Killer Whale

[GTS-t VSPEC]

Some people may think it's way too late to start a build-up thread about my car, as it's probably had the majority of work done to it that most people would aim for. However the next stage in the evolution of this car is to prep it for competitive circuit racing.

HISTORY

I bought the car in 1998, and other than the Nardi steering wheel and a set of mags it was bog stock. The only nice discovery was that it came with the factory optioned Active-LSD. The car went through a series of mild modifications, which ended up netting about 300rwhp with the stock turbo, but having had to push pretty hard to get there the stock turbo blew and was replaced with a GT30 with high-mount manifold and external wastegate. We pushed this new setup to 400rwhp before the inevitable ring-lands on the RB25 pistons blew, and resulted in my first rebuild.

The first rebuild was fairly basic, with GTR Rods and Weiseco pistons. We pushed this setup to 450rwhp on the GT30 until we managed to bend the GTR Rods. It was at this stage the car was off the road for close to 2 years, as we went through a full rebuild process, which resulted in the list below. The car was fitted with a T04Z turbo, and netted 600rwhp, until after a couple years the decision was to downgrade the power in preference of response, and so a GT3076R turbo was swapped for the T04Z.

THE CAR

Gunmetal grey R33 GTS-t S1 1994

Engine

RB25DET block (stroked to 2650cc)

R34 GTR crank

Pauter forged rods

HKS forged pistons

HKS 1.6mm metal headgasket

Nismo bearings

N1 water pump

HKS oil pump

ARP main studs

ARP rod bolts

ARP head studs

ARP cam studs

RB25DET head (ported and polished)

Tomei valve springs

APEX'i GT Cams (270deg 8.9mm lift)

Greddy adjustable cam pully

APEX'i triple-plate clutch

Hi-Energy Sump (7litre)

ATI Harmonic Balancer

RB25DET Gearbox (have OS Gearset not yet installed)

R32 GTR Rear Diff (shimmed)

Fuel System - E85 Sucrogen Race Fuel

Walbro Lift Pump

2 x Bosch 044 fuel pump

4 litre ART surge tank

HKS fuel rail

SARD 850cc injectors

HKS adjustable fuel regulator

Gator Fuel Filter

Fuel Cooler with Thermo Fan (Summit Racing)

Turbo System and Cooling

Greddy intake plenum

Infiniti throttle body

100mm intercooler

custom exhaust manifold (ceramic coated)

Garrett GT3076R turbo

TurboSmart 45mm ProGate (18psi spring)

Trust airfilter

GREX Oil Cooler

90mm exhaust

PWR 45mm radiator

SAMCO radiator hoses

Greddy Header Tank

radiator air guide

Electrics

APEX'i PFC D'Jetro(with hand controller)

SplitFire Coils

APEX'i RSM

Blitz Spec R Boost Controller

Braile Battery (3kgs)

Battery Isolation System

Suspension

TEIN Monoflex adjustable coilovers

Whiteline swaybars (front and rear)

Adjustable rear control arms

HICAS Lockbar

IKEYA Formual Tie Rods

JIC Traction Rods

Brakes

AP Racing 6-Pot (Front)

AP Racing 355mm Slotted rotors (Front)

PMu H18 Brake Pads (Front)

AP Racing Solid Brake lines (Front)

Brake Air Guides (Front)

Earls Braided Brake Lines (Rear)

R33 GTS-t Brake Setup (Rear)

Body and Interior

custom weld-in rollcage (Brad Stacey Fabrication)

JUN front bar

custom boot lid

fibreglass front fenders

CF bonnet

bonnet pins

Rays TE37 rims (17x9)

Ganador wing mirrors

Nismo clear indicators

Bride Zeta III race seat (carbon fibre)

Bride Zeta III race seat (fibre glass) (Passenger seat only)

Nardi Steering Wheel

Momo Gear Knob

Momo pedals

PICTURES

At the drags

Engine Bay

Dutton Rally 2008 (Wanneroo Raceway)

[N1GTR]

Approved

[GTS-t VSPEC]

THE PUSH

One of the main reasons for finally biting the bullet was the car recieved its 8th Yellow Sticker (thanks Brad), and rather than spending alot of time and money converting it back to stock I decided to bite the bullet and get serious about racing it properly.

THE PLAN

The plan is to get the car ready to run in Street Car Class, which a WA Variant of Sports Sedan 3D Rules.

Street Car Rules

CAMS 3D Sport Sedan Rules

The rules provide a minimum race weight vs. tyre width, which means if I run 9"rims (which I currently have), then the Minimum Race Weight is 1350kg, which includes driver and fuel at the completion of the race.

WEIGHT REDUCTION

I'm aiming to significantly reduce the weight of the car, such that I can get as close to minimum racing weight as possible. If I manage to get the weight below that, then I can re-add balast in all the places that I want to try and improve the overall weight distribution.

I've currently stripped out the half-cage, seats, roof lining and interior trim. Hoping to strip back alot of the excess wiring from HICAS, A-LSD, ABS, Stereo etc, and then get some dry ice onto the sound deadening to further remove weight. I'll also be stripping out all interior of the driver/passenger windows, and hoping to replace the majority of glass with Lexan.

The rules also allow for replacement bonnet, fenders and boot. I already have cf bonnet, and fibre glass guards, so may purchase a cf boot to further replace weight.

Currently removing the battery tray (about 2kg), with the intention of moving the battery to somewhere closer to the passenger seat location.

ROLL CAGE

A full weld in roll cage to meet the CAMS requirement for 3D Sports Sedans will be installed once the majority of the weight has been stripped out. Will post details as it goes in.

PICTURES

Current state of car, stripped interior

Original Battery Location

Battery Tray Removed (2kg's)

[Dsturbd]

Shame about the sticker I like the orange covers too

[GTS-t VSPEC]

Shame about the sticker I like the orange covers too

Yeah, but it was inevitable driving around with a half-cage, very loud exhaust, and stripped interior. Besides it finally gives me the chance to do something with it

Ross did the cam covers about 5 years back, nice and bright

[Volk34]

are they RE30's? man i love the orange looks sweet. lotsa work done to it

[ahh 33 s2]

good write up paul. i like your car, show some pics of ur ur drag spin out, hehe

[KillaKilla]

nice mate, nice.

[GTS-t VSPEC]

WEIGHT REDUCTION - DOORS

So one of the best places to remove some excess weight is from the driver and passenger side doors. Having already removed the speakers a few years ago, there are still plenty of bits and pieces are still in there left to remove, from solenoids for the alarm system (to open and close the doors remotely), to the winder motor, glass, and a heap of metal work for the window to slide up/down against.

Getting the glass out isn't that hard, but did need me to reconnect the battery, and use the winder to lift the window up a bit so I coule more easily access the bolts holding it in place.

The only thing I haven't figure out is how to get access to the door reinforcement bar. Normally I wouldn't encourage anyone to remove this, but the cage I'm putting in will have side protection, so removing this would help offset the weight in the cage.

The Street Car Rules state:

Front and Rear Doors; original front and rear door frames must be retained and must be unchanged in the areas not covered by the original door trim. All window regulator mechanisms may be removed. Original front door hinges and catches must be retained. Internal anti-theft locks must be rendered inoperative.

I read this as, I could gut the interior of the door, including the reinforcement bar, aslong as I retain the original door trim ? Anyone else read this differently ?

PICTURES

Door with trim removed

Stripped Door

Glass Removed

Window Motor

[GTS-t VSPEC]

WEIGHT REDUCTION DOORS AND BOOT WIRING

Spent some of the weekend ripping out the remaining wiring from the drivers and passenger doors, and whilst I was doing that the alarm system came out too. The only thing left to do is determine whether I want to cut the door up to remove the side intrustion bar. Wish I had a plasma cutter

Started putting alot of the excess wiring from the boot. With both the A-LSD and HICAS already removed, there was still a heap of wiring which had just been cable-tied up, so with a bit of trepidation about what I might accidentally cut, I started tracing back from all the plugs which weren't connected. The job is surprisingly easy, but take alot of time just unravelling all the electrical tape, before you can even detemine what can be removed. The best bit is the car still starts, so I obviously haven't cut anything too important

PICTURES

Passenger Door Wiring

Drivers Door Wiring

Alarm Wiring

[NA_Goodness]

This car is pretty famous in the SAUWA crowd! Good to see it growing to the next level, which has been inevidable. Bloody Brad

Good work mate, will be following this closely.

[GTS-t VSPEC]

This car is pretty famous in the SAUWA crowd! Good to see it growing to the next level, which has been inevidable. Bloody Brad

Good work mate, will be following this closely.

Thanks Rhys,

I'm hoping to get SAUWA involved in helping Pit Crew for the car once I get it finished, so we can have a car representing the club

[ahh 33 s2]

heck yeh, shot gun front left wheel guy. ahahah

good luck man, looks like u getting alot of the shit out of the car

[Mr. Keets]

Okay, we have got to get that car back onto the race track or our sponsors are gonna shit a chicken. Now I'm gonna ask you: "do any of you guys wanna go fast?"

Go get um Paul

[GTS-t VSPEC]

Okay, we have got to get that car back onto the race track or our sponsors are gonna shit a chicken. Now I'm gonna ask you: "do any of you guys wanna go fast?"

Go get um Paul

Nice reference to Talladega Nights

Hell yes I wanna go fast I'm not gonna live forever

Lucius Washington: You're not gonna live forever.

Ricky Bobby: No one lives forever, no one. But with advances in modern science and my high level income, it's not crazy to think I can live to be 245, maybe 300. Heck, I just read in the newspaper that they put a pig heart in some guy from Russia. Do you know what that means?

Lucius Washington: No, I don't know what that means. I guess longer life.

Ricky Bobby: No, he didn't live. It's just exciting that we're trying things like that.

[GTS-t VSPEC]

A quick update so you don't think I haven't been doing anything.

WIRES WIRES AND MORE WIRES

The last two weeks I've been spending a hour or so after work stripping back the stock wiring harness. The amount of time spent on this would be 15-20hrs, which in hindsight is an awful lot of time and effort, however there was an incredible amout of wiring to be removed. The highlight to me, is that through it all I only cut one wrong wire (an earth wire, so not really a problem), and the car still starts and all critical functions still work. There is still a bit more to do in terms of tidying up the wiring, but as I'm planning on relocating the battery I'll wait until that is done before I tape the loom back up. I haven't weight the wiring removed yet, but have it all bagged up ready to do so.

The next step is dry ice to remove the sound deadening.

PICTURES

Remaining boot wiring

All the passenger side harness is removed

Remaining ECU and instrument wiring

Fuse Box with alot of relays removed

Engine harness stripped back

[GTS-t VSPEC]

DRY ICE IS COOL

So on Wednesday after work I swung past BOC Gas and grabbed 10kgs of dry ice in an Esky. Having never done it before I wasn't 100% sure how easy it was going to be, but took the plunge and threw some dry ice into the boot, and within a few minutes I could hear the sound deadening begin to crack. A couple taps with my trusty hammer and sound deadening was flying around the boot.

It took about 3hrs all up to complete the vast majority of the car, there are still some bits which didn't come off, but mainly because they were a different type of material and didn't freeze aswell as the tar type material. I'll be hitting it with some sanding disks to remove the rest during the week.

I only got one minor burn from the dry ice, so it was quite a sucessful evening.

PICTURES

Esky of Dry Ice

Dry Ice in the Boot

Underneath the Boot

Sound Deadening Removed

After the Sound Deadening is Removed

[BOZ22N]

Have you tried getting the stuff of behind the rear seats and the rear tire wells that is shit, it is looking good.

Go the boats

[Pal]

for a laugh,

get a 2 liter bottle of coke, empty. put a cup of water into it. 3 or 4 pellets of dry ice . put the lid back on. quickly put it into a safe place and wait for the

BOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

[GTS-t VSPEC]

Have you tried getting the stuff of behind the rear seats and the rear tire wells that is shit, it is looking good.

Go the boats

Yeah, that is the bits that didn't really come off too well, will be getting some sanding disks onto that before it goes in for the cage