What Have You Done To Your Stagea Lately?

[PN-Mad]

Pics or GTFO.

cause Craig <3's Stance

[Brick]

cause Craig <3's Stance

Not enough Thule

[Daleo]

cause Craig <3's Stance

That car is the reason I bought a Black NM35.

[PN-Mad]

That car is the reason I bought a Black NM35.

I thought it was the glut of deceased backpackers piling up in the garden shed...?

[numleg]

Swaped the tail lights over to S2, looks so much better.

Installed new plazmaman intercooler

[Daleo]

I thought it was the glut of deceased backpackers piling up in the garden shed...?

Yes, well; that too.

[WAGON_BOY]

got new wheels!!!

what did ya get Craig ?

[rb26stagea]

So... after much messing around with plugs etc, the old girl was still exhibiting a slight miss on Tuesday arvo...

Given that it was booked in at the dyno first thing yesterday, we were once again facing a last-minute mad rush to get the engine running properly with massive time constraints (the situation I had hoped to avoid this time). After more inspection it was found that the plugs on the injectors were looking pretty corroded, so out they came for a clean-up: the injectors themselves were filthy! No.4 cylinder was the known culprit for the light miss I had, so we got the injectors cleaned and flow tested, and voila! Miss disappeared, engine ran like a dream, and I was an hour late for my dyno session.

Long story short: after an enormous number of breakages and failures over the last 14 months, and obscene blowing of the budget, "Good old conservative Matt Spry" (His words, not mine) worked his magic, and we pulled a very safe 472HP@wheels at 22psi. Knock was all but non-existent, so well below the point at which we needed to be concerned, mixtures are dead on, and the car runs better than I could ever have hoped: to say I'm ecstatic with the results would be a massive understatement!

It drives beautifully: Uber-smooth off boost, but still strong: it gives an initial shove in the back, then levels off ever so slightly at around 4800rpm-5400rpm, at which point it just hammers you in the back up to the rev cut. I've fallen in love with all over again!

Couldn't be happier with the results!

Thanks to all for your advice and support: you were of invaluable help during this whole process: I'll be trying to organise a meet in the next few months, and catch up with the Qld guys again!

[R33huntme]

^^good to hear that it has finally worked out for you

[GH05T]

so good to hear of good results especially after long dramas, couldnt be happier for you

[KiwiRS4T]

472awhp will make for a Very Quick Stagea Indeed!!

So... after much messing around with plugs etc, the old girl was still exhibiting a slight miss on Tuesday arvo...

Given that it was booked in at the dyno first thing yesterday, we were once again facing a last-minute mad rush to get the engine running properly with massive time constraints (the situation I had hoped to avoid this time). After more inspection it was found that the plugs on the injectors were looking pretty corroded, so out they came for a clean-up: the injectors themselves were filthy! No.4 cylinder was the known culprit for the light miss I had, so we got the injectors cleaned and flow tested, and voila! Miss disappeared, engine ran like a dream, and I was an hour late for my dyno session.

Long story short: after an enormous number of breakages and failures over the last 14 months, and obscene blowing of the budget, "Good old conservative Matt Spry" (His words, not mine) worked his magic, and we pulled a very safe 472HP@wheels at 22psi. Knock was all but non-existent, so well below the point at which we needed to be concerned, mixtures are dead on, and the car runs better than I could ever have hoped: to say I'm ecstatic with the results would be a massive understatement!

It drives beautifully: Uber-smooth off boost, but still strong: it gives an initial shove in the back, then levels off ever so slightly at around 4800rpm-5400rpm, at which point it just hammers you in the back up to the rev cut. I've fallen in love with all over again!

Couldn't be happier with the results!

Thanks to all for your advice and support: you were of invaluable help during this whole process: I'll be trying to organise a meet in the next few months, and catch up with the Qld guys again!

[Brick]

Finally got my sway bars fitted yesterday ready for next week's cruise.

[satinoval]

oil change - boost controller and boost gauge mouted in the drivers air vent, boost set to 8psi and it runs so much better in the mid range now, think the fuel consumption has dropped too - gotta wait til next fill up to confirm that though, wrapped the c-pillars in 3m carbon wrap too.. next up plastidip the front grill and give it a good wash polish and wax

[Daleo]

Finally got my sway bars fitted yesterday ready for next week's cruise.

You're going to love it.

[rb26stagea]

Question: what happens when you've replaced pretty much everything you've broken with brand new parts?

Answer: You start breaking the brand new parts just to keep life interesting!

Probably a bit dramatic, but I took the beast for its first proper drive early yesterday morning - holy crap: it's awesome! the thrust is incredible: couldn't be more happy with the 10 min dirive I got in before blowing the intercooler hose off the plenum! It was fantastic!

Of course, being the unprepared moron I am, I didn't have a screwdiver in the car, but we managed to sort the hose issue out by using a 5c coin to turn the screws on the hose clamps, and off I went to my mech for a spanky new blue silicone bend: problem solved!

Disappointment struck when conducyting this running repair in the back hills, as I noticed that my "new" radiator was spitting coolant where a couple of the tubes meet the end tanks...

Now, I'm a reasonable king of guy, and quite patient, but this has really made me start to wear the angry pants again: The last radiator I had was 2 years old when it let go after a mere 1600km of driving, and it wasn't a cheap Chinese Ebay special either: it cost thousands, was a custom order triple cross-flow unit from one of the best in the business (apparently), with a transmission cooler built into one end tank, and an engine oil cooler in the other. My entire cooling suystem has been built around this setup, at great cosyt in both time and money to get everything working how it should.

I have had previous rants about the last failure: the manufacturer tried to claim incorrect coolant was used (it wasn't: we followed their advice to the letter), and it took 6 weeks to get them to agree to provide the new unit at cost price to me as a "sign of good faith". Fair enough: it was outside their 12 month warranty period, so I was happy to take it on the chin. I discovered that the failures I had experienced are well documented, and quite common amongst other clients of this company, as was the attempted warranty-dodging, with many other people coming out of the situation worse off than me...

This time, however, the part is just less than 12 months old, and hasn't even been fitted to the car for more than 3 months of the past 12. Unacceptable!

I dropped the manufacturer a line yesterday to attempt to discuss the issues, and as soon as I mentioned that I had another failure, they tried to pull the "incorrect coolant" card, followed by various other attempts blame the way the car is set up. The fact is, after about $3000 total spend on the 2 units, we tested every single hypothesis they came up with for the prvious failure, in order to not have to go through the whole process again.

I guess the bottom line is that the rad will need to be removed again, and taken to them to inspect, but I'm looking at another couple of months of mothballing the poor old girl again while we get this new issue sorted.

I could conceivably re-engineer the cooling system to take external coolers etc, but the cost will be significant, and I'm stubbornly strong on principle...

Rant. Over.

Watch this space...

[scotty nm35]

Perhaps running the engine oil through the radiator isn't the best idea? Has it been tested previously? Nothing to re-engineer with external oil coolers, they are quite simple to mount and work quite well...

[R33huntme]

Question: what happens when you've replaced pretty much everything you've broken with brand new parts?

Answer: You start breaking the brand new parts just to keep life interesting!

Probably a bit dramatic, but I took the beast for its first proper drive early yesterday morning - holy crap: it's awesome! the thrust is incredible: couldn't be more happy with the 10 min dirive I got in before blowing the intercooler hose off the plenum! It was fantastic!

Of course, being the unprepared moron I am, I didn't have a screwdiver in the car, but we managed to sort the hose issue out by using a 5c coin to turn the screws on the hose clamps, and off I went to my mech for a spanky new blue silicone bend: problem solved!

Disappointment struck when conducyting this running repair in the back hills, as I noticed that my "new" radiator was spitting coolant where a couple of the tubes meet the end tanks...

Now, I'm a reasonable king of guy, and quite patient, but this has really made me start to wear the angry pants again: The last radiator I had was 2 years old when it let go after a mere 1600km of driving, and it wasn't a cheap Chinese Ebay special either: it cost thousands, was a custom order triple cross-flow unit from one of the best in the business (apparently), with a transmission cooler built into one end tank, and an engine oil cooler in the other. My entire cooling suystem has been built around this setup, at great cosyt in both time and money to get everything working how it should.

I have had previous rants about the last failure: the manufacturer tried to claim incorrect coolant was used (it wasn't: we followed their advice to the letter), and it took 6 weeks to get them to agree to provide the new unit at cost price to me as a "sign of good faith". Fair enough: it was outside their 12 month warranty period, so I was happy to take it on the chin. I discovered that the failures I had experienced are well documented, and quite common amongst other clients of this company, as was the attempted warranty-dodging, with many other people coming out of the situation worse off than me...

This time, however, the part is just less than 12 months old, and hasn't even been fitted to the car for more than 3 months of the past 12. Unacceptable!

I dropped the manufacturer a line yesterday to attempt to discuss the issues, and as soon as I mentioned that I had another failure, they tried to pull the "incorrect coolant" card, followed by various other attempts blame the way the car is set up. The fact is, after about $3000 total spend on the 2 units, we tested every single hypothesis they came up with for the prvious failure, in order to not have to go through the whole process again.

I guess the bottom line is that the rad will need to be removed again, and taken to them to inspect, but I'm looking at another couple of months of mothballing the poor old girl again while we get this new issue sorted.

I could conceivably re-engineer the cooling system to take external coolers etc, but the cost will be significant, and I'm stubbornly strong on principle...

Rant. Over.

Watch this space...

Dude that sux ass! IDE give the department of fair trading or better yet the ombudsmen a call or email that should hurry the process up a little.one more thing I'm making the same sort of power as u and still running the stock radiator haven't had a problem with over heating maybe it's worth going back to stock and putting external coolers on (I don't even have those)

[R33huntme]

I put a dayz bar on the other weekend

to replace the fiberglass 260rs front bar

not sure if i like it better looks wise but its plastic which is what i was going for [more durable]

now i just need to stop being a lazy ass and get it lowered!

[rb26stagea]

Yeah: in hindsight, I would have stuck with what was working, but it seemed a good idea at the time...lol!

[pipster11]

new xenon bulbs in

might need to re-level them but look good

i bought 6000k and was worried they'd be too blue but they are spot on for a crisp white