Last time, there simply was not enough time to finish all that I wanted done. To review, I really wanted to have the chassis refreshed, as well as protected. That, and given how I think these kinds of vehicles tend to be left outside, I figured replacement of all consumables, including the door rubber seals, would be a good idea.
So, when I had time - this was in August before the break - Midorikawa-san was kind enough to meet me at Nismo Omori Factory where he picked up the Elgrand on his flatbed.
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| Right down the street from Nismo Omori Factory! |
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| And up up... |
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| And done! |
And as a preview of how I want the Elgrand to look, I had found some perfect "Urban Chrome" edition wheels on Yahoo Auctions (taken off a brand new car) which I prepared by applying what is supposed to be the best overall ceramic coating for wheels.
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| Longevity, resistsance to heat and brake dust are what I want. |
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| Ready to go! |
These wheels got loaded into the Elgrand when Midorikawa-san picked up the car.
A few days later, he reported that a closer look at the Elgrand revealed some problems they hadn't spotted before. Of course not needing the car immediately my response was - let's get it fixed up properly.
One item was the worn out and cracking bushes in the lower control arms.
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| New lower arm installed! |
And this driveshaft also had to be replaced:
Check out that cracked boot!
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| Definitely not good |
Also, we decided that the suspension, given how heavy the car is, was showing signs of end of life. The ride was a bit too bouncy, enough that even my kid who normally does not get car sick, did.
Naturally, that meant I would change these out for the better alternative:
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| Nismo S-Tunes |
I think these Nismo S-Tunes look great! They lower the car 2 cm up front and 1 cm in the rear.
Hard to tell maybe? I wonder how the ride feels? We took this opportunity to fit Rigid Collars to the Elgrand as well.
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| Already has the darker wheels on... |
One thing that didn't get done last time was changing out the spark plugs:
Remember the wheels I had purchased and prepared earlier? I decided that despite it being the VIP grade, that I wanted to make the car look a bit less chrome-ish. Non VIP grades of the Elgrand come in an "Urban Chrome" version which means the wheels and other chrome trim such as in the headlights and tailight cluster utilize dark chrome. Of course, this means we should try to get the emblems to match?
Midorikawa-san though proposed painting the emblems a dark bronze color. Ok, let me try this...
Then some work on the interior.
First, the onboard cooling/heating box is secured in a way that prevents me from making mods behind the dashboard. The box sits in front of the common center console, which also loses the drawer in the front so this box can "mate" with the center console. So I asked two of the six securing bolts to be removed so i could easily remove both in order to access behind the dashboard.
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| This stay and bolts secure the cooling/heating box |
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| I asked them to leave these screws OFF - as otherwise you need to remove the seats to access them! |
Second, the
shop that laid the sound insulation on the floor had a go at adding USB charging ports to the rear of the center console but got it a bit wrong.
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| Not exactly straight. I wonder if he was drunk when he was doing this... |
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| Looks fantastic! Thank you! |
After a few weeks of waiting for the final parts to be installed - the Nismo aero kit - which first had to be painted to match this particular color - Midorikawa-san finally sent me these photos last week to let me know the Elgrand was done!
Looking fantastic, right? No more of that excessive bright chrome. Except...
Looks like someone forgot to paint the larger rear spoiler! What to do?
Anyway, two days later on Sunday when I arrived by taking the bullet train up to Fukushima, Midorikawa-san met me at the station and immediately drove me back to the dealership where he showed me what he had arranged to be done, for free. His overnight solution was to get the local car wrap/PPF guy (the one who did my Skyline Nismo) to wrap it with this carbon weave. Came out pretty good, and the black paint underneath has some purple and silver flakes in it. Interesting....
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| A carbon wrap, but very well done! |
And then, he walked me around the service area to show me the rest of the work they did. First, all of these parts and boxes are for or from the Elgrand.
And here are all of the rubber moldings that had decayed and were replaced with brand new ones. Interesting some were more expensive than just plain rubber, as those that go on the sliding doors contain sensors that when activated - like when someone is not fully on board yet - stop the doors from further closing. Interesting.
And here are the bits from the original, worn out suspension.
All laid out here, inclding the interior parts that were replaced. Most of this was covered by the ridiculous extended warranty I was forced to pay for at the used car dealer, so in the end I cost them more than what they cost me. (Easily 250,000 yen of parts, when the warranty cost me 180,000 yen).
Center console bits
Door hinges. Elgrands are well known for premature wear of these parts, not surprising given those huge front doors.
The old driver's side seatbelt - it was not retracting - plus the rubbers for the rear door, also with some sensors.
Check out these deteriatoring suspension mounts. Yes, covered by that insurance.
Some other parts covered by insurance. This time the rear brake rotors - which I had found had a slight judder to them - were replaced, along with the front lower arms, which were like 120,000 yen for the pair!
It was time for a late lunch, so Midorikawa-san took me to a local place specializing in Fukushima style ramen. Check out the shape of those noodles!
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| And not greasy at all! |
Just in case, here is their menu.
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| Most expensive item on the menu is 930 yen... |
Once back at the dealer, there was some time to kill as they loaded up the Elgrand, so I was offered the chance to test drive a new Nissan Note Auro Nismo!
Basically a sporty version of the Aura (more feature equipped) version of the utlitarian Note subcompact.
It has the typical Nismo aero treatment, plus a revised e-Power hybrid setup that emphasizes acceleration. This one was 4WD too! It was fun to drive and probably a good daily driver, but I dunno, after a few minutes I was kind of bored.
And another customer had brought in his naturally aspirated EN34 sedan - but with GT-R face - to get his front tires replaced.
And final stages of packing up and loading up. How to load up the left side Nismo side skirt which was not installed on the Elgrand due to its electric side step
Oh and a quick look back into the service bay and you can see my GT-R getting worked on there too. More on that on my
GT-R blog.
So then I got in and prepared to depart for the long trip home...
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| Looks great! |
Yeah I was happy just to get this car back!
On the way home, I pulled over at a Parking Area for some coffee but the line was too long so instead just decided to check out how this thing looks now from the rear.
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| Looks good, not so sure abou the brake/turnsignal/backup lower cluster lights though... |
And when I finally got home, I was reminded once again at how big this thing is...
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| a few cm.... |
But I have to say, after a 4 hour plus trip back, I was not the least bit tired. I was fighting a cold and felt better AFTER the long drive? Amazing what a stiffened up chassis and new firmer suspension will do. Midorikawa-san had said that after fitment of the Rigid Collars, the car felt brand new - and I have to agree, it was like driving a brand new car! The stability on long sweeping curves and expressway on/off ramps was very noticeable! So this is definitely a recommended mod for this car.
So what's next? Well a few things that Prince Fukushima did not have time to do for me I ended up doing myself. Stay tuned!
