R32 Sedan - Grip and Drift (have my cake and eat it too build)

[CRSKmD]

Dropped the 32 off to have a custom Half cage (3/4 cage?) fabricated will update once complete.

Looking into harnesses now. I like the "yashio factory" ones purely because they are pink and look to meet all specs.

But open to opinions

[robbo_rb180]

7 hours ago, CRSKmD said:

Looking into harnesses now. I like the "yashio factory" ones purely because they are pink and look to meet all specs.

But open to opinions

Look at FIA rated/certified ones.

5/6 point, cam lock and good buckles. I've used sparco, MVP/Raceworks, velo.

Also look at Hans specific 2 to 3 inch belts if using a Hans.

Raceworks will do fancy colours too

[CRSKmD]

6 minutes ago, robbo_rb180 said:

Look at FIA rated/certified ones.

5/6 point, cam lock and good buckles. I've used sparco, MVP/Raceworks, velo.

Also look at Hans specific 2 to 3 inch belts if using a Hans.

Raceworks will do fancy colours too

The yashio ones are FIA but I’ll take a look at velo and raceworks too as I have seen they do pink in some options. 
 

only issue is my bride Digo R seat does not have a spot for the 5th point belt to come through the base cushion. Don’t really want to change the seats just yet. How will would a 5point work with that style seat

[Duncan]

13 hours ago, CRSKmD said:

only issue is my bride Digo R seat does not have a spot for the 5th point belt to come through the base cushion. Don’t really want to change the seats just yet. How will would a 5point work with that style seat

Not sure what the purpose is for a harness, but a 4 point harness is basically the same safety-wise as lap sash; you still run the major issue of submarining under the belt in a big one. 5 and/or 6 point belts require a hole in the cushion and seat base and mounts in a specific area under the seat

[CRSKmD]

3 minutes ago, Duncan said:

Not sure what the purpose is for a harness

The Car is still street registered and driven. The main use of the car is still just circuit days (time attack not door to door), Drifting (mild tandem-ing) and the occasional weekend drive. May do the occasional hill climb or road rally in future.

I almost always have passengers in the car at least at some point during a track day. So getting a cage for safety was the primary reason. I also did not want to run harnesses without at least a harness bar and cage. Another reason was that moving up a class for DSA days requires a cage.

I have seen people add a slot in the base cushion to accommodate the 5th/6th belts which i could be willing to do.

Eventually I will probably swap of the Brides for Velo GP90s etc which already suited. But financially wont be able to do that at the same time as the cage/harnesses.

 

[Duncan]

Yeah you should really holesaw a hole into the seat base and cut a slit into the cushion, and buy or 5 or 6 point one. 4 point is really not safe for track use and probably not CAMS rules compliant anyway. For the mountings there are diagrams in the CAMS manual about where the 5th and/or 6th point need to be, and you can buy or make compliant reinforcing plates for the nuts like this:

https://www.vsport.com.au/grayston-eye-bolt-back-plate-fia-approved

[MBS206]

4 hours ago, Duncan said:

Yeah you should really holesaw a hole into the seat base and cut a slit into the cushion, and buy or 5 or 6 point one. 4 point is really not safe for track use and probably not CAMS rules compliant anyway. For the mountings there are diagrams in the CAMS manual about where the 5th and/or 6th point need to be, and you can buy or make compliant reinforcing plates for the nuts like this:

https://www.vsport.com.au/grayston-eye-bolt-back-plate-fia-approved

Depending on the exact Sprints being ran, there may end up being a need for HANS, but from memory MotorSport Australia only need that currently at state level upwards, but I foresee them lowering that in the coming years, may as well plan for HANS capable setup.

[CRSKmD]

I have purchased a pair of FIA certified 6 point harness that is HANs compatible and will look into buying some appropriate seats like a Velo GP90 that already have the sub-belt slot rather than cutting up my genuine Bride Digo R's

Edited August 9, 2024 by CRSKmD
typo

[CRSKmD]

Cage is well underway so here is some progress pics

J18 Dual occupant spec with X-brace  through main hoop so i can still stack tools/jerry cans in the back seat area

Removeable door bars

some weld close ups and the fasteners used for the removable bars

All welded up ready for powder coating

[CRSKmD]

Cage has come back from powdercoating. Colour is "Dormant Purple."

Rested the door bars into the car for now just to see how the colour looked. Cutting carpet, install and trimming to come

[DaymoR32]

On 9/4/2024 at 8:59 AM, CRSKmD said:

Cage has come back from powdercoating. Colour is "Dormant Purple."

Rested the door bars into the car for now just to see how the colour looked. Cutting carpet, install and trimming to come

Love the colour, cage looks great mate!

[CRSKmD]

Th 3/4 cage is bolted in with carpet cut. I plan to retrim the back seat area to have it feeling complete/GT3 vibes soon. For the rear door cards I'm using some poor condition factory door cards. I will cut up and make flat cards from to clear the cage.

[CRSKmD]

On 6/28/2024 at 9:34 AM, CRSKmD said:

Unfortunately we ended up not quite getting to where I wanted alignment wise. Ideally I was targeting -3.5 to -3.8 camber as a good compromise for drift/grip/street. But due to the combination of custom configuration custom parts and the relationship between caster and camber (as you reduce camber you also reduce caster) on R32 we ended up at:

Front
Camber -4.5°
Caster +7°
Toe -4mm toe out each side. -8mm total

Rear
Camber -1.5°
Toe 2mm in each side 4mm total in

Perfect for drift but will be a touch too much camber for circuit. Thankfully the arms being modular means a change to one simple bracket will give me the adjustment I need to get to -3.7° camber and keep the caster at 7°.

Acostal came through with a new bracket which should free up some adjustment arm and hit my target of -3.7° camber and 7° caster. (old black, New silver)

fitted up and you can see how much shorter it makes the relative length of the caster rod as well as swinging it slightly to free up some misalignment in the bearing

 

with Caster maxed out short this is how the wheel sits on the car in the air

While I was at it, I pulled the wheels off the car to inspect the suspension and noticed this lovely gash. A pity becasue these tyres, while on wear bars, would have had at least one more dry grip day in them. Have a set of AD09 to try out next which I expect will be slower than the CR-s or AR-1 were but better in the rain with a longer life?

Edited September 10, 2024 by CRSKmD

[CRSKmD]

 

Fitted some Advan AD09s to try next. Likely slower than the CR-S but should work in the wet and last longer.
 

Off for alignment and the new plates worked a treat!

I was finally able to hit both my drift and grip alignment targets with the same setup!

Grip

Front:

Toe total -2mm(1mm out each side)

Caster +7°

Camber -3.8°

Ackerman +15°

Rear:

Total toe +3mm (1.5mm in each side)

Camber -1.5°

—————————————-

Drift as above but drop the front sway bar and change the below.

Front:

Toe total -10mm(5mm out each side)

Ackerman +5°

 

[CRSKmD]

Got the flat door cards "good enough" for now.
After cutting out the arm rest I removed all the stock trim material. Then filled the gap with a bit of Masonite and wrapped it in some adhesive foam to hide the  transitions as much as possible.

Then I applied some black vinyl material to the panel with some spray on contact adhesive smoothing the edges as best as I could.

Here is how it sits in the car with the door handle and cut down window switch mounted

[CRSKmD]

My 6 Point FIA harness have arrived (kinda). There was a mix up from the supplier and I ended up with 3" set rather than the 2" set. I contacted them and their customer service was top notch. It is being resolved and 2" ones will be on their way to be soon but in the mean time I was able to at least mock them up in the car to see the vibes.

Need to organise some fixed back seats so i can actually use them as a 6 point. I am leaning towards the Velo Podium II XLs as I like the look of the bolstering compared to the GP90 XL or GPT2. The side and thigh bolstering on the GP90/GPT feels less that my existing Bride Digo R recliner.

Velo Podium II XL


Velo GP90 XL


Velo GPT2 

[CRSKmD]

Due to series of unfortunate events the 32 is currently my daily. Fuel economy and jungle gym aside it has not been too bad to drive around. That was until the ol' Varex decided that ~15 years and ~8 of those years on E85 was enough. The butterfly valve separated from the motors' shaft and managed to wedge/weld its self in the closed position.

the varex when rapped sounded like there wasn't any packing left in it either.

New Vibrant 3" muffler was selected to go in.

While it is a shame to lose the quiet mode, the new Vibrant muffler definitely gives a more mellow/rounded tone which sounds great. To me it also sounds louder than the varex was open... so there is that. sorry neighbours 

[Duncan]

lol, get many looks in traffic?

[CRSKmD]

5 minutes ago, Duncan said:

lol, get many looks in traffic?

Snapping necks haha

[CRSKmD]

Well, after a week of daily driving and having to crawl out between the wheel and the side intrusion bars. I got myself a quick release setup. I went with an NRG short hub and Quick Release with some cute heart cutouts on the pull tabs. Nice and matchy matchy with the rest of the interior accents I have going on. 

The only downside is the total stack height even with the short adapter is longer than the old HKB boss kit. Luckily I had some adjustment left on the column so move the wheel away.

Edited November 24, 2024 by CRSKmD
picture formatting