S13 Sprint/Time Attack Style Build

[No Crust Racing]

That's over 5 years worth in that other thread and I had the car for a few years prior.  When I get really chatty I end up with over 100 pages in 18mths like my GTR build.. I am known for being verbose and an active forum member, oh and indecisive and like to discuss all the ins and outs of something before doing it - it's a curse lol

It's pretty budget (lots of second hand parts or just OEM bits of other cars that are upgrades on this and were rebuilt etc), nothing is big dollar and total spend is quite low all things considered. Also very backyard as I've done 90% of it myself. 

If I had my time again I'd do this with an SR again too, but back when I bought this car it was a steal at 5k with the mods it had and in the condition. SRs were pulling 7-8k easily then and I was still saving for a house. 

No updates on part install, we've all been on and off sick this week - has been a long ass week. 



 

[No Crust Racing]

Ducked out for a few mins last night and got the front sway bar back on, those end links are nicer to work with. 

Had to order different bushings for the rear as Bursons gave me the wrong ones, I was too focused on if the bush would fit the bracket I didn't notice the diameter was wrong. 

Borrowing a fancy pants brake bleeder this weekend and will hopefully get that done if time/sick family members allow.

Is it worth me buying a Nistune... $350 installed and returned to me. I don't expect much if any more peak power as that's about what these turbos make, but I was thinking maybe the midrange and response could be better with better control of the timing coming onto boost. Plus having at least a basic knock map would be nice. 

I assume I could get a few bucks for the old SAFC and SITC combo also. This is what I mean by budget... GTR I didn't blink at buying the Haltech setup. 

[No Crust Racing]

Brakes bled using this fancy bleeder - had some odd grey/blackish stuff in one section of the reservoir so sucked that all out a few times and kept topping up to get the extra crud. 



 

• Removed front splitter ready for car to go to fabricator. 
• Ordered Nistune, removed ECU and posted this morning. 
• Removed SITC as it will no longer be needed(for sale), returned loom to standard which was easy enough as I'd done terminals last time. Will leave SAFC in as a knock guage and because it can help with Diagnostics by showing sensor voltages etc. 
• Front wheels on and camber adjusted to clear shocks, really need some better offset rims
• Started rear diffuser - which will really just be a section to fill inbetween the fuel tank and rear bumper. Will put some rice fins on it for lols. Comes up to just near the start of the fuel tank. 

 

Anyone got a fibreglass bonnet, a cheap race seat/rails, and some square 17x9 decent offset rims in 4 stud?

 

[No Crust Racing]

When under the car I noticed my home made engine mounts are looking tired (boxed up the factory mounts and filled them with sikaflex because budget race car) and the trans mount is also the factory 28yr old one so have bought some basic poly mounts to swap in. 

Bought a new seal for the shifter housing as the old factory one appears to be leaking, hopefully it's just that as I can see box oil on the extension housing but I put a new seal in that when I did the clutch. 

Picked up the waybar bushes this arvo. 

Looking forward to test and tune

[No Crust Racing]

Rear sway bar in with lovely new bushes.

Made some progress on the rear diffuser/cavity fill in. 

What you see is a Mazda 3 engine tray and some home made brackets. Will be attached to the rear bar also and likely some additional bracing along the front in the middle. It only goes across to where the exhaust sits (removed in these pics but you can see where I've made some adjustments to the tray to clear it). I'll likely put some sort of fins on it for extra rice points. 

ECU arrived at Nistune yesterday.

 

[No Crust Racing]

Been busy, went to Melbourne, went to Sydney, come back to mail on my desk which is always fun. 

Will fit these when I get a chance then finish off the rear diffuser enough so the car can go into the shop. 

GTR goes in to the tuner today anyway so a bit going on. 

Thoughts on 3mm hub centric spacer up the front to gain some clearance to the shock body so I can run more camber iuf we can't get to at least 3 degrees? 

[No Crust Racing]

Forgot to show the dropped tie rod ends and roll centre adjutsers. 

Lets' hope they help. 

 

[No Crust Racing]

Big dollar mounts come at me. 

See if I can get the car started this weekend. 

[No Crust Racing]

Box seal replaced. Easier with an angled rachet spanner. Bolts are all 12mm and you also need cirxlio pliers to remove the shifter.

 

ECU in, noted you can't leave the usb connected because it sits up against the firewall.

 

Car started for the first time in ages. Idles and revs ok. I've already reset the SAFC so it's just a gauge now.

 

Doing this on mobile so can never tell if pics work properly or not. Rotation tends to be an issue.

 

Next job is engine and trans mounts then off to the tuner/fabricator.

 

 

 

[Dale FZ1]

All good progress.

Cut a bigger hole in the trans tunnel, make access to that stuff easier!!

While the cutting gear is out, why not hack off the lower section of the rear bumper - relieve any air trying to tumble out the rear but caught up behind the bar?

The work you're doing looks good though.

[No Crust Racing]

Lol I'm not much of a hack

Sealing in the rear section combined with the number plate hole should be enough.

Started working on engine and trans mounts. Found one mount nut is stripped but i don't need to salvage it or the thread so I'll just get medievil on it.

Wait, maybe I am that much of a hack..

[Dale FZ1]

In this area of modifications, my best friends are tin snips, 1mm cutting disc, and MIG.  Can't go wrong!!

[No Crust Racing]

So, doing my best to make a mess of that nut. Looks like i will either need to remove the rack to get better access to it or drop the k frame out and go from there. Removed the top nut without issue.

The problem below is the block on the rack where the hard-lines connect. Stops me getting in there properly.

Had a quick look at the passenger side engine mount setup and these mounts are painful as they are multi piece and only one threaded end so you have the get the engine in the precise spot to hold it all in place while you get the nut on. Spare hands might be needed.

[BakemonoRicer]

Ive had those exact mounts before..... the NVH is savage.....

 

even for a race car its brutal

[No Crust Racing]

Oh... Goody.

They are poly so I thought they'd have some give.

Oh well, see how we go.

[No Crust Racing]

Been busy here, but chipping away. 

Used 2 small dabs of adhesive on those engine mounts to keep the top and bottom plates in place but can easily be removed if needed. 

Worked out I can fairly easily remove K frame without touching rack, got started on that last night. actually not that much too it when the car is already on stands and tools under it lol

Disconnect LCA from k frame, Swaybar link and castor rod from LCA so it can just be swung out of the way. 



Had a fiddle last night with my 9" rims up front, using some washers to space the wheel out to get clearance to the shock. It needs a HEAP of clearance if I wanna run 9" up front and get a 255 on there AND get some camber on there. 

I guess this means I will need flares and easily 30mm bolt on spacers (or wheels with about +5 to +10 offset) and given I already have some rims I can use in 4 stud and don't want to go 5 stud and need new rotors etc, I might just have to go the spacers route and flares. 

Unless someone has a better idea? I did also consider a smaller spacer, keep the 8" front rim and just run a 235 or 245 but in a better compound than RSRR.

 

 

Edited April 19, 2017 by ActionDan

[R_34]

I'd say no more than 235 on 8" wheel, the tire flank will not work properly with a tyre too wide for the wheel. Not too much of a problem on the street as there won't be high load on it but on track I wouldn't try it out. Car will be floaty/wavy without much more grip, just loss of precision.

Dou you need that much of tire already ? I'm not pushing big numbers on my RB20 swapped 180sx (~1260kg w/o driver), I was only running 215/40 tires and I don't overheat tire that easily. But they last about 2 track days and road cruising to go to the track and return home.

I plan on getting 225/45 this year and see how it goes.

[Duncan]

just put proper semi slicks on and stick with a wheel/tyre that fits without major issues....proper semi slicks will be a big step up

[260DET]

Good work in not cutting out pieces around the gearshift lever chassis hole, that's all structural and reinforced for a reason.

[No Crust Racing]

13 hours ago, R_34 said:

I'd say no more than 235 on 8" wheel, the tire flank will not work properly with a tyre too wide for the wheel. Not too much of a problem on the street as there won't be high load on it but on track I wouldn't try it out. Car will be floaty/wavy without much more grip, just loss of precision.

Dou you need that much of tire already ? I'm not pushing big numbers on my RB20 swapped 180sx (~1260kg w/o driver), I was only running 215/40 tires and I don't overheat tire that easily. But they last about 2 track days and road cruising to go to the track and return home.

I plan on getting 225/45 this year and see how it goes.

Yeah I'm aware of the max limit on 8" which is why it has 235s all round now. I can go larger in the rear but I wanted them square so they could be rotated. 

If yours last 2 track days and mine have done easily 8 events, I'd say you're using a proper R comp. I'm only using an RS-R (road tyre), 
 

13 hours ago, Duncan said:

just put proper semi slicks on and stick with a wheel/tyre that fits without major issues....proper semi slicks will be a big step up

It woul be, even the second hand semis I used once were awesome. I considered going 235 front and 255 rear semi's but that moves away from the budget concept. A full set of new RS-RRs is about 650-700 and they last quite well. It feels too serious if that makes sense? 
 

10 minutes ago, 260DET said:

Good work in not cutting out pieces around the gearshift lever chassis hole, that's all structural and reinforced for a reason.

Cheers, but hold that kudos until you see the pics in my next post... Also, I have been a hack before, we cut out the brace between the trans tunnel and the sil on the driver side to flat mount my seat to get it lower, we did however put in new lower hat section all the way and stitch it to the floor pan, chassis and sil. I'm not above being a hack when it helps