1990 Nissan Cefiro 2.4 GTS-R Part 2: Looking At What We Got, Getting It Clean, and Learning Something New Everyday

In Part 1 of this Power Wheels Magazine Project Car series, we narrated how we came across an online ad about a 1990 Nissan Cefiro 2.4 GTS-R, how we were able to buy it for just P50,000, and how we took it from San Benito Sur, Aringay, La Union on board a borrowed flatbed tow truck and deposited it at JSK Custom Paint and Auto Works in Marulas, Valenzuela City. We mentioned that it was the dream of the author to have a Cefiro after he first saw it launched at the Nissan Metro Motors dealership where he worked in 1989, thus fulfilling a wish spanning 32 years.

If you’re a car enthusiast just like us and you’ve embarked on a new project car – especially one that you found online and reserved without a thorough inspection – you immediately inspect and assess what you just bought after it gets off the truck. We were making a mental note of what we need to do to bring the car from What It Looks Like Now to What We Want It To Look Like When It’s Finished. Since our Cefiro is relatively straight, complete and unmolested, our initial idea is to restore it to factory-fresh original condition. But first, we were itching to clean it!

Dust, Grime and Several Years of Non-Use

When we picked up the car on October 29, 2021, we were told by its owner, Dangal Coronel and his grandson Christian, that the Cefiro has been sitting in their carport since 2017. To avoid paying penalties, its license plates were surrendered to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) Extension Office in Agoo, La Union in 2018. For four years, the Cefiro was suspended on makeshift wooden jack stands to avoid flat spots on its Bridgestone Turanza tires but the engine was started at least once a week to keep it from being stuck up. With the Cefiro now at the shop, we started its restoration by washing away four years worth of dust, mud, grime and neglect.

We could have taken our Cefiro to a carwash instead but we always opt to give our project car its first wash after we bought it. We want to run our hands around the entire car while washing it and feel every panel for dents, misalignments, rust and any paint imperfections. Since we committed online to buy this car without thoroughly inspecting it first, we were afraid that there might be “hidden” damages or rust spots that would surprise us later on after we got it home. Thankfully, after we washed and later dried our Cefiro, we only found a few areas that needed repair. Whew!

Getting and Installing an INCOE Car Battery

We contacted our good friend Brian Kaw at Amaron batteries and asked if we can get a slight discount on a brand-new car battery for our new/old project car. Instead of giving us just a discount, Brian surprised us by sponsoring the new INCOE MF48D26L N50L battery for our Cefiro. Brian said that his boss is very happy with the exposure we’ve given their company for the car batteries we’ve installed in our other project cars. We told Brian that we are likewise happy with the performance of their car batteries, which continue to start our cars even though they are not used on a regular basis.

When we came to collect the Cefiro from Aringay, the owner installed a borrowed car battery to start the engine and drive the car up the flatbed of our tow truck. He showed us where he stored the metal bracket that holds the battery. Unfortunately, the battery bracket was quite rusty and the ends were beginning to shear off because of corrosion. We can only guess that the bracket came from the factory with our Cefiro in 1990 and was therefore as old as it. Because it was exposed to battery acid or fumes, it corroded faster than the parts surrounding it. We resolved to get a plastic bracket that’ll fit the battery box.

Going Through Our Project Car 

With our A31 Cefiro now clean and running, we went around the car to see what we need to fix. We noticed that the silver paint was flaking off while we were hosing it. JSK proprietor Johnson Tan surmised that our project car had a wash-over paint job but the surfaces were not prepared well, thus the top paint coat was beginning to peel off. We also saw a small dent on the hood, some faded portions on the top edges of the fenders, and some bubbling of the paint in the right top edge of the trunk lid. But it was the peeling paint that was drawing a lot of attention and it was making our Cefiro look worse than it really is.

Inside, the gray fabric seat material held up well despite being exposed to the local tropical climate for the past 31 years. There is a small hole that looks like a cigarette burn on the left side of the driver’s seat and the rear seats are not bolted down, but other than these, the seats are in good condition. The dash pad is not cracked and all the gauges and warning lights in the instrument panel works with the odometer showing only 70,919.1 kilometers. The LED clock on the dash is missing and has been replaced with a black leather cover while the plastic side vent on the top right of the dash is broken. The Pioneer CD player head unit and the Clifford alarm switch are the only add-ons that deviate from stock. We’re not sure if the tweeters on the far corners of the dashboard are factory- or owner-installed, but they need to be removed and replaced.

We Feel Blessed to Get Such a Lucky Find 

We inspected all the four door cards/sidings and found them to be good. The power windows of all the doors need to be fixed though, with the ones at both front doors needing the most mechanical repairs and attention. We were wondering why the metal housing/frame of the power window switches have rusted despite no signs of water leaks inside the car. Perhaps the previous owner left a portion of the window open when they parked the Cefiro for 4 years? Anyhow, the headliner is still intact and the interior light still works.

We opened the trunk and the fuel filler flap using the cable-operated remote lever besides the driver’s seat and we’re happy to find that they work fine. Behind the fuel filler flap, the original Nissan fuel filler cap still keeps the gasoline and fumes in the tank. Inside the trunk/luggage compartment, the gray molded spare tire cover and trunk carpet are still there, with a full-size spare and a scissor jack underneath. The rubber seal that lines the trunk opening still feels flexible and can still seal the trunk from the elements.

To add to all the blessings we received when we got this A31 Cefiro, we were happy to learn that, since the license plates were surrendered to LTO Agoo, it will not cost us much to re-activate and update its registration. However, we had to drive all the way to Agoo to retrieve the license plates from storage and start the reactivation process of our project car’s registration. While this is not the first time we bought a used car, this is the first time that we encountered having to retrieve the license plates from LTO storage that we have to drive two and half hours to reach.

Boy, we really learn something new everyday!