mad082

noosa is just fine, all the hippies live at eumundi and cooroy. they come into noosaville to shop a bit, but if you're over noosa heads way, or further down the coast at coolum or peregian then you are close to the beach (quieter beaches than noosa), close to noosa as well as maroochydore/alex heads/mooloolabah, etc. it's a pretty good spot to be only 10 or 20 mins from everywhere. and because all the people who want to try and pretend they have money want to live around noosa heads, etc, then the prices are pretty decent too. not that much traffic either. brisbane traffic sucks (like all major city traffic), but the sunny coast is much better.

nothing complex about the cooling system on a 20 year old skyline. it is no more complex than the cooling system on a commodore or falcon of a similar age (especially since it is extremely similar to that of a vl commodore). skylines are nothing special as far as how technical they are. compared to new cars they are old technology. /rant the only issue your average workshop may have is whether they have something in stock to replace it with. also, was it playing up before the current heat wave that most of australia is seeing? temps like we have seen over the past week will always put extra stress on the cooling system

what exactly are you trying to test?

maybe it's for cooling

how cold is the air temp where you are at the moment? if it is cold then you will always have one hose that is hot and one that is cold, this is because the water has been cooled by the radiator. if both hoses are cold then you need to worry, but from memory the hose from the radiator to the thermostat is the hose carrying the cooled coolant from the radiator. so it should be colder than the top hose

Sure, but it's great fun being to stomp on the loud pedal and disappear into a cloud of smoke

Scott are decent. And if it is more open trail/fire road sort of riding you are going to be doing, then definitely go the 29er.

sunny coast for the weather and the 'view'

how long is a piece of string? it could well go for another 100,000kms relatively trouble free, or it may die next week, but this applies to any car really. they are a decent motor, so provided it has been serviced properly it should keep going for a while. just don't give it too much of a hard time as things get a bit weaker when they are old.

yeah i wouldn't spend much on that at all. it's a huffy or something like that. something from one of the big retailers (bigw, kmart, etc). and yes, the chainrings on those cranks won't come off. they are pressed on. the ones that will, just have the chainrings held on by 4 or 5 bolts. as for suspension, you wouldn't get anything worth putting on to fit that (either front or rear).

looking at the condition of the engine bay will only give you a vague idea of kms done. a car that is regularly cleaned and kept in a garage will look better than one that has spent time sitting out on the street, even if it has driven less kms. the other thing to note is that kms done only tells half the story, as the odometer doesn't tick over when the car is sitting in traffic (this is why lots of machinery have hour counters instead of odometers). a car that spent a lot of time sitting in traffic idling will have a more worn engine than a car that has done the same kms, but they were highway driving. a mate of mine was a mechanic for the police. they pulled down the engine of a highway patrol car that had done 10,000kms and it looked like it had done 100,000kms because of the amount of time that it had spent sitting on the side of the road with the engine running. i'm sure there are plenty of cars running 200,000kms on the original timing belt that aren't imports as well. they are scheduled to be serviced at 100,000kms, but they will last much longer. they won't just let go at 101,000kms.

A good reason would be that in south east qld it hasn't gotten to over 40 degrees this week, unlike Sydney

3.5L v6 magna will hose a NA skyline. hell i beat a r33 gts-t at willowbank in mine. 14.8 second 1/4 with just a cat back. pretty rare to see a NA skyline get into the 14's without serious work done. and the earlier model commodores and falcons, such as the EL and VS are actually quicker than a lot of the new models thanks to being lighter (not much heavier than a skyline, similar power, but a lot more torque). so while you may have beaten your mates, that is a small group to say that they will beat all of them everytime. for starters, someone who can get a better launch in the skyline will beat someone who gets a crap launch in the others. plus if you are in a manual and they are all autos then that will skew the results as well. manual vs manual and the skyline will lose everytime. plenty of 4 cylinder cars will keep up or beat NA skylines as well. it's all well and good to show support for the car you love, but those of us saying that NA skylines aren't that fast are generally people who aren't green eyed skyline fans and are willing to acknowledge that in the real world, they aren't the best thing since sliced bread. in the same way that if i won lotto and was going to blow a heap of money on a car, a r35 gtr wouldn't even get test driven. i'd buy other cars without test driving them, but wouldn't even waste my time test driving one. well maybe i would simply to annoy people who dream of owning/driving one. but i wouldn't buy one

another thing to take into account when comparing a r32 gtr to something like the crazy prices of the XY GTHO phase III, etc, is the difference in build numbers. there were only 300 phase 3 built, with it rumoured that only about 100 remain. so it would only be something like an ADM r32 gtr that would get big money, or a N1 or Nur r34. and what also lead to some of those aussie cars being worth so much was that some of them had original paperwork with them. i know that the bathurst monaro that sold for 220k or whatever it was had it's original sales reciept from the dealership. the owner had also kept it with plastic on the seats and it looked like it had never been driven (the guy that sold it at the shannons auction was a mate of my father in law).

if you want to advertise your business, become a business trader.

the r32 may become sought after earlier than the later models, but i think that in time, the later models will become more valuable. a car doesn't have to have a racing pedigree to be sought after. plenty of american muscle cars are sought after simple because they are muscle cars that had a sort of cult status for being fast. the r34 gtr got this with it's nurburg lap times. plus the rarity of some of the later model versions. there are plenty of cars that had racing success that will never be highly sought after. i'm sure there are some volvos, etc, that had racing success that will never sell for nearly 1 million dollars. at least not in australia or the US.

if the engine hasn't been running then the streaks of oil may well be where the oil is actually sitting. i'd actually get some thinners and wipe the top half of the indicating part of the dipstick. it may well have some contaminant on it that's causing to oil to bead, a bit like how if you try to measure the depth of water with something that has oil on it you won't get an accurate reading. i don't know what it would be that would make oil bead, but it's worth a shot. also if the new oil is very clean and is simply sitting on top of the old oil, then you may be getting a bit of layering going on, so the oil is higher than what you are thinking is the level. i know sometimes when i first change the oil on the car it can be hard to tell the level. i find it helps to turn the dipstick at an angle to get the light to reflect off it so you can see the level. i know it's pretty obvious stuff, but sometimes people don't think of doing things like this, so it's always worth saying it just in case it makes a difference, or for someone who is new to doing this sort of thing.

ok, so there are a few things to consider. i'll start with the forks. a new set of entry level rockshox forks will set you back about $300 (all the prices i quote will be normal aussie prices, so you could get stuff cheaper online, etc, but some stuff you will need to make sure you get the right ones as there are variations). a set of air spring forks (use air pressure instead of a coil spring) start from about $450 to $500. when shopping for second hand forks you need to check for signs of wear (look on the upper legs around where they go into the lowers). if there is any side of wear, generally on the inside of the leg, then steer clear. also you need to bounce on them to make sure they don't make any noise either going down or when they come back up. as well as making sure that they feel nice and smooth. find out when they were last serviced/had new seals put in, etc. only look at fox or rockshox forks. they are the ones that are the easiest to get spares for and to service. as for rear shocks, if the bike is a cheaper bike that only runs a basic coil spring setup and not an air shock, then don't even bother. you would probably be better off getting rid of it and get a hard tail frame from somewhere. the problem with bolting a new shock into an old frame is that A: you have to make sure you get the right sized shock for the frame, and B: you have to hope the valving of the shock suits the linkage setup, otherwise it will ride like crap and the shock might not work very well. and rear shocks are expensive. even cheap ones. as for running a sinlge speed setup on the cranks, if you have cranks with removable chainrings then you can just pull the old chainrings off and get a single speed chainring to suit. don't try and run a chainring off a multispeed crank as a single speed ring. it will throw the chain off all the time as the teeth aren't all cut straight. some are cut at an angle to help change gears. we generally sell renthal single speed chainrings. they are very good quality and not super expensive. we have a customer who rides a lot and wears stuff out much faster than anyone else i've ever met. he's an old guy who just rides a lot. he completely wore a chain out in 3 rides (about 150kms total distance) on his single speed. single speeds (true single speeds) are hard on chains and cogs because you put a lot more stress on everything. you can just click into an easier gear and spin a bit faster. you just have to stand up and grind up hills. as for the rear gears, if the current setup is only a screw on cluster then you can only stick with 7 gears without changing wheels. if it is a 7 speed cassette, then you may be able to get an 8 speed freehub body and run 8, 9 or 10 gears should you desire. obviously that would require a different shifter, chain, cassette and derailleur. running 8, 9 or 10 speed will allow you to have a greater gear range. 7 speed freewheels are only available in 14-28 or 14-34 gearing. similar for cassettes. but the 14-34 will be mega range, so there is a big jump between 1st and 2nd. 8 speed and greater will have a more even spread gearing, as well as going down to an 11 or 12 tooth on the rear, meaning higher top speed. for rear derailleurs, running 7 speed will limit you to a certain extent. just stick with an acera or altus 7/8 speed derailleur. they work fine. you won't get much benefit from going to a better one on a 7 speed. they retail for about $40 to $50 from memory. for cranks, since you will be putting on a new chainring, if your current cranks don't have removable rings, you can just get something second hand off ebay. just take note as to whether you will need a new bottom bracket or not. but if you get something that runs external bearings than it will be stronger and last you longer down the track. something like shimano SLX. i'm not sure if they do an alivio 9 speed 2 piece crankset or not, but i have an feeling that they do. the only other thing you may need for a single speed is a chain device. you can sometimes get away with running the front derailleur as the chain device (just use the limit screws to position the derailleur in the right spot). you don't need one with a tensioner at the bottom, just the guide at the top. if you go a set of cranks with external bb bearings then you just mount the guide instead of using 1 of the spacers required. the guides are a little bit noisey though. you get a bit of chain rub, as you would also with using a derailleur. well that should give you a bit of info to start with. if you need anything else, just ask. sometimes it can be easier to try and find a bike second hand that has parts that you want, buying it and then selling off what you don't use.

i've used MP assault twice (my boss bought some and i had a try). i only used a half dose on 2 occasions. i used it before a 50km bunch ride that starts off slow on the way out and turns into a race on the way back. i found it made a small difference. i was able to hang on a bit better on the way back, as well as the fact that i didn't have as much of decline in energy as the day went on (given that i have to get up at 4:30am to get to noosa by 6am for the ride, and i generally don't get to bed until about 10 the night before). i don't drink coffee at all, so i think it may have a bit more of an effect on me than people who drink a fair bit of coffee. my boss only uses it before 1 ride a week, which is the fastest ride of the week. it's a full on assault through the hills where the aim is for there to be as few people finish with the bunch as possible. he found that it means he can push that little bit harder and longer and it can be the difference between hanging on and not hanging on if a few of the professional athletes are out in the bunch, plus the fact that there are a handful of others on similar supplements (it's a bit of a bragging rights ride). the first time he used it he said his face started tingling about 10 mins into the ride, lol.

in my opinion, the r32gtr is probably still another 10 to 15 years from starting to rise in price (ADM models excluded). the reason being that the r34 is still dropping in price, and given that the majority of people would prefer the newer, nicer 34. then there is the r35 to take into consideration. the longer nissan keep the r35 in production, the more effect it will have on the earlier skyline prices. so it may take even longer. i still also think that the r34 will be more of a collectors item than the r32 in the future, in the same way that a XY GTHO phase 3 falcon is more sought after than a XW or XR. people always want the last model with the better tech. so it will end up being the r34 v-spec2 or possibly m-spec2 that will be more sought after, behind the N1 and Nur versions obviously, despite there being more v-spec2 built than the v-spec or the standard model. the models with the most goodies are always the ones that are more sought after.

and are you wiping off the oil between checking? and make sure you read the side that isn't getting dragged up against the side of the tube

that sums up what everyone is saying. plenty of people buy a natro skyline and think it is going to be fast because it is a skyline. they generally then start threads saying they got beaten by a commodore, etc, in the traffic light grand prix and want to know how to make it faster. plus the fact that there are cheaper cars that are nice to drive, get less police attention, and are cheaper to run. but some of them are fwd, so this turns the boy racers who have dreams of being a fully hektic dorifto god. my personal preference for P plater cars is the SSS pulsar. the missus has one and it's great, especially with a set of extractors that really give it some get up and go compared to standard

Green 33 with pink wheels (can't remember the plates) heading south into gympie on the highway past the golf course. Also seen a 33 getting around gympie with a harlequin paint job

definitely wasn't sitting on bump stops as they were set up pretty high (i'm not one of those people who have the tyres scrubbing on the guards, i like my cars practical). he knew what he was doing. they were simply too stiff. i should point out that this was about 8 years ago now, so the range of coilovers around back then was much smaller, and these were an ordinary set even back then. my mate wasn't overly happy with them even before he put them in, so he wasn't too fussed when i got him to take them out.

i had a mate at a tyre shop get me some new shocks for my 180sx i used to have. he got me a set of coilovers of a mate of his and put them in (no idea on spring rate, but my guess is that it was high). 2 days later i had him remove them and get me some normal shocks to use with my springs. going around a rough corner just up the road from home at normal speed (about 40kmh) i started to bounce onto the wrong side of the road. i had to go round the corner 15kmh an hour slower than normal to stay on the right side of the road. realistically speaking, the max speed i could go round that corner without losing control with the coil overs was about 35kmh. with the stock shocks and normal lowered springs would've been about 65kmh. everytime i see people in s13's, etc bouncing around on relatively smooth roads i always wonder whether they just bought the suspension because they had just seen it used on a car in a magazine or some pro drift car and have no idea about suspension (which is usually the case).