washers and rivets for the final fit I've made flat under bumper splitters, canards and other little bits and pieces in the past but this was certainly my biggest challenge. I think its turned out very well

Thank you trel Progress is gonna be slow for awhile, trying to think of smaller jobs to do is tricky. Everything I'd like to do costs so much

Found some newly built industrial units around the corner from the fiancée's work. Would have been rude not to take some photos while I was there

No longer required

A friend is looking for the front red S badge emblem for the R34 Altia bumper. It would need shipping to the UK

Hopefully someone can identify the airbox to confirm. The car came with the mushroom filter and the snorkal cable tied on. I know the snorkal won't attach to anything but I guess it'll help flow some air.

My GTT currently has the following Stock turbo Greddy Profec OLED boost controller set to 10psi Blitz FMIC HKS mushroom filter 3" exhaust from downpipe back no centre box (only back box) The air filter element needs changing soon as its coming up for its service. I've found a Blitz Induction cover with airbox for sale and I'm a magpie when it comes to parts you don't usually see (always wanted an Arc box but they're not available for the GTT?) A quick google shows the induction cover is for the GTR, the seller said it was removed from a GTT. The filter element part number lists the GTT so it must be an OK fit (sorry for the long read) My question is, with the snorkal removed, will the filter get sufficient air flow?

With the Covid-19 lockdown,finding things to do has been quite tricky. I decided to give the engine bay a much needed tidy and spruce up. I saw some photos of a strut brace refurbished in a wrinkle type paint which got me thinking. I thought of using truck bed liner paint and a quick google took me to a brand called Raptor made by U-Pol (my work is a U-Pol stockist, not that we'd be able to order anything at the moment). I dont have access to a spray booth or a unit so the 'proper' stuff was out of the window, but they do do an aerosol version though. I read and got told mixed reviews of the aerosol version so I looked at alternates. I then found a stone effect paint by Rust-Oleum, but with this pandemic getting it shipped was tricky. All local stores either didnt have it in stock, or their delivery/click and collect services were unavailable. A company called Plasti-kote do a similar product in various colours so I was on the hunt for that. I managed to find the only can in the area, although it wasnt my first choice in colour, I was too eager to give it a go. With the pipes removed and prepped it was time to see what it was like. The paint doesnt really give a colour, its more of the coloured texture that sits on the surface. The front Intercooler pipes were originally black, so these came out slightly darker. Compared to the throttle body J pipe and turbo inlet elbow. To be honest, unless you knew you probably wouldn't notice. Here are some before and after photos Accessable areas degreased and cleaned Intercooler pipes and Turbo inlet elbow painted Hoses replaced with red silicone inc new stainless clamps TurboZentrum Silicone Turbo hose fitted Turbo head shield repainted Boost controller mounted correctly, new hoses fitted Boost controller wiring tidied up along the bulk head Passenger side turret wiring tidied Amp power cable wrapped in loom tape to hide the yellow Ground cable kit tided up and re-routed Carbon Canister, purge valve, hardlines and pipes removed Throttle cable adjusted (had quite alot of slack) Its by far the cleanest or tidiest engine bays but its a start

Following on with the Nismo theme JDM Parts Rupewrecht assisted again with bidding on an item on Yahoo Auctions, this time a set of sales brochures and part catalogs inc Nismo and Tommy Kaira Trying to keep things period correct as much as possible, I was on the hunt for a mid logo gear shifter to company the new Cube Speed short shifter. I managed to find one under half the price of a new one someone had offered. We sell a leather cleaner and restorer at work which should bring it back to life. After a scrub with hot water and washing liquid it was time to get messy with this stuff The photos don't show much difference, but in person its made such a difference Another Nismo part I've been wanting for a loooong time were the tail lights which got discontinued years ago, along with the Sun Line Racing equivalents. Alot of people suggested ZLED but I'm not 100% sure on the GTR Style lights, I much prefer the individual LED style. I was browsing through Facebook and spotted a post on a Supra page by a company called Daniel Man's Custom Lights. I messaged Daniel with what I'd like and he was happy to give it a go. I sourced a spare pair of light units and got them sent straight to Daniel. A week or so later and they arrived just before the country's lock down for the Covid-19 pandemic (please excuse the dirty car!) A couple of front shots while I was there

Awhile back when the bumper got repaired due to a paint defect, I wanted to cut the bumper and open it up but the bodyshop wanted too much money (I thought they were painting the whole bumper under warranty, but they werent) So i decided to go ahead with it now. The bottom piece isn't completely flat, to do that it'd need spraying so it'll do for now. While the bumper was off it was a good opportunity to get the bumper to fit better, luckily the piece I cut out was what was causing the issue. Purchased an intercooler stencil from eBay, looks pretty good IMO We sell bumper mesh/grille at work, although its slightly smaller than the OEM mesh, its not far off I also ordered a smaller number plate which looks sooo much better :) I've been eyeing up the Nismo B pillar garnish for awhile, but couldn't bring myself to spending £150+ on some stick on carbon. It wouldnt be too bad if it was a whole replacement piece, its worth the money then. Again, my work came in handy as we sell 3D carbon wrap so gave vinyl wrapping a go. A friend cut the logos for me, fake it till you make it lol I've also seen some GTTs with a spoiler garnish, it can be seen in the Nismo parts catalog too. I've only seen 1 set of brand new ones on Yahoo Auctions and they sold for £450 + shipping + import duty (thats approx $525) which is ALOT for some gel covers. So the carbon vinyl wrap came out again and I made a template of the spoiler ends and transfered that to the vinyl. Its not perfect but can always be re-done at a later date I ordered some Nismo clear indicators from RHDJapan, first time using them and it certainly wont be the last. They were dispatched from Osaka on the Friday and delivered to me on the Monday! There's been some minor difficulties with shifting 2nd > 3rd and sometimes into 5th. The clutch doesn't slip but after a search on the forums people point to the shifter being at fault (mainly the Bush) Alot of people have recommended an Australian company called Cube Speed. Coincidently Speedhunters recently had their contributor Ron post up with the same issue, and fitted the same kit. I went with their Premium kit to allow adjustment on the return spring. Fitting was relatively straight forward with everything access able from the top. To fit the return springs you need the car in the air as they're a bastard to get to. The feel of it now is incredible, it's transformed the drive of the car completely. It's alot more mechanical, albeit a slight notchy feel but that's probably down to the Shortened throw now. 2nd > 3rd is now effortless. I've made a very basic video on my phone and uploaded it to YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtETQPcSTLI&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2fUDGXTik6UJarqdbTI3x8tiW-_-LocapgNIbi8Hnl-RUbymeLvc0sSJA I have another update to post so expect that within the next week :)

I did see they sold them, but looking at their reviews, its very hit and miss whether you get the order/refund. I've had a couple of messages on FB, should have an answer by the end of the weekend

They last responded in 2016 saying they were discontinued, so I dont think they stock them anymore

Anyone got a Nismo leather shifter they'd sell? Would need it shipped to the UK