R34 Track/Street Car

[Tobz]

Still doing the brake conversion. Only been working on it after work so only get an hour or two in each night. Went to do the rear brakes with the alpha omega kit and forgot it had a hub spacer. Anyway the process to remove the rear hubs is a pain in the buy but finally got the spacers in so will finish the brakes this weekend hopefully.

 

also saw the rear tie rod ends we’re a mess so have installed the gktech hicas eliminator kit. Have to say build quality is really good and fitted perfectly. Those poly bushes are an absolute pain though!

 

also got a crappy front bar just to see what the Jsai Impul bar was like. I got it super cheap as it’s a little warped and cut in places, but it served its purpose to help me see what it looks like in real life. Will probably buy a new one in the coming weeks as this one may be a little too far gone for the finish I’m looking for

[Tobz]

Finally have the alpha omega brake kit installed! Haven’t finished the brake lines or bleeding yet, but at least they are on. Front were a super simple, the rear were shitty as they needed the hubs removed... but overall good price of kit so far!

[Tobz]

Also ordered some hard racing front upper camber arms and front tension rods so I can dial in the front alignment... this car is a money pit!

[Tobz]

Have done a few odds and ends this weekend!

one success is finally getting the car off the hoist for the weekend as I finally put everything back together. Will need to put it back up again though to do the front upper camber arms, caster rods and pineapples.

 

Got the apexi pod filter along with an enclosed cover popped in
 

also installed my new seats. Wanted seats without any branding on them so they aren’t immediately obvious as after market. They are autotechnica ssp67 seats which have ADR approval and fitted quite nice. 
 

Used the autotechnica rails with the crank Motorsport seat subframe. All lined up perfect
 

 

Edited February 16, 2020 by Tobz

[Tobz]

Starting to get ready to move the battery to the boot. Bought an R33 rear battery tray, the holes in the boot are covered by two round black stickers, peel them off and there are the mounting holes for the battery tray. Battery tray needs a small notch cut out to clear a bracket. Otherwise fits perfect!

[Kinkstaah]

Hey @Tobz, good to know the 34 was "meant" (sort of) to have a battery in the boot.

Also: What airbox is that? How well does it fit on the underside to the chassis of the car? Looks like the hi octane one.  I was considering buying one and modifying it so it fits my intake pipes. Nice to see an actual shot of it inside a real car.

[Tobz]

@Kinkstaah it’s the hioctane box. Fit is ok, I wouldn’t say it’s perfect but it isn’t terrible either. There is a gap but I would say its good enough to mostly isolate it from the hot air in the engine bay.

[Tobz]

Well had a fun day finishing the battery relocation. Overall I’m pretty happy, just need to extend my negative cable later on as the original ground I found was not sufficient. 
 

overall pretty happy with the R33 battery tray in the R34 boot

 

also the bus bar made the wiring really clean in the bonnet

 

for those interested I used:

8m of 0 gauge (53mm) of copper wire (was probably a meter or two too much, but I didn’t want to have too little). Used this for positive and negative and used heat shrink on the ends to identify positive and negative

Battery terminals (I used some called military spec, not sure what makes them that)

200A circuit breaker

Heavy duty 4 way bus bar

Heat shrink (14mm)

Copper cable lugs

Projecta Battery Terminal Shims

Edited February 29, 2020 by Tobz

[Tobz]

Got a bit done on the car today! Tomorrow I’ve got my lemons team coming around so we can strip our n15 pulsar sss in preparation for cage installation that hopefully should arrive in the next few weeks.

 

on the skyline managed to get my caster rods, front upper arms and new tie rod ends on. I think suspension wise I only have the rear pineapples left. Not sure if I will need rear camber arms, only need 1degree on the rear and  I’m hoping that can be done with the stock parts.

 

 

[Tobz]

Small progress, been sick for the last few weeks.

got the oil cooler all installed. Was a real hassle as the oil sandwich plate bolt blitz provided was too short, it would work if you didn’t have the pipes attached, but there was only a few threads of engagement. Took me a while to figure this out. Got a replacement saas bolt from supercheap and it worked perfect. No leaks  

now the list of activities is slowly shrinking and hopefully can drive it again soon. 

 

[Tobz]

Small wins this weekend.

have finally installed my gk tech steering rack spacers, inner tie rods and outer tie rods. So now have a bit more steering angle, have adjusted the tie rods to remove bump steer, and for the toe roughly right

 

also my new street rims arrived Friday (running wedsport SA70’s (18x9 +20) for track days and Koya SF05’s (18x9 +30) for the street. Very happy with the look, will take a proper photo once off the hoist

[Tobz]

I thought I was getting close to get an alignment and start to enjoy the car again. But more jobs now!

got the car on the ground and realised the rears have way too much camber now that I got the ride height correct at 345mm on the rear and 355 on the front. 
 

anyway ordered rear upper camber arms to correct the rear camber, also got the eccentric washer elimination kit to get the rear right.

 

also for some reason I decided I should also do the steering rack bushings. So that is all in the mail. 
 

after that just have the oil catch can, gearbox shifter springs and finish cleaning up the headlights and I think it will finally be ready to go! Starting to get excited now!

 

after all that I still have a new GTR master cylinder and the Cusco cage to install, but they can wait for now

Edited March 24, 2020 by Tobz

[Tobz]

Did a bit more work on the car last night, got the rear upper camber arms on, super simple took maybe 10 mins tops. Thankfully that has removed the crappy eccentric washers that come stock and will give me enough adjustability to get the camber right.

also took the car around the block for the first time this year! That was an accomplishment! Just waiting on some catch can parts so I can drive it for an alignment

also worked on my front headlight, sanded it back with 600 then went over that with some 1000. Sprayed it with some clear and they look really good and should last a many many years before they start to yellow again. They are super clear now but there are some micro cracks all through it. But I’m not too worried about that. will also need to get some 2000 sandpaper on it and a cut and polish to remove the orange peel. That will need to wait a week or two for the paint to cure. That should increase the clarity significantly 
 

Before and after shots below

Edited March 28, 2020 by Tobz

[Tobz]

Another small job! Got the catch can done last night  I originally had a bigger can in mind, and it all got too hard. So got a mishimoto style can and hooked it all together!

[Tobz]

Another quick update! Working from home has allowed me to get more work done after work. Not needing to travel home saves a lot of time!

anyway got the superpro Steering bushings installed. The old ones were not too bad, but these defo fit better. The drivers side bushing is a bit of a pain, but not too bad overall!

[Tobz]

Finally got the car back out. So good to drive again. Wheel alignment has been sorted. Goes in tomorrow for a second muffler as the car is a bit loud (not an issue for me, but it does drone a bit).

 

overall super happy so far!

[Tobz]

Few more small wins today! Went in for some exhaust work. The exhaust that came with the car was pretty loud and droney. Decided I wanted to make it a bit more silent so it doesn’t attract unwanted attention. It came with a full 3 inch exhaust with a muffler on the rear. Wanted to see if a second muffler could be installed, but learnt the car had a hollowed out car. We popped in a high flow cat and now it’s pretty perfect in terms of volume. Still can hear the tractor, but not obnoxious and doesn’t kill my hearing at 80kph In 5th.

 

also made sure there are flanges in the new cat so I can swap to the hollowed our version for track days   so happy days! EPA will now be happy I’m not releasing unwanted gasses and excessive noise

 

also found a steering wheel upholster in Adelaide. Sending my wheel there tomorrow, getting suede and leather retrim. Really competitive pricing. Will add details when I get it back if the quality is good.

 

also got lucky in the driveway today and got a picture of my two babies next to each other as I was moving cars around

[Tobz]

So steering wheel is still in south Australia getting reupholstered. But still got some work in

ordered and installed the cube speed short shifter. Super quality product, super quick and way to install. Shifts are a lot shorter, it’s also less “damped” and is more notchy and mechanical in feeling. I think there is a premium version of you want a more factory feel. 
 

overall really happy!

[Milkmun]

Great read mate. Definitely agree on the drivers side steering rack bush, used so much silicone spray to slip that sucker in. 

Re: Cube shifter, please do a little review when you drive it, been eyeing one off for a while but have read that it can be a bit hit and miss when you're smashing gears quick. I currently have brass bush and shifter springs, want to know if it will be worthwhile getting the Cube kit. 

[Tobz]

13 minutes ago, Milkmun said:

please do a little review when you drive it,

Will do, I don’t tend to smash through the gears, so I’m using this to help me shift a little faster. I can see how this can cause this shifter to be too quick though, especially on very cold days! I’ve added Nulon G70 to my box to assist.

hopefully get the whee back next week and can take it for a test drive