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Stut Disassembly Now if you are installing some brand new coilovers, everything should be already assembled, and all you will have to do is put the new ones in.. so you can probably ignore these next few steps. Otherwise you'll have to start removing the actual springs from the shock assembly, and transferring them over, which isn't too tricky, just fiddly. Start by using your spring compressors to compress the spring as much as possible. The spring compressors are about $40 a pair from any parts place - you can get more expensive ones, but personally I wouldn't bother. This takes the tension of the top mount, and stop it shooting off when undone. Stut top nut removal This can be a bit fiddly, but you'll have to use your adjustable to fit the flat side of the top of the strut spindle, and use a standard spanner (14mm on the standard nissan items) to work in the reverse direction. The easiest way to do this is to place it on the ground, and have the adjustable pushing into the ground, whilst using the 14mm wrench to to undo the nut. You'll have to ignore the blurry photo, but you get the idea... Basically without holding the top spindle, more than likely, everything will turn with the nut, meaning its not coming off anywhere. This may take 5-10 mins, and is a bit of a pain as the nut will be pretty tight (use some WD40 to make it a bit easier) Once the nut is finally off the top, the strut top should be able to be simply pulled off the top of the strut assembly.

Bottom Nut Get back under the car, and remove the bottom nut which holds the whole strut in place. Its a big sucker (17mm), and you'll require a long socket, and depending on who has last worked touched it, probably a strong 1/2" socket breaker bar to get it turning that first couple of turns. I had to put my whole body behind it to "crack" the first bolt off. Remove old strut / springs This can be a bit of a bitch, as the whole thing may still be fairly captive in place, even if jacked up very high. I found that by shoving my weight on the hub to push it down a bit, whilst pushing and jiggling the stut, it would gradually slide off the end stud. You might need to twist the strut from side to side a little too. Once off, it may spring out a little, but shouldn't shoot off anywhere. Probably took me 10-15 mins just to get it out. Once free, you'll have to remove it from the wishbone.. which i found the best way to do this, was to slide the whole lot down through the wishbone... then pull it forward. At the right angle, it will *just* clear the wheel archand allow you to pull it completely out.. although its pretty tight. Here you can see the whole stut and spring removed from the car.. everything should dangle down fine..

This guide gives you a bit of an outline of how to replace the shocks on an R32.. R33 from what I remember is pretty much the same, but there will be a few small differences. GTR I think is fairly similar, but the rears don't have the shock eyelets.. but I've never worked on a GTR so wouldn't be able to say for sure. The photos illustrate one of the rears. Fronts however are pretty much similar process. ** NOTE: Some of the photos show from the left side, some from the right. I ended up taking photos half and half of the process on each side, in case you were :confused: In this case I've just replaced my standard set of shocks, with a nice set of 2nd hand bilsteins, while keeping the standard springs (for now) until I decide which new springs I am going for. Tools 1 x adjustable spanner wrench 1 x (or 2) spring compressors 1 x 14mm spanner for top shock nut (nissan originals) 1 x 17mm "long" socket 1 x 1/2" socket rachet 1 x 1/2" breaker bar 1 x 12mm 1/2" socket 1 x trolley jack To Begin First of all jack the car up on the side you are doing the shock as high as possible, and remove the wheel. I've used under where the subframe bolts to the body, just near the chasis rail, and this seems to me to be a fairly safe and strong jacking point (but don't shoot me if its not). Here you can see the old/shocks springs in place, the nissan originals.. Boot point removal If you have your original boot trim, you'll have to take that out, which is pretty easy to figure out. You should find a rubber cover above the strut tower, and the 2 x top shock bolts sticking through the body there. Start by completely undoing these (use 12mm socket and ratchet). For front, these are in the engine bay. I've circled the two rear bolts.

can they do moulds for side windows, like they can for front windows ?? I was thinking if I could get some more glass made up, might cost nearly the same as tracking down some old nissan stuff?

you would get roughly similar 1/4 mile performance.. they're not going to be much faster, but like you say modern and newer car so less likely to be problems. I've seen a few GTT with the basic mods such as intercooler, exhaust, and a boost up run down the strip. About the same as your mid-13 pretty much. If you want something that is noticeably faster, the R34 is not it..

but if its sucking power, its still sucking power, it just becomes more obvious when you are climbing a hill and the car has very little power. like writeoff was saying, most people would say that if you asked them regarding the aircon that it draws more fuel. I am pretty sure *any* car with aircon on, you'll notice worse fuel economy, as the compressor is creating drag on the rest of the belt system, and hence the whole engine turning over, requiring slightly more power to get the same result.

R33 and R32 zactly the same.. I got one of these sitting around too.. $30 + $5 for post?

when would you want to sort this out by? This should maybe in the group buy section?

you'll have to actaully take out the ECU, because conveniently the LED's face away from you. I have a feeling the fault codes won't tell you much, but see how you go.

I can't see you going fast speeds/hr on undullating semi-country road with 19's and 7cm off the ground.. Like the other night stuck behind some clown with a u-beaut body kit.. he was holding everybody up because of being worried about his precious bodykit dangling cm off the ground. What is the point of having a fast car that you can't push because you are worried about the bodykit scraping the ground, or can barely corner properly. All he did was shit people off. So ok, all its good for is tough laps.. fullsic.. cops love lappers too

think most R32 suffer that problem.. there is another thread in maintenance.. I don't think there is any easy solution.

they always said aircon sucked the power.. haven't u ever put on aircon whilst climbing a big hill in a small car?

just piss it off, useless really.. just get a rubber bung from the boot (lift the carpet) and shove it in, exact same size.

Well I just connected the red of the nissan plug to the black, and the white and black to the two whites of the NGK plug. I assume I got it right as it seems to work? still not noticing massive difference in fuel economy.. did advance timing somewhat, which seems to have made more of a difference. Down to about 13L/100km.. from about 15L/100km which I guess is better than nothing. Bit poor for a nearly stock R32 though