No Crust Racing

That's a question for your builder, they will all have their own opinions and you need to work with one you're comfortable with. Each of those comes in to play at a different point for different reasons imo. I have the plazmaman girdle, but did not go 1/2" studs or billet main caps as Dale said I wouldn't need it for this power. The 1/2" studs (for head and bottom end) are a hot topic in terms of the effect they have on the block and the liners (wedging is another topic), again discuss with your builder and the main caps are mainly at risk allowing crank walk at high RPM, which the custom work to the billet and block skirts is meant to eliminate so main caps should not be an issue. I did go "good" ARP bolts through out, as in L19 or CA625 where applicable, not the standard 2000s. Headstuds are the Mazworks ones (which I think are actually VW studs but just happen to be longer so they bottom out properly) and I opted to go built P12 VVL head (standard size supertech valves, but with the P11 stem size which is stronger and kelford valvetrain - beehive pecaloy springs, titanium retainers, and their VVL cams) and Dale's porting work on it. Of the people I have spoken to about DM who run his engines/have him do their work they all seem to be happy customers and I was encouraged by some of the data he shared with me from Nismo about how to keep SRs alive for extended circuit conditions, as in the little tricks/changes they make (which came with the Super GT S15 he had). Keep in mind the race series has restrictions that do not allow certain mods (like billet strokers) so some of that work might not be required for your 2.2L and tech has moved on plus I was not building for all out power, I wanted a wide power range and a decent service life. I'm only aiming for max 450rwkw which I'll only use for short stints, like hot lap/PB attempts etc and will likely run it at 350-400rwkw mostly depending on what I do with tyres/brakes. The engine is "apparently" good for 500rwkw, but the harder you work it the shorter the life span, there's only 4 cylinders and 2L to work with and I am not keen on regular rebuilds. I remember Dale wanting to me to hunt around for the last red top (with black rocker covers from a 180sx) or was it the last blacktop? Either way the main caps in those are the "best" factory ones so that's what I sourced. Naturally, billet caps are better again and PRP (working with Dale) have a one piece girdle/main caps combo now which didn't exist when I bought my shit (and all my shit has already been machined). I'm not sure how S15 blocks stack up and take all of this with grain of salt because I am yet to receive the engine and use it...

+ for Kelfords. Anything amiss with the tyre failure? How bad was the camber wear on the inside edge where it let go?

Shame to hear about the bottom end but as expected. New build sounds amazing, can't wait to see how it goes Is labour really that different that it offsets the freight on a build like that? My original quote and the costs so far at DM have been very reasonable IMO and there's been a fair bit of machine work as the head is built/ported and the bottom end has some custom work in it also.

Nah stopped looking, working on shed, roofing project for the house, and various other projects. Shed electrical supplies should be here today I think, plumbing supplies are there, trenching done, power from old shed to new completed shortly by my elec then I'll take it from there.

Slowly, he's been having some personal issues that have slowed down his builds. Last I checked he had done one of the chambers I think. I haven't been pushing him as I've had my hands full anyway and the engine being here will make me have to think about wtf I do with it.

To quote Brian O'Conner - "A lot has changed..." Mainly by discovery of fully hektik VVL head options and watching a lot of RB Silvia's at track days and not loving what I was seeing. Also, get fugged

Absolutely. No AC is a young mans game for 1.5hp gainz

I'm looking at this for the Silvia using HGTs stand alone. It "appears" on paper to not be that much more than CD009 conversion, but obviously with a little more work/complexity. As my car will only be a little 4cyl, I am hoping I can get away with the ZF8HP70 or 75. Flappy paddle last minute corner entry/exit changes would be pretty hektik though...

Aircon... Fancy man.

Jesus. Glad I didn't build my own engine now, I hope mine lasts longer than yours 0_0

Fake and gay.

Going gangbusters mate, well done.

Is that the 33?!

Well that was fun.

Yep, the other shed is already connected to a 33kl tank which is always full, I'll only connect one side of this shed to it (incase the other shed ever gets disconnected/removed). The other side will just go to overflow, we have so much bloody water here. I probs used the sink previously mostly for hand washing lol

You can certainly put proper insulation in the roof/walls and plaster/mdf/plywood line it for substantially better temp control. You don't often see it done that way. I did consider a toilet, but for the hassle/cost/compliance for the rare times it'd be used, not worth it for me. Same with shower. I'll probably chuck some poly into the trench with the storm water/elec so I can have a tap on the side and maybe a sink inside. I had a sink in the last shed and it almost never got used so dunno if I will bother with that I've got an ultrasonic cleaner now so if I'm washing something it'll go in there and if I need to rinse it off I can just use the tap outside.

The roof is done with aircell which is pretty normal for most sheds. I won't do walls as it seems fine in there on days that I'd be wanting to work in there anyway with the whirlybirds. I "might" chuck a swampy on it, maybe. For a house you'd do proper insulation and plaster it in, roof and walls. Sheds are cheap for lots of reasons, partly because they are not classed as habitable structures to council.

Good work as usual by my preferred concreter. Back to cut on Saturday, let it cure and I'll maybe seal it.

Cheers Duncan, matches everything I've seen and heard. Wasn't willing to spend the extra and have the hassle in the end for what is just a big farm shed. I've seen some nightmare stuff with epoxy lifting and having to try and repair patches from impact damage etc. This product is very forgiving, can be applied straight over top of itself with no special prep/actions and still keeps the oil out. Good enough for me. Looks like apron going on this week too :)

Hoping to get the apron poured in a week or 2 with my usual/preferred concreter. He also had a look at the slab "bit ugly, but nothing to worry about". He was mostly interested in where the hoist pad is (200mm thick 3.6m wide section, double mesh) and was happy with that. Hoist is gonna be a life changer.

Trying to get motivated on the shed again. Electrician has been out and confirmed I can run power from the other shed (good news). Just teeing up a trencher and supplies to go in the ditch (storm water also). In the meantime, I had gone back and forth about what to do with the slab. I couldn't justify 2k in materials plus my effort to epoxy it knowing what's going to be going in and out and what it's driving on/through the get to the shed (red clay/dirt/gravel etc). I was mainly wanting an epoxy/painted finish for the uniformity as the slab is just ugly as f**k with trow/helicopter burns and pigment/oxidization differences where batches of concrete meet/the surface was finished too dry etc. Concrete supplier is comfortable the mix is fine and the slab is sound but that it's not "ideal" aesthetically. I didn't bother chasing the concreter himself because he was a tool bag which is why I axed him after the slab and got a different crew to build the shed. He came recommended from another member in the car club. I didn't want the hassle/cost/risk of going hard core on the acid etching as a test showed it was already at a good porosity for accepting sealer (plus the shed is above a water course). Grinding is also messy/costly etc so in the end I'm just accepting it as an ugly rural slab that's going to get worse thrown at it anyway. I wanted some level of oil protection and sealing so just ended up opting to use the same sealer I used on the last shed and had no issues with, there was also a mix up with how much I needed and I took some of it back which resulted in some kind of double refund so I've effectively paid $0 for the materials to seal it. The types of discolouration I mean, there's also differences in surface texture as you can see in other pics where the light behaves differently off the sealer (3 coats with grip additive). I did use a neutral concrete wash on it first and pressure washed the shit out of it to find that some of the foot prints I'd left on it myself, red clay, refused to come out fully and apparently require special chemicals to break down the iron oxide.... Anyway, I guess that will have to do and I'll just press on with power/fit out.

Great progress, congrats on the hoist I am looking forward to it.

Paint is looking very nice

You can post it, saves me the hassle

Have seen Spaniards RB25 S13, cooler than mine, it goes on the list for review but I wont post details here in case he/she doesn't want them posted.