Dale FZ1

Ok, full write up on the E85 modification path please.

Worn OEM radius rod bushes generally aren't hard to identify when buggered. Leaky silicone fluid from the guts is usually spread around the place. Going with spherical ends? Threaded adjustment is a good thing. If you've got knocking noises it never hurts to run over all the fasteners with a spanner. I traced a front end noise once to some slightly loose upper link bolts. I now use a longer breaker bar to tension those ones.

Mighty quick tarmac rally car that Subaru, traction on launch, and drive off every corner. Thanks to Duncan for his tech advice on how to post this youtube stuff.

I'd say probably some fully compressed valve spring length issues. As long as it's now a happy combination you should be set. VCT setup, or fixed cams now? Report back with some results please.

^^ Good work Neil. Is there something that breaks on a GTSt?? How about a report on the Avons (other than their ability to pickup bottle tops), and a bit of in-car? You need flares

Email sent Tim, confirmed interest

Were any checks made to see how the valve springs coped with the valve lift you're using? And do you know what sort of weight is on the nose of the cam? Basic setup questions really, made me wonder what's been done.

Starting with the aftermarket adjustable arms at the same centre-to-centre lengths as the OEM gear is a great start. However if you've dropped ride height as nearly everyone does, then you need to make adjustments. The fact those replacement arms are adjustable takes the hard work out of things, and Duncan obviously needed to comply with race category regs in slotting pivot points. With a selection of basic tools and some inexpensive to make/obtain gear it is possible to set up the rear suspension without trial/error and guess work. A piece of string, ruler, and a jack can be very useful. It will take time and patience, but you can definitely sort it so that you know exactly what toe change occurs and that you are then not experiencing bump steer if/when it's getting taily.

Battery job looking neat. Well done. You know you want flares.

Anytime you're in Queensland, no problem. This thing still exhibits some understeer. Setup helps to dial quite a bit of that out but the physics of a nose heavy barge won't be ignored when it comes to direction change and holding a tight line. Rear end tyre slip can be addressed without too much problem (I think) so the first port of call will be ride height and a little bit more toe-in.

This build is coming along really well. Keep up the momentum. Given the usage, for a Neo 30DET I'd suggest do the homework and find out what cc the chambers are, and get an idea what static CR you are likely to achieve with readily available forged pistons. Or stock type cast 30E ones. If you're hovering around the 9 - 9.5 range you really could consider E85 given that there's a fuel system, ECU etc going into the car.

Bonnet venting looks dramatic - love it. Lift it and show the work on the underside. Wondering if the first few rows would be the ones you really need. Hoping that the louvres past half way along don't work against the goal of releasing air. That's starting to get into the high pressure area as you approach the windscreen base.

Running the geometry as per above posts, at last weekend's sprint meeting it seems that the car can change direction well and make a reasonable fist of holding a tight line. However it's still got a big long heavy donk sitting a long way out in front, so it's no MX5 or RX7, or Z car. But it is very satisfactory. Rear end mostly does what it's supposed to but we will play with rear ride height to address a slightly oversteery attitude. Good outcomes considering the setup has really only cost time and it's still using the original pivot points. Would be doubly good if the driver was up to the car

While you're putting a decent motor in the thing, why not relieve the firewall and locate the engine in a happier place?

If you are changing/re-routing lines then going to 3/8" (~ metric equivalent 10mm) is a sensible upgrade IMO. Probably equally important is to know what spec fuel lines you will use, and how to best anchor it. What's your plans there?

Continuing the chase for best acceptable front end geometry. The stringline jigs are easy and low cost, here's the rest of my gear. 1.2mm sheetmetal squares about 400x400. Apply a smear of grease between two, and roll the tyre contact patch onto them. Low friction, low cost bearing plates to help when doing toe and caster work. Another piece of sheet metal approx. 1000 long, with the measured/marked angles being 20 / 20 degrees. Laid on the ground beside the wheel, and attach a straight edge low across the wheel. This makes it pretty easy to swing the wheel either way and check that the line and the straight edge are parallel before taking the camber measurements. Caster is all about the amount of camber change across a given arc, and the 20 / 20 arc is most commonly used. Low cost, simple and effective because it's very hard to not get the arc right. A camber/caster gauge would be nice, but I already had a builder's spirit level and engineer's ruler so just check the measurements and use a bit of maths to get the angle. Adjustments to the LCA have yielded -5.5 degrees camber and 8.5 degrees of caster. It's got to the point of being difficult to achieve satisfactory clearances between the rubber and bodywork, so caster now backed off to 7.5 and I'll give it a run like that.

Bit of a change from the gravel car - hopefully a few people contemplating a basic club car will look at your progress. The MCA Reds will do good service - I find them quite an impressive bit of gear. Not so sure on the half cage concept or design. Would prefer to see front legs running down the A pillar plus a diagonal over your head and between the B pillars. Regardless it should provide plenty of fun

Maybe take some solace in the fact it's not the first event this year canned due to weather. SE Queensland is also due for a few decent showers over the next few days. Hopefully they might be able to pick up a date later in the year. I want to find out how good those Avons are.

Good looking rig. Pity about the panel damage. I'm using similar bonnet pin setup, going to check them over. It's odd they both failed - are you sure they were locked in place properly?

Currently there is no need to change pickup points. There may be some technical merit in doing so, but there's quite a bit of improvement available from the changes to date. I will wait until the driver improves and catches up to the car before taking that step. It's very likely that the R33 and R34 run the same geometry and suspension components (lower shock mount at the rear is different) so it's probably not going to be very hard to use the same methods and parts.

Alignment work is something that lots of people apparently see as a bit of witchcraft. It doesn't need to be that way, and with a few basic and cheap tools it's possible to get decent results. Pictures below show a stringline setup on the car while it's on stands. Using a couple of jacks and blocks I set camber and toe both front and rear, and check/adjust the rear for bump steer. Achieved zero toe change between 60mm bump and 50mm droop travel. This is done with the shocks removed from the car, and sway bars front and rear disconnected. Tools involved are the measuring rods, a couple of simple jigs to locate/hold them, two light fishing lines, an engineers ruler, and a builder's level. Car stands and a couple of hydraulic jacks. It takes a bit of time, but is possible to achieve very good setup with the added benefit of knowing how your suspension is working. Caster is checked/set with the car on its wheels on the ground, using equally high tech gear as for camber/toe. No laser setups, wheel jigs, or bearing-plate turntables. (not that I wouldn't like some of that gear, just this is within budget) I'm 100% confident there will be a few old blokes around who know all about this gear and used it back in their day.

A few updates. Fuel tank and rear cradle out. Spare wheel well cut out and replaced with a flat floor with plans to install a fuel cell and allow room for a diffuser. Underfloor bracing with some C section channel, and used 0.55mm panel steel with a few spot welds and plenty of Sikaflex to finish the job. Coat of paint and it's all tidy again. Big advantage is easier access to make rear toe changes. While things were apart I also cut a larger access hole so that I can get to the fuel pump without the usual hand injuries. Good value for as long as the OEM tank stays in the car. Made a new cover to suit and after painting it's looking good to me. Replaced the OEM rubber bushes in the cradle with solid alloy units. All the comments about them being difficult to remove aren't too far off the mark, but I think a few blokes might be pushing it up a bit. Installation of the new ones was a piece of cake. Cradle baking in the sun, bushes in the freezer, liberally apply some anti-seize and then just pull them in using a fine-thread bolt. Coat of black paint and it looks like new.

I'm tipping a mile-wide grin after the first run. So this compound is good from cold? Is it the softest in the Avon spectrum for a Skyline size/type/weight/power car? For more rubber you could always massage the guards with tin snips and angle grinder then fit flares.

I could see an A49 (medium soft for rallycross, single seater circuit), and an A92 (very soft for hillclimb, single seater circuit and sidecar wet). Is there an A94 in there somewhere too, or unlisted?