Victory

That rusty R32 fuel tank is what we found in Clinton's R32. It has since been replaced with a R32 GTR tank and all it took was a bit of ingenuity in building new fuel tank hangers. I cannot believe how simple the R32 fuel level sender is compared to the R33 unit.

Clinton and I spoke to Alan Heaphy at length last year at the Bathurst 1000 about the Gibson GTR's that he had at the track and the restoration work that his company was involved with. He has a number of people working for him who were part of Gibson Motorsport when these cars were being built and raced. What impressed me the most was the amount of first hand knowledge and information that he and his team have about the Gibson GTR's and their meticulous attention to detail in the restoration and maintenance of these cars.

Well done Duncan. The fuel tank bulkhead lid is also in great condition (some of mine were stuffed). These are now out of production and good ones like that are becoming hard to come by.

All I can say Duncan is good luck and I hope that Neil did not run any E85 in Cheryl. I have recently experienced the full spectrum of fuel tank issues in my R33's that had been caused by E85 and contaminated fuel. When you take the cover off the top of the tank and have a look inside you will get an understanding of how easy it will be. Best case situation is clean fuel with minimal contamination. My GTR was like this and it was a very simple operation to just grab the fuel pump carrier bracket and slide it up and out of the tank. My three GTS_T's had different levels of fuel contamination that was probably caused by E85 in the fuel. In the worst case all of the metal components in the tank had rusted to the point where there were pieces of rusted metal swirling around in the tank. This required the removal of the exhaust, the tailshaft, the complete rear cradle and the fuel tank. The components in the tank were that rusted that it took days to get the fuel pump carrier and the mounting brackets out of the tank. When the tank was finally cleaned, everything inside the tank had to be replaced. With the tank all back together I could then reinstall it in the car along with everything else that had to come out. Good luck and I hope that you find a clean tank.

This is really sad news to hear and it has taken me a few days to come to grips with the loss of Neil. Neil was very straight forward and I have always respected his honesty and how he called it how it was. He was a very knowledgeable man and was always available to provide advice when you needed help to solve a problem because he would have encountered the same issue in the past and could explain how he solved it. Neil will be missed by many members of the Skyline family.

I have had rims repaired by "Spot On Wheel Repairs" in Berkeley and they did a great job.

Coreflute has to be heaps easier to work with than the aluminium sheet that we have used on our R33's to achieve the same outcome. Aluminium sheet can be difficult to bend into a curve to go around protrusions. The most important question is did you keep the template for me?

Hi Duncan Where is the one way valve located in the attached parts diagram - is it in the filler neck part 17220Q?

It is good to hear that the "Honda" is just a lawn mower. I was starting to worry that you had gone soft in your old age and purchased a "Try hard Honda" as a daily street car.

Is this a case of age shaming? I am even older than Neil. The best part of being retired is that my only job in life is to play with my family of Skylines, Cimas and a Stagea.

I have a commitment to each camp in the question to have ABS or not. My R33 GTR, R33 GTS-T Series II Sedan and C34 Stagea all have factory ABS and as they are all street cars I have left the ABS in place. I just go to a lot more trouble to keep the systems bleed correctly to keep good peddle feel. Both of my R33 GTS-T Series II coupes were purchased as factory non ABS cars. There is more skill involved in braking a non ABS car in a track situation and getting the best out of the car. From my experience there is more feel in the non ABS systems and there has to be to allow you to modulate the brake peddle and not flat spot a tyre. The only places where we have encountered problems is when there are bumps in heavy braking areas as it is easy to have a lock up and damage a tyre as a result. Maybe I am old fashioned but I really enjoy the additional challenge of driving a non ABS car in a track situation.

As usual we think alike as I have exactly the same press. Like Duncan, I have also had issues with a part being too long and I have had to move the press 90 degrees to allow it to fit in. After this happened a few times I just left it on the floor. These things are heavy and do not move around and therefore do not realy need to be bolted down.

I have only ever used Redline Lightweight Shockproof in my four manual R33s with no issues. It makes the gearbox much smoother than any other gear oil that I have used previously. Some of the claims that have been made about Redline Lightweight Shockproof include it being able to be used for 400,000 km without needing to be changed. On this basis when I was once doing an oil change after 40,000 km in a R33 it came out very clean so my son reused it in his Mazda 626. That was over 210,000 km ago and that gearbox is still going great with oil that is now over 250,000 km old. This is my experience with Redline Lightweight Shockproof.

The shed looks great Neil and you time in BMW workshops is evident in the layout. I hate to say it but you are the first person that I know who is more organised than me. I love the use of the same storage boxes as I have and the layout of the shed. I really hate it when you are looking for something that you know you have and you cannot find it. You then go and buy some and sure enough you find it the next day. This is only compounded further when you have a lot of stuff. It gets seriously cold in your part of the world so lining the walls and installing insulation is a great move. Keep up the good work because I need some more good ideas to copy at my place.

Hi mate, I have a good pair of R33 GTS25 rear calipers that would solve your problem. I have just cracked each of the slide bolts on both calipers to confirm that they will come apart easily. I will send you a PM with pictures.