R33 general questions

[Kaptain]

Hello!

Long time lurker, been using the forums to address concerns and questions from afar for a while but I've struggled to find some answers so I guess its about time I made an account and formally asked some more knowledgeable people, since finding local skyline owners is hard (and shops that are knowledgeable or trustworthy to work on 'rare' cars are non existent out where im at, as skylines are quite uncommon to find in the wild around here).

So the main 3 questions I have,

1: Steering rack has blown seals, well.. they kind of hold but they are not sealed properly anymore and as my R33 is my DD, i cant exactly rip the rack out and send it off or attempt to fix myself. As most refurb ones are around $1,100 or more shipped, and I have other things I need to work on around the car, I was seeking clarification on whether an S15 rack will more or less bolt right in, and whether a common mechanic could do any other required work to get it to fit. I ask, as I've found a supplier than can sell a manufactured as oem one for around 400, if not I'll likely order a used one from Jacks JDM, and take a risk on the seals there.

The second question i have is that im replacing the front wiper cowl and have planned to buy 4 new clips and a new center clip but wasnt sure if there were any other clips that would also need to get replaced while I was at it. Given im sure any that are there now will simply break when I remove the old cowl...

Last thing would be a fairly straight forward question, i think. If I manage (strong if, finding one has proven to be a pain) to find a R33 GTR spoiler/wing will it require much modification to bolt to a S2 R33 GTST? I've read the bolt patterns dont match but otherwise would bolt in, only options I have found with much luck is China stuff on ebay and carbonetics, which has a nice $650 shipping fee... so if anyone has any pointers where a US chap could locate one that would be great

Random side question as well, the mirrors as I understand are mirror glass, and as im planning to polish my windows from water spots and surface scratches, i was hopeful cerium oxide would be fine for them too, as my research points to, but clarification is always nice.

Any pointers would be appreciated, and while I have scoured the internet for answers if I missed a prior post somewhere that may answer these directly please point me towards it, as i must have simply missed it. I have seen a post here or there that has mentioned it, but I usually get 50-50 answers, or half answers... I dont have a lot of fab experience or mechanic experience, outside of hydraulic and pneumatic stuff I did in the military and with how hard it is to source stuff in the US, id rather not wing it and hemmoraghe money lol.

Thanks guys!
Sorry for the monumental first post haha

[GTSBoy]

1 hour ago, Kaptain said:

1: Steering rack has blown seals,

What do you mean by "seals"? Internal hydraulic seals (ie, is it leaking PS fluid?) or the rack boots that close the rack onto the tie-rods? Because the former is a rebuild, and the latter is trivial that you or any nearby mechanic could do.

Dunno about the cowl. Just buy what you think is required and get anything else you find/break afterwards.

Wing? Dunno. Don't like R33s enough to pay attention to them.

Mirror glass is just glass (on the surface that you want to polish). Go for it.

[Kaptain]

3 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

What do you mean by "seals"? Internal hydraulic seals (ie, is it leaking PS fluid?) or the rack boots that close the rack onto the tie-rods? Because the former is a rebuild, and the latter is trivial that you or any nearby mechanic could do.

Im not entirely sure exactly what or where its leaking from, he started to pull the boots to swap to my new tie rods + ends and it just vomited fluid, so he closed em up up, swapped the rod ends to the old rods and let me know so I can figure a solution out, im guessing its all origional as as I passed 103k miles earlier this year im sure its just in need of a full overhual/rebuild anyways. 

 

If i could just yank it off and be good it wouldn't be an issue to ship it out and wait for the turnaround but the guy I work with doesnt really have space to keep my car for a week or two at a time, would rather drop it off and have a replacement ready to drop in

[soviet_merlin]

4 hours ago, Kaptain said:

im replacing the front wiper cowl and have planned to buy 4 new clips and a new center clip but wasnt sure if there were any other clips that would also need to get replaced while I was at it. Given im sure any that are there now will simply break when I remove the old cowl...

I don't know the answer to this, but did you have a look at the parts diagrams on amayama.com and see what they list around it for your car? As an example this should be it on my car.

That's how I would check for required clips and things like that. But, I take no responsibility for you ending up with a box full of random OEM hoses, washers and clips after going down that path a few times. This definitely has never happened to me  

[Kaptain]

53 minutes ago, soviet_merlin said:

I don't know the answer to this, but did you have a look at the parts diagrams on amayama.com and see what they list around it for your car? As an example this should be it on my car.

That's how I would check for required clips and things like that. But, I take no responsibility for you ending up with a box full of random OEM hoses, washers and clips after going down that path a few times. This definitely has never happened to me  

Lol yeah I ordered the clips mentioned and as far as the amayama diagrams go i think thats all I'll need. Fogured id ask, sometimes people's first hand experience doesnt always match up to diagrams haha, i guess I'll wing it and worse comes to worse I'll just deal with it as I go

[joshuaho96]

8 hours ago, Kaptain said:

Im not entirely sure exactly what or where its leaking from, he started to pull the boots to swap to my new tie rods + ends and it just vomited fluid, so he closed em up up, swapped the rod ends to the old rods and let me know so I can figure a solution out, im guessing its all origional as as I passed 103k miles earlier this year im sure its just in need of a full overhual/rebuild anyways. 

 

If i could just yank it off and be good it wouldn't be an issue to ship it out and wait for the turnaround but the guy I work with doesnt really have space to keep my car for a week or two at a time, would rather drop it off and have a replacement ready to drop in

Sounds like the rack seals blew.

[Duncan]

You may not want to hear this, but daily driving a 30 year old skyline in the US isn't going to be a good experience, every time something like this happens you will be stuck for months.

The rack reco should be trivial at a specialist....take it off, get it rebuilt, back on the car in 1-3 days.

[Kaptain]

53 minutes ago, Duncan said:

You may not want to hear this, but daily driving a 30 year old skyline in the US isn't going to be a good experience, every time something like this happens you will be stuck for months.

The rack reco should be trivial at a specialist....take it off, get it rebuilt, back on the car in 1-3 days.

Well, to be fair to the car I've driven it daily for almost a decade now, although in that time only put on 50k, as it just recently passed 100k miles early this year. For the most part its been fine because I've been able to source parts from AUS like jacks jdm and a few places in Japan, some things like pads have been easy since 300z pads swap right in...

I realize its probably at that time in its life i should find a new DD (but I rent and only have so much space, no garage) so new cars just complicate things. As it is older though, I recognize its about that time as with my '67 GTO to maybe side step and find an alternative, but if i can keep driving it... I want to.

 

That said, I may just look into a local shop that might be able to, problem is the mechanic I work with has limited space as a mom and pop operation, and he's a busy busy man, so id need to find out if he can keep the car in the meantime, which may or may not be practical for him. Maybe I'll just buy one off jacks jdm and get that refurbed /shrug.. just looking at options and what others may have to offer for advice on the matter. Like I said, its hard finding people around here who actually have one, I've had mine 9 and a half years and I've met 3 others, and they are all military, one was oem from 95 with 30k miles (rip that car... guy got hit after someone crossed s double yellow, totaled it)

[Duncan]

Yeah so I guess your mechanic would know turnaround better than me....but I would have thought you had access to same day or overnight rack rebuilds there....any big city here in Australia has that service.  

There are a couple of o-rings and seals involved, I guess the risk is the part is specific not general.

Other option is if you can have it on stands in your garage for a while, steering rack removal is pretty simple (2 mounting brackets, 2 ball joints (separate by undoing the nut to the top of the threads, put a pry bar between the steering arm and control arm to put pressure on it then medium force on the side of the ball joint or top of the nut with a hammer to break it free) and then the trickiest bit is the splines to the steering rack (not too bad to undo, one nut then it slides out, but mark it first so you can reassemble it straight)