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Matt, what a superb project and inspiring to say the least, regardless of how many times I read the topic. It's a absolute credit to you, a magnificent machine to be extremely proud of. Well done!

Butch

Matt, I just spent two plus hours reading about your R34 GTR build. Wow, words don't do it justice. Ben and Chris from Racepace, are the best. Just tell Ben what you want to achieve and let him decide what will be required and the parts to use.

I saw your car at Racepace last year while I was there for a few things. Your car was on the hoist. I thought to myself, Wow, I could eat my dinner off the undercarrage. This thing looked brand new. Hoses pipes, paint work, everything. Now after reading 17 pages, I know just how special it really is.

Well done.

i guess this is a question for Matt and other motorsport people in this thread.

Even though the bonnet is a genuine R Tune one, for track use... will a secondary bonnet restraint (i.e. bonnet pins) be needed? like for the SAU Vic club champ days or for the cams ls2 days?

some sprint days don't require it but others do... I would get bonnet pins for peace of mind, those lightweight hoods flip up very easily and can cause a surprising amount of damage... the flush mounted aerocatch ones are the way to go IMO, I think Jack (JAGR33) runs them

but if you don't want to drill holes in the bonnet you can always use a DIY strap made out of cable etc

Thank you everyone for following my build thread. I appreciate all your compliments.

With regards to bonnet restraint for motorsport events, I think it would be 'sacrilege' to the Nismo Gods to drill holes for bonnet latches on my R Tune bonnet; therefore my option I guess is to use DIY straps like what NickR33 suggested.

I have some more finishing touches to finalise before total completion of this build. I shall keep you posted.

Have to agree with Matt here, DO NOT DRILL HOLES IN A Z-TUNE BONNET WORTH $8K!!!!!

I do have the aerocatch pins on my bonnet, much neater and I don't slice my fingers anymore washing my car!!!!

i totally agree, but wasn't sure if CAMS people would say otherwise... nice to know the bonnet doesn't have to be "altered" - i probably wouldn't do a CAMS event if i had a gen bonnet and was told to put pins in... stuff that! :happy:

so how ah... you do you lash down a bonnet with a secondary restraint? i'm trying to think about it, but it seems like there are some accessibility issues (ie, a closed bonnet :D)

so the pins/aerocatch ones are put in as the most convenient way of going about a secondary restraint? sorry for going OT a bit

I could be wrong but the oem bonnet catch is the secondary restraint and the lock is the primary. I've explained this pretty badly but basically when you pull the bonnet release it opens up onto the catch.

That's the way the cams guys see it over here in the West.

that would mean you wouldn't have to do anything?

aaaahhh... i get how it all works now. The slack in the cable allows you to at least open it part way, and then you can uncatch it and open all the way. Then do the reverse on the way down. Right.

But for a CF bonnet (perhaps not applicable to the uber quality of Matt's one) does this still not address the possible flexing issue at speed? hence pins for a CF topped FRP bonnet would be the better choice because the restraint points are wide apart?

Sorry to be going OT Matt, but hopefully this is of some use to you if you ever decide to enter any CAMS events, etc :)

I could be wrong but the oem bonnet catch is the secondary restraint and the lock is the primary. I've explained this pretty badly but basically when you pull the bonnet release it opens up onto the catch.

That's the way the cams guys see it over here in the West.

some track days see it this way, others do not... that's why you always have to read the supp regs

SS8: they don't really flex at speed, even the cheapish one I had was fine... I put pins in it for a couple of reasons, one was to help it line up and sit flush, two was for extra insurance and three was because they look cool lol

I had the crappy sparco pins that as Jack mentioned get in the way when your cleaning the car and collect dirt etc... aerocatch flush ones are much better IMO

Well then...when mines down your way next I'll throw you the keys :)

LOL, your making out like I'm some expert!!! Although owning my car now for close to 8 years and driving numerous amounts of other GT-R's you do get a feel of what a 'good' GT-R is like compared to a 'great' one. Especially when driven in anger on the track.... :cool:

LOL, again my apologies if I made you uncomfortable in your car, could not help staying on the loud pedal and experiencing this fine work of machinery. It does feel heaps faster when being a passenger, your not in control and do not know what the car is about to do. I'm a bad passenger, so I know where your coming from.

And as I said on the day, your car in the hands of Jeremy Clarkson in a review on Top Gear would be interesting, he would definetly be pleasantly surprised. Especially how standard it looks under the bonnet and without telling him what modifications it has, would love to see the look on his face when giving it some stick for the first time.

Have been looking at prices on V-CAM, would be interesting to see what difference it would make on a 2.6 bottom end.... :D

One thing for sure it will make a big difference to the hip pocket.... :banana::banana:

Unbelievable car. Youve done the real-life version of buying all the stage 4 upgrades for a car on Gran Turismo!!

Two questions-

WTF DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING! and HOW THE F DO I GET IN ON IT?!?! haha, great work on the car, i really hope i see it soon in the flesh at a SAU event.

Well, if Tiger had a 'sex addiction', then I have a 'R34 modifying addiction'. I think I need to go to rehab and apologize to my wife as well!!!!!

Anyhow, enough BS. My beefy Autoselect strut brace finally arrived after ordering it 3 months ago.

Specs:

3 piece design (centre cross member with two mounts secured by heavy duty bolt)

Mounts wrap around turrets for maximum bracing

Billet T60 aluminum construction

Exquisite detail with 'AS' logo engraving

Polished aluminum finish on the top surface

Cross member measures 110mm to 90mm wide and 25mm thick

Weight 4.5kg. (Stock strut brace 3.5kg)

Can support my weight (78kg) with no bending at all.

The obligatory photo documentation:

dscf0339o.jpg

dscf0332a.jpg

dscf0333k.jpg

dscf0336xq.jpg

Installed - looks tough:

dscf0346l.jpg

dscf0351u.jpg

dscf0359yv.jpg

Fit is perfect! Wraps around strut towers better than stock or any other type of aftermarket strut brace

dscf0349v.jpg

dscf0348.jpg

dscf0347w.jpg

I have more stuff to come. Keep you guys posted.

That is one chunky strut brace!

Almost looks like it would need some extra bracing / bolting to the strut towers to take full advantage of said chunkyness.

How do you feel about drilling holes in your strut towers matt? :D

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