Lum

Back from the detailling work. The results speak for themselves.. Before: After:

RB parts are a little harder to come by over here. What about the turbo of an SR20 S14, I think we have an S14 Garrett T28 sat in the shed though no idea if it still works. And personally I quite like that pigeon noise, though not if it's going to snap the blades off my turbo in the process. One thing that does worry me though. The posts here imply that 10psi is the standard boost for these turbos. I think I'm only making 7 right now. (Not at home, so can't check) edit: Actually, might be 0.7 bar.

Wait, what? front foglights are illegal in Austraila? or just yellow ones? That said, sometimes I wish they were illegal over here thanks to the number of wankers in Audis and BMWs who drive around with them on during the day.

I'm not terribly keen on a BOV. It's a bit of a faux pas here because all the chavs have them, and if they have non-turbo cars then they fit . You may as well write a sign on your car saying "all coppers are mongs, now please pull me over". I know the CA18DET* people tend to leave alone and enjoy the pigeons sound and resulting pops and small flame in the exhaust. I'd like to keep the car looking relatively standard, since the Cefiro is a complete unknown and doesn't have any of the image problems associated with the more common Japanese performance cars *cough*WRX*cough*Definitely going with the exhaust first, if nothing else a stainless exhaust is an investment as it's only a matter of time before the standard one rots. Not sure what you mean by a split manifold? To me the manifold is the expensive bit between the cylinder head and the turbo, but the split is normally on the exit from the turbo? What you lot call a dump/front pipe and what I'd call a downpipe. *which is just an RB minus two cylinders

Well I've got some spare cash and rather than pay off my one remaining credit card (which has a super cheap APR for the life of the balance) I figure I'll throw some of it at the Cefiro, it's going in to get the clearcoat redone to remove all the scratches and swirls next week, but I'd like some more performance too. I want to leave it as an auto (because I'm a lazy git) and it's used more for playing about in the back roads through the Welsh valleys rather than seeing any track time, so I'm more interested in torque and mid-range acceleration rather than making big BHP, though it would be nice if my GFs 250bhp SP13 didn't beat it in a straight line, even if my 4WD makes up for it in the corners. Currently it's totally standard apart from R33 GTS-T brakes, camber adjustable upper arm bushes and 16" wheels that are 20mm wider than standard, oh and a few gauges. Where to go from here? I'm thinking a custom straight through exhaust to begin with since I don't need a cat to pass inspection, but then what? turbo (which one?) R34 intercooler, one of those Apexi cone things, and a Nistune map?

No. Back in the 80s it used to be on the right hand side anyway, they only started moving it to the left around 1990 so that they could parts share with the LHD models sold in Europe. My GF drives a 1994 RS13 which is an official UK model (200SX not 180SX) and that has the indicator stalk on the right hand side. Personally I think all RHD cars should have the indicator stalk on the right. Pisses me off whenever I get into the company Mondeo and hit the wipers when trying to signal left. Unrelated note: Got the car booked in with these guys to get the stonechips sorted out and a proper detailing, paintwork correction etc. process done. If done correctly it should come out looking better than new as the paint will be polished to an even thickness across the entire car (rather than the factory orange peel texture) and a coat of decent wax over the top to protect it. The Ceffy isn't going to be my daily driver any more so this is worth getting done. Two simple reasons not to drive it too. 1) It costs 3 times as much in fuel as the Mondeo 2) My daily commute is on single track lanes that are often overgrown with brambles, so your paintwork gets scratched to bits with you have to squeeze against the edge of the road to avoid some tosser in a Transit van coming the other way.

Worst case scenario, any decent alarm fitter should be able to fit an electronic boot release solenoid and then it wont matter that the cable is broken. Just had it done on my GF's S13 using a generic solenoid in the boot lid, and on my A31 using the factory solenoid. Only problem is you might have to buy a whole car alarm to go with it if your existing one doesn't support that feature (or you just don't have one)

Well I have a bit of cash and a company car just arrived (Ford Mondeo diesel) so I'm going to spend a bit on the Cefiro. Going to get a bloke to remove the dent in the boot lid from where my GF dropped my bloody disclok on it, and then another bloke who does the whole "detailing" thing, where they remove the clearcoat, sand down the paintwork so it's the same thickness all over and has a mirror shine then coat the entire thing in caranuba wax. That should get it looking nice and clean again. Then need to tidy up that audio install a bit and chuck the car PC in the front double DIN. The USB cable you see dangling down in the above picture is for that, so I can have a USB soundcard right next to the amplifiers. Might play with the engine a little but now that I have the Mundano the Cef is going to become more of a weekend toy and something I take to Jap car shows and the like. I can let the Mundano take all the damage that comes with day to day use.

Looking for a Cefiro specific gauge pod so that I don't have to faff about with ugly universal A pillar gauges and these guys look good. http://www.mearcat.com.au/cefiro.html Sent them an email a week or so ago, no reply. Anyone know if they're still in business? Don't really fancy paying for an international phone call to find out for sure.

Update time. Sadly the Cefiro isn't looking as nice as when I got it. The other day I was driving down a road that had recently been resurfaced on the cheap, ie by throwing down a load of tarmac then spraying stones everywhere and letting the cars mash the stones into the tarmac. They'd set a 10mph speed limit but that was far far too slow for Mr. 1.6 Honda Civic with Type R badge who proceded to blast past me and pebble dash my car On a slightly more positive note, I found a good use for the spare wheel well since the space saver wont even clear my brakes..

To stop the torque converter interfering with the dyno run?

Neither pulling that fuse, or disconnecting that plug (which would be a pain in the arse to do at the rolling road) would lock up the torque converter though, would they? Any easy way to do that?

Mine's a 4 speed which may or may not be implemented as a 3 speed plus overdrive. The gearlever would imply that, but it could just be they didn't want to confuse people by changing it to D321. It's the same box as fitted to S13s Would be interested to know what you do to force it into 3rd, well other than knacker it enough that it goes into limp home mode I mean.

The only 4WD dyno that I can reasonably get to doesn't seem to think it's possible to dyno an auto as they can't control when it changes gear, resulting in a meaningless gear. I'm just trying to find a way to make it a bit easier for them.

Yes, I've used it in the snow to good effect but never really knew how it actually worked. Only problem I had in the snow was dealing with other people's stupidity, oh and finding out that the font diff is open thus managing to get stuck out in the Brecons with 3 wheels spinning and one still. So will the switch be any use for getting a meaningful dyno run or not. Don't want to waste £60 if they can't get it to stay in one gear for most of the run.

I know the switch will force the car to start in second, but what behaviour does it cause after that. I found some documentation on the Subaru 4EAT (which is also made by JatCo, same as the Nissan boxes) that states that hold+2 will be permanent second, hold+3 will start in second, change up to 3rd as soon as possible and then basically stay there, and hold+d will start in second then drive normally other than not using 1st. Is this also true for the A31's gearbox? I'm asking mainly because I'm interested in taking the car on a dyno and if the Nissan box does behave in that way, it should be pretty easy to get meaningful figures.

Should probably update this. Went with the Whiteline R32 GTR ones since they were in stock and available next day at Demon Tweeks, bloody expensive for what they are but I can't fault their performance. Got them fitted, passed the MOT, got an alignment. Guy at the alignment shop hadn't seen anything like it (the Ceffy, or the whiteline bushes), spent 10 minutes swearing at the bushes until he figured out how they worked then praised how easy they were to adjust Out for a test drive, he throws it into a corner "bloody hell", he exclaims. "what?", "This is really nice. I thought it was going to drive like a barge and be all wallowey" *proceeds to throw it into the next corner at about double the speed limit for the road* "I think it's aligned right". Car is driving better than ever now. Just had the sill fixed where some muppet in Japan has put a jack through it, now just got to find out why my front suspension has started creaking. Hopefully just needs more grease now the whiteline bushes have settled in.

Ended up getting the whiteline ones as I didn't want the NVH of the solid arms. The car passed it's inspection so I'm good for another 12 months. that nolethane site doesn't seem to exist, or it's down at the moment, but will check them out when funds are looking a bit better. edit: it's www.nolathane.com.au

Ok this is weird. I've just upgraded from FF 3.5.7 to 3.6 and now when I go to make a new post on this forum, the main text box is uneditable. You can select any text that might be in there, but can't delete or change it, nor type new text. To get this text here I've clicked "Insert special item" -> Centered text, and filled in the field. I can still edit the post normally, but only using quick edit, so the centred text should be edited back to normal by the time you read this. Haven't tried replying yet, but I suspect the same will apply, will only be able to use quick reply.

So my car just failed it's MOT test, the upper control arm bushes are gone. I guess that explains why one side was running -4 degrees camber and the other side +1 1/2. So I need to fix this. I was wondering how to go about it. So far I've found the following, assuming that R32 GTR bits will fit the suspension on my 4WD Ceffy R32 GTST/GTR front camber arms Reasonably-ish priced, but maybe too much NVH for a daily driver since they replace the bushes withbearings. Whiteline camber adj kit, upper c/arm Seems like the best option as I get polybushes so should be nicer to drive, and I get a bit of adjustment just in case it's needed. The downside is it's extortionately expensive and I'd have to keep greasing my nipples afterwards Polyeurethane bushes Should be fairly cheap and not too bad for NVH. The downside is that no bugger sells Upper wishbone polybushes for the R32 it seems. Any suggestions?

Indeed it is That chunk of bumper in the foreground isn't from my car BTW, it belongs to this guy

Nope. I bought it to be a daily driver. Specifically went for 4WD and Auto to avoid one that had been used for drifting. It's in good nick and I want to keep it that way. I can use my Volvo 940 for drifting instead I believe it's a pain in the arse to convert them to RWD, hence why the Skyline people would rather get a GTSt and swap in an RB26 than get a GTR and make it RWD. I guess in the meantime I could just pull the 4WD controller fuse though

That's the one yes. As far as I can tell it's the only 4WD Ceffy in the UK. Short of getting access to the DVLA database I have no way of knowing for sure though.

I recognise you from the skylineowners forum Your username breaks the results of searching for "Cefiro" on that forum. Brings up every bloody thread you ever posted in

Well, got to go out in the end, and discovered the hard way that the front diff is an open diff. Anyone know if that can be swapped for an LSD of some sort? Maybe an A31/R32 rear LSD will swap onto the front? That's my plan for the summer once I fix the suspension. Apparently our winters are due to get a lot colder, due to global warming. Don't worry, that bit of front bumper in the foreground belongs to someone else