News...

Hey guys,

Well sadly the car experienced some damage on the 3rd of october! By accident, owner of the shop next to the tuning shop decided to reverse into the front of the car with his Prado Landcruiser whilst my car was parked at around 9pm.

Thankfully the damage was subtle and not too harsh; though what did get damaged:
- Front bar
- Front Left Fender
- Front Left Headlight motor/frame
- Front Left Uras parker
- Radiator support has been pushed back roughly 10 - 15mm
- Chasis rail cop'd a whack from the tow bar

Overall the total cost to fix is around $2300..

Since this incident occured I've taken advantage of the situation and decided it'd be a great time to get the car kitted up and resprayed whilst it goes in for repair. So without hesitation I placed an order down for:

- Dmax type 1 bodykit

- Dmax Bootlid Spoiler

So after 3 odd weeks of pestering and dealing with the insurance drama, the guy finally managed to make a claim with his insurance company so the car can receive some TLC at DT-Panels in the next week or two!

The car will be resprayed in the same blue but;
- Black roof with blue pearl (possibly some blue flakes)
- Possibly gold pearl in the blue paint, have to do some testing

Meanwhile aside from the cosmetics I've managed to finally get my hands on some new wheel bearings! Big thanks to CBC! After being quoted $250 per each wheel bearing from nissan, CBC gave me an absolute killer price of $290 for the pair.

Further spending continued last night, after making a quick call to mr Tony B from autobarn cranny enquiring about the parts he had left for sale from the track car... I managed to pickup all in one night from trent & cat @ status tuning & tony b the following:
- Uras tie-rod spacers
- Usual service gear (Motul oil, Drft oilfilter, spark plugs)
- Greddy Sump
- Hybrid GT-spec Intercooler w/ alloy piping
- Speaker covers, FINALLY!

At this stage i'm hoping to knock out the handling issues before the car goes to DT's, so my plan is to get the following done next weekend with the added help from the boys at tyreplus:
- Camber Pins install
- Tie rod spacers install
- New Wheel bearings + Hubs install
- Federal Tyres fitted to the rear miesters
- Wheel Allignment + Castor adjustment

Fingers crossed that funds allow it to happen! Otherwise it'd have to wait till the car gets back from DT's... Though i'd be afraid of grease marks coming in contact with the fresh paint =\

Oh well, thats the latest!

I'll be sure to post up more news along the way, until then takecare!

I'm ALIVE!!

YES!

I know I can get slack sometimes, but who would've thought it'd take 7 odd months to update the progress of the car! seriously!

Well where do I start? Alot has happened since so i'll do my best to cover all the ups & downs...

Continuing from the last post with the installation of the gauges, steering spacer, re-enforced control arms & wheel spacers my next highly anticipated mod was the new clutch!

The clutch would've had to been the main replacement required to get the car sideways in 2nd + gears so I decided to get all of the transmission gear sorted in the one hit along with replacement turbo lines, new fuel pump & fixed fuel pump mounts. Within that annual mod bite I purchased the following:
- Exedy 5 puk Cushion Button clutch
- Nismo Transmission Mount
- Nismo Release Fork Pivot
- Nissan Rubber Shroud (was missing; hence my random oil droplets)

- Greddy Rocker Arm Stoppers
- Bosch 040 Fuel Pump
- Braided Turbo Lines

During the period of receiving the parts I had ordered, I was in the process of moving into my new apartment with two other room-mates, though things didn't turn out all that flash... Parts were sitting in my room (covered of course) and within the first 10 days of living there a group of scum ass's decide to steal the wheels off my car & leaving the car on bricks.

Yes, it was a huge kick in the nuts to wake up one morning to find it like that... But somehow luck spun my way & I managed to track the theives down along with my wheels!

Note - I still managed to get all of the parts installed & car prep'd for winton before the recovery of the wheels, which was only one week.

Between now & then much has been spent on the vechile, rather than babbling on about the specifics i'll simply list the mods that have been done; to paint the picture abit clearer.
- Cusco Power-Brace
- Cusco Drift Button
- Cusco Harness Brace
- Monza Race Harness

- Work RS Wheel Nuts

- Work Emotion CR KAI (pair) 18x9.5 +22

- KOYO 52mm Radiator

- Custom 5-point Rollcage

- Custom 3" straight Exhaust w/ Extruded Twin Tips

- Custom Solid Gear Shifter

- Bride Ergo 1.5 passenger seat (which is currently drivers)
- URAS Clear Parkers w/ strobes

- Yashio Factory Cam Pulleys

- Greddy Emanage + Tune

One of the significant changes to the car at this stage is the shimmed diff. The week before septembers winton practice day Dazza & I prop'd the car up and pulled the diff out in order to spend an entire 3 - 4 hours attempting to put the diff back together with the extra shimmed ring, by increasing the standard shim of 2.3mm to 4.2mm. We managed to do it! one month later & the diff still feels like a locker (skipping every corner).

Not only was the diff shimmed but I had Trent tune the car with the Greddy Emanage a couple of nights before winton. He managed to scavange a staggering 156.7rwkw at 10psi in comparison to 143.9rwkw at 10psi. It now has more top end torque & a little more power which was fantastic for winton. The boost couldn't be raised anymore than 10psi due to the bleed-valve being the boost controller, i'll be changing over to a Blitz id3 electronic boost controller after the alarm & bearings are done.

Lately things have been going slow, loss of job has forced me to return to the job I initially resigned from (BMW). Money is slowly building but as for further modification I would have to say is on hold at this point in time, until I have enough funds (in a months time) to purchase another vechile as a daily driver.. using the 180sx on a daily basis is far too unpractical, especially with the rollcage and straight exhaust on.

In the next week or two I should have the new alarm installed.. Yes i've finally taken the plunge and decided to purchase a VIPER alarm w/remote start & GPS tracking. I've learnt my lesson, so i'm no longer taking any chances. Once the alarm is sorted i'll be getting the rear brakes, bearings & studs sorted along with the purchase of a new dump & front pipe.

Until then, Takecare & I hope this update has kept you entertained!

Note - An enormous shoutout goes to daz, trent, vu & all of those that have assisted in help up to this point.