Chris' R34 Skyline GTT

[hoodedreeper]

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and will have a happy new year

Not much of an update I'm afraid. All of the engine upgrades are now for sale as I've got some debt to sort out

Myself and some friends took a drive over to a Paul Walker memorial meet, managed to snap some phone photos





Heres a photo from one of the last Cars & Coffee (events I help organise. I've just finished finalising the 2020 dates and info so next year is shaping up to be awesome




The car has been in use since the last update, dodging the grit trucks this time of year and only taking it out when the roads have been clear for a few days. Took a drive out to get some last minute photos with some local christmas lights.

[hoodedreeper]

Time for an update!

The biggest announcement being I'm going to be a dad! Woohoo! Its due to arrive 6 weeks after the wedding which is gonna make our summer very busy!









Bought a new camera lens, a Canon 35mm f/1.4 so gave the car a clean to test it out






















































A few weeks ago we went for a B road blast, came into a small village where the already narrow road became alot narrower. I moved over to pass some cars and ended up hitting a hidden curb, not with one wheel....but both


















Immediately took it to a local Wheel Refurb company to get a quote. They've done a tester and although they can do a shadow chrome finish, the front face will be darker than the factory finish. I've decided i'll get all 4 re-done so they all match. Not what I needed, but hey ho thats life



I've been wanting to head into London to take some night photos of the car, following a few photographers on Instagram certainly boosted the idea. With the ULEZ charge paid, it was time to travel 2.5hrs south west towards the concrete jungle. With the city being so busy I knew we had to get there late to help avoid heavy traffic.We arrived in central london at 10:30pm and started the tour of locations I had saved on my phone. The mirrored Google Maps on my CD player certainly made things easier rather than being glued to my phone.




Having never driven through London it was an all new experience but it wasn't too bad, I envy those who live or commute to the area. After a few wrong turns and driving around the block a couple of times I finally found one of the main locations I wanted to stop at.









Seeing super and hyper cars driving around as if they were your normal run of the mill cars was certainly a sight worth seeing. As we pulled over behind Harrods, a Mercedes G Wagon rolled past with the reg plate G 63, if that doesn't shout expensive I don't know what does lol The city was littered with AMGs of all varieties, lambos, ferrari's and bentleys. Not many other modified cars which was a shame.






Sloane Street was one of the main places to see those cars, although I think its quite over hyped after being there a little while.














The last location we wanted to stop by was The O2, this place is a common location (overused in some photographer's eyes) but I wasnt going home without stopping by. With Canary Wharf lit up behind it makes a fantastic background.














The other half captured this photo which was pretty cool






It was a loooong night, we didnt get home till 5:20am and I had a photoshoot booked in a few hours later, oops!




With London out of the way, it was time to search for some daily wheels. I went with some 18" 350Z Rays which really suit the car IMO. The supplied tyres were at the end of their life, a friend hooked me up with some Avon ZZ5s on the cheap



















That concludes what's been happening as of late. Show season is round the corner so I'm looking forward to getting out and expanding my photography portfolio

[Kaktus]

Congrats on becoming a dad!! Exciting times ahead, just make sure you'll keep the Skyline at least until he/she starts school so he/she can arrive in style in daddy's supercar and be the envy of everyone!!!

Some great photos there, as always!!

[hoodedreeper]

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=YtET...&fbclid=IwAR2f UDGXTik6UJarqdbTI3x8tiW-_-LocapgNIbi8Hnl-RUbymeLvc0sSJA




I have another update to post so expect that within the next week

[Kaktus]

Looks great, Chris! Nice to be able to follow the constant evolution of your car.

[hoodedreeper]

Thank you

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

[hoodedreeper]

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

[hoodedreeper]

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 :P

[Meaker]

I take it you are going for the stock look more, I got my steering wheel re-wrapped in high quality leather and the finish is really nice. You could maybe have it re-done in the same style and colours?

[hoodedreeper]

Yes and no. I love the GTR look but to do it properly (genuine GTR rear quarters, wings etc) plus the labour fitting it all is waaay above my budget. Eastbear do a kit that achieves the look but without the wider arches which I'd consider (again, pricey from Japan with the shipping)

Engine wise I'd love to do a top mount turbo, front facing plenum etc but again that's quite expensive to do properly

I did have a very good condition OEM steering wheel fitted but being a larger build and the Recaro seats meant the OEM wheel made things uncomfortable. That's why I went with a smaller diameter wheel with the flat bottom

[Meaker]

If you want to get the current wheel done then you go for alcantara and a centre stripe in a colour to match the paint Very nice build though, I enjoyed looking though the pics.

[hoodedreeper]

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

[Kaktus]

That looks great Chris, well done!

Are you going to just paint it black or perhaps wrap it in carbon fibre vinyl to continue with the light weight theme?

[hoodedreeper]

Its been powder coated satin grey

[hoodedreeper]

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