Our New Dr30. Our Old Prince Skyline Gt

[clubracer]

Cage done... now onto the job of making it look nice. More deadener to remove. Also fitting the wilwood pedal box.

[clubracer]

I sat in it this week when the seat was in. Actually felt like a race car for the first time... I made engine noises and pretended to change gears.

[V8skylineMAN]

haha, I do that too

[clubracer]

Well I found some rust. Bummer. I had a custom pedal mount made up for a wilwood pedal box so once that was done it was time to really start cleaning up the interior so I got to gridning all the left over bits of deadener out including all the stuff I missed (firewall/foot wells). On the drivers side I cam across a few small rust spots that go right through, but then my drill with the wire brush went straight through the kick panel, so I'm taking the guards off and engine out to repair these sections (found some bad rust in the strut towers. On well it will be a chance to clean up the engine bay and then give the whole interior, engine bay and boot a coat of paint.

[clubracer]

On a different note the bump steer / rear strut top mount conversion kits arrived. Have just done a really quick dummy fit but so far so good. Stay tuned...

[clubracer]

I've been contemplating gearboxes for a long time. At first I was going to use the tried and tested RB25DET box, but I know it's big and heavy, and seeing as I'm going to a lot of trouble to reduce the weight of the car, it seemed like a bit of a waste. I was also looking at Quaife and Holinger boxes but the price of the boxes, plus bell housings etc was just too much. I stumbled across this close ratio kit : http://www.rhdjapan.com/kameari-super-close-gear-set-l-type-fj20et-hr31-zenki.html which was looking promising. A bolt in kit meaning I can use the standard box, and an uprated clutch. Best of all it comes in at about $1500 bucks. Not bad. Also just found out today the gear set is rated to 450hp max, which will mean it could do the trick. So I think I have made my choice....

[masTers]

I saw that, will be very interesting to see how you go with it as I was contemplating getting that for my HR31 as well. Mainly as it costs about the same as a 25box conversion. I wasn't aware it was rated to 450hp.

[clubracer]

Well thats what I've been told by Kameari America. I'll 100% confirm this before purchase though and try to get a max torque output too.

[masTers]

If it is rated to 450, that's an absolute bargain in my opinion. Saves alot of hassle.

I had a Z32 box with a modified R33 bell housing behind my FJ20, it wasn't that heavy, and the Z32 shifter lined up to the stock location quite well.

[clubracer]

So I've taken all the front panels off the car so I could start on some rust repairs and have found even more rust under the windscreen. At least I've found it now, but looks like I'll have to pop the screen. Am seriously contemplating popping all the glass, doors, rear lights and bumper and then having the entire car sprayed inside and out as the car will probably never be in so many pieces again. It's annoying though as it's just more money to spend!

Also the new bump steer and rear strut top kit fits perfectly! More on that later though.

Anyone ever popped a windscreen before, without cracking it?

[V8skylineMAN]

The only way I've ever done it was to cut the rubber through with a knife ( flush with the glass) and then push it out with firm but co stent pressure from inside. Normally two people to spread the load on the glass.

[Sinista32]

The pros use piano wire with 2 wooden handles. 1 Handle is removable. The wire is threaded through the silastic sealant and then attached to the handle.

Again 2 people required. Used like a saw (back n forth) all the way round keeping it off the body. Then a pair of those suction cap lifters.

Perhaps ask someone like O'briens or a local mobile guy for a cost.

or use a knife carefully

[Ghostrider]

If it is rated to 450, that's an absolute bargain in my opinion. Saves alot of hassle.

I had a Z32 box with a modified R33 bell housing behind my FJ20, it wasn't that heavy, and the Z32 shifter lined up to the stock location quite well.

I got a Z32 box & R33 bellhousing for sale lol

[Ghostrider]

The pros use piano wire with 2 wooden handles. 1 Handle is removable. The wire is threaded through the silastic sealant and then attached to the handle.

Again 2 people required. Used like a saw (back n forth) all the way round keeping it off the body. Then a pair of those suction cap lifters.

Perhaps ask someone like O'briens or a local mobile guy for a cost.

or use a knife carefully

It's easy enough doing it the way they are saying. Just be very careful when pushing it out as it is laminated and will tend to fold around the pressure point, as opposed to the old toughened glass was sorta like pushing on a board.

I cut mine out with a knife as I have a very flexible knife with about a 4 inch blade. Whichever you choose, just do it slowly and when you get impatient, go have a beer and cout to whatever.

[cazz]

The series 1 DR30 that I bought fairly recently still had the original zoned toughened windscreen in it, so they're not all laminated.

[clubracer]

I realised this morning while this guy came to pop the screen out that mine is the original Nissan glass. He reckons it's laminated but I'll follow it up just in case. Found 7 spots of rust to fix, just in the screen area. Annoying but glad I've pulled the screen as I can now get the cage stitched into the a-pillars. Hopefully next weekend the engine and box will be out then I can really get stuck into it.

Speaking of popping the screen out, the guy who did it was Lindsay Moore. A legend who will pop a screen out and then put it back in for $100 (and if he needs to source you a new screen will do that too). He went out of his way to come into my studio this morning, did a great job and took a lot of care and as he was just removing the screen it was only $50. As the screen was original and the car had a lot of rust, plus some dodgy repairs from the past he took his time in getting it removed gently. I tried to pay him more but he refused to take it. I would highly recommend this guy to anyone. It's not often I'm overly impressed with the level of service some people offer but this guy is awesome! His number is 0425 373 448. All Auto Glass is his business.

[clubracer]

Manifolds came off this morning. Hopefully engine will be out next week. Took the time to design the new radiator. Racing rules stipulate that I have to use the standard rad mounts, and I'm not allowed to cut the radiator support panel in any way, making nice short intercooler piping a problem. My solution - move the radiator back further and run the piping through each end. I'm moving the engine back anyway so shouldn't be an issue. Also means I get get more weight further back!

[clubracer]

The rust. Hopefully engine will be out next weekend...

[clubracer]

It's been a while since my last update. Unfortunately nothing has changed. I have been helping my partner on weekends for the last 6 odd weeks. I've managed to get my TIG welder up and running in that time and bought material to fix the rust. I've also been doing a lot of CAD work for my side business.

One thing I have decided to do is to only half build the car to IPRA regs. I want to build a nice little 350 - 400hp engine. I can do this really easily without a 36mm restrictor, so although the engine will not be to full IPRA spec, I can always throw a restrictor on there to have a run if I want to. With the interior, the rules state that I have t keep all the standard trim below the windows and above the floor. My interior is tatty, and while it's a race car, I still want it to look nice, so I'll keep the interior to one side and just run some nice carbon door cards. While I'm at it I'm going to put the doors with their heavy electric windows to one side and get another set of doors that I can cut up and stick some lexan in. I think the doors and glass will save me close to 50kg...

The next thing is the wheels. 15x8 is what I have to run in IPRA. I like bigger wheels, and I'm have designed my own to suit the car. I want to use the car to promote some of my design work and engineering, and IPRA wont give me much I can do, so get ready for something a bit different.

So I'll be back on the car as of Sunday. The plan is to get the engine out and get the rust sorted before I head overseas for the 2nd half of September. Once that's done the fun starts...

[AMR33]

Nice work Peter, its coming along. Just saw this thread. Always had a soft spot for the DR30. Will be following your progress. All the best

Amir