Paul's car import blog

Sorry but have been busy building an aircraft....

2008-06-27T20:08:00.003+08:00

Sorry I haven't updated this blog for a few months as I have been busy building an aircraft in my garage. I am planning on entering the Suncoast Classic Rally in Queensland around July 2009 so will update this blog once I have finished building the plane and start getting the Skyline ready for the Rally.

If you want to know more about the Rally go to ...

http://www.suncoastclassic.com.au/sc08/overview.htm

If interested in aircraft as well as fast cars check out my blog on building the plane at...

http://building-a-searey.blogspot.com/

Paul

on the road again....

2007-11-19T20:40:00.000+09:00

All sorted out.... I got onto X-treme Motorsports at 17 Ingham Rd in Townsville and they were great. Not only did they have an R33 castor rod but they also fitted it for me for only $75 all up! So many thanks to those who responded to my post on Skylines Australia and special thanks to Paul at E-xtreme Motorsports for his help. Make sure you go and see Paul and the boys for parts and modifications or just a chat if you are ever in Townsville. Check out their very good website at.......

http://www.x-trememotorsport.com/index.html.

Now onto Mission Beach!

the trip so far.....

2007-11-17T21:39:00.000+09:00

The trip has been great with the R34 running sweet.... until Mt Isa. The route so far with stopovers listed below.....

Perth - Geraldton - Carnarvon - Exmouth - Port Hedland - Broome - Fitzroy Crossing - Kununurra - Katherine - Mataranka - Camooweal - Hughenden - Townsville.....

At Mt Isa I had the tyres rotated rear left to rear right and front left to right front (due to rotation direction) as they were wearing a little on the insides as Skylines often do but what drama that turned out to be. I told the tyre guy what to do and went to get some food. On my return they hadn't done anything as they told me that if they rotated the tyres they would run in the wrong direction! I told them that's why I told you to remove the tyres from the rims and turn them around and balance them! Anyway after 1.5 hours we were on our way again however not long after leaving Mt Isa I noticed that the R34 was pulling badly to the right under brakes. After having a look underneath I found that the after market adjustable castor rod had broken at the adjustment nut. Did the tyre guys jack the car up on the castor rod? Who knows. Hmm thats not good but had little choice but to keep going and try and find a factory castor rod in Townsville only 883kms away! The car drives perfectly except some scraping on the plastic underguard as the wheel moves back under brakes and that little problem with the pulling to the right under brakes but not uncontrollable.

Made it to Townsville but having problems finding one here so have put a post on Skylines Australia as I have noticed there are quite few Skylines, 180SX cruising around so I hope one of you are checking the forums regularly otherwise its another couple of hundred k's up to Mission Beach!

Will update blog when R34 is sorted......

Tweaking the R34...

2007-11-02T22:48:00.001+09:00

When I imported the R4 I knew I was going to drive it to Queensland across the top so I thought that I better make sure we were going to make it. It had travelled 86,000kms with no evidence of the timing belt being changed so in addition to the timing belt we changed the....

water pump

coolant

fan belts

diff oil

trans oil

oil

oil filter

air filter

fuel filter

left hand rocker cover gasket (common on RB25s to leak)

plus I just couldn't help but tweak the performance a little by fitting....

quick shift kit to the auto trans

full stainless steel exhaust including dump pipe and hi-flow catalytic converter

front mount intercooler

lowered coil over suspension

17"alloys with Yokoama 235/45/17's on the front and 255/40/17's on the rear

adjustable castor rods

front camber kit

iridium spark plugs

splitfire ignition coils (highly recommended for R34's as they have a problem with factory coils)

Bel RX-75 radar/laser detector (these are great with cameras and highly recommended)

Uniden GPS (so we don't get lost)

Cruise Control.... it wasn't an option on Skylines for some reason.

We are taking a 20litre jerry can of Premium fuel as not sure how available Premium is in the middle of nowhere and in case we run out... also 20 litres of water for drinking and in case we spring a leak. We only have a space saver spare so I have also chucked a couple of those emergency tyre repairs in a can...... not sure if they work but we'll see if we get a flat!

Also on board is a good toolkit in case I have to fix anything... not likely in a Skyline but you never know....

Next blog.. the trip to Queensland!

Across the top in an R34 turbo sedan

2007-11-02T22:16:00.000+09:00

Of course not many people would drive an R34 from Perth to Queensland across the top but then again why not? Those of you that own a Skyline know that they are unbelievably reliable with great overtaking abilities and fantastic to drive. You may be asking why am I doing it? Well in December last year my wife and I decided that we have had enough of Perth's cold winters and needed a bit of a change so we bought an absolute beachfront property at Mission Beach in North Queensland approx 165kmh south of Cairns. If you look on a map it is just about the furthest point you can get from Perth.

After selling Autoworx in May we worked flat out for 4 months getting our house ready to sell. As I have already sold 3 houses and 4 businesses myself before I also decided to sell this one as well. Unbelievably we sold it in 2 days with an unconditional offer and a 3 week settlement!! Even I was surprised... all up it cost us $229..... yes $229 which includes registering a domain name for a website we set up and 3 newspaper ads.... we didn't even put a sign out the front! I know Real Estate agents don't want to hear this but YOU DON'T NEED THEM! In a future blog I'll be giving you a few hints about selling your own house but in the meantime PLEASE have a go yourself..... if it doesn't work out then maybe use an agent but if you do it right I GUARANTEE you will sell it yourself..... I saved $20,000.

Anyway getting back to the R34.... I specifically imported the R34 to drive across the top. I like the look of the sedan and there s a little more space for all the crap I knew my wife would want to pack in.

Next blog I'll let you know what modifications I have done to make sure we make it all the way to Queensland.

Stay tuned....

Finally....

2007-11-02T21:37:00.000+09:00

I know its been a long time coming but I have finally got the Skyline on the dyno for a tune. I was trying to get Lumpy (ex Hyperdrive) to tune it again but he is so busy running his drift team that he just couldn't do it. I ended up getting Andrew (new owner of Hyperdrive) to dyno it instead. He asked what sort of horsepower I was chasing and I said that 350 - 400rwhp would be nice however I was more concerned with a safe tune than horsepower.

We ended up with 326rwhp with full boost of 16psi coming on at 3500rpm and great mid range power. I am extremely happy with this as I always said I didn't want much lag and a lot of response which is why I didn't go overboard with the size of the turbo and installed Tomei Pon Cams. Andrew said that it would easily make 350rwhp with this turbo but there was problem holding boost as when it gets to 16psi it bleeds off to 12psi and he thinks the wastegate actuator may not be strong enough to hold boost so I will have to have a look at that soon..... not that I am really worried about it as it goes REALLY well and I am extremely happy with the way it drives, sounds and feels.. isn't that what its all about?

Next blog will be about my move to North Queensland driving across the top in our R34 turbo sedan..... yes another Skyline..... I love em!

Went for a 450km drive this morning

2007-07-28T11:59:00.000+08:00

As I have to do 1000kms to run in the new engine I decided to get up at 4.15am this morning and go for a drive. I hadn't decided where I was going to go so just jumped in and started heading towards the city. As I was driving along I thought it would be good to go inland a bit before heading over to the coast and back to home in Duncraig so I headed towards Armadale and when I got to the Brookton Highway I turned left and headed towards Brookton. I ended up turning right at Brookton and heading back to Perth via Narrogin and Williams. All up I did approx 450kms and as I have already done approx 50kms I am now half way there with the run-in.

The engine is running real sweet and feels really strong. Lumpy did a great job with the run-in tune and he limited the revs to 5500rpm on the Power FC just in case I couldn't wait and decided to go a bit silly! For those of you who don't know what entails a good run-in you are not alone. The only experience I have had with running in engines is with aircraft. We had to replace the engine in our Cessna 210 a few years ago when it spun a main bearing (and thats another interesting story as it happened in-flight!) so I read a great article tiltled "Don't baby your engine" (go to http://www.casa.gov.au/fsa/2002/sep/36-38.pdf if you want a good read). It's a great article and makes a lot of sense so what I did was cruise along at 110kmh in 5th at 3300rpm then dropped it back to 4th bringing the revs up to 3800rpm and cruise at that for a couple of k's and then revving it out to 5500rm before changing back into 5th (going a little faster than 110kmh!). I did this repeatedly and also made sure to wind it out in every gear when starting off. Next step is an oil change and then another 500kms to finish the run-in.

Not sure where to this time but I'll let you know.

New engine is running!

2007-07-18T09:08:00.000+08:00

It's been a long wait but finally the new engine is in and running. We fired it up last week but it was blowing clouds of black smoke out the back due to overfuelling, I thought by fitting the standard ECU that it would run OK so I would be able to run it in but that theory didn't work! So I connected the Power FC back up and Alistair from Autoworx said I could adjust the injectors (I have 740cc's) temporarily to wind them back from 100% to 50%. Once we did that it ran fine and got me home. Certainly feels revvy!

I then called Glenn Campbell (Lumpy) who used to own Hyperdrive in Perth. He is the guru for tuning Power FC's and he did my last engine which produced 300rwhp without much modification. I have known Lumpy for years and have followed his career with interest. Since selling Hyperdrive he now owns and manages a drift team and competes in the national Drift series. He is getting a few sponsors on board due to quite good success and is always looking for more so if you are interested contact me and I will forward you his details.

A couple of days ago we put it on the dyno and did a run-in tune. I now have to do 500kms and then an oil change and then another 500kms and oil change before we can get it back on the dyno for a full tune. I think I will be restricted on horsepower due to the relatively small Garrett turbo I have fitted but my theory was that if I was unhappy with the output I could always change the turbo.

I will let you know how the next dyno goes.. hoping for around 350rwhp so we'll wait and see.

Flying the Searey

2007-07-06T13:09:00.001+08:00

A while back I mentioned that I was going to buy and build a little kit Seaplane. I went to Sydney recently and flew the Australian distributors (Rob Loneragan of Searey Australia) Searey. Rob took me up in his own Searey that he built back in 2000 as a demo and for his enjoyment as he loves flying and Searey's in particular and I can see why.....

What a beautiful little aircraft!

We took off from Bankstown airport and followed the river to Sydney Harbour where we flew at 500ft all the way to the coast. The harbour bridge stands at a height of 440ft so at 500ft you can imagine what a birdseye view we had flying over the southern pylon.... it was spectacular!

I also took some video footage including taking off and landing on the water that I will load onto Youtube or somewhere shortly and provide a link so you can check it out.

My kit is leaving the US at the end of August and should arrive around late October/early November.... can't wait....

Engine update

2007-06-19T14:16:00.000+08:00

Hi all

My new engine is going a lot slower than I would have liked however the crank and pistons are in using ARP studs instead of bolts for both the head and the mains, GTR N1 oil pump fitted and collar fitted to crank (see photo) and oil restrictors fitted (see photo). There are 3 oil feed galleries to the cylinder head but the problem with fitting a high volume oil pump is that it pumps so much oil to the top of the motor is doesn't have time to drain back to the sump. Some engine builders say to leave the front feed, block off the middle one and restrict the rear one but after talking to a few different builders and also looking at the instructions for the Tomei

oil pump fitted

(see red arrows for oil gallery positions)

oil restrictor we have decided to leave the front, fit the restrictor to the middle and block off the rear... hope its OK! In combination with my High Energy large capacity sump I shouldn't have any oil dramas.

crank collar

My old engine is already out and I need to swap a few bits over rom the old engine such as the factory inlet manifold set up with my 740cc injectors, factory cast iron exhaust manifold (has been ported to head) with Garrett low mount turbo (not sure what size as it was taken off another car used), sensors etc. New bits to be fitted are Nismo heavy duty engine mounts, engine damper kit and oil cooler kit etc.

Will upload more details when the head is fitted and she's ready to go in.... soon I hope!

New engine almost ready!

2007-05-19T07:50:00.001+08:00

Well after many months my new engine is being assembled. There was a bit of a hold up as just as were going to start we disovered that we needed to fit a crankshaft collar as I am installing an N1 oil pump. The N1 pump creates more oil pressure than the standard one and as the factory crank has very little contact with the oil pump drive it is a must to fit a collar to extend contact with the drive. We have also fitted a oil restrictor in the block to stop too much oil getting to the head and possibly running the sump dry which can happen even though I am installing a larger capacity sump.

Some of the other goodies include....

JE forged pistons

N1 oil pump

N1 water pump

Eagle H Beam rods

steel head gasket

Tomei Poncams

adjustable cam gears

heavy duty timing belt

head has been CC'd and ported & polished

740cc injectors

HiEnergy sump

fully balanced

Garrett low mount turbo (don't ask what model as I took it off another car I imported)

other goodies include....

Z32 airflow meter

larger alloy radiator

300 x 600 x 100 front mount intercooler

oil cooler

Nismo engine and gearbox mounts

Nismo clutch pedal bracket that increases the bracket ridigidty by 1.75 times for improved clutch action

Apexi Power FC

1.5 way diff

To get the power to the ground I have bought some Bridgestone "R Comps"

HKS Super Sequential blow off valve

Stainless steel mesh pod filter

3" mandrel bent exhaust

Coil over suspension

17" TE37 Volk racing forged alloys

Front & rear strut tower braces

Recaro seats

Short shifter

Walbro hi flow fuel pump

Half roll cage

Full body kit

Brake booster support

Braided brake lines

Front & rear sway bars

GT-R Brembo brake calipers and rotors front & rear

And one of my favourite mods, a NISMO digital dash with LCD monitor display including:
240kmh speedo
9000rpm tacho
the LCD display screen has a scroll through function with information screens including peak speed, rpm, power, torque, G forces, economy, maintenance, trip, travel and graphs.

will post an update on progress when installed and run in.... hoping for 400 - 450 rwhp.. fingers crossed!

Bought myself a seaplane!

2007-05-02T19:35:00.000+08:00

I thought it was time I got back into flying so have gone a bit overboard and have bought a seaplane kit. Its called a Searey and is made in the US by Progressive Aerodyne Inc in Orlando Florida.

Its a really nifty little machine where you can land, water taxi up to the beach, extend the landing gear and run over pesky sunbathers! They reckon it takes approx 500 hours to build depending how handy you are and there are no special equipment neeed, just normal hand tools.

The kit is arriving in August so I'll keep updating my progress.

The Garuda air crash in Indonesia

2007-04-01T20:11:00.000+08:00

Regular readers of my blog may be aware that I have a Commercial Pilots License and keep a keen interest in air safety. If you have no experience in aviation besides sitting in a passenger seat you may be surprised that a fully operational large jet can run off the end of a long runway in perfect weather. It's not as rare as you may think. At the end of the day it all comes down to the training of the pilots up front in the cockpit.
When I was running my aviation business from Jandakot Airport, many large asian airlines operated their training out of there. I was always amazed that within a short period they were able to train pilots from zero to co-pilot of a large jet. Sure they may have accumulated enough flying hours and passed their exams.... however "P" plate drivers also accumulate driving hours and pass their exams. My point is experience. We all know that when we get our drivers license we think that we are a bloody fantastic driver.. we must be because we have a license don't we? If you have been driving for a few years and are honest with yourself you know that you are a much better driver than you were when you got your license.
The same thing applies with a pilots license. I thought I was crash hot when I got my Commercial License back in 1987. I look back now and think of all the stupid decisions I made up in the air with passengers lives in my hands and somehow survived and didn't kill anyone else. The co-pilot of the Garuda crash only had 2ooo flying experience and he was sitting in the right hand seat of a Boeing 737-400!! My point is that when the shit hits the fan you want someone up front who has the experience to handle the situation and I really don't think that many countries such as Indonesia, China, Russia etc have the appropriate regulatory bodies in place to make sure that the standard of pilots and aircraft maintenance are high enough. Many years ago I decide I wouldn't fly on any domestic airline in the above countries and although I have flown internationally with Garuda in the past, I won't be again.

Top Gear Crash at 230mph (368kmh)

2007-03-14T08:28:00.000+09:00

I assume all you car lovers out there are as big fan of the UK show Top Gear as I am. A few months ago one of the presenters, Richard Hammond, was trying to break the land speed record in a jet powered drag car but it didn't work out as planned when the front right tyre exploded at 230mph.

He certainly was very lucky to survive but as Richard said on his own blog when some people criticised the show for airing the crash footage... "We can't pretend it didn't happen .... that we can hoon about all over Europe in supercars and punt jet-propelled dragsters up runways at 300mph without things going wrong. That's how it is in the world; things go wrong. And if I've learned one thing, it's that they can go wrong at the worst possible moment."
I suppose this is a lesson for all of us who tend to go a little over the speed limit sometimes... things can and will go wrong and only luck will decide if you survive or not... at least make sure that your tyres are in good condition!

Check out the crash video at http://media.smh.com.au/?sssdmh=dm16.248749&rid=25308.

Goodbye little doggy

2007-02-17T08:47:00.000+09:00

Our beautiful little doggy, Chloe (18yo), died peacefully in her sleep on the morning of the 19th of January. She was still warm so we only missed her by 20 minutes or so. We knew it was coming for a long time however we were devastated when she went and more so that we weren't right there with her. My wife and I have been very sad and it will be a very long time before we move on and we will never forget her.. rest in peace little doggy.

Turbo timers.. do you really need one?

2007-02-17T08:17:00.000+09:00

A turbo timer is designed to keep the engine running for a predetermined time after the key is turned to off. The theory is that because turbochargers can reach temperatures of 1100 celsius or more and 10,000 - 15,000 rpm, if you just switch off your engine stopping the flow of water and oil running through the casing of the turbo for cooling and lubrication, it aint a good idea!

The reason manufacturers don't fit turbo timers from the factory is more to do with local licensing laws and liability issues. For example, in South Australia they don't allow the fitting of turbo timers to vehicles manufactured after 1 Jan 1972 citing ADR25 (anti theft steering locks) stating... "ADR 25 requires that the normal function of the engine only occurs when the ignition lock is in the engine on position" however I have read the ADR and I believe that they have misinterpreted clause 5.11 that states "when the protective device has been activated (locked) it is not possible to activate the motive power (start the engine) by normal means".. this means that it must not be possible to start the engine.. however if the engine is already running it isn't covered by the ADR requirement..... in my opinion.
With regards to liability issues, manufacturers don't want to be responsible for a situation where someone may jump into a car with the engine running, break the steering lock, take off and kill someone and hold them liable.This is also a concern for us so we offer our customers an alarm system with a built in turbo timer designed to cut the engine if the car is broken into. The great thing about turbo timers built into the alarm system is that there is nothing hanging down under the dash that looks crappy, comes unstuck and gets in the way. Also the Autowatch 446Rli alarms we fit will only run on if the engine has been running for 3 minutes or more because obviously you don't need the engine to run on if the turbo isn't very hot. If you don't want the engine to run on (eg when refuelling) just push a button twice on the remote control to shut it down.

So, should you have a turbo timer?.. my opinion is "yes" as my theory is why take the chance especially if you can have a system that is no hassle, doesn't look crappy and works well.

The secret of long turbo life is frequent oil changes (every 5000kms) and using a turbo timer.

Apexi Power FC's for R33 & R34 Skylines

2007-01-04T09:30:00.000+09:00

I have had a lot of customers asking to purchase an Apexi Power FC for their Skylines recently and have told them the bad news that Apexi has discontinued production of the Power FC for Nissan Skyline R33's, R34's and a few other vehicles. I asked around to find out why but no-one seems to know so if anyone reading this blog out there knows anything please post a comment.

With regards to other brands of after market ECU's, I recently sold a Trust Greddy E-Manage Ultimate to a customer who bought an Skyline R34 auto turbo sedan from me. At the time you could still buy the Power FC but as they were not compatible with auto transmissions he decided to go for the E-Ultimate. He is going to fit it and dyno the R34 shortly and I have asked him to let me know how it goes as I have just bought an R34 turbo sedan for my wife and I want to fit one to that as well. I will post a review once we have more info. I can supply these for approx $1000 depending on your vehicle type as some require adaptors.

Another alternative to the Power FC or E-Ultimate is the Apexi AFC Neo and replaces the old SAFC & VAFC . It is an airflow converter so its main purpose is to adjust the air/fuel ratio if you want to run more boost. Nowhere near the functions of the Power FC or E-Ultimate but at half the price they are very good value and they look fantastic!....I can supply these for only $550... read more below...

NEW AFC Neo Released!

We are very excited to announce the official release of the new Super AFC NEO. Some of the new features include:-

Completely new case design-

Compact design-

Incorporates both AFC and VAFC functions in one unit-

16 point fuel correction-

Color FED display-

User defined button and background colors-

Inverted "anti-glare" screenKey functions include:

MONITOR MODE-

* RPM* Throttle* Battery voltage* Correction %* Air flow %* Pressure* Karmann*

VTEC SETTING MODE-

* Air map* Air map graph* Throttle point* Deceleration air* VTEC control* VTEC unmatch ETC MODE-* Model select* Mode select* Car select* Sensor select* Analog scale* Warning set* Display set* Sensor check

Those crazy arab drifters are at it again

2006-12-05T10:04:00.000+09:00

If you thought that those crazy drifters from Saudi Arabia I posted last time were insane you gotta check these ones out.... it seems that drifting down the main street in the middle of the day and hitting buses is an acceptable practice.... go to http://www.sportbilen.se/index.php?page=blandat.php?id=465 for a laugh.

Life is cruel sometimes

2006-12-04T09:07:00.000+09:00

If some of you have been wondering why I have been coming into work late over the last few weeks it is because my nearly 18 yo female dog Chloe has been very sick. Every morning I have to feed her and give her natural medication while my wife sleeps as she keeps her up most of the night because she can't stand up anymore by herself anymore and gets distressed and needs to be turned over every so often. She has had kidney problems for the last 3 years but due to my wifes loving care and attention, she is still going.... however we know that she probably hasn't got long to go now. Back in March we thought we had lost her as she became very sick so we took her to the vet and they put her on IV fluids. After a couple of days this improved her condition and when we went to pick her up the vet was basically hinting that we should put her down. This upset us both because it seems that as soon as an animal has a problem the only solution a vet seems to be taught is to "put it to sleep". We asked if there as anything else we could do and they said that we could administer saline solution at home but she would probably only last a week. We decided that we would give it a go so we bought some saline fluid bags and went home..... that was 9 months ago. Almost every night for the last 9 months we have been injecting 200ml of saline solution under her skin to help clean out the toxin bulid up due to her kidneys not functioning properly. She has been eating and drinking well over this time but unfortunately mentally she has been losing control of bodily functions and now she can't stand up by herself so we have to hold her up when taking her to the toilet and feeding her. We have decided that while she has an apetite and will drimk water we will continue to look after her as I am sure she will let us know when she is ready to go. As we have no children and she has been with us for so long it will be a very sad day for both of us.

Life is cruel sometimes.

Drifting - the new motorsport

2006-11-05T15:49:00.000+08:00

I learnt to drive on my Uncle Graham's property in Mundaring WA in my parents 1974 Datsun 1200 sedan when I was 12 years old. Myself and my 2 brothers used to hack around on the gravel tracks in the state forest which adjoined his property (I am still surprised that my parents allowed us to do this as obviously none of us had a license!). We taught ourselves how to throw the cars sideways, conduct handbrake turns and various other crazy activities. I can't ever remember damaging the car but boy did we give it a good thrashing! (sorry Mum & Dad).

You are probably wondering what all this has got to do with drifting. I suppose it brings back great memories of being in control of a car going sideways without an LSD diff and 5 turns lock to lock of the steering wheel (you actually had to throw the steering wheel into the slide as it wasn't possible to turn it that quickly with your hands!) If you haven't had this type of experience it is hard to appreciate how good some of these drifters are. These guys are approaching corners at over 120kmh per hour and more and just throwing the car into the corner.. it is amazing stuff.

For those who are not familiar with drifting go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaO8i-wA4I8..... there is some great "in car" action and you just gotta love the Japanese commentary!

If you want to see some really insane stuff check out this Saudi video at http://www.compfused.com/directlink/966/.... seems that the rules are... "throw the car sideways at 200kmh and try not to hit pedestrians or anything solid"... crazy stuff.

Anyway if you ever see a local drift event advertised make sure you go along as it is getting bigger and bigger every year and is here to stay. For those in Western Australia the next event is on 2nd December at Barbagello Raceway which is the final event for 2006. One of my staff, Scott McCormack, is a regular entrant and will be competing in the December round.. look for the white R32 4 door with "Autoworx" on the side.. go Scotty!

For more info go to http://www.wascc.com.au/

Bloody speed cameras!

2006-10-17T08:09:00.000+08:00

We all know that speed cameras have nothing to do with safety and are just a revenue raising device for the government. To prove a point you just have to look at the road toll in Western Australia. As of the 30/9/06 the WA road toll was 142, which is 22 more than the same time last year! Usually the governments knee jerk reaction is to buy more speed cameras with the obscene amounts of money they steal from the taxpayer. To make things worse I have just read the following article about how inaccurate the cameras are and how to beat them....

Some speed cameras are faulty

Faulty speed cameras are making drivers fight back in court as they challenge their fines and win, setting legal precedents when they do.

Steve McNaught's $75 speeding fine took him all the way to the NSW Supreme Court. He won the case and the tax payer forked out $30,000 for the Road and Traffic Authority (RTA) legal team's costs.

"They're going to incredible lengths to protect the flawed system," he said.
"They've got to go back to the drawing board and redesign the system."» Fact sheet: Beating speed cameras

The camera reported Steve's car was in lane three, but it was not possible at the time for Steve's car to be in that lane. His lawyer Dennis Miralis said the RTA took the $75 fine all the way but lost.

"Not one camera is without fault, in other words all the cameras which I have issued paperwork on have got significant faults," he said.
"They are putting tax payers' money to run matters where clearly sometimes there is no merit but the RTA's position is they are preserving a significant asset."

Dennis said the problems have to do with the computer system and the missing images and DVDs having to be replaced. His advice is that should you get caught speeding, demand a record of the fine from the camera. "You issue a subpoena, you get the site maintenance log history and each of these logs show constant malfunctions with these cameras," he said.» Related story: Speed camera money spinners

"I am yet to see a log that shows the camera working perfectly and in good order," Mr Miralis claimed. Every time Mr Miralis fronts court trying to get motorists off their fines the RTA sends out its A-team of Queen's counsels, barristers and other lawyers, all costing thousands of dollars a day to beat Dennis.

So far he has had seven victories against the RTA and he has a long list of challenges still to be heard.Lawyer Dennis Miralis can be contacted at Nyman Gibson Stewart Lawyers, (02) 9264 8884.

http://seven.com.au/todaytonight/story/?id=22256

REPORTER: Glenn Connley
BROADCAST DATE: August 4, 2005

Speed cameras can get it wrong

There are an increasing number of motorists who claim they have been the victims of wrong camera readings. They have proven big brother can be beaten.

Dr Wolf Garwoli is one of Australia's foremost radar experts.He said police and private contractors are ignoring simple rules for operating speed cameras.[Related story: Beat speed cameras]"If you have multiple targets in the beam or if you set it up incorrectly whereby you bounce it off the road or you set it up looking into a bend then the radar fails," Dr Garwoli said. Speed camera readings can be affected by other vehicles at intersections, tram and train lines, for sale signs and other real estate signs, traffic signs, bus shelters, phone boxes, letterboxes, metal garages, sheds, fences or parked trucks.

Jeff Bowtell is an experienced private contractor with Tenix, a company which had a contract to run mobile cameras in Victoria

Dr Garwoli and Mr Bowtell have helped many motorists escape their fines but said if you are going to take on the system you have to get it right. [Related story: Beat speeding fines]

• Check the police photo and look for objects which could affect the radar.
• If you see a flash go back to the site and take your own photos which prove the obstruction was there on the day.

There is also an issue with other moving vehicles in the photo. Retired Victorian politician Robyn Cooper exposed a flaw in the system when he challenged police over a second car in the camera's photo. "The police officer assumed it was booking the car he noticed which was going the other way," Mr Cooper said. To contact Dr Wolf Garwoli, write care of your local Today Tonight Office.For more information visit the RoadWatch website: www.roadwatch.com.au.

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I have not written this article to encourage you all to speed on the roads as there are plenty of motorsport events you can paticipate in legally. However it really pisses me off that the government is trying to tell us they are trying to reduce the road toll by buying more cameras when IT OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T WORK! They should be spending the money that they have stolen from taxpayers and put it into defensive driving courses and tightening licensing requirements. I have driven with a few "P" platers and the majority really can't handle a car at all. They must be taught how a car feels when its wheels are locked up or when it gets a little sideways BEFORE they get out on the road and not AFTER they have slid into a power pole and died... little too late then.

I would strongly recommend that you buy a top of the range radar detector, not so that you can speed everywhere with immunity, but so that when you are coasting down a hill on a dual lane highway, on a straight road that hasn't had a fatality in 10 years, and they have a speed camera hidden at the bottom and you are doing 4 kms over the limit... 3 or 4 of those will pay for your detector in no time.

Should I import my own car or buy it here?

2006-10-01T10:23:00.000+08:00

A good question. Some people are prepared to take some risk by importing their own car from Japan and save money by doing so. Others prefer going to their local import dealer and buying a car that is clean, licensed, and with everything working and with a warranty. The reason you will save money importing a car yourself compared to buying from a dealer is because you are using your own money to pay for the vehicle in Japan, paying the duty/GST and freight on arrival, then the compliancing and licensing costs. This means that there is virtually no difference in costs between a private importer and a dealer unless the dealer is also a Registered Automotive Workshop (RAW) and obviously pays less for the compliance costs. It will also take a minimum of 2 months from the time you start looking to the time you are on the road in Australia.

However, like most money saving ventures, there are some risks involved. I find it amusing that people want to save money by importing their own car but don't want to take any risks. You have to remember that most of the cars that are being imported to Australia are an average of 10 years old and sometimes 15 years or older and at that age will start developing some sort of problems. When we receive a car it has to have minor panel and done, serviced, complied, detailed and fix any problems that may exist.

When we help people import their own car, we provide a 100% money back guarantee as far as the overall condition of the vehicle is concerned, however we can't guarantee any mechanical or electrical items as it is not possible to check everything as the vehicles cannot be driven at the auctions. As far as cost saving goes, the more expensive the car you buy the more you save. This is because of 2 reasons. The first reason is that the more money a dealer has tied up in a vehicle, the more return on he must get on his investment so the profit margin is greater. The second reason is that the compliance cost doesn't vary much between a Nissan 180SX and a Nissan Skyline R34 so you will save more money on a car that retails for $30,000 than one that retails for $15,000.

So you must ask yourself.. do I want to just go down to my local importer and check the car in person, test drive it, organise finance through the dealer and drive away with a warranty NOW, or do I have the money ready to send to Japan and prepared to wait a couple of months and save some money?

Can I get parts for it?

2006-09-28T17:28:00.000+08:00

I am often asked if parts are easy to get for imported cars. The answer is yes and no. For all popular imports such as Nissan Skyline R32, R33 and R34, Nissan 180SX, Nissan 300ZX etc it is very easy to get new and used parts. Our local Nissan Dealer is incredibly friendly and will bend over backwards to give advice and order parts. I can also get anything second hand as I have many contacts that import container loads of half cuts, engines and body panels etc.

As far as Toyota parts go, they are also very helpful but I have found that a new Toyota Part is approx 30% more expensive than a comparable new Nissan part and they don't stock anywhere near the amount of new parts on the shelf as Nissan does. Having said that, if the vehicle has been imported for a few years like the Toyota Supra or Soarer, the parts are more available new and more importantly, second hand.

What I would be concerned about is buying a vehicle that hasn't been coming into Australia for a long period of time such as the Toyota Aristo. Even though Toyota would be able to supply all parts new for these cars, they would take 3 weeks to get from Japan, they would be expensive and it would be virtually impossible to buy anything second hand for at least the next couple of years. By then parts importers would have some demand for them and it would be viable to bring in a few container loads of parts. It just doesn't make commercial sense to import parts for cars unless there are quite a few on the road in Australia.

Mitsubishi are also not too easy for parts as the Mitsubishi dealers really don't want to help with anything that wasn't imported by them so I would also ask the import dealer if he can supply all parts, new & used, for the vehicle you are interested in.

So, before buying an imported vehicle, ask the dealer about the supply of new AND second hand parts and just don't rely on them telling you that second hand parts are no problem..... get them to prove it to you by guaranteeing it in writing or naming some parts importers so you can call to check out what they have and what sort of prices you will be paying.

What is the difference between a Series 1 & Series II Nissan Skyline R33?

2006-09-03T16:31:00.000+08:00

One of the most common questions I get asked about Nissan Skyine R33's is "what is the difference between a Series 1 & Series II"? It is very important to know the differences in the models as there has been many cases where buyers have bought a Series 1 believing it to be a Series II (and paid Series II prices) because that is what the seller told them. The easiest way to tell from the outside is what the front end looks like. The R33's started production in August 1993 as a Series 1 and continued through to 1995. From late 1995 they changed to the Series II right through to March 1998. From the exterior it is easy to tell the difference if you know what you are looking for. Below are some photos to help you distinguish the different models. The 1993 first edition had a fairly plain front (See Photo 1)....

Photo 1

.....compared to the 1994 model optional "M-Spec" front-bar (see Photo 2).

Photo 2

Note: some 1994 & 1995 models still have the old style first edition plain front indicating that the M-Spec front was optional right up until the Series II was launched in late 1995. Another way to tell the differences between models is that most 93 & 94 models don't have driver airbags (however it was an option to have driver or dual airbags right from 1993 although it is extremely rare). All 1995 models have a driver's airbag.

Photo 3.. Series II front

Series II Skylines started from very late 1995 and went right through to March 1998. The main differences between Series 1 & II are:

The interior trim changes from velour to a cloth type material and has a different pattern
All series II have dual airbags
The bonnet, front-bar & headlights are different (see photo 3 above)
The dash facia changes for being coated with a flat plastic material to a non coated rough finish (more on this later)
The instrument cluster is slightly different with different warning light positions

Mechanically they are almost identical and perform the same.

Over the years I have heard people referring to Series 1.5 but believe me.. they don't exist! I think the confusion is people think that when they changed to the optional M-Spec frontbar it became a Series 1.5 but there is only a Series 1 and Series II.

In-Car LCD Temperature Display to Monitor Temps

2006-08-13T19:18:00.000+08:00

A customer who we helped to import his own R33 Skyline recently, Alan Mears, showed me an In-Car LCD Temperature Display Unit that he has developed to monitor various vehicle temps. He has built a demo model for his own Skyline but informs me that it can be fitted to any car. It can monitor as many temperatures as you desire depending on how many sensors you are willing to fit! For example you can monitor:

Ambient air temp
Intake/inlet temp
Before/after intercooler temps
Oil temps (engine, gearbox, diff)
Turbo housing temp
Exhaust temp
Head/block temps
Engine Bay temp
Cockpit temp

You can set warning temperatures and when an overheat situation occurs, a 10mm super bright red LED illuminates as well as an alarm.

Something else Alan has come up with (this guy can do anything!) is a gauge pod that fits in the top right hand corner of R33 dashboards (see photos)

As you can see it fits perfectly and looks great. Alan has indicated that they will retail for approx $99 and Autoworx should have stock as soon as he has a few made up.

I will be fitting both to my own R33 Skyline shortly and will give a full review on this blog.

Fitting a Nissan 180SX Intercooler & Vertex Frontbar

2006-07-27T11:12:00.000+08:00

Hi

We have just fitted an intercooler and a Vertex fibreglass frontbar to a 180SX we have in stock. The frontbar has been sent for painting so I only have photos of the fitting of the intercooler at present but will post photos of the frontbar when fitted.

Most of you are probably aware of the huge difference an intercooler makes to a turbocharged car. As air is compressed (by the turbocharger), it increases in temperature thus reducing performance. An intercooler is fitted to reduce the temperature.

As you can see by the diagrams below, without an intercooler there would much less power gain due to the enormous heat generated by the turbo. Heat is the arch-enemy of any motor. This is the main reason why intercoolers are a vital part of any turbo kit. An intercooler is essentially a radiator tuned for high-volume flow rates and the increasing density of the charge as it cools. Lower air intake temperatures are safer for the motor, making air-to-air or air-to-liquid intercoolers vitally important. It is also crucial that they are mounted, so as to maximize air flow and promote efficient cooling.
The range of forced induction and the presence of spent exhaust gasses cause motors to generate enormous amounts of heat. An intercooler uses ambient air temperatures in the front of the moving vehicle to chill a core. The intake air temperature drops as the forced air from the turbo passes through this core. The resulting compressed air allows more air volume to enter the motor. The more air you can compress while keeping it at the same relative PSI, the more air you can force into your motor-providing more power and efficiency.
A cooler engine will exhibit extended longevity and generate more horsepower. In addition, an intercooler protects against the expanding or warping of internal motor parts, which can lead to internal damage. Reducing the heat also decreases the tendency of the combustion process to knock (detonation).

More photos soon of the finished project.

Paul

Skyline R34 from 0 to 200kmh in 9.25 seconds!

2006-07-21T19:27:00.000+08:00

Hi

A reader of my blog sent me a link to some Google Videos recently regarding great import car videos. There is one of an R34 Skyline accelerating from stand still to 200kmh in 9.25 seconds! Another has an R34 GT-R up against a Porsche over a standing quarter mile with the Porsche beating it to the line... I suppose that's what happens if you spend 3 TIMES MORE AND HAVE 420PS COMPARED TO 280PS AND WEIGH 20KG LESS!! Goes to show that you don't have to spend over $200,000 to get great performance!
Anyway check them out at http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=label:impreza. If you come across anything that may interest my blog readers please pass it on.

Is your R32 Skyline running rough?
On another topic, we had a 1993 R32 Skyline GTS-t in stock and had some rough running issues. The car would sometimes run fine and then have a missing problem. First we pulled out the spark plugs an checked and gapped them but they seemed OK so I wasn't confident that thats where the problem lay... it wasn't the spark plugs. We then thought that maybe a coil had decided to commit suicide so found a good one laying around the workshop and went about swapping each coil in turn to try and find the dead one. We found that the number 4 coil plug wasn't connected properly and that seemed to cure the missing for a while however it returned on a second test drive. I then remembered a problem I had with a Nissan Cefiro not so long ago where the pins on the module were badly corroded so the 2 plugs that connect it to the wiring harness couldn't make a good connection. I cleaned them up with a small file and contact cleaner and it cured the problem. As this was also an RB20 engine with the identical ignition module, I did the same and voila!... hasn't missed a beat since. So, if anyone out there has an RB20 with rough running problems don't waste time like we did... clean those pins up first and if that doesn't work then try the spark plugs and coils. (for those who don't know, the ignition module is that black box on the top of the engine at the back with 2 plugs connected to it)

My Skyline
I have just fitted GT-R Brembo brake calipers and rotors to my R33 Skyline GTS-t. Even though the standard GTS-t calipers and rotors are great, you just can't beat BIGGER! With 324mm rotors on the front and 300mm on the rear and weighing 200 kg less than a GT-R, I am sure they will be fantastic! Will let you know how they perform.

thanks for reading this blog... more soon.

Pauls car import blog

2006-07-09T10:09:00.000+08:00

Hi, I'm Paul from Autoworx and welcome to my Car Import Blog.

As I have been importing cars for over 7 years, I often get asked for advice about imported cars, the car importing process in Australia, and about car modifications. This got me thinking that a blog would be a good forum to discuss imported car topics and to allow comments in these posts from other high performance imported car fans like myself. I plan to use this blog to talk about imported vehicles like Nissan Skylines, Toyota Supras, Nissan 180sx', modifications you can do to your car, importing your own car to Australia, and related topics like motor racing. So if you are a high performance import car enthusiast please post your comments when you have something you want to say about the topic being discussed. I hope to post something of interest to you every week, so please bookmark this site and come back regularly.

My own Import Car

For my first blog I thought you may be interested in what I have doing to my own 1996 Nissan Skyline R33 manual turbo coupe with modified RB25DET engine. I am in the process of getting it ready for motorsport events such as motorkhanas, hill climbs and time trial events. So far modifications include:

Apexi front mount intercooler
Apexi Power FC ECU
HKS Super Sequential blow offvalve
Stainless steel pod filter
3" mandrel bent exhaust
12lbs boost on standard turbo
Coil over suspension
17" Volk racing forged alloys
Yokohama Advan tyres 235/45 front & 255/40 rear
Front & rear strut tower braces
Recaro seats
Short shifter
Warnbro hi flow fuel pump
Half roll cage
Full body kit
Brake booster support
Braided brake lines
Front & rear sway bars
1.5 way LSD racing differential
GT-R Brembo brake calipers and rotors front & rear
And one of my favourite mods, a NISMO digital dash with LCD monitor display including:

240kmh speedo
9000rpm tacho
the LCD display screen has a scroll through function with information screens including peak speed, rpm, power, torque, G forces, economy, maintenance, trip, travel and graphs.

Over the next few weeks I will take more photos of each screen to give you a better idea of what it can do. These instrument clusters were an option in Japan for R33's but very rare due to the expense.

I have had the car dyno tuned and it is currently pushing out 292HP at the rear wheels. In my next blog I will be talking about further engine mods as I am trying to achieve around 350 - 400RWHP which is quite conservative for the RB25DET engine as I am going for reliability, not huge horsepower.

Performance Exhaust Systems
I am often asked about the advantages of performance exhaust systems. Although I did write about this in the December 2005 Autoworx Newsletter, many people didn't get this Newsletter (and I haven't got aroung to archiving the Newsletters on the Autoworx website yet) so I thought I'd post it on my blog for those who missed out.

Performance Exhausts
Because your car has a team of horses baying to be unleashed, especially turbo cars. Stock exhaust systems are designed simply to provide a conduit for spent gases to move from your engine to your tailpipe - no more, no less. On the other hand, performance exhaust systems are engineered to maximize your engine's exhaust flow, giving you:

- Serious horsepower and torque gains
- Distinctive, growling exhaust tone
- Improved fuel economy

The problem with stock exhaust systems is that they are not optimized for the best possible flow. Car manufacturers spend much more time thinking about the shape and placement of your air vents than they do planning your exhaust pipes. What's the result of their neglect? Your motor has to work harder during coombustion, which robs you of valuable horsepower, torque and fuel economy. A performance exhaust system will harness the potential power that your engine is wasting because of its inefficient stock exhaust. A bolt-on performance exhaust system improve your power by:

- Reducing drastically the restrictions in your pipes
- Increasing the puny diameter of stock pipes
- Improving engine scavenging

Restrictions
Just as the word implies, a restriction in your exhaust system is anything that slows the continuous flow of spent gases from your engine to your tailpipe. Poorly bent pipes are the leading cause of power-robbing restrictions. In order to cut corners wherever they can, auto manufactures use a second-rate bending technique known as "press" or "crush" bending.
This type of bending is quick and easy for the manufacturers, but it causes massive restrictions in your pipes because it reduces the pipe's diameter. This may not sound all that dramatic, but picture this: what happens when a busy freeway goes from 5 lanes down to 2? Horrific gridlock! The same thing happens with your exhaust. The waste gases slow down when they hit a press bend, which clogs up the whole system. In automotive lingo, this gas traffic problem is called back pressure.

There is, however, a more efficient way to form an exhaust system for your vehicle. Rather than using low-tech "press" bending methods, performance exhaust systems use a state-of-the-art mandrel bending process. When a pipe is bent using a mandrel method, a flexible rod is fitted inside the piece of pipe. This bendable insert stops the pipe from changing diameter during the bending process. What makes mandrel bending so much better? This consistent diameter is like an express super-highway for your exhaust, eliminating the restrictions in stock systems that steal precious power and torque.

Diameter
Besides how your pipes are bent, their actual size affects how much horsepower your engine can deliver to your power-hungry tires. One way to save on production costs is to use the smallest possible pipe size. While this keeps production costs down, it diminishes your overall horsepower and torque. One of the very first things you must do, if not the first, ito any turbocharged car (also normally aspirated)is to fit a mandrel bent, 3" (minimum) performance exhaust system... you won't believe the difference!

Thanks for reading this blog and please add your comments.