Scooby

fracas

I'm pretty sure Autometer do one but its a large unit ie 125mm diameter, analog.

I used to go to a well known workshop in Sydney - not CRD. It was a logistic nightmare AND $100 bills seemed to fly from my pocket everytime I walked through the front door. But I persisted because I thought it was worth it. As Borat would say...NAAAAHT! There was the rebuilt and re-rebuilt gearbox that saw the car there for close to two months the second time. When I picked it up after the second rebuild I said "so how does it feel?" and I got the response "oh, still a bit notchy". WTF???!!! Then I get a bill for a conversion to R33 GTR internals, which I didn't ask for, and the owner says it's a mistake he'll take care of it. Box still notchy so I go to see gearbox place that the rebuild was subbied to - another bloody trip to Sydney - who tells me not to use synth oil. Hmmm workshop sold me $50 of friction modifier prior to first rebuild because they thought it might help. Workshop owner's wife turns up at gearbox place (thanks gearbox place people) and wants to tackle me about unpaid bills etc - guess what, it's for the R33 GTR internals. I end up going to the workshop to sort this out where I get very warmly received amid much apology re the bill. And then there were the two times that I specifically asked for the FMIC pipe to be put on a certain way so it didn't rub against the front AFM. In the end it was easier to just get the thing home and change it myself. I came to the conclusion that they were most interested in people who just pay endlessly without questioning things, and the crap off handed service I received from them was just bloody awful. I guess they thought that I was a bit particular and therefore too much like hard work. So...be warned about going to the supposedly "better'' Sydney workshops, a lot of them are just good salesmen. Sadly the place I was burnt by was probably better than many, but not as good as some local people who are also a hell of a lot easier to deal with and get the car to.

toad

Maybe when you speak to Pete you could find out for sure if the AE86 problems were really Ed's fault? I accept you're not saying that is the case, but there is a strong implication and I don't think it would be fair to let that stand if it's not the case. As we all know Ed and Pete are in the difficult position of having to deal with a lot of modified cars that customers bring to them to sort out; many I've seen are just a dog's breakfast, although I'm not suggesting the particular AE86 falls into that category. It's a risky business as people sometimes expect miracles and Ed and Pete are only human. Regards

R8 in Canberra? Giddyup. Saw an AM Vantage going past Russell, as Clarkson says 'that's not a car that's pornography'. Red Lada Niva, lowered with what looks like a sb chev behind the front seats, lots of promo stickers appears to be a show / drag car.

i'm happy to give way because 1) it makes sense and 2) i have to. but not happy when they abuse the rule to the point of being dangerous. or talk on the phone while driving the bus...another fave.

the squealing is a resonance in the disc making it act like a bell. try descaling the hubs, backs of the wheels, and the disc mounting surfaces. its been known to eliminate brake noise. also try using some el cheapo pads like Ferodo XL. the red stuff squealing doesn't surprise me, way too hard for the road. for that matter unless you're always running the greenstuff at optimum temp it won't be coating the disc with compound and will also be more prone to squeal.

bloody action buses pulling out into traffic whenever they like. excellent.

not sure for an RB20, but if it's a BB turbo it needs bugger all pressure to adequately feed the turbo. chances are if you're getting any register at all on the press gauge it's enough to keep the turbo happy. faulty pump doesn't make oil dirty, the filter is still there unless your filter is so clogged it's bypassing, which sounds unlikely given your attention to servicing.

thoroughly clean off all the rust and accumulated crap, even if it looks clean, which is unlikely for a street car.

they're called stick on shims and available from performance friction aka barry smith motorsport in canberra also. you can try descaling both the hub and both sides of the rotor flange. dba swear this removed squealing on a wrx. call aaron at dba, i had a long chat to him re squealing, he's also of the opinion that you need to get the right pad - not just any street pad.

can't beat the look of naca ducts but they are designed to force air in and will increase under bonnet pressure. this means that unless there is a good path for air to evacuate from the engine bay - under the car - the pressure will reduce the amount of flow through at the front. one reason that temps go down with a bonnet vent is that the pressure in the bay is lower and there's more flow through the rad. i reckon the 32 GTR bonnet with naca ducts would work well - the vaccum created at the rear of the bonnet with the seal gone would pull air through the ducts and decrease the pressure in the bay. anyway it's all conjecture until you get a pressure gauge and a thermometer. if anyone finds some nice looking naca ducts yell out.

+1 for DS 2500, dust comes free. i swear there's more dust than pad by weight. i understand that Performance Friction have some new Endless pads that are as good and less dusty.

try calling Geoff at SSS Automotive in Sydney. i suspect he'll either have one, or know, or know someone that does, and a more helpful bloke you won't find. hornsby nissan might also know.

There's a shop near Toyworld but over the road that has an orange Mustang. They're good, not sure if it's Pro P & P though.

Hi Duncan, if you've got Brembos you're running 324mm anyway. I reckon the Porker calipers will work well, interested to see how they rate next to the Brembos. Cheers

i you can get F40s you'll also save some unsprung weight. try the porsche ones, are they the ones that were on Mark's black car? why do you think the Brembo calipers are causing the fade?

i'd tackle them on it to be more specific re the possible cause. oil contamination does not sound right given that you've put 40K km on the car and had the last turbo for 9K km. it's true that the BB turbos can get starved much easier than thrust bearing turbos but the car and previous turbo have been reliable, and you've changed nothing. you might like to ask them what they think about that. no doubt they will want to give you the 'benefit of their experience' but don't take any crap because no matter how big they are in the industry they can a) be wrong and b) still need to ask themselves how this could happen. there is nothing wrong with you saying to them flat out that oil contamination can't be the problem, it just doesn't make sense...so can they suggest something plausible this time. what happens when you fit an oem part to your car that fails? it gets sent back for exhange unless there is some damage or clear fitting issue that has caused the problem. have a look at your warranty conditions and see what they say. in my case they said it was wear - but they were R34N1s with minimal use, and actually inspected by the same place before purchase, which they forgot until i reminded them . then they asked me about an inline filter, so unfortunately they had one joker they could play. i wasn't running one but i am now so 'mysterious unexplained turbo failure' nonsense if there is a 'next time'. if it's the turbo place i'm thinking of they have great difficulty accepting responsibility for anything. no doubt their tolerance has been diminished due to seeing more than their share of 'fully sick' types but it's their choice to work in that industry. if they want to gouge you by asking for more money then go for gold with the office of fair trading, make sure you can back things up with a statement from the person who has maintained the car and fitted the turbo. cheers

sell me your 555s, then i'll buy one and tell you if it fits.

here's an example of the F50 Ford calipers on ebay. i'm interested in the rears if you want to share the cost. http://cgi.ebay.com.au:80/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ME:B:SS:AU:1123

Hi Duncan only vaguely sensible $ option i know of for the 2 piece discs is DBA 5000s made for the R33 GTR. i think stoptech do some that are not as $ savage as Brembo, AP etc and seem to be quite good. biggest 4 pot is the Brembo F50, you can pick these up 2nd hand on ebay etc as they come off GT-P Falcons (F) but obviously you'll need adapters made. i think the smallest rec F50 disc size is 330 mm but some pad shaping should sort that. F40 uses same pads but smaller pistons and i think they are a smaller caliper but take the same adapter brackets, not sure where you can get F40s locally / easily though. alternatively try the jap auctions through Slidewize, Yen is mid 90s to the dollar so 100:1 is a good rule of thumb plus overheads to get it here; http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w15971174 looks to be caliper adapters for F50/40 with 322mm discs. if this is what you need and you got it at a good price it'd be a cheap way of getting some brackets, and you could even consider having the discs binned over there to save on freight if it was economical to do so. that's all i know of that suits, not sure you'll see much improvement over the Brembos. how do you feel they're inadequate? cheers

Hi Paul, that sucks big time. how long did you drive the car pre the hi flow? you drove the car for 9000 km OK with the hi flow first time, then it failed is that right? what is it doing exactly? do you run a filter in line? you shouldn't have to but it eliminates one more factor, costs about $200 with fittings etc. do you have any more details on the inspection report ie what do they mean by 'contaminated' oil? i've had recent experience with a very well known turbo company and i'm sure they fed me a line of bs re the turbos, offering to rebuild for the cost of parts alone. cheers

PFC is probably best bang for the buck / easiest in many ways. Anything else that is good is at least twice the price plus installation. Ed at Autotech tunes PFCs and has the good software to do it with. Plus he's a safe tuner. Only other close option is Nistune, where they remap your stock ecu and the tuning software is very similar to a PFC. Not sure if they do R33 GTSt, google the PLMS site and it should tell you. AFAIK it's the only proper ecu remap system about, and costs $500 to install a new flashable board in your ecu and supply laptop programming software. Cheers

Hi Ben, would appreciate a PM please on who it was. I've been through the wringer with a recommended repairer, if you get no satisfaction with the assessor please let me know if I can help. I won. Cheers