Sydneykid

Following are pictures of some twin tube shocks, the first is a standard GTR front shock. Below the spring seat you can see the step up in diameter, showing where the ouside chamber is located for the oil displaced by the shock shaft. The second picture is of a standard R33GTST front shock. As you can see it has the same step down below the spring seat. Plus it has another step down, just above the mounting eye, after the full travel of the piston. This is used commonly to give the shock more length (raise the ride height) without increasing the shock travel. The third picture is of a generic Japanese shock commonly used in a coil over kit. As you can see it also has the step down in diameter just above the mounting eye. This indicates that, depite being adjustable, it is still a twin tube shock. Hopefully this will help you in identifying a twin tube shock from a monotube. Unfortunately some shock manufacturers don't make it this obvious. The next best way is to look at the specifications of the shock. If it doesn't say "monotube" then chances are it's a twin tube. Cheers

On the very first RB30E / RB5DE we built (5 years/80,000k's ago) we decked the block and the cylinder head to get ~8.3 to 1 compression ratio. No big deal, the blocks are always skimmed for the o'rings and the head to check flatness. I chose 8.3 because of the standard RB30E cast pistons and using 1 bar of boost maximum. Our later RB30's have all had 9 to 1 compression ratio and they are much more torquey off boost and built boost noticeably faster. Some of that is compression ratio and some could be attributed to the better quench. Which also helps with the detonation problem. cheers

The problem is Vlad you haven't specified what you use the R32GTR for and what your power target is. If you say road driving only and 500 bhp (320 4wkw), then $7K will get it rebuilt, add $1K for R&R. If you say drag racing and 900 bhp (600 4wkw), then $25K will get it rebuilt, add $1K for R&R. cheers

If you had done a search you would have found my AFM rwkw and bhp table. I assume by "flow" you mean "measure", in which case we have seen 335 rwkw (525 bhp) from a single Z32 AFM. Two would measure twice as much. When you did the search, you would have slso found that when an AFM reaches the maximium airflow it can measure, that's not the end. You can still tune the engine using the RPM scale, much the same way as a MAP sensor driven ECU does. cheers PS; its very rare to think of a subject on Skylines that you can't find the answer by doing a search on SAU.

Lets get the terminology aligned first turbo ---->dump .........................-----> engine pipe-------> cat --------->cat back exhaust turbo----->dump Now onto your questions, firstly the separation is too short. The purpose of a split dump is to separate the turbulance caused by the opening of the wastegate from the spiralling output of the turbine. By separating them you get faster boost build, quicker throtte response and higher average power over the used RPM range. The HKS split dumps don't separate the wastegate exhaust and the turbine exhaust for long enough, the pipes are too short, they join too quickly, the separation isn't long enough. The reason HKS make them that short is because that is the length of the standard dump. HKS assume that you want to use a standard length engine pipe, so they have to make the dump the standard length. Even if it is too short for maximum effect. The Japanese bolt on philosophy says "make a replacement part fit exactly as the standard part". Mechanics in Japan charge like brain surgeons, so fitting labour has to be minimalised. The better split dumps (longer separation) come with their own engine pipe in a kit. They have to as the longer dump means you can't use a standard length engine pipe. As you can see in the picture (previous post) of the Apexi long split dumps and engine pipe kit. Hope that answers your question cheers

And the answer is ......................... Spring rate too high, shock rates too harsh, unsophisticated valving. Second problem It's most likely too low. If it isn't ~350 mm front and ~340 mm rear, then it's too low for traction Third problem Still has HICAS. It's gotta go, HICAS is not your friend How are my guesses? Cheers

Here's your problem, in the Bilsteins you have the most sophisticated valving of any shock under $1,000 (that's each). So to get a better shock you need to spend at least $4,000 (for the 4). That's what Roy was talking about, you really need to go to DMS or Proflex to get a "better" shock. That's a ~$7500 spend for the 4 spring/shock units. For that reason I run Bilsteins in my own race R32GTST, I can't justify the additional expense. The spring rates are ~350 lbs per inch on the front and ~225 lbs per inch on the rear. I use a 30 mm adjustable Whiteline front stabiliser bar and a 24 mm adjustable Whiteline rear stabiliser bar. It does not roll excessively, it uses the full tread (even tyre temperatures) of the 245/40/17 Yokohama A032R's that we run. It has 7 degrees of caster and (depending on the circuit) 2.5 to 4.0 degrees negative camber on the front and 1.0 to 2.0 degrees negative camber on the rear. Height is set at 350to 360 mm front and 350 to 340 mm rear, so it's not low, that's the height R32/33/34 's handle best at. HICAS is gone of course, Whiteline adjustable bushes are used for caster and camber, strut braces front and rear and it has a 6 point roll cage. So my suggestions to fix your problem for a reasonable cost; 1. Upgrade the stabiliser bars, if you are not already using 30/24 (2wd) or 24/24 (4wd) 2. Buy a set of coil over conversions for the Bilsteins and fit appropriate spring rates 3. If you use similar springs rates to mine you will find that they fit into the Bilstein damping window 4. You can get the Bilsteins revalved if you want to use higher spring rates How much? A. The stabiliser bars are available on the Group Buy for $219 each (sell your current ones) B. Using Eibach main and tender springs and German made coil over conversion for the Bilsteins, you are looking at around $1,000 including set up and freight both ways. C. PM me for more details Hope that was of some help Cheers

Hi Alex, is that with the high flow turbo on? If so, this is what I would do; 1. Check the installation, make sure no loose wires or untightend bolts 2. Get the boost under control 3. Maybe reduce the gap down to 6.5 mm, if you find nothing else wrong 4. Regarding the plug heat range, I use 7's on tuned engines running more than 1 bar. Which would be the case if you had the high flow up to 1.3 bar and had it tuned. Until you up the boost and get it tuned, it may be better off with 6's. cheers

Try the your car IS better than mine discussion. BMW's have multiple stage ignition and injection maps. When you run it on 98 ron it uses one set of maps and makes X power. When you run it on 92 ron it uses another set of maps and makex Y power. It knows what petrol you run it on by the readings from the knock sensors. My Skyline's ECU is not as smart, that's why you paid $W for your car and I paid $X for my car. It has knock sensors, but it doesn't have multiple ignition and injection maps. So when the knock sensors detect 92 ron fuel is being used the ECU simply retards the igntion timing, a lot. That retarded igntion timing means it runs less efficiently, and gets worse fuel economy. So much less efficiently that it may cost more in lost fuel economy on 92 ron than the extra cost of 98 ron. A few guys have tried it and it is very marginal. All of the above is true, the BMW owners manual tells you how much power it looses using the low ron mapping. I always find it helpful to quote the actual numbers from the manual. The discussion closer ..........Let's go an look at your BMW owners manual and find out how much power (efficiency) you loose using 92 ron. cheers

1. Water evapourates, you need to look everyday, not come back a week later. Coolant in the overflow tank is a sign of NOTHING, if you have an air leak. A worn seal in the water pump is an air leak, so instead of sucking coolant from the overflow tank it sucked air past the leaking seal. You need to check the water in the radiator. The fast idle sounds like another, unrelated problem, fix the radiator and water pump and then worry about the fast idle. If it is still happening. 3. The water temp sensor only works when it has water (coolant) to sense the temperature of. If the water level gets below the temp sensor then the readings are unreliable. They don't like sensing air temperature. 4. You let the water get too low in the radiator, because you didn't check it 5. Yes. Don't worry about spending money on parts, you will need them for this engine or the next one anyway. 6. If you are worried about the condition of the engine, then get a leak down test and water system pressure test. That will tell you if anything is wrong. Mobile mechanics can do this if you are too scared to drive it to your local workshop. You are over analising, if you had spent the time fixing it instead of writing 3,000 word posts it would be going now. Get on with it. cheers

I made a few simple mods (mostly suspension) to my first road car and went supersprints, hillclimbs, motorkhanas, drags etc with my local car club. After few events I quickly worked out that I didn't know how to drive on a track, so I went along to a one day advanced driving course, best $200 I ever spent. Learnt heaps, did some more club events and won my class/classes a few times. So I figured it was time to build/buy a race car. Raced it a few times and worked out that I needed some more specialised training, so I went along to a 2 day circuit race driver training course,. That really taught me how to get around a circuit, best $400 I ever spent. At the same time I pit crewed for a few race teams, even a couple of rally teams and picked up plenty of set up tricks. The logistics of a race meeting, what and when to do things. I also did some scrutineering, it's amazing what you learn when checking a professionally built race car. Now I manage a race team, do a little driver training, suspension set up clinics, data acquisition plus write a few magazine articles and race very infrequently. cheers

The standard 260RS BOV's are perfect, LEAVE THEM ALONE. Bad choice on the HKS split dumps, they are too short for decent separation. That's why I put up the pictures of dumps with decent length of separation. That's why you have to buy dump pipes (long) and engine pipes (short) at the same time. Try and aim for R33GTR parts, many R32GTR parts won't fit. cheers

The problem is the same as it has always been, the EPA and the police are organised and car enthusiasts are not. Until we get organised we are always going to be screwed. Even in organisations we can't agree, there is CAMS, ANDRA, NRMA, RACV and every splinter group car club you can think of. We need to get together and unify all car enthusiasts under one banner. Then it’s one BIG voice, not a squeak from some mice hiding in the corner. In the interim, this is what we did at an event some years ago. We had unwanted police and EPA harassment for the first 2 days of a 4 day event. So on the 3rd day I organised a lawyer and a certified engineer to be on hand, stationed right next to the police and the EPA inspection site. When anyone was stopped they offered their services for free. They spoke on behalf of the car owner/driver. They argued the cases on the spot, they took photos and gathered evidence. We also had video/audio taken and advised the police and the EPA officers that we would be providing this video free of charge to any TV station that promised to air it. After it took the police and EPA 3 hours to finish the first car, they realised that this was a wasted effort and they left. They did not return on the 4th day. So that's my suggestion to the organisers of such events, spend $2K and get a lawyer on site with a certified engineer who know their stuff and a cameraman to document the process. It's your job to protect the entrants and the spectators at your events from harassment. Otherwise they simply won’t turn up. cheers

My 20 cents; 1. What's the caster? That's the important bit for turn in. 2. Front camber is OK, too much rear camber though, around 0.5 to 1.0 degrees negative is good for road use. 3. Toe in on the rear? I would be looking at toe out, for more response to steering inputs. 4. Judging by the camber figures, it's most likely too low for good handling. What's the ride height? Centre of wheel to guard on all 4 corners. cheers

Hi Andy, my 20 cents worth.......... 1. FR -2,13 degrees is too much negative camber 2. FL -1,14 degrees is OK 3. The difference (L to R) is far too big, it needs to be adjusted 4. Toe is OK 5. R34GTT's don't have adjustable camber on the front, so you will need a camber kit to fix it. 6. What's the front caster? 7. What's the rear camber? 8. What's the rear toe? 9. What the ride height (centre of wheel to guard)? More questions than answers, sorry. Cheers

Water pump dies? They don't all die using the same method. 1. Some wear out their bearings and scream. Until the aluminium casing fails and bits go everwhere, jam up the cam belt, break it and valves hit pistons. Very ugly. 2. Some corrode the impeller and slowly stop pumping water around. Never seen that on an RB. Mostly because the owners are smart enough to run coolant, not plain tap water. 3. Some corrode the aluinium case and leak water (see #4). Never seen that on an RB. Mostly because the owners are smart enough to run coolant, not plain tap water. 4. Some wear out the front seal and leak a little water. It is pretty obvious, when you park the car, there is a puddle of coolant. This is not so bad, as long as you keep topping up the radiator water. They will go for some time before the leak gets really bad and you have to fill up the radiator several times a day. It sounds to me like you had #4 and didn't notice the leaking coolant. So you didn't fill up the radiator. Eventually the radiator level gets so low that there isn't enough coolant left to cool the engine and it boils. Have a look at the tutorial on changing the cam belt, that's basically what you have to do to change the water pump. cheers PS; I look at the surface under where I park my cars everyday. Leaks are early signs and catching them before they get serious is a good idea. At the very least, it tells you what you have to fill up until you get around to fixing up the leak.

You cant really overtighten a D Bush, the bracket bottoms out first. The overtightening rule is more for crush style bushes where there is nothing to stop you. You can actually tighten them so much they push out of the side of the washer and split. cheers

Most of the pistons mentioned in this thread have different crown design/machining. Some are dished, some raised, some have small valve relief fly cuts, some have large ones. All of these affect the compression ratio. Compression height is useless without knowing the dome cc's. cheers

There is no one right answer to this question. I worked 3 jobs to buy my first car, brand new and paid cash. Modified it, serviced it, crashed it, repaired it, raced it. Learnt heaps, cost me a fortune, but I had fun. My son raced karts from when he was 10, so he knew how to drive long before it was licence time. We bought him an unregistered clunker when he left high school, we fixed it up and got it registered. I knew he would give it hell and he would have to learn learn some mechanical respect/sympathy. He works full time, so each car since the first one he has paid for himself, but we work on and service them together. It's good bonding, plus I know that he knows if he breaks it he has to fix it. My daughter goes to uni full time and lives on campus, never touched a steering wheel until she started to learn how to drive. No clunker for her, too risky, so she has a new car. That will last her till she finishes uni, then she can buy her own car. The above wasn't a predetermined plan, the decisions where made at the time. The only rule I had was they weren't going to have cars while going to high school, too distracting. Not necessarily the cars themselves, but the freedoms that come with self transport. What I have learnt is that each person is an individual, what works for some doesn't work for others. So I take every decision as it comes and try not to prejudge anything. cheers PS, look.......a whole post without using the words "turbo", "wastegate", "tuning" or even "ECU"

The bushes are tight fit, they have to be to prevent any unwanted movement. Polyurethane is stiffer than the softer, easily deformed rubber bushes which slip in and out easily. But that is exactly what they are supposed to be, stiffer, so that there is no lost motion, the stabiliser bar works as it should. Polyurethane is pretty tough stuff, don't be afraid to tighten it up, just make sure that you grease the contact area with the stabiliser bar properly. cheers

They will last about a month before they get full of dirt, grit, brake dust and water. Eventually they will start squeeking again. cheers

You really are trying to confuse the poor guy aren't you? I went to a great effort to keep it simple, and you have to go and complicate it Next time I will write 10 pages and really cover the whole world of possibilities cheers