cowie165

Fair enough, np. Mark

Why is that Jon? I don't mean to sound confrontational - just that VIN's are commonly available. You can find out the chassis numbers of cars without too much time/effort. There was a .pdf floating around a few weeks ago with all the VIN's of Australian delivered GTR's. What can you use the VIN for? Mark

Pls pardon my ignorance, but I'm one of those ppl who are unaware of the benefits. Autos are nice when the traffic is crawling, but what advantages do they have on a modified car? Mark (Apologies for getting off topic)

A) Ignore them and stay at your current speed Mark

Cheap performance (120hp), great bike to ride. Excellent condition. Black/purple. Twin headlights with single ram-air duct. Stock engine and exhaust Includes: Gear sack and rack Clear indicators (original orange included in sale) Disc lock Haynes manual (good for bike setup) Rear hugger NSW Rego until late Sep 2005 Maintenance history: 38,700kms 36K major service completed Feb 04 by Kawasaki Newcastle New front discs and pads (barely run in) New battery No outstanding maintenance, the bike runs beautifully. Starts first time, every time. Any inspection welcome. $5300 Email [email protected] or phone 02 4981 7527

Whilst I'm in the Newcastle thread, to any other guys in the Bay/Medowie/Terrace/Maitland area (ie. northside) always seem to get stuck behind people driving at 80kmh in the 100 zones? Richardson road past Grahamstown dam, and the road out to Maitland are terrible for it. I don't understand it. Are the drivers unaware? I find that hard to believe as it happens too often to be tourists/non-locals. Which makes me think that it must be people who choose to do 80kmh in some attempt to reduce road accidents... whilst everyone else gets fed up and overtakes (higher risk, yeah?). I'm sorry guys, I just feel like ranting, cause I get so sick of it. You overtake and the driver is happily tooling along below the speed limit. The areas are 100 for a reason - there's nothing else there! No merging, no driveways, nothing! And I seem to get the "Flashy Flashy" high-beams from them as I pass, as if I'm some P-plater driving a turbo V8 with a car full of passengers in the middle of the night!? Man, people need to get a grip. Self-included. I know i'll get where I'm going eventually, but to me it highlights the driver ed thing. If people are uncomfortable being in control of their 2-ton 4WD at 100kmh, either go take some professional training or ask someone else to drive. *sigh* Mark

Yep I hear you. Super boring. You don't go over about 30kmh and 2km from my house is an 80 zone I take to work - so very daunting when I had zero bike experience...took a few days to warm up (read: build confidence!) to doing 80. I'd be very happy to pass pointers for the P's. The best advice I can give right now, is to plan on hiring a CB for the test. If you ride a ZZR or a CBR or anything like that, the U-turn and cones are nearly impossible. My ZZR was plenty fast, but designed for handling at speeds above walking pace. I practiced for probably ten hours over a few weeks (in a cul de sac) and still only just scraped through on the ZZR. I tried the test on a CB250 and nailed it 100% (no touches/ feet down/ etc.) Re: the comp test - take the time to study up on the bike stuff. There is all the normal L-permit q's, plus lots of bike specific. An hour of reading will prob save you time/effort/$$. Most if it is the stuff you forget 5 mins after leaving the RTA, like how close in metres can you park to a bus zone? and similar stuff. Well now that I've typed all this I realise it I should have sent it via PM. Apologies to all the guys reading this who don't ride! Mark

Anyone other Kiwi people getting nervous about who gets on the Prince? I guess we have to wait until B/L's are surrendered to work out which cars shipped....? Mark

A friend of mine was at my place on the weekend. He has Liberty B4 rims on an Impreza RS. The B4 wheels are the same as the V-Spec wheels (though if you bought them from Subaru you'll have to be sure of the offset - R32 GTR offset +12 to +22) Hope it helps. Mark If you're not sure if I'm right, compare a few B4 pics to V-Specs. I was pretty surprised when I noticed it.

When I first picked up my SR20 180SX a few years back I found an RPM 'window' from 3000 to 5000 where power all but died. It turned out to be a fuel pump that was on its last legs and pumping at 40% capacity. After replacing it, the car run beautifully and power delivery was restored to normal. This fuel problem occurred 90% of the time. The frequency of your problem sounds a bit more like its electrical, but if you run short of ideas, perhaps get your pump tested? Mark

A few years back I owned a 5spd '93 model for just over a year. I ended up putting on a 3" exhaust, very nice gain in power (but oh so droney). It had the factory airbox on it, but I opened up the front of the box, which made a noticeable difference. I also installed a bleed valve and increased the boost to around 10-12psi. This made the car go nicely, but it drove like a V8. I had crap tyres and the Silvia suspension is terrible by comparison to an R32 (which my best mate had and was noticeably faster around corners). After doing this mods, the car was in desperate need of a tune, which I never did. I sold it in 2000 for $15300 and it was a straight fairly good example, but prob around grade 3.5 My advice, based on your budget, would be to buy some used suspension for the car and make it perform better, before you go making it go faster. Mark PS I prob won't be back to this thread, if you want to talk more, pls PM

Thanks for the info guys. I was looking at Nismo S-tune suspension kits. I've looked at the UAS site and I'll get in touch with John. I hadn't considered Powerplay, thanks for the tip. I'll see how I go with Kloster. boj01: When you do your P's, practice lots and hire a CB250! If you want to know the distances for the P's test, either get a few hrs private tuition at Adamstown or send a PM. Btw When I did my P's at the start of last year, it was pouring rain, and 2/6 people on the course crashed out during the brake test!....It was rough watching that happen, and then they called my name next! Mark

Do any Newcastle Nissan dealerships retail Nismo parts? Yes, I could ring around, but thought I'd ask just in case someone here had a friend/mate/contact/whatever at Nissan rather than the standard parts department blank look that says "You've got to be kidding, right?" Any info/tips appreciated. Mark

You have PM

Beautiful! Thanks blacky

Geoff's reply arrived: This is an excerpt from a Kiwi document titled "To all Shippers and Consignees" INTER-STATE TRANSPORT: Please note that as from the mid December sailing from Japan, there will no longer be a transport subsidy applied to vehicles consigned to Australian Inter-State destinations. All vehicles will be manifested as having Brisbane as the discharge and final destination Port. This will also be noted on the Bill of lading. KIWI will however apply an Inter-State freight rebate of AUD$250.00 to all vehicles that have a Consignee address in either Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide (inner cargo or piggy back units do not separately qualify). This rebate will be paid on production of a paid transport company invoice (providing details that match the original manifest for that voyage e.g VIN number - B/L number - original voyage number). This claim should be made within 2 months of vehicle arrival in Brisbane. Cool.

Whilst we're on number plates, does anyone know if you need to actually place the plate in the centre of the car? I've seen guys with R32's that attach it to the lower grill, other guys affix it under one of the headlights. Is this legal in NSW? No, I haven't asked the RTA yet, just thought I'd try SAU first Mark

The workshop manual doesn't show any mounting points for child restraints. The parts appear on the list I mentioned in the post above - fitment either by in-house memo or common sense? I don't know. Mark

If you refer to the .pdf that lists all the Australian modifications to the 91 GTR's, under Section 268 - HIGH MOUNT STOP LAMP it lists the Nissan parts used. There are 10 bits listed, including screws,washers, etc. If you don't have the .pdf and a search doesn't find it, let me know and I'll type up the part numbers. Mark

From Geoff yesterday: Rate increase will only add perhaps $170. Rebate from Kiwi of $250 on transport to other States. NYK, no guarantees on shipping timeframe, could be no space for several months. Daily wharf storage charges of $5 per day while waiting. Kiwi is the only viable option. I don't know anything about the rebate mentioned and have asked for confirmation that it still exists. *sigh* If only the car was more expensive....sounds stupid, but then the costs are proportionally less and I wouldn't care as much. I feel for the guys still importing S13's. Richard I'm looking forward to six months from now when all this is history, and I will not be browsing the Importation Forum! Mark

Dude do you have copies of your paperwork? Reason I ask is if it is all electronic, then I assume a fax machine works too (unless there is a dedicated Customs system) and if CGL are rubbish then I'll give it a go remote control cause I'm rubbish at it too but why pay for someone else? The customs guy emailed me what I think is all the forms, but I'd like to check their titles against the titles of the forms CGL submitted on your behalf. If no-one actually has to attend the docks, I should be able to arrange it all myself you think? I will be unable to inspect the car, and just want to make sure that you CGL is right in that you don't have to personally attend clearance. What are your thoughts now that it's all done and the dust has settled? Mark Btw I love the idea of paying for AQIS re-inspection before it even arrives... hurrah for pessimism! Not that they'd (CGL) be far off on that assumption...

And to get back to PHATR32's question, check out "Your car coming into Oz". Lucien and other guys seemed to be able to have a 5 min look at the car during the customs clearance. You can't remove anything from the vehicle, apparently. After that, it'll be all yours once the cleaners are done and AQIS signs off the clearance. Car arrives => CA starts paperwork and car is entered for customs clearance => clearance done, pay CA => AQIS inspects (inevitably knocks back car) => cleaner does a token spray and steam clean, pay exorbitant fee => AQIS re-inspects, says good to go => you now have the car and need to get it either home or to compliance workshop. This is put together from what other guys have posted and what I've learned myself. I've never done this before, so if you see a glaring error, pls feel free to correct the post. Cheers Mark.

I searched but got sick of picking out one or two posts in massive threads that get off topic quickly, so I emailed DEH and Customs directly. I have a reply from a Customs Information Officer with the forms required and a few guides on manual customs entry for home consumption. Basically, your agent should do all the work for you, that's why you are paying them. It seems the forms are submitted electronically. Your CA should be able to arrange a truck/tow to the AQIS cleaner, and your complier should be able to organise a truck/tow from there to the workshop. If you're in Sydney, you can prob do the sly and drive to Hobbs like most guys. If you're on the Kiwi vessel like pretty much everyone else here, we'll have to play it by ear. Hey if there's an SAU member in Brisbane who is going to see their car, perhaps we could (ask very nicely and) organise one person to drive all these cars to the cleaners, rather than 8 or 10 guys all paying $120 for a few hundred metre tow. Meh...just a thought. Appreciation could be expressed in beer? I dunno. Your CA will still need a few things like the letter to the DEH (unless you're doing it yourself), the original B/L, and the Import Approval. You do not have to attend customs clearance. For more info, either post or ring your CA. Don't bother emailing them - past experience says the reply takes a few days and only half your q's are answered. Get them on the phone and grill them until you have the info you need! Mark If you want me to forward the Customs or DEH email history (sorta useful, but I'm an information hog) then beam over a PM. Cheers.

:werd: Ship with NYK before they decide to charge you wharf fees? I'll see what Geoff R says. I fail to see the point in paying more for your car to go to the wrong city. I'm in the same boat as you Richard, and won't be in the state at the time, so there's no rush...? Mark

Incidentally, why do all these imported cars NOT have immobilisers/alarm already? Are car thieves an Australian invention?? Hmmmmm. So many high-performance/expensive cars, and none of them have any security devices? Mark. PS Lucien you sure seem to have your heart set on Brant!