DaZzA's Drift S13

Give that SR20 gbox some love

2009-11-15T01:23:00.003+11:00

I have two spare SR20 gearboxes but instead of chucking them in and smashing them in a few laps I'm selling at least one of them to fund the RB25 box. So through dad's trade account with CBC bearings i got all the ball bearings for entire gearbox for about $60 which was pretty good and hopefully allow me to sell it easier then some unknown trashed item.

All stripped down and cleaned

New bearings + gears all back together

All back together with selectors

Sealed up ready for sale

Adapter plate for RB25 ordered and should be here early next week.

Until then, uni exams.. fml..

Drift Attack Aftermath + Videos

2009-11-06T19:49:00.006+11:00

Recovered from Drift Attack I began inspecting the damage. First off the gearbox came out and stripped down, it was pretty clear what the problem is.

3rd gear and the counter shaft are history. I have spare sr20det gearboxes but if I replace it with another SR box its going to blow again and again so selling up these spares and funding an RB25 gearbox conversion.

With luck, it should all be done for next practice day on the 20th of December.

Car on stands straight after an event is never a good thing

Some of the few videos i got:

Drift Attack

2009-11-02T21:46:00.005+11:00

Saturday saw us getting packed up and ready for Vic Drift's Drift Attack at Winton Raceway. What a huge day it was, finally by midnight we were all set and got some much needed shut eye before the big day. Waking up at 3:30am hitting the road by 4 for the journey up, we had about 4 cars with us so it was an alright trip.

At the track we unpacked and got ready for the first practice session of the day, thanks to Sean Pidwell for saving us a covered pit spot! With the car prepped and ready first practice session was on, the car was feeling good through the rear 'M' section but on the judged 'S' section I couldn't seem to nail the first entry. Toward the end of practice it was starting to happen but I wasn't happy with it - needed to improve, fast.

With qualifying up we switched tyres, adjusted the tyre pressure and headed out to do the 2 laps. I managed a pretty clean first run and backed it up with an average 2nd run, running a bit wide on the exit onto the straight. Result equaled 6th spot on the list. I was really happy with that.

During open practice we changed the tyres again and the car had even more grip and was flying through the rear section. After about 6 laps on entry into the front section disaster, 3rd gear blew. With no spare gearbox and much disappointment all round, our day was over.

All in all it was an excellent day, good to get some long needed track time in my own car, the first in 2.5 years I might add. We learnt a lot about the car and will definitely be tweaking a few things for December 20th practice day. Starting with a new gearbox or maybe an RB25 Gearbox Conversion mmmm :)

I'd like to thank:

- Donny from Street Forced - Huge thanks for towing the car and doing all my pit work

- Trent & Cat from Status Tuning - Trent's tunes are bulletproof car ran flawlessly all day even in the heat.

- Phil from Frankston Tyrepower - Big thanks for heading up with us and lending a hand in the pits.

- Chris from Frankston Tyrepower - Always squeezes me in for my epic alignments

- Seb - Thanks for helping in the pits changing my tyres and other stuff

- Jamie - Always lending a hand where I need it and filming

More pics/vids to come =)

Long update + vid

2009-10-25T23:04:00.009+11:00

Been a while since i've wrote an update so here is the last month and a bits work.

Made up a cardboard template for the rear seat + parcel shelf, traced onto .6mm aluminium sheet and cut it out. Turned out quite good.

Final product had to be sprayed satin black as the raw sheet was just way too bright with the sun on it, 100x worse than high beams in the rear view.

I got my hands on a dirt cheap bride RO rail thats for an R32 that had been hack-modded into an s13 drivers side rail. A day with some offcuts of steel, welder and grinder soon turned it into a nicely fitting passenger rail.

Also welded a bracket on for harness eye bolt as I had none of the big plates with the nuts welded on them.

Finally forked out and bought a Bride FG rail so I was able to install my VIOS III seat. Its SO good, with the Takata harness I don't move an inch.

Today I made up some steering lock stoppers. At the moment the wheels at full lock either hit the chassis rail or the castor rod. Design credit goes to "DVS JEZ" off NS.com.

to -> to ->

They work a charm.

On Monday I got another tune up at Status Tuning. Last tune something went south with the alternator and was not charging the battery so the tune was done with a battery charger set to jump start mode. After checking it out the next day turns out the battery globe in the dash cluster is required to complete the charging circuit. Removed + replaced and it all worked. GRRR. With a fully charging battery at 14.4v the mixtures were about 10% off so we were able to get a few more rwkw's on the same boost.

Will update with some more pics and new height tomorrow. Almost ready for Drift Attack in 1 week's time!

First wash

2009-09-06T20:29:00.001+10:00

Ahh nice and clean..

Plan to install the roll cage and drop the rear tomorrow :)

Watch for more pics

Tune Results!!

2009-09-01T23:22:00.003+10:00

Well I made it. Just. Got the car down to Status Tuning late afternoon and got it on the dyno around 7pm.

And so the tuning began (after a chicken nugget feast :P )

We made an easy 260rwkw on 17psi. We were quite surprised how easy it pulled the numbers with stuff all timing, in fact 3 degrees less timing across the board than what we expected to run.

Its absolutely awesome to drive and I can't wait to get it to Winton to do some real testing, however that wont be until the next event as there's still a fair amount of small things to tidy up around the car, I decided not to rush things and just hold out 1 more event.

This will give me some time to get used to the new setup, bed in all those new bushes and wait for any leaks to pop up - hopefully none do!

For now, the next step is the car wash LOL!

Getting ready for tune

2009-08-31T22:48:00.000+10:00

Today was the big day, tuning. At first light it was straight to Nordens to get the wastegate vac lines. It is amazing how easy it is to assemble braided lines in very size other than a -6.

With a host of other stuff to be done by 2pm time was scarce.. and then the rain came *joy*

Wastegate lines made up, the hotpipe and intake pipe.

I also made up some snazzy fuse cover labels

Engine, constant power, ignition switched power, accessories power. Respectively.

1 piece brake lines, for less chance of leakage.

Tune results soon (hopefully!)

Exhaust

2009-08-27T19:47:00.004+10:00

Today I towed the car to FastFit in Frankston to get the turbo hotpipe, intake pipe and also some exhaust work done as my straight pipes look like they have been put together by a backyarder with welding skills of a 12 year old.

The cat back is all finished and came up rather nice, although it could still do with a polish up.

Next updata should have intake pipe and hotpipe complete :)

Alignment

2009-08-24T19:04:00.003+10:00

Well it was an effort but I made the 4pm deadline to get the car wheel aligned at Tyrepower. With the brake lines all connected up it took a fair while to bleed the brakes as there was no fluid at all in the system, they are still a little spongy so they probably need another bleed soon or maybe an upgrade to an r33 master cylinder.

For some strange reason the car is way out of tune which makes no sense since it used to run perfectly fine and not much has changed engine wise except for the td06 turbo from a 2871r. Doesn't really matter, it is booked in for a tune next Monday at Status Tuning, pending the completion of the exhaust and piping.

It is good to see it sitting on the ground at a some-what decent height. I will drop the rears another 15mm or so and the fronts maybe another 5mm.

Will get more pics of brake hardware up soon.

Blue/Red... The New Gold

2009-08-21T22:35:00.001+10:00

All these Speedflow fittings are costing a fortune even with a 25% trade discount. But they definitely look the part and are much better then rubber hoses with barbed fittings and hose clamps (yuck).

Power steering components + some more brake stuff

Power steering tank

It was unbelievably hard to get that -10 supply line on grrrr..

Pump area

Will get some more pics of the rack side soon.

I was able to borrow a rivnut gun and a bag of m6 nuts, these things are brilliant.

Fire extinguisher also mounted ready for track days

More soon.

Rear Suspension

2009-08-17T22:18:00.005+10:00

Well it has been a very busy past couple of days. On Saturday I was able to wire up the boost controller, cable tie up the last of the loose conduit, etc. Now it looks very neat indeed. In various places I replaced the existing conduit with some much smaller stuff as it was quite bulky and also reworked some of wiring at the fuse area - some items were combined into 1 fuse.

On Sunday, I woke up expecting to be flat out installing the subframe in, however the weather had other plans. Luckily the rain, hail and wind stopped for a few hours where I was able to get it installed. Big thanks to the ToF for lending a hand in the sub-zero temperatures.

Today brought better conditions with some good progress. I Managed to get the rear coilovers, rear swaybar and rear rotors all on. The handbrake drums got adjusted in and cables connected up so it now has a working handbrake.

With still a few hours left in the day I was able to race over to Dandenong to get some of brake fittings, mostly for the rear as I'm waiting for new Federal 215/40 tyres and some 30mm bolt on spacers so I can properly route the brake lines to avoid any rubbing at full lock.

After getting the fittings I spent an extra few hours at night under work lights and was able to knock over both sides of the rear brake lines. I love assembling Teflon lines compared to braided rubber.

More updates coming...

Front Suspension

2009-08-15T21:42:00.004+10:00

Today I fitted all the front suspension components, bar ride height.

Coilovers, tie rods, tie rod ends, castor rods, swaybars, lca's, knuckles and hubs are all bolted up.

Due to the size of the tie rod offset adapter I used some Repco universal rack boots. They were a bit of a squeeze to get on but they did work out pretty nice.

With everything bolted on I was able to get a first hand look at how much extra lock the knuckles will give me.. - It's HUGE.

The wheels on there are 17x8 +38 with a 27MM bolt on spacer, tyre is a 225/45/17. This was just a test fit to get an idea of what might scrub. So far from lock to lock the wheel goes from castor rod right to the chassis. Everything else seems to clear fine.

I suspect when I get the Uras 17x9 +30's on with 215/40/17s and a 30mm bolt on spacer things should be pretty similar.

Tomorrow I hope to have the subframe and all the brakes bolted up to start measuring up brake line lengths.

Hopefully a first drive early next week!

NP Wonder Knuckles

2009-08-13T00:18:00.000+10:00

I sent my knuckles and LCA's off to Nigel to work his magic. Got them back this week and can't wait to test these out.

With the new knuckles they are 30mm shorter, 20mm less ackerman, 25mm less bump steer.

Also the LCA's have been scalloped out for super dooper steering lock.

Finally, got these Tie Rod Offset spacers, these help to run big steering lock with quite decent castor without any binding issues :)

(Thanks to Nigel for the pic^)

Should have the entire footworks done by the end of the weekend :)

Uras wheels now in white

2009-08-12T14:55:00.003+10:00

I've had the Uras 17x9's that im going to use on the front stripped down and powder coated in gloss white. I managed to find a powder coater only a 10 minute drive from home and they did a pretty good job I must say.

Came up like brand new!

Ordering some Federal 215/40's to run on them soon. Going to try a 40 profile to help with clearance with the copious amount of steering lock i'll have (more on this soon).

Those underside pics I promised...

2009-08-08T22:53:00.003+10:00

Here they are..

I do need to repaint the gearbox crossmember as its got some yellow overspray on it. One day.

New goodies

2009-07-30T23:14:00.001+10:00

As my 5 stud hubs are a custom unit, the thickness is slightly larger than that of a stock unit. This makes the stock wheel studs quite a bit shorter, not wanting to risk losing a wheel(s) at the track I orderd some Nismo 50mm long studs off Streeter.

Now pressed into the hubs..

The new lower control arm ball joints have arrived and I wasted no time pressing them into the arms along with some new polyurethane bushes from Super-Pro.

While the arms were stripped down, I took the opportunity to weld around the bushing mounts as visually they don't look that beefy.

Also welded underneath them..

New bushes and ball joints installed..

Subframe complete minus swaybar. Should be installed into the car in the next couple of days!

Look out for a running video clip soon!

Ignition #2 & Fuel system

2009-07-20T21:59:00.000+10:00

After the somewhat disappointing first attempt, I was hoping for a smooth 2nd attempt.

I decided to finish off the fuel system in the boot, with the surge tank hooked, 044 and earls inline filter hooked up. I used aluminium tube for the lines as they reasonably cheap to do and after seeing a few setups from some other guys around NS.com I thought i'd give it a shot.

It came up OK. I wasnt completely happy with it as the positions of the ports on my surge tank made it a bit difficult to bend the lines so they were neat. The tubing kinks and flattens extremely easy which made things quit frustrating when trying to get nice 90* bends.

Also connected the fuel lines to the other side of the bulkheads. I like this approach instead of feeding the hoses straight through the boot floor.

So it was time to start it up again, gave it a few cranks and it fired up straight away. Checked around the engine so far no leaks, all is good. So I move on to check the fuel system in the boot all looks good there too!

Then I check engine again and then the boot and can see some liquid just under one of the fittings, yep fuel leak. The line from the feed pump to the surge tank is leaking. I tried tightening it up but made no difference. After a quick touch to the line itself the problem was clear - the flare on the pipe had broken off.

Being 8PM I called it a night.

Been pretty slack taking pictures, will hopefully have some more up soon instead of text only posts :P

Ignition!! For a while..

2009-07-13T00:30:00.000+10:00

Well it is finally time to start it up. Over 2 years since it has been running and a completely new wiring system I had no idea what dramas I was in for.

However.... I was pleasently supprised that after a few cranks with the CAS unplugged to bring up oil pressure, it started on 3rd crank and idled perfectly. With only the Trust dump/front pipe on and a few blips of the throttle it made me very very happy..

Until...

A few minutes into bringing it up to operating temp, I heard a rather loud crack and it didnt take very long to figure out what it was...

The front timing cover has cracked. Joy turned to rage, swearing commenced. It didnt take long to figure out why it had cracked either.

When I removed the engine when I first started stripping, an oil jet that sits behind the cover to lubricate the chain had popped out. After pulling the engine down to replace it, I don't have a metal headgasket so the stock gasket broke off as soon as the cover was removed. Only using gasket goo to seal the area there would of been an abnormal gap of about 1mm. Enough that when the top 2 bolts were tightened up they streched the cover up to meet the head. The vibrations of the engine were more then enough to crack it.

Without wasting much time I spoke to Donny at Street-Forced about the problem and he has plenty of spare covers. So that night I made the trip to Packenham to grab another. I also grabbed a new front main seal just to be safe.

While this is almost an engine out job, I can tell you it is doable with it still in the car. Since i dont have any front suspension connected I just had to support the engine with a crane or trolly jack on the gearbox, undo the engine mounts and the 4 nuts holding the cross member up. Off came the alternator, both sumps, oil pickup, coil packs, rocker cover, CAS gear, radiator + fans and probably more stuff that im forgetting.

Approx 3 days later and it is all back together ready for round 2..

Results soon.

Fuel Tank and Sender

2009-07-11T22:19:00.000+10:00

Well the fuel tank came up quite good after a few licks of paint.

After getting the tank into the car and feeding the wiring from the sender I noticed that most of the wires to the unit were very brittle and some of the insulation has broken away. Sure enough when I moved the plug one snapped clean off.

These things are a bastard to deal with as the connections are sealed and there is no way you can join it back on. Not wanting to buy another unit I ripped off the yellow caps and devised a method using some metal threads and nylon washers.

The nylon washer insulates the lug against the frame of the unit. Worked a treat.

Stay tuned for more :)

Out With The Old.. In With The New..

2009-07-09T23:27:00.005+10:00

Now that the subframe is ready, I started bolting on the new Kazama camber, toe and traction rods, along with the driveshafts and 2way diff.

The only item left for the cradle is the lower control arms, however I am waiting for some new ball joints to arrive. Originally I was to run Moonface Racing Roll Centre Adjusters, however with funds running low and the Japanese Yen not so great they were not a viable option at the moment. They will definetely be a future addition though.

I also started work on the fuel tank. A common problem with S13's are the metal baffle inside the tank breaking loose and rattling around. My tank had its baffle break off a long time ago, so I set out to buy a 2nd hand tank to replace it. I managed to find one for pretty cheap with its baffles still intact, however the drive home or something (shit luck?) when I got home and took it into the garage I heard something quite lose inside the tank - sure enough the baffle had broken off.

That was some time ago, now that I am almost ready to crank the engine over I decided I would have an attempt at repairing the baffles which are only held in with spot welds and the sheet metal is extremely thin and flexible. I drilled out the 4 spot welds and was able to hold the baffle up to the tank and then reweld them on then grind down the excess weld on top for a smooth finish. It came up quite good.

Underneath the car has finally been given a final coat and I must say it looks fantastic - although my neck still hurts and I think there is still some paint in my hair but oh well.

Next update will have more pics..

Subframe and Misc

2009-07-06T23:35:00.008+10:00

It is extremely nice to see things taking shape. The subframe has been cleaned and sprayed up in a colour I wasnt expecting (thanks VHT) however it doesnt look too shabby.

The new Noltec subframe bushes have been pressed in after I made up some jigs from some flat steel welded onto some square hollow section to get it in the press to make life easier. Also chucking the bushes into the freezer overnight helped the process.

As my last Pivot water temp sensor is unrepairable due to the wires breaking off at the very base of the sensor, I got Streeter to ship me out a new one for real cheap. This time I have taken precautions against what I think is a pretty bad design from Pivot.

I got some heatshrink from Jaycar, the thickest stuff I could find. Cut off a small peice and shrinked it around the sensor socket and a couple of cm's of the wiring, after it cooled down it gave really good support for the wires and took the pressure away from the base of the sensor, so if it does happen to break I will be able to solder on some new wire and not have to replace the sensor.

I installed my alloy overflow tank and while it looks the part, I was a bit disappointed by the fitment of it. After a little tweaking of the mounting tabs it seems to fit alright and clears bonnet - thankfully.

Also made up a bracket for the oil filter relocater that sits in the factory fuel filter position, I figured it was the prefect spot as I will be running an inline filter in the boot and I really don't want to have to drill extra holes in the strut tower or chassis rails.

Last of all the horn is now installed and connected up and the front wiring loom tucked underneath the rad support.

More soon...

Never ending...

2009-07-03T23:45:00.005+10:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks with some very decent and very shit weather. The brake calipers have been finished off with the new seals and dust boots installed. When I sprayed the calipers I didnt mask off the "NISSAN" stamp as that would require far too much effort, a better way IMO is to spray the whole thing (not the piston bores of course), take a good flat file and shave them down, finishing off with some 400-800 grit wet/dry. Turns out quite good for minimal effort!

Moving onto painting underneath - finally. I now know why I have been putting this job off for many months. For anyone out there planning on building a track only car and wanting to go the full mile you cannot go past paying someone with a rotissary - or at very minimum doing this on a hoist. Laying on your back painting up just isnt fun. At all. But I must say after the 1st coat it has come up quite well, I have seen the underside of plenty of S13's before and the effort is well worth it.

I only have pics of the prep work, will upload some of the final product soon..

Now that the car is on stands, the subframe has been stripped down again.... stock arms chucked on the junk pile and I have started removing the subframe bushes. This was a pretty big job as I didnt have any pipe big enough that could be used as a drift to use the press to remove them so instead I used a rather large cold chisel and a big hammer to fold the flared lip over and then bash straight down on either sides to remove them.

It worked quite well, had to use the oxy to assist with removing the rubber centre's on 2 of them, the other 2 centre's just fell out like busted engine mounts as they were completely cracked right through to the outer casing. If I had to remove these on another car, id probably invest in an airsaw to make a slit down both sides to make life a lot easier.

Also started on the fuel system, I slightly changed my plans for the lines, I am going to use aluminium tube with Speedflow sleeve's and nuts. It is much cheaper this way but the down side is that the tube is very hard to bend to correct shape without kinking or flattening it. One day I will re-do the system using Speedflow Teflon Braided hose, as this prevents any fuel smell that standard rubber braided line gives off.

First line done.

More new later this week + plenty of pics!

Gaaaassssp MANY new pics!

2009-06-20T21:15:00.010+10:00

Well with all my Uni exams out of the way I can finally focus on getting the car running..

My wishes after the last post were to have more productive weekends - yeh right, didnt happen. Over the past week I have got stuck into getting all the suspension components cleaned, painted and ready to be bolted on.

Removing the bushes from the knuckles was at first easy, the toe side pressed out with ease, the camber requied the help of the Oxy to burn the rubber and then use an old socket to bash the outer casing out, however the traction side was proving to be a stubborn little f**k.. in the end it was brute force from a cold chisel to make a split down the middle to get it out - huge effort.

Getting the new polyurethane bushes in was quite easy, the 2 outer peices just push in and then the metal crush tube can be inserted with a normal clamp.

Front and rear knuckles ready to go. At some stage I would like to upgrade to the GP sports Hyper/Super knuckles or maybe even a "cut and shut" variety of the stock ones. I was never short of lock when the car was running so for now stock with rack spacers will do the job. Also gave the front and rear whiteline swaybars a coat of red to match the full Kazma arm set.

I had to strip down one end on one of the driveshafts because the end cap had fallen out and quite a lot of dirt and grit had made its way in over the 2 years they have been stored away.

Also cleaned and painted ready the handbrake drums ready to install the new Uras handbrake shoes, didnt get around to assembling them today but its on the list for tomorrow.

Wait theres more....

I've also picked up caliper rebuild kits for both the front and rear brakes so ive stripped the calipers down and decided to give them a coat of paint too. Was originally going to get them powder coated but too much effort - i'm not that ricey.

In photos it looks more like a pink colour but in real life its very red. The NISSAN writing will be sanded back to a machined finished which I think looks quite good. The old seals from the calipers stripped out aswell.

Another random pic of finishing up today's work under spotlight. Just got a new oil cooler core from MidnightMods, the B&M that i was using, while an excellent core it was simply overkill and very difficult to mount anywhere else than between the radiator and FMIC. The new smaller core should be able to be mounted where the wiper washer bottle used to sit on the drivers side.

To Be Continued.................

Boring....

2009-06-10T20:23:00.002+10:00

Well not much has happened recently due to University exam period, forcing myself to study instead of working on the car is proving quite difficult as the weather has supprisingly been quite good.

After next week I hope to work quite solidly to get the car ready for perhaps its first track day in a loooong time on July 20th. May or may not make it, will have to see...

Home sweet home

2009-05-15T18:14:00.002+10:00

On Friday I picked up the car from Ross, I must say its an awesome feeling to have it back home again.

After around 5ish months it is such a good feeling to have it back in the garage. Now that the wiring is complete it is all on me to do the final assembling of the suspension and a few engine ancillaries fitted.

This weekend however, has been rather sluggish. Spending most of Saturday cleaning crap out of the garage to squeeze the car in at nights. Also that night a mate of mine had his clutch slave cylinder die, only being 10 mins away from my place left the car here over night.

Sunday early afternoon was spend swapping it over and bleeding. With not a huge amount of daylight left I finished up connecting the hot wire to the alternator, fitting the door trims and window switches.

Next weekend hopefully proves more productive

TFIF... well almost

2009-05-13T22:22:00.005+10:00

Friday is the day. THE day. We have pretty much completed the wiring at last!

After speaking with Ross today we have completed the wiring for the most part, id say 95%. There is still minor stuff to be done such as soldering on a couple of connectors for some of the indicators but in the grand scheme of things thats not really a priority and the gauges also need to be connected to the fuse block, but thats about it.

Once I get the car back it *should* be smooth sailing to getting it running and hit the track for a loooong overdue session.

Deciding against buying junk out from Taiwan and/or China, ive opted to go with a full set of Kazama Rear Adjustable Arms (camber, toe and traction). Thanks to Jesse Streeter these should be here late next week.

Some *almost* finished pictures:

The wires over the drivers side are for the gauges, yet to be hooked up and just sitting there for dummy purposes :P

We changed our design slightly to allow a small fusebox dedicated for ECU/Engine components, so this should almost mean a plug and play setup for any engine (RB25, RB26, 1JZ, 2Jz) noo shit..

Theres a few tubes that will be cable tied up to make it a little neater aswell.

More updates soon

And thats 2 years...

2009-05-05T21:41:00.005+10:00

Today marks 2 years exactly since I last drove the s13, after many hiccups, it looks like the light at the end of that tunnel is starting to shine..!

Over the weekend I have been helping Ross in getting the wiring finished, in the past 4 days much progress has been made and I'm totally amped up to possibly have it back by this weekend coming..

This evening I went over to see Ross pulling in some late hours on the car to get it done ASAP as we have been pretty unlucky with unforseen events stringing the wiring job out for several months over what was predicted.

We started powering some systems up, brake lights, headlights, indicators & hazards, reverse lights are all going with only a few power feeds left to wire up, the gauges, boost controller and finish the ECU loom and should be able to call it a day. :D

Of course pics speak louder than words so....

The master at work.. We had a total of around 10 wires in total running to the rear of the car, which is down from like 100

The new fuse panel which is completely accessible while the dash is in (even buckled up in the drivers seat). Also the loom for the engine bay completely tucked away from the wheels.

More useless wiring - plenty more where that came from...

Hopefully I should have some weekly updates from here on :)

Wiring continues

2009-03-09T17:18:00.003+11:00

Well what a long time its been, not much has happened, infact nothing has happened. Since Ross has been away overseas the car has been locked up in his workshop, finally his back and has been working hard over the past week to get us back on track to finally finish the wiring.

After stopping in today we are hopeful to have some accessories powered up by the end of the week :)

Also this weekend I got outside and cleaned up the tailshaft and diff half shafts ready to go back on once the car is back home.

Of course there must always be pics:

Holidays & wiring

2009-01-08T00:29:00.002+11:00

Well for the past 3 weeks i have been relaxing in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast on holidays for Christmas and New Years, weather is much better here than Melbourne.

That doesn’t mean there is no progress to report on the car. I have picked up a new person to fully re-wire the car, and what a legend he is. Ross Nicol from Abbey Sound is going over the entire car making a new loom for the body from scratch as well as modifying the engine loom, removing all dead weight.

Ross is off to New Zealand at the end of the month to race one of his many cars, so hopefully when I return next week he will have finished the wiring and ill almost be able to crank the motor over and see if the thing still runs.

Fingers crossed.

Parts List rev3

2008-11-25T01:12:00.002+11:00

Well since I've gone from a simple drift damage fix exercise to a full blown out build naturally ive changed my mind on several things along the way. Many new parts are getting added almost weekly (along with a dwindling bank account), here is what should come out once its all finished :)

Engine Head:
- JUN 264/264 11.5MM Cams
- JUN Valve Springs
- JUN Chrome molly Valve Retainers
- GIZZMO Phenolic intake plennum gasket
- TOMEI Rocker Arm Stoppers
- FIDANZA Cam Gears IN & EX
- New valve stem seals
- Port and polished

Engine Block / Induction / Exhaust:
- TRUST TD06-L2-20g Turbo
- TRUST Manifold
- TRUST External Wastegate & screamer pipe
- TRUST Dump + Front pipe
- TRUST Oil Sump
- TRUST Oil Cap
- APEXI Power Intake
- A.R.T Billet Oil Filter Adapter
- ARP Flywheel Bolts
- CIRCUIT SPORTS Light weight pulleys
- NISMO 740CC Injectors
- BOSCH Z32 AFM + Plug
- CUSTOM De-Cat pipe
- CUSTOM Straight pipe cat back (dual tips)
- Magnetic Sump plug
- Clear CAS Cover

Cooling:
- TRUST LS Spec Intercooler
- TRUST Air Diversion Plate
- B&M Oil Cooler & Thermostat
- B&M Oil Filter Relocation
- B&M Oil Thermostat
- BILLION Power Steering Tank
- CIRCUIT SPORTS Alloy overflow tank
- GATES Blue Radiator Hoses
- MIDNIGHT MODS 40mm Alloy Radiator
- CUSTOM Alloy Catch Can
- SPEEDFLOW Braided Oil Turbo lines
- SPEEDFLOW Braided Catch Can & Oil Cooler Lines
- SPEEDFLOW Braided Power Steering lines
- Twin Thermo Fan Setup + Shroud

Fuel:
- BOSCH 044 External Pump
- CUSTOM Surge Tank
- SPEEDFLOW Lines
- Walbro GSS-342 Feed pump

Driveline:
- BLITZ Active Twin Plate Clutch & Flywheel
- ENDLESS Super Street Sports Pads
- KAAZ 2 Way LSD
- NISMO Release Pivot
- NISMO Engine Mounts
- NISMO Gearbox Mount
- MALTECH Braided Clutch Line
- MALTECH Braided Brake Lines
- URAS Handbrake Shoes
- RDA Front & Rear Slotted Rotors
- MIDNIGHT MODS Short Shifter
- Skyline drum handbrake
- Braided brake lines
- 5 Stud Conversion with R33 GTS-T Brakes

Suspension
- TRUST Type-S Coilovers (8kg/6kg)
- TRUST front strut brace
- TRUST rear strut brace
- TEIN Tie Rods
- TEIN Tie Rod Ends
- D-PROJECT Lower Arm Brace
- D-PROJECT Steering Rack Bushes
- NOLTEC Polyerethane Replacement Subframe Bushes
- KAZAMA Caster Rods
- KAZAMA Toe Arms
- KAZAMA Camber Arms
- KAZAMA Traction Arms
- URAS Pineapples
- WHITELINE Front/Rear Adjustable Swaybars
- Solid Steering Shaft Spacer
- Seam welded strut towers and engine bay
- Reinforced subframe - braces welded up around the suspension arms & extra welding around the seams
- Reinforced castor channels - braces welded inside

Interior
- BRIDE VIOS III Low Max Drivers Seat
- BRIDE Ergo Passenger Seat
- TRUST Twin A-Pillar Mount
- TRUST Shit Knob
- TAKATA Harness
- D1 SPEC Quick Release Hub
- SAFETY 21 half cage
- Drift Button
- Fully stripped interior (carpet/sound deadening/trimming)
- Resprayed Bright Yellow

Exterior
- D-MAX D1 spec carbon fiber bonnet
- URAS 20mm wide front fenders
- URAS type 4 kit
- S13 JDM Square headlights
- Origin Labs Carbon GT Wing
- URAS Smoked Front Bar Indicators
- Smoked Tail lights
- Smoked Corner Indicators
- Cusco Blue Rocker Cover
- Ganador Style Mirrors
- Ferrari Yellow body / Black roof
- Underside completely stripped back, all heavy sealant / sound deadening removed - Repainted in special subframe paint

Electrical / Audio
- PAINLESS WIRING race car fuse box
- APEXI PowerFC
- BLITZ SBC i-Colour
- BLITZ Spark i-Burner kit
- TRUST Remote Damper Adjusting Control Unit
- PIVOT Boost Gauge
- PIVOT Water Temp Gauge
- PIVOT Oil temp gauge
- PIVOT Oil Pressure Gauge
- PIONEER 5750 Headunit
- SPLITFIRE Ignition System / Coilpacks
- SCHNEIDER 6.5" S-602C Splits
- 6000K GT HID's
- Complete custom re-wire

Naturally, a car is never finished.. Future plans include aftermarket/custom intake plennum, dogbox and maybe a few other bits and peices.

Also taking ideas for rims to suit!!

Its all happening..

2008-11-21T21:01:00.002+11:00

Car is still at DT-Panels, the guys were kind enough to fit on all the lights, door seals and all other random body stuff for me. They even refit the dash! Vu is a legend.

Once I get the car back ill immediately be able to get the custom wiring loom made up for it, then get to work on fitting all the suspension items. Depending how long wiring takes, Decemeber 20th practice might be pushing it :(

Some pics..

Finally....

2008-11-14T21:10:00.003+11:00

Well after a LONG wait, the car is finally being painted. The guys at DT Panels have done an awesome job with it! All the windows and windscreens have been removed, the rear gaurds have been flared out to fit some nicely sized wheels (not exactly sure what yet though).

Got some updated pics and I cant wait to get this back and get all the footworks and wiring sorted so it can hit the track ASAP.

BIG things happening..

2008-10-20T23:02:00.003+11:00

Well the car is on the ground rolling *again*.. Its finally off to DT Panels for the final paint and panel work this Wednesday! Once painted I can finally get to work on bolting the rest of the aftermarket gear on such as FMIC, oil cooler, radiator etc. Also brand new suspension components and bushes to replace every stock arm and bush on the entire car :)

Some pics as promised:

Today I also picked up my engine loom off Trent up at StatusTuning. His completely redone the loom longer connectors for the ignitor module so it can be relocated away from the turbo and other heat sources. Once the car is painted I will get onto ordering the Painless wiring kit from the US, however with the exchange rate, not looking forward to the bill :(

More pics to come..

Been a while..

2008-10-11T19:28:00.002+11:00

Well its been a while since I last updated this so here goes..

With the weather improving its been more motivating to get outside and do some work on the car. Without going into too much detail heres whats happened since:

Clutch bolted on
Engine and gearbox bolted back together and back in engine bay
Started painting the underside in subframe black
Sprayed steering rack and a host of other brackets
Probably lots more little boring things I can't think of right now

The car is rolling again on stock suspension as i'm making final preperations for it to be towed back to DT Panels for final body spray in Ferrari yellow with a black roof :)

Pics will be up shortly :)

Still here

2008-07-29T00:36:00.003+10:00

Well after a bit of a break (tof's cbf factor rubbing off :/ ... ) anyway on Sunday I braved the cold and rain, chucked on the work clothes and got stuck into the car. While motivated Anthony and I managed to get the following done:

TD06 kit bolted up
Gearbox all back together
Front crossmember painted & bolted back in
Changed the intake plennum gasket to a Gizzmo Phenolic item

Needless to say it was a pretty full on day and I was dead set on getting the clutch bolted on and dropping the engine and box in until I realised at 9PM I have no heater hoses. So will be grabbing those ready to put in some hours after work to see if we can get this thing back into DT Panels for the final respray in Ferrari Yellow.

Some pics:

Whats new??

2008-05-12T21:06:00.007+10:00

Well not a *great* deal has happened progress wise, unfortunately =(
However the spending of money into the project hasnt died down at all. Recently aquired the following goodies:

Blitz Active Twin Plate Clutch (thanks Trent @ StatusTuning):

Got this for stupidly cheap and will be great for handling the new turbo (read down =)

Nismo Engine & Gearbox mounts:

These are a great compromise for street & track. Going to be much easier on the ears than solid billet mounts that ive been offered.

Tein Tie Rods and Rod Ends:

Got these to replace the China junk that I was previously running, comes with tie rod spacers for extra look - always a good thing.

Nismo Clutch Pivot:

Stock items on the SR20 gearboxes have been known to snap leaving the car undrivable due to no clutch. The Nismo item is made from a stronger material - they claim 30% stronger than OEM.

The best part of all....

Trust TD06=L2-20g Turbo Kit:

I have sold off the 2871r in favour of this kit - a proven performer in the drift scene both locally and in the D1GP series. While they don't come cheap, it's definetely going to be well worth every dollar.

Thats all for now, hopefully it will be running soon *fingers crossed*

Shoppingzzzz

2008-03-15T15:38:00.004+11:00

Well its been a while so time for another update. I am now working full time so that means plenty of $$$ to spend on some more parts. This week I went to BT-Revolution and picked up a Blitz i-Colour and 2 Pivot gauges - oil temp and pressure.

Also earlier last month the Greddy sump arrived..

Meanwhile the loom should hopefully be almost complete as myself and Trent decided it would be much better to use a Painless Wiring system. The kits come with a pre-terminated fuse block with circuits for all the basics of a car with everything else stripped. Just a matter of connecting it all up.

More info here:

http://www.painlessperformance.com/assets/08Catalog/page32.pdf

Thats all for now, hopefully it will run soon... maybe?

Subframe dropped

2008-01-27T19:14:00.001+11:00

Today the subframe was dropped out of the car for a good degrease, pressure wash and then some paint. Also i'm going to brace it up by welding some extra metal in weak spots around where the diff sits to make it a bit stiffer.

I see YELLOW

2008-01-24T20:52:00.000+11:00

BIG props to Vu down at DT Panels in just 1 day his turned this:

Into this :O

Totally amazing, cannot wait to get this back here to put the engine and driveline back in. For now only the interior and engine bay has been painted so while putting everything back together i don't completely destroy a brand new paint job :)

Trent from Status Tuning will be wiring it up with a full custom loom, doing all the engine bay, headlights and right back to the fuel pump.

Really starting to come together at last :)

SR20 Power Plant

2008-01-14T22:01:00.000+11:00

Well its been a while, over a month (hmm)... not a lot has happened unfortunately, however over the past week or so I have been getting the motor all ready to go back in the shell. Its been fully stripped down, de-greased and the block painted in aluminium silver and all brackets in gloss black.

Also, I pullet down the alternator and power steering pump and whacked some new bearings and seals. I'm now just waiting on some gaskets, fittings and some braided line to bolt the turbo back on along with the intake plennum and fuel rail.

preview pic:

All the oil cooler lines will be redone in -10AN Speedflow 100 series braided lines with lots of fancy fittings :P

I am hoping to make Feb 9th Calder practice day, right now the engine is looking good and will be ready to go into the shell, which is now waiting for a spot at DT Panels to get sprayed up :D

The Build

2007-12-15T23:24:00.001+11:00

The list that was here is a little outdated so i thought id update it with a few more goodies that will end up going on the car. Basically we are down to our last 2 or so events for this year so theres no chance ill be able to enter anything this year. Hopefully the car will be going complete by the start of the 2008 season to make a full return :)

So here it is:

Engine Head:
- JUN 264/264 11.5MM Cams
- JUN Valve Springs
- JUN Chrome molly Valve Retainers
- GIZZMO Phenolic intake plennum gasket
- TOMEI Rocker Arm Stoppers
- FIDANZA Cam Gears IN & EX
- New valve stem seals
- Port and polished

Engine Block / Induction / Exhaust:
- TRUST TD06-L2-20g Turbo
- TRUST Manifold
- TRUST External Wastegate & screamer pipe
- TRUST Dump + Front pipe
- TRUST Oil Sump
- TRUST Oil Cap
- APEXI Power Intake
- A.R.T Billet Oil Filter Adapter
- ARP Flywheel Bolts
- CIRCUIT SPORTS Light weight pulleys
- NISMO 740CC Injectors
- BOSCH Z32 AFM + Plug
- CUSTOM De-Cat pipe
- CUSTOM Straight pipe cat back (dual tips)
- Magnetic Sump plug
- Clear CAS Cover

Cooling:
- TRUST LS Spec Intercooler
- TRUST Air Diversion Plate
- B&M Oil Cooler & Thermostat
- B&M Oil Filter Relocation
- B&M Oil Thermostat
- BILLION Power Steering Tank
- CIRCUIT SPORTS Alloy overflow tank
- GATES Blue Radiator Hoses
- MIDNIGHT MODS 40mm Alloy Radiator
- CUSTOM Alloy Catch Can
- SPEEDFLOW Braided Oil Turbo lines
- SPEEDFLOW Braided Catch Can & Oil Cooler Lines
- SPEEDFLOW Braided Power Steering lines
- Twin Thermo Fan Setup + Shroud

Fuel:
- BOSCH 044 External Pump
- CUSTOM Surge Tank
- SPEEDFLOW Lines
- Walbro GSS-342 Feed pump

Driveline:
- BLITZ Active Twin Plate Clutch & Flywheel
- ENDLESS Super Street Sports Pads
- KAAZ 2 Way LSD
- NISMO Release Pivot
- NISMO Engine Mounts
- NISMO Gearbox Mount
- MALTECH Braided Clutch Line
- MALTECH Braided Brake Lines
- URAS Handbrake Shoes
- RDA Front & Rear Slotted Rotors
- MIDNIGHT MODS Short Shifter
- Skyline drum handbrake
- Braided brake lines
- 5 Stud Conversion with R33 GTS-T Brakes

Suspension
- TRUST Type-S Coilovers (8kg/6kg)
- TRUST front strut brace
- TRUST rear strut brace
- TEIN Tie Rods
- TEIN Tie Rod Ends
- D-PROJECT Lower Arm Brace
- D-PROJECT Steering Rack Bushes
- NOLTEC Polyerethane Replacement Subframe Bushes
- KAZAMA Caster Rods
- KAZAMA Toe Arms
- KAZAMA Camber Arms
- KAZAMA Traction Arms
- URAS Pineapples
- WHITELINE Front/Rear Adjustable Swaybars
- Solid Steering Shaft Spacer
- Seam welded strut towers and engine bay
- Reinforced subframe - braces welded up around the suspension arms & extra welding around the seams
- Reinforced castor channels - braces welded inside

Interior
- BRIDE VIOS III Low Max Drivers Seat
- BRIDE Ergo Passenger Seat
- TRUST Twin A-Pillar Mount
- TRUST Shit Knob
- TAKATA Harness
- D1 SPEC Quick Release Hub
- SAFETY 21 half cage
- Drift Button
- Fully stripped interior (carpet/sound deadening/trimming)
- Resprayed Bright Yellow

Exterior
- D-MAX D1 spec carbon fiber bonnet
- URAS 20mm wide front fenders
- URAS type 4 kit
- S13 JDM Square headlights
- Origin Labs Carbon GT Wing
- URAS Smoked Front Bar Indicators
- Smoked Tail lights
- Smoked Corner Indicators
- Cusco Blue Rocker Cover
- Ganador Style Mirrors
- Ferrari Yellow body / Black roof
- Underside completely stripped back, all heavy sealant / sound deadening removed - Repainted in special subframe paint

Electrical / Audio
- PAINLESS WIRING race car fuse box
- APEXI PowerFC
- BLITZ SBC i-Colour
- BLITZ Spark i-Burner kit
- TRUST Remote Damper Adjusting Control Unit
- PIVOT Boost Gauge
- PIVOT Water Temp Gauge
- PIVOT Oil temp gauge
- PIVOT Oil Pressure Gauge
- PIONEER 5750 Headunit
- SPLITFIRE Ignition System / Coilpacks
- SCHNEIDER 6.5" S-602C Splits
- 6000K GT HID's
- Complete custom re-wire

christmas shopping

2007-12-07T17:59:00.000+11:00

Well this week quite a few parts have arrived namely a Bride VIOS III low max bucket seat. IMO these are the best! I drove a mates car which had one in it from Sydney to Melbourne with only 3x 10 min stops and didnt get a sore butt! They only weigh 6.5kg compared to the stock seats which are 14kg+

Also got some clear/smoked side indicators and Ganador style mirrors :)

Next up should be the GReddy oil sump and Tein tie rods + ends. Also hopefully some more pics and progress with the body work but with DriftFest around the corner everyone is flat out :(

Shell pics

2007-11-24T17:18:00.001+11:00

A few pics of the car as is:

At the moment its still at StreetForced place hopefully fully painted within the next couple of weeks.

Coilovers arrived, some progress!

2007-11-23T21:47:00.000+11:00

Well today the Greddy Type-S coilovers arrived, they look pretty damn good, 2way height adjustment, 8/6 spring rates, look to be worth every penny, cant wait to test em out. Still been real slow getting the shell prepped for paint, however the doors, rear antenna, roof liner, the entire electrical looms have all been removed.

The engine bay where I have welded up all useless holes have been bogged over and now need a sand back along with the rest of the car to be all primered up ready for colour and clear. For those that don't know this will be the colour we are going to be using.

We are going to use that yellow with a black roof along with the DMax carbon fibre bonnet should look pretty good. Uni for me is over thank god, hopefully we can get this car going before the year is out and be in full force at all events next year.

I also have a mate who's pretty artistic designing a full decal/vinyl layout of sponsors for the whole car hopefully have some prototypes up real soon.

progress... 0%

2007-11-02T16:05:00.000+11:00

Unfortunately nothing new to post and its been almost 10 lifetimes. Car is over at Street-Forced place waiting for some primer and paint. Once the car is painted and we have made the custom loom then everything should be smooth sailing as I can start to put the motor, gearbox and everything else back in!

Hopefully it will see some paint real soon as i'm finished uni and going to be quite lost without a car to drift in my 4 month break :/

1 step forward 3 back

2007-09-13T22:50:00.000+10:00

Seam welding is almost complete just a few areas left to go. Since we had to remove the dash when replacing the left strut tower and because I don't run rear seats because of the cage, I thought about painting the interior...

Today i set about removing what was left behind the dash, the metal bar, heater core and a bunch of other crap. Out came the seats and carpet and thought may as well remove the sound deadening while im at it!

We left with:

Also an overview of the seam welding:

Seam welding has begun

2007-09-08T19:16:00.001+10:00

Today I got the trusty MIG out and started welding the entire engine bay. Has come up pretty good except for a few places that are a bit dodgy but they will be ground down and fixed up in due course :D

Some more progress pics:

More progress

2007-09-05T19:33:00.000+10:00

Wow! 2 updates inside a week, all the drift damage has been fixed so its all starting to come together now. The kit, guards and bonnet have been fitted and its looking damn good! At the moment its sitting on stock suspension as I have decided to sell the HKS coilovers and go for the Greddy type-s, so its pretty 4WD spec right now but that wont be for too long :D

Some more preview pics:

We have progress!

2007-09-04T21:58:00.000+10:00

Yes! It has finally been towed to DT Panels where all the nasty suff is getting fixed up, we ended up deciding on replacing the left strut tower as well as a new rad support. Stopped in to have a look today and its really coming along, should be back home in the next couple of days for me to seam weld around the bay, firewall and trans tunnel, after that its finally going to be ready for some paint!

Prepping for seam welding

2007-07-29T17:57:00.000+10:00

Been a slow process only getting to work on the car a few hours a time lately, so far the drivers side wheel well and most of the engine bay has had all the seams cleaned out ready to be welded up, still got some bits in the engine bay to clean up and the passengers wheel well to go

Stut tower
Wheel well

On another note, thanks to garage13.com for the lending his spare drift car to me for the Calder practice night on Wednesday. Some might remember the blue sil80 when it was owned and driven by David Colwell in the Full Lock series a few years ago.

Unfortunately no pics :(

D-MAX CF Bonnet Landed

2007-07-22T20:07:00.001+10:00

Picked up my new dmax cf bonnet earlier in the week, straight out of the box looks to be worth every penny. Its weight compared to the stock S13 bonnet in unbelievable could carry this thing around with a couple of fingers :o

Have changed a few parts and added a few more parts to the list as the HKS Hipermax 2 coilovers have been sold as they are a little soft for serious competition drift. A pair of Greddy Type S coilovers will be on their way real soon.

The car has finally been fully stripped down to only having the rear subframe and front x-member left. The URAS Type 4 kit is only about 3 weeks off along with the URAS 20mm wide fenders, once these items arrive the car will finally be sent off to DT panels to be made pretty again :)

A few progress pics:
Rear
Front
Undercarriage looking back

mmmm clean

2007-06-29T16:14:00.000+10:00

Engine bay has been completely stripped with everything removed. Battery tray has been cut out as it will be relocated to the boot. 6 cans of degreaser later this is the end result :)

Car is now ready to go to DT Panels to have drift damage fixed and make it look all pretty =]

Stripping begins

2007-06-14T23:20:00.001+10:00

Motor and gearbox removed, started stripping the bay in preparation for the rad support to be straightened out and seam welding. Loom will also be cleaned, all useless connectors cut off, dodgy electrical tape cut and new stuff put on.

Thanks to sponsors and friends

2007-06-14T20:30:00.000+10:00

And anyone else i forgot to mention ^_^