JimX

How do you know it flows 500hp if you don't have any specs? The AR is 0.5, which is pretty small. My turbo is 0.6 and reportedly good for only 450hp (T04).

You might have a problem. Usually mixture related, possibly a faulty AFM, or bad tune on an aftermarket ECU. Going off the fuel gauge isn't very accurate though, fill it up and work out your L/100km. Anything higher than 15 or 16L/100km around town usually indicates a problem. But even if it's fine, you can usually tune it and get it down to around 14 or less. Low 13's is pretty good, anything less is a bonus. On the highway you should be getting around 10 or 11 tops.

Nothing wrong with oversteer, but there is a point where it will be harder to hold traction around a corner because of it especially under power. You need a little bit of give on the other side sometimes. If you're not going to do any trackwork then it doesn't really matter I guess. The way mine is now I can make the rear step out a lot easier around corners, which is a lot of fun atm But if I ever manage to afford a track day I will experiment with the settings for better traction I think.

www.racebrakes.com.au for phone numbers. Fronts should be $150 or less (tell them you're from SAU and you get the club discount), not sure about rears. Apparently Comp 9's on the rear are a better match for RB74's on the front, but speak to the guys at the shop.

I've got the adjustable bars on my R33. I've got it on the firmest setting and there's a little too much oversteer. I'm enjoying it for now, but I pity anyone that has the non-adjustable version and decides they need to back off the oversteer a bit. It's only an extra $30, why not get the adjustable version?

RB74 pads from Race Brakes in Sydney or Melbourne.

I would advise against using any engine flush even if you've just gotten the car and don't know its past history. Just use a good quality full synth instead. This sort of oil will have a high amount of detergent in it anyway and help disolve crud inside your engine, but slowly over the service interval period, not all at once where big chunks of it can break off and clog up your small oil galleries. I think on the most part engine flush is just asking for trouble. By the noises your engine made it may have done more harm than good You can use any size oil filter that will fit, however it's usually better to go bigger rather than smaller. The size is designed for the sump capacity of your engine usually, and the bigger the filter, the more crap it will hold. On my Commodore the factory filter was quite small, even though it was a 5L engine, but this was mainly because the next size up was a tighter squeeze. However, it did fit, so on all subsequent services I used the bigger size. It's not normal for the oil filter to be able to be undone by 2 fingers, but if no oil was leaking then it was fine. Just do it up tightly by hand and you should be able to remove it by hand again.

Simple solution - set the clock 10 minutes slow. Then eventually it'll be right and you'll never have to touch it again

The S-AFC is a great cheap upgrade, but it can't fix everything. At the moment I've got 2 pretty big power dips up top which I'm fairly sure are partly timing related. It was somewhat fixed by putting on a stronger wastegate actuator, but it's still a little off. I'm sure a PowerFC will fix it once and for all, so one day when I'm feeling rich I'll sell the S-AFC and get a PowerFC. If you're on a tight budget, the best way to do your ECU upgrade is buy a second hand S-AFC, then save up for a PowerFC or equivalent. Then when you can afford the PowerFC or whatever, buy it, sell the S-AFC, and use the money from the sale to tune the new ECU.

Mine runs fast too, probably by around the same amount or even a little faster. I wonder if there's an adjustment for it?

What was the big deal about 1989 anyway? I know when it was when the R32 GTR came out, but surely it must be more than that?

Dim, check your pm

I'm glad it's been helpful If anyone is confused about anything I've written just let me know and I'll try to clarify.

You're best off taking it to a place that specialises in fixing gauges. There's a place in Sydney called Truspeed that does it, not sure if there's anything similar in Melbourne but there probably is. Shouldn't cost more than $50 or so.

Check for rust even on a 33. It does happen sometimes. I've got a tiny bit of surface/bubble rust around my left rear passenger window, as well as some light surface rust around the bolts that hold the front guards on. I don't think it's anything to worry about for 5 years or more since I keep it garaged, but I think before then I should be looking at rust proofing it somehow. Check for any repaired crash damage, as these areas tend to rust up quicker. As for the mechanicals, check for gearbox and clutch problems, plus the usual stuff like worn rings (blue/white smoke). They will blow a lot of black/brown smoke naturally because they run rich, so don't worry about that. Silver or grey are good low maintenance colours because dirt doesn't show up on them easily (silver's a bit better for hiding dirt). I prefer black myself, but it gets dirty very quickly. If you like silver best then I would say to get silver.

How are the seatbelts? Do they have that small plastic bracket that holds them forwards and off your shoulder? Do they retract properly?

I think my car came with lowered springs. It's definitely got lowered springs in now (Whiteline), but yeah, I guess if it's the stock ride height be careful and use the spring compressor. The advice given to not use the spring compressor was given to me by a Whiteline employee so maybe I could have injured myself if I had stock springs in there to start with. Oh as an aside, the tops can be done up a bit tighter than I said. I had another look the other day and I realised it's the rears that have the really weak studs and can't be done up very tightly.

What I can't figure out is who stands to benefit from the government stopping these cars coming in a few months early? It's just like the government being a total pain in the arse for absolutely no reason.

R32 GTR is 1430kg dry according to the Motor Traders Network Also according to them, the GTT is 1410kg. Still a bit lighter than a R32 R. The R34 GTR is 1540kg.

Here's the same advice I give anyone. If you have the bucks, get the PowerFC. If you don't, rather than waiting and saving up until you can afford one, get a S-AFC (or S-AFC2) new or second hand (preferably second hand). Then tune that and start saving for your PowerFC. When you have almost enough, sell the S-AFC and use the cash to partially the PowerFC. With this approach you will probably find you can live longer without an ECU replacement. And you will get most of your money back on the S-AFC so you haven't really lost much money, but gained a pretty good state of tune while you wait for the PowerFC to become affordable.

RNS11Z, I think up to around $600 is a very reasonable price to be asking if they're in good condition and reasonably new. Whether or not anyone wants to pay that however is a different story. It depends on how quickly you need the cash. I myself can afford $350 right now if you want a quick sale If I was rich I'd give you $600 easy.

I'll give you $350.

I got everything in the front back in, and now the car handles superbly! The extra castor angle makes the steering more steady. It wants to straighten up more so I guess it makes it feel a little heavier, but in a nice way. There's no body roll to speak of anymore. The rear is still a bit sloppy, but that's because my tyres are pretty crap and I haven't installed the camber kit on there yet. I'm thinking of getting a hydraulic press myself rather than taking the arms to a suspension shop, there are 4 bushes to press out instead of 2 so I'm guessing it would be around $40 labour. I can get a press for not much more than that, so I should be able to do it at home and then have a press for future use.

Oops, I forgot to take pictures Last night I got all motivated and stuff, and got the radius rods out. I used various methods to undo the tightarse nuts and bolts, including using an old aluminium tubing bed head as an extension on the breaker bar. After the awkwardness of that I used the jack. I got both rods out, then most of the swaybar off, then the LAST FRIGGEN NUT on the swaybar rounded off! I couldn't believe it. After much swearing I got my housemate's anglegrinder out and ground one side of the nut off. Thankfully I had a replacement nut the same thread (not the same shape tho'). The whole thing took about an hour longer than it should have coz of that nut. Got the new swaybar in, then decided against trying to use a vice to get the old bushes out. I took both rods and new bushes to my local mechanic, who didn't have a press but referred me to a nearby one that did. I went there and it was done in about 20 minutes (I watched and helped in some bits). Pressing them out was no dramas, but the slippery urethane bushes kept popping out because they didn't have a metal sleeve. They charged me $20 which I think is quite reasonable, their hourly rate was $60 which is pretty cheap already and 1/3 of an hour is $20 so I think it was entirely fair. Before he started he even warned me that he might not have a cone in that size and he'd have to make one, which would mean I'd be up for an hour's labour. But luckily he found that it was the same size as something on a Landcruiser which he already had the bit for. Lenno, where did you get the boots and bumpstops from and how much were they? Got any pics?

I think it only costs about $50 to get lines approved, but I don't know if it has to be done by the manufacturer or if any Joe Blow can come in off the street and get it done. You might need to be the manufacturer and buy an expensive licence before you can do the $50 testing.