Tangles

Ive recently had a chat to Bill at Adelaide Turbo Services, to determine whether the 2ndhand turbo I bought was a Neo R34 turbo as advertised, or not (it isnt!). He sends a lot of clientel's turbos to GCG for a rebuild for the $1950 price, or he can do a 'slight upgrade' as such and inhouse makes the standard turbo to be like a GT30-spec internally. Thats using steel wheels custom made to fit, and not getting big steel wheels and grinding them back to fit....... as far as I can recall the conversation. He quoted me around $2200 for the ATS hiflow rebuild, and seemed very genuine and a upfront bloke, no reason to not believe him when he said that it was a great 'performing' turbo option. In my words from the information I received when chatting to ATS, Id say that a GCG hiflow job would be like a 'Stage 2' and a ATS hiflow job would be a 'Stage 2.20' All depends on your budget and what state you are located in. Hope this info is useful to ppl's. Brendan (ps, Im not 'turbo knowledgeable' so best to talk to GCG & ATS yourselves if you have queries about the differences in hiflow turbo buildups.)

Graham West Workshops come highly recommended - see Brett West there...... he is a top bloke, very knowledgeable, & totally TRUSTWORTHY! Brendan

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. Well last night I fixed up the popped pipe connection, just swapped the 2 pipes around and it worked out great. Car runs very well, and seems to have a bit more power as well. =) But, Ive decided Im not happy with the quality of the silicone tubes, and the clamps are terrible as well, so Im going to buy 4ply silicone tube and much better quality clamps, and redo each connection. No hurry to do this, but I dont think it would work well with these cheap silicone tubes with a rebuilt hiflowed turbo & 15psi. OH - everyone note, if using silicone based adhesive, make sure it is ok for use with O2 sensors!

Cheers Rob! (coolpc). In case ppl didnt know, I bought the Stagea from CoolPC in July 2005.

Thank you Cyrus (Ska), thats appreciated. I'll tell ya's, its amazing how much of a higher satisfaction level you get from doing it yourself....... Hey SK - want to employ me now as your race-team intercooler extraodinaire? Brendan :lol:

Thanks Alex, was very happy with my effort. Cheers for the big backslap! BUT, took it for a testdrive last night at 11.30pm, and ended up limping home. See photo 3 across, 4&5 down. The LHS pipe join was dodgy (I knew it when doing it up), as I cut the pipe too short at the corner, and was 'forcing' the 2 pipes together at the join. Under pressure it didnt work and popped off. So tonight I'll recut a new pipe (75degree angle at centre) around 1.5inches longer, and that way I wont be forcing the 2 pipes together at the join. We'll find out soon enough if there are any other weakpoints. Brendan

Have a quick gander at my photos on page 2 of the Stagea thread called "The Intercooler Thread". That shows how a 450mm wide Apexi intercooler looks in a reasonably open front-bar with spotlights either side...... Brendan

Well, as the below photo's suggest, Ive finished the Apexi intercooler installation - 3 nights worth, roughly 8hrs in total working at a realistic pace (for an inexperienced installer!). Not left with any left over bolts or nuts or screws, besides those used for the stone guards, as I had to leave this entire under bumper stone guard off due to the pipe installation. I probably could have cut two pipes 1inch shorter and put this stone guard back on, but maybe another day, when I need to flush the intercooler out (say in 40000kms time)! But still, doesnt look half bad at all.... very pleased with my effort, considering Im a turbo 'home mechanic' noobie. Only thing Im not happy with is the fact that the intercooler is 1inch too far to the left and doesnt sit perfectly square and therefore 'look balanced', but never mind. I think it looks pretty good, with the bigger front bar opening and the spotlights sitting either side of the cooler, in their standard position. Wasnt a hard job as such, & would do it again without a doubt - its something all of us can do with a bit of time and some basic tools. Hope the post is of some help...... Brendan

Thanks mate, will suss it out in December. Will definately order the swaybars, might just add a circlip gruve to the KYB shocks I bought, like you have to the Bilsteins, and either use standard springs or (probably) go Whiteline springs....... Will place and order asap. Thanks. Brendan

How long does Whiteline take to make up a set of springs, and swaybars? Going to do some suspension work over xmas/January..... Cheers, Brendan

Good luck Dan. Hope its not too much drama. Im currently doing my fmic install to the Stagea this week, probably wont do the shocks that I got from you until xmas though. Hope you find the leak all ok.... to get around that, Im using hi-temp silicone adhesive and 4 x clamps per join over the rubber tubes. Sticking the pipes to the rubber tubes, and then adding the adhesive to the outside of the rubber tubes as well, along the join. Just hope it works all ok. Brendan

If you want to fill a gap, grab some big arse spotlights and install them either side of the cooler. My Dayz edition Stagea came with front spotlights in the large airdam opening of the frontbar, and with the Apexi intercooler on, they fit Perfectly either side. Looks awesome! Photos will go up in the Stagea thread "The Intercooler Thread" by say friday night. That'll give you some idea to how it might look with a nice Apexi + spotlights...... Brendan

Thanks mate. Yup, its secured with some bent metal pieces, you'll see them in the photos. Just had a long strip of 4mm thick (hard) aluminium, bent and shaped it to suit, drilled some holes, and bolted it up to the plastic surround of the fan using standard bolts/holes. Very secure, doesnt move at all. Nice work 'Guvna! Very satisfying to do it myself using a $200 pipe kit from USA of ebay, polishd 2.5inch aluminiu 6061 grade. 2 x straight pipes, 2 x 90degree, 2 x75 degree and 2 x 45degree angled pipes, plus silicone tubes and clamps. Way better value than the $800 I was consitently quoted around Adelaide.......... but my 2yr old wants me inside to play with him. =( Hopefully It'll be finished by Thursday night and photos can go up here on the board for everyone to drool over!! lol. Brendan

Too big a drive for me, Im in Adelaide!! Otherwise I would! Wish I had my Stagea for my wedding in February this year; was going to ride my Fireblade but thought 'if I crash the new wedding suit wouldnt be of much help'.... Good luck, hope the day turns out so ever well...............

Well, thats a BIG hole there showing off the intercooler. Too big in my opinion..... You wouldnt belive it for a non-spannerman like myself; last night I mounted the cooler with string, measured up the pipes, and cut them to suit. Just 4 cuts with an angle grinder and filed back to get rid of the little burs. Put the bumper on over the top, and it looks wicked!! The cooler is exactly the right size, it sits at the opening of the Dayz kit (got to cut away the numberplate mount) and the 2 big spotlights will fit up perfectly either end! Photo's will be up when the install is finished. Tonight Im using 4xclamps per join plus hi-temp silicone adhesive, so will have it all bolted up and start putting back on the bumperbar. On a downside - use glasses when anglegrinding! Got a metal laceration to my eye last night so had to stop (eye was weeping too much to see properly)!!! Brendan

Started my installation last night, will keep going thru this week (nights) and get it finished. taking photos as I go so will post up a complete writeup. So far so good, mind you the 10mm bolt holding the bumper bar on, above the sidemount intercooler, was damn hard to get to. Thats the problem when you are over 2metres tall with saucer-type hands!! Brendan

Thats almost a crazy notion, to get rid of an Apexi intercooler. 450 long is plenty big enough for street use. The cash that goes into R&D for an Apexi, HKS or other Jap brand name intercoolers must mean that the consumer gets a better end result of more flow, when compared to a cheap chinese copy. I recently got a 2nd hand Apexi cooler from Japan, and started the installation last night onto my Stagea. The quality of build & finish, the light weight, etc, tells me the brand name items are worth every penny....... To my untrained eye, it looks like it'll flow a hell of a lot better than even a R34 GTT stock intercooler (which I took off my car last night). Apexi intercoolers are ace. Brendan

Bejesus!! nice...... =)

god damn......was it that way B4 the installation? might have to retrace the installation? doesnt it shite you / stress you out when there is a major problem like that going on, and it seems out of your control? good luck Mr-T.

Brazen, you sound like a salesman! If I didnt have a S1 already Id snap yours up no doubt!

Thanks fella's. I had read about your problems Termianl, thats why I was after an opinion for tein vs Whiteline. I dont do a whole load of carrying, so Whiteline will be the go for springs. Regarding the rear shockers - I bought a full set of KYB shocks and Tanabe springs, for a R33/34 GTR. The fronts are forks whilst the rears have bushes...... wasnt sure they'd fit that was all. Ive now been pretty much assured that they will, just got to put the correct springs on. Plus the camber, plus castor, plus swaybars, etc etc. Never ends! Cheers - Brendan

Thanks guys, good ideas there.

Damn - just bought a 040 (for $198 delivered) and have received it already... wish I read this post beforehand, as the 910 was around $30 cheaper! Plus Im only after 200awkw for my Stagea. But the workshop said it wasnt a problem to fit it up, maybe I'll ask them to install it as low as possible. Query - whats the story with this last 1/4 tank? Something I should be aware about? Brendan

Yup - great value there. BTW - Im sure its not a Dayz rear wing, looks too large and over-pronounced compared to my Dayz wing, plus mine is flush mounted to the body. Brendan

Yup, the Dayz would work well - I'll just have to cut out 1 square area where the number plate mounts up and it'll still look super-stock but have no restrictions for air flow. Might have to move the spotlights around to the ends of the front bar though. My 'cooler has the end tank 'behind' the cooler, so I wont lose ground clearance either - I plan to mount it on an angle like you did AC so that it all fits neatly. Would it be a problem to NOT lip the edges of the 'cooler piping kit, and just do up real tight the silicone hoses & clamps, maybe double clamp it? Brendan