Duncan

Quick side trip into the engine externals, alternator and PS were in place including tensioned belts, but the PS was dry (my guess is he had the steering rack reco-ed). Filled it up with Transmax Z but it will need more bleeding once the engine is running no doubt. BTW I've said before, I don't know what kind of soft animals you have in the city, but out here they breed the rats tough. I bet they were disappointed when they tasted synthetic ATF.... Coilpacks are Splitfires with a factory loom in reasonable condition. I didn't pull one put I bet the spark plugs are new as its a new engine

Onto intake pressure test. I have a Raceworks (damn brand thieves!) pressure test adapter that lets you apply pressure through a standard tyre valve and comes with a pressure gauge.....I just blocked off the other end immediately before the throttle body. Applied 30psi....and the turbo intake immediately popped off with a bang. Sorted that but it was still leaking, turns out there is a pinhole leak at the BOV adapter that I'll have to find a local place to TIG up. I'm sure it makes SFA difference with such a small leak but I want it to be right. Everything else up to the throttle body was good. Also cleaned and oiled the KNX cone filter, and this is the AFM if anyone can identify it (car runs a PowerFC)

I'll send you a message, but until I know what is OK (and anything that isn't) its kind of hard to work out a fair price. BTW I'm just helping out here, ultimately it is Mel's call what she accepts but I know it will go sooner or later.

Did a coolant pressure test overnight and it was back at 0 by morning....after some stuffing around I worked out it was the water return fitting at the turbo that was leaking, it all held pressure correctly once that was nipped up. No brand mark on the radiator but I'd bet it is a 40mm cooling pro, with standard clutch and fan I do need to remember to change the water out for coolant once the engine is run in but otherwise cooling looks all good.

A few other things to round out the chassis mechanical checks. Diff is nice and full of new oil, pretty sure it is Castrol VMX (I run the same on Award's recommendation). I didn't pull the cover to check, but I'm 90% sure the diff centre is a nismo mechanical (old school, not the gt pro). Gearbox is also nice and full of fresh oil, not sure what it is but not redline. Tailshaft bearing looks OK and a tailshaft loop is in place

Front lower control arm is standard with new ball joints, tension rod looks like JJR spherical. Front upper control arm is standard with adjustable bushes in the outside end Rear arms are all nismo, surprisingly all the bushes at either end look standard but in good condition Subframe has standard bushes with lock collars HICAS has a lock bar with standard ball joints at the hub end

Next, shocks/springs/swaybars It has Sydneykid valved Bilsteins with HKS pillow ball hats all round. Springs are Eibach race springs on adjustable height platforms, with helper springs in the rear to stop rattling. These are 250 all around but easy to change for something else if required. Swaybars are powdercoated blue but would be Selby's/Whiteline solid adjustables, 21mm rear and 24mm front. Bushes and links in good condition All in good condition, no sign of leaks/damage etc

yeah for sure.....remember to put your tools away at the end of each day kids! Actually it has been kinda nice working on the car, lots of memories of good times. I can pretty much hear him telling me off for stuff still.

FWIW, as well as a basic immobiliser/remote unlock (all basic units give you those 2 things), I would also install a 4g tracker in any car I cared about. Just hide it anywhere that won't be found in a rushed look and preferably get something with a built in battery backup so it stays online for a while when the battery is removed or flat While its not a car, when our car trailer was stolen in that den of crime Sydney about a decade ago, the cops were watching from the bloke's neighbour's lawn within about 2 hours until he started swapping the plates and putting up the gumtree ad. Obviously it is still not undefeatable (eg parking it up for a few days somewhere without sky sight) but it greatly improves your chances of getting it back quickly and with less damage

I think the solution Pac posted in the other thread is the way to go with the top screen; I have an ADM Q50 and I only use it for 2 things: 1. Reverse or front camera as triggered automatically by Reverse selection or the front sonars, and you can also call up the front left (or front) camera when parking by hitting the camera button on the centre console if necessary 2. Navigation. I can assure you that getting hold of a 10 year old nav system is utterly useless. The ADM system still has Inifiniti dealers marked (always give me a good laugh), is missing all new freeways, uses fixed speed by road type to determine arrival time, no traffic/re-routing, no speed cameras, no user reported cameras etc etc you get the idea So, Pac posted in the other thread about a box that plugs into the USB C and gives you full Android OS to run whatever modern/connected nav you want on the top screen, and it still automatically switches back to function 1 above when required because it runs within the head unit. The other modern alternative is the latest version of the Tesla screen like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007511322502.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.25.33cefEZifEZibq&algo_pvid=cdae429c-aa8d-437f-a436-c727fee85461&algo_exp_id=cdae429c-aa8d-437f-a436-c727fee85461-12&pdp_npi=4%40dis!AUD!2181.36!1265.19!!!9834.81!5704.20!%402101c71a17362022663526105e36d7!12000041077843545!sea!AU!163137612!X&curPageLogUid=F9811g8oqx5H&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A But I haven't looked into whether it is compatible with Australian 4G bands yet so it may require a separate 4g dongle to provide data

In the 32 race car, I basically run what Gary told me and it is lovely across a range of conditions which is what I needed. I've got revalved bilsteins, adjustable solid sway bars, adjustable bushes all round. Just looking at Neil's R33 GTST and it has pretty much the same on board, Gary Bilsteins, Selby/whiteline sway bars. Gary knows suspension generally and these cars specifically very well across street, street/track and track only use and gives a very well balanced set up. Just be aware his preference is for light springs and heavy sway bars, there is another school of though (eg MCA) that prefer lighter swaybars and heavier springs/shocks. The evo I raced had that setup and it was also very nice so there are multiple ways to skin cats.

hmmmm...what does the service manual say though? Also, are you changing the filter at the same time or not, that generally makes a 500ml difference

If they ain't reset buttons.....its going to be annoying when the oil light comes on I'd guess it is aftermarket, not even dealer fitted option because it looks pretty low cost....you'd have to trace it out under the dash

But, probably that happened to the last person too, which is why the RTV was there.....if you aren't putting a new gasket in you will need to seal the old gasket back to the metal surface with something, the gaskets will generally only work properly for a single use as they set/harden in that shape

What is with the horrible blue and white bit in the centre of the wheels, didn't that come off with some scrubbing?

Not sure how broadly you define Northside but Castle Hill Exhaust are still around and could sort it.

I haven't done this as I still use the factory cluster, but I do know the circuits for the flash vs on for hi beam are separate which is likely the issue. The ON runs full power through the switch and the flash uses the relay in the engine bay. I'd hit the wiring diagram per GTSBoy's suggestion

Clutch hydraulics are also all good, looks like a brand new slave cylinder and everything bled up well. No idea what the actual clutch is, and I don't intend to pull the box off on the floor to find out, so unless we have trouble on the dyno or at shakedown that will remain a mystery for the new owner

Front brakes are G4 8 pot calipers over 330mm discs with braided lines. Everything looks good, pretty sure these are off my old 350. Pads are brand new and judging from gold colour are Winmax which is what I also run on my race car, Neil and I both sourced brake stuff from Matty at Racebrakes Sydney who really knows his stuff Everything has bled up nicely with all new Motul RBF600 fluid, there were 2 loose hard line connections and the calipers were new on the car so I ended up doing it 3 times but it is perfect now

So, starting with the rear brakes. They look like standard R33 GTST, and will need new pads shortly (less than 5mm material, probably only 1 day left). The slotted discs (probably DBA) are near new at 18.01mm and the lines are braided

So it turns out that is indeed what happened, and as Mel is not taking up racing and nor is their only child Lizzy the Great Dane, I am tidying the car up for sale. As far as I can tell it is pretty much ready to go to the dyno for run in and tune, but I'll update in here once I know more.

Time for bonnet pins!

Pete knows these cars well, he does my car too, if he was concerned about the traction arm length for your use he would have said so. Do you have adjustable bushes in that arm, maybe he got enough adjustment there (or maybe the bump steer was not material for your use of the car)

Yeah, having tried all of those methods including BBQ+recipro/hacksaw, I ended up buying a bush press kit under $150 that works well, like this: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/355967727167?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=sfmmuhxgqhm&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=dJvnaZ11TB-&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY It basically has a range of pushers and cups with threaded rods between to press out a range of large bushes. The problem with any sawing solution is minimising damage to the subframe side, although it probably needs a quick sand afterwards no matter what solution you try due to damage

I think a lot of you hit the real issue, these brands aren't making cars at a competitive price. Lucky that Foxxconnnn didn't buy Nissan otherwise the cars would be built by 13 year olds doing 15 hour shifts like iPhones. This reminds me of British Leyland. 5th largest global manufacturer in 1968, collapsed by 1975 with only a couple of brands escaping to be owned by Chinese brands today. Along they way they vacuumed up MG, Jaguar, Daimler, Rover, Land Rover, Austin, Morris, Wolseley, Mini, Triumph, Riley, Alvis, Yes, they had other problems but the basic issue was the wrong production (and therefore retail) price. If you are a car manufacturer and you haven't noticed China coming, its already too late.