Good places in Dunners to fix cars up?

[SkylineObsession]

Okay, we bought a munted up R32 GTS-25 auto sedan from Queenstown in the weekend (Here if you can see it) for $1,200 (probably too much, but oh well) and it needs an awful lot of work done to it to even get it looking as good as mine (and mine needs work done to it too...).

So basically, does anyone know who to go to to get the following done?

Gearbox needs replaced
- Doesn't change down gears, you have to turn the car off and then on again to get it to change down - not good for going up hills (and we drove it back from Q-town)!
- Also revs to about 3,000rpm and then slams into gear (quite a jolt).
- 'Power', 'Snow' ('hold' on my car) and the overdrive buttons don't work either.

Panel damage/rust
- Previously owned by a 'boy racer' (according to a guy at the wreckers we went to in the town), so the car has been well and truely thrashed.
- A scrape mark on the right back passenger door
- A big dint behind the front left passenger indicator lights
- Big scrape marks on the front bumper (and no grill or anything in the main hole thingy at the front)
- Smashed up rear with dodgy repairs (car got rear-ended or something and the boot is a mess inside, and there aren't many straight lines like there should be - red bumper (silver car...) doesn't fit right because the crash damage wasn't fixed straight enough, and back lights are a little out of place)
- Also a fair few paint chips/bent metal around the boot area, including two on either side of the back window.

Speedo is out by 5-20 km/h
- They followed me along that big straight near Milton while i was doing about 100 km/h exactly, and later said that they were doing about 110 to 120 km/h or thereabouts to keep up with me. It is either that or the Mazda has a speedo problem in which case Mum speeds all the time.

Other random things
- An R32 GTS-25 is supposed to have 180 hp. This one feels like it has 120 hp or less. It could either be because of the gearbox or a combination of other things like;
- The main front fan thingy doesn't work, so the little fan in front of that goes all the time which could be why the car sounds like an old V6 Ford Fairmont (huge induction sound type noise and hardly any exhaust/engine noise). Brother just told me that it is because the fan doesn't turn or something (normally they can be moved manually when the car is off, but not in this case).
- The worst Skyline idle i've ever heard; instead of a low growling noise, this one sounds like "poom, poom, poom, poom" (hard to put into words - but it ain't supposed to sound like that!).

Heaps of other things wrong with it, but i'll get to them as i remember.
Can anyone offer any advice on where to get it fixed? Car will not be sold, so don't offer that suggestion.

Despite all this, it did recently pass a WoF (April 4th i think?) so it probably isn't as bad as it sounds - even though it doesn't look pretty.

[cozmoid]

Now u have said alot of dollars worth of damage If u really wanna keep it heres my two cents!
Gearbox
If there aint no point fixin a thrashed auto like this one sounds like so a manual conversion might cost about the same as a gearbox rebuild! But the auto boxes are easy to find and easy to replace so thats an easy option. Maybe the auto computer learned the boys style of driving? Alot do that and maybe just needs battery disconnected for 24hrs and reset. This was the case with my mates auto prelude(It didnt change gears till redline) But honestly seek professional advice.

Panel Damage.
Go see Colin at Anzac Avenue Panel Beaters(Just up anzac from the railstation, has a jaguar comin out of the wall) He's a real honest, up front, quality work dude.

Speedo probs
$&#$% auto could do it or different diff? Check to see if it had been modified in japan before it started life here?

Others
The gearbox bein fukd would make u lose out on heaps of rear wheel power. The engine could be alright but i doubt it considering the previous owners track record. Maybe just replace the engine and gearbox at the same time. They aint realy that expensive and make reasonable power! Oh an ur exhaust could have holes in it or the manifold or be missing baffle. U need to find a skyline minded mechanic that u can trust who can give u a good quote on various options. Get a few quotes but dont skimp on quality work.

[mr pad]

Are you serious? Do you have any idea how much it costs to have someone else do that kind of work on your car? $$$$$'s

Why didnt you buy one that worked?

Id change to man, drop a det mani on it (if the motors not $&#$%) etc....

[SkylineObsession]

Well we can get a gearbox (about 135 k's) for free from a fellow SSE member, all we have to do is pay to get it down here from Chch.

We've taken note of all your other suggestions too.

Got this car because it would be a good project car, and it would probably end up getting stripped for parts if we hadn't bought it, as its just not worth anything. So may as well fix it up (i'm seriously thinking of buying munted up Skylines and then just fixing them up).

Crazy idea, but hey. I love Skylines.

[Mr.Phreak]

The speedo could even be something as simple as wrongly fitted tyres, although technically they should've pulled that at the wof, as for the power/idle issues it could be plugs/leads but it'd pay to get a compression test.

End of the day, how much are you willing to spend to fix it?

[mr pad]

Well we can get a gearbox (about 135 k's) for free from a fellow SSE member, all we have to do is pay to get it down here from Chch.

Got this car because it would be a good project car, and it would probably end up getting stripped for parts if we hadn't bought it, as its just not worth anything. So may as well fix it up (i'm seriously thinking of buying munted up Skylines and then just fixing them up).

Crazy idea, but hey. I love Skylines.

Thats nice but it will still cost you hundreds to even get in itsalled... Chick I know of cost her nearly 2g's... But that was inculding a decent box...

If your putting another auto in it, its not really going to increase in value... But yeah, depends how much you want to spend... Most people who want to mod cars usually start with a good base.. less money in the long run... or so I thought.

[EVL20V]

and u bought it y?

u could have spent that $$$ on a manual conversion for urself andrew!

projects are fun but frustrating

[SkylineObsession]

Not mine, i want a manual coupe GTS-25, not an auto sedan.

My brother took out a loan for the money, gave that money to the brother who now owns the Skyline and the rest of the loan money ($500 or so) is going towards fixing it up.

The Skyline owning brother also has a 1990 Ford Fairmont which he's fixing up a little and then going to sell it, because it is just too much of a whale. When he first drove the Skyline, even though it isn't in the best shape, he said he likes it WAY better than the 'mont and seems to actually want to fix it up unlike the case with the Fairmont.

[deepsyot]

Sounds like there are lots of little things you need to get sorted before spending too much money on it.
Go to Atlas car parts and talk to Steve or Tim and say Nik suggested you go there. They can help you out with any parts you need.
I can swap transmissions for $100 and run diagnostics check on the car to find out why it's not running right.

[SkylineObsession]

Awesome, thanks. I'll get him to read this and see what he thinks.

[AE91Sprinter]

Got this car because it would be a good project car, and it would probably end up getting stripped for parts if we hadn't bought it, as its just not worth anything.

if its 'not worth anything' why the heck did you pay 1200$ for it

[RS13]

I'd say the auto computer is faulty, however I'm yet to see an RE4 or RE5 auto trans make it past 200,000km without major problems, they're very sensitive to punishment! I just threw out my perfectly good RE4 auto trans!

Check to see wether its' an RE4 (common GTSt 4spd auto) or RE5 (late model GTSt/Cefiro) trans, and borrow someones' auto computer, see if that fixes it.. if it doesn't, I'd say the box was shagged.

Manual conversion! I got mine from an outfit here in Chch, for $1075, everything I needed. Otherwise, RE4's go for bugger all, however if its' an RE5, they're hard to find nowadays, and still go for good money.. it'd probably be cheaper to convert to manual.

My speedo was fecked in my Cefiro when i got it, it read far too high (120km/h, I was doing 100!). I've been in several Nissans with dodgy speedos.. another factory option they didn't tell you about! Hahah.

The Fan. Mine has done exactly as you describe, in my 180sx, my GTSt, and my Cefiro. It sounds like a diesel truck whirring away! I think that its' normal.. I tried another fan with the same result. If I wasn't selling it, I'd convert it to electric fans.

The dodgy idle, I'd replace the plugs, buff the carbon contacts and restretch the springs out in each coil, from experience they run so much better once you do that!

It wouldn't hurt to reset the ECU, just take the earth off the battery, and stand on the brake pedal for a few seconds, this drains the ECU. Start it from cold, don't touch the accelerator, let it get to operating temp, and then go for a drive, make sure you floor it a couple of times, so the ECU learns the whole throttle range and makes the RB run more efficiently. That said though, the n/a RB25 is better on gas than the n/a RB20, and still makes another 18hp! Hahaha..

Good luck man. I'm heading down to Dunners in a couple of weeks, if you need a hand with anything, let me know!