Murcie's Garage - R51 Pathfinder Ti - Almost Everything is Done! (20/02/2020)

Holy wheel gap batman! Zoomed in plus light coloured wheels make it look pretty high :)

Not a bad design though. Will be interesting to see it in a full shot.
 
It does look a little high there but in the metal I'm quite happy with the way it sits. They fill out the guards really well I reckon, though in saying that I will be going back on my own word and getting the rear guard lips rolled. There is a bit of scrape-age going round on roundabouts and with passengers in the rear.
 
Unfortunately the weather and work this weekend hasn't been on my side, however I did take this little snappy:


Untitled-10 by Murcie_LP640, on Flickr

Also bought my own guard roller off of eBay, a mate of mine's a panel beater and is going to do it for free and teach me how to do it myself too. Pretty exciting stuff!
 
Honestly.. I prefer the factory wheels to them. Sorry. Maybe if they were like a darker titanium colour or gunmetal they would look better, but I think the silver clashes with the yellow. Needs a darker colour, which is why the black looked so good.
 
Bueno! 👍

I like the color of them and I think they suit the yellow. Personally, I've never been big on dark wheels on yellow cars, so these are just right. I definitely like the style you chose too.
 
Legendary
Looks sweet man, nice choice 👍.
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Cheers mate 👍

Punknoodle
Honestly.. I prefer the factory wheels to them. Sorry. Maybe if they were like a darker titanium colour or gunmetal they would look better, but I think the silver clashes with the yellow. Needs a darker colour, which is why the black looked so good.
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No probs. To be fair I was sceptical about the hyper silver too looking at the "showroom" pictures but in the metal I feel the wheels are dark enough to set it off really nicely in my opinion. But I see where you're coming from :)

SPhilli911
Bueno! 👍

I like the color of them and I think they suit the yellow. Personally, I've never been big on dark wheels on yellow cars, so these are just right. I definitely like the style you chose too.
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Thanks man 👍 hopefully the weather down here will be clearing up a bit tomorrow and I'll set to work on some more pictures!
 
I also had the thought that if they were black they'd be nice but I have a thing against black wheels. Not really sure what it is but they are just usually really hard to see and take photos of etc.

It has nice contrast though, I considered black for mine and if I could I would throw your old wheels on but I think mine being dark blue woudn't work so well with black wheels (see SPhilli's car).
 
So little SIC EM will be ever-so-slightly famous!


limeandcustard by Murcie_LP640, on Flickr


limeandcustard2 by Murcie_LP640, on Flickr

Here's the basic gist of what's going down: a workmate of mine (who owns the green Monaro in these pics) and myself are entering an annual charity rally called the Mystery Box Rally (this only started up this year, stemming from its more famous and bigger sibling the 🤬 box Rally). Basically starting from Melbourne each team buys a car to rally with (which have been picked up for no more than $850 apiece) and we depart from Melbourne for 5 days with an itinerary given to us each day, covering several thousand kilometers on all types of surfaces, before finally ending back in Melbourne. I don't remember if asking for donations is against the AUP here so to be safe rather than sorry I will not ask, just explaining what it is.

tl;dr, the reason why I took these pictures is because our team name came from (in a rather genius move by yours truly :sly:) the colour of our daily drivers: Lime and Custard Tarts.

Sadly it's also very quickly coming up to time to pass the WRX on. I'm almost completely set on what I'm getting next but for the sake of opinions and possibly forgetting something I've missed I will ask for thoughts. I'm looking at rear-wheel-drive this time for something different to the rather grippy and "safe" AWD/FWD vehicles that I've been used to for a while now. And while they're very good cars which I can attest to as I've driven several, for me the answer is not MX-5.

Top of the list at the moment is the Nissan 350Z Coupe, which is something that I've never actually been much of a fan of until now (always been under the impression that it's a bit too fat and heavy), when every alternative I look at keeps bringing me back to it. However in the interests of keeping my choices open I've also been deeply considering the Honda S2000 (AP1 models, can't get an AP2 for the money I'm looking at) and *gasp, shock, horror, etc.* a HSV Maloo R8. Yes, a ute :3
 
Very diverse, one is a convertible, one is a coupe and the other a ute!

Have you thought about RX-7s? Or how about a tidy S15? Not that there is anything wrong with your short list, just saying a couple of cars that offer great aftermarket support and fit the bill.

An HSV is a great way to go, easy power, ok looks and an awesome sound. It's just that in Australia it's hard to not blend in with a car like that. I see hundreds every day. Sure if you made sure it was immaculate and unique it would go a long way to separate it from every other young guy in a V8 ute with a Jet Pilot or Southern Cross sticker on the back and Chev badges.

Personally I like driving something that stands out.
 
I have thought about RX-7s, very tempting at first but I feel it would be a bit too impractical to have as a daily driver. I'm not covered on my dad's policies so I can't drive the Accord Euro or the Pathie and therefore this'll be my only car (my sister's finding this out the hard way as she just had a road accident in her fiancé's SS Commo with no insurance). S15's also very tempting, trouble will probably be finding a tidy one but I love the look and it will be cheaper to insure than the Three-Fiddy and HSV too.

I suppose my main thing is that this is going to be a daily driver. Don't care about fuel consumption because I drive a low annual mileage (even with my lead foot the Rex lasts a good couple of weeks on $50 of fuel), and it's usually only me and the GF in the car so back seats aren't required either. I just want something with a nice meaty torqueband that's fun to cruise around in. Just jump in for the hell of it and drive. The Maloo....I dunno, I look at it and dismiss it as "Just Another 🤬 Ordinary Commodore" but then again I love the looks and it has a certain charm to it too. Plus of course that effortless V8 punch ;) However half the event of driving the WRX is because it stands out from the crowd and it gets noticed. 350Zs and S2Ks are incredibly rare where I am, there's one 350Z Roadster and a grand total of 0 S2000s (though this is my only exception to the "meaty torqueband" thing because I've been in one before and it was an absolutely delicious piece of machinery to drive).
 
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Murcie_LP640
I have thought about RX-7s, very tempting at first but I feel it would be a bit too impractical to have as a daily driver.
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I stopped reading there.:irked:(okay I didnt...anyway)

This comes to the definition of impractical. Miatas are said to be impractical yet many people make them so. An Rx7 is much more practical than a Miata.

So do tell how you came to this conclusion.:)
 
Thatman
I stopped reading there.:irked:(okay I didnt...anyway)

This comes to the definition of impractical. Miatas are said to be impractical yet many people make them so. An Rx7 is much more practical than a Miata.

So do tell how you came to this conclusion.:)
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Not practical in terms of its space, practical in terms of its engine and what's required to keep it running optimally. I would love to own a rotary, but not as my only vehicle. When I get older, as a weekender that I can look after properly. Especially the Spirit Rs that I was looking at.
 
What? Awe, no worse than any other older sports car. Just look at the oil when you fill it.(as most people should do) And don't drive it hard before its warm...rev the 🤬 out of it every now and then to keep it healthy.... Just add 2 stroke oil for extra protection. :D

I have DD 2 Rx7s and aside from the fact that its just an old car and stuff needs to get taken care of right then and there, Its *almost* like any other sports car maintenance wise. ;)
 
Plenty within budget, could even get an R32 or R33 GT-R V-Spec but I want something newer rather than older and many are modified which will skyrocket my insurance premium. I'm 21 and male, pretty hazardous combo in terms of insurance premiums; a lightly modified (not even engine modifications, just suspension and wheels) R33 GT-R V-Spec is a good $240 p.a. on top of the already pretty hefty price I pay for the WRX.

The other "Skyline" is the V35 350GT however weighing it up the 350Z suits my tastes better.
 
hey dude I got a question I got a 2000 wrx GC8 as well, mine only gots 92,000km I ordered my car from japan with 00000 kilometers and a wide body kit, my question is what kind or brand of head gasket have u used? have you ever change them? I almost touching the 100,000km and I want to change head gaskets and from what I see your car haves an ej205 engine or am I wrong?
 
I haven't changed the head gasket myself since taking ownership (I bought it with 175,000km on it) but the previous owners had informed me that any replacement parts were OEM and installed by the local Subaru specialist (not the dealership) in my capital city.

This included the head gasket at about the same amount of kms. Now as for aftermarket after a bit of quick Google-fu the popular brand for an EJ205 like ours is Cometic, but probably can't go wrong with Cosworth either if budget permits.
 
The Cosworth "FSL" head gaskets are a rolled bead stopper type head gasket. It's the same design Apexi, HKS and Tomei have been using for many years. Cometic "MLX" is also a rolled bead stopper type gasket and will seal like any of the other brands mentioned.

Leaks occur on multiple layer steel (MLS) gaskets from improper installation and surface flatness/finish. You should have the case decks and cylinder heads surfaced to an RA of 40 or lower. Lower = smoother and more mirror like finish. I also spray several thin layers of copper spray (until tacky) on any gasket that is MLS or copper.

If you search the internet on MLS head gaskets you'll find most complaints about Cometic come from SR20 guys who don't surface their front cover with the block, then wonder why their motors all weep oil in the same spot. Blame it on the head gasket for your dumb move.

With that said, I've personally used and seen the Cometic MLS head gaskets run over 2000HP before failure. If you lift the head you're screwed, at that point go to O-Rings and coppper for head gaskets...

[Youtube]0Mmeqfq7-nc[/media]

Not to hi-jack your car thread. Just so much misinformation on MLS gaskets.
 
Good info there MD, also just note if you are going to an aftermarket MLS get the appropriate thickness for the compression you want.
 

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