I took my car over to Alistair at Unit18 for a bit of an Easter overhaul. I bought a turbo gasket from Nissan and spoke to Ben at Hose Solutions for some awesome quality braided oil and water lines. Ali also fitted my HKS Hipermax Coilvers (a vast improvement over my previous setup).

We set about getting the car on the ramps. As you low car drivers already know, planks of wood were the order of the day. After getting the car in the air Alistair undid the bolts holding the downpipe to the turbo elbow. (I wrapped the downpipe whilst he worked on the car).

After draining the coolant, the exhaust manifold was removed (with the turbo attached). A few studs came out, but none snapped thankfully. Make sure you use lots of WD40 when you’re trying to undo the mani bolts.

Then it was a case of removing the turbo from the manifold. Ali fitted the new Hose Solutions braided oil/water lines and the Nissan gasket, and refitted it together.

Ali then refitted the manifold and turbo (which would of been near-impossible without the braided lines). After everything was tightened up he replaced the engine’s oil.

Then the coilovers went on, and we went for a test drive. The car worked great and felt much faster than before, even at low boost. I don’t know if this was due to upgrading to a tubular manifold, or just the general service, but I’m very happy. Itching to do something to the car’s exterior, I removed the grill and numberplate.

So, thats about it. I’m booking in for an MOT next week, so wish me luck. Again, big thanks to Alistair at Unit18 Automotive (one of the few people I trust to work on my car), and Ben at Hose Solutions (great service and great quality product).

Heres a couple teaser’s of Alistair’s car. Not long to go until its back on the road!