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On 08/04/2024 at 19:47, shrike said:

What do these come in locally? the newer Commodores? I could have a look at local wreckers here in Ozzie land

New (ZB) fwd Commodores have the GM LTG 2.0. turbs. Makes 191kw, and I believe they have lots of room for improvement. I wanted to put one in my Gemini, but they are pretty tall so it wouldn't fit without a fully custom cross-member and relocating the steering rack. The same engine comes in the Equinox which is AWD.

Usually a bunch of crashed cop cars on some of the wrecked car auctions.

Hey all, does anyone have any tips for prepping and spraying textured interior plastic? I've been looking on YouTube and most of the videos seem to talk about smoothing it out first and are aimed at exterior parts like bumpers and door handles.

This is what I'm working with:

3 hours ago, Nominal said:

 

Maybe getting off topic, but I'd be interested to see this data as a proportion of the number of cars of that age.

https://www.ehinz.ac.nz/assets/Factsheets/Released_2022/Average-age-of-motor-vehicles-0727.pdf

14 hours ago, mjrstar said:

What does it look like with a 225 45 15 on the rear? I have a pair of used AR1 in that size you are welcome to for free.

I do have a set of 225/45R15s, which is what I had before. I changed to the 245s because I didn't like the difference in sidewall stretch between the front and rear, which is maybe me being pedantic, but I'd prefer fatter on the rear than front!

Here's the 225s without the panhard rod properly adjusted, so I'm not sure how well this fits either:

For reference, here are the 205/50R15s on 7.5" wide rims on the front:

Yeah, it's looking like the N729 might be the only real options. I'm really only trying to achieve less width as the AR-1s are wider than their specs and I am in struggle street getting the rears on bumps with no rubbing:

I wonder if the CR-S is similar in width to the AR-1... quick google suggests they are wider again.

I've looked into machining down the wheel offset but there isn't enough meat, machining down the hubs but it's about the same, or pulling the guards, but I really want it to stay looking as stock as I can and I don't know how well that can be done.

6 hours ago, Flash said:

If you are looking for a pure road tyre, I'm a big fan of the Nankang N729s. I'm currently running 225/50/15s on 8J rims on the front of my 66 Mustang and 245/50/15s on the rear on the same width rims. Looks like they do a 205/50/15 too. If I had to do it again, I'd go 225/50/15s all around as I prefer the look of the slightly smaller side wall profile.

I have the same 225s on the rear of my Thames van.

I'm not crazy about the raised white lettering so I had them reverse fitted for a subtler look.

Question though - do you reckon they will handle power? Like 400hp/1000kg car?

Thanks. I'll have a look at them.

Hey everyone,

I have this staggered setup. Currently I have Nankang AR-1 205/50s on the front and 245/40s on the rear. I am wondering what might be a good non-semi alternative to these that will keep a sidewall that is either mostly identical between the two widths, or slightly buttier in the rear. I'm struggling to find something decent that might work.

Any thoughts? Must pass the stringent cert laws

13 hours ago, Bling said:

What size rotors are you planning to use? I managed to fit 276mm rotors with Dynalite calipers inside a 14x7" Hoshino Racing G5 or whatever they are. I can't measure it sadly as I sold them as tyres for 7.5" (rear) were too much of a ballache to get for cert. They now sit behind 15x7 XR4's and it's still a pretty tight fit. Caliper is probably closer to the rear of the wheel face rather than barrel, though I haven't tried to measure. 

I currently have 280mm, but could swap them out for 269mm, 262mm or 260mm rotors as I haven't made the Wilwood caliper bracket yet. I also wary that I am running 266mm rears (but just single pot sliders) so don't really want to be too far under that. With the current 49mm rotor offset, the calipers will sit further in, so should be closer to the backside of the wheel.

13 hours ago, Beaver said:

Had a measure of my 14x6.5 Volk Mesh racing. Has two IDs; Inside (where centre mounts) is around 320mm, the larger ID towards the wheel edge is around 350mm.

Hrm, my measurement of 330mm might be okay then, as long as the caliper is deep enough into the wheel.

Hrm, with the 165 radius to the outer caliper, that puts them at 330mm, so they wouldn't clear either of them. Might need to find a smaller rotor.

Actually, looking at it again, it would depend where the rotor sits. Mine are fairly deep, i.e. the rotor is behind the 25mm hub and has a 49mm offset, which is quite deep.

I'm trying to determine if I can fit 14s over my brakes but don't have a 14" wheel to try. The outside radius of my caliper is about 165mm from the hub centre, so it works out to be a diameter of 13". I know that the wheel diameter is measured across the bead, but it's hard to find an ID of the barrel for brake clearance.

I figure that this will be different across different wheels, but could someone with some Japanese 2/3 piece wheels please give me a measurement?

Thanks!

3 minutes ago, FraserNZ said:

I have a 4 post hoist and it has various stages/steps/heights that it will 'lock' on.  To actually lower it us raise it off the lock and then hold them open and it then lowers.  That means it actually goes higher then the highest locked position.  I was just assuming the 2 post would be similar and therefore would actually need to go higher than the 1850 quoted above.

Ah right. That makes sense. It is doubtful that I would raise it that high with the Outback on there anyway, as it would probably hit my garage door motor. Ideally, I'll use it to stack the Gemini (which is less than 1300mm on the ground) and some other small project whenever that makes its way into my possession.

4 minutes ago, FraserNZ said:

How tall is the Outback and how high do you need to lift to come off the locks on the hoist?  That diagram says it is 1850mm on the lock so you need to allow enough to get if off that if you want/need the full height.

It's 1615mm according to Google, but that's at the tires, so maybe 1350mm from the chassis rails.

Is the lock height where it will stop if the motor fails?

16 minutes ago, fletch said:

4.5t usually 3 phase, the single phase pump is usually around 4t

 

Edit- is a single phase motor in the photos. Can see the capacitors on the motor

Oh yeah, 4 tonne seems quite enough. The heaviest thing I would ever lift would be my Outback which is like 1600kg.

Quite keen on one of these also. I don't have a huge garage but I think one of these Motorex 2PFP45s could fit...

Any thoughts? Is this thing single phase?

12 hours ago, cletus said:

Have been asked twice by wof guys if different colour matters

It doesn't, but it would be better if you can do the final cert pics when it's all done so you don't have to deal with that

 

It is a cert requirement to paint any modified areas so your suspension and chassis etc will need to be painted with something for cert  

Ok, sweet. I guess I just don't want to have it all nice and neat only to find that I need to do something major that requires repainting things. With the painted suspension/chassis/etc, you still want to see unpainted pics of welds and stuff right?

What's the deal with certing your build before paint? Ideally I'll build the entire thing, get road legal, then paint - ensure I don't need to make any changes that would affect new paint. Are there any issues with having cert photos of the car without it's fancy new paint job?

There is one on Rosebank Rd, https://kwikstrip.co.nz/our-services/

Pretty sure the dude lives in the facility, sure looks like it.

Edit... that place is in Penrose. Here's one in Onehunga - https://www.powerstrip.nz/

The Marina gang coming in hot!

1 hour ago, kws said:

if the pin is hollow, I have heard of people threading them internally and using a screw screwed into the pin to reassemble (not on gauges, but something else I can't recall). I agree with Bryan that it looks like a pin that has the end flared out holding it together

I don't think it's hollow. It has a few mms of internal space at the end but probably not enough to thread. I'll put one in the drill press later and see if it wants to pop out.

23 minutes ago, locost_bryan said:

What are they out of?  Looks to me like the pin holds it all together and is punched/flared during assembly.  You might be able to drill out the end of the pin, but them I'm not sure how you'd put it back together?

They are from my Gemini. If I have to drill out the end of the pin, that's not the end of the world. I could always reassemble with a screw and nut. You don't see the pin heads when it is assembled anyway.

Tachos and speedos are screwed down, but I am not sure how to remove the faces of these fuel and temp gauges. Does anyone have any clues? Should I try and tap out what looks to be a pin? I'm a bit worried about breaking them.

18 hours ago, mjrstar said:

I'd run it as is for the mean time, although I'd be interested in seeing a 245 on an 8.5 and the 225 on the 7.5 if this is an option? Or do you not have the real estate for such activities.

I do have somone who will let me borrow a 245 for the rear. Real estate wise, the rear should be fine, at least on the inside. Can always panel the guards to make it fit. Front I'd need to check.

2 hours ago, CUL8R said:

Nankang AR1 are Actually made in 245/40r15 also;

205/50r15

586mm Diameter

225/45r15 

583mm Diameter

245/40r15

577mm Diameter

Personally I like the rears you're running shape...

 

Other option would be Nexen SUR4G (but nil stock in NZ) , There is some sizes listed in the about to be released Nexen N Fera Sport R, but none in stock in NZ.. I'd wager the AR1 would be the better option for you however

It looks like the SUR4G only comes in 225/45r15 and the N Fera Sport R have the same options as the AR-1s. Ideally I need a 235 in the rear to even it out.

My other thought is that maybe R888Rs in 225/50 might be a bit more even.

2 hours ago, CUL8R said:

Personally I like the rears you're running shape...

It does make me wonder what a 195/50 would look like on the front.

16 minutes ago, nzstato said:

160MB.... cool

Yeah good luck. I couldn't load it into Google Sheets. And even into Libra/Open Calc was a pain.