SILVIA: Wheely Good Times Ahead

Those who were active on forums, going to meets or cruises back then would probably or most definitely know of, seen pictures or if you were lucky enough to have seen Fonzy's Celica in the flesh. I had actually met him through those platforms and later became friends with him. His car was the gateway into why I chose to head down the nineties styling route. I had met two of his friends who were down in Sydney from a car club in QLD - Auszoku. Very intrigued by how they modified their cars, I decided to register an account with the forum.
 Fonzy's Celica TA22
 Dan's S13 & John's K11 Micra

From the photos above, you can clearly see why I had an interest. From that point in time, not many cars were modified this way. Seeing Dan's S13 in person also sealed the deal on my route to going fifteen inches of glory. After joining the forum, I got to know the locals. With like minded people and general knowledge help regarding wheels, the Silvia would have wheely good times ahead of itself.

As stated previously, I limited my wheel choice to fifteen inches in diameter. I already knew from the get-go that I wanted to have genuine wheels, even though they costed a bit more than fake wheels, in the long run, it would have a better outcome - support real, not fake. The Speed Star Racing Longchamp XR4s seemed to be the perfect candidate going off my inspiration photo.

I had a look at the local marketplace to see if there were any available and to my surprise, a workshop called Otomoto who were then situated in North Parramatta were selling a pair, complete with original centre caps. Went for a short drive instore to have them picked up.
They needed a fair bit of work to look pretty again, but for the price I paid for them, it'll all be worth it in the end. Final size measuring at 15x7J A type, build date 83-3. Let me also just note that this is my first time for anything car related. I have never even serviced a car before this, let alone modify. Everything that I'm posting from here on out of the Silvia, is all a learning experience.

The hunt was on for another pair to make a complete set. I had reached out to Fonz to let him know that I was in the market for another pair and he happened to have a pair in 14x7J A type. Diameter being too small for what I was after, but he did state he had a set of Mark I's he was willing to let go of.
The price was too good to pass up, so I took ownership of them. Final size measuring at 15x7.5J B type & 15x7J C type, build date 87-7.
A quick test fit of the wheels seemed to turn out sweet. It was kind of hard to tell if they would fit inside the guards or not due to not having any suspension work done yet, although it did look promising.
Bolts and nuts have seen better days, so they were removed.

Having a look through the classifieds thread on Auszoku, I noticed that Dan was selling a few things that I wanted to purchase, one of which, a Bride back protector with the old logo. Seeing as the Silvia was a daily, that would be needed to decrease attention from the fact that, one: it's a bucket seat that can get you defected for which leads to losing demerit points and unnecessary money, and two: it's carbon kevlar which is more eye catching than the usual FRP. Another item he had listed was a LED RGB shift knob light. One thing lead to another and they were both mine.
A bit of a shame to hide that carbon kevlar weave, but simplicity is the key to brilliance.
Install was pretty straight forward. There's velcro strips along the inside edge of the protector which stick straight onto the fabric of the seat.

SILVIA: Visionary's Dream

Having a brother that's artistically gifted, I did learn a thing or two from him. One of those, being able to use Adobe Photoshop on a basic level. I had already taken shots of the Silvia, so all I needed to do was choose a good base photo to work some Photoshop magic onto.
 Kevin appreciation photos: He did a lot of pixel car tuning on MS Paint and Photoshop before transitioning into 3D modelling at the age of 15. All wire work done by the kid himself and rendered by Denis Can I believe.

Aesthetically, I already had envisioned how I wanted the car to look. Avoiding what was the norm back then, 17 or 18" wheels, J's headlights or "bricks" as many people would know them by, GTR style grille, optional 180sx or "CA lip" and low. I already made up my mind even before acquiring the car. As stated in The Beginnings, it was decided that the Silvia will have 15" wheels on factory aero. Let's just say I'm trying to replicate the style that came out of 90's, which was rarely done much back then and even if it was, very few were executed tastefully but at the same time trying to make it my own flavour. If I could have a reference photo to what I wanted to achieve, it'll then be easier for me to reach that goal without steering off into different directions.
First chop was just a "simple" lowering with some Speed Star Racing Longchamp XR4s.
Second chop was more appealing. Subtle lowering on the same wheels with meaty tyres - it was all about stretched low profile tyres then, but with the additional optional aero all round plus a B-Wave wing. Note that the front spoiler or front lip is the one optional to the S13 and not 180sx. So spoiler alert, calling the the 180sx "CA lip" and the S13 "SR lip" is the wrong terminology, due to either front spoilers only being an OEM to that model. Sure they would fit fine on either models, but just no in my opinion /end rant.

With a clear path of what I wanted to achieve aesthetically, it was time to do some wheel searching.

SILVIA: Hold Me Forever

First plan of attack for the Silvia was to make the driving experience a little bit more exciting than standard. The previous car that I was driving at that time was an AE94 Corolla my parents had handed down to me. I had bought a Nardi 350mm deep corn and a 150mm gradient bubble shift knob for it, which later the Silvia inherited. The first thing I bought for the Silvia was a boss kit for the Nardi to fit. I opted for the NRG short hub due to how small it was, but later sold that off as the Nardi didn't bolt straight onto it. I didn't do much research into it, although I do think a Momo wheel may have fit due to it having a different bolt pattern to the Nardi.
I ended up buying a HKB boss kit after selling off the NRG short hub.
The boss kit sits about 150mm from the steering column.
Nardi Deep Corn mounted on, which was also accompanied by the shift knob my friend brought back for me from Japan. Both hand me downs from the AE94.
After installation of the boss kit/steering wheel and the shift knob, there was a noticeable difference. The gear change throw was much longer which I kind of went backwards on, as people would want a shorter throw and the steering was noticeably heavier. The throw of the gear changes didn't bother me all that much as it was what I was used to in the AE94. And with the Nardi being 10mm smaller than standard, it made the steering much heavier, which translates to more road feel and having the feeling of losing some power steering, much more feedback, which is what I wanted. Driving position took a while to get used to being a young, short Asian boy, my legs aren't long which meant sitting closer to the steering wheel and it doesn't help that the Nardi is a deep corn too. Further down the track, I do plan on changing the steering wheel to a Nardi 360mm classic.
I also got given some S13 optional floor mats from someone that owns a Honda and has never had an S13. Not too sure why he had them, but they're in my hands now. Thanks S.Le!

Trawling through Gumtree, I came across something that had caught my eye. Someone was selling a Bride Zeta I. Here I was thinking in the long run, it'll be good to buy for when I'm ready to hit the track.

Above images were the original sale photos.

This particular seat was different to all the others. Majority of these seats had an FRP shell whereas this particular one was Carbon Kevlar. I did some research into it, to try and figure out if this was genuine or not, as it was very uncommon to come by, especially being in AUS. Upon further research, it all seemed to check out. Messages were exchanged, price was agreed on and not too longer after, funds were transferred.
The seat was shipped from interstate, I can't remember which one, but I think it may have been Brissy and it was then in my possession, kind of. Funnily enough, I was overseas at the time of purchasing it, so it was sent to my cousin's residents until I got back to AUS. I now own a carbon kevlar Bride Zeta I. Unfortunately the rails were for the passenger's side modified to suit the driver's side. They didn't glide back or forth rendering them useless to me.

The next thing on the list to do was to find some radio brackets as the headunit and facia DIN were just sitting there, as you can see that in some of the previous photos. At that time, they were very hard to source and if I did find one, people were charging way to much for what they were.

SVP + SILVIA: The Beginnings

After creating this blog, I've never really had the chance to properly introduce myself. The sole purpose for me creating/posting here was to show content of the events that I had taken photos at & somewhat for improving my writing skills. With drift events slowing down drastically in NSW the nanny state, I haven't really had the chance to go out & shoot much, hence lack of content which has been a real big shame.

Anyway, let me introduce myself. Everyone knows me by the name of SVP - occasional photo taker & I drive a Silvia. I've always had an interest in automobiles from a young age. When magazines were still around, I would flick through copies of Autosalon and High Performance Imports and having somewhat an artistic background through scribbling with graphite pencils, I took an interest in Photography later down the track. Put two & two together & we end up with a blog.

And this is how the story starts with the Silvia, I was looking at getting a Nissan Silvia S13 because my brother played a big role in why I had chosen this car as a base. From all the modeling & pixel cars he had done of it, I knew I just had to have one since 2010. Searching for two years, which was then 2012, one had finally popped up. Original plan was to get any S13 that was two toned besides Champagne, had to be clean to an extent, standard, manual, no sunroof & non-turbo due to only being on my provisionals at the time.

A friend's brother purchased a Silvia from Perth & brought it to Sydney. Put it up for sale & I had purchased it since it fit my criteria almost to the tee.

While searching for a Silvia, I had a rough idea of how I wanted to modify it, original plan was to go 17's or 18's on optional aero.
Inspiration 3D modeled by Kevin.

But as time went by seeing more & more photos of other styles, I then wanted to go with a different approach.
After seeing this S13, I told myself I wanted to do something along the lines of that.
 Photo taken by Daniel Bride from a Drift Works post

Then after seeing John's S13 that was located in Japan, my mind was set. 15's, flares & somewhat factory aero.
First drive through the Royal National Park south of Sydney. It was then decided, that was going to be THE car. Registration transferred over & I took ownership of it.

Without further adieu, meet Silvia.
Bone stock in all it's glory besides the blacked out indicator light, due to compliance when it was brought over & an aftermarket headunit. SR20DE, manual, champagne two tone. Although the champagne two tone was my last option, there weren't many S13s that were this clean at the time of my search.


Make/Model: 1992 Nissan Silvia PS13
Engine: SR20DE
Interior: Clarion Headunit, Pioneer speakers all round (6" fronts, 6"x9" rears)
Exterior: Optional Side Skirts
Suspension: Standard
Plans: Build a tidy period correct street car that I can take to the track with quality parts.