Hi all, I was glad to find so much information and help available for this car. Just browsing around for an hour and learnt quite a lot. I bought my white 98 TF magna on friday from a dealer. He was asking for 7grand, but agreed on 5500$. its runs on LPG and has 178000kms on it. the reason i went for gas was because I do about 90kms a day and was getting really pissed off at paying 1.50$ for petrol and also cuz my 89 lancer was packing up and slowly dying. had that for 8 yrs, goin to miss it....it took me thru university as well...ah those days.

I plan to keep this car for long, maybe well beyond 300,000 kms if it makes it. I drive my cars peacefully and dont use a heavy foot i.e stick to cruise mode with music:2cool:... I got a bike to satisfy my other needs :evil: .

I was goin to take it in for a major service and i gather from other threads that its goin to cost a bit with the timing belt and water pump and stuff. just have a few questions:

should i buy my own parts or let the mechaninc handle them. which way is cheaper?

anyone know any good (and if possible cheap) mechanincs near thornbury melbourne... the kind that get your car ready in the time they promised ... not 3 days after:doubt: .

what else should i get checked as i just bought the car? since its white i m afraid it might have been a company car or worse an ex-rental.:confused:

WIll I loose ride quality if i put 18 inch wheels on it. thought i might stick to 17s. are 17inch tires cheaper than 18s or the same?

any help will be appreciated... will post pics once i get bigger wheels.

Hey, welcome to the club.

Congratulations and I Hope your new purchase serves you well, and provided you look after it, it should last you well beyond 300k.

Welcome to the club mate!
Mechanics can get parts cheaper than you can, whether they pass that saving onto you however....but if you find a reputable mechanic should be right (don't know any in your area sorry).

As for rims, are you worried about them being legal or not?
Tyre prices have come down quite abit just in the last 2 years. You're looking at about $150 for a decent 17 inch tyre.

As for rims, are you worried about them being legal or not?



i dont understand... what do you mean by illegal rims?

the reason for sticking to 17s is because I want to preserve ride quality and dont want to make any major modifications to accomodate 18s. unless someone can convince me otherwise.

Legally you can only go up two rim sizes, that means that on a Magna which comes stock with 15" rims you can only go to 17" rims. If you put 18" rims on it, thats going up 3 rim sizes, therefore its not legal.

18's would fit alright though without modifications, mabey guard riolling, but thats nothing to worry about!

18's would look pretty cool though!!!

-Daniel

Legally you can only go up two rim sizes, that means that on a Magna which comes stock with 15" rims you can only go to 17" rims. If you put 18" rims on it, thats going up 3 rim sizes, therefore its not legal.

18's would look pretty cool though!!!

-Daniel
Show me where it says you cant go up 2 rim sizes? I'm starting a new thread cuz i'm fooking sick of people thinking this!
He can go 20's as long as the overall diameter doesn't change, this rule applies to QLD, VIC and NSW at least, haven't checked the other states.

yeah, abd if you put 20's on a magna the overall diameter will change!

my mate got told by regency that you can go up 2" in diameter and half an inch in width.

I'll find it now and then show you.

-Daniel

Here you go mate!

http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/Wheel-sizes-t178011.html

-Daniel

Welcome aboard :)
As to ride quality with 18's, in my experience it was actually a better ride! this had alot to do with the tyres i used though, i wetn from crappy no names, to a very comfy set of rubber. The 18 (comign from 16) didn't make a huge impact in general cruising, however i do hear and feel the harsh bumps alot more... if you live on a dirt road or a really badly made one with heaps of pot holes and uneven surfaces, then you'll notice it a bit more, most the roads around me are pretty good, even on dirt roads it's not too bad, you're driving slow anyway :P
go the 18's! ;)

got a service booked in for thursday....

platinum plugs will be about 132$.... I want them in all cylnders and about 500$ major serivce with timing belt and pump.

it's goin to be a 2day job cuz i wanted to get rid of the shuddering or vibrations when i switch the car over to petrol. mechanic said it needs the injectors cleaned probably new ones cuz the previous owner might have run it on gas too long. thats goin to add to the service costs.

anything else you guys think thats worth checking in a 98 magna with 180,000kms.

taking it back to the dealer tommorrow cuz the cassette-radio and heater are not working. the radio lights come with the rest of the interior lights but nothing else. once the radio-cassette connections are fixed, I will get rid of it and stick a cd player in there.

Comfort vs handling will always be a trade off. I have 18s and lowered/harder springs with KYB shocks and its by no means uncomfortable. I found the stock verada 16s and rubber to not be very in touch with the road at all

From the big phat rule book:

(i) Vehicles manufactured on or after 1 January 1973 (ADR 24) are not permitted to increase or decrease the diameter of the wheel by more than 50 mm than the largest or smallest wheel listed on the tyre placard.

(j) The overall diameter of a wheel and tyre fitted to a vehicle manufactured on or after 1 January 1973 (ADR 24) must not be more than 15 mm greater than the largest tyre size listed on the tyre placard and not more than 15 mm less than the smallest tyre size listed on the placard. Specifications for overall tyre diameters are listed in the Tyre and Rim Standards Manual, issued by the Tyre and Rim Association of Australia.

When selecting aftermarket wheel rims for a motor vehicle, ensure that the offset of the rim does not vary by more than 13mm from the original rim fitted by the vehicle manufacturer. This will ensure that the wheel track is not increased by more than 26mm beyond the maximum specified by the vehicle manufacturer.

What does this mean?

RIM DIAMETER +/- 50mm stock
TYRE DIAMATER +/- 15mm stock
TRACK +/- 26mm (and can't come out from further than the body work)

Thank you! Come again!
Ding!

Ok, i know from experience about the whole 2" rim size difference. Here's the story - I have 18" rims and i got pulled over for a RBT one day and the cop asked me what size my rims were and then he checked out my tyre placard and asked me if i had an "Engineers Certificate" for the rims. I didn't know that i needed an EC so i told him no and he said im only legally allowed to go up to 17's. He told me he would be sending out a defect notice in 4 weeks and i would have to change the wheels to 17's or get an Engineers Certificate on the rims i had.
Anyway..... i booked my car in to get the wheel track and all that checked out and about $500 later and its all legal. Its a pretty long and pricey process u gotta go through to get em legal. 1st u gotta get the wheel track etc etc checked out by an Engineer and pay $220+ just for him to check it wheather it passes of fails. Then u gotta pay about $110 for a modification plate and certificate to be made up and then secure the modification plate in the engine bay. Then u have to get your car weighed. Then get a blue slip and then goto the RTA and get new registration papers which have the new weight and have noted on it that u have an engineers cert for the rims.
All in all i think its a pain in the a$$ if u ask me. Theres my 50c worth anyway.

I think I'll stick to 17s ... 18s not worth extra fees and fines.

Here you go mate!

http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/Wheel-sizes-t178011.html

-Daniel
That's for SA, it has come to my attention that it sucks to be in SA lol, this guys in vic, he can go 18's/19's as long as he doesn't change the overall diameter by more than 15mm.

*EDIT*
I just read the date on that and it states 2003, Bain has informed me that the change was made in 2004.
So it must have been an old rule that has now been abolished.

just picked up some NGK platinum spark plugs for the LPG magna. 6 for 65$. part BKR5EGP. service due tommorrow. what do you think.... good price I hope.

Although they cant hurt, fancy plugs are not really needed when the std service length for a regular plug is 30,000km for the front bank and 60,000km for the rear.

Your plugs will last longer than that though, being a better quality metal.