Looking for a new daily driver

[cerro]

If that's as rust free as you originally thought then you've sprung yourself a great buy. Well done & a belated welcome to the club.


Keep the thread updated as you go. We're always keen to see progress on an SX, if only a thorough 'gimping' up with a bit of spit 'n' polish!

R.

Thanks - will do!

I didn't get time to do a full detailing, it will have to wait till Saturday but I gave the leather, windows and dash a good wipe down - plenty human slime and crap removed. The cream leather hides nothing, but while it is worn in places, it's not cracked which is good. The paint work is rust free but there are a few scratches and two small but fairly deep dents to sort. I'd like to get it on a ramp and give it a proper once over and if it's still good, get it undersealed.

Wheel-wise I am thinking GTR Rotas, either Silver or Black - do most people fit 17" wheels over the standard 16"? Or does it destroy handling?

You can see the biggest scratch on the bumper in this picture:
SX_front by CJ_Walker, on Flickr

SX_rear by CJ_Walker, on Flickr

Even though none of the fluids have been done since 12/2013 the car has done about 100 miles since according to the log book.
SX_Bay by CJ_Walker, on Flickr

My Skyline when I dropped it off last week for the engine swap. You can see the rest of the project in that album:
Farewell by CJ_Walker, on Flickr

[cerro]

I gave the car a once-over today, cleaned in and out. Found a few small issues...

A bubble of rust on the rear window corner:
SX_Rust by CJ_Walker, on Flickr

A couple of bits where trim doesn't seem to fit properly:
SX_fit by CJ_Walker, on Flickr

SX_loose by CJ_Walker, on Flickr

And some tiny scratches on the windscreen (hard to see but dead center of the photo):
SX_WinScratch by CJ_Walker, on Flickr

I believe can get something to get the scratches on the windscreen out, they don't look deep enough to cause real problems. The bubbles of rust are annoying and need to be dealt with. But the thing I'm not sure how to fix is the poorly fitting trim? There is a gap of about 1/2 inch on the seal above each door and then there is these gaps in the corners of windows and on the rear lights - how do I get them to sit flush because they are just going to be a water trap if left alone. Other than that the car is in very good condition.

[Jonny Wilkinson]

I take it you did hpi check it before you bought it ? If its been resprayed, has rust patches and the trim doesn't fit, I'd want to make sure the shell is in good shape I.e no ripples in the boot floor, chassis rails etc. The carpets are all dry, yes ?

[cerro]

Yes I did an hpi check - although the car had a private private on it with a previous S14 that had been written off and this one S14a Touring that he bought after that but with the same private plate. No there are no signs of it being cut in half or otherwise crashed, I checked under the car too. Once I had cleaned the inside of the car (carpets are fine, except the drivers mat which is worn to hell) I discovered why the peddle box was moving, it's missing its screw, so I will have to replace it. I reckon the respray was a cheaper job and whoever did it, hadn't bothered to put the trim back properly. The only rust on the car are those bubbles, the underside has nothing but a bit of surface rust except the exhaust which looks its age.

[Jonny Wilkinson]

You probably need to take off the trim and see why its not sitting flush and refit it. Hopefully, its just a bent bracket or missing clips or something

[chris-a]

I wouldn't worry too much about the foglight surround, most of them seem to be like that. Looks like a reasonably tidy car you got yourself. I would just enjoy it for now, get used to it etc. Little details like replacing the cluster bulbs for LED's, new carpets etc help to make it a slightly nicer place to be. Actually looking at 330D's myself as a DD now!

[silverzx]

I'd be interested to know how you handle those bubbles, I have some in exactly the same place, I also have a rogue rear window seal which doesn't seem to sit 100% tight. Perhaps some black silicone or some form of glue.

[cerro]

I wouldn't worry too much about the foglight surround, most of them seem to be like that. Looks like a reasonably tidy car you got yourself. I would just enjoy it for now, get used to it etc. Little details like replacing the cluster bulbs for LED's, new carpets etc help to make it a slightly nicer place to be. Actually looking at 330D's myself as a DD now!

Ah, a common problem then? I'll take the rubber trim off and see what the problem is - might not be a hard thing to fix. I noticed the dash could be a bit brighter at night, it's the same with the Skyline. So I'll probably do the same LEDs on both. From the couple of journeys I have done so far in the SX I feel like brake feedback needs a bit of a boost, brake stopper and braided lines will probably go on the to-do list. If I can hunt down a replacement drivers mat that would be nice, the one in the car now is pretty ratty. 330D's are great as a cruiser, doing big mileage, it's what they are built for and despite mine being only two years younger than the SX it certainly doesn't show its age... might be because it's the Sport version so it has a more modern styling. They are cheap to buy and run, it's just yearly maintenance and the fact that I can't work on it myself that makes me want to sell it. Plus tiptronic boxes still aren't manual.

I'd be interested to know how you handle those bubbles, I have some in exactly the same place, I also have a rogue rear window seal which doesn't seem to sit 100% tight. Perhaps some black silicone or some form of glue.

It depends on the size of the problem. If it is just the trim bits that have caused a small bubble of surface rust then it's not too bad a job... sand it, grind it, fill and respray - although you end up doing an area 4 times larger to do a proper job. If it's anything bigger than what it looks (and they usually are) it's best to cut/grind and weld in new metal then respray, that's not something I can do myself. Alternatively find someone breaking an SX with the same rust-free panels and fit them, ideally with the same colour or just get the panel and respray it.