Progress Bar R32 Part 12.5 - Intercooler Interlude

This is just a quick post to celebrate my successful acquisition of a part I've been dying to have since I started my Nismo R32's build: a genuine Nismo intercooler!

I knew Nismo made intercoolers for the RB-equipped Skylines but unfortunately they were discontinued a couple of years ago. Honestly it's so ironic that Nismo opted to stop making several of their R32 parts just as they became available for import to the US and a new upsurge in demand grew from a totally new and highly enthusiastic market. These intercoolers are one example while the S-tune coilover kit is another. Not the greatest business decision I must say.
 

Having that bold Nismo logo on the front is just 23 different shades of awesome IMHO. Here you can see a Nismo IC on their R34 Clubman demo car. Image credit: Speedhunters

Anyway, having seen photos of cars equipped with the Nismo IC's I really wanted to get my hands on one because it just looks so cool to have that big Nismo logo right on the front of the car. Unfortunately the only one I could find for sale before was a beat-up old one from Japan. Since my car had a perfectly good Greddy intercooler already and I had more pressing concerns - i.e. the minor issue of a non-functional motor - the search went on the back burner.
 

Here's what the R32 version looks like in an old image from Nengun Performance's website.

And yes, I could have just gotten a fifteen buck stencil off Fleabay and blessed my Greddy IC with a Nismo disguise but that just wouldn't have sat right with me on a Nismo R32 with so many other authentic Nismo parts.

Thanks to two fellow GT-R enthusiasts however I finally acquired this elusive part! Dana, writer of the RHDList.com blog, put me in touch with a friend of his named Jon who's been collecting parts for his R32 for a good long while now. Jon's been working on restoring his own R32 GT-R but instead of a Nismo theme he opted to go with something even more elusive - a car featuring parts made by legendary Nissan race shop Hasemi Motorsports. Whereas Nismo discontinued some of their R32 parts just recently Hasemi stopped making theirs ages ago. You need 50 times your FDA recommended daily allowances of luck and passion and possibly the help of the American Pickers's Japanese cousins to find these uber rare Hasemi parts in the motherland of Nippon.

If you're curious about his awesome restoration project, check out the build thread here (I personally really dig the customized Hasemi wheels he had done):

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/411866-hasemi-motorsport-r32-gtr-restoration.html

In the process of accumulating his stash Jon managed to snag one of the last Nismo R32 intercoolers ever made and at first planned on using it on his car. Thanks to a change of plans and some good words from Dana about my own Nismo restoration project Jon kindly bestowed upon me his precious Nismo intercooler for a very fair price - brand new in box and everything! He even did me a further favor by visiting me here in the scorching seventh circle of hell known as Yuma in the summer to hand deliver it. Of course he was coming over from the sixth circle of hell - Phoenix - so the heat was probably no big thing anyway. Still mighty nice of him to do it.

The Nismo addict in me has his fizzy bits fizzing big time!

BNIB!

And so, thanks to two great guys I now have basically the final piece to really cap off my little Nismo R32 restoration project. Hopefully I'll be able to post my own installed pics soon!