DTA (UK)

Rob - The upper arms are yours mate - contact me on 07044 016586 to arrange payment via credit/debit card or you can pay through paypal (payments@dta-motorsport.co.uk) although that method will be 3% dearer. Total payable: Credit/Debit card & Cheque: £215 + £15 (courier) = £230 Paypal: £236.90 Hope to hear from you soon. These upper arms are packed and ready to go. If you arrange payment before 12 o'clock noon then they can go out same day otherwise they go out the following morning. Regards, Dan

Nope, don't look like Powertrix adjustable upper arms to me. I've got one new set in stock (which is provisionally sold) and will check if I can let you have this set and order a new set for the existing customer. Will PM you later. Cheers, Dan

OEM 99-spec headlights can be made to fit with the existing 89-spec wiring - it's a matter of changing some connectors. The only other concern I would have with buying the OEM headlights from the US is the beam pattern. US headlights are built in such a way that the light beam is projected exactly through the centre and both beams are equally long. Compare that with JDM beams which are off-set to the passenger side (of a RHD car) and the driver-side beam is shorter than the passenger-side beam. Euro cars are the opposite. You may have a problem if the car ever needs to be tested (I don't know what the regulations are in Australia). Having said that, production of US-spec cars stopped in 1996, ie - pre-HID headlights - and to the best of my knowledge the 99-spec ZX was only ever produced for the JDM market so the headlights will naturally be for JDM pattern. If that is acceptable in Australia then I would think that the set you are looking to buy is a very good deal. By the way, 99-spec headlights are sold with the HID kit pre-fitted. HTH Dan

Hi guys, First of all apologies for my recent unadvertised absence. Secondly, thank you to Smithy for fielding the various enquiries and also for putting up this post. This monday just gone I was informed that a close family member passed away completely unexpectedly. Not an accident or anything sinister like that - but in his sleep. Given the fact that my immediate family lives in Dubai and had not been made aware of this tragic event I had to travel to holland rather quickly. Within 4 hours of receiving the news I was on a plane bound for Amsterdam (not bad for short notice ...) Anyway - during the following few days I did not have access to the internet very often and also was not in a position to anser my phone. I did manage to speak to a few customers and send a few e-mails out but the majority has gone unanswered to date. I believe a few parcels were sent out during my absence but I know another few items have yet to be dispatched. I am now back in the UK and have come back to about 15 PM's, 165 e-mails and about a dozen voice messages. Please bear with me for the next couple of days - I promise to respond to each and every single one of you. Again, my apologies for not responding sooner but I hope you understand the reason why now. Right - better start looking at those PM's then ... All the best, Dan

They are absolutely fine! In fact, they should be mounted as close to the throttle bodies as possible, ie - the inner pipes. The only reason why the majority of BOV's are fitted to the outer pipes is that somewhere along the way someone said that by placing them on the inner pipes you're introducing an imbalance in the system which will cause the car to idle and perform badly. Although it is theoretically possible I have yet to come across a car that's exhibiting those symptoms due to the installation of a pair of BOVs on the inner pipes. An alternative is to link the two inner pipes by hard pipe and run a single BOV off that. Also works well and there is plenty of space (for a change)! You'd be hard pressed to fit your style of BOVs in the space on the sides of the outer pipes. ATB Dan

Mike, As you know the headlight adjuster gears have now been ordered and will be with me early next week. Tyretraders.com did me a cracking deal on Toyo Proxes for my car! :) And here is the link to remove your headlights: Head light removal I'll be in touch again when I'm about to send the parts out next week. Have a good weekend. Dan

Our chips are custom made to your exact specifications so this will not be a problem. Nismo 555's: £545 DTA Chip: £65 Total: £610 and I'll throw in free delivery. Regards, Dan

I'm afraid it'll be a bit longer than a week mate! Nismo moved premises and ever since they have been absolutely crap at sending stuff out. I've got two sets of Nismo 550's on order which I've been waiting on for over three weeks. They're in stock, they're just not sending them out when they say they do. Hopefully it'll all be back to normal before too long now. On a more positive note, yes - I can sort you out with Nismo injectors and a matching DTA performance chip. Cheerio! Dan

Forgot to mention that I will soon carry stock of both 60K and 120K miles service kits. 60K Miles Service Timing Belt Kit (£245.00): -Timing Belt -Timing Belt Tensioner -Water Pump -Thermostat (76.4C) -Coolant Bypass Hoses(2) -VTC Springs(2) -VTC O-rings(2) -Cam Seals(4) -Crank Seal 120K Miles Service Timing Belt Kit (£345): -Timing Belt -Timing Belt Tensioner -Water Pump -Thermostat (76.4C) -Coolant Bypass Hoses(2) -VTC Springs(2) -VTC O-rings(2) -Cam Seals(4) -Crank Seal -Crankshaft Sprocket -F&R Crankshaft Sprocket Washers -Idler Pulleys(2) -Idler Pulley Studs, Nuts, and Washers (2 each) Ancillary Belt Kit: -Twin Turbo: £26.00 -N/A: £34 -NB: please specify whether you have Stock, U/D crank and/or O/D water pump pulleys I highly recommend changing the belts as part of the 60K/120K miles service work. Regards, Dan

For a start: water pump thermostat 2 stubby water hoses ancillary belts I'm sure someone else will be along shortly to add to the above.

As AndyP said, not all cars have a drain plug - mine certainly doesn't (series 1 JDM TT). And as for removing the exhaust - that is so that you have ample access to the sump and strainer.

Not difficult but a bit time consuming. For starters, put car on ramp, then 1. remove exhaust (all the way to the downpipes) 2. undo hex bolts holding the sump (think there were about 10 or so - make sure you've got a sizeable catch pan underneath as ATF will be overflowing the sump) 3. unbolt the strainer and clean (can use solvent cleaner just make sure it's all removed and dry before putting back onto autobox) 4. scrape off gasket from sump pan and put on new gasket 5. install strainer 6. install sump pan with new bolts & washers (should be part of the gasket kit from MJP) 7. reconnect exhaust 8. refill autobox with ATF through the A/T dipstick Job done! HTH Dan

Just phone them - they'll tell you exactly what to expect. They do their own engine removal/fitting now as well as turbo fitting. They can get any turbo you want - all you need to do is specify the requirements.

My car suffered similar symptoms in the extreme. Every island, every corner - it would rev but not go anywhere. Most embarrasing. This is what I did to resolve the issue: Drained the autobox, cleaned the strainer (use a new gasket when putting sump back on - contact MJP for good price) and then filled up with fresh ATF. Completely sorted the problem! :nana2: My guess is that the AT box was low on fluid and the strainer contaminated. These boxes are quite sensitive to fluid levels. Hope this info is helpful. ATB Dan

Correct - there are litterally hundreds of different categories and bands so it is nearly impossible to predict what the final bill is going to be. I import a lot from the US and budget around 24% on average for import duty and the usual 17.5% for VAT. Remember its the total cost of the good and shipping (as stated above). Be careful when asking to have the consignment devalued for import duty/tax purposes. If something goes wrong with the shipment you can only claim upto the declared value of the consignment. I've had a bad experience with this some years ago when a seller devalued a $1800 consignment to $300. Consignment was heavily damaged in transit and parts were lost. I was only able to recoup $300 of my hard-earned pennies :( So keep it realistic - also HMC isn't stupid - they know what most items cost ...

Hi Ian, For around £450 you can buy the Smithy's Big Brake Kit which consists of bigger discs (324mm x 30mm) and Porterfield brake pads. This setup utilises the stock calipers which will be relocated to fit the larger disc by means of "relocation" brackets (included in the big brake kit). The only two other items I would suggest you buy is a caliper rebuild kit, stainless steel braided brake lines (around £65~£70 for the fronts) and some new brake fluid. (all the above - with exception of the brake fluid - can be obtained via ourselves) HTH Dan PS - the above big brake kit makes it possible to swap the stock calipers for Skyline R33 calipers if/when a pair come up for sale without having to spend any further on brackets/discs/etc.

In a word, NO (unfortunately). The investment required to produce the clear equivalent of the 99-spec lenses is huge! I looked into this last year and you'd have to manufacture in the region of 15000 units to make it economically viable. As the 99-spec car was a run-out model you'll never find the owners to sell the stock to.

Mark - I agree with that statement to a certain extend. To the best of my knowledge, a turbo charged system needs a certain amount of back pressure to operate correctly. Just for argument sake, lets say I connect a straight through system that goes from 3" at the turbos to 6" at the other end. That is going to slow the gas flow down. This is also the reason why it isn't adviseable to bolt on an exhaust system on a TT with pipes that are more than 3" in diameter. IIRC I have seen dyno graphs comparing a TT with 2.5" pipes and then with 3.5" pipes (believe it was in the US). The latter system produced almost 30bhp LESS than the 2.5" system. I can't remember where I saw this so can substantiate my claim but that is my understanding of exhaust systems. I obviously now wait to be corrected! LOL ;) Cheers! Dan

Yes - agreed. I have been compiling a (wish) list which includes MS Manifolds and Greg Dupree divorced wastegate pipes (5-bolt). So if that lot flows into a set of unrestricted decat pipes it should all flow pretty well. I'm just concious not to make the final system too free flowing as that will have the opposite effect (ie slowing the gasses down and therefore reducing power). Thanks again for all your feedback! Cheerio! Dan

How long is a piece of string? It really depends on: What performance parts are on the car? What is the general condition of the parts? Are the engine and gearbox in good nic? How much time are you willing to spend having the car in bits? Etc, etc, etc. Breaking a car "appears" to be lucrative but in my opinion it is best left to breakers and garages who strip cars for spares. You could end up with a car in a hundred thousand pieces and no sales. Also, there are so many cars being broken at the moment that there is a surplus of second hand parts on the market. This will make it harder for you to sell the parts which will drive your prices down as you need to shift the parts which means you'll end up with less money. My advise is, take off all the performance parts and sell them separately. Return the car to a near stock state and then sell it for a reasonable price. That way you maximise your profits for the least amount of work. HTH Dan

Looking at that pic it would indicate that the inside of the headlight glass (and more than likely the projector lens as well) is quite dirty. I'm afraid you're going to have to strip them and give 'm a good clean. Will hopefully give you much improved lighting! Good luck. Dan PS - if you want a set of second hand headlights let me know - I've got a few sets coming my way shortly.

:wack: LOL! Reminds me of a joke I saw written down a long time ago. An airplane's log book shows the pilot heard "mouse-like" squeeks coming from behind the instrument panels. The following day, after the technicians had a look at it, there was the following entry "cat installed" ... :D I'm not very good at retelling jokes, as you can see, but it was hilarious when I first read it!

I'll e-mail you the instruction sheet I compiled and include with all my kits. Will be with you in a couple of hours! Regards, Dan

That's true and it is a pre-1992 car so should be ok come MOT time.

Fair enough. I am still concerned about (a) turbo seals prematurely perishing (despite them being brand new) and (b) emissions at MOT time. However, I may consider a straight through system as well because I can always have some silencers added at some point in the future.