Building A Clubcar

[screamin']

Gidday.

I've gone and got myself a second GTS coupe that I am building up for club level motorsport. I've done a few trackday's in my red one and decided it is too pretty to scratch up on gravel or in the sand trap somewhere.

Was just wondering if anyone here was doing a bit of a budget build like myself and if they wanted to share their project.

I got a little thread I started on SDU, if there is enough interest I may post it here too. Always good to have feedback from fellow Skyline enthusiasts

Edited October 11, 2006 by screamin'

[blackrex]

I have a Subaru track car, while not a Skyline, the principles will hold the same.

The things that you should do are;

Safety - Put a cage in it, proper race seat and harness

Reliability - You don't want to build a car that can't cope with the extra stress involved.

Brakes - Get the best that you can afford, improve the brakes before you put extra power into the car

Weight - You don't need the interior, rear seats, boot lining etc, strip it out, save weight and gain braking and engine performance.

Tyres - R-specs minimum.

Suspension - Get coilovers if you can afford them, as well as getting parts that have enough adjustability as you can, so look at things like strut tops, adjustable sway bars, etc.

Power - Do this last, aim for the widest torque band that you can as that will help the car more than a "peaky" power curve.

[`nigno]

I have a Subaru track car, while not a Skyline, the principles will hold the same.

The things that you should do are;

Safety - Put a cage in it, proper race seat and harness

Reliability - You don't want to build a car that can't cope with the extra stress involved.

Brakes - Get the best that you can afford, improve the brakes before you put extra power into the car

Weight - You don't need the interior, rear seats, boot lining etc, strip it out, save weight and gain braking and engine performance.

Tyres - R-specs minimum.

Suspension - Get coilovers if you can afford them, as well as getting parts that have enough adjustability as you can, so look at things like strut tops, adjustable sway bars, etc.

Power - Do this last, aim for the widest torque band that you can as that will help the car more than a "peaky" power curve.

Very well said, just to expand a little on one areas I think is all too often overlooked.

Reliability:

Radiator - Upgrade your stock radiator, in most cases they are single core pieces of crap.

Oil Cooler - Obtain one immediately people dont realise the difference in temperature between normal driving and track conditions, especially when your car is being driven hard for extended periods.

Good Quality Consumeables - Engine Oil, Spark Plugs, Coolant, Gearbox & Diff Oil, Brake Fluid, Clutch Fluid, Brake Pads, Air Filters etc. So many times I have seen ppl leave the track with their tail in between their legs and their wallets feeling a lot lighter because they skimp on the simplest stuff. Its imperative to use good quality components if you expect your vehicle to hold up.

NB: Reliability and Safety are the MOST IMPORTANT parts of your car, its all well n good to have a track weapon, but its no fun if it blows up every 3rd track event or kills you the first tiem you make a mistake (and you will eventually).

[screamin']

Yeah, I'm well on my way in the sprip out. Only got steering column and some of the associated wiring in the car at the mo. Got all the tar crap out and will hopefully be painting the interior this weekend. Lossing kg's is the cheapest hp I say

I'm from the N/A team, so decent power will be worried about later on, probably s/c.

My road GTS handles like a dream on the track so I'm starting with a similar set up and will work from there.

Same with brakes, got a good set on the red one that work well on the track, so I'll be using the same setup again.

Cage, yip yip. Getting some prices at the mo. Hoping to be able to get a 6 point with good side protection too.

My cars are always well serviced and I use only good bits that are up to the task. Maintanance/modding go hand and hand I reckon, can't do one and not the other I say;)

Post up some interior pics if you got any.

I might start the build thread so you can see what I'm up too.

Edited October 12, 2006 by screamin'

[Deluxe]

A mate of mine is building up his RA40 Celica to run IP next year! He has put the 3S Turbs in it out of a MR2, with 2535 turbo restricted to IP specs, He has had this car for years and after racing Go Karts for about 5 or so years and a build procces of about 2 it's nearly ready. Should be fun, we fully stripped it, painted, full front and rear disc brake conversion, everything is adjustable, 2way diff. Pretty much done everything ourselves except for the cage(thanks to Walker Chassis) and now the engine is getting put in and tuned by another IP driver at Boostworx.

Pics of the interior bellow......... and no thats not the steering wheel for it, thats one of his Go Kart steering wheels!

[gtr660hp]

I have a Subaru track car, while not a Skyline, the principles will hold the same.

The things that you should do are;

Safety - Put a cage in it, proper race seat and harness

Reliability - You don't want to build a car that can't cope with the extra stress involved.

Brakes - Get the best that you can afford, improve the brakes before you put extra power into the car

Weight - You don't need the interior, rear seats, boot lining etc, strip it out, save weight and gain braking and engine performance.

Tyres - R-specs minimum.

Suspension - Get coilovers if you can afford them, as well as getting parts that have enough adjustability as you can, so look at things like strut tops, adjustable sway bars, etc.

Power - Do this last, aim for the widest torque band that you can as that will help the car more than a "peaky" power curve.

Excellent post!!!!!

I have built a number of track GTR's and am building a 34GTR very soon

safety first- then brakes and weight reduction 2nd ( and yes reliability always needs to be upgraded along the way) Oil temp and water temps must be dealt with on top of the list or your fun will always be cut short.

Once you have a neat light, reliable good handling good stopping car then and only then spend money on power-its even better to learn without the power for awhile and gradually bring the power up later

good Brakes is where you shave heaps of time

edit- forget to mention tyres- Falken Azensis semi slicks are a great budget alternative

Edited October 12, 2006 by gtr660hp

[Roy]

Club level motorsport?

Above posts are good, but i would say overkill in some instances

Radiator will be fine if you duct it up and not making stupid power. An NA engine wont stress the cooling system. Im making 230rwkws and mine is fine after realising that the std setup can be improved two fold with some simple guides. Oil cooler would be good, but dont waste the money on a radiator, just use a big thermo in the std shroud. Even thats only for redusign agro on the engien with the clutch fan...not froma coolign perspective

Rip the weight out of it, and R33 GTS25t brakes all round will be fine with only 1100kg to stop. Its tyres and suspension that stop the car quickly and help with consistant lap times. Big dollar brakes look horn but do little for lap times if your susp and tyres are on the money.

Seat would be good, so would a cage. But dont go overboard with the cage as the std body is pretty floppy and jsut worry about safety. The weight of the cage to get the chassis stiffened would be expensive and beyond what a club car needs

Just had my car resprayed and more then ever looking at a 4k shitter GTSt to play with rather then my road car. I already have a sensible but dreamy GTSt track car budgeted out. An 1100kg + driver GTSt with about 200rwkws in a sorted chassis would be quick, fun, cheap and reliable

Good luck with it...ifs a club car go crazy with the weight side of things, but keep most of things as per Nissan and spend all your money having a ball in it

[Duncan]

yeah I'm building a club car gtr atm....mostly focussed on taking weight out since the damn things are so heavy in the first place.

Cage is going in soon, but this car is mostly to try out all the tricks we aren't allowed to with the production race cars.

[FLYSLY]

Awesome thread guys, im loving reading through, i am also at the point where i am considering buying a car specifically for club track days

[johnGTS-t]

ive got a r32 gts-t, basic six point cage, standard seat, harness, ferodo pads, kings lowered springs, b/stone re55's, strut bar. i have high performance oils but havent put in yet other than brake and engine. installing some cooling ducts for the brakes this week. plenty to do but its all takes money. i do ok considering what the competition are driving.

they better look out once i install the go fast bits LOL.

standard trim i did 1.10's. round my local. now im doing 1.04's.

[GUN_METAL_GTR32]

yeah deffinately would like to build a track car

probably a 180 though coz i have the gtr for the street and for cruizin i got a lex ls400

im still on my ps but so i kinda have to watch out a little when mr plod be around

[phunky_monkey]

Wise choice you'd be making mate

You'll probably end up liking it so much you'll get rid of that POS GT-R

Just jokes

*puts flame suit on*

[fatz]

gtr's suck

everyone should have a s13 with rb30 powas!

[R32gts-t]

+1 for s13 power!

[GUN_METAL_GTR32]

HAHAHAHA

POSSIBLY, MOST OF MY MATE HAVE S13/14 OR 180S SO YEAH A GTR WAS A LITTLE LEFT OF FIELD FOR ME BUT I USED TO HAVE A TT SUPRA SO I WANTED TO TRY ONE OF THE OTHER BIG DADDY CARS LIKE A GTR.

I DO ADMIT I PREFER DRIFTING MY MATES 180 THAN I DO FANGING MY GTR I WAS ACTUALLY THINKING OF SELLING IT NEXT YEAR AND BUYING A 180 AND A BIG BIKE LIKE A YAMAHA R1 , DUKE 996 OR ONE OF THOSE MOVISTAR BIKE THERE f**kIN HOT YEAH

[Neil]

Cooling is always going to be an issue. In my Skyline I can't do anymore than 5-6 absolute flat out laps on a hot day without the neddle creeping up towards the bad zone.

But there is a creap solution. Gibsons Skylines run a restrictor in the radiator to slow down the water flow keeping water in the radiator longer. Think about it for a sec,,,5500 and above is not really what Nissan designed these car to do out on the track lap after lap. From what the boys have told me they run an aluminum reducer in the neck to slow it down,,,but a simple spacer, hose clamped into the hose would do the trick. I'm going to E/C on Sunday,,,I'll asked more about it.

Neil.

[screamin']

Cheers, there's some good info there. If anyone is interested in seeing how the project is coming there is a thread on SDU.

http://www.skylinesdownunder.com/forums/sh...ead.php?t=52581

I'm not on here much, so not much point in setting up another thread here too.

[blackrex]

Cooling is always going to be an issue. In my Skyline I can't do anymore than 5-6 absolute flat out laps on a hot day without the neddle creeping up towards the bad zone.

But there is a creap solution. Gibsons Skylines run a restrictor in the radiator to slow down the water flow keeping water in the radiator longer. Think about it for a sec,,,5500 and above is not really what Nissan designed these car to do out on the track lap after lap. From what the boys have told me they run an aluminum reducer in the neck to slow it down,,,but a simple spacer, hose clamped into the hose would do the trick. I'm going to E/C on Sunday,,,I'll asked more about it.

Neil.

Another alternative is to cut the valve out of the center of a thermostat, and use that as the restrictor in the thermostat housing.

[Neil]

Another alternative is to cut the valve out of the center of a thermostat, and use that as the restrictor in the thermostat housing.

What difference would that make. Think about it,,,when the engines at running temp the stats open anyway,,so you end up with the same as you started with. Please don't tell me you advercate not running a stat,,,or I will start crying.

Neil.

[dontfeelcold]

By putting a restrictor in the cooling system to keep the water in the radiator for longer, won't that keep the hot water in the engine for longer?