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Sunday, April 17, 2011

Eastern Creek (PB 1.45:55) but Continued Issues..

Took Friday off work and went with Martin to the Eastern Creek open day which was great. Only $135 plus garage is a lot cheaper then supersprints or open days but doesn't have official timing. Lucky we both have gps timing as well as i have an aims timer still in the car from ages ago.

Unfortunately i had miss fire issues again that forced me to short shift below 6500rpm which was frustrating, by turning the boost down to 14psi it went away but even with 16psi it had a little bit in the top end. Really had enough of the issue and getting the shits, two people have now suggested to me that it could be the fuel lines? Might be worth trying although not sure how on the dyno it doesn't make it yet on the track it does. More money and time ahead....

James came out for the day as well and was helpful with suggestions and running around, would have been a lot harder without him along with Martin.
After the first session the car was really tail happy and i had put the rear sway bar on the hardest setting so suggestion was to adjust it to the softer setting. I started undoing the bolts that hold the bushes in and Martin suggested i just do the links but being to pig headed i went ahead and undid the bushes, found i still could not get the links out and had to eventually undo the links which if i had done in the first place the stripped bush bolts would not have stuffed up and us having to drive to V-Sport to get 2 replacements ones which when we got back were the wrong thread type and lucky Kim had bought replacement ones with him (thanks heaps Kim). End of the story is we got the sway bar back in and tightened up although if i had listened to Martin in the first place i would not have missed the session.

Managed a PB of 1.45:55 around the track on one of the clear of traffic laps i had, their were a lot of cars out and varying speeds. It was every man for themselves and i was overtaking around every corner even turn 1 sometimes although cautiously.

James is pushing me for more aero now and also to grow some nads and go through turn 1 quicker, there is a lot of time to be gained but going through it a lot quicker and the difference between my previous 1.46 and the 1.45 was mostly through turn 1. With the extra power it is not making the difference which i think might be something on the track compared to the street once perhaps the fuel heats up or something. Not quiet sure but the acceleration was very similar to running with 60rwkw's less so something is amiss.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

R33 GTS-T 5 Speed - Update Final

Saturday morning drove out to Stewart's, i had been stressing all week with what it could be and also how much it would cost to sort out. Thoughts going through my head of putting the std box back in or rebuilding the R33 box with new bearings i was not in a good frame of mind.
Arrived and we chucked it on the hoist to have a look, a leak from the box had started and we wanted to fix. It was coming from the drain plug so we pulled the oil out and put some sealer round the plug then filled it up with some new oil, originally we were just going to put the old oil back in but it was to much of a pain and Stewart said he would shout me some fresh oil which was nice of him.

We looked over the box and Stewart suggested we should check to see the clearances over the box, i thought this was a little strange and maybe some way of not looking at what Andrew had suggested but went along with it anyway. He was feeling around the top of the gearbox and saying that it the box hits the transmission tunnel the noise can transfer through to the cabin from the box. He found on top of the box where there is some bracing on the transmission tunnel that he could not get his fingers in and suggested trying some wire to see if it passed through - it did not.

We had changed the R33 mount that came with the box over to my old mount from the S14 as it was a nismo item and i wanted to use it if i could. We loosened the gearbox mount and put 4 thick washers between the bracket that holds the mount and bolts onto the chassis and the chassis.
After tightening up we were able to push the box up which we had not been able to do previously, this was a good sign and we cleaned everything up and dropped if off the hoist so i could take it for a test drive.

Out the road and immediately i notice how quiet that box is, i think it might be to good to be true and with the new oil it might have quietened it down a bit so took it for a longer 20min drive.

Fixed :)

Went back and let Stewart know and he was very pleased, headed off and it was so good that everything was OK now the heavy shoulders that i have been feeling all week went away and i was able to enjoy the car.
James came round and latter that day we did some road testing with the new box and it was just perfect.

Plenty of clearence
Rear Uni Joint
Front Uni Joint
 Rear shot of box
 Side shot of box
 Looks neat and tidy
 Nice bracket Stewart made up
 Clearance on the passenger side, still plenty
 Gear shifter position
 Front the driver view

Sunday, April 3, 2011

New Rear Sway Bar

Bought a new rear sway bar as the old one was non-adjustable and also didn't fit the new links i had bought. 

I also noticed my front links, where it bolted onto the lower control arm - were loose so i tightened them up as well. Was surprised how loose they were and that i didn't notice them when driving but you could rattle them around by hand so would not have been very good.


R33 GTS-T 5 Speed - Update 6

Sunday morning and went to fill up the car at Roselle along with some jerry cans and on the way gave Andrew a call to get his thoughts. He said he was not sure but to drop past and he can have a look, i filled up and went home via Andrews place.

We took it for a drive and i got a little worried, he said that it was not a normal gearbox noise and was something more and defiantly worth checking out. Suggested it could be the clutch plates misaligned or even the bell housing modification was slightly out and causing the issue. It didn't like the gearbox as it made the noise although a lot quieter whilst revving with the clutch engaged and in 1st gear. This was not turning out to be good and decided it was best to take it back to Stewart so he can have a look over, was planning on calling him on Monday to organise.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

R33 GTS-T 5 Speed - Update 5

Been waiting all week, Saturday morning comes around and I am really looking forward to picking up the car. Michele comes for a drive in the falcon and we head off out to SW motorsport to pick it up, we arrive and run through the details. Am worried about how the shifter has ended up but having a look over Stewart has done a nice neat job of making up a cover plate and extra bracket to hold on the shifter boot. I sit in the car and play with the shifter and Stewart asks if I want to take it for a drive to see if I am happy with it
I take it for a bit of a spin around the block and my first thoughts are that the box is a lot louder then the SR box but I think that this is just the beefier gears and that it is normal.

We fix up the bill and we head back home, the bill was $300 more then what we had agreed on but was because of the extra work involved. I could have suggested that this was not really my fault but when you look at it I thought the price was fair and that the work was good so was not really something to bring up as I was happy with the job.

We headed off and I noticed in some of the gears the noise’s from the box were getting worse, was not sure what to do but continued to drive on back home. Latter that night decided to take a little road trip through the Nasho and Mac pass with Martin and James and a couple of times crunched into 4th and sometimes 3rd. The box noise in 5th gear was unbearable and although I was worried still enjoyed the drive and it was nice to get out for a bit of a thrash.