Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone. I’m 20 and from NZ Auckland. I recently purchased a Skyline R33 gts just a week ago and I know f**k all about cars. This is my first manual transmission so some driving tips would be helpful as well. I Would like to get into cars as my passion has grown quite rapidly with the new purchase of my skyline. This car is completely stock with the rb20e (I think it is) and Has only been modded with aftermarket wheels. I would like to gain a substantial amount of knowledge starting from the basics of learning each part of a car both internally and externally and if you live in Auckland NZ and wanna help me build this thing and work on this project together or even show me how to drive this thing properly, just message me! Any starting points to start learning about cars? That would be great.

Cheers 

 

 

 

1E9FFF04-9216-46C6-A9E9-14B90EA0A6E2.jpeg

Edited by CarNoob
  • Like 1
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/479938-i-am-completely-new-to-cars-sup/
Share on other sites

OK you need to meet up with some other Skyliners. I don't know if they are still having regular meets but a good place to start is at Joes Mechanical Services. Joe knows most everything there is to know about RBs and most Nissans for that matter and you are likely to run into other owners at his workshop.

You'll find details on his website

https://joesmechanical.co.nz/

  • Like 1
5 minutes ago, KiwiRS4T said:

OK you need to meet up with some other Skyliners. I don't know if they are still having regular meets but a good place to start is at Joes Mechanical Services. Joe knows most everything there is to know about RBs and most Nissans for that matter and you are likely to run into other owners at his workshop.

You'll find details on his website

https://joesmechanical.co.nz/

Thanks for that bro! Not to far aswell 

Welcome man and sweet ride!

Fairly new to the skyline scene myself and learning, but learned to drive in a manual car. There's a lot that can be said about driving manual, but everyone i know does it different. However, there are a few universal truths. Don't ride the clutch! Find where yours catches and build that muscle memory! Don't sit in too low of a gear and give your car too much gas! etc, etc, etc.

Pretty much always start in 1st (duh),. Personally i cheat and use 2nd on slight downhills or if I have small momentum, but 1st is usually best. When on a hill, especially a steep one, some people use their e-brake to hold their car while they get it in gear, and then release it as the clutch catches, This way you don't roll into the person behind you. My dad taught me to just keep my foot on the brake and once i know I'm about to go I let the clutch out till it starts to catch and then release the brake and add gas, then proceed as usual. Has the same effect. You can practice this on small hills. Just hold your brake and clutch in, then slowly let out clutch till you feel it catch (revs drop also). When you let off the brake your car shouldn't roll back if you've done it right or maybe even creep forward. But don't stay on clutch for too long or you'll cause unnecessary wear. 

Have confidence too, don't be afraid to use your gas pedal and let the clutch out quickly *if you know the catch point*. Too little gas will stall a car more often than too much gas. And ALWAYS be ready to mash your clutch pedal to the ground if you feel a stall coming, wrong gear shift, sudden stop, etc. this will spare you having to turn your car over again in traffic and maybe even save your engine, your trans, or your life. Watch videos on youtube also, get some visuals, and practice in empty lots. Watch Engineering Explained's video on youtube of 5 Things not to do in a manual car and in a turbo car! 

Hope I gave some usefull info! Welcome to the club!

Sam

 

  • Like 1
19 minutes ago, samw/skyline said:

Welcome man and sweet ride!

Fairly new to the skyline scene myself and learning, but learned to drive in a manual car. There's a lot that can be said about driving manual, but everyone i know does it different. However, there are a few universal truths. Don't ride the clutch! Find where yours catches and build that muscle memory! Don't sit in too low of a gear and give your car too much gas! etc, etc, etc.

Pretty much always start in 1st (duh),. Personally i cheat and use 2nd on slight downhills or if I have small momentum, but 1st is usually best. When on a hill, especially a steep one, some people use their e-brake to hold their car while they get it in gear, and then release it as the clutch catches, This way you don't roll into the person behind you. My dad taught me to just keep my foot on the brake and once i know I'm about to go I let the clutch out till it starts to catch and then release the brake and add gas, then proceed as usual. Has the same effect. You can practice this on small hills. Just hold your brake and clutch in, then slowly let out clutch till you feel it catch (revs drop also). When you let off the brake your car shouldn't roll back if you've done it right or maybe even creep forward. But don't stay on clutch for too long or you'll cause unnecessary wear. 

Have confidence too, don't be afraid to use your gas pedal and let the clutch out quickly *if you know the catch point*. Too little gas will stall a car more often than too much gas. And ALWAYS be ready to mash your clutch pedal to the ground if you feel a stall coming, wrong gear shift, sudden stop, etc. this will spare you having to turn your car over again in traffic and maybe even save your engine, your trans, or your life. Watch videos on youtube also, get some visuals, and practice in empty lots. Watch Engineering Explained's video on youtube of 5 Things not to do in a manual car and in a turbo car! 

Hope I gave some usefull info! Welcome to the club!

Sam

 

Thanks Sam for the awesome advice. I was really confident with my clutch until yesterday where I stalled at a set of lights. Now confidence just gone out the door ? guess we have our days haha

  • Like 1

Welcome.

i will modify Sam's advice a little. Your R33 has the smallest and least torquey engine possible to get in an R33. It will be naturally very easy to stall, so don't be afraid to use a few more revs and slip the clutch just a bit more than might be ideal as you start from rest. You'll eventually get a better feel for it and what you can get away with. But in the meantime, more (revs) is less (stalling).

  • Like 2
5 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Welcome.

i will modify Sam's advice a little. Your R33 has the smallest and least torquey engine possible to get in an R33. It will be naturally very easy to stall, so don't be afraid to use a few more revs and slip the clutch just a bit more than might be ideal as you start from rest. You'll eventually get a better feel for it and what you can get away with. But in the meantime, more (revs) is less (stalling).

Thanks a lot for the advice man. Will put into practice !

hey mate welcome to the site! read lots to understand your car and enjoy!  im sure you will have the shifting and take offs figured out real quick. car looks clean hope its good to you! maybe throw a bigger rb in there one day!

  • Like 1

compression test for the engine would be a good start, change the fluids, get a mechanic to check your suspension for warn out parts.  make sure your oil temp and coolant temps are up before ripping it hard. check your oil often and check your coolant from time to time. listen for wierd sounds that aren't usually there when starting and drving the car. make sure you got a good battery as well.  few things that will keep your car running well and help you find issues you didn't know were there! start collecting some tools haha

  • Like 1
On 3/18/2020 at 1:21 AM, MoMnDadGTR said:

compression test for the engine would be a good start, change the fluids, get a mechanic to check your suspension for warn out parts.  make sure your oil temp and coolant temps are up before ripping it hard. check your oil often and check your coolant from time to time. listen for wierd sounds that aren't usually there when starting and drving the car. make sure you got a good battery as well.  few things that will keep your car running well and help you find issues you didn't know were there! start collecting some tools haha

Late reply but bro thanks for that man. This the exact advice I was looking. I’m gonna do a 20det engine swap As I will only be taking this to 300-400hp so hopefully I can get him to check everything while engine switching 

Edited by CarNoob
1 hour ago, GTSBoy said:

Don't waste your time putting an RB20DET into it. For very nearly the same up front cost, and exactly the same work, you would be better off putting a 25 into it. 1000x more driveable than the torqueless RB20 (as a street car).

yup once again some good advice from a good mate. definitely hold off on a rb20. id put a 2j in that so fast it would make peoples head spin lol. just kidding through a 25 in it forsure on a serious note. much better engine all around easy to achieve your power goals.

  • Like 1

yeah and for what its worth id set it up with a front facing manifold(looks way better and a hell of a lot cleaner to work on...some guys around here have neo's in there gts r32's with front facing manifolds on gt30's or gt35's. really nice setups they keep up with my gtr all day. you got a nice car mate keep it that way with a real clean 25 build. maybe while the engine is out you could do a little bit of internal work, (head gasket and studs would be a good start if your trying to achieve a safe 400whp.) get all your ducks in order before you start the build. make sure you know exactly the direction you want you car to go so you don't have to do your build twice! I would definitely shoot for higher 300 or 400whp. you will get used to your power and always want more lol....so start with a descent punch.  ive had great luck with the haltec ecu for tuning, but I'm assuming you have a reputable tuner in your area so usually pick the tuning he is most comfortable with in giving a safe fast tune.

  • Like 1

look into ignition systems as well...I know a lot of guys are using r35 coilpack conversion, it elimantes the ignitor nice little update. this is for rb26 I think should be the same for a 25 tho. fueling should be simple for 400hp maybe just a in tank update/set of injectors.  other than that mate keep it simple get a nice top mount 6 boost manifold if its in the budget. make sure all your custom intercooler piping is sealed proper rest shouldn't be to bad. will be a fricken beast mate!

1 hour ago, MoMnDadGTR said:

it elimantes the ignitor nice little update. this is for rb26 I think should be the same for a 25 tho

All 25s from S2 onwards have coils with inbuilt igniters. So the benfit is not from that. It is just from being a much stronger spark (the R35 conversion, that is).

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Next on the to-do list was an oil and filter change. Nothing exciting to add here except the oil filter is in a really stupid place (facing the engine mount/subframe/steering rack). GReddy do a relocation kit which puts it towards the gearbox, I would have preferred towards the front but there's obviously a lot more stuff there. Something I'll have to look at for the next service perhaps. First time using Valvoline oil, although I can't see it being any different to most other brands Nice... The oil filter location... At least the subframe wont rust any time soon I picked up a genuine fuel filter, this is part of the fuel pump assembly inside the fuel tank. Access can be found underneath the rear seat, you'll see this triangular cover Remove the 3x plastic 10mm nuts and lift the cover up, pushing the rubber grommet through The yellow fuel line clips push out in opposite directions, remove these completely. The two moulded fuel lines can now pull upwards to disconnect, along with the wire electrical plug. There's 8x 8mm bolts that secure the black retaining ring. The fuel pump assembly is now ready to lift out. Be mindful of the fuel hose on the side, the hose clamp on mine was catching the hose preventing it from lifting up The fuel pump/filter has an upper and lower section held on by 4 pressure clips. These did take a little bit of force, it sounded like the plastic tabs were going to break but they didn't (don't worry!) The lower section helps mount the fuel pump, there's a circular rubber gasket/grommet/seal thing on the bottom where the sock is. Undo the hose clip on the short fuel hose on the side to disconnect it from the 3 way distribution pipe to be able to lift the upper half away. Don't forget to unplug the fuel pump too! There's a few rubber O rings that will need transferring to the new filter housing, I show these in the video at the bottom of this write up. Reassembly is the reverse Here's a photo of the new filter installed, you'll be able to see where the tabs are more clearing against the yellow OEM plastic Once the assembly is re-installed, I turned the engine over a few times to help build up fuel pressure. I did panic when the car stopped turning over but I could hear the fuel pump making a noise. It eventually started and has been fine since. Found my 'lucky' coin underneath the rear seat too The Youtube video can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJ65pmQt44&t=6s
    • It was picked up on the MOT/Inspection that the offside front wheel bearing had excessive play along with the ball joint. It made sense to do both sides so I sourced a pair of spare IS200 hubs to do the swap. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the strip down but here's a quick run down. On the back of the hub is a large circular dust cover, using a flat head screw driver and a mallet I prised it off. Underneath will reveal a 32mm hub nut (impact gun recommended). With the hub nut removed the ABS ring can be removed (I ended up using a magnetic pick up tool to help). Next up is to remove the stub axle, this was a little trickier due to limited tools. I tried a 3 leg puller but the gap between the hub and stub axle wasn't enough for the legs to get in and under. Next option was a lump hammer and someone pulling the stub axle at the same time. After a few heavy hits it released. The lower bearing race had seized itself onto the stub axle, which was fine because I was replacing them anyway. With the upper bearing race removed and the grease cleaned off they looked like this The left one looked pristine inside but gave us the most trouble. The right one had some surface rust but came apart in a single hit, figure that out?! I got a local garage to press the new wheel bearings in, reassemble was the opposite and didn't take long at all. Removing the hub itself was simple. Starting with removing the brake caliper, 2x 14mm bolts for the caliper slider and 2x 19mm? for the carrier > hub bolts. I used a cable tie to secure the caliper to the upper arm so it was out of the way, there's a 10mm bolt securing the ABS sensor on. With the brake disc removed from the hub next are the three castle nuts for the upper and lower ball joints and track rod end. Two of these had their own R clip and one split pin. A few hits with the hammer and they're released (I left the castle nuts on by a couple of turns), the track rod ends gave me the most grief and I may have nipped the boots (oops). Fitting is the reversal and is very quick and easy to do. The lower ball joints are held onto the hub by 2x 17mm bolts. The castle nut did increase in socket size to 22mm from memory (this may vary from supplier) The two front tyres weren't in great condition, so I had those replaced with some budget tyres for the time being. I'll be replacing the wheels and tyres in the future, this was to get me on the road without the worry of the police hassling me.
    • Yep, the closest base tune available was for the GTT, I went with that and made all the logical changes I could find to convert it to Naturally Aspirated. It will rev fine in Neutral to redline but it will be cutting nearly 50% fuel the whole way.  If I let it tune the fuel map to start with that much less fuel it wont run right and has a hard time applying corrections.  These 50% cuts are with a fuel map already about half of what the GTT tune had.  I was having a whole lot of bogging when applying any throttle but seem to have fixed that for no load situations with very aggressive transient throttle settings. I made the corrections to my injectors with data I found for them online, FBCJC100 flowing 306cc.  I'll have to look to see if I can find the Cam section. I have the Bosch 4.9 from Haltech. My manifold pressure when watching it live is always in -5.9 psi/inHg
    • Hi My Tokico BM50 Brake master cylinder has a leak from the hole between the two outlets (M10x1) for brake pipes, I have attached a photo. Can anyone tell me what that hole is and what has failed to allow brake fluid to escape from it, I have looked on line and asked questions on UK forums but can not find the answer, if anyone can enlighten me I would be most grateful.
    • It will be a software setting. I don't believe many on here ever used AEM. And they're now a discontinued product,that's really hard to find any easy answers on. If it were Link or Haltech, someone would be able to just send you a ECU file though.
×
×
  • Create New...