KrazyKong

I only went to Carline because of the fact I would be allowed to work on the car myself. I spent a few weeks searching and looking for an exhaust place that would let me do most of the work myself, and then they would do the welding and whatever I couldn't do. So I went in on a Saturday because that would be the quietest time to be there. With myself and a friend being there for 5 hours, that 10 hours of labor. To then be charged 2 additional hours, slugged with shop miscellaneous fees, hoist rental on top of already paying an hourly rate that should include everything accept parts is stretching it too far. The trick was this guy kept quiet on what everything was going to cost, and gave the impression it was all good mate, no worries. He was writing off the bolts and nuts I had that came with my pipes, my gaskets etc., and saying just use mine they are better quality. Well that may be the case, but when presented with the bill at the end, I would not have paid $70 just for a few bolts and nuts. I bet they only cost $1 each anyway. This guy knew I had been screwed over by the first guy who put in my cat, and I was searching around for someone who wasn't going to steal my money a second time. He just screwed himself out of two other confirmed jobs I had lined up for him, and a possible third. Will he care? I doubt it. But I do, and I won't be going near that shop ever again.

Finally got the dump and front pipes installed over the weekend. Spent 5 hours with a mate at an exhaust place taking off all the old pipes etc. and installing the new ones. Then had the muffer guy do the final welds etc. But... my bad car karma continues however as I got overcharged and rorted an extra $200 by the exhaust guy I went to. Simple things like nuts and bolts cost me over $70, was double charged for an hourly rate, and then an additional hoist fee and shop fee. Warning to anyone on the Gold Coast, do NOT do business with Scott from Carline Mufflers, Unit 2, 22 Junction Rd, Burleigh Heads, QLD 4220. He's all ok before you agree to do business with him. But then all these sneaky hidden charges appear on the bill and you'll be lucky to even get an itemized bill. Took me two attempts and I'm still in the dark as to what I paid for. Anyway, can only learn from it, but for anyone on the Goldy, don't touch this guy like the plague. He races midget cars too so I'm sure someone on here might have come into contact with him at some point. Apart from having my money stolen, the workmanship was pretty good. Will take some pics next time I'm under the car. I also put in a new O2 sensor as well which I picked up from Kudos Motorsports for $77. Great thing is it comes with the connector all ready to go... As far as flanges go, the one that was on there was not a 3", so had to go with 2x new 3" flanges, 2x gaskets plus bolts and nuts. The frankenwelding from my first post was even worse than first thought. The gasket was welded to the flange, the bolt was welded to both on one side, and dear God did it look bad when I finally got it out. Went to use the camera to take pics for everyone, but had flat batteries in the camera Also had a brace made to take some of the load off the exhaust. Mine seemed to be missing some bracket that attaches to the back of the transmission. So one was cut and welded up, then finally bolted in at the end. The clearance of the front pipe was pretty close to the car floor. I'm not sure if that will be a problem long term. Will that heat come through the floor or damage it in some way? It's almost close enough it might touch at some point if the vibration is strong enough, but I think with the brace on it won't be moving too much.

There were the pics I meant to post about my old tie rod ends. The "bad" tie rod end... As you can see, no grease, lots of sludge and this could have caused a very nasty accident for me. There was a huge amount of play in the joint. The "good" tie rod end... No play on this one, lots of grease still and apart from the broken rubber boot, seemed to be in good condition. There you have it. I don't have pics of the new tie rod ends, just the box they came in and part number. But if anyone is interested, I can take some next time I'm under the car.

I seem to be in this fixit state of mind. Fixing cars, fixing stuff aroud the home, and fixing old threads so the pictures work again

Thanks for that list Troy. I've since seen the Jaycar stuff in person and you don't get much for the price. However they have a few different kinds of deadening. There's a foam kind of one, as well as their tar/bitumen type one too. I didn't look too hard into it as for the price it seemed cheap, but seeing how much you got it didn't seem like much. Also found the Stinger stuff by accident in JB Hi-Fi and it too looks like you'd hardly get one door done with it. I was in Autobarn this afternoon and noticed they had some sound deadener there too. It was by a brand called DNA Designer Audio. They had a pack for about $40 that had 6 sheets of this stuff. It's 300 x 300mm per sheet, 2mm thick and total coverage is 600 x 900mm. That's only 2 feet by 3 feet squared. Again not much for $40. But it did seem relatively ok stuff. It was packaged though so I couldn't handle it. If I'm ever back at Jaycar and JB Hi-Fi, I'll try and make note of what the coverage is and the price. Though I didn't see it at Autobarn, they also have an Aluminium backed version as well. Menos, this Flashtac stuff sounds interesting. I did a Google of it and read a few things about it. The main complaint was that it didn't stick well over time and had inferior glue to Dynamat. Still on the subject of sound deadening, I have a huge roll of this stuff at home. The pictures didn't come out so good. I plan on putting alot of this stuff under the rear seat to reduce the fuel pump, road and muffler noises. As well as in the lining of the boot. But I wondered if it was possible to put some of this on a door as well. I've noticed people line the outer layer of a door, and the inner layer. I don't think I'll be able to use it on the inner layer as the door trim I'm sure won't attach properly. But on the outer layer, with some spray on glue, or even good old duct tape, it would have to be better than nothing right? Is a foam/pad type deadening any better on the inner or outer layer? I was thinking hmmm, I could put this stuff I have on the outer, and then pickup some cheap Dynamat knockoff stuff from whoever and do the inner layer especially the cut out parts of the metal frame that let you see to the outer layer. For those confused, I'm calling the inner layer the one your door trim attaches to, and the outer layer the one that's behind your window glass.

I finally got around to putting in the Bosch plugs today. I also replaced the rocker cover gaskets and gave the throttle body a nice clean too. Checking the gap of the new plugs which were listed as 1.1, they were all just over 1.0, so spot on. From all the reading I've done so far, with the stock boost I'm running, there is no need to gap them at 0.8. I also installed a new 3" split dump + front pipe over the weekend. Taking it for a drive today, the car feels fantastic. More response, more power and so much smoother. I don't know how long my old plugs have been in the car, but when I pulled them out and saw they were Autolites, I had a WTF moment. I'd never heard of that brand and so had to Google them. Turns out they were double platinum (APP 3924-11) plugs so at one point they may have been a good plug. So the initial verdict is the car seems to be happy with these Bosch Platinum plugs. Time will tell how long they last, but for the price it was well worth a try.

I managed to find all the little missing bits that fell of my cover. So in the absence of being able to find a direct replacement (havn't called Nissan yet), I might try and glue it back on. Then some black silicone underneath should do the trick. My coil cover was doing it's job despite the rubber being dried out and cracking as there wasn't much dust & dirt around the packs and plugs.

I'm in the middle of a spark plug, and rocker cover gasket replacement. I noticed after taking out the coil cover, that the rubber lining on the edge was very hard. Parts of it have already broken off. Can I get a replacement seal for this? It was quite clean under the cover, and there wasn't much dirt or dust in there, so even despite the rubber being hard and brittle it was still keep stuff out. But now it's cracked into pieces of which I am missing that section.

What type of Bosch plug? Platinum Plus, Fusions ??

Wow interesting on the Adelaide tap water. I have tank water, so will be using that as it will be alot cleaner than tap water. Still it makes you wonder what some mechanics do when you pay for a system flush. If it's that hard to get all the water out of the block and radiator, I bet most just drain the radiator, and fill er back up.

bump

Even with shipping to Brisbane, it would be cheaper to buy a proper NTK OEM O2 sensor from Kudos Motor Sports. It costs $77 plus shipping and comes with a proper plug, so it will hook up to your existing Skyline in seconds.

Demineralised or de-ionised water? How much does this stuff cost? You have a good point Galois. Would be easier to use that water, then go with some concentrate. However I want to clean all the crap out of my system, and if the quickest and most effective way is to flush it with a hose, then I still like the sound of that. Once it's clear, then can proceed in draining it all. Then fill up with some coolant and drain a bit of that, top up and you're done. Seems simple, maybe too simple lol. Did I miss something?

I picked up the tie rod ends from Global Auto Spares today. Had a quick look under the car while holding them up and they seemed to match perfectly. Had a trustworthy mechanic install them both for $40 total, and then onto the alignment place which cost $39. So new parts, new alignment and it cost me $129 all up. A bargain I think, and the car feels so much better. No rattle noise either. And so far from the driving done today, no tram tracking either. I kept the old ones, especially the bad tie rod end so I could take a picture and post it here for everyone. Scary sight and I could have been in some very real danger had it failed at speed. On both sides the boots had cracked, but on the bad side, there was no grease left. Just crud and sludge. The thread looked dangerously warn from the excessive movement too. For such a quick and overall cheap replacement, I only wish one of the 3 previous wheel alignment places I went to previously had actually told me how bad the movement in my wheel was. Doesn't say much about the import compiance guys either as it was clearly bad even before I bought this car.

I have no experience with Ultratune, but if they are anything like Pedders... In my best Maxwell Smart accent, "sounds like the old, let's convince the customer they need x, x and x replaced!" But seriously, you should have no troubles finding a mechanic who will hoist your car up and give you a diagnosis of what needs replacing for free. I went to quite a few, and the nicest and most honest one I did business with. I got both my tie rod ends replaced today for $40 total! I paid $50 for both of them from Global Auto Spares, and then after they were installed, an alignment for $39. I think for $129 total, for new tie rod ends and a front alignment where my steering wheel is nicely horizontal is a bargain. As to your lower ball joint, I'm not sure what part that is. Could it be a tie rod perhaps? Could you take a pic and circle it to show us what they pointed out to you?

Interesting read Paul. I think for the price of the Bosch Platinums, it's worth a shot at trying them. If some folks on here have reported only getting 5000kms to a pair of NGK coppers, even if I only get 5000kms with the Bosch plugs, it's not a loss. I'm quietly confident they will go well, and if they need gapping to 0.8 from 1.1 then I'll do it with care as to not damage them. One advantage the Bosch plugs have over the NGK ones are the tip isn't extended from the porcelain plug. It's embedded in it and flush as well. So it would seem by looking at them, it would be hard if being careful to damage them. But only trying will I know for sure.

Mark, I think it's ok to flush the system with tap water to get the water clean. Then, flush that out with new coolant. Though how to do what, well I'm not sure yet. I'm looking forward to Andrew posting some pics and a DIY on how to flush the radiator and water system properly.

I've fixed the links for the original post. Now we got pictures

Yes please. Would love to see pics of the location of the drain plug and how to do a full flush efficiently. I'm due for one myself soon and would very much appreciate this.

I went ahead and ordered some TE 926-14 tie rod ends today from Global Auto for $25 each. Adam, I'm not planning on ever racing or drifting my car. The ones I ordered should be as good as the stock Nissan ones I already have. I've read quite a few things about the pillow tie rod ends, and how alot of folks do not recommend them.

Yeah I would be stockpiling that stuff if it ever stopped being sold. Speaking of which, did you ever follow up on that "cheap" supplier I sent you that link on?

I'm just scared too many people will buy it, then the price will go up or something lol. That or GW stopping production of it because they don't sell enough. Can't win lol

It could be metal sure, but I remember when I was in Rome last year and I bought these really cool looking egg shaped magnets. The trick is to fling them up in the air while spinning. They make this noise similar to a cicada. Dropping them even on clean concrete, you'll find they are covered in all kinds of rocks and dust that won't brush off. So somehow it was already magnetic, or simply by coming into contact with a magnet, it becomes magnetized. Now if I was to then think what could be in my engine, it's certainly possible these same small particles and things could be there. Isn't that the purpose of an oil filter to begin with, to filter out anything potentially harmful to our engine? Or is it done more on a chemical level to help the quality and consistency of the oil itself?

Yeah I chuckle about the randomness of the "random" breath testing. More like profiling. Still I'm not bothered, I don't drink and whenever I tell the cops that, they give me that yeah sure whatever buddy kind of look. I guess they've heard it a million times before, that when it's actually true for once, they just roll their eyes.

Chris by under the dash you mean any part of the dash? Or just drivers side, steering column and fuse box area? Am always interested to learn more, but if you don't feel like sharing your secrets, maybe a PM would suffice