RB Zed aka Gaijin

[gaijin]

- cage fully welded up now, and completed.

 

 

- car a roller, can push between the workshop and the bank manager.

- Neil Fraser has viewed the car, and more than happy with the efforts, with regard to engineering certification.

 

- Front end has steering arms attached, thanks to the donor skyline for compatibility (with steering arms)

- Front anitroll bar mocked up, will be sent away for manufacturing, two settings, forged ends.

- Camber plates re-made, to REDUCE the -ve camber from the lower arm lengthening (70mm+ each side)

- Camber plates pushed out to the max, without chopping up to much of the outer strut tower. Requires a beating to stop springs rubbin'

 

 

 

- Lower arms and steering arms are close to parallel, and are around horizontal at ride height. ie. -ve camber change on bump only.

Can make up some of these 'bump steer' spacers, but these would change the bump/camber change characteristics (for the better), and make the bump/steer worse. Steering arm - knuckle would require lowering to improve. Something to look at later, once susprog3D is up and running. Or more like I can be bothered, lazy git.

 

 

 

Car is being removed from Herberts Fabrication within a fortnight, for the next phase of works - or a break maybe.

Have asked Roland Miester (Pi Research/Development Pectel Manager) for sponsorship for the SQ6M Pi ECU for the car. A very cool and beefy ECU, dual motorolla processors, data logging, internal memory, fly by wire, traction control, and run dual lambda sensors for quick learning....go the UK!

Perhaps more plugs will see some results? Go Roly! Perhaps an opportunity for Pi to expand into the aftermarket ECU industry? Their usual fare is F1, V8 super's, WRC etc.

Super BAMF ZG flares are manufactured and on their way from the States (+1" wider at the front, 1.5" wider rear, than the standard ZGs seen out there)

- Better hurry up if Im going to make the Feb NZ Taupo track day eh?

 

 

The sustanability complex left over.

Avoid $1 reserve auctions for this stuff, what a waste of time packing it up for nothing...

[gaijin]

Look forward to the next phase of works, whenever they start.

The mock build up, before the panel beaters.

Overall, I have been happy with Herberts with the work they have done. Quick and good quality. A great fabricator they employ, ROB DOWE, aka ROTORSPORT.

Id recommend him, but not until Ive finished with him, ok?

 

 

[gaijin]

Finally getting closer to obtaining some JDM wide spec zg flares.

This guy is doing moulds, producing in f.glass and carbon fibre.

Rears are 1.5" wider, front 1" wider.

 

 

This should easily take care of wrapping up my wheels, and possibly leave some room for a spacer, increasing the track more.

Surely going more square on the wheelbase/track ratio wont help doing 720's on the motorway?

Go-kart handling for sure.

 

 

On a random point, ZGs were designed for an arcing movement of a Mcpherson strut, hence the angular shape.

The rears flares may need the extra width to take into account a relatively more up/down suspension movement (or certainley less camber change on bump)

We will see soon.

As Justin makes these flares, there have been holds ups to say the least. Doing it from home to start with, but they are getting out to customers, slowly but surely. Good on you Justin, famous for fat flares.

[gaijin]

The beast is out in the light, ready for the next round.

 

 

Mock build before the panelworks.

All wheels/tires stick outta gaurds.

Nice n low

Happy with that.

 

 

Tires are the same size as Porsche GT3 cup cars, great 2nd hand deals.

They are hard as rock, but for a 6 pack each, who cares.

More grip than any semi slick new.

[gaijin]

Its been a little slow, and I have no excuses.

Front spoiler from Japan, fibreglass, and of poor quality and finish. Leave this one to the panelbeater.

 

 

 

Standard grill in, and attempting to figure out what the best setup and positions for the heat exchanger for the water/air cooler, and the radiator, thermo fans, powersteer cooling, and even the aircon heat exchanger. Not much then!

 

 

 

 

Originally had a HUGE filthy air-air, 600mm x 400mm x 125mm thick peice of drag racing ridiculous-ness, but wanted throttle response and quick spool up, and stealth looks as priorities, not drag.

sell it

 

 

 

Considering the intercooler sits behind the radiator (where the stock one lives), with around 40mm gap to allow some airflow through, the will be a redution in efficiency of the radiator. The heat exchanger for the cooler should sit in front of the radiator (similar to air-air). To compensate, Ill get some fans on the front of the radiator.

The problems with cooling will eventuate when;

- Im stuck in auckland traffic, no airflow, fans going hard. But, there will be little or no heat generated by the engine (above that of a standard Rb25). Probably will be fine.

- Going around a racetrack with lots of WOT, heat generated galore (circa proportional to power output), fans going, etc. This is where the problem will arise, if it does.

 

 

 

 

Anyway, enough pissing around, lets bolt the things in.

Clutch lines in, working. Nismo light flywheel and supercopper mix non sprung clutch plate, with HD pressure plate ready. Unsprung? should be sweet, better for dorifto

May even slip under the final grunt value. We will see.

 

Front arms xrayd OK, they are painted and to go back in.

 

 

 

 

Rear subframe out for once over before final install.

 

 

 

Spreadsheeting the brake setup to ensure the system will work well. Measure everything, chuck into spread, check outputs. Make changes. I will detail this further once completed.

 

SARD fuel rail supplied for er34, has different diameter injector holes than standard, so will require drilling out.

Headlight buckets, right one used in 10/10 nick from Japan, left one NEW from japan. They cost around $80 each. Import Monster. Exchange rate a little sore now, not as effective as it was. Cool parts available if you can decipher the 'engrish' as the Monster calls it.

[gaijin]

Been 'servicing' all the parts, so should go well once started.

Rear discs new, standard items. Drum handbrake cleaned up, shoes look fine.

 

 

 

The laptop does the service manuals for rb25, and plays thru to music too loud on fridays.

 

 

Now everything is covered in the engineers/fabricators enemy, the tar underseal, and 'never dry' gloss black paint.

It does look kinda stock. Once a little dirt is thrown in.

 

 

 

 

Underneath shot with everything removed, hard to tell whats been played with, or as some perhaps older types would say, BUTCHERING

 

 

 

 

Lots of new grade 8 bolts, high tensile. Using te old stuff is silly, most threads are stripped, damaged, rusted, even with plating them, hydrogen embrittlement could be an issue with stressed fasteners.

[gaijin]

Firstly, with the plans for a daily driver, think about things I like in a car.

- Clean windscreen!

 

 

 

 

The squirters are from unknown jap donor car. 4 sprays.

Looking at gauge options, they are suprisingly few.

 

 

Autometer, usual fare, but are rather typical?

Autogauge, but unsure of longevity of them

 

Looked at plenty of American units, but they are oldschool, check out the Cyberdynes, WTF!

 

Would love some DEFI, but yikes, rather not sell the real daily driver to get 'em.

 

Need 2 5/8" for centre console, and 5" for dash.

Dash installed and cut outs made for the roll cage around the pillars.

 

 

 

Will look around some more before purchasing.

 

 

Hmmm whats going on here.

Decided to ditch a mechanical driven water pump and go electric. ECU will run this. Will gain hp's, more so when its not running at full effort.

Davies Craig 110lt/min arriving soon.

 

So will have 2 water pumps for sale, one being underdriven (new 'N1 type' one), using a larger pulley. Takers?

[gaijin]

You Butcher!! I'm kidding of course. No butcher could create such a work of art. You have great plans and great taste! keep us posted. Oh and I say opt for the Defi's. Here's mine' date=' they are the ones before the BF series. I liked how they kept the stock gauge colors.

[img']http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/FullBoostOrBust/IMG_4324.jpg[/img]

 

 

Your set up looks mint. What size are the main gauges?

I presume 60mm for the 3 centres, but what for the rpm and , speedo?

thanks

[gaijin]

Getting back onto the engine bay completion,

plenty of the fiddly bits to go.

Firstly, its biffed back in, the cam covers have been given a rub'n'polish and the coil cover some nasty never dry gloss black. Perfect then.

 

 

 

The new wastegate position (Tial 38mm - hopefully its big enough), which was changed from an underneath pick up on the ex manifold to a top position for flow reasons.

 

Had heard that boost creep would be gauranteed from some dyno tuners, on the same engine and similar turbo.

 

Moving it up means gas flow doesnt need to do a 180 to get to the gate, just an easy? 90 deg change. Bottom hole TIG'd up.

 

 

 

90 deg elbow welded to the comp housing outlet, clearance ok to ex man, but will require some heat sheilding to help intercooler do its job.

 

 

 

Comp housing clearance to bonnet?

Dunno yet, have tried and seemed ok, but once gaskets etc are all on it may start a rubbin'.

 

 

 

 

Oil catch can arrived after waiting a few MONTHS for it to turn up from kazakstan...hmmmm

Quality looks good though, solid, 2l capacity (right for track racing then according to Motorsport

NZ). This will also get hot, being on the , er, hot side. More heat reflection required then.

Squirter bottle pinched from a mates car, and chucked into the corner.

 

Whats up with the rotor on the top of the gate. S30 with 20B heart?

There is no going back now....

 

 

Well hello, the flares have just turned up, surely not from Kazakstan as well?

Better get over and do some trial fitments....finally!

 

Yeah Defi gaugi is a 115mm boost, and rpm's. No speed meter tho, a legal requirement in NZ. Keep looking.

[gaijin]

More engine bay stuff;

Got a GREX/Greddy oil filter re-locator from JP off Import Monster (which does cars, motorbikes, 2nd hand, vintage stuff etc, just recently, got a Z432 for sale with 85km, going for $135kAu - yeehaa, and a nice,clean ZG a snip at circa $80k au. The market sure lives on strong in JP.

 

 

 

 

NISMO clucth also a jp 2nd hand item made in cro-mo, about half the weight of stock flyw.

 

 

 

 

Ill kill the water pump and blank this part off, pull the thermo out and run elec pump & controller.

Biff on a cam gear for the exh.?

 

 

 

 

Hello, f.glass 1" wider front zg flare, sitting rough.

 

This gaurds ok, but the other will be the bog sculpture. Rickys f.glass gaurds sure look tidy, especially that the arch is 75mm forward, great for big castor angles....

 

 

 

and for the rear this what we got

 

 

 

 

Better get back in and finish this flare install , get mr suspension in to measure up.

[gaijin]

To gauge the clearance between ground/lowest parts, exhaust back up.

its a 3" SS mandrel tack TIGed into posi for now. Centre muffler lowest part but will sit about 30mm higher than as unsupported here mind

 

 

 

 

 

Rear Sus arms are shooting for the stars, thats enough bump

 

 

Cut away the lovely quarter I welded in a few years back, and some cables. oops

 

 

wheel in at max squish

 

 

 

 

(smaller temporary) cap screw the gaurds into place, and hey presto,

Full bump including er, bump stop

 

 

and at about ride height

 

 

 

and same

 

 

 

 

Can move this around a bit with coilover heights, but looks about right. Comments please

 

oh yeah, 125mm wheel travel total

[gaijin]

To continue from the brake spreadsheet guesstimation;

- brake pedal ratio changed to 6:1, see the old small hole, and the new large cylinder welded in higher up, which will house the brake balance bar.

 

 

- twin masters (these are wilwoods, not the trusty trojans as first purchased). New plate brazed to the front of the exisitng firewall plate and an additional plate welded to the inside of the firewall for more rigidity. If this is insufficient, a brace can be added to the front of the masters later.

 

- wilwood superlight 4 pot front callipers. 18" wheels make the discs look small. From the spreadsheet (mostly car mass as dominant factor), they are overkill. The track will tell.

 

Have braided front hoses and rears ready.

Hard piping of brake lines as we speak, 'P' clipped to chassis.

Transmission tunnel Braided lines are for the fuel back and forth

[gaijin]

Right, more detail shots.

- Petrol tank. Standard unit modified. Pic has details. Welds have sealed tank. Will add POR15 type tank sealant internally. Carter lift pump pushes fuel through low pressure filter into surge tank. Not shown.

Then EFI bosch pump draws from surge tank, through high pressure filter to fuel rail up the braided lines. When the tank is in the car, it looks completely standard. Access through the existing spare tire wheel bay, with a flat cover over the top. No spare tire then.

So the surge tank is not connected to the main tank, and the extra vol is. Just testing...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- PS rack/cross member mods, in case your interested. Pic shows the mods, new mount for the bottom seat of the rack, a braced top mount, and a cut out for one of the PS lines. Rack is a Toyota MR2 job, so not exactly a limo turner. Similar car weights, so shouldnt be too over assisted, can change the PS pump revs through new pulley, will adjust this a little way.

 

 

 

- Rear tire/brakes completed. Rebuilt, new discs, calliper seals, hoses, project mu drift pads and plenty of BBQ black to hide the crud.

 

not exciting unless its making smoke...eh

 

 

[gaijin]

Some progress of late.

stock er34 injectors replaced with Bosch 550cc x 6, which will cover me for some way over 400hp's at the wheels, turbo/engine strength permitting.

 

 

 

 

Gaijin back from the brake hose crew, and it looks neat. Wilwood master cylinders have replaced the Trojans, only due to difficulty in finding the resevoirs for them. Groan.

 

 

 

Just for luxury sake, a rear proportioning valve position is included in the rear pipe line inside the cabin. Ignore the interior sound deadening, efforts from the past require restarting.

The engine bay completion continues...

 

[gaijin]

Getting exhausted,

another mention of the existing wastgate point, welded up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wastegate dump 38mm enters into main exhaust after 1 metre. Gas flow less turbulant there = less back pressure = more power

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep it tight boss

 

 

 

 

 

could wrap it in heat wrap or get some coating on.

 

[gaijin]

Thought best to get some panels on to work out some colours for the car.

Got the right front gaurd roughly on, prob a little low. Steel gaurd will be sold, and a fibreglass one in place.

Chucked the spoiler on,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rolled it back for a rough ride height = ok.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New bumper arriving from santa- thanks Mulderghini!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sprayed up the gaurds in primer to get less contrast with Photoshopping when doing colour schemes. Or probably just my wobbly eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cant ignore the left side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ive picked up a full nolathane bush kit for the rear including more adjustment opportunities, on all sus arms and subframe to chassis mounts. Sway bar adjustments also provided for.

Ill get these in once im out of bed.

[gaijin]

More nostalgia.

The mk 1 plans called for NA.

It was the L series build up, aside from the L24 stocker seen previously.

L28 stock insides, cleaned up, Mikunis 40PHH, ex manifold 6-2-1. elec ign. May have made 180 flywheel hp's.

 

 

 

Carb rebuild....gaijin would be quicker to build than those carbs.

 

But the sound !

Something a turbo will never acheive.

[gaijin]

Right then,

its been such a long time between posts, thought best to update the situation;

 

ER34 rear bushes from Noltec. Trademe (better NZ version of ebay) have some reasonable prices for these. Frank De Jong is the contact, helpful, delivers for free too.

 

 

 

 

 

There is a few missing, kids eh.

Rear subframe bush ready for transplant.

 

 

 

 

 

Rear camber arms back in. Bought off trademe, for a sniff over $100, the welding was poor. Ground the welds back, re-tig'd them, and sent back to the Xrayer man for OK. Phew. Dont expect the stock ones to pass certs, WOF etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Only the sway bar to go back in, more or less. Oh yeah, struts as well. Ron Millan in today to measure up. Better lose that hand bud.

 

 

 

 

 

Big dog tailshaft hoop installed. Tailshaft by Beatties, spec'd for 700hp. Nothing re-used from old skyline, as itll be too weak for thrashing. Hoop required for certification.

 

 

 

 

 

Hard to see, but, handbrake mods to bracketry. Single cable to twin, made custom mount.

 

[gaijin]

Getting back to the business end of the car;

Electric water pump arrived with controller.

Mounting under the intake manifold, probably.

Its the bigger 110l/hr, with fan on the back. Controller is micro-processor. Very 80's...

 

 

I jest, but it will be a good addition to the car. Turbo timer, whatever! Run the pump once the engine has stopped for a few minutes.

Good solid fast trips to the corner shop then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enough of that for now,

10" fan fits ok. Will get two in there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My pikes peak escudo sized K&N is too big to fit now intake pipe roughly done.

 

Ill play around with this later this week.

Ignore the coolant hose yah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grill aint looking too bad considering. Would prefer the Fairlady version, mesh style. Perhaps someone has a new/nice one in their garage they could sell to me?

swap, please, hello?

 

 

[gaijin]

Oil blow by 2 litre catch can in, with lovingly welded bracket.

Hoses attached and completed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shroud made for the rear of the radiator to intercooler.

It is structural, holding the cooler, along with a bottom support, all in ally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bosch cobra water pump for cooler sitting in its home. This is a stock order pump from USA, from a

 

 

 

 

 

 

GReddy type R BOV in its possible home.

Will recycle hot filthy air back into the turbo intake, for max response, and turbo spooling

The cooler is made of 3-4mm plate ally, so we can fit directly to this, with maybe only a little strengthening required.

and everything STILL fits under the stock bonnet...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intake pipe nice n tight

The whole lot there is rubber mounted, so no cracking.

Wouldnt mind the JP style hundreds of welds style inlet pipe, using sections.

sure looks fat next to the little engine

Thinks its 4" ID

 

 

 

 

 

 

The car is out of here next week, so the clock is ticking!

Next mission, PANEL & PAINT