Mistakes were made, my R34 Story

[Kinkstaah]

Nothing much has changed, because I decided to upgrade my gaming machine instead of buy car parts for awhile, plus I do not know who to go for for paint. If I had the money, which I don't.

But still, who will paint the above bodykit? Any recommendations? I would actually conceivably even go interstate to NSW or SA for the right work/price if they were reputable, did the job right/fast/no f**kery. Also flirting with selling the car entirely, and buying something that doesn't 'need' a bodykit. Which would require someone to pay silly prices, and for me to send all this history to the shadow realm, neither of which is that likely. I am very much the guy who tries to take the starter car in NFS all the way to the end.

Tested my tune with my new IAT sensor, found out that GM/HPTuners do not calculate pulling fuel for rising IAT. My 6600RPM/Full throttle tune at the track had 12.8 AFR at 7.0ms injector pulse. The other day the IAT was 40-45C and was deciding to pulse at about 6.2ms.

Which was about 14.4 AFR. Which is less than ideal. My ECU now believes any temperature over 14C is 14C, so I will run comfortably rich in such a scenario. If it's WAY rich (which I doubt) I can always change how the temperature is sensed. Not really the way to do it, but I cannot alter the relationship between air temperature and how much fuel is pulled with regards to air density. So much for seeing how well my car ran in the warm temperatures, as I thought so many things could be f**ked like.. down a cylinder, fuel pump messy, fuel filter clogged, god knows what.

Also noticed a terrible sound coming from the diff. Like someone had shoved a metal rod in between spokes of a bike. Speed dependent. Very un-fun. Given my car stank like diff fluid at the track the other month, I thought perhaps there wasn't enough oil in it.

Pulled over, hmmmed awhile, decided to drive home as far as possible off any kind of load to avoid leaning out or the diff exploding too severely, though it made much less noise when I wasn't driving uphill. (hence thinking oil level)

I also noticed this.

Which is fine, my 34 used to have all alloy pedals back in auto land. And the foot insert! But clearly during manual conversion back in the day it got 33 items.

But then I thought sure, why not.

Let me tell you, that the brake pedal was an absolute utter asshole to fit, but actually did fit in the end with a f**kton of swearing. My pedal has R34 written on it so I assume it's for a R34. It fit.

These pedal covers claim to fit a variety of vehicles as you can tell from the URL.

https://www.kudosmotorsports.com/catalog/sports-pedal-aluminium-suit-nissan-skyline-gts25-gts25-25gt-25gt-25gt-p-63.html

"Genuine Nissan Aluminium Sports Pedal Set to suit Nissan Skyline R33 GTR / GTS25 / GTS25-t / GTS-4 & R34 25GT / 25GT-4 / 25GT-t / GT-V."

So you'd think it would be fine if you say, had a R33 clutch pedal. Well let me tell you, that can go and get f**ked and if you ever buy these and want to fit them, be prepared to whittle the rubber insert for the clutch pedal for HOURS and swear your head off at WHY WONT IT f**kING FIT and then giving up and whittling it away, then securing the top part, making an outline so it kinda presses on, then using a very generous dab of sikaflex onto the metal pedal between the cover and the pedal itself. Because it sure as f**k won't fit any other way.

 

But like yea tho.

The diff problem was a torn exhaust hanger. Which I noticed when I went to fill the diff up with some spare gear oil while waiting for heavy shockproof to arrive.

These are made of Polyurethane. So they should be strong! Which means I am SURE THEY WILL BE FUN TO FIT, given the rubber one I replaced (I had one spare, connected to nothing...) required a f**k ton of swearing and stretching and such to replace. These poly ones will surely just go right on and not remind me of that pedal install at all.

Surely.

[soviet_merlin]

Hahaha. I bought those pedals as well for the wagon. And yes, they look good but they are f**ked. Was considering making a thread for it, because the resistance is different. So in the wagon the accelerator is now much lighter to press.

I gave up on it. Jen ended up putting the covers on the brake and clutch pedal. Without whittling. No idea how she did it. At some point she was hanging upside down in the car. As in feet towards the headrests and head down in the footwell.

She made it very clear that I better appreciate it and that they are not going to be swapped out for a very long time.

 

Quote

Which is fine, my 34 used to have all alloy pedals back in auto land. And the foot insert! But clearly during manual conversion back in the day it got 33 items.

I think it more likely that someone tried to fit the aluminium pedal covers, went "f**k this shit!" and put the rubber ones on instead.

[admS15]

Saw your ad on gumtree, clever pricing. No offence but I hope it doesn't sell. Not yet anyway, too much effort has gone into it and I feel like you haven't really gotten to enjoy it over the years as much as you should have.

[GTSBoy]

1 hour ago, Kinkstaah said:

Also noticed a terrible sound coming from the diff.

 

1 hour ago, Kinkstaah said:

The diff problem was a torn exhaust hanger.

Good. If you'd killed that diff I was going to come for you!!!

1 hour ago, Kinkstaah said:

I would actually conceivably even go interstate to NSW or SA for the right work/price if they were reputable, did the job right/fast/no f**kery.

I could recommend the guy I use here. I'm sure that you should be able to find the equivalent in Vic, but if not, Alan at All Type Crash Repairs is a good bloke. He has accepted large funds transfers from myself and various other mentally ill people to make Skylines look better than they used to.

[Kinkstaah]

1 hour ago, soviet_merlin said:

Hahaha. I bought those pedals as well for the wagon. And yes, they look good but they are f**ked. Was considering making a thread for it, because the resistance is different. So in the wagon the accelerator is now much lighter to press.

I gave up on it. Jen ended up putting the covers on the brake and clutch pedal. Without whittling. No idea how she did it. At some point she was hanging upside down in the car. As in feet towards the headrests and head down in the footwell.

She made it very clear that I better appreciate it and that they are not going to be swapped out for a very long time.

I think it more likely that someone tried to fit the aluminium pedal covers, went "f**k this shit!" and put the rubber ones on instead.

Nahhhh in my case I distinctly got a R33 gearbox conversion back in the day, and the brake pedal from a 34 as the auto pedal went in the bin. I kinda wish I still had the chunky auto pedal now for extreme ease for heel/toe but... well not enough to buy an auto pedal.

I think it's DOABLE but holy shit is it forever hard. Even with whittling I can see that it just wasn't going to fit without some really funky things like melting the rubber with a heat gun or manipulating it EXTENSIVELY (for hours and hours and hours) to the point where it is not as firm anymore and more pliable.

Taking the pedals out to fit them would be extremely recommended.

And yes, 

9 minutes ago, admS15 said:

Saw your ad on gumtree, clever pricing. No offence but I hope it doesn't sell. Not yet anyway, too much effort has gone into it and I feel like you haven't really gotten to enjoy it over the years as much as you should have.

TBH there's still not much I would replace it with. I see C5's coming down in price and are now importable, and obviously need no bodykit to be fitted to fit wide tyres, but I don't actually think I can justify replacing what I have with a car full of unknowns. I may rant about this 34 - But I know where every bolt is, the condition of every item, refreshed literally everything, and how to remove/replace everything and source parts, the list goes on.

Probably simpler to paint it and be the sleeper at the track nobody expects, then be a vette everyone wants to pass to prove themselves.

That said: GR Yaris also exist. The times they put down at SMSP and other places is unreal, and AWD is just such a good thing to have in any time you don't have perfect grip on a perfectly flat surface with slicks.

I.e all the time.
I do regret not putting it up for 69,420 though. I guess I can drop the price once and set it there. But like mentioned, there's a very good chance I won't actually sell it even if somebody rolled around with it. It'd be weird seeing it driving around with someone else behind the wheel, or on someone's instagram or at the track.

That said, everyone who's ever sold a car ever does kind of get over that in time, I'm sure I would too.
At least I'm not wanting to buy a M2 or M4.

[Kinkstaah]

Well what’s happened since then:

I took the car for a very very big drive (~700km in a day) around every twisty road imaginable. This was fantastic, except I was getting some pretty gnarly vibrations through the steering wheel, which I resolved by simply not braking around the twisty bits. Actually worked really well. I also noticed the car was running a little leaner than I would like, (~13.1 AFR) up high, so I simply closed the Varex.

I did make it home, to find somewhere along the line the Varex refused to open up again…


Also noticed my steering rack was obviously leaking from the driver’s side. I assumed this was the cause of my steering wheel shudder. At the time I thought it might have been understeer.

The car also needed a service, and needed spark plugs which I had not changed since, well, at all. What was suprising to me is that ONE plug was different heat. Just one. The one with all the heat marks all over it. I had initially checked two or so of the plugs to see what was in it when the conversion was going on. Never thought I’d have to check 8 because mysteriously one was a hotter range…

8x Iridium plugs of the same range (TR6IX) went in.

Oil came out and went in. Supposedly the filings are of normal range in LS land, and it is still pretty fresh (~15,000km since assembly...)

I also ordered a metal Varex motor.

I then thought that I’d definitely need the rack rebuilt.

…And if I’m doing that, I should probably do an Astra electric power steering conversion and put that in the RL corner of the boot, because I needed ~20kg of weight there to have the car corner balance itself, as it was only ~20kg out before..

…And if I’m doing that, I should probably relocate my battery there too.

…And I should probably move my washer bottle to where the battery was, so my oil cooler gets better flow….

How hard could that be?

[The Bogan]

What killed the varex motor?

Heat? Contamination?

I've heard of them dying because people wire them up with constant power and not off the ignition.

Mine is wired to the ciggie lighter which only gets power when the ignition is on.

I just googled the metal motor, not to expensive which is nice, still, I hope mine lasts for the next few years until I flip it for something else when I get bored with it, not that I'm bored with it now, but historically I don't keep cars for long.

I keep looking at old hilux extra cabs that will take me into my retirement, I'm quite fond of the mini trucks, just a nice little NA petrol build to modify with only cruising in mind.

Like this, only bagged, and not 5hit rims >

 https://www.rodshop.com.au/ls1-conversion-kit-for-toyota-1994-2004-hilux I wonder if I should use the SS to donate its power plant and transmission 🤣

[Duncan]

Mark, you need this: https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/frankentitan-busts-out-124370/

Or even better, I saw Louie's original stretched navara for sale a few years back, can't find link any more but at least we know it still exists

[MBS206]

Mark needs this...

 

[soviet_merlin]

20 hours ago, Kinkstaah said:

I took the car for a very very big drive (~700km in a day) around every twisty road imaginable

How did you go about this? Was it the goal to do all the twisties or did you have to go somewhere anyway?

I'm asking because we are going from Sydney to Canberra in a few months. Sitting for 3.5 hours on the highway seems like a nightmare as it brings up everything I don't like about the car. But I'm happy to spend double the time driving the scenic way. I'm wondering if there is a good way of finding the right roads to drive on.

 

PS: I'm actually quite glad to hear that you still have the car! I was already getting a bit concerned because you didn't post anything for a while.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Wen nitrous 

[Duncan]

well, for that particular drive you could do

sydney - bathurst via Bells Line then Bathurst-Canberra via one of 3 roads (via Taralga, Crookwell or Cowra but it is literally twice as long at 6hrs+

or shorter but not as interesting Sydney - Nowra then Nowra-Canberra via either Tarago (5hrs) or Bateman's Bay/Braidwood (6hrs)

[soviet_merlin]

Ooo, thanks Duncan! I'll have a closer look at those options

Don't want to derail Greg's thread too much. Maybe I'll do a separate thing or get in touch.

[The Bogan]

3 hours ago, soviet_merlin said:

Ooo, thanks Duncan! I'll have a closer look at those options

Don't want to derail Greg's thread too much. Maybe I'll do a separate thing or get in touch.

Watch out for Skippy and wombats during the night, dawn or dusk.

[MBS206]

13 hours ago, Duncan said:

well, for that particular drive you could do

sydney - bathurst via Bells Line then Bathurst-Canberra via one of 3 roads (via Taralga, Crookwell or Cowra but it is literally twice as long at 6hrs+

or shorter but not as interesting Sydney - Nowra then Nowra-Canberra via either Tarago (5hrs) or Bateman's Bay/Braidwood (6hrs)

You forgot doing RNP down to Wollongong, then heading out to Albion Park and going up Mac Pass, OR going up Jamberoo mountain road, out to Moss Vale and then highway down, OR, before getting to Moss Vale, drop back down Kangaroo Valley to pop out at Nowra, and then come up through Tarago, or down to Batemans to use Braidwood/Kings Highway.

 

Definitely longer than the original drive...

[Kinkstaah]

15 hours ago, soviet_merlin said:

How did you go about this? Was it the goal to do all the twisties or did you have to go somewhere anyway?

This was the route I took. I had kms in my insured kms saved and knew I would need to do the service after. So I figured I'd just give it a bit ol drive. I've wanted to do the alpine road but doing that in a day is pretty crazy as you have to get up very very early to do it, and really needs to be done over a long weekend/take leave.

By the time I got moving it was 1pm, so I did the above and got back in the evening in mostly one piece.

I sadly don't know much about the drive from Syd to Canberra. I did the scenic route _once_ to Sydney via the coast, but don't remember enough of it to have any opinion, someone more local may know as above

On 3/15/2023 at 5:14 PM, The Bogan said:

What killed the varex motor?

Heat? Contamination?

Heat. Had nothing to do with the wiring. That causes issues if they are constantly being set to the "on" or being activated. Same thing as the option A or B being constantly held down.

This was just all the exhaust going through 1in at the last muffler, causing heat, and heat > plastic casing the motor was in. Closing the Varex took my AFR from 13.1 to 10.9. It is a pretty massive restriction!

[Kinkstaah]

The TLDR: Moving the battery and converting to Astra power steering pump cost about $4000 incl very much mates rates labor for the bits I didn't do.

This is one of those jobs that seems sensible and logical and simple enough, but to do it right with all the considerations turns into a bit of a headache. I spent $300 on wiring alone just to run the cables from the boot to the bay. There seems to be no photos of taking the interior out to run it along the channels of the body. The resident electrician advised very much that the cables should run on opposite sides of the car, so that is why the Negative terminal is on the passenger side, and the positive terminal at the front where the battery was.

The washer bottle moved out the wheel arch up into the bay, purely so my oil cooler gets more airflow and perhaps runs a little cooler. Everything helps and all these mods were very much a "maybe I can get SOME performance benefit..."

There's a custom bracket that bolts down into the car to holt the bottle up, as well as extending those wires through the arch and into the bay.

 

Power Steering side of things was equally as expensive. The pump itself cost $200 from a local wrecker, but as we know that is barely the most expensive part. Lots of money on lines and fittings.

Boot

 

And of course, under the car with some very neato 3D Printed brackets I found on thingverse.

 

In the end my boot looks like this. It's not quite finished in these pictures, as they were taken when _mostly_ hooked up and they are hard mounted to the chassis through the carpet. I'll post up a picture once I have the full boot assembled as there's one more bracket/strap to make for toolboxes.

But there's an idea for now.

I then took the car on a ~1250km blast through the great alpine road with a bunch of people I've never met before, and it was a really awesome time. Hilariously, while the power steering and battery gave me absolutely NO issues at all....

(yes I was admonished for having this finished the night before then immediately belting the shit out of the car...)

.... the steering shudder I was feeling that lead to all of this was due to brake deposits, presumably. The steering had nothing to do with it, and no, in absolutely no way can you feel the difference in the weight distribution

[Duncan]

Great write up, thanks.

Did you record what fittings are required for pressure and return at both pump and rack ends?

[The Bogan]

Hmm, very interesting, more things to look at

[Kinkstaah]

I should say I _DO_NOT_RECOMMEND_ doing this if your stock pump will do the job. I.e for a road going LS, no, you do not need this.

If a RB pump can handle the high RPM I also wouldn't really recommend it. Also, it is f**king loud. by loud, I mean it sounds like a fuel pump, outside of the tank, sitting in the boot, getting much louder if you turn the wheel, it is an ever present, very loud, electric whine that does not stop. Ever.

I could probably get the fittings. GKTech do ones that adapt the rack.

https://au.gktech.com/high-pressure-power-steering-6an-adapters

From there on it's AN fittings depending on all your angles and where you want to mount the pump, and how long hose you want to run.

I believe the PUMP end has a 15mm (?) bolt that comes out, so a regular bolt -> AN fitting works here and the other is a push on hose for the low pressure side.

Speedpro do actually do a power steering hose, but it holds less pressure than 200 series (??) and is intended for being inside the engine bay and not run under the car, so not really useful in this application.

In a RB setup you'd probably run the hose on the inside of the chassis rail, but I don't have that option.