Progress Bar: R32 Part 13 - Black Market Dealings

Three days ago my poor R32 marked the first year death anniversary of its previous motor – an event that would lead to a long, drawn-out divorce between this particular Nismo chassis and that tired old engine.

Thankfully a year later, like a rich older dude who's snagged a hottie half his age, my car has found a new, stronger partner to hopefully spend a longer, more fruitful life with. Unfortunately the marriage to the new Fine Spec motor isn't finalized yet but preparations are well in place and the walk down the aisle is now starting to feel imminent.

First off, let me talk about the wedding planner for this particular nuptial. Since my friend Dan left for more coastal regions the car went first to Full Race Motorsports in Phoenix for them to check on some things with the turbo kit and then on their recommendation it made its way to Black Market Racing, a shop just a lug nut's throw away from their location. Brett Mayes, the managing director of Full Race highly recommended Jeremy, Austin, and the rest of the crew at Black Market and after spending quite a bit of time chatting with them and watching them gradually put the finishing touches on my Skyline I can see why. They've done some great work on the car and they've been very thoughtful and methodical about things. They've also been very accommodating with any special requests I've made and I can't thank them enough for agreeing to finish off a project that was half-done.

This mural decorates Black Market's dyno room.

So, where are we at and why isn't she done yet? Well, there was a big hold-up because in the rush to get the car up to Full Race while my friend was packing up his shop the idle air control system hadn't been properly set up before the engine went in. Unfortunately that part of the motor is a bleep-ing, bleep-ing, bleep to get at once the engine's fully in the car. Thankfully Austin at Black Market patiently worked on it until he got it all done last week although I do understand a lot of colorful cursing was involved in the process. Fortunately he's a cool guy because otherwise I'd probably be typing this with a breaker bar sticking out of my head for having subjected him to all that trouble.

That was probably the biggest hurdle that was left to clear but that still left a lot of smaller details to take care of. They've been able to take care of most of it already though and if it weren't for them being busy with other projects with tighter deadlines my car might even be finished by now. At this point however, as much as I'd like to be driving my baby again, I'd much rather they keep taking the time to do it right. Besides, the last days of the Dante's Inferno we call an average Arizona summer have yet to pass and by the time the car's done it'll be nice and cool with the car show and driving season in full swing down here.

So, let's have the pictures fill you in on more of the details:

It was nice to check on the old girl every couple of weeks and see things progressing bit by bit.

The Nismo intercooler is now all mounted and plumbed in. Can't wait to see it once all the bodywork is back on!

Custom intake piping's also now in place.

The Leask Spec catch can is also connected now.

TurboSmart fuel pressure regulator and ProEFI sensors making an appearance.

Had to take another pic of the snazzy gold calipers even though they've been there a while now. Yes, that one Rays lug nut doesn't match the others. That's on purpose lol.

On one of my visits another R32 happened to be there to get some work done. Also Gun Metal Gray of course lol.

It also happened to have TE37SL's.

It had some rather interesting mods like this big IC that had a very unusual core configuration. Unfortunately we couldn't figure out the brand.

Another cool mod were these 350Z calipers. First time I'd seen this retrofit instead of the more common R33/34 Brembo or LanEvo Brembo upgrades.

There was also this huge Trial catback.

Another cool vehicle there was this GMC Syclone! Never heard of it and wonder if I'm criminally insane for going gaga over an American-built '90s pickup truck? Let me drop some stats on you: 280hp turbo V6, AWD, 0-60 in 5.3 seconds and all of this in 1991! Yeah, it's cool.

A pickup that can keep up with an R32 of the same vintage - at least in a straight line. Awesome is an understatement. I'd buy one if GT-Rs weren't keeping me in the poor house lol.

More updates in the future as things progress so please keep checking back!