jez NF

Cheers man I will be ordering Redline stuff first thing tomorrow. Going to be a bit different and go with 2 litres of lightweight shockproof and 1 litre of superlight so that I get best of both worlds. Hopefully it fixes the issue. Also.....not the clearest of photographs but the car has come a long way

Thanks for your input guys and yeah James that is going to have to be my next option by the looks of it. Already speaking with Harold from PerformanceLub....saw the link from a post you made in 2009?? ..or something I cant remember - i have read that much of info online its uncanny

My car has never had any real issues to date and I would always consider myself so lucky compared to most import owners who always have something or the other go wrong...guess my luck has changed Ah well...hopefully it sorts itself out...though I know I will sadly have to start factoring in a rebuild / recondition just to be safe

Bit of an update....the g70 helped and simultaneously did not help.....it goes into first relatively easy now but there is a prominent crunch(notchy) into second every now and then The tube said 125ml per 2lts so I am going to get another tube and chuck it in as well just to see what happens

And yes I know its probably on its way out......temp fix

Airbox project has been placed on hold. Gearbox has decided to annoy me so I have been concentrating on that instead. It all started rather suddenly with it becoming exceedingly difficult to put the car into first and it would feel like there was something blocking the gear stick from moving into place. This was when the car was cold and though it improved when it warmed up I would struggle to put into first at the lights or while slowly rolling in traffic etc. Getting it into reverse was also hard and I had to shift back into neutral, change into another gear and then try again. Did some research and tried double clutching which helped but the problem was getting worse. So I wasted no time and got some new oil. Spent two days reading information from numerous sites and reviews and speaking to people and I can safely say the one thing I have learnt with the import scene is that you need to just go with what you are comfortable with and sometimes trial and error works best. For example the number of people that swear by Redline lightweight shockproof is crazy and then there are those that say it is absolute shit. So if for example you ignore the critics and go with it there are some that say heavy is what you should go with. Then there are some that say it destroys new gearboxes but is fine for old gearboxes. Then there are some that say it is rubbish for synchros while others say it is the best as it coats everything. Then after being inundated by conflicting views I went to the shops and after hearing different opinions from Supercheap, Repco, AutoOne and AutoPro including some saying the gearbox takes 4 litres and some saying it takes 2.5 litres (just because some brands come in 2.5 litres) and some saying you need to fill from the gear shifter area, only jack up the front, jack up the back as the gearbox is bigger at the front etc etc etc....I decided screw this I am just going to do what I feel is right - because at the end of the day I am going to live with myself !! So I went with Penrite 75W90...bought two 2.5 L bottles as they come in 2.5 and 1 litre bottles and I figured I could always use the rest in the other car or return one bottle if it indeed takes only 2.5 litres. Process I followed (which worked well for me) was as follows; Step 1. Jacked the car up. The aim was to get the car high enough to be able to get under it safely and have enough room to turn a breaker bar. In my case trolley jacks do not fit under the front lip so I have to drive up home made ramps first. This was halfway through the process.... Step 2. Loosened the fill plug. This is located on the right hand side of the gearbox (approximately halfway) and takes a 1/2" drive perfect (even though some say it is approximately 2mm bigger and that you will round it blah blah). The plug came loose with relative ease and as I said before all the information like having to use a blowtorch (wtf !!), hammer and chisel etc etc can be so off putting to a newbie but you never know till you try - so honestly sometimes just do it. Step 3. Loosened the drain plug located on the underneath of the gearbox with the same 1/2' drive. Putting on gloves is a good idea before you start this exercise. Ensured that the car was still warm so that the oil drained properly. Step 4. Inspected the drain plug. There is a little magnet at the end of this which is designed to collect metal shavings that swim around in your oil if you think you are Paul Walker and wannabe shift like a pro. I would like to believe that Paul Barely Standing Up er is more my thing judging by the golden brown colour of my oil, lack of metal shavings and no bits in my oil. Step 5. Cleaned out the plugs. Step 6. Used a pump that screws onto the oil bottle top and simply pumped the oil into the filler plug end till it seeped out. The handy pump cost me $12 from Supercheap and worked brilliantly. Step 7. Wiped up all the mess and tightened the plugs. Things I learnt included; The gearbox takes approximately 2.9 litres and I must have lost about 25ml down the side of the gearbox with the last pump mostly seeping out. The plugs are not too tight if you use a breaker bar with a 1/2" drive end and ensure it is securely in the plug before attacking it like Tarzan which is why most people round it I assume?!! Sometimes actually scratch that leverage and care ALWAYS wins over brute force. Always have plenty of rags ready just in case. Wear gloves that do not make your hands stink afterwards. Did the problem get resolved? NO So this morning I went and got some of this stuff (Nulon smooth shift - see below) which I will try now and if it does not work I will drain this oil and put in something else. See what I mean about trial and error.

So got around to measuring up the proposed "enclosure"...shout out to the guy who suggested the wire hanger idea...yeah it kinda works. Lots of tweaking.... Trial fit number 35....and getting there finally

Thanks mate. Yeah I plan to eventually enclose the pod completely once I can figure out what material to use. Been through the perspex enclosure DIY thread on here and am now leaning towards giving that a go.

Good ol' angle grinder was applied to the snorkel this morning...... It now fits.....

Update the thread nevertheless mate.....I feel the same way too sometimes but there are a few "loyal readers" maybe not as many "commenters"

Congrats on a nice tidy buy Joel. All the best with your future plans and welcome to a great place to share and discuss your progress

Yeah I get that Cam (thanks for replying btw). Been reading up info on here and there are countless debates on whether a pod is better than the panel filter and whether an enclosed airbox is beneficial or not. That however is not my concern. What seems strange to me is how the snorkel actually gets any air - because as far as I can see the bonnet once closed leaves like half a centimetre gap (if that) between the chassis and bonnet. If anyone can share light on the same??? Also this "crude" diagram that I quickly sketched just then should demonstrate what I have in mind.

Got one thanks. Mods can delete please.

Question: How effective is the factory snorkel intake on our cars? I am toying with the idea of building a custom airbox around the pod and want to run the snorkel to feed it as well. I stuck my hand in as far as it would go without being crushed and there seems to be bugger all room in there. This was with the bonnet almost closed....so that would become even less with it fully closed ??? Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

*245 40 not 45 sorry

Thanks Wheel specs are 18x10 +5 with 285 35 18s on the rear and 18x9 + 20 effectively on the fronts with 245 45 18s

Hey Amir...all the best with your build....do you have the factory snorkel (air intake) for sale by any chance?

Chasing the factory airbox snorkel for a s2 r33gtst thanks

I managed to solve the brake issue with the help of Aury who I interacted with through facebook....his explanations and patience was commendable what with me sending pictures with weird descriptions and having never done any brake work before......particle of rock had somehow wedged itself between the pad and the rotor....left a nice gash on the pad too (which thankfully was not too deep. Right pad with the gash running through it.... So quite happy that it was a relatively easy fix in the end. AND Side view of the fender work From the front and From another angle The other side

Also a big round of thanks to Joe, Emily and the crew @ Kustom Panel & Paint for a brilliant job yet again. You guys are seriously pushing the boundaries of customer service and quality work !! Cheers.

So some good and bad news. Went to pick the car up yesterday. Packed the new wheels into the run-around and headed off Reached the shop.....car looked amazing. Fitted the new wheels and it looked absolutely perfect. Then tried driving out and was greeted by a screeching sound coming from the right rear. After a lot of investigating including jacking the car up and spinning the wheel by hand etc. narrowed it down to the pad rubbing the rotor....which means one of two things as there is plenty of meat on the pad and the rotors are not warped or anything, namely; A. The dust and dirt from lying at the panel place for two weeks has wedged itself between the pad and the rotor hence causing it to rub and screech. B. The caliper has partially seized and needs rebuilding. Was too late to investigate further and I have three free tows left so decided to get the car towed home. Will get the wheel off and have a better look this evening. BUT - I love the way she sits at the moment....aggressive and absolutely beautiful :)

^^^ You suffer from the same problem as me.......good car but bad camera......also why is your wing tilted upwards so much? Following the rules - I should not chat and post pictures only so here goes................... Missing my car......been a week

Tyres fitted and ready to rock and roll......Thank you Aaron for a great chat. Still highly recommend this chap.

About time this happened !!................. Quick picture while dropping the car off this morning to have the wide fronts fitted. Time to get excited !! Tyres are getting fitted on the new rims tomorrow (thanks to Aaron @ Westys)

Being put back together Also I think I may just have gone a bit too dark on the indicators....but I can still see the stock bulb light up even in bright sunshine..so hoping that it will be perfect when I swap with LEDs. I will get the white surrounding bits painted when I have the fenders done so the white bits you can see around the lens will be blacked out properly. Will take close up pics when I put the LEDs in.