Wohoo my car didn't blow up!

[MYS013]

There are no "Specs" available for a Cefiro, closet would have to be S13 Silvia. I know they are listed on most machines as I just had mine done.

Like too_much_boost said, post up your itemised bill if you have one, $700 sounds reasonable though.

[Duncan]

wtf specs for a wheel alignment? very strange? unless you specify something they will generally even up the camber if possible, set toe to neutral or in a little if you are running a lot of camber to reduce tyre wear.

[someonestolecc]

Final bill was actually $635 - they must have seen me and felt sorry for me and charged me less I think that's quite reasonable.

They did a great looking job which I'm very pleased with - only thing is I have an unidentified white powder on the catch can (too much partying from the engine bay?) and a helluva lotta spray dirt/mud inside the engine bay (between the engine and fan belt kinda area) which I don't remember having when I brought the car in.

Probably just dirt from the car sitting around while they were water hosing their garage - I hope

I'm disappointed with the "no specs" thing, whatever that is, it's not exactly a stock car but they said it's not in the computer? I told em use the specs for the silvia cos it should be the same they said no prob come back next week for $80 << that seems like a bloody good price if they're doing toe/camber/caster/the works which pedders wanted (i think) $120 for. So I think I'll go back next week with my settings. I'd really love to have all my settings written down so I can just say this is what I want for sure - anyone care to suggest some numbers for toe/camber/caster etc?

Apperantly they said I should also get me one of these things as with the rear camber kit installed my rear wheels sits 'out' a little bit-

The rear feels ... different with the pineapples and camber kit installed (mostly probably down to the pineapples). The new plugs seem to make it run nicer too - MUCH nicer. I like it so far but won't be able to see it in action till it's registered.

While I was there a guy with a GTR was getting a twin zorst system installed and I noticed he had a nice kakimoto muffler... I told them I'd like to purchase from him to fit on my car - which should make a little less loud without making it crap on open throttle. fingers crossed on that one

Next installment: Engineering certificate

[OkiC33]

Hey, If it's a older cefiro w/ a zenki harness you might want to check the ground to the back of the alternator. Another thing is there is a fuse in the engine bay, marked "main" you might want to check that. When the ground broke off on the back of mine, it blew just about all of my fuses, and melted a few relays. Did a check light (looks like high beams backwards) come on right before it caught fire?

[someonestolecc]

Thanks for the reply Oki but that prob was fixed a while ago. You'll have to read the next few pages to update on what's up with my car now (if you care to)

[someonestolecc]

Got my wheels aligned yesterday and got a before and after sheet of the settings. Thought it'd be good for a laugh-

Before

Camber L -4.11 R -3.07

Caster L 6.34 R 6.50

Toe L 7 R 7

Rear Camber L -4.04 R -3.22

Rear Toe L 6.0 R 6.0

After

Camber L -1.32 R -1.26

Caster L 7.33 R 6.52

Toe L -.05 R -.05

Rear Camber L -0.57 R -1.00

Rear Toe L 1.1 R 1.1

Question - after they've set it up why did they set up each side slightly different?

Car feels very different now. Better overall at mid speeds but in slowish (2nd gear) tight corners the car kinda bumps through the corner, keeping the grip like crazy but bumping through it... I'm not sure if performance wise it's the quickest way through the corner but it feels tough

I will have to "test" properly at a track - which I can only get to when the car is registered. Still. Feels alot nicer now.

[lwells]

What sort of diff are you running in the rear? Might account for the skipping sensation.

LW.

[Mase]

What sort of diff are you running in the rear? Might account for the skipping sensation.

LW.

Sounds like a mechanical diff to me

[someonestolecc]

Yeah it is mechanical and yeah it's very tight so tight corners it skips HEAPS... whole car lunges up almost.. It just wasn't noticable before the alignment as much because the car felt like it sat more on the front wheels (with 4 degrees neg camber it makes sense).

Now when I go round the same corner it's not like the rear "slinks" after the front as much, it's more like the front falls into line where I want it to go and the rear half slinks and half bumps into place.

Might be the combination of wheel alignment and pineapples

My only thing is the garage said it's a 'sealed diff' and they can't change the oil :

When I get it engineered and rego'ed I'll be able to "test" more.

[someonestolecc]

Well with rego out the next step in engineering will be getting documents from meggala for proof of purchase which he is sending tommorow woot!!

Armed with that I should be able to get through engineering next week and hopefully without any major hurdles there :

[too_much_boost]

My only thing is the garage said it's a 'sealed diff' and they can't change the oil :

What a load of crap. Take it to a decent place

[someonestolecc]

Finally someone said what I was thinking. *sigh* why oh why can't I ever seem to find a decent garage!?

[DumHed]

the reason the alignment settings are different for each side is that the road has camber on it, so the car needs to be slightly differenly set up on each side to make it track straight and give even tyre wear.

[someonestolecc]

ah, that makes sense, thanks D.

[lwells]

Finally someone said what I was thinking. *sigh* why oh why can't I ever seem to find a decent garage!?

It would be extremely unusual to have a diff whose oil can't be changed However, the easiest way to check is to stick your head under the car and look for a drain plug on the (rear, I assume) diff. If its in the standards R200 enclosure as per a lot of Nissans, it should be dead obvious.

LW.

[someonestolecc]

Was taking my car for a run yesterday (to keep it running nicely) and when I pulled it out of 3rd to put into 4th.. well.. something felt very very bad.

I had a hard time pulling it out and now 4th feels very squishy, and while it stays in there and seems to be putting power to the ground but it feels very very wrong (squishy/soft/no defined clicking in). I can push it out from 4th with no clutch at any rev quite easily too.

lol

[silver gts-t]

i feel sorry for you so much!!

6page thread about the problems with your ceff, DAM!!!

might as well fix it all yourself, no point selling cause no one will buy it.

anyways good luck with it.

[someonestolecc]

Funny thing is silver my car is running better than ever.

It's the most reliable it's ever been, the cleanest and the best setup.

All I need now is engineering, blue slip, pink slip and I'm laughin.. my 4th gear is behavin now. So after that I'll try to reco the gearbox and that's it.

It's just that to get this far it's cost me too much and I've run out of cash for engineering+rego lol

[Mase]

chief you just gotta laugh at it hey!!! That's all you can do!

[silver gts-t]

weel good luck with it, lets hope soon we'll get to see it doing what it was built for

Funny thing is silver my car is running better than ever.

It's the most reliable it's ever been, the cleanest and the best setup.

All I need now is engineering, blue slip, pink slip and I'm laughin.. my 4th gear is behavin now. So after that I'll try to reco the gearbox and that's it.

It's just that to get this far it's cost me too much and I've run out of cash for engineering+rego lol