Old Lady to Young Lady Part 10

It has been one year and two months since my ownership of a Nissan Fairlady Z began. When I bought the 350Z, it is a 15 year old car and to me, it is important to have it running and performing as it should when new. So, I had a plan to rebuild the 350Z, where the first year will be focused mainly on the mechanical and performance side. The next year will be focused on the exterior looks and hopefully, focus on the interior during the third year. After spending a lot of money and some time last year in Redsun Motorsport, I can say that most of the problems that occurred are now solved. I am glad that it is in good running health and this year, I can now focus on the exterior as planned. I have been planning what I would do to the 350Z in terms of looks since last year. Firstly, the whole body kit (including front and rear bumpers, side skirts and spoiler) will be changed. Then, a change of color with new coats of paint and lastly, the rims will be changed. I already have a particular set of body kit that I like but not for the rims. I want a rim design with many spokes and in gunmetal color but it is difficult to find the right width and offset that suits the 350Z. I would find the right design but the wrong size and vice versa while searching online.

Rays GT30 rims Refurbished

Initially, I wanted to get the rims after I have done the body kit and change of color but things did not go according to my plan. I was searching online and found a set of rims with the right size and the design was acceptable with many spokes.  I sent a text message to the seller and was surprised that this was my friend. We started to talk about whether the rims would fit my 350Z and what can he do for me on the price. He gave me a discount and said he will send the rims to have it refurbished at my expenses. I told him I would consider but then the clutch pump incident happened. I called him, telling him I spent some money on the repair and could not buy the rims for the time being. He told me he already sent the rims to refurbish and I knew I have no choice but to go on with the deal. After a month, I was told the rims were done. I head over to the tyre shop on a Saturday after work and I brought a set of Rays wheel nuts that I bought some time ago. The old nuts were mostly rusty and of a smaller size, which requires a special adapter to unlock the nuts. The Rays nuts come with 4 pieces of special lock nuts but I received only had 19 pieces from the factory and the seller told me he would claim one piece for me. So, I thought why not just use 19 pieces and 1 old one just temporarily until I receive the other one.

Left: Installed new rims without wheel cap. Right: Rays Dura-Nuts (Missing One from Beginning)

When I first saw the rims, I was wowed by what a great job the shop did to refurbish the rims. The chrome outer lip was polished until shining and the spokes were painted. This is a big contrast from the original set of rims where the chrome lip was dull and paint on the spokes look less shiny. It took a few hours to remove the original GT-S rims, remove the tyres from the rim, install tyres on the new GT30 rims and install the new rim. I have to admit, I was nervous on how my 350Z would look like with the new rims. There are some similarities between these 2 sets of rims. Both sets are of the same brand, RAYS, both are a three-piece design with chrome outer lip and both have similar colored spokes. The only different is the amount of spokes but later on, I found out that the offset for the front is different for these 2 sets. While the original rims could clear the front Brembo calipers, the new rims could not and have to use a 5 mm spacer. Next, I realized that the GT30 rims do not have wheel caps. I asked the tyre shop to remove the wheel caps on the GT-S, so I could put those on later. The end result I would say, was spectacular. Just a minor change and I could feel the sportiness of the 350Z has increased. The Ray wheel nuts complements the rims very much. Now my challenge is to sell of the old rims and hopefully spend that money on body kits. It is not easy to sell rims with this size and offset.  

One of the Wheel Caps that required work to install it. 

Original - Rays GT-S rims

New - Rays GT30 rims

Progress Check Part 1

This being my daily drive, every second the Celica stays in the workshop, every second there is an inconvenience. In addition I do miss driving my baby around. So, every week I will find some time of my busy schedule to visit the car. I am really not pleased with how the workshop is handling the repair work. Every time I visit there are little things done to the car and every single time the same excuse of not able to source parts is the reason for the delay is hurt. I know someone who have no difficulty to source parts. It is still possible to find brand new parts which is why I am not please with the slow progress. Below are some updates on parts that need replacement. 2 bad news is that the rim is not repairable and the rare front bumper that I found is sold to another Celica owner who happens to be a friend also involved in an accident. The reason is because the bumper comes with yellow foglights and my original is blue foglights. The workshop thought I would not settle for it but that is just stupid. It was by luck I came by one of those bumpers. This is what happen when idiots who dunno much about Celica is fixing my baby. My poor baby. 

Better Than Thought

After 3 weeks, I finally got the chance to visit my Celica in the workshop. Finally I got a closer look at what is the damage. First off with the good news. The only damage to the front in the front bumper (plus fog lights). The radiator and ATF cooler which are the parts just behind the front bumper are unharmed meaning that the engine is safe. Moving to the driver side, the fender and wheel are could be seen damaged from the photo in the previous post. The damage includes broken brake rotor, broken rims and broken lower arm. I am so happy that my rare TRD anti roll bar is unharmed. The coilover might be bent and calipers need to be checked. At the rear, the rear bumper is gone, rear skirt melted by exhaust tip, exhaust tip dented and one rear lights smashed. Below are some photos of damaged parts.

In total, the front bumper with fog lights, right fender, right front rim and tire, one headlight, one brake rotor, one rear light, one rim and rear bumper are confirmed gone cases which needs replacements. Small parts like lower arm assembly, right door, right side skirt and exhaust tip remains unknown at the moment. Brake caliper and coilover needs to be checked. The problem is to locate some of this either rare facelift parts or hard to retrieve parts for the Celica. The front facelift light with build in H.I.D. is as rare as a gem and the suspension is long obsolete. I would not even know what to do with the rims because rims come in a set of 4 and I broke only one. The nut remover is also missing. So, the good news is the damage were not as serious as I thought but locating these parts is not an easy task. I provided the workshop with some leads I have for sourcing these parts.

Bad Beginning

Happy New Year to everyone but I do not have a real good beginning. Last night was New Years Eve and like many others I went out and celebrated. On the way home, I was really really sleepy swaying on my way home. I tried my best to reach home safe but I failed. I was close to the divider and railing, and suddenly I hit something on my side mirror. It folded and broke the mirror. I was horrified about my New Year present. Now along with the heart break I have to spend some money to get a replacement. First, I have to get a replacement, get it painted and install it. Definitely gonna cost a bomb. "Happy" New Year to me.

After waking up and further checking on my car, I realized that I was far from right about the situation of my car. There are 3 lines that starts from below the side mirror all the way to the back. There are bumps on my door along the line. It is really a bad sight on my beloved Celica. I can conclude that while I was sleepy and close my eyes for a second, my car hit the metal railing and drag of it. Thus, the damage. 

Finally

After 2 months of waiting, my car number plate is finally out and that means I can now have my Celica.
I went to CF Import with my dad with all the documents needed to get my car. That day I drove the Celica home for the first time. I felt so happy and proud to say that I finally got a sports car and most important of all is that it is the car that I love.

When I first reached home, I parked it beside the Vios to compare them. It may sound silly but I'm just a happy guy. Haha. The second thing I did was get the camera and immediately had a simple photo shoot of the Celica. Here are the photos and the goodies that came with the car from Japan. I'm happy to be driving a very new Celica as my daily drive.

Front with Aero Bumper

Side with TRD skirt

Rear with TRD skirt and spoiler

Rays 18"

Tein Suspension

HKS Muffler

Interior 2 tone

Recaro Semi Bucket