Some of you may have seen me on social media paying more than one visit to Nismo Omori Factory recently. And in fact, just a couple of weeks ago my friend Matt met me at Omori Factory where we picked up my car for our trip to Trust Kikaku. (Thanks for the photos, Matt!)
But why was my car there, and what work was getting done to it? Two things actually...
First, about a week earlier I had removed the RAPFIX II steering wheel boss for my old Daiki one, which somehow caused my Airbag warning lamp to blink continuously. So the day before Matt and I visited Trust Kikaku, Friday, I dropped the car off before heading into work so that Ochiai-san could hook up the CONSULT to my car and figure out why.
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| Seems like each time my car has a problem, it's raining... |
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| A Short 24 hour stay this time! |
Incidentally, I have been told that replacing my ECU with something more modern like a Haltech or MOTEC, would result in not being able to use this CONSULT tool for stuff like this. Not sure if true, but if so it sure explains why so many Japanese tuners stick to using the stock Nissan engine ECU as the basis for their tuned ECUs (such as Mine's VX-ROM, HKS' F-Con, etc.). Anyone know if I can use CONSULT with a MOTEC?
But in any case, Ochiai-san told me that CONSULT showed that my taking the airbag resistor out and replacing with the older one during the steering wheel boss swap had triggered the ECU to record an error, hence the flashing warning light. Via CONSULT he reset it and the flashing was gone.
Second and more substantively, Nismo Omori had gotten one of their paint shops they work with to apply a clear UV coat to a dry carbon wing I had been lucky enough to pick up through sheer luck.
Last December another friend alerted me to a stock clearance sale at Benetec. So those of us who know, know that Benetec is a small shop in Shizuoka specializing in dry carbon fiber products. Some car stuff, some industrial things, but most interestingly, wheelchairs as well (makes sense actually). So I was curious to see what part Benetec might have on sale - and it was the BCNR33 rear wing!
Here is the description, as translated by me:
"BCNR33 Rear Wing, Normal Shape Specification"
Wing outer surface
3K twill weave, UD fiber, adhesive film FVE9,
Foamac, Wing attachment surface has AL2017 inserts
Wing under side 3K twill weave,
12K flat weave, adhesive film FVE9, honeycomb 3mm
Weight 1.19kg
So yes I got a crash course into carbon fiber terminology thanks to this other company's website but to be honest I was getting tired of the "old style" carbon fiber bits on my car. Even Nismo has upgraded their B pillar carbon sticker pattern from the 1K flat weave to the 3K twill. And their exterior parts that are genuine carbon fiber, use the 3K twill weave.
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| Hard to make out but it is not the old style weave |
So already, with the install of this license plate frame front and rear, there were 2 patterns of carbon fiber on my car, this new weave but also the old pattern which I have been running forever.
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The 1K flat weave matches my old Yahoo Auction wing and
the "Carbon fiber" Nismo Stickers on the B pillars... |
However, for me to justify spending money on something that is otherwise for cosmetics only, I had to have a functional reason - and this time, the functional reason was weight savings, because the Yahoo Auction special carbon wing I had been running for quite a few years was a wet carbon product.
Of course, I quickly emailed, got a response that it was still available but that it had not been painted with a clear coat with UV protection. I figured I could easily have it professionally sprayed so I completed the transaction and then a few weeks later it arrived!
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| I was right! The wet carbon wing with the same style and dimensions weighs 1 kg more! |
In anticipation of an eventual installation of the new wing, I had gone ahead and also picked these new Yahoo Auction carbon fiber wing end caps from the same company where I had gotten the previous end caps.
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| It didn't quite fit... so.... |
Unfortunately, the Yahoo Auctions special did not quite fit - barely too big but ALSO slightly too thick, so out came my Dremel...
There was a LOT of dust generated, I had to wear a mask to keep this epoxy dust from going up my nose.
Did I mention there was a LOT of dust?
Anyway, shortly before I removed the RAPFIX II, Ochiai-san at Nismo Omori Factory had called me to tell me their paint specialist shop had finished clear coating the Benetec wing. Naturally, when the Airbag light started going off after I removed the RAPFIX II, I scheduled a time to drop off the car on a Friday to be picked up on Saturday. I was hoping that the flashing light could be reset via the CONSULT tool, and meanwhile, the properly clear-coated dry carbon wing could be installed. I also dropped off the slimmed down wing end caps to be fitted as well.
And that is why I am inspecting both the new wing and the side cap here.
But the final result - wow! I cannot complain...
Tapping on it makes a different sound too... Anyway, tomorrow is the 2023 Nismo Festival and I have to get up early - I may do a post on it so stay tuned, although I am sure there will be several other people with many more pictures to share...
