Duncan

lol you bunch of jibberers! I never said this would be a quick thread, I am catching up on 11 years..... Right, so I got to the first track day, first engine blow up....

lol it's been a few years now......still too soon?

haha good car control, and it's always great to hear an rb boosting down conrod. you should check out the recent CAMS bulletin on cameras, they no longer allow anything to be helmet mounted....

nasty. I learned 1 more thing I should carry around, a spare FPR....looks like mine is dying slowly, luckily it was running way lean at idle but was OK on boost as the pressure rose. Lucky outcome because the other way around would have been an engine killer.

haha good to see this thread kicking off yeah it is 700kg trailer +1500kg car so pretty heavy. But sway comes from crooked trailer wheel alignment or poor (rearward) weight distribution on the trailer. This one is rock solid at every speed I've run it at, behind both the stag and my ute. It also has 4wheel electric brakes, they are awesome, for example they did all the braking on the way down Mt Buller with the race car on the back without issue. The other great thing about electric brakes is you can manually operate them if it did sway which will stop it straight away....I know of 2 cars that have gone around due to a swaying trailer (one went over too if I remember correctly) Yeah I've seen multiple cracked M35 subframes, but there is no guarantee that was due to high loads like trailers....good to see this one is going well

well if there was one category that was having changes forced on it by manufacturers, it is these guys with the disappearance of foulcans and commonwhores. I've been more interested since the new brands arrived, spent some money on Kelly racing (I feel so dirty) / Nismo gear. It's also been great seeing Volvo get straight to the front. On the downside, their decision to move most rounds to pay tv means I won't watch most rounds any more. At least I can watch the Bathurst 12 hours instead

haha how did you know I'd be tempted Hope they run it on the full track, I really enjoyed it....that sweeper on the back straight was great fun I really enjoyed Morgan Park and will give it a go again, but I won't be ready to go by April.....maybe next time

Yep it will be fine for a run in, just make sure it is not running rich as that is no good for a new engine. You need to use the ECU that matches the head (and therefore all the sensors)

yeah they've been keeping us busy lately. that one should be gone now

hmmm, maybe a splitter?

Looks like great weather for it, have a fun weekend

welcome back mate

wow not surprised they are a tight fit....I run 245/45/18 and they rub a little on full lock, 245/50 is even larger....

Generally if there is no hex key in the top of the shaft there is a small flat section below the top where you can hold a spanner. If not I guess you need to try a rattle gun, and if you don't intend to reuse the coilovers lock a set of vice grips onto the shaft nice and tight. Don't forget spring compressors before you start.....

So....you get a second hand car from Japan which will be a race car, so what do you do? Spend months carefully checking and prepping it to make sure it is track worthy right? nope, we just put it on a trailer and took it to Oran Park to a NSWRRC super sprint. It was 29 Feb 2004. These were awesome back in the day...all you needed was an L2s, there was a standing start and then a couple of laps. Highlight of the day was watching Kel launch it a 8000, stick it up the inside of Scott in turn 1 and go on to win. I also blew the ceramic turbos, spun a bearing and destroyed the clutch. Welcome to the repeated story of the next 13 years.

The import process was interesting, and I understand this particular scheme is still open in the same form. Basically it was imported as Race/Rally car which needed me to hold a C3 or higher license, demonstrate a racing history and document my plans to use the car. It did not require compliance, and under the NSW rules of the time we were able to obtain conditional rego to drive it to events, practice and workshops. It has held that rego since, and I understand the rally rego scheme has finally be reintroduced this year (it was shut down due to dodgy importers bring in race/rally cars then rebirthing local cars) The car was 400k yen and about $6k more for broker fees, transport, import duty, customs and quarantine etc.

So what is the race car and why? I had been running the gtst hard at track days for years, and also paying to lease the Lanos for a couple of seasons, until finally a very bad influence (Mark Hawkins) talked me into buying a dedicated race car. Considering I had no idea which end of a spanner to hold it was a big decision....if I'd know then that I would work on the car 20 days for every day it was on the track I probably wouldn't have done it....and I'm sure glad I did do it. Back in 2003 the CAMS Production Car regs (3E) being run in NSW and nationally, and the Targa rally regs were almost identical so we decided to target both uses to make a big range of events available. I could also have log booked it in Improved Production (3J) and in fact there was one other GTR racing there at the time, but a GTR is totally hobbled by the 2x 28mm restrictors it would have to run. The car runs in the same basic spec today, limited by the 3E rules. In the meantime Targa regs went bug shit and allow you to invent a spec, pretend there are 10 cars out there and build the car to those specs which means the car is no longer a good fit to those rules and is no chance of front running. It's no longer an outright chance in 3E either, but considering it's 25 years old I'm OK with that. An Evo 9 or 10 is the thing to have there because they are allowed to run 1.5 bar boost..... Mods allowed under 3E are: Brakes - standard size discs (can be upspecced but have to be same size), calipers must have the same number of pistons (4 front, 2 rear) but are otherwise free, all other components, cooling, brake lines, ABS, master cylinder etc standard. A few years down the track in FAST I discovered N1 spec 32s had little rubber deflectors on the castor rods so I bought a set and run them too Wheels - standard size (17x8) on vspec 2. Limits both rubber width and rotor size in rally spec. Turbos - standard. big old laggy bush bearing 80s technology Boost - standard, the workshop manual says the wastegate opens at 0.8 bar (12psi) so that is what we have to run. It was probably higher stock but we've never been able to prove it. Engine - has to be standard except sump (hi octane 9l) and oil pump (nitto) and forged pistons (no more than 0.5mm over). Is measure for compliance including bore, stroke and head ccs each time it is sealed Zorst - free for 3e and 90mm for Targa Fuel - surge tank with 044 through standard FPR and injectors ECU - free, I run a powerFC Suspension - shocks and springs are free and I run a custom Bilstein/Eibach setup Gary specified. He knows his shit and gave me an excellent compromise for track and rally use which has been very fast. Standard sway bars. Replacement (adjustable) "elastometric" ie not solid buses are OK. All standard control and steering arms. HICAS disabled. Interior - Safety gear like cage, harness, window nets, FIA seat, kill switch. Some extra gauges and a replacement steering wheel. Exterior - lairy paint job with stickers. Cooling - free to add coolers, I run a large oil cooler, larger radiator with stock fans and a small power steer cooler. Everything else is standard and the car is very heavy, 1480kg in 3E spec. It makes about 240kw in 3e spec (12psi) and 280kw in Targa spec (18psi)

First up, how did I end up with a race car? Well my first Nissan was a mighty 200b. I was a typical idiot p plater and luckily survived the experience. Here is me and a mate (who is now a doctor of rocket science) pushing it out of the kitty litter at Bathurst early one morning. The datto was awesome and unbreakable (at least, not on a permanent basis). I owned it again years later when I ran it as a motorkhana car, not sure where it is now. From there I bought an s14 but within 12 months it became the "missin Nissan", taking itself on a 6 year holiday to queensland courtesy of a bikie gang. I did get a call from the cops years later asking me to come and get my car, but I let the insurance company keep it since they had paid me out 6 years earlier.... we did a lot of touring that year collecting "Big Things" pics....here it is with a big chicken. With the 200sx paid out I had to choose between an S15 and a Skyline, and made the fateful decision to buy HuGE 001 from Powerplay in 1999. Skylines weren't really that common back then and we paid over 40k for it....goes to show how depreciation works! The car was awesome, did it's first track day with the Honda Car Club at a GOHCCDTD in October 2001....where incidentally we met a lunatic called Pete Carruthers....It was the first of very many track days for that car which it ran pretty much faultlessly for the next 5 years After a few track days I decided I wanted to step up and leased a drive for door to door racing in the Mo Pro cup...in nothing less than a Daewoo Lanos. I was the driver the racing world had been waiting for, and proved it by ending my first race in March 02 on my roof after rolling at turn 8 at Eastern Creek I did get a bit more awesome over the years, with a best of 2nd at the Wakefield 500 with Mark and Tom Browell (we was robbed, no seriously we were). Also met a grumpy old man called Neil who volunteered to help out, I bet he regrets that by now.... BTW the sharp eyed among you will notice these pics predate digital cameras as well as SAU......

Well this is a thread I should have started long ago, although in my defence this build started about 6 years before this Build section was created. Basically this thread will cover some history from when I imported and picked the car up from Powerplay Imports in 2003 Up to it's most recent event, Targa High Country which was 2 weeks ago. And from here there is a fair bit planned over the next few months which is the reason I figured it was time to pull my finger out and start this thread

off to NSW section then..... oh, and http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/228238-read-this-whos-the-best-tunerworkshopresprayerdetaileretc/

You know, I try not to be difficult about this sort of thing, but.... 1/ You posted this in Motorsport Builds even though this is neither about Motorsport nor a Build thread. The top topic in that section is very clear about how that section works 2/ You've asked for advice on a good mechanic but have not said where you are in your post, and you didn't fill in location in your profile. I'm sure people would like to help but you need to let us help you.

Damn straight Hugh, they are a killer. Boot too. They are very cheap to re-gas and that is a real head saver!!

Have you replaced or checked the actual vacuum booster? Is it easier or exactly the same to press the brakes when the engine is running?

FWIW, as well as difference in front vs rear wheel speed from the ABS sensors, and longitudinal G force, they also have a TPS input. so yep, it's pretty damn good at guessing when you might loose traction. bloody amazing system for something designed on this

again damn I prefer your fuel economy. when you say fit air bags to the back, does the m35 have separate coils to springs (ie not coilover)? Not really an option for C34 unfortunately