Project GTR (zed replacement)
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:03 pm
So in my usual timely fashion i finally put a thread up about the GTR, i should have learnt by now that it's far easier to do it as you go - and more interesting for everyone else!!
Anyway, a breif history. After the sad and rather sudden demise of the zed on the first track outing of the year i was left in a bit of a dilema. Having thrown so much time and money at it over the years, the last 2 in particular I was ready to give up on track cars that cost me money and never worked!! .....then I remembered that when buying the APs for it, and the Nitron 3 way suspension, this kit, and lots of other stuff was directly swappable with a GTR, of R32 vintage especially. Being an owner of no less than 3 R33 GTRs in varying states of tune in the last 13 years I didn't take much convincing that perhaps a new track car wasn't such a bad idea..... so a plan was born - Strip the zed, sell what wouldn't fit, and buy and build a track GTR without it costing extra money!
The plan was get the R32 GTR, hang the brakes and suspension and a few other bits on it and finally for once spend the year on track, worrying about other mods come winter time. However, the age old saying about the best laid plans doesn't come from nowhere and things didn't quite go to plan.
I found on ebay the perfect sounding car, great spec etc so really minimising what I needed to spend on it, as well as leaving me with some tasty bits to sell and help fund the build that i didn't need. That friday Daz and I drove to Bristol from London through the worst traffic ever!!
We checked it out, all seemed good apart from the usual rot around the rear arches and the fact that there were no receipts for the "built" engine. However, at the price it was worth the gamble and all the evidence pointed to the engine having been done so i took a chance. All was going well on the way back until just outside birmingham one of the rose joints snapped on a rear traction arm in the outside lane, wheel went back, car slewed about in an "agitated" fashion with much graunching etc. I did however manage to land it on the hard shoulder, AA got me home by 5:30 am and while waiting I decided it was actually a good thing as the wheel had filed off a lot of the wheelarch rot
This was the shape of things to come. As most probably know i also had a bit of a set back with various parts I took off the skyline "growing legs" and disappearing which really didn't help with the budgeting.
Basically the whole summer has been taken up with, "might as well do this" and "while it's like that then it would be daft not too..."
Interior was all stripped out, sound deadening chipped off (altho i admit I gave up on that rather tedious job which is now annoying me), rear bulkhead cut away and replaced with some ally, The Sparco seats, harnesses etc from the zed fitted along with race battery, relocated washer fluid tank, carbon panel with guages, AVCR set into the dash, etc etc.
The APS went on, with the new Stagea GTR Master Cylinder that I'd jsut put on the Zed, on too went the Nitrons. The Swirl pot and fuel pumps went in, we modified the exhaust to quieten it down, Fuel pressure regulator went on, Injectors cleaned and tested, Large oil cooler fitted, relocated the oil filter, fitted the various catch tanks and changed a lot of the more random mods she'd had done over her life... and loads more
Also changed the hicas lock out bars, rear traction arms, fitted solid subframe mounts blah blah blah
So here are some pics, will write some more about it's first track outing after these:
Car is sprayed Ford Imperial Blue which is the Escort Cossie Colour.
Interior Stripped
APs and Nitrons go on
Seats Go in
Battery Goes In
Dash is made up
Anyway, a breif history. After the sad and rather sudden demise of the zed on the first track outing of the year i was left in a bit of a dilema. Having thrown so much time and money at it over the years, the last 2 in particular I was ready to give up on track cars that cost me money and never worked!! .....then I remembered that when buying the APs for it, and the Nitron 3 way suspension, this kit, and lots of other stuff was directly swappable with a GTR, of R32 vintage especially. Being an owner of no less than 3 R33 GTRs in varying states of tune in the last 13 years I didn't take much convincing that perhaps a new track car wasn't such a bad idea..... so a plan was born - Strip the zed, sell what wouldn't fit, and buy and build a track GTR without it costing extra money!
The plan was get the R32 GTR, hang the brakes and suspension and a few other bits on it and finally for once spend the year on track, worrying about other mods come winter time. However, the age old saying about the best laid plans doesn't come from nowhere and things didn't quite go to plan.
I found on ebay the perfect sounding car, great spec etc so really minimising what I needed to spend on it, as well as leaving me with some tasty bits to sell and help fund the build that i didn't need. That friday Daz and I drove to Bristol from London through the worst traffic ever!!
We checked it out, all seemed good apart from the usual rot around the rear arches and the fact that there were no receipts for the "built" engine. However, at the price it was worth the gamble and all the evidence pointed to the engine having been done so i took a chance. All was going well on the way back until just outside birmingham one of the rose joints snapped on a rear traction arm in the outside lane, wheel went back, car slewed about in an "agitated" fashion with much graunching etc. I did however manage to land it on the hard shoulder, AA got me home by 5:30 am and while waiting I decided it was actually a good thing as the wheel had filed off a lot of the wheelarch rot
This was the shape of things to come. As most probably know i also had a bit of a set back with various parts I took off the skyline "growing legs" and disappearing which really didn't help with the budgeting.
Basically the whole summer has been taken up with, "might as well do this" and "while it's like that then it would be daft not too..."
Interior was all stripped out, sound deadening chipped off (altho i admit I gave up on that rather tedious job which is now annoying me), rear bulkhead cut away and replaced with some ally, The Sparco seats, harnesses etc from the zed fitted along with race battery, relocated washer fluid tank, carbon panel with guages, AVCR set into the dash, etc etc.
The APS went on, with the new Stagea GTR Master Cylinder that I'd jsut put on the Zed, on too went the Nitrons. The Swirl pot and fuel pumps went in, we modified the exhaust to quieten it down, Fuel pressure regulator went on, Injectors cleaned and tested, Large oil cooler fitted, relocated the oil filter, fitted the various catch tanks and changed a lot of the more random mods she'd had done over her life... and loads more
Also changed the hicas lock out bars, rear traction arms, fitted solid subframe mounts blah blah blah
So here are some pics, will write some more about it's first track outing after these:
Car is sprayed Ford Imperial Blue which is the Escort Cossie Colour.
Interior Stripped
APs and Nitrons go on
Seats Go in
Battery Goes In
Dash is made up
