Griffo's 1986 Nissan Leopard

[griffo20022]

Hi there guys it's been a while since I posted a thread up on here, hope you like! so heres my F31 Nissan Leopard. Not a lot changed on it aesthetically since the last owner had it however, I do have new wheels which I am currently tidying up and also have a new backbox in the pipeline as i'm not too keen on the current one.







The new wheels to go on are Stern Hinodex 17" Just need to get some 4 to 5 stud hub adapters to make them fit



Somebody had painted the rims (badly) in silver so i'm just working my through scrubbing all the crappy paint off The exhaust is being changed for a subtle twin exit item, I don't think the J can quite suits this myself. Besides that i'm just gonna clean her up as best I can and keep her running sweet

[Deleted]

yes yes and yes. This is cool. Bookmarked shall be keeping my eye on this

[hmsmotorsport]

Is that first pic at JDM guys? I think I saw this car at their open day

[tenman]

z32 hub conversion not the best way to get 5 studs on it?...

[griffo20022]

Thanks guys, yer that's at the JDMG meet yer it's definitely an option to properly convert to 5 stud, my thought behind the adapters being I effectively have a choice of two PCD's if I run adapters also the offset of the Sterns are +34 so if I run a 25mm adapter will bring me down to +9 offset so should sit nicely. I'll be buying quality adapters so shouldn't be any need to worry on that score

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

Glad to see a build thread up griffo20022

You get a lot more of a story on a forum build thread than Facebook posts (plus I'm trying to stay off Facebook apart from advertising my car)

[griffo20022]

Hey there guys, just a bit of a quick update got round to doing a couple small jobs today whilst being bored and broke lmao!

First up the front splitter (and a bit of the bumper) had got scuffs and I found the black scuffs against the white bodywork a bloody eyesore! So as a temporary measure inbetween the beautiful sunshine and bouts of rain I quickly touched the areas up with some paint. If the weather had been a little more predictable i'd have liked to have taken the bumper off and done a bit of a cleaner job but even with what I've done it doesn't stand out half as much!

a quick before and after



should look even better when the rest of the bumper is clean lol!



Next up I noticed the front indicators looked dull and grotty so pulled them out and gave them a quick clean up. Water had got past the seals and allowed for dirt and moisture to get inside the units







with that I washed the lenses and wiped down the housings with alcohol, cleaned the connectors on the units and on the car with electrical cleaner, lubed the seals and put some grease over the earth connections too heres a comparison shot



and both cleaned up



The pic of the front of the car up from this has them fitted after being cleaned. Not something you really notice from a distance but it's just nice to know they have been done little details n all that! I also pulled the other two Stern wheels out the garage ready to start cleaning up and thought i'd grab a quick pic against the car



I think the current tyre sizes I will use on the front wheels and on the rear maybe go for a very slightly higher profile so even though i'm running 17's I try to get that bit of a retro fat tyre look in keeping with the era of the car, hopefully it works out

[griffo20022]

Hey guys! No real updates as of yet however I have finally purchased some 4 to 5 stud hub adapters meaning i'm one step closer to getting the Stern's fitted! Grabbed a few pics last night and also today after fitting my Slambox sticker, of my pals '84 Mazda 323 with the Leopard today

[griffo20022]

Happy today managed to make a little progress on the Leopard and got the electric aerial working! I wanted to tat the other day but with the unpredictable weather I didn't want to start a job and then have to pack up because of the interior getting drenched! So rather than settle down as soon as I got in from work being as its a nice clear afternoon I thought i'd investigate behind the stereo and see if there was any obvious reasons as to why the aerial wouldn't work.



Fascia panel removed and stereo out inital observation was that the switch to select full and half mast had been completely disconnected so plugged back in and tried but still nothing happening at the rear so I traced the wires back and for some strange reason the power for the aerial between the headunit and ISO loom had been snipped, it was real short too as if about 2 inch of the wire had been removed! Luckily having a spare bit in the garage I rejoined and tested again along with now plugging in the unplugged aerial lead we now had a fully functioning electric aerial with full and half mast selection

Quick Vid:


So then it was just a case of putting her all back together et voila!



Mega happy it was a straightfoward fix! Seriously can't wait to get a nice double din stereo fitted to take up the gap now

[Carter]

Love the Leopard, sweet ride man!

[griffo20022]

Thanks dude! My wheel adapters have landed and I've ordered a 4th tyre so then I have a full set ready to run gonna give the Sterns a test fit today me thinks!

[Deleted]

excited to see the new wheels on it bro coming along nicely

[jayom]

Nice work. I've a lot of love for these. Boxy 80s coupes like the F31 and Z10/Z20 Soarer just have something about them. There's a big 'box' scene in Ireland at the moment, with the likes of RetroAutos (http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/01/what-we-found-in-an-irish-barn/) and their in-house arches. Any plans to go manual or happy with the autobox?

[Deleted]

Mar 6, 2015 11:45:29 GMT jayom said:

Nice work. I've a lot of love for these. Boxy 80s coupes like the F31 and Z10/Z20 Soarer just have something about them. There's a big 'box' scene in Ireland at the moment, with the likes of RetroAutos (http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/01/what-we-found-in-an-irish-barn/) and their in-house arches. Any plans to go manual or happy with the autobox?

this article made me drawl... those cars are unreal

[griffo20022]

Thanks guys. Dayum theres some stunning cars on that Speedhunters article! jayom i've always had a passion for old J motors and in particular boxy saloons before I bought this I had found a '78 Cressida but i'd just missed out on it! Fair to say though I don't feel like i've lost out now having the Leopard!

I trial fitted two of the wheels earlier. I think they look cool but I can't help but feel the need for a higher profile tyre all round. They seem a little thin with the period of the car I know I can counter it with some lowering but I need to be careful as the fronts quite soft so I don't want the front smashing off the floor everywhere and can't even justify it saying I have a mega low car lmao! What you guys reckon?



They're a 215/45/17 tyre i'm thinking possibly a 215/55/17 tyre instead

[Deleted]

tyres are flat mate nah I quite like them but defo agree with you a larger tyre is needed if you don't want to lower it anymore.

[griffo20022]

Quick pic rolling into Shelsley Walsh for the Breakfast Club meet Sunday morning with my friends extremely clean DC2 Integra behind

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

That SLAMBOX font suits it so well.

[griffo20022]

Hey there guys not alot's been happening as of late with the Leopard but there are one or two little updates going on

First up my new headunit finally arrived today! (well a secondhand bargain off Ebay!) Luckily I came across this little bargain which suited exactly what I wanted for the Leopard interior which was:

- Modern day functionality
- Hi-tech look (in trying to keep with the ethos with what the Leopard was created for)
- A grey surround to suit the rest of the Leopards dashboard

and finally

- CHEAP lol!

Roll on the secondhand chinese special an Xtrons TD714



Picked up for £60 delivered it has USB/SD/Apple connectability, able to play all sorts of audio and video files, has bluetooth etc. etc. I completely understand it's by no means a Pioneer or what not but I was on a tight budget and the majority of stereo's these days tend to have a glossy black finish and bright coloured LED lights which do look good but I think would have looked out of place inside the Leopard. So anyway, it was out with the old POS Sony stereo which barely worked!



and in with the Xtrons! (I need to give the screen a wipe over I know lol!)



The fit is nigh on perfect! theres a 2-3mm gap from sitting flush with the center console so i'll pull it back out, elongate the stereo bracket holes and refit so it can sit that tiny bit further back. As you can see I routed the Apple lead into the ashtray should I ever want to use it



My Leopard wasn't, but some of them were fitted with very cool Sony Analog TV Stereo's and it was with this in mind which made me want to go the whole double din TV screen style headunit. Here's a comparison of the original and my attempt at trying to keep the stereo looking fairly subtle but adding a modern day functionality to it.



Would have been awesome to have found one of those original headunits but it's just never going to happen lol! One last pic of the new stereo up and running!



Also in the pipeline the Sterns have been traded in lol! I now have these!



17" Yokohama Siena Road Battlers! Plans for these are to paint the faces in silver and get some fresh rubber on the go!

I also think i've finished my Tomadachi stack in the rear window now, finishing it off with a Jimmy Up Umberella Girl fresh from the states



Hopefully I haven't bored you guys lol!

[g52oyc]

I was interested in this car when it came up for sale around 3 years ago. Apparently had headgasket issues and then a siezed engine or so the internet stories said... Looks good and nice to see it getting the attention it deserves!