Front bumper repaint......finally !!!

I always hated my front bumper. The stock unit looks damn sissy. Totally makes the car more like a Sentra rather than a Skyline. But well that's another story altogether.....wanted to change it but have not come across anyone selling the NISMO version.

Anyway, my front bumper has some 'scars' on it.

Pic 1: Deep cut

Pic 2: An inch away from the left headlights!!

1) Unidentified Flying Object

Not too long after I got the ER34, I had flying debris (kicked out by a motorcyclist) hit the car. Not too sure it's considered lucky or unlucky coz it hit the bumper just an inch below the left headlights. Had it gone any higher and there goes my headlights. Grrrrr.....

2) The mega scrape

The car had a close encounter with a parking ramp pillar that left the right hand side of the bumper with scraping marks. It totally stripped the paint and the black base is clearly seen. (Well you know what they say about letting the fairer sex drive your car.....)

3) Stone chips!!

If you have read my blog on the ER34's maiden trip to Frasiers Hill, it came back with not only memories but uncountable number of stone chips on the front bumper. Darn it!!

4) A date with the parking ramp

The ER34 has a scary encounter with a parking ramp before the installation of the Tein Super Street Dampers. When it was running on HKS lowered springs, the car was so low it scraped everything!! I even had a tissue box stuck under the front bumper once!! Anyway, the bottom of the front bumper has some serious battle scars that spans the whole bumper from the left till the right.

So with the 4 items above to be fixed, I went to my regular paint shop dude to get it fixed. Now this paint shop is good. Very good BUT takes ages to do stuffs. Just to paint my bumper it took them 3 bloody days.

Pic 3: Front bumper removed

Day 1 - Patch back all the stone chips and scraping marks. Painting of the bumper.

Day 2 - Oven bake the newly painted bumper. Fixture of the bumper onto the car and ensure colour matches with the rest of the car.

Day 3 - Polishing the bumper (got them to do the whole car as well) :P

Pic 4: Front bumper being baked in the oven

Pic 5: Intercooler air outlet

The end results is very nice. Satisfied with their work 100%. Well that's the dependability you can place on a shop that actually fixes pre-delivery new Porsches.

Now where can I find a front NISMO bumper?????

Xiamen and a broken speaker ?!?!?

Well the whole of last week I was away from Malaysia. Flew over to Xiamen in China. Yeah it's a drag to be away from the ER34 BUT hell I love visiting China and had been doing so once a year for the past 6 years in a row!

Pic 1: Xiamen skyline by the seafront

It's more like a working holiday for me this time 'round and I thoroughly enjoyed the excellent accommodation, top notch food, and not forgetting the lovely people of China. But honestly, I think Xiamen is the most boring city I've ever visited in China. Hahahaha :D

Pic 2:Tranquility at it's best.

Anyway, I came back to dull and mundane old Malaysia in the middle of the night, tried to rest for the night and the next day, took the ER34 up for a drive. Drove to Ipoh from Kuala Lumpur for some R&R. Took the opportunity to meet up with some business associates. Had a hearty dinner and proceeded to drink our hearts out in the Perak Royal Golf Club.

Woke up early next morning for my favorite Curry Mee and then drove back to Kuala Lumpur. Enroute I was driving max out at the speed limiter with the music on full blast. Was listening to some lovey dovey mandarin love songs and such. Out of a sudden, my front driver's side speaker gave way with a audible bang!!; and guess what?!? My bloody Eclipse 8052 speakers has cracked it's dome. #!%^&^#!*(&%$

Oh god damn it!! Now I've got to hunt for replacements speakers and to figure out ways to get the funds to do it as well.

What a drag!!

Boost Pressure Sensor Hose split yet again!!!

Well well......ain't this becoming a common occurrence?? This is the third time the boost pressure sensor hose split it edges. The last time in September '06, I told myself IF it failed again, I'm gonna look for a stronger hose to replace it.

Pic 1: Boost sensor hose split yet again

Pic 2: Yea it split up pretty bad

Guess I lied to myself. Hehehehe ;)

I got out my trusty angle spanner and remove the unit, amazingly my zip tie theory worked pretty well as evident in pic 1 above. It actually held the hose in place firmly.

Pic 3: So many zip ties ???

Now that it's proven to be effective to secure the hose via zip tie, I'm gonna do the same thing but instead of a single zip tie to hold the hose to the boost sensor housing , I've added 5 smaller zip ties around the base of the inlet to minimize the chances of it splitting again. After doing the above job, I got the feeling that I’ve just fixed the thing as if it’s a Datsun 120Y. Hey!! A Skyline deserves better treatment that that right?!?!?

Pic 4: Jolin Tsai practising for her concert. At times like this I wish I had a 300mm lens for my camera.

The best part when doing the above is being entertained in the background by Jolin Tsai practicing for her big concert tomorrow. The concert venue is just next to where I stay.

Hope the above fix works.........fingers crossed.

Aftermarket replacement rotors? What rotors?

In my previous posting entitled, "ER34 front rotors warped again....", I have mentioned that I've narrowed down my rotors of choice for replacement. I've actually ordered the Endless 24 Slit Rotors. Did my orders direct to Japan and transfered a sum of JPY over there. Unfortunately, I was informed 2 days after my order that Endless actually discontinued the model.

Apparently, it was discontinued due to the tendency of the rotors to crack, perhaps due to the many slots on the surface. I was offered Project Mu's SCR Pro at the same price but decided against it. Now I'm back to square one. If only I can find the OE Brembo from the BNR34.......I think that would be the ideal choice.

Now I need to get my refund back from my Japanese counterparts!! :(

ER34 front rotors warped again....

After I got my front rotors skimmed and slotted back in August 2006, the car feels great. No more shuddering upon hard braking. However, it only lasts me for 2 weeks (!!!) before I managed to get 'em rotors warped again.

Sigh......I seriously hope it's just uneven rotors and not associated with other more minute details concerning the braking system. I had lived with it for close to 4 months now and it's beginning to irritate me badly. I can't drive hard with confidence knowing the car will vibrate upon hard utilization of the STOP pedal.

Pic 1: Brembo F50 brake kit

There are indeed many stock replacement rotors out there as with a total big brake upgrade kits. If one have the budget (> JPY 800,000), the Brembo F50 brake kit with 15" rotors seems to be like the big daddy of brake kit for the Skyline.

However, back to reality, I have tried the budget way, that is to skim and reuse back the OE units. Now, it's perhaps time to go aftermarket and opt for a replacement unit. I have surveyed around for the available models that I would consider. Looked at offerings from Dixcel, Project Mu and also Endless.

Pic 2: Project Mu's SCR Pro

Pic 3: Endless' 24 Slit Rotors

In the end, I narrowed down my choice to either Project Mu's SCR Pro or Endless' 24 Slit Rotors. Just wire transferred the cash to my contact in Japan yesterday and would hope to get it delivered via EMS as soon as possible over here.

Which rotors did I ordered? Will let you all know once it arrives..... :P

Waits in glee!!!

Low batt and a fried amp?

Well I had some electrical problems with the ER34 for the past week. Sometimes the electronics will flicker about while driving. The heaunit, headlamps, taillamps and meter cluster LEDS all will flicker a couple of times and be back to normal.

Now this of course is very worrisome. I had no idea what the hell is wrong with the car. Initial suspicion was the fuse distributor. But had no idea which electrician can work on the ER34 unit. Sigh....

Anyway, this carries on for quite a while off and on. Sometimes, the engine will even go dead. Luckily this only happens while idling at the lights. I did try to check the battery power level and it shows a healthy 13.5V via the OE battery voltage meter. Once I used the flash lights (high beam), and the same thing happened. Everything went flickering on and off. Did an experiment later and held onto the flash lights (high beam) for a prolonged period; and it stalled the engine!!

Pic 1: Fried Amp

Then one fine day, my amp got fried!! I suspect the irregular power input could have been the cause of it. Send it for repair and while waiting for it to get fixed, I borrowed an el-cheapo amp to be used. The amp came back with the below components changed:-

1) 2 pcs Transistors

2) 1 pc IC

3) 3 pcs Mosfet

Pic 2: El-cheapo borrowed amp

Anyway, I check the battery water level on the Pitwork battery and the water level is kinda low. Top it up and afterwhich I had no electrical flickering problems anymore. Guess the ER34 really hates a low batt just like Diego the Sabertooth tiger hates water in Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. Checked via a multimeter and the voltage level looks fine.

Pic 3: Miniscule Pitwork battery

I think perhaps I need to upgrade to a bigger sized battery. And a maintenance free once too. Did someone say Gel-Cell batteries from Odyssey?? Nah if I can source it in Malaysia, it'll probably run into 4 digits. :O

Land of The Rising Sun Flag & Japanese text

I have always had a fondness for the Japanese "Rising Sun" flag. I think I liked it ever since I saw one of Spielberg's lesser known movies called "Empire of the Sun" way back in 1987. I just recently got hold of the DVD and watched it again after 19 years since the first time I seen it in the cinema.

Pic 1: The Empire of The Sun movie poster

Needless to say if you have watched the movie before, the emotional turmoil one gets throughout the movie is unlike any of the current movies where one just watches and forgets it the next day. The movie is set during the WWII invasion on China by the Japanese in 1941; it leaves a deep impact in your heart on the hard life of a young British boy who got separated from his rich parents in Shanghai. The separation lands the boy in Suzhou Creek Internment Camp and the subsequent hardship in the camp until the end of the war in 1945 after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

Anyway, I had the idea to do a "Rising Sun" flag decal on the ER34 complete with the Japanese text "スカイライン" meaning Skyline. Got it done and the below are the results..........

Does it turn out ok? Any comments???

Pic 2: Driver side (Yes that's me in the reflection with the "peace" sign)

Pic 3: Passenger side

Pic 4: View from afar