Drift national’s prep work

Had an extremely busy weekend getting the S14 ready. Swapped the centres over from a 4.1 diff ratio for a 4.3, it came from an earlier model silvia so we had to use spacers for the front mounts.

Pulled the handbrake pads out and they were glazed over, replaced them with new ones and secured the cables a bit better, work’s mint now but I’m sceptical about how long it will last. Took the adjustables apart and cleaned them up, swapped the rear springs out for some potenza springs that came from the front of another set of shocks, Unfortunately it has raised the ride height up a bit, the upside being that we can now run wider wheels. Took the car for a street test and if feels like a new car, although obviously we couldnt push it to its limits, Hampton on Sunday will be a good test.

The 4 man team that the battle car begun its life with has also been cut down to just me and Nick now, So its life is near the end as we have no where to store it, It will be doing a burnout display at the drift nationals now too, so it is getting some much needed T.L.C. It develloped a water leak which ultimately cut its last day short, I have traced it back to the turbo water line which is now off getting fixed. It has been left outside unbeknown to us for about a month(the worst time as we have had alot of rain) so everything inside it need cleaning/lubrication. Even the Ignition is almost seized. It is currently living at our place but I think it will end up getting parted out after this weekend, There will be a version 2 to follow in its place at a later date!

 

It will be another busy week as Nick is prepping a few more panels on MAX170 after work each night.

2 weeks, 3 trackdays

It all begun last Saturday, helped Roo and team run the S-chassis drift day at Meremere. Day went well, I drove the yellow S15 most of the time, 6 speed gearbox with a 5 speed diff makes for some short ratio’s, Makes it alot easier to learn to drift in, but further down the track I think we will have to swap it for a lower ratio diff.

Then on Sunday I drove Max170 at Manfield. Didnt have a very good drive, Have a whole list of things to change on the car, going to play around with diff ratio’s this weekend. The handbrake also stopped working, I tried swapping the cables around(the old one was strectched) which helped the problem, but I believe the drum pads are stuffed so we will replace them this weekend and see how that goes, If its still not working effectively we will put a hydraulic setup in. of

Last Saturday we drove at the final Driftopia event at Hampton Downs. Had a better drive but there are still a whole lot of issues with the car that Im not happy with. Mainly the handbrake only working at 30% of how it used to, but the whole car needs to be set up a lot better. It is no where near its potential so we will be doing our best to get it there! Unfortunately we are running out of time so will hopefully have it done in time for Round one of D1nz Rookie.

Got some front guards on now that havent been excessively rolled, now it is pretty much ready to be painted, again hopefully it will be done in time for round one. We have the Drift Nationals on at Hampton downs, Sunday the 3rd of October, which will be our first proper competition, so the prep work is starting for it.

Nick has also got a new Stagea wagon, we are currently tidying it up, will have more about it at a later date.

The start of a straight thing…

Prep work on our S14 is well underway, Nick has straightened them out and gave it a temporary two tone paint job(I think the paint fumes were getting to his head!).  We still have to replace the front quarter panels and sideskirts, I think we will end up repairing and using the current front bumper.

We also got some new wheels to help the new look. Work Rezax I 18×8.5 F 18×9.5 R +7 all round.

So I’m pretty much ready for Manfield this Sunday, then Hampton Downs next Saturday. The plan is to have the car painted in time for the NZ Drift Nationals on the 3rd of October which we are entered into, but there is a chance it wont be done for then in which case it will probably just be satin black.

S15

Installed the last few parts for now on the S15 today, subframe lock collars in the rear, Kazama tension rods up front. Dori Steering wheel with Adjustable bosskit.

S15

Got the wheels on all around. 17×9 +20 on all four corners.