R34 GTT project car - need help

[lxelement]

Hey everyone,

I've got an R34 GTT manual turbo from an auction. The goal is to get it road registered in WA but I've ran into some issues and I need some help. I took it for a test drive today and the following happened:

• All 4 wheels/brakes siezed after driving approx 3km  with no issues and an idle warm up.
• Smelt burning and saw smoke coming from engine bay, passenger side, but no drastic change in temp on gauges. never happened when idle testing.
• Idling poorly after driving

Things that I know need to be fixed on the car prior to this happening:

• No immobilizer and a lot of loose wiring around the column (pictured)
• Fans and AC don't blow out
• Needs wheel allignment
• Needs new clutch, struggles going into gears etc.
• Needs new gearbox oil

The plan was to get the immobilizer installed tomorrow but it now has to go to a mechanic to get these new issues fixed. I would be grateful for any ideas and advice.

 

[robbo_rb180]

Immobiliser is the last thing you need to do. 

Brake master cylinder sounds like it's stuffed and needs rebuild. Smell is Probably an oil leak onto the exhaust. 

Probably best to check compression and leak down and inspect turbo as it may have blown oil seal(burning oil smell) 

Car looks/sounds to be a stolen recovered. If not mechanically minded will be a long expensive problem. 

[lxelement]

fortunately the brakes locking issue has been resolved. The plug that controls when the brake lights are on/off wasn't adjusted properly and it was causing the brakes to lock.

The mystery of smoke coming from the engine hasn't been solved yet, but i'll update as I figure it out. could've been the clutch, brakes locking or an oil leak but right now I'm busy double checking the brake system. Will figure it out through the process of elimination considering that the clutch needs to be changed and I've just redone all the brakes.

[Ben C34]

38 minutes ago, lxelement said:

The plug that controls when the brake lights are on/off wasn't adjusted properly and it was causing the brakes to lock.

What the f**k?

[Unzipped Composites]

2 hours ago, lxelement said:

fortunately the brakes locking issue has been resolved. The plug that controls when the brake lights are on/off wasn't adjusted properly and it was causing the brakes to lock.

 

I hope you didn't pay someone to come to that conclusion...

[lxelement]

17 hours ago, Unzipped Composites said:

 

I hope you didn't pay someone to come to that conclusion...

Nah didn't pay anyone, i'm trying to resort to outsourcing jobs as a final resort. master cylinder is fine and all brakes are brand new. the plug was pushed in too far causing the brakes to constantly be pumped and on which must've been f**king with the vacuum pump for the brakes when driving by not letting them disengage. Never noticed it before because I had never driven it, but now the wheels aren't locked and can be pushed, and rolls forward/backward when riding whats left of the clutch. I'll keep posting as I clear these things out because this car has been full of really wild mods that could've only been done by crackheads, such as LED's spread through the car direct wired to the ignition barrel being constantly powered even when the cars off. I'm sure it'd make a good read.

[Unzipped Composites]

 The brakes on Skylines are 100% mechanical. The electrics don't affect how the brakes function. You could hardwire that switch and it wouldn't do anything but turn your brake lights on permanently. 

 

Unless you mean that the stopper was wound so far in that it prevented the brake pedal from coming all the way up? But I can't see how this would happen, then end of the switch is spring loaded and has a good 10-15mm of travel in it, while there is only maybe 5-10mm of thread behind the nut. Even if that was wound all the way in, it could maybe prevent about 1mm of travel (I think even that is unlikely though) and that is no where near enough to jam the brakes on. All it would do is cause your brake lights to not come on when you start braking.

[GTSBoy]

Unless it was just the brake pedal clevis adjuster that was cranked too long.

[lxelement]

On 8/7/2020 at 2:04 PM, Unzipped Composites said:

 The brakes on Skylines are 100% mechanical. The electrics don't affect how the brakes function. You could hardwire that switch and it wouldn't do anything but turn your brake lights on permanently. 

 

Unless you mean that the stopper was wound so far in that it prevented the brake pedal from coming all the way up? But I can't see how this would happen, then end of the switch is spring loaded and has a good 10-15mm of travel in it, while there is only maybe 5-10mm of thread behind the nut. Even if that was wound all the way in, it could maybe prevent about 1mm of travel (I think even that is unlikely though) and that is no where near enough to jam the brakes on. All it would do is cause your brake lights to not come on when you start braking.

thread was screwed all the way on and it was pushing the brake itself in about 20mm. I'm yet to take it on a longer test drive but just around my street it went well and the wheels are no longer locked when the car is idle which is good. i'll update after another longer test drive but for now I'm trying to source a new clutch.

[lxelement]

Update for those interested - I was replacing all the brake pads and saw that the were done incorrectly. plates used to hold the pads were on the wrong way and were grinding on the rotors. pins were also put in incorrectly. The car no longer smokes and the brakes aren't locked. 

Next on the list is a clutch replacement, immobilizer and a handful of really expensive plastic parts (eg; wheel arch covers) to get it registered.