My decision to bringing the GTR off the road this winter was made all the easier with the misfire stubbornly unresolved and my enthusiastic 2006 season has hastened a few wear and tear bits as you would expect. Time to get stuck in and freshen the 13 year old Datsun up then!

First task was to remove the old coilover set up as one of the rear dampers was leaking quite badly. I wanted something that was serviceable in the UK, so I opted for Tein. Their Control Master type Flex model, an evocative description if ever I’ve heard one, seemed like a bargain, so I opted for the EDFC upgrade at the same time. This little box of tricks allows you to electronically control and adjust the dampers from the cockpit of your car, all in real time. For the sake of a few hundred pounds it was too good an opportunity to miss. You have three presets between soft and hard and these can be adjusted in 32 steps of severity, separately between the front and the rear.

As usual all of the work was entrusted to Gary and the team at AP Tuning. The old suspension was removed and the new Tein set up was slotted in. The height of the rear coilovers was set from the factory slightly higher than the fronts, probably for some very clever reasons, but after fitting them and seeing a profile of the car resembling a dragster, we soon agreed on a uniform ride height all around.

The rear brakes were next. I played it safe and fitted a set of R33 rear callipers, mounted up to some DBA grooved and drilled discs. Along with the Cusco brake cylinder stopper and Goodridge braided lines, the brakes would certainly be an improvement over the standard set up.

Onto the misfire. Thank God for rolling roads. Gary was able to diagnose the fault quickly, efficiently and cheaply and we changed the ignition amplifier and happily have had no issues since. A full service followed: another 8 litres of engine oil, cambelt and the auxiliary belts too. I was left with a list of other jobs to do, as long as my arm but I also had this burning desire to go and see what the car felt like. Well you would wouldn’t you.

I managed to book in at late notice for a trackday at nearby Snetterton. As I know the circuit quite well, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to have a play with the electronic damper control. Any excuse. The only snag being I was so excited to have the car back, I couldn’t remember whether 16 on the digital display was maximum or minimum stiffness! No matter, within the first three corners it was pretty apparent.

Frankly I am amazed at the way you can actually tell the difference so clearly. On the track, the softest setting was so smooth, almost Lexus style in ride quality but on the harder settings, the level of information transferred to the driver was simply superb. Crisp, detailed feedback and I’m sure some fine tuning in the coming weeks will give a pretty impressive set up.

Just as well as after settling in with my new suspension, the four wheel drive light pinged up on the dash and that meant that the rest of my day was spent in rear wheel drive! Even with that handicap, ruining my chance of using full throttle away from corners, I was still around a second quicker than my previous best at the circuit with the old brakes and suspension, but with fresher tyres and the all important four wheel drive. After leaving two long black lines away from the chicane at Russell’s and Sear’s corners, I decided less was more. Damned good fun but not the quickest way around a track.

Back to my own workshops for the bodywork and underseal work. The rust around the rear arches appeared to be minimal but as we all know, looks can be deceiving. Basic preparatory work soon showed that the amount of work needed was far greater than anticipated. Whoops. I know less about bodywork and saving it than I do mechanical and tuning work, so I have entrusted the work to Gary Funnell, a good friend and near genius with this sort of thing. I will update this journal further when I have the gory details. With my hands tied until the bodywork and sundries are done, my wallet took another bashing with time to kill and no car to kill it in.

I’ve always fancied something to tell me, in a manner that is easy to quantify, what sort of gains any modifications have given me. Rolling roads are invaluable but only tell you one side of the story, so I decided to get myself a DriftBox. Made by the guys at Racelogic, it features highly accurate GPS based wizardry to tell me everything from lap times, acceleration increments, top speed and as the title infers, drift angles too. More than anything else it’s a lovely little piece of kit that will stop a lot of pub talk bragging as the equipment is easily transferable between vehicles and great value too at under £500.

In addition to this I’ve sourced a couple of desirables for the GTR. A Silk Road headlamp duct as used by the old Group A R32s back in the day and a rather swish rear spoiler extension made from carbon fibre. These two items are making their long trip from Japan as we speak and I hope to have this fitted, the bodywork done, the undersealing finished by the time I make my next entry. This winter spell has been an eye opener. Life without my pride and joy has been a thorough and complete nightmare and has given me an insight into the level of commitment needed to build a truly great car. Mine is nothing of the sort and the two months of protracted absence has been terrible…