Frankiman's street/track GTR project

[chino905]

Wtb gtr

[cooljustin]

Awesom post, subscribed!

[quadracer111]

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

Edit: Nvm, google is my friend.

[frankiman]

tirerack, but its discontinued

[BRN32]

The Star Spec ZI have been replaced by the ZII for anyone interested.

[cobrAA]

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

[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!

[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]

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]

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]

Where do you find money for this crazy project on an engineering student budget lol!

You going ams, ikeya or whiteline bushes?

[MattiasJacobs]

Kudos on the cruise control, it would be nice to have but will it give you any worry inside? I know it would keep me wondering if it will ever act up. My old boss told me a story of his father installing cruise control on one of his cars and while driving it the thing wouldn't shut off and he drove into a field. Funny as it is since everyone was ok but still something that would keep me pondering whether installed properly or not.

[frankiman]

Where do you find money for this crazy project on an engineering student budget lol!

You going ams, ikeya or whiteline bushes?

Energy suspension

And i've had some really well payed internships in the past years, but i've been working full time for a couple months now, while finishing school

Kudos on the cruise control, it would be nice to have but will it give you any worry inside? I know it would keep me wondering if it will ever act up. My old boss told me a story of his father installing cruise control on one of his cars and while driving it the thing wouldn't shut off and he drove into a field. Funny as it is since everyone was ok but still something that would keep me pondering whether installed properly or not.

right now i got a big switch with a red plastic cap thats unused, it used to be for the oldschool electronic boost controller way back when i bought the car,
i'm going to use that switch to send/cut power to the cruise control,
i already have all the parts i need, off a ka24 s13, just need to modify a couple things and machine a new throttle shaft
the biggest hurdle is the electronics of the system, my knowledge of electronics and mechanics are inversly proportionate, so i'll have it done by my tuner who is the kind of guy who absolutely loves those type of challenges

[MarusGTR]

I hope you'll post the details of your simulation, its piquing my interest

[MattiasJacobs]

You use Robyn right? I chatted with him briefly at skymeet last summer but had no idea it was him until after the meet... His completed work always looks amazing though.