Well Overdue an Update: 23/05/2022 w/Videos

Hi All, 

Its over a year since I updated the blog. Life has gotten in the way and I've been having too much fun with the R33. 

I'll post a more detailed updated soon but here is a quick recap since April2021

• Came out of winter storage in April2021 and straight down to TDP.ie for some work
• MeisterR CRD Coilovers & Damper Extension Cables fitted & setup
• Hardrace Front Upper Camber Arms
• Nismo GT LSD 1.5Way fitted & setup
• TDP.ie wheel alignment
• In July 2021 - Went to Armstrongs Body shop to keep things tidy on the paint side of things
• Passo rear light leak(common issue)
• Inner Wing / front window rust proof
• Arches rolled / sealed
• Rear 1/4 received some paint after the rolling of the arches
• Completed multiple trackdays - 5 to be exact and over 140laps with zero issues with the car apart from tyre and fuel usage! Really impressed and managed a new PB too. Plenty left in it though
• Also took part in RunwayClub in Aug2021 - high speed 800M runs. Had great fun but heat soak killed me again. 
• Drove the shit out of the car up until November where I had booked in for an earlier NCT. It failed the NCT on the brakes. On closer inspection, the front CL RC5+ pads were done(quite impressed with myself). Went to replace the pads but simply couldn't get the pistons back in. Totally seized. Dropped them down to TDP to get rebuilt which meant the R33 sat on axle stands for a few weeks.
• In Dec2021, I got them back rebuilt and we refitted them along with some normal Comma DOT4 brake fluid & Stoptech 309 Sports Pads front & rear - just basic setup for now
• The same day, dropped her into winter storage. This is where Larry the wizard did the works on the car & removed the CarPro ceramic coating and applied the new Titan Vulcan TX155 Ceramic Coating - have to say, its 10x better and the car looks so much cleaner even when its filthy :-)
• In April2022, came out of storage again and passed the NCT the next day even with the emissions. 
• Since then, some consumables like wipers but I have just been out enjoying boost when & where I can - hard with two little people & general life. 
• As of end of April2022 - the odometer is showing 159,248KMs

You might be thinking why I put just basic fluid / brake pads in it - well some will know I am making up a custom big brake kit comprising of Megane 4 RS massive Brembos and 355mm DBA rotors. Just waiting on the discs to arrive then back down to TDP.ie to assemble / make the adapters etc. 

Some pics below from my R33 adventures over the past year!

Warm up lap Spinout!

Nissan Skyline R33 GTST Launch & Acceleration over 800M

Stay tuned!

Update: 30/04/2021 – Nearly out of storage!

Update: 30/03/2021 – Nearly out of storage!

Excited to say that I'm picking up the car on Friday out of storage. Been there since last day in November. She is NCT'd and was running 100%(once all those issues got sorted). Have a list of jobs to get done for 2021 which will improve the car no end. 

Also half thinking of a big brake kit for the front made up of a Megane Brembo, bracket and GTR front disc brake.

My To-Do List for 2021 is decent so will get stuck into it once car is back. Here is the plan….

MeisterR CRD Coilovers & Damper Extension Cables

HardRace Front Upper Camber Arms

Wheel Alignment

Stoptech 309 Sports Brake Pads - F & R

Nismo Rear Lower Link Arm Set

Garage Whifbitz Skyline Bonnet Damper Kit

OEM exhaust hanger / bracket

Speedtek Brake Ducts

Nismo GT LSD 1.5way (PN#38420-RS015-B) - purchased and currently being shipped

More to follow so stay safe & stay tuned!

Update: 22/12/2020 – A Year in Review

 Update: 22/12/2020 – A Year in Review

Since the last update back in April 2020, I’ve had a lot of work done on the skyline to get some items sorted with it, but it all has proven quite difficult due to the Covid19 pandemic. I managed to finish my honors business degree and start / finish another diploma course also. With all that in mind, I only covered a measly 1600km this year which is disgraceful!

Once out of storage and after the restrictions lifted, the first thing was to refresh the tyres with some new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 - 235/40/18(95Y XL MFS) for the fronts & Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 - 255/35/18(94Y XL, MFS) for the rears. Fair play to Rowan Tyres as always.

Next up was to replace some tired HKS parts so I added a Nismo Shift Knob GT500 Soft Urethane along with a Nismo S-Tune Oil Filler Cap. At this point, the car was running ok but not as well as I wanted it to.  Stockpiled a bunch of parts such as:

NGK BKR8EIX Spark Plugs,

Mobil1 10w60 Extended Life Engine Oil w/Greddy Oil Filter OX-03,

Gearbox / Diff Oil Change – Mobil 80w90,

Link CAN Lambda Wideband w/Bosch 4.9 Sensor

And booked in with Robbie@TDP.ie in June to get them all fitted along with Link G4+ ECU check over. The Link CAN Lambda wideband was fitted and the Innovate LC-2 wideband was removed. This addition ensures more accurate wideband readings and allows the Link ECU to do its thing more effectively. At this point, TDP had to remap it to his satisfaction.

The results speak for themselves

Performance Details - TDP.ie Map / Dynapack - July2020

359.6BHP at the Wheels @ 6608RPM

395.5BHP at the Fly @ 6625RPM

372.4lbft of Torque @ 4841RPM

Peak of 1.4Bar on High Boost @ 3878RPM

It was discovered that the replacement#2 stock manifold had warped and cracked from the excessive heat build-up. It was temporarily welded up until a replacement could be found along with a stock heat shield.

Once replacements were found, back down to TDP in the July timeframe. While we were at it, my ChaseBays Powersteering AN Kit was fitted to replace a tired stock leaking power steering setup. Picked up the car, and instantly noticed it was randomly miss-firing or hesitation at any major throttle. After data logging it for a few days, TDP diagnosed a faulty trigger crank sensor. Essentially the wire had broken (unknown why) and that was causing the issue. 

With a new sensor ordered up but, in the meantime, I decided to get the NCT out of the way earlier than end of November. They failed me as minor things like surface rust on brake lines and a few other minor items. Dropped the car down to Armstrongs Bodyshop to take care of the items including leaky rear lights again and old seam sealer under the rear window causing a leak. All sorted now so worth it for the peace of mind.

So all this brings me right up to November timeframe where we drop the car down again to TDP for the faulty trigger crank sensor to be replaced. Once replaced, it was only then I could say it was faultless, ran so much smoother and the healthy 395bhp at 1.4bar certainly packs a punch for an old girl!

With winter looming, temps dropping and motor tax up along with the then current restrictions, I got Prestige Transport to drop the car down to Larry Kehoe in New Ross for winter storage until March2021. To say I can’t wait to get it back is an understatement. Now with college over and the kids a bit older, I should be able to get out a bit more in 2021 assuming we are restriction free!

My To-Do List for 2021 is decent so will get stuck into it once car is back. Here is the plan….

MeisterR CRD Coilovers & Damper Extension Cables

HardRace Front Upper Camber Arms

Wheel Alignment

Stoptech 309 Sports Brake Pads - F & R

Nismo Rear Lower Link Arm Set

Garage Whifbitz Skyline Bonnet Damper Kit

OEM exhaust hanger / bracket

Speedtek Brake Ducts

Nismo GT LSD 1.5way (PN#38420-RS015-B) - Need to purchase

If you have read this far, fair play! Some pictures below 😊

Stay safe & stay tuned!

03/04/2018: Finally a Turbo Upgrade!!!

Am wary of the stock series2 turbo these days as it is getting tired and old. Really not sure how it has even lasted so long at this power but Big news! I know I have been saying it for ages but I finally bit the bullet after many months deciding what way I wanted to go with the turbo setup. After buying a new house and having to furnish it from top to bottom when we get the keys in September, there was a limited turbo upgrade budget available.

I wanted stock-ish engine bay looks and an eager responsive setup so this week I ordered an AutoExtreme 400BHP Hybrid Turbo(UK Built)& fitting kit(braided lines etc), Tomei Expreme Outlet(Open mouth elbow), Nismo 740cc injectors and am just about to order a 90 degree silicone bend for the turbo. This will be a stop gap until I go full balls out Sinco/6Boost mani with GT(X)3076R w/ext wastegate but who knows when that will be. The hybrid turbo has been selling well in the UK for the last 2/3 years with zero failures and very good feedback and most power figures around the 408BHP @the fly wheel. There was a recent easter promotion discounted price so got in quick!

The turbo

Tomei Expreme Outlet Pipe

Nismo 740cc Side-Feed Injectors

Have stockpiled a wad of parts over the last few months to do a few bits & bobs

Nissan Genuine OEM O2 Sensor
Sytec Fuel Filter
Titan Steel Wheel Nuts(Black)
CL RC5+ Brake Pads(4069) - R
DBA T3 4000 Discs - R
Mobil1 10w60 Extended Life Engine Oil w/Greddy Oil Filter OX-03

Had planned on hitting the track on the 6th April but with college work mounting up and being away with work, I never got a chance to get the car ready. There are plenty more track days later on in the year so will get booked in for them once car is sorted.

The Tomei & Nismo parts are en-route from Japan, should have the Hybrid turbo & fitting kit within the next 2 weeks.

With the new power, I can only assume I will need an uprated diff & next stage clutch but will see how we get on first.

So with my exams over in May, I will hopefully be able to focus on the car for the summer months and get all these parts added and keep her running sweet!

As always, stay tuned!

Update 12/10/2017: Long Overdue Update

Long overdue an update. Between impending birth of a little person, buying a new house, general life getting in the way & photobucket wrecking my project thread, I have not kept this updated.

Alot has happened since last update. but here is a quick summary. Will add some pictures to bottom of this post

• DBA T3 4000 discs & CL RC5+ front pads installed. Excellent setup once you bed them in. Have picked up rear discs and pads to match and remove the EBC rear setup also. Both Front & Rear EBC setup for sale by the way
• Had the suspension turrets sorted again as there was slight discolouring again. All the skins were removed this time and replaced so fully repairing it. While the car was down in the bodyshop, there was some restoration behind the skirts and general tidy up underneath. The big bit of work was box section steel replacing the squished sills so much stronger now when jacking up. No fear of the sills being squished again with big jacks.
• Installed the HKS SSQV and removed the Turbosmart Recirc BOV(also for sale). Was going to recirc the HKS but requires a bit more work to do that properly so will leave it venting to atmosphere for the moment
• Was out on track with the octane gang around mondello. managed a not too shabby 2m17s lap via harry lap timer. The brakes make a big difference. Still a bit rolly with the nismo s-tune suspension setup so coilovers might be on the card. Played with the tyre pressures too. A good 42 laps put the good year Eagle F1 Assy2's to the test and they performed very well and held up well too.
• While the car was in the bodyshop, i had them remove the cusco front strut brace and spray it black. Tidies up the engine bay alot better. Will eventually go all black in the engine bay.
• While i was on a track day buzz, i signed up the recent RunwayClub event which was a great day of fun. Needs alot better organisation but overall went well. Managed a 193kph top speed run in the very short 1000m. Waiting around in the queue generating heat soak really didn't help. Could feel it sluggish up top but that is purely down to the stock turbo.
• Exciting new bosch wiper blades went on.

Next steps are to replace a few vac lines, NCT, replace fuel filter, install rear DBA/RC CL5+ brake setup, oil/filter then pop her away for the winter from 1st Dec

As always, stay tuned

Some pics