warps

Webz was going for the summernats style burnouts. Was going to pop the tyres and get out and jump on the roof before realising he wasn't in his blown 308 Gemini so he had to abort and follow his team mate like the good little #2 driver he is.

Hi all Selling my sandblasting cabinet. It's the same as the one in the attached link here: It was manufactured in Dec 2008 - I've had it about 4 years but in that time it's had less than 5 hours use (been under plastic wrap most of that time). Still in very good condition. Still have spare nozzles (never had to change a nozzle, as the original still looks brand new) and spare protective film for the window. Has garnet in the cabinet, plus about 1/4 bag spare I run it on a 12CFM compressor, but it will run on anything more than 8cfm (225 L/min) These are $200 new plus garnet - I'll sell for $80. Due to size and weight pick up only from northern end of Gold Coast Any further info post here or PM

I was quite fond of the N14 Pulsars when they came out - probably not a bad option To answer the qn about B18 in a Civic, the P plate regs say that any engine swap which needs to be certified (as described in section 13 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management — Vehicle Standards and Safety) Regulation 2010) cannot be driven by a P Plater. According to VSB 14 of NATIONAL CODE OF PRACTICE for LIGHT VEHICLE CONSTRUCTION and MODIFICATION, the following engine mods / changes require certification (hence are banned for P plate drivers) Fitting engines greater than 120% of original power and/or engine mass; Fitting performance engines; Fitting engines from non original equipment sources; Installing a supercharger or turbocharger; and Modifying the engine and engine components that results in an increase in engine power of more than 20% and/or affects exhaust emissions If a B18 is not considered a performance engine (not sure what their definition is) and the exhaust emissions are as per standard, then it would probably be OK. The only other thing I'd consider is whether the 20% increase in power relates to the engine fitted to the base car (eg D16 rated at around 90kW), or B16A2 in an EK4 (118kW) or whether you can argue that the (jap only) EK9 was fitted with a 147kW B16B hence you can use that as a baseline. Somehow I think that's stretching the friendship. At very best, I'd expect that the B16A2 is the highest power baseline they'll let you use (118kW) so you can't fit an engine any more powerful than 141kW. Of course this all has to be proven (exhaust emissions, power outputs etc) and I'm fairly confident that the law would favour the law enforcers rather than a P plater driving a modified car. You know - guilty until proven innocent Also, after a bit more research, it seems that you can get exemption to drive low powered turbo petrol cars (less than 125kW/tonne) but you need to have the exemption certificate with you at all times.

K swapped EG / EK won't be P plate legal in QLD.

We only compete in sprints, autocrosses etc. There are events held at Cooroy and Willowbank which are both suitable for normal road registered cars, and shouldn't be too far from your place. If you log onto BSCC, NDSCC or IWMAC club sites they usually advertise upcoming events. There are also some events at Pimpapa (northern Gold Coast) which are suitable for registered cars. Then there's always track days at LAkeside, QLD raceway or hillclimbs at Mt Cotton.

Hell, I'd buy one just to listen to the noise Ewan - I see exactly where your parents are coming from. Being in a similar dilemma, we did a deal for a new Focus Sport yesterday. Involving enough drive to keep me happy, and P plate legal although very sluggish acceleration after the Rex. Most importantly for us, it comes with all of the safety bells and whistles to give us a bit of piece of mind. By the time our son gets his licence (about 2-3 years time) we'll be getting ready to trade the focus anyway, and it will have a market value of around $15k - perfect for a youngster. Oh and before everyone starts saying that he should learn to drive in an unassisted car so he doesn't rely on electronics to save his life - that's also taken care of. I drag him to khana crosses and dirt sprints every opportunity to hone his skills in the rally car on gravel. By the time he gets his learner's, he should have a fair understanding of car control, and hopefully a reasonable attitude to how a car behaves, and how one should drive on the road. I forgot that you were only buying from a dealer. Still, the sticker price is seldom what you end up having to pay, specially for used cars. They would have been lucky to pay $13-14k as a trade for those $20k cars, so you have lots of wiggle room. We managed to knock almost $6K off the sticker price of the Focus yesterday, just by being prepared to sign on the spot, but also being prepared to walk away if they couldn't meet our offer (not bad for a sub-$30k car). They never like to let a potential sale walk out the door, specially if they know that the only thing stopping the sale is the price. With some harder haggling I'm sure we could have saved even more - all depends how mongrel you want to be.

Speak for yourself!! I'm in the dilemma as a parent buying my next car (trading the WRX). My son will be starting to drive next year, so I need to consider something that he can also drive. There are very few P plate legal cars out there that interest me, having owned turbo Subies for the last 10 years, and Skylines before that. Some of the rules are ridiculous - things like S2K and any of the type R Hondas are legal, as are 195kW SV6's. Yet, a 3 cyl, 998cc turbo Fiesta (with a tyre shredding 74kW) needs special exemption. How firkin stupid is that? As to the Type R Civics and Integras, they are also FWD so by your previous post, not suitable. Pity, as there are some absolute gems in that lot. If you do consider them, try get the 2 litre (K20) engine ones (2001 onwards I think) as that engine is a ripper compared to the old B series (which in their day were fantastic as well). There are currently stacks of 8th Gen Civic type R's for sale (the last Type R 2007-2012, and Oz delivered) in your price range. These have the same driveline as the DC5 Integra (147kW) so just as quick. That would be my first pick if I was in your position, but then again I already have 2 Civics, so am a bit of a VTec tragic.

Yeh the threads going to be renamed: "Help me justify buying an R33 Skyline for a track car" Just kidding - wouldn't be the first person to decide on what he wants then use motivated reasoning to validate the decision - we've all been guilty of it.

Didn't the GRP A regs state that the exhaust manifold had to remain standard from the head to the first join? Hence the VL Walky had individual exhaust runners about 3-4"long from the head, after which the exhaust was free. If that's the case, how would Gibson have homologated this manifold? Or did turbo engines have a different set of rules?

Thank you teacher.....

That sucks. Couldn't even heat the vtec kick in Yo!

And in race 2 on the same day the lap times were as follows (sorry for the mess - just C&P'd from Natsoft) 6 Jason Clements 1:00.2092 0:56.5742 0:56.3565 0:56.8090 0:57.7184 0:58.2230 0:57.3643 0:57.3329 0:57.2318 0:57.1924 42 David Skillender 1:00.5551 0:57.6028 0:57.9649 0:58.4002 0:58.3745 0:58.6212 0:59.5499 0:59.3144 0:59.5043 0:59.0668 18 Troy Marinelli 1:01.4577 0:57.3976 0:57.9041 0:58.3709 0:58.5139 0:58.4269 0:59.5683 0:59.3837 0:59.6580 0:58.9162 91 Graeme Wilkinson 1:05.3783 1:00.6184 1:01.0599 0:59.8818 1:00.2931 1:00.4599 1:00.0322 1:00.2317 1:03.6896 1:01.0497 46 Kyle Organ-Moore 1:07.5202 1:00.9029 1:02.6055 1:01.2590 1:01.6147 1:01.8630 1:01.4862 1:00.6616 1:01.8660 1:01.7966 5 Scott Douglas 1:10.0629 1:00.9655 1:01.8824 1:01.6856 1:01.7059 1:00.2547 1:01.4018 1:00.6773 1:01.9443 1:01.6046 55 Grag Craig 1:08.4604 1:00.9190 1:02.5692 1:01.3018 1:01.6559 1:01.7130 1:01.8489 1:00.6012 1:02.0104 1:01.5183 39 Trent Spencer 1:08.8069 1:01.5097 1:02.2514 1:01.6154 1:02.2089 1:01.9374 1:02.8052 1:02.7454 1:02.5402 1:03.6598 20 Shane Satchwell 1:12.4387 0:59.5039 1:36.0928 1:01.8430 1:00.0376 1:00.5738 0:59.4965 1:01.6142 0:59.7412 13 Charles Wright 1:17.6281 1:04.7107 1:08.6164 1:07.1114 1:04.7877 1:04.7306 1:05.6351 1:04.2924 1:03.8622 74 Lucas Easton 1:15.6985 1:05.8930 1:10.1137 1:07.2048 1:05.5890 1:05.8945 1:07.3039 1:07.8308 1:05.3006 177 Mark Hyde 1:10.3681 1:09.1579 1:13.2106 1:08.3670 1:05.1507 1:09.5010 1:05.4712 1:08.0424 1:07.3974 72 Paul Redman 1:15.0214 1:06.4184 1:10.1234 1:09.4557 1:08.5236 1:08.7411 1:07.2844 1:09.1725 1:06.7880 77 Dean Fuller 1:17.7830 1:07.6717 1:09.4968 1:07.3028 1:09.4343 1:07.1831 1:07.6903 1:09.1469 1:07.0478 8 Matthew Speakman 1:16.4122 1:06.0206 1:13.1958 1:07.1496 1:09.5713 1:07.0111 1:07.4588 1:10.1055 1:09.4591 34 Peter Draheim 1:14.7781 1:04.0748 1:20.3393 1:04.9372 1:05.3903 1:04.4511 1:03.3915 1:26.6172 1:08.7098 95 Ross Hurford 1:22.0033 1:11.0077 1:11.7962 1:13.1980 1:10.6066 1:09.9783 1:10.0979 1:10.5181 16 Brett Batterby 1:22.5912 1:12.4566 1:13.0111 1:13.9245 1:14.9456 1:13.5489 1:13.9395 1:15.2618 7 Justin Wade 1:05.6525 1:00.2564 0:59.6666 0:59.4471 0:59.9066 0:59.6294 1:45.9377 37 Bruce Cook 1:02.1852 0:57.4103 0:58.6991 1:08.0031 75 Anthony Gilbertson 1:03.9256 1:00.9895 12 Scott Hunter 1:05.4146 0:59.9435 Clearly a few guys faster on the day than the U2L record. Still, this is major OT as it's not what the argument (discussion) is about.

Faster than all the O2L IPRA cars? when was this? The current O2L record is low 56's and was set on the same day as the U2L record (May 2012). Was your 1200 running 56's too? Not bad for something that cost mid teens I'm not trying to suggest that IPRA doesn't carry some kind of mark up. PRC rally cars are often heaps cheaper than similar spec IPRA cars - maybe people don't like cars that have been dirty. Hence when time comes to sell my PRC Honda I might just bring it to IPRA spec so I can cash in on the market (no, not really) Those 3 cars I listed were examples of well prepped IPRA cars currently on the market. They were the first 3 cars I found for sale on the IPRA forum without spending more than 2 minutes searching. Obviously not the cheapest or dearest cars out there, but give an indication of what's available without spending a lot of time searching. As always, there are motivated sellers out there, so you can grab some cars for a lot less than the asking price. Nobody pays the asking price for privately sold cars anyway. Personally I think the prices were too high as well, but you never know how negotiable people are until you try. Edit - response to your edits: I agree - I'm sure there are better budget options. Also, perhaps the OP is not interested in a rotary or FWD - a lot of internet myth and misconception means that most people wouldn't touch any of these with a 10 foot pole. Couldn't really give a rats. I was just throwing a couple of options out there to consider. The most fun I've ever had behind the wheel was in my slow, 69 second Honda around Lakeside. 2 years earlier I would have laughed at anyone suggesting that to me. If the OP wants to ultimately get into door to door racing and not just track days / time attack etc then he might find he is more restricted with rules and regs, and the costs tend to go up accordingly. Some of the costs are tangible (proper safety gear - seats, harnesses, cages etc) and others aren't so tangible (IPRA tax, as you call it). I have no doubt that there are some quick budget specials out there, just as there are some big $$ dungers too. However, you can't get away from the fact that a fast, reliable, safe race car is going to cost money. Whether you develop / build yourself or buy one ready made usually has a big impact on the cost, but also can impact on how quickly you can get out there.

Jeez harry - is there any topic you don't whinge about? The Malalla record was 1:14.98 in 2009. Since the advent of these kickass 050's they've slashed a whole 0.73 seconds off that (now 1:14.2508). U2L's were doing sub 1:20's in 2004. They've slashed a bit over a second off those times in 10 years. Yep those kickass tyres have turned the racing world on its head. Your 180SX is slower around lakeside than U2L IPRA cars which are hampered by archaic regulations - well done. Yes, the price for a competitive race car built to comply with a set of regulations is going to be more than cobbling together a whole heap of go-faster bits that don't have any regulations / restrictions to hamper them. If the OP wants to build a fast track car, then he can go right ahead and do so, but building a safe (ie caged) car to go as fast as a built IPRA is not going to be easy. Not impossible, but certainly not an $8k proposition either, as you would like us to believe. Late edit: Also, the cost to build a front running IPRA car is much more than the advertised cost of those cars. Some of the front running V8's have cost over quarter million $ to build. I'm not for a second suggesting that those costs are sensible in a "club level" racing category (I think it's a stupid amount of money to spend on any car) but that's why even second hand a front running IPRA car will always be dearer than a backyard special which may be "just as fast How much have some of the tarmac rally guys spent on their GTS-t's? Will they be selling those cars for $8k? Are they any faster than your 180SX?

You could skip the middle man and get a prepped car with all the development work done, and more importantly, all the safety gear (just won't comply with your requirement to be regoed). Some good examples are: IPRA Civic (the U2L record at Mallala is in the low 1:18's held by a Civic - this advertised one wouldn't be too far off that). don't let the FWD thing scare you - still fast and lots of fun unless drifting is your main goal IPRA RX7 - a bit dearer but again a championship winning car, easily capable of the lap times you've suggested IPRA RX7 - Don't know much about this one but by all accounts another reasonable car While these might have an initial cost higher than what you may be looking at, they're ready to race, and you won't have to pour tens of thousands of development $$ into them. Being logbooked IPRA cars there will always be a category for them should you wish to get into door to door racing. If it's the fun of building a car you want, then go right ahead with a Skyline, Silvia, Evo, RX7 etc. However, if the goal is to go racing in a well built car, one of these is a much faster way to get there.

Being cast, you run the risk of cracking the flange if you straighten it. If you do decide to straighten it, make sure you crack test it afterwards. Alternatively, replace the half shaft to be on the safe side. Trying to bolt a half shaft onto that might not straighten it, and if so, will then subject that bolt to fatigue loading. Bolted joins rely on a good contact surface between the 2 components. A slight gap (and misalignment) will lead to broken bolts through fatigue and uneven loading under the bolt head. As others have said, I think that the diff centre is protected from thrust loading from the half shafts, so that shouldn't have damaged the diff centre. Certainly does suck though - hard to get good help these days

The epoxy flooring is tough, but certainly not indestructible. I have 2 garage floors done in this stuff (total about 240m2) and if you drop sharp steel objects on it hard enough it will damage the coating. I just finished fabricating a heap of shelving and work benches and dragging 100kg shelf units across the floor (with sharp edges on the end of the feet) does scratch / damage the surface. If you drop something heavy onto the concrete, it'll crumble the concrete underneath and the poly coating will come off. Still, this stuff is infinitely stronger than paint, so will stand up to general wear and tear (dragging jacks across the floor, pressure washing, oil spills etc.) Also remember some of it is very slippery when wet.

Have to agree with you there, Harry. Vet shot past Grosjean on his first try, and only opened DRS as he was executing the move (probably forgot in all the excitement). The commentators were saying Weber was struggling to get traction out of the tighter corners due to his low aero. Whether that was the reason or not, you could see Grosjean walk away coming out of the corners on the last 1/3 of the track. Still, on softer, fresher tyres Weber caught him quickly, but struggled for a good 5 laps to make the pass. Like it or not, SebVet is definitely the superior driver in that team, as he's shown time and time again over the last 3 years. Time for Weber to hang up his helmet Whether Dan will be able to be anything other than Sebvet's bitch will be seen next year.

Referring the thread to Risking (Pro Fabrication) and why the previous poster should probably reconsider pursuing this avenue. Edit: nm - beaten to it

At worst they'll have to tow your car out of the kitty litter - I don't think they need to be super strong. The min diameter is more about fitting their shackle or hook through the loop. You could put a big bow shackle through the loop, or make up a webbing strap to go through the hoop so they can connect to this. In rallying we have to worry about pulling the car up an embankment, so tow hook strengths need to be much higher. Most aren't, though. In that case you'll likely end up running chains / slings around the axle or cross member. Of course it will be the driver who gets to lie in the mud and do this, not the recovery crew. (speaking from experience)

Yup I play occasionally but still default back to the grand daddy of them all - GPL (15 years old and still the king). RBR is definitely the most realistic rally game I've tried. I find none of the others come close to the real thing (rallying on gravel is very different to tarmac racing, and most games / sims can't get the feel right). The low power FWD cars feel pretty close to the real thing (RWD's seem too tail happy still) but they still don't model left foot braking all that well IMHO I think I have the 2013 expansion - need to check.

Yes, it would look retarded. Better to have a rectangular apron that follows the contour of the land, like most driveways (within reason of course)

Try Adrian Brook 0414325460. He does all sorts of motorsport fab and machining work. He has a TIG welder, so should be able to do it for you (has built a fair bit of stuff for me over the years including alloy, mild steel and 4140) ). Last time I spoke to him (around 18 months ago) he had a workshop on Brisbane Rd Labrador near F1 tyres. I presume he's still there. I've got a MIG and TIG, but can't guarantee I'd do a good job without stuffing it all up (not a qualified boily - only self taught)

The rotary combustion chamber behaves nothing like a piston engine, hence detonation is almost a non-issue on rotaries (apart from highly boosted rotaries). The volume in the combustion chamber increases rapidly at the beginning of the power stroke due to the nature of the epitrochoidal motion of the rotor. A piston engine's combustion chamber volume increases very slowly at the start of the power stroke, meaning that any pressure spike can have adverse effects on the piston engine. This phenomenon means that it's much harder to induce detonation in a rotary engine, as the volume increases at a rate where the effect of pressure spikes very much reduced. NA rotaries generally don't suffer from compression related detonation, and in fact anyone using anything more than 91 octane in a NA rotary is most likely wasting money. Turbos, on the other hand, - well, turning up the wick too much can destroy any engine. Like any engine, a properly maintained (and sensibly modded) rotary will last a very long time. The last gen RX7's are a fantastic package, and sure to impress. Like with any 20 year old performance car, you can expect to see a lot of badly maintained ones, which will be lemons. No worse than any other performance car of the same vintage though.

3m and most vinyl wrap manufacturers do a clear stone protection wrap for this very purpose. I came across it in my search for ricer carbon fibre wrap (yeh I know ) . It's meant to be removable, but being clear, you could probably leave it in place.