Mitch's R33 Ls Track Car Rebuild

[Mitch_Dubya]

Cheers Amir, good to hear.

I finally got to lay a spanner on the car today, albeit with my mischievous 18 month old son 'helping'. While I was honeymooning over seas the old fella got a bit of work done.

Tranny rebuilt, newish clutch and all back together

Subframe/front end of blue car removed

Steering column/box swapped

Brakes, clutch, pedals, wiring loom all swapped

We soon had the subframe on the white one (finding more than half the bolts were finger tight at best). It should drive/steer 100% better than before.

After lunch we had other things to get done on the farm but late arvo we decided it was time to see if out trans tunnel and chassis rail 'massaging' was on the money.

So up and in she goes....

Like a glove.....

Happy we've got better clearance for the rhs extractors and steering and the engine is now clearing the clutch master cylinder much better as well. We wrapped extra heat wrap where the extractors pass the steering box as well. Happy to see progress although with lap dash 2 only 12 days away I'm losing hope fast. I'll get a full day at it Thursday without Oscars help so I think I'll know that night if I need to bother entering. The only car part I could find in Bali was a cheap rip off momo deep dish wheel

List of things to get it finished enough to race:

Fit trans cross member

Swap whole rear subframe/diff/fuel tank/tail shaft etc.

Fit exhaust

Fit radiator

Swap surge tank

Fit battery

Plug in/finalise wiring loom

Fit/attach all engine acc. Fuel, power steering etc.

Mount Ecu

Fit seat

Fit boot lid

Fit bonnet

Rough in and wire oil pres, water temp

Turn the key and see what happens.... I've got no hope

[AMR33]

Lots to get done in 12 days mate. Hopefully you'll get it done in time

[Mitch_Dubya]

It'll be ready by 4th of April..... 2017

Got a few good hours on it today, trans cross member fitted and final adjustments to engine position all sorted. Gear selector fitted up and feels 100% better and more direct than before.

Tractor tube cut to cover the hole, want to make the cabin more air tight

A little over engineered but race car

Ripped a bunch of plastic, seat belts, hood lining etc. Any weight save was put straight but in via tek screws, silicone and grommets.

Made a good start swapping the wiring loom and doing it in a much more efficient and sensible way.

[Ben C34]

I like this.

Do a skid.

[Mitch_Dubya]

Getting close now.

Engine mostly wired in

Dash made up with a few switches and gauges wired and mounted

Stripped the last of the required parts from the old 33.

One last tank slapper

May she rust in peace

Rear subframe ready to go in. The fuel tank out of the blue one had a couple of holes accidentally drilled into it at some point so made sure they were properly fixed.

Gonna have to roll some guards

Mounted the surge and pump

And the fuel pressure reg

Rear subframe in, only took minutes

Got a replacement passenger door and guard, just gotta remove some plastidip

Home stretch now;

Mount ecu

Seats and harnesses

Exhaust

Bonnet

Boot and wing

Tacho and shift light

Front bar and headlights

Battery isolator and start button

See if it starts

Bleed brakes and clutch

Wheel align

Probably a bunch of other stuff

Do many skids

[BrendanR33]

Looking good mate. Got a proposed track day for a shake down?

[Mitch_Dubya]

Yeh ill do the motorkhana @ Logic in June. Cant see myself having time or money to get it to a test and tune day or Shep Deca

[Mitch_Dubya]

progress report:

brakes have been bled, clutch bled.

Exhaust and tailshaft in

wheel on, back on her feet

fuelled and and no leaks

It came with a set of 17's that had stretched tires and rolled guards. I had previously tried to fit some 235 semis but it wouldn't clear at the front. I've lined up a guard roller when the car is back in town but I also picked up some cheap 18x9's with 38 positive offset. First impression, they look to clear a lot better

I have another set of ugly arse tri-spokes that are 17' and had planned on keeping all my wheels the same size but my work have stacks of 2nd hand rubber coming off cars that still have a heap of tread, all free. Most cars with good quality rubber are 18' plus so it made sense to grab the bigger wheels.

First thing I did was raided the tire pile for some banglops and Bridgestone Potenzas which will all go up in smoke on an upcoming motorkhana day. If I find a good grippy set they may make a lap dash day.

So to get it started:

mount ECU and plug in

wire in battery isolator

working on mounting the seats on functioning rails and mounting them up

Wheel align

battery in and hope for the best

once its running again I might get it back in town and work through the last of non-essentials

- mount tow strap (coz no skills)

- tidy up switch panel for fuel pumps, ignition and starter button etc

- roll guards

- Make up some door cards

- cover holes in parcel tray etc.

- fab some door handle, window switch etc

- fit new pass door, mirror, lock barrel and guard

[Mitch_Dubya]

I'm also toying with the idea of plastic fender flares and painting them white. It looks awesome on some cars and on others it looks shit....

Thumbs up

Not so much

Anyone want to share an opinion?

[AMR33]

Check out this guy's thread. He has flares on his 33

http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/445063-r33-gtst-track-build/

[Mitch_Dubya]

Yeh I'd read his thread before, was kinda the reason I was worried about putting some on. Something about them looks goofy to me (no offence intended if that guy is reading). I think it's the shape of his, and not having skirts that continue the shape or something. I'll have to get my hands on some and dummy them up on the car before I cut away the guards.

[Mitch_Dubya]

Had one of those 'two steps forward, five steps back' days. Looks more an more like a car again but we've hit a snag with the wiring.

It'll crank over and it's getting fuel but won't fire. Old man thinks we've got something wrong with the wiring of the crank angle sensor. A knock on effect from the messy ball of wiring we were dealing with from the old shell. Took the seat rails apart to see if we could get them adjustable again, bigger job than we'd anticipated but it's now been rebuilt, much stronger than before. It's also the best part of an inch higher but I'm not sure if I prefer it that way, time will tell.

Plastic flush mount boot lid has been fitted

Headlights fitted as well

New wheels aren't gonna fit without flares and/or stretched tires

Hoping a better wiring diagram will help, if not I've got an auto elec mate who's done a few different LS swaps who might have to come in an save the day. Don't know if it'll be at the logic skid day, don't know if I care right now

[Mitch_Dubya]

Its ALIVE!!!! just like the mountain from game of thrones, it just needed a rewire and its good to go on crushing skulls

[Ben C34]

Sweet.

Do a skid. To celebrate.

[admS15]

Then post vid

[Mitch_Dubya]

[Mitch_Dubya]

Wired in battery isolator

Mounted the monster wing on the fibreglass boot. Fingers crossed it doesn't rip off

In to work for a 4 wheel wheel alignment

I'm working on making the front bar a quick release with locating bolts at the side and tie downs and rubber rings. Just need to bolt the harness in an a quick service and it should be right for a shake down skid on June 5th

After that, I'll look at tow straps, mounting and wiring in a tacho, fit up some new 2nd hand semi slicks I bought today and roll the guards

[MBS206]

Where's the first shake down at?

[Mitch_Dubya]

Local driver training track here in Wodonga, just an autokhana day

[Mitch_Dubya]

A big V8 and a 4cyl turbo import...