Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Last Post of the Year!

 So with two new cars joining the Itoh garage this year - my 2016  E52 Elgrand VIP and the 2024 Skyline Nismo - I did not have much time to do much with the R33 this year.  But never fear, yes I do have a few more things I want to do to it next year.

In the meantime - here are some photos I took when I went and picked it up from Omori Factory, where Midorikawa-san of Nissan Prince Fukushima had delivered it after getting the car shakened for this next 2 year cycle.


Meanwhle I also found this beautiful 33 in the showroom too.







Hard to believe they are essentially the same machine. I wonder what the difference is, could it be the 400R hood with those exhaust vents? Hmm... In any case, I have a new list of things I want to fix/try on the 33, so hopefully 2025 will be a good year for that!

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Nismo Festival 2024!

(Please excuse the belated post - I was overseas on a business trip the day after the Nismo Festival (which was on December 1 this year) and I am finally getting caught up...)

I know many of you are not going to like this, but I have been lucky enough to attend the Nismo Festival so many times that frankly, it is beginning to lose some of its luster.

Instead of checking out the latest from Nissan and Nismo - uh yeah well I know as I work at Nissan - at the Festival I am able to meet up with old friends, both car owners and shop affiliated, that I have not seen for some time. 

Of course, from an R33 GT-R perspective, there is some cool things too - check out the Global Auto 400R that was on display.  Seeing a 400R is no longer that exciting but it was interesting to see what it looked like under the hood!




And then walking around I see some privately owned 33s in the parking lot...





It was cool to see the Nismo carrier truck out as well.

The parking lot was sectioned off according to car model - one section for Zs, R32 GT-Rs, R33 GT-Rs, etc... probably organically by the owners too.  In the Skyline sedan section I found this Skyline 400R (JDM version that has the 400ps engine):

I like the paint, but that sticker...nope

And one other interesting thing I saw - at Nismo Festival wtih so many shops sellings stuff, and some shops taking cash only, what happens when you run out of cash? Simple, you go to a mobile ATM, this one operated by 7 and i Holdings, operator of the 7-11 convenience stores here in Japan...


Interestiing products for cars - yeah there were a couple. One shop - Ota Automotive - selling recreations of the Series 3 front blinker grill with cut-out for the oil cooler - but modified to allow air to flow slighlty better (for some reason I can't seem to find the photo I took).  Another shop was selling Nissan OEM interior clips - an entire set for the interior of one car.  I guess I will have to update this blog when I get some photos or the products themselves in hand for me to try out. Stay tuned!!

Friday, November 1, 2024

Meeting The Father of the R33 GT-R, Kozo Watanabe!

At this year's R's Festival, I had the honor of taking a photo with Kozo Watanabe, who was the Chief Vehicle Engineer that oversaw the development of the R33 GT-R and the R34 GT-R.

Here is the Wiki link for him.



Much like Kazutoshi Mizuno for the R35 GT-R, and Naganori Ito for the BNR32, Watanabe-san is a true engineer who worked his way at Prince Motors and Nissan.  Watanabe-san in particular, in addition to being the chief engineer for the R33 and R34, also worked on the Pulsar and the C110 Skyline and was also the Chief Experimental Engineer of the R32 under Ito-san.   Both Ito-san and Watanabe-san were mentored by Shinichiro Sakurai, who is acknowledged as the father of the Skyline. Further Mizuno-san worked on the R34 project under Watanabe-san and took over the BNR34 program when Watanabe-san retired form Nissan in 2000 and went to head Nismo, overseeing its racing program!

Watanabe-san had probably the toughest job ever - how to make a heavier and longer car go FASTER than the race champion R32 GT-R! And as we know, he succeeded so well that most of the running gear engineering on the 33 was carried over to the 34!

So you see, THESE guys are the ones who should be getting accolades as well as the nickname of the "Father of the GT-R" - as they truly were.  Unfortunately there is at least one guy running around now who is over stating his involvement in each of the programs, whereas their true talent seems to be in the area of self-promotion.  Caveat Emptor!

So... if you find yourself at any of these GT-R related events, and happen to run into Ito-san or Watanabe-san... well now you know who actually to ask the question - "Why didn't Nissan have a Nurburgring lap time for the BNR34?"

Thursday, October 10, 2024

NISMO 40th Anniversary - up close with the NISMO 400R

So if you've been paying attention, Nismo turned 40 on September 17, 2024.  To celebrate, Nissan made sure the gallery at Global Headquarters showed off some of NISMO's best cars. 


I meant to say, Road cars... as there were several race cars on the gallery floor as well.

In particular, these three!

So in the heritage section next to the Nissan/NISMO gift shop, these 3 cars were lined up for inspection. Of course, I focused my efforts on the middle one.

As I approached it, I decided to take photos of it from all angles. First the left front:

Then the right front:

And of course I wanted to get a closer look at the hood/bonnet bespoke made for this car.
I think the need to ventilate tells you something...

And a shot of the front wheel arches - needed to comply with Japan road laws as wheels and tires cannot stick out past the body. Add on fenders allow just a bit more width to the tires.

Another angle, I was trying to get a shot of the brake caliper.

and a less interesting shot of the left rear wheel

Of course, while so close I had to check out the interior. Even though regular 1996 GT-Rs had passenger airbags as standard, the 400R did not. Interesting...

Oh and I must check out that back. Wait, speaker grills? This thing had a stereo?
Stereo yes, but not the Kenwood Sound Cruising System

And of course I need to check out the quality of the carbon fiber. Couldn't touch it, but I am sure it is dry carbon. And the weave is 1x1 square, just like those old Nismo B pillar stickers....

And while back here, I MUST get a better view of that badge. Cool, but to me not as cool as "GT-R"

And let's not forget to get a rear quarter view photo.
Need to enjoy that sticker...
And the obligatory front quarter view to finish.

Oh, and look who I found, this 34 owner, admiring the greatest road going GT-R of all time...
Admit it Dino, you love it...

Thanks for viewing this post.  It did not feel right to have all these photos on my phone for only me to enjoy. Let me know if any questions!

Sunday, June 9, 2024

One Bucket List Item Accomplished - a Bendpak Lift in My Garage!


Yep, my very own Bendpak lift!



And here is the final result!

Yeah, yeah, I need to clean up but for now...

So this is a BendPak HD-9 model, designed for vehicles up to 9000 lbs (or 4082kg).  Interestingly, the Japanese importer worked with Bendpak to make the usual precision improvements, including replacement of failure-prone rubber O-rings with those of a superior design.

Install took only one day - the crew arrived at a bit before 1000 and got to work immediately.

I found out later why a crane was needed

I appreciated how they took time to measure several times to ensure proper placement of the GT-R. This is going to be a tight fit!
I like how they wanted to get as close to the outer wall as possible.

A few moments later they had moved their tools inside and laid out a thin blue sheet to prevent scratches.

Massive! No way I could have done this with a friend. And later, I appreciated their experience (they say they do about 200 of these in Japan per year, mostly businesses though).

So here is what I was talking about - this technician is replacing the brass hydraulic fittings with ones improved with better O-rings, as otherwise the OEM ones tend to leak relatively easily.

Brass out, plastic in - but it's what is on the inside that counts!

As you can see, they stored their tools behind the garage, making for a quicker and more efficient install.





Getting the crane ready to haul those really heavy platforms that support the car.

And once in, they still kept measuring.


Finally, they tested this going up and down. But then asked if they could test with the GT-R on it, before bolting it down.

That main reason was to lift up to the max allowed height with the GT-R on, and make sure the Bendpak was sufficiently centered so that the car is centered into the cut-out in the roof.


Finally, it was time to bolt down into the concrete using these guys
These replace the OEMs, and yes they are made in Japan.

Two guys to drill. One guy drilling, the other one with the industrial vacuum to catch all the concrete dust.

And finally... amazing how large the GT-R looks. Also amazing how scratched up the car is on the bottom - before I made sure that the more visible areas were pristine, but now I am seeing all sorts of scratches on the lip and side skirts.  Sounds like more projects for me!!

Thankfully the IS-F fits.  If it hadn't, I was prepared to grind away some of the concrete floor to create extra breathing space between the car roof and the bottom of the Bendpak tray.

So... what next!  I don't think I will ever be done with the GT-R...