Our R32

[Bushy]

I came across this video the other day that I had forgotten about and don't think I've posted, I think this is the 2nd track day in the old chassis, its not very exciting but I found it interesting to watch as I had forgotten how the car had previously driven/handled.

I noticed in particular that the old chassis oversteered a lot more, I now have a GTR rear sway bar but I thought that a stiffer rear sway bar increased oversteer, unless the stitch welded engine bay and front strut brace has made a bigger difference than I expected, I don't know enough about this though.

I also noticed that I now drive the track everywhere one gear higher, except for down through the S's which I still do in 3rd, Not sure why I didn't change up a gear before hah. Lap times were still about the same though.

I ended up deciding on a power steering cooler, it's made by a company called Hayden Automotive in the US, it was only about $35 but of course postage was the killer. Should do the job.

I've been talking to some people about the speed sensitive steering and looking at options to make it light all the time whilst at the track, it looks like it should be relatively simple and I'll be able to hook it up to a double throw in cabin switch so I can have it either light steering all the time, or the normal speed sensitive steering. I'll do a bit of a write up on it when I get around to it.

Also these turned up in the post today, they're GKTech V3 rear adjustable toe and camber arms. I'll be installing them when I get some coilovers, they look like a good bit of gear!

I should be getting back out to the track on Monday for a few more laps, hopefully I don't have any more surging issues with the new fuel pump. I won't get the power steering cooler in time, so a sock over the reservoir will have to do haha.

[r33_racer]

In regards to the sway bar, with our r33 gtst track car we ended up dropping the rear sway bar off totally and found a huge increase in rear end grip. It helped immensely with the oversteering we were encountering on corner exit. It may help in your setup if it still is oversteering but I guess it comes down to your suspension setup also....how the shocks are valved and what spring rates you are running.

Might be something to try out one day.

Edited February 7, 2014 by r33_racer

[Bushy]

Yeah ok I see what you're saying, something to keep in mind for sure, thanks! The suspension in it at the moment is pretty old and cheap, I'll look into suspension and assignment setup a lot more when I get coilovers and the adjustable arms installed (still hanging out for MCA Blues).

[Bushy]

*alignment, not assignment ha (must have uni on the brain)

[Bushy]

Got out to Baskerville again on Monday. On a positive note, the new fuel pump has seemed to fix the surging issue...on a negative note the inlet manifold has cracked. It was quite strange because the car seemed to be running great on the track (none of the usual signs of a boost leak), but when I came back into the pits after my second session it would struggle to idle and ran extremely lean at idle, took a while to figure it out until a mates keen eye noticed the crack. I believe it is because the alloy sheet used is too thin, I had a feeling this might happen as you could physically see it move as the inlet manifold changed from +ve to -ve pressure when revving. Ah well, I gotta just move on and get it fixed, absolutely nothing against the fellas who made it they do great work, its just one of those things that happens. I could just get the crack welded up but I'm planning to do it properly now rather then later and have the thinner sheet cut out and replaced with something thicker.

This time I struggled with some pretty bad understeer, I nearly put it in the tyre bundles on one instance which required a change of undies ha. The front semi slicks have definitely done their time, so some new ones are on the cards. I'm not quite sure if I want to focus on getting it back on the track first, or getting it registered, I've got some thinking to do...

Also I have finally got rid of the dirt bike helmet and replaced it with something better, and a tinted visor to go with it.

[Bushy]

I've been using the RaceChrono app for recording lap times, not sure how accurate it is but I'm sure it's a pretty reasonable indication.

Here's a quick comparison of my lap times from the January 30th track day and the second session of the track day just gone.

Jan. 30th

Feb. 10th

I felt like I was pushing harder on Feb. 10th, but the lap times don't reflect that. This is probably a combination of the cracked manifold, tyres going bad (understeer) and I had a passenger. I'm waiting to hear back from my passenger to see if they got any data in the first session.

[Artic Choc]

ahh man that plenum issue is ratchet as, what do you think youl be replacing it with? ive heard good things about plazmaman, bang for buck its pretty tough to beat.. il be getting one on my rb25 soon enough.

so now your the stig hahha i like it.. some good times there man well done..

as for what to do with the car.. maybe get a reg to save some money for new plenum and tyres? (if it doesnt cost to much to reg)

[Bushy]

Nah won't need to replace it, it's easily repairable.

Ha I just need the white Alpine Stars suit now.

I just realised today that I have to get it mod plated by March 26th, or I'll have to apply for approval in principle again, so that's made up my mind for me.

[zoidbergmerc]

Nice work, Mic! Great to see you back on the track again!

Are you going to be joining us at Basky on the 21st for the advanced driving course?

[Bushy]

Thanks Pete, good to be back out there! You'll have to come out again soon.

It doesn't look like it now unfortunately, I dropped the manifold off to Az today but he is flatout with work before round 1 drift, so don't reckon I'll get it back in time.

[Bushy]

So there's a bit happening at the moment, trying to get as much done as possible before I have to go back to uni, still got a bit I'd like to get done in the next week or so, so we'll see how I go.

I pulled the manifold off last night and dropped it off to Aaron at AzCustoms to get fixed, he's pretty busy at the moment so I probably won't get it back for a week or so. I hate seeing the car in bits again! haha. But on a positive note it will give me the opportunity to hide some of the wiring to neaten things up a bit, and will make installing the speed sensitive steering switch a whole lot easier!

Also the power steering cooler turned up in the mail yesterday, so I got stuck into installing that tonight. I made up a bracket to hold it (I've since painted it black). So if I've got time I'll finish that off tomorrow, just need to get the right size hose and it will be done! It's going to be fun bleeding this one haha.

Once I get the manifold back, the car will be going into Az's workshop to get a new oil catch can made up, then into Tas Mobile to get the Nistune fitted and tuned, along with the new injectors and Z32 AFM. Fun times ahead!

Edited February 13, 2014 by Bushy

[Artic Choc]

hahaha your not going to have any problems with it scraping are you? looks fairly low mounted (maybe just the angle of the photos)

so theyr just re welding with a thicker metal are they?

good stuffs

[levinboy]

Trans cooler looks sweet

Where did you get that from??

[Bushy]

hahaha your not going to have any problems with it scraping are you? looks fairly low mounted (maybe just the angle of the photos)

so theyr just re welding with a thicker metal are they?

good stuffs

Haha hope not, nah the photos make it look lower than it is, other shit will scrape before the cooler does.

Yeah I think so, I just left it with him and said do whatever you think needs doing.

Trans cooler looks sweet

Where did you get that from??

Thanks mate, US Amazon for that one, it's a Hayden Automotive 1011 cooler, they make heaps of different sizes and styles. I think Supercheap sell a bigger sized version so you might be able to order through them.

[levinboy]

Sweet thanks mate

[Bushy]

Small update. I finished installing the power steering cooler on Sunday, fairly happy with how it turned out, sits nicely behind the opening in the front bar, I might need to add some black mesh to help protect it though as the fins are very exposed and therefore quite fragile.

How the car sits at the moment, the panels are off to be painted (once the painter replies to my messages!)

No news on the inlet manifold, although I don't expect anything until next week at the earliest.

Next job is to starting tidying up the wiring in preparation to run under the manifold.

[Bushy]

Made a little more progress today, I got hold of, cleaned up and installed a new thermostat housing, the old one had a water temp sensor tapped into it which I wasn't using and fouled on the manifold when I was removing it, so I figured now was a good time to replace it.

And I started tucking the wiring under the manifold, I thought it would be a good idea to use up my remaining roll of heat reflective tape and wrapped the loom where it runs against the block, this stuff wasn't suitable for the rear bar but should be sufficient for this job, I like it a lot it's so easy to apply and has good adhesion. It looks like I will only need to extend two of the plugs slightly, at worst. I think I'll also need to extend the injector plugs in order to run the injector loom under the manifold, I'll suss that out when I get the manifold back though.

The heater core hoses will run over the top of the loom, I've got some new black silicon ones on the way.

[Artic Choc]

looks the goods bro, just looking at those photos and seeing all the oil and stains on your cam covers.. i thought hey.. have you thought bout painting them while the engine isn't running..??

[Bushy]

I'll have a few more updates soon, but in the meantime can anyone help with the below? I'm trying to get the car ready for rego

Needed Urgently:

- R32 GTST standard drivers seat belt buckle (for Jap seatbelts)

- R32 GTST headlight projector globe clip (this holds the bulb and attaches to the headlight via a circlip type clip that then connects to the headlight loom).

uploadfromtaptalk1394426157283.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1394426185096.jpg

Located Hobart but will pay for express postage. Needed by end of next week.

Contact via PM

[Bushy]

Pictures didn't work, this is the bulb clip I'm after: