Demon Dave

I use an insert baffle on my Kakimoto exhaust. At low revs there is definitely more torque and overall power with the baffle in place! Higher up the rev band, with the baffle in there is a definate loss of power, but not that much... The only reason to use the insert baffle is to cut down on the noise - and they work quite well!

Check the oil pressure guage - I had a similar problem (near zero pressure at idle) and it turned out to be a faulty guage - I was told by my mechanic that it is a common problem on skylines....

i'm no expert but, if the car is idling OK and not smoking, it sounds like the pistons/cams etc are fine. It could be a serious problem with the water pump? That might also expain the overheating....

Yep! The place I live in at the moment if pretty large by Japanese standards (big enough to double as home/school) and I have plenty of parking (enough for several cars)... But, I am lucky. Many people (especially those living in the big cities) have to pay high rent, coupled with high parking fees - and remember, in Japan you MUST have a parking space before the police will give you permission to own a car!!! (you have to provide them with all the details of where the space is, how large it is and proof that it is yours!) If you're into cars, then in all honesty, the big cities are best avoided. Heavy traffic, numerous traffic lights, low speed limits and high parking fees all combine to make owning a car in a city like Tokyo an expensive and frustrating affair...

Yeah, unfortunately if you wanted to start your own school (business) here, then being married to a Japanese person if pretty much a pre-requsite... It's also much easier to get a job teaching English is you do your job hunting IN JAPAN. Trying to get a job with a big school (Like Nova/Geos etc) from abroad can be difficult. If you plan to arrive in Japan around the end of the school year (March/April) and pick up any local newspaper/magazine you'll find plenty of teachers wanted adds...

Just wanted to add - in support of what 4150 was saying, Living in Tokyo is ridiculously expensive. Owning a car in Tokyo even more (that's aside from the fact that the average distance between traffic lights in tokyo is about 10 cm!! ) You'll find it a lot cheaper to live out of the main metropolitan area - Tokyo, Kawasaki & Yokohama are the most expensive, as is Osaka. I'm living in Yamanashi (west of Tokyo - Mt. Fuji area). It's not a bad location, Tokyo is a couple of hours by car (less if I drive the Skyline;) ), Tsukuba circuit 3 hours, Fuji speedway 1.5 hours, Fuji San, 1.5. hours, Yokohama - 1.5 hours. The rent out here (Yamanashi is in the countryside) isn't too bad either...My house doubles as a school (3 classrooms), plus 2 car garage, garden, parking for another 4/5 cars - all that for 90,000yen/month. It would cost me 5 times more for a similar place in Tokyo! Dave

I've heard conflicting stories about Nova - some people have had good experiences, others bad. It's a big organisation with branches at just about every city, so I guess it's the luck of the draw. They do have you working silly hours, but you then again, so do a lot of other schools. As teachers of English, the peak working time is from mid afternoon to late evening, so most schools are gonna want you to teach around that time. Despite what a lot of people say, you can earn a lot (A LOT) of money teaching English, though usually not right away. Most schools will pay you a min of 250,000yen/month (the min required to get you a visa), but it's possible to get more than this. I can't speak for other parts of Japan, but where I'm living (Yamanashi), most of my friends start out working for an existing school, then once they've settled in they start up their own school. It isn't that hard to do, especially if you're spouse is Japanese (no problems with the visa). Then you can start to make some serious money. In my case, me a couple of friends have our own small school. Of course, being able to speak Japanese helps (I can, but I'm no where near fluent!) Again, if you want an idea of what is possible - take me as an example. When I originally came here it was for a 10 day vacation. (I had no plans to stay, but all that changed after I arrived!) Luckily I was able to find a job in those 10 days, but still - on the day I was supposed to board a plane back to England I boarded a train to Yamanashi to start working for a company I had no idea about. I had no money. No place to live, and my total possessions were what I carried in a suitcase. The other English teachers at the school thought I was crazy! 4 years later, I've had 3 cars (Civic, R33 GTS and R34 GT-V, my own place, wife, kid etc etc etc). I currently teach (work) less than 25 hours a week too... Not bad, even if I do say so myself. I love it here! Dave

Hi, as a Brit who is living in Japan (been here four years now) I can say that this place has gotta be one of the best countries in the world to live in (only thing bad about the place is the fact the Japanese 'routinely eat things with suckers, eyeballs and other flagrantly unacceptable body parts still attached to them...':D ) If you want to work here, teaching English is about the best (or should I say only) way in. There are several big independant English schools - Nova and GEOS being the main ones. The JET program is partly government run - all the teachers become AET's and work in public schools. You get an initial one year contract that is extendable for upto 3 years. Only bad thing about the JET program is that I'm 99% certain they don't allow you to own a car!!! You also have no way of controlling where in Japan you work - you can specify a preference (Tokyo would be good), but you could end up being sent out to some obscure island where you're the only foreigner... Still, getting a job teaching here is pretty easy - just take me as an example - I came to Tokyo 4 years ago on vacation. After 3 days decided I loved the place (Japanese Sports car paradise!) and decided to stay. I spent the remainder of my 10 day vacation job hunting, managed to get a job and then made a call back to England telling everyone I wouldn't be coming back home! Never looked back... Dave (in Japan)

It may sound obvious, but just check your car does actually have hicas - my N/A R33 GTS did not come with hicas, and I was told it was not an option on any of the N/A models... If you do have hicas, then I agree, it's almost certainly the hicas computer.

Yeah, there are almost definately Vertec's. The only other wheel that I know that looks like those are AVS Model 5's: http://www.yokohamatire.jp/yrc/japan/top.jsp but they're not a "deep dish" design... Dave

If it's a GTSt Type M then it should def have HICAS. There are HICAS diagnostics codes to let you know if anythings wrong, but the system is generally pretty reliable - most problems are caused by changing steering wheels and failing to put on a HICAS supported boss... Dave

If you want to check whether your HICAS system is working properly, there is a diagnostic mode (though I'm at work at the mo and don't have the info to hand...) Ohh, and just a thought: AFAIK HICAS was not available on the GTS (2 litre N/A) or the GTS25 (2.5 litre N/A)... Dave

The HICAS system is designed primarily to assist in mid-to-high speed cornering (unlike other systems, such as Honda's where the idea is to help in low speed situations). So, the HICAS system wont turn the wheels unless the car is moving above a certain speed, and even then the angle of movement is very small (usually less than 1 degree) Hope that helps Dave

to remove mine I was able to buy a "sticker remover" liquid from my local auto store. Simply applied it to the sticker and it "dissolved" it within a few minutes. I don't know if there is anything similar available over there...

The paint (and interior trim) color codes for your car are written on the blue VIN plate in the engine compartment (towards the rear, near the driver). You need the code, cuz, as you've noticed there are about a million shades of white!

what color is the smoke? It's normal to see a plume of black smoke when you gun it, usually this is due to overfuleing (and if the exhaust is hot enough, the excess fuel will ignite and you get the flame thrower exhaust effect! ). Blue smoke, however, isn't good...

I think skylines are easily good for 150,000kms, as long as you look after them....

My old black R33 GTS, no body kit, but with 17 inch Volk wheels.

Excellent Photos Shin, thanks for sharing. Dave

If you fit an aftermarket steering wheel, you must fit a HICAS compatible BOSS and make sure it is aligned (fitted) correctly - otherwise the HICAS light will come on. The HICAS system (AFAIK) isn't linked directly to the front steering system. Sensors on the steering column (plus a speed sensor) send info to the HICAS computer (located in the trunk), from there steering ajustment on the rear wheels is made by the HICAS system at the rear. Check to make sure all the connections are secure, there's no corrosion or anything like that...

it could be your injectors...?

Since both are GTR's, and both have HICAS, then you shouldn't have any problems...

They are Final Speed Wheels (not Ray's, though the company making them could be a subsidary of Ray's/Volk Engineering. Here's a link: http://www.d-b.ne.jp/a-wing/0FINALSPEED.HTML

The mirror glass should just pop off - you have to kinda pull quite hard, but it does eventually come off... There are several screws holding the motor unit in place, just undo them and then you should be able to remove the entire unit from the cover.

If you want a turbo, then it will work out cheaper in the long run if you save up and buy a R34 GTT to begin with. Buying a N/A and adding a turbo later can be done, but its expensive...