KGC10 Skyline 2000GT Build

[ARS14]

By the way guys, check this out :) http://japanesenosta...nissan-skyline/

 

And I didn't expect to see our magazine logo on the door! Consider me blown away...

 

 

That's awesome!!! Definitely gonna buy up a few of those :cool:

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I like it. I wish we had more of those here in the US. I chuckled when I saw the hole in your intake port, as I've fixed similar problems myself.

 

Question, why not upgrade to the Nismo carb isolators? They really do make a big difference on the dyno and on the track.

[Babalouie]

That's awesome!!! Definitely gonna buy up a few of those :cool:

From what I understand of the background, certain ppl within Mattel really stuck their necks out to make it happen, so if you want more Dattos in the Hot Wheels range, we owe it to ourselves to buy ten of these things when they hit the shelves to send them a message :)

 

Question, why not upgrade to the Nismo carb isolators? They really do make a big difference on the dyno and on the track.

You mean like a phenolic spacer?

 

Sure, actually I got a set of those. But my problem is manifold length, the spacers will add about a half inch, and I might have to compromise with shorter air filters, since space is pretty tight against the strut tower as it stands. Also the engine software already said that the ideal manifold length was a bit shorter than what I got, so I figured adding more length would make it worse

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

 

You mean like a phenolic spacer?

 

Sure, actually I got a set of those. But my problem is manifold length, the spacers will add about a half inch, and I might have to compromise with shorter air filters, since space is pretty tight against the strut tower as it stands. Also the engine software already said that the ideal manifold length was a bit shorter than what I got, so I figured adding more length would make it worse

 

No, I mean the rubber isolators. They are two metal plates vulcanized together with rubber about 1/2" thick sandwiched between. They don't add any length to speak of. If this is a race car, what do you need an air cleaner for?

 

I would say the benefits of having them would out weigh anything your software tells you. They really do a much netter job of isolating the carbs from the engine vibrations.

 

Here are s couple pics, though not very good, but you might be able to see them on the motor.

 

 

 

[Babalouie]

Oh I see, so kinda like Alfa Romeo manifold spacers. I'll have to keep a lookout for those, I think you're right, they wouldn't add much manifold length.

 

The Hako is actually a road car that gets used to drop kids at school and drive to work. Trackdays are a once or twice a year thing, and the valve seats are very narrow so I figured air filters are probably a really good idea :)

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Oh I see, so kinda like Alfa Romeo manifold spacers. I'll have to keep a lookout for those, I think you're right, they wouldn't add much manifold length.

 

The Hako is actually a road car that gets used to drop kids at school and drive to work. Trackdays are a once or twice a year thing, and the valve seats are very narrow so I figured air filters are probably a really good idea :)

 

So do your kids think it's a good thing or a bad thing that they arrive in a 40 year old Datsun?

 

I am jealous.

[Babalouie]

So do your kids think it's a good thing or a bad thing that they arrive in a 40 year old Datsun?

Actually it's them that ask to be dropped off in "the race car"* :)

 

 

 

 

 

*that really isn't one, but who am I to burst their bubble

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

That makes me smile! I hope my daughter appreciates the finer things in life too.

[hang_510]

:blink:

w0w!

dunno how i missed this...

 

nice work!

 

From what I understand of the background, certain ppl within Mattel really stuck their necks out to make it happen, so if you want more Dattos in the Hot Wheels range, we owe it to ourselves to buy ten of these things when they hit the shelves to send them a message :)

one of them is a member here.

 

10 you say???

more if i find them on the hooks :D

[Babalouie]

Just so that nobody gets the idea that I may have forgotten about this car :) I thought I'd fit some of the latest swag from http://www.rubber-soul.net

 

First items are new greasecaps from the front hubs, since the ones on the car are a little manky looking and dented. I guess my attempt at google-translate failed, and I didn't realise that they were sold by the pair :)

 

 

Shiny new caps look great on cars I've seen with gunmetal watanabes, but I think it doesn't really work with the gold wheel centres.

 

So I'm painting a pair of them in black...might have to give them a few days to cure before I tap them into place with the hammer.

 

Second item are these rubber seals

 

They replace these ones that seal the front and rear windows together.

 

Mine aren't in such bad shape, there's only a bit of a gap along the bottom of the passenger side window, it doesn't seem to let in water, but at speed it does create this annoying whistle. I've tried glueing it in place, but it just keeps popping back out.

 

New ones are fairly easy to fit, you just lube them with a little liquid soap, and then slide them up into place from the bottom.

 

The new seals are nice and plump...

 

...with no more gaps.

 

Also took the opportunity to get some reproduction stickers

 

 

The other items I'm going to leave for another day, but these are adjuster/clamps for the front steering arms.

 

The ones on the car have been painted over a few times, so it will be nice to have shiny ones in place with new fasteners.

 

The other thing that has never worked on the car, is the heater, which is bypassed. Judging by the green fuzzy corrosion, I figured either the heater matrix or the mixer tap thingo gave up the ghost while the car was in Japan.

 

So we have new hoses and the mixer tap thingy.

 

I'm always surprised at how much stuff is available for the Hako in Japan...with the exception of the stickers, all the parts above came out of Nissan parts boxes.

 

The last item are some really nice parts that just came in from Beta Motosport in the States. They're billet axles which allow me to fit a Subaru LSD to the Hako.

 

An R180 Subaru STi LSD just bolts up under the back end of the Hako, with no modifications. The problem is, the Nissan driveshafts aren't compatible with the Scooby diff insides. So the Beta Motorsport axles are Subaru on the inside, and Nissan on the outside. All billet and I've waited since last November for these to be made :) The diff by the way, is a STi 4.4:1 2-way plate LSD.

 

I'll get the diff rebuilt with fresh bearings and seals, and then we can have a go at installing it.

[Farmer Joe]

rebuild the diff before puttin it in? your doing it wrong...

 

ratsun people put okay parts in, so then when they break we have to take it apart again...

 

youll never have to take yours apart again with the way your workin....

 

lulz

[Babalouie]

That diff looks awful heavy...dunno if I wanna manhandle it into the car twice :)

[spoolinitup33]

Do it right the first time! Man, this thing is stank nasty!!! Beautiful car.

[bonvo]

the diff isnt that heavy ive swapped diffs around alot

[DAT510]

how did i miss this thread? nice score man love the car!might i ask where you are getting your Nissan parts from?

[bonvo]

i wonder if those windo seals will work on a 610

[Babalouie]

how did i miss this thread? nice score man love the car!might i ask where you are getting your Nissan parts from?

I get them from www.rubber-soul.net in Japan. AFAIK they don't ship overseas, so I usually get friends to buy them for me when they're passing through Japan.

 

i wonder if those windo seals will work on a 610

I'll measure up the ones that came off the car and post up the dimensions.

[Babalouie]

Oops double post

[Babalouie]

Ever since I got the Hako, the in-car entertainment has been provided by a single-CD Sony head unit, which dates to probably the early 90s and came with the car. Speakers were vintage Pioneer pod speakers, and when I replaced the worn-out drivers with new MTX ones, the whole thing actually sounded pretty good. So I was happy with it and saw no need to change.

 

But then recently a good friend was doing a cleanout of his shed, and found one of these:

 

It's a Becker Europa II radio, which would have been oem-fitment in Benzes, Beemers and Porsches in the early 70s. So it's period-perfect for the 1971 Hako.

 

It's in absolutely superb condition and is utterly gorgeous to look at and hold. But the eagle-eyed among you will have spied a little 3.5mm mini jack poking meekly out of the front plate, which couldn't possibly be original.

 

Well it isn't standard for 1973. Rather surprisingly, Becker Autosound in the USA offer a service where they retrofit these vintage Becker head units with an aux jack that you can hook up to an iPod. And my new/old Europa II was one such modified unit, so I couldn't wait to install it to see how it works.

 

So out comes the centre console, and the old deck, as I tidied up the wiring in readiness for the Becker.

 

And out comes the old Sony, which to be honest worked much better than I expected it to.

 

The wiring for the Becker is really simple. The long wire is the +ve, the short wire attached to that bolt is earth, and you can see the speaker wires coming off those plugs to the right of the shot. Modern decks also have an always-on power source, so that things like saved radio presets and bass/treble settings aren't lost when you turn off the car. But with the Becker, treble/bass and radio presets are held by the mechanical position of the controls, so a keep-alive-memory power source isn't needed. Hako also doesn't have an aerial, so that's one less thing to hook up too. Seet that white plastic cap on the right side of the unit? That covers a 7-pin plug to accept an external cassette player! I guess in 1973 that was the equivalent of adding a CD stacker :D

 

The Sony deck was installed in Japan by jamming it into this oddments pocket that bolts to the bottom of the centre console. This looked like it would work for the Becker too.

 

So after making a bracket...

 

The Becker bolted to the DIN-pocket just fine.

 

And the chrome front fascia is a perfect fit for the centre console.

 

And into the car it goes!

 

At this point, you think that it doesn't really matter if the 40yr old deck works or not, it just looks awesome :)

 

And I have to admit that my sonic expectations of this ancient deck were pretty low...I figured that as long as I could make out the song, and as long as it wasn't *completely* drowned out by the Webers, then it was all good :D But you know...it's actually pretty good! You can crank up the volume to a pretty reasonable level before it starts to go all crackly, and while it isn't the last word in clear staging, I wouldn't say that it's a million miles behind the old Sony unit.

 

When you plug in the iPod, it swaps from radio to the aux input automatically, and then you select songs via the face of the iPhone conventionally. Very chuffed with this :D ...and I have to say that it does seem really bizarre that the iPhone just plugs into this vintage thing...kinda like picking up an 18th century musket and then discovering that it's equipped with a laser sight :)

 

There is only one problem though...and that is that the Hako already has a vintage radio at the top of the dash, which is the oem-fitment Hitachi.

 

Now it isn't DIN-sized like the Becker, so the Europa II is actually too tall to fit into the Hitachi's slot. But I reckon that the Becker wouldn't look right if it was at the top of the dash, and the spot where the Hitachi is would be better used for some gauges or even an oddments pocket. I'll sort that out down the track...

[Babalouie]

And here's a vid of it in action:

 

:)

[Babalouie]

Many thanks to my friend Mark at HoonTV for making a pretty spiffy vid of the Hako :D

 

[Boaty]

Sweet vid!

 

I've always wanted a Hako, but by the time I could ever get one they will probably be all locked in a garage somewhere.

Spiffy car, I love it!

[fisch]

Mega awesome vid! I can feel your love for the car.

[Topher88]

One day I will have one of these.... Love your work man

[Babalouie]

Many thanks to our good friends at Super Street Magazine, for featuring the Hako in their March 2012 issue!

 

Brad Lord put together a great story, and as always Alastair Ritchie's images are top notch.

 

It's so cool to see the Hako take its place among the awesome rides and eye candy in one of our favourite car mags. So go out and buy the March edition of Super Street now! :D