Sydneykid

I've seen that on an N/A engine, especially with individual lambda sensors in the primary pipes, but never on a turbo engine, with a single sensor after the turbine . My theory has been that the hot exhaust turbine spins up the unatomised fuel, so it becomes atomised and hence shows up as richness on the F&W lambda sensor. Maybe I've just been lucky. Pretty soon we will all be running on E85 and then it won't matter what the injector spray pattern is like, ethanol has such superior atomisation. Cheers Gary

Keeping in mind that the movement and leverage ratios are the same front and rear, for a car with 65/35 front rear weight distribution does it really make sense to have 50/50 spring rates? Think about what that means. Simplistically, for the same sized bump the front spring is going to compress ~50% more than the rear spring, how do you think that is going to affect the ride and handling? Cheers Gary

I'm here, for an R33GTST 27mm front and either 22mm or 24mm rear is the go, depending on power and tyres. PM me if you want more details and/or explanations. Cheers Gary

Ain't that the truth, it took me 2 whole days fit the OMP side mount when I did it originally 3 years ago and I'm still not happy, could be lower. Cheers Gary

Other than RB30DET's, I have never ever used anything other than a standard Nissan timing belt on an RB.

I haven't tested it on the Stagea, but I have tested it on a number of RB25DET's in other cars with GCG high flows. The -4 degrees is the most common setting for improved reponse, slightly faster boost build and slighty more power from around 3000 rpm to 5000 rpm. Of course you get nothing for nothing, so there is a slight loss of power from 5500 rpm to 7250 rpm. So the setting is dependant of what you want to achieve and it does vary sometimes from engine to engine. As always I would treat the -4 as a place to start, then tune from there. Cheers Gary

Cam bearings? Cheers Gary

Simple questions, very hard to answer. The difficult question is always knowing when to stop, when is there enough protection for the type of event you are running in? The obvious answer for some is the best cage money can buy, you only have one life after all, so a full on V8SuperCar style cage is the go. But do you need that level of protection in your events? The next question is how long are you going to keep the car and do you want to sell it with or without "motorsport" heritage? Lastly the budgt has to be considered, maybe not lastly, perhaps it should be first. A weld in cage will cost a whole heap more than a bolt in plus it's not that easy to remove if obvious "motorsport" heritage lowers the car's selling price too much. Plus a bolt in cage can always be sold, they go very quickly. On the other hand if you are looking to improve the performane of the car with a roll cage adding to its rigidity, then a weld in is the go. Powder coating a weld in is rather difficult. so that question only applies if you choose a bolt in. Powder coating is great, but the truth is you will be padding most of the areas that get scratched in normal use. The reality is you need to ask yourself the questions, with true answers the path will be obvious. Cheers Gary

Hi Paul, how confident are you in the plug wiring for the RB20DET AFM on your web site? RB20 AFM Nissan Skyline R32 Wire A - Not Connected Wire B - Signal Wire C - 12v Ground Wire D - Signal Ground Wire E - 12v Power Mine, a 1990 R32GTST, seems to be; Wire A - Not Connected Wire B - Signal Ground = black Wire C - 12v Ground = black Wire D - Signal = white Wire E - 12v Power = black with white stripe Cheers Gary

Hi Paul, how confident are you in the plug wiring for the RB20DET AFM on your web site? RB20 AFM Nissan Skyline R32 Wire A - Not Connected Wire B - Signal Wire C - 12v Ground Wire D - Signal Ground Wire E - 12v Power Mine, a 1990 R32GTST, seems to be; Wire A - Not Connected Wire B - Signal Ground = black Wire C - 12v Ground = black Wire D - Signal = white Wire E - 12v Power = black with white stripe Cheers Gary

Your right, I'm wrong, I should stop doing things from memory. Cheers Gary

You can never have too much caster on an R32/33/34. So the limitations are purely physical, drive shaft angle, upper control arm distortion (particularly on R32's) and the wheels hitting the back of the head lights. Around 4 degrees is probably the most you are going to get due to those factors. Cheers Gary

In NSW they can only crush the car if it's owned only by the driver who committed the offence, that's why all of my cars are in joint names. Plus finance companies, including banks, have mounted legal arguments that their percuniary interests can't be put aside by the actions of a driver. That's why so few cars have actually been crushed. Legally I would be very surprised if Ateco doesn't put forward a case to get their car back straight away. They shouldn't be commercially penalised for the actions of someone else. Cheers Gary BTW; the alleged offence occured "in the West Australian wheatbelt"

Looks like it. From memory there are 48 teeth on the camshaft pulleys, so 3.75 cranksahft degrees = 1 camshaft pulley tooth. Correcting 5 degrees will be tricky without adj camshaft pulleys. You could step one camshaft pulley tooth, then it will only be 1.25 degrees out. Cheers Gary

The problem is the baffling inside the cam covers is not up to the task when we introduce the level and variety of G forces we encounter. In some classes of racing we are not allowed to change the standard baffling (ie; Combined Touring which Duncan races in). But the layout and design of catch cans is always free. Since we can't fix it inside the engine, we do it outside. I actually enjoy a good debate because I always learn something and I certainly don't consider a good quality debate arguing. What I do not like is people playing the man not the topic. Cheers Gary

This is important, if you are looking straight down, lining up the cover timing mark and the balancer mark it will look like it's 5 degrees out. You have to have your head over near the airfilter box. the timing mark on the cam belt cover is not a simple dot, it's a straight line and you have to look along that line, not across it. Cheers Gary

Please Paul, help me out here with what that actually achieves? I set the cams at a perfect 0 then I stick the car on the dyno and move the cam timing around till I get the desired result. So why does it matter where I started from (perfect 0) when all that I am interested in is getting the power curve on the dyno that I want? I can understand the process for a control engine, say Formual Ford or Formula 3, where it is important to precisely duplicate the desired cam timing. But the reason for spending time so much time and effort getting it perfect only to go and change it escapes me. Cheers Gary

Before I get into reply mode, you're not wrong in what you say. But your aren't looking at the complete picture. It's not just blow by, in fact almost none of it is blow by. There is some unavoidable oil surge in the cylinder head due to the G forces, that's why we separate the oil from the fumes in the catch can system. Remember we are separating fumes from liquid, that's what a decent catch can system does, and the fumes go out the catch can filter. Plus we aren't tallking about a fumey 200,000 k road engine here, its a fresh race engine with less than 5% leak down. The catch can in my engine bay is actually quite warm, around engine water temperature (85 to 95 degrees) for the front mounted one and a little warmer for the other cars where it is nearer/above the exhaust. Tell me what the difference is between what you have described above and a dry sump scavenge system? Except one goes to dry sump tank, in the boot in our case, so it is most definitly colder than an underbonnet catch can. There isn't a lot of unburn fuel in the oil of a race engine. If there is, then there is either a problem (leaking injector for example) or the tune is way off. Quite simply it's not garbage. You can wager all you like, I prefer to get the oil tested for hydrocarbons. Plus race fuel, say Elf TurboEvo (nee TurboMax) has 50% distillation at 100 degrees c. Which is below engine oil internal operating temperatures. In conclusion, think about a negative crank case pressure dry sump system used in many race cars and what over scavenging means to you thoughts above. Any vapours in the engine are most certainly pumped to the dry sum tank, what stays as vapours flow out to the catch can. What condenses stay in the dry sump tank and goes back in to the engine. Exaclty the same process as I have used. Cheers Gary

It’s not the actual driving time in a race seat that’s the problem, if you are not comfortable for 6 hours then it doesn’t fit you properly. The killer is getting in and out of a decent race seat, it’s a snug fit, it should mean a squeeze on the hips and torso, so you can’t just jump in and out easily like a road seat. Unathletic guys like me can't anyway. So if you, say, get in and drive straight to Winton, then that’s shouldn’t be problem at all. But if you get in and out for breakfast, fill up with fuel, morning tea, find a tree to take a leak etc, then it will drive you crazy. There are a couple of guys I know, brothers, who compete 4 or 5 times a year and they do a full car preparation the day/night before a track day. Change seat, harness, brake pads, swaybar settings, camber, fit the R type tyres, jerry cans in the boot, bleed the brakes etc. They’ve got it down to a fine art, takes them about an hour and a half to get the car ready. One of them drives the car every day to work, so that’s their process, has been for years. Cheers Gary

Leaving out safety for minute, I've actualy found faster lap times from having a rigid seat that passes on the feel of what the chassis is doing. Plus a properly fitting seat with a 6 point harness means the body isn't moving around with the G forces so the limbs, feet and hands can do their thing freely, without having to also hold the body still. Safety wise, I don't think a GTR seat is unsafe, but a properly fitted race seat is most certainly going to result in less injuries in a big one. There are a few guys I know who change their seat for track days, if you are only doing 3 or 4 a year it's not a big task. If you are doing 8 or 10 then that's a different story, it gets a bit tedious. Much like swapping, harness, tyres, brake pads etc. Cheers Gary

In long races returning the oil to sump makes sense. Tell me what is the difference between oil in the catch can and oil in the sump? If the oil in the sump has fuel vapour in it, then the oil in the catch can will have less, because it has been aerated on its way from the cam covers to the catch can. So if there is fuel vapour problem in the catch can return then then is an even bigger problem with the oil already in the sump. I don't see any difference between what's in the catch can and what the dry sump scavenge stage from the cam covers picks up. And that's returned to the dry sump tank and reused. So why are the catch can returns any different? My response was regarding race cars, contamination and oil changes and I replied about race cars, race car oil contamination and race car oil changes, the average street/strip guy has different requirements, different set ups and different skill sets. Cheers Gary

Generally with Poncams the 0/0 ends up being the best all round position. The -2/+4 ends up with slightly more torque due to slightly more boost at slightly lower rpm. Note the multiple use of the word "slightly", it's generaly not dramatic, but it is noticeable. Of course you get nothing for nothing, you will sacrifice a slight (that word again) amount of top end. Cheers Gary

Well said, couldn't agree more. Cheers Gary

It's not that complicated; I only use Castrol oils and lubricants (mentioned in any of my previous posts whenever lubricants are discussed) I'm talking about the race cars, mine and others that I look after, not road cars. My race engines don't have blowby, as I would expect all race engines don't. I have always recycled the oil from the catch can, generally via the dip stick tube (refer to previous posts in this thread). My catch can system is filtered. Even when I used petrol (ie; Pump 98 or Efl LMS or Elf Turbo Max) I didn't change the oil every race meeting, haven't for many years. After up to 3 race meetings the oil showed no meaningful contamination (ie; as tested by Castrol Technical), that's carbon, petrol, water, coolant, bearing material, piston alloy or dust/dirt. The highest contaminent was petrol, and even that was mild, usually due to cold start and run enrichment rather than blow by (ie; it wouldn't be unburnt petrol if it was caused by blow by). Now I use ethanol, so the "every 4th race meeting oil change" is even more stretched, I reckon I will get a whole race season (ie; 8 meetings) before I need to change the oil. Obviously I will confirm this with further oil testing. There is usually 4 to 6 weeks between race meetings, so plenty of time to have the 4 or 5 cars oil samples checked ie; not a full sump of oil, around 100 to 200 mls is plenty, if it's OK leave it in, if not change it. Obviously oil testing shows up all sorts of other issues, like bearing wear, piston skirt damage, excessively rich mixtures in engines and other wearing components in gearboxes and diffs when you test their oil. Did that help? Cheers Gary

A rear strut brace on an R33/34 is a waste of time, achieves nothing. Cheers Gary