Waiting For A Car? - The State Of Importing Cars From Japan ATM

[OBaYBe]

picsorban

Where are all the piccies dudes?

Especially you Lucien, its been how long?

[cowie165]

Richard: the car was delivered to Kirrawee on Friday (4 Feb), so prob went through Greenacre mid-last week? Thanks dude, it was great to see the car, and I'm looking forward to seeing it detailed. Here's hoping the HICAS thing is just low fluid levels.

Now it's off to the For Sale threads to find some misc bits and pieces.

BTW, the workshop also had a March 1990 GT-R that arrived by mistake!? The guys bought a GT-R, then someone sent the wrong one from Japan! The most interesting thing of it all is how it managed to leave the Customs yard? Bizarre-o Jerry.

Mark

[lwells]

All I can say is w00t w00t

LW.

[cowie165]

All I can say is w00t w00t

LW.

Belay that second w00t Lucien, I'm officially downgrading things to single w00t status...

Update:

Driver sills have a fair amount of rust that will need attention. The car is very driveable, but think aluminium can in event of accident. Not too bad, easily fixed; between summer mould and winter corrosion, I'm not sure what's worse.

Now, my favorite part. The HICAS isn't working because of a rubber hose that has perished over time. The $10 hose is right up under the ar$e end of the car and is apparently very hard to get to (read: at this stage the butt end of the car will have to ALL come out). These things happen, the car is 15yrs old, np. That's probably why a car in such good condition (aesthetic I mean - it's very very nice inside and out) sold for the price it did.

The only bit that truly bugs me is that the Prestige description of the vehicle was "runs and drives very well". Oh yeah, 'cept for the no 4WD thing... that is likely to be very expensive to fix :bs!:

Mark

[Duncan]

nah don't worry, that is HICAS not ATESSA ie it is the 4 wheel steer not 4 wheel drive.

many people choose to remove HICAS, some think it drives better without it....esp after 15 years....also it weights about 20kg....SkylineGeoff on these forums makes replacement bars

Richard, I was dropping by Nath's tomorrow so I will take your car for a thrashto make sure its OK for you

[cowie165]

nah don't worry, that is HICAS not ATESSA ie it is the 4 wheel steer not 4 wheel drive.

Of course! *forehead smack* :Oops: I got a bit excited! Cheers Duncan. To put it plainly - the 4WD light stays on, the empty reservoir is in the right rear of the boot, and the mechanic looking after things advised that right now it will only run in RWD as the lack of fluid means no pressure on the 4WD transfer.

I've had a browse through the manual, and it's definitely ATTESSA. D'oh.

Mark

[NXTIME]

I saw a black R32 GTR on the back of a tow truck going south over the bridge on Stacey St, Bankstown last Thursday afternoon, I think.

[Duncan]

Of course! *forehead smack*  :Oops:  I got a bit excited! Cheers Duncan. To put it plainly - the 4WD light stays on, the empty reservoir is in the right rear of the boot, and the mechanic looking after things advised that right now it will only run in RWD as the lack of fluid means no pressure on the 4WD transfer.

I've had a browse through the manual, and it's definitely ATTESSA. D'oh.

Mark

yeah it is a bit of a pain but I'm sure a decent mechanic can replace all the lines without too much trouble.....good luck.....I'm sure you aren't the first on the forums with a wide body rb26 gtst

[Beer Baron]

nah don't worry, that is HICAS not ATESSA ie it is the 4 wheel steer not 4 wheel drive.

many people choose to remove HICAS, some think it drives better without it....esp after 15 years....also it weights about 20kg....SkylineGeoff on these forums makes replacement bars

Richard, I was dropping by Nath's tomorrow so I will take your car for a thrashto make sure its OK for you

Thanks mate. that's what friends are for. When your thrashing it could you check it under 8000rpm launch conditions, cause on the couple I did on the way to Naths there was a little screeching noise and some rubber smell. not sure if it's supposed to be like that?

BTW as you guys have no doubt guessed picked up the car today and good news. only bad bits were my gearknob was stolen and my front lip slightly damaged. other than that the car is better than expected. no sill rust or damage (no forklift marks thank f**k). Car seems to have been well looked after.

also Dundan. if my azenis are missing I'll know where to come...

[lwells]

Lalalalalala... :Party:

The word for today is... Volk.

I can't believe they have made it after like 8 months: they even made it through the mighty Brisbane port without being nicked. I will finally get to see them tomorrow: here's hoping they are still in great condition (oh, and the actual wheels I purchased ).

cowie165: Hmmm.. that's rather irritating. In fairness the person probably just drove the car in a straight line and didn't even think to check the ATESSA. Oh well. Its not noice when your new toy has some faults but these things are to be expected with older cars that have been sitting exposed for so long thanks to the shipping problems. While they have the rear sub-frame out, get them to check all the bushes since they are cheap parts to replace (but a fscking bitch to get to).

Richard: So how was she? Might have to pop in to Grey Imports to have a look if I have time tomorrow.

And where are the photos you tight biatches?

LW.

[Beer Baron]

Richard: So how was she? LW.

it is really good. for a car with as many mods as it has it's in very good condition. Very happy as my main concer was rust and straightness of chassis. next to that was engine/driveline. I'm happy to report that they all seem to be good. It started and idled beautifully straight away and drove very nicely. Plus it has four brand new Falken Azenis semi slicks on it which are thankfully DOT marked and road legal in Aus so I don't have to buy new tyres. Anyway if everything goes ok it should be registered this weekend.

yeeha.

[sav1]

I saw a black R32 GTR on the back of a tow truck going south over the bridge on Stacey St, Bankstown last Thursday afternoon, I think.

Was probably mine, it was delivered from greenacre to annanadale last thursday.

Nathan @ grey imports rang me yesterday, seem the fellow who owned it before me disconnected the abs, but left the abs box in place, the remaining brake fluid has leeked out of the disconnected abs, eaten away all the paint which has then allowed rust to do it's stuff. Have a hole the size of a fist in the floor pan needs patching.

Apart form that nathan said its in good shape

[Beer Baron]

Was probably mine, it was delivered from  greenacre to annanadale last thursday.

Nathan @ grey imports rang me yesterday, seem the fellow who owned it before me disconnected the abs, but left the abs box in place, the remaining brake fluid has leeked out of the disconnected abs, eaten away all the paint which has then allowed rust to do it's stuff. Have a hole the size of a fist in the floor pan needs patching.  

Apart form that nathan said its in good shape

bummer. I saw your car at Nathans. looks very nice. shame about the rust patch

[sav1]

Just got of the phone with kips(kiwi's insurance company) about claiming my damage that occured in transit. They faxed me through there report of when it left to when it arrived here. Surprise surprise their system didn't pick up any additional damage. Don't know how the damage to the spoiler and front grill got there though Shipping companies would be the only people i can think of that would have wrapped chains around the spoiler to hold it down.

Anyway i rang back the insurance company as their was damage on the car that i knew of when i purchased it that wasn't even on their report. When i purchased the car i knew there was a small crack in the front bumper that went from the nismo extra air ram things up to the grill between the headlights. The crack is pretty obvious, so their system cant be to accurate.

The woman was very helpful anyway, so i just have to chase down the auction report and get a couple of quotes. i'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

[Beer Baron]

BTW if any of you guys can help me out I need a little favour. my car doesn't have any sun visors so if I could borrow or buy a set of 32 sun visors to get me through compliance that would be great.

Thanks,

Richard

[NXTIME]

sav1, please keep me updated on your insurance claim. I am in a worse situation that you, but the importer who is handling this hasn't followed it up. I think I will have to do things myself. But it might be too late as the car has been in the country for almost a year.

[cowie165]

Lalalalalala... :Party:  

The word for today is... Volk.  

Great to hear Lucien, now... about selling your old wheels...

cowie165: Hmmm.. that's rather irritating.  In fairness the person probably just drove the car in a straight line and didn't even think to check the ATESSA.  

I would be more understanding if that was the case. The 4WD warning light comes on and stays on once ignition is switched on. Impossible to miss.

Suffice to say, I'm very happy the car is here and once it is fixed I'm looking forward to enjoying driving once again!

I'm so tight I don't even have a digi-cam. Might be a week before pics.

Mark

[Beer Baron]

more good news on my car. I was back over there this morning (to remove the GT wing and race seat - replaced with stock parts) and Nath had the intercooler piping off. big surprise is that it was spotless inside no oil buildup which was very encouraging. also the accesory belts were both in good condition, infact one looked near new. every where I look there are signs that the car has been very well looked after.

very happy

[Beer Baron]

plus my car has the following:

Profec Bspec II

full greddy intercooler piping kit

HKS pod filter kit

greddy oil cooler kit with remote filter mount and cooelr mounted in pass. side brake duct with aluminium shroud

near new street legal falken azenis RT215 tyres on 17X9 inch advan rims

nice 3.5inch front pipe back exhaust with a big stainless canon muffler at the back

ultra speed meeter

turbo timer

some receipts and manuals

nice front and rear strut braces

OS Giken twin plate in good condition

quick shift and possible close ratio box (box has been re-built or upgraded at some point)

finned rear diff cover (or are all 32s like this?) I thought only v-specs had the finned rear diff cover?

lots of parts in and around the engine bay look very new which is nice. the AFMs in particular look like new.

all in all I'm very happy and can't wait to get it registered and on the road.

also, before anyone says picsorban, they will come once it's done and cleaned up. then you shall have your pics

[lwells]

My R32 GT-R has a fined diff. I think its the standard enclosure for 32s.

LW.