BuzLightyear

Sometimes wear in the bushes of the upper control arms causes this type of wear...

I previously posted on this type of notchiness.... What I did was add oil stabiliser to the box (Lucas recommend 20% if the gearbox is not too worn) and it smoothed the box out nicely. Others have used Redline Lightweight Shockproof oil. This is a bit more of an expensive way to go. Someone pointed out in reply to my post that oil stabilisers were just oil thickeners, but Redline is simply a thicker oil (80w120). Also, it was mentioned that oil stabiliser (Lucas) was subject to foaming, but at the end of the day, the quality of the gear shift is to a large degree a measure of how well the oil is working. Teflon treatments such as Nulon and Slick 50 seem to worsen the gearchange as far as I'm aware because they work too well, thereby diminishing the effect of the synchro rings. Try draining your oil and mixing a 20% mix with oil stabiliser and it will only cost you about another $20 bucks or so - definitely worked well on my box which was still notchy after a re-build. Incidently, I've heard from a number of guys that the notchiness is not necessarily a reflection of the condition of the box. Mechanics I've spoken to say some gearboxes remain notchy no matter how carefully you re-build them.

I guess it's all subjective.... I don't know much about cars, but personally I prefer the R32 to the 33 - it's 140k's lighter so really good in corners, and better on fuel. I also like the front end better. The other thing I like about the 32's is that they are originals - the first of a new generation and there's fewer of them around than the 33's. If it were my money, I'd get a 32 and over-capitalise with the money you spend on it like, cai, intercooler, wheels, suspension blah blah - make it so it outhandles everything! For me, handling's where it's at. I do about 25 to 30 k a year so I have to think about things like fuel as I have two vehicles to run. I think we need to think about how long we want to keep cars too and whether they are good investment. Take an HSV for eggzample. I know a bloke who bought one new and kept it for 10 rears. It was in really good nik when he traded it - for 50k less than it cost. That's a lot of depreciation! If you want to really keep a Skyline for 10 years, I bet you won't lose much money at all if it's kept mint. I happen to think that both the S15 and Lines are cult cars, possibly classics in a sense. I think the Skylines are technically better - Hicas (they turn on a dime) - double wishbones etc; it's a lot of bang for your bucks!

What I really mean is, check this out... http://www.ducatimeccanica.com/oil.html

Check this out. www.ducatimechanica.com/oil.html

True - Lucas and other stabilisers are oil thickeners (or certainly appear to be even though Lucas claim on the website that their stabiliser doesn't alter VI), but Redline Lightweight Shockproof is simply a thicker oil (80w120). There is nothing exclusively esoteric about it, and it is very expensive. I can't recall the VI for Lucas' stabiliser, but you could beef up a 75w90 synthetic with it to about a 120 oil simply by doing a few sums - or do what I did and just follow Lucas' instructions for a 20% concentration. It'll still mean you get all the protection and longevity of the synthetic and at a fraction of the cost of the Redline. Shell Helix 75/90 is a fully synthetic and is 'water cracked' so it's cheaper - about half the price of Castrol synthetic. It's probably a good oil but might not have quite the drain interval of, say, Castrol. As I said, my gearbox was still a bit notchy after the re-build, but is now so smoooooth, and I think it cost me about $37 for both the synthetic and the oil stabiliser. I don't know about the foaming issue Busky mentioned, but in the end it is the quality of the shift which is one of the main indicators of how a gearbox oil is working. Lucas is frequently used in competition. I'll be posting a new thread shortly with independant analysis of various oils in use (as soon as I find where I put it) which also shows that you can't believe didly squat about oil company claims concerning their products. I'm not suggesting Redline isn't a good oil, just questioning whether we need to spend all that money for non-competition use.

nag nag nag....still say we should leave earlier.

I think that was me.... My mechanic says it is not uncommon for Lines to have siezed filler plugs. Also, make sure the car is level - it is easy to overfill a box. If you can't get the car level, then fill the box to slightly overful, let the car down off the jack so it is flat on the garage floor, and let ALL the excess oil run out into a tray. Then, re-jack and replace the filler plug. That way you won't overfill.

I don't know if anyone's tried this, but I found that adding oil stabiliser (Lucas or Morley's) to my gearbox improved the action a good deal. Despit my box having been re-built (due to slow undiagnosed oil leek, not thrashing) it was still a bit notchy. I decided to try oil stabiliser firstly before going to the expense of using Redline. The oil stabiliser label says very worn boxes need 40%/normal oil mix. I tried this firstly and found it too difficult to shift when the box was cold. I re-mixed the formula to 30% and it was much better, but still a bit stiff for the first couple of shifts (I am mixing it with Castrol VMX80). Probably a mix of 20% would be ideal, but I'm leaving it as is cos it feels very smooth once it's warm. It only costs about $19.00 for a litre, and you only need about half that. Anyone got any comments on the rights or wrongs of doing this? I mentioned it to my mechanic (Gavin Wood, Autotech) and he had nothing against it.

I should be able to make it BelGarion - I'm at Nerang. Can I suggest we leave much earlier by any chance? There's a lot of traffic on those roads on Sunday especially at that time. I generally do those roads on my bike really early. But if it has to be 11.30, who am I to argue... Where will the Gold Coast contingent meet?

Also Mick Martin at SVI (Special Vehicle Imports) Virginia. I bought my car off him - he's quite a nice bloke and either might do it or point you in the right direction.

Mate of mine saw a WRX driven by a chick in Noosa with a plate WET02. I saw a Supra here on the Gold Coast also driven by a chick - 04SIN. Wonder what she did for a livin.

Ah, the old 'one point club' eh? I used to be in that club... really treadin' on egg shells innit. I'm in the six point club at present. I long for the old days when the cops had to chase you and it was a fair fight!! Now they're trialing spy satelite technology in Pommieland. Does everyone agree that the general duty cops are fair enough and that all those in Traffic Branch have various degrees of 'personality disorder'?

My mate has a stock STI. I have an R32GTS-t with a pipe, K&N, BOV and 235 tyres with adjustable sports suspension, and I think my car makes about 10psi of boost. His car definitely has more power than mine - he gets out of corners quicker and we have about matched driving ability..... BUT, in a fang going up into the mountains, he only made a couple of hundred metres on me over several k's. His tyres are stock. My car seems to handle better - you just can't beat the 4 wheel steer in the twisties. GTR? I think you'd see em off. (And by the way, he has 70K on his car, is onto his second box and the synchros are not so hot on this one either - it will probably need work in the next year or so. They do tend to have box problems.)

Thanks for the reply Predator, I'll find a good car audio centre and take it to them.

When my car was complied, the rear speakers were disconnected. No probs... I just used the front speakers and was happy enough with that. Now they have some base distortion after being used at high volume for a while. Have they blown, or has the DC amp been damaged by not using the rear speakers also. The CD is a pioneer fo some sort. Dunno what the speakers are.

I just went past a dealer's today; the last time I looked in his yard was about 7 weeks ago, and he has put up the price of his R32's from $19500 to $22000 (Wilson's Classic Cars, Southport). Of course, those figures are the usual trade-in and finance deal - not the no trade and cash deal - but they have still gone up.

Dare I say that's a good eyed Deer. (Sorry). Thanks for that - I'll get someone with a good speedo to check me. Ta.

Just had $1100 of parts put into my gearbox... smooth as now - knew it was a bit sus when I bought the car but didn't expect it to pack it in this quickly. Anyways, the fifth gear ratio is different - the others may be too for all I know cos I can't remember how they revved at various speeds. However, I seem to remember 100k's in 5th was about 2800rpm, and it is now revving at about 3200rpm. This is a good thing as it suits the R32 engine better in my opinion and there's no appreciable increase in fuel consumption, or even none at all as far as I can tell. Can anyone account for the different ratio? The job was done under warranty and the parts are new.

Yep, you're exactly right Gohan. My car is a 92 model, and it's a 3.5 grade. It checks out pretty well and looks like a good car. Only one problem - had a slow gearbox leak and had to get some work done under warranty, but I was told no-one could have forseen that. However, everything else is good.

I bought my car from an importer, but I was lucky - I lobbed there looking for an R32, and he had bought one shortly before whilst shopping at an auction for a customer, such that it had arrived the day before I went to see him and I got to see it straight off the boat. I think most of these guys have pretty good buyers by most accounts - after all, they buy so many vehicles that they don't want to get a reputation for buying junk. ALSO - MOST IMPORTANT - make sure they give you the Japanese documentation as this authenticates the car and probably helps at time for re-sale. Anyway, I got my R32GTSt with full body kit, 80k, 3" pipe and K&N filter, really good looking super wide wheels, excellent strut brace and adjustable sports suspension. There were a few shipping grazes, but overall this will only take a few hundred to fix. The body is dead straight. My base price was 15K plus $600 for a three year warranty. The dealer fitted new discs, pads and front rubber.

Mine does it too - just till things warm up. Gives it a bit of character, eh.

I had the same problem when I first got my car. Turns out there was a leak around where the filler goes into the tank. The mechanic had to remove the tank and fabricate a modification... I didn't want to ask him any more questions.

Was talking to a bloke named Heath Borissow who owns Shogun Car Co here on the Gold Coast. He was saying that next year when the new compliance regs come into effect that compliance will go up from about three grant to about seven. Heath says he'll be bringing in R32's, GTiR's and Soarers and that R32's will be selling for substantially more - he'll be selling them for about 22 grand. The same applies for the Soarers and others - substantial price increases reflected into the re-sale. This will drag up the market a good deal and augers well for you and me who are already owners. Am I the last to find this out? Has anybody else had similar drum?

My problem was that I had vibration and had taken the car to two tyre places to get the vibration analysed. Both said my wheel balance was out and re-balanced the wheels, but it just changes the vibrational cadence. I then took it to a place specialising in on car balance and alignment. This guy told me he gets plenty of people with similar stories to yours - spent hundreds on shafts and bearings, etc- and that in most cases it is after-market wheels (wide) and particularly tyres (especially Australian tyres) which cause problems. Some cars (Magnas and BMW's are very difficult to balance off the car) He did an alignment and found I was only slightly out, but the on car balance was a real eye opener. As soon as they spin up the wheel on the car, you can see and feel where the vibration is coming from both from the strobe and by looking at the steering wheel and feeling the bonnet. Mine was miles out yet had been supposedly balanced by two shops. All this cost me the princely sum of $54, which is why I say it's a good place to start as if it isn't a balance problem you will know for sure and will not be too much out of pocket.