Shoota's R33 GT-R RB30/26

[r32-25t]

39 minutes ago, Shoota_77 said:

Better off not knowing....

Mrs might have push him and the grinder in if she knew lol 

[Shoota_77]

Right, so God, it's been nearly 12 months since my last confession....  The main confession is I'm a horrible car modifier (amongst other things).  Obviously the pool was a massive distraction for the entirety of last year but really doesn't excuse me for doing nothing at all on the car for this year.  To be honest this year was a mental break to get over the extreme mental torment and pressure I put myself through putting the pool in!  It really was a slog.  The pool is still not completely finished but it might never be....  The kids love it and the wifey and I love it so mission success!

I have spent a grand total of 30 minutes working on the car since when I commenced on the pool.  I just have not had a spare brain cell to be able to focus on it.  The thought of working on it just seems abhorrent to be honest.  My heart is just not into it.  Yet.....

What I have done is decide that I'm a clown to not paint ALL of the underside of the car while I'm at it.  Originally I was stopping at the start of the rear subframe to then "get back to it later on once I'm ready".  Let's be honest, later on might never happen so may as well keep diving in!  I'm already balls deep so may as well go a bit deeper!

So......  I've just purchased a hydraulic scissor lift table to be able to take the rear subframe out as a whole unit without having to dick around with jack stands rolling around on the ground.  Us 6' 8" blokes don't operate well at ground level!

One of these-

Anyway, will the investment in an expensive tool that I'll probably only ever use for one job motivate me to crack on?  Only time will tell.....

Wish me luck!

[Duncan]

actually, I've had one of those for a while and it gets more use than you'd think.

Yes catching subframes, engines etc coming out under a car on a hoist, but also getting heavy stuff on shelving (to a certain height) without a forklift, holding the fuga's hybrid battery....like many good tools you'll find the jobs for it once you have it

[Shoota_77]

5 minutes ago, Duncan said:

actually, I've had one of those for a while and it gets more use than you'd think.

Yes catching subframes, engines etc coming out under a car on a hoist, but also getting heavy stuff on shelving (to a certain height) without a forklift, holding the fuga's hybrid battery....like many good tools you'll find the jobs for it once you have it

I hope you're right and it somehow justifies it's existence!

[Looney_Head]

On 12/5/2024 at 8:20 PM, Shoota_77 said:

I hope you're right and it somehow justifies it's existence!

at the very least you could use it as a mobile diving platform at the pool

[soviet_merlin]

4 minutes ago, Looney_Head said:

at the very least you could use it as a mobile diving platform at the pool

You mean the Skyline?

[MBS206]

On 12/5/2024 at 5:14 PM, Duncan said:

actually, I've had one of those for a while and it gets more use than you'd think.

Yes catching subframes, engines etc coming out under a car on a hoist, but also getting heavy stuff on shelving (to a certain height) without a forklift, holding the fuga's hybrid battery....like many good tools you'll find the jobs for it once you have it

I can tell you now, when the bracket that the little hydraulic ram attaches to snaps, with a subframe, and V8 from an AMG C63 on it, it sounds like someone letting shotgun off right beside you. It leaves your ears ringing, and a huge thankfulness that you never ever put a body part under something heavy that's only supported by a hydraulic lift...

[Shoota_77]

13 hours ago, MBS206 said:

I can tell you now, when the bracket that the little hydraulic ram attaches to snaps, with a subframe, and V8 from an AMG C63 on it, it sounds like someone letting shotgun off right beside you. It leaves your ears ringing, and a huge thankfulness that you never ever put a body part under something heavy that's only supported by a hydraulic lift...

I'll be sure not to put a full motor/transmission/subframe on it then!  I've got a setup for that already so shouldn't have to use it for that. 

[Shoota_77]

21 hours ago, Looney_Head said:

at the very least you could use it as a mobile diving platform at the pool

Don't give my son ideas....

[Looney_Head]

On 12/14/2024 at 1:49 PM, Shoota_77 said:

Don't give my son ideas....

it'll be fine.....

[MBS206]

2 hours ago, Looney_Head said:

it'll be fine.....

I second this.

Just add a little bit of caster to keep it pointing straight. 

Also really thick rubber soled shoes in case he needs to press the pansy slow down pedal...

[Shoota_77]

Well, it's taken me until the last week of 2024 to actually do something on the Skyline but I consider it a good head start to 2025's efforts!

I managed to justify (to myself anyway...) my purchase of the lift table. It made taking the rear subframe out a lot easier than it would have been without anyway!

Everything is out and stripped down ready for a clean then powdercoating. 

She's pretty grubby under there but pretty good condition for a 38 year old Japanese tin bucket. 12 years of zero street time have obviously helped that...

I need to decide which of the factory suspension arms I will keep and replace so I only get what I'm keeping powdercoated. 

Baby steps but it's a start!

 

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Change the subframe bushes, transforms the car.

[Shoota_77]

1 hour ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Change the subframe bushes, transforms the car.

That's a given!  Bit hard to powdercoat it properly without removing them! 😁

[Shoota_77]

Happy new years folks!

Wishing you all a successful year of money pit ownership! 

So the subframe bushes are out....   Ok, who else has done that job before??  What a C U Next Tuesday of a job that is!  Be glad to not do that again in a hurry!

I think I explored every option available to chop the middle section of the bushes out, most of them unsuccessfully! I tried a holesaw, die grinder, normal drill bit, air chisel, etc, etc. The true success happened by accident when I'd decided to try a step drill I spotted on the bench on the way passed.  See, there are benefits to never cleaning up after yourself! It RIPPED through so so much better than the drill bit. It has to be the skinniest one available so its small enough to fit between the inner tube and outer casing but it made easy work of it. 

First one i hammered the shit out of...

New method-

 

I did the other 5 in less time than I fluffed around with the first one.

With the first couple I used the cut off saw (sawsall as the yanks love to call them) to cut a break in the outer casings. Even with that they're still a prick to hammer or air chisel out.  The last few i just went rambo with the air chisel without cutting them. I over cut one of the early ones so will hit the with the mig to fill the cut then sand it off smooth. 

The carnage left over-

 

I've also been "nesting" ie, cleaning up my babies nursery,  ie cleaning the f**king pig sty of a shed. I've got that much shit laying around it's as cluttered as my head!  Getting things put away, in boxes, on shelves, hanging off walls, all to get some working space back again.  Hopefully that keeps me motivated....

[Duncan]

Yeah, having tried all of those methods including BBQ+recipro/hacksaw, I ended up buying a bush press kit under $150 that works well, like this:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/355967727167?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=sfmmuhxgqhm&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=dJvnaZ11TB-&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

It basically has a range of pushers and cups with threaded rods between to press out a range of large bushes.

The problem with any sawing solution is minimising damage to the subframe side, although it probably needs a quick sand afterwards no matter what solution you try due to damage

[Shoota_77]

Yeah I agree, it's almost impossible to get them out without inflicting some sort of damage to the subframe!  Especially when you get excited with the air chisel like I did!  I'm not fussed, it's a somewhat non-critical component in terms of inhibiting function if there were dags or slight damage to the bore of the bush location.  Once you bolt it back up it never moves.  It's not like a suspension arm that needs to move through a range of motion that damage would actually make a difference to.

[GTSBoy]

There's always "MIG it up and grind it back".

[Shoota_77]

19 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

There's always "MIG it up and grind it back".

I'd be lost without it!

[Shoota_77]

Fuel tank is out. Looks pretty bloody good under (ie above) the fuel tank.  Amazing how good the factory e-coat holds up in the hidden areas. 

No where near as much body deadener to get rid of as the front but still not looking forward to it!  Shit of a job.  I'm thinking I might grab a needle scaler and give that a go before I attack it with the angle grinder and wire wheel which is how I did the front 2/3's of the car. 

Feels good to be working on the car again but who knows how long it will last!  Hopefully I can get it further forward than where it was prior to this last block of work when I decided to go back 10 steps further down the rabbit hole from where i already was!

The problem is, I'm realising how hard it will be to repair and paint the bumpers, which cannot be put back on the car, and have a good paint match. There are also areas where it would be VERY hard to hide the new paint where it transitions from old paint. Like this-

There is only one way to do that perfectly and I really dont want to have to do what that means I would have to do...

🤦‍♂️