History
The vehicle was 10 years old when I bought it. I needed a wagon because I had a boy with Cerebral Palsy who was nearly 3, and we were told he'd never walk, and a Skyline was narrow enough to fit under the back verandah, and having owned a couple of Datsun 1600's I had a liking for Nissans. It came with a complete computer print out service history. Oil and filter change every 5k, something I'd always done in the past with other cars. It had 200k on it, and general consensus was, bullet proof engine, reliable car, extensive service history.....Should be OK.
It was pretty tidy, garaged, drove alright, soft suspension, but they were like that from new. First thing I did was, 4 new H/D springs and shocks.....Unfortunately, when springs and shocks were done the tailshaft came out to do a centre bearing and went back in out of phase, not that I knew it at the time, and it took way too long to find that out, and I chased a vibration for years......AC Condenser s*** itself, then the TX Valve, then the evaporator, alternator, crank angle sensor, exhaust manifold kept leaking, one thing after another, then another TX valve just out of warranty, and more.....Spent a fortune on the piece of s*** over an 18 month period, but it now owed me too much to p*** it off.....But it was good to drive, except the driveline vibration at 105 kph.....Replace the steel wheels in an endeavor to rid vibrations with some 15 x 7's, that was a good move, had the tailshaft in and out and balanced many times and was slowly getting minor improvements.....Spoke to a bloke at Hardy Spicer's in Albury and he said straight up, it's out of phase. The bloke who pulled it apart to do the centre bearing didn't put it back together with the right phase......Simple......But no one knew it......Driveline specialists!! The diff s*** itself, had it rebuilt, but went through some flood water at night and must have got water in it and it turned to s*** again.....Had a good trouble free run for a few years, that had to eventually happen, and then when I couldn't really afford it, water pump, timing belt, radiator, air flow meter, clutch, and it owed me s*** loads again......Then I tidied up the body and spent a bit on panel and paint after the above latest outlay.....Had another good run out of it, and it was now the second car.....The boy from further up the page was now 16, he started walking in his own way at 3 and a half after his little brother got off the floor and took off.....He was now ready for his L's.....That required a brake upgrade, the Skyline brakes were s*** from the start, so it was a Hoppers Stoppers bolt on kit to make it safer for the young bloke to drive, and another new set of springs and shocks.......Sorry, that was supposed to be a brief history.
Modifications
Above mentioned springs and shocks. Hella Rallye 4000 Driving Lights. Pacemaker Headers and a nice flow through exhaust. K&N Air filter. 7 x 15 alloy wheels. LSD, in the car, not the driver, those days are well behind him......300 mm Rotors with PBR Twin Piston calipers, same as you'd find in a 1750 kg Falcon or C'Dore, so they actually effectively stop a 1350 kg Skyline now....Young bloke lost it in the wet and wrecked the Hella's, so they've been replaced by a couple of LED light bars. Just a tidied up Old Skyline that doesn't quite look stock, and sounds good, like every car should.
