Do you even lift?

Ever since getting the 34, there’s one luxury feature which I’ve always wanted. Well, in fact, before the 34, even. I’ve only ever had cars with the bonnet arm, never any dampers. And having seen many GTRs, a few of which have bonnet dampers, well, the seed was sewn that I one day must have a set of dampers!
And I’ve kept my eye on sales, and the many JDM websites, for bonnet dampers. GTR bonnet dampers won’t fit the GTT because of different dampening rates due to the difference in weight AND the different bonnet mounting points anyway. So, a month or two ago it just happened that someone was setting up a groupbuy on SAU for bonnet dampers. I was IN. Last week, they arrived. And saturday, they were installed (with the help of some mates to hold up the bonnet!). Not an overly difficult job at all, hardest part would have been to understand the Engrish instructions. Pics.

Yes, they are carbon. Not a wrap but actual carbon =)

Practicing that depth of field photography.

A little theme is building here…

Absolutely love hearing the whooooooooooosh when I lift the bonnet.

Mr.GV134's first cruise: Putty Rd!

Last Saturday, Mr.GV134 went on a cruise with his buddy the R33 and another MX5, plus a plethora of WRXes. It was awesome, and a great learning experience for the driver about the car. Now I respect my car so much more, and also know its capabilities a bit better. I’ll let the pics speak for themselves – all credits to NDJ Photography.

 

Cabin air filter change

A few hundred/thousand kilometers ago, I decided to change the cabin air filter as part of continuous maintenance of the car. Owning a third-hand Japanese import means that you can never really trust the previous owners, and the work they ‘did’ on it. It’s best to assume they were all sh*theads and assume that they did nothing, and if anything, not properly – unless you knew the actual owner before! So, having done the fuel filter, oil change, oil filter, brake/clutch bleed, radiator flush, spark plugs, various lights around the car, it was finally time to turn to the interior. Note to self, a 100k service is probably wisely around the corner…
So, to the cabin filter. Funny story about this one. The filters are located behind the glovebox. This means that you need to remove the glovebox in order to reach the filters. In order to remove the glovebox, you need to undo certain screws located all around the glovebox. There is one screw in the right hand corner of this glovebox which is located deep, deep within. It is in a very tight spot, and on the day that I tried to remove it, realised that I had no screwdrivers long enough to reach and give me leverage. The first time I tried this I spent about a solid hour on this one screw. In the end, I gave up. The next day I went to Bunnings and looked around for a long enough screwdriver. There were the $16 Stanley screwdrivers…and there, on the ground in a box labelled “random” was a 2$ version of the same thing. Brought it home, and in a few minutes, the screw was out. Sigh.
Pics and captions will tell the rest of the story.

These are ONLY available in Japan – so the services of a certain personal importer were engaged to obtain these. Pretty cheap by themselves, not so cheap when all costs added – but then again, this is just a once-a-year change so not too big a cost. Bought two packs.

Pretty dirty in there. A massive feeling of relief was felt when the glovebox finally dropped!

Self explanatory. Pull out. Replace filter (as seen in next pic) and put back in.

Green bits replace the black bits, the frame remains the same. Gave it a quick clean off too, lots of dust and random crap on the frames.

The filters come with a service sticker, how useful!

New bits (backlog, x-post from SSL)

Ever since the suspension side of things got sorted, modifications on the 34 have quietened down a lot. This is because I’m trying not to let it become the money pit that we all KNOW it can become. Focus is on keeping it running well, and looking slick. So, in order to achieve that…let me introduce these new ‘bits’.

These are genuine Nissan R34GTR Vspec II aluminium pedals. They are a factory option on R34s (for all models) and so, are available to be ordered from Nissan Japan. But they have become very scarce now, a decade on from production. I sourced these from someone who had quite a few pairs in possession. For a very fair price too.

The bulbs that were on the car seemed to be mismatched in colour. Plus, they weren’t very bright, and were tinged a little too blue for my liking – too ricer (haha yes, I’m treading on a very thin line here). So I bought these. Straight from the homeland. And they’re very, very nice. Clear, white light.