BensDR30

Sorry we got lost at the start. It took a while to get going & we were still talking with Poida81 (Bayside-Blue S2) about whether they should tag along with the 2-week old... We then heard 2 different possible routes - and we chose the wrong one (it was wet at up at the Eagle!). So we went to Hahndorf and had some lunch before cruising home via Meadows & Blewitt Springs. Oh Adam, you better get that rear base-gasket fixed before Massey-Ferguson ask for their tractor back!

Damn, that's pretty piss-poor, I managed to drag up 126awkw on my stocker just after I bought it... Good luck with that, I'm having trouble getting Whiteline to admit thay have made an adjustable HD bar for the GT-R... But back OT, when I get my moolah next month, it will help pay for things I've already bought!

Where might you be located Dave?

I'll try to remember to bring a lappy with DataScan on the cruise - look for a Silver S1 with rego STAG34. I agree that you need to check the 4WD issue out before you possibly break something in the xfer case...

Try Grand Auto Wreckers in Adelaide. I'm pretty sure Anthony has a couple of HR31's there.

Yes, your going to need to elaborate. There are 3 alloy water housings on the 'L' motors, and they all come in different configurations, depending on what fittings you need. That is, assuming that you're referring to these parts in the first place

Hi James, Yahoo Japan via Import Monster would be your best bet I reckon.

You'll need to remove the mirror as well. Then you'll see what all the fuss is about...

Sounds good - a dyno graph with a list of modifications will be good to see. If you get a chance when you do get on the dyno, could you do a run at stock boost so we can compare it to a standard ECU S2 (or as close to as possible)?

Lol, one of those plugs was broken on our car too - I used to give my wife grief about how fast she drove it as the plug would always end up on top of the air filter after she had the car for a drive. (Or so I said!) Adam, can you post pics of the rust in your engine bay - it sounds quite strange...

I hear what you're saying, my concern is that the drivers' door has flaky rust on the inside a good 50mm lower than the 'shelf' that the mirror fits into. The repair shop that I went to were quite honest in saying that they wouldn't be able to fix it to the standard that they'd like. The passengers' door isn't as bad, so a repair there may work just fine. (I'm also going to get the roof resprayed, as it has some rusty stone chips on it) I'm still considering my options, but either way the door hardware will get modified to significantly reduce the likelihood of it recurring in the future. That in conjunction with the fact that it never bloody rains here anymore should do the trick!

Some time this year, I'm planning on replacing both doors with new ones - the price is higher than the repair/respray route, but I'm hoping that it will last better in the local climate. The price was around $650 each for new ones.

Quick clarification - does the C34 Stagea have the same strut tower fastening points as the R33/34? (i.e. does this stopper fit?)

FWIW, we have one V6 Adventra fleet car at work which averages 17L/100. Bear this in mind when you look at the consumption of our Japanese 1700kg AWD wagons... (We're all chasing more power & economy, but ~12L/100 starts to look pretty good when compared with the Holden!)

Keep us posted Jason. You have many people interested in how it works out with the auto.

SFHC is the paint technology used by Nissan in the late '90's - it's plastered on the back window of all Stageas.

I'll pretend I didn't see the Torry (even if it does look nice)... I bought our '96 RSFV at the end of 2004 (September I think). I knew of this 'GT-R wagon' thing (i.e. 260RS), and then saw the RSF review in Zoom & did some more digging on the topic. I was also looking to retire the DR30 from daily use (the attempted break-in at work helped that motivation...), and started looking for C34's for sale. I looked at one that had only 20,000km but had taken damage in transit from Japan (it also had twin roofs & a few other optional extras), and another that had more km but was pretty much spotless - complete with genuine floor mats. A week later it was mine, and since then has carried all sorts of crap It's now done nearly 120,000km and is the family wagon that my wife drives more often than I. It will hopefully get new front doors this year due to the OEM-fitted rust behind the mirrors, and some upgraded sway bars. But I can see us owning the car for a long time to come. It's proving to be a well built and reliable workhorse/sportswagon, so much so that we've even considered selling my wife's uber-reliable MY97 Impreza GX and getting an M35 as well as the C34... It probably won't be our last car - I expect we'll eventually wear it out. My 240Z was my first car & that's not going anywhere - it will get a fuel conversion if gasoline isn't available! But the C34 will be a hard thing to replace when the time comes.

According to Haltech, the interceptors are only good for fuel trimming on most of the Nissan engines (inc RB). So it looks like it's the locally made equivalent of the SAFC or DFA. I also noticed that there's a Malpassi Rising-rate regulator fitted in your engine bay.

Welcome! I think you'll find this board has the largest collection of English-speaking Stagea owners in the world.

N/A models are not eligible for SEVS/RAWS (whatever it is these days) importing. The models you'll fine in Australia are (I think!): WGNC34: S1 - RSF, RSFV (+ DAYZ), 260RS S2 - RSV, RSFV (+ DAYZ), RSFS, 260RS NM35 (S1 only, at this stage...): 250tRSFV (+ DAYZ), 250t RXF, 250tRSFV HICAS, AR-X, Autech There were also 'aero' models of most of the above. From what I've seen around, the most common ones are ;S1 RSFV/260RS, S2 RSFV/260RS/RSFS, NM35 250tRSFV, AR-X.

I did say stock. And it seems that it most certainly wasn't! But I'll still pay it as 'new'

I don't think so - from memory that's a Borg-Warner box. The RB20DET box is a good bet, it's got the double synchro's and is tougher than the 30ET box.

Those tyre sizes sound pretty small to me - a 225 on a 10" rim is an inch narrower than the rim. Now I know that there is a 'look' for that kind of thing. But for regular use, I'd personally be running wider rubber all round. A 245 on the front, and 265 on the back perhaps?

skybt1, might I suggest you change the drive in your gearbox to the correct one - the RB30E gearbox should take the same pinions as the old FS5W71B/3N71B/4N71B that the car came with. Dennis, if you were doing 6750rpm (as indicated on a 1973-accuracy tacho!) in a stock 610 SSS in 4th, then it must have been downhill (and you must have been out of your mind) I've got a 4.375:1 LSD in my DR30, but in order to get the speedo correct (within ~5%) I've had to fit the 4.625:1 speedo drive. A combination of slightly shorter tyres (225/50/16) and a 25-year old speedo have resulted in extra compensation being required to get things right.

Trans fluid should be checked when hot (i.e. when the fluid isn't sitting in the sump). A fluid leak and resulting low fluid level can cause all sorts of erratic behaviour, the pump (driven by the converter) can have a hard time maintaining flow. Then the converter itself might be low empty, which will cause intermittent drive. It all goes pear-shaped when there's not enough 'hydraulics' to actually make a hydraulic drive... Getting the box inspected would certainly be a good idea if you think that there's more too is than a small leak. Good luck