My New R33 GTR - so it begins...

[ColinR33]

So back to suspension installation, did the Driftworks HICAS eliminator kit tonite, pressed in the new bushings, went in pretty smooth:

Then bolted up the bits, trick is to loosely fit everything together before tightening up.

Everything fit well and went in no problem. I am eager to see how it performs in the spring!

[Voodoo_ChildR32]

I shoulda been a hand model, lol. Look at that form, the posture, the elegance, lol. Was sweatin a bit with that circlip, but glad it worked out.

[ColinR33]

Then remove the spider assembly so you can remove the old boot, there is a circlip and then carefully tap it out:


Slide on the new boot and fasten with the supplied clamp, reinstall the spider assembly (make sure you put it back on the right way or you will not get the circlip back on!), tap it down to make sure it is on all the way and install the new circlip. Grease generously with the supplied tube of grease:


Install the inner joint assembly, "burp" the boot and fasten the clamp and ready to put back on the car!

Reinstallation is the reverse of disassembly. Check if the circlips on the inner joint assmbly came out with it, and if so remove and replace. Mine stayed in the housing, but luckily we were able to slide the driveshaft back in a re-seat them, otherwise we'd be opening the diff!
Many thanks to James (feyd182) for coming by and helping me with this!

[ColinR33]

So a few posts earlier I had discovered my front DS inner CV boot was torn, so time to replace! Got the repair kit from Adam at Feast, kit contains grease, new boot, circlips and straps:

To do this you have to remove the front axle, so remove the cotter pin and cover from the front axle nut, 36mm socket and impact wrench makes short work of it:

then remove the two 19mm nuts on the bottom of the knuckle,


and then you can lift and swing the hub out of the way. Good to remove front strut/coilover for this as they will flex as you pull the hub away (as we learned after taking the pics), also unbolt the brake lines so you don't stress them, and the endlink for good measure, you will need the wiggle room.

Once the hub is pulled out enough, you can slide the axle out with a bit of help from a small pry bar:
Then pull it out from the diff

Take it over to the work bench and put in a vise

And pull off the inner joint assembly after undoing the boot clamp

[ColinR33]

So today I went back to the long neglected HICAS delete, I purchased the DW total HICAS eleiminator along with my 4 arm kit. So to remove the HICAS rack I removed the cotter pin and 12mm nut, then used a pickle fork to split the bearing:

and off came the whole unit after disconnecting the electrical and taking off the two 17mm bolds holding it to the subframe:

Then came the fun part, pressing out the old bearings. I had read a bunch of horror stories about people having to take the whole knuckle out and needing 11 tonnes of pressure to force them out so I was a bit worried. I loaned out a ball joint press from Crappy Tire, but nothing fit! So...after I removed the nut on the front and taking off the cover I used a 34mm socket over the back end and a 5/8" socket over the front end:

added a bit of heat and presto!

Out they came! One was very loose, flopped around on its own, other one pretty tight still.
Installing the DW kit to follow as James (feyd182) came over to help me with the torn CV boot replacement.

[ColinR33]

Thanks for the tips Paul! I was pondering how I could get all the DW parts set to the current setup. I don't have a welding machine but might be able to get the boys in the shop to weld stuff up for me. I was more worried about the coilovers settling.

[cortexx]

hi Colin

I've been watching your thread and it's pretty interesting to see the route your taking .

A word on the driftworks parts - i would install all the parts at once and then get everything aligned , driving around on stock camber with a lowered car will wear out the tires very fast , I found that out the hard way lol.

Previously I did something similar on another platform and it's difficult to get everything to eve a close adjustment at first . So I got my welder and a large piece of square section tube and made basic a basic jig for each old piece with its current adjustment . Once each piece was on the jig and bolted down i then adjusted the new piece so that it fitted the jig , then mounted it on the car , then cut and rewelded the parts for the next piece .

I had the car aligned before i did this , and aligned again after and had the same readings , i then had the shop drop the coilover height and adjust camber , toe etc as they went.

You are going to get very little settling on poly bushes .

[ColinR33]

Where did you get the driftworks parts?

I got them through Braden at JNS Imports.

[cschepp]

Ya I need to get a bunch more from driftworks. We should do another gb

[speedracer1610]

Where did you get the driftworks parts?

[ColinR33]

hey, the fuel pump ecu should be behind the side panel in the back seat, behind drivers seat

It was on the rear shelf, right aove the shock tower access, moving it to the trunk.

Ouch, sux about the CV boot. Hopefully no water or dirt contamination or you'll be sourcing a new shaft as well. Suspension parts look kewl! Gonna take a wizard to adjust all those parts into proper alignment, lol. Coilovers are pure sex, I have a soft spot for Tein parts. Lemme know if ya need any help fixing that CV, they are fairly easy to do just really messy.

Yeah, that's why I'll do it in a couple steps, if I install everything at once I'll never get it sorted. I'll probably take you up on that help offer when the new boot comes in. Never really drove her in the rain much or on dirt roads so here's hoping!

[Voodoo_ChildR32]

Ouch, sux about the CV boot. Hopefully no water or dirt contamination or you'll be sourcing a new shaft as well. Suspension parts look kewl! Gonna take a wizard to adjust all those parts into proper alignment, lol. Coilovers are pure sex, I have a soft spot for Tein parts. Lemme know if ya need any help fixing that CV, they are fairly easy to do just really messy.

[steveo1502]

gonna b a sick car man, love it, and definatly love the valve covers

[steveo1502]

fuel pump ecu

hey, the fuel pump ecu should be behind the side panel in the back seat, behind drivers seat

[ColinR33]

So finally feeling half-assed decent again, went out and installed the front coilovers, looking good!

Cleaned up the wheel wells a bit while I while I was in there. Have the coils set at roughly the same ride height as previous shocks, will adjust ride height and rebound after some driving. Also received the last of my suspension goodies and hauled them out to teh garage:

Not sure if I will install all at once, may just install HICAS delete, traction & tension rods and let coilovers settle in for a bit then do the camber arms.
Unfortunately also found this:

Seems relatively new, hopefully no damage, so now I gotta source a outer boot and do some unplanned repair work!
Also removed the fuel pump ecu so I can fab up a new bracket for it inside the trunk.