Neil

More updates, turns out my neighbor was a sign maker, so I bought some carbon wrap and got him to do the door trims that were in desperate need of a re-fresh, they turned out awesome. I made a cable for the boost controller, so I can change from low boost to high boost from the steering wheel and make it so I can remove the wheel completely. I was just going to use old school phone cable but thought the wires were too small so I found a 240volt cable in ebay. Now to search all my boxes and find the horn pad and wire up the horns which I'll need to buy.

Well all that was an interesting read, dyno time will tell. I have some cameras including an endoscope so it will be easy to have a look on power runs. As usual I'm not chasing big power out of this new engine and if we see anything over 300 kilowatts we will be turning the boost down.

I can't test it at the moment as I haven't started her yet, but my scientific test of blowing down the hose resulted in some resistance but nothing crazy. Hope it works as I busted my guts designing and making it. My buddy has built 3 cars using this method, sr20det, 13b turboed and a nascar V8 so he does know his stuff, time will tell.

Last post Feb 2023 WOW, didn't think it was that long ago. Things are progressing just at a much slower pace. One job I had to do is move the oil catch can/cans out of the engine bay, so I decided to move it into the boot, but my scrutineer buddy up here stated that I would need to isolate the boot area from the cabin which would be a pain in the arse. So I spoke to another buddy who used to make sports sedans and he came up with this idea, took me ages to make it all, but it looks like it will work a treat.

Before I did anything, I'd have a conversation with Brad Sherriff out a tassie. He would have gone through the same shit.

Ben, just keep in mind MSB also thinks hitting stuff with a hammer fixes everything. I like Duncan bought the flywheel stopper and his engine lifting brackets. I just bought boostdoc's engine stand adaptor, things great.

Yea buddy time will tell, my god the roof gets hot!!!. Thinking it will be an early morning exercise. There is no way in the world I'm going to sit up there on the roof and paint it, you're crazy. I didn't even mount the power points in the ceiling, so let's stick with no.

I was of the same thinking as you, 2 problems poped up though, the best warranty I could find was 2 years and none have any battery charging/backup, so they stop when the sun goes down. Not going to cut holes in the roof for shitty solar. I have been checking out the normal ones and with no wind to turn them, the hot air rising keeps them spinning, so I'm going with them.

There's a few items on your list that are not that hard, push on and do them or you will never be able to go out and play. Pull your finger out. I can send you my templates to make an airbox if that helps, mine bolts to the n/s chassis rail and up to the top of the skirt.

So, here's an update, this summer has been way worse than the last few and things are heating up. I get sun on the roller doors for all of the morning till about 1pm. I can open the doors but basically the heat sits in the roof cavity and has nowhere to go, remembering I have pool noodles blocking any escape. The air cond is tragic, it's too small and can't keep up. So after talking to my awesome back neibour over lots of beers he tells me he has 2 spare whirly fans he doesn't need and he's after another 30m hose reel which I have and these conversations were hours apart, so after 4 hours of drinking we decided to swap. Now I have to get up the courage to go up the big ladder and install them in the heat, hope I don't fall, wish me luck, this frightens me.

Oh Matt, do you actually think I’ve lost my marbles, I’m working on it, but not just yet. The reason I asked for a pic is just so I can work out what goes where on reassembly and in what sequence, so I don’t for instance re-install all pas stuff and have to pull it back out to fit something else. The Bonnet is now removed, well we took it off just before Christmas and is now in the trailer along with the guards and front bar. I’m thinking of pinning the back of the bonnet, so it’s removable easily all the time, so no hinges, just pins. Oh massive weight savings,but saving non the less. Oh dear, I moved the fuel filter years ago, so I had more access to all the shit down that side of the engine and am now moving it again. I’m changing the type of filter to 2 x AN style filters which I use on the radical, the main one being 100 microns and the 2nd one being 40 microns, all you have to do on a service is remove them, pull them apart, clean them and re-install. Awesome system, you can buy replacement o’rings, screens, it’s a win win and all from https://phenixindustries.com.au/ Again flicked the centre brace years ago and there was a number of reasons, 1st was what happens in say an engine fire, someone has to release the bonnet pins, then release the bonnet cable and then someone has to go back and stick a hand in to release the factory bonnet lock including the safety catch. That brace is 26mm aluminium which also, if you look carefully has a thread insert that is the top mount for the intercooler, works a treat. Those blanks are not Melinda’s arty stuff, they are carbon fibre inside and out using aluminum screws and nuts. I made the same for Duncan’s car and yes they are sealed. Just as a heads up, I will die before Cheryl is sold, Zoe can piss off, but not Cheryl.

Thanks Geoff, you are a legend.

Here's a pic of the welded on bov from my next door neibour, I'm very happy with that. Question, does anybody with their engine out that can post up a pic of the right hand rear chassis rail with all the factory stuff still in place, like the battery wiring, fuel pipes and the filter mounting location. I really should have taken some pics.

Don’t be sorry for hijacking Rob, you know more about this stuff than I do. Unfortunately, I can’t find my old alignment info or ride heights, so I’m of no help. Cheryl has been parked for over 4 years, with everything striped out of the front now and I mean everything and slowly going back together with much cleaning. Just a quick rundown on her setup, which was not really that far off standard. I have Nismo arms front and rear, adjustable sway bars, Bilstein revalved shocks with 250 Eibach springs, hks upper pillow blocks, I need to replace at least the front springs as they are too soft, maybe even the rears. She was setup for targa stuff back in the day. One thing that’s important is what you use the car for, Cheryl from here on in will be a 3 lap short dash girl, maybe the occasional hillclimb and nothing else, so my needs are very different to a circuit car. The one biggy thing that I have noticed is tyre pressures, Most people run to higher pressure and that makes a massive difference, Both the Skyline and Radical responds much better with lower pressures, I would normally run the radical on 14 fronts and 12 rears, but these days I’m running 11.5 fronts and 10 in the rear, which in my head is to low but one of the quick tintops up here runs 22 and smashes everybody, it’s an FD Rx7 with an ls1.

Actually, I do and it's my next door neighbour. He makes roll cages/trailers for his mates and people that he barters with to do stuff he can't. He's an awesome welder, mig, tig, stick and plasma. I often go over to watch and learn, I'll be doing my own soon. My back neighbor restores older cars, has a cool homemade spray booth made out of a big shipping container and Ian 3 doors down can panel beat like a demon, so it's like moving to car building heaven. How the hell did I stumble across these blokes I'll never know. I hold up my end up with technical advice, cool tools, labour and practical solutions. The rb20 drift car would not be running as sweet as it does without me. It's all a win win for all 4 of us. Life is great.

I've spent the last 2 weeks just going through all the parts I have and sorting out what's good, what's spares that I'm going to keep and want's up for sale and what's going back on Cheryl. Thought I would find and clean the turbosmart bov and it was filthy, so I pulled it apart and cleaned it up. 5 stars to them, such a well-made unit, the piston and bore are beautifully made and came up a treat. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for its intercooler pipe, check out the damage I did to it, lucky I have spare. So out with the hole saw and cut the adaptor off, into the lathe and I machined all the welding off, so much fun. This little lathe comes in so handy, I also made an oversize 11mm exhaust manifold stud for my neighbour's rb20 drift car after all his mates said the head would have to come off, even cutting my own thread, now that's a 1st for me. The replacement intercooler pipe is longer and I'm thinking how the hell am I going to run a bead around it after I cut it. Onto to ebay and there's tons of them but 400 buck plus, and that's is not happening, then I find this one for 160 bucks and thought why not try it, they state aluminum pipe 16mm to 102mm at 3mm. I tried it on a 30mm pipe, and it actually works. Enough for now, enjoy 2023 everybody.

Very true Matt, I've tried cable tieing inspection lights to the uprights and the legs, that doesn't work, actually it makes it worse as all you get is blinded eyes. I stole Melinda's head lamp like you said, but it annoyed me, so when we go into town next, I think I'll go to Jaycar and ask the expert in there, best thing about country towns, you get to talk to the same person all the time. Cheers for the advice Matt Neil.

So on re-assembly, (as she needs to get off the hoist and rolling so I can service the wife’s Pulsar) I thought it prudent to replace parts that were either stuffed or needed an upgrade. So 1st off was new upper adjustable outer control arm bushes, new lower ball joints, new sway bar outer links and inner bushes. Everything else feels in great condition. I can’t believe how good the wheel bearings and swivel bearings are, not touching them. The clutch slave cylinder was showing its age so a new one was purchased from Just Jap. I have also been playing this crazy game of soaking stuff in vinegar, works a treat, but you can go too far, my god it cleans crap off, but if you leave bolts ect for too long it will take the excellent coating off the factory bolts. I bought 7 x 2nd hand stainless steel baymarie trays off facebook marketplace up here for 10 bucks each, they make great parts trays and can withstand the vinegar/oils, basically anything. Awesome purchase. Having the mini lathe has come in so handy, My Cusco bmc stopper has 12mm mounting holes, well 11.6 to be precise but the skirt has 6mm holes, so I made up 2 stepped spacers out of 6061 aluminum to sort that out. So much fun using the lathe.

All good Charles, whilst I do actually like Hondas, there will never be one on our Rego list, not like someone that owns a Leyland and a Toyota, that bloke has issues.

Baited, Hooked, Fileted and now in the fry pan.

No way tiger, he was the one that introduced me the best mower brand ever, I have her and a Honda whipper snipper, they are both excellent, both start 1st pull, pity his is now a dirty oil leaking, gets bogged Pommy pile of shit tractor, it's that shit he makes Kel drive it.

Sydney, I feel sorry for anybody that still lives there. Nah buddy, she's a race car, not a show pony, so Mr panel beater will be just fixing the o/s/f skirt area. I really just want to clean her up, so she looks clean and respectable. Her days of State and National racing are over, Cheryl is now my fun local race girl and a driver trainer.

No Yank is ever getting my girl. Most of them wouldn't know how to change her spark plugs, they would ask facebook.

The poor front end really needed a clean-up after years of racing, so I pulled almost basically everything out, my god was it filthy. The only 2 things I had to leave on her were the upper control arms because they were in so tight, I didn’t want to damage the welded-on nut retainers, and you can’t get a rattle gun in there anyway so it would mean that’s one I’ll leave alone. They seem to be the great condition anyway, so I moved on. I tried to work out the best cleaner to remove all the muck, oil, grease and road junk, turns out window cleaner works the best using multiple brushes, including a toothbrush, unfortunately it takes small bits of the engine bay paint off, but I’ll touch that up. The following pics only really show some of what was in the engine bay and skirts after a brush down, there was tons more dirt and shit than in these pics than was actually there. I’ve started putting it all back in, loosely because I have a panel beater coming over to fix her right-hand front after clubbing the wall some years ago at Mount Cotton. I amazed after a month of scrubbing, how clean every comes up, the cross member is gloss black again.

Seriously did you actually think Cheryl would never get any love again, she is the only real reason I bought a Hoist, it's Her's. Might have to drag you 2 up here when both cars are up and running properly. Zoe is very pissed off with you, she pointed out that you own a dirty filthy Toyota. Zoe's a lovely lady with pure class.