samstain

Here is my setup I have been making, not quite up to the flow you guys are probably after for E85, but should be good enough to give me a simple, light, cheap and reliable supply for my track 180...on PULP. http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Pu...-C-t316767.html

I wanted a simple fuel setup for the 180 track car I have been building up... Standard tank + surge tank + extra pump, lines, filters etc seemed way too complex so I though I would try something different. Since the car is mostly to be used for drift, hill climb, motorkhana etc I didn't need a huge tank, 20L should be enough. I managed to pick up a standard plastic fuel cell from a mate for the right price and thats where the fun started. It looked something like this: These are designed for drag racing with twin external pumps & filters - again it seemed way more complex than it needed to be and all those fittings aren't cheap. So after a bit of quick measuring I worked out a 040 will just fit inside the tank. I just needed some way to hold it in there, get the power in and the fuel out... I came up with this as a first consept: which evolved in to this: having recently purchased a 16tool CNC mill and a TIG welder it took no time to whip it up Using the part as a template the tank was pretty easy to drill in to so it could be mounted: After that I had to add an extra return line to the top of the tank, make some insulators for the power supply to the pump and the low fuel sensor and seal it all up with some fancy blue stuff that I have forgotten the name off.... Currently its sitting in the back of the car with the floor pan cut out to make room for it: Next up I have to mount it and the battery, re-route the exhaust and then make a fire wall over the top... All up so far it has cost me just under $350 - including used tank, used 040 and all new speedflow/earls fittings - oh and about $25k for the mill and tig =(

There are a fair few places around that do CAMS cages, they can either do a Drive in drive out service, or just supply material with the main hoop and legs bent and the reciepts you will need to show the pipe is the correct spec. If your out north try walker chassis - http://www.walkerchassis.com.au/ down south try Craig William - http://www.ultraracecars.com.au/ You can do it yourself, but it takes a bit of skill and the right tools - if its welded the welds have to be up to spec and have to completely surround all joints, if you get the sequence wrong you can stuff it up and not be able to finish it without ripping the whole roof off. I have seen more than a couple DIY cages that have had to be cut out and fully replaced as they were dangerous in the way they were constructed or they couldnt get access to finish off welds.

That was my thoughs on the helmet also, I had no problems buying a $1200 welder with a 2 year warranty as if it died after 2 years and was unfixable I would have probably got my moneys worth out of it by then (and top of the line ones will have probably dropped by about $2000 by then anyway). But for the helmet I though how much my eyesight is worth and decided there is no point comprimising on a cheapie, at best it would probably frustrate me, and at worse could lead to permanent eye damage. You can still get very good speedglas units for around $400 - $450, the only difference between those and mine is my screen is about twice the size of a standard one... so you can see what you are welding and everything around you at the same time. Its not really a neccesity but its nice. I spent quite a bit of time looking for horror stories of people that had bought no-name chinese TIG's that had died, but in the end apart from one particual line of early combo Arc/Tig/Plasma cutter units that were dodgy I only found one person that had a welder die on them... the fact that the brand welder I got now comes with a 2 year warranty shows they are fairly confident they are going to last a while. If your relying on it for your business and using it 5 hours a day then I would buy a kempi or similar, but in my case im probably averaging about 3 hours of welding a week with it, and its all fairly low current stuff I don't think im going to burn it out any time soon. Having said that though, I wouldn't buy just any no name TIG, if you go that way, get one from a shop that specialsies in welders and has been selling them for a few years - they will have sourced a reliable supplier by now.

Sometimes they will work fine, but often if you are doing very fine welding with a tig (at only 5-20A) a standard helmet won't sence it and will be to bright, or if it does sence it you can't turn the shade down enough to still see what you are doing. With a good helmet you can set it to turn on at anything from looking at a fluro light right up to the heaviest of welding, and you can change the shad setting to suit grinding right through to heavy welding. All the helmets I tried were crap compared wiht the one I ended up with. I can weld all night with it and not get a single flash or sore eyes, and you can see every detail in the weld. With other ones I have borrowed (everything from a $100 Tecman to a $300 older style mig Speedglas) you would have lots of trouble with it false darkening or not darkening, and generally after 20 minutes of welding you would have a blind spot such that I had trouble driving home.

Not the prettiest welding out there, but its functional...

I bought a Allmax 200A AC/DC Tig at christmas time from a Vic based Ebay seller. So far Im more than happy with it, it has done all I have needed with ease and I have had no problems. It cost me $1200 new inc delivery, a regulator and foot controller and comes with a 2 year warranty. Budget for at least $2000 though to get yourself setup, you will also need: A good TIG helmet - I paid $550 for a top of the line speedglas, and it was money very well spent. A $80 bunnings automatic helmet simply wont work with TIG, and even a typical good quality $300 MIG one still wont work at low currents... you need to buy a TIG specific one, you can get resonable speedglas TIG ones for about $400+ and its a small price to pay to keep your eyesight. Gloves - $10 - $50 Electrodes - I got a few 10packs from ebay for about $25 each and they are working fine - you will most likely need a couple different sizes and types (for stainless/alloy etc) Gas - $120 - $150 for a mid sized bottle + $15/month rent. Filler rods - a big pack will cost you about $50- $70, again you will want thick and thin alloy, stainless and mild steel ones. Scotch bright pads etc also come in handy for cleaning up the metal before welding... You will also need a bench grinder, as especially when learning you will constantly be grinding the tungsten tips back to shape and removing contamination. Once your up and running grab a bucket full of alloy offcuts and weld them all together, don't try starting on something you are actually going to use on the car as you will more than likely just make a mess of it... =)

Sold Sold

As new (1 month old) xbox-360 elite 120 gig HDD, in original box, with standard accessories - with 1 controller, all leads (inc HDMI) and reciept from local DSE. It should also still have 1 month membership as I did not complete online registration. $310 for console. Forza 3 $65 Colin McRae Dirt $20 Location: Craigmore (home) or Norwood (work) PM me or Phone 0419 777 889

Seems to be a lot of support for motorkhana's... Unfortunately suitable locations in SA are pretty limited. BigW are very good to the MK Panel and allow access for the state series and the Porshce club events, so if you want to do it its best to just go to one of these events. I'm pretty sure the deal that has been done means that these are the only guys that have access... however all events they hold (except for very special occasions) must be open for to anyone to enter. We only get access to it about 10 times a year, so in order to fair to everyone they don't want individual groups organizing private events, I guess it also reduces the risk of one rouge group doing a dodgy event and ruining the place for everyone. If anyone can find another suitable place then it would be very welcome (you need about 50x50m or 30x70m to run a decent course). An alternative i would like to see is auto-test type events. They are sort of half way between a motorkhana and a super sprint, speeds are a bit faster than motorkhana - maybe 120k's peak rather than the 60k, but without the stress on your car that a day at mallala can do. They are also a bit more flexible as far a venues go, you don't need a big clear square pad, you can use natural obstacles such as the cement dividers you find in most car parks as part of the course - if you have seen a dutton's rally you will know what I mean... Even something like the Pt Gawler kart track would be more than big enough, you could come up with dozens of different short courses around there... The 2 biggest complaints we seem to get about motorkhana (though usually from people that have never done it) is they are too slow, or too confusing, autotest should keep these guys happy as often the courses are very simple and are coned out as a 'track' rather than a 'pattern', and you can get a bit of speed up without needing a race prepared car to last the day.

Nissan used to sell towbars for S14's - which i didn't find out about till they stopped making them and had sold out =( Apparently these used to fit on skylines fairly easily, but they are very hard to find. Your best bet would be to go to somewhere like sailsbury/hall/allin towbars and get them to custom make one. I have been quoted about $450 from hall for one for my s14 (700kg rating) so yours should be a similar price, if your out north sailsbury tow bars sound a bit cheaper, was quoted about $300 for one to be fitted to a SX4.

How did they let you up there with that still in? The guy checking my car last time was that anal that he wanted me to take the spare tyre out even though it was firmly secured.

Looking for a pair of speedy rims... 5x114.3 17x7.5 approx+40 or 17x7.0 approx +35 same style as this: but in the usual silver finish - shadow chrome? would also consider a full set of 4.

Pair of sparco racing 17x8 +45 5 stud... 5x114.3 Were blasted and powder coated in gloss black about 2 years ago, they haveonly done one or two motorkhana's since then so are just taking up space and need to go as I now do motorkhana's on my daily tyres. Tyres have bad camber wear. $250 ono Includes wheel nuts and hex driver to suit. Location: Craigmore 0419 777 889

mt alma is well and truly sold out for this year - i entered a couple weeks ago and im still only on the waiting list - so I may not get in... Its also a very fast track, so probably not the best thing to be entering unless you have done a fair few track events and hill climbs before. its a 1/4 mile drag to the first corner so im still having second thoughts about entering the puma - is has 230rwkw and weights 780kg, so it basically like someone chucking a fairly sharp left hander at the end of a quater mile drag strip and telling you to go for it - with cold tyres and brakes.

check out the first post.... all the dates are there end of april is the next one.

seriously just give it a go. we do not expect you to link the track on your first weekend - it is perfectly acceptible to just drive around like it was a shopping center car park (no breaking traction etc). It is designed to be a introduction to motorsport, we have 14 year olds that have never driven a car before entering as there is no where else they can legally drive - and after a couple rounds they actually have far better car control than your avarage P plater 'thinks' they have! Learning to drive a car properly is a bit like learning to swim, the sooner you learn it the better off you will be, you won't have to spend the rest of your life worring about it - and chances are it will save your life - or someone elses - at some stage. Here are some more video's to wet your appetite:

basically run what you bring.... the cars go through a very basic safety check: Battery secure wheels attached to car steering wheel effects direction of front wheels seatbelts not trashed seat attached to car spring on throttle body - any modern car will have this as standard brake pedal doesnt hit the floor - its all very simple stuff, I have never seen a car not pass - or atleast no be able to make passable with a bit of fencing wire and a cable tie if neccesary. Other than that just remove any excess crap out your car - a couple CD in the glove box is fine, a trolley jack in the boot/back seat is not If you get serious and do the state/national champs - or start winning rounds - then they will start getting a bit more strict with the following: Normal (road) cars go in to classes based on wheel base - mini's etc generally class = A, small hatch backs = B, mid size (200sx etc) = C, large (skyline falcon etc) = D. To get in to these class however your car must still have its original 'silouette' - you can not remove bumpers etc to effectively make your car smaller and easier to get through the gates. You also can not 'significantly' lighten the car, I can remember the exact amount but its something like 85% of the original weight. I think you also have to have 2 front seats, the passanger one can just be the top half of a school chair - there are no regulations as to exactly what a seat is. If they deem your car to be too modified (totally stripped, light weight panels, etc) then you will be put in to a modified class. There are also classes for supers specials (minimum wheel base and rim dia also apply - so no you can not use a go-cart), and 4wd. So if your coming down to give it a go, as long as your car is 'safe' they will let you run.

Yeah you dont need to practice for the events, we are not racing for sheep-stations, 99% of the guys are just out there for the fun of it... in reality the whole series is just a heap of practice days leading up to the state and national champs each year, thats about the only time we get really serious - and even then your only racing for a $10 trophy. We regularly get people out there that have never driven a car before, no one is going to make you feel un-welcome if you don't do complete a perfect handbrake turn every time (or even one in the whole day), we also don't care if you stuff up the course - you just have to be seen to be trying to complete it to the best of your ability. If you get lost half way round just head for the finish gate - as long as you dont do a series of donuts on the spot between when you get lost and when you get to the finish gate you wont be spoken to by the officials. Your better off doing your learning at an event, guys will be there to help you out if your having trouble with your technique (or car set up, simple things like tyre pressure make a big difference), and at most events you can ride shotgun with one of the regulars, or ask one of them to jump in with you for some pointers.

No worries, just want to give a head up and make sure your mates know. We have never have any trouble with drivers at events like these, but quite often spectators (that don't attend the drivers briefing etc) are un-aware of the rules and regulations. Thongs are probably another thing to be aware of, they mentioned appropriate footware at the briefing yesterday for drivers, im pretty sure the same would apply for spectators - it is a fairly industrial type worksite, so im sure they dont want people wandering around in the grass in bare feet and thongs...

Of course those esky's would only be for cheese platters and soft drinks? The BIGW complex is private property - and a total dry zone... drivers can be breath tested, and no alcohol is allowed on site - including for spectators. We are very lucky to have access to the complex and need to be very carefull that we don't loose the privelage. BigW basically get nothing in return for allowing us access - so its only going to take one incident and they could easily decide its not worth the risk. If that happens we might have to drive to Mt Gambier to do motorkhana in SA.

yep, ABS and sability/traction control fuses should also be ripped if you have them for the 4wd guys its even more important that you really chuck the car at the corner - and are aggressive with the clutch (if your drive line can take it), it seems there is a very fine line between dumping the clutch and the car spinning on the spot (good), or being a bit less aggressive and getting massive understear and heading for a curb at high speed (bad). There were a couple guys out there in evo's today doing it really well getting good controlled 4 wheel slides, occasionally they got caught out though - especially one of the WRX's, they went to flick it around the corner and rather than the back end whipping round it gripped up and launched the car towards the curb. if your taking a 4wd car its probably a good idea to put some crappy tyres on the back (or all round) and pump them up hard.

hey chad, shame you only got video of half of the last run... you really had it sorted out by then. A bit of advice for others planning on giving it a go, the best thing to do is to really commit yourself to the corner - the harder you chuck it in the better the handbrake will work - most people have trouble to start with cause they run of of speed and only slide half way around the corner before the car stops (or they arnt aggressive enough when they put the power back on, the rear grips up, the front end lifts and you understeer way wide of the cone) . If you keep your momentum up (even if you over drive a bit) its easeir to keep it flowing... then you just slowly dial it back and work on your throttle control to get it all as straight as you can - straighter is faster, but not as much fun. Also for those wanting to enter: It really does not matter what event you go to, anyone is welcome to any round, doesnt matter if you have never driven a car before. Do not be worried about if your car is good enough, the surface is very slippery and smooth so you dont need big HP (anything over 60kw/tonne is generally more than enough to keep it sideways... You also don't need anything fancy suspension wise - I have been doing it for 5 years and come second in my class in the aus champs last year with only kyb stuts (not coilovers) and swaybars.... you do not have to have coilovers etc to be compeditive. There are plenty of people at regular round still driving on their cars original 30 year old shocks and springs... What you do need is: CAMS affiliated club licence (from $50/year) Non Speed licence or better (from about $44/year) $25 to enter for the day It is by far the cheapest motorsport around, A typical day would cost me under $75 - $25 to enter, $25 for fuel(inc driving from gawler), $10 for lunch (they have a BBQ and coke machine on site) $15 worth of tyres - if you have a spare set of rims a set of second hand tyres down to the wear markers will last you all year. Scott - the guy in the white s14....

yeah you can get a fairly good measurement by just weighing half the car at a time... they had corner scales set up at the last event to check the super specials so I took the oppertunity to check mine. I have about 100kg more on each front wheel compared with the rear - ~355kg V's 255kg. if I can get another 50kg on to each rear wheel - and take maybe half of that off each front wheel it would lauch a whole lot better out the gate and when getting power down.

Bit of an old thread, did you end up making it down there? www.motorkhana-sa.com should keep you up to date on events in the future...(hopefully) As for car set up, yes higher pressure at the rear helps initally to make them slide, but if you get your handbrake sorted out (skyline ones should be fine stock with good pads) then as your skill level improves you will be wanting more rear traction to get power down. Im running skyline brakes all round in my S14.... with semi-slicks at low pressure and a fair bit of work done to the rear suspension to get camber and float under control I am still looking to get more rear traction. I now leave the spare tyre in and am considering organising balast in the rear for next year to try and get closer to a 50:50 weight distibution.