HI AGAIN!
3 and 1/2 months later and i finally get a day to relax and finish typing up how this built is going rather than coming onto JC looking at the funnies and getting off.
I am a bit rusty on all the details as it was quite long ago so i will just say what i remember.
the gearbox came back from the workshop looking all nice and schmick, they covered it in a coat of silver to make it look pretty, if i had known this i would have given them the purple spray paint i have for the calipers etc.
installing the clutch was pretty funny, i had a mate their that has a personal vendetta against clutch alignment tools, saying that they are crap and don't work and there is no use using them etc etc.
Putting it in was not really a hassle, people often complain that there is not enough room in the drivetrain tunnel, but you just have to twist is 120degrees or so and it will slot straight in. first go, aligned perfectly didn't even need to wiggle it, the so called 'pos alignment tool' did its job remarkably well, he was cut. I lolled.
the driveshaft bolts to the diff were annoying to get on as i did not have a spanner slim enough to fit so i scavenged around for a cheapie and ground it down so it would do the job.
the wheel bearings ended up being complete hubs and you couldn't separate them even though bursons, and autobarn both had listings for the bearing itself and not the hub assembly. so i returned the ones i had and didn't bother replacing them, there was nothing wrong with them i was just replacing for the sake of it.
the castor arms were as easy as unbolt, bolt on and removed at least 8kg total weight from the front end as the stock ones are thick heavy steel.
the steering rack spacers were extremely easy also, remove boot, undo massive nut, install spacer, do up massive nut, put boot back on.
after everything went back together it was time for the test run.
the first drive was an easy one (of course) and i was really impressed with the stock feel from the clutch, the gearbox was amazingly stiff and notchy but i was warned of this and to treat it extremely nice for at least 500-1000 kms, which i did as i needed to also bed the clutch in for this amount of time.
after the initial period it was off to road to race at gosford for a proper wheel alignment, the owner there peter was very welcoming and insisted i watch him carry out his job and ask all questions i could think of and everything i will be doing with the car as it gives him greater understanding of what i want done, so i was there for 3 hours listening and talking and i left that place with a much greater knowledge of suspension.
about 2000kms after all of this was done it was time to see how she went, with the 4.3 diff gears it revs out so nicely now and it doesnt feel like the car was struggling like it used to, a quick pull down to 2nd gear will see the back wheels spinning for a short while, and a push up to 3rd would give a nice loud chirp.
the clutch responds to your driving style, if it is nice then the clutch feels stock, if you give it some hard dumps or pumps it pretty much goes full button which i think is awesome.
everything i have done was definitely worth the money i spent and i think all up including other expenditures i got away with it for just shy of 4k.
a few weeks later the car started to develop this massive creek when turning sometimes which I DID NOT LIKE at all. so i checked every bolt i could find and i fount the entire rear subframe had come loose slightly, so it was all bolts out, clean and loctite them again and do them up bulls*#t tight, this fixed the problem.
about 3 days later the car started to develop a vibration and another clunking, so i checked the subframe again but it was nothing, i had no idea what it was, i went to check and i found the rear main gearbox seal to be leaking so i booked it back in to go to the workshop to be replaced, after they replaced it they told me my driveshaft had come loose and was the cause of the leak and the vibration i spoke of, i never saw this looseness but when it came back both problems were gone.
another 6 weeks or so later the car was making more clunks etc and it was really making me worried. i looked underneath to find the half shaft bolts on the passengers side to be loose so i tightened them and went on my way 2 weeks later it happened again, so i did some research and found out that the 6 bolt shafts that i had originally were M8 bolts where as the 5 bolt shafts were M10 bolts, since i had used the M8 bolts in the M10 holes, the shafts were moving back and forth creating this clunking that i thought was pretty normal for a locker for a long time.
i rang Nissan got a complete set of r33 bolts washers and lock nuts for about $70 and replaced them last Saturday.
there is now no clunking and barely any tire squeal to the point of people asking me if i the diff had opened up again, which it most certainly has not!
i got the car tinted to 20%, not much to say, cost $250 remove and replace and looks nice.
in amidst the time of these car problems i also bought a new sound system it consisted of re audio splits, 2 re audio subs, 2 re audio amps alpine head unit, optima battery and i reused my pioneer carbon kevlar 2 ways all up including the wiring it was about 3.5 - 4k only counting whole hundreds.
I had never taken the inside of the car apart before so it was all another learning curve, started early, opened it up seats out door trims center console rear seats all plastic crap and finally the carpet.
i don't have pics of all of this as it didn't occour to me at the time but i wish i did.
i did a battery relocation to the boot and the battery of choice was an optima d34, its a spiral cell gell battery that is deep cycle and has massive cranking amps. it can also be fully depleted and re charged over 1500 times. the relocation wasn't that hard, i ran the wire at the same time as i had all the interior out and there was a perfect sized hole in the firewall for me to run from the old battery position to the new one.
some people say its dodgey but i just crimped on a massive log, joined everything together at the front then shrink wrapped it and then electrical taped it.
the power cable was run up the passengers side, the rca's down the middle and the speaker wire on the drivers side. the re splits consist of a 6.5' woofer which was quite large large ad deep compared to the pioneers i had in there so there was a but of cutting to make them fit. the wetters are just mounted on the doors, nothing special there.
all the amps are in a board and are hooked up in such a way that they can be easily removed if i need to take them out for track days or carrying stuff. as easy as unplugging the rca,s and undoing 2 bolts.
the re subs go alot better than i expected, since i have never had good quality subs in my car i did not know what to expect but the first time i turned them up i was instantly amazed at their power.
everybody that has gotten in my car has responded with "wow" or "holy S@!t" which makes me happy and when a sound off comes by i will see just how good they do.
the only downside is they break things, my boot now wont open by itself and the only way to get it open (i kid you not) is to crank the music and pull the latch. i recently found out it was because the subs not only vibrate everything but they actually flex the whole back of the car and i think bent my boot to a point of where it gets jammed. cannot decide if i am impressed or annoyed at this.......
i still have not put in the rocker stoppers as the car has not seen the track yet. i am hoping to go to raleigh in coffs harbour in a few weeks but the guy i was suposed to go with has just had his work extended by 6 weeks so it looks iffy.
atm i am buying my first house so money is tight but soon the turbo injectors and computer will come, and the car will be complete (hopefully).
i will upload pictures tonight. but for now sorry about the long read and enjoy.
