saliya

Thanks, Yes, this is the XTR one. It's not really suitable for a T04Z because it has the wrong flange (T3) and it's not split-pulse. You could put a T4 flange on it, but it still wouldn't be quite right. Either the other folks that have done this have all posted already, or can't be arsed. With so many opinions on it out there I'd have thought more people had actually _done_ it Regards, Saliya

Hey Brad, To summarise: Increasing master diameter or reducing slave diameter results in more pedal effort and less travel. Decreasing master diameter or increasing slave diameter results in less pedal effort and more travel. So you want to decrease the master diameter or increase the slave diameter to get less effort (and more travel). BUT, if there's power assistance, I'd make sure that it's working properly before changing anything else. Maybe the power assistance is working against you, not for you? Do you have a test procedure to follow? Regards, Saliya

Friend of mine just bought one; has not installed it yet - stock GTR size, I think. Cooler itself looks impeccable - welds look good, workmanship looks good, internally looks very similar to an ARC. Can't wait to see the results. Regards, Saliya

Update: Ordered 6boost manifold on 2006-05-17, quoted 10 days to completion. $1200 PLUS shipping. Received manifold 2006-06-02, no flange for wastegate. Update: I had to attach wastegate thick-walled piping plus the flange; adding around $30 to the cost of the manifold. I thought wastegate piping would be included but apparently not with mine. Overall construction quality seems very good; details of split-pulse collector show what a nice job has been done. Update: An entire weld was missed in construction (pics to be added soon) which I had to have welded so the manifold would not leak. Moral of the story: check each weld on the manifold thoroughly when you receive it. No, I have not contacted Kyle about this. There's nothing he can do to change it; and I'm not going to hide the facts. Hopefully the next one I buy will be _perfect_ Welds where visible internally have been die-ground; small internal steps can be felt where there are joins but it was not possible to get a die-grinder to. Placement of turbo looks roughly equivalent to HKS T04Z kit; interference with power steering reservoir on R32 is pretty much a given. I don't know if this is the case with the 'bolt up' HKS kits, but I had to move my p/s reservoir and hoses. I've also had to move the air/water lines that run around the back of the RB26 as leaving them there results in a lot less room for exhaust + gate. Saliya

Finally have some time. pics of cast HKS cast manifold showing cracks.

Anything by Carroll Smith is worth a read. All the books are old-ish... Engineer to win Drive to win Tune to win Prepare to win are the ones that I have (Screw to Win, or the Nuts/Bolts/Fasteners/Plumbing book is on order ) You can get these online at http://www.carrollsmith.com/ Corky Bell is very anti certain things that actually do work In Real Life (e.g. water injection, IIRC, some bastard has my copy of Maximum Boost) but it's also well worth a read Regards, Saliya

Hi Gary, As always, some insightful comments Why would we not allow for 100% duty when trying to calculate a theoretical maximum? For example, do injectors get hot or damaged by being on for more than n% of the time? Is it to do with timing of fuel pulses? Do they wear out faster? So in real life, we do not run 100% therefore not in the formula either? I've heard the 'leave headroom for safety' argument; but I can't see how it applies. If any one injector gets blocked then there's going to be a lean-out (because approx only 5/6 of the required fuel is going to be delivered, regardless of maximum duty). Or is this simply to allow for the worst-case in a calculation sense - i.e. most injectors cannot operate at their rated capacity and the 85% is a good approximation for the condition of most injectors? Regards, Saliya

See PAR GTR gearset PAR have a 3-gear straight-cut gearset on the shelf, when I spoke to them a few weeks ago they said in essence "give us your box, $4800, and a week, we will give you back a box rated to 750bhp" (their words paraphrased, not mine). They said they could make helicoil gearsets rated at the same strength; but that they needed a couple of months to do so because they were not on the shelf. Might be worth a closer look. Depends on the torque you need to put through it; at worst you can say "I need eleventy-bajillion kw" and they can say "sorry, we can't help you"... Regards, Saliya

Hi, I've posted the details for the folks that I used higher in the thread; North Shore Mitsubishi, Nissan Spares dept. They don't know me from a bar of soap, but they at least can get stuff for my import. They are very prompt and do exactly what they say they will. I've used them since I bought my first GTR about 4 years ago. Give them your VIN. You definitely want original (i.e. Nissan) synchros, gaskets and seals. Synchros are probably about $125RRP each; don't know how many gaskets on that box but on mine the gaskets + seal were about $20-25 all up. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you should not need synchros for 1st or 5th gears (of course, having said that, now your gearbox place will call me a liar ); but your price of $550 for 5 synchros is not really a horrible price. Bearings you should be able to get matched substantially cheaper from someone like CNC; have your gearbox place pull the bearings from your old box, advise you which ones to replace, then give you a price for those bearings to be replaced. It goes without saying that you need to have some kind of trust relationship in place with your gearbox place first (that is, you need to be able to trust them to 1) do a good job and 2) tell you the truth about what stuff you need. I got aftermarket bearings; if I'd gotten Nissan bearings it would have been a lot more expensive. Unfortunately I paid a premium for those bearings (they should have been around the $200 mark) because some people like to go out and buy 50 bearing sets, then wait for the supply to dry up so they can charge what they like. Supply and demand Links, Cost me nothing to remove and replace it; that's just getting it out of the car then putting it back in. Took about 2 hours to remove and about the same to put back (remember, I'm no expert, and by 'remove and replace' I mean the gearbox plus all the other crap that has to come out first/go in after ) Yes, the $450 was labour to pull the box down, clean all the bits, examine all the bits, then reassemble with the new bearings and synchros. The disassembly took about 2 hours, what with me interrupting and taking pictures all the time. I didn't see the reassembly. But I think the charges were very fair. Regards, Saliya

Can anyone see the stock power steering reservoir in the photos in that mag? Is there something wrong with my eyes (I don't see it)? Thanks, Saliya

Hi, It's likely that your 4th gear synchro is worn out. A new one from Nissan Australia is about $130 RRP. I'd guess it will cost about $600 to put that in (see R32 gearbox recondition thread) if you can't recondition the box yourself. Don't grind the gears or you will damage the 3rd-4th sleeve; and when you go to replace _that_ you will be in a world of hurt (you have to replace a whole stack of other parts with a RRP of about $2k). Regards, Saliya

Final costings: 2nd, 3rd, 4th synchros + gasket set from Nissan - under $400 R+R gearbox - $0 (self) New thrust bearing - $50ish New internal bearing set - $300ish (not $200, were unable to get from regular supplier) Workshop labour to disassemble/check/reassemble box - $450 Total cost $1200. I had hoped to get out of this for $1000 or less; and probably would have made it if I could have waited for cheaper bearings or got trade on the synchros/gaskets. Regards, Saliya

Plainly, we're going to have to agree to disagree (about the image). If anybody asks, I'm invoking Godwin's Law first Regards, Saliya

Like I said, the logic (therefore, the conclusion) is erroneous. The actual gradient (it's not linear, there's a much faster fall in temps after the coated section, but I digress) is not as relevant as whether it is the same or different at the same reference points pre/post coating. If the very RHS of the now-coated pipe was actually 40deg hotter before the coating was applied, would you not agree that the coating was effective? Without a 'pre' picture, can you say that it wasn't? No. Regards, Saliya

Hi, Boom!!! (that's tongue-in-cheek, by the way ) Thanks for the clarification; it's not apparent from the photo. This logic is erroneous. It can't be asserted that the 'after' is no different to the 'before' without a 'before' This is because you don't know what the surface temp of the coated surface would have been without the coating (under the same conditions)... the surface temps of those sections might be dramatically lowered by the coat. Maybe they were 5000deg higher Is this very unlikely? Of course. Is it impossible? No. The hypothesis relies on the assumption that the temperature drop on the surface will be the same right-to-left without the coat. And that therefore, as the temperature drop is similar to the assumed conditions with the coat, the coat is useless. This could very well be true - but it also might not be. Without a 'before' pic, we don't know this. Please bear in mind, I'm not saying that coatings work (or that they don't). I'm saying that without the control it's unfair to draw any conclusion (positive or negative). Regards, Saliya

Hi, Are you talking about this pic? I think that the deduction from the pic - "it isn't noticeably cooler where the coating is, therefore the coating is ineffective" - is hard to justify; you don't know what temps were_before_ the coating. What's the big lump? To show a change in surface temps that is attributable (or not) to a coating, you need to measure the surface temps on the object before the coating is applied; then repeat the measurement post-coating while making no other changes in conditions. Unfortunately, that hasn't been done here. Then you have to say "OK, I measured the surface temps, but what does this mean for HP?" The only way to measure the HP difference attributable to a ceramic-coated manifold is to actually measure the HP, then add the coating, and then re-measure. Regards, Saliya

Hey, Keep in mind, unless you dyno the _same manifold_ before/after coating, these dyno sheets won't shed any light on what's being questioned in this thread. If you receive your manifold already coated, the results are from manifold + coating change, not just the coating. And from all accounts the 6boost manifolds flow excellently. I've _just_ received my 6boost manifold (workmanship is nice; the timeframe estimate was way off ) and I'm still tossing up whether to coat it or not. I'd really prefer the coating to be on inside and out if I was going to get it done... but nobody seems to want to guarantee the coating against flaking off and destroying my turbine. Can I be a%&ed fitting it up, dynoing it, then pulling the entire manifold off _again_, sending it away for coating, refitting, dynoing again, retuning (if needed) and dynoing for a third time? Probably not. If the coating is worth all that much in terms of HP gain you'd expect that one of the coating vendors would have done a controlled test to document the gains their product provides. A quick look around doesn't exactly provide lots of graph evidence one way or another regarding exhaust manifold coating. Those dyno results I did find related to ceramic coating engine internals, not manifolds. Most of the vendors say something like "there is a noticeable drop in under-bonnet temperature" before/after. You should be able to rely on this. As for a noticeable HP change - still looking for graphs Regards, Saliya

Hey, Does wrapping have a downside (accelerated primary pipe wear, "too hot" for the primary pipes/turbo, other?) Regards, Saliya

Hi, The cost is above; it was less than $400 for the 3 synchros + gaskets + oil seal. Bearings are probably going to run me another $200 or so. This is all you should need to recondition a box provided you haven't actually broken something. If the gear is stuffed then you are up for big dollars (around $2k minimum for genuine Nissan stuff). This is because you need to replace the countershaft with the gears on it (pretty sure it's one piece), then 1st-3rd on the output shaft, 1st-3rd sleeves/bearings/etc. Nasty. At this point it's worthwhile investigating just buying a replacement box (they seem to be around the $1k mark) or if you're doing the rebuild to handle horsepower, investigating an OS Giken, PAR or PPG gear set. PAR have 1st-3rd on the shelf, they quoted me roughly $4800 for me to drop in a gearbox then pick it up with strengthened 1st-3rd (which essentially gets you 1st-4th since 4th is direct drive). OS is about $3k but I don't know exactly what you get for that money. I haven't spoken to PPG since $5k is way out of my current budget, and I understand that to go down the PPG path is more expensive again. Regards, Saliya

Update: new synchros, gaskets arrived today. I checked the old against the new and the new stuff looks correct. Assembly will be a few days from now since I'm still hopeful of getting a secondhand replacement sleeve in good nick. R32 GTR owners, take heed edit: I got my parts from North Shore Mitsubishi. Call 02 9439 3099 and ask for Nissan Spares. Regards, Saliya

Hi, First, don't drive the car with bits of metal floating around in the box. Sounds like you've blown the 3rd-4th sleeve. Ring Nissan on Monday and see a) whether you can get one for your box and b) how much it is. If you _can_ get one, then figure out whether you can strip/rebuild the box yourself (on my box, I'm pretty sure that was the last sleeve to come off ) if not, take it to a gearbox place you trust. They might be able to find you a secondhand sleeve for not too much money... Regards, Saliya

Hi, SteveL, No I haven't - I said that if I wanted a new 3rd-4th sleeve, I had to do a (roughly) $2k rebuild, because a new original sleeve requires the fitment of a whole bunch of other parts. You've contradicted me, at this point I'm saying you don't need updated internals for new synchros, you're saying they are required. To be honest I don't have the synchros in front of me right now; but I'm hoping to have them in front of me on Monday. Since it's so contentious, I'll post the results as they come in. When I ordered the parts on Friday, I paid under $400 for 3 synchros and a gasket set. I was told that the parts were in stock and would be shipped on Friday, and that they would fit my car. If I get synchros that don't fit; or a backpaddling story from Nissan, rest assured you guys will be the first to know. But at this stage there's light at the end of the tunnel for us GTR owners that have worn parts. Hopefully the light isn't an oncoming train Bl4cK32, No idea. A new bearing 'set' (ha! there's no such thing) for my box for the commonly replaced bearings is $600ish from Nissan, and under $200 from my local transmission guys. You should be able to replace most if not all bearings with identical or better aftermarket parts, and for less money,if that's any guide. You need to talk to a bearing expert Regards, Saliya

Hmm. OK, so I've pulled the box, but gotten professional help to pull it apart and show me what bits are what; and what goes where. Very informative experience, and very much appreciate the time taken by the workshop to show me the ins and outs. Just as an update because of what Amaru has added: synchros, bearings, and gaskets for this box are all still available from Nissan Australia or (in the case of bearings) the supplier of your choice. This information is current as of the now, of course but apparently the box is very similar to a newer Navara gearbox so I'm hoping that these wearing-out parts will continue to be available for awhile. Other parts in the box - gears, sleeves, shafts - may or may not be available. I tried to get a 3rd-4th sleeve and was told by Nissan that I had to buy new countershaft, new 1st-3rd gears, new 1st-3rd synchros - a grand total of around $2k. I think this is what Amaru is talking about. Thanks, Nissan, but no thanks. I think if it comes to that I'll be talking with PAR sooner than I had budgeted for Regards, Saliya

Hey, according to some, it's actually helical gearsets that have a strength advantage on a strict size-for-size basis - this kind of makes sense, because with a helical gearset there are more teeth engaged at any one time (which translates to less push on any individual tooth). But yes, at very high loadings the side loads become significant - so in theory, right at the top of the strength tree is a straight cut box that has no lateral loads. According to PAR, the 'strength' advantage of dog vs synchro is more to do with gear size rather than engagement method; the dog-engagement arrangement takes up less room than synchro, allowing more space for a wider gear. This extra width can then be used for either helical or straight gears... I'd guess that because they're harder to make, helical aftermarket gearsets have been around for less time and probably cost more, so yes, you're "more likely" to see a straight-cut aftermarket gearset than a helical set statistically. But straight-cut gears != dog-engagement, is the point I was trying to make. Dog engagement has the advantage of virtually requiring high-speed shifting - apply pressure to the shifter, unload the box and wham, you're in the next gear. You can unload either electrically (ignition 'blipper' or similar) or mechanically (lift throttle for long enough). I'm certainly considering going down the path of a dog-engagement helical gearset sometime in the not-too-distant future; I don't want the noise of straight-cut gears but I love the high-speed shifts that are possible. It will depend primarily on how long my current box lasts, what the service/rebuild intervals for the dogbox are, and whether I can live without synchros in real life Regards, Saliya

Hi, There's a heap of info at the PPG or PAR websites. In particular, have a read of the PAR FAQ A dog-engagement box has no synchromesh/synchronizers on one or more gears. Rather than gradually selecting a gear (and allowing the synchro to work) you basically slam the gear in as fast as possible with a dog box. This needs to be done while the box is unloaded. You definitely need to find out - driving a dogbox like a synchro box apparently causes rapid dog wear. You can't tell a dog-box by the whine - when the dogs are engaged (with or without synchromesh) they are not moving relative to one another and should be making no noise. The gearbox whine in racecars is created mainly by the gearset - most racecars have straight-cut gears (because of strength and no-lateral-load reasons, amongst others), and it is the teeth of the straight-cut gears meshing and unmeshing that makes the whine. Helical gears (like those in an OEM gearbox) make much less noise; and you can have helical gears with synchros or without (that is, you can have a helically-geared dogbox). A dog-engagement box will feel just like a box without synchros : ) One of the ways you can tell by noise is if it makes a noticeable 'clunk' when you select first gear from a standstill. I'm sure there are others... Regards, Saliya