Wednesday, 30 November 2005 | | Categories: Suspension
As mentioned previously, I also purchased from Zenith their S13 Boot Brace and C-Pillar Brace. Unfortunately, the C-Pillar brace I think is suited only to the 180SX, so if anyone is interested in it, please get in contact with me. The Zenith Boot Brace however is a goer. Those who've peered into the boot of an S15 will know that they have something like this as standard, basically tying the rear of the chassis rails together to further reduce chassis movement. The pic above shows it basically in situ when it's eventually installed. You can see from the pics that these are a high quality product.
Some pics of the braces:
- Zenith Boot Brace
- Zenith Boot Brace (End Weld)
- Zenith Boot Brace (End Mount)
- Zenith Boot Brace (In Situ)
- Zenith C-Pillar Brace
- Zenith C-Pillar Brace (pre-tensioner)
Also, C-Red have been appointed Western Australian contacts for Zenith Tuning products, so or those wanting to get hold of anything from their range, please can contact Jeff at C-Red during normal business hours.
Cheers
Brendan
Wednesday, 23 November 2005 | | Categories: Exterior, Paint, Suspension
As part of the plans to stiffen the chassis, I came across a coming out of Adelaide called Zenith Tuning on the NissanSilvia.com web site. They're mainly focussing on bracing of all sorts and the first of many items I've picked up is the front 'Guard Bracing'. This has already been tried and tested in the heat of competition drift and is fitted to reduce chassis movement vertically at the front of the vehicle giving better suspension and braking response. The bracing is fitted from the front door hinges and fixed to the top of the inside guard structure, with a diagonal brace stretching from top of the guard to bottom door hinge as can be seen in the pics. The construction is of the brace is from aircraft grade aluminium making it extremely strong and extremely light.
The only downside is in the installation of the top bolts. This is where you need to get smart about getting a washer and bolt down a very narrow channel.
Some pics of the install:
- Zenith Guard Brace
- Zenith Guard Brace Door Mounts
- Zenith Guard Brace Top Mounts
- Access Hole 1
- Access Hole 2
Installation was relatively straight forward, encompassing fitting the door hinge mounts first with the extended bolts supplied. Drilling the holes in the top mounts - choosing a top and side whole for my setup (no rule of thumb here). Then last but by no means least, getting a washer and nut into a very tight space using a long spanner, some sticky goo from the interior door panels and many choice swear words.
In the end they really look the goods and can't wait to feel it the difference too. There is a caveat on fitting these with 'widebody' guards though. As most of these wide aftermarket guards come with vents behind the wheel arch, these braces will foul on them. There are two choices open to you at this point, either hack into the vent or as what I've done, have someone remove the vents altogether (Tom came to the rescue again on this).
Other bracing that I have so far are front and rear Cusco OS strut braces, Zenith Boot Brace and Zenith C-pillar brace (still yet to determine if it will fit as it's for a 180SX). Also got some Zenith aluminium pineapples for the rear subframe and a Zenith Steering Bush to give better steering response. All these bits should tie the chassis together quite nicely.
Update: As of a few hours ago, the guards have been refitted, and the front bar is being cut to suit the intercooler. A lot of preparation has already gone into the body, so the painter has been called to come down and check out the amount of work required. The choice of colour has been with me for some time, and I've chosen Mazda's 'Velocity Red'. It's a beautiful red with a slight orange tinge as well as a small fleck to boot:
Should know a bit more by the end of the week, but I'm pushing to get it in for paint prior to Christmas so I can do more work over the break.
Cheers
Brendan
Wednesday, 23 November 2005 | | Categories: Engine
While waiting for other things to happen and priorities shuffle around, I managed to fit the intercooler kit up. This is the latest genuine Hybrid GT Spec Tube & Fin Intercooler kit, size being 600 x 300 x 75 (I think). Here's a snippet from [FLYN] on NissanSilvia.com:
"The GT Spec intercooler kits have the latest GT Spec Tube & Fin intercooler and not the discontinued Drift Spec Bar & Plate intercooler. The GT spec Tube & Fin Intercooler is the latest one from Hybrid, it flows 20% better, 50% lighter in weight than the Drift Spec Bar & Plate. And because the Tube & Fin has the one piece core structure, it is also a lot stronger than the old Bar & Plate as well.
That is why Hybrid has discontinued manufacturing the old Bar & Plate because the latest Tube & Fin GT Spec is just so much better."
Some pics of the setup session:
- Hybrid GT Spec Intercooler (Front View)
- Hybrid GT Spec Intercooler Inlet
- Hybrid GT Spec Intercooler Outlet
- Hybrid GT Spec Intercooler Engine Bay Inlet
- Hybrid GT Spec Intercooler Engine Bay Outlet
The aluminium strapping used to mount the cooler will be replaced later with something more robust, but the car needs to be painted and of course the front bar cut to suit. On the subject of the front bar, unfortunately the one I had lined up with the larger front intake hole was cracking whenever moved so I've gone back to a non-modified Nissan Aero Sport front bar.
Cheers
Brendan
Wednesday, 23 November 2005 | | Categories: Suspension
Sorry sorry sorry. It's been a hideously long time between posts I know, but getting back into the swing of things now. Unfortunately a few months back my mother-in-law passed, and we've just finished settling the estate including cleaning up the house and belongings and selling the family home. But that is all behind us now so on with the show. I was lucky enough (thanks to C-Red) to get my hands on some Nismo Lower Control Arms which will help in the strength stakes. I am however wanting the underside looking pretty stock, so I have painted them in black and will affix some small Nismo stickers onto them soon.
Some pics of the testing session:
- Nismo Lower Control Arms (Top View)
- Nismo Lower Control Arms (Bottom View)
- Nismo Lower Control Arms now in satin black
I have also resprayed the rear subframe in the satin black too, and most other parts will be done the same to reduce the attention from the constabulary.
Seeya
Brendan
Tuesday, 6 September 2005 | | Categories: Exterior, Wheels/Tyres
Well, big up to Ben for bringing his rims in on Saturday to test out the fitment and work out offsets that I'll be requiring. Before he got there I wacked on some shagged but lowered coilovers to get a better idea of height and the car is now the automotive version of the leaning tower of Pisa. There being at least a 5deg angle looking from the rear of the car left to right.
Anyway, Ben's rims are SSR SP01 Professors of the following specs - (F) 17x9 +24, (R) 17x9 -1. Quite a nice combo really, and they fitted up very nicely under the guards. We had about 20mm clearance to the outside line of the guards on the front, maybe a little more, and about the same on the rear - the fronts however didn't have much camber at all if any dialed in so you could add another 3-5mm of clearance.
Some pics of the testing session:
- Me being surley
- Side Profile from front
- Side Profile from rear
- Quarter shot Rear
- Quarter shot Front
- Rear Guard profile
- Front Guard profile
- Side shot
- Rear coilover clearance
- From above'ish
Since Saturday, I've been trawling all the good rim manufacturers across Japan, and was looking closely at the Gram Lights 57PRO's - a really nice dishy rim with about any offset you want to order. On Sunday night/Monday morning, Jash mentioned that the Volk Racing CE28N's could be worth looking into - these being something I've considered in the past but not really looked into greatly. I took another close look and came to the conclusion that they were pretty much what I'd be after, and of the same stature as the mighty QF's.
So after check through the sizes, I'm going to step up to the plate with some 19" rims of momentous proportions for the Sillbeer project:
- Front: Volk Racing CE28N 19x9.5 +12 (Tyres: 245/35ZR19)
- Rear: Volk Racing CE28N 19x10.5 +12 (Tyres: 265/30ZR19)
Pic of the rim in 19" bronze, which is pretty much what I'll be looking at:
As you can see from the pics, the larger guards really tend to dwarf the 17" rim, one of the reason why I'm going 19's. You also rarely see dishy 19's on an S13 Silvia so thought it was about time (except for the Wise Sport 19's on C-Red's Pig v2.0 [pic: Franz])
On another front, I'm looking to kit the car out with some specialised bracing from a newcomer to the scene - Zenith Tuning. Not that new really considering some of their products are already gracing a number of the Drift Nats competitors. I'll be using in no particular order their Guard Braces, Steering Column Bush, Rear Cradle Bushes, Boot Brace and C-Pillar Brace (still under development). I'll make sure I get plenty of info from Brad on these before doing a quick write up (you can see from of these for sale already on the NissanSilvia.com forums in the Sponsors for sale section).
Seeya
Brendan
Tuesday, 30 August 2005 | | Categories: Random
Well, it came as a surprise to us, but my wife and I have another addition to the family on the way. This will be the third and final one for us, and will join our other two lovely kids.
This new addition however won't have much impact on the Sillbeer project for the foreseeable future, I certainly won't be able to take the whole family in the sports car for some time now - unlike when there was four of us (my wife actually drove our GT-R around as her car with baby seat in the back for some time).
Cheers
Brendan
Friday, 19 August 2005 | | Categories: Exterior, Interior
Yep, it's finally back to the workshop...but hopefully not for long. The body is back and it's very smooth, just needing some paint to finish it off. Enough of me yapping, check out the pics.
More pics of the completed body:
- Side Profile from front (High)
- Side Profile from front (Low 1)
- Side Profile from front (Low 2)
- Side Profile from Rear
- Overhead of rear guard
- Front Bar profile
- Rear Bar profile
- Fuel Filler Flap closed
- Fuel Filler Flap open
Well how was that, I think with the paint on, the single colour will hide the width more as the different coloured doors-to-panel change won't be there (ie. as severe). A couple of other bits that I've got along the way are a set of 4 Defi-link guages. Thanks go to Aston at JShop for getting these for me in record time and at a great price. Gauges include Oil Pressure, Oil Temperature, Water Temperature (all to be mounted on dash board) and Turbo/Boost (to go on A-pillar). Quite some time ago I got a really nice deep corn steering wheel from Abdus at Tenagah Motorsports in the form of a Sparco #215 Competition in black suede. Oh, and at some point I picked up some Nismo 740cc injectors - these being straight plug-ins for the stock units.
- Defi-Link Gauges
- Sparco #215 Competition Steering Wheel
- Nismo 740cc injectors for SR20DET
Fitting up cooler and taking measurements for wheels is next and as mentioned before, colour choice is 95% Mazda 'Velocity Red's flavour.
Adiós amigos
Brendan
Tuesday, 9 August 2005 | | Categories: Exterior
Hurrah, the body is finally complete. Tom has been hard at work completing the fit and finish on the body and here's the results. Starting to take shape finally. So from here it's back to the workshop to measure wheel clearances/offsets etc, check fit of intercooler, then off to get painted.
Pics of the completed body:
- Front View
- Rear View
- Rear Quarter
Cheers
Brendan
Friday, 5 August 2005 | | Categories: Engine, Wheels/Tyres
Well there's a few things to report this post. The body has finally been completed, thanks to Tom it's been prepped and is now ready for paint in all its wide body goodness. Just waiting on some room at C-Red before bringing it back to check wheel clearances etc, make sure intercooler will fit and then it'll be off to the paint shop. Paint colour is 95% sure of being Mazda 'Velocity Red' - but of course it's open for changes up until it goes into the booth.
As you can see from the pics, I've purchased a Dual N1 exhaust off of the SilviaWA forums (thanks Dylan). Price was $500 - which I believe was very reasonable for the quality of the product. I've been advised by Dylan that it's fairly quiet, so I may have a second front section made up without the large muffler to go that little bit more obnoxious. I've also picked up a Sard Rising Rate Fuel Pressure Regulator and have begun the prep work on the rear subframe.
Pics of the GReddy goodness:
- XSPOWER Dual N1 Cat-back Exhaust (Full System)
- XSPOWER Dual N1 Cat-back Exhaust (Rear Section 1)
- XSPOWER Dual N1 Cat-back Exhaust (Rear Section 2)
- XSPOWER Dual N1 Cat-back Exhaust (Rear Section 3)
- XSPOWER Dual N1 Cat-back Exhaust (Rear Section 4)
- XSPOWER Dual N1 Cat-back Exhaust (Front Section)
- XSPOWER Dual N1 Cat-back Exhaust (Extras)
- S13 Rear Subframe
- Sard Rising Rate Fuel Pressure Regulator
Along with this, I've come to the conclusion that the wheels I have, the Buddyclub P1 Racing QF's (18x10 +12 all round) are going to be too big on the front as it's not possible to get them in 18x9 at a decent offset that I'll need (remember I have 50mm wide front and rear guards). So the search is on for some alternate rims, size I'm aiming for at this point is the same as original planned of (F) 18x9 and (R) 18x10, but will go down to (F) 18x8.5 and (R) 18x9.5 if I have to. The candidates so far as follows:
- Work Emotion CR Kai
- Work Emotion CR Kai - Gun Metal
- Gram Lights (Rays) 57PRO
- Gram Lights (Rays) 57S-PRO
- Team Dayton Racing (Rays) 505
Order also went in today for a full set of Defi-Link Meter gauges including Turbo, Oil Pressure, Oil Temp and Water Temp (plus the Control Unit II).
Will post images of the body once I get a look at it, so for now...
Cheers
Brendan
Thursday, 21 July 2005 | | Categories: Engine
What a difference having this plenum on the S13 SR20DET makes. So much cleaner and tighter. Not much more else to say since yesterday really.
Pics of the GReddy goodness:
- GReddy Plenum on Engine (Top View)
- GReddy Plenum on Engine (Side)
- GReddy Plenum on Engine (Front View)
Cheers
Brendan
