Found: ER34 half-cut

Half-cuts of the ER34 are extremely hard to find. The vehicle is still very much popular in Japan and if there's any half-cuts, it'll probably go to Australia, New Zealand or United Kingdom where they can afford to pay higher prices for it.

Well, I chanced upon a unit recently with some nice parts in it. The half-cut I found has:-

1) Aluminium radiator
2) Silicone radiator hoses
3) Nismo radiator cap
4) Apexi bubble tank
5) Blitz oil cooler with oil filter relocation kit
6) Blitz LM intercooler kit
7) Blitz SUS power core type LM air filter
8) Apexi N1 coilovers
9) Nismo tension rods

I am interested in a few of the items but too bad, the owner of the half-cut isn’t particularly interested in taking off parts from the unit. Everything will go as a whole for a cool asking price of RM 15,000 (USD 4,440). :O

Here are some pictures of it....

Pic 1: The ER34 half-cut. It was involved in a front end side collision

Pic 2: Blitz Oil Cooler. Love the side mount. Should have ordered this instead of my GReddy/Trust one.

Pic 3: Blitz LM front mount intercooler. One of the intercooler pipe and silicone hose is torn from the accident.

Pic 4: Engine bay. Note the aluminium radiator, silicone radiator hoses, apexi bubble tank with Nismo radiator cap

Pic 5: Nismo tension rods

Pic 6: Apexi N1 coilovers

Proton's new MPV built with Chinese technology....?

There have been talks of a partnership between Proton Holdings Bhd and Chery Automobiles Co Ltd of China in assembling the models from China in Proton's smacking new high tech plant in Tangjung Malim. In addition, there were also talks about the possibility of Proton to use the technology from the Chinese automaker into producing a MPV of their own.

Ain't that interesting news? Yes....but that has been in the talk since uhm....about September 2006. So what has transpired since then?

I chanced upon a test unit yesterday and managed to snap some pictures of it. The badges and emblems have been covered though. Interesting eh?

Pic 1: Front view

Pic 2: Rear view

Bandung, Jakarta and a BNR32?

Pic 1: Nice statue in Bandung

I was in Indonesia last week and thought I'll share some snippets of my travel there.........

Upon touching down at the Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta International Airport, I bought a bus ticket to Bandung. The ticket is very cheap at IDR 60,000 (USD 6.50) one way. Bandung, located 180 kms away from Jakarta is the capital of West Java and Indonesia's third largest city.

So what's in Bandung? Nothing much actually. Some of the 'attractions' like the Cihampelas Walk (Ciwalk) and Braga City Walk are not interesting at all. There were quite a few factory outlet stores though. :)

Moving around in Bandung is kinda fun. The local transport is called angkot which is a modified minibus that's able to squeeze in up to 18 passengers!! Crazy eh? But one got to be very careful as many muggers/pickpockets operate on these angkots.

Some of the interesting rides I saw in Bandung are a Honda CR-V and a Toyota Frontier with 22 inch wheels and 265mm width tyres!! Madness eh?

Oh yea, Bandung is constantly raining! I've never experienced heavy rain 5 times a day!!! After two nights here, I took a bus back to Jakarta where I spent a night before flying back to Kuala Lumpur. Now Jakarta is a city of extreme contrast.

Pic 2: Jakarta city view from my hotel room

Pic 3: Welcome Monument built in 1962 by President Sukarno

Here you find posh shopping malls selling designer items but outside the main door you find the other extreme, i.e. the poorer folks loitering around the dirty streets. Here, either you are rich or you are poor. The gap in between is so huge in comparison that it's beyond comprehension why there exists little or no middle ground.

The city of Jakarta is not a safe place to be in. Cases of mugging and robbery are so common even the taxi drivers themselves can be muggers!! My advice is to travel only in the most reputable taxi provider, i.e Bluebird. Any other taxis that you travel are a risk in terms of safety and cut throat fares.

Pic 4: A typical bajaj in Jakarta

Besides taxis, bajaj (a form of motorised 3 wheel rickshaws) operate every nook and cranny of the city. These are interesting transportations not unlike those used in Thailand (tuk tuks). But I will not recommend anyone to try them due to the high mugging cases on board.

During my stay in Indonesia, my icthy hands bought another car model. Yes, what else, it's another Nissan Skyline. I came across a 1:18 scale model of the BNR32 that were potrayed in the Japanese anime Inital D. Yes the very one driven by Takeshi Nakazato of the Myogi NightKids. The model is made by Jada Toys and impulse buying got the better of me. And hey, it was on 30% sale!!!

The quality was kind of bad actually, can't compare at all to my rest of my Skyline models by Kyosho and Autoart. Oh well.....

Anyway, here are some pictures…..

Pic 5: Yes it rains and rains in Bandung!!!

Pic 6: Small time traders in Bandung offering their expertise in sign making

Pic 7: Funny statue in my hotel lobby at Jakarta. No durians OR durians encouraged?? :P

Pic 8: Another funny statue in my hotel lobby. A crab bit a women's toe?

Pic 9: Poor living condition of some Jakarta folks

Pic 10: Dirty muddy clogged river/drain?

Pic 11: This bajaj think it's sexy?

Pic 12: A morning market in Jakarta. Felt damn uneasy here...

Pic 13: My NightKids BNR32

Pic 14: Quality and details can be better

Aquarium headlights ?!?!

Pic 1: The ER34 looks kinda good without headlights ya??

Oh shucks!! I don't know why and I don't know how but one fine day my headlights decided to leak water in. Every time the ER34 is washed or it rained, the passenger side headlights will leak water in.

I've found quite a number of used headlights for sale in Japan and the price is astronomical!! These xenon headlights are not cheap at all!! I've been guilty of delaying this fix and in the process has gotten some pretty weird stares from friends, colleagues and some business associates. A leaky Skyline headlights? How embarrassing!!

Luckily, my buddy at Aeroclear, the guys that refurbishes and repairs aircraft windows are here to rescue me. :P If you recall, they have helped to polish and restore my dull yellowish headlights in July '07 (refer blog entry here).

Anyway, my ER34 was handed to Aeroclear's trusty hands to fix the leakage. Since I'm taking out the leaky headlight, I might as well fixes the other one as well (just incase!).

What was done is incredibly extensive. Both headlights are removed from the ER34 and are taken apart. Yes, literally broken down to individual pieces! All the factory silicone sealants are removed and new ones are applied in providing a fool proof sealant against any future water leakage. The headlight covers are sandpapered and polished like new. These tedious processes took 48 hours to complete! Amazing!!!

Here are some of pictures.....

Pic 2: A flooded headlight?!?!

Pic 3: The reflectors

Pic 4: Headlight covers

Pic 5: Sandpapering the headlight covers

Pic 6: This is how the headlight covers looked like after sandpapered. The red circles are stone chips on the covers.

Pic 7: Polishing the headlight covers

Pic 8: Squeaky clean eh? Just like new.....

Pic 9: Front view (right side)

Pic 10: Side view (right side)

Pic 11: Front view (left side)

Pic 12: Rear view (left side)