Build Thread: Adam's Nissan Stagea C34

[Shazbanger]

Best build thread I've ever read.

A+++ for such an awesome car man.

Cheers,

Shaz

[Run-It-Hard]

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW - VIEW ON THE BLOG

With the assumption that my ORC 409D clutch had given up at the last South circuit event, I wasted no time on getting a new setup underway. Choosing what to replace the ORC with was a tough choice, I had tossed up between quite a few brands and after reading various reviews and speaking to people with the clutches I was interested in. I decided to go with NPC.

Many rate NPC as godly clutches, especially the Carbotic 5 puk setup they offer. Which is capable of handling 450kw whilst retaining a near stock pedal feel. This sounded like the perfect clutch for the Stagea. One of my goals was to change to change the clutch myself, in my shitty little garage with the help of mates. Mainly because the Stagea has sapped me from monies and it’s something I wanted to learn how to do.

Upon removing the ORC, I noticed that the flywheel was a different design to what the NPC would use. So I went on a Hunt and Anthony happened to have a nice lightened flywheel kickin’ around at the shop. I ordered genuine Nissan pressure plate bolts too and a clutch alignment tool to make things easy. Once all the gear arrived it was ready to get it on the RB25.

When the GTR gearbox was separated from the Stagea, there was a shit load of dust in the bell housing, I think it’s a safe bet to say the clutch was shagged.

I was contemplating driving the car as is at the next event due to a lack of funds, but after seeing this plate I’m glad I didn’t. Shit could of gotten messy quick smart. A little hard to see in the pic, but there are a few cracks that Paulie found.

While everything was apart, I changed the gear shifter bush for GK techs brass piece. Shifting feels nice and the shifter is a little firmer in movement which I think is good … it was pretty sloppy before.

Once everything was back together I was anxious to see if anything would explode, but fortunately it’s all apples. Clutch is nice and soft but super bitey … and much more streetable than the ORC I had previously. Though it doesn’t make that cool shing sound when the clutch is engaged ha-ha f**k I’m a ricer.

I had fun learning something new, as you do. Big thanks goes out to Paulie, Benny, Jeff and Chris for helping me get the box in and out of the car.

Now I just need to baby it for a while then it’s game on!

[Run-It-Hard]

MORE SOUTH CIRCUIT ACTION - VIEW ON THE BLOG

The ARDC announced a week prior to the last South circuit event, that the competition was cancelled and will resume to be a practice day. Our original plan was to go to the Wakefield Matsuri which is coming up in a few days, but we figured we’d hit up SC once again.

Kinetic Imagery was out and about again and managed to get a Vid of Benny and I in tandem, its bloody crazy how small his R33 looks next to the Stagea.

Eiji from Team Redstage made the trek from the ACT to check out the South circuit, he got plenty of coverage of the Stagea too.

Benny was killing it, laying down solid runs consistently. Starting to get ballsy on the first corner too … he managed to tap the barrier with his rear bumper, which resulted in it flying away haha.

I wish I could say the same thing about myself. I was pretty sketchy most of the day and finally started getting some good runs down towards the end of the event. I need to work on my entry to the first corner a lot more too.

It took me a while, but I managed to convince Julie to bring the S14 out and try the South circuit. She was a little bummed that we are no longer going to Wakefield, but luckily she enjoyed herself and considering it’s her first time out, she destroyed it!

I would have thought the Stagea would behave and let me just focus on drifting, but it wasn’t ment to be. In the morning it started popping out the dip stick, something it’s never done before.

Puzzled to say the least, I gave Anth a call and he told me to vent the catch can. After I did this all was well until I had a glimpse of the oil pressure gauge coming up to the first corner.

It was dropping from 80PSI down to 20-30PSI on full boost. I babied it for a few laps just to see exactly what was going down. It was dropping consistently and only near full boost. So I kept going and hoped for the best.

The Stagea survived the day and is running like a champ. When I got home I had a look at my previous videos from the South circuit and it was dropping pressure too.

It seems some GTR owners have had the same problem, and their remedy was to over fill the oil by roughly 1 litre. I used to do this but I think I stopped after the oil cooler install. Hopefully that’ll fix it.

I’d love to get my R33 front suspension together before the next day, or even just a wheel alignment and straight tie rods. I’ve been driving with bent rods for 3 maybe 4 events now. I’ve finally figured out why they bend too, which I shall touch on soon.

Thanks to the photographers for the coverage!

[Steve.b]

Adam do you have the part number of your roof racks and the length of bars? Looking to get some they look great mate.

[Run-It-Hard]

Rocking roof racks - view on the blog

I’ve had a few Stagea owners ask me about my Thule roof racks, and although I’ve been meaning to do a post about them it’s always slipped my mind when its crunch time. I originally bought these for the Raleigh Raceway matsuri trip late last year. As I needed some way of carrying my spare wheels/tyres up.

I didn’t go to that event in my Stagea, but we chucked them on Benny’s series 2 and definitely came in handy. Anyway my main reason for these was to be able to carry tyres on the roof, and other stuff if I needed to. Benny and I headed down to a place called Roof Rack World in Artarmon. They measured everything up and fitted the Thule gear onto the Stagea. It was all in stock except the fairing, but they went to their supplier and nabbed one. Service was excellent so I’d defiantly check them out if you’re in the market for some.

So now for what everyone has been waiting for … the part numbers!

•Front spoiler (Fairing) LC871XT
•Rail mount foot pack RT757
•Aero bar pack 120cm GL861

If I recall, I am pretty sure the footpack and bar lengths are similar if not the same to the Toyota RAV4.

There they are finally, sorry for holding out for so long. I had to go through all my paper work and find the part numbers haha.

[Steve.b]

Your a legend thanks heaps mate.

[Run-It-Hard]

THE QUEST FOR MORE - PART II - VIEW ON THE BLOG

I’m back tracking a bit here but here goes. My modified arms had returned from JDI Fabrication in Melbourne. I was eager as hell to see how they turned out, so as soon as they arrived I dropped everything to open the boxes up. Everything just ozzed quality, the cuts, the welds … I’m super happy with the outcome.

Lets have a look at everything shall we?

First up is JDI’s R33 Skyline knuckle, which happens to be the same that Benny is now running. With most cut and shuts the tie rod point is cut down, and shortened at a slightly different position. This is generally to reduce Ackerman. This means more lock, with less turns of the steering wheel, and the trailering wheel to be similar with the leading wheel.

The knuckles have been braced to ensure strength too.

The bearing carrier on the link arm was raised 30mm, and heavily braced as per my request. These measurements have worked out perfect.

The LCA is a nice piece of work. With a metric threaded rose joint, capable of extending up to 40mm. The boxed underside for strength, and the bump stop was removed for more lock gain. Jamie also made me LCA adaptor mounts to suit free of charge. Talk about service!

With the Stagea half apart, I did a rough mock-up to see if my theory’s would be successful. As is they could be a good option if my car was higher, but right now more work is needed.

The LCA makes contact with the chassis for a start. I now see why the GTR LCA has many bends and is designed the way it is … Nissan didn’t allow for much clearance with the 4WD subframe.

One of two solutions is to cut down the kink from the LCA so it is flat with the rest of the design. This would allow roughly 15-20mm more clearance. Another way to add more clearance would be to mount the rose joint on a slight angle.

The second solution was converting the LCA ball joint, to a rose joint setup with an added spacer to push the LCA down to a more acceptable angle.

The castor rod lines up to the R33 LCA, but needs to be extended roughly 40mm.

Finally the subframe doesn’t offer much room for the rack end. I’ve now figured out why I keep bending them! So I’ll probably end up cutting/bracing a section for the rack end to clear. Though in the above photo it appears that with the tie rod end being spaced down, it may avoid hitting the subframe.

This is something I’m glad I noticed now. Once I finally get all my gear in, I’ll need a 90 degree bend with a banjo bolt on my brake line to offer clearance, otherwise shit could get messy stat! Cutting part of the sway bar mount is an option, but I don’t think it’ll be a good idea due to the design of it. Though I could get another piece made or brace it.

So is the R33 front conversion do-able? Yes it is, all that’s really needed is the castor rod to be extended and the LCA re-modified. If I went the Ikeya Formula style LCA that could do the job too and would probably be a better option.

However, I have abandoned going down this path. As I have just thought of a much simpler way to go about this.

Stay tuned for part III!

[Run-It-Hard]

The quest for more – Part III - VIEW ON THE BLOG

After the discoveries that my original R33 knuckle conversion plan needed more work. I went back to the drawing board and weighted up other options.

It wasn’t until I put a Stagea/GTR knuckle and R33 knuckle side by side where I started getting fresh ideas.

The main issue was the fact that the 4WD LCA uses completely different mounting system to RWD. I thought about things like adding some sort of ball joint, but with the LCA being a cast piece and not much room to do so, I scrapped that almost instantly.

So then I thought some more, and looked closer at both knuckles.

Sooner or later I finally came up with something that should work and be quite effective. It essentially consists of merging the 4WD knuckle into the R33 piece. The LCA mounting point will be cut and welded underneath the LCA mount on the R33 knuckle.

The spindle from the 4WD unit will also make its way over. Which will mean this will be a direct drop in part. (The spindles on the 4WD unit are larger, thus needing different bearings between knuckles).

There happens to be a difference in height between 4WD and RWD knuckles, so I’ve requested for steering arm point to be as low as possible. That paired with the LCA mount underneath the RWD section, should bring it near the original 4WD knuckle height, (RWD is significantly shorter). But with the hub roughly 20mm higher, correcting roll centre to some degree.

All the knuckles are on their way to JDI Fabrication, for Jake to work his magic.

Once they come back, they’ll make their way into the Stagea. Where I’ll need to design a bump stop and figure out what to do with my brake lines. I’m expecting to set up the Stagea for some pretty crazy lock. So far it looks like I have all the ingredients to do so. The 4WD subframe is quite an interesting piece, and appears to offer more inner clearance than RWD versions out of the box.

It also appears that the steering rack is quite a bit closer to the LCA on the 4WD subframe (top) compared to RWD (bottom). Which could potentially mean I shouldn’t have any issues with going over centre/binding.

Everything seems super promising on paper, I can’t wait to see how well this actually goes down.

[DJBarnstar]

I've been following this for a while Adam and love what you have done! The photos are great too. Keep up the progress pls.

Btw that 3071 you sold me is still hanging in there!

Cheers

[Run-It-Hard]

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END - VIEW ON THE BLOG



I’m sure word has travelled across the internet, that the Stagea has recently gone to a new home. While I was undecided whether to part ways with it or not over the course of a few months, I finally decided the time had come.

Everyone remembers my horrible R33 skyline that f**ked my life. Well I’ve still been trying to recover from the debts that it put me in. Whilst if I was smart enough I shouldn’t have built the Stagea as quick as I did. But not having something to track for so long really got to me. I think about it sometimes and regret using the money I got back from parting out the Skyline, to build the Stagea to a degree. But hey, you can’t change the past.


Anyway, along with that I’ve got other things going on which quite frankly are more important than a piece of metal on wheels. With all that said, it wasn’t an easy decision. I had never intended to sell the Stagea and if I wasn’t stuck in the rutt that I’ve been in for a while then it would still be in my possession.

I guess what gets to me the most is that it was oh so close to being ‘complete’ but I guess that is part of the parcel.



The new owner, Brad contacted me soon after I had advertised it for sale, we teed up to meet on Saturday. The cash was handed down, and the papers were signed. The Stagea was no longer mine.

Brad vowed to take good care of it, and I believe him. I’m glad it has gone to a good home where some will appreciate it for what it is. Maybe one day when I have my priorities right and a wad of cash burning in my pocket, I’ll build another Stagea.

Cya later LOLVO!

[Blek]

sad face

I always look forward to reading about your build. Hope it all works out for you mate!

[Stadik]

Too bad to read but I can also understand

I like to read along here the last few years... good luck with the NEW PROJECT!!

[krzysztof]

wow you change cars more often than i do jocks!

[stock stagea]

I just saw your car for sale on gumtree. Great opportunity to get it back at a bargain.

[4bidn1]

The other bloke is selling it already, lol

[Run-It-Hard]

sad face

I always look forward to reading about your build. Hope it all works out for you mate!

cheers mate!

Too bad to read but I can also understand

I like to read along here the last few years... good luck with the NEW PROJECT!!

Yeah sometimes gotta do what we gotta do. It all worked out though but the Stagea was sacrifised for it.

Thank you.

wow you change cars more often than i do jocks!

Every few years?

I just saw your car for sale on gumtree. Great opportunity to get it back at a bargain.

He's been thinking about selling for a while. Wish I had the money to buy it back but I don't.

[Run-It-Hard]

HANDS HAVE CHANGED - VIEW ON THE BLOG

Most know of Benny’s daily driver, the sleek black Nissan Stagea. Well Benny decided that he didn’t want to use it as a support/tow car for the R33 and was looking to sell it for something more suitable.

We seem to have a common trend happening between each other. Either parts or cars will change from one bro in Run It Hard! to another.

Julie decided that it was time for an upgrade and had always liked Benny’s Stagea. So with a bit of chit-chat, the Stagea ended up in Julie’s possession, and Benny bought himself another car.

We ended up taking the lot off Benny, the S14 subframe, camber and toe arms and even the Weds LXZs that have been destined to go on the car for over a year.

While Julie had three cars, I decided that it was now or never to get the S14 subframe installed. It’s a big job but I’ve done it so many times it isn’t funny.

The swap was much more straight-forward then with my Stagea, mainly because I’ve done it a few times and that we were keeping the OEM bushes (I had subframe risers on mine).

The OEM S14 bushes were in decent condition, one had a crack so I got out the urethane and applied it liberally. All the recesses were filled and smoothed out too just because.

I’ve touched on it before, but the reasoning for installing an S14 or S15 rear subframe into a Stagea is because the automatic versions have a wider rear track. Which can make wheel fitment being an issue.

The S14/15 subframe is roughly 50mm narrower and brings the track even front and back. It also means you can fit massive wheels underneath the wagon.

With the subframe installed, it was now time to get these precious LXZs mounted up.

[Run-It-Hard]

Nissan Stagea sacked on LXZ - View on the blog

Following on from my last post. After the sub frame install was complete we headed out to Taleb tyres to get some rubber mounted on the LXZs. Taleb sell decent tyres at a good price, and aren’t afraid of stretch like most stores. Originally we wanted Achilles ATR sport all round, but due to not having any stock on the fronts, we settled for Unigrips. Next step was bolting them onto the Stagea, and toying around with the height, toe and camber to get it sitting just the way we like it.

One downfall with Weds LXZ is that they don’t have much brake clearance. But luckily the Stagea brakes are rather slim so there are no need for spacers. Back in the day when I was helping Benny figure out what sizes to run on this beast, he came across these and I knew they would be absolutely perfect, and wouldn’t need much work at all to get them to fit.

The front specs are 18×9 -2 with a 225/40R18

The rear specs are 18×10 -7 with a 235/40R18

In a perfect world, the Stagea would be as low as my old one. But considering this is the car we take to the shops and all that boring stuff, it needs to kinda get over speed humps without much fuss. I guess it’s a great compromise for it looking good whilst being fairly practical.

With the Wheels out-of-the-way, the next steps are to finish off the exterior. The front windows have been tinted 15% to match the privacy glass. New black slimline plates are on their way too. I’m currently on the hunt for a DAYZ rear lip as it doesn’t have one for some odd reason. Julie doesn’t like the S2 version so I’ll retro-fit a S1 lip.

The Trust exhaust will be getting the flick too, just doesn’t suit the look of the car and is a tad too loud. But I must say the Stagea has scrubbed up very nicely.

Specs are:

Wheels – Weds Kranze LXZ 18×9 -2 (F) 18×10 -7 ®

Tyres – Unigrip 225/40R18 (F) Achilles ATR sport 235/40R18 ®

Guard work - Rolled guards front and rear

Other work – Manual/Silvia rear sub frame installed

[Run-It-Hard]

For anyone wondering what I own now. It's this bucket of shit.. nah it's a good car. Very basic which is a refreshing change.

Will be doing some bodywork/paint within a few months then it should look pretty cool.

This is the colour I have decided on, should look classy with its new wheels on and stuff.

[Blek]

Yay the thread lives!