Sydneykid

Let's start with the Noltec upper arms, Greg knows this, so I am not speaking out of school. They slip, they rely on the friction of the bolts (small) to hold the two parts of the arm together. Fairly quicky the bolts work loose from the twisting plus end loads and they start sliding. There is another design around, similar to the Noltec upper arm, but with a longitudinal retaining bolt and 2 nuts that prevent the halves from sliding over each other. 215 mm front ride height is definitely an issue, as you have identified. We don't have any problem with achieving 6 degrees caster and 3.5 degrees negative camber, using bushes in the radius rod and the upper control arms. Getting to 4 degrees negative camber and maintaining 6 degrees caster is tricky though. You can get more caster by spacing the upper arm inner mount rearwards at the chassis mount. The bushes protrude from the arms by 20 mm. So you trim 5 mm from the rear bush and use 5 mm of washers between the front bush and the mount. This moves the top mount of the upright rearwards 5 mm, giving more caster without loosing any camber. Using these sorts of settings will increase the loadings and cause premature wear of the upper and lower control arm bushes. No one said motor racing was cheap. cheers

I think the "white smoke" has everyone stumped. White smoke is usually oil and water mixed and evapourated. Usually foud in blown head gaskets (but the leak down test proved that wrong) or turbos (would be continuous). . I would check the colour of the smoke next time it happens and then report back. cheers

As with all things mechanical, there are patents and royalties involved. Some things are not for sale at any price, it's about retaining ones competitive edge gained from your own in house R&D. Personally I can't put a price (or a %) on response, poor response simply takes all of the enjoyment out of driving a car for me. I hate dowey cars, slow throttle response like vague steering and a lack of tactile feedback they all turn me off driving a car real fast. cheers

My 2 cents back............ Almost all of HKS turbos (Garrett) are ball bearing, except for the really large ones where oil pressure drag from the plain bearings is not worth worrying about in comparison to the weight of the rotating assembly. And, even then they offer a ball bearing option. Trust use Mitsubishi turbos and they don't make ball bearing turbos. So Trust have no choice but to sell plain beaing turbos. Mitsubishi are very good at turbo aerodynamics, but don't confuse that with the plain bearing versus ball bearing argument. While we are at it we should mention Apexi tubos, ball bearing made by IHI and Blitz, plain bearing made by KKK. By all means please think like an engineer, but keep in mind the commercial realities of the supply chain. cheers

There is a lot of discussion about whether the plain bearing turbo will produce the same power as a ball bearing turbo. With concentration on maximum power, when the real issue is average power. If the compressor and turbine are the same, then the plain bearing turbo physically takes longer to build boost. That is simply a reflection of the higher level of drag of a plain bearing at engine oil pressure compared to ball bearings. This means the average power generated by a plain bearing turbo will always be less than an equivalent ball bearing turbo. This same reasoning is behind the faster response to throttle inputs that we see from ball bearing turbos. More drag = slower response. The third issue is one of heat transfer into the oil. A plain bearing turbo transfers considerably more heat into the engine oil than a ball bearing turbo. This is a reason why the oil change intervals for a ball bearing turbo equipped engine are much longer than for a plain bearing turbo equipped engine. Nissan spent $millions working with Garret to improve the reliability of the turbos on their production cars. Ball bearings and water cooling where the noticeable results. So if you don't care about average power, throttle response, engine oil life or the reliability of the turbo itself, then go right ahead and replace the ball bearing turbo on your car with a plain bearing one. cheers

Not standard, it is part of the KCA336 Front Camber kit cheers

I have already sent a PM to Richard on this subject, to summarise............ Check the travel, the only time we have damaged a camber bush on the track was when the suspension travel wasn't sufficient. The bottoming out on the bump stop transmitted the load to the bushes. The next closest flexible medium. The old faithful "cable tie on the shock shaft" test of travel is the easiest method to determin if that is an issue. There is a limit as to how much caster you can run, the radius rod bushes in the Group Buy kit are pretty close to the limit when adjusted to their maximum positive caster position. From memory Richard is using adjustable caster rods with spherical bearings, this means 2 things; 1. It is possible to exceed the limit of distortion that the upper and lower control arm bushes will tolerate. In extreme cases, the lower control can actualy bind at the pivot point in the front subframe. 2. Any impact is passed on by the inflexible radius rod and transmitted to the attached suspension components. This being the upper and lower control arm bushes, once again being the next closest flexible medium. Double wishbone suspension in not like MacPherson strut, where you can wind on as much caster as you want. Distortion of the upper control arm has to be considered. What I would do to check the level of distortion; A. Remove the wheel and the shock/spring unit and disonnect the stabiliser bar links B. Set the caster and camber to the desired settings C. Jack the suspension up and down and watch the upper and lower control arm distortion. D. Adjust (back off) the caster such that the distortion is at an acceptable level cheers

36-38 psi, plus boost minus vacuum. cheers

We were very concerned about the unknown clutch. So he was more gentle than he will be next time with one that we know and trust. cheers

Maybe an ongoing thread for what happened to you and how you went last Wedneday night at WSID. Let's kick it off with our R33GTST. Usual mods, early stages, 10 psi, standard turbo, R32GTR FMIC, Magic Cat, 3.25" Kakimoto cat back, PFC with BKC, road tune only (no idea how many RWKW) using Tech Edge A/F ratio meter, Group Buy suspension kit, minimum rear camber. New MT radial street tyres fitted (another Group Buy in action). Set at 15 psi on advice from BU5TER (thank you). Run 1 SOSK did a small wheelspin warm up, "burn out" would be a gross overstatement. Gentle on the clutch, we have no idea what is in there. Gearbox has zero synchro on 4th and 5th, so granny shift required from 3rd to 4th Result 60' = 2.461 ET = 14.434 TS = 99.00 mph Checked the A/F ratios from the first run, everything looks OK Run 2 SOSK did a slightly larger wheelspin warm up, "burn out" would still be a gross overstatement. Little harder on the clutch, Still insufficient rpm used on launch, slight bog. Clutch failure on the 3rd to 4th gearchange, roll over the line in neutral. Result 60' = 2.099 ET = 13.780 TS = 96.53 mph No more runs and I got to drive it home clutchless, good training for when I get a dog box in the R32GTST. New clutch on the way and we get to fix the gearbox synchros at the same time. Lessons learnt try for a real burn out next time and never trust an unknown clutch. cheers

Based on 8.5 coils the rear spring rate is 185 lbs per inch (3.3 kg/mm), which is quite acceptable road rate. Many adjustable coil overs only adjust the rebound rate, that's the damping in shock extension. The spring compresses to absorb a bump and then returns to its normal height. Rebound damping controls that return. What makes a shock harsh is the bump valving, that's the damping in shock compression. The spring compresses to absorb a bump and the shock bump valving adds to the spring rate. So by adjusting your shocks you may only be changing the rebound damping, which has virtually no effect on the ride harshness. If your coil over kit has sperical bearings in the stut tops that will also contribute to the harshness, especially if the shocks have big bump valving. You could go for the Group Buy http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=85467 As an alternative, since your spring rates are suitable, you could get Bilsteins shocks (as per the Group Buy)and 4 coil over kits. That way you can use your current springs and top seats plus have height adjustment. The coil over kits are around the same price as the Whiteline springs in the Group Buy, so it's a zero additional cost option. I did similar for Dave last week, his comments follow http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...howtopic=114718 PM me if you want to discuss further. cheers

Speed sensitive shake is balance. If you drive along a straight piece of road with no shake at 80 kph and there is shake at 100 kph then it is a balance problem 99.9% of the time Load sensitive vibration is suspension If you drive along a straight piece of road with no shake at 80 kph, then turn the steering wheel and get vibration, 99.9% of the time it's a worn suspension component. cheers

I thought it was obvious, changing the injector timing (swapping 4 and 6) and NOT swapping the ignition timing means that the injector on #4 fires when the ECU is telling #6 spark plug to fire. I don't know about you, but that seems wrong to me. Logic tells me that if you swap the injector timing you should also swap the ignition timing to match. The usual question is 2 AFM's on an RB26 versus 1 AFM on an RB20. Simple answer is to just parrallel up the ECU inputs for the AFM signal. So the ECU thinks that there are 2 AFMs with exactly the same voltage output, which fine and dandy. If you use the RB26 PFC you can add an inlet air temp sensor and use the PFC correction map accordingly. My own RB20 uses an RB20 PFC, which is now used on the RB31DET. If pushed, I would always use an RB26 PFC on an RB20 in preference to an RB25 PFC. cheers

I would add that the standard change over points are perfect. You will get no performance or fuel economy benefit from changing them until the car is extensively modified. cheers

The problem with that system (50% plumb back, no breather) is the PCV valve closes under boost pressure and you get no crankcase ventilation. You only get crank case beathing when there is vacuum. This is covered in the thread links I sent you. You will end up with oil out of the breather system under boost, it will find the path of least resistence and leak all over the place. cheers

So you swap the injecting timing, but not the ignition timing. Is that right? cheers

350 mm on the front is OK, I wouldn't go below that for best handling and ride comfort. 340 mm on the rear is the minimum for for traction, best handling and ride comfort. For camber kits, please keep the following in mind when lowering yours. This is what is usually needed for each height increment, note that all measurements are centre of wheel to guard; Standard (new) height is 380 mm front and 370 mm rear 360/350 mm needs only the standard rear camber adjusters 350/340 mm needs 1 front camber kit and 1 rear camber kit 340/330 mm needs I front camber kit and 2 rear camber kits cheers

No that bad, 280 lbs per inch (5kg/mm) front and 210 lbs per inch rear (3.7 kg/mm), must be the shocks giving the harsh ride. Cheers

Too dangerous, they leak and break. Buy a winged and baffled sump with one way doors. cheers

Try reading this thread............. http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...atch+plumb+back or this thread..................... http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...topic=40402&hl= or this thread................... http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...topic=55083&hl= or this thread................... http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...topic=33330&hl= They will be more helpful when the Gallery upgrade is finished (hint Prank) cheers PS; the search button is your friend

36-38 psi Vacuum reduces fuel pressure for the same reason boost increases it. cheers

Heasmans ,Sydenham East Coast, Kirrawee StGeorge Steering, Punchbowl Cheers