My Restoration

[GTRgeoff]

Deren, gates racing do a good set of hoses at a decent price. Even Autobarn should be able to source them.

[Godzilla32]

Ok i was aware of their heater hose sets as i have one of them lined up but i wasnt sure they had a complete set with every single little hose lol. If i do it i wanna replace every one of the vacuum and coolant ones. I reckon it'll be alot cheaper to buy lengths of straight tubing and just cut it to size.

[Duncan]

straight hose might be tricky the factory ones have bends built into them - some of the turns will be pretty tight for straight hose

[Godzilla32]

I have got onto a Samco distributor that can supply me with a heater hose set and radiator hose set. They also have every other silicone hose known to man. All the hoses that i need to replicate are laid out and i think the soft silicone tube will make the bends. I'll keep you all posted with updates. Next step, as i think i already mentioned, will be picking up the throttle bodies. I'll try to get that done in the next couple of weeks

[GTRgeoff]

You can also use the hose bend product that stops kinking, although I doubt they come big enough for radiator hoses.

[Godzilla32]

Uni-coils. Yeah thats an idea if it comes to that. I think you mis-understood me. I am getting Samco radiator hoses in a proper kit that are made to fit like OEM. Aswell as a heater hose kit. The ones i will be making up will be just the 9.5mm coolant hoses that run across the front of the timing cover and there is one that runs around the right side rear corner of the cylinder head. I'll probably use the same stuff for the vacuum supply hoses for the brake and clutch boosters if it will look ok. The Samco products are quite well priced which i was pleased to find

[Godzilla32]

Planning to pick up the rebuilt throttle bodies this week coming after work one day. This will hopefully be one of the last bigger spends that i will have to make on the engine. I have added some updated pics of the engine since properly fitting all the coolant and vacuum pipes to the turbo side of the engine. Its now complete minus the silicone tubing and the chrome plated twin turbo pipe and the one that feeds it off the rear turbo.

On another note who can tell me if the Wurth thread tape will hold up against the high temps seen on the o2 sensor adapter threads?? It melts instantly with a flame but they will only really be subjected to high temps not direct flame. Im worried about this so can someone help me out?

Deren

Edited May 3, 2008 by Godzilla32

[VSPEC32]

Deren, without checking back through your posts, but did you end up painting those turbine housings? I like the finish on the heatshields too...looking mint.

Cheers

Brendan

(the other anal retentive car nut)

[Godzilla32]

Hey Brendan, we are 2 of a kind it seems.

I couldnt afford to coat anything with heat proof finish unfortunately. As it is im about 1 million billion dollars over budget. No wait...whats a budget? Oh yes, that figure i once had in mind of spending.. Im trying not to leave anything out that i can't do later but within reason. This project has gone from a accident repair and nice paintjob to a fully blown ground up rebuild. If i don't draw a line on some areas i will never get it done on my wage.

Im currently working on my external oil return made up with genuine Earl's braided perform-o-flex hose, and swivel-seal fittings. Im also organising chrome plating of the inlet plenum and the twin turbo pipe.

Ive kept an eye on your Silv blog. I like what you have done, very tasteful

[nuclear_skyline]

Tidy work.... Its all worth it in the end...

[Godzilla32]

Thanks mate, yeah i know its worth it Just hard to wait this long.

Tonight i picked up my rebuilt throttle bodies and had a good chat to Will at JHH. Nice guy.

I hope they provide me with a nice, smooth, low idle! Similar to how it was before i messed around with them.. lol

[GTRgeoff]

Hey Deren, I don't see any sealant around those.....going to put a little in just to be sure or does he think it will be ok? Not that I can really see the interface that needs sealant from this angle......

I've been trying to help a few other guys that are OCD and pulled their TBs off, then cleaned all the "gunk" out and now can't idle lower than 1500 No reports if they have resealed and had success yet.

[arep3]

WOW! you've been busy since i last checked here Deren.

I'm curious, you know anyone back in melb that would be able to rebuild throttle bodies?

[Godzilla32]

Hey Geoff, No they have advised me that is a bad idea and wont be necessary. They are very finely machined so only about 1 thou clearance around them to prevent sticking throttle plates. Will at JHH actually advised me the idle may actually be too low initially and require extra bypass air or even to have to crack the throttle plates a tiny bit. Now wouldnt that be nice Would really make the $600 worth while. Considering i have spent well over a $1000 dollars on trying to fix these bastards now im hopeful its fixed! Shame i didnt know brand new ones from Nissan were available to me at $1000 bucks complete with linkage arms etc. RRP might be more though.

Ron, i have kept busy

Originally I had them done at a place in Melbourne, but the business was going down and screwed me over. So i wouldnt reccomend them for the simple reason of...I just had them redone properly! Look for automotive engineering shops that do alot of machine work on late model jap engines and you will find some of them do a fair bit of throttle body work.

[Juan]

awesome work!!!

this car is even better than when it rolled out of the showroom

[Godzilla32]

A few quick shots. Looks a bit of a mess at the moment, needs to have cables plugged in and tied away. Dirty finger marks cleaned off. Still, its coming together and looking pretty sweet. The end result will be one clean Rb26 unit!

[Godzilla32]

Some more pics of ancillaries fitted Its getting closer now!

Things still to do:

Have the plenum, twin turbo pipe and the feed from the rear turbo chrome plated

Purchase, assemble and fit the Earls external oil return

Purchase and fit all new Samco coolant hoses and vacuum tubing

Ultrasonic injector clean and flow check

Edited May 9, 2008 by Godzilla32

[omega36]

Damn that looks good... your signature certainly does reflect a lot about the GTR... wallet killer of note.

Speaking of, have you sold the stock pistons & conrods in your sig?

[Godzilla32]

Thanks mate, i was thinking the other day just since moving here to QLD the amount of cash ive poured into the GTR i could have easily bought a $30,000 sports car It'll be one nice GTR but if there was no accident to spur me on to do this build i could have had 2 sports cars. My dream is to have an S15 as a daily car..

Deren

[GTRgeoff]

Wait until the GTR is fresh and handling well mate. The S15 dream will disappear pretty quickly, especially since they have spaghetti for gearbox parts in the 6 speed. So it would be a labour of {something....certainly not love} once you feel the urge for some extra go. I drove one once, and it was ok and they look alright but just so not a Skyline. It was a tighter fit than a GTR32 for me and I recall you aren't so little anymore

This is something special happening though. I remember how much you were into it before you started the massive build and I doubt I will ever see the day you get rid of this one, just as I plan to have the 33 forever, and plan to die in it when it all gets too much.

Have you thought about protection? I recently picked up a car bra for the 33 on ebay for about $120 second hand but almost unused. Sure thay look crap and wanky but after I get the paintjob I will want to have it and like the idea of being able to remove it for paint maintenance. Plus I see a number of the cars that P1 Supercar club that I have driven are protected by a thin film of tough plastic over the front panels which I was contemplating until the car bra popped up.