Project GTR (zed replacement)

[Monster]

No worries chief, pm me when you aren't mobile, will give you first dibs, there's lightweight pulleys on the heads too...

[Monster]

Quick update on the GTR. After much success at Snett (in terms of doing the whole day and having loads of fun which was a first) I was at Rockingham and it was much of the same

The previously perplexing oil issues have been solved which is great news, steady pressure, not using or burning any oil and also not blowing through the catch tank! It's amazing what a head drain can do, and amazing how much money and dicking about I could have saved had I known about this little problem before

It's also good to get some seat time which has quickly highlighted somewhere else to throw some money - the rear brakes. These are cooking despite a Tilton bias valve and i'm not actually sure why. They bind when i come in from a stint and I wonder if this is because the pistons on the stock rear calipers cant' handle the heat as they don't when they're cold. Anyway it cracked a rear disc at rock so I'm either going to put some APs on the back to match the front - 4 pot and 330mm discs, or sell the fronts and put Alcons all round (been offered a new set at a "good" price).

I've also bought some ducting to blow some air onto them which i'd hoped to try before changing the brakes as a cheap yet potentially effective mod. However, realising the disc was cracked meant I wasn't going to buy 2 new ones, only to find the ducts didn't work and binning new discs after one outing for some APs/Alcons so will just bung them on with the new set up anyway.

The next thing is that the car is going back for a couple of tweks to the roll cage, and also cut the rotten rear arches out where the 32s always go, and weld in some mildly flared replacements. This will of course require paint so other rust will be addressed.

Also going to get to work with heat shield under the bonnet as the big tubs have melted the heat proof wrap on some of the pipework on the bulkhead so that definitely needs addressing.

So, plenty to think about over the winter with the gtr, although I'll admit to another plan hatching in my little brain which i'm finding it increasingly difficult to supress...

[Ben]

The standard brakes weren't bad for 1991 lol, i replaced my rears with R33 brembos, made loads of difference, in fact i remember the standard setup only lasting about 10 laps. Are you really sure arch extensions are a cool idea? I think the original lines are the best, i had my arches done by h-tech in norwich, think it was only 250 a side. Thing with 32's, it always worse than you expect lol.

[Monster]

The standard brakes weren't bad for 1991 lol, i replaced my rears with R33 brembos, made loads of difference, in fact i remember the standard setup only lasting about 10 laps. Are you really sure arch extensions are a cool idea? I think the original lines are the best, i had my arches done by h-tech in norwich, think it was only 250 a side. Thing with 32's, it always worse than you expect lol.

lol, they were toilet back then too. I'm surprised you say they made a difference as the brembo rears are are only a couple mil bigger disc wise and the calipers are still pony 2 pots so effectively the same brakes.

I gave up taking my 33 on the track for anything other than skidding as the brembos used to call time by the end of the pit lane

Arch wise they aren't going to be big flares, very subtle, just literally a slight pull around the top for a bit more clearance, I'm getting slight rubbing on one rear so my options are, raise the height by a mil or two, or stretch the arches......

[Ben]

Stretch the arches ... I had R34 brembos up front, R33's rear and they would be fine for 20 or so laps however when the fronts got hot they would vibrate then I'd have slow down and let them cool .. then they'd be fine. If track time was key for me I would have definitely gone for a proper setup

[Stuart]

In my opinion the brakes on the back should be changed for something more in line with the AP's Monster referred to. No offence Ben, but the difference in spec and probable lap times between the two cars would suggest that R33 or R34 standard rears won't last long and the bias valve is just going to work them even harder.

As for the arches I carried out some especially subtle work to my rear arches in Germany. In a car park at the Nurburgring, after a day of Gareth and I blasting around the track, I 'adjusted' the arches with a round steel fencepost. Needless to say this shattered the rusty steel original arches but provided loads of clearance Thick layers of carpet tape provided a crude but protective edge and then I fitted bolt on JDM extensions when I got home


Good luck buddy. Great to hear that your patience is paying off.

[Monster]

, I 'adjusted' the arches with a round steel fencepost. Needless to say this shattered the rusty steel original arches but provided loads of clearance

Good luck buddy. Great to hear that your patience is paying off.

i wouldn't have expected anything less from you stu, love it. I knew you had those arch extensions although I never met your gtr, from that pic they work well, esp with that rear valance.
Good speedboating in that pic too

so yeah, I need to have mine cut out as they are v rusty around the back, as anyone who's seen my car will attest too, (many jokes about it getting lighter as more falls off have been received, and actually there isn't much holding the rear spats on at the mo, but I don't care as this happens to the best of them so just get on with it) and might aswell give myself more room to manouvre with a bit of flair up.

but all in all the gtr is finally delivering the promise she always showed and I'm a happy boy. I just wish i could leave it there instead of now that there isn';t anything essential, thinking, oh, that sounds like a good idea.... still, that's our affliction.....

[Monster]

Stu, I know I've asked you this before but where did you get those arches from? GTR is going in for some work, one of the jobs being the rear arches. If it looks like it's going to cost a fortune to do new metal ones I may well just bolt some of these on. Although looks like you had aftermarket rear spat things behind the arches which blended the bolt ons in quite nicely?

[jap.slapper]

Those arches ^^^^^^ look the mutts nuts in my opinion mate

[Stuart]

Rear spats were Do-luck ones, and the arch extensions were cheapies from a guy on Retro-rides.
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... read=66146
Here you go........don't forget that the price here is for four, so you can sell two on or keep them as spares