Victory

I think that we are all very intrigued wondering what Duncan's new tow car will be considering that it will be a JDM variety. Could it be a Cima, Gloria, Cedric or even a President in all wheel drive configuration?

These are not easy to come by in white but after some searching I found one for you - here is the link http://www.diecastmodelswholesale.com/nissan-skyline-gt-r-r33-v-spec-white-1-18-diecast-model-car-by-autoart/

Welcome to the RX8 family. My daughter has had a Series II RX8 for the last two years and I have spent many hours during that period servicing and upgrading it. Dimension wise it is very close to my R33 GTR in wheelbase and track. The front and rear brake disks are also the same size as the GTR. They are a strange animal to drive with a 50/50 weight distribution compared to our nose heavy Skylines. Braking, turn in and mid corner grip is amazing it is just the lack of power to drive out of corners like a Skyline that they lack. The installation of a 20B would go a long way to fixing the lack of punch. In the US there are a number of kits to install a LS series motor and box from the new Corvette into the RX8 - that really gives them some punch. The kits are that detailed that they run the Corvette ECU to run the engine and then splice all of the sensors back into the Mazda ECU to run the dash and all of the systems. A friend has done this conversion in a FD RX7 and it is that seamless of a conversion that it looks like it came that way from the factory. Subscribed to your thread to follow your progress.

Please add Clinton and Charles to the list.

If you want to retain the original key combination in the new lock then take the new lock and your original key to a lock service and they can change the combination of the lock to match your key. If you have the key code number from the original key it is even better as they can set the combination to be exact and not just match your worn key, This way you do not have to change all of the locks in your car or have multiple keys.

What is the track layout like? The classes look very Sports Car orientated - what class would the Skyline fit into?

Good pick up Duncan and Neil. I also have been let down by faulty tyre pressure gauges in the past and I now have two - a digital unit and an analogue unit. I pump the tyres up with the digital one and check them with the analogue on - only then am I confident that the tyre pressure is correct. Tyres are just too expensive to run them at the wrong pressure.

I thought Neil's Avon's were supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread with their special break in process. If Neil is happy with the Hankook offering compared to the Avon's then they would be a great tyre for the money considering that they are hundreds of dollars cheaper each.

This is exactly what I needed recently to change the fuel filter on my daughter's RX8. Removing the cover on top of the fuel tank is a total pain to do and after borrowing three different version of this tool we finally found one that did the job. Where did you get this one from because it looks better design than all of them?

I recently pick up another Nismo Key to add to the collection at an affordable price. There are more available from the Sydney seller in Kirrawee on eBay http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Nismo-Key-Suit-Skyline-Gtr-300Zx-Silvia-Datsun-Owners-/281930600587?

All that I know from personal experience is that they are only supposed to vent one way and that it is important that they vent correctly. I had one in a Subaru stop venting and the steel fuel tank started to collapse because of the level of vacuum being created.In our R33 track car the cap started venting both ways which resulted in fuel covering the rear of the car - not a great look when you have the usual flames from the exhaust

The ones that I have removed also had double sided tape between the pad and the door trim. How hard it will be to remove depends on how old the tape is and therefore how dry it is. I have used a spatula to pry it apart at a corner and then slowly work your way across the pad to carefully remove it without damaging the door card. Be careful, take you time and good luck.

After watching myth busters I have a great deal of respect of air bags and simply do not mess with them - I am shit scared of these things. Tread with caution mate because we do not want to have to visit you in hospital.

Please add Charles and Clinton to the list. I am still having trouble talking the wife into coming along as it is 600 km and 8 hours driving for the day from down in Wollongong. I also hope we have better weather than last year as we were caught up in the "storm from hell" on the way home.

This bush pressing kit looks the goods and would make a great Christmas present (I will have to leave the family some hints that I need one of these). I have had so much hassle trying to fit Skyline sub frames and suspension arms into the press to replace bushes where this will fit in anywhere and be so much easier.

I was sure that this was on next weekend and was working towards completing the service on the Skyline to be ready to go and I just checked the tread to see that it is on tomorrow. Please add Clinton and Charles to the list and it looks like we will have to bring the Stagea along instead.

I used to spend 3 to 4 hours per day in the car driving from Wollongong to my offices in Liverpool, Parramatta, Ashfield and in town and would have to have skin cancers removed very year from my hands due to sun exposure. After having this done a few times I developed the need to always drive with gloves to protect my hands. The trick is getting the compromise right between appearance, feel and suitability for the task - you do not always want to look like a boy racer. After using many set of gloves in many styles I have settled on two options. Track work - I have a FIA approved set of Sparco gloves that have a nice soft feel and long cuffs that came down over my race suit. Street driving - I use a Ironclad AGT glove that is available from Bunnings. It has a soft synthetic leather face and the backs are black elastic fabric that moulds to your hand and breathes.

First reserve on the turbo if the sale does not proceed.

Thanks Eric I look forward to some pictures. It was running in the top half with a 1:22.3 when it was wet at the start of the day but when a dry line started to develop other cars could put their power down and we started moving down the leader board. There is no surprise that we were prying for the rain to continue.

Thanks to all the executives for putting on another great SAU track day. It was well planned to be following a V8 Supercar weekend so we had garages provided for most of the day. The old white "Sports Saloon" went well all day and we managed to bring it home in one piece. Eric - do you have any pictures of the white sports saloon?

Houston we have a problem ! ! ! After months of anticipation and a shit load of car preparation in the last couple of weeks (full fluid change, discs machined, new pads, seat and harness mounts improved and lots of little issues fixed including mounting a set of Pirelli wets on new rims just for the rain that is forecast) we were doing one of our system check runs yesterday to discover we now have a bearing failure. Unlike most Skylines with bearing problems ours is in the turbo and it is making a hell of a racket as soon as it tries to come on boost. In addition to the entry fee we have invested money in accommodation and van hire for the day (for all of our stuff) so we will still attend but will be in a hairdressers car (e.g. 4 cylinder daily). We will still have some semi's and wets to run on the car so if it is wet we still may be able to keep up with traffic in our respective groups. See you on Monday.

No wonder the GTR is now going so fast - you have Nigel Mansell driving it for you. It looks like with the new roll cage there is not enough room for Fatz. What are your thoughts on the cage - it seems as though they are made to a price? I asked them for a quote for a cage the same as Neil's and they have not replied with a price.

On line payments made for Charles and Clinton - registration forms now being completed.

A050's do seem to last a lot longer then A048's and still give good grip levels. I have a good supply of Ao48's from the V9 utes series where teams would only run a set for one round and then off load them as the grip level had gone away. Many of these tyres still have heaps of tread but have lost a few seconds in lap times - but they are great for track days. By comparison the A050's are kept until they are down to the wear indicators as the grip level does not drop off as quickly.