Ev's - R32 Gtr - Targa/sprint/hill Climb Build

[Leroy Peterson]

^ shiiiieeet.

tough break, but glad people are ok/recovered.

[paulR32gtr]

The metal guy that Mick uses (Wayne) would make light work of straightening that out, new rear quarter. Also maybe speak with Danny Traverso he had his Evo straightened out and it's tip top, not sure who he used but there are guys out there that have the skills. Doesn't look like a re shell from where I sit.

[355GTS]

Thanks Paul. I will look into it further. I have not looked at it closely as I had to fly back to work. Was taking it on face value from RPM. They were on the fence.

Can you put me in touch with mick or wayne? I dont know either.

I have met Danny. Will get in touch with him as well.

Cheers

Evan

[paulR32gtr]

Ahh ok there might be something extra in there, on the fence is good though.

Mick @ Micolour I meant - you had your engine bay done there I believe. But yeah speak to Danny as well.

[Roy]

Yeh, given what you have invested in the cage etc I dont think the damage is enough to warrant a re-shell. If you have somewhere to store it just throw it in the corner and spend the occassional weekend stripping it and then getting the hanging panels straightened and vinyl wrap. Vinyl wrap NOT PAINT

[355GTS]

wHATS YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE TWISTED CHASSIS RAILS?

[paulR32gtr]

As in where the radiator support is up front? I would think that could be straightened out on a jig.

Is there any damage to the rails up under the rear LHS?

[acsplit]

Both chassis rails will need replacing from what i saw both are bent beyond repair i think. but i a no panel beater

[355GTS]

OK. Six Months Has Gone By..............And I am now remotivated to repair this beast. But this time its going to be an all out effort.

I bought a second hand CARBENCH JIG off Kelly Brothers Racing($1100 cheap!) which has everything I need to straighten out the bends and also accurately install any new framing etc.

Here is a summary of my plans and also what I have managed to achieve so far:

Plans for the new R32 GTR:

1a. Repair SIL rails on both sides of the car as they are totally stuffed from years of bad jacking efforts. Need to do this so car can go on the jig for four point holding.

1b. Put car frame on the CARBENCH JIG and establish baseline datums.

1c. Using tram rail measuring system work out all the parts of the car that are currently striaght and bent. Record this on the NISSAN FRAME DIMENSIONAL PLANS.

1d. Design and fabricate custom jigs to lock in strut towers and chassis rails to "true postions". This is so these positions are well supported when I go to strighten out the bent parts.

2. Repair Front Chassis Rail's Damage using pulling towers. (Both rails are bent fwd of the engine mounts).

3. Repair Rear Quarter Panel Damage. This is badly damaged and creased so is going to take some time to repair(Hammer, dollies and slide dollies....)

4. Repair Left Rear Chassis rail (which is ever so slightly bent from the rear quarter impact).

5. Remove Fuel Tank and associated fuel lines.

6. Cut out excess steel in rear end of the car to reduce weight.

7. Design light weight framing for the rear end to support the bumper and provide any additional reinforcement required.

8. Look at steelwork that can be cut out in the front end to reduce weight. Fwd of strut towers looks likely. I may also replace all the cross bars on the front of the car for light items.

9. Design new intercooler mounting system. I have purchased a new thicker intercooler. Considering mounting it on a different angle to stock and then adding in some custom shrouding to guide air flow.(A lot of WTAC cars are doing this I notice)

10. Custom designed Front Lip, Diffuser, Intercooler Shrouding, Bonnet scoops & brake ducting to maximise aerodynamic performance. (I have been studying several WTAC cars from the past few years and gleaned some great ideas for my humble project).

11. Roll out all guards (and maybe flare/widebody kit). Miniumum is roll the guards to give more clearance.

12. Strip remaining interior panels and linings. Remove Dash, air conditioner and all associated piping etc.

13. Get rid of the old heavy power steering pump and replace with new light weight electric one.

14. Design & fit new Group A style exhaust side pipe.

15. Send engine to engine builder and inspect for damage. Consider how I am going to get more power out the fully forged 2.8L motor. (Motor made 360kW or so prior to crash). I am sure the motor can hold a lot more power than this.

16. Procure Aeromotions dynamic wing. Design bracing system for this wing in the rear end to optimise downforce created.

17. New front adjustable tension rods.

18. Vinyl Wrap whole car at the end.

DREAMING LIST:

18. OS GIKEN or HOLLINGER SEQUENTIAL BOX.

19. MOTEC or HALLTECH ECU, DASH AND DATALOGING/VIDEO FITOUT.

20. Dry sump conversion for the 2.8L engine.

I will post photos as I go.

So far I have completed the following:

Engine and Transmission removed.

SIl rails panel beaten to some form of striaghtness (not an easy job).

Car is on CARBENCH Jig and baseline datums established.

Engine and Steering rack cross chassis brace removed.

Exhaust removed.

Rear quarter panel stripped back and panel beating commenced.

Custom jigs designed and 85% fabricated.

[gtr jet]

Shit Evan. This things gonna turn out even more amazing than it already was.

[355GTS]

I have started a facebook build thread as well. Here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/EvanBurnsR32GTR?ref_type=bookmark

Once I figure out this tapa talk app I will mobile up load photos to this build thread as I go.

[paulR32gtr]

Liking where this is going Evan! If a bits bent - just space frame it haha!

[355GTS]

^{Yes Paul, Space frame is definately on the agenda for some parts of the car. Will see how the chassis striaghten goes first. then decide whats best after that.}

[355GTS]

Here is the new intercooler I purchased. Much larger than the previous. I am hoping to extract a lot more power out this motor so I am sure it will be needed in the heat of the Phillip Island Summer!

[355GTS]

This is the CARBENCH JIG I purchased off the Nissan Motorsport Team (Kelly Bros). $1100 for the lot. Great value I think. I have had to purchase a few extra add on items to support the use of the bench. these are the next photos. Several different clamps which are used with the pulling towers. There is one that bolts to the bottom of the chassis rail and another that clamps to the front of the chassis rail. Others that allow you clamp onto different connections to allow different angle pulling.

[355GTS]

This is a "snake" hydraulic spreader tool. It can be placed into hard to get places to allow the spreading apart of metal from the inside.

[355GTS]

Oh...my....we have some work to do here. You can see the side panel is well creased. The very end of the rear chassis rail is also slighlytly bent downwards.

[355GTS]

So first I had to raise the car high enough to get the CARBENCH underneath. This took a little bit of patience and care but I got it done in an evening safely. The bench went under and then I realised how bad the SIL RAILS were. They were so bad in fact that I could not mount the car to the Four point mounting system which clamps to the SIL Rails. So I spent about two evenings with 10lb hammer, T-dollies and also a slide dolly bashing them backinto some sort of squareness. I got it done and got the car mounted on the four point holding system.

[355GTS]

Here is another photo of setting up the four point holding system.

[355GTS]

Here I have installed the car onto the four point holding system and removed the jack stands and timber I used to raise the car up. The car is now solely on the car bench and anchored in four positions.

Next I need to look at designing the jig pieces required to secure the front end chassis rails and strut towers. These jigs need to be strong enough to ensure that the strut towers and chassis rails AFT of the engine mounts cannot move or be bent out of spec when I start the pulling/striaghtening process. I have measured the location of the strut towers and they are in spec(+/-2mm) according to the Nissan Frame Plan. I have measured the chassis rails behind the fire wall and they are in spec. I have measured the chassis rails AFT of the engine mounts and these are no more than 3mm out of spec. The chassis rails FWD of the engine mounts on both sides are way out spec in mulitple axis. See next photos of the horror story.

Front Passanger Side Rail

Front Driver Side Rail

I took the paint off and some of the inside metal lining in the boot to allow access. the upper dents and creases are going ok. They still need heaps of work but its a good start.