Beer Baron

there are a few disadvantages. the JDM models still have some menu items and dash buttons etc in japanese. it's not a real problem though but can be a minor annoyance. yes there is 100% no warranty if you buy a JDM car. if you think the price saving is significant over an ADM car then personally I don't have any problem with owning a JDM. I have owned one (and imported 3) and it didn't keep me awake at night. you just need to decide how important things like factory warranty are to you. a good condition used JDM car at the right price is still a good buy I think. given the small differences though it should definitely be slightly cheaper than a comparable ADM model. they are a fantastic car. enjoy.

it won't fit nicely. serious waste of time. the cages out there for 2 doors would outnumber 4 doors by about 10 to 1, so just find yourself a cage for the 2 door and let some poor 4 door owner have the other one.

eps being a 2004 import and an 1989 model it would have been imported under the old 15 year old scheme which did not require 15 year old cars to be complied just had to be modified where necessary to meet basic ADRs and then be signed off by an engineer for rego. the exact requirements vary from state to state. you might have some problems explaining why the car was not complied in 6 years since it was imported. luckily for you the scheme still exists but in a more restricted format (no longer rolling 15year window, now fixed at 1988 and older) so you may be able to find people who still do this type of work and know what needs to be done to your vehicle. I'm assuming you still have the VIA? you'll need that at the least. As to whether or not you can replace the engine before getting it signed off and registered I would be asking that question of the registering authority in your state and the engineer or workshop who is going to be getting it done for you. you may still have a problem with it not being complied for 6 years but as far as I know there is no expiry date on the VIA once the car is imported so you may be ok.

the sad problem is a lot of that is driven by customers who want to save money. the price of compliance gets to be so low due to haggling by customers and competition for business that when they want to save that extra $100 it gets to the point that a compliance workshop just cannot do the work required for the money available and that's when it starts to cut into the quality of work and that's when you get stuff being left un-done. For the reason above I always pay fair money for compliance on any car I have something to do with. Part of that is because I have done work complying cars under the old CPA LVIS scheme and it was hard work and we did it properly even without having to be told to. We didn't have to pay big money for ISO systems etc we just did the right thing cause it was the right thing to do?!?! strange concept I know. Still people would come and smash us down on price and sometimes we had to take the work and end up basically working for free. little things like how you do a fuel filler neck restrictor (I know not done these days thank god). back then most people would just cut the neck with an angle grinder and then use sikaflex to 'seal' the restrictor in place. other places would just not do it at all (at least these didn't leak or cause problems until an inspector looked at your car). the ones that did it dodgey would soon have the sikaflex eroded by the petrol fumes and cars would leak fuel out of the filler neck! very spectacular through turn 1 at eastern creek... you would see R32 GTRs literally loosing litres of fuel each lap as it gushed out through the hard high speed right hander. we on the other hand would hand finish the cut with a file to remove the sharp edges and then shape the neck so the restrictor actually fitted properly and then remember to fit it the right way up too. we'd then seal it using devcon which is about 5 times the price of sellys "no more gap" but is resistant to fuel vapour and seals properly against METAL. small thing but you can see just that one thing cost more time and money but no one cares. until their car leaks fuel that is... anyway it's still no different to the rest of the auto industry or most other industries for that matter. yes there are some operators who do the wrong thing but there are also lots of dedicated hard working guys who are struggling to stay in the game but continue to do the right thing. as customers you need to ask yourself do you want a 'good' job or a 'cheap' job. you can't have both. Be prepared to pay a little more for compliance but it's fair to expect good work out of it.

I think it's just a matter of getting lucky. stores are getting them in dribs and drabs. it was the same with the ipad. I bought a 16gb wifi only model the day after release day and it was the last one of any type in stock at david jones (and just about any other store in the area) then about 2 weeks later I wanted a 32gb 3g model and had to ring about 20 stores and none had any of any type. I then walked into a JB hifi (to buy something else) and had already called them and been told no stock only to see a bloke standing there holding a 32gb 3g model joking with another store assistant about how long it would take to sell now that he'd bought it out of the store room and could he get any mark up on it... I bought it on the spot. I don't think you'll be waiting long.

yeah that sucks mate. come do italy with me if you can. monza is a rubbish race to watch on TV so it certainly can't be any worse to watch in real life! Should be a good atmosphere at least with all the Tifosi around and I will be wearing my minardi webber hat and hoping for a webber win. Brazil would be awesome I reckon. I very nearly booked a last minute effort to get there when schuey announced his retirement that year. It has some pretty cool corners at the atmosphere there would be pretty unique to say the least.

Hi Guys, I'm about to pay for my house and about to go on holiday so I'm very keen to sell some stuff. Dropping $200 off the price, now $3400 for the next couple of weeks.

Very keen to sell my truck again. It's been for sale now on and off for 2 years! lol. To be fair I never did really take out any ads or anything other than SAU. This truck has done under 1,000kms in the 2 years I've owned it. I've used it purely to move house a couple times and move some big parts around etc. I'm about to use it to move house again and now really want it sold. It has FULL service history from brand new. Is in outstanding condition, runs like clockwork every time I need it. The only thing I've had to do to is is recharge and replace the batteries I keep letting go flat from lack of use. It also has great aircon which is lacking from a lot of commercial vehicles. Don't know what else I can say about it. It's very easy to drive, just regular 5 speed box, nice power steering, has switchable exhaust assisted brakes too for when you've got a load on or turn it off when you want to keep the noise down. I really can't fault it in anyway, but I just don't have space or money to keep it any more. I now have 6 cars and 2 motorbikes and need to sell something off badly. Rego is due for renewal this month so it'll have 6 or 12 months rego on it and be ready to rock. ASKING PRICE NOW DOWN TO $15,500. You would be lucky to buy the pantec for that much, let alone the truck under it...

Hi Guys, 2 things are happening right now. I am about to settle on a new house I've bought and in 3 weeks time I'm heading overseas for a month. So if anyone is interested in this engine and thinks they can make a deal before the end of August, please shoot me a message as for the next 3 weeks I'm willing to talk a deal to shift something big before I go away as I could use that money right now. Not interested in saying 'this is my lowest price' etc over pms but if you are interested and a serious buyer send me a pm and lets organise for you to come check it out and make me an offer in person. I'm not willing to cut my nose off to spite my face but I am willing to take a loss to get it on to a new home. There was no expense spared making this motor and it has all the little tricks in the head and in the whole build to ensure it will run the numbers and run smoothly and reliably for years to come. Everything is sorted, oil surge taken care of, oil control done with larger oil returns, oil feed restricted, lots of thought gone into it's construction and every part is brand spanking new. Someone come and load it up.

getting excited about monza GP now. finally bought my tickets the other day so it's now all 100% sorted. I will be driving the nurburgring nordshliefe on the saturday so I'll miss qualy but belting around the ring in a track spec M3 on semi-slicks is too good to miss, then I fly out to milan at 5am on sunday arrive about 6:30am and drive out to monza. It will be super cool if webber can get a win. I've never seen him win a race in person and would love to see it while I can. Either that or a ferrari win. not long to go now....

ok, apart from V8 Super car there aren't any real circuit racing series in aus that have 100% full time paid professional drivers. most of the other cricuit racing series have pro drivers that are mostly unpaid with some of the top guys being paid. that's not to say they are not full time professional drivers though. most of them supplement their income with other work and where possible it's usually related to motorsport. many of them work as motorsport mechanics or engineers, many work in driver training and instructing, some work selling motorsport parts and products etc. that is how they make a living. very few guys make a living from 100% driving/racing pay. most guys even at the top state and national levels still supplement their driving.

looks great. it will be great fun at PI. is it going to run on E85?

well I went and got one on saturday. not much different to my old 3GS but I must say I do like the look of the 4 better, I do appreciate the improved camera (and it's greatly improved in shutter lag, picture quality, video quality, now has zoom, now has flash and now has front camera), I also like the improved screen resolution and quality and speed wise it's definitely snappier. I'm in the same position. I am also a bit anti-apple but the iphone to me is the best current smart phone in that it combines a great mp3 player with super easy to use features like email, internet, good camera, lots of great apps etc. it's a winner. love the ipad too.

since most drift events are run under cams and most are considered a 'non speed' even and can be entered on a L2NS licence you usually don't need any cage. I'm not sure if the rules have been changed now (there has been talk for a long time) but last I checked even in national level drift comps you were NOT required to have any cage so even a jap cage was ok as long as the scrutineer was happy with it and most were on the logic of some cage being better than none. but certainly a brown davis 4 point will almost certainly be cams compliant and then it's just a matter of the regs for the event you are entering in. but as above 90% of drift events don't actually require any cage at all.

just got a call from EB games where my preorder is. they tell me we are now getting the 'lame' collectors edition with no model car but it's cheap at about $130. signature is going to be $300. needless to say I switched my order to signature edition. yes I am a sucker for crap I don't need.....

post the pictures and we will see what we can see. forget about the clutch for now. that's the least of your problems. clutch take up point can be adjusted in cabin by using the adjuster just like any other car. hydraulic clutch is not a dark art. if your car is fairly standard I'd suggest buying a standard clutch to go into it. I'm sure many parts retailers will be happy to sell you a genuine nissan clutch and ship to you. yes buying a complete engine from japan is possible but it's just as risky freighting something from japan as it is from Aus or NZ or UK. I would have thought you would be better off sourcing something in europe. these cars are pretty popular in the UK these days and there should be someone competent there who can help. anyway post as many pictures as you can of the damage and we will try and help you determine what went wrong.

seriously with a $10K budget forget importing. buy a good local car. there should be some great 80s alfas that will give lots of track fun and plenty of series to race them in. or a datto 1600 or something like that. With your $10K budget you only have about $4K-$5K to spend on the actual car. $1200 FOB costs, $1000 broker fees, $1500 sea freight, $500 clearance and AQIS costs, $300 taxes, $200 towing. Those costs are all pretty conservative. so allow the last $1K for any blowouts. With the current exchange rate $4500 AUD is not getting you much yen. about 340,000 YEN. that will just about get you a banger that needs about $10K of work to make it track worthy. Much like aus good track cars cost a shit load to build and whilst they depreciate like all hell they still cost decent money to buy used. considering the smaller budget you are wasting a huge % of your total on stuff that doesn't add value to your purchase (shipping, fees, agent etc). If you buy a car here you can spend the WHOLE budget on the car. Another option I would seriously consider is a Go Kart. With a $10K budget you can easily get set-up with a great kart, some spares and some new tyres and still have some cash left to go and play in it. Proper race karts are awesome fun and if you really like it you can progress up to Super Karts which in most series they compete in are the fastest things on the track next to formula 3...

hmm you have a pretty solid point there. but god damn it I want all that crap. I just want to confirm which bloody collectors edition we get in aus. if it's the 'new' one them I'm going to cancel and just get the signature edition. if we are still getting what was originally promised with the R35 model etc then I might just have to buy both... bastards. why couldn't they just include the GT livery R35 model in the signature edition. that's way more "GT" flavour. mercs have not been a Gran turismo icon by Gran Turismo helped spread the word of the GTR to countries that never got to see any in the flesh. Having the latest GTR done up in GT livery as the model just makes sense. an AMG merc does not.

I would argue that point. I got an HD2 through work and gave it back after 2 days. I just can't go back to a winmo. the screen on it is fantastic but for clarity and 'vibrancy' the AMOLED(?) screen on the desire has it beat in my opinion. I would think twice about the HD2. it's certainly a very powerful smartphone and I had it on telstra and with nextg the net speeds were impressively fast for a phone but being stuck in winmo means it's a bit clunky to use. if you can compare the desire and the HD2 display side by side. I seriously rate the desire's display over HD2 (and HD2 was the phone I was looking forward to most). but now I think the iphone 4 display takes the cake. it's pretty impressive.

well I had a play the other day and I'm pretty impressed with the screen resolution. it's easily as good as the HTC desire which till now was the most impressive screen. also the 5mp camera with flash and HD video is very welcome as is the same processor as used in the ipad. it's a pretty good piece of gear and apparently the signal problems experienced in the just aren't an issue here in aus. the main reason i'm keen to get one right now is my 3GS is playing up a bit now and having been dropped many times is looking a bit tatty too.

so anyone grabbed a new iphone yet? I've had the 3g and I upgraded to the 3GS when it came out. It was a big improvement over the 3g that's for sure. the new one looks pretty cool. I'm supposed to be picking mine up tonight.

so the US collectors edition is still what was promised? with the GTR model etc? if that's the case I might get the US collectors edition and the AUS signature edition. cause the 'new' AUS collectors edition is shithouse. I mean all you get is a fancy cover, 5 art cards and online content that is lame. actually just reading it again it seems that is for EUROPE. so apparently we will stil get the collectors edition with the GTR model? I might get the sig edition too though.

cool, I'll be in japan then too and will grab a couple from the nearest yodabashi. sweet.

i am f**king pissed that tehre is no GTR model. also the collectors edition now sounds bloody lame. the signature edition though sounds ok, but still lame it doesn't have a GTR model. f**kers!!!

me sorry. sent express post for you last night. will hopefully arrive for you tomorrow. velly solly. (^_^) i will expect you not to bother reaching around next time you're in town now. not much to look forward to really.