JimX

If the crap is on the inside you will have to pull them apart, which is a real bitch. And then use sealant to put them back together again afterwards, which is also a real bitch. My sympathies for anyone with clouded lenses from the inside. Autosol also works pretty good on dirty lenses.

There is nothing wrong with other cars like Evos out there. But you must have noticed the harsh interior and ride quality in that car. It was built as a racing car and not a grand tourer.

I have a few things to say about Commodores, having owned 2 VS's over a period of 5 years. Firstly, this thing about "improved build quality" on new models is something I've heard about ever since the VN, which is when I first started paying attention to cars. Basically what happens is new model Commodore comes out, then everyone goes "Oh look! The build quality is so much better than the previous model!" Well, can you figure out why? It's because they are comparing a brand new car to one that's 2-3 years old. Of course it's going to be better! Same goes for handling, power, space, etc. After a few years people start to realise which models actually better. For example, the VN when new was touted as being superior in every way to the VL. But after a few years, you could tell that the VL's were generally better cars, more structurally sound, better power:weight, turbo option, etc. I also believe that the VS is mostly a better car than the VT. That said, I don't think their build quality is too bad. The V6 and old Holden V8 leak oil like a sieve, but as far as reliability and functionality are concerned, I never had an issue. My friend's old VT Berlina's door rubbers creaked when he went around corners due to body flex, but it was otherwise a good car with over 100k km on the dial. Anyway, re: R33 vs a new HSV. I think the HSV will generally hammer a stock R33. But put in a little bit of money and effort and I think the R33 will come out on top again. If you don't want to spend any money then just swallow your pride and feel good that you have a much sexier car that cost $30k less than his

For a start, 350rwhp is pushing the limits of what is safe for the stock engine internals, so I would either be rebuilding the engine with forgies or reducing your power goals slightly. Secondly, for anything around or under this amount of power I would think an S-AFC would be an excellent intial upgrade. You should get 20-30rwkw more power over the stock ECU with the rest of the work done. I had one until recently and was mostly happy, though power started to dip once I got above 160rwkw for reasons unknown. I still managed to max out the fuel system, just power delivery above 5000rpm dipped and surged twice before redline. I thought a PowerFC would be able to fix it so I sold the S-AFC, but while pulling everything out I discovered that my Fuel Cut Defender (which came with the car) was not hooked up at all! So now I'm thinking it would have been fine if only I had it hooked up all along. Yes the PowerFC is definitely a better solution, but costing a grand more than the S-AFC, you have to work out if it's worth the extra money. I could have kept my car the way it was and saved $1000, and it still would have been pretty good if not perfect. An extra 30rwkw is nothing to be sneezed at. I don't expect much more power from the PowerFC, but I do expect it to be smooth out the power curve. The only reason I decided to do this upgrade is because I sold some bit of my old PC and my old phone and put the money towards it along with the S-AFC sale. If I just had the S-AFC sale to fund the upgrade I would have held off for a lot longer. My advice (and I've said it before) for when you're on a tight budget is to buy a second hand S-AFC, then save up for the PowerFC, and sell the S-AFC for pretty much what you paid for it when you can afford the PowerFC. Edit: Substitute "PowerFC" above for your programmable ECU of choice

I think people are getting a little too hung up over flow characteristics of front-facing plenums. Mine is just a tube with some holes cut in it, not flowbench tested or anything, much like the cut-n-shut factory plenums. I have very slight leaning out on the rear cylinders, but the only way I can tell is by comparing plugs 2 or 3 apart. Any 2 plugs next to each other look pretty much identical. Well actually the way it was tuned it is just richer up front rather than leaning out at the back. Plug 6 is a "perfect" light brown colour, and plug 1 is a slightly darker shade of light brown It's not like it goes white to black. With this apparently "crappy" setup, I was still able to get +30rwkw with an S-AFC tune. If significant air starvation of cylinder 1 was really happening, there is no way I could get an extra 30rwkw out of the car. I sold my S-AFC the other day and until my PowerFC arrives I'm back on the stock ECU mapping. It feels like my turbo has been removed

Hehe, I saw a taxi on fire this morning in Sydney CBD Well, by the time I saw it there was just a HUGE plume of smoke coming out and fire extinguisher foam all over the ground. People were giving him a WIDE berth, let me tell you!

Oops I should have double-checked your avatar text The T04E should hold 16-18psi, the guy was referring to boost above that amount. The TO4E not terribly efficient above that boost level anyway so it might be a complete waste of time. Ask him about it anyway. GARRETT TURBOCHARGERS 14 Alfred Rd Chipping Norton 2170 (02) 9755 3311 That's in Sydney obviously, if you can't find one in Melbourne you might have to ship it interstate

Fark, that is cheap! I assume size 255/40/17? Even though my rears still have a bit of life left in them I'm tempted to race down and get a pair before they jack up the price Ah well, either way I'll know where to go when I need tyres.

The weight of these cars isn't in the manual or anything, the way you find them is by looking it up on the net Which is why there are so many arguments about them, because there are a lot of variations from different sources. I put a lot of value on the Motortraders Network database though, simply because they have a shitload of cars plus a lot of detail on factory options and even colours. Most other sites have a couple of one-off statistics about 1 or 2 cars which in my opinion doesn't make them as reliable.

Yeah, if yours is a bitch to get off (I didn't realise that the R31's engine was that much different from the R33's) it is probably wise to get a rebuild either way. When I took my turbo in to Garrett he said that it might be a good idea to rebuild it even though it was fine, depending on how hard it was to remove and replace. Since it took me around an hour each way (I think), I said I'd just pull it off again when it needs to come off. He agreed that that was the best plan One thing I got told about but I don't know much about is that he said during the rebuild he could install a "360 degree thrust bearing" or something, which is designed to hold more boost (>16psi or so on the T04E). I've got no concept of what that is or why it's necessary, but ask the guy about it when you go in, it's probably worth getting.

Interesting... It seems my R33 GTS-t @1360kg isn't as much of a whale as I thought then

Well, the other costs of removing/refitting the plenum are going to be the same regardless of what you put on there. I think $80 sounds fairly realistic, as long as the mechanic knows what he's doing (or else he'd take a few hours of working it all out).

Nice! How much did it cost to mod the plenum?

Thanks for that, I'm gonna re-do mine now So about the same for exhaust flange studs?

Well either way, they are shithouse!

R31Nismoid, if you have to pull the turbo off, you can do it yourself. I've done a how-to in the Maintenance section, do a search. And since I've also got a T04E, you will probably be able to follow it word for word

Back pressure does not kill ceramic wheels, spinning too fast is generally what does it. Back pressure does not push anything back into the engine either.

TO4E will cost around $350 to get rebuilt by Garrett in Chipping Norton. Not sure if they have a Melbourne branch but give them a ring if so.

Yep the back and forth (axial) movement is the important one. If there's any movement in this direction you should pull the turbo and get it rebuilt before it blows.

It could be the bearings on the way out. Pull the intake pipe off the front of the turbo and check for free play.

Mostly because of those crappy 70's crossply tyres he's got

HICAS is a factory option on 180's and Silvias, and standard on R32 and up Skylines.

Yes but by that time they were called R33's.

$650 for that clutch including labour is pretty bloody cheap! Where did you get it done Ben?

Yeah it depends on the timer. Mine is dumb-as, you can drive up the street with it on, but you still have to contend with the steering lock It's no real effort for me to not bother using it though, by the time I find a parking spot in a parking station it can be up to 5 minutes already anyway, so I just switch off as soon as I park.