Frankiman's street/track GTR project

[frankiman]

not yet since i've spend 260+ hours during the last 11 weeks working on my final engineering project, writing my final report at the moment, have to hand it in wednesday, then i'm done with university

the car will probly not see the road till late june, since i have alot of work to do on it, some of it relating to my engineering project, which was to design and fabricate new components to improve the geometry of the suspension to decrease roll and weight transfer to increase cornering speeds based on simulations and alot of calculations

heres what i'm doing in general for this summer;
fabricate and install new custom components (roll center adjusters mostly, tie rod ends)
strenghen rear subframe, swap all bushings
swap coilovers
new wheels and tires
completely new brake system
go back on the dyno and play with cam timing some more
fix my crushed frame rail on pass side
fix some leaks
finish my custom cruise control using s13 parts
design and install a custom diverter valve for the recirculation system of the BOV

the goal this year is to get on the highest step of the podium in street class at the local time attacks


and since i'll be done with school forever in less than 48 hours, i'll start writing updates again, alot of 'em

[NismoS-tune]

Ah gotcha. Was just curious. Makes sense. I was on a tight schedule back in 2010 dumped $xxk into a company to sell me an engine and here I am, engine lasted 2 weeks, then dumpster (what wasn't salvageable) no engine haha! You definitely did the right thing by taking matters in your own hands.


Hey is this thing on the streets yet this year?

[frankiman]

well the reason one would have a good tech support (if they need any ..) is probly because there are often issues with their products, my grunt wasn't with the actual compagny, but with their product

i didn't flame them, i didn't post anything to the world (facebook, twitter , etc) i reviewed their product in my own build thread
in the end, it could have been simply the wrong kit

at the time, i didn't see it of any importance to contact them, because i was on a deadline, parts needed to go on, in a certain order on a certain timeline,
my problems occured on a friday night / saturday morning, the soonest i could have gotten an answer would have been monday evening (because i don't check my e-mails at work, i work), so 2 full days wasted just there
then.. even if they'd agreed to send me remplacement parts, how long would it have taken to get them from the UK ? weeks for sure

what i showed in my build thread, was exactly what was needed to make whatever i got fit on the car, regardless of ones profession; engineering student, mechanic, electricien, politician

in the end, my problem was time, so modding the parts to make them work was much, much faster than waiting weeks for replacement ones

now, ~3 years later, its still fine on the car, even after ALOT of track, the only issu i've seen is the wear from the rod ends, which i have to do maintenance on at least each year


and this, is the last time i'll go over this subject

[NismoS-tune]

This is a revival of your driftworks fun a few years back but I fell onto it someone.

issue #1; no instructions with a brand new kit, that isn't really a bolt-on affair
issue #2; paint is too thick, metal arm's bushings won't fit
issue #3; passenger side bracket is bent, or not welded properly, call it whatever you want its scrap
issue #4; poly bushings isn't wide enough, and requires cutting in 2
issue #5; left over fasteners that i don't know where they go because (refer to issue#1)

I bought the same kit around the same time and it all went together easily (1 piece bushing was pushed in by finger) and everything lined up. No spare hardware.

Anyway, rather than flaming a company that makes a good Living with a good product without the ikeya price tag, why didn't you contact them for a new kit? Ive had some DW parts show up with minimal damage due to a dropped box during shipping and thy happily replaced everything. Unless you got ghetto on the parts before realizing you should have called First? as for a guide or manual... They were direct fit and straight forward and I'm an electrician. Not shaking the tree here, just curious why you didn't contact their superb tech support? It's just harsh on a company when you take things into your own hands... Then lay blame when you've jimmied the produxt beyond help.

Cool project though, definitely impressive for a budget build!

[cobrAA]

I'm curious frank, why don't you go to carwash anymore ? lol

[BRN32]

The Star Spec ZI have been replaced by the ZII for anyone interested.

[frankiman]

tirerack, but its discontinued

[quadracer111]

Hey Frankiman, where did you find 265 wide z1 star specs in 17"

Edit: Nvm, google is my friend.

[cooljustin]

Awesom post, subscribed!

[chino905]

Wtb gtr

[bellis_GTR]

Awesome stuff buddy! I'm comin up to Quebec for some time attack this summer! No more sayin I willl!!!

[frankiman]

Chapter 50 - Hard Parking


disclaimer :
the following story depicts actions that occured on July 30 and august 6 2011
details are recalled purely from memory, so F off if it doesn’t seem perfectly accurate

by winning a trophy for best R32 GTR at Skymeet East 2011, i got overly confident and two weeks after i registered to my first ever car show, the Sherbrooke Sweet'n'Shiny

it was said to be a big event, with over 200 cars and local celebs like drifter Carl Nadeau and actress Annie Dufresne (google her), there was also compagny booths like Standard Suspension and StreetFreaks detailling and many more
there also was a DJ, a portable Mustang Dyno on the back of a big-rig trailer, even a dB competition

not knowing what i was getting into, i packed a camping chair and a cooler full of water bottles

the show was about 90 minutes away, and it was fun to cross path with groups of modded cars going to the event, giving them thumbs up and blasting past them

i get there maybe a bit early, didn't seem to have many cars yet,
the show was held in the parking lot of a big mall, so i pay the registration fee, drive inside the closed off area, park the car, start wiping it down while other cars are coming in

i see some guys, regulars i guess, doing complete car washes with buckets and jugs of water a stuff, darn

after i'm done, i don't know exactly what to do, so i simply sit in my chair, 10 feet away from the car and wait for the show to actually start, like a douche

then i realized that the enclosed area is huge, but was completly empty, basically only a handfull of cars had showed up, not a single one of the cars i passed on the highway, huh?

now this is where it gets weird, from what i was told, there were 2 seperate events that weekend, 2 car shows held in the same city on the same day
again from what i was told, in the past the show had been huge, but the organizers had a falling out, but since they still wanted to make the show, they each started their own,

now it gets tricky, both shows were heavily advertised on facebook, with the same date, same city, and similar names :





so from what i could understand, the whole thing was a big clusterf**k and out of the 200 cars that would show up, 130+ made it to the other show, while only about 70 made it to the show i was at..

so eventually, people started coming in, looking aroung, and since i didn't want to sit next to my car the whole, i did the same



i saw alot of regular bunched up in little camps, under casebos, and i realized, that most of these people go to every car show there is, so its always the same people, that they meet again and again, "compete" against the same people again and again, its like their bi-weekly meet, just like me and going to the track every couple of weeks with the same people, same thing really

but beeing at a car show doesn't mean i like car shows, and it just solidified my point of view,
i hate purpose-build show cars, that aren't really cars anymore, but just canvas for anything people can come up with
see... for me : function > form

but thats just my opinion

even though, i walked around and found a couple of really nice cars and really cool people, people that are as passionnate as me about their car, so that was alot of fun

but you see, i was alone, and there weren't that many cars, so i got bored at warp speed, but i had to wait till 5pm for the trophies, because YEAH i'll admit it i went there to get a trophy, OK

at least some guys from the Sherbrooke University SAE team were with their SAE racer, i got to talk engineering with them for awhile



afterwards, i went back in my chair, under the hot 35+ weather and cloudless sky, i almost fell asleep,
when suddently a wild buddy appears !
it was Paulski from http://fuelriders.com/, who was there to cover the went for the organizers



so i got to hang out with him for the majority of the day, but going out for lunch for an event in itself, weird city with sudden crazy elevation changes made it tricky to find "the" McDonalds, had quite a bit of fun, which made the day bearable

every time i would stand close to my car, i'd have to explain to bystanders why the steering was on the right.. lol



had someone fiddle with my horn button while i wasn't there, not cool



saw some crazy big block mustangs on the dyno, even a stock C63 AMG making good numbers

but finally, came the time for trophies, handed out by the beautiful Annie Dufresne
my car was clean so i had good chances i thought



predictably, i won best RHD, beeing one of only 3 at the show, and the other two beeing total crap



anyway, i got my trophy and i was happy to get the hell out of there

drove part of the way back with Paul, which wanted to take rolling shots, i just remember this epic sight of him driving his truck on the hard shoulder on the highway to get the right distance and holding his camera out the window with one hand while driving with the other, clicking away

and he got one of the best pictures of my car ever :



a little video of the event;

http://www.affairesdegars.com/car-show/sweet-shiny.htm

i have to say that this video confuses me because there seem to alot of shots from the other show as well, cuz i don't remember seeing half those cars, and the cars i saw weren't in the video... whatever

---

then a week after, i went yet to another car show, the Full Throttle



this was supposed to be THE biggest show in Quebec, held at ICAR circuit, with contests, booths everywhere, bikini girls, drift demos on the circuit

i waited ages to get in, seems the registration process wasn't clear so stuff wasn't ready because we only started coming in about an hour after the said opening hour



the event was indeed huge, but not as huge as the previous year
again i saw pretty much the same people from a week before, plus alot of crazy crazy cars, some of ImportFest's best

didn't know where to park, so i found another RHD Nissan and called it a day...



again, i wiped the car down super clean, on my knees getting a rag inside all the nooks and crannies of the wheels





again.. i had gone there alone, but knew some people and there was alot more action, so it was a really cool day

Jemery Alan Glover (JAGimaging) was there to cover the event from MontrealRacing.com, and he got a couple really nice pics of my car



dam the car seemed so bright white




the coup-de-grace was when the drift demo started, i climbed to the highest spot of the stand

the cars would come straight out of the pits from "behind" the stand and drift the track right in front of the stands, but i couldn't see anything from the pits, so i would hear them coming, roaring V8s, screaming straight 6s, boosted turbo 4s, and then see a cloud of smoke with cars somewhere in them


saw some awesome drifting during that ~30 minutes demo;



after that, there was a FAIL burnout contest, just retarded;

a guy on a Harley almost crashed 3 times trying to do his burnout, stupid

there was also a demo of motocross bikes doing backflip on ramps, it was a big event indeed

in the end, came time for the trophies,

since there was a Nissan Z/S/R class trophy, i thought i had a chance, but of course the big buck built cars of the ImportFest guys won 1st and 2nd prize, Neil's pinky R32GTR and the godzilla R34 kited skyline (with horrrrible wheel offset)

at least a buddy of mine won for best Subbie with his sick slammed wrapped STI



a little video of the day

haven't done so much hard parking since, but i try to go to a car show here and there, always fun to answer people's questions..


next week i'll change things up, and talk about the first Time Attack event I did, cuz Track > car show

[freezingcoffee]

Awesome Thread! I would move to Canada just to buy a GTR and attempt something only half awesome as this project.

[S13Jordie]

but when you stop to think about it, most of the drifter guys, or guys that have their car super low, don't even use the inner fenders since they'd be destroyed instantly, and even they don't have problems. i think

I drove my s13 for 3 years without inner fenders. the only thing was that the engine bay got dustier. I had tucked and re wrapped my harness to prevent any issues. On my skyline i think i will go to the franki route as well

[frankiman]

Hello,

Awesome build thread.

Just a quick question, I see that you have cut the side of the mudguard off where the plastic clips use to reside. Is this going to be issue since your mudguard will be exposed to water, dirt, dust etc...

Only reason I am asking is because I would like to do the same thing but I'm concerned about dirt and water going behind the mudguard where electrics and other wires are also located.

well there is still alot of the inner fender protection the inside of the fender so i don't think it can cause issues

but when you stop to think about it, most of the drifter guys, or guys that have their car super low, don't even use the inner fenders since they'd be destroyed instantly, and even they don't have problems. i think


anyway, i cut those inner fenders 1,5 years ago (july 28 2011 as stated at the beginning of the update) and i've put over 13,000km on the car since, and many many track days, whilst driving in all sorts of conditions, and haven't had any issues yet