[Mark_McQ]

I'm about to have some big upgrades done on my car and I decided to keep my own project log. I was fortunate enough to get access to pics of my car from the previous owner of how it looked beforehand, so I'll throw some of those in too.

Firstly the body mods. I believe the car was originally dark blue, and this is a picture of it when owned by the previous owner, with the veilside kit fitted, along with a BGW(If you don't know, search Driftworks )

Fella I bought it from is a spray painter and he did the respray on it. House of Kolor candy red over a gold basecoast:

Body wise the car is still sporting the same kit and paint, along with 17" Sparco race alloys. Thankfully the BGW is gone. Currently it looks like this:

I've grown to not care for the Veilside kit that much now. Future plans are for a full Vertex kit, Nismo N1 lip spoiler on the bootlid, Japsalon GTR vented bonnet, and GTR grill. I may keep the wheels, although I think a set of GTC's in the Top Secret gold edition with polished rim would look muey sexy.

On to the basic mods......

 

[Mark_McQ]

BASIC MODS
When I purchased the car, it had an HKS metal cone filter, Intec 2-stage ECU (Anyone got any info on these??), FMIC and an Apexi BOV. It also had a pair of Blitz DCII guages, for boost and temperature. Only the boost was hooked up. The car was also fitted with a full custom made Bayside exhaust system. Not been able to find any info on this, but it has a subtle Bayside logo pressed into the backbox, so it looks like a well made piece of kit.

HANDLING
Suspension-wise had Tein on all 4 corners, not sure which kit but it's very low and stiff. Not the most comfortable ride sometimes but the handling is exceptional, especially considering the rest of the suspension setup is stock.
Only other piece of handling related gear is a front strut brace.

MY MODS
One of the first things I did was ditch the HKS filter for an Apexi one, this was my first date with Nengun. We held hands. I was £50 down. Never even got laid. :swear:

Next up came the interior. The driver seat was completely shagged. The side bolster was worn through to the metal and the bolster adjuster was missing, so the right side just flapped around, making it torture to get in and out.

I got a GTR interior courtesy of WeeTrav who posts on here. R32GTR in blue with a 33GTR driver seat. Looking to pick up a 33 passenger seat some time, so if anyone is interested in trading for a 32 perchance, hit me up with a PM.

I also fitted a Greddy pillarmount guage pod to move the Blitz guages into a tidier position than the sucker mounted window holders they occupied. A Nismo gearknob was fitted as well, to replace the horrid metal thing that came with the car. (Freezing cold in winter, and the rivets on it were painful).
The addition of a Momo Jet steering wheel, via an HKB boss, and an Apexi turbo timer finish the interior work so far.

HICAS was locked up next with a Tomei kit and a Gemini 7950 alarm was fitted.

The wheelnuts on it were causing issues due to the socket rubbing the laquer off the inside of the wheel holes, so a set of Ultralite internal drives were fitted, along with a matching locking nut.

Some more minor engine bling was added in the form of a Greddy radiator hard pipe kit(Which also allowed me to hook up my Blitz temperature gauge), and I replaced the Apexi BOV with a Blitz DD one. The mounting flange from the Apexi was modified by an engineering shop so that the Blitz could be mounted in the stock factory position. (I rule)

I have also wired in my AVC-R electrics, and just need to get the solenoid plumbed in. (Which will be done with the new turbo install). A Greddy air deflector plate was fitted, and lastly a Walbro fuel pump was added. (And the car never even burst into flames when I was done).

If I had the budget at the time, a really good setup like Brembo or such would have been on the cards, but I opted for DBA gold cross-drilled and grooved rotors, with Endless pads. I haven't been dissapointed yet, can reccomend this combo. Did the track day at Knockhill and they were spot on.
A set of Toyo T-1R's round off the current work done on the car.

On to what's about to be done (If you're still reading this far). Don't worry, more pics less words this time....

 

[Mark_McQ]

Over the last 3 months I've been building a big pile of stuff that will all be fitted in the next 3 weeks. (Hopefully before the next Knockhill night, if my crap ever arrives from Japan).

TURBO
This is a steel internalled T3/04b hybrid R33 turbo with custom elbow.

A set of Sard 550cc injectors

Z32 AFM from a 300zx

The aforementioned AVC-R (Cheers Charlie)

NGK Iridiums

Greddy copy catch tank (eBay jobby)

Silkolene oil. Goes good with a nice steak.

Going to be adding some 'bling to mah bay' as well. Spoke with Dazza about part-ex my cam covers, intake pipe and intake manifold for the polished ones he's selling. My plug cover will be going in to be painted body coloured, and I scored a carbon RB26 pulley cover off eBay for 50 quid, which will also be painted the same colour. (And I don't even have to sand the text off this one). Picked up a cheap ass Nismo badge as well to put on the the pulley cover as a nice bit of unfunctional bling, should look nice against the red.

To round off the build, I'm currently awaiting the final bits from a few places.

ARP head studs (Brand new, 55 quid from some Canadian on US eBay - Kaching)
Tomei Metal head gasket. 80.5mm bore, 1.2mm thick.
Brand new Tomei power clip for the Z32 AFM
Sard fuel pressure regulator and guage fitting kit.
HKS oil filler cap (More bling)
New timing belt
Brushed aluminuim bezel for around the dash guages. Bought this out of curiousity to see how it looks. I already replaced my guage bulbs with blue LED's and managed to score a set of unopened Type-F dial rings off eBay a while back, so it might look good together.

Once everything is fitted, bit of elbow grease to clean up the engine bay bulheads and hopefully it'll be done for now. Long term plans engine wise are dependant on how this setup runs.
If I'm still not happy then I may go the RB25 route.
If I like it, then a 2530 and some cams are on the cards at the start of next year.

I'm signed up for the dyno session at Dastek this weekend to see what power the car is making now (From the way it pulls, I'm not expecting anything over 200hp to be honest), then I'll have it done again after to see how the upgrades have affected it. I hope to see at the very least 300, with the hope of getting near to 350.

 

[Mark_McQ]

This is pretty much exactly how I see the body mods next year:

 

[texvandoodoo]

Impressive Marko Geovanni, Very impressive, I have to admit, when I met you at knockhill I didnt get a right look at your car, and now I feel apocalyptically apologetic, I look forward to seeing you in future to get a look at this excellent specimen. Top Work fella, I drooled over your sards, I was mesmerized by your vision of the future and I was pure dribbling over your Turbo, ooh you have the power to hypnotise my friend...

 

[Peter R32]

Great looking car ,specs and future plans.

Ill be looking out for the updates

 

[johnathan]

very nice, look forward to seeing it develop

like the bodykit now and the one your thinking off

 

[Mark_McQ]

Got some proper pics of the turbo.

 

[DarthPalmer]

First time i've seen this car in any detail, looks good although like yourself i'm not to fond of the veilside bumper. Would be surprised if you didn;t get over 200 on the dyno. First time out mine made 224 at the wheels with a dodgy boost controller and a totally clogged backbox ( the baffle had collapsed so badly they couldn't even fit a probe up the exhaust!)
Look forward to seeing it in the metal and watching it progress

 

[Eagleye]

Got to admit, love the veilside front, would love something along those lines for my GTS-T in the future... Will have to make do with the GTR kit on mine at the moment...

 

[MrScottish]

Hey Mark, loving your work! It's good to see a Scottish project thread. Would be good to get more so we could keep track on our work and witness it in person when we all meet up! Loving the car!
Cheers

 

[Endorx]

Looking good Mark... Bet ya cant wait.... Fit me tub and im well impressed with it... Just got to turn up the boost once i get injectors and headgasket, woohoo.. Have fun

 

[Mark_McQ]

My build date looks to be getting closer. My stuff has finally left Japan after a month of waiting. Head studs don't look like they're coming any time soon though. Been waiting 10 days for those from the States.

Got some dress-up stuff this week. HKS oil cap:

And my brushed aluminium guage bezel. Which I then found out has the indicator and full beam holes cut too low:

Took some pics of how I mounted my AVC-R, for someone in another thread. May as well post them here:

Car was dyno'd pre-build.

Run 1
rwhp -179.5
fwhp - 213.6
torque - 209.8 lbft

Run 2
rwhp - 182.9
fwhp - 215.1
torque - 211.7lbft

Rather cack, really.

 

[Mark_McQ]

Finally, after 1 month waiting, and 5 days in customs, my bits from RHD arrived. Tomei metal head gasket, Greddy oil filter relocater, Sard FPR and setting guage and a full RB20 gasket kit I got from the states. Head studs haven't arrived after 3 weeks. I think I can safely say they never will.

Decided to put off the build till next month so I could order an ACT clutch. Rear crank shaft oil seal needs replaced, so may as well do the clutch. Doubt the stock one will last long anyway.
Placed an order today for the seal plus a Silk Road headlight intake:

Really all I need is the damn head studs. Want to run as much boost as I can. Bon from Driftworks said he ran 1.5 bar on their R32 with a MHG and ARP studs. Hoping to be able to do something close.
I think my plug and pulleys covers should be done this week too. They'll be finished in Kandy Red. Cam covers, intake plenum, intake pipe and throttle body will all be polished, courtesy of a part-ex with Dazza over on GTRoc.

 

[ScottishGirl]

Hehe, by the time I'd finished reading it kicked me out!

Looking good Mark, can't wait to see it all finished. Ps, whats a silk healight for?

 

[Mark_McQ]

It gives you a straight channel of air to the air filter. Means you're drawing in cold air from outside rather than hotter air from the engine bay.

 

[ScottishGirl]

yeh I figured that much but whats the silk for?

 

[Mark_McQ]

Silk Road is the name of it.

 

[Mark_McQ]

Once this crap is all fitted, I'll have the stock RB20 turbo, afm ,injectors and also an unopened graphite head gasket for sale.
Anyone got any interest in any of these, assuming they're in good nick?

 

[Endorx]

:disappointed: crap?!? lol... Wont be saying that when your crapping your pants lol..