Some Minor Clean Up

The other day when posting about the work I had done at Nismo Omori Factory,  when I wrote about the new door latch (green arrow), I noticed that the residue from an old oil change reminder sticker was ugly.  And to be honest, not sure why I never removed it before!

Photo from my previous post.

Of course, the existence of such sticker residue causes me angst, and so I immediately ordered a product which apparently is made just for sticker removal - in the past I had used whatever I had lying around to remove stickers - brake cleaner, rubbing alcohol, Simple Green, you name it - but this time I wanted easy street.

I found this 3M Cleaner "Seal Remover", "strong type."

So here are the two former stickers that I was not successful at removal - can't remember what I used to try  to remove them:

So I just sprayed on the 3M stuff, and let it sit for a few minutes...

Wow, could not believe how easy this was

Same for the Motul oil change sticker:

Talk about effortless - a super thin crispy sticker - oh and it smelled good too! Like lemon...

Ta da! Super clean, just the way I like it!

Excuse my knee, I was taking the photo at an angle

But sure I am not going to devote a whole post to this. No. In fact, I had long been annoyed by another small detail:

While I would love to blame this on 90s Nissan quality, unfortunately this came about because of this:

A repair attempt

So long time readers will know that when I embarked on my leather dash project, I purchased a 33 dash sight unseen from a friend in the UK, who then sent it over to Cesar, the master craftsman in Mexico who did the leather work (check out this video he made to memorialize his work!). This repaired tab was either in the dash at purchase, or maybe Cesar had fixed up in an attempt to make the vent fit into the leather covered dash. In any case, every time I saw how the driver's side vent was not completely flat, it distressed me, and no amount of pushing down seemed to fix it for long.

Using a file to try to sand it down...

So while I tried to use a file to sand the tab down to the level of the others, it just wasn't working. So, I quickly found and bought on Yahoo Auctions a replacement set, since these vents are no longer available new:

It arrived quickly, although wow that is a lot of wrapping...

For just two vents

These look to be in great shape, and of course I made sure the tab in question was intact.

Not knowing what kind of car they had been in previously, I decided to wash the replacement right side vent.

And of course use some cotton swabs to clean the dust and dirt that had accumulated in the corners.

Upon replacement, I found:

Why? Very frustrating, it should fit perfectly!!?

I quickly figured out why, however. Take a look at the left side vent that I removed from my car (top) compared to the one I got on Yahoo Auctions (bottom):

Yep, the bottom one has the tab broken off.

So I decided to see which fit better. I removed the original left side vent (being very careful around the sunlight sensor) and then washed it and the replacement vent, including the use of the cotton swabs.

That is when I discovered, that the replacement vent had a slight scratch: 

Which meant that, even though color-wise and fit looked like this:

Using my original vent looks like this, even though it appears to my eye that there is a slight color variation (and admittedly I had to push down hard on the replacement vent to make it flat):

So what would you do? Well for now I have decided to try to see if I can find another pair on Yahoo Auction that not only is structurally perfect, but also the same consistent color. Or, maybe I will get someone to carbonize these vents to match the other carbon upgrades in the interior. I found it easy enough to pull these out so replacement will be easy whenever it happens. Meanwhile I will continue to use the vents I found on Yahoo Auctions, because the fit is better, even with that small scratch.

What I DID replace was the sunlight sensor, which I got from Trust Kikaku - see my last super short post! On both passenger side vents, the part seemed to be very very original - the paper sticker is faded yellow!

So I decided it would't hurt to buy a new sensor, before it becomes unavailable or out of stock so many other OEM parts seem to be doing these days.  Hence my previous post.  Although, the only thing it would affect would be the HVAC system, I think. Not sure I'd be able to tell the difference either.

Install was easy - there are clips on the side of the sensor, and you just push up and out.

Look at the difference? Even if the sensor is still working perfectly, the darkened clear plastic might be affecting its accuracy?

Anyway - on my next post I hope to have a very modern mod... stay tuned!

My First Ever Purchase from Trust Kikaku!

Normally I wouldn't unless it something super rare and interesting, but I stumbled upon this OEM part during my Yahoo Auction checks and it was cheap enough, plus my friends at Nismo were on Golden Week holiday, so...

Here it is: 

Ignore the carbon keychain, just covering up my address

On the day it arrived Dino swung by, so I had him open this up alongside another interesting package, the contents of which I will discuss in an upcoming post.

And yes, that is a very nice Porsche...

Here is a closer shot of the part itself:

Tune in later this week as I explain (in my next post) why I ordered this and a bit of an update...

Super Rare Find #2!

So you may have noticed the envelope on the left, from my last post.

This was another rare find - a friend alerted me, and when I took a look, it is something I have NEVER seen before, but in the back of my mind always assumed existed. 

Obviously, something R33 GT-R related...

Front...

And back.

Nissan Prince Kanagawa, Co. Ltd. Service facilities open on Sundays!

So what is it? When I opened the envelope:

Nice! Pamphlets - one to apply to join the Nismo GT-R Supporters Association (Club LeMans) and the other to celebrate the R33 GT-R LeMans challenge. 

Of course, being mail from a dealer there was some inevitable advertising thrown in there:

An old cell phone for 39,800 yen? Yeah, a dealership - Nissan Prince Kanagawa - advert... from 1995!

So wait, what is this Club LeMans?

Well, they were instrumental in getting Nissan to race in LeMans. Here is a short article from the Nissan Global website. I knew that Nissan fans back in 1995 were instrumental in helping to bring the R33 GT-R to LeMans. But in reading the below, I learned some interesting things.

First, by joining this club - entry fee of 1000 yen, annual dues of 3000 yen - you of course got the fancy club ID card, a club member only clear sticker, and a club member only pin badge.

But that's not all - a select 23 (ni-san!) members were given a tour of the city of LeMans, a bus tour on the LeMans circuit, opportunity to check out the cars, hanging out with the racing drivers.  And of course, via TGV, an opportunity to go have some fun in Paris.

Additionally, members were given discount pricing on GT races in Japan - not only tickets, but pit passes, and access to the hospitality (VIP) rooms.  Also, you got sent Nismo calendars, the ability to buy special Club LeMans accessories and goods, and 10% of "Nismo telecommunication products" - I have no idea if that means pagers (remember those?) or cell phones...

But that's not all - you could also participate in special "safety driving lessons" taught by the LeMans race drivers, and you were sent a newsletter 4 times a year.

However, the most exciting benefit was - you could volunteer to be a member of the actual LeMans race team staff! 

But not just anyone - they were looking for 4 people as mechanic supporters (so you had to have at least a class 3 mechanics license, ability and strength to work continuously for 30 hours - tasks included hauling tires to exchange, wheel inspections and cleaning, fuel resupply in the pits, assistance in fixing the cars, and cleaning up and organizing the pits); 1 person as a translator - French/Japanese to talk to race officials, everyday support in France; 1 "health keeper" - either a doctor or nurse with at least 5 years experience, to take care of the drivers and other team members;  2 catering staff - with certificates in food preparation, with actual experience in hotels/restaurants, to support the team in the paddock with all food related items; and 2 "event reporters"to record events as they happened and transmit reports at the scene and once back in Japan.  Too bad I wasn't around back then but since I don't have any of these qualifications in the first place... maybe one of you do?

Finally, a few words of congratulations in the establishment of the club from Kozo Watanabe, the man in charge of the R33 Skyline development, as well as from Masami Ihara, a famous football (soccer) player on the Nissan sponsored Yokohama Marinos team.  Most interestingly, Watanabe-san shares that one of the everlasting dreams for the Skyline GT-R was to compete in LeMans!

Finally, a page showing the driver lineup for the 1995 LeMans race. Do people know who they are? Some very famous names there...

Then of course some more mundane advertising - the middle green talking about the First GT-R Track Day (sponsored by Prince Kanagawa) at Fuji speedway, scheduled for April 3. Meanwhile the stuff on the sides are talking about all the new goodies on the new R33 GT-R and accolades in the press:

Nissan Prince Kanagawa (which still operates today) - open in 50 locations on Sunday for maintenance, shaken, repair, etc.   Interestingly, it appears they had one shop in particular, called "Mobility Spot Tomei Yokohama" that specialized in Nismo and tuning parts, sponsored track days - so kind of like Nissan Prince Tokyo's Motorsports Factory, as I explained in that article for Speedhunters a few years ago.

Advertising - you could either trade in your R32 GT-R, and pay only 19,400 yen a month, or keep your BNR32 and pay 40,200 yen a month, at a then low interest rate of 7.8%! (when Japan was in its economic "bubble" era...)

Anyway - what a blast to the past! Weird how my car wasn't even built yet - remember this is in the first year of the R33 GT-R, but also it's wonderful in how Nissan and Nismo knew that there were enough motorsport fans, and Nissan fans, in Japan that establishing such a club was well worth the effort.  How times have changed... I can only hope that those volunteers had a great time helping the teams out!

Finally! Super Rare Find #1!

For every car I've ever owned, I love, love, love looking at the catalogs for optional parts/dealer options that are available for each car - not only do they give me some ideas, but as a rule I like to have cars with all the available options - well so long as they aren't too over-the-top - see what I did for my Lexus IS-F - it has every factory option, plus most if not all of the dealer installed ones.

Obviously, for the GT-R, with things out of production, some parts are harder to find than others.  This is one of them.

From http://www.r33gt-r.com/p/nissan-oem-catalog-1996-r33-skyline.html

This is something that I spotted in the R33 Skyline catalog - page above - but never could find until just last week when a friend gave me a heads up that something interesting was on Yahoo Auctions.

Here is the box it came in, alongside another rare find (blog post soon!)

Opening and I found - looks like a tarp, right?

Wrong - this is the Trunk Bag that was a dealer option for both the 4 door and 2 door cars (I was too lazy to scan it in so took a photo with my phone):

Description is: Trunk Bag (4 door sedan (pictured) and 2 door coupe)
9700 yen, takes 0.2 hours of labor to attach.
By unfastening the velcro on both sides, can insert and remove items from either side.  
Also, there are 3 mesh pockets (dimensions are around 270mm tall x 930 mm wide)

I've been searching for this for over 10 years - a long time ago a friend in the car business offered to remove one from one of his cars and give it to me, and I declined. Been kicking myself ever since.

But at long last, here it is.  And here are some shots of front - side flaps closed

Here are some shots of front - side flaps open

And the backside, where it attaches to the underside of the trunk - you use plastic retainer clips and the holes in the yellow belts to attach.

Installation is simple - you don't need to have the cold region spec under trunk liner but it sure does make it look nice, right?

Voila! Except, as I point out with the green arrows, I have to do something about those dangling straps. Any ideas?

So a close up - note the period correct Nissan logo!

To be honest, not sure it is as clean as some of the OEM toolkit designs I've seen from BMW and other OEMs.  On the other hand, I doubt given how it's attached that it could serve the basis of a tool kit.  Most likely perhaps this could be used to store a nice golf umbrella out of the way, and not rolling about in the trunk?

Again, not sure if I will keep this long term in my car, not only because I can't figure out what to put inside it, but also because I think I like the clean look of the trunk lid without it.  I guess I will have to think about this... 

Meanwhile in my next post I found something super cool, and for less than 300 yen.  Can't wait to show you guys!