Meanwhile at NISMO Omori Factory...

So finally - an update on the actual work being done at NISMO Omori Factory. Takasu-san and Ochiai-san were kind enough to arrange for some photos to make their way to me.

No wheels, no suspension, no drivetrain...

As you may recall, I was NOT happy with how my car was left outside for (probably) the good part of a half year near the Pacific Ocean by Worx Autoalarm. Not only was that not good for the paint, but also the undercarriage as well.  So what I have had Nismo do over the past few months is to take a painstakingly close look at everything on the underside of the car, remove rust, re-protect and then replace parts that had become rusted as well.

From this angle, looks pretty clean!!

Front axle area. Some rust removed and fresh undercoating applied. Interesting as the undercoating isn't black...

Rear axle area - dangling Ohlins and all!

My diffuser and the old rear subframe stacked up in back. Wonder whose OEM wheels those are though

All the parts taken off my car, starting with the wheels up there in the front

Here's a closer look...driveshaft is nearly new of course...

Note they wrapped the Brembo calipers in white plastic to prevent the paint from getting accidentally scratched. I also see some banged up Nismo bracing - I'm inclined to replace any worn ones with new ones. Likely easier and quicker than getting the old one repainted and then the bushes replaced.

Look at this.  Not sure whether to be mad at Nismo for not making these parts more rust resistant, or whether the salt winds near WORX (as they are literally several dozen meters from the ocean) accelerated the rust. Unacceptable!

I'm debating whether to bother with reinstalling a new set of these NISMO Rear Member Braces back on, or live without them.  I recall that when they first came out, Koyama-san at Nissan Prince Tokyo Motorsports Factory told me that these would have a detrimental effect on lap times on the track. When I mentioned it to the guys at Nismo... apparently others have also mentioned/asked about Koyama-san's theory at Nismo.  But anyway I'm debating because if I don't plan to track it in the future...?

The old front axles

Another problem, according to Takasu-san, was that the old front axles needed to be serviced, but they were proving to be difficult to take apart (seized assembly?). In fact taking them apart and servicing would cost MORE than simply getting a rebuilt part and using that.  So he had gone ahead and ordered rebuilts, but wanted my Ok to use them.

Here is Takasu-san unboxing the rebuilts

Have to say these look just as good as brand new. And cheaper? Oh yes.

There were some other items that Nismo got creative on (with my permission), which I will describe in upcoming posts.  

I like how even though they won't be touching the interior, they still use protective covers on the steering wheel and seats. No way I can even accuse them of leaving dirt on any interior surface!

I just noticed the industrial grade carpet under the car. Might have to do this too...

So, I am happy to report that FINALLY, the car is one step closer to being returned to me. Although yes the timing has worked out perfectly for me. By telling them not to rush the work, my car was kept in a safe place while my house was rebuilt. Now, the next step is to have the garage floor coated in an epoxy coating, after which begins the hunt for functional and good looking garage cabinets. Let me know if you have any ideas! (I'm thinking glossy white garage floor but with gray steel cabinets. Boring?)

Garage Got Fixed... (Garage Series)

In my last post, I mentioned that I was having the house builders redo the garage floor. Am I being too OCD? Well, take a look and you tell me.

Unacceptable!!

As you can see, this garage floor is not flat. In fact, from the midline there to the back side at the shutter door, there is a height difference of about 10cm! So if the two concrete panels are about 300cm (guess), this is approximately a 3.3% incline! (10/300=0.033).  Actually, if you look closely at the panels - the first one (from midline to where the black box is) has a drop of 6cm! And the second one (black box to the door) has a 4cm drop.

The house builder tried to explain this by saying that the incline was built in because this way, any rain water/snow/whatever that got into the garage area would run off.  I reminded him that I had specifically told him that in this space I would be working on my cars. And, by using a small ball, showed him how anything small that I dropped, like a bolt or screw, would start rolling...fairly quickly... plus, if I ever decide to get a lift, a 10cm difference MIGHT be dangerous. And if anything ever happened to me...

He then tried to suggest that they fix the rear two panels. The idea would be to make the last two panels flat, for the lift idea. However, the problem here is that, the rear shutter door when opened would have a 10cm drop to to the rear yard area, which right now is flat with the rear most panel. The solution of course was to fix the two MIDDLE floor panels. Yes, the rear panel might have a drop of 4cm but I think if I DO decide to put a lift back there, I can figure out a way to adjust for that.  But whatever, I may not even get a lift so...

And so, in the end, the builder agreed to redo the middle two floor panels for free!

And the end result:

So this new concrete should be completely flat. Or at least flat as humanly possible. Yes, the front and rear panels still have a decline of 4cm to the doors, but I can live with that, I think.

So am I happy? Well yes and no.  The next step is an epoxy coating, however now I have to wait for this middle concrete to dry. Meanwhile, a friend sent me this photo of my car BACK at Nismo Omori Factory...

This means that it's now a race to finish the garage as Nismo begins to wrap up the work on my car. I DID reach out to Takasu-san and so I am going to go check out my car later this week... hopefully he can give me an idea as to when the car will be done... and an update on the work they have done so far.