So I received a call from Edison. He was revving the old Nissan in the background and telling me the engine starts. So I was delighted with glee, knowing that the engine had start and thought it was actually cheap small fix!
Boy I was wrong, travelled 200KM's south from my usual place of living, I came to realise that there was a miscommunication on the phone. What he meant is that, the engine could start, but in no ways possible to have a long distance drive all the way to Ipoh. So I decided to have a short drive in the old beat up Nissan to identify the problems associated with the car. Quick tip, when you are buying the car, make sure that the car your buying has the least problems and is running to avoid disappointments. Unless you really love the car, then no amount of money can justify your liking to the car.
YouTube - 1987 Nissan Fairlady 200ZG idling sound - Zerotohundred.com
Car was idling, but pretty rough and noisy
I've driven the car around the corner and wanted to drive to the guys in Playhouse Garage to assess the condition of the rust damage. During my drive, I noticed there's tons of things to be fixed. Speedometer not working, fuel gauge not working, side mirrors are gone, clutch was gone, body trim parts are gone, most of the things associated with the car was not working! I was stalling every moment because I was unable to engage into gear. I was being honked every time for stalling the traffic. After figuring out some neat tricks, I realised that I could have the car go on 2nd gear all the time and start cranking the car and try to crank it up on 2nd gear. It worked pretty well with that!
YouTube - 1987 Nissan Fairlady 200ZG acceleration test - Zerotohundred.com
Short test around New Pantai Expressway, heading the direction of USJ 1
During my drive towards USJ 1, I noticed the billowing of white smoke, coming out from my old Nissan. I realised the engine seals are gone, according to Edison. In order to change those seals, he told me that the engine has to be taken out from the car, which would incur a labour charge of RM800. With that amount, I would be more happier to inject the money to the purchase of a faster better RB engine. So I decided to ignore the problem.
YouTube - 1987 Nissan Fairlady 200ZG engine sealant leaking, gasket being eaten into - Zerotohundred.com
Look at my rear mirror, I was fogging white smoke to those road users at the rear! Poor them!
So I was able to drive the car to the next stop in USJ 1, where Playhouse Garage is situated. They are the masters of metalworks, restorations and chassis strengthening, he has fully assessed the car and found out there's a few bad rust spots. No problem! Our masters at work says it can be fixed, so let's check out what they could do to save this old lady, rejuvenate it and inject it with some good amount of automotive botox.
During my way back, I encountered some traffic lights at almost every stops. Embarrassingly, my car stalled front in front of USJ1, right in front of Summit USJ! I was honked, laughed by passer-bys, even had a policeman on a Honda Goldwing passed right after me and offered no help. There were basically no good Samaritans left to actually lend a hand. Of course, nothing is not solvable with some money. I managed to get a tow truck to tow my car back to Bandar Sunway. Well, the idea of 10s of Ringgit, happened to be 80 Ringgits. The tow truck guy was not exactly helpful and basically pocketed large amount of money for a very short distance to tow. Alas, it was well worth it than being an embarrassment on the streets. This was no different to one of those road trip experiences that the Top Gear guys would do.
It was a bittersweet driving around the Fairlady around Subang area. Although the moments were short-lived. It was fun accompanying your mechanical soul-mate to be driving around, till he has a heart attack and seizes. Now to give him a proper heart transplant, so he could live on and be healthy! With such a tight budget, we might not be able to purchase a Nissan Skyline RB26DETT heart, as it costs around RM9,000. We might have to go for a cheaper engine transplant, but we are flexible. Let's hope the sponsors keep rolling in!
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