Fred's 1998 C34 Nissan Stagea 25X Four Wagon

Post by **Fred** » Mon Jun 06, 2016 11:54 pm

Cheers, Jeff! And then there was this... https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 4291129346 :-o good times :-)

Today's ~352km route:

Post by **Fred** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 9:18 am

Post by **Fred** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 6:22 am

And so it ends! The final leg of the journey:

Despite a dicey start, the Stagea performed flawlessly throughout the 1662.6km north from Christchurch to Auckland via Motueka, Picton, Wellington, New Plymouth, and Manawaru.

I picked up:

The mighty RB powered Stagea
A left wing mirror for the Starlet
A set of old Volvo wheels for the caravan/drag racing the 740
A J160 Altezza 6 speed for the Starlet blacktop conversion
A set of 15x6" DC2 Honda Integra wheels without tyres for the Starlet

And the Stagea still drove like it had nothing in it. Epic car.

ToxicGumbo wrote:Will this become another vehicle retrieval adventure in social media?

Front strut nuts painted white, yuck.
Tar spots all over it, easy to remove.
Bonnet stoppers are worn out and do not stay up, find some on another nissan
Exhaust heat shield loose, rattles intermittently
Rear muffler somewhat rusty/worn out, hopefully sneaks through WOF
A bit grubby inside, partly due to me, partly already like that
Rear headliner is looks and hanging slightly
Missing some clips along the bumper below the tail gate
Some plastic bits in channel between windscreen and bonnet (called?) are loose/missing
Some clips on the seal strip along the back of the bonnet are damaged
Oil has done its day, and should be changed, but I want to put some lifter cleaner in, possibly in with fresh new oil, HPR10, this time, 10 tenths next
Interior light switch is dodgy, and lense cracked, get replacement, replace.
Left rear seat rear handle does not work, so you have to open it through the left rear door, instead of from the back, 1st world problems
A few minor dents on the sides here and there
A nasty but small dent below the tail gate window that may be tricky to fix, seal not in original condition in the same area
Weird surging in the 2800-3000 RPM / 110kph region with just the right throttle, less or more and it goes away, VVT switch point? Broken rubber mounts? No idea.

And finally, the trip would not have been what it was without the involvement of various people! So thank you to all of the below, in rough chronological order:

John 10/10
James
Bearded friend of James
The crew at Surfab
The old man that was too slow, but told me to buy a lotto ticket
The random guy on a bike that called my phone and helped me find it in the grass
Chris the wheeler dealer in Motueka, and his mum
Alex and his mrs
Sarah 10/10
Jenks
Charles and his weasel and very loud dog
Drunken man, his mrs, his sister, and his young daughter
Nige and his mrs and kids - 10/10
Jess, wheel girl
And later, my wife! :-D

Great trip, great car, great people, great fun! Thanks to everyone :-)

Fred.

Post by **Fred** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 4:17 am

Forgot to post a summary of fuel use and costs, but I'll get onto that in a few days or so, when I feel a little less pressured.

Just uploaded these pics of the damaged phone, though, for the record:

https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7535956992
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 5107831808
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6515486720

Re the first link, when it first happened, most of the glass was still in position, just kinda loose. So I peeled the loose stuff out leaving only the well-stuck stuff that you still see. I'll start making regular backups, somehow, and keep using it until it does completely or I can be bothered getting it fixed (may not be economical to do so?).

Fred.

Post by **Fred** » Fri Jun 10, 2016 2:40 pm

Car and contents: 2056.76

Code: Select all

 5 May 2016 	Stagea Itself 								$1,900.00
 6 May 2016 	Tent etc      								$50.00 	
 4 Jun 2016 	BP OIL NEW ZEALAND L CHRISTCHURCH 		$106.76 = initial fill up as base line

Getting there: 299

Code: Select all

15 May 2016 	STRAIT SHIPPING LTD WELLINGTON 			$173.00 	15 May 2016
15 May 2016 	JetStar Air Ticket Direct Transfer 			$110.00 	15 May 2016
 1 Jun 2016 	AIRBUS EXPRESS LIMITED AUK 				$16.00 	3 Jun 2016

Being there: 27.10 + 34.60 + 45.00 + 7.50 + 10.00 + 3.00 = 127.20

Code: Select all

 3 Jun 2016 	BURGERFUEL RICCARTON RICCARTON 		$27.10 	4 Jun 2016
 3 Jun 2016 	COUNTDOWN CHURCH CNR CHRISTCHURCH 	$34.60 	5 Jun 2016
 6 Jun 2016 	BAOBAB CAFE NEWTOWN 				$45.00 	7 Jun 2016
 6 Jun 2016 	MCDONALDS NEWTON WELLINGTON 		$7.50 	8 Jun 2016
 7 Jun 2016 	OSCARS PIZZA & TAKEA INGLEWOOD 		$10.00 	8 Jun 2016
 7 Jun 2016 	Z INGLEWOOD INGLEWOOD 				$3.00 	8 Jun 2016

Getting home: 117.45 + 100.95 + 120.01 + 70.36 = 408.77

Code: Select all

 5 Jun 2016 	CALTEX MOTUEKA MOTUEKA 				$117.45 	7 Jun 2016 - 57.94L - 3.00 discount
 7 Jun 2016 	CALTEX NORTH HIGHWAY PARAPARAUMU 	$100.95 	8 Jun 2016 - 50.49L - 3.00 discount
 8 Jun 2016 	TE KUITI SERVICE STN TE KUITI 			$120.01 	8 Jun 2016 - 57.45L - no discount
 8 Jun 2016 	CALTEX BALMORAL KINGSLAND 			$73.56 	9 Jun 2016 - 35.73L - 2.14 discount - final fill up, minus 3.20 milk

Total non-car dollars: 408.77 + 127.20 + 299 + 156.76 = 991.73
Total fuel dollars: 408.77
Total fuel litres: 57.94 + 50.49 + 57.45 + 35.73 = 201.61L
Total kms travel: 1663? = 1662.6
Average l/100km: ~12? = 12.1262
Average km/l: ~8.3? = 8.2466

Those figures with a boot load of gear!

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Sat Jun 11, 2016 10:38 am

Oh oh, I know what that guard/suspension is! Pick me! Pick me!

Hope ya weren't too bored getting dragged to a job, at least it had cool things to look at

Post by **Fred** » Sat Jun 11, 2016 2:24 pm

Nige wrote:Oh oh, I know what that guard/suspension is! Pick me! Pick me!

You'd better tell us, then, for the record, because I've forgotten! :-D

Nige wrote:Hope ya weren't too bored getting dragged to a job, at least it had cool things to look at :D

Not at all, my pleasure! Thanks for your hospitality in general, very much appreciated! <3

Post by **Fred** » Sat Jun 11, 2016 3:31 pm

Slush box info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatco_4R01_transmission
http://240edge.com/manuals/89-90_240sx/auto_tra.pdf
http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/ ... n-rebuild/
According to comments in there, there are various versions of the RE model with different clutch pack setups (more/less disks).

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:32 pm

Fred wrote:
Nige wrote:Oh oh, I know what that guard/suspension is! Pick me! Pick me!
You'd better tell us, then, for the record, because I've forgotten!

56 Chev Belair (your pic is through the headlight hole I assume). 383 crate motor, new chassis etc fabricated under it.

Fred wrote:
Nige wrote:Hope ya weren't too bored getting dragged to a job, at least it had cool things to look at
Not at all, my pleasure! Thanks for your hospitality in general, very much appreciated! <3

There's a video of the Polo on my instafood (work hashtag at link to find easier): https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/ ... autosport/

[/derail]

Post by **Fred** » Sun Jun 12, 2016 11:27 pm

Gave this thing two semi decent windy road thrashes yesterday. Thoughts:

1) Brakes have run out, and need to be much larger, even with the current engine - easy fix with some funding, lots of compatible Nissans, I expect. R33 GTR, probably.
2) It's hard to figure out where you stand grip wise when pushing it - I can't really tell if it wants to oversteer or understeer, but I also can't bring myself to throw it in super hard without having a gut feel for the 101% behaviour. Felt kinda neutral. I pushed it hard through a natural understeering corner exit and it tracked fine.
3) Springs/shocks/swaybars/etc are only found to be lacking when you push past 90% up toward 100%. Fine most of the time, winding through twisties, but when you try to stand it up on 2 wheels close to 1G, they're a bit soft and squiggly.

Nevertheless, I threw it in fairly hard repeatedly and it was fun and the tyres screamed for mercy around most bends. I took one brow faster than I have in years, since my last RWD Nissan, actually. But I couldn't stay on the throttle out the other side due to brake issues into the tight right at the end with a bumpy entrance and cliff exit if you screw up. In my Skyline in that stretch I'd reach 130kph before getting hard on the picks, dropping a gear, and turning in to the right. I've not plucked up courage to dive hard into that corner in any other vehicle, actually. Requires absolutely predictable and performant braking.

For a big boring heavy car, it's quite fast through twisties :-)

OK, time to be productive.

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