My C33 Laurel

[DannyC33]

ok so,

last week i picked up my new rear cradle. paid a massive $50 for it.

its non hicas which is both win and fail at the same time.

win because i dont have to f**k around with hicas shit should i get defected, and fail because it means i have to buy adjustable rear toe arms.

best part about the cradle is it seems to have brand new bushes in the cradle and came with the lower control arms which also appear to have new bushes and ball joints in them.

hopefully next weekend ill be able to use the hoist at work to swap the cradles over and fit the rear toe arms.

[Nic_A31]

Why do you need adjustable toe arms?

The factory ones are adjustable to a small extent (they use an off centre bolt on the cradle end of the arm, the bolt itself and the cradle is marked, and it gives you a couple (maybe more) degrees of adjustment either way.

Unless you don't have standard arms with the cradle I don't see why you need adjustables.

Also, you do NOT want to be doing the cradle high up on a hoist. With standard bushes, it's designed to be a tight fit (you usually need to get a huge screwdriver and bend the bush a bit to slot it onto the bolt on the floorpan), with any kind of aftermarket bushes (presumably a lot stiffer) it's going to be a million times harder, even with the diff out of the cradle. You can take all the arms off to help out with the weight, but it's still an awkward shape and won't be easy, and then once the cradle is mounted, the arms are harder to get back on (some bolts on the cradle end are very crowded)

Much easier to use 2+ floorjacks and get a mate to help you out.

My $0.02

[DannyC33]

need adjustable arms as the cradle didnt come with standard ones.

yeah i had thought of that because with the cradle possibly being difficult to get back in. but we have a trans jack at work also. so the cradle will be held up with that and then me and my mate will just have to get the pry bars out and line everything up.

i noticed the other day whilst i was under the car that one of my half shafts the boots are split. where would i get replacements boots from and how do i go about changing them??

[Jswljones]

shouldn't s13/ r32 ones fit?

[DannyC33]

i believe they would yeah.

more so un sure of how to remove/fit them

[Nic_A31]

It's putting them back in that's the hard part.

Extreme Pain In The Ass.

[DannyC33]

any tips??? does the joint have to be pulled apart?

im thinkin i might just buy another pair of shafts. and then send mine away to get rebuilt.

my mates laurel got defected today. so we will be stripping it of the fun stuff and gettin it ready for an inspection. lucky between the pair of us we have all the stock shit. well... except for a diff but we will either source another stocker cheap or ill be pullin the shim outta mine so he can use it for the inspection.

[Nic_A31]

Well the stock arms don't have ball joints like the HICAS systems do.

I got a non-HICAS cradle with arms but they weren't connected. The difficulty I had was getting the bolts for both ends of the arm in.

Basically, throw the adjustable bolt in on the cradle end, loosen all the bolts for the other arms (upper control, traction, etc) at the knuckle, then flex/twist the knuckle back, bolt the other end of the toe arm up, then tighten all the bolts up. If you've got a mate helping, don't worry about loosening all the other bolts, just get him to push the rear end of the knuckle back towards the cradle while you put the bolt through. Trying to do the job solo was a bitch.

Any suspension mob should be able to do the boots for your shafts, drop off and pick up.

[DannyC33]

yyeah i used to work for cbc bearings and still get good prices through them. so ill be gettin them to do it.

[DannyC33]

so went to jap import spares today to buy some new shafts. $95 each not to bad i guess. and some lock collars as ive decided to go that way.

while i was there i asked if they had the mounting bolts to fit the adjustable toe arms.

after tell them i was converting from hicas to non hicas cradle they informed me that i needed to change the upright as the hicas ones have ball joints and the non hicas are a bush where the toe arms join up...

so thats another $90 i wasnt planning on spending and from all the people id spoken to about doin this no one had told me it needed to be changed... ohwell shit happens i guess.

just need to find some bolts and then ill have everything to get this done on saturday.

[Jswljones]

remember to take pictures! hope that solves your problem, good luck!

[Dan_J]

pretty cheap for brand new half shafts, some peeps sell used for 100 bux each

so the 90 bux is to get the ball jont pressed out and non hicas bush( universal s13/r32 ankle bushes ) pushed in ?

[DannyC33]

oh no these shafts are second hand but in alot better condition then my current ones are.

and the $90 was for a pair of non hicas knuckles.

thankfully today i found the bolts required.

turns out gk tech do replacement bolt kits for them which are designed so that when you put adjustable arms in it eliminates the factory cam bolt which apparently have a tendency to slip.

$36 for the for bolts which are camber and toe.

[Dan_J]

its just a bush with a ball join in it, just get it pressed out at pedders and get another non hicas pair pressed in

Edited September 21, 2012 by Dan_J

[DannyC33]

ah its all good. i got the non hicas knuckles.

picked up the last little things today.

brake fluid, copper gasket goo for the exhaust, and new copper washers for the brake lines.

all systems are go. got the work shop to myself all day tomorrow. hopefully wont take to long.

[DannyC33]

right. so yesturday me and a mate did this cradle swap.

got up at like 6am so i could pick my mate up and then head to work for a 7am start.

thankfully everything went fairly smoothly.

for the first time ever there was no mishaps or f**k ups.

the cradle was completely out and on a bench by about 8:45-9 ish.

cable tied the calipers to the coil overs so they werent just swinging around haha

and the new cradle complete with adjustable toe arms fitted up.

it was surprisingly easy. its is in dire need of a wheel alignment as we just slapped it all back together, and the passenger side is toe out while the drivers side is toeing in.

haha.

makes the car kinda crab down the road slightly. i will be straightening the arms out at some point today and then gettin a wheel alignment through the week.

but it drives alot better. no more violent jerking around whilst turning at slow speeds. no more clicking from the half shafts and it seems to have gotten rid of the vibration it had from the rear end also.

[Jswljones]

Nice!! can't wait to see more!

Glad everything worked out!

[DannyC33]

probs not much gonna happen to it for a while.

ill eventually stop bein lazy and finish sealing my work wheels up.

having said that i have been thinkin about ditching them all together for something different

[DannyC33]

having said that i also believe i may be in for an engine build in the not too distant future.

the old rb20 is seeming a little tired. i noticed the other day that the oil dipstick had popped out. it is a little smokey in the mornings but thats the only time ive seen smoke.

and the oil smells badly of fuel.

ive been wanting to build a stroker engine for a long time now. so thinkin about finally biting the bullet and doing it.

was planning on doin just 25crank and a slight over bore to bring it up to 2.2ltrs. but then figured if im doin that i might aswell do a bit of head work and some cams.

then i found this.

http://lewisengines.com.au/prod158.htm

its a 2.25ltr stroker engine/ complete from head to sump custom built to order.

and figure for the money its probably a better option because once i spend the money gettin a 20 block machined out to take a gtr or 25 crank do the head work and cams itll end up about the same

Edited September 23, 2012 by DannyC33

[Dan_J]

having said that i also believe i may be in for an engine build in the not too distant future.

the old rb20 is seeming a little tired. i noticed the other day that the oil dipstick had popped out. it is a little smokey in the mornings but thats the only time ive seen smoke.

and the oil smells badly of fuel.

pics of catch can plumbing ?

is what happens when its connected up a certain way with no breather

or 30 block on 20 head