JimX

The old one wasn't holding very well at 15psi, so I decided to buy a replacement. Garrett wanted $290 for their 16psi one, but it was not a direct fit on my turbo. I think GCG have a HKS one for $350, but I'm guessing that since my turbo is a Garrett, it too would have needed modification. Thanks to fellow forum-goer Turbogtst, I bought one of his adjustable actuators, which he said was off a 2530. Of course it also needed modification to fit, but his price was good so I decided to get it. Off I went to Hills Motorsports and asked them if they could do the necessary mods for me, and of course they could (did I even need to ask them? ) So I booked my car in for today and I went there this morning. They cut some of the old bracket off and welded up some new steel, and mounted the whole lot. I was in and out in a couple of hours. For a total of $235, I now have an adjustable actuator installed capable of holding up to 20psi or so. This is a pretty good deal, considering that I could have easily paid $450 or more if I had bought one of the ones I mentioned above. And the Garrett one wasn't adjustable. The new actuator got rid of all of the wastegate creep and therefore most of the dipping/surging, but some still remains due to my small dump pipe and exhaust housing outlet. This will be fixed in a few months for a few hundred bucks. Attached is a pic of how it looks now.

Famous are ok for any legal mods. So if they are not ok with your lowered height it's because it's too low Joel, be wary of whatever they tell you on the phone. Check your policy book to be certain. I think there may be a copy on their website.

No, it just means that you have to park your car in the garage at the end of the journey if you get home in those hours or it won't be covered if stolen. You are allowed to leave it in the street if not within 500m or whatever it is of your home. This is just to stop lazy bastards not bothering to put their cars away and then getting them stolen and making a claim, thus making it more expensive for all us poor sods who actually love our cars

I condemn floody's condemnation!

I thought it was the other way around - you can put the plenum/multiple throttle bodies onto the manifold if you drill some extra holes for mounting. That'd be a lot easier than drilling holes into the head.

I actually wonder what happened to the old rotten egg gas smell that unleaded cars used to get. It doesn't seem to happen anymore. They must have removed a lot of sulfur from fuels. As for motorcycle cats, I think as long as the general population and the politicians remain ignorant as to just how polluting motorcycles are (especially 2 strokes) then we won't be forced to put them on just yet

Some would argue that the 95 model is the best of both worlds. I might be one of those people I know that when I was looking for an R33 I actively sought out a series 1 primarily for the velour interior. The airbag and higher spoiler was a bonus so for me the 95 model was the optimal model. That aside, if I could have found a series 2 for the same price or only a little bit more I might have bought a series 2 instead. But only because it'd be a newer car. A year ago the price difference between series 1 and 2 was up to $10k (depending on where you looked) and it just wasn't worth the extra money for me. Today the price difference is much less so I would consider a series 2 depending on price.

Cats do fit on bikes. The current model VFR800 has one for a couple of years now (since 2001 I think) and it fits well enough (just smaller than a car one). A few other models have them too, like the Gold Wing. In California I think all new motorcycles are required to have them. A trend that will probably follow elsewhere.

S15 if you want to go fast, R33 if you want a "nicer" car. My bike goes faster than both anyway so I'm never going to get rid of my R33 If I didn't have it then I would consider the S15. (actually sod that, if I didn't have a bike to pay for I could afford an R33 GTR )

I think the most important thing to note is that there are no "big" issues in the series 1 R33 that needed to be fixed for series 2. This is the huge difference between Skylines and local cars like Commodores and Falcons, where any series 1 is usually a "beta" version requiring lots of fixing for the series 2. The series change in an R33 is almost entirely an upgrade of the look and standard features, but even then it's not necessarily a simple choice to buy one just because of those reasons. For example, many people prefer the curvier series 1 front bar, and many also prefer the more expensive velour interior of the series 1. I have heard a story that the interior of the series 2 was "downgraded" to cloth to help pay for the passenger air bag without jacking the price up. It all comes down to your personal preference in the end, but one thing you CAN'T say about it like you can with Commodores and Falcons is "get the series 2 because the series 1 is full of bugs". So just go for the look you want, the features you want, within your price range, and don't worry too much about any "issues" that might be associated with the earlier models because there are hardly any worth noting

My motorcycle didn't come with a cat, and it's not legally required to have one on there. I don't actually know why, because the bike requires premium (toxic) fuel as well, so in theory it should have come with a cat. Strange.

I have no idea why, but even though I commute on my motorcycle and my car is usually a weekend driver only, I still managed to do more km in the car than on the bike last year. I did about 15000km last year in the car, so that's 4 services since I got it (at 0km, 5000km, 10000km, 15000km) @$70 a service or so (oil and filter, done by me) = $280. $35 on brake fluid, $150 on brake pads, $10 on clutch fluid, $20 on diff oil, $100 on gearbox oil, $100 on new plugs, $140 on fixing the wastegate, $3900 on insurance (last year's plus this year's renewals), roughly 40 refills at around $50 a tank = $2000 on petrol, $600 on rego. So that's over $7000 just on maintenance and ongoing costs, and I've probably forgotten a lot of stuff. And I'm sure I've spent a similar amount on mods and stuff (respray after being rear-ended, S-AFC plus tuning, bigger intercooler, new plenum, etc). And then there's the motorcycle which chews up over a grand's worth of tyres in 1 year, plus rego, insurance, servicing, etc. I used to wonder how my housemate who is a uni student managed to save $5000 in a year (he uses public transport only) whereas I have saved zilch even though I'm on a semi-decent wage. Looking at the above I'm now surprised that I manage to afford to live. Oh well, the bike and car are my passion and it's only money

INASNT, definitely. The ridiculousness of the train ticket incident is the main reason she got off almost everything else, because she finally got a judge who had common sense. The ones she had previously were like "you broke the law and now you must pay the penalty". The "funniest" thing about the whole situation is that she had a valid train ticket on the day she got busted, she just couldn't find it in her purse when the inspector asked to see it. She found it later that day when she got home, and since used it as evidence. So she shouldn't have even got the train ticket fine/loss of licence in the first place. But one of the stupid things she did was just ignore it and refuse to pay the fine instead of taking it to court.

I think I stuffed up, I think I confused the prices I got for the ZE326 and ST115 around the wrong way. Which would mean this place sells the ST115's for $310. In that case, where can I get the ST115's for $280 in Sydney?

I know a chick who had an 11 year driving suspension, and represented herself and managed to get it down to 1 year (all but one of the offences annulled). Now, before you all think "11 years, OMG she must be the worst driver on the planet!" She is actually not a bad driver, and has only ever had one small speeding (camera) ticket. It was a huge debacle that stemmed from her getting her licence suspended for not paying a train ticket fine. It all went downhill from there, especially because cops from a certain police station in Sydney have had it in for her since she turned down some of their advances. So yeah, in the end she got off everything except one offence (I forget which, I think it was driving unregistered). Btw just because she's not a bad driver doesn't mean she's not stupid. She did some really dumb stuff (that wasn't actually dangerous and nothing to do with driving skill or lack thereof) to get it up to 11 years. I have to say I'm impressed at the total amount of suspension as well as the fact that she got off

A few weeks ago I had to figure out how to remove my turbo. Thanks to the help of people on here I managed to do it relatively painlessly. So I thought I would put up what I did on my car a few weeks ago in a brief how-to for anyone's that's interested in removing their own turbo. I decided to put it in here instead of Forced Induction Performance because it doesn't really have anything to do with performance unless you're upgrading or something. I did it myself as a maintenance procedure to repair the wastegate so I think it should be here. Some of you might notice that I had this up on the Overclockers motoring forum, but I decided to pull it out because that forum is too full of tards. (any other ocau'ers please note: this is not a slight against ocau at all, Agg is a good friend of mine). I didn't do this exactly as listed, because I tried some things and found they were too difficult and so attempted to get in other ways (eg, at first I tried doing everything from the top through the engine bay). This is how I ended up doing everything as best as I can remember it (apoligies for omissions and errors, if you find any please let me know and I'll fix it up). This all applies directly to an R33 Skyline with a turbo in the factory spot with the water cooling lines installed. I suspect most factory turbo cars would be similar, but make note of any obvious differences between your car and an R33 before going ahead. Start 1. Put your car in a secure garage or other covered workspace where you can leave it for at least a few days (this is assuming you will be sending your turbo off for inspection/repair). 2. Put the car up onto some wheel stands or ramps, to give yourself easy access to under the car. 3. With the engine COLD or at most, MODERATELY WARM (you really don't wanna burn yourself), remove the intake piping from the front of the turbo and move it out of the way. Actually I'll just stop right here for a moment. If you want to simply check your bearings for play, just do step 3 without jacking the car up. Once you have exposed the compressor wheel, spin it with your fingers. It should rotate freely without any stickiness. Push it inwards and outwards to check for axial play, it shouldn't move at all. If it moves even slightly, it needs a rebuild or will need one soon. Move it side to side, it should move very slightly (maybe not at all if a ball bearing turbo, not sure). It should not touch the turbo housing. 4. Remove the wastegate actuator (it gets in the way when removing/replacing the turbo). It's held in place with 2 mounting bolts and a spring clip on the wastegate pivot. The actuator is a round thing with a rod coming out the back. My car has an electronic boost controller which has a vacuum line up to the actuator which also needs to be removed. I'm not sure what cars without EBC's have to control the boost. 5. Put a large drip tray underneath the general area of the turbo. This is for catching coolant only, you won't lose very much oil at all on an R33. Some rags will take care of the small oil loss. The coolant will dribble down lots of places, so be prepared to shift the tray around for the best spot. 6. From the engine bay side, undo the oil and coolant line bolts. The oil line is small small bolts holding a metal jacket onto the top of the turbo, the coolant bolt is large and holds a round coolant terminal onto the side. There are brass washers that you need to be mindful of on the coolant lines, they are very easy to let drop onto the ground. One washer goes either side of the round coolant terminal for when you replace them. 7. From the underside of the car, undo the bolts for the same lines on the other side. The coolant line is on the engine block side, the oil line is underneath. I found the best position to reach was from behind the front crossmember. 8. Move the lines out of the way as best you can, being careful not to pinch or bend the metal. 9. Undo the 4 bolts holding the turbo onto the dump pipe (exhaust). Be careful not to lose the nuts, washers, and gaskets. Especially be wary of something falling down the exhaust, you really don't want to have to fish it out again! 10. Undo the 4 bolts holding the turbo's exhaust housing onto the exhaust manifold of the engine. Be careful not to lose gaskets, nuts, etc. 11. Carefully pull the turbo off and up out of the engine bay. You have to wriggle it around lots, to get it off both the exhaust and manifold, because there are 2 sets of studs on each keeping it in place. 12. If you need the wastegate actuator inspected/repaired as well as your turbo, now is a good time to put it back on.

I just read Sydneykid saying in another thread that the gears on the RB25 and 26 box seem to be exactly the same strength-wise, just with different ratios. So that's $1000 extra just to change the ratios, doesn't look too appealing anymore On the plus side, the RB25 box is stronger than I first thought I think I will need more advice from a gearbox specialist before I take the box out, just to find out what parts exactly I will need to replace and how much they will cost. And gearbox shops wanting to do the work themselves, probably aren't going to be too helpful But I will definitely do a post up about it if/when I do drop the box myself.

The S-AFC doesn't come with any settings pre-set. You may be able to apply someone else's map if they have a similar engine setup to you, or do it on the street yourself, but the best way will be to do it on a dyno with the proper AFR monitoring.

Coated but not dripping is fairly normal, but even this "normal" is bad. That's what oil catch cans are for, to stop it building up in your intake.

Is $280 per tyre for ST115 in 255/40/17 a good price? That's what I got quoted from my local Falken tyre shop. The ZE326's and FK451's were both $320 each. Is there anyplace in Sydney that can do better than $280 for the ST115's?

$2500 for a GTR box fitted sounds pretty tasty! That is a lot more money than I have spare at the moment though. But it sounds like a very good option after I save a bit up.

"id rather have someone else go through the pain and suffering" I'm that way with many things on cars, including relatively simple (but messy) stuff like changing the transmission fluid. I think I'll wait until the crunching gets intolerable, and then check my bank account to see how much pain and suffering I'm willing to endure myself

I'm used to having soft tyres. I need to replace the rear on my motorcycle every 6000km or so @$300 a pop. I think I'll try the ST115's, especially since they were cheaper than the FK451's (unless the shop guy got the prices wrong when I rang).

I changed my fluid to Caltex GP600, which is a DOT4 with temperature tolerances surpassing some DOT5 fluids. For example, its boiling point is 310 degrees whereas Castrol's Super DOT4 is 286. Some DOT5's boil as low as 300 degrees. Since it's not silicone based, you don't have to worry about it eating hoses. It costs around $35 a bottle. This is the fluid recommended to me by Race Brakes in Sydney, and is the stuff they use on their rally cars. So it can't be that bad Edit: wtf? I just noticed this thread was about 2530 turbos. how the hell did we get onto brake fluids?

On your exhaust cam gear there is a metal thing with 3 bolts on it. Loosen the 3 bolts and turn the unit a couple of mm anticlockwise. Tighten the bolts back up again.