MozzMann

I seriously doubt you could ever buy Alloy Studs or nuts any why anyone would want to is beyond me . Cast Alloy is very common for wish bones and struts, load spreading components, but fastener's nah sorry that is just inviting disaster

Driving sims mainly with GTR2, DiRT, Assetto Corsa, and the like - FPS and other's too in the form of ARMA & ARMA2, Sniper Ghost Warrior, Sniper Elite 2 and 3 , DayZ is goo for a laugh.

Ah OK well first things First have you set your wheel up correctly and you MUST run the Profiler, that is an absolute must to have ANY decent control. Secondly what Simulation and or Mod for that sim are you using ? IF you using a PS3 or console forget the above as this is then not applicable. If you want to set your wheel up in a PC situation then I can help you in that regard.

You mean there are still people that actually THINK iRacing is good, ??

Depending on the Case and the room you have available try making up a Duct from 1 mm card and set this up with a good sized fan to essentially pressurise the GPU with OUTSIDE Case Air. Way too many gamer's have very poor cooling due to the Case and the fans, you MUST move fresh Air in and the Hot Air out NOT circulate it around inside the case. Especially with Dual Graphics cards so close together, and honestly I have tried SLI for several games etc and IMHO ( Or at least for what I do ) not worth the buggerising around when the cost of a card capable of hefty performance is is often less than 2 identical cards in SLI and running 3 screens off SLI can also be an issue.

Peter and the boys at Capital Suspension very quickly found one issue I was not aware of and that was one camber pin in the rear must have failed and was replaced by a regular bolt. Getting a full alignment Friday with replacement pin ( hopefully they will have it by then ) and I shall pass on my thoughts then . And also thanks to "Sinista32" for putting me on to them.

I use a Logitech G4?? Cheap and Light and they don't interfere with the sound from my main speaker's as I ONLY use the Headset for Teamspeak and other voice comms while on-line. If your trying to keep the House disturbance as low as possible as good set of Surround units is ideal as you can be in a FPS game and hear from particular directions etc IF the game has that sort of coding otherwise Surround Sound Headset is a waste of time and money (it is after all why we have 2 ears remember)

A turbo can and should last the life of the vehicle, unless your hammering the shit out of it !! This bull shit about replacing them is just that BS unless there is actual physical internal damage to the turbine fins, some turbo's use roller and some use slipper bearings that rely on good oil pressure as they literally run on a film of oil like a hovercraft and once the engine is stopped the reason why you hear a slight noise as the turbine slows to a stop. There may be a need to replace the bearings and seals yes but replace the Turbo that is just false economy!! Is the smoke continuous when cold or in puffs? and you say only cold ! ie overnight stop or parked for a bit when out and about ? as that can indicate that you may have the potential for a valve guide/s being a little worn or some something as simple as stem seals. while annoying is not life threatening to the engine. I run a Multigrade 10W-50 Synthetic designed for Turbo applications from Penrite So yes Oil could be a consideration, Change it to a heavier grade or even a straight 40W as a test. if there is no smoke then you could well have worn guides, rings or other areas where the thicker oil can't pass There can also be oil leaking past the Carbon face seals in the turbo until it's warm that is giving you smoke too.

im assuming by "leakdown test" you mean a wet compression test? i.e bit of oil in the cylinder then retested? No , well not quite but close. A " Leak Down " test is done with an Air Compressor and a special tool that I have below. This measures the relationship of the Air in v the Air out, and gives you the leakage past the rings for instance as a percentage. It can also help find and diagnose possible Head Gasket and other internal leaks in an engine. Usually a Operating temp test is done and then add some motor oil to the cylinder and repeat noting the percentage (usually significantly lower with oil) then the car is run to burn off any oil in the cylinders and then a compression test is done. First dry and then with Oil noting the Pressures before and after. Snapon Leak-down Tester above . SnapOn Cylinder Pressure Tester . I hope this helps clarify Ideally most engines (Petrol) I would consider 120 -180 PSI a good ball park figure. This of course depends greatly on the age and type of engine being tested. Wet pressures can be as high as 250 PSI perhaps and usually even across the number of cylinder's your checking , if you find one or more that are virtually no rise in pressure with oil present then you have found the issue. It could be something as simple as the need for a Bore Hone and new Pistons and rings to suit . I hope this helps .

ANY Noise indicates movement and no direct load transfer to the central rim ledge. OR more seriously potential problem with linkages and or joints. check this situation out ASAP for your own piece of mind The Camber change could be due to play in the suspension and the wheel being further out from the centre of support has shown this play up by tilting the top of the tyre in further. Again have this checked to rule out possible other issues.

Don't use E85 either

Jap car is one thing , but for me it's Aussie Plates all the way especially if themed plates like outback sunset etc were available.

Pad compound has a lot to do with squeal as it generated movement at a high frequency. I cured many by making alloy slugs that fit into the piston and are about 1 mm thicker than the original shim, machined them down so they hold the pad dead flat and true on the rotor with no movement thus no squeal. Remember you do not necessarily need to bed brakes these days ( Depends on the Pad ) and in some cases if you do you will over heat the compound resulting in hardening of the pad and reduced grip and more vibration thus squeal. 2 or more spots of Silastic applied to the back of the pad and pressed into place before it sets after allowing it to set this provides a tiny shock absorbing layer in a similar fashion to the PBR Squeal Stop solution.

89Cal Please read my comment re 18 V again ( I did not say this was normal - I said I have seen voltages that high and with and AC component as well (Data logger told the story) ) In a modern Vehicle these days the nominal Voltage is around the 13.8-14.2 range with the engine running and the Alternator charging as I previously stated and up to 14.5 and higher but 15Vdc is on the high side and needs to be addressed, At rest voltage (Engine Off) should be in the order of 11-12.5 over night. As I said I have seen voltage excursions as high as 18 V DC without damage but that was years ago before CAN BUS systems and other integrated electronics came along and that is NOT a good situation at all. If you look at the stampings on a lot of Alternator's their NO LOAD rating is often 18 V but under normal regulated delivery load they drop to 14 or so. 15 V is high yes as I said BUT this condition could well be the result of poor earth and connectivity causing the float voltage to read high with a multimeter but the actual voltage due to resistances within the electrical system are likely lower, a stuffed regulator will not limit the voltage and depending on the Alternator may be dumping 15V unregulated into the system and thus the problems that Dan is encountering Voltage is one thing but Current flow is another. It needs attending too by a good Auto Electrician of that there is no doubt.

Many forget that there is a minimum ride height requirement and that is the minimum clearance under the vehicle. This is measured without any bag inflation, in other words if you have an air system failure your car can still pass the minimum height requirement under the Law - what this means in reality is you car will be illegal and potentially unsafe if bagged. Sorry guys but I simply do not see the point as it has no mechanical or handling advantage on the highway because you alignment and other suspension parameter's will be way off optimal by dropping the car. There are vehicles around here that have bags and one blocked the main street a while ago as it's air system failed and thus dropped on it's belly in the middle of the street, HOW it passed the regular machinery inspection I have no idea. Now you mention hydraulic lift kit ?? so you can raise the car when needed or what , just trying to get an idea of what and why (Old fart here trying to understand the younger generation)

Voltage is fine although on the borderline high 14-14.5 is the norm engine running but I have seen excursions as high as 18 . Step 1 In my fault finding would be to make absolutely sure your battery terminals are clean and that you have a good unit Step 2 Check and clean the battery terminals and preferably put it on a charger for 24 Hrs at a 2-4 amp trickle , leave it for 12 Hrs and then subject it to a decent drain with a Battery tester. To eliminate this as a potential issue (I have seen near new batteries fail simply due to an internal failure ) after all they are mass produced and your likely to get a dud every now and then. Step 3 (A) Ensure you have a good solid ground strap from the Battery to the Engine and 2 A solid strap from the Battery to the Chassis, (B) Also check the ground from the instrument panel gauge cluster as this can be a potential issue as well. This should eliminate you battery and potential current flow and earth issues A cheaper solution may have been assuming the field windings in your old Alternator were OK would have been to replace the Regulator in the Alternator and possibly have solved your issue with a bit of work and logical fault tracing. Alternately replace the entire unit with NEW from a good supplier like Repco or AutoPro etc so you have a some warantee and or return policy if this is not a solution. Let us know how you get on .

As a general rule you can use any washer to spread the load of the nut on the stud, the reason they are thick is to help them cupping and thus the manifold loosening from the heating and cooling cycles in normal operation. I'd replace the studs in the head with a sleeved bush on the outter ends for locating and use stainless cap screws for manifold retention, and decent thick spreader.s , this will give you the best adherence to the manifold gasket preventing leaks. The reason I like Socket head Cap screws is you don't tend to over tighten them and this in turn helps longevity .

Well depending on just how bad the corrosion is you should neutralise things with Bi Carb of Soda and scrub it well with a stainless steel brush at which point deoxidene treatment IF it is still available to kill any remaining rust, after this coat the battery compartment with epoxy and even bituminous sound deadener to protect the steel work . In reality having someone fabricate a new Battery box is likely a better and cheaper option especially if it is made from 613 Stainless. A little tip clamping your battery down well on a neoprene pad to help limit vibration which is the usual cause of battery failure will also help limit and acid egress (although many modern batteries are sealed ) from the battery case.

Sorry to disagree with you Kiwi but you must adjust your Low first so that the interaction between Low and High beam is kept to a minimum only cars with a separate Hi-Beam light can be adjusted independently. The reason I do this is so that the setting on the Low beam is normally at setting 1 on the dash so that the Low Beam can be raised if needed (this doesn't effect High beam as the filament is at the centre of rotation) , thus doesn't move.. but you can raise the Low slightly without dazzeling oncoming traffic if needed Once this is set you are pretty much at the mercy unfortunately of the High-beam internally as the adjustment is not separate ( not in mine it isn't at least) within the Light fitting, Normally you always set your lo beam first and then check where the Pool of light is for High. unless you have cars with a separate High & Low light like many car with 4 lights Remember the Stagea (2001-2005) the adjustment screws move the entire inner bulb holder left/ right and up/down so setting low can effect High and vice versa. Check High beam yes as you state but I think you'll find that the pool of light will be at or close to the centre height of the lower bulb (High-Beam/Fog) within the fixture anyway. I had to cheat and loosen the mounting bolts on the actual light fitting itself to get them pointing better, after this some fine adjustment and job done. I put a HID Kit in the High-beam / Fog light and this worked a treat. I have got to set my wife's car after I do the suspension and alignment so I should make a photo shoot and tutorial out of it . eh Excerpt from Motorama Web Site Park the car on level ground 7.5 metres (use a tape measure) from a flat vertical surface, your garage wall will work. Open the bonnet and look at the back of the headlight casing, on most models there will be two adjustment screws/bolts on the rear or top of each headlight-locate them and grab the right tool in order to turn them (check the owner’s manual to be sure they’re the right ones). Cover one headlight with a towel or similar and turn the headlights on (you may want to have the engine running if your battery isn’t new). One screw will adjust the headlight up/down while the other will adjust left/right – keeping your eye on the beam on the wall slowly turn one of the screws to determine which direction it’s adjusting, if it’s not the way you want turn it back to the original location and use the other screw. Ideally the beam on the wall should be no higher than the centreline of the headlight with the area of most intensity directly in front of the headlight casing(use your tape measure here again to measure from the ground to the middle of your headlight and do the same on the wall when adjusting – you can even put a mark on the wall to help you aim). In Australia you want the most intensity from the left hand headlight on the road shoulder, and as such the top of the headlight beams should display a pair of laidback L shapes on the wall as seen in the illustration. Repeat the procedure for the other headlight. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/technical-stuff/132143d1241416361t-how-adjust-headlight-beams-hl.jpg http://img.tapatalk.com/5ec57fe4-3a46-1ba6.jpg

I know this thread is old but for what it's worth buy yourself some Narva Blues http://www.narva.com.au/pressreleases/press-releases/narvas-vision-to-go-further-slogan-demonstrated-in-blue-plus-upgrade I have used these for a long time in my old car and when properly adjusted they are IMHO bloody brilliant (No pun intended) . Originally I had these in my Stagea but have swapped them out for HID's in the lower Fog Hi Beam bulb and left the factory HID's in the top as they are permanently on as low beam in the NM35 Stagea's. The Light kit I bought was a Response Kit from Jaycar and I can honestly say they are pretty good , for a conversion kit and the reflector still focusses the like quite sharply. and that is a big concern with many after market kits. You are on the the ball with setting your lights up correctly as it makes a huge difference to driver vision and fatigue on a long night drive.

Have you contacted JB HiFi in Woden they may be able to shed some light on this subject as I am going to get rid of the Jap radio in my Stagea soon I hope, and am thinking one of the double DIN units with Sat Nav or touch screen and blue tooth to the phone etc. still looking myself

Capral Aluminium in the ACT has Stainless as well so it might be worth a look see if they do in Melbourne too.

It is a pity I am out in the boonies so to speak, but as a retired Fabricator and Mechanical Engineer I I think I could offer a lot of tips for general fabrication work in sheet, RHS and Pipe work etc. I wonder if it would be worth a few of us old blokes banding together and put on a workshop or something similar to try to pass on some our skills and knowledge to the younger ones. Just a thought

Booked in with Peter and the gang for Wed next week .