Skyline Part II, et al

And so, I've begun my work ruining this terriffic car. No, seriously, it's getting better.

I'm holding off on the interior work because I'd like to save that for when it's warmer. And because I don't want to blow a bunch of money on nice upholstery and then fuck it up with ice and snow and salt and sand and shit. And because my upholstery guy swears there's no way he can fit me in (the bastard, with all the business I send him, he'd better fucking comp me some free suede when this is over).

And so...engine stuff! I'm basically doing what I can do in the parking garage and have done for free by people who owe me for business. First off...head work. I had it ported and polished, and the block got blueprinted. This is fairly expensive stuff (although not for me), but it improves flow in the engine and makes power without making the engine work any harder. And it bumps my redline up 1000RPM. I also got a 30-, 45-, and 60-degree on the intake and exhaust valve seats. Along with a race camshaft, and a whole bunch of other really sexy internals too numerous to mention. I also had the engine painted and chromed to make it look pretty, although I had to pay for that shit.

I also swapped out the two small turbos for one larger one. It's still appropriately-sized for the engine, so I'm not dealing with big-time turbo lag. Custom intake and exhaust manifolds (the exhaust is really trick). I decided to leave the compression ratio the same. ECU is now handled by an aftermarket AEM computer with independent ignition control, also by AEM. And, of course, the mandatory fat-assed injectors, ultralow-impedence spark plug wiring, and race-grade plugs. Swapped the battery for an Optima. Bigger fuel pump. Enormous air-to-air intercooler that sits under the radiator, fed through the bumper. Exhuast plumbing got chopped out entirely, and I've got a straight twin-pipe in there now with a better catalytic converter and sexy mufflers (courtesy of Magnaflow, they sound awesome). 4.8-inch connecting rods that are superbly balanced (we're talking 1, maybe 2 grams here). Race crankshaft that lets me do nice things like rev to 8000RPM. Two oil coolers.

Laughing gas...yeah, I added NoS. Sue me. It'll lower the intake temperatures a good 70 degrees and give me an assload of power. Because this isn't some dragstrip slut, I'm only using a 50-shot, direct injection. And a pair of 2-liter bottles, with sprayers so I can purge the system. NoS is expensive, though, so I've got it on a steering wheel trigger.

End result? The engine that was making 276-hp is now cranking out 400hp, if I'm to believe the dyno numbers, which can be faulted if the dyno operator is devious or a dipshit, or both. But I looked over his shoulder and I'm fairly certain he was working it right. I still have to play around with a few things, but I'll take 400 horses. There's really not too much more I can do, really. Lord knows what it's pushing when I tip off the nitrous, though.

Brakes! Big, fat-assed Brembos. 14.3" up front and 13.9" in back. The absolute largest brakes I could possibly fit while still clearing the wheel. Forged from titanium, two-piece rotors, six pistons in front, four in back. Cross-drilled and slotted, too. They're actually the exact same brakes used in Nissan's R34 Z-tune, which had a goal of 1.8g's of deceleration force on R-compound tires. I had to monkey with the ABS to make the damn things worthwhile.

Drivetrain...the usual. A clutch beefy enough to handle this shit, superlight flywheel. Carbon driveshaft that weighs 18 pounds. Short-throw shift kit.

Swapped out the tires for BF Goodrich gForce KDWs. I would have gone with KDs (the dry-only version of the KDW), but I need to drive this puppy every day.

I did put an A-pillar guage pod in, to hold oil temperature, turbo pressure, and intake temperature guages. Along with an oversized tachometer with a programable shift-point indicator on the dash. And cleaner-looking blue-background guages for the in-dash displays.

Suspension...blah, blah, blah, race-type coil-overs, courtesy of HKS, along with stifferanti-roll bars.

Got all this done over the course of about two weeks, in stages, so I could drive it an evaluate the changes in between. When I took Lisa's dad for a ride, I'd had the suspenion stuff done, so the handling he was cursing at me about was the result of the coil-overs and not the natural Skyline ability, which is still pretty amazing thanks to the ATTESA all-wheel drive system.

Best thing yet, I got all this crap done before Lisa's folks left. So me and pops there were able to go out for another ride.

I found a loser with a Lamborghini Gallardo. Pops thought I was crazy. I didn't want to race the guy (why race a Gallardo on the street when I can pick up the phone and race a Murcielago on the track?), but he revved his engine at me. What was I going to do? Had to defend my manufacturer.

I beat him off the line with a 6500RPM launch. And then I beat him for the next mile or so, at which point I couldn't see him in my rearview, despite the obscene lime green paint. A couple miles down the road, he roared past me in a pitiful display of suck. Didn't matter by then, I'd already proved my point. Pops turned to me and said, "Hey, you're not so bad after all."

Lisa and I waved them off this morning...well, yesterday morning, and she jumped me the second we got the door closed. I love that girl. Then I had to go to work and sell cars to make money. We got a shipment in, various cars pieced together from a number of manufacturers to make a nice little surprise. Three Porsche Cayman S's, a Viper SRT10, a Mercedes CLK, and another Aston Martin DB9 (which I always love getting), this time in British Racing Green. All in all, not a bad day. I hadn't gotten a chance to drive the Cayman S, and they're sublime.

And now...time for New Year's...champagne and cuddling on the couch. Life is pretty good.