Ooh, very shiny! :D You've really gotta be more careful carrying those alloy pipes around man! :wink:

Time for a bit of an update, nothing really much has happened of the last couple of months except for fault-fixing, here are the anti-Cliff Notes presented in fairy-tale form:

 

A long long time ago in a land far far away, a skilled blacksmith and his faithful apprentice warned the princess of the castle that the diff was starting to leak in the faithful steed, and that they should look at replacing the seals. Figuring that this would be a good idea since the diff was a bit overdue for a service anyway, the prince went online and bought some genuine KAAZ LSD oil, and then managed to get a set of diff seals from the kingdom of Amayama. Seeing as how the kingdom was short of time and money, these sat in the boot for a few months waiting for an opportune moment to be installed. Then suddenly one day an evil gremlin snuck out during the night and begat mischief on the steed, and from that day on the steering wheel sat about an eighth-turn to the left when the lion was travelling straight, as well as some devilish sideways action mid-corner. Figuring it was also time for a wheel alignment, the princess booked it in with the “wizards” at Bob Jane for a wheel alignment and wheel rotation. The magic wizards then proceeded to tell the princess that the right rear wheel had eleventy billion degrees of toe-in and so much negative camber that it was on as much of a lean as an Adidas-wearing 180SX driver’s front seat. In their infinite experience and wisdom they explained that they couldn’t carry out the wheel alignment, and that the rear suspension and/or chassis was most likely twisted into the shape of a pretzel.

 

Disheartened by this news, the brave princess and her stately prince returned to the castle with their heads down. After much deliberation and inspection, no discernable damage could be discovered, so a second opinion was sought from the local sorcerers of suspension, a place of apparent repute and masters in dark arts of understeed dynamics and geometry. When it was apparent that some work was to happen on the rear end of the steed, it was decided that the diff should be serviced at the same time, as well as the seals replaced. Almost immediately the sorcerers confirmed our suspicions that the chassis was indeed straight and true, and that the true damage lay in the bushes, which were worn from the years of supporting the powerful and burly steed. Since no bushes could be found to replace the worn ones in short time, the alignment was adjusted to the maximum extents allowable, which was just enough to allow the steed to track straight and no longer bolt for the hills under even the slightest provocation mid-corner. Whilst disappointed that the problem had not been fixed at the source, the prince and princess were nonetheless relieved that the steed could again be ridden in confidence.

 

However, within only a matter of days it became apparent that the newly serviced rear-end of the steed was not behaving in a manner befit of a royal steed. Whilst she would track straight and true on a flat level road, there was an almighty clunk from the rear end in even the slightest of corners under power, and the kick that had previously been a mere annoyance had become wickedly vicious. Inexperienced in the mysterious workings of a 2-way differential, the prince hoped that this would calm over time as the freshly serviced diff was once again tamed. With the royal wedding fast approaching, the prince and princess could not afford the time nor money for the steed to be laid up in the blacksmiths, and from that moment on it was left in the stables as much as possible, only to see the open road when absolutely necessary and ridden with extreme care.

 

After the stress and turmoil of the royal wedding died down, the now king and queen decided that it was time to fix the steed’s evil ways once and for all. Having considered the possibility that the diff was beyond repair, and having a spare factory diff still in the box from the previous owner, the steed was stabled once again at the renowned Nova Auto Innovations blacksmiths shop where this tale began, with the prime intent of getting her re-registered for another 2 seasons, as well as finally getting to the bottom of the curse that was vexing the rear end. With much delight (and surprise) the skilled blacksmith and his faithful apprentice informed us instantly that the heart of the issue lay with the left rear wheel bearing, with a full ¼ inch of float which would explain the wicked kick and god-awful clunking, quite possibly caused by incorrect fitment when the diff was serviced. Despite having to wait over the long weekend for parts due to the peasant’s holiday, it was assured that the faithful steed would be prepared in time for the following Wednesday. And so, a quarter moon after she was first delivered to the stables, the mighty steed was returned to the king and queen fully cleared for registration and exorcised of her demon troubles. It was with much rejoicing that the queen gleefully accepted the return of her steed, and whilst she still has her foibles (the exhaust still scrapes on any bumps larger than a pebble, and the paint needs touch-up after a few unfortunate scrapes as well as a strange discolouration down her left flank) all of these were momentarily forgotten and left to be fixed another day.

 

Cliff Notes:

Diff leaked

Wheel alignment went funky, bushes were stuffed

Idiot 1 said the chassis was bent, got second opinion

Saviour 1 said the bushes were stuffed, fixed the diff

Saviour 1 possibly turns into Idiot 2 as rear end now kicks and clunks horribly

Left untouched due to expensive and stressful upcoming wedding

Post-wedding, re-regoed and rear end kick and clunk attributed to stuffed wheel bearing

Wheel bearing and hub replaced, now hauls arse once again.

Kewl story bro needs some dragons.

 

I'd kill for a manual soarer.

Congratulations on the wedding. :y:

 

Good to see it's not trying to kill you mid-corner anymore too!

A couple of cuts on my hands, but the Snoarer now has a fully functioning, refurbished, non-bleeding HVAC LCD screen, complete with uber-cool blue button lights. Bit of a mission to fit it (had to split the unit in half so I could pair the new front screen unit with the old rear brains unit otherwise fan-speed didn't work and the dash air-temp display was blank) and in traditional fashion I ended up with one spare screw, but anyone who has ever owned a Z30 Soarer will know how good a new LCD unit is (as the stock ones always bleed)

 

you still want some exhaust work done on this thing?

I'll try and take some photos on the weekend, we've got the rattle sorted which was one of the dramas, main thing now is just trying to raise up the engine pipe

Old man is pouring his new shed slab on Monday, so he'll have to wait a week or two before he starts building, so he has some free time

Does he feel like doing anything over Easter (aka next weekend)?

So Cara's up in Townsville for the week so I've been having the pleasure of driving Lexi every day...decided I'd reward her with a bath and some happy snaps

 

Here's a shot I took on the weekend at the TOCAU annual meet - it kinda highlights just how low the exhaust is sitting, and why it scrapes on any bump bigger than a strand of spaghetti

 

New front rotors arrived on the doorstop the other day, just waiting on pads to go with them (and hopefully do the install this weekend) and the old girl will be back cruising like a champ

And to go with those shiny rotors, a nice chaser of Redstuffs

 

Got installed on Wednesday (attempted myself but was worried about rounding off the caliper bolts so left it to someone with better tools), has made an immediate world of difference - no more juddering when tapping the brakes at speed, no more slow pulsing to a halt at traffic lights ending up 2m from the car in front because of the sticking slides and warped rotors. Just got to get used to the significantly greater stopping power, only takes a gentle prod of the pedal to stop on a dime.

 

Hitting ABS in the dry might just be a possibility now, even with the KU39s...

How do you find the red stuffs when they are cold?

No problems so far, might just be placebo effect or greater confidence in the pedal now that the rotors aren't warped but I definitely wouldn't be concerned slamming on the brakes at the first intersection

 

No squealing either.