09-12-08: Another of the new arrivals, the Altered Atmosphere Motorsports oil pan spacer is the other addition that will go in the car tomorrow. This will give me the convenience of the extra oil and three taps that will come in handy! One of them is already reserved for the Oil Temp gauge (which is already here and ready to go into the car tomorrow too!)'

I already got most of the oil I need but I will have to go by the shop to get another couple quarts.

I also have to go the customs office to get the AutoMeter pillar that Adam sent me, so I can get the gauges on the car.

09-14-08: We did a couple upgrades as planned: the AAM oil pan spacer was a pretty easy one. All the hardware is included and although there is no installation manual, pretty much everything you need to know is readily apparent.

All, except for one thing: The oil feeder needs to be extended in order to reach the bottom of the oil pan. The extension piece is included but it does not address the change in angle that the feeder suffers. So, we had to modify slightly the oil deflector plate that is inside the pan, so it would fit with the longer feeder.

But this one was easy and gives you some extra peace of mind, aside from the awesome taps for all the hoses and sensors that will be needed under forced induction!

09-14-08: The Haltech has found what will be its home.

Although it was not really designed to fit anywhere on particular, this location suited it perfectly. We made a little adaptation with a double nut bolt and voilá! the physical install was ready.

Unfortunately the test was not succesful the first time, so we had to disconnect the unit until I can figure out the base map settings. More on this soon!

09-14-08: I took the chance to take a good shot of the front Cusco sway bar, that is usually tucked away under the diffuser.

Looks pretty in blue down there!

09-21-08: Well, another 12 hours in the shop working with the vacuum line for the Haltech, the gauges, the seatbelt anchors and some minor paint work finalized today @ 3AM!!!

Good news: the Haltech is now online and the base map at least moves the car from place to place, although rather lean... I even got an SES light for a lean bank 1, which I promptly got rid of thanks to Cipher :-) The gauges are pretty much ready, although the A pillar is not screwed into place yet.

More good news: got first place at the car show today on the "Tuning 2-door" category... I am pretty happy that all the work we did was recognized in some way :-) The car show was organized to raise funds for a kid that needs some special medical attention. It was really good to be part of that too!

What's next then? First get the car tuned on 09-25-08 at the local dyno joint... I am really looking forward to that! Then we will see!

09-25-08: Well, the tuning session was over and the car is running really nice... in terms of power it stayed pretty much as it was (248whp/249ftlb) but the way it accellerates is really nice now... extremely linear and always smooth.

There are a few small imperfections in the curve around the upper 2K's and the mid 6K's that will be smoothed out in a track session soon!!!

Now I need to turn my attention to other stuff, just finish the small details of the ongoing installs and that should be it for a while.

01-24-09: Happy New Year 2009 and welcome to another year of 'what else can I do to my car?'!

Due to a vandal breaking my rear windshield for no apparent reason, I had to go back to the dealership to get a new one installed. The damage was not limited to the glass, though, as my rear strut cover got hit and also broke. Time for the good ol' carbon fiber to come to the rescue!

I got this piece from J at EVO-R and the quality and fit are just great. Simple install with double-sided tape and away it goes!

On the bigger changes: suspension and intake changes may happen soon. Stay tuned!

05-03-09: Wow! It has been a really long time since the las update! I gotta pay more attention to this :-D

Anyway, Adam from Z1 Auto sold me his whole plenum which has been ported to specs given out by Matchless Crowd Racing from Japan. It is due to go into the car in the next week or so, along with some other goodies!

This is the list of parts pending install as of now (the ones I have right here at home):
1. Full plenum -lower, middle, spacer and upper.
2. HKS Twin Power DLI II.
3. Stock coil packs -all 6-

And these are the parts that are coming in pretty soon:
1. CUSCO ZERO-2E coilover set.
2. Nismo oil cooler
3. ARC Catch Can Version 1
4. Gallery Fresh engine bay touch-up bolt kit

And, in order and looking at about 2 month wait...
1. Craftsquare Type TC-F carbon fiber mirrors
2. A surprise on the brake department!!!

Another updated when some of these things get installed!

05-06-09: Today I got a few more goodies!!!

1. NISMO oil cooler (this pic).
2. ARC oil catch can and,
3. 68 piece set from Gallery Fresh, to renew the look of the engine bay with a touch of classy color here and there.

The cooler and the can I got from Brian @ Mackin Industries (thanks man!). The Gallery Fresh set I got from Eddie T at Performance Nissan (mynismo.com) both of them great guys!

Really excited to get all of these things installed... hopefully the weekend will prove good for this!

05-16-09: Last night we tested the new setup for the 'rig shots'... it was a lot of work, I actually did not foresee it being so hard, but it turned out pretty nice for the first time. I noted some things that need to be addressed and next time it will be better for sure!

This is the first shot I processed, so I am putting it here to mark the date.

On the installs, we did some work but we decided to stop and wait for the clutch to come. Once the car is on the shop, we will do everything at once, as we have to fabricate a spigot to correctly install the oil cooler thermostat and that will take at least a day.

One more thing on the way: NRG Carbon Fiber hood shocks... it should improve my chances of getting nice shots of the engine bay!