Back to Delkor

The Panasonic High Spec maintenance free battery lasted me bout 2 years. Considering the Standard Spec was still going on strong when I replaced it @ around 2 years I do not rate the High Spec especially considering the price premium. Possible contributions on the lack of service life could be due to me under-utilizing Sharkie or a downturn in manufacturing QC. Probably a combination of both. The Pana really died as there was 0.0% electrical juice left. No even any to work the central locking or acknowledge the remote.

Anyway NS70L sized Panas could not be found anywhere in Penang nowadays so I'm back to the Delkor. My local TCEAS is pushing GP maintenance free batteries. Picture of the Delkor packaging. The local distributor is Kai Shen Marketing Sdn. Bhd. 

In my haste to replace the batt, I forgot to weight the Delkor so can't tell you the weight but my arm muscles are still aching. Local battery prices have risen recently so the total damage was MYR 402.8 including GST (battery cost alone was RM 380). In comparison, 2 years ago I paid RM 350 for the Pana High Spec. Trade-in for a used battery (junks accepted) is RM 20. Picture below of the Delkor MF on its battery tray.

Fully installed with top securing bracket/holder. 

Bride Import Side Stay

The Bride RO seat rail is able to use adapters which Bride sell separately to install full bucket non-reclining motorsport competition seats such as the Recaro SP-G, Sparco Evo and Pro2000 and the Corbeau Pro-Series. Such seats are typically bottom side mounted versus bottom mounted for "stock/road" and "daily driving" reclining seats such as my Recaro SR4.

Those of you curious enough will ask why would I need these adapters? Well that's an upcoming and very long simmering project and blog post. Long enough to span more than two friggin years. Anyway, back to this post. Bride calls the particular adapter I need the "Import Side Stay" (Part Number: A35PNO). Bride's website states that the Import Side Stay can be used for Recaro SPG-N, Pole Position, Sparco Pro2000, etc. etc. One seat rail will need a set of four adapters. As per my Bride RO seat rails, the Import Side Stays were sourced by and purchased from Bro Eu Jin of JDM Auto Link. My cost was only RM2XX for one set (double that if you need two sets) and bear in mind the Ringgit is depreciating as I type this.

A couple weeks later this and some other goodies for my Fit arrived at my doorstep. Picture of the packaging.

The Import Side Stay in bubble wrapping.

After my crummy clumsy hands got to it.

"Manual" or more specifically installation diagram.

The Import Side Stay. Mild steel fasteners are provided and weight a ton.

The multiple hole and slots enable the Import Side Stay to cater for different seat dimensions. These adapters can accept a base seat width between 395mm to 430mm. The Import Side Stays appear to be symmetrical and are not side dependent from what I can see. Installation will tell. Stay tuned.

Work Emotion CR Kai Discontinued

I recently checked Work Wheels website and found that they had discontinued the Work Emotion CR Kai. You can find the "details" here which is where Work lists their discontinued products. Apparently production ended in 2014. The successor for the CR Kai, the CR Kiwami does not have an off the shelf listing for 114.3 4 lug/hole PCD. If I understand correctly, Work is able to supply 114.3 4 lug PCD for the CR Kiwami but @ additional cost of 6000 yen per wheel/rim. Details in screen capture below

If you want the CR Kai best you contact your suppliers now to check if there is any unsold stock left from the last production run. Good luck!

This also means the number of available off the shelf branded Jap wheel/rim choices that I am aware of for 17" 114.3 4 lug PCD is now a big fat ZERO. If you want the good stuff you will need to convert to 5 lug.

Beta Utensili Digital Vernier Caliper

A vernier scale or caliper is a device that lets you measure precisely when reading and measuring a uniformly divided straight or circular object. Given the number of  parts I have had to measure and fabricate for Sharkie I'm surprised that it took me so long to get a proper vernier caliper. A ruler and EAM (Eye-balling Aided Measurement) just doesn't cut it when measuring bushes, anti-roll bar diameters, hole or openings, etc.

I finally decided to get a proper digital vernier caliper for easy reading and measurements. Looked around locally in Penang but didn't see anything I fancy. There are probably decent stuff around but I don't have the contacts. RS Online sells Mitutoyo but these cost a bomb. Some surfing around let me to Tool-Net which is an online mail order site in the UK specializing in all sorts of tools, Decided on the Beta 1651DGT digital vernier caliper which suited my requirements. Beta Utensili or Beta Tools is an automotive hand tool manufacturer from Italy founded back in 1923 and today supplies tools to many professional motorsport teams worldwide. The 1651DGT is made from stainless steel and has a measuring range of up to 200mm with 0.01mm resolution and weights 150 grammes. Cost to me including shipping came up to 54.18 GBP.

Less than 2 weeks later the 1651DGT arrived safe and sound. Picture below of the packaging.

The very nice plastic case including test certificate.

The 1651DGT digital vernier caliper. Round white object is the battery. User manual states battery model is SR44W.

Time to start measuring and starting/continuing some projects I've been procrastinating on with the excuse I don't have a proper vernier caliper..

AIM MXS

I bet AIM has been listening to customers giving feedback that the MXG would not fit in many a dash hence they have now released the MXS. The only difference between the MXG and MXS is the size of the display. The MXS has a 5" TFT display which is smaller than my Asus Zenfone 2's 5.5" screen while the MXG has a larger 7" display. You can read up more on the MXG/MXS from AIM's website.

Picture below taken from AIM's website shows the physical size difference between the MXG and MXS. 

Technical drawing showing the MXS dimensions. 

Real life pix courtesy of Rennlist forums and TrailBrake, an official AIM Dealer in the US. 

Price is ~US$ 2299 though I see a certain Bolehland company selling in Mudah for RM 7500. The MXG "only" costs US$ 300 more. The LCD screen on my AIM MXL Strada Icon is so yesterday. 

New Gearbox Upgrade Project Part 4 - Back Home

Hello everybody. Yes I am still alive and so is Sharkie :) Here's the long awaited comeback article.

Against all odds, the upgraded gearbox internals are back home. It was actually back home a couple months back but I'm the king of procrastination remember? Porn pictures below courtesy of Bro Greg. The man saw fit to take artsy bitsy piccies :) Per Greg - "Those pieces came back so uniform and pretty, I couldn't resist using my new Sigma 105mm 2.8 1:1 macro lens" ;)

Cost not including shipping, packaging, stationeries, frustration & anger management, etc. and BST (priceless) was:

• Cryo treatment: US$ 250
• Shot peening: US$ 200
• WPC treatment: US$ 903

Add in all the associated shipping, etc. costs and the total outlay increases to MYR 7-8K depending on the US to MYR exchange rate and not including purchase of the used gearbox. Shipping costs to and from the US and within the US alone was significantly above RM 2K. The gearbox internals had to be shipped to the respective treatments all over the United States and once completed, returned to Greg who took on the role of my project manager in the US. I primarily used Fedex for international shipping as they were reliable and had the lowest pricing when I inquired. Ask around but please bear in mind that while you can save some dollars you definitely want your parts to arrive in the same exact condition you sent them.

Now all that needs to be done is to reassemble back the "new" gearbox but I can't do this yet as I am planning to use back the Nismo LSD which is in my current gearbox. I was originally planning to try a Quaife ATB LSD but went significantly over budget so have to settle for my Nismo. Also don't forget one UK Pound is now bout 6 Malaysian Ringgit. Gulp! Need to find some time to travel down to KL to do the gearbox/LSD swap job.

Vent

The whole reason I have this blog is to share my car (Nissan Sentra N16) mods and experience. It takes a lot of time, effort and not forgetting money to document and write the blog posts and I don't make a single cent out of it so I am sorry if I come across as hard and unapproachable if you contact me asking the very same questions to which I've already documented the answers in detail in my blog.

2015 Resolution

I promise to use and whip Sharkie hard at least once a week :)

2015 First Service

When your bud all the way from the US sends you an email just to tell you you are lagging (on your blog posts) you are really lagging.. :) Thanks Greg for the reminder.

Anyway here's a short post on Sharkie having its first service prior to the CNY hols. Current mileage since rebirth is way less than 10K km.

Here's the normal complement of consumables for a regular service.

I only ever use Motul Chrono 300V 10W40 and Nismo Veruspeed Oil Filter since Slowtra became Sharkie which I find to be the "best optimal" for my needs. The only downside here is cost. Two 2 litre cans of Chrono 300V will set you back in excess of RM 400 and the Veruspeed is RM 90ish depending on the yen to ringgit exchange rate. Maintaining a performance car is definitely not cheap. The positive here is that you only use about 3 litres or less of the engine oil. Make sure you keep and store the leftover unused engine oil well for your next service. Never ever reuse your used engine oil or oil filter.

Hello 2015

Before you know it yet another year has passed. Sharkie has not been a daily driver since February the past year and this is the cause of the lack of (mods) progress. In the six months between July to January 1st 2015 I've done less than 1K km :)  Blame this on a lot of other conflicting priorities and plain old procrastination. But then again the GE8 Jazz/Fit is also a very nice car to mod/play with. There are so many parts readily available for self-poisoning versus Slowtras where I practically have to start from zero and do everything myself.

I know these are just excuses and I am looking forward to 2015 as the year to reignite and get more traction on Sharkie's mod jobs. As they say, "Good things will come to those who wait". Stay tuned.

Nissan Bluebird Sylphy A-Pillar Garnish

Apparently I bought the last QG10 a-pillar garnish with the spec and colour/trim I wanted in Japan. How do I know so? Well my research originally led me to believe that 76911-4M500 and 76912-4M500 should be what I want. Upon contacting my supplier I was told these are not in stock nor being produced any more. I decided to change my approach and asked which of the 6 part numbers I was given are still in production. After further checking with Nissan Japan, it looks like there is only one set of 76911/2-6N010 left. Yes, only one. With not much of a choice I bit the bullet and placed the order since the cost is not prohibitive (3540 yen each not including shipping). Of the 6 different part numbers, 76911/2-6N010 happens to be the cheapest.

Despite the total cost (a-pillar garnish + shipping) coming in way below the minimum taxable value of MYR 500 our dear customs still decided to hold the shipment and I had to go do the clearance. Picture below of the packaging. 

The part number. 76911 denotes right hand side. 76912 is the other (left hand side).

So, did I get the colour and trim I wanted? The answer is a resounding Yes! Picture below of the LHS a-pillar garnish. Trim colour is "C" according to this link. 

The inner side of the LHS a-pillar garnish. 

Closer up. The piece of fabric on the lower mounting boss is probably to reduce NVH. 

This means I can now de-ICE Sharkie which will happen soon next year :) 

Nismo Fuel Filler Cap Cover Installed

My apologies for the one month hiatus and lack of posts. Been very busy balancing a demanding (real) job, playing with my Fit, new house, house reno and renewal of my hi-fi madness errr hobby. Can't believe we are already on the last day of the year. This year has been one of the fastest in recent memory with things and events just flashing by.

Back to my recent not so successful Nismo fuel filler cap cover project. Jun Wen has just installed the fuel filler cap cover on his S15 and sent me some nice pictures. The fuel filler cap was sold back in October but due to our busy schedules (the man services and works on Paganis ((Yes, the real Pagani Zonda F and Huayra supercar)) all over Asia), I've only recently had time to post this update. I know, I know its a 5 minute install job but taking beauty shots, fondling and licking the Nismo all takes time. Anyway here are the pictures without further blabbering.

From the pictures above, the Silvia S15 fuel filler cap sure looks suspiciously like the one on Sharkie. Wonder if it's the same and if not will it fit the fuel tank filler neck?

Automotive Porn - Force Racing Wheels

This is totally unrelated to Slowtras or any N16 variant but is so trick I just had to do a write up. Force Racing hails from the UK and primarily focuses on speed parts for the original Mini. Yes, the original Mini by the one and only Sir Alec Issigonis and not the current BMW Mini.

Anyway back to topic of this not on topic posting. Haha! Bro Mugil ordered this 13" x 7" rims/wheels for his Mini. Model is DSY and each rim only weights less than 3.4 kg. Wheels are three piece and is constructed of two outer halves that make up the rim and a centre section. The spokes/centre is bolted to the rim via fasteners. These type of rim allows for the ability to custom tailor wheels for special mostly racing only applications that would not be available otherwise. 

Each rim is CNC machined and anodized. The wheel centres are 6082T6 billet aluminium and are available colour anodised in most colours. 

Reverse/Inner Side.

Close up. All the bolts are titanium btw and separately bought by Mugil. Each rim uses 24 fasteners so for 4 rims you will need 96 sets of titanium bolts and flanged lock nuts.

Wait a minute. Where are the bolt holes for the wheel lugs? Mugil went uber trick here by specifying a centre lock rim like what you see on Super GT/GT race cars. This means each rim/wheel is bolted to the car with only a single centre locking nut. If this is not trick enough, the nuts are titanium alloy. Not only is the material and construction trick, the colour is also Ferrari trick!

The Fantastic Four!

The centre lock kit. Yes, it's Titanium

Test fitted to the rear of  Mugil's Mini. GT racecar rite?

 

Can this (rims) fit your Slowtra? Well, the biggest diameter rim Force Racing makes currently is 15". The other issue is Minis are very light and the lightweight design of the rims means they only support a max of 800kg. Force Racing can make you 40% stronger rims (for cars around 1100-1200 kg) but this means a heavier rim and increased cost. Please do bear in mind the set above without the titanium fasteners and Ti centre lock kit, shipping and tax already costs 1800 GBP (MYR 9450+). If you are still interested, give Force Racing a call. There are no counterfeits or fakes around.

New Superpro Stuff

Recently surfed Superpro's website on another matter and decided to check their parts listing for the N16 in the hope there might be something new. Truly Incredibly Unbelievably There Is!!!

Superpro has... drum roll! the following new PU bushes for the N16. Most of the new stuff should also fit the USDM B15 and JDM G10. The parts are:

• Steering Rack Mount Bush (Not sure if this fits Left Hand Drive. Best to check with Superpro or affiliated supplier) - Part Number SPF3560K
• Scott Russell Link Bush Kit - Part Number SPF4191K
• Scott Russell Control Rod Bush Kit - Part Number SPF4189K

You can find the complete listing of Superpro parts for N16 @ Superpro's website or here. 

I will be placing an order for the new stuff soon. In the meantime, if anyone has already installed the new bushes on their car please do report out via the comments section on this blog posting. 

New Gearbox Upgrade Project Part 3 - It's Finally in the US!

40 kilos turned out to be less than 15 when Jack got a proper weighing scale to weigh the gearbox internals. This means the shipping cost via Fedex one way is now significantly less than than MYR 1K. Bout RM 644.46 to be exact which means the project is back on-track after a 2 month hiatus. Thanks Bro!

Picture of everything packed up. All hard work, muscle and vocal power (bargaining) and BST from Jack. Only Brothers will do this for you. I only had to type this article and to foot the bill. Jack's spanking high end high tech weighing scale can be seen in the second pic. Sorry Bro, couldn't resist :P

However this is not the end of the story for this post. To ensure I won't get taxed by our dear customs when the gearbox internals are returned, every part had to be individually numbered and declared with proper documentation. And I mean everything including the very smallest washer, clip and o-ring. This unfortunately resulted in the first shipment being returned to Jack as said parts were not declared. Super Major Bummer or should I say in Hokkien "K*nneh!"

So Jack had to re-open up the nice packaging, remove all the parts and then together with Ah Tiong do more dis-assembly and relabeling work. Decision was made to not send all the washers, etc and just the bare bone parts that were to receive the super treatment work. Pictures below showing the fruits of their efforts. Jack said it was more like durian as the whole ordeal proved to be very thorny and prickly.

After all the major BST, what was left was to send the parts hope for the best..

Picture below shows the parts safely arrived @ Greg's place in the US after a week or so. Hurray!

A couple days later I received this email from Greg.

More to follow..