rods and roll bars

With the car dropped of at MSD just over a week ago, I can inform you that it is well and truely underway. I took a trip out to see him to talk about motorsport regs and paper work etc to find that the main hoop and a pillar bars were already being mocked up and the bar above the windscreen being made as i arrived at the shop. to say i was gob smacked is and understatement. The work itself looked outstanding as it appears Quality control is priority. Which for a car owner investing fairly large sums of money (especially when on a tight budget like yours truely) on such a key feature of a race car is very relieving to know. Credit must be given to Sheldon for taking on this job and not twiddling his thumbs like im sure alot of other shops may or do, do.

For someone like myself building such a car, or anyone trying to achieve a goal for that matter, big, or any gains being made towards finishing a project and achieving your goal can really make the day so much better, those of you who know me can imagine the smile that was on my face as i walked in to the shop to be greeted by the view above, having to double take as i saw the bars peaking out from behind the a pillar, strategicly placed to not decrease visibility. Even at this stage in the process it is clear my car is in the best persons hand to do the task. it is obvious to even me who is fairly un aware of the whole process, that alot of thought has been put into bar placement and mounting points etc

looking at the pictures above you can see what i mean. visibility definately hasnt been sacrificed for this roll cage as some most definately do which i am obviously very happy about as trees are often thin yet hurt alot when you hit them so im told. heres a couple more i took...

i will most likely pop out next week to give me my hit of happiness only chromoly bars can satisfy aswell as updates on the blog for everyone to read. on friday night i went a hot rod mystery run set up as a memorial for a dearly missed hotrodder in  dads holden kingswood ute which he kindly let me drive into town. although fairly un eventful for us as we had to leave not long after we set off due to mechanical gremlins i did manage to get in some photos of a handful of the cars that turned up to participate in the run...

thats dads holden utility vehicle which has been saved from carting tools and timber around to being more at home infront of a christmas tree or skid pad. 383ci stroker motor thts also blown and twin carb'd for good measure. it pulls pretty hard lets just put it that way...

will try and head out to Sheldon at MSD to visit for some more shots and a progress update if it isnt already finished! :)

One Jungle Gym

This last week or so has definately been a busy one, lots has happened on the car front with conformation of the instalation of a fancy new roll cage in the hachi-go, With the majority of the sound deadening being lifted from the floor of the car, i took a trip out to Sheldon Currington on tuesday to talk roll cage and keep the ball rolling with my race car dream.

Appologies for the crap cell phone pics, but it does the trick. all the grey patches in the image above were once covered in sound deadning giving you a fair idea of just how much of the stuff goes into a lift back car to keep cabin noise down, good if your after a nice comfy quiet ride, but shit if you want to go fast as this shit is heavy! All up off the floor i pulled up atleast 10kg of the thick black tar like substance with the fire wall still to go so probably around 12kg saved in total. On first thought it doesnt sound like much, but lifting it up has its benefits, The lighter the car, the quicker it gets up to speed. And when your on a tight budget like myself free go fast is major win!

With the go ahead given for the roll cage, a date was in need. Unfortunately for me the date was the end of the week so the rush was on to rip the dash board and all heater and aircon unit etc out of the car (not as easy as first thought i might add) and the instalation of the disk brake AE86 diff to be installed (also not as easy as first thought due to the general size of it and some slight boreing out of mounting bolt holes to fit the larger bolts through) the job was finally finished on friday night ending the mad rush.

This morning some wheels were put on the car and loaded up onto a trailor (in the rain with no windows, Cue eighties toyota swimming pool) to be dropped off at Motorsport Developments so the cage can be started early next week. I am opting for a full chromoly cage going through the fire wall to the strut towers at the bottom of the windscreen and then back through to the bottom of the A pillar, A cross as side intrusion bars and all the other typical bars associated with a roll cage. While its there the race techs will finally be mounted in a more rearward position and the steering colum lowered and mounted to suit the new seat height
and 5 point harnesses fitted.

With the down payment to be paid on monday i am really excited to see this car really take shape with this being one of the major jobs being carried out and completed. I will upload photos of the progress made as i go out to help find the optimum seat position so the cage can be made around me to optimise safety.

Going back on myself here, last saturday i took the time to do a shoot of Tim's BNR32 GT-R Skyline, A mint condition, low km example in the timeless gun metal grey everyone has come to love topping the later model Midnight Purple which is also favoured amoung the GT-R elite. Obviously, Being a GT-R it features one of Nissan's greats, The RB26DETT as you all should know, TAhese things Absolutely HAUL ASS! even in standard form these things are agressive. With factory pumped guards, agressive offset factory wheels, BIG brakes, comfy supportive interior and all the gauges you will need all there for you to look at in a nice cluster.

While shooting the car all i could think about was the Initial D movie running through my head, Can you imagine this thing screaming up or down a twisty mountain road? or even the Rimutaka's screaming up to the limiter as it shoots a quick flame out the back? Also easy to turn RWD at the flick of a switch, the arse end of these definately likes to make its pressence known, No complaints here!

How could i forget those lights! The instantly recognisable twin reds that have been gracing the back of nissans flagship sports car for the better part of 40 years sitting next to which is the other distinguishing feature of the rear end, The big red badge that all the bathurst drivers got to see 20 years ago.

If you see this thing out, Take the time and have a look DONT TOUCH! it is worth the time that is for sure!

look out for the next progress report for nice flashy photos,

jim.

Moving On

This week has been one of great sadness, progression and manual labour for me here at the tofu shop.
My last update to the blog stated that on my next visit to the shop the grubby AE85 drum brake rear end will be fully removed and things will start to take shape. Well rest easy, the diff is out and sitting on the floor underneath the car awaiting replacement in the form of a genuine AE86 TRD LSD disk brake rear end.

With that done, I got to thinking. What else can i do? A decision was made to go to bunnings and buy myself a nice new heat gun and an cheap set of chisels to take off the un needed sound deadening of the floor of the car. no easy Task. it involves me, taking said heat gun and heating up the sound deadening to a point where its not melting but is soft enough to pull up in chunks.

When doing this over a few hours, you get enough time to think to yourself (heatguns aren't exactly quiet and make conversation hard) im at a loss as far as ignition systems go, as to what i am going to use. You have units like msd or similar, cheaper items. then you have units link the link g4 atom or extreme. At the more pricey end they offer the same capabilities as an msd as well as having the added bonus of it being a complete aftermarket ecu which can be used and tuned later down the track if i chose to use quad throttle bodies or go down the forced induction path. Any help would be much appreciated.

All the Sound deadening pictured above is now removed with only the front foot wells remaining, tomorrow it should all be removed and weighed to see just how much weight is finally removed from the car.

As mentioned in the title of this blog, this week has been a process of moving on with things and getting things done as without this happening, i wont have a sweet car to slide around in and race at all the events that pop up. Unfortunately for all of us without a millionaires budget we have to work hard to pay for the things we want. unfortunately in my job money don't come easy so i have to make a real effort when it comes to saving but even then it often doesn't make ends meet. (when building a sick ass race car there is a big gap between ends) Something had to give in return for a bit of a pay day...

A sad moment for the Tofu garage seeing the trusty Datsun leaving for good after such a short visit. For me it was obvious it had to go, for no reason but i didn't need it, and i needed money to make my racing dream come true. a bloody good car during my ownership never gave me any problems after i did a bit of a spruce up with the ignition system. it most definately got the looks, making it into nzpc magazine as well as being spotted by fellow blogger Iheartstance and put in one of her posts after i attended nzpc hardpark. The tidiest example i have ever seen it will be dearly missed by me.

The extra money in my pocket now allows me to proceed with my project and dream by soon shipping the car of to get a cage, most likely at Motor Sport Developments. While its there, the seats will be mounted and harnesses fitted meaning after paint and a few small additions like gauges and door cards etc the interior will be complete. a moment i personally cant wait for.

Also happening soon is the making of the new adjustable panhard bar by Peter Zivkovic, Sure you can buy them, but why buy when you have everything there to make one for next to nothing?
but more on the car when things are taking shape.

Last Saturday night I took Jade into town with me to meet up with friend Aaron and his other half Hayley to catch up and take some pics of his S14 Silvia, One of the nicest S14s kicking round, No body kit, No neons just a Tidy car Nissan intended it to be with the addition of a few go fast goodies and wheels the car is a low km stocker imported from japan not all that long ago.

The car speaks for itself, and with a new set of kicks and some coilovers will look amazing. On the photo front i have been experimenting a bit trying to come up with some more artistic shots and things that will make my images pop so i will leave you with a shot i took a few weeks ago. any ideas are welcomed and i appreciate any feedback or critisism.

HACHI GO FAST