RB26 Rebuild

[Bruizer]

Everything sounds like it's good Curtis. I'd start by checking the headlight wiring harness before the module. Start where it would most likely have a change (working near the wiring right?). Could have been dislodged.

[steveo1502]

I've had issues with the high beam switch on the column, one day the right would go out , next day the left, some days both would lol,flick the high beam a few times and it would come back on . I took the switch apart, cleaned and bent the metal contacts , been good ever since

[curtisgoodman]

I checked for power at the headlight plug and i was getting such a small amount no where near what is needed to power a headlamp bulb... so i must dive into it dammit... also after double checking all vacuum lines and my boost controller im still having an over boosting issue the car isnt listening to the boost controller... but i had an idea... i believe since it has been ceramic coated that the waste gate flap has be glued shut so to speak... im going to manually actuate it once the engine cools down and see if that was the problem

[curtisgoodman]

well the waste gates werent glued shut from the ceramic coating... i had a vacuum line hooked up incorrectly lol... my bad... found a couple more issues on my latest test drive... water meth isn't spraying no power going to the unit also found an exhaust leak at the cat and i need to adjust the ebrake cable... so the list continues... i can run 1 bar boost with safe afr's for the time being but anything over that and i get into the high 12's so I gotta find out why all of a sudden my water meth isn't working...

[curtisgoodman]

e-brake adjusted, after diagnosing headlight issue it came back to the switch on the cluster surround I'm going to take it out and clean the contacts like suggested on gtr.co.uk, still chasing why the meth doesnt have power also about to separate the cat and down pipe and reseal the connection... progress and a lot of day left to finish

edit: Also ordered a new coil pack harness from wiring specialties... its on the fastest plane available...

[curtisgoodman]

so i had to replace the switch with a spare i had and the passenger headlights now work yay... the water meth wasnt grounded... the ring terminal slipped back into the loom so it was hidden pretty well so thats sorted... and the exhaust leak was easy just took the cat out and cleaned the gaskets, lubed them up with some muffler cement and retorqued it on... good to go spent the afternoon in the sunshine driving around... even took a trip up to minaki about 45mins each way with lots of pulls... everything is running smoothly just need to replace that coil harness and im golden

[Bruizer]

Very nice! Odd that it turned out to be the light switch but it happens!

So you're gonna leave it alone for the rest of summer now? Any Vids?

[curtisgoodman]

I can shoot a vid or two... whatcha have in mind? Yea all mods for now are complete... the last big upgrade step will be front and rear diffs, one piece driveshaft and a new transmission with osg strengthened gears shaft and middle plate. Then paint job and interior goodies last.

[curtisgoodman]

heading to Gimli for a track event... gonna be in the time trials and ill possibly get to go down the drag strip too... should be a good time.

[curtisgoodman]

My first track event was a great learning experience and a lot of fun! Had some issues with the car but nothing that stopped me from driving it home so thats nice. When we got there on friday for test and tune hot lap session Darin one of the coordinators gave me the crash course on the track, flags, corners and rules, then he took me out in my GTR as the driver (I dont think I had an option on that either lol) we had 2 slow laps and lots of explaining on every corner (cornering lines, when not to lift, when to brake based on my brakes etc) then he asked if he could go a bit hard and I said go for it... well geeze he sure showed me what my car is capable of on a track with street tires and stock calipers... so fast up to corner one i think we were at the 220-240km/h mark then hammers on the brakes then a 160km/h semi drift through it (the rear end out 6 to 10 degrees it as much as you should go for fastest corner) then up to the next buncha corners I didn't think we would make them literally so I was holy shitting myself just keep repeating holy **** and he was laughing... I'll tell more of the story with a buncha funny things after work but i gotta run...

Stay tuned for part 2: The Engine Fire

[curtisgoodman]

So we het back after my ride with darin and theres oil everywhere... on the ground all over the oil filter side of the engine bay... we tried to find the leak but couldnt so we tightened all the braided lines and connections and the oil filter basically everythung we could get at in the area where all the oil was... then we notice the dipstick is missing well sh!t thats where the oil was coming from so we looked around for it couldnt find it anywhere the filter is in the way for it to fully come out by itself so wtf happened... well im ended up being the idiot in this part of the story... i left it on the work bench in kenora when i checked the oil lvl and topped it up... fml... bandaided that shut with a piece of hose and a screw... no more leak... but now i have no idea how much oil ive lost... dammit so i just threw in 1/2 a leter and made sure the accusump was functioning correctly and continued lapping...

Engine fire next post lunch time is over... part 2 to be continued...

[Bruizer]

Awesome story. Glad nothing went wrong other than your hurt pride haha.

So going back to your oil thermostat, we're did you read or discover than 100 degree was better than the 85 degree thermostat. Most places I look seem to point that I don't want the oil above 100 due to accelerated break down but we are obviously using different oil.

[curtisgoodman]

i read on the gtr.co.uk forums through user oilman that 10w40 full synthetics optimum heat range is at 100 degrees... the heavier the oil the hotter it can get... i got my oil up too 100 at the track then the oil cooler kicked in and it stayed around there it worked good...

there is more story i'll add some right now;

So after lunch and some more laps stopping occasionally to check on everything darin took my father out for a ride and when he got back and pulled it i popped the hood like i always do to let everything cool down cause you cant touch anything under the hood like nothing its all to hot... crazy hot... and i notice i tiny bit of smoke coming from turbo side of the engine bay... i quickly went over there said i see smoke the i said FIRE i dumped a little water right onthe problem area and it did nothing darin got an extinguisher and gave it one little shot and put it out... i had a vacuum line from the waste gate get a tad bit to close to the exhaust system i think it was the front turbo dump pipe... so that was out and sorted off to napa in gimli before it closed got some vacuum line so new clamps and some heat header wrap... back together and back out on the track... my dad then took some lapping turns he was having fun. The coil pack harness was then starting to act up on a couple of his runs cutting out #1 cylinder off and on he'd come into the pits id mess with the connector the miss would go away then he'd go back out for another lap... the miss kept happening so we shut'er down for the afternoon... we then proceeded to check the tires then take them off and check all the adjustable arms and such... tires were missing large chunks of rubber off them and the front DS was down to the belt on the inner side (holy hell they had 60-70% left when we started the track surface is very coarse). We had used a paint pen on every nut on the adjustable arms so we could see at a glance if anything had come loose and i notice the front passenger side upper control arm lines didnt line up any more so i brought the lines back and tightened it down... gotta get a alignment checkup when the new tires arrive (255/40R17 Nitto NT-05's) to make sure everything is still good.

I'll take more about saturday and sunday after work.

Stay Tuned

[curtisgoodman]

So got the nitto's mounted on the rims, got the front end ripped apart and the passenger side cv axle out boots removed and everything clean... now for the drivers side... I read you have to remove the front diff cover to access some sort of clip on the drives side cv axle to be able to remove it from the diff is this true? Or can i just pop it out and push it back in? also did a compression test on the car cause i was wondering how everything is doing internally, i used my dads ancient snap-on compression tester and i got 95-100psi on every cylinder but #5 which I got 91psi. So I'm with in 10% which is really good to know I was a little worried when it read 100psi cause I'm sure ive read somewhere of builds on stock motors up somewhere at 160psi or something... i know i built the motor for low compression but wasnt sure if 100psi was really low or not, but as soon as i did the rest of the cylinders and they were close i was happy. My front brake spring clips finally showed up I havent had any on the front calipers since ive owned the car now i do. all 4 boots will be replaced on my front cv axles 1 was blown on each side and the other two looked to be on their way out so i got all new boots coming to replace them. I'm also in the process of ordering a quafie rear diff to replace my old worn out stocker... its got lots of play side to side and clangs when you rotate the driveshaft back and forth... its pretty close to toast i figure. pic eventually way to lazy right now to post some.

Later

[Bruizer]

Hey good updates. Glad the problems were minimal. I carry an extinguisher for the "in case of fire".you never know if a fire could suddenly start on a road trip and on a highway maybe, no one around to help you stop your dream from burning to the ground...

Tires wore fast!!!

Concerning the front diff I always drain it (I strain the oil into a clean bucket to reuse if it's not too old, the os giken oil I run ain't so cheap) and just pop out the shafts but I use a large flat blade to pry it out. I've never had to go into the diff so I don't know how the clip looks. If you pull on the wheel or shafts there's a great chance you'll pull the joint right out of the end which I have done (ripping boot possible too).

The fact that it comes out so easily is scary. There's been reports in Europe that owners would have that pop out on them while driving hard. The suspension Arms do keep it from coming right out nut does disconnect from drive and may cause spline teeth damage.

Years ago, carbonetic gave some specs to their front diff purchasers so they could make a custom hub like thing to stop it from popping out but I've never seen anyone do it. Pretty rare to hear about this problem but has happened. Something to think about maybe but don't worry