Beer Baron

they are different off the top of my head. the reason is 30 block and 26 block is different so the block side is different. 2WD 30 and AWD 30 is the same from memory just with different fitting kit. but if you want to check confirm it with herman @ envy. but I'm 90% sure 26 AWD is different to the 30AWD plate. they are a great piece of gear. made from billet alloy and machined here in sydney (not CHINA!). just buying the stock of billet alloy that big is not cheap and there is a shitload of waste material...

pretty much yeah. the downside is often autos are only 4spd or 5 spd vs manual 5spd and 6 spd. auto's often have not very performance friendly diff ratios too so that they can cruise at highway speed at low rpm and to spread the gears out a bit. but year basically a good 5spd auto, with shift kit, valvebody upgrade, high stall etc is bloody quick down the qtr mile. where they are fked is on circuit or on the road where you want to be able to pick the gear you are about to need. no auto can predict that.

does not increase block height at all (engine mounts fit to block not sump so engine is still exactly mounted the same). but DOES lower sump a little (very small amount - 20mm or less from memory, basically just the thickness of the PREC). yeah they are a great way to get some block strength for a big power 26 or 26/30 without having to pay for N1 block or the other option till now as grout fill the block (not practical for a road car or circuit car, really for drag only). even better if you are going to a 26/30 as in that case you need to spend $800-$1000 on a sump adapter anyway. spending a little more on one of these and it does the sump adapter job as well as more strength.

yep works with factory girdle. so does the 30 block/26 sump version. it acts as the sump adapter and block strengthener in one thing. I have seen other guys go to billet mains and chuck out the stock girdle which is a backwards step in my eyes. I saw an engine recently pulled down (a 30/26) with custom mains and girdle with a brack kind of like the PREC but it had bad bearing wear from crank walk. how this one works is the factory girdle gets a flat surface machined into it (any competent machinist can do it). the girdle is still proud of the block (obviously) and you are mounting the PREC to the block factory sump bolts, and then it also bolts to the factory girdle (but not interfering with the factory main bolts). the 26 sump then bolts to the PREC and from memory you have a few bolts that go through both sump and PREC for more strength. it's a nice piece of gear. nope, as above it works WITH factory main caps and girdle. just with a flat surface machined onto the bottom of the girdle for the PREC to mate with. if you want to buy one direct contact herman @ envy imports (they are Platinum Racing products). if anyone's really interested I have the instruction manual here somewhere I can email you. it explains how to fit one and thereby explains how it works. the extra width gives you a bit more sump oil too (need to consider spacing or lengthening oil pick-up a little if no sump baffles etc are fitted - many just go external pick-up anyway though).

buy me!! I now have 6 cars, 2 motorbikes, 2 spare complete RB26s and a garage full of bits. I am afraid to go to bed in case my gf kills me while I sleep!!! Someone but an engine or a car or a truck or something before my short life comes to an end. thank you!

nath, pauter do good Ti rods at not too bad a price. but for me alloy rods are a good option. cheper than Ti and lighter too. no where near as strong so may need replacement every now and then in big rpm/big power engines (but i'm talking like 1000hp drag engines etc). the only downside is as someone mentioned they need to be physically larger to be strong enough which can cause problems in a 26 where you don't exactly have a shitload of rod to block clearance to start with...

another option. if you have a good block (bore wise) but worried about strength look at the Platinum racing PREC. they are made as a block brace mainly to suit RB30 blocks fitted with RB26 sumps but they also do an RB26 version which purely acts as a block brace. it strengthens the girdle but retains the standard mains. it also attaches to the girdle with it's own fasteners (not re-using the factory mains) so you basically end up with the strength 4 bolt mains. it also adds torsional rigidity to the block which will stop them cracking between 3 and 4 as they are a bit prone to do. cost from memory is around $1200 so it's a lot cheaper than buying an N1 block and possibly much stronger. hi-octane retail them, or otherwise contact envy imports who designed them.

no disconnecting the battery or even the ecu will not (well should not) lose the tune. the tune is stored in solid state memory. disconnecting power won't erase it. if the tune really is gone then just punching in injector numbers and the AFM type is not going to help at all. it will need a complete re-tune. or, you'll need to get the old tune (only possible if the tuner kept a copy on his laptop and is willing to give it to you) and have it relaoded onto the power FC using datalogit (or similar) and a laptop. my guess is you have done something wrong with the EBC install. double check there is no loose vacuum lines etc.

if you have a worn gearbox bearing that will be generating heat (due to friction). there is also an insulator between the shifter mount thing and the box. sometimes they get left out. if that's missing you definitely will get more heat transfer into the shifter and gearknob. can't remember in 34 GTR but in 32 GTR the shifter actually goes into the transfer case anyway and not the gearbox.

sounds good mate. yeah fuel system is a tough one. nismo used to make an in-tank baffle system which was awesome. same idea as sump baffles basically. box around the pump with some 1way doors. means you don't need to have anything external, just run the nismo drop in pump which is good enough for 700cc injectors and the in-tank baffles. but these days if you want some kind of anti-surge gear it has to be external. under the car is a good idea. there's a bit of room above the rear diffuser in a 34 for an under boot floor surge tank but the hassle is it still means 2 fuel pumps one of which is either external or inside the surge tank (if it's big enough). what size injectors are you running? 700cc with a nismo pump might be enough for the GT-RS but it could get marginal. it will definitely need 1000cc if you go to E85. good buy on the nismo intercooler. they are up there with the best (ARC) for quality and in fact the welding on the nismo one is second to none. they are also designed to give good flow through to the radiator (like arc) so it's a good choice. they are so expensive though it can make my eyes water. I agree with no painting it. they look cool with the nismo logo. they look tough but still a bit subtle. especially for you where it's hot the balance between intercooler and radiator is very important. I have found the big thick cheap alloy radiators are actually WORSE in normal driving conditions than the nice thing standard ones. the reason is the clutch fan struggles to pull air through the really thick rads at low road speed (or stopped in traffic) so they basically just sit there soaking up engine bay heat. where as the thin standard rad still gets some air moving through it at low speed and when still the clutch fan can still draw air through. on the track it's reversed as there's plenty of airflow and the big radiators come into their own (well the good ones, PWR, koyo, sard, ARC) do.

hope everything goes ok. yeah, it pays to wear appropriate gear when handling any chems. sounds like he will be ok which is the main thing. hope he wears the right gear next time.

there is no problem using a standard block with that power. if there's nothing wrong with it that a bore won't cure then don't replace it. but question. what size was the bore taken to last time? if it has a stroker crank I'm assuming it had forged pistons. they were most like one size over (86.5) or even 2 sizes over (87mm). if so then boring to 87.5mm is not a good idea for a big power engine. ideally you want to stick with 86mm or 86.5mm. N1 block is a good idea but I wouldn't rush to buy one if you are not having block problems so far. on the other hand if you need to buy a brand new block (due to this one having already been over-bored) then I'd go straight for the N1.

most of the people who have had trouble importing cars are guys who have purchased cars from an overseas exporter sight unseen without any help to guide them. generally (not always though) if you have a broker they can help guard against that as they have relationships with exporters and others in japan who can physically inspect cars for you and find out the truth. that's the important part. you are right to be cautious but for something like a nur importing is the best way to go for sure.

good buy on the podium. they are a great seat. for that money you got a upper level seat for not much more than the most basic entry level ones. like you said on cost vs comfort/features/safety the velos comes out ahead of most as they are very well priced for what they offer. I mean if money is no object then look at carbon racetechs, and carbon recaro's but they are stupid money. for good value velo is great and they are an aussie company too. lol, I was in an aus navy submarine not so long ago and the captains chair was a velo GP90 with a lambs wool cover! will try and dig up the pic.

well the smaller diameter tyre will assist acceleration at the expense of top speed. so as you guessed you'd need more rpm for the same speed but the car should accelerate a bit faster. to be honest you'd be hard pressed to notice much difference. there is not much between them. if it were me I'd get whichever is a few bucks cheaper out of the 40 or 35 profile. but if they are the same price I'd probably go with the 40 profile. 255/40 is still a pretty low profile tyre and is a good size for your wheels.

to be honset, about $100 each is about what's normal for a spherical bearing of that size/type. so if it does turn out to be the bearing then that price is certainly not too unreasonable.

BTW when you were first trying to push the pistons in did you have the cap off the master cylinder? seen plenty of people trying to push pistons in with the cap still on which makes things pretty hard as the system is sealed so there's no room for that pressure to go. eventually the pressure will escape somewhere (usually through the cap) but sometimes it pops post the master cylinder seal etc which is not good.

well the pins should keep the pads in the caliper ok, but from memory the spring clip works to keep the pads up against the pistons. without them the pads 'might' rattle around a bit on the pins but most likely they'll be ok. personally though I would just call up nissan and buy a pair and stick them in. they are not expensive (maybe $20 for a pair) and easy to put in.

I imagine bernies f-duct is pretty well shrivelled, shrunken and closed up by now. there is a viagra button there to help keep it on the straight though.

forgot to add you must also top up the halogen headlight fluid when you do cam bearings and also replace the engines earth with some fresh stuff from a nursery. any potting mix will do to give it a really good earth.' ok, I'll stop now. sorry. i don't get out much. this is my only entertainment.

yeah if you still have stock head bolts you can do the head in the car. bit trickier if you have studs but can still be done i believe.

bummer. sorry to hear that mate. yeah if the oil has that nice metal film and some sparkle to it chances are that's your bearing coating in there. what a bugger.

Must sell evo. girlfriend will kick me out soon and I'll be sleeping in the evo instead of in my bed. someone come and take it away. it is up there in the top most fun cars I've owned/driven and I've had some good ones from big power R32s, RX7 RZ (also up there), R35 GTR etc but the evo is very light, very responsive and with the close ratio box and the LSDs it's like a massive go-kart on steroids! The mods list on this thing is very comprehensive but nothing is over the top. it's all very neat and all workmanship is top workshop quality (done at Cyber Evo in Japan).

yeah I'm not sure bernie has a sense of humour. may find RBR doing a lot of drive-through's this year..... still it's pretty funny.

yeah sailing gets expensive too. even when I was racing my own old wood junior with my many times repaired sails there were blokes there with carbon fibre hulls (give me a break we were fking 12) and kevlar masts, special prototype sail materials etc. plus like you say not much fun when you are mostly sailing in 10-15knot winds. need a good solid 20 to get things humming. I have heard it said that BOAT is an acronym. it stands for "break out another thousand". which is pretty accurate.