Skyline Mk2

[Gambit]

Well after the disaster that my first R33 turned into I decided to scrap it and buy another one, and was very happy to take CraigR's off of him for a bargain price. Heres how she was when I first picked her up






Was an absolute dream to drive and looked great, but in need of a few changes for personal taste.

Pretty much stage 1 already with HKS Pod filter, Greddy front mount, HKS turbo elbow, De-cat and full stainless exhaust. Short shift kit, full GTR interior and finished off with 17" Advans.

My plan was to change a few interior bits, put on my GTR spoiler, change the wheels and that was pretty much it.

I managed to fit my Clarion Head unit, sat nav, cd changer etc, my gauges, Momo wheel and profec boost controller on the inside and GTR Spats and spoiler on the outside when unfortunately a late night drive from the girlfriends, lots of rain and a tree on a roundabout changed things a little.

Aquaplanning into a tree at 50 is not recommended.





As you can see she kinda lost the argument



But bending the adjustable upper rear arms did lower it quite well lol

[Gambit]

As you can see the car was parked up on a car park at the back of my house, thought she'd be fine for a little while but oh no... the little shites tried breaking into the boot bending it up and jamming it solid, was fuming. Managed to manouever her into the back garden before setting about breaking into my own car. Was a little surprised at how easy it was in the end.

Remembering Craig still had the original bootlid for her saved me some grief tho, even if he did refuse to talk to me when I went to collect it lol



Now, as I'd only had the car six weeks at this point I was not letting the insurance write her off, a cash in lieu settlement turned up a couple of months later and off I set to repair her.

First step was to call Si at Alltorque, the ironic thing is I ended up buying back most of my old R33 from him to fix this one
Supplying me with a set of front upper arms, driverside wishbone, steering rack, 2 headlights, bumper reinforcer, 2 wings, a bonnet, air con fan, and a washer bottle even before the cheque cleared. So a big thanks goes out to Si for all this.
Next step was to speak to Andy at SP (of course ) who sold me a Japspeed front mount, again, Andy was a huge help to me.

This just left me with a few bits to source.

Off to good old ebay and one 52mm ally rad is with me a few days later from Http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/flat4online-co-uk




Was very impressed with it, and at £150 who wouldnt be

While I was there I picked up a set of 18" Alloys from http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/projexuk to cover my painted calipers. Yes I got bored and hammerite is cheap.




Took them to Littlehampton tyre centre who wrapped them in Falken 452's for a smidge over £400

Then I got a hankering for some shiny engine bits and picked up a fusebox cover....quickly followed by a power steering reservoir cover and a washer bottle one too all from http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/evolution_foundry_ltd






So far so good, she's coming together nicely, body works back together, lights working, all vital fluids replenished, and splitfire coilpacks on new HKS Iridiums.
I finally drop her onto her wheels after aaaggggeeesssss on four axle stands and start her up.

Horror...

Sounds like I have a bag of spanners in the engine, as I'd totally mullered the fmic this was the first time I'd had the engine running for months and that sound was a little bit crushing.
But I hung in there and gave her a minute, and as the oil warmed up the noise went down and it dawned on me that with so much time just sat around the hydraulic tappets had drained/stuck, within 5 minutes she was purring like a kitten again and I was almost smiling again.

[Gambit]

With everything working I went back to ebay for some extra goodies and winging its way to me me were a set of adjustable rear camber arms, adjustable front rods and adjustable wishbones.

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/performance-guru
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/2fast2cool2


http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/wwwfareastperformance

Was nice and easy to fit all of them (after smashing out the studs from the toe arms on a kerb lol), making sure they were set to the same lengths as the original bits I removed was a good plan as it not only made fitting them nice and easy but also made driving the car possible. Back to Littlehampton tyre centre for everything to be alligned. 2hrs later and the difference is VERY noticeable, she handles like shes on rails and I'm grinning like a cheshire cat.


Now, as grateful as I am to John (Trackday addict) for giving me the bumper off of ProjectGTST it just didnt sit right for my liking so I thought I'd give Replikit a go and placed an order for something a little more suitable. I got a little hacked off at having to wait three weeks for it to be made after I was told it would take 7-10 days... but it was worth the wait when my Trial bumper finally arived, and fitted perfectly... well after I trimmed a little off for the front mount.

Here's how she is now...









Re-fitted my GTR spoiler and Spats as I originally planned, then got a little creative and have the wideband lambda output running to the ecu so no need for a standard lambda anymore (works very well too).



Then I must have watched too much TV and made up the keypad situated by the hand brake. No its not an immobiliser its a keycode that starts the engine.. like I said too much TV lol

Got a can of chrome paint to tidy up the air filter mesh and grille mesh, while in halfrauds I noticed the chrome lettering they had, 3 for a £5er so thought I'd change the front badge for something a little different. Not sure if I like it so it may change.

And today I thought sod it, and changed the diff for my my nice 200sx one, dropping the ratio from 4.11:1 to 3.7:1 Might not sound like much but 5.5 hours to change the prop, diff, both drive shafts and the speedo cluster (was adjusted for the different ratio) with just a trolley jack and axle stands was good going in my books. And the benefits of lower revs for cruising and higher mph for less revs makes it all worth while, though acceleration has dropped a tad



Whats next?



Well I would like to change the rear spats for the Ground FX ones from Japsalon and change the bonnet for an FRP one but moving out of home (at last!!) may slow things down a little.

But who knows

[Trev]

Glad to see your car back on the road AND you still keeping faith with these c*** Skylines.

Seriously, I have never heard of any other car causing people so much bad luck/headaches/stress as these cars do!

[Gambit]

Cheers Trev, I agree but I think part of the problem lies in how far the cars are being pushed and the way its done.

As a stage 1 car she's reliable and easy to maintain so relatively headache free... touch wood lol

[Andy W]

I see that dodgy FP sender is still there

looking loads better though Mark

[simon]

what are these and where do they go?

Simon

[Gambit]

I see that dodgy FP sender is still there

looking loads better though Mark

Yeah yeah I know lol, probably gonna change it for something a little more normal when I can afford it as I dont think the pressure gauge I plumbed into it is gonna work

what are these and where do they go?

Simon

They're adjustable wishbones Simon, they go from the bottom of the front hub to the chassis and they adjust the camber on the front wheels.

[Spearmint]

Looking good Mark, a few cars coming back together now after one disaster or another this year.

[Moff]

Looking good matey... Nice 3.7 diff.... yum

Moff

[ray cee]

A fantastic looking car mark , top job at a trying time....

Ray

[Gambit]

Thanks guys, certainly was trying lol but well worth it in the end. Still needs the odd bit sorting here and there but she's coming along nicely.

Starting to get used to the diff again now, its a case of selecting a lower gear than usual but 3rd gear really does go on, and on, and on.....

[Drifty]

Nice one!! good to see your back on the road, although I've never seen you driving a Skyline lol

[Gambit]

Few people have Bruce... It's a bit like a Bunyip, everyone believes I have one but no one knows for sure











Bunyip = a mythical creature said to lurk in billabongs in South-East Australia

[ovais]

Looking good there matey woo hoo.