Maroc - SAU.COM.AU - latest-general - 01/Jul 11:46

Newbie from VIC

Hi all, From the western suburbs here. Just got my 2000 R34 GTT registered today! Got it imported from Japan through a mate who is doing them and managed to find a decent one. This one has only done 110,000 Km and had no body rust etc. so was very happy. I used to own a 25Gt back in 2015 (ate Ramen noodles for years to save up for it), but unfortunately, it got stolen TEN DAYS after I bought it!! Came back from Uni and the car was missing - cops found it in Springvale a month later with a lot of needles 😒 It was too late by then and I had moved on to a different car (300ZX), and after that one got broken into around 2018, I was in a very bad place and decided I would never buy a car again because it was just pointless!!! ~yeah, I have some very bad mojo~ 🥺 But now, with a stable job and a secure garage, I thought I'd get the R34 4D again but not as a daily! I love the R34s but a GTR is still a bit off my pay grade so settled for the GTT instead. The first step for me is to get this car serviced and have all fluids, belts and spark plugs changed. I might do the brakes at one point too but atm they are fine, the fluids are what I want changed since this car probably sat in a garage for a long time. I'll then get some coilovers since the suspension needs to be changed anyway (the dust cover kit is disintegrating). I'll also upgrade my car alarm to a Viper system and then look at rims and tyres (I'm a sucker for TE37s - might have enough saved in another 3 years for that). Today: I was planning to do the oil, coolant, air filter and fuel filter change this week. Started on the oil change today and MY GOD what a pain!! I used to think the 300ZX engine bay was cramped - oh I was so wrong! 😂 I've done the usual services on my cars before so it was not like I was going in blind. I looked up all the forum details about what oils to use, what coolant to use, what points to use to jack the car or place stands etc but I did not expect it to be this hard. Long story short - all I managed to do was the oil and filter change. I think I might end up taking it to a mechanic for a coolant change because my SCA stands and trolley jack just can't get far enough underneath to the cross-member and I don't want to be crushed under my favourite car....yet. Side note: In Dandenong, there used to be a shop that lets you hire their hoists - does anyone know if they have those around? I can't seem to find the Dandenong place anymore. I contacted them off FB almost 6 years ago and I'm not in it now. If anyone know of one, that would save me some time going to a mechanic for the basic services. Oil: Dark and gooey but no metal pieces. Oil Filter: Was a b***h to take off but no red flags Air filter: Yucky! Was black (Smells like fuel which makes me think it may have been running rich? - am I way off?) Concerns: I have but one concern atm and that is that there was a very small amount of oil leaking where the engine and the transmission connect (Automatic). It may be the rear seal? It's not a massive leak and it does not affect the oil pressures or leak oil all along the driveway. It's been falling into the cover this whole time. I've taken the cover off so I can check the garage floor from time to time. I also have not seen my engine temperature gauge ever sit at cold and slowly move up to the right spot, but that might be because every time I saw the car today, it was running. I'll check that again tomorrow. ATM it just sits right in the middle. I may just be paranoid but I don't want an overheating engine while my gauges say everything is fine. 🙈 Other than that, I'm very happy with the car! Feels like it's about time I went back to spending my weekends driving or cutting my arm on stupid sh*t in the engine bay. PS: I will post a pic later on because I underestimated soooo badly today and it was dark by the time I finished! PPS: I broke the two damn plastic pins that hold the intake funnel section to the front bar. This is the piece made to bring cold air to the airbox. The connection to the airbox is fone, but the two clips just broke off! Should I be worried? Anyone else done that?