Hertz Donut

The way I look at it, if I'm buying a 20+ year old car I'm expecting to have to spend money making it reliable, and anything that old is a project, not a daily driver. And as said above, the more you replace (or the previous owner replaced) the less there is to go wrong from that point forward.

PNM35, I got the lightweight racecar spec: - Sunroof delete - Aero kit delete - HICAS delete - Cold pack - Comfort pack - Intelligent key

Crap, I forgot to take some pictures but last weekend I put the following in the back of the wagon: - A 2.1m ladder - A 1.9m wardrobe door - A bunch of power tools, in cases - A medium-sized toolbox - 9 x 10-litre paint pails - 1 x 15-litre plaster pail - 7 x 4-litre paint pails - 1 x 1-litre paint pail - Some cleaning equipment - A water blaster - A 25m hose - A CUDDLY TOOOOOOY!! (props to Bruce Forsyth) - A vacuum cleaner - A bag of clothes - A socket set - A sleeping bag - A drill and driver bit set - 2 x 30-litre bins - A bucket full of cleaners etc - Many bags of miscellaneous stuff like Drano, bolts, rags etc - Some paint trays and rollers - A tarp - A stack of drop sheets - Some gardening tools (loppers, hedge clippers, pruning saw etc) ...and then went looking for more stuff to put in so everything wouldn't slide around. <3 that boot.

Isn't a 370Z Y-pipe the same?

Man I want one of those vans. With the VK56, of course.

- Key light has started flashing on the dash, which a quick search tells me is a dying remote battery. Life = over. - Just bought a full exhaust from a 370Z with 55,000km on it for a massive outlay of $50. I know most of it won't fit without...massaging...but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than $400+ for just a replacement Y-pipe and I have a tame welder I can employ. Now I just have to get it all down to Hawkes Bay from Auckland and convince my wife that it's really only prudent to replace the rear half of the system too. - Ended up replacing the tyres with some Michelin Primacy 3STs of the same size (215/55 R17). Man they kick seven shades of Shinola out of the old Dunlop Enasaves. So grip, much tyre, wow. - About to head out on another 600km road trip, weighed down by the everything, including a 7-foot ladder and interior door inside the cabin. I have a page-long list of items to take and I'm confident I can make it all fit, the car hasn't let me down yet. So, all maintenance stuff really but a change is as good as a rest.

The only cure for that is to buy another one and do all those things to it that you said you'd do differently if you had your time over again. /experience

$1K for a banger VN-VS Commodore LSA Built trans and diff ??? Powerskidz!

I sometimes wonder if people considering these builds as their first project know just how much of a monster even a 400whp car can be on the street, especially if it's only through two wheels.

My POV is that the more you're going to swap out the less it matters what the starting vehicle is. Once you've replaced the engine, trans, suspension, brakes and diff there's not too much left of what made the original car what it was mechanically. By that point about the only things the original car dictated were driveline layout (although I know plenty of FWD-RWD/4WD conversions), suspension design (Mac strut/double wishbone/leaf springs etc but again that can be changed), structural rigidity (but a decent cage can resolve that) and aesthetic appeal (which is largely irrelevant to me but some care). There's very little that can't be replaced easily on a 20-30yo car, at which point that part is now brand new and shouldn't give issues for many years to come. Pick an end goal and find a chassis that suits it. I have an old live-axle Commodore that wouldn't be much chop as a circuit racer but being live axle, light weight and RWD it's the perfect base for a drag car (one day...*shakes fist at life getting in the way*). I used to have a Civic that wasn't much good for drag racing but with a minimum of effort was a barrel of laughs on the twisty stuff. I have a Stagea that is too much of a boat to be good at either drags or circle work without a big investment, but is a perfect cruiser and hauler. So the big question is, what is your end goal?

Wow, that name's a blast from the past, SVM used to be big in the Sierra/Escort Cosworth tuning world. If I had more money than sense I'd do the same thing to my M35. 380RS ahoy.

There are a few clips on YouTube of M35 TV ads that suggest the car had a 6-star safety rating in Japan, or at least I think that's what they're saying. [edit] Oh, and be warned, some of them feature "We Will Rock You" being butchered by someone who sounds like Macy Grey, so unless you need to hear the JDM narrator I recommend watching them without sound. [/edit]

Sorry I'm late posting here, I Googled "Weird Japanese Orange Anal Sticks" and got banned from the Internet for 2 weeks. fml.

Two very important questions... - Do you want to tow with it too? Losing a ute tray could be a bigger issue than you realise if you're a DIYer. Budget for a 6x4 trailer if so, not a massive outlay but you'd also need the car to handle towing like a champ. - What's your max budget?

VTEC

I don't have one, no. Unfortunately where I live I can find anything I want for my Commodore, but talk about V/M-series Nissans and everyone thinks you're some kind of weirdo. I've found a V36 pipe in Hamilton (http://www.partsworld.co.nz/parts/nissan/skyline/3312_v36/67_engine+components/270111510) so I might send them an email and get some measurements. No doubt they'll charge a ludicrous amount for it.

Bugger. Off to Yahoo Japan auctions then. I only need a Y-pipe at the moment, the outer wall on mine's rusted and the tinny rattling noise is driving me nuts.

Bear in mind the NM35 (and PNM35) front suspension differs from the PM35. The strut is shorter and attaches to a C-shaped arm to loop around the front driveshaft. If anything a G35X setup might work.

Can anyone confirm if the V36 Y-pipe is a bolt-in affair with the rest of the PNM35 exhaust?

An M35 Stagea is the best family car option. It's true, you read it on the Internet. 4WD: Check. Available with 2.5 turbo and 3.5 NA. Power: Check. Available with 2.5 turbo and 3.5 NA. Lots of 2.5 knowledge on here, 3.5 knowledge is worldwide due to 350Z/G35 link. Popular consensus is 2.5T has more torque and slightly better performance stock but 3.5 is no slouch and a nicer place to be. Good towing: This is a sticking point. Some have torn rear subframes towing heavy loads, other pull car trailers with no issues. I suspect it comes down to how the bar is mounted but I'm nowhere near qualified enough to speculate. I had a towbar fitted to mine when it came into the country but I only use it for lighter loads (<750kg total) and have a Commodore for heavy stuff. 7 seats: I haven't seen one yet, given the rear layout I can't see how one would work. Under $25K: Pass. In NZ you'd struggle to pay half that for a decent one. Most expensive M35 on TradeMe at the mo is $NZ14,995 but he's dreaming for the spec. Specs: Go for broke: http://specs.cars-directory.net/nissan/stagea/2001_431/ - Please buy a 350S. Please. Considered stuff like the 370GT Crossover? Probably over budget though.

Ok cool, thanks. I've only done rod bushes (and every other front end one) on the Commodore previously and they run forward of the hub, I thought I was going nuts. Do they take much to press them out? I don't have a hydraulic press and had to get an engineer to do get out the Commie's LCA bushes. I should also report that happily the outside temperature reading has started working again all by itself. Great success!

Did an oil change (only 6,500km late...) and had a quick look around for issues. I think I've identified the source of an annoying tinny rattling noise that's been going on for the past couple of years - the outer skin of the Y-pipe has corroded. My wife asked what the means and I gave her a big grin and said "new exhaust time!" I don't think she was amused, she'd rather just keep complaining it sounds too girly compared to our Commodore (which is a Mootec with a foghorn-spec pipe on it). Also noticed the sway bar bushes look very dry and cracked, could this be the source of creaking under brakes/cornering sometimes? I ask because Scotty's mentioned it's likely to be the compression rod bushes and they're not where I'm expecting them to be and I'm too embarrassed to ask where they are. Furthermore, the tyres are getting low on tread so we're now at the "upsize or make do" crossroads. Has anyone run 235/50 R17s on stock M35 rims? Theoretically they'll fit on the rim and are close enough in rolling radius but they'll probably look quite bulgy. I'd love to splash out a few thousand on a set of 18s but we're in the middle of renovations and preparing to sell a couple of houses so money's not exactly flowing right now.

Sweet, thanks.

Just noticed the outside temperature reading has stuck on 18 degrees. Hopefully just a busted sensor, anyone know where it is? I'm guessing somewhere along the scuttle panel below the windscreen.

The RE5R05A in the M35 sits behind the VK56 in '05-'12 Pathfinders, '04-on Armadas and '03-on Titans so I'm sure mechanically it should be fairly easy to hook up, but electronics could be another issue altogether. No idea of the differences in trans internals between the M35 and big boy versions though. Also, this: http://g35driver.com/forums/drivetrain/374437-vk56-nissan-titan-5-6-liter-v8-z33-6-speed-manual-transmission-adapter-plate.html ...and no doubt many other threads on G35Driver, my350z etc about V8 swaps to manual and auto boxes.