five&dime

Thank you!! We hit a snag in that when I ordered Japanese 200ZR RB mounts, only the RH side was still available. I found that R31 Skyline mounts appear to be almost idential so I found a used set in Japan but also found a guy in the US who built a 200ZR and just so happened to trace the pattern of his mounts along with dimensions. He sent me those drawings so between the used R31 mounts and his work, we should have no problem creating a RH side mount. In the meantime, the guys working on my naturally aspirated throttle linkage have also been making testing out the composite velocity stacks. They turned inner and outer molds on a lathe and made the first test out of carbon so as not to use up the carbon/kevlar. It broke when removing from the mold but they are researching better ways to release them. Also, while updates to the Z31 are on pause, I figured I would post the link to my Super Street feature on the R30 Skyline along with some photos I took yesterday myself. I got up at 5am yesterday to get out of the house and practice shooting. I have been working hard to hone my photography skills and it has paid off as Super Street wants me to do a feature on my good friend Chris's (the owner of Japanese Classics) Datsun Roadster! I couldn't be more excited about that and feel honored! http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/1984-nissan-skyline-hr30/

Ready to begin wiring, engine and trans install at my good friends before it comes back to my house for final assembly.

Tail panel painted matte pewter to match all the trim and spoilers. The car and most of the hood is wetsanded and will all be final buffed tomorrow.

These photos don't do it justice. He wetsanded and polished the entire bay and it looks better than most cars exteriors. It will be a full roller soon and will be done between Sunday-Wednesday. Yes, I know the camber plates are rotated 90 degrees. He thought the bolt pattern wasn't symetrical.

The engine bay is being wetsanded and buffed now and it's looking incredible. The rear subframe is cleaned up and installed and the front subframe will go in tomorrow. All that is left is the body to be wetsanded/buffed, the cargo bay will sprayed in the safari gold, the tail panel to be sprayed the trim color and the body panels/door rubber and T top seals to be installed. I am hoping it will be towed to my friends house on Sunday but might be a stretch.

Beautiful work!

Spoiler is finished. Undercoat is also done. Now just finish buffing and paint/install the trim and rubber door/t top seals and she comes home. I would imagine 7-10 days. He also notched the frame rails and welded in some metal to box it in so that the control arms can have full clearance just in case I ever wanted it to almost lay frame. Not that I ever will but I wouldn't ever want to have to go back in and have it done.

Took the skyline over to my dad's (Diseazd) for a family photo. Missing from the photo is my Z31, his Z32 300zx and his NSX. Was definitely too bright out but it was the only time we had.

I don't think he was able to because of the OEM material. I know it was the second biggest challenge next to the engine bay though. Front bumper is on and the final major item is getting proper fitment of the JDM style front spoiler which fit terribly out of the box. Next is the underside getting sprayed all black, final assembly of the car, cut and polish then painting and installing the trim. So close!!

Rear bumper came out amazing. So much work into the design but looks stock. Fenders are on now so that he can final fit the front spoiler. Once that is done he can paint the front/rear bumpers, side skirts and rear skirts. Really close now. Also got the techo toy tuning front control arms, tension rods, tie rod ends and big brake kit which should clear the Watanabe's!

Hood/fenders and headlight covers looking like liquid gold. The rear bumper is finally done and was easily the 3rd most difficult part. It's intended to look like a shortened and shaved 87-89. But it's the 86 that has been sectioned into 7 pieces, shortened 2-3" and shaved. Everything is finally wrapping up now and all that is left for paint/body is to finish making the front carbon JDM front spoiler fit tighter and then paint the front/rear bumper, side skirts and rear mud guards safari gold. Then all of the trim in the OE satin platinum gunmetal. He will cut/polish the entire car and then will reinstall the trim, and door/ T top rubber before it comes home to have the engine fit, crossmember built for the transmission, all wiring done and then I will reassemble the rest and put the interior back in. Lastly, Freed engineering will take the car for exhaust and finally, tuning. I had used the black friday sale at Techno Toy Tuning to order their stellar adjustable control arms, torsion bars, tie rods and the Brembo BBK since it will fit the watanabe's so hopefully those items will finally ship by the time it leaves paint. They were backordered for 8-12 weeks.

2 coats of sealer, 4 base and 3 clear.

Happy Thanksgiving! Color next week!!

Hard to believe the engine has taken almost 2 years! It's finally home now though. Also, some photos of the R30 with the brand new Watanabe's. Obviously my favorite wheel ever for Japanese cars.

When is that? I tried to google search. There is still a lot of work to go. I have this vision for the car and every component has to be just right so no matter how long it takes.. Ideally, by SEMA in November 2021. The body is coming along very well and he has bonded that trim strip to the bumper so he can shave it down to the exact profile of the car. That strip, the extended rear bumper and the side trim are what always bothered me on these cars and they really look so much better without. The car will be how Nissan could have hit a home run on the Z31. The long block is now assembled and it's spectacular. This is 2 years in the making and the end result is exactly as I would have hoped. Almost a shame to cover this stuff up. They do make clear cam gear covers though.. This engine should make around 400hp at the flywheel with a 10-11k redline. The build was done so it would have a really usable torque curve. With ITB's, no air filters and a custom built exhaust, it should sound intoxicating more like an exotic or F1 type note. Last picture is the best though with 3 generations of Miller boys going to see the engine together.

It's been slow but steady on the Z31. After a major hiccup where some of the threads pulled out of the block at 95 of 105 ft lbs on the ARP studs, all holes have been replaced with timeserts. The engine is now assembled and ready to be picked up. Still lots to do on it though of course. Bodywork is coming along and the rear bumper although a significant challenge, has become well worth the extra effort. One of those minor details that will make such an impact on the look of the car. The 86 bumper has been cut into numerous pieces, sectioned and shortened then shaved to replicate a stock 87-89 shaved/shortened bumper that meets the 86 body/tail lights. He wasn't happy with the slope of the top on the first try so he cut the top to add a filler piece so the lines are perfect. The next and last part will be eliminating the front trim from hood/fenders to bumper and massaging the carbon JDM lip to perfectly fit. Then the 920 will be layed down and judging by the Bronco he just finished, it's going to be incredible. Cool feature on the Skyline by my friend Mike Burroughs if anyone is interested. http://www.stanceworks.com/2019/08/brandon-millers-1984-r30-nissan-skyline/

The Z31 is finally back on. The painted finished the Bronco so now mine is 9-5 until finished. Should be by the end of the month. The short block is assembled too. He just need to button up a few things so should be picking that up as well. The side skirts didn't fit as well as I would want on the 86 body. It used a rubber gasket that is unsightly and impossible to find so he trimmed the sideskirt a tad to be perfectly smooth and then welded in some metal to close all skirt to body gaps while retaining the OE door gap.

Haha, I now have the Mercedes E55 AMG as a daily, the 95 Nissan D21 hardbody for bad weather and hauling, the Z31 300zx in the paint shop and this 84 Skyline. That's just the glass itself. I bought a circular polarizer filter for my new camera and it really shows the patterns in all glass which I love. You can see it in person sometimes inder just the right light.

My painter should be back onto my car very soon once he finishes up the Bronco that started before mine. The engine is ready for piston to valve clearance check with aggressive cam settings and then they will be degreed in with the other 5 piston install following so hopefully the engine will be done soon too. While I wait, I finally recieved my 1984 Nissan Skyline that I found/bought searching Japanese sites. It arrived to my door just under 5 months from my original purchase and holy cow, did it exceed my expectations! I lowered it but need to come back up about 1/2-3/4". Have some small plans for the car but it's just about perfect in every way and is the best looking Skyline I have ever seen hands down!

Some updates. The front end and side skirts have been mocked up. There are some slight differences where the side skirt fender mud gaurds mount to the body between the 86 and 87-89 so he will weld in a little metal there and tighten everything up. On the front, I have always hated that little rubber strip that goes between the front bumper/fenders and the bumper/hood. He will modify the bumper and relocate the mounting tabs to the fenders as well as slot the mounts from bumper to hood. Then the surfaces will mate up to each other like they should have. I also have always felt the rear bumper is far too long so he sectioned out 1.5" and will bring in the back half to the first step down on the top surface. It already looks so much better than stock without sacrificing the stock lines. The engine is together and we are good with piston to valve clearance with cam gears at 0. Now he will try and and set them more aggressively at maybe 3-4 and check again. Going to try some Mikuni velocity stacks on the RB26 throttle bodies since I found some with the same bore and only 5mm difference on bolt spacing. Should be able to slot the holes and have an off the shelf solution. I had the front cross member and torsion bar brackets powdercoated along with the port and polished intake manifold. I realized afterwards that I should have gotten the later 87-89 torsion bar brackets done because they are of a far superior design but that's easy. Lastly, since I lost all of my detailed and meticulous dissasembly photos, I have been searching for a junker to basically dissasemble as I put my car back together. Plenty of parts I could use as well so in my daily searches for the past year plus, I finally found a 87-89 300zx that was local, manual and $500 or less so I had to buy it! I call it winky.

Brand new NOS R34 Skyline RB25 5 speed transmission from Japan! And the painter sanded everything in preperation for paint. He has to do a few front alterations to fit the later years headlights, hood and bumper then should be ready to start painting!