Mitch's R33 Ls Track Car Rebuild

[Mitch_Dubya]

Last chance to tidy up before next weekend. Got the drivers side harness in. Without the cage and harness bar I've gotta go back to using the back seat seatbelt mounts which I don't like but hopefully I can change that soon.

Fabbed a couple of bars to mount the front bar

On the sides I've got a bolt sticking down to locate and quick release tie downs

Tried to do the right thing and sell the gtr bonnet but no luck so we just cut some ribbing out where it fouled on the air intake, it weighed in at 7.5kg

Wheel alignment stats

Then a quick wash. Dummied up the side skirts. Photo op

[Mitch_Dubya]

Small shitty update. Went to put it on the trailer for skid day.... And it wouldn't start. Cranked over fine and had fuel pressure but not injecting or sparking. Couldn't fix it in time, cracked the shits. Eventually put it down to missing washer jets in the bonnet = wet engine and plugs etc. dried out all the plugs, sprayed a bunch of contact cleaner, got spark and fuel back, new plugs an away she goes. Mounted the skirts and borrowing a guard roller tomorrow before lap dash at the end of the month at Wilby Motorsport park.

[AMR33]

Damn, that sucks. At least you have it sorted now.

[Mitch_Dubya]

Pinched the diagnostic scan tool from work and aside from all the automatic transmission faults, it came up with a maf sensor code. I'll have to get my hands on a new one as it could be making it run real rich. Did quick oil change an then onto rolling the guards

[MBS206]

Pinched the diagnostic scan tool from work and aside from all the automatic transmission faults, it came up with a maf sensor code. I'll have to get my hands on a new one as it could be making it run real rich. Did quick oil change an then onto rolling the guards

ImageUploadedBySAU Community1466069678.693317.jpg

or take it for a mafless tune...

[Mitch_Dubya]

You could be right, you'd think they'd get rid of the maf sensor in the intake elbow if that was the case.

Another query. On the flat garage floor one four body stands. Front two on lowest hole resting on the chassis rail, rear two stand one hole higher, again on the chassis rail. The car is hovering above the right rear stand by a few mm. No cage in the car yet but it seems really stiff in the body. Absolutely no signs of any previous damage, barely had a scratch on it. All four wheels aligned perfectly but still looks like it may be bent?

[AMR33]

I had a similar issue recently. I bought a damaged car and the front wouldn't sit right by a few mm. I then noticed the whole chassis was bent, probably from the impact of the hit (it was a big hit). Hope this isn't the case with yours.

[Ben C34]

It wont matter.

[Mitch_Dubya]

I've already got closer than last track day, got it on the trailer. Pop the cherry tomorrow

[Mitch_Dubya]

I've already got closer than last track day, got it on the trailer. Pop the cherry tomorrow

[Mitch_Dubya]

https://youtu.be/w9eh_YdSpCk

[Mitch_Dubya]

Few teething issues on the day but pretty happy with the shake down.

I'd never balanced the front wheels an it had a bad wobble at high speed. Swapped them out for a pair of 18' I bought, they scrubbed a bit but no more wobble. I think it's got 30mm bolt on spacers, might need to go smaller or pump the guards even more. Came in after a good session and it went up in smoke as I pulled up (Photographer was lurking with a camera too)

overall

Maf sensor wire got caught in the belt an it pulled the top radiator hose into the belt an cut it as well. Car ran fine without maf sensor so I'd guess it's maffless. shortened rad hose fine and ran the rest of the day with a half munched belt up front but it ran fine. Didn't cost me any track time which was good. Had shitty tires so it wanted to slide every corner but it's got a heap of punch if I can get it to the ground, really happy.

[Mitch_Dubya]

Quick update. Lap dash this weekend, I've got the week off an a long to do list. I bought a set of rims with decent semi slicks for $300. Sold the rims for $200 so a steal if they're any good. They're about 5 years old an two are near new but understandably hard. I've order some Grip tyre softener from Racegear Revolution, hopefully that brings them up a bit. Clearance looks to be an issue again on the front with the wider semis so I've gotta take the 30mm spacers off. Might look at putting smaller ones on if there's room, not sure how advantageous they'd be?!?
I'll mount the tacho and shift light an see if I can pick up a pulse from the ecu somewhere. I've been told by an auto elec mate who's done LS swaps before that it can't be done, have to crack open the alternator and pick up a pulse in there. Another auto elec mate who LS swapped his S13 said there's a brown wire at the ecu.
I bought a HUD GPS speedo for $50 which was more accurate than a brand new Ranger an updated quicker than the GPS speedo in my phone, should do the job.
Most importantly, went to replace the main drive belt and realised the last one was the wrong size, fitted wrong which fouled on a bolt head, stripping it which caught the maf wire and top rad hose.

Glad to get to the bottom of that one, knowing it won't happen again.
I'll post some pics of the hack job custom dash etc tomorrow
Old man had an old set of wheel alignment ramps out at the farm which I helped myself to today

Should make regular oil changes, tire changes etc a bit easier

[Mitch_Dubya]

For anyone interested, tacho pulse can be picked up at the ecu, pin 10, brown wire

[Mitch_Dubya]

Track day didn't go as smooth as it could but got some decent seat time. First session, two laps in got a flat on the right rear. Had to run scappys on the rear for the second session, took a while to heat up to get any kind of grip. In the third session the front left semi delaminated, blew out an fired me into the infield. I managed to get back onto the track and back to the pits.



To get me through the last session with some form of traction I used the semi from the left rear onto the left front despite different rim size/offset and ran the last session trouble free. Car itself ran near flawlessly. Limited is set at 8500rpm but shift light can only be set at 6500 max. Finished at 1:02.5 in the last session, there would have to be another 1 - 2 seconds with decent tires and endless possibilities with a decent steerer. I've got a couple of vids if I can figure out how to upload.
Next up is a skid/motorkhana day early sept

[Mitch_Dubya]

Ended up buying more 2nd hand semis. Need to decide if 7*+ neg camber is usable or if I need to fit standard lower control arms. Don't want to scrub out new rubber doing heat tests.
The current rims are lenzo racespec 17x9 +30 front and 17x10 +15 rear. I just picked up a set of the same rims (4x 17x10 +15) with decent Nitto NT01s, the rims from Joogas LS13 I posted a pic of earlier

So I'll have the 4 10's on the car with semis, another pair of 10's with old semis as back up and a pair of 9's for desperate times or for making clouds

I'm thinking I'll have to strip the current rims back to shiny alloy when I get time

[Mitch_Dubya]

I've done a few more events, still working through some issues, the build continues.
First up we put on some scrappies for a skid day, was pretty flawless all day. Limiter bashed first all day


Then switched up to full track khanacross which was a blast. My first attempt at linking a whips together on the track.

A mate picked up that we were down to 7 pots, confirmed with a temp gun. I couldn't pick it, neither did my old man which makes me think we've been on seven since we've owned it. Changed plug, coil pack and lead, one at a time, no change. Could be rings low compression, crook injector, wiring issue somewhere.


Put the semis on for a lap dash today at Wilby Motorsport park. Sight lap proved the rears we gonna foul the guards pretty bad so had to switch to scrappies on the back

Only got one session in before I got called home with a crook family. One session was enough to take out the 4l plus/v8 class, 8th overall of a field of 21.
Cool down lap was taken in anger, binned it. I'd only just got round to making a front row strap extension.... Used it first time out. Reverse Murphy's law?

[BrendanR33]

Great driving at Winton yesterday Mitch.

[Mitch_Dubya]

Cheers brother, you too. Can't wait to do it again

[Mitch_Dubya]

So time for an update. Took us until after the final race of the year to diagnose and fix the miss it had. The plug on top of that injector had the connector pushed up out of the way so it wasn't firing. The noid tester we used (and assumed it had pulse) had prongs long enough to make contact that we'd missed. Car had clearly been running on 7 since I've owned it coz it sounded like a completely different beast. Couldn't wait till feb 2017 to drive it so the boys hit up a test and tune day at Winton on Friday. Massive difference as soon as I pulled onto the track. Got a heap of track time in, I hadnt even been a passenger around Winton before so I made a lot of improvement from first session to last. Went from 1:46.XX to a 1:39.7X which I was happy with. Car ran solid all day, bit of extra guard rolling, brake overheating issues ect.
Still felt like there was a couple more second in the car as it took me all day to figure out a few sections with gear selection ect. Tires weren't great but did the job, still rocking over 7* neg camber.
Down the back straight, got to a top speed of a little over 180kph but had lost confidence in the brakes so didn't drive in as deep as I could have. About the third session of the day I did three consecutive hot laps and the brakes dropped off a cliff, coming into an 90* corner pushed the brake pedal to the floor four times an had to yank the hand brake an slide around to keep it on the black stuff. New jocks required.
The rotors are stock and f$&@ed so I'll get some new pads and rotors and when I get the new bar fitted up look at some cooling ducts. Really happy to tuck her in the shed with a bunch of jobs and upside before next season kicks off. Fender flares, (maybe some wheel spacers), front bar with some aero and cooling mods, transplant the cage, new wing stand to get it up higher and maybe paint the mismatched panels and some more seat time amounts other things