Picked Up From Nismo Omori But...

So while I did pick up the car from Nismo last Wednesday, I'm not going to write about it here because I have a long overdue Speedhunters post on the event coming soon - I'll post here when it goes live. Meanwhile because there are other things going on with the car, I will gloss over the pick up (for now) and talk a bit about what I did after leaving Nismo Omori Factory and then in my next posts a bit about future plans for the car.

Obligatory shot of getting ready to say goodbye.

Anyway, first order of business was to head over to the car alarm specialist that Ochiai-san had found. This shop specializes in a variety of car alarm brands, including the one that was installed by Worx. Given the shop's willingness and confidence in being able to remove the wiring, I was looking forward to finally getting rid of this cancer in my car. 

Because every drive in my car could be my last, instead of putting the car on carrier truck I elected to drive the one hour to Yamato City, where Pro-Tecta Shonan is located.  I was able to experience some high way speeds, along with some usual inaka (countryside) stop and go traffic. What an awesome car! So easy to drive, so raw and direct! And yet, it feels so much more civilized now, with the ride much less jarring (and yet still very firm) now, and yes the roof insulation that the Nismo Omori techs installed REALLY making a huge difference! Combined with the very quiet Pilot Sports 4S (compared to the previous tires I had on before), dare I say you can have a conversation in the car at speed without raising one's voice now?

Felt like the middle of nowhere... definitely not Tokyo or Yokohama!

The owner, Mizutani-san was waiting for me and immediately began to inspect the car.

He immediately recognized that the alarm install had a back up siren, as well as some other options

And then told me to come back on Sunday to pick up the car.

There was also a white R33 GT-R there also for an alarm install, I didn't think much about it at the time (so no photos)... meanwhile I traded contact information with Mizutani-san before I departed.  He assured me he would of course be super careful taking the car apart to find and remove the wiring. Just in case, I asked him to message me if he found anything weird.

And he did:

Mizutani-san was surprised to see this and sent me this photo...I told him that was nothing given the other crap...

So on Sunday afternoon, I went back to pick up the car.

Slow day...?

At last, I got to check out the headache of an alarm.

All in all, it weighed about 1-2 kg!

As I made it a point not to bad mouth Worx too much, Mizutani-san was able to give me a fairly objective report.  He said that he could tell that the installer was skilled (Mizutani-san has more years in the business however) and that the install was done with minimal cutting and splicing.  Finally some good news (relatively speaking), but as I told him, it was mainly in the OTHER areas where I found a lot of problems due to Worx Nakamura's questionable decisions and failure to let me know what he was doing.

So does that mean that the guys at Nismo were in over their heads? My interpretation is that they simply did not want to learn alarm wiring on my dime, so that is fair.  It is after all a business, and I'm not a rich man like some I know, so a line had to be drawn somewhere before it became too costly for Nismo to continue.  Plus as we all know Nismo is basically OEM, so that is their comfort zone. And that of course means not everything at Nismo is the best... or better stated, what Nismo does isn't for everyone (hint of possible future post).

The lesson here friends, is avoid installing Japanese-brand car alarms. They have too many features, and place a premium on flash versus ease of use.  My old Clifford alarm remote had two buttons, this one had 5, and so many cute graphics that the battery quickly wore out in a month (and they must have known, as it was super easy to change the batteries - no special ones needed, just AAA size). I don't recall how many times I changed the battery on the Clifford remote on the other hand... Plus I would like to think that US brands probably have more experience against car theft (a good thing) due to more cars being stolen in the USA (a bad thing).  Mizutani-san agreed that Cliffords (he installs them too) were easier to use, but said that they tended to break more so there wasn't a perfect solution.

Mizutani-san also told me that the owner of the white r33 GT-R that was there when I dropped off my GT-R was also a Nissan employee, but over at the Technical Center (an engineer or designer I'm guessing).  Apparently he spent about an hour checking out my car, remarking that I must have spent a lot of money on it so far... I told Mizutani-san to have the guy contact me and I'd be happy to discuss all things R33 GT-R!

Anyway I said my good byes and drove home.  I cleared out the other vehicles from my garage, and immediately did what I had to - give the GT-R its first wash in several MONTHS!

I could actually see the dust on the roof of the car....

I thought it was weird that they didn't wash the car at Nismo Omori Factory, but then again their ceramic coating contractor took a look at my car and told them the car was too clean to make it worth his while to do any work on it. And knowing that they know how OCD I am, I think not washing my car was probably the right thing to do (they wouldn't want to be accused of scratches done in the course of the wash)...

Epoxy floor, weather proof concrete walls and interior faucets means a wash out of direct sunlight!

So now that the car is back in my garage, is it done? Nope, a few more things need to be done before that can happen... this journey isn't quite over yet...

Next Steps at NISMO Omori Factory

So as I hinted in my previous post, Nismo Omori Factory technicians have now begun focusing their attention to the outside of the car - among other things, the wheels and tires!

And that's why the car has been on "borrowed" wheels and tires for the last few weeks. Although I have to admit, those NISMO LMGT4s look VERY nice on the car...

So I wonder what suspension the car was on while the Ohlins were being serviced...

The Ohlins DFVs, from what I understand, were removed from the car almost immediately after I dropped it off, and sent to Labo Carrozzeria to be rebuilt with the same specs as before.  A few years ago they let me tour their factory and I did a blog post to show how they do a rebuild!

So the coilovers came back quickly, in about a week... what took time were the TE37 wheels that were being refinished, fixing up some minor curb rash and the usual scrapes that come when you actually drive your car.

Damn. Gorgeous! And yes, a glass coating has been applied - both outside AND inside...

You may also have spotted the odd looking/colored valve stem. That's because they are a non-Nissan/Nismo part that Nismo Omori Factory actually agree to install - an aftermarket Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).   In fact they had an aftermarket one (made by Orange Electronic) designated a "sports model" (to allow for high inner tire temperatures) in a box when I visited, and were even kind enough to open it up for me to show me how it worked.  Unfortunately the screen display was a bit large and I've already got enough stuff (Blitz exhaust valve, Do-Luck DTM-2, ETC card reader, boost controller, heads up display controls) in the car already so I wanted something stealth.

So a few internet searches later I stumbled on this - a TPMS where the display is an app you download to your smart phone (either iPhone or Android).  I've actually already used an aftermarket one on my Lexus, but this displayed its output on a small screen that had to be installed in a blank switch location.

Of course, I have no idea if these work yet. Of course once I test them out, I will post the results! Fingers crossed...

Back to the wheels and tires... I was surprised when Ochiai-san sent me the following photo.  I had always thought that Nismo Omori Factory had tire changing equipment on premises, but for whatever reason they outsource to this guy who arrives with all of his equipment on a truck!

Look closely and you can see my name on the tire...

I know mobile tire fitters aren't a new thing (and in fact I need to find one to do the tires on my Lexus...) but I wonder how Nismo does the tires on their racing cars? And yeah, I ended up going with the Michelins, the price was TOO GOOD to pass up...

And talk about attention to detail! Or maybe they know me a bit too well...

Yep, blackened wheel weights so they don't stand out.

Oh and yes that missing ashtray? A long time ago I think I broke it like this when I tried to drill a hole in the back... I was experimenting with LED lighting of the ashtray and tried to get it to light up via the LED I had attached to the cigarette lighter ring. This was during my pre-Dremel days.  Buy the right tools, people!!

But guess what - new stock still exists for this part! So a new pristine one on the way! Cannot wait to get back into a car with an "OEM" look dash!

So what next? There is one more item I asked them to take care of but I haven't received any photos or messages on that yet. I'm also curious about whether we can get an alarm shop out to Nismo to help remove that crap alarm.  I'll keep you all posted of course...

OK OK - Maybe I have an LED addiction?

So in my last LED post for 2018, I mentioned that I had been tempted to replace the rear turn signal bulbs with LED ones as well.  But, I was too lazy to figure out how to wire in the resistors - but a couple of you quickly educated me on replacing the OEM turn signal relay with one that works for LEDs.

I may just have to go that route in the end, but for now, I was able to find some orange LEDs that not only claimed to be super bright, but had the required resistors already built in! I am too lazy to figure it out, but one question I had on the relays was, would using such relay require me to change out ALL bulbs in the turn signal circuit (so all of the orange ones - front, side and rear) or would the relay be able to handle a mix?

So for now, since I wanted to experiment and see how much brighter LEDs were for the turn signals, I went ahead and ordered these:

Pricing wasn't that bad - around 3400 yen for the pair.

Here are the specs, for those interested

Saying it has good heat dispersion and is high quality. We shall see...

Flash forward a few days and I got this in the mail:

With apologies to my Chinese friends, yes, it appears Chinese quality cheap... But hey since most  smart phones and electronics are now made in China, I'm not going to just on packaging... for now. After all, performance is everything in the end.

So here is how my car looks with regular bulbs:

And then the difference between the LED on the left and the regular bulb on the right (check out how the incandescent bulb on the left turns on slightly before the LED bulb does).

And finally with these LEDs on both sides:

So what do you all think? Frankly, while I like the brightness, here is what bothers me - the light isn't as evenly diffused across the lamp housing. It's more pinpoint really. Also, yes it is very bright - I wonder if it's too bright?  Finally, while I was handling the bulbs and switching between the LEDs and the regular bulbs (to take these videos - I neglected to take the one with regular bulbs until AFTER I put one LED bulb in), I realized these LEDs run VERY HOT!  Is this normal?

In any case - I think more research is needed here. Maybe a cool upgrade would be an LED strip that lights up directionally, like the newer cars? Keep the outside housing the same but just replace in the inside with such a strip... that might work?

But I'll keep these for now!

Two More Problems Due to WORX Auto Alarm

In the course of getting ready for last Sunday's GT-R50 Japan invite, here are two more items of note - one which I cannot fix, the other which I managed to make look better until I'm able to replace with new.

First, I was horrified to find out that, without asking me, the IDIOT had drilled into the frame of my car!  As well as drilling a hole into my trusty carbon fiber Garage Defend GT Cooling Panel that I had installed over 10 years ago!

I simply don't know why he couldn't have used an existing hole elsewhere to install the hood/bonnet switch for the alarm.  Or used the location where the previous shop had installed the switch, hidden away towards the rear.  Maybe I will have to relocate itself myself later, as the wiring for the switch is easily accessible. Easy for any competent thief to quickly find and cut. UNBELIEVABLE. COMPLETE INCOMPETENCE.

Well, this gives me an excuse to buy a new Cooling Panel...more money needlessly wasted...not sure what to do with the hole in the car though.

Second, after picking up my car I had noticed that the rear rotors seemed to have more rust on them than usual.  After washing my car, sure some rust always quickly appears on the rotors, but they come off after a quick spin.  This was different. The rust was on the rotor hat, not the rotors themselves. The fronts don't have this problem, as the hats appear to be alloy and not painted steel.

that looks... HORRIBLE...

Yeah it looks bad and I suspect it's because WORX is located right near the Pacific Ocean, subjected to those ocean winds. So obviously despite Nakamura telling me my car would be well looked after, it's clear that it was left out in the open for the 6 months it was there. Perhaps a weekly wash or a cover would have prevented this, but obviously that wasn't happening...

I removed the wheel and found this.

The good news is that when I pointed this out to the guys at Nissan Prince Tokyo Motorsports Factory, they reassured me that it's only surface rust. Ok, but it still looks HORRIBLE... I tried to live with it as the rotors are getting worn anyway and so I was thinking of replacing the whole set anyway, but until then... yeah I just couldn't bear to see it each time I drove or worked on my car. Also, having been told my car would be displayed at the Nissan section at the GTR50 event, I knew I had to do something quick (and I had no time to change out the rotors or hats).

So, a few weekends ago in September when it wasn't raining here in Japan I jacked up the back of the car and got to work.

About to attack the rust with a wire brush

A few minutes later, the ugly rust was pretty much all gone

 Once I got rid of as much rust as I could, I had two choices. Leave as is or paint with some kind of anti-rust coating.

I tried some anti-rust gel, but that would wear off and then the rust might start up again. Plus, you could still see it.  Luckily I still had some Rust-O-Leum paint left over from a project I did and featured here as well as on Speedhunters.

Looks so much better, even though not carefully done

I admit, because I will need to replace it anyway I didn't bother taping newspaper and doing the spray painting properly. Hence the overspray.

With the wheel back on, no rust that draws your eye

Anyway, I hope this is the last of the surprises from WORX, but I suspect it's not.  Apologies to my readers, I don't mean to beat a dead horse but... my God this guy is bad.

So, I might as well ask - what rotors should I get? To keep costs low I think I want to stick with OEM rotor hats so whatever works with those. Can anyone introduce me to a place that can offer the rotors such as AP Racing or Alcon without a huge markup?

Hakone Run with Friends... and What I Learned

By now you've likely seen my latest Speedhunters post of my trip to Hakone with friends following getting the car protected with paint protection film; to me in addition to having fun, I was appreciative that my friend Dino showed me how to "shake down" the car and analyze its driving dynamics.

Thanks to his experience and skill, as I mentioned in the Speedhunters article, I now know how the Mine's VX-Rom tune is old school - there is the flat spot upon acceleration, lack of ignition retardation when coming off throttle, and too much turbo drop between shifts. Never mind the excess fueling that causes everything to run rich, for the sake of cooling off the cylinders.

The Ohlins DFVs are superb; with Speedhunters being sponsored by another damper manufacturer obviously I couldn't list the brand, but those of you who also read this blog know how good these DFVs are.

There was one other item I didn't mention in the article due to space.  The brakes felt like there was a lack of vacuum assist - both when cold and after warmed up - so I am wondering if there is either a fluid problem, excessive brake pad wear, or if a larger master cylinder is required after all. This, I will have to investigate further.

Obviously I did take some photos, but since I'm generally a terrible photographer, most of the good ones I took ended up on the Speedhunters article.  Luckily, my friend Russ is a naturally talented photographer and he was kind enough to share the following photos.

So taking photos from different angles (like on your stomach) can be good I guess!

Here I had just noticed one of my backup cameras dangling due to double stick tape failure.

Here is Miguel's 2002 Honda VTR SP2. Simply awesome, many tasty bits!

And yes, the sound was phenomenal! LOL.

Also, be sure to check out the other photos Russ took during the road trip, on HIS blog.  Thanks again Russ, it was great to see you and catch up!

Anyway, in my article I hinted at dealing with something that had always bothered me ever since I bought the car. I do have some other stuff I need to do first, but stay tuned as I may decide to jump right into this big mod!

(actually, truth be told I drive my IS-F more, and having just been given a GS-F for the day I'm itching to do some mods immediately to the Lexus... uh oh...)

Weird Things Happen... and Finding Stuff in One's Garage

During my trip on April 5th to Chiba Prefecture to visit Worx Auto Alarm with my friend Dino,  a slight sprinkling of rain hit the car on the way over.  While I was pleased to see how well the Echelon 1043 Nano-Fil paint protection I had gotten applied during its full detail at Rapt was holding up, by the time I got home, I was too busy and tired to properly wash the salt spray (from the ocean) and dirt (in general) off the car.

So last weekend, I spent about an hour washing the car. Compared to previous car wash sessions where I would have to carve out a few hours time to ensure I would have time to give the car a quick once over after the wash to apply some Zaino using my Porter Cable orbital buffer, this time the wash was a strictly water and car wash (Zaino Z7) solution, because the Echelon coating is supposed to last a few years (and I don't want to scratch unnecessarily, right?)

Unfortunately, right as I began washing, I spotted this:

WTF? When did that happen?

So yes was not happy. I thought about if there had been any vandalism to the car, but since this was really the first time I had driven a long distance since getting the car professionally detailed, I was confused as to how this could have happened.  Luckily, it's only a sticker, and so I will have it replaced with a new one soon.

Meanwhile, once I calmed down I continued to finish cleaning the car. After I dried it, I found this in my garage:

So this water repellant (i.e. Rain-X copy) product, called Clean View Glass Coat X2 Strong, made by Ichinen Chemicals, claims to last twice as long, and become effective at 38kph. It also claims to have 2 ingredients, fluoride as well as silicon. I almost don't think it's worth it, because one of Dino's questions when he drove my car was, "what did Kabe-san at Rapt put on the windshield?" pointing to how the rain rolled off the windshield.  At the same time, I noticed for some reason that the rain did not fly off the rear window thus suggesting that other than a quick polish of the glass surface, nothing special was applied (there is an Echelon product for glass that is supposedly amazing but I don't recall paying for that...)

In any case, I figured I had nothing to lose, especially if I applied this to the rear glass.  Application is simple, just like Rain-X. The liquid seeps though the large circular sponge attached to the end, and then you apply, let dry, and buff off. Presto!

close-up as it dries.

Now I'm not recommending this product, it was something I just found in my garage and further, because I rarely take the car out in the rain, I doubt I will be able to experience it in action. Until, at least, I next wash the car and then I will report...although based on the mediocre feedback on the Minkara Japanese language car blog, I'm not that optimistic.

In the meantime, I have a few real mods and some restore work coming to my car very soon. Stay tuned!

Look What I Found...from the NIssan Prince Tokyo Motorsports Divison Blog

In doing some research on the N1 bonnet and the bonnet lip, I stumbled upon this:

From: http://ameblo.jp/nptms/entry-12069011157.html

Taken from the Nissan Prince Tokyo Motorsports Division Blog... must have been a slow day, or actually since Koyama-san who writes the blog is a 33 owner himself, must have decided this looks kind of cool...

Actually, I have to agree, a black hood/bonnet DOES go well with the KR4 silver... Obviously after the GETRAG install they were transporting the car to the paint shop to paint the N1 hood.  Nice to see that they add ZERO miles in the process, and use a proper flatbed too!

I'll have more on the hood, and the paint job soon. Before that though, a somewhat BLING thing I added...

Update - I Got Lucky! (aka Additional Work to be done at Nissan Prince Tokyo)

For any of us car guys living here in Japan, Yahoo Auctions is basically a way of life. You can find some pretty good deals, if you know how to search, happen to have the money, and move quickly enough to bid and win.

The stars DID line up for me last week. I hadn't spent time on YA in a while, figuring that while my car was at Nissan Prince Motorsports I didn't need anything extra.

Until I found this going for an initial bid of 1 yen!

Ok so why are you excited about a black hood Aki?

So what, you might say. There are several BCNR33 hoods being offered on YA any day of the week. That is true, however THIS one is really special.

First, it's an OEM Nissan hood.  Second, the seller claims it was unused. Third, it's for an N1 spec car. This explains the holes at the leading edge of the hood, predrilled. I am not sure if there are any other differences between the standard car or the N1, but OEM and unused were VERY attractive features for me!

5 holes...hopefully this means no one else bids... but I was wrong.

Caveat on the UNUSED - due to storage there are some scratches so the seller said "no OCD people." Oh well...

Extremely clean - definitely hasn't been used and is paint ready!

I actually had planned on installing what Nissan calls the "Hood Top Molding" (or hood spoiler or bonnet lip as I've seen it on English language forums), so I had purchased an OEM one a long time ago. 

Here is the part number...note the "U21" is the code for KR4, as these are pre-painted!

double checking it's the right color!

However I had never gotten around to installing it.  I had been meaning to have my hood repainted, not just because there were some rock chips but also because it appeared that someone had, at one time, sat on the hood and left a slight crease in it, right above the right headlamp.  But, when I asked for quotes to fix it, the answer was always "it'd be easier and cheaper to repaint a used non-damaged hood or a new one." I had actually bought a cheaply priced used hood at auction previously, but it turned out that it also was banged up.  So, the Hood Top Molding stayed in the box all this time.

But when I saw this N1 hood at auction, I had to get it.  The buy it now price was 40,000 yen, so despite some others trying to get it as cheaply as possible, I simply bought it at the "buy it now" price.   However, I was still a bit nervous that, photos aren't everything and people don't always tell the truth when selling stuff at auction.

Earlier today (Monday) however, I got a call from Yamazaki-san at Nissan Prince Motorsports. The hood had already arrived (I had bid on Friday!), and further, it was as described - a few scratches and a small dent but nothing that couldn't be relatively easily fixed, it has to be painted anyway! To test the fit, and to double check the quality, they already replaced the hood on the car with this N1 one, and the car is now being sent to the paint shop. Hopefully there are no issues but I will post here if there are!

Meanwhile, I've sent the Hood Top Molding to them so hopefully it arrives on Wednesday.

Oh, and Yamazaki-san mentioned that the work (the Nissan/NISMO part installation) for when the car was actually taken there for, was already done, so now all that was left was this bodywork. Good timing!

So, when I pick up my car (whenever that is), I will have not just the part I mentioned installed, but this hood newly painted, with Hood Top Molding, so the car will LOOK better than when I dropped it off, and one long standing blemish which annoyed me every time I looked at it, will be GONE.

Stay tuned for more updates... 

Road Warrior Plus Product Review and Washing Cars in Japan

This post was long in the making, as I had originally intended to try the Road Warrior Plus ("RWP") product for a few weeks back in September 2013, and then report on its efficacy.  Flash forward a couple years now....

First, let me explain what RWP is.  Basically, it's a user applicable, TEMPORARY clear bra (mask) product for vehicles.

The kit I ordered came in a bottle as well as a tray and application roller

The product was developed really as a way for people with pristine show cars/motorcycles to be able to travel a long distance, for example to a car show, and upon arrival, simply peel off the protection.  In other words, on the way to the destination, a vehicle would end up covered in dirt, dust, bugs, making cleanup a hassle.  Rather than water and some bug remover, this product allows one to simply peel off all of the dirt and grime, exposing the still pristine paint underneath.

Because no one out there seems to make a pre-cut kit for DIY clear bra application for the R33 GT-R (believe me I've searched), and because a custom job doesn't make sense for me because the hood (bonnet) and bumper has some minor scratches that need to be fixed first, I was looking for a cheaper, less permanent alternative. Which I think this is.

Application is simple, anyone who has been drafted into painting house walls will know what to do. That is:
Step 1 - Pour the paint into the tray:

Oh, and it smells JUST LIKE Elmer's White Glue (which we all used in elementary school)

Step 2 -

Apply with the roller

Step 3 - Can you ever put it on too thick?

Answer: not really, just smooth it out with the roller

Step 4 - for testing purposes, I applied RWP to the entire front bumper, the passenger wing mirror, and the front lip spoiler. Let dry to get:

You can see the slight orange peel effect... but now you are protected!

So here is my honest review.  Because the RWP is meant to be temporary, it is clearly not as durable as a traditional clear bra.  Also, because the material is water based (I really think it might be Elmer's glue?) when it rains, the water will temporary turn the RWP white where it hits. Not exactly pretty, but when it dries the white patches clear up.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure my liberal application of the RWP on the front lip spoiler saved it from some impacts, even with gravel/large insects, etc.

Also, if you have annoying friends who like to tease you for your OCD, they may start peeling it away without your permission - in fact this is what led to me taking the RWP off the other day.

After having working on raising my car height as well as the semi-succesful duct tape experiment, it was starting to bother me, how dirty I found the car's undercarriage.  Especially after some other R33 GT-R Facebook friends were showing off pristine under sides of their cars.

So off to the local car wash, for the only purpose of spraying and cleaning the underside:

And yes, the red bucket is mine, I brought along my own Zaino car soap, just in case

Incidentally, in Japan, the world's most vending machine infused society, yes there is a vending machine at public car washes with everything you need to wash, dry, and wax your car:

Do NOT drink that...wax...

Anyway, as I was using the high pressure spray, I accidentally hit the SAME SPOT where my "friend" Dino (noted motor journalist who has an intense jealously because of how clean my car is, compared to his - I guess...) had peeled some RWB off. This caused water to get underneath the rest of the RWB, and the effect was:

So the RWB just peels off...

So I peeled off the rest of the RWB, then drove home, where I finished washing the car, properly.

My next investment may be an air blower so I can blow dry my car....

In conclusion - try the product if you are curious. It's cheap, easy to apply/hard to screw up, and on my car, lasted 18 months! (ok I don't drive that much but still).   While I applied with a roller, I wonder what would happen if you had a sprayer and sprayed it on? Would it come out clear?

I actually DO have another product that is similar but more durable which I hope to test soon.

Until next time...