The N16 Files

Back to Delkor

2015-12-31T14:16:00.000+08:00

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

2015-09-10T22:18:00.001+08:00

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

2015-09-09T21:29:00.000+08:00

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

2015-08-30T22:36:00.000+08:00

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

2015-06-22T17:45:00.002+08:00

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

2015-06-17T17:35:00.001+08:00

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

2015-05-12T20:39:00.001+08:00

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

2015-04-28T07:08:00.003+08:00

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

2015 First Service

2015-03-28T15:36:00.001+08:00

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

2015-01-02T18:26:00.002+08:00

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

2014-12-31T23:05:00.000+08:00

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

2014-12-31T08:25:00.001+08:00

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

2014-11-26T18:05:00.001+08:00

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

2014-10-30T21:02:00.000+08:00

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!

2014-10-22T14:14:00.000+08:00

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..

Nismo Fuel Filler Cap Cover for Sale - SOLD!

2014-10-08T12:13:00.001+08:00

I thought all Nissans within the last 10-20 years should have more or less the same fuel filler cap so this should fit my N16 but boy was I wrong. It's a tad too large.

Which Nissan the fuel filler cap cover fits is in the second picture. If you have difficulty reading, this includes the S15, R32 to R35, Z33 and Z34. Even a lowly K11 March. Just not the N16/G10. Don't ask me why.. :(

The cover adheres to your stock fuel cap via a double sided tape. I got this brand new for 5,500 yen (bout MYR 166.353) per today's exchange rate. Shipping added another 1,200 yen.

I am open to the first offer in the 3 figure ringgit range. This means I am selling a brand new genuine Nismo Fuel Filler Cap Cover for half the price I bought it for. Please do add shipping to where ever destination you are from.

Stop Press! Bro Jun Wen is the lucky new owner of the Nismo Fuel Filler Cap Cover.

Third Quarter Progress Review

2014-09-03T21:45:00.000+08:00

Remember I had a list of mod jobs at the turn of the year? Well it is now September and below's the current progress:

Settle the BC Racing ER coilover damper problem - Still in limbo.
More DIY weight reduction jobs - I seem to be adding weight to Sharkie lately :(
Tidying up the engine bay including possibly some AN plumbing changes for better packaging - Still procrastinating.
Proper aero work - Partly done. APR GTC-200 rear wing installed. Front splitter next.
New headlights and rear lights - Can't bring myself to spend a couple grand. Only managed a restoration job for the front headlights.
New seat rails - Done. Bride RO seat rails installed.
Revisit the oil catch can setup - Still procrastinating
More carbon and unobtanium parts - Work in progress. Got some parts due to be installed. Stay tuned.
Add more chassis stiffness and rigidity - Zero progress.
Add rear arb - Decided on make. Currently in design and manufacturing. Stay tuned.
Wider rims and wider tyres - Maybe next year?
Corner weight the car - Ditto
Knock detection - Ditto
Seat harness - Bought. Stay tuned.
Cylinder head job including new cams - Maybe next year or 2016 :)
Relook into the induction setup. Perhaps a proper airbox? - Ditto
Improve engine bay heat management - Got some ideas and bought some stuff. Other than this, still procrastinating.
Paint job (again) - Done.
Install Wilwood brake rotors - Done.
Install WPC oil pump - Still sitting nicely in my cabinet while I procrastinate.

I also added a gearbox upgrade project which is also in limbo due to shipping cost concerns.

Hope to make up some more progress and lost time as we move towards the end of the year. Please add more positive comments/ideas in this blog or likes in my FB page to get me moving faster.

Bride RO Super Seat Rails - Part 2 Installed

2014-09-02T20:41:00.001+08:00

Found some free time to install the Bride RO seat rails during the Raya hols. Installation was DIY with help from Tao. Before installing I took the opportunity to weigh the stock mild steel and titanium seat rail fasteners. Stock.

Titanium.

This means a weight saving of 12 grams per set of fastener (bolt + washer). There are 8 sets of fasteners (4 per seat rail) hence the savings are approximately 96 grams.

Uninstalling the Recaros and H Performance seat rails lead to some not so nice surprises. First surprise is the use of these large mild steel washers to level the seats. Four are used per side of a seat/seat rail. If you're wondering what the wire is for, it's for the "fasten your seat belt" warning light which I no longer use :)

If you are still using the stock dash, make sure the wire is connected to this wire which in turn is connected to the seat rail. If you don't the seat belt warning light will be permanently lit.

Decided to weigh the washers for kicks. Total weight savings together with the seat rail bolts are bout 0.23kg.

The washers are required due to the poor manufacturing tolerance of the H Performance seat rails. These actually incorporate genuine Recaro sliders but IMHO that is the only positive aspect of the seat rail. Picture below of the H Performance seat rail after removing the Recaro.

There is no bridge plate in between the sliders for greater structural strength like the Bride RO. Which is not surprising or should I say shocking as what I found out next when disassembling my Recaro from it's seat rail. Each Recaro SR4 utilizes six M6 x 25mm bolts to secure it to it's seat rail (Front uses 4 and rear 2). Only four bolts were used for my case. This was consistent for both seats. Different fastener heads and length were also used instead of one standard type. Some M8 sized spring washers were even used for an M6 bolt I kid you Not! What you can't see can't kill you right? How much does 12 sets of properly sized and load rating mild steel fasteners (bolt and appropriately sized washer) cost? Can't be more than a couple ringgit. Picture below of the crap fasteners used by H Performance.

Picture below of the Bride RO seat rail mated to the SR4 with proper fasteners. And yes, that's my sofa the seat and seat rail is sitting on top of. I did the assembly in my living room mah.

Picture of the anchor bolt used to fasten the seat belt buckle to seat rail

Seat belt buckle installed onto the seat rail.

Picture below shows the Bride RO vs H Performance seat rail.

The Bride ROs weigh 5 kg each while the H Performance seat rail is 4kg which unfortunately means 0.75 kg of flab is added to Sharkie. If you value your own personal safety this is a compromise I am more than happy to accept. Picture of the new seat rail and seat mounted back on Sharkie.

Seat height with the Bride RO is approximately 20mm lower than the H Performance seat rail which is perfect for me as I'm not your average height Malaysian. Rail sliding action is very positive. Seat belt buckle no longer does the disappearing act.

Overall I am very satisfied and impressed with the quality of the Bride ROs. My only regret is I should have gone with these seat rails when I got the Recaros two years back.

Bride RO Super Seat Rails - Part 1

2014-08-11T21:25:00.000+08:00

The quality of the local made H Performance seat rails for the Recaro SR4s leaves a lot to be desired. Apart from the crappy weld quality and stiff sliding action of the slider rail, the seat belt buckles would occasionally "disappear" rotating backward and downward away from sight. This would often invite the occasional heavy metal music especially if the front passenger is my dear wifey.

Original Recaro Germany seat rails cost a bomb (2K upwards for a pair of seat rails) so I researched for lower cost but similar quality alternatives. Short of repeating myself to death, one knows that aftermarket seat rails for the Slowtra are not exactly in abundance and that such research typically ends up in a dead end. However for once the Gods of Car Mods were smiling on me and the research led me to conclude that a N16/B15/G10 uses the same seat rails as a JDM B15 Sunny and when it comes to Jap cars, Bride is the most popular and well known brand for seats and seat rails. And Bride does have a seat rail application for the B15. Part number of the Bride seat rail for JDM B15 Sunny.

As can be seen above, Bride has multiple seat rail models but these are meant for their varied range of seats or side (vs bottom mount) for full bucket single piece competition seats. Only the RO and MO models fit my Recaro SR4. I decided to bite the bullet and order the RO as this can later be upgraded to MO type by buying and installing the optional MO adapter plates on the RO seat rail. I was initially going to order from RHD Japan but pondered and procrastinated on this for ages. More than a year in fact as I was very concerned about the taxation costs. In the end Bro Eu Jin came to my rescue and sourced the RO seat rails for me. Bro Eu Jin is the boss of JDM Auto Link and he can get any JDM part you want so look the man up!

Price of a pair of seat rails came up to more than 1.5K MYR direct to your doorstep. Price will differ according to the exchange rate of the Japanese Yen vs Malaysian Ringgit so best to check with Eu Jin. Lead time between placement of order and deposit and arrival at one's doorstep is between 1 to 3 months depending on the shipment schedule between Japan to Bolehland. If you want fast you can always order from RHD Japan and airfreight to your house but good luck in between. Picture of the shipping packaging.

Part number and application. Looks like the Y11 Wingroad also use the same seat rail.

The seat rail. Also included is a detailed and idiot proof installation "manual" complete with drawings. No knowledge of Japanese is required to know what goes or fits where. Also included is a Bride seat rail specific anchor bolt for the seat belt buckle. Only one anchor bolt is supplied per seat rail so don't lose it.

One of several identification labels.

Be careful of fakes when it comes to Bride seats or seat rails. I have seen many. A seat and it's seat rail is a major critical safety component of any car so you decide if you wanna mess around with that. Original Bride seat rails uses slider rails sourced from Faurecia in France. Faurecia oems for PSA (Peugeot and Citroen), Nissan, GM and Volkswagen so they definitely know what they are doing. The upper rail metal thickness is 2mm while the lower rail is 2.3mm. Beefy!

I also decided to replace all the seat rail fasteners with titanium equivalents. You will need six M6 X 25mm bolts to secure each SR type seat to its seat rail meaning 12 total unless you only have one seat. Likewise four M10 X 30mm bolt secures each seat + seat rail to the car (8 total). Don't forget the washers.

Took me forever to find a M10 X 25mm diameter washer for the bolt securing seat rail to car. Standard diameter for a M10 titanium washer is 20mm. 20mm diameter might have insufficient surface clamp area as the bolt hole on the seat rail is way larger than 10mm to allow for some adjustment. In the end the closest I could find is a 30mm diameter washer from Allied Titanium in the US.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I install the seat rails.

Panasonic Maintenance Free Car Batteries

2014-08-02T13:56:00.002+08:00

When one thinks of Panasonic, electronic/electrical home appliances comes to mind and not car batteries. Well Pana makes not one but two different grades of maintenance free car batteries for N16s and most other popular cars sold in Bolehland. In fact, the Panasonic is the recommended oem replacement battery for MYDM Hondas.

I first used the Standard Grade Pana in 2012 while Slowtra was being transformed into Sharkie. It has a white casing and black top. Picture below on Sharkie sometime in 2013. Just look at the size of the battery in comparison with the K&N air filter.

IMHO the battery size is the worse design on a N16 apart from the wheelbarrow rear suspension. Like most Jap cars, Nissan decided to put such a heavy component on the front corner mostly for convenience as having the batt in the boot/trunk takes up free space. Unfortunately, while most C segment cars of the same period use a NS60 sized batt, Nissan decided on a bigger and heavier NS70. So much for mass centralization and better weight distribution for better handling. Family oriented sedan mah! Picture below of a smaller Pana batt in my wife's Civic. Older gen Civics have the batt next to the firewall which is even better.

Weight below of the Pana Std Spec maintenance free battery. You didn't see wrong. That's 17 kilos (not pounds) of flab in a place where you would least want it to be :(

I recently decided to replace the Std Spec Pana I was using with a High Spec model. The whole batt is black in colour to differentiate it from the standard spec. Panasonic uses Silver Alloy technology to strengthen the battery against high temperature which is a plus as Sharkie's engine bay is way hotter than any regular N16. The reserve capacity of the High Spec is also longer @ 75Ah vs 65 Ah for the Standard Spec. Having said this the Standard Spec Pana lasted me a good two years or so and had not yet failed when I replaced it. Picture below of the High Spec in its packaging.

I did weight the High Spec but was totally demotivated to take a pix at this point as it weighs 1kg more than the Standard Spec (~18kg). Super Sigh!!! :( Cost is also more than the Std Spec @ MYR 350 for the High Spec vs 260 for the Std Spec. Picture below of the High Spec installed.

My long term upgrade plan is to relocated the batt to the boot and/or try a dry cell Lithium Ion Phosphate battery. The only problems are finding a suitable CE to undertake this (relocation) work and the massive cost of a lithium ion batt. RM3 to 6K+ anyone?

Whiteline Rear Anti-Roll Bar Discontinued

2014-07-20T14:07:00.004+08:00

Whiteline has discontinued it's rear anti-roll (sway) bar, part number: BNR28 for the N16/B15/G10. The reason behind the discontinuation is a lack of demand :(

For Slowtra owners looking to upgrade your rear arb, your choices are from what I know, limited to Ultra Racing, Eibach and Progress Auto. Apart from Ultra Racing, non are available locally and both the Progress and Eibach ARBs require drilling your rear beam trailing arm. All rear arbs/sway bars are interchangeable between a N16, B15 and G10.

Progress Auto hails from the USA and uses a 22mm bar (Part number: 62.1511) similar to the Whiteline arb. The Eibach rear arb is only 19mm (Part number: 6362.312) but also has a front 25mm arb specification for the USDM Sentra B15. Part number for the rear arb is 6362.310. You can also buy both the front and rear as a complete kit (Part number: 6362.3200). Ultra Racing are from our very own Bolehland and has 2 rear arb specs for the Slowtra N16 - One is 16mm (Part Number: UR-AR16-039) and a bigger 19mm (Part Number: UR-AR19-043). They also have a front 22mm arb application (Part Number UR-AR22-343).

I could be wrong but I believe Ultra Racing still uses rubber bushes for its Sentra arbs while Eibach and Progress Auto uses polyurethane bushes. Long term reliability of the UR arb is also possibly a suspect but the upside is the UR arb cost significantly less than what you would pay for a Whiteline (when available), Eibach or Progress Auto. Your call..

New Gearbox Upgrade Project Part 2 - Disassembled

2014-07-17T21:14:00.001+08:00

Tiong has fully disassembled my RS5F70A gearbox to it's individual components. Before showing you the actual porn pictures, here's a diagram from a USDM B15 Sentra's Technical Service Manual illustrating the 70A gear components. Please don't ask me if this is an auto or manual gearbox.

The shift control components.

The gear ratios on every 70A gearbox are not all the same and differ according to the market and engine the gearbox is mated to. A USDM RS5F70A gearbox mated to a SR20DE engine on a Sentra B15 has the following gear ratios per the technical service manual.

1st - 3.3333
2nd - 1.955
3rd - 1.286
4th - 0.926
5th - 0.7333
Final drive - 4.176

A USDM 70A gearbox mated to a QG18DE has nearly the same gear ratios except 5th gear which is shorter (lower speed) @ 0.756. Apparently from what I read in the SR20-Forum, the pinion shaft from a QG18DE 70A will not mate correctly with the final drive from a SR20DE 70A gearbox. The gearbox I bought probably came from a JDM Nissan Primera P11 which has the following gear ratios when fitted with the QG18DE:

1st - 3.333
2nd - 1.955
3rd - 1.286
4th - 0.926
5th - 0.7333
Final drive - 3.888

Disassembling the gearbox and counting the number of teeth of the final drive crown wheel/ ring gear showed that the crown wheel/ring gear had 70 teeth. All pictures courtesy of Bro Jacko.

Pinion came up to 18 teeth.

70 divided by 18 gives you 3.888 final drive ratio. Didn't have a chance to count and confirm on the first to fifth gear ratios but I am hoping the above is correct. Will confirm when I have the chance to physically see the gearbox. Imagine getting to this point without even seeing the real thing :(

Picture below of the input shaft, mainshaft and shifter rods with all the individual gears before further dis-assembly.

Another piccie of the mainshaft. Final drive ring gear is at the bottom right hand corner.

Gears, synchros, etc are in excellent, like new condition. 5th gear and reverse actually shares a synchro. This is the first I've seen of a helical cut reverse gear with synchro. Most reverse I know are straight cut hence the gear whine when you reverse your car. Each and every individual part sealed and carefully labelled.

Nicely packed up. All packing and heavy lifting BST expended by Jack. Thanks Bro!

The biggest roadblock at this point is the shipping cost. As the package weights bout 40kg, the shipping cost one way to the US is via air freight is anything between 1K+ to 2K+ Gulp! Does anyone know or have contacts for a more economical shipping solution?

Dietary Supplements - Organization

2014-06-25T21:23:00.001+08:00

Over the years I've accumulated quite a bit of spare lightweight fasteners as a result of a habit of always buying extras just in case. Till recently these (the spares) were all still in original packaging in a plastic bag. Which is a pain every time I want to find a particular bolt, etc. as I had to empty out the entire plastic bag unless I got lucky and find what I want on top of the pile.

As the plastic bag was getting more and more full over time I decided to get organized. Found this general purpose organization plastic box with convertible compartments over @ Ace Hardware and bought one. Cost was MYR 44.90. Below's the end result.

If you're wondering what's that funky yellow coloured thingy in the picture above, it's a very handy tool from Pro-Bolt to measure size of fastener including thread pitch. Tool comes foc with purchases over 20 or 30 GBP once upon a time. I'm not sure if the offer is still valid currently.

Pro-Bolt also sell similar organization boxes but cost will be higher when you add shipping. I might be tempted to go the Pro-Bolt route one day..

Nissan Bluebird Sylphy A-Pillar Garnish/Cover Confusion

2014-06-17T21:26:00.001+08:00

6 different part numbers just for an A-pillar garnish (one side only)? What were Nissan thinking about? Picture below of the different part numbers.

In case you're wondering which part I am talking about it's the below in red rectangle top right hand corner.

Some keyboard surfing/research led me to the following. I am not sure how accurate as the information is from purely Googling.

Some of you might remember from my ICE days I had my stock pillar cover cut-up and rewrapped to accomodate the tweeter for my Focal K2P speakers. I am planning to totally de-ICE Sharkie hence looking for replacement a-pillar covers and some JDM ones would be nice. Problem is which part number is the closest to our MYDM Slowtra? Does anybody know? Am not partial to QG or TG10 covers with or without the tweeter cover so long as trim colour and shade is closest to Sharkie's stock pillar covers. Does anyone out there also know what is the trim colour for a MYDM N16 pillar cover/garnish?

J's Racing GT Wing Cover

2014-06-16T21:58:00.000+08:00

J's Racing normally makes speed parts only for Hondas but in this case their GT Wing Cover would make a useful addition to protect the GTC-200 from the weather elements (UV from the sun, dust and of course rain). The cover is made from polyester with 3 layers of coating on the surface for waterproofing. A fleece like material is attached on the inner side of the cover to balance the durability and air permeability. The cover fits most wings up to 1600mm wide so is perfect for the GTC-200.

I bought my cover from RHD Japan. Cost including shipping came up to 10,143 Japanese Yen. Picture below of the cover in its packaging. Part number is DGW-C2.

The inner side. The black plastic thingy helps secure the cover.

The J's Racing GT Wing Cover where it belongs covering the APR GTC-200 to protect it from the weather elements.