New HSGR owner

[Taz]

Hi im Taz, and a new HSGR here.
Just purchased this bad boy off of a work mate, who originally purchased it from work (a wrecking yard) who originally bought it when someone came in and almost gave it away for a few hundred bucks back in the day. My mates mrs drove it around and blew the gasket twice in it through overheating it (dont ask me how) so i purchased it cheap. Shes an auto though.

Pic of engine after rebuild before first fire up




Ass pic of how it is as of today




Here she is getting a roadworthy





So far the list is:
Rebuilt engine. 20thou bored and new pistons/rings/rods etc etc. Standard OEM rebuild. ARP head studs and MLS gasket. Race bearings. Bigger TD0516g evo turbo. Custom piping to suit as these certainly dont bolt up. Custom oil lines, water lines. Took the spare wheel carrier off just this afternoon as the squeaking was giving me the s**ts. Plan to relocate bar lights to body tail lights as you would think they would come out factory with... and relocate number plate lights to suit the new plate position on tailgate. Getting a nimbus bar to swap HSGR bar over as it just looks funny as it is without the carrier.
Has only 135,000 on it, never been in an accident. Passed a roadworthy with 0 issues which i was very thankful for. Has a mongoose alarm installed. Original keys. Dash doesnt have a crack or mark on it (since purchased a nimbus dash mat for it and loving the $20 investment). Overall just a really nice cruiser to daily in with a bit of pep if needed.
Fairly stock otherwise. I dont plan on going crazy with it as its a daily i have a 79 lancer to go fast in...
Still only about 2k into the run in and its going pretty well. Auto is running like shit though going to run a service and flush through it hopefully crisp it up a bit. Ive been put onto a shift box for it so might go down that route over manual converting it. Couple of other really minor teething issues as with any other car that sat for 6 months, and then got a full rebuild. Had some really bad blow by which is starting to settle down now, catch can sorted the pressure in the head and no longer pissing oil out the oil cap.
Im keeping stock ride height, love the fact i dont have to worry about curbing the front bar or having to jack it up to work on it. Only really plan on doing a few aesthetic things. Im a real clean car kind of guy so nothing over the top or loud.
Looking forward to owning this for many years to come hopefully

 

[White Knight]

Welcome Taz. Nice RVR mate, I'm sure you'll get heaps of enjoyment out of the HSGR mate.

 

[Benzo4gT]

Welcome ;-) Nice one!

The 16g will make it slower off the line than the stock turbo and the nimbus bar will not be a direct fit, plus the rear body lights are often glued so they can't be used (damn DOT laws) You might be lucky and find the plugs and wiring intact though.
I love the black colour!

If you ever want to go manual let me know, I have a bunch of spares......

 

[Taz]

Thanks White and Benz,
Yea i have noticed its a bit ordinary till it gets to 3k, but its nicer spooling up and comes on pretty strong. I think the actuator is around 14-15psi from memory so got a bit of pep still. Shes booked into the auto transmission specialist on the 9th to get a flush and inspection to get rid of this lag and freshen it up. Perks of working at a wrecking yard i can get a bar/rheo/lights etc pretty cheap. Im going to take it to an auto lekky and just tell em to make the lights work, i was expecting to make a provision for it but theres a plug hanging out the back so who knows. I know i will have to take the flares off of my RVR bar and graft them onto the nimbus bar but i was under the assumption its essentially a direct fit otherwise? Is it much work to make it fit if not?
TBH i do want to go manual, and i have most of the stuff on a nimbus at work, but the cost of the box/shafts/cluster/whatever else i wont find on a nimbus) would probably be out of my budget atm. Maybe PM some rough prices? who knows.
Used to hate the damned thing but im slowly teething everything out and im really starting to enjoy it now so happy i stuck through it.

 

[Benzo4gT]

You're on the right track with the Nimbus bar. They have a different radius where it meets the rear quarter. The mod has been done by someone here, can't remember who though. It looked really neat though, I'd like to mod my bar the same.

 

[BYBY5L]

Hey man an welcome,
I too have a auto black hsg! Though your one sounds like it'll be alot nicer externally, keep us filled in on ya rear bar swap too

 

[evo-gsr]

You're on the right track with the Nimbus bar. They have a different radius where it meets the rear quarter. The mod has been done by someone here, can't remember who though. It looked really neat though, I'd like to mod my bar the same.

Mrconsistent is his name if my memory serves me correctly

 

[Taz]

Might have to hit him up if i get into any trouble with it. For now efforts are concentrated on the manual conversion and engine replacement!

 

[White Knight]

That rear bar removal is a mission.... A great write of how to was done by Mr Consistent with input from Benzo as well.
The manual conversion will keep you entertained for long enough though. Best of luck buddy.

 

[Taz]

Yea wasn't too bad for me removing it. 15min figuring it out. 10min pulling it off 5 of which was getting the carrier screw out. 2 bent impact driver bits later. Ended up removing bar and rheo together.

 

[White Knight]

I drilled out that bloody carrier screw..... What a pain.
Sounds like you fared better than most, good stuff.

 

[Benzo4gT]

It's easy to fab one up that can be stood on and is 1/5th of the weight. The step supports can be cut off later when the new bar is made.

 

[Taz]

I dont need a step there, dont need the extra weight. Taking the towbar on it off as i just dont need it on there dont need to tow anything its rated for got the mrs commo for that

 

[MrConsistent]

You're on the right track with the Nimbus bar. They have a different radius where it meets the rear quarter. The mod has been done by someone here, can't remember who though. It looked really neat though, I'd like to mod my bar the same.

Mod was done by me used a nimbus bar and grafted the flare/mudguard section off my HSG bar.
Allowed me to remove the massive steel support bar and the swing arm heaps of weight gone.... and looks so much cleaner i think.
I was going to run a mould of it and make fibreglass ones but need a few people to want it first

 

[White Knight]

Want...

 

[Taz]

Im not sure whether it would be cheaper to use my nimbus and RVR bar and do what youve done or wait for the mould if it happens and go that way...
Either way im definitely doing this....looks weird and out of place without the carrier on the back of mine

 

[MrConsistent]

There was a lot of work to graft the bars together , probably 40+ hours of plastic welding then fine bogging and paint, I had a mate do it as a cashy/ love job otherwise it would have cost me heaps, where i got to on the mould side of things was $2500 to make a decent mould of my bar then i would probably need around the $800 mark to make each one I am not looking to make money on these just to cover the cost of the mould and materials for the bars.
I know several years ago i priced a custom front bar from a shop and was told $2500 fitted not painted....
I figure if i can get 10 people with $900ish we might be able to make it work.
I still would need to make up brackets for the glass bars to attach them too. Either way it would be a decent feat to pull it all together i think.
Foot note you can attach the spare wheel under the floorpan between the bar and the diff cradle was just going to weld a plate with some longer studs to attach it.

 

[edymadman7]

Definitely interested in a fiberglass rear bar!!