Malaysian Skyline Club Gathering 040108

Pic 1: Group photo at Seri Wawasan Putrajaya Bridge

The Malaysian Skyline Club held it's first gathering for the year 2008 on the 4th of January. The number of Skylines that turned out is nothing short of amazing. Present are 20 over units of Skylines of various variants from the R32 to the R34 models. Some are pretty stock while others have been modded quite a fair bit.

The night started with a getting-to-know-you session whilst checking out the rides that were present. Right before midnite, the cars all move out for a cruise (a really fast cruise that is!) towards Cyberjaya via the new KL-Putrajaya Highway. This new highway cosing about RM1.4 billion (USD$ 426 million) to build is 26km long of pure wangan style highway. Most of the way, the roads are very straight with long sweeping bends. However, some stretch are a little bumpy and the downhill left sweeper to the toll booth at the end of the highway is pretty dangerous if one is speeding and are caught unaware. Seeing a bunch of Skylines speeding at speeds in excess of 200km/h on a damp highway is a crazy sight! I kept my speed below those of the front runners; those guys are mad buggers! :P

Pic 2: Stopped after the exit of the KL-Putrajaya Highway

Upon reaching Cyberjaya, we stopped for drinks and a chit-chat session in the newly opened Old Town Kopitiam located in Jalan Teknokrat. I guess this establishment gave hope to those working in the "desert" of Cyberjaya more choices of food in the area. I was made to understand that food choices in Cyberjaya is extremely limited and exorbitantly priced!

After about an hour or so, we left Old Town Kopitiam and head out towards Putrajaya. Here along the main road infront of the Ministry of Finance (MoF), we made a couple of "hot laps" much to the enjoyment of the guys. The sounds of the RB engines resonating off the building walls are wicked! Such music cacophony...........

Pic 3: Traffic jam full of Skylines?!?!

Pic 4: Parked outside the Ministry of Finance

We actually intend to have a group photoshoot here at MoF but decided otherwise and instead head out to the Seri Wawasan Putrajaya Bridge. This bridge connects Precinct 2 on the Core Island to the residential area of Precinct 8. Touted as one of the most beautiful bridges this side of the state, it's a magnificent structure consisting of 2 pylons and an arch with multiple cable stays.

At the bridge, the cars are parked in formation for the very very very late photoshoot. Our antics were noticed by a passing Police patrol car that promptly kept us in strict scrutiny. The coppers doesn't seem to be very pleased with our presence there. After a while, guess the cops got restless and began checking out our road tax and also jotting down our number plates. A good time to get our arse off the place. All jumped into our rides and make like a banana and split (sorry can't resist the term :P). It’s already 3:00 am by then; gosh…what a late night out.

Oh btw, a video was to be produced out of the night with highway speeding footages, cruise footages and also drag footages. Can't wait to see the end result from the DVD. It has got to be really cool!

Here are some pictures from the night.

Pic 5: Skylines invades a petrol kiosk

Pic 6: The cops are here!!

Pic 7: Coppers keeping a close eye on what we are doing......

Pic 8: Lots of white Skylines in this shot eh?

Pic 9: The two BCNR33 of the night and Driftmeister's Veilside kitted R34

Pic 10: The guys checking out the cops and vice-versa :P

Pic 11: This daytime shot shows how straight the KL-Putrajaya Highway really is

New AC Delco NS40ZL Maintenance Free Battery

Pic 1: The AC Delco NS40ZL MF Battery

Geez!! I thought after going through a replacement alternator and recharging my old battery all will be fine. Guess not eh? After I charged the battery, it was flat 2 days later. It was completely drained out; I can't even crank the engine. I bought my battery on the 4th of January this year and I've 4 more days before the 1 year warranty period runs out. Better try my luck to claim warranty before I go and procure a new battery. Like mentioned in my previous post, batteries are getting costlier nowadays.

When I brought the battery back to the shop, they were a bit sceptical about the possibility of claiming it and being on the 31st December 2007, it doesn't really help that most of the people from the distributor are away and it's a public holiday the very next day. Thankfully, luck was on my side, as I was called about 30 minutes later to come and pick up my new replacement battery. Woohoo!!! That's fast work and it saved me buying a new battery for the ER34. :P

Pic 2: Old battery out of the engine bay.....

Pic 3: And the new AC Delco NS40ZL MF goes in.....

Faulty Alternator

Lately, the ER34 felt really funny. It requires more cranks to start her up and also the headunit would suddenly shut down as if power was cut. On top of that the volt reading was highly irregular. It fluctuates upon usage of the power window and drops to an unhealthy 10 volts whenever I used the flash.

Yes..... Skylines notoriously hate low power. The battery must be weak. The NS40ZL AC Delco Maintenance Free Battery was changed on the 4th January 2007. It couldn't have died less than a year! There must be something wrong with the battery.

I sent in the car for checks and the volt meter suggests that the alternator is not charging the battery fully. It registers only 12 volts where it should be reading 14 volts with the engine started. Looks like a replacement alternator is the only way to solve this problem.

New alternator are costly items, probably in the range of RM2,000 to RM3,000 a unit. That route is definitely out of the question. I need to source for a used alternator. The alternator on the R33 and R34 are supposedly the same thus it is so much easier to find a unit off the R33 than the R34. My appreciation and thanks to bro Emeraude3388 for sourcing an alternator off the BCNR33 (R33 GT-R) halfcut for me. :)

Pic 1: The ER34 Mitsubishi made alternator (Part No. 23100-0V016)

Pic 2: The BCNR33 Hitachi made alternator (Part No. 23100-0V010)

With the alternator on the ER34 removed, I noticed that it is made by Mitsubishi whereas the BCNR33 unit was made by Hitachi. Oh darn, two different manufacturers....... there must be some minute differences.

Sure enough, upon closer inspection, the pulley design is different BUT luckily the alternator belt is the same and fits snugly. The ER34 still requires a couple of extra cranks than usual to start and checks on the battery indicator suggest that it's weak. I'm left with 2 options, either to change to a new battery or to recharge the current one.

Pic 3: Note the diffrent pulleys. The pulley on the left belongs to the BCNR33 while the right pulley belongs to the ER34

Nowadays battery prices are sky high and changing to a new one is going to cost me. There has been at least 3 price hike in 2007. This is due to the rising price of lead. The lead price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had shot up from US$1,600 (RM5,325.82) a metric tonne early this year to US$3,600 (RM11,983) in November 2007.

Fortunately my current battery is just weak and a recharge on the current battery would fix the problem. I took the battery out to be recharged at a regular workshop and it was working allright after a 4 hours charge. Yea it took that long, luckily bro sakakida kept me company via some parts ogling at speedshops and chop shops. :P

In case you are wondering, nope I did not procure anything at all. :D

R&R to Hatyai, Thailand

Pic 1: The Hatyai city view from my hotel room

Recently, I drove to Hatyai (หาดใหญ่), Thailand which is about 1,200 km to and fro from Kuala Lumpur. I took time off and had a 'lil bit of a rest and relax in the second biggest city in Thailand after Bangkok. Co-incidently at the time of my visit (14th - 16th Dec), it was during the birthday celebration of his Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej Rama IX. The Thai King is the world's longest serving monarch and had served 61 years on the throne.

Actually, the King celebrated his 80th birthday a week prior on 5th December 2008 and is celebrated amidst the nation worrying about his fragile health. The King has just recently undergone treatment in the hospital for inadequate blood flow to the brain.

Pic 2: A concert in the city to celebrate the King's birthday

Pic 3: Some display stands on the King's birthday

Pic 4: Some display stands on the King's birthday

Anyway, what about my trip in Hatyai?? Well, I did nothing much when I was there except to gobble up on the excellent local food and had small walks here and there in shopping malls. The food was of course excellent from beef noodles, fresh seafood, dim sum to fried chickens from street vendors.

I also drove to the Hat Yai Municipal Park located on Kanchanawanit Road approximately 6 kilometers from the city center on the Hat Yai-Songkhla Highway. Within the park, there is a statue of King Rama V that is enshrined at the foot of the hill near the aviary, a hill-top Brahman shrine and a jade statue of Guan-yin, the Chinese Goddess situated, at the southern foothill. I did my prayers and wished for a couple of blessings....... The roads at the hills within the park are indeed very touge like.

Oh btw, I did saw some interesting cars while I was there. Came across 2 quite extensively modded A31 Cefiros and also a Toyota TE72 thats modded to almost drift spec look alike.

Do check out some of the pics.......

Pic 5: Fried stuffs from street vendors

Pic 6: Setting off firecrackers at the 4-faced Buddha shrine

Pic 7: Narrow touge roads?

Pic 8: Hairpin turn!

Pic 9: Touge!

Pic 10: At the border town of Sadao...heading back to Malaysian soil

Removal of "S K Y L I N E" & 25GTt emblem

Pic 1: The ER34 with the SKYLINE emblem

The rear of the ER34 comes with a row of emblem emphasising the model of the car. The "S K Y L I N E" emblem is not particularly ugly or unsightly but somehow I like a clean look on the rear of the car.

Thus I had the emblem AND also the 25GTt logo removed. I kinda like the way it looked now as compared with the emblems in place. Nice, clean, smooth and tidy.

This is the outcome of it. What do you think?

Pic 2: With the SKYLINE emblem removed

Top 10: Dangerous cars (A BNR34?!?!?)

I recently read an article on UK's MSN Cars on the Top 10 most dangerous cars. Dan Trent, a motoring journalist wrote down his opinion of the Top 10 most dangerous cars on our roads. And his list goes like this....

1) AC Cobra
2) Mercedes 300SL Gullwing
3) Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)
4) Porsche 911 GT2 (996)
5) Ferrari F40
6) Renault Clio V6
7) Lotus Carlton
8) Peugeot 205 GTI
9) Lamborghini Miura
10) TVR Tuscan S

You guessed what caught my eye. A BNR34 as one of the most dangerous cars? WTF!! This is what Dan wrote about the BNR34,

"Accepted wisdom has it that the Skyline is so high-tech as to be virtually uncrashable. Just keep your foot in and the black boxes will do the rest, right? Partly so. Sure, the armoury of abbreviations and innovations - from ATTESA ET-S PRO torque distribution to Super HICAS four-wheel steering - all contribute to the GT-R's formidable cornering power and Porsche beating performance. And driving a Skyline can be like a video game made real. But personal experience proves the danger comes when you discover all the electronic brain power in the world can't actually over-rule the laws of physics. And that skidding off into the barrier requires more than hitting 'restart' on your PlayStation control pad. "

Geez......makes me wonder.

Sigh.......

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