keltik

Im also leaning towards the bilsteins because from a retailers perspective, anything that can be manufactured and sold at a profit to all involved for $200NZD is unlikely to be of similar internal quality as a bilstein strut. Plus it gives me more spare coin to throw at something else. Its also possible im completely wrong and have fallen into a marketing ploy by the germans. Next mission is to get some clear weather so i can drop the gearbox out of it

Ok so this thing is currently up on stands outside my place in pieces. Its getting the following upgrades; - Tein Coilovers and EDFC removed - New suspension installed for a comfier ride (question below) - New 8bolt bell housing gearbox installed - New factory spec clutch to replace the leg destroying HD pressure plate of heavyness - New interior boot panels to replace the ones ive munted by carrying engines - Bodywork fixed up by panelbeaters - 2 new small resonators fitted, one under each head to reduce exhaust pipe harmonics Also on the cards; - Link G4 Storm ECU (Once the grey Legacy sells) As for the suspension, i dont know whether to stick with Bilstein struts or go to KYB struts with dual rate damping. Apparently the KYB's are supposed to ride nicer. I honestly dont know. Bilsteins are costing me $200 for a used set and if i were to go with a brand new set of KYB struts - i'd be looking at around $800 all up. Cant decide if its worth the investment to go to all new struts. Opinions? Really i just want a lush ride thats nice and comfy. Dont really give a shit about cornering performance in this thing anymore.

And lights/wipers/brake lights/electrics

Just drive as is. More likely to get let off if caught than if you blatantly bend/break rules.

To quote a smart man in a Datsun i met this weekend. "SC12 is a waste of fucking time, SC14 is where its at" From the way his car went - i'd have to agree

Nats is on at the moment. You would be wise to go to Tui brewery today between the hours of midday and 6pm. About 30-40 old cars doing skids should be good for lols.

With tuning my Weber, i just kept changing jets until it ran smoothly, then checked the plugs and went down a size on the mains as it was running rich. Webers are pretty simple tho, only one mixture screw and everything else is done via jetting. Easiest place to start would be to pull the plugs and check their color.

Ive kinda piloted it a bit...so hah +1 on being impressed at amount of stuff you got around to doing

Compression test using ratchet on the crank pulley and my wanking arm? Wouldve given it a look but not a lot you can do without a vehicle or xray goggles.

I dont know why more people dont do this....theres probably a very good reason, but its not like you really need to take the manifold off for most stuff.

I reckon you would sit on the governer up every hill and generally hate a petrol box. Shift points will be set to a higher rpm and i imagine torque converter stall would be a bit different.

Or give me your link. I could do with something new to play with

If its got the water choke rather than the electric one, on the back of the float bowl opposite the accelerator pump will be the fuel enrichment valve/diaphragm. Pop the vacuum hose off this (short one that goes down to the carb base) and you will probably find it wet with fuel. The diaphragm perishes and allows fuel to leak straight from the float bowl down into the intake which makes starting it a bitch. Would also explain why this problem was worst when parked on an incline. If its the electric choke version - my guess would be a dodgy main float needle valve.

Id just take it in and stress you dont want it repaired to factory tolerances, you just want it to go brum. Shouldnt be tooooooo bad mebbe

Did notice in one picture....may possibly have had a wee oil leaking episode Non watermarked stuff is on its way to me...just couldnt be fucked waiting.

Remove both resonators and run a multi chamber muffler wherever you can fit one under the car

Couple of pics to keep it interesting;

Hmm....yes. Most weird. Those wheels look excellent, then i scrolled further and watched them turn to shite once fitted. You need superlite copies. They work on everything. Then again i might be biased.

My new favourite picture, looking back at my target picture in my first build thread post - im getting there!!: As for swaybar discussion. The front is pretty solid but will also be receiving a sway bar upgrade. One bonus of adding the rear bar is it will increase my effective spring rate a bit which i could do with.

I approve of your efforts

And im back home!! Woohoo. What a mint fun weekend. Heres the official write up and findings from my test day at the track....only read it if you enjoy anoraks, technical bollocks or french cars: Hatch ran good, am waiting for the videos and photos to be uploaded by other people as i didnt get much exciting footage of myself. Had an interesting cooling issue; There are 2 coolant temp sensors. The one in the main coolant outlet to the rad powers the dashboard gauge. Theres also a Jaycar digital one reading the temp from the coolant bypass circuit. This circuit comes out the top of the block (hottest point) and feeds back to the thermostat. During road driving, the main dash gauge sits just under the half way mark and the bypass gauge shows about 80*C. After driving on the road, the dash gauge gets up to half way. The bypass gauge gets up to about 88*C then returns to 75-80* once the load is off. During track work, the main gauge gets up to about 3/4 and the bypass gauge sits at about 95* with peaks up to 100*C but seemed to sit consistently around the 95-98 mark no matter how hard i thrashed it. This higher than usual temp alarmed me at first, but the car never boiled its coolant or got hotter than 100* on the digital gauge. So basically, im thinking that the cooling system isnt stressed on the street and only opens the thermostat decently on the track. Also its running rather rich. A comment from a following driver was that it looked like i had a turbo boost leak once the secondaries opened as it was throwing black smog out the back. This leads me to believe theres some more power to be had with correct jetting and timing. Handling was surprisingly good. I definately need to get my rear sway bar sorted as it likes to lift a back wheel on turn-in. The one i have doesnt fit due to exhaust clearance issues so will get that sorted asap. The brakes did a fine job considering what they were and the clutch was suprisingly good. So i think this thing is nearly mechanically complete. Only a couple small things left to do before i can focus on bodywork and road legalness. Bring on OS nats

Rancid lumpy idle, revs off the tacho, starts without being towed. Must be a new motor!

Spot the avenger. Lol'd me greatly how you managed to out-drift the skyline on every corner. Mostly because from what i can tell - matt cant drive for shit.

Well CS nats is now over. And i certainly did finish fucking this one up nicely. I was kind to the wagon on the track day and used it purely for towing duties while the hatch got a hiding around the track. However...on the Saturday i couldnt resist whipping it out for the gymkhana. Heres a vid, was extremely happy with the sounds it made and the factory launch control: So now 1st gear sounds really horrible, all the input shaft bearings are rattly and it spun a bearing somewhere in the box as i was cruising back home into feilding. Made a loud screechy metal on metal noise for about 500m until i pulled over. Then it was extra rattly after that. Luckily I did things right this year and got away with just the right amount of thrashing and had a spare gearbox at home ready to go in. Will look at fitting it after OS nats if the current one will stay in one piece that long.

Posting this from my telephone. Shits cash. Thrashed piss out of the car around taupo and it ran mint with minimal issues. Need a phenolic spacer for the carb as its boiling the fuel in the float bowl but in sure that will be a common part since its escort bits. Pictures and video coming up soon as i get home.