Advice Needed!

[OMG513]

Hi all,

I've recently been lucky or maybe unlucky to some. My dear brother has purchased for me an R32 gtr from an auction house in QLD and has repaired all panel work and resprayed it as well for me. It's a very nice gift from him indeed but he said that the car's alignment is off so I will need to re get it done. Thinking that this was all I needed to get done before I could get it re registered in NSW and come along to the 10/10/10 cruise with SAU members but this no longer seems to be the case.

First I got it to the wheel alignment shop, they put it on the hoist and straight away they said that if you want your car to drive straight you need to replace this left hand side castor rod as it was bent. So no problem I set off and found myself some nice adjustable cusco castor rods, i installed them then went back to the wheel alignment shop. They spent some time adjusting and adjusting then they said, somethings not right... the caster seems to be fine but because they couldn't really adjust much camber with the stock camber arms, they said that the car will still pull to the left due to the camber on the left hand side although it will be much better than it would be before. So again slightly confused as to why but no problem I set off to go get those pivoting adjustable camber arms from UAS then went back and got them installed and to get another alignment done. Thinking this was going to be all good and having the thought of the car driving true and straight again was making me smile. But then..... the camber got worse but the castor got better! They weren't sure either because the after market camber arms were in fact shorter therefore logically the problem with having positive camber of the left handside should of been corrected. So currently now were at a point that we think the car is bent on the left hand side some where. I've had a suggestion of going to get it on a chassis jig test and see whether the car is true and straight, so I went of to a local Body repairer panel beater but after hearing it was a japanese import they were reluctant to touch it and they were talking big numbers already. What do you guys suggest? is there a chassis straightening place you guys recommend in sydney, hopefully south west but if not no problem? Below are the results from the wheel alignment..

After installing castor rods (After installing camber arms):

Rear axle

Camber

Left: -2.03 (-2.06)

Right: 0.04 (-0.26)

Toe

Left: -0.12 (-3.9)

Right: 0.13 (0.7)

Front axle

Castor

Left: 2.22 (5.34)

Right: 4.22 (6.01)

Camber

Left: 0.08 (0.21)

Right: -1.59 (-0.23)

Toe

Left: 0.41 (0.3)

Right: 0.52 (3.1)

Also to avoid making another post in this section, i thought i might as well add it in here since its already a long post. Second problem that was really conscerning me was the brake pedal. It felt really mushy, light and not very good a braking so I did the first check of looking at the pads to see if there were any left. No problem pads were fine as well as discs. Next check was to check fluid levels, was a bit low, so got them bled and refilled. This actually help the pedal feel alot more but honestly i don't think this is the way its suppose to feel, its still got that initial slow down bite as soon as you step on it but then it dosen't really do too much more after that and if you want to wipe down a bit of speed you pretty much have to put that brake pedal down to the metal. I've had thoughts that it could be the brake master cylinder, any other thoughts?

I'd like to thank you for taking the time and reading the post and I also will appreciate any input. Thank you

Cheers,

Ken

[boostn0199]

in regards to your braking problem could be a small leak in one of the brake lines which is why its still working but they feel softer than it should be.

[blind_elk]

Brake problem = service calipers (??)

[OMG513]

Thanks for the replys guys i'll see if i can get those callipers checked.

[GTR-N1]

Chassis alignment S-W Sydney? Robot-testing?

Bodyform Aero and JDM_Performance use G & S Bodyworks. 81 Larra St Yennora. 02-9681 2686 for Guss or Sam.

Hope this helps Ken.

[OMG513]

Chassis alignment S-W Sydney? Robot-testing?

Bodyform Aero and JDM_Performance use G & S Bodyworks. 81 Larra St Yennora. 02-9681 2686 for Guss or Sam.

Hope this helps Ken.

Thanks Terry, will give them a call.

[OMG513]

I've tried a quick search but I haven't found anything for places in Sydney that services brakes, such as replacing seal kits. Would anyone have a suggestion? Also is it normal for aftermarket camber arms to knock or thump? Thanks

[DVS JEZ]

check that they are tight,

any good mechanic can rebuild calipers, its just new seals and pulling apart cleaning and reassembling.

if your car is bent just get adjustable everything so you get the alignment etc good, much cheaper then trying to straighten the chassis

[mystery_kid]

if the car is bent, which it sounds like it probably is if it was bought damaged from an auction............... sell it and don't tell anyone

calipers are fairly easy to rebuild yourself, i just did mine on the weekend.

protip if you decide you're going to paint the calipers too, do the painting on the car because proper brake caliper paint only cures properly at high temps so it might feel dry when you touch it but you make a mess when you pick it up

[OMG513]

Thanks for the reply guys. Will consider taking the brakes to a mechanic to service.