Monday, July 15, 2013

BNR34 Rear Diffuser Project, Part 5: Done!

While taking photos of the various pieces that had to be fitted to make the diffuser fit, I realized from the following photo, the rust on the leading metal edge of the diffuser really bothered me.

That, and I also realized that I was simply ignoring another problem, the rust on the inside fin mounts:

So off to the hardware store I went, searching for the Japanese equivalent of Rust-Oleum StopsRust, the paint that you spray on and which slows down the progression of rust (it was too much work to actually strip down all the rust and then respray). I couldn’t find a spray product, but did find something in a can that’s used for black iron fences, etc.


So, I took off the diffuser, and painted all rusted surfaces with this anti-rust paint in the hope that this would at least slow down the spread of the rust that’s already there. If of course it’s too late, well at least I have the stainless brackets and other parts from the RB Motorsports kit that can probably be used in their place.
Looks much better, right?
And, since I had the diffuser off, I decided to see if I could do one more mod.  I remember reading in GTR Magazine about a shop that installed a red F1 style rear LED in the center bracket, and found two examples on Minkara.  (Here's the other).

But, I’m not about to spend 34,000 yen (plus that was a limited edition run of 10 plus units) on this! So I searched on Rakuten and first found this:
Not bad at 900 yen, but the reviews were mostly all bad....
But given that the dimensions I could work with were:  about 6cm for the space between the body of the car and the diffuser, and about 3cm between the leading edge of the diffuser and the bumper, I found instead a rectangular one with better dimensions: 


Once ordered it quickly arrived - and though I'm sure it probably costs less than $5 in the US (and even less than that in China), unfortunately it was a bit more than that here...

So as you can see it had this clip attached to it. Initially I was not going to use this clip, but then decided that, instead of making my own brackets, it might be better to figure out a way to attach it using this clip – either to the car body or to the diffuser itself.


After some thought, I realized that to attach this LED to the car body would require new holes to be drilled, or the diffuser stays would have to be modifed.  It would probably be easier to attach to the LED light to the diffuser itself, so that's what I decided to do.

I found a stainless steel (so it wouldn't rust) bracket with holes, which bolted on nicely to the end bolts of the rear-most bolts of the two inside fins (which are spaced apart exactly 46 cm!) on the inside top surface of the diffuser (you can also see the formerly rusted inside fin mounts now painted black here too):

Then, using the clip that came with the LED light, I was able to test fit it by slipping it (temporarily) on like this:

I was envisioning I would be able to attach it all so it would be like this:


But I then realized that I had to do something to prevent the LED lamp and its clip from slipping off the stainless bracket - so I decided to use a "V" shaped rubber piece with adhesive on both inside surfaces between which I sandwiched the stainless bracket.  The two bolts shown here were then used to center the LED clip on the stainless bracket:  

So it ended up looking like this:

And then to prevent the whole contraption from slipping around and thus possibly falling off, used some silicon adhesive on the side that would contact the diffuser:

After I bolted this whole contraption onto the diffuser (again using the two rear-most bolts of the inside fins), I temporarily re-attached the diffuser to see how it would fit.
Looks pretty good, huh!
Now all that was left was to wire it up to the lights. This I'll cover in a future post, because it took some time to get right.   In any case - finally - here is the finished result, in day light! Comments, critiques, and questions most welcomed!



10 comments:

マット said...

Wow, Aki. That's a very nice fitment. I especially like your idea of fitting an LED fog light on the diffuser.

I really look forward to your next track day, so I can hear about the effects of having this rear diffuser.

I wish there was a rear diffuser for my BNR32 which is as discreet as the stock R34 rear diffuser! I'm not a fan of the ones that hang really low to the ground with crazy wings sticking out to the sides.

Aki said...

マット、 have you checked out the very BNR34 looking rear diffuser for the BNR32 from Abflug?

Thanks for the comments - the LED light was a bit of a hassle so your input is appreciated!

マット said...

Yes, I've actually considered the Abflug rear diffuser, but decided not to because it has little winglets sticking out to the sides. I want it all hidden under the car. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Samurai Blues said...

Wow Aki-san. To be honest, i thought the diffuser idea was not gonna look too good. Then u decided to throw in an LED light.. i was like.. oh no..... i don't like where this is going...

but, the finished product looks fantastic. Kudos! U r indeed a BCNR33 Meister.

Cheers
Wayn

Aki said...

マット、so those winglets aren't removable? Such a shame...but I read a Minkara post where the guy who did install them said that it was more a cover than a diffuser anyway.

Wayn- thank you very much for the kind words! To be honest, I was not sure about how it would look - even when I posted the last photo on the Facebook R33 page, mixed reactions at least from a few.

Kadir said...

Has a great presence about it and looks OE.

I love the little Mines sticker on the tailgate; can I ask where you purchased this from and what size it is please?

Stunning BCNR33.

Aki said...

Hi Abdul,

Thanks! Means a lot coming from a 34 owner lol!

Sticker - from Mine's! Is it not in their catalog? I actually had to trim a bit: http://www.r33gt-r.com/2008/07/photos-from-ssct-track-day-at-fuji.html

Kadir said...

Thank you for the link Aki. I will have to check it out later on. Im pretty sure the sticker wasn't on the Mines site the last time I checked.

I think any Skyline owner must appreciate your car. I like them all myself. I think one of the reasons why your BCNR33 is so desirable and so easy on the eye is because of the choice of mods. Fantastically executed.

Check out my 34GTR one day; there are some pictures of it on the GTR forum (Kadir)..

Best wishes for 2015. :)

Aki said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aki said...

Kadir!! Ah yes, missed that... Yes I've (akasakaR33) seen your car on the forum many times and yes it's gorgeous, I would say the same for your car. Thankfully we can enjoy each other's cars without feeling like rivals lol!!

Have a great 2015 as well!! Happy new year!