OzGemini.com

So, I recently let the wagon go to a new owner, and despite how handy the diesel gem is right now, I'm sure one day it'll get defected, or fall apart, or I'll just get sick of how slow it is. The time has finally come to get something bigger, both in size and number of cylinders, so I recently took out a small loan and bought this from a friend down the road for $5000:



















Some quick details:

1990 Nissan Cefiro (A31)
RB20E, brand new timing belt, water pump, radiator
Reconditioned R32 Gearbox, brand new extreme clutch
Kei Office coilovers, front strut brace
Autech front/rear bar
16" Mags, 7.5 wide in the front, 8s in the rear.
Pretty much stock everything else

Took well over a week for it to set in, as a Cefiro was definitely not my first choice. I honestly thought I would buy something like a mid 90s Rodeo or a Jackeroo to keep it in the Isuzu family. Much as I love Gems, I realized it was time to grow up a bit and leave them as a hobby/weekend car, or in the case of the diesel, a $500 runabout that I couldn't care less about. I also needed something a little bit more modern, comfortable, and cleaner for driving on special occasions.
So far, the Ceffy seems to fulfill pretty much all my needs in a bigger car, aside from carrying space inside, which the diesel takes care of.

Future plans are very minimal, just tidying the thing up and keeping it presentable. The previous owner painted the wheels, and while I don't mind the style of them bar the colour, they obviously stand out like dog's balls. Not the best thing when driving a grey import in this country... can't decide if I want to find something else or just paint these.

So far all I've done is pick up a genuine manual centre console (this car was an auto converted to manual, with the auto console cut to make room for the shifter) and a slightly modified stock front bar. It's had a bit cut out to make room for an intercooler, and looks a bit rough, so I might clean it up and whack it on, or just get this Autech set painted.
Also picked up a genuine set of Nissan keys, a generic bobtail off Ebay (was only $30, need to start being a bit more careful with what I spend), and will soon be paying for a set of rainshields, roof spoiler, and a S2 grille which looks nicer IMO. Might change tails in the future to S2 items, but for now I don't mind the S1 type.

Long term plans, either RB30E (possibly turbo, as I have a good T3 sitting in the shed I'm not using) or just go straight to a 25DET package with motor and loom. LSD since it's currently an open diff, 5 stud conversion and proper wheels with decent fitment. Thinking SSR SP1s, which I've lusted after for a very long time.
Might also get myself a cheapish bucket on bolt in rails in case I want to take it out to a private day or something

...and I just want to point out, I am not getting out of the Gems by any means. The Ceffy isn't getting anything major done to it at all until I've finished the TD and the Coupe.
Wow... it actually seems quite achievable when you're only talking two projects instead of 5+

Nice ride man I've always liked the Ceffies. Any more details on the bobtail..? A one off deal or does a ebay store have them in stock..?



Peace

This is the one I bought: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ws/eBayISAPI ... 0905273653

Not sure if it's been relisted or not. Seemed to be quite a few up like it though.

Obviously not designed for a Ceffy or anything like that, but I took a gamble on a tip a friend gave me. Just trial fitted it a moment ago, and it turns out this particular one is too short length-wise, and a Ceffy boot also has a slight curve to it as well. It's made of hard plastic so could be bent slightly during fitment to suit the contours of the lid, but I don't think I'll bother and just stick with a proper roof spoiler.

On a straight edge boot on a smaller car (like a Gem for example ) this would actually do quite nicely, so I'll be keeping it aside for the future instead.

Went down to Sleeka Spares on Thursday, picked up a boss kit so I could fit this I had kicking around:



A bit flashy, but 100x better than the stock item. Was probably the only thing about the driving "feel" I wasn't happy with. The stock seats aren't too bad at all.

Took it on a major cruise out to Keith (about 200km from Adelaide) to help raise money and awareness for their local hospital being potentially shut down due to lack of available funding.
While I was there, I finally got a chance to buy one of these from "The Olds" who were running the cruise:



For anyone who doesn't know what this means, look up drift_pig13 and you'll understand...

Driving this in the hills a bit more (along with someone behind who can watch how the car behaves) I have found my rear shocks are quite poor and the rear is bouncing around a fair bit. Also the Advan R1s on the front have less tread than I originally thought, so it surprised me the other night when I had a minor lock up under only moderate pressure heading into a slow hairpin
New tires all around then... great

Still haven't painted the wheels though, trying to save my money for the Coupe and drift related stuff for the time being.