Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Out Of Interest: Imagine that you've used master technicians for your Skyline/Sylvia before. If fuel stays over $2.10, how many would NEED TO MAKE A SWITCH to SAU for PRIMARY ADVICE rather than paying a technician. Assume you have 3 weeks to complete your repairs.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/
Share on other sites

Wtf are you talking about. SAU or no SAU, if you have no clue, then your going to get stung.

If you cant afford to pay for petrol and a) spend time to learn about your car, or b) pay someone who knows... maybe its time to opt out, and just drive the prelude... harsh but fair.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3979135
Share on other sites

SAU have no clue, your going to get stung.

If you cant afford to pay for petrol and a) spend time to learn about your car, or b) pay someone who knows... maybe its time to opt out, and just drive the prelude... harsh but fair.

nuff said. u cant be that poverty stricken?

simple money management. anything worthwhile isnt easy...............or cheap :(

Edited by r33cruiser
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3979163
Share on other sites

Anyone who calls trades people technicians will always pay too much for service or advice.

I heard some woman call a glazier a window installation technician the other week, she thought it sounded very intellectual no doubt...I nearly choked on my coffee.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3979189
Share on other sites

Wtf are you talking about. SAU or no SAU, if you have no clue, then your going to get stung.

If you cant afford to pay for petrol and a) spend time to learn about your car, or b) pay someone who knows... maybe its time to opt out, and just drive the prelude... harsh but fair.

OOOH, you sound angryyyyy !

Didn't answer the question dude.

Rerad it and try again - 2nd chance !

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3979233
Share on other sites

I see no question marks in the OP lol.

Interesting point to raise though... i guess without the basic knowledge, tools and confidence to pull parts off an engine, it makes no difference whether SAU is here for reference or not.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3979285
Share on other sites

I think I see what you're saying.

It would really depend on how confident you are with working on cars and what needs to be done. Touching something on the car when you're not confident or know what you're doing could end up costing you more.

I've always done things on my car at home. Only went out a few times with things I don't trust myself with (usually brake gear and wheel alignments).

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3979555
Share on other sites

Rerad it and try again - 2nd chance !

LoL, admittedly that came out a bit strong, scuze ;)

The below is essentially the crux of what I was passionate about...

...without the basic knowledge, tools and confidence to pull parts off an engine, it makes no difference whether SAU is here for reference or not.

$2.10/L - is really only a 25% increase, id pay that with a smile haha.

You didn't quote your current ability, so i assumed it based on your Q. A forum based mostly on modifications to Skyline skimps on the basic stuff, which can send a person backwards $$ very quickly... I know someone there now :D

Without getting into a debate regarding the legitimacy of info available in public forums, simply put, its about numbers. The viability weighting of info should be based on a singular persons apparent experience / knowledge, or simply the repeating of the same info by multiple sources.

On the other topic, without offending ppl, IMO theres a massive difference between a normal career mechanic VS an experienced mechanic with a passion (and business) for highly modified cars. Advising, piecing together, tuning and then putting your word on a particular customers 10- 11sec setup IS more then worthy of the 'technician" moniker.

Mind my English and bar all the jibba jabba, I reckon as long your passionate and skilled enough not to sweat over loosing an engine or entire car while tinkering - theres nothing to fear :D

Edited by GeeTR
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3980113
Share on other sites

I agree, petrol costs what it costs... About 8 years ago entry level IT positions were getting paid like $20k or something, now it's $35++ as a bare minimum. You can get basic stores work starting at 40k easy, everywhere.

Saying that it definately will make me cruise less that's for sure.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3990429
Share on other sites

Doesn't really affect me much, b4 a full tank cost ~$90, after this will be $100+, $20 increase is nothi... sorry I can't finish typing this holding a straight face...

Yes the price increase sucks, but what can you do? Nothing, but to live with it, like pretty much everything else in life.

As with the technicians thing, I'll still be using my local mech guy to do the servicing, since I'm one of the few people who prefers to keep a stock line (the stock line's performance is already plenty for me; contrasted with all my previous driven cars; crap o VN & stock Camry) , for basic servicing he gets the job done. & should leave me with some $ to do minor mods from time to time.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3990465
Share on other sites

I know I can do my own work, I just don't have half the tools and equipment I need... and the space I spose...

I used to be an apprentice mechanic for about 2 years and used to do ALL my own work on my torana at tafe, at home, and at work when it was quite.

My advice to anyone that really wants to learn is do a pre-app at tafe or 'cert 1 in vehicle servicing' as its called, or start reading manuals and basic automotive servicing books...

On the technician comment, lol... I'm a plumber now what does that translate to? Poop flow technician?

Edited by -Dukes-
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3994863
Share on other sites

Hojak, it's the other way around....

You Business is our business..

As for cost cutting, never, never, never. Did I say you should NEVER cut costs....

If you want a perfect car, use the perfect tools, if you cant do the work perfectly yourself, get it sent to someone who can, dont only half do it.

There is goods and bads with the rising fuel prices, the goods are that there will be heaps of people that simply cant afford to fuel the cars, and then the car goes from everyday luxury drive to and from work, to the shops, etc and changes to a luxury weekend only device with public transport being the everyday way. This is good because this will mean there is mess morons on the road.

The Bads are that you will have idiots driing around cutting corners everywhere, not chan ging their oil at the regular intervals because it's to costly, not getting leaks fixed because it's cheaper to top up every now and then rather than spend the extra few hundred, besides they need the few hundred for the fuel. There will also be unregistered, or uninsured cars floating around, and fuel theives on fake plates. This means the quality of the cars goes down, not to mention the safety aspect of some cars, and the one that really scares me is the uninsured cars, they make one mistake and there is you AND them off the road, and them not even being able to afford fuel, let alone fixing your car, and then their own car.

I hate saying this, but if you cant afford to fuel the car, you shouldn't own it (BTW, this particular paragraph is not targetted at any single person in this thread, just a general statement). Fuel is (even now) still the cheapest aspect of a motorvehicle, with rego, insurance, servicing, and maintenance being more expensive. You 'can' do most of the basic stuff at home, nice and easy, but dont cut corners please.

B.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3995194
Share on other sites

I take offense to the comment about mechanics not being technitions and only guys that can tune cars to run good 1/4 mile times are technitions. What a load of absolute crap. You have to know your bread and butter before you can make them faster. Its harder if anything to diagnose a problem on a car whether it be standard or not, than to go out bolting parts onto a car to make it faster.

I was the same before i started out as a mechanic, thinking i could do it all and thought why do we need trained mechanics. Trust me guys, try working in a workshop and see how much of it you can actually do yourself or have half an idea about.

I agree that if you can't afford the upkeep on a car comfortably ie: fuel, maintenance, etc you shouldn't be driving the thing. It would mean a hell of a lot of people out there without cars! So many unmaintained cars run into the ground.

Edited by Godzilla32
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/225961-cost-cutting/#findComment-3995258
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Now that the break-in period for both clutch and transmission is nearly over I'd like to give some tips before I forget about everything that happened, also for anyone searching up how to do this job in the future: You will need at least 6 ton jack stands at full extension. I would go as far as to say maybe consider 12 ton jack stands because the height of the transmission + the Harbor Freight hydraulic platform-style transmission jack was enough that it was an absolute PITA getting the transmission out from under the car and back in. The top edge of the bellhousing wants to contact the subframe and oil pan and if you're doing this on the floor forget about trying to lift this transmission off the ground and onto a transmission jack from under the car. Also do not try to use a scissor jack transmission lift. You have to rotate the damn thing in-place on the transmission jack which is hard enough with an adjustable platform and a transmission cradle that will mostly keep the transmission from rolling off the jack but on a scissor lift with a tiny non-adjustable platform? Forget it. Use penetrating oil on the driveshaft bolts. I highly recommend getting a thin 6 point combination (box end + open end) wrench for both the rear driveshaft and front driveshaft and a wrench extension. These bolts are on tight with very little space to work with and those two things together made a massive difference. Even a high torque impact wrench is just the wrong tool for the job here and didn't do what I needed it to do. If your starter bolts aren't seized in place for whatever reason you can in fact snake in a 3/8 inch ratchet + 6 point standard chrome socket up in there and "just" remove the bolts for the starter. Or at least I could. It is entirely by feel, you can barely fit it in, you can barely turn the stupid ratchet, but it is possible. Pull the front pipe/downpipe before you attempt to remove the transmission. In theory you don't have to, in practice just do it.  When pulling the transmission on the way out you don't have to undo all the bolts holding the rear driveshaft to the chassis like the center support bearing and the rear tunnel reinforcement bar but putting the transmission back in I highly recommend doing this because it will let you raise the transmission without constantly dealing with the driveshaft interfering in one way or another. I undid the bottom of the engine mount but I honestly don't know that it helped anything. If you do this make sure you put a towel on the back of the valve cover to keep the engine from smashing all the pipes on the firewall. Once the transmission has been pulled back far enough to clear the dowels you need to twist it in place clockwise if you're sitting behind the transmission. This will rotate the starter down towards the ground. The starter bump seems like it might clear if you twist the transmission the other way but it definitely won't. I have scraped the shit out of my transmission tunnel trying so learn from my mistake. You will need a center punch and an appropriate size drill bit and screw to pull the rear main seal. Then use vice grips and preferably a slide hammer attachment for those vice grips to yank the seal out. Do not let the drill or screw contact any part of the crank and clean the engine carefully after removing the seal to avoid getting metal fragments into the engine. I used a Slide Hammer and Bearing Puller Set, 5 Piece from Harbor Freight to pull the old pilot bearing. The "wet paper towel" trick sucked and just got dirty clutch water everywhere. Buy the tool or borrow it from a friend and save yourself the pain. It comes right out. Mine was very worn compared to the new one and it was starting to show cracks. Soak it in engine oil for a day in case yours has lost all of the oil to the plastic bag it comes in. You may be tempted to get the Nismo aftermarket pilot bearing but local mechanics have told me that they fail prematurely and if they do fail they do far more damage than a failed OEM pilot bushing. I mentioned this before but the Super Coppermix Twin clutch friction disks are in fact directional. The subtle coning of the fingers in both cases should be facing towards the center of the hub. So the coning on the rearmost disk closest to the pressure plate should go towards the engine, and the one closest to the flywheel should be flipped the other way. Otherwise when you torque down the pressure plate it will be warped and if you attempt to drive it like this it will make a very nasty grinding noise. Also, there is in fact an orientation to the washers for the pressure plate if you don't want to damage the anodizing. Rounded side of the washer faces the pressure plate. The flat side faces the bolt head. Pulling the transmission from the transfer case you need to be extremely careful with the shift cover plate. This part is discontinued. Try your best to avoid damaging the mating surfaces or breaking the pry points. I used a dead blow rubber hammer after removing the bolts to smack it sideways to slide it off the RTV the previous mechanic applied. I recommend using gasket dressing on the OEM paper gasket to try and keep the ATF from leaking out of that surface which seems to be a perpetual problem. Undoing the shifter rod end is an absolute PITA. Get a set of roll pin punches. Those are mandatory for this. Also I strongly, strongly recommend getting a palm nailer that will fit your roll pin punch. Also, put a clean (emphasis on clean) towel wrapped around the back end of the roll pin to keep it from shooting into the transfer case so you can spend a good hour or two with a magnet on a stick getting it out. Do not damage the shifter rod end either because those are discontinued as well. Do not use aftermarket flywheel bolts. Or if you do, make sure they are exactly the same dimensions as OEM before you go to install them. I have seen people mention that they got the wrong bolts and it meant having to do the job again. High torque impact wrench makes removal easy. I used some combination of a pry bar and flathead screwdriver to keep the flywheel from turning but consider just buying a proper flywheel lock instead. Just buy the OS Giken clutch alignment tool from RHDJapan. I hated the plastic alignment tool and you will never be confident this thing will work as intended. Don't forget to install the Nismo provided clutch fork boot. Otherwise it will make unearthly noises when you press the clutch pedal as it says on the little installation sheet in Japanese. Also, on both initial disassembly and assembly you must follow torque sequence for the pressure plate bolts. For some reason the Nismo directions tell you to put in the smaller 3 bolts last. I would not do this. Fully insert and thread those bolts to the end first, then tighten the other larger pressure plate bolts according to torque sequence. Then at the end you can also torque these 3 smaller bolts. Doing it the other way can cause these bolts to bind and the whole thing won't fit as it should. Hope this helps someone out there.
    • Every one has seemed to of have missed . . . . . . . The Mazda Cosmo . . . . . . what a MACHINE ! !
    • I might have gone a little more South Efrican.  But this is off topic.   😍😍 FD 😍😍
×
×
  • Create New...