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After 24hrs the seats had marked the doorcards quite badly, so I had to sort them out ASAP. I removed the doorcard to have a look, hoping I could modify and retrim the arm rest. But upon a closer look the whole door card would need re-doing and I didn't really fancy all that work. So I adapted the rail mounts instead.
I started with the driver side by drilling another hole next to the first one, the seat was still hard pushed against the doorcard. To explain it briefly it required alot more moving over than I first thought. The bracket on the rails was fouling the bottom of the seat so those had to be cut off. The belt buckles were too short to be bolted to the rear inner rail mounting hole so additional brackets had to be made. Then it was a headache trying to hold the seat up to get said bolts in while holding the seat up to line it all up while making sure the belt buckle didnt fall down.
*sigh*
But I finally got it all sorted and theres still room between the seat and the centre console.
With the seats in I have to admit it was abit of a struggle getting out without brushing against the steering wheel. I decided to go with a quick release steering wheel, but it had to be a slim version. A friend had a Vac Motorsport race quick release for sale which would do the job nicely. The centre of the quick release boss looked too small for a horn button, so he included some Fast and Furious-esque NOS buttons to use as horn buttons.
The Nardi deep corn wheel has served me well in pretty much all of my cars, but it was time for it to retire in favour of a smaller, more modern equivalent. I decided on the Sparco L360 in leather, mainly for its 330mm size and it's flat bottom.
Of course,this wasn't going to be an easy job, not with my current luck lol
I wanted to mount the horn bracket inbetween the HKB boss and the first half of the quick release. This was to make the wiring neater and hidden. The first half uses a Nardi bolt pattern (whats the problem with that you ask?)
Well...the horn button bracket uses a Momo bolt pattern. Even redrilling the bracket would make it lean over to one side and not be central. So the only way was to mount it between the second half and the steering wheel. Luckily theres a gap between the two brackets, the wires were heat shrunk and taped to neaten it all up.
Once it was all mounted together, I lined up the supplied horn button from Sparco and it fits :/ Just my luck lol
In the future I plan on getting the interior trims skinned in Carbon Fibre. I've decided to paint them instead for the time being. I wanted something subtle but eye catching if seen in the right light.
White would have been too much and so would Red, so I decided to go Black, but which one? Working in a Motor Factors it was a bonus to have a rack full of aerosols, along with being able to mix paint if need be.
Ford Panther black has always been a favourite,so it was an easy decision
I really need to sort out the lower dash trim to get rid of all of the scratches from the stereo. I can get a brand new one from RHD Japan for £130 + shipping + import, but its not an urgency just yet
While I had everything out I replaced the cig lighter bulb for an amber version. This now matches my ignition barrel light (photo further up)
This was also the perfect opportunity to swap the bulbs in the climate control for a better quality LED. After several recommendations these were purchased from an eBay seller in Australia
June is Prom month for alot of students, I was thankful to be asked to do a couple (only have photos of the first one). It was great to help out fellow Skyline lovers, hopefully see them on here in a few more years time lol
Me and Lu took a drive out for a bite to eat, ended up doing a 100 mile coastal drive around Norfolk, oops! Managed to stop at a couple of places for a snap
Every year Myself and a group of friends organise a charity car meet raising money for The Big C Charity and East Anglia Air Ambulance. On the night we raised £1300 and we still have a raffle going for another week or so. Here's a photo from the night
I've been looking for a rear tow hook for awhile but couldn't find one I liked, so I made one
Using the original one as a template, I extended it so it would be visible underneath the bumper
The original is a 2 skin pressed piece with a bracket on the side. Mine is made from 6mm steel sheet, I understand its not as strong but I don't intend on using it for towing, its purely for aesthetics
We've recently had some thunderstorms (doesn't happen all that often) I was lucky enough to grab this photo while out at a car meet
Which kinda brings me onto my next update, this weekend just gone at Silverstone Classic. I went along with the GTR Drivers Club, it chucked it down with rain most of the weekend but it was still a great weekend. Nissan UK and Nissan JPN supplied the hospitality along with loaning us a 2020 Nismo Model along with their GT-R50 prototype. Seeing photos of this online I didn't like it, but its not quite as bad in person lol
Its been a busy month or so, I've been waiting to build up enough info/photos to make it worth while posting.
The first package to arrive was from Japan. I've been wanting to try it for awhile now so I bit the bullet and ordered some. Its an expensive way to drink coffee but oh so JDM
The next one original came from Japan but was shipped from within the UK. Garage Sweet Tooth stock some really cool authentic parts and clothing. I wanted some more accessories to go with the hannya omamori and the tsurikawa handle and this new-old stock coin holder caught my eye. Still waiting to get some coins before I fit it so i'll save that for another update
Next was an item I spotted in the Garage Sweet Tooth shop, but they didn't have the type I was looking for. I dropped Josh at Torque GT a message to see if they had any Electronic Toll Card Readers kicking about, luckily they did! A couple of days later it arrived and I didn't waste any time fitting it. I only wanted one because it talks haha. Videos are better than photos so heres a short clip
Because mine is a 25GT with an Altia front bumper, this meant two kits had to be purchased and blended together. Luckily my friend Tom at Waltonstyle does custom Hot Wheels so he offered to lend a hand to sort it.
With the shell now complete it was ready for paint. Working in a motor factors I have access to mixing paint. Tom also makes custom water transfers and was able to make the Nismo graphics
Miniature Recaro Sportster CS seats came from Australia, some photos of the interior too
Some photos of the shell nearer completion. Tom even made the Pistonheads logo,Nismo badge and number plate for me, some nice attention to detail
And here's the finished model, complete with Work Emotion CR Kiwami
The bad news is, the engine upgrades that I've been storing will be on hold for awhile longer
The good news is, I'm getting married! So I've now got a year to organise that which to be fair most is already sorted. Followed by a honey moon in Japan in 2021! (I think I'm more excited by that to be honest hehe)
The front bumper needed to be resprayed under warranty, which was the perfect opportunity to fit the Blitz FMIC
Gave the pipe work and chassis areas a coat of paint
The reinforcement bar had to be cut/modified to fit around the intercooler, which wasn't alot of work to be fair. I also replaced the blue silicone hoses for black ones along with mikalor clamps
The horns had to be relocated, so I swapped them for some new ones
Stainless fixings and bolts replaced the original rusty ones
The bumper went back on about 90% right. I think the intercooler is still fouling it ever so slightly so that'll need adjusting/trimming again
Just read through this whole thread, car looks amazing, very nicely done! I'm sure i've seen that micra somewhere before too, was it magazine featured at one point?
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