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 5268_.pdf

After using a few spreadsheets to work out what master cylinder size I could run, I quickly discovered the amount of 'fudging' these calculators require. It also showed me that attempting to use a single master for both front and rear circuits (and a proportioning valve for the rear) would be a poor solution. Calling around, most people just said install and test. Z club members have given me some guidance. I have purchased a 3/4 for the front, and a 5/8 for the rear, and a wilwood balance bar for under the pedal, and raised the peadl ratio to 6:1. This will be an un-assisted brake setup using two master cylinders and a balance bar to adjust the setup depending on raod or track use. Attached is the spreadsheet calcs. I have worked backwards in some areas to acheive what looks like a solution, using some numbers which are very hard to accuratly determine. I.e. co-efficient of friction for the pads-discs, and tires (which will change greatly from slicks to street tires etc). The rest is straightforward-ish. Wilwood superlight 4 pot fronts, er34 2 pot rears (same as almost all R series turbo rears, Z32's and 200sx's). Discs as measured (taken as 2/3rd's the way up the pad contact face, not total outside radius) COG height guessed Wheelbase as standard Max deceleration = race best effort Otherwise, if it doesnt work, Ill swap masters (at $45 each, thats OK) Balance bar = $90 Car into brake shop for new hard brake lines as we speak. 4614_.pdf

As parts slowly go back on the car, it feels great. Any welding has been x-rayd, on rear camber arms, front arms etc. After a quick blast, they hit the powder coaters in black for a durable finish. The front heat exchanger gets a home finally. Rubber mounted in 2 -axis. Large air filter gets a vertical mount, with a 4" pipe to link this week. Front sway bar mounts get a toughen up, with a plate welded to two sides of the frame rail. After restoring/wrecking my previous Papua New Guinea S30 (sold new), I found out the deficiencies in the S30 chassis design... As my sparky has mentioned, 'you'll blow the engine' is believable. Look forward to taking a trip to vegas to talk with Rob (aka R.I.P.S) to sort the RB30 and turbine package to make this old bird fly. Spend the money wisely grass hopper.......for now perhaps...

Been 'servicing' all the parts, so should go well once started. Rear discs new, standard items. Drum handbrake cleaned up, shoes look fine. 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.

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! 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? Maybe too ugly for street. 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. Greddy remote filter locator in (filter under flap where washer bottle used to live) 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.

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.

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.

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.

- 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 certification. - Front end has steering arms attached, thanks to the donor skyline for compatibility - 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. Car is being removed from Herberts Fabrication within a fortnight, for the next phase of works - or break. 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 Taupo track day eh?

Well, about time to tease those of you running carbs. (I will regret saying this) - Turbo, exhaust,gate,water intercooler,radiator into position. Pipework has more work to clear tight spots here and there. Modified TB location on intake manifold, to clear inner gaurd. TB running 80 degree to usual install method. Heat exchanger out front of radiator, pumped by bosch intercooler water pump (controlled by ECU) My deadline for road going widow maker is late Jan, for a family wedding, and of course in Feb, for a (NZ) Z club Taupo track day, to gently roll around the track whilst smoking a cigar (probably not legal now). Front end slowly coming together. Arizona z car struts, camber tops, 70mm longer bottoms arms, lengthened and adjustable tension rods, 5 stud ally hubs, ally disc hat, heavy duty rotors (more cooling vanes, thicker meat) of around 12.4" ish rotors, 4 pot wilwoods, ally mount. Roll bar and steering linkage needs sorting. Power steering now in and done, MR2 rack. This is a toyo-ta type. Found some ZG flares that will fit, extra wide front and rear. Thanks for the pics. Secret fuel system hidden in back, bosch 700hp efi pump, lift pump, filters, tank increased in size (modified original to increase fuel vol, and house a surge tank), and it all looks completly stock. Beauty.

Note gate pipe position. Not the best place for it. Ill try once to get it working before we fabricate a new manifold. Ill try taking it just under the flange to turbo, reduce angle change = 90deg.

Exhaust is prepped. I like the smooth 3" mandrel main. Wastegate is Tial 38mm (maybe big enough, if the boost is set nice'n'high) Position of wastegate pipe exiting manifold useless (lowest pipe in pic), with exhaust gas having to do a 180 deg. turn to exit. Hello boost creep. Will change this to improve flow to 'gate. One downfall of the 200 slide chinese unit. Arizona Z Car aluminium radiator, non cross flow, pipes not in the right place either, lucky the xchange rate is still OK then! Bolts up to stock mounts, but this is sans rubber mounts, which would ensure the ally welds would fail quickly. Time to apply mods to radiator then. People talk about the weight savings of ally radiators. Maths do not look good! ($/kg). Cheaper to ditch the passenger.

Manifold choices are OK on the market, with short list including; - standard across the top (works fine) - chinese greddy copy ($, casting issues, % of rejects high) - Greddy ($$ , no bellmouths, hard to source 2nd hand or killer deal) - Aussie fabricated stuff ($$$, too many $ for the gain) - JP and Thai ($$, bellmouths, quality looks OK, deals available) Decided then! 80mm TB (attempt to keep intake velocity up, better response) SARD fuel rail (has 11mm injector holes, while manifold has 13mm. May need to open up rail diameter) General clearance OK, TB tightish to inner wheel arch. Anodizing is garish. Note engine position against firewall, nice'n'tight. 15mm odd clearance there. Also the height of engine relative to bonnet catch, with the oil pan off the JDM 200zr making life easy to drop it low. Compressor housing getting jiggy with the cam cover, will scallop out cam cover then

In these times of recesion, there is no better pick me up than painting everything in gold. er, maybe not. Drivetrain stripped of all ancillaries ready to slot into place. Cross member has the pretty average camber adjustment from old, inner wishbone adjustable point. Note engine mounts completed, using stock rubber. Will give movement, but will also be good for NVH reduction. Too many fillings in the mouth to rattle out. Wish they were gold...

Spec is for a basic cage suitable for light track use, kept tight to lining, mild steel. Will tie into front strut towers once car is further setup, and sitting on a flat table to check chassis is 'straight', which will be pretty unlikely. Rear bar across luggage dept. ties the rear subframe mounts together with something more than panel steel. Pickups behind the seat area ties the front mounts for the subframe. Looks like just a few fires have started with the welding. Keep the heart racin'

Go Neo! For a light weight daily driver, a turbo with response is desirable. GT3082R 0.82 AR exhaust housing, gt exit, external gate, dual cartridge ball bearing. Cant say too much about the ex manifold, apart from it costing a few hundred slides. It might even fit into the engine bay... Intake manifold will have to go

Using the z31 turbo 5 stud front hub, 8.5" wide wheel stock er34 disc and calliper - Fitment looks ok - Very heavy! Reducing unsprung and rotating weight should be my target. Going light with disc and hat, aftermarket calliper and alloy hub will make a great improvement for the money Lets start looking...

Strut assembly not where it should be, Original strut way too long to fit, requires an off the shelf Koni/Bilstien unit or something cheaper. Camber link also not in

Big nose checking out the extra track. Sure makes the diff seem small. Most of the rear end stays standard for now. Changes planned include; -Hicas lock - installed in blue. -Camber links - require-rewelding due to poor welding from China? Taiwan? Dunno. Xray man said go away, even before getting the test equipment out. Grind back and TIG again. -Freshen standard brakes Tires are Trademe specials 265/35/18

So, Gaijin, how on earth are those 265's going to turn in anger with a little smokey bakerlite/ceramic hairdrier with dissapointingly frugal injectors? Let me see..we need response to keep up with these youngsters in Evo's & rex's, yet have top end to satisfy....surely turbos dont do both? Enter 3082R, aka GT3040R. Perhaps a little small on the turbine wheel/housing for drag, but should be spot on for club racing. This can be updated easily to a 3582R aka GT3540R, which would turn the stock internally RB25 into bent rods and the rest. Best stay small to start, go bigger later, if its too slow.

Lets get into it. Breif to Mark Herbert: - Get the rear subframe into the S30 chassis. - Keep it low profile - Not worried about cutting up gaurds - Is it finished already? haha - To fit in 18 x 9.5" wheels, standard er34 offset for size, 265/35/18. Once the rear is in, we agreed to discuss progress, make sure client/fabricator get on OK, and see if we continue working. Fair to me. - Rear profile. Subframe not modified, ie. standard width. Circa +160mm total. I like the new width/track, lets forget about shortening this beast, would be a crying shame, just think of the lat. acceleration capacity...feeeeel the 'gs. HICAS gone using peice of steel bar. - Sans tire, looks OK. Subframe located, but no welding just yet. Clearance checks seem OK. - Mark holding wheel at the approximate ride height, ie. includes sag. We will look at gaurd mods later, ignore the lack of room. Will be around 120mm clearnace from chassis underside to road. PLENTY (100mm is minimum legal clearance in NZ)

Dreaming of a working zed, you better believe it. Check out the initials carved into the doors bog. I love old cars, you get so much more than you pay for...

A delightful, rebuilt and ready to wimper L24 stocker/4 spd. Now sold on. Bye bye says the butcher. Check out the giant spacers that used to be part of Motorsport Autos 17" Koenig wheel set.

More organs. Gbox looks a little more beefy than the stock S30 4 spd. Plenty of external castings protruding out. Apparently handles big HP. Lucky me eh. The ex-owner of this lot, a freindly civil contractor down in the bay, had stripped a perfectly nice er34 to turn into a show car, but perhaps the finances are better spent firing bullets at stags.....good man, and thanks again Vinny. Being the last generation of RB25's, it is different to the R33 S1 & 2 engines, because of the use of solid lifters in the head, different injectors sizes and set-up, variable valve timing, and a higher CFM & more efficient turbo, with a tidy 280ps flywheel factory. Its still a cast iron block, ally head big beast mind. The classic part of the er34 r25 turbo engine updates, is that the engine (standard) is a LOW EMMISION VEHICLE : LEV. This wont be no Prius however.

Here we have the goods being collected down South East of country. 2000 ER34 manual with 30kms on odo. Hang on a mo, its missing parts... - No turbo or manifold - No clutch Everything else is here, ECU, loom, all the brakes and subframes front and rear. Just what can I fit into a '73 S30 chassis? Time to find out. Lets get this lot cleaned up, and up to Auckland.