Project 180sx

2011-01-25T16:15:00.000+11:00

New Blog

Since the 180 is now gone I thought it appropriate to move the blog and adjust the title. It can now be found here: http://dbsmotorsport.wordpress.com/

Check it out :)

2010-12-13T15:17:00.000+11:00

180SX now sold...

I guess I have some explaining to do!

The decision for me to sell my car may have seemed quite sudden, but as I've explained to a number of people lately it has been a drawn out and lengthy decision making process that has caused me quite a bit of angst over the last few months. I've always said that deciding between 2 race cars is a great problem to have, but that doesn't mean it's not difficult!

The car that started all of this confusion is this:

It's a Radical SR3, and if you've not heard of one before then check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx5IdcSyEMo

Basically it is a LMP type race car, powered by a 1500cc Haybusa engine, revving to 10,500rpm and making 252hp. Combined with a weight of 500 odd kilo's and it's a bit of a weapon. A friend of mine, his father and myself went to Eastern Creek to try one out in October, and I decided it was the car for me.

To cut a long story short, I was offered a fantastic car from Radical UK on some great terms that worked well for me, and at the same time an offer came in for my SR22DET. I purchased the Radical, and sold the engine which was quickly followed by the rest of the car.

As much as I'll miss the 180, this just looked like the right long term decision for me right now. After 4 years off the track I'm getting a little tired of it and want to be back out there, and this will give me the best opportunity to do just that while having full factory support and for a relatively reasonable cost.

Stay tuned for a Radical blog one of these days!

Cheers,

Dane

2010-11-29T10:46:00.005+11:00

The 180 is now for sale...

http://nissansilvia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=468699&st=0&p=6002970&hl=dane&fromsearch=1&#entry6002970

Engine is gone, chassis and everything else now available.

2010-11-04T16:04:00.001+11:00

New PB at Winton for the STi.

1:40.7 on RE070's.

Modifications:
Swaybars
Exhaust
Tune

2010-11-04T13:07:00.001+11:00

SR20 is back... EJ25 is coming out.

Well, the SR20 is about to go back in... and the EJ25 is about to come out.

It seems that piston 4 has chucked a hissy fit in the STi, with low comp and terrible leak down results so the bottom end is being replaced. Due to time constraints, and also the poor experience I've just had with having an engine built here I looked overseas for a ready built block. After much research Rallispec in the US came very highly recommended, and after having a chat to the owner I was convinced.

This is now being built and will be shipped soon enough:

RSB-SS25 Street Spec Short Block Subaru 2.5L

Custom built to exacting tolerances. Street Spec short blocks are designed for applications under 600bhp. Features semi-closed deck block, Manley 4340 steel H-beam conrods, Cosworth forged pistons, and uprated main and rod bearings. Factory nitrided crankshaft . Designed for the low noise and long life demanded by a daily driven street application. 8.2:1 CR with EJ257 heads and standard head gasket thickness.

I'll alos be looking to have the fuel system modified as I believe the issue was caused by a lean out in cylinder 4. Research tells me that the fuel distribution has an inherent issue and this will be addressed prior to screwing everything back together.

Stay tuned.

2010-10-08T14:38:00.001+11:00

Engine is back...

Full list of work completed when re-assembling the issue is as follows:

Block:

Block pressure tested with cylinder head fitted - OK
Block chemically cleaned
Mains line honed with ARP Studs fitted
Torque Plate honed lightly ARP studs fitted
Block decked

Cylinder Head:

Cylinder head camshaft tunnels honed due to camshaft pick up
Camshaft sensor locating bore honed due to pick up
Head all ready had been surfaced

Crankshaft:

New crank - crack tested - OK
Crank clearance ground on mains and big ends 10/10thou

Piston and rods:

H-beam rods shotpeened and small ends honed to give more clearance for supplied gudegon pins
Supplied pistons cleaned
Whole assembly chemically cleaned and fully balanced

Timing Cover and Oil pump:

Timing cover clearanced oil passages
Timing cover peened and die ground where originally welded
Oil pump inspected and passages clearanced
Oil pick up opening enlarged for bigger area, not increasing pickup area height.

Clearance Spec's:

Clearances in thousandths of an inch

Crank Main Journals 2.155""
Block main tunnels 2.157 1/2"

Clearance .002 1/2"

Crank big end journals 1.878"
H-Beam rod big end 1.880"

Clearance .002"

Crankshaft thrust bearings clearanced

Clearance .004"

Piston rings: Supplied Total Seal rings
Top rings gapped and edges lightly filed

Top ring .018"
Second .022" could not gap as they were all ready this size

Bearings used: ACL race series

Part no.

Big ends 4B2960H .25 under 10 thou
Mains 5M2964H .25 under 10 thou
Standard ACL thrust bearings

Compression Ratio:

Head CC 44.6
Gasket CC 9.9
Piston dish CC 15.8
Swept Vol CC 547.6

Bore 3.545
Stroke 3.385

8.8:1 compression

Also, new cams, new Mazworx Headgasket, bearings, gaskets.

Plenum has had gussets welded on to stop the fuel rail lifting under high boost. New flywheel bolts also installed, and new Nissan coilpacks and Knock sensor ready to go in. Feels like new everything!

2010-09-22T12:05:00.002+10:00

Nearly done...

Should be ready to pick up this weekend.

2010-08-30T12:38:00.001+10:00

Haunted Hills

Few video's from the last WRX/SAU day at Haunted Hills in the STi where I won my class.

Finally got under that 60sec lap time with a 59.38. Previous best was 60.9, with the only change being swaybars.

Feeling more love for this car... less love for the 180...

2010-07-27T10:45:00.002+10:00

New everything...

Nagisa Heel Up plate:

Should make driving a lot more comfortable. The new seating poition and lack of carpet has made my feet sit a bit too low.

2010-07-21T10:30:00.002+10:00

DECA June 2010

Just a few pics from the SAU DECA day a few weeks back. The addition of new struts and 22mm Front and 25mm Rear Perrin Swaybars and Endlinks has transformed the car, and it was the most fun I've had in motorsport. The car is so taily now - just the way I like it.

I came 4th outright and 3rd in AWD class....exactly the same result I had last time! Will be on again in August so hopefully I can better it this time around.

2010-07-21T10:05:00.003+10:00

Progress!

Block and Head pressure tested
Shot peened and re-sized rods
Block decked
Honed cam tunnels
Clearance ground crank
Rotating assembly balanced
New bearings, gaskets etc
Hotwash
Crack tested and linished crank

The Dummy fitting began on Saturday:

Testing thrust bearing clearances:

Old bearings vs new:

Cracked crank:

New knock sensor, cams and coilpacks:

2010-06-22T18:31:00.001+10:00

Mazworx Headgasket

So after going through 3 headgaskets, and water in the oil being a major issue I decided to spring for the best of the best in headgaskets - the Mazworx item developed for the 90mm bore.

I'm not blaming any previous issues with the Cometics as I believe it was a block/head preperation issue, but understandably I don't want any perceived weak points. At 3 times the cost of the Cometic I'm hoping this is as good as people say it is.

I have just ordered some new Nissan Coil Packs and a new Knock sensor while I was at it just in case.

So now we have new:

Crank
Headgasket
Cams
Bearings
Gaskets
Coil Packs
Knock Sensor

This thing is all new so fingers crossed it all works.

2010-06-22T18:15:00.000+10:00

Wing has arrived!

She's a big one...

2010-06-02T16:43:00.001+10:00

Bad News

Crankshaft has been linished and it turns out that it's cracked... awesome. The cam bolts seem to be missing too...

I've ordered a used crank and bolts through Osaka Imports, who were excellent to deal with. Paul even delivered the goods to the engine builder within a few hours. Fantastic service. Now here's hooping this crank is not damaged...

2010-05-26T14:17:00.000+10:00

Good News

Well the engine has come back from being pressure tested and has come back with a pass, which is good news. This means the sleeves are ok, and we can continue with decking the head and block, linishing the crank, cleaning up the head, replacing the scored cams, resizing the rods and then hopefully put it back together.

I'm not happy about having to pay for this all over again, but I just want it completed now! I'm glad I decided to take the engine from the old builders and take it to my buddy, at least now I know it will be done right!

2010-04-20T10:32:00.000+10:00

Voltex 3D Wing purchased

Just won this on Yahoo Japan last night.

It's a 1600mm Voltex 3D Wing, which I will have Meridian Motosrport mount with their V8 supercar type mounts and bracing.

2010-04-16T14:15:00.000+10:00

Roof Scoop

New roof scoop has arrived. Super happy with the quality!

2010-04-15T12:04:00.002+10:00

Cusco STi

When my Rex grows up I want him to be like this:

Tomei Cusco Impreza FSW Test April 2010 from Tomei Powered on Vimeo.

2010-04-14T17:23:00.002+10:00

Last turbo bits arrive

My Full Race Dump Pipe (HPC Coated) and .78 Twin Scroll Garrett housing (HPC Coated) just arrived from a friend in WA who decided to move up to a 3076 with extrude honed housing.

Very much looking forward to putting this kit on!

2010-04-13T09:34:00.000+10:00

So depressing.

My engine...in bits.

Will be going to a mate to be put back together very shortly (hopefully this weekend), so fingers crossed all is well. I could do with some luck!

2010-04-06T16:11:00.000+10:00

Easter presents for the STi

PERRIN Front swaybar 22mm adjustable, PSP-SUS-100
PERRIN Rear Swaybar 25mm adjustable PSP-SUS-207
1 pair of PERRIN Front droplinks
1 pair of PERRIN Rear Droplinks
1 pair of PERRIN Stout Mounts
1 pair of PERRIN front swaybar bushes
1 pair of PERRIN rear swaybar bushes

Combine those with the replacement stock struts that went in a few weeks ago and it should be handling quite nicely.

2010-03-30T11:01:00.000+11:00

Rings here...

New Total Seal Piston rings just arrived from Performance Wholesale in QLD. Engine will be getting puleed from currrent engine builders and being put back together by a friend of mine with some help from a colleague. Maybe some quality work will be done now finally.

Also replaced my existing quick release steering boss for a D1 spec on the recommendation of a few people. It was half the price of the one it replaces, but so far seems much better. $100 well spent.

2010-03-15T12:14:00.000+11:00

New Bonnet

Nice to have a light, vented bonnet on once again. Now to fit the Aerocatches and Supermade lights the body will be done for the moment.

2010-02-19T11:27:00.001+11:00

Haunted Hills in the STi

Few vids from Haunted Hills last weekend in the STi.

Best time of the day was a 60.91, which I'm not super happy with. Sub 60 next time out!

2010-02-18T14:34:00.001+11:00

KW time.

KW's are in :)

2010-02-11T14:28:00.000+11:00

Exhaust mani & 'gates have arrived!

I'm excited!

2010-02-09T18:09:00.001+11:00

Fastest S-chassis around Tsukuba

This is the fastest S-Chassis car I've seen around Tsukuba at 55.56 seconds, and it's owned by a privateer. Talk about impressive!

http://eyevio.jp/movie/335039

Blog: http://blog.livedoor.jp/jdm_suzuki/

2010-01-19T15:30:00.004+11:00

New Turbo Kit on the way

Now this is one mod that I'm definitely excited by! I have just placed an order for a Full Race Twin Scroll manifold and twin external tial wastegates from the 'states, as well as a new turbo, housing and dump pipe from Perth.

The kit consists of the following:

Garrett GT3071R with a .78 twin scroll rear housing HPC coated
Full Race twin scroll manifold HPC Coated
Twin Tial MVS 38mm wastegates
Full Race dump pipe HPC coated

If you haven't heard of Full Race before they make some of the nicest manifolds I've ever seen, and the founder, Geoff Raicer, is a great guy who really knows his stuff and is more than willing to put up with pestering emails from half way across the world!

I'm hoping for around the 300rwkw mark or thereabouts, but with a great spread of mid range torque and sizzling throttle response. I'm excited!

2009-12-24T09:49:00.006+11:00

World Time Attack Challenge - May 2010

Cannot wait for this!

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/12/22/news-gt-gt-the-2010-world-time-attack-challenge.aspx

Word is that The Gobstopper ( (http://www.rogerclarkmotorsport.co.uk/gobstopper.asp?id=0 ) will be coming, as well as some other big hitters from the US and UK. Going to be awesome!

But I have a real hankering to see this:

2009-12-08T10:15:00.003+11:00

STi tuned

Had the rest of my APS turbo back exhaust fitted up to the STi yesterday, and then tuned by Ray at RE Customs. He did a fantastic job, with big gains as seen on the Dyno chart below. Not bad for just and exhuast and 11.8AFR's!

The car feels so much more alive in the mid range now (not that it was lacking before), and really wants to go when you put the boot into it. Now to get it back out to Winton to see what difference it makes...

2009-12-07T12:53:00.002+11:00

KW's have arrived!

Can't wait to fit these up...

2009-11-13T11:30:00.002+11:00

From bad to worse...

Well a slight gearbox noise has turned into a $1080 bill for new bearings, new second gear synchro and some other bits and pieces...

Gotta love cars!

2009-11-12T11:15:00.001+11:00

Block news

So, it turns out the sleeves have dropped slightly in the cylinder causing the leak. Because the head was decked last time i was off, but the block was not decked with it there is a slight variance and apparently not uncommon when removing the head for the first time in a sleeved alloy block.

So the bores are getting a hone, and new rings are going in as well as bearing most likely.I was using CP rings with the CP pistons but have heard there may be better out there, but I may be limited due to the 90mm Piston size. Time for some research...

2009-11-09T10:08:00.003+11:00

Sad looking bay...

2009-11-06T11:20:00.003+11:00

New suspension time

Have just ordered a set of these KW Clubsports for the 180 after going for a few laps around Sandown in a mates Boxster. These are by far the best suspension I've ever experienced, they soaked up the bumps and ripples so well it was ridiculous. No doubt that has to do with the Boxsters chassis as well, but if they can help me get to anywhere near that I'll be happy.

More info from their website:

KW clubsport – performance for racetracks & street driving

KW clubsport coilover suspensions for on and off the track performance.

Clubsport type events are becoming more and more popular. Therefore, KW has decided to develop a new product line - KW clubsport. The product line combines technology from motorsports suited for racetrack type events while retaining a balance of performance and comfort for street use.

The Nordschleife is an ideal environment for the KW clubsport coilover suspension. Street driven high performance sports cars, modified sedans and classic compact cars are modified for optimal weight, more horsepower and additional traction. The tuning is weighed heavily for racetrack type events but maintains some comfort characteristics for use on everyday roads. Suspension set-ups tailored for performance street driving produce less then optimum results on the racetrack.

We’ve developed the KW clubsport coilover for this enthusiast. Adjustments where made by altering the spring- and damper set-up and by fitting racing top mounts
•Performance adjustment for the race course
•Dampers can be indepently adjusted for rebound and compression
•Use of high-performance- / racing springs
•Optionally available with racing top mounts
•According to specification, available with certificate
by the German Technical Control Board (TÜV)

Compression and Rebound adjustment

The rebound adjustment, produced with the widest range of adjustment for that specific vehicle, is carried out by an adjustment spindle at the end of the piston rod. Most of all, the rebound controls the car body vibration, but at the same time the damping range also affects the handling and comfort at low speeds. With the rebound adjustment, the car can be adjusted to the demands of the driver; the driving impression can range from comfortable ride quality to a tighter and tense ride with improved road-holding characteristics.

The compression adjustment takes place at the lower end of the shock absorber by our patented multi-purpose valve. The number of pre-adjustable parameters of this valve allows a wide range of adjustments. The unique low-speed compression adjustment makes this technology unique. Within this damping range, the driving behaviour of the car is strongly influenced. An increasing damping force already supports the car at the compression and therefore avoids rolling motions. The steering behaviour significantly improves.

Aluminium top mount

Adjustable top mounts are made from high grade aluminium and are included in the application when a technical advantage can be achieved. A special gasket system prevents the intrusion of dirt and moisture into the free-from-play pre-stressed uniball-bearings and therefore prevents corrosion and wear.

» More about coilover kits and top mounts...
•Scaled camber adjustment (optionally also caster)
•Sealed, pre-stressed uniball-bearing in stress direction
•Made of tool steel (100Cr6); 58 to 64 HRC – hard chrome plated,
PTFE lubricant, stainless steel outer ring (X200Cr13)
•Axial bearing as balance on McPherson struts

High-performance racing springs

The new KW high-performance springs are produced from specially alloyed and tempered spring steel, and the increased resilience of the material enables new spring designs with reduced spring thickness. This makes the springs up to 30% more efficient than conventional racing springs. With the same overall length this means:
•more suspension travel
•higher block loading
•lower weight
Further weight reduction can be achieved by shortening the overall length of the springs and adjusting the necessary block loading.
•shorter overall spring length
•improved freedom of wheel movement
•further weight reduction

2009-11-05T17:10:00.005+11:00

Aaaaaand no luck...

Well all was looking promising. Car was making 285rwkw's @ 20psi despite a boost leak from the injector seals and 11.4 AFR's, but this water/oil issue has not been solved so it's coming out again.

I took it to Sandown on Cup day and it lasted 1 lap before a bit of oil spray forced me to come in. I checked the oil and it was milky so that was the end of my day. Super frustrating... one day my luck is going to change!

Dyno

Dyno Vid

Inspecting for water contamination

Few pics from Sandown

2009-10-29T17:49:00.001+11:00

Third time lucky??

2009-10-21T11:48:00.001+11:00

Nice shot

Taken by Will Stark at the Winton day: http://www.pbase.com/willstark/image

2009-10-13T10:19:00.007+11:00

Surprise surprise

180 wasn't ready again, so I took the STi to Winton instead.

Ended up with a 143.1, which is not too bad for a stock car. I'm pretty confident it would have done a 42 in my hands but I wanted to preserve the tyres so stopped after 4 competetive session and a warm up. At Motor Magazines PCOTY an '06 STi did a 142.39 in the hands of a V8 Supercar driver so I'm happy enough with my efforts.

Vid of the last session I ran:

The car ran faultlessly all day and makes me wonder why I bother with the 180 sometimes.

Anyways, the 180 has a dodgy headgasket, so another is on the way (the third). Have entered Sandown on the 31st so it had better be ready.

Some pics from the day:

2009-10-09T11:16:00.003+11:00

Winton prep

Alright, Winton tomorrow and no end of dramas getting the car prepped! Apart from the manifold issues, we had the following issues:

New oil line made up... went to install it and the plate on the turbo cracked... awesome
Power steering pulley sheared off
Baffles in the fuel tank have come loose

So much fun as always!

Anyways, all is fixed bar the baffles which can wait, and should be going on the dyno today before I pick it up tonight... fingers crossed.

2009-10-02T13:20:00.002+10:00

New turbo time?

I think this Garrett 3037 52 trim looks quite nice there, don't you?

What to do...

2009-09-29T13:27:00.004+10:00

Manifold take 3

Alright, third time lucky I'm hoping! It's just come back from repair, and has been re-welded and strengthened so it will hopefully last a few trackdays at least until I decide on what I want to do with my turbo system.

Thanks to John from Provex for welding this up for me, very much appreciated!

Vu at DT Panels painted my Supermade headlight covers up for me, and they came out really well.

We had a slight mishap with my bonnet and roof having an impromptu meeting, so once they're fixed these will complete the front end well I think.

2009-09-29T13:09:00.003+10:00

GT500 Project - Sweden

Wowzers! Check out this crazy GT500 project being undetaken by an ambitious Swedish guy. Awesome stuff.

http://www.gt500.se/

2009-09-15T14:27:00.003+10:00

Heat management

Well it would seem that I'm lucky I stopped driving at Winton when I did, as a few things got a bit hot under the collar! The wastegate pipe worked it's way loose, and scorched the sheeth on the wiring harness.

Sam has put some heat shielding in now to combat the problem, so it shouldn't be an issue. Luckily no damage was done as I would have been shattered if my new wiring was destroyed!

The bad news is that we also found a big crack on the underside of the manifold where it had been modified for the external wastegate, so it's off to be repaired, then back on for the final tune.

2009-09-02T11:19:00.003+10:00

Few treats for the STi

As the STi has been so good to me lately, I've decided to reward it with some quality modifications.

First up is a Titanium STi strut brace from the Japanese model Spec C. It took a little messing around as the alarm was in the way, but was easily sorted. The front end now feels a fair bit stiffer, and a lot more road info is transmitted back into the steering wheel.

Nice factory look.

And next up is an APS Turbo back exhaust. Now I was happy with my Turbo XS diff back, but a friend of mine as selling his car and offered me his APS unit at a good price so I jumped on it. I think APS make the best system on the market for power and sound (not too loud) so I was stoked with the purchase.

I've only fitted the diff back up as I'm waiting for funds to appear so I can tune it when the full system goes on. First impression is that it's quieter that the TXS system, but also has a nicer note up top. Can't wait to get the rest on and shoot for 190-200AWKW's. Should go well then!

2009-08-31T09:32:00.006+10:00

Testing my patience...

A bad week for me and my car! My bonnet had an impromptu meeting with my roof mid-week, and then as we were getting ready to tune the car for Haunted Hills on Saturday Sam found crack in th manifold that couldn't be repaired in time. I'm not happy camper that's for sure...

The Rexxy pulled through again though, and I took it to a near washed out Haunted Hills. I only did two runs before leaving due to the weather, but at least I made it and managed to finish 3rd in class (missed second by .02). More love for the Rex, less for the 180... Anyone want to buy a 180SX?? Brand new!

2009-08-24T11:28:00.011+10:00

Porsche Club Victoria Track day

Went down to Sandown for on Sunday to check out the PCV sprints as a few friends were running.

Some awesome cars as usual, and thought some Porka fans might like the pics.

2009-08-18T11:09:00.002+10:00

Awesome 180SX

Someone posted this up on SAU. It's a 180SX from WA, 650RWHP, RB25 on slicks... Watch it chase down those V8 supercars. Awesome!

2009-08-18T10:15:00.004+10:00

DECA August 2009

Took the STi to DECA on the weekend and had a blast. The car was so well setup for it completely stock, and I was super impressed with it. I love it even more now! It was so easy to balance on the skidpan, awesome thing.

Update: Results are back and the Rexxy surprised a few with 4th Overall. Would have been a lot better is not for a Wrong Direction giving me slowest time +20 secs and two hit cones. Looks like I'll be shooting for a top 3 finish next DECA.

A vid from the day:

In car:

2009-08-06T13:51:00.000+10:00

Random dyno vid pre-Winton

2009-08-05T16:05:00.003+10:00

Small vid

The shitty batteries supplied with my POV1 cam died after 2 mins of use on each of my runs... not happy Jan! So here is a 1/4 warm up lap of Winton. At least you can hear it a little...

2009-07-27T11:23:00.005+10:00

It's back... and had it's first track day!

After 3 years of being out of action I have my car back, and am really happy about it!

The car was getting worked on until 2.30am Friday week ago, then we got the car onto the trailer and headed off for Winton for a trackday the same day. That was an adventure that's for sure, arriving at the hotel at 5:30am, sleeping for an hour and then heading to the track! I'm surprised I felt ok, but dropped off toward lunch time and called it quits after 4 sessions in the car.

As it was running so late, there wasn't much tuning time to be had. It was given a quick, safe tune of nearly 220rwkw's on around 13psi but was running quit rich. It felt relatively quick, but we'll need to get it back to Sam's so we can do a full tune on it and give it the driveability it needs as well as a bunch more power. 220 doesn't cut the mustard!

The times for the day were dissapointingly slow, but to be expected driving on 5 year old tyres with no chance to get a sn alignement done prior to leaving. Despite the tyres, I still thinking it was handling quite poorly, very sketchy mid corner and under brakes. It was hard work! I only did the morning practice, then two times session and passenger laps for the day, and the time was a 1:43, which is 3.5 seconds slower than my old PB first time out...

Pics from the day will be coming. My camera battery died, as did the batteries in my POV video cam...

After the event a wheel alignment was definitely in order, so I visited Traction Tyres on the weekend, and had some explanations as to why it was such a pig!

My old suspension setting:

Camber F
L-2.48 R-2.3

Camber R
L-2.25 R-0.57

Toe Front
L +7.5mm R +8mm

Toe R
L+0.3mm R+1.1mm

Castor
7.5

As you can see, the toe setting were waaaaaaaaaaay off. I knew they were out, but never imagined it to be that much... Rear camber was also wildy off, and rear toe wasn't the best either. No wonder it was so difficult.

New settings we're trying out are below:

Camber F
-5 degrees

Camber R
-2 degrees

Toe F
0

Tow R
+2mm

Castor
7.5 (max without hitting anything)

These camber settings are a lot more aggressive, so it will be interesting to see how it feels. I'll do one more trackday on the old tyres to work the brake bias out, then move to some fresher ones before a new set next year. RE55's are expensive to flat spot in testing...

There is also some sort of issue with the clutch. It is catching on the way out and slipping between gears a bit. It also feels a touch loose so we'll get that sorted. The shifter is also not very precise in the new gearbox, and I was having issues finding third as it's not self centering well, so that needs to be looked at as well. But overall the car ran really well on the day, one small leak, but apart from that it couldnt have been much better first time out. I thought I'd have a fair few more issues so it's a credit to Sam and Gav for the work they've done on it.

Final spec list to date is as follows:

Engine: Fully rebuilt SR20DET
Crower Billet Conrods
Darton Sleeves
90mm CP pistons
Cometics Headgasket
Cryo-treated factory crank and rocker arms
Naprec heavy duty timing chain
Powerbond Race SFi Harmonic Balancer
Gti-R Oil pump – modified
New Hydraulic Lifters
ARC sump
JUN 272 11.5 Step 2 cams
JUN Valve springs
1mm inlet & .5mm exhaust Pep-pro oversize valves
Tomei Rocker arm stoppers
Trust Cam gears
ARP Head studs
ARP main studs
9.1:1 compression ratio
2188cc
Custom rocker cover with #6 fittings
Custom catch can with #6 fittings
Relocated power steering pump
HKS Twin Spark ignition amplifier
Remapped ECU
2L Surge tank used as Catch can

Induction and exhaust:
HKS Manifold modified
HKS T300 turbo (T04s 56trim 76mm compressor .7 A/R comp housing, 60mm T3 turbine .63 housing, plain bearing)
HKS external wastegate
Z32 AFM
Custom inlet pipe
80mm throttle body
Custom intercooler piping
Custom CPC single piece plenum
Hybrid Intercooler
HKS dump pipe
Custom front pipe
Kakimoto 3 inch Cat Back exhaust

Cooling:

Trust Oil cooler w/ Trust sandwich plate and Filter Relocation kit
50mm radiator
Autobahn888 Silicon radiator hose
2 12inch thermos
Embleton Engineering coolant overflow bottle

Fuel:
Unknown in tank fuel pump
Bosch 044 external fuel pump
Autobahn888 Surge tank
Custom enclosure
Sard Fuel Pressure Regulator AN#6 fittings

Custom CPC Fuel Rail
Sard 800cc Injectors

2 x Fuel filters

Driveline:
RB25 Gearbox conversion
OS Giken 1-3 w/ strengthened input shaft
ERP Bellhousing kit
Short shifter
OS Giken Fly Wheel
OS Giken Twin plate Brass button Clutch
Braided clutch line
Nismo Gearbox Mount
Nismo Engine mounts
Custom 1 piece Tailshaft with hoop
Custom gearbox mount
Unknown 2 way Diff
Billet steering shaft spacer

Suspension:
Tein Super street coilovers
S14 lower control arms
Kazama castor rods
Kazama Hicas lock bar with all Hicas lines removed
22mm front swaybar with rose jointed mounts
20mm rear swaybar with rose jointed mounts
Cusco rear camber arms
‘Pineapple’ subframe bushes

Replaced steering rack bushes

Footwork:
Front: Rays Volk Racing LMGT4 17x9 +22, 235/45/17 RE55s Tyres
Rear: Rays Volk Racing LMGT4 17x9 +22, 255/40/17 RE55s Tyres
Rays wheel nuts
Nismo valve caps

Brakes:
Front: 5 stud conversion, CSC calipers, CSC 343mm 2 piece discs, EBC Yellowstuff pads, Maltech braided brake lines
Rear: 5 stud conversion, RDA slotted rotors, R33 GT-R Brembo calipers, Maltech braided lines
BM44 Master cylinder
Cusco master cylinder stopper
R33 Handbrake setup

Interior:
Recaro SPA Carbon Kevlar drivers seat
Recaro SPG-N passenger seat
Bride driver side rail
RPM passenger rail
OMP 6 point Harnesses
STACK ST8130 dash
STACK Lap timing kit
Topstage carbon mounting panel
TRUST Electronic boost gauge
TRUST electronic Oil pressure gauge
BLITZ dual SBC spec R boost controller
Dilysi Spline type removeable steering wheel hub
RPM Sportline suede steering wheel
Gutted dash
Pulse dry cell battery mounted behind passenger seat
Veilside gearknob
1kg Fire extinguisher
PULSE dry cell battery
Custom battery mount behind passenger seat
FIA approved kill switch

Chassis:
Spot welded engine bay painted Satin black
Brown Davis rear cage w/ side intrusion bars
Undergaurd braces
Tomei triangulated front strut brace

Bodywork:
TBO front bar
Unknown side skirts
Vertex rear bar
Chargespeed 50mm rear guards
Unknown 20mm front guards
Ganador mirrors
Black roof
Carbon boot cover
Carbon bonnet
C-West GTII Aluminium wing (not fitted as yet)
Resprayed in champagne

2009-07-24T11:16:00.006+10:00

Some Goodies for the Rex

My WRX STi Spec C RA lip just arrived from Japan, so I went off to Subaru to get it fitted yesterday. It makes such a difference to the stance of the car and I'm stoked with it!

I have also fitted up a TurboXS Diff Back Oval Exhaust system to get a little more sound out of the engine, and unlock some Boxer grumble! I didn't want anything too raucious, just a nice enahncement to the stock sound and this has provided it. Really happy with the fit and finish and highly recommend them. Thansk to Adam from TU Speed for this.

2009-07-07T10:01:00.003+10:00

Slowly Slowly....

Bodywork back on, bar the lights and skirts which will be in this week in readiness for Winton on the 18th July.

Sneak peak at the STACK lit up :)

2009-06-16T11:17:00.005+10:00

Bits and pieces

Well Sam just shot me through a pic of the new panel for the dash they've been working on, and it looks great so I thought I' post it up. I'll add an EGT temp gauge in soon enough to complete it.

Start:

As you can see the ECU and fuse box is now mounted where the glove box used to be for easy access.

Finished (nearly)

2009-06-15T14:19:00.005+10:00

New car...

It's ok, the 180 is still being put back together after my oil pump drama's and should be back over the next two weeks... hopefully.

Anyways, in the mean time I've become bored with waiting and so I've bought a new daily driver. Previous to this I drove a HSV VXII Clubsport, which was a good car for it's purpose (daily, towing the 180) but it was getting on a bit and the km's were starting to rise so it was time for a change.

Rally if my favourite form of motorsport, and I've always had a thing for STi's, so I took one for a test drive and fell in love with it! After some lengthy negotiations I'm the proud new owner of a My06 WRX STI in silver, with gunmetal grey STI alloys and 60k km's on the clock.

The car was purchased from STI Docklands, and bar one minor hiccup I can't speak highly enough of them. It was a great experience all round, especially compared to some places, and I can highly recommend them.

Anyways, on with the pics!

2009-05-12T15:40:00.002+10:00

All is well!

Finally, some good luck. All is well with the engine. The engine builders have pulled it down and everything looks to be perfect, so thank fark for that!

Turns out the GTI-R oil pump had stress fractures on the backing plate, as well as slightly worn gears. So as a precaution I'm just going to buy a new pump assembly and have it modified to go on once again. The cost of doing ths annoys me a bit, but it's better to be safe than sorry nd a lesson learnt: Don't use any second hand parts in a fresh engine build! It was the only second hand part, and lo and behold it was the one that failed... unbelievable.

Despite the extra cost involved I'm just super relieved that the engine is A-OK.

I've entered the car into Sandown for late June, so here's hoping I can finally get in the thing and drive it.

2009-04-27T11:53:00.001+10:00

Engine out

Well the oil pressure issue still isn't sorted, so the engine is coming out and going back to the builders to get checked out and find out what the issue is... so draining.

Very much over it right now.

2009-04-24T15:57:00.004+10:00

Engine has started...

After completing the wiring there seemed to be some sort of issue with the spark. Sam ended up tracing it down to the Splitfire Coilpack wiring having issues with the HKS Twin Spark so we decided to remove the Splitfires and go back to standard coilpacks for the moment. We should still have enough spark, and I'll grab some new ones when money permits.

So after tracking this issue down, and sorting out some other niggling electrical gremlins which I have no idea about, Sam started the car today., which is great news..except there is an oil pressure issue! Not sure what it is at this stage, so I'll update when we know. I'm happy that the car has finally been started after 2.5 years, but a little worried about this issue... why don't things ever go smoothly?!

On another note, in an earlier post I put up images of the gearbox position in the tunnel. It's sitting slightly further forward than I would have liked, so to rectify the situation I've just purchased a Nismo Solid Shift R34 GTT shifter on the advice of a mate, at a ridiculous cost. Damn this exchange rate....

The R34 shifter has a decent kink in it, so should push the position back to stock.

Shifter position with new gearbox:

Nismo Solid Shift.

2009-03-16T12:12:00.002+11:00

Fuel System done!

Finished product:

2009-03-12T11:29:00.005+11:00

Fuel System Progress

Well Sam's nearly done with the fuel system, and has done a great job.

2009-03-10T12:21:00.005+11:00

Bits and pieces...

Ok, we've completed a few things since the last update. Nothing too major, but it's all the little things that are taking up the time so it's good to get them out of the way.

After the trial fit of the front brakes everything went well and Sam put the rest of the kit on the car. Maltech came out and made me up some custom front lines to go with their rear lines, and supplied all the bolts to fit it up as I didn't have any.

Front kit consisting of:

CSC 4 Piston Calipers
CSC 343mm x 32mm Front 2 piece discs

Maltech braided lines

EBC Yellow Pads

Rear kit Consisting of:

Brembo R33 GT-R Rear Calipers

RDA Vented and Slotted rear discs

Unknown Pads (we'll see how they go)

Maltech braided lines

We also spent some time getting the fuel system sorted out. CAMS regulations require that the fuel system must be sectioned off from the cabin, which is usually quite simple in a sedan. Due to the 180SX being a coupe it becomes a touch more difficult.

I decided to have an enclosure made to house the surge tank, filter and pump and Sam came up with the idea to cover the boot floor in marine grade alloy to create a handy mounting for the enclosure, as well as keeping the fuel lines from the cabin by running them through to the spare wheel well and into the tank.

Making the template:

Finished product:

Enclosure:

Bosch 044, 888 Surge tank and fittings:

I'll put up some more pics when it's complete.

Also fitted up the drivers side seat and harness and test fitted the STACK dash.

Sam doing what he does!

2009-02-04T15:45:00.006+11:00

Engine is in!

Quite a few bits and pieces have been completed over the past few weeks. I'll let the pictures do the talking:

New 1 Piece tailshaft:

'box mount made and installed:

RB25 Gearbox with strengthened shafts and OS Giken 1-3 installed:

Rocker cover and strut brace mounts painted in new Dr Drift workshop colour. Looks great in person!

New waterpump:

Engine in!

Ancillaries added:

She's a tight fit!

Sard fuel reg:

Front brakes trial fitted, and LMGT4's put back on:

Now to get it ready before the next Phillip Island event... can't wait!

2009-02-04T15:30:00.005+11:00

Progress...rear calipers

Ok, we've made a lot more progress on the car since the last update.

First up is the brakes. After buying the 33 GT-R rear Brembo's second hand I thought it was a good idea to have them rebuilt as the seals looked like they had seen better days. Racebrakes in Yarraville took care of that for me, and soon had them looking as good as new.

Before:

After:

Next up was to get them matching the front calipers colour wise, as they were looking pretty tatty and tired.

When I bought them:

Sanded for painting:

First coat:

Paint used:

Finished!

Really happy with how they've come up. They don't match the fronts completely, but it's a race car so I'm not phased. Should do the job quite nicely!

2008-12-23T10:32:00.005+11:00

Progress...

Ok, making a little more progress!

The plenum is finally ready to go onto the car after a year in the making... don't even ask! This thing was such a massive headache, but it's done now and I'm happy with the final result, if not the process of getting it.

The unit was custom made by CPC, and is the first of it's kind they've produced, hence the dramas. I'm combining it with an 84mm throttle body, so the reults should be interesting. I'm hoping I can keep nice throttle modulation with it... but we'll see!

Plenum fitted up:

Custom fuel rail and 850cc injectors:

Nice :)

Sam has also completed a few other bits and pieces over the past few weeks.

Water hoses all fitted up, waiting to be dropped back in:

Rocker cover painted in the new Dr Drift shop colour:

This looks great with some light on it, subtle and industrial looking. I really dig it. I had the end plates of the strut brace done in the same colour.

1 peice tailshaft and hoop made up:

Kakimoto 3 inch exhaust cleaned up and ready to go back on:

Next up is finishing the wiring for the cabin, and then the engine bay wiring. Not tooooooo much to go now...

2008-11-26T09:18:00.003+11:00

Battery Install time

We decided to mount the battery on the passenger side of the cabin, behind the seat. The idea of this is to help offset the weight of the driver. All work on this was performed by Adam Kaitler, who came up with the whole setup in his car, and I just copied!

I went for a PULSE battery as they're a cheap option, and after having an odyssey a long time ago and not being particularly happy with it I thought may as well give it a go. We also installed a FIA approved kill switch, and mounted the box for the Painless wiring switch panel.

Battery and mount

Switch panel in place

2008-11-13T10:47:00.005+11:00

Suspension

The suspension is going to be left as it was prior to the rebuild. I've been really happy with the handling thus far, and the car has great traction even out of second gear corners.

The suspension currently consists of the following:

Tein Super Street Coilovers (Japanese spec)

Kazama Castor rods

Kazama Hicas lock bar

Cusco rear camber arms

Cusco castor rod brace
Tomei triangulated strut brace (front)

Integrated strut brace into the rollcage on the rear
Unknown aftermarket swaybars front and rear

I also have a under guard braces from an unknown japanese brand.

The Super streets were my only concern in that setup, but so far they've proven very good in combination with the big swaybars.

I'll be doing some aero mods to help the suspension work a little better. I've bought a GKtech undertray for the time being to try and smooth out some of the airflow under the car, and protect the sump from ripple strips. I'm thinking I will just extend upon this to create a full undertray with splitter for the front end, similar to this:

GKtech undertray:

Pity I have no skills, so it should be interesting!

I've also got my hands on a C-West GT wing. I used to have one on the car, and took it off due to a defect. I sold it to a mate, who put it on his S14 that he races. After going in his car and feeling the rear end stability it has, I decided I needed to get one again. The only issue is how I mount it to the boot... I'm thinking of doing a system like the one show below, or alternatively just mounting a straight bar across the inside, and putting the wing posts straight through the boot. This will impede access to the fuel system though, so I'm trying to decide my best course of attack that will provide a solid mounting plate while still giving relatively easy access to the boot area (within 10 minutes to get in).

2008-11-11T14:35:00.007+11:00

Turbocharger

A lot of people give me strange looks when I tell them what turbo I'm running on my big $$$ engine, and I can see why. The fact is that I have it already, and it worked well on my previous engine, so I'd like to see how it goes on this one. I think the capacity of the engine will bring it on nice and strong, but the cams might be too big for it. Only one way to find out...

The turbo I'm running is a HKS T300.

Specs: T04s 56trim 76mm compressor .7 A/R comp housing, 60mm T3 turbine .63 housing, plain bearing
HKS External Wastegate
HKS modified manifold
Custom dump pipe and front pipe

In one of the earlier posts you can see what the turbo kit looked like originally. While it worked well, it was a nightmare to work on due to the position of the wastegate, and we didn't think it would even fit with the new gearbox. While we had everything out Sam (http://www.drdrift.com.au/) and I decided in the interest of serviceability we'd relocate the wastegate. A member of Skylines Australia came to the rescue and gas filled and welded up the massive hole in the manifold that was there from when the wastegate was ripped off at DECA (refer earlier post).

Big thanks to John at Provex for helping me out!

This is how it came out:

Hole:

Welded:

We then worked out the best place on the merge to relocate the wastegate.

It then went back to Williamstown Engine Reconditioners to be levelled out.

And this is it dummy fitted on the car:

I think it came out really well, over the moon with it.

2008-11-11T13:00:00.005+11:00

Brakes

I'm a bit of a brake whore, so despite my previous setup working well on the track I couldn't resist moving onto something bigger and better for the return of the car. I figured I'm going to be arriving at corners with a fair bit more speed now, so they were warranted while I had the money to pay for them.

Old setup:

Front: Sumitomo calipers, Project Mu SCR rotors, Project Mu HC+ pads, Goodrich braided lines.

Rear: S14 calipers, RDA slotted rotors, DS2500 pads, Goodrich braided lines

New setup

Front: CSC 4 piston calipers, CSC 343mm 2 piece slotted rotors, CSC caliper mounts, EBC Yellow stuff pads, Maltech braided lines

Rear: Brembo R33 GT-R rear calipers, RDA slotted discs, DS2500 pads, Maltech braided lines

A little bit of an upgrade...

I have to give a massive thanks to Stuart at Benson Motorsport in Hobart (http://www.bensonmotorsports.com/) for finding the brakes for me. He put me onto the calipers and rotors which were 1 hill climb and half a track day old, and then sourced me caliper mounting brackets, as well as gave me a heap of advice in answer to all my annoying questions. Absolute champ.

For those that don't know who CSC is, they are an Australian company started by an ex-Harrop engineer. They are now known as BMAX, and are used on Ric Shaw's 24hr Nurburgring car so they're good stuff.

I can't wait to fit these bad boys up! I'll wait until the car is closer before I do as I want to keep my semi's in storage and stock rims obviously won't fit over the brakes.

I'm going to have the rear Brembo's rebuilt, and then I'll paint them before they go on. I'll put another post up when I'm doing this.

2008-11-11T12:24:00.005+11:00

Rollcage

Ok, you probably noticed (if you're not blind) the roll cage in the last post, so I thought I'd give some details on it.

It was built by Brown Davis Motorsport in Bayswater and consists of a bolt in rear half cage with a single diagonal, camera mount, harness bar and side intrusion cars.

I also had to have a custom seat mount made up to sit the seat on the floor due to the diagonal sitting me too far forward (I'm pretty tall)

Great workmanship on the cage, can't fault the thing. I wasn't 100% impressed with having to get a new seat mount, but it was probably a good idea anyway.

2008-11-11T11:26:00.006+11:00

Bodywork

OK, this was definately my least favourite part of all this, probably because I did most of it myself.

With the engine out it was the perfect time to clean up 15 years worth of engine bay grime, and give it a fresh coat of paint. Me and some mates started to strip down the car of all easily removeable bodywork, and then got stuck into the engine bay. What a pain in the arse! It was probably more of a pain considering we spent a night trying to get the engine loom out of the wrong side of the car...

That's what friends are for! Thanks Don Megaaaaa

Filthy!

Eventually we got it all done, and sent it off to Primal Garage ( http://dive.to/PrimalGarage) for spot welding and an engine bay respray in Satin Black. They did a great job on the car, and were very reasonably priced, thanks guys!

Onto the interior...

If I thought the engine bay was bad, then I was in for a shock at the work involves with getting the interior up to scratch. What a task!

The plan for the interior was to remove anything not necessary, and reduce weight as much as possible, and give it a fresh coat of Satin Black paint to keep the theme of the car going, as well as make it easy to touch up when it's inevitably scratched. That meant all wiring and sound deadening had to go. The wiring was fine, the sound deadening was a pain. I used dry ice for the most part, and then a heat gun and wire brush for the rest. It was dirty work to say the least... but we got their in the end. I'm still blowing black paint out of my nose...

Stripping:

Masking (pain in the arse):

Practice:

Getting there:

Done!

I think it turned out quite well in the end, and I'm happy with the colour too.

2008-11-11T10:51:00.005+11:00

Electronics

The aim of this car is to be light and fast around a racetrack, and with that in mind anything that wasn't needed was binned from the car, including the stock loom. While I was stripping out the interior I realised exactly how much wiring was in the car that wasn't actually needed anymore. Extra wires = extra weight, and more things to go wrong so they had to come out.

I invested in a Painless wiring harness from the 'states (http://www.painlessperformance.com/)

This is a great bit of kit, that includes everything to wire up a street legal race car, using it's own fusebox and switch panel.

Switch Panel

Fuse box

Complete kit

I'll update this once the kit goes in the car.

The other electronic unit I'm excited about is my new STACK ST8130 dash.

STACK are an English company who produce aftermarket dash displays, gauges and data acquisition units. These are top quality pieces of kit, and are seen on the Koeniggsegg CCX as a factory fitment.

More can be read on ths unit here: http://www.stackltd.com/streetdash1.html

"Ideal for both Rally and High Performance Street cars, the ST8130 not only retains all the ST8100 racing features but also meets street legal requirements.
Replaces speedometer, tachometer, oil-pressure, water-temperature, fuel-level, voltmeter, oil-temperature odometer and tripmeter functions.
Each system is supplied complete with sensors (except fuel level), ready wired harness and manual. Ultra light-weight design utilising a carbon fibre composite housing. Compatible with all conventional & MSD ignition systems and engine types.Intelligent Alarm SystemThe user adjustable intelligent alarm system monitors engine condition 20 times every second. The instant any value exceeds a normal safe working level the alarm light is illuminated and a clear easy to read alarm message is displayed on the LCD.Precision fuel level calibrationThe ST8130 can be simply connected to any standard fuel sensor. Unlike conventional gauges the ST8130 allows the user to precisely calibrate the sensor, using a multi-point scaling, to the tank - ensuring the driver knows exactly how much fuel is in the tank at all times.

The Street Dash Display Max system is supplied complete with mounting brackets, switch kit, mil. spec professional wiring loom, manual and all sensors (except Fuel level) to provide the following functionality:

Tachometer

Speedometer

Odometer & Tripmeter

Oil & Fuel Pressure readout

Water & Oil Temperature readout

Volt Meter

Fuel Level

Infrared Lap Timing

Predictive Lap Timing

Peak Value Tell-Tales on all monitored parameters

Intelligent Alarms on all monitored parameters

Separate low fuel level light

Optional plug in Shift Light

Fully sealed against water and dust

1 year competition Warranty

Suitable for all negative earth ignition systems "

I've always wanted one of these, so can't wait to get it hooked up and running.

I also got my hands on the Infra red lap timing system, which is a great addition and one of the main reasons I wanted the unit.

The STACK will run alongside an Electronic Greddy Fuel Pressure and Greddy Boost gauge for all the information I need in cabin.

To mount the unit, Freddy at Topstage (http://topstage.com.au/) built me a custom carbon fibre mount for the stock cluster position which turned out great.

2008-11-11T10:18:00.003+11:00

Gearbox

With aspirations of an eventual 300+ rwkw's once fully developed, and having gone through a number of gearboxes already, I decided to go for a gearbox strong enough to handle the rigours of track work. Luckily for me a guy I know was selling the gearbox out of his old car, the Endless Racing drag R32 GTS-t. This car was stolen, and the only part recovered was the gearbox, and I'm glad they got it back!

The gearbox is an RB25 unit, with OS Giken 1-3 gears and a strengthened input shaft. The box was rebuilt about 50km's before the car was stolen after destroying the input shaft at Calder a few years back on slicks. If this box was strong enough for a 450rwkw, twin TD06 equipped RB26, then it sure as shit should be strong enough for my car.

To get it all fitting up I was lucky enough to get my hands on a rare ERP Bellhousing kit. I'll be getting a custom 1 piece tailshaft made also, and running the existing OS Giken twin plate w/ lightened flywheel which was freshly rebuilt. Hopefully it is not the weak link in the chain...

2008-11-07T12:53:00.012+11:00

Rebuild time!

With the destruction of my manifold I thought it was time to fastrack the always intended rebuild of the engine... which just happened to turn into a rebuild of the whole car! Here I am two years later and the thing is still not ready...

The engine was not in need of a rebuild, but constant leaks and small issues prompted me to get the whole car sorted out, and rebuilt purely for track work. I comp tested the old engine before it was sold and it read 159, 158, 162, 160 or something very similar to that. Not bad after having 240rwkw's for a number of years, and doing motorsport! Shows that if you look after them properly then the SR is a tough engine.

My original plan was just to rebuild the engine with a simple kit, comprising arias pistons, eagle rods, head gasket, studs etc. Something cheap and strong. That didn't last long though.

I thought if I'm doing it, I may as well go all out and forked out for a 2.2 big bore kit from the US. The idea behind the 2.2 for me was the added torque, and area under the curve for motorkhanas, and low speed corners on the track. With my old setup I found myself stuck between gears on occassion, especially at Winton where on some corners I would be banging the limiter in second, but not have sufficient torque in third.

I decided to go for the big bore kit as it would be happier revving, while still providing me the low down torque I required. This is the kit I ended up going for:

It comprised of a Cometics headgasket, Darton 90mm dry sleeves and CP pistons.

Along with this kit, I also purchased the following:

Crower Billet H beam Conrods:

Naprec Heavy duty timing chain:

Greddy Cam gears:

Powerbond racing SFi Balancer:

Modified GTi-R Oil pump:

ARC Sump:

JUN 272 11.5mm lift camshafts:

JUN valve springs:

Nissan Gasket kit:

1mm inlet and .5mm oversized Pep-Pro valves:

Tomei RAS:

ARP Head studs:

The crank and rocker arms were cryo treated and deemed fine to go back in.

As you can see, the simple freshen up had gotten a little out of hand, as always seems to happen... oops

The parts, along with another block, went off to Williamstown Engine Reconditioners (03 9397 2694) to be built. During this time I went overseas, so about 6 months later the engine came back ready to roll.

Now to get the rest of the car up to scratch...

2008-11-07T11:43:00.023+11:00

More trackdays : )

As I said previously, after a few DECA's and a trackday I was seriously hooked!

Next up on the trackday calendar was a trip to the old Morwell Hill climb circuit. This was a great little track. Tight, twisty and no margin for error... it made for a lot of fun especially in a powerful RWD car.

The day was going well, until a nasty noise ruined the fun! While trying to get first gear in a hairpin I had somehow managed to destroy both the OS Giken twin plate clutch AND the gearbox. Nice effort I thought. This made for a fun drive home...

Clutch plate:

We replaced the box, and rebuilt the clutch with a new OS Giken rebuild kit and it was as good as new.

On to Winton...

I was all set for this day, when an unexpected surprise nearly ruined it. While at the workshop prior to the event stupid me forgot to clip the bonnet pins, and was rewarded with a carbon bonnet in my windscreen at around 70km/h. Not fun. Luckily I got away with minor damage to the front right guard, and a few little dents in the roof. Could have been much worse, and I won't be making that mistake again!

I put the standard bonnet back on and headed off to Winton.

Winton is an awesome track in country Victoria. It's tight, twisty and quite technical and suits these cars well. I managed a best of 1:39.8 by the afternoon after early rain which I was happy with for my first time. This managed a second in RWD for the day.

Thankfully the day went off without a hitch, except for the fun ride home where myself and a mate took the wrong rd and found ourselves twisting at night through a single lane, leaf covered rd with our semi slicks on and no vision. Fun fun! I think that trip knocked 10 years off my life...

After Winton, I decided to sell my Work Meisters, and my Algernon's as I wanted it to be more focused toward being a track car. I sold off both sets and got myself a set of 17x9 +22 LMGT4's in black, which I was stoked with as I'd always wanted these.

Next up was Sandown again, and I was ready for it this time! I managed a 1:25.003 by the end of the day... so close to a '24, but a WRX dropped oil all over the track so I didn't get a chance to better the time in the last session. A few more laps and I would have had it! Dang... still, I was happy with 3.5 seconds off my previous time with no modifications.

The exhaust leak at the manifold had been getting worse and worse as each track day passed, but I ignored it as I was planning a bit of an overhaul of the car anyway. This overhaul started a bit sooner than expected after my next DECA outing in August 2006. While doing a test on the back track I locked up on some loose gravel coming into a corner, and took the safest route which was straight off onto the grass. Unfortunately I managed to hit the screamer pipe on the ground, doing some major damage in the process. The car was still driveable, so I contined to drive it until about halfway through the day the exhaust leak got so bad I had to stop. After the car had cooled down, I started it again only to be met by the most horrible leak I've ever heard. An inspection showed why: I'd completely ripped the external gate off of the manifold! We managed to secure the gate to the manifold and power steering lines with a piece of wire so I wouldn't lose it, and headed home. That was a fun 3 hour drive home from Shepparton!

The manifold:

A few pics from the day:

2008-11-06T16:09:00.019+11:00

After enjoying the car on the street for a while, I decided the only place to really have fun with this car was to use it on the track. With my interest in track days, hill climbs and motorkhanas growing I joined Skylines Australia (http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/) and entered into my first DECA motorkhana... and from there I was hooked!

I did a few upgrades to the car before my first outing:

Tein Super Street Jap spec coilovers
Project Mu SCR rotors
Project Mu HC+ pads - front

Here are some videos and images from my first DECA day. If you get a chance to do one of these I suggest you do. They're awesome fun, and the Vic SAU guys are a great bunch.

The rest of the vids can be found here: http://au.youtube.com/user/phunky89

After a few more DECA's I decided to make the move to track days, and my wallet has never forgiven me...

I bought a more suitable set or rims to fit some semi slicks up to. I decided on some 17x8 +20 and 17x10 +20 Algernon Intelesse rims, remarkably similar to my old Blest gold items. I bought some new Bridgestone RE55s tyres in 235/45/17 and 255/40/17 and fitted them up.

Algernon Intelesse:

RE55s:

Fitted (Winton pits):

I also bought a new Recaro SPA carbon kevlar seat, along with a Willans 4pt harness, as the harness holes in the Bride Ergo were too low for my shoulders.

The SPA is Recaro's top of the line seat, weighing in at a ridiculously light 4kg's

More info on the seat can be found here: http://www.recaro.com/index.php?id=3632&region=0&L=2

With the seat, harness bar and harness fitted up it was time for my first trackday at Sandown in early 2006. I ran a 1:28 on my first outing, which I was relatively happy with considering I'd never been to any track before, let alone Sandown.

Image taken by the pit wall:

Video:

2007-03-08T11:47:00.000+11:00

New Turbo kit on

After a LOT of messing around, and a lot of expense, the new turbo kit went onto the car. There was one problem though, it had a massive exhaust leak at the manifold that rendered the car unable to muster more than about 2 psi at full throttle... great.

So back into the workshop it went to have the manifold machined down and put back on, and a few hairline fractures re-welded. This really got my goat as the exact same thing had happened when my last turbo kit was installed.

So back on it went, only to discover that it was still leaking from hairline fractures under the wastegate... not happy.

By this stage I was fed up, had been charged nearly triple the original quote, and the car was still not right. I took the car and didn't return to the workshop in question.

It drove fine, and the crack would seal up after about 10 minutes of driving, so I had the car tuned.

This was the end result:

With 240+rwkw's and better response than before, as well as the extra stealth, I was very happy with my decision. The car had nice power, and sounded fantastic with the external gate venting to the ground. Music to my ears.

Installed:

2007-03-08T11:20:00.000+11:00

Gate...

In early 2005 a friend of mine got his hands on his cousins new S15. The car was from WA and had a full house engine built by Speedworks. It had a TD06 - 20G, Jun 272 degree cams, forged pistons, 740cc injectors etc etc. It also had an external gate that vented straight to atmosphere, and after driving this car I knew one thing: I needed GATE!!! I was getting a little tired of my current turbo kit anyway, as it was a bit laggy, and the whole high mount issue was scaring me a little. I really wanted to get a low mounted, external wastegate turbo with a bit better response but a similar power potential, so I started having a look around.

I was quite lucky, as not long after I started thinking about this a full HKS T300 turbo kit came up for sale, including front pipe, HKS external wastegate, stainless low mount manifold, and of course the T300. Now, I didn't know much about the T300 when I bought it, but all the research I had done indicated that it would make the power I was chasing. This, combined with being low mounted an external gated had me sold! I figured even if the turbo wasn't what I was after I would just put a 2835 onto the existing manifold.

Here is the kit I purchased:

2006-10-25T20:37:00.000+10:00

SPEED shoot:

After having contacted SPEED magazine, we organised a day for the photoshoot, for which they hired out Calder Park raceway for half the day to get some drifting shots. Adam Newton came down for the day to get some good action shots, which we luckily did considering the car lasted for about 4 passes before the gearbox cried enough!

I can't really blame it though, pushing 240rwkw through 275 wide tyres mounted on 11.5 inch wide rims, and clutch dumping third, it was bound to happen sooner or later...

Anyways, we pushed the car back to the pits, had it towed to the workshop and a new gearbox fitted that afternoon. The car finished off the shoot down in Carlton 2 days later, which I unfortunately could not attend, but the end product showed me all I needed to see. Christian Brunelli did a fantastic job, and the results can be seen in the final issue of SPEED with the pink GT Autosound S15 on the cover. That was one expensive magazine!

2006-10-25T20:26:00.000+10:00

The car in the Australian Motorsport Expo at the Exhibition Center.

The 180 wasn't actually driving at this time as I had blown the crown and pinion a few weeks prior, but the Full lock boys asked if they could put it in the show, and I told them if they could get it there then no problems, so they picked it up on the back of a tow truck and got it down there!

While at the show a photographer for the now defunct SPEED magazine noticed the car and asked if I'd be interetested in doing a photo shoot. I said yes of course as I'd really been wanting to get it featured in this publication.

2006-10-25T20:22:00.000+10:00

Sorrento cruise:

These were taken on a beautiful summers day cruise down to Sorrento with the Nissan silvia crew a few years ago.

2006-10-12T10:57:00.000+10:00

Back fromthe body shop!

This is the 180 after it first got back from the body shop, complete with C-West GT wing.

Unfortunately the wing lasted about 3 days before it got pulled off, thanks to Mr Plod!

2006-10-12T10:40:00.000+10:00

Widebody!

With the power sorted, and the rest of the car holding up quite well (despite the clutch which cried enough after about 5 days with the new found power, but was promptly replaced with an OS Giken Twin plate with lightened flywheel), an altercation with a off ramp on the freeway left me with a dented rear quarter... what better excuse to widebody it then! I weighed up my option (ie costs), and being the type of person that doesn't like spending money to have the car come back exactly the same, the decision to go the whole hog was made.

I searched around for some rear widebody guards, and came across Motorware who informed me that they were importing 2 sets of the new Chargespeed 50mm rear overfenders into Australia, and I could buy a set off of them. Done deal! I acquired a set of 20mm front fenders through a friend and bought a Vertex rear bar. This was all the easy part, acquiring the correct rims to go with the kit was going to be a lot more difficult than I first imagined...

I decided on getting some BIG dished 18's from Japan, and had my eyes on some 3 piece Work Meisters. To cut another long story short, 4 months later I had some 18x9.5 + 24 front and 18x11.5 +8 rear 3 piece Meisters in my hand, and an almost completed widebody 180sx on it's way!

2006-10-12T10:19:00.000+10:00

Modifications: Round 1

The car has been through a few transformations before it got to where it is now. The first major round of mods basically focused on the engine, and giving the car some much needed get up and go! The rest of the car was pretty much sorted with the limited mods that it had, and I was confident it would be able to handle the extra power. This round of mods probably took the longest due to financial restrictions, but to cut a long story short here is how the car ended up after it was done:

SUSPENSION
*5 Stud R32 Skyline Brake Conversion
*17x8 and 17x9 Blest rims with 205 silverstones up front and 245 Falken ZIEXs on the back *CUSCO braided brake lines
*Cusco Master Cylinder stopper
*Bendix metal pads front
*PROJECT MU pads rear
*GAB Revolution Stroke 2 Adjustable Coilovers W/Adjustable strut tops
*NISMO front strut brace
*CUSCO rear strut brace
*24mm swaybars
*Urethane bushes up front
*Front castor adjustable bushes
*New control arms on rear

DRIVELINE
*Shortshift kit
*CUSCO two way LSD

ENGINE
*T3/4 high mount Turbo
*High mounted tuned length manifold
*M`s Airfilter
*KAKIMOTO stainless 3 inch system with BMT constructed front pipe
*Hybrid Front mount intercooler (600x300x70) with BMT custom piping
*Central20 BRAIN SPL ECU
*Aftermarket fuel pump
*HKS actuator
*Odyssey 650 battery
*Dr Drift bleed valve
*Greddy catch can

INTERIOR
*APEXI Recall boost guage
*Omori water temp guage
*Starbo automatic turbo timer
*Central20 280 Kmh Speedometer
*MOMO steering wheel
*Razo carbon fibre pedals
*Veilside gearknob
*APEXI multichecker
*Mesh tinting on rear

POWER

241rwkw's

Where it all began...

2006-10-10T17:58:00.000+10:00

I really should have started this a few years ago, but hey, what can ya do??!

Well, where do I start with this never ending journey of mine?? I'll start from the beginning with a brief timeline of how it got to where it is at the moment...

I bought this 180sx in late August 2003. This is my second 180sx, after owning another one a year prior, which was unfortunately stolen by some thiefing scumbags who think that they don't have to work for what they have...

After my first 180sx was stolen I bought a Series 2 RX-7 with a 13B turbo in it, which was a fun car for a few months until it got stolen as well... I was doing well at this point... With no money left I had to get a loan to buy a shitter of a VL Calais until I could save for my next car, which was an RX3 with a 12A Peripheral Port. Now that was a cool car! Continuing with my tradition of not keeping a car for more than a few months I received an offer on the RX3 what I couldn't refuse, even though it was a hard decision at the time. I just couldn't resist the temptation of getting back into another 180sx. I sold the RX3, and a week later flew up to Canberra to buy my current 180sx.

The 180 had a few mods on it at the time, with some GAB Stroke II coilovers that had seen better days, a M's pod filter, Nismo strut brace, Momo steering wheel, Kakimoto cat back exhaust, 5 stud conversion, 2 way diff and a mild bodykit consisting of a TBO front bar, Veilside type II side skirts and an unknown rear wing. The car went well, and handled well, but it did neither well enough for me, and the mods soon began!