DJZ

Fitted the new idler bushes and mucked around with the brakes, managed to get the master cylinder off but I had to disconnect the pipes from the proportioning valve as I couldn't get the nuts into the master cylinder loose, will have a look at them later once I figure out what do to with it. Looks like the DRs have 1" bore masters which aren't very common in the old stuff, I can "upgrade" to a later S15/Z32 1" master but that means doing the same thing I did on the Z with removing the external proportioning valve and joining the brake lines up above the booster which might not be a bad thing as the valve on top of the booster is pretty ugly. I've decided the original vacuum piping for the brake booster is really ugly and unnecessarily long so I'm going to make something a bit shorter and neater. And it looks like it's almost impossible to get the brake booster out of a DR without removing the inlet manifold or possibly the steering box.

So I got these: New idler bushes and new sway bar link bushes. The bottom ball joint felt okay but had up and down play apparently so it's getting rebuilt. I've ordered some outer tie rod ends - they are on clearance for $6/piece apparently! The inner tie rod end is getting a new boot fitted. Also ordered some of the fanciest bulbs that Repco had, 60/55 but +120% hah, we'll see what they are like.

So I took the left hand side steering apart: I couldn't feel any play in the idler arm bushes but I don't really know what I'm feeling for, they look possibly original and new Nolathane ones are cheap. The bottom ball joint feels okay to me, I'll get the guys at HBI to feel it up and give me their opinion, the boot is split. The outer tie rod end boot is split and it's full of dirt but it didn't fail on this, the boot on the inner tie rod is also split. There is some play in the drag link joint that connects to the idler arm if you grab the idler arm and lift it up and down but I don't know if it's supposed to be like that? Sway bar bushes are also rooted.

Driving home I realised it's not the headlight aim but the low beam not working, I flicked it from low beam to high beam in the driveway when I got home and it came back to normal - strange, might investigate earths etc.

Last thing he told me was the business had been sold but I see he is still advertising it on Trademe. Be very, very specific about what you want done and what widths you want to end up with.

Failed a warrant today on a few things: LH Headlight aim Brake master cylinder leaking Excessive playing steering idler, steering box and lower ball joint. I've got a new master cylinder on the way, hopefully it's correct, idler bushes are in stock at Repco and the ball joint is unfortunately not a bolt on or press in so I'm going to have to get it rebuild by HBI which means taking the whole control arm off, goody.

I talked to the guys at HBI for you, I work next door to them. $125 is a pretty good price unfortunately, I can help out with the return freight if that helps at all?

I'm pretty sure it was complete, the coil lead had the option of either a straight boot or right angle boot and you crimp the terminal yourself. I think the top cap things will come off, just don't want to root mine in case they don't!

Nah, it's high pressure for EFI. You might be able to use it if you have a regulator.

So I thought I'd do a little bit of preparation for when I fit the intercooler and boost upu. Got a fancy Bosch HEC71something coil from Zac, didn't want to butcher the original wiring or DR coil/ignitor setup so I got one of my spare ignitors (this particular one is from a Z31) drilled out the ali rivets holding the ignitor on and used the original bolt holes for the coil bracket, once I get the car down to work I'll make up a plate that I can bolt them both too so they can't come loose and tidy up the wiring a bit. Also got a new thermostat as it doesn't seem to be heating up very quickly/enough but when I took the old one out it didn't actually look that old, who needs a gasket when you've got goo? The new thermostat didn't look quite right and didn't have a jiggle pin so I cleaned off all the goo and put the original one back in with the new gasket. Will order my intercooler tomorrow and try and fit it one night this week down at work, I'm going to fit my fake Tial BOV that I originally had on the Z and see if it works any better on this thing. During last week I had a bit more of a look over the engine bay and found a vacuum tube that didn't go anywhere - I think something has been removed from the very left rear of the engine bay behind the strut tower, the vacuum tube had a screw it in but the tube was split so I just took the whole thing off. Also I thought I'd replace the spark plug leads, the ones on the car have either 1992 or 1998 written on them, can't remember but interestingly enough one of the local Repcos had what was supposed to be a FJ20 set in stock! I went and had a look and they might work but I think I need to take the round rubber pieces off the original leads, I might try and find another 2nd hand set to try and get them off before I root mine.

And from memory the way you measure them is different, one is normally measured nominal bore and the other (tube I think) is usually measured on the OD? The 3 point press benders work quite well if you are doing pipe and have the correct size former/die - it needs to be tight on the pipe to stop it deforming.

So.. how's the dyno day plans coming along? I've got another car I'd like to chuck on for a run.

Got the original tiller for it today and swapped that back. I don't like the original gear knob so I took it off and surprise, it's got a 10mm thread, the shifter is actually more like a C series box shifter - it's rubber filled. I had a dig around and found one very similar that had already had the thread cut off it, I think it came out of a 430 Cedric? So I cut a bolt in half and welded it into the hole, and yay, 8mm thread so I could fit the original gear knob from the Z. The only problem now is the rubber boot is too tall and it looks a bit silly. When I take the console out again (which will be when I take the gearbox out) I'll try and get a leather boot for it. I got another tail light to replace one of the broken ones and I've got some other bits and pieces around to put in it - sorry I know the photos really suck but my camera is average and the lighting in the garage is really terrible: Bosch fuel pump ex Cosworth Escort I think A HKS EVC3 boost controller and an HKS turbo timer, it already has a turbo timer but I'm going to pull that out I got the ADthree wing that was originally on it, I'm still deciding whether to put it back on or not, you can see the rooted boot paint

Sorry, haven't got a room for you but where are you looking? Your location is Christchurch and Wellington but you've posted in the South Island section so I'm assuming Christchurch?

Sitting on my mates front lawn, he bought it off the original importer.

Forgot to say, I put about 2L of oil in it which seems to have quitened it down a bit. Just changed the spark plugs back to the 6's, one felt a bit funny coming out and when I got it all the way out the washer was half way down the threads and had a little dent in it, I thought that's funny so I had a look down the spark plug hole and there was a whole spark plug washer down there! Looked at the old plugs and they were all there, looked at the 6's I had in there the other day and they were all there so where did it come from?

I've driven the Z and the Skyline today and I reckon the DR could give the Z a run for it's money in the first couple of gears at least

So today I: Removed the intercooler & piping, the piping is steel and was starting to rust inside and out, bits of it were crushed and bent too Removed the inlet piping for the turbo, air flow meter and air filter box Removed the charcoal canister and related piping Removed the engine brace, the bush in it was rooted and I needed the room Started cleaning down the front of the motor, it's going to be a big job getting rid of all the oil/grease Fixed one side of the front bumper which was loose I had a whole bunch of ali pipe, silicone bends and a K&N from the old R30 and piping I used to have on the Z so I have temporarily come up with this: Until I can get one of these: I'm planning on running the piping over the top so the brackets are going to be on the wrong side. I also fitted the rest of the wheels, the back ones are just outside the guards and the front ones are out a little bit further than that. Took it for a quick drive and after giving it a little bit of stick it decided it didn't want to run, got out and got a hand pushing it from some random dude towing a Starlet around my neighbourhood. Turns out I'd popped one of the pipes off, I really need to get a more accurate boost gauge and see what boost it's making as it feels a lot faster than it should be. The wastegate line has been cut previously and has a bit of brake line or something in it but other than that I can't see any reason why.

Oh, it has at least one broken exhaust manifold stud too, yay!

Thanks man, it's going to be a long slow road.

Had a bit more of a play with it tonight, couple of the things that need attention: Split intercooler hose Bit of oil in the intercooler Missing EGR, the block off plate somebody has made is too thin and is bending, I've just replaced it with an L series EGR valve for the moment Non recovery coolant system for some reason? Will be adding an overflow bottom and proper cap Bent intercooler, I've just pulled it out, will have a think about what to do in the mean time, might just leave it off for a while Oily, yummy I've put one of the Pismo wheels on, it sits out a little bit from the guard but I think they'll be alright - I'm not actually sure if they are the same width and offset front and rear so when I pick up the other 3 tomorrow I'll have a look Once my mate finds it I'm probably going to fit this old HKS Twin Power that I used to have on the Z many years ago, bit of a period item

So I ended up with this thing: 1983 Nissan DR30 Skyline iron mask. I manage to work out a deal with my mate for it, picked it up last night which is the first time I've driven it. It's pretty much stock, somebody has put what I think is a Supra intercooler on it at some stage which is bent and has average looking metal piping and a couple of split rubbery joiners. It has a Trust/Greddy adjustable boost relief valve installed instead of the stock one. There's some work that needs to be done reasonably urgently some of which is: Find out why it has 4 heat range plugs instead of the stock 6's in it, I put some 6's in it last night and I think I've fouled one up driving to work this morning, the AFM has been played with. Gearbox has a rooted bearing(s) by the sounds of it. Replace the intercooler and intercooler piping. There's some noise from the engine bay, I think maybe the oil pump is being starved, will have to have a look underneath and see what the sump looks like. Lose the wheels, will be giving these back to my mate and fitting the Pismo wheels of my other Z to it for a while. Fix the leaking rocker cover, all the spark plug tubes had oil in them, I've got new genuine gaskets to do this. It has some sort of problem where if you drive over bumps it seems to cut out, not very useful with Christchurch roads at the moment. Plans at the moment are just to tidy it up, it needs a lot of work and drive it around for a while. Maybe fit an SR20 computer to it and a slightly bigger turbo which I've got sitting on an RB20 at the moment. It needs to be lowered, it has Cobra "lowered" springs in it but it looks higher than it probably was standard.

Looks like you are doing an awesome job with it so far. I saw this thing on Trademe the other day and it reminded me of this car. http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/auction-476712379.htm

Brakes are still squealy, they only do it sometimes now though. Still need to take the rotors off, get them skimmed and replace the pads to see if that fixes it. Have been modifying the radius rods to try and get a bit more caster, I've chopped 20mm out of the hex piece in the middle at the right hand threaded end, this should be enough to get all the adjustment that I want. I have a feeling that I put the lock stoppers on the control arms in the wrong place, it used to have a really good turning circle but now struggles to do a u turn in a normal 2 lane road. The rack ends have flat bits that stop on the ends of the rack (you move these out with "drift" rack end spacers) so I'm not even sure if I need the ones on the control arms - might cut the ones on the control arms off again and see how much lock I actually get without them and whether the wheels hit on the inner guards at full lock. Does anybody know if it's okay just to stop on the rack ends? One thing I noticed after the car was first tuned but didn't do anything about is the rear stub axle flanges appear to be hitting on the body under hard acceleration in first gear mostly, this makes for some interesting noises and probably isn't very good for the bolts/flanges/body. I'm in the process of tracking down some 3x2 flanges from an R31/Z31 which hopefully will be a bit smaller on the OD than the 4x1 flanges that I'm using at the moment. I've got 3 pairs of 3x2 flanged axles so hopefully one set will match up. I'm not really sure what to do if it doesn't fix it, options pretty much are chopping some out of the body or fitting stiffer springs in the back I think? Delayed buying a clutch and getting a retune for a while as I've bought another car, it's another '80s Nissan - I'll start a project thread for it once I've got it in my possession. Anybody want to buy my Stagea?

Actually now that I think of it, I bought and paid for the car then swapped Zac for his white Starion shell.