hrd-hr30

well, I've finally got around to buffing the HR30 after the respray and it came up alright. On the weekend I painted the body mouldings and bumpers and now its all pretty much back together. Got a battery for it and it started up after about 20secs of cranking! Not bad considering its been well over a year since I've fired it up! But it was chuffing out the smoke - which it didn't used to do And the clutch slave cylinder had carked it, so a quick swap with the one off my 1200 racecar and we were in business. So I had to take it for a quick run around the block B) First time I got up it, it blew heaps of smoke - I'm talking clouds of the shit - but it seems to have settled down after that, and I think its back to normal. No smoke at idle now, and just a wisp under hard accelleration - which is how it was when I bought it. Hopefully the oil rings were just a bit gummed up from having sat for so long then it just died after I got back home and had it idling in the driveway. Turns out the previous owner had the wiring from the CAS sitting on the exhaust manifold, and it burnt through. Must have been hanging on by a shard... So that was the end of the fun, and I got the camera out... Now it just needs a few little things like tyres, and a CV boot before rego! that is if the smoke problem has settled down - otherwise the L24 block will get an early call-up for duty under the turbo... Then when its on the road, the mods can begin B) Not sure wether to put the badges back on the back of it. And I've got those moulding for behind the wheel arches, but again, not sure if I'll fit them. I might tape them on next weekend and see...

unfortunately (?) we didn't get the L20a over here either. It's only the head gasket that's different. The rest of the gaskets from L24 will be OK. Just need to find an obliging Nissan dealer for the head gasket - I expect some of them might not want to help... what's wrong with the car? my advice is unless its done a head gasket, or burnt a valve, leave the head on. Valve stem seals can be done with the head on the car, if that's the problem - it is with mine...

but none of that was done to lighten the valves, just to make it fit....

spelling looks OK to me! what bits don't you need? I mean, you can't shorten them, you can't reduce the diametre of the stem or the head, and any changes to the combustion chamber side of the head would loose compression, changes to the back of the valve head would affect flow (maybe for the better I guess). You might be able to tulip the valve stem below where it meets the guide, but only if its a one piece valve. I just don't see much room for lightening a valve, and it certainly isn't a normal tuning mod.

i just read this thread for the first time, and my eyes are watering... this thread is tops! ROFLMAO it's got to be a practical joke to sucker people in, surely! hey, what if he put a nitrous spray on the intercooler? :lol

how do you lighten a valve???

BSCC - Brisbane Sporting Car Club are the most active rally club in Brisbane. They organise all the Club and State Level Rallies in SEQ, as well as the Rally Q ARC round. http://www.bscc.asn.au/ The KCF Short Course Series is great for beginners, because its pacenoted, so you get to recce the stages first, and then you get 3 runs over the 2 or 3 stages they use. Next one is mid August, so there's plenty of time to arrange the National Rally licence - which involves a lecture and test...

no. The factory rate them at 1100kg towing capacity, but you cannot get a towbar rated to more than 850kg for them. Either way it isn't going to tow a 1400kg+ car and trailer. A light car trailer is around 550kg. If you are hiring trailers, they will probably be more like 7-800kg. My old R31 auto used to struggle just towing my trailer unladen. The only real option for towing cars around safely are 4WDs. You can get cheap GQ Patrols as was suggested, but stay away from the RB30 powered ones. They don't have the grunt for towing, and have lighter duty gearboxes - it will cause dramas. The options are gas guzzling petrol 4.2 (these have a habi of cracking heads on LPG) or diesel 4.2, which is what I have. Around town I get 11l/100k and towing is around 14-15l/100k depending on how many hills are in your way. The petrol won't even get figures as good as that by itself! I think they use about 18l/100k on the highway! Before the GQ, I had an earlier MQ Patrol SWB. The MQ/MK Patrols fit into your budget easily, and a good petrol L28 6cyl tows well and is economical for a petrol 4WD. I'd give these early diesels a miss. Try and find a later MK with the 5spd, otherwise they are a bit buzzy on the higway, and if you want comfort the LWB is the only option. Rust is the only real problem these things have, but there are still some around in good nick, and top dollar is about $3000. My MQ 4spd used about 14l/100k normal driving and about 19l/100k towing. Didn't matter if you sat on 100kph or 130kph with the air on - it used the same amount of fuel...

this talk about Ferrari's "no issue' stance on the chicane is all irrelevant. Irrespective of the outcome of the team vote, the FIA make and implement the rules, and their position is clear - read the press release on the previous page. what more could the FIA have done? the FIA don't have any tyres to give them and it was not feasible to design and install a chicane in accordance with appropriate safety procedures at such short notice, never mind it being directly against the rules and grossly unfair to teams that did have suitable equipment for the race. As the FIA pointed out; "A chicane would have forced all cars, including those with tyres optimised for high-speed, to run on a circuit whose characteristics had changed fundamentally – from ultra-high speed (because of turn 13) to very slow and twisting. It would also have involved changing the circuit without following any of the modern safety procedures, possibly with implications for the cars and their brakes. It is not difficult to imagine the reaction of an American court had there been an accident (whatever its cause) with the FIA having to admit it had failed to follow its own rules and safety procedures." Michelin stated their tyres would be safe if speed through turn 13 was reduced. FIA provided options for Michelin teams, offering to police a speed limit for Michelin shod cars in turn 13 to this safe speed stipulated by Michelin, but they refused. FIA also provided the option under the rules for Michelin teams to repeatedly change LR tyres during the race, but they refused. The Michelin teams wanted the Bridgestone runners slowed to the same amount by the inclusion of a chicane otherwise they simply would not race. All this talk from the Michelin teams about being willing to accept penalties to race is just bullshit. Those are the facts of the matter, the rest of it is just smoke and mirrors from the Michelin teams trying (quite successfully, it must be said) to lay the blame elsewhere, wether it be Ferrari or the FIA - anywhere but themselves and Michelin. It all reeks a bit of bigger political issues underlying this decision not to race, and I think it will be used as justification/propaganda for the breakaway series.

Ferrari were powerless to do anything to fix the situation. They did the right thing and left it in the hands of the FIA. They took a "no issue" stance on the chicane - they neither supported it or objected to it. Even if Ferrari supported it, the FIA position was that they could not safely design and install a chicane safely within the timeframe, and that changing the track was a breach of the rules and grossly unfair to the other competitors. They had a point too - its not like it was a brand new track they hadn't been to before - the tyre companies had data from previous years to know what kind of loads the tyres would be subject to here. Michelin took a gamble and brought a very agressive, light tyre, hoping for a performance advantage over the Bridgestones - when it turned out to be a disadvantage, they tried to change the playing feild, then took their bat and ball and went home. The Michelin teams had other options to allow them to run the race - they could have simply run slower in those 2 turns to preserve the tyres, but they weren't prepared to do that unless the Bridgestone teams were slowed as well by the insertion of a chicane. Or they could have changed the LR tyres in their pitstops. There is provision in the rules allowing tyre changes where there is damage to the tyre, and no-one would argue the tyres were not suffering damage. The FIA presented these options to the teams, but they chose not to play if the Bridgestone runners were going to whop their arse... You can't tell me that the data the Michelin tyre technicians gathered wouldn't have told them how many laps it took for this damage to happen, or what speed would have been safe to take turn 13. The Michelin teams could have raced for points, and it would still have been a very interesting race - perhaps the most interesting of the season! They may have been beaten by all the Bridegstone finishers, but there were still points available. They chose not to. Michelin also chose not to take any measures to fly in other tyres from Europe to give the possibility of another tyre option. What should Ferrari do? not race? then what - if there is no race, there's absolutely no show for the fans. But Jordan were going out regardless. No-one's bitching about them! Hell they were even praised, as someone else has pointed out! Stoddart of Minardi made all sorts of noble sentiments about how he didn't want to race... as his cars were lining up on the grid to collect his biggest paycheck of the season... At least Jordan and Ferrari didn't bullshit anyone.

sigh - that's exactly what I want... its looking great Lachlan I'll have to cull a couple of cars before I can get another 240K coupe or get a big shed

have a read of this guys - found on the classic z cars forum... http://justmurph.com/classiczcar/kpgc110roadtest.pdf I think its 2.9MB its a road test and other stuff from magazines and newspapers. Pretty rare to have an english language reveiw of a Japanese Domestic Market only model like the C110 GT-R.

I don't want to, but I now own 5 cars plus car trailer and don't have enough room!!! I might even have to bite the bullet and sell the 1200 race car as well

I bought a Bluebird SII rally car today! There's a few things to be sorted out before I pick it up next week, but its a done deal. Its a brand new car, done only 1 event and was too good to pass up when the opportunity came along. It doesn't have anything particularly flash in the driveline or suspension at the moment, but its a well built car that just needs some bhp and shocks, basically. I have some pics, but can't find the camera's USB cord - must have left it at work, so I'll post one tomorrow. I also bought a bunch of engine stuff off a mate of a mate... Z24 crank turned down to fit L20B block, 89.5mm solid skirt pistons, sonic tested block etc to make a 2.4l grunter... Now I just have to find room for another couple of cars (the Bluey comes with a spare shell - amongst other things). I've already got a Datsun 1200 racecar, HR30 Skyline, GQ Patrol and a mates Stanza rallycar in for a paintjob. And now 2 Bluebirds coming - something's gotta give! and as much as I don't want to get rid of the HR30, its the only real option, so does anyone want to buy a HR30 Skyline coupe to help me make room??? or know someone who might? I'll advertise it in the For Sale section when its finished and ready to sell.

I really wouldn't recommend exceeding the maximum towing capacity of the vehicle or towbar. Its illegal and unsafe. Its only a matter of time before physics and metal fatigue catch up with you... but I still miss my R31 as a daily driver. They're a good car, especially for the price.

R31 as a tow car isn't a great idea - the maximum towing capacity is 1100kg. You won't get a Stanza and a trailer under that. Worse problem is that Hayman Reece class 4 towbar for R31s are only rated at 850kg... it must only have been the factory towbar rated to 1100kg. I wouldn't like to pull that much weight in one - I towed my car trailer unladen (~500kg) in my old SIII R31 and it wasn't nice - you could feel the car being pulled around by the trailer, although my ride height might not have helped that. L18/20 into 1200 isn't exactly easy, but its dead simple into a 120Y or Sunny. You can use 180B or Stanza crossmembers in those for a bolt-in fit.

yeah, its alot of work even doing a 'quick' respray, and it was in a pretty neglected condition. I didn't mention that the paint on the bonnet, bootlid and roof were all cracked/crazed - so that was a bit more involved than a coat of primer. Here's a pic of when I first drove it home - after I washed it with degreaser! the wheels are actually Rays Engineering - 16*8" on the back, 7" on the front. I swapped these 15" Simmons for them.

yep, painting it under the house. I had the rust cut out and welded up, had some rust in front gaurds, sills, under the boot rubber (which required a cut from a local R30 sedan and some minor reshaping), and in the spare wheel well. its just a quick respray though - nothing too fancy. Just fixed up the areas that needed attention, then a light coat of primer over the whole car so I could use acrylic top coats. In the above pic, I've already painted the colour on and had to give it a light sand because I had some problems with the gun and it went on a bit dry. Clear is yet to go on - I wanted to do that today, but ran out of time... so I guess it will have to wait till next weekend. Hopefully it will be registered in 2 or 3 weeks, then I can start ripping off some of those pesky pollution gadgets!

thanks stagefumer11

stagefumer11, what turbo are you using? standard ECU? and what emission control dohickeys should be removed/disconnected - I see one thing blanked off in your pic, what else? I've never modified an EFI turbo thing before, and only know about 1/2 of what I'm looking at! :lol I've always had old L series fours with carbs and dissy's... I'm in a mad rush to try and get my HR30 ready for a tarmac rally on June 30, and need to have some sort of bhp! I've attached a pic of how it currently looks, so you can see I have a lot of work to do... finish painting, put it all back together, get it running again!, tyres, rego, plus a few mods - exhaust, intercooler, boost, and a few of your cheap tricks - thanks for the info

that's six seconds ahead of 2nd place, 39 seconds ahead of Richards, and 9 minutes back to the rest of the field. Nine hours! NFI! great to see the Whites finally get the win, but local knowledge is a big factor there.

hmmm, well the FIA stipulates maximum average speed targets that event organisers have to work within. The whites have been unlucky at Targa on a few ocassions, so its great to see them win it. In an event like Targa, I wouldn't look to the car for any great secrets for its success - it's real secret is the driver and his local knowledge.

you might have to get out to the track and watch in person. State Championships don't get much TV coverage. Speedweek cover some of the Marque Sports and Improved Production races though. I know of one R32 GTR running in Improved Production in NSW, where are all the others running?

This thread hasn't been about front bars since post #30 - it 70 odd now... but if you want to talk about front bars, no-one's stopping you...