bigkevracer

I head to Sydney on the 6am Qantas flight in the morning to pick up the car! Apparently its a train to a ferry, then Ben from Northshore will grab me from the ferry. First bit turned up today, a Nismo Veruspeed oil filter. Just waiting on the Blitz air filter and Denso plugs, and I'm ready for the service. My local Repco stocks the whole Motul range, so I'll pick up some 300v and the Motul RBF600 brake fluid Iain recommended. No Nulon trade dealers in SA according to the Nulon rep who called me Monday, so my only option is to get Repco to order it in (was about $120-130/20L trade) or go to Sprint Auto Parts, which was what Nulon recommended. Looking forward to the drive. Didn't take the day off work, worked the hours Monday and Tuesday instead. So while I'm a bit tired, I don't really have anything to stress about and can just enjoy the 1,400 km drive! Have packed my 7D, tripod and remote for some happy snaps along the way

ebay for those? Or is there somewhere better?

Im curious. Searching around here everyone seems to be running off the shelf exhausts like the Kakimoto. Is there any reason for this instead of a custom system?

Well K&N is oiled paper, and HKS is oiled foam, so Blitz it is! Thanks. I'll have to call Gulf Western Oil I guess... why would they discontinue Sougi 6000 and leave it on their web site? The oil on their site is actually Sougi S 6000 (http://www.gulfwestern.com.au/Sougi%20S%206000.html) which I thought was the same. Don't suppose they've released a newer version? Otherwise sounds like Motul 300v is as good, but more expensive?

Oops... had the link open in a tab... Don't worry, photos will follow soon enough. Plan is to be in Sydney Friday to pick up.

Bought one: http://www.northshoreprestige.com.au/view.php/used_cars/2001_Nissan_Stagea_250tRS_FOUR_White_5_Speed_Automatic_Wagon/4470190/ Does that count? Plan at the moment is major service first and foremost. Then need to decide next move. Intake runner spacer, exhaust, coilovers or front mount probably. Still undecided.

Thanks. I read on a thread here that Sougi 6000 was discontinued, but its still listed on the Gulf Western Oils web site? Motul 300v is fine though, I'll just use that if I can't find Sougi. Everything else should be fine. Any recommendations for brake fluid (other than DOT4) or air filter?

Cheers. I figure when something goes on I'll need to fix it. I'm not a mechanic by any stretch but dad is, and I try to learn. And I'm not going to learn by getting others to do everything for me! Plus changing the fluids and servicing is (usually) the easiest thing you can do!

Since Ill have the car by then I figured it would be a good opportunity to go for a drive and meet the Adelaide Stagea guys so Im planning on coming. Mate wants to come too, and we might bring some cameras for a laugh!

Easy. Wont worry about it then. Thanks. Did I miss anything on my list?

Ok so now that I've bought the car, I'm getting all the gear together to service it when I get it back (Adelaide has a long weekend next weekend). Since the car is new to me and new to Australia I figured I'd change everything. I've searched on here and worked out I'll need: Oil: Gulf Western Sougi S 6000 Oil filter: Nismo Veruspeed 15208-RN010 Gearbox: Nulon synthetic ATF Diffs: 75W90 Redline Shockproof Spark plugs: Denso IKH22 For an air filter, it seems like people are using a mix of panels in the standard box. I was looking at either K&N or Blitz. The HKS foam panel I looked at I heard some mixed reports on here about. And after all of this searching on here and M35stagea.info I can't find ANYTHING useful about plug leads! So what plug leads do you use? What models do I need? I can't find anyone that lists an M35 or anything with a VQ25. Thanks, Ryan

I could, but where's the fun in that? I'm sure it'll be fine for the run back, then dump everything and start from scratch, and learn something about how these things are held together in the process!

Thats fair. Being from Adelaide I had no idea, and never having bought a car from interstate was overly wary. I'll need to service it when I get it, so the fun begins!

FINALLY got the inspection report over a week later, car is all fine apparently. Deposit tomorrow, then just have to arrange to fly over and pick up, hopefully in time for the Adelaide Stagea cruise at the end of the month!

I don't play much online, but if anyone wants to add me, I'm on there as "bigkevracer". Haven't seen any Stagea's in the used car market, unlike in GT4, but if anyone wants to sell me/gift me one, I'd appreciate it My best car is probably my R35 Skyline, but I bought the collectors version, so I have all the Chromeline and Black versions.

Well thanks to Beer Baron the car is now booked in for an inspection Monday afternoon, and if all goes well I hope to fly over Wednesday and pick it up. Was comforting to call up Envy Imports to book it in and be told there was no need for a compression test or dyno run because Northshore cars are usually perfect. But I think I might get them to put it on the dyno while its there just so I have a baseline!

Alright well I'm thinking I'll organise a mechanical inspection in the next week or so then fly over/drive back. Just need a recommendation for either a mobile inspection mob or a local mechanic close to Northshore who knows Stags and would be willing to do the job. Any suggestions?

Ive seen some stuff about that, does the screen work at all without the factory deck? It doesnt bother me too much, just curious.

Awesome! Do you have any suggestions? If I can get some names I'll look up addresses and see what Northshore are prepared to do.

Yeah I enquired about that one but it was already sold pending payment. I told them to let me know if it fell through and they didn't, so I'm guessing its sold,

Northshore offered to put 3 months on it. Would that make getting SA rego easier, because it's already been registered in Australia? Would also mean I can drive it from my place down to the inspection place for the ID check.

Are there any mechanics on here familiar with Stagea's who'd do an inspection/report for me (for a fee of course)? If I get Northside to put NSW rego on it (which I understand makes things easier when I get it in SA) it has to go through a roadworthy check. Is that worthwhile or is it overly basic?

Thanks everyone. pkb1776 said he thought it looked pretty good so I might arrange a check on it. Stateroads the best people to go for? Looks like they're around the $150-200 mark. I asked Ben who he'd suggest, and he said he didn't want to make any suggestions because he wanted it to be completely independent, which I totally respect. I mentioned to him the NRMA and he suggested I look at someone else, because apparently the NRMA aren't mobile? I've never lived in Sydney so have no idea what the go is, but I know our NRMA equivalent (RAA) are mobile. I'm just doing this for a bit of peace of mind.

I know, and I'm still kind of tempted by that. But according to Ben it'll take about 2.5 weeks! Although I am pretty busy for the next 3 weeks, it might be easier. Guess I'm just reluctant to buy something like a car sight unseen. In no real hurry to get it sighted, just want to get in before someone else buys it! Dale: Yeah I've spent a lot of time checking out these forums, searching, etc, and I've no doubt Northshore will be right. I guess I'd just like someone who isn't selling me something to see if it looks as good

Hi guys. I've started looking around for an M35, having done a lot of research on here over the past month or so. I found one in particular I'm keen on, at Northshore Prestige: http://www.northshoreprestige.com.au/view.php/used_cars/2001_Nissan_Stagea_250tRS_FOUR_White_5_Speed_Automatic_Wagon/4470190/ It seems to have everything that I've decided I want, and it seems to just be a clean, tidy and stock car. I've done some searching on here, and I know that Northshore are highly recommended. I've also spoken to Ben about the car in question and I thought the attitude was great. However having never purchased a car from interstate I'm a little hesitant. I'll be getting it inspected by some mobile car inspection mob before hand, but then I was planning on simply flying in from SA, and driving it home. I believe once in SA it then has to have an identity check and we're good to transfer the rego. Before I get to that stage I was hoping someone might have been past and could verify that it actually looks as neat, clean and tidy as it does in the pics? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ryan