saliya

Hey, a) don't do that if you think it's going to catch fire and b) sure it was _glowing_ red hot and not just smoking/smelling funny? Most new pipework will come with oils on it and will smell funny/smoke till that's burnt off... Regards, Saliya

Pretty sure that everything Garrett will be supplied ultimately through MTQ (in NSW, they are in Wetherill Park don't know about other states). If you are a super cheap staff member you should be able to call MTQ up directly; both times I've had to call they've been knowledgeable and helpful. That should let you know what the 2860s will actually come with and what will be required to connect them to your car. e.g. the T04Z I bought came with the manifold gasket and the v-band clamp and flange (something that some other suppliers wanted a couple of hundred extra $$$ for). It's also probably worth poking around this forum a little for any anecdotes from people that have actually done that install. As others have said, it might be worth paying the extra $$$ to get a 'true bolt up' kit... fabrication and/or extra labour could eat up the savings you made on the turbos themselves if you're not careful. Regards, Saliya

The Gibson Motorsport GTRs had twin engine oil coolers, one in each front guard. I found that: * the actual cooler used * ducting to/from the cooler made a massive difference to engine oil temps (down from 130+ rising deg to 100-110deg stable) at the track. I wrote a thread on it some time ago but basically you need a good cooler (I used Serck Speed and had fittings made by Pirtek) and ducting before/after it to get the best results. The lone Just Jap cooler I've seen looks very similar to my cooler in design and weight but apparently you need to be careful of the fittings that come with them. Adding another cooler should be basically exactly the same as adding one; find an appropriate place, put the appropriate ducting in, mount the cooler/ducting properly, and connect the 'out' line from the first to the 'in' port of the second. Regards, Saliya

I have these same cams; yes, head clearances for the cam lobes needed to be adjusted (I use the HKS springs too). Apparently there's not room for the cam to rotate without clearancing. There are other cams with a smaller base circle but similar lift that do not need clearancing (the lobe's final rotating radius is smaller). You probably want uprated springs with any lift over 10mm but I'm sure there are people running higher-lift cams without them. Regards, Saliya

mine did pretty much that; fairly sure that mine were stock. I'm voting 'normal' SW

I have no pics, but to get engineered I needed a box; holes cut in the floorpan to permit the battery (not the box) to be strapped down _in_ the box; and a plate bolted _under_ the floorpan with matching holes to secure the straps through. Straps thru under plate hold battery down, battery holds box down. The lid just sits on and apparently that's OK. Used some big fat audio cable to go from the +ve at the front through the cabin to the back, no holes drilled to run cable. 100A or so fuse block inline on the cable near the +ve battery terminal. Earth found at back with short length of same cable wrapped in black tape and soldered into a big ring which bolts to the car. Hope this helps. Regards, Saliya

My T04Z did. Nothing else, but. Figure on a couple of hundred bucks plus whatever the aggravation's worth to you for water and oil lines, then take a look at Nengun or Greenline or Perfectrun for a cheater price on the HKS kit. Are the 2860-7 basically GT-SS equivalents? If I've done my currency conversion properly the GT-SS kit for a GT-R is about $A2.5k from Greenline... Regards, Saliya

There are no shops in the local area that 'would' have stock of such a thing. You might get lucky at Highlander Exhausts or at Highlands Pit Lane; I've seen a few turbos lying around at Highlander but can only identify those off a GTR There are heaps of shops in the Sydney area that would have a stock GTST turbo lying around from upgrades; they would be your best bet short-term. Longer-term, you might post an ad in the 'wanted' section; I'd guess that there are heaps of folks that have upgraded turbos that want to sell their old ones. You should get one for a couple of hundred bucks; if it's for rego _only_ it doesn't really even need to work as they'll only be testing braking not acceleration Regards, Saliya

Hey, With that turbo and a 4" straight-through I'd guess you'd be at about 110-115dB. That's pretty loud. You might want to have a listen to something that loud before you decide to do it; if you're getting a full custom system done you'll save a lot of time and effort (and money) if you decide on the configuration before you start They go harder with less muffling; but you can probably knock 10dB off that with minimal flow restriction, and another 8dB with only a little more restriction. I'd probably try to get it down to about 95 using the best flow-vs-noise tradeoff mufflers you can find. Below that mark on 4" I think you will notice the difference. No experience with that vendor of stainless. I think you have to weld 321 with 347 so that may be a concern. Heat wrap: no idea; I'd probably wrap the manifold but not worry about the exh. side. It's a _big_ pipe. The oval tube is for more height clearance - you have more width + less height used, but similar area. Hard to do 'the bends of your choice' with it though because it's indexed. Round is easier, and you can fit a round 4" under a 32 with 100mm clearance everywhere at SK's suspension GB ride height (minor relief needed when passing over the rear driveshaft area). Regards, Saliya

Hey, I know you said you're not looking for a quick fix but a sieve plate where the cat flanges are will get you to the right level and nobody's going to pick you up for being 3dB over without a calibrated meter. Put the plate in, get measured, remove it. Cheap. Nasty. Invisible. Easy Because you're at 3.5" you're going to find it very hard to shut that up to 90dB without a restrictor. The law of diminishing returns, and all that - you might spend a lot of time and money, and be not really any closer. Stuff that you can try: * go do your test on the hottest day you can; your car is louder when it's cold. They're supposed to apply temperature corrections for test conditions that are not 25 deg. but they never do. Might make 1dB difference between a 5-10 deg day and a 30 deg day. No effect on flow, no cost. * put a dump pipe on the outlet pointing it at the ground. It makes a difference; maybe 0.25 dB at the test RPM because of the test procedure. No real effect on flow, very cheap. * replace both mufflers with ones that are as big as will physically fit (you have room to go up a little in the middle; and a lot at the back). You might get 1 - 1.5dB out of that. Probably have to be custom to get the biggest ones you can. This will affect flow a little. Those three things might get you to 91-92dB. Other things that will reduce flow (and noise): * line the inside of the section just aft of the cat with perforated sheet rolled into a tube (weld it in!) - that's basically what an unpacked resonator has in it. Extend the perf for as long as you have a straight bit of pipe. This will have a small effect on flow and noise but won't make your exhaust lower. You might get 0.25-0.5 dB out of it. * replace rear muffler with one that has internal direction changes - problem is it will likely have to be custom since I doubt you'll find one in 3.5" packaged to fit under your car. This will affect flow noticeably, will be moderately expensive, but will look good and be permanent. * replace rear muffler with one that has actual obstacles (e.g. steel wool) and direction changes. When I did this to mine (4"), it was still too loud (don't have the number) but more steel wool packing would have brought the numbers down. As you've found there aren't a whole lot more places that mufflers can be fitted under that car. Good luck, and make sure to let us all know how you go! Regards, Saliya

Hey, You might want to visit a competent exhaust shop. 1) Proper muffling on a 3" system will allow you blat around legally; you will lose _some_ flow compared to a 3" straight pipe but the better muffler designs allow more flow for the same noise. If you need to add/change mufflers from remember that the inlet/outlet of the new muffler(s) does not need to be centred (see (2)) 2) If you're trying to stop scraping - first of all, if your car's dumped on its guts you might want to re-evaluate that Ask the shop how hard it would be to push your current system up as high as it will go without touching/melting things, and what extra clearance you can get by doing that. You might be able to get that 0.75" by remounting the current system. If you have to replace mufflers/cat then offset mufflers/cats can allow you to get quite a lot of extra clearance by rotating the body to 'where you want' rather than 'where it is'. If your rubbers are stretched/broken/wrong type you might get out of it for the cost of a few replacement rubbers and an hour of shop time. Even if the exhaust mounts need to be cut off/rewelded you're probably only looking at a couple of hundred bucks to fix it if it's possible (some exhausts just won't sit properly if they're too high). If the design of the current exhaust is crap (e.g. downpipe off the turbo is too long, causing the entire system to be too low) that _may_ be able to be corrected with a hacksaw and a welder easily. Cleaning up the inside afterwards, however, will not be so easy. I have an R32 on the SK Whiteline/Bilstein combo which is a little lower than stock; with a 4" system underneath including a 150mm cat. More than 100mm clearance everywhere at the recommended ride height. So it can definitely be done in terms of clearance. If you have other reasons to go dual ('something different', 'bling', 'something-else') or other reasons to go new ('holes in system', 'want new pipes', 'bling', 'something-else') you need to factor those in too. No point getting work done that is ultimately not going to make you happy But if it's just noise and scraping I'd go get your existing pipework looked at because repairing/modifying the existing system is likely to be a lot cheaper and easier than fabrication of a new dual system. Regards, Saliya

Heh; eBay owns PayPal; they're not neutral in this scenario. The gripe with PP at present seems to be that if there are any disputes or suspected ToS violations your money can end up in "limbo" (read: in an account earning interest for PayPal but not for you ) I'd rather see a 'rating-squared' trust system; where people's ratings are weighted by the ratings of others (kind of similar to the Google PageRank system). But to implement _any_ kind of ratings system you need a non-forgeable method of uniquely identifying an individual (e.g. have them obtain an SSL certificate from a trusted vendor like Thawte); and people just aren't going to jump through those kinds of hoops yet. Regards, Saliya

Awesome detailed response, paulR33. Should be in a FAQ Because Australia Post won't let you open items before you pay the COD charges, this is no protection against being sent an empty box or a box of the wrong stuff, or a box of stuff that doesn't look exactly like it did in the photos. It's only protection against being sent no box at all... Regards, Saliya

Heh, _I'm_ not going do that . But it's scientifically proven - the conclusion of any argument where one party just doesn't get what the other is saying is a comparison with or reference to something nazi. So I thought I'd get in first, and save all the scuffling (just kidding about the scientific proof. It _does_ happen quite a lot, though. Consider my invocation another form of cbf) Regards, Saliya

Hey, I'm with scathing on this one: If you told Slide that you wanted to buy a clutch for your Model T Ford, and the supplied clutch does not fit a Model T Ford, the clutch isn't fit-for-purpose under the Trade Practices Act 1974. S74B says that you have a right to be compensated for any loss or damage you've suffered as a result. This isn't just the 'honourable', 'good faith' or 'right' thing to do - it's what they're required to do. How much? How long is a piece of string? Did you rent a car while you were having the clutch installed? Take time off work? Lose a valuable contract because your car wasn't ready in time? Couldn't travel to an expensive event you paid for because of the non-working clutch? What losses or damages did you actually suffer/will you actually suffer as a result? "Reasonable" is probably paying for shipping+install of the correct part, if you got the strops and spoke to an expensive lawyer you could test the length of that piece of string. For $350 you (and Slide) probably don't want to get into that battle. The simple solution is probably for Slide to negotiate with your mechanic a trade price to have the correct clutch installed, then send them the clutch for installation at your convenience. Then you get what you want (a new clutch), and they get what they want (cheapest way out of it). If Slide's suppliers boxed the parts incorrectly; then they basically have to cover Slide's losses (S74H of the same Act). So Slide can pay you the money and claim their losses from their suppliers; whether they do this or not is up to them and does not affect their liability to you. Regards, Saliya

Not sure what your point is. A comparison between car C and car A has nothing to do with the comparison between car A and car B. ... Aaaaaaanyway, to save time, I'm invoking Godwin's law right now and I bow out of further discussion on this point Regards, Saliya

FFS, the difference is irrelevant: yes, it would be a pointless comparison. The gist of the post I quoted was "an R35 is as good as an extensively-modified R32 because the R35 is 'only' 4 sec slower" 4 sec is a large-enough margin on a 1-min circuit to refute that. After 15 laps, or 15 minutes of racing,the R35 is lapped. Clearly, then, it's not as good as an extensively-modified R32 (or whatever other thing runs sub-1-min times, there are a few). Nothing to do with the level of modification, or stock-vs-stock, or modified-vs-modified (though I can see from your previous posts that you think this is important). Just to do with "those times aren't really in the same ballpark". Does anybody seriously think that a stock R32/33/34 GTR would hold their own with an R35 ? I don't think so. Regards, Saliya

erm; not to say that the new GTR is a POS but 4 seconds a lap on a 1 min circuit is having bits of your anatomy that you might choose to sit on handed to you. They're not even "close" times. Half a second would be "close"... Regards, Saliya

Hey folks, Maybe there would have been more deaths absent the ban? How can we tell? The item that's missing from the inexperienced driver's resume is roadcraft - all of the what I would call good 'road' instructors (motorcycle and car) I have had mention this term; very few parents do (no offence SK, but despite dangerous_daveo's apparent vested interest I have to agree with him). The term actually refers to systems of vehicle control from the Hendon driving school in the UK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadcraft) but has been appropriated worldwide. How can we increase roadcraft? The fastest/most painful way would probably be to put them on a motorcycle for 6 months (with attendant increase in motorcycle deaths/injuries). How to increase roadcraft without the potential for death/serious injury? My suggestions: * controlled conditions with instructor to learn the limits of your car/bike and what it's like when it's not in your 'safe-zone'. Instruction should include emphasis on not finding the limits on the road. * simulators with real penalties for crashes (e.g. monetary, requirement-for-extra-time, electric shock ) * simulators with other people participating i.e. linked hazard-perception test (patent-pending, TM) * simulators with real world conditions (e.g. car doing u-turn / right turn in front of you). Regards, Saliya

Personally? Honda VTR. Looks like a Ducati Monster but smaller. Has all the 250cc advantages plus: Low-ish weight: 140-ish kg dry, a few kg less than most others in the class Not a faired bike: When you accidentally drop it for the first time it will cost you much less. V-Twin: They're torquier down low (ha on a 250 and easier to come to grips with than an inline 4. What you probably want to do is go ride a bunch of them before you purchase - you might find one thats "you" more than the others. Get your L's: try out learner-legal mates bikes; do a riding course that lets you try a few different bikes out; or test-ride at a store if you can convince them Regards, Saliya

Can't make a guess as to whether you should leave it as-is but: You should be able to make/get an offset muffler and rotate it to suit; it won't be _exactly_ the same muffling as a centred one but it will be better than straight pipe. Regards, Saliya

Hi BHDave, Calm down I'm guessing you mean "it's a tiny error, so let it slide because he's reasonable". While I'd agree that the OP seems to be very reasonable; I'd hardly call the statement "anything non-standard is a defect" a tiny error. It doesn't. My exhaust is on my engineer's report; implying to me that it needs to be there. Yes. They're available at http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/dow.../vsi09_rev4.pdf snipped. Not sure what the wheel size on my car has to do with my original post. My wheels are standard size; but I digress... I understand the limits of owner-approvable modifications - they're described fairly well in the relevant documents. When in doubt, a person can speak to a Signatory to get a definitive answer. Correct. None of those things are listed as owner-approvable modifications as of Nov 07. Incidentally, neither are boat anchors, pool filtration equipment, clydesdale horses, surface-to-air missiles... the list of "what's not on the list" is a big one I think you're missing my point, so I'll spell it out: * The original poster stated "anything which is not standard is a defect unless engineered" * The existence of the owner-approvable class of modifications refutes this statement - an owner-approvable modification is non-standard; yet it is also not an automatic defect. The limits of owner-approvable modifications (i.e. what's on the list) don't matter for the purposes of that discussion. OK? FWIW: I think that if crap on your numberplate makes it illegible, you should be booked... Regards, Saliya (P.S. I'm not even going to enter the discussion on people being defected for things which are actually legal; or _not_ defected for things which aren't)

Hi Brenton, thanks for your post. It's always good to see an officer of the law participate in a vehicle-enthusiast group. Unfortunately, your information is incorrect with respect to the 'nonstandard-is-defect-unless-engineered' in NSW. Seeing as you're a police officer, it's in all of our best interests that you're correctly-informed; hence my post. I refer you to the RTA's Nov 07 revision of their 'Guidelines for light vehicle modifications', available on the RTA's website. http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/dow...ns_nov_2007.pdf "Owner-approvable" modifications need not be certified to be legal. The document lists kinds of modifications that are owner-approvable. Airboxes, of course, are not one - but wheels/tyres and suspension (within limits) are. Since lots of Skyline owners get pulled over/defected for these two things, they're worth mentioning in the same paragraph... I hope you take this post in the spirit it is intended; and that maybe you point a couple of your officer mates to the correct information too (that will help all of us ) Regards, Saliya

Who is your insurance company? I'll bet their Product Disclosure Statement has words like this: "9. We will not cover any modification that is: • not legal; • not approved by the transport department in your state" (Shannon's) "You are not covered under this policy: • if at the time of the event, your vehicle was damaged, unsafe or unroadworthy." (GIO) ... if it does, and your modifications are not owner-approvable modifications (they aren't in NSW), a claim might be denied on the basis of those clauses if the modification affected the likelihood of a claim. If your insurance _doesn't_ have words like that in it; we all want to know who the insurer is! Regards, Saliya

Hey, Usually you'd want to be asking these questions of your insurance company _before_ you made changes to your vehicle Shannon's and Justcars will insure a vehicle with what they call "legal modifications". Basically, this means that any modification you make that is _not_ owner-approvable must be engineered in order to comply with the strict definition. Any mods made that aren't engineerable would be grounds for non-payment if the incident's likelihood of occurrence was increased by the mods. Whether or not they exercise the right not to pay because you made an illegal modification is another story... there are instances of people being paid by Justcars despite having illegal mods that _could_ have contributed to a crash or a theft. Regards, Saliya