@MintZ32 My understanding is that there is an annoying loom retaining plate on the cabin side of the firewall loom penetration held in by two fixings. One of the fixings is hard to access with some part of the Aircon in. My aircon was disconnected as per the intercooler hose install instructions, so it wasn't an issue for my aircon infrastructure to be temporarily removed in the cabin to allow easy access to the retaining plate. It is far easier to remove the plate with the Aircon out of the way apparently. The loom would not pass through the firewall without the plate removed. Bear in mind, I did not perform the work, others did, so the info above is secondhand. I hope it helps though.
Additional Pics... Unfortunately the car was not exactly the cleanest when these were taken. Car still needs to go for paint correction and be ceramic coated with either Modesta BC-05 or Kamikaze ISM
Its been a while so here's a few more updates. Have had my stock steering wheel recovered to give it a new lease of life. Rear speakers fitted and now all speakers powered by a Clarion mini amp fitted to a custom bracket I laser cut so it fits behind the head unit. Got my hands on a front number plate mount, had it painted and fitted it up Stock airbox fitted Got some Espelir Downsus springs, had them blasted and re-powdercoated and fitted them up to KYB AGX struts. More parts... aaaand took some part restoration to the next level... More zincing, powder coating and restoration coming in the future... but thats all for now.
Any more info & pictures for the steering wheel re-trim? something I definitely need to investigate myself. Plenum refresh looks fantastic!
Sure, here's a few more. Pm me if you want the upholsterer info. I sourced a core wheel and sent it to him. It was around $300 to have it redone in genuine leather. The workmanship is as good as a genuine wheel. Also a detailed vid of the plenum https://imgur.com/k2gj9A4
My car was optioned with a naVan gearknob that was getting pretty tired. So as with everything else I decided to have it restored. I sourced a standard Z32 knob from a mate whilst the naVan was being worked on and now its back to its former glory. Before: After: If I was going to go to the effort of having the knob re-done, it was only fair that I replaced the shifterboot, handbrake boot and grip, centre console surround and the rubber trans tunnel boots below as well. So, ofcourse all these were done at the same time. On the subject of re-trimmed parts, I replaced my rear quater trims and had them re-foamed and re-covered in OEM matching vinyl. And yeah It took 3 sets until I found tweed trims worthy of fitting into the car Ian aka zx299 ended up coming through with the goods in the end. New badge... For a change of pace, I've now moved onto engine bay and suspension bush overhauling. Everything has been getting a dose of fresh powder. Thats about all for now. Probably heaps I've forgotten as I dont really photograph everything thats going on but figured I had a bit for a post update
Nice update, loving all the freshly powder coated parts! Looks like your handbrake needs to be adjusted though so pop that on the to do list
Yes it does! Thanks for reminding me. When I re-assembled the rear hand brake shoes I didn't adjust it enough and I've just been living with it. Now you pointed it out I wont be able to live with it anymore
A few more updates. I decided to re-do the suspension with new springs from Japan as well as new new front strut tops. Those NOS vibes hit hard Brand new third brake light and factory bronze decal fitted up First round of factory zinc plating picked up Random restoration parts. Cleaning wheel wells Got my hands on a Nakamichi MB-IV head unit. These were probably one of the highest end systems you could buy during the 90's and early 2000's. All done to try and preserve the period correct but understated theme. I also installed a hands free car kit that has Bluetooth streaming to keep the conveniences of a modern system. And finally my wheels have been returned from being restored and re-barreled to new specs.
Looking great mate, the wheels turned out tops too! Out of interest, what makes the Nakamichi high-end? Time align, parametric eq or anything like that?
Thanks Ivan and Harts! Generally speaking Nakamichi was known for being up there with some of the best in terms of SQ and for having terrific signal to noise ratios. Generally something the die hard audiophiles took seriously. I'm far from an expert on any of it. They were also rediculously expensive though. The MB-VI I have fitted was originally Australian $1899 in the early 2000's but can be found for a fraction of that on various auction sites
Haha, yes, I am familiar with Nakamichi, and am also one of those audiophiles you mentioned, both home and in car... that's why I asked! I thought it may be the signal to noise ratio, however was wondering if it had anything more than that making it an awesome headunit. Things like time align and per channel parametric eq make the listening experience in the car more awesome. I had a look at the specs of the unit and it doesn't, but I got excited thinking that it might have features along those lines! I used to run a pioneer P99RS in my last audio based car, full copper body, no internal amp and all the fruit. Looks similar to the Nakamichi in style (single din, simple layout, white information on black screen) but was a far different beast. The Alpine unit I run now has time align and parametric eqs, that's why I bought it. I'm old enough now to know how to make a system tick without spending $10K! I run a restored by me 50 year old Yamaha CA1000III amp at home to power my KEF LS50s for stereo listening, I'm a sound guy and when you said Nakamichi, my interest piqued
Haha super impressive! I've thrown together a bunch of reasonably decent components as you can see on some of the previous pages of my build thread and believe I can hear a difference but have never gone all in on things like time alignment etc. Funny enough I purchased and installed a modern era Nakamichi NQ722BD which had time alignment and a bunch of other Equalizer features and then removed it for the Nakamichi Music Bank for the period look, and I honestly think it sounds better. But maybe I just wasn't configuring the old unit properly?
Once you have the time alignment and eq dialled in the sound stage becomes clear, which is what you want. The aim of the game is for it to sound like the band is standing in front of you and you can hear the separate parts playing at you from their individual locations (left/right/front/back). If you haven't tuned that in properly using the time align etc., then the unit will sound the same as any other. It is highly likely that the newer unit didn't sound as good as the older unit in their respective default forms, as they don't make them like they used to! Hence why I run a 50 year old amp at home In the end, when you hit the sweet spot for your personal 'ear', you will know it... everyone likes to listen their own way.
Awesome stuff @Harts I had a crack at dialing it in, maybe I just didn't hit that sweet spot! To me the older unit just seems to have a crispness to it across all the sound frequencies that the newer one didn't
A couple more updates. Managed to secure some vgc floor mats from Japan at a great price so immediately jumped on them: Whilst I was there I also grabbed one of the lesser known factory options. The rear 2+2 cargo mat (note the Nissan embroidery in the corner). Catalogue page showing these options: A few more resto parts, window sliders buttons, fog lights etc: New power window buttons: And some new plates complete with Japanese prefecture bolt covers. In Japan the prefecture covers are used as tamper proof devices for number plates and are only issued by the government. They were given to me by the owner of www.theskylineshed.com.au so I figured why not! Pair of New Fog light lenses More updates coming as parts continue to flow in
Nice collection of parts, fellow boot mat owner here, don't forget the little nissan logos on the back!
