Red Sky II

White Stagea yesterday turning off Mitchell Freeway onto Ocean Reef Road going east. One of very few I have seen driving around in Perth

Spotted white Stag this morning around 9:00am parked on Elder Street, Perth with its alarm going off - couldn't see any people around it when I drove past First one I have seen in months

Well done Brad and hope all goes well when it finally fires up and gets running. Been aware of the build up and your problems so it is good to see that the big day is nearly here. All the best

Cheers Jono for those suggestions Any recommendations on the order in which I should tackle this problem?

Thanks for the replies guys and it is now time to begin the hunt to determine the cause of the problem and then the fix. Will see how it goes but at least it is still driveable As for your question Brad, not sure as they just put it on the invoice that the "front diff seal leaking".

The Stagea has a vibration at speeds above around 80kmh. At first I thought it was a puncture repaired front left tyre but got that fixed and even swapped the front wheel to the back but it is still there. Wheels have been balanced by at least 3 different places now, so not sure what is causing this. It feels like out of balance wheels but have been told it isn't, doesn't feel like an out of round wheel (my Skyline had that problem). It is a very fast but weak vibration and doesn't seem to do it at lower speeds, that I can notice. Following a search of the threads, found this list from our guru (Sydneykid): 1. Out of balance tyres (are they balanced inner and outer? Or just one set of weights?) 2. Out of round tyres (easy to check on the balancer) 3. Out of centre wheels (do they lock securely over the hub centre?) 4. Out of round wheels (how is the run out on the inner and outer rims?) 5. Out of balance brake rotors (unusual, but does happen) 6. Worn wheel bearings (jack it up and check the movement, in and out top and bottom) 7. Worn radius rod bushes (you can see it, the rubber is torn and fluid leaking) After that it gets obscure, eg; worn shocks can cause vibration after hitting a bump. Therefore, should I just check each of these items in turn until find something? Further, during my 100,000km service, the workshop noted something along the lines of front diff oil seal leaking - is this a major repair issue or just a case of replacing seals?

Bought my Stagea for the same reasons as most others - more practical and useful. Did have a 96 R33 that was great fun, but coudn't carry anything (brief case filled the boot) and had no child restraints (got in the way of the speakers). Wife got annoyed we were always using her car as we have a 3 year old son, so when Stageas became available, took her down to see one, she loved it too and we got one. So now we can use eiher car and she likes the 3 child restraint points - yes more kids on the way is the plan. Our son was scared of the Stagea at first, didn't like it and wanted daddy's red car (R33) back. He even cried when we put him in it. Then one day went to visit relatives, so my car was it and after a while, he loved it. Now he asks whenever we go out if we can take daddy's car. Main reasons for the Stagea, practicality and useability something the Skyliine didn't have. Kinda funny though that at 37 this is actually the first 4 door car I have owned and first automatic (even though have tiptronic). So from always having 2 door cars to a station wagon - what a change Cheers, Al

Nah not a painter buy when I bought my Stagea the guy at Autowholesale told me about a painter who bought a Stagea off them, so could be him.

Yeh I must admit they do seem to know about the imports and have seen a couple in the workshop area. One of their young guys has an RB20DET in one of his cars. You didn't order parts from them but hadn't picked them up by late December - eg tensioner pulley? Web pic of my Stagea when it was still in the yard

Live in Pearsall (near Wangara) so Northside Nissan is literally around the corner from me. In case it helps, one of their service managers is the uncle of the guy who does all the compliance work for Autowholesale - Perth is such a small place.

Just wondering why those running 18" rims are using 235/40/18 tyres as opposed to 22/40/18 tyres that have a closer rolling radius to the standard 225/50/16 tyre, apart from the fact they are wider? Wouldn't the 225/40 have a narrower sidewall than the 235/40 - this is purely visual difference

Would be interested too, especially to check out Brad's beast Must admit I have hardly seen any on the road, maybe two at most and they were parked.

skidkid - Fair enough and probably the one I will get again Brad, nah mine is silver Series II but interesting to see a red one around here, will have to keep an eye out for it. Could be the one they had at Auto Wholesale when I was getting mine

Skidkid Just wondering why you chose the Formula 1 tint instead of the darkest tint? I have had Formula 1 on my last 3 cars and it seems okay but not very dark Cheers, Al

Do they have kits for Series II models (front bars at least) ??

Add me to the list from WA, thought I replied before but obviously didn't

You have me curious now - must go and check whether the car start whilst the horn is sounding, etc. Must be factory or using th factory key remote as that is the only one I have.

Thanks as always SK for your advice

Not sure if it is an immobiliser or not but I did some testing of the factory remote. If it is "armed" (closed with remote button) and you open the door with the key itself, as soon as you put the key in the ignition, the horn sounds and the lights flash. Must admit didn't try starting it though. There are some other things that trigger off the horn as well when I was playing around but can't think of them just now. Perhaps just try locking doors with remote, opening door with the key and try starting the car (whilst ignoring the horn going off is yours does that). If it starts then no immobiliser but if it doesn't then perhaps it has one. Would be interested to know the results.

I was thinking of the dimensions of the coils themselves in response to Stagezilla's offer to purchase his old Apexi springs as I have the dimensions of those springs. You answered the question though in a way with the bit about not being able to tell how much it will lower it by. Looking at pics of Stagezilla's car with those springs and standard shocks shows they should fit okay and reduce the height a fair bit but not too much. Do you see any problems with just changing the springs whilst keeping the standard shocks as I am going to buy those springs off Stagezilla if they will do what I am looking for - ie lower the height properly. Cheers, Al

Thanks mcnamg and welcome back to the fold after quite a while Looking at making some minor changes to it but nothing major at this stage

Does anyone know the measurements of the standard Stagea springs? Plus whether there are any differences in springs and shocks between the Series I models and Series II models? Cheers, Al

Mcnamg was this between 7:15 and 8:00 this morning as if so could have been me and yes it is stock at moment plus I bought it from Autowholesale over 6 months ago Cheers, Al

Thanks for the replies and that is what I thought but figured, no harm in asking anyway Have heard about cutting the springs bit - wouldn't even contemplate that one.

Just wondering whether you can lower the standard suspension as it is and if so, how do you go about it? OR Do you need alternative springs, shocks, etc to lower the car. This is for a Series II Stagea that I am happy with the feel of the suspension just want it to be lower for pure visual reasons. Any advice would be appreciated. Cheers, Al