Screamin' Rally Project

[screamin' skyline]

Well finally I've got around to starting the thread on my project car. I would race the red GTS I already own, but the car painter did such a good job last time the car is far to mint to risk sliding sideways into a bank.
I picked this car up for a grand with live rego and a WOF that had lapsed by a week. The car wasn’t in WOFable condition as you’ll see, but for a grand it was still a bargin and the ideal starting point.
One of the earlier owners had spent a bit of money on the car and it’s got some good bits that’ll save me spending too much coin to get it racing.



The car is another R32 GTS Coupe RB20DE.
Engine mods include K&N pod, JASMA badged extractors and exhaust.
The car is sitting on low King springs with damper adjustable Nismo shocks.

The plan is to strip all the weight possible out of it, (loosing kgs is the cheapest hp) get a cage and prepare it as a club car. It’ll serve both gravel and tarmac duties.

The day I got it.

First thing was to fix the windscreen that had been smashed while it was parked on the side of the road, the week before I bought it.

Mind the tail pipe!

Also not the full interior. These are the only pics of it.

Another reason why it couldn't get a WOF. Also gives you an idea what the last owner did with it on his last night.


Well that's the first day covered. There's plenty more to come over the next few months.

[Fused]

Wow, there we go . I'm painting my bonnet now! Looks like an awesome project, how many kms has it done?

[r33madd]

for a grand dude you got a bargin.
cant wait to see it all done.

[screamin' skyline]

Wow, there we go . I'm painting my bonnet now! Looks like an awesome project, how many kms has it done?

I mite paint mine too, white!;)
It's done 205,000km, the last few were pretty hard going too, but strangely enough I would say they were quite stationary.

Here's the first road trip to get the new car back to Tauranga.


Turns out on one of his last skids he backed it into the kerb and dented the fuel tank, bending the fuel pick-up. So, it runs out of gas at 1/4 tank. Here in the rain I thought it was a blocked fuel filter....

Engine as I got it bar the removal of the coil cover.



..and, the car as it is at the moment.


Got a second hand set of wheels for it since two of the 17's that came with it were quite broken.

[Gzzmos]

wanna trade lol photos look great

[screamin' skyline]

Ha ha, nope, mine goes!
Although, I would consider once yours is done:D

[r33madd]

it sure does look the biz in them photos.

[Skyla]

looks good shane, will be interesting to see how the build goes, and how it goes at Taupo next month. love those wheels guess you won't need to be borrowing my spare set then lol

[Munkvy]

what mods have you got planned for it? other than the obvious, cage, harness and seats? And how familiar are you, with the rules re prepping a car for rally? As you may well find its a good idea to approach one of the MSNZ technical officers to go over what needs to happen.

Also, with the rims, have you got a spare set of factory rims? As I believe they are 15s? Reason I ask, they are just the right size for rally tyres, as most cars (including the Group N cars) use 205/65/15s or thereabouts....

If you need a hand with finding out more about what to do etc for getting it setup for rally give me a yell, Im not the greatest expert around, but have a reasonable idea, seeing as I work in motorsport Ive had a bit of exposure.

cheers

Vivian

[screamin' skyline]

Cheers Vivian, I'm waiting for my Motorsport Manual No 33, Book 1 to come through with my clubsport licence, but I might pick your brains with some things too.
I've got the 17's on it for an upcoming trackday at Taupo, bit of a shake down, see what goes wrong sorta thing. I'm actually after two more 2nd hand Dirrezzas, the semi-slick ones they use in the targa for these rims. 215 45 17's if you know of anyone who may have a worn out set.
Will be getting some 15's for the gravel too.
There won't be too many mods to start with, just to keep costs down. They will be documented here over the next couple of weeks. Currently I'm just stripping the interior back.

[Munkvy]

The manual is also available online at:
http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Regs/regulations.htm

It has the different PDFs on there, but it is easier to read in the paper manual!

Have a look at : http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Pdf/M33%20App2%20SchA.pdf

thats the main docs on vehicle design that will be useful.

I take it as youve arranged a clubsport license that you have joined a MSNZ affiliated club? And do you have a catchcan and fire extinguisher?

Ok, so sounds like you have wheels sorted (the only semislicks I have are 16s sorry), what sort of underbody protection have you done/arranged and how about suspension, brakes and diff mods? As they will be the things that get punished the most....

And you may want to try the track on road tyres 1st, push the braking/cornering as much as you can, then try the semislicks so that you can notice just how much higher the grip levels are!

[screamin' skyline]

Yip, I'm a member of the Tauranga Mount Motorsport club.
Do I have to run a catch can if the breathers are plumbed back into the intake? And I spose it has to be one of those big 2ltr cans too. Will be sorting out the fire extinguisher soon too.
I've removed the plastic under tray and will be making an aluminium one of decent thickness.
I've got a little while before any gravel events come along so I have plenty of time for those mods thankfully.
I've run my red Skyline on Taupo a couple of times already, so the build on this car will be to a similar spec, with the same uprated swaybars, brakes and braces etc
Will be keen to get the car down to Manfield at some stage too.
Cheers for the links, will give me something to do in my lunch hour

[Munkvy]

This is copied from that PDF I linked to:
"Oil catch tanks: shall be fitted to
engines with open circuit crankcase breathing
systems as follows;
(a) Engines up to and including 2000cc
shall have a minimum of 1 litre catch tank
capacity.
(b) Engines exceeding 2000cc shall have a
minimum of 2 litre catch tank capacity."

I would suggest a catch can is a good idea, regardless of whether it is required, due to the fact that blowby from the recirculation system means your engines taking in small amounts of oily air....

As for fire extinguishers, again copied from the manual:

"BCF extinguishers are no longer accepted under this
safety schedule. Advice may be sought regarding
the disposal of these extinguishers from fire
extinguisher agents or the MotorSport NZ office.
Servicing requirements for all extinguishers are
currently under review by the fire protection
industry. MotorSport NZ will issue details of the
revised service requirements as soon as possible.
 
Approved types: Dry powder or Foam
type stored pressure extinguishers compliant to
one of the following standards are approved
 
New Zealand Standard
NZ 4503 including updates, and/or
Australian Standard
AS 1841

Mounting: Extinguishers shall be
installed in accordance with the following:
(a) A retaining system incorporating quick
release metal fastenings/straps, or material
of equivalent strength (ie Kevlar), secured to
the structure of the vehicle by a minimum of
two 6mm bolts with panel washers and
locknuts.
(b) Hand held extinguishers shall be
positioned within easy reach of the
occupant/s while normally seated (not
mandatory for single seaters);"

Ideally you should have a fire extinguisher in your car at all times anyway, and any professionally run track day will require you to have one.

Going back to suspension and brakes, so what swaybars/strut braces are you going to use? and are the shocks in the car designed for the springs, ie not factory height? Also, what brake setup were you going to use? As my understanding is that the brakes from a GTS25 are a bit bigger, without having to change to 5 stud? Ie swap callipers in and look at using a larger master cylinder (talk to Geoff - BADR33 - he has done the swap). And have you thought about pads and fluids as yet?

And with gravel bashing, do you want to cage it 1st? or just do it step by step? As there is quite a few short gravel sprints run by local clubs that dont all require cages, same with some hillclimbs.

[Munkvy]

and as I have far too much free time, a few more things to think about, Rally is my 1st love, so its what I know the most about....

tyres, prices arent as cheap as you would hope for, but have a look at :
http://www.palmside.co.nz/tyres.asp?supplier=ALL&size=ALL&surface=GRAVEL

for an example of prices.

Dunlop Direzza's are still the preferred choice it seems, as for example at last weekends Rally Wairarapa (included fields from Group N - ie NZ Rally Championship as well as Central Regions and also Rally Extreme) totalling 80 odd cars, I spotted about 5-10 cars not running Dunlops... Even though Silverstone sponsor one of the classes! So I figure there must be a reason they are preferred!

With tyres, there is always the option of second hand from trademe. But I would suggest inspect them 1st before buying!

Next, LSD.... Does the car have one? I realise it wont be important at this stage due to the power level of the car (well it wont be too bad on the track at least!) but on gravel you dont need much power to find a one wheeler is a real pain when trying to get out of a corner! You may want to consider a locked diff for gravel and track use?

then what about underbody protection were you planning? Sump guard is a good start, but remember you dont want stones hitting things like your gearbox, driveshaft, diff or fuel tank either.... You may want to find out who builds/prepares rally cars in your area and drop in and ask them what sort of underbody protection they would suggest and what people normally put on their cars. Another great way of getting tips with this is to approach members of your car club who rally, they generally are quite happy to help out someone joining the sport and give advice.

One thing to bear in mind in regards to under body protection is this from the manual:

"Fuel, Oil and Brake lines and Brake
cables: External lines and cables shall be
protected from damage (stones, corrosion,
mechanical breakages, body flex, etc.). Internal
lines shall be protected from accidental contact.""

And another thing to think about:
"Mud-flaps: Except for complete Tarmac
Events, all competing vehicles shall be fitted
with mud-flaps covering the width of the rear
wheels and the driving wheels.
The mud-flaps shall;
(a) Be in place at the commencement of
the first special stage and following every
service, and
(b) Extend either side of the tyre width by
at least 50 mm, and
(c) Have a ground clearance of 50 to
100 mm when the vehicle is stationary."

Ive got lots more things in mind, so I will post up more things when I have more free time, but feel free to say if this is all stuff that you know or there is anything particular you want to query.

Ive also copied the fire extinguisher details from the manual and will add that in a minute too for you.

[Munkvy]

fire extinguishers...