Front speaker replacement

March 2nd, 2010

When I got my R31, the speakers didn't sound so good, so I pulled the door trims off to investigate.

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The little 6x3 inch speakers had had it, so I replaced them with some round 6 inch speakers. I don't use the radio often, It's still the original Japanese frequency tape deck, which I'd only used with a tape adapter for my iPod.

I gutted the original speaker mounts so the 6" speakers would fit, and soldered up the original speakers plug socket so the standard wiring would plug back on.

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On the rare occasion I use them, combined with the new speakers in the back, they sound a lot better.

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Posted by Craig in: Skyline HR31 GTS-X,


Rear seat belt replacement

March 2nd, 2010

Since I'm not stuck infornt of the computer because I'm not supposed to be doing any heavy lifting, I thought I might post some of my previous handy work.

When I bought my R31 GTS-X it had to have rear seat belts fitted for compliancing. They use generic belts mounted on top of the rear parcel shelf. The people that fitting them mounted them too close to the protruding speaker grills, crushing the locking mechanism resulting in the seat belt quickly becoming unusable. They are also pretty ugly. I also wanted to upgrade the speakers in the back, as the cones had deteriorated.

So I pulled out the back seat to get the parcel shelf out. I used the old shelf as a template and made a new one out of MDF board. I cut out the vents and some holes for the speakers, and covered the shelf panel in black vinyl. When I was done you couldn't tell there were speakers under there.

I also noticed that there were seat belt anchor points under the rear shelf.

I bought a set of rear belts from an Australian R31 sedan, thinking they would be a direct swap, but they weren't. I had to drill new mounting holes in the reel so that the belts sat below the parcel shelf. I cut off the mounting that fits to the side C-pillar of the car as I didn't intend to use it.

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I also got the little outlet ports that the belts come through and painted them black.

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I replaced the finished rear shelf panel, fed the seat belts through the slot in the shelf, and bolted the panel down with the baby seat mounts, which are also required by law.

Replaced the back seat and the install looks a lot cleaner than the top mount belts.

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Posted by Craig in: Skyline HR31 GTS-X,


Cedric 130 resurection blog

February 24th, 2010

Found this the other day. Looks like someone just aquired a Special Six and this is their blog about getting it up and running again. Its all in Japanese though.

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Google translated

Posted by Craig in: Cedric Super Six ,


The best laid plans...

February 12th, 2010

Just when I was gearing up to get some work done on the cars in February, I've had to stop. I was diagnosed with appendicitis and had to have it removed, so no heavy lifting for a month.

Which is a real pain since I have just bought a second manual Z31 to swap the gearbox out of into the red Z31, and had been stripping parts off the spare Super Six, so I can sent if off to be recycled to make room in the shed.

Posted by Craig in: General,


Hottest day in 2 years.

January 18th, 2010

Perth recorded the hottest day in two years yesterday on Sunday the 17th. The temperature reached 42.9 degrees Celsius (109.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

It was Perth’s hottest day since Boxing Day 2007, when the mercury tipped 44.2C.

The electricity usage record was also broken, Power consumption reached 3790 megawatts on the south west electricity grid, surpassing the previous peak level of consumption set in February last year. The increased usage was blamed on air conditioners, pool pumps and big screen televisions.

Movie theaters also recorded higher than usual Sunday attendance, with some theaters reporting 40% to 50% more customers. With the lack of Sunday trading in Perth there is nowhere to go when the temperature soars, apart from the beach, the movies, or staying at home if you have air conditioning. If shops had been open I dare say they would have seen record numbers too.

We also used the most water as a city since 2001, using 100 million litres than the previous usage record.

The previous record for water used in 24 hours was in 1991 before Perth introduced sprinkler restrictions, when a 45.7C day saw us use 1269 million litres of water. I've been thinking about installing a few rain barrels before winter, to help reduce usage. "Propper" rain tanks are too expensive for me at this time.

Yesterday afternoon I was out in the hot sun trying to start a few of my cars that run. The 240K coupe seems to have developed an electrical fault. Nothing at all happens when you turn the key. No gauges move, no lights, nothing. The Super Six on the other hand fired up no problem at all.

I'll give the others a go when the weather cools down a little.

Posted by Craig in: General,


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