Chris' Toyota Mark ii JZX110

[hoodedreeper]

An update regarding the registration with the DVLA

I sent off the paperwork the day after I collected the car from the port, two weeks later it was all returned with a letter explaining they have rejected the application. This was because the cheque was £20 short for the road tax (I used a price list I found online). Nevermind it is what it is, it was sent back to them the following day with a new cheque.

Fast forward another 2 weeks or so, I called them for an update to be told it had been rejected. Yesterday (16th September) I received the documents back along with another letter, this time it was because I didn't put an X in one box on the V750 (personalised number plate certificate), which declared that I had the rights to the personalised number plate. Why this wasn't mentioned in the first rejection letter, I don't know, but it could have saved this headache.

The documents were sent back today, so fingers crossed third times a charm and it'll FINALLY be registered on the road just in time for the bad weather (woohoo!)

To cheer myself up I lowered the front 25mm, was sick of seeing it sit like a monster truck. No idea how much clearance I'll have getting on and off the driveway, I'll worry about that when I can actually drive it

[hoodedreeper]

I was getting anxious with the DVLA not knowing if the paperwork is fine or not, so I rang them. No update had been given, but I 
was reassured that providing the box was ticked on the V750 then the application will go through fine.

I've been checking the DVLA website pretty much every day, in the hope that it would have been done. Fast forward to Monday 29th  and I was greeted with a new screen on the check, and it finally showed as Taxed and MOT'd, woohoo!

The car was in desperate need of a clean, not knowing when this day was coming it was put off. As far as I was concerned I had another 3 weeks 

I'm not normally one for using snow foam, but I wanted to give it another try

It hasn't cleaned up too bad considering it's 21 years old and lived on a boat for a number of weeks.

The personalised number plate is J2 XBK, an illegally spaced number plate would have it read J2X BK. BK could either represent  the colour black or Baker, which is my surname.

I filmed the first drive, the Youtube link will be at the end. I used the same driving route I did with the 323F V6 when I had a new exhaust installed, heres a couple of photos

A few more since then

Youtube video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjkFHPzjGDw

[soviet_merlin]

3 hours ago, hoodedreeper said:

The personalised number plate is J2 XBK, an illegally spaced number plate would have it read J2X BK. BK could either represent  the colour black or Baker, which is my surname.

I always wonder where the obsession with legal/illegal spacing on number plates in the UK comes from. Because it comes up in comments in every UK-based video I see on youtube.

From my point of view all of your plates look a bit odd. Just because there are no markings whatsoever. In Australia we have the state that has to be on it. In Europe you get stamps and state logos. Yours look a bit like a throwaway draft that people then stuck with. And attached with blu tack so that it falls off at the slightest disturbance.

Not trying to hate, but it's interesting how things are done in different countries.

Do you have to follow a lettering convention when choosing a custom plate?

[GTSBoy]

Bah! I can't see the point in custom number plates at all.

I went to the rego office, fished through a box of "premium" plates (the ones that had the "not as tall" option for the front plate) and picked the one that had a 32 in it. That's the limit of the effort and cost I will put into number plates.

The only plate that I'd consider paying for would be 2332, but that's not possible here because it already exists from probably 90 years ago, and it would cost a fortune to obtain it, if it were available.

[hoodedreeper]

Here's a boring history lesson on number plates

People want illegal spacing to make their plate more readable, if mine was J2X BK, anyone who knows about the car would see that its spelling JZX. Years ago third party plate manufacturers could alter the text to make it look like something else, nowadays the computer software is locks that ability (well, ours does at work)

Up until 2001 the first letter of a number plate represented the year of the vehicle, for example A would be 1983. (pre 1983, the format was backwards, so the year letter was on the end). Followed by 3 random numbers and 3 random letters. Things started to get complicated at the end of the 90s where T and V were 1999, W and X were 2000 and Y was early 2001.

From 2001 they introduced a new 'layout' where the first two characters are letters, this represented where that vehicle was first registered in the country. The letters corrosponded to a region in the country. Some regions had a large number of codes, where as some only had a couple (despite being large in physical land size)

Next are 2 numbers to indicate 2000s. So it went from:

Y (March 1999 > Aug 2000)

51 (Sept 2001 > Feb 2002)

02 (March 2002 > Aug 2002)

52 (Sept 2002 > Feb 2003) etc etc

When the 2010s got here, the numbers changed again, going up by tens

10 (March 2010 > Aug 2010)

60 (Sept 2010 > Feb 2011)

When the 2020s arrived it went to

20 (March 2020 > Aug 2020)

70 (Sept 2020 > Feb 2021) etc

As for personalised plates, you're not allowed a registration that makes the vehicle look newer. Take my 110 for example, its a 2004 car so I can have any available plate upto 04. I can't have a 54 because it was manufactured in August 2004. Which allows me to have a J plate, because its older (if that makes sense)

 

 

[hoodedreeper]

People use the numbers to make it look like letters to spell words/names, which is where the illegal spacing comes in. For example this GR Yaris

 

[hoodedreeper]

Unless you're fortunate enough to buy a newer car, getting an older style plate to match your name/car is difficult because they've already been purchased. 

Unlike other countries, personalised plates are locked to the country and not region, so there can't be multiple versions of the same plate but with a different area code. 

Hope that helps

[hoodedreeper]

Initially I thought having a pair of Recaro seats would be a big bonus, it turns out these do get a little uncomfortable on long journeys (my fault, not the seat).

I had a look through the GSM Performance website at reclining seats and booked an appointment to visit their show room. I got the Recaro Sportster CS for the R34 from here, was very happy with the service received so of course a re-visit was in order.

Unfortunately the two Corbeau seats I had chosen aren't on display but they had 4 other options available.

Two seats dug into my back, one dug into my legs and the other was perfect. I also found out that Recaro seats use a larger bolt pattern so some adaption was required. Luckily GSM offer some universal adaptors that should solve this problem.

I searched the interwebs for price comparisons and Corbeau themselves were the cheapest at £300 cheaper (for the pair). I asked GSM if they could price match, unfortunately they couldn't. I later received an email saying Corbeau would honour them the same discount, but the purchase was already made. I did however order the brackets from GSM, both arrived on the same day.

I started with the passenger side seat, knowing this was going to be a little trial and error. There are 3 mounting holes at the front and 2 at the rear on these JURAN Racing seat rails. 

With the adaptor brackets mounted, the allen cap bolts started to push into the seat, NOT GOOD! 

The rear mounting holes lined up but there were issues at the front. The holes were 1/2 hole out, so the brackets got a tickle with the drill to modify the holes.

The supplied bolts weren't going to be long enough and a spacer was needed to stop the adaptor bars from bending. A local fasteners company supplied be with some nylon spacers and longer bolts (M8x30, although these will be replaced with 35mm long shortly)

A before and after

I pre-drilled the front bracket before making a start on the driver's seat to save some time. And in no time at all that was in the car too.

The all black seats have transformed the interior and these are MUCH more comfortable. The only downside with the new Corbeau seats is I sit a little higher, but I'll happily accept that over discomfort.

The Youtube video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPyttKPktXA

[Duncan]

You know what, I am enjoying your updates, but I have to say it is pretty poor form to walk into a shop that is paying for space and stock on the floor, try all their seats to work out what you are happy with, then buy somewhere else. If everyone did that the shop will be out of business with no opportunity for anyone to try a seat before buying.

👎

 

[hoodedreeper]

I see your point, I didn't think too deep into it, was purely focused on the price. There's no bad blood between myself and GSM, they acknowledged the price was cheaper else where and at the time couldn't match it. 

[Kinkstaah]

On 03/10/2025 at 9:28 AM, GTSBoy said:

Bah! I can't see the point in custom number plates at all.

I went to the rego office, fished through a box of "premium" plates (the ones that had the "not as tall" option for the front plate) and picked the one that had a 32 in it. That's the limit of the effort and cost I will put into number plates.

The only plate that I'd consider paying for would be 2332, but that's not possible here because it already exists from probably 90 years ago, and it would cost a fortune to obtain it, if it were available.

The fact that US/JDM plates actually fit the skyline bumpers properly is a big, big thing for me as they are the correct dimensions.

Annoyingly you can't opt for a normal plate (or plate combination) in that size. You have to make up your own one, and at that point you'd still know it wasn't randomly assigned. 

[GTSBoy]

2 minutes ago, Kinkstaah said:

The fact that US/JDM plates actually fit the skyline bumpers properly is a big, big thing for me as they are the correct dimensions.

I just bent the ends of my premo plates. It even went through Regency like that after the engine conversion and the inspector (a great bloke!) just squinted his eyes and said "I didn't see that".

Plates, and how they look, are just something that have zero importance to me.

[Kinkstaah]

I find the fact that the rear plate has to be bent inwards at the rear not so bad:



but the front is just awful:



It's like come on.
(these are my very old, now retired/turned in plates)

TBH it is a lot of money to fix a minor issue, the fact I said "I'll never really spend the money on doing this" is why people ended up buying them as a gift for a 'car guy' who can be hard to shop for.. for car guy things.