thanks dude. haha yeah that'l be a bitch to clean. I might polish my spare and swap them over while its off.

Well got my dad out in the garage yesterday to give me a hand getting the head off. Ran into a bit of trouble with the head bolts, but after a quick stop by the local mechanics and a quick lend of the right allen key bit and a breaker bar in exchange for a six pack got it all done relatively easy I also learnt the engine had been rebuilt ~15 years ago. So i pulled off an ACL head gasket. Im a bit stummped though, because it didn't seem to have any major breaks along the surface? Surely a blown head gasket would look...well, blown!? Heres the engine with the head just taken off. and here is the old gasket i pulled off.. So during the week, I'll be taking the head to a workshop. I spoke to a guy about getting it faced and pressure tested and he said that if I've gone to all the trouble of taking it off then I should get it reconditioned because the low comprssion could be caused by a number of things and reconditioning it will fix that problem. What do you all think? Get it recond. for $450 or just faced and pressure tested for around $120? ---------- Post added 24-10-10 at 23:06 ---------- I also thought that whil the head is off and there is a bit of extra movement I'm going to put the other gearbox in too. While inspecting the one I'm going to put in, we found that every single wire had been cut and spliced in a very dodgy way. In some spots it wasn't even connected at all! SO i'm going to have to reconnect all of them. New transmission all serviced and ready to go in Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Well dropped the head into a shop the other day. still waiting to hear from the shop about whats wrong with the head. Anyway, im picking up some second hand lukey extractors of 86gmh tomorrow morning. Also managed to get some original headlight covers with the lion on them and everything for a bargain And blue dash light conversion on the way to. Can't wait to put it all in and start cruising again Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Just bought a calais garnish in good nick. Can't wait for all my goodies to start arriving Now waiting for: - Mudflaps - Garnish - Headlight covers How much do you think I can get for my blue/grey/aqua calais interior in great condition. All velour and every part there. Just asking cos I might be getting the red interior soon. Thinking about weather strips up the side of the windows, some slimline ones perhaps? I like the look of them

badges look the goods mate

thanks bro. followed a tech thread on here and im so pleased with them Got 2 calais garnishs on the way so im gonna fix up them and the boot mould and get the back end looking sweet ---------- Post added 11-11-10 at 23:30 ---------- received 1 of 2 calais garnishes and its in good nick. Needs a good polish and refurbishing but pretty happy. plus i now have an extra calais badge (all for $30) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

finally got the head back today :thumbsup: looks good, cant wait to have it back in the car Also received mudflaps in the mail Also refurbished my badges. came up awesome! tell me what you think Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

looking tops fella, what ended up being wrong with the head? Did they say it was warped?

Quote: Originally Posted by DJ_XTASY [View Post] looking tops fella, what ended up being wrong with the head? Did they say it was warped? thanks dude. i havnt updated in ages. so much more has happened.. with the head, the valves were gone, so they wernt shutting properly causing low compression. no cracks, not warped...all good otherwise

Well... I have lots and lots and lots to update haha To start with, the engine is now back together and Im nearing the point where the engine is up and running. New mods for the engine: - Lukey High flow extractors - Head acid dipped, cleaned, faced, valves replaced, crack tested, warp tested - All engine/exhaust gaskets replaced Visual mods: - Rear external venetians (temporary to protect damage to the rear seats) - Restored calais rear garnish (soon to be boot mould also) - stock mudflaps with 'commodore' writing Very close Plans: - Blue LED dash conversion - Voltage and engine temperature gauges mounted in centre dash of drivers side speaker vent - 10mm oversized throttle body from a U12 pintara - front sunvisor (needs to be striped back, primered and painted) - Getting some 16 inch portawalls from America after Christmas hopefully Pictures: Engine back together blue LED dash conversion Restored calais garnish Rear venetians (lame I know) Mudflaps Extractors in New throttle body. This is off a U12 pintara front wheel drive. Hard to find but a really good upgrade as it is a bolt-on unlike the xf throttle body and only cost $10 Plenty more to come. This is a 6 month project that I'll be working on while I wait for my license suspension to be over. Lemme know what you think. cheers, Lachlan Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

how many mm is the pintara throttle body?

10 mm oversize. I am going to write up a tech article when I do it. Its a hard part to find, its only on some of the pintaras, its off a U12 front wheel drive I believe. Best way to find it is it is the one with 'nissan' inscribed over the top. Makes a big difference apparantly.

They're not venetians. If u want a rear horizontal set Il tell you where I got mine. Otherwise cars looking sweet

yeah im trying to find some right now. where did you get yours?

well few little things that i have been tinkering with got some blue LED parkers.... Began modifying the sunvisor, it is off a VS and is about 50mm too long, so needed to trim it and then paint it and fit it all up The rear license plate light blew up, so replaced it with one from a VZ, had to modify rear bumper a little and finally, the rear garnish i refurbished. looks amazing in person. Have 2 more to refurbish and then sell Car is ging to the mechanics tomorrow to get timing sorted after the head went back on and to give it a nice tune. Very excited about getting it running properly ---------- Post added 10-01-11 at 10:24 ---------- the blue license plate light seemed a bit illegal to me. So i have ordered some white lights to replace it. should look alot nicer and less attractive to the cops Car also booked in at the local garage for a final tune up on thursday so cant wait till then Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Mate was driving me to work the other day and we were hit by a truck. Car is a complete write off and luckily no one was hurt Plus side out of the whole thing is that it was a R31 skyline and he just put a $2000 gearbox into it. So if i play my cards right i might be getting a very nice new smooth box in the car eventually. Scary experience though Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Installed the new oversized throttle body yesterday. I'll get some pics of it up once car is back from the workshop. And can give it a run in Currently getting the rear drivers power window fixed and the rough idle sorted out (think its the timing) Once thats done, gotta get the gearbox in then its finally onto the cosmetic stuff. This includes: - Repainting trims - tinting lower half of tailights - replacing all missing trims - re-badge - polish rims - polish throttle body and plenum - cut and polish - thoroughly clean whole interior - paint sun visor and bolt it on More stuff to do but thats all i can think of

Well seeing as I'm bored at uni, figured i should update Car hasn't had much done over the last few weeks. Got timing sorted by the workshop, one last problem is that i need another new gasket between the plenum and the head as i have a serious air leak from there causing the lumpiness and lack of power. Can anyone tell me the name of this gasket so i can order one? Began to make my gauge install in the sunglasses holder. I'm buying some aftermarket material identical to my interior calais material so it should look neat and the colour should match. Need opinions on what gauges, mostly for looks but i need them to actually serve a purpose. I have a voltgauge and im considering water temp and one more but i dunno whats easy to install? Also got a few packs of blue LED's so the dash can be finished off (currently half blue half green haha) Throttle body is starting to get polished up too. But once this gasket is done i want to keep the bonnet shut and make it look nice cos its an ugly POS at the moment 3 months till i get my license back too Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

the gasket you are after is just called a ''inlet manifold gasket''

thanks dude. Will order one this arvo.