djr81

It is if you use it all the time because it is a pretty strong/harsh detergent. As a once off it is fine.

Atached are a couple of plots which should be pretty self explanatory. Gary, sorry about all the questions - just trying to get my head around how to fix the problem. Sort of leaning towards shortening up some spare rods I have & maybe going for the extra adjustor kit for the camber. How many mm does the whiteline kit adjust the caster rod? Caster before the camber kit was added was 3.5 degrees & it only reduced slightly to 3 when the camber went fron -1 to -2, so to be honest I am a bit mystified as to what is going on. Do know that the local tyre shop has been making good money off the number of wheel alignments I have had with all the suspension upgrades. As for offsetting the camber bushes up/down I assume you want the outside of the upper link to be as high as possible to gain the geometric (dynamic) camber when the suspension is under compression. Is that correct? And you are right about the journey etc. I find learning about the suspension & the car in general to be as interesting as pedalling it around the track. There is always someone faster, just wish it wasn't by so much...

The rods are Cuscos and are supposed to be GT-R rods. They adjust (guessing a little because I can't read Japanese) from 339mm to 353mm around a stock length of 348mm. Not sure how many mm the Whitleline offset kit does nor approximately how many mm roughly equals how many degrees. The problem is that because the top link of the front suspension is slightly trailing the more -ve camber you add the less caster you get (Caster moves the bottom of the hub forward aswell) The rim is now noticeably forward in the arch. Don't know how to make a gain here without either losing adjustability (ie using bushes) or remachining the rods to make them shorter. Anyway - to answer the first reply first - the turn in is really good - it feels better than the midcorner grip - but that may be a bit of running wide into the marbles - not 100% sure. The good book identifies caster as being the issue for this. Outside of the tyre is hotter than the inside. For the record I can still get that horrible shuddering (basically stalling the tyre with the lateral force being generated falling off as lock increases) from the front end that you can get from R compound tyres. Nonetheless I suppose I should be thinking through how to address both issues. If there is a Nismo upper front arm then great - a 5mm shorter one could be about right. Matched with a Whiteline kit & that should give a +/- one degree range centred around 2 and a bit degrees, instead of one. Has anyone ever done this? Maybe two Whitleline kits with both ends of the upper arm made adjustable to decrease the effective length - has anyone done this? (I am a little worried about clearance with two sets of bushes) - also how many mm does the Whiteline kit give you (As opposed to degrees) On the upside - since I fitted the Whiteline gear I can carry noticeably more speed across the apex of the turn, generate more grip & found more lap speed - so things are on the up.

It depends greatly on what other suspension components you have fitted. Best bet is to start soft at both ends and go from there. If you want to drift the thing put the rear on full hard & the front on full soft.

Gents, Am presently running my R32 R with the Whiteline package. Setup is as follows Front: Ride height 350mm Camber -2 degrees Castor +3 (Rods are done right up) Toe 0 Rear Ride height 345mm (As low as it will go because the tyres are now fouling the guard when in compression & turning hard) Toe 1mm Camber -1 degree I am still getting a temperature differential across the tread face of the front tyres (About 5 degrees) & have too much mid corner understeer. Turn in & power on is now fine. I have fitted up the adjustment bushes fron Whiteline, but now find I need more. Question is where to from here. I have see the stuff on Nengun & Greenline & to be honest don't much like them. The Noltec gear is much the same. Area there shorter (non adjustable) upper arms available that the Whiteline bush kit will fit?

You could try the Collie Motorplex. Last Saturday there was approximately every S13 ever built going around practicing drifting. I think it was the Drift WA guys or similar. Try contacting Jay Hewson at [email protected] for details of the nearest club day. Just bring some spare tyres.....

If it is Calcium then try CLR Clear - but be careful with the paint work, ie try it on a bit on paintwork that is out the way & unseen first. If it is just a water stain then try using dishwashing detergent - that will pretty much shift anything that is water soluble & a few things that aren't - like dead bugs. You will need to strip any polish off the paint first, otherwise the detergent won't get to the marks.

I put it on the drivers side because the passengers side slides forward easier/further when you need to get people in the back. By the way - from memory the Collie motorplex charges $5 to go and watch any of their events. On the other hand the Speedeventseries don't.

Hang on a second - before you go and try all the Nanna recipes. Are the 'water' stains calcium stains, ie white?

Col, Paid for. Just by the by - to answer some queries you use them on the rear upper arms to allow sufficient adjustment and allow you to add sufficient postive camber to compensate for the -ve camber that happens when you lower the rear ride height on a GT-R. Just be careful that you read the instructions carefully as the drawing shows two top arms, not a top and a bottom arm which is what it looks like at first glance..... Cheers Richard

IMHO - just use Mobil 1. It is good oil, good viscosity range, good price. If you are going to a track day, 2000km old oil is fine. Keep an eye on the oil temp (if you have a guage) & check the oil for blackness (from blow by) when you get home. Beyond that there is nothing particular to worry about other than keeping the oil level to the correct level. You don't need to do anything special about changing oil for the drags as the thing is only on throttle for 11 & a bit seconds at a time.

If your car has a stock ECU it will run fine on 98 Octane. If you want to use an ethanol blend from what I understand the fuel density is different & you need a tune. If you have an aftermarket ECU get the engine tuned to 98 Octane. By way on illustration - when they sold the R32 GT-R's in Oz you could only buy 95 Octane...

Not sure exactly how far it will move... If you are handy with a calculator you can work it out. Just measure how far the top of the rim is closer to the centreline of the car than the bottom. A bit of basic trig (tan theta equals opposite over adjacent side etc etc) & you have your camber measurement. Not sure how your toe settings at the front will be affected by the change in ride height as the front links are not parallel like the rears.

Um, it is not about the ATTESSA system. It is about the relationship between the COG & the roll centres at either end of the car. Lowering a GT-R too much makes the roll centre migrate & will give you odd handling. Most people find that the camber kit for the rear is needed before the front - this is simply a function of the suspension geometry. 10mm will help, but may not make a whole heap of difference. Wheel alignment? Other than the rear camber settings and the front & rear toe setting unless you get the Whitleine kits there isn't really much you can align. Having said that it is usually $60 well spent. Before you start (Friday afternoon may be a good time) have a look at the state of the threads on the dampers. If they look to be grotty & horrible & seized give the threads a hose with some WD40 before you get handy with the C spanners.

And no ABS....

Both. Garrett made the original turbo's fitted to the GT-R's as well as the N1 turbos you mentioned. So you are getting a Garrett turbo anyway.

If you have RB74's & they are squeeling - go out & hammer the brakes for a little bit. The pads will then shut up for a few weeks...

Better bet is to buy the Garrett equivalent 707160-5. Have a look in the for sale section as there is bloke in WA wanting to get rid of a pair for about $2400 - which is a pretty good price.

Measure from the underside of the guard to the centre of the wheel. The more you lower a Skyline the more -ve camber you get. Although -3 degrees sounds like alot if you have only lowered it by and inch. If you have a look in the group buys section you should find a group buy for the R33 Gt-R for Whiteline bits. I would suggest the camber kits & some adjustable sway bars is a good start.

I mounted my extinguisher using drivers seat retaining bolts. What you need is a length of flat bar (I used stainless steel - about 20mm x 6mm from memory) Match drill the stainless bar to the extinguisher bracket & bolt the two together. Then bend the bar about to allow it to clear all the lumps/bumps in the area. Finally drill another hole for the mounting bolt & attach it. If anyone is interested I can post up a photo tomorrow... Haven't been knocked back by the scrutineers yet. Be aware though, that if you are short this probably won't work as the seat gets in the way.

Three degrees is alot of camber for the road. One of your cheaper options is the Whiteline camber adjustment kits. The front end will give you +/- one degree and the rear kit +/- 0.75 degree (You can use two kits on the rear). You probably need to remove a degree from either end. Question for you - what is the ride height? Also what sway bars do you have?

Whether an oil is synthetic or not makes no difference to the viscosity. A 20W50 mineral oil will be exactly the same as a 20W50 synthetic oil. How long it stays like that is a whole different issue, however. Use a synthetic oil as it will keep the motor cleaner (ie allow less black gunk to build up) when the thing gets exposed to high temperatures. Secondly there is a considerable diference between an oil with a low temp viscosity of 5 and one with a low temp viscosity of 10. Try it next time you buy some oil. Pick up the two different containers in the shop & slop them around a bit. You will be surprised.... Lastly, it will take longer to fill the motor with say a 10W60 Castrol than a 5W50 Mobil. Have just done this (I used some of both as I had some Mobil 1 left over) & I can assure you there is a large difference. This is a good indicator of the diference in the oils viscosity.

Bollocks to all of that. Go and get yourself a spray can of WD40. Hose it on any ash/tar/rubber & then wipe the stuff off. Job done. I use it all the time to get all the little melted bits of rubber you pick up on the track from other cars. It will basically shift any hydrocarbon based gunk.

May help if you can post a photo of the top of the damper. The front & rear spring rates should be different, with the front stiffer than the back. What I was trying to say was that it is not uncommon for Japanese suspension to have very high spring rates which aren't particularly suited to our dodgy roads. If you have such stiff suspension then adjusting the height and/or the dampening probably won't make it ride as well as you would like. Having said that, if there is a big difference front to rear then either the dampers are adjusted very differently (ie one end soft, the other hard) or you have some busted/worn dampers.

Where abouts are you located? There should be a competent workshop nearby. You need some C spanners... Have a look at the top of the dampers to see whether there are any adjusters for them. It should be a small slot which you turn with a screw driver. You may still find that the spring rates are high & that no amount of adjusting the ride height & damping will help.