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.

June Picture: Fresh carpark shot

Quick pic

This is how I roll

It's been a while, but everything's done. There were some hiccups after the install - namely, the springs settled and that caused a drop in the strut top, which meant one of the shocks was knocking. So, after getting the car back I had to drop it into the shop again. Also found an exhaust leak between the cat and some pipe (I'm confused about these things) so Dennis fixed that up too. AND most importantly, got that oil pressure sensor leak fixed up. Thanks a heap Dennis. So got the car back on the saturday, drove it round on Sunday. Also finally got my SAU sticker on and them nismo stickers on the rims!

It drives so well now. Absolutely smooth, punchy, and rides like a dream.

First morning out - sitting pretty =D

Now all that's left is:

• Install nismo mats (install??? hahaha)
• Install GTR Vspec II aluminium pedals
• Install front indicators (kinda like the orange though...)
• Respray brake calipers
• Install FMIC

and pretty much after that, I won't do anything except maintain the car, until next year. Just enjoy it!

HERE WE GO

HICAS lock bar arrived at work this morning.

Immediately made the call to Dennis. Bringing car in on Wednesday night, work will be done on Thursday with hopefully Friday as buffer - Saturday pick up, very optimistic!

192 LEDs!!!

On the public holiday (thank you dear ANZACs) I decided to finally get a project done – modifying my reverse lights from a single globe to double LED panels. Yes. That is correct. This was relatively simple, merely time consuming. All I needed was:
LED panels (ebay!)
Solder kit (mate lent me his)
Oven
Reverse lights (I bought a spare set from a wreck to practice on/in case something went wrong)
Tape

screw driver.I’ll let the pics speak for themselves.

 

 Polish up the lenses with Glassylite!

Practice solder and tape with an old LED panel

Accidentally snapped the wiring while stripping the plastic so had to resolder it together.

Two panels together. 48 LED x 2 … hehehe This is just for one side!

Taped up the wires

Stuck it in the civic to test out the soldering – PERFECT!

Come back and work on second set – above, pictured are the complete panels + reverse light housings

That spare perspex is really coming in handy. Used it as backing to make the panels stand up inside the housing. Superglue!

Plug in, tape up the wiring, glue the bottom and put into position – wait around 30-60min to set.

We have a winner.

Also, picked this up on Friday….heeee heeeee heeeeee

And stuck this guy in the car too! However as I predicted, his head is too heavy and there’s no good surface to mount him in the 34′s dash. So I found an even better place…he sits IN the ashtray now (pics later!). Thanks mate!

And a quick note: King springs + Bilsteins have arrived. Now waiting for some cash + HICAS lock bar and then I can send Mr Skyline into the shop!