Progress Bar: R32 Part 8 - Add and Subtract

Hello again and I hope you all enjoyed the holidays! I took a break from blog updates to enjoy some time with my family but that didn't mean I forgot about my R32. I was planning on posting again last week but then I got a wee bit sick and had to put off some things. It's been a long time since my last update so lets dive in to go over what's happened in the interim. 

1. The biggest change is that the old motor is now out of the car and my friend Dan has taken off all the bits from it that we'll need for the new Nismo engine. We've gotten in quite a lot of parts that we need to prep the engine but we're still waiting on some critical ones like a new Nismo front LSD. A lot of the parts that have been taken off have been cleaned up and some have even gotten some fresh paint or powdercoat so that everything will be nice and looking shiny once the motor's back in. 
   
   

   

   The old broken RB26 prior to stripping it down

   
   

   

   Contrast the fresh new Nismo motor just waiting for some attention

   
   
2. The engine bay has been fully stripped and is now awaiting a fresh coat of paint. Since the engine was out I figured it was a good time to make it all look new again. We debated changing the color to something more flashy than the OEM flat black but I decided to keep it to contrast with the light gray motor. We'll be adding some extra flash later on with some other additions though. No fancy lights, smoke dischargers, or random LCD screens in weird places – just stuff that would look appropriate in a high performance vehicle because racecar.
   
   

   

   My engine-less bay just begging for a good scrubbin' and paintin'

3. The front suspension is totally disassembled following the engine removal. Some new shiny suspension bits will go on as well as new front wheel bearings 'cause the old ones have all the smoothness of 100-grit sandpaper being dragged over tarmac.
   
   

   

   The car's had some major weight loss. Too bad it don't work lol.

   
   

   
   
4. In contrast to the parts we've removed above, the interior has some parts put back in. The biggest piece I'm happy about is the main dash panel which is now fully leather-covered and free from the holes and bubbles it once had. Mmm, leatherrrrrr....
   
   

   

   I've posted pics of my new dash before but it looks so much nicer now I just had to show it off again :)

5. I also finished putting on all of the Nismo seat covers but only the rear seat is back in so far since we want to hold off on the fronts until some other work gets done that'll be harder to do with them in place. So, no pics of the completed Nismo seat setup yet unfortunately but I will post later on with a review of the Nismo seat covers and a DIY to try and help you stay sane during the finicky process of installing them if you decide to buy your own set.
   
   

   

   Back of the cabin looking super fresh thanks to new seat covers and panels

6. The new rear parcel shelf is in complete with a brand new set of Kenwood Excelon speakers. Too bad the only music I can play right now is “Nada” because I have to wait on installing the new head unit. Oh well, at least I can still listen to the random voices in my head that reassure me I'm not crazy for spending all this effort on some old Japanese car because the JDM gods will one day reward my devotion by delivering a vanload of hot anime babes to my doorstep.
   
   

   

   New parcel shelf

   
   
7. Most of the parts we need are already on order or have arrived but there's still a few odds and ends to source. In the meantime, here are pics of some of the cool parts waiting to go on to wet your appetites for what's to come :)

New Nismo GT plenum. Yummm...!!!

We're doing the Quest alternator conversion for more juice.

New Racefab extended oil pan delivered all the way from Middle Earth.

An extra 2 liters of oil should help keep the engine healthy paired with my new Tomei oil pump