GTSBoy

And this is why Nistune is the win. It looks stock. It behaves exactly as if it was stock, unless the tune is modified. You can put the stock tune in it for emissions testing and then you can put a good tune back in it afterwards. What is not to like?

Plus, Nistune is almost undetectable.

Check voltage at big 12V terminal on the starter. If it is too low, then your cable/connections is/are bad. If it is essentially the same as the battery, then the big power switch in the solenoid is likely to be f**ked up.

DIY wiring.

Just quoting this for its intrinsic value.

Why would you consider staying with a stock ECU without at least Nistuning it?

I am of the opinion that you should be able to retune both the fuel and ignition from even before you do any physical mods. The factory tune is just too rich, and there is heaps of stupidity in the high load high rpm corners of both maps in old Nissan tunes. You will gain power, driveability and reduced fuel consumption from a tuneable ECU all on it's own.

Wider clearances from wear mean (normal) thin oil escapes too easily, leading to lower pressure and more death.

It looks like an R32 ECU. The board you removed is the knock board that was part of the design of Nissan/Hitachi ECUs back then. You would be well advised to go to Nistune's website and look for the installation instructions on Nistune daughterboards which will show similar images of various ECUs, including R32/Z32 era stuff. Another option is just to google image search R32 ECU and you will almost certainly turn up internal shots, so that you can compare numbers on the main EEPROM (the one with the MEC number on it) and the circuit boards.

Hmm. 78k. Divided by 20 years. That's, um.... about....um....less than 4000km per year. And you believe that? It might have been 78k km in 2007.

And put an insulating plastic cover over the +ve terminal!

You sound young. Here's a tip. Don't spend money on this car. As in, don't spend money you don't need to. Repairs to keep it going are fine. Don't get an idea that you need a new exhaust if the old one is working, then save up your pennies and throw it at the car the instant you have enough. Same with seats, wheels, etc. A new exhaust that is better than the old exhaust is only a good idea when the old exhaust is full of holes. New seats are a waste of money unless the old seats are buggered and/or will fail a roadworthy. Same with wheels, headlight globes, air filters, spark plug leads, etc etc etc. Own the car for a while. Decide if you like it. Save some money to NOT spend on the car. Do all these things, before getting carried away with throwing money at the car. In the meantime you will either fall in love with the car, or it will reveal itself to be a horrible money pit that you would be better off swapping for a Yaris (or it could do both). There is nothing worse than seeing every young lad follow the same path of throwing a ton of money into the first shitter that they get their hands on and every last dollar of that is effectively wasted. Now, I'm not ragging on you or your car. I'm sure that there are a few good R31s left out there and yours could be one of them. (But most of them have been used as mobile bong smoke storage devices for the last 25 years, so the odds are not real good!) I'm just giving you a free life lesson. And so, if you actually do have to replace the exhaust, then yes, a 2.5" system is a decent size for the power level. If you put a decent mid muffler in it and a Magnaflow or similar rear of a decent size it will give it a clean RB sound without it being too loud. Don't bother with stainless. Mild will likely outlast the car. If you want to spend time with the car doing things that make it look good and you feel good about it, there is nothing better than buying some cloths and some Meguiars (or similar) paint cleaning and polishing products and spending time bringing the paint and other surfaces back from whatever state they are currently in. Also, look to do thorough inspections on the brakes, the suspension bushes and arms etc, looking for wear, collapse, etc that will both cost you money and be a horrible safety problem if they fail while you're driving. Better to spend your time and effort learning about the things that really matter. Learn how to jack and support the car safely (so it won't fall on you and so the stands don't damage the underside of the car!) and start taking a close look at all the dirty bits.

On a 200mm long spanner, that's equivalent to hanging a big bucket of water on the end of the spanner. It's barely more than "done up by your 5 yr old daughter" tight.

What do you mean "one end is a little longer"? Are you talking about what you can see on the outside, or what the internals look like? Given that the cone end on both the fitting and the filter appear to be the same length, I would expect that the union would need/want to be the same both ends internally. The difference in length in the external hexes is really just to provide the room for the union swivel (I should imagine).

You don't really torque studs in the head. You just screw them in (until they stop) and the nut that clamps the manifold pulls on both ends of the stud when you torque it up.

Yuh, that filter clearly meant to go on the block, assuming that the hose in the photo is both ends of the same hose.

Yeah. Nah.

The definition of polyquad is to have one large and one small valve on each of the inlet and exhaust, with the large ones diagonally opposite each other. The intention is to have more flow in through the larger intake which will create a swirl and then the outflow through the exhaust will be higher through the large exhaust valve also, continuing the swirl and at the very least leaving the remaining gas in the cylinder swirling as the inlet opens and starts flowing again. You have to have quite extreme differences in valve sizes for it to really work. It's not something that you will see much out of with 1mm size differences (IIRC the original work, which by Vizard, I think. if not him, then someone equivalent).

Isn't the more important question "how do they compare to the even better options available from Australian and NZ cam manufacturers?" Or the other question, "even amongst those who are wedded to using Jap brand cams, who has used HKS or Jun cams instead of Tomei?"

VQ30DET makes no sense. 1. It's older, so you won't get it legal. 2. It's just another bloody VQ engine. Better off just slapping turbos onto the VQ35 you have. VK makes sense, because V6s are gross, and V8s are not. You should work out the max capacity you can have by the NCOP rules and see if you shouldn't be planning on the largest VK (the 56). I'd suggest it should be feasible, because you can drop LS engines into these things, and they are larger capacity. If going V8, then smaller/lighter/better makes more sense. Smaller, lighter and better than the VK, I mean. That means LS. I would be looking for an LS2 or LS3 myself. All alloy, narrower, easier to fit. Remember that the VQ you have is a 60° engine. The VK is a 90° engine and its heads are quite wide.

Nah, it's an RB20E, so it's in a dizzy.

1. Hardrace are good. Just stick with them. 2. What bushes where? Oh, you mean the choice between Hardrace hard rubber or sphericals? Stay with rubber. Use poly if you're replacing OEM rubber bushes elsewhere. Hardmount the subframe to the car if you want to be hardcore. Same with diff. 3. GKTech. Watch the recent Motive DVD series on the R33 GTR rear subframe rework. Particularly with respect to the relocation of the front lower mounting points. If you are going to be doing anything to an R32 GTR subframe, then this is a mod you should make while you have the opportunity.

Turbo timers are unreliable pieces of shit that cause all sorts of forum posts titled "My N/A R33 won't start!!!111one!juan".

Do not worry about sparks in fuel tanks.

Running a V engine with only 1 bank powering the turbine would be daft. Massively different tunes required for each bank, to account for the massive backpressure on the one with turbine.