Sambo

It is common for the coby headers to be far too close to the starter. Factory manifold is close, but not that close. The factory RWD starters have a heatshield on them, I'm not sure if FWD ones do.

One of the biggest issues in the industry is that building companies are run by builders. Some of them do it really, really well, but I think they're the minority. Guys start businesses because they're good tradies, but they don't know anything about QSing etc. I don't mean to throw shade at tradies, but many of them have pretty minimal education, and now they're trying to create and administer contracts without knowing/understanding the rules. They're mostly learning the professional side of construction through trial and error - at your expense. Edit: Many don't even realise that they're working to a contract if it's a verbal agreement to build a fence etc.

Sorry, double post.

I hate this stuff. Residential builders working directly for the homeowner are held to a really low standard with regards to transparency. If I were a landowner engaging a builder to build my house, I would expect them to quote everything that was required. If you can't get CCC on a house without a retention tank, then it should be included. It's really not good enough to say "but it's not on the list of inclusions!", the client is not a construction professional who can work through the list and know what's missing. A surgeon wouldn't quote an operation without anesthesia then withhold it because it's an extra. The company I worked for usually worked with a fixed price. We'd often lose jobs to companies who quoted a provisional sum, and several times those people came back and told us that their final cost was (a lot) more than our fixed price. The builders on a provisional sum really don't have the same incentive to be thorough when they're pricing in the first place, and they don't have the same incentive to work to the budget. The numbers are always bigger up front, and you're usually paying for a few more overheads (QS, Admin staff etc), but it's good insurance. On the other hand, some of these items look like either the scope genuinely changed, or the architect didn't provide an adequate design. You can still get cost overruns on a fixed price of course, but there has to be a better reason that "oh, I missed that".

With a solid rear axle, if it had a 2" lift then it should basically be a Surf.

Thanks for the responses. @MofIt's in Middleton. https://goo.gl/maps/sYihh7FMB6KCta6u9

Hey fellas, Are any of you heavy diesel mechanics or similar and happy to check out a truck on behalf of my work? This is a 6 figure purchase and we're happy to pay for your time to do it. It's a bonus if you know a bit about HIABs/hydraulics. The truck is a 2007 Isuzu FVZ. Otherwise, would you recommend someone trustworthy? Cheers.

This has been on the back burner a bit recently, I'm a bit pissed off at it. The new head makes a loud knocking noise, very audible over the rest of the engine. North Shore Engine Reconditioners basically shrugged and said "unluggy". It's a once per revolution type noise, definitely top end, coming from the back of the engine. It also failed it's WOF on a leaky waterpump, getting the right replacement from Partmaster was a 3 week saga, but it's back together and running now albeit without a WOF yet. I went halves with a mate on an auction for a Z18ET and FS5W71b gearbox. He's taking the box for his 910 bluebird, and I'm flogging the engine/turbo gear. The bottom end is a bit useless to me, but I'm looking at the head and asking myself some questions. It's very clean inside, and the backs of the valves have very little carbon etc. Unfortunately 7 out of 8 exhaust mani bolts are stripped, so if I was to use it I'd need to get them fixed (I tried to do it myself on engine mk2 and wasn't thrilled with the results). It's also twinspark, which I'm lead to believe is good for turbo applications. Anyone want a Z18 shortblock (or longblock)?

Even on non structural components there's a limit to the size of a rust hole. No.

I'll have to check tonight. The battery is in the boot, so it wasn't immediately apparent.

Sanity check: I connected the (fully charged) battery in my AE85 for the first time in a number of months. I connected the positive first, then when I went to connect the negative I got an impressive amount of sparks. I tightened the connections, then noticed that both terminals were getting really hot and starting to smoke. Ignition was definitely off, so there shouldn't have been any significant draw. Short on the positive cable somewhere?

That scaffolding is wild. What happens once the cladding is on and the joinery is in? Does anyone know what the system is called?

There was a fella on Toyspeed who reduced the size of his smallport intake valves ... something something helmholtz. /ling Edit: intake ports, not valves. It was an interesting theory, but I think that in this situation the vessel (runner) length would be a better variable to play with, rather than restricting the intake to get the resonance you wanted.

I got everything together on Saturday, then had to charge the battery, so I got it started on Sunday. It was idling nicely, had a couple of fairly loose tappets: Tightened those up and then attempted to take it for a drive. It was missing really badly under load, really badly. I started losing my shit about putting the timing chain back wrong, then remembered that it was also missing really badly before I took it apart. I'd just assumed that it was a symptom of the BHG. So after checking the plugs etc I decided that the coil must be bad. I borrowed the coil off the ute I just sold and went for a drive, much better. So I've ordered a new coil, hopefully picking it up today. I also had a yarn with the guy who bought the other one. I was bang on diagnosing the issue it had. The vacuum advance diaphragm on the side of the dizzy was toast (like I told him). He swapped a new diaphragm on and it drove perfectly. Double edge sword there, happy I was right, sad that I got half of the value of the car. Oh well.