lwells

Given the standard R32 GT-R ones are pretty crappyand restrictive (and R33/34 are only slightly better) and that he has aftermarket (read: larger) turbos, I would think changing the dump pipes would be removing a major restriction?

Put me down as another electronics-retard that would like his mirrors to automatically retract. Anyone get anywhere with this? Sewid? Lucien.

As has already been noted in this thread, there are three main reasons why turbo timers are a bad idea: 1) They are illegal as your vehicle remains running with the key removed and unattended. 2) They keep the fuel pump primed after an accident. Personally I would prefer not to burn to death. 3) They provide thieves with a very good indicator of which wires to go for. They also often have problems with alarms. Spend you money on something else that actually improves performance or comfort. If your worried about your turbos, either don't boost the whole way home or go for a slow drive around the block before parking. Personally I just try a drive off-boost for the last couple of minutes of my journey (which, given I live in inner-western Sydney with lots of pedestrians/traffic, is a good idea anyway). LW.

I believe CES calls these their "competition pipes" to distinguish them from the HKS-ripoff version they also sell (as pictured above) LW.

Turbo to cat pipes, which for most of you will mean a single pipe (ie. non-GT-R applications) aren't exactly expensive. I would rather pay $800-900 for a new name-brand japanese exhaust (or even less for near-new of YahooJP), and spend an additional $300 on a front pipe, than buy an X-Force exhaust of unknown quality (particularly after the mentions of poor welds and "OK" but not great fit) and sound. LW.

To quote the page: Now, going by the page you linked, looking under Skyline (http://www.lambdasensor.com/main/skyline.htm) they say: Edit: Also notice that the sensor they picture does not have any red wires. Perhaps just email them and ask which Bosch they suggest? Lucien.

They look like D-speed (aftermarket) units, hence why Shan hasn't bothered with the OEMs. LW.

Except you can get brand new Japanese cat-backs for about the $1000 mark, so the X-forces don't look like such great value to me? LW.

I wouldn't go running around advertising that fact. Regardless, you have to at least budget for the possibility when buying from Japan (US is a different story post free trade agreement). I wouldn't choose the GT-SS's if your after more power than the N1s. I would choose at least the 2530s. 2540s = a mismatched turbo, so avoid (do a search for more info). Lucien.

Grrr.. lets see if the forum works this time. Name a dump pipe that isn't a PITA to fit on a GT-R? Blitz/Nick once mentioned installing dumps without removing the turbo, but no details and AFAIK you are basically forced to remove the turbos. In another thread, John from UAS said it takes their guys 15 hours to do a manifold swap on a GT-R: doing the dumps is basically the exact same job. Keep in mind that's 15 hours in a professional shop with hoists, lightining, tools, etc all at hand, not to mention that the mechanics are probably able to go through the steps in their sleep. I agree with Beer Baron: if you're not going to change the front pipes, you're going for a compromise. Remember (to steal a page out of SK's book) that most Jap tuning parts are designed to be bolt on because Jap. mechanics charge an arm and a leg. Hence even when you get the HKS split style, they are designed to be modular upgrades to keep installation costs down. If you insist on keep your front pipes, out of the options listed I would go for the HKS or HKS-style: although a compromised design they are at least a split design. The Nismo's are expensive because they are Nismo and rare. The CES ones are direct HKS copies AFAIK and they charge an arm and a leg so no advantage 'buying local'. The Tomei's aren't split dumps IIRC, and from the looks of them, niether are the Power Enterprises. You can probably get the HKS's even cheaper second hand: they are very common on YahooJP. Lucien.

The majority of an R32 headlight is plastic too. The point is not to melt the plastic -- it merely gets hot, and hence you turn the oven off and place the headlight on a cold rack -- its too soften the binding agent. Lucien.

GTaaargh: What exactly is the point you are trying to make? Lucien.

Hi Sean, The battery is only a couple of months old, so its doubtful. Its possible that a higher capacity battery wouldn't experience a dip in voltage, but its not really a major issue and only really noticeable at idle. I have done some more research and it seems that this is not an uncommon "problem". Its just a noisy (but working) relay. If I have time, I might play around with better earthing the relay. Lucien.

Hi SK, Hmmm.. some food for thought there. I take it then you don't see the bang-for-buck equation being favourable for a mild street cars (but perhaps if one already has an extensive array of modifications -- head porting, cams, turbos, etc)? What of the other associated benefits, rather than outright power: faster spool/better 'response', more (and more consistent) airflow? It must be nice having your own fabricator I assume it would be hideously expensive to have such one-off items made? Cheers, Lucien.

Picked mine up from the post office today. Thanks for your efforts Shaun. Cheers, Lucien.

Its just the way it came across: sometimes that's the problem with the web. Its hard to guess people's tone, etc, plus people tend to use shorthand which introduces other problems. Well there are two offers to be guinea cops Lucien.

I live just off Norton St. LW.

First off, can I say I really appreciate John taking the time to answer people's questions. Moreover, I think its great that a local business is trying to put out some innovative products and not just follow/copy like sheep. I sense some frustration in a couple of his posts because of the rather "rigorous" questioning in not just this thread, but the last few he has started (e.g. the plenum thread). Although I think the tone of Scooby's posts was unnecessarily combative, I think that these questions are asked and answered means everyone is better informed at the end of the day. I'm interested in the mention of stainless manifolds commonly cracking. My understanding -- as Roy explained far better than I ever could -- was that if the necessary care was taken, the welds should not crack and should in fact be stronger than the metal its joining. Thus is it mainly a question of poor quality welds, or is there some other more fundamental problem with s.s. manifolds? Sydneykid: I assume that, given your propensity for such things, that you have probably thoroughly explored and researched exhaust manifolds for GT-Rs. What would you suggest is the best way to improve upon the stock low mounts? Are there low mount manifolds with equal length runners available? As I said, I need to take my manifolds off everntually to stop a small leak (it closes as the manifolds/head heats, but it annoys me) so I will be watching this thread with interest. I'm tempted to offer my car up as a guinea pig, but since its such a pig of a job -- grrrr... already done it once in the past two months -- I'd want to change the dump and front pipes at the same time which would, I imagine, invalided the results in many people's eyes. Lucien.

Since its a pain in the arse to pull everything off -- particularly on GT-Rs -- I hardly see the point in saving $30. Do it once, do it right. The studs are subject to a lot of expansion and contraction, at differing rates, hence why they break. What happens if after torquing one up there is a hairline fracture and the studs breaks next day? Time to pull everything apart, new gaskets, blah blah blah. LW.

In otherwords, highly restrictive Did they increase in size on the R33/34? LW.

That testing hasn't been done yet. L.

This hasn't been (extract from BMI - Nismo Beast Unleashed): get it while its still up.

Also be interested in the dash, though I worry a little about having a shiney finished on top of C/F: wouldn't it reflect sunlight and also have a reflection on the windscreen. I'd also like to see some C/F aircon vents LW.

You have PM.

If the R33 is anything like the R32 -- and I imagine it is -- its quite easy to get the front glass/lens off, but it involves breaking the sealant so you will have to reseal them. A hairdryer is a very bad idea: the heat is too directional and you'll end up either not getting the area hot enough, or melting the plastic. If you really want to pull apart your headlight, you need to..: 1) Preheat your over to 200 degrees celcius. 2) Turn the oven off. 3) Place your headlight on a rack (that hasn't been sitting in the oven). 4) Put the rack+headlight in to the over, making sure the headlight doesn't touch the sides of the oven. 5) Set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, yank the headlight out. 6) Using a blunt bread knife, run the knife in the join between the glass and the rear of the headlight. The trick is to try and cut through the sealant, and gently work the two apart. Lucien.