1991 C33 Laurel Medalist Turbo
- Thread starter antz
- Start date
antz
Active Member
I was down shifting from 3rd to 2nd when it went boom and all the bits inside flailing about locked it up so its probably lunched quite a lot inside. I'll take it apart and have a look inside when I get chance but my money is on 2nd being the culprit. It used to crunch when going from 1st to 2nd anyway.
When/If this box dies I'll look at something like a 350Z box to eradicate the whole problem but I don't have the money for that now and a used SR box was cheaper than doing a conversion.
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antz
Active Member
Well changing that gearbox wasn’t fun. Not the worst one I’ve done for lack of space (that award goes to a Getrag M90 into a Volvo 240) but it was a firm 2nd. On the plus side, it is in and more importantly it works without any nasty noises!
I bought a new Nismo gearbox mount assuming my car had a stock one fitted, to find it already had one so I threw the new one on anyway . After putting it all back together, I took it out for a run up and down the lane to make sure I had all gears and it’s the quietest it has ever been so quickly threw the front bumper on for some photo’s. (Yes I am aware the rear “stance” and “fitment” is not good).
I did notice the presence of some epic front wheel vibration above 20mph which wasn’t there previously. All I had changed was the wheels (freshly refurbed and balanced so it couldn’t be them), new wheel studs which you have to be a bit of a potato to get wrong, and some Hubcentric spacers I got off a mate. Quick diagnosis and I was right with my thinking. The spacers were buckled. Yay for eBay junk! They are now residing in the bin.
With an MOT booked for Thursday I had to do something. I can’t afford a pair of Superforma spacers right now so I had to quickly smack out the standard studs and replace them for the extended ones I removed previously. This enabled me to at least run the cheap 20mm spacers I ran last year and knew they weren’t ideal but it was better than wobbling my way to the MOT station on the eBay garbage.
After that I just put a 5mm spacer on the rear to bring it out a smidge, lowered the back end by about 10mm to make the car level and that’s it. Now it just needs a wash and it’s ready to go for MOT on Thursday. It better pass or I might cry.
Still speaking of gearboxes, I removed the filler plug from the old box and found a whole tooth stuck to it. Definitely marmalised that gearbox.
I bought a new Nismo gearbox mount assuming my car had a stock one fitted, to find it already had one so I threw the new one on anyway . After putting it all back together, I took it out for a run up and down the lane to make sure I had all gears and it’s the quietest it has ever been so quickly threw the front bumper on for some photo’s. (Yes I am aware the rear “stance” and “fitment” is not good).
I did notice the presence of some epic front wheel vibration above 20mph which wasn’t there previously. All I had changed was the wheels (freshly refurbed and balanced so it couldn’t be them), new wheel studs which you have to be a bit of a potato to get wrong, and some Hubcentric spacers I got off a mate. Quick diagnosis and I was right with my thinking. The spacers were buckled. Yay for eBay junk! They are now residing in the bin.
With an MOT booked for Thursday I had to do something. I can’t afford a pair of Superforma spacers right now so I had to quickly smack out the standard studs and replace them for the extended ones I removed previously. This enabled me to at least run the cheap 20mm spacers I ran last year and knew they weren’t ideal but it was better than wobbling my way to the MOT station on the eBay garbage.
After that I just put a 5mm spacer on the rear to bring it out a smidge, lowered the back end by about 10mm to make the car level and that’s it. Now it just needs a wash and it’s ready to go for MOT on Thursday. It better pass or I might cry.
Still speaking of gearboxes, I removed the filler plug from the old box and found a whole tooth stuck to it. Definitely marmalised that gearbox.
woods1
Active Member
antz
Active Member
PM inbound. Its easier than replying on here
antz
Active Member
Well the hassle I’ve had with these Kranze wheels was making me think about getting rid of them and buying some Works like I originally intended.
Prepare for the story.....
Booked it in for MOT and took it to work the same day. One my way to work the mega wheel wobble returned at 40-65mph and it was absolutely terrifying. I’ve never known wobble so bad so when I got to work I checked my wheel nuts were tight and did them up FT because the panic set in.
Left work for my MOT and the wobble was still there but no bad. Got to the MOT station and found I had a front right puncture. Joy. Mentioned it to the MOT tester and he said he would quickly re-seal it after the test. 5 minutes later I come out to the car to move it in for its MOT and the front left is leaking as well. Not turning out to well so far.
Cars on the ramp, MOT taking place and there’s a loud BANG PSSSSSSSSSSTTTTT and the drivers rear goes down. What. The. Fuck. So we whip one front wheel off and its leaking from the valve which is annoying because the valves are genuine brand new Wedsport ones I got from the USA.
We dismantle the wheel and fine the inside of the tyre is full of these weird snotty lumps and you could rub the sealant off the centre of the wheel in the joins by hand. Whatever the wheel refurber had used was not right and with the heat of the day/driving its over heated and just turned up a snotty mess. Annoying but as a get me home measure we change the valve for a boggo normal one hoping this is the problem, put the tyre back on, it gets to 20psi and then it goes BANG PSSSSST again. Turns out its not the valve but the wheels were leaking through the gloopy mess of a sealant. To top this off, one of the wheels has a huge amount of weights on it which doesn’t seem right for freshly refurbished wheels.
Quick call to my Father to bring me my SA3R’s to get me home and the Kranze came off. I phoned the refurber who said he used the right sealant and to just drop them off and he would do them again. No apology despite the fact he took 6 months to refurb them, one leaked before I’d even put them on the car and he had to redo it and then 3 of them have started leaking in 20 miles. Now I’m not full of confidence.
Luckily my MOT tester looks after a Porsche race car for a local guy so he has some brains and says “Ill sort them and they won’t leak”.
Fast forward a week later and I had them back after he dismantled all 4, cleaned the snot out of them, resealed, tyres on, balanced again and left them a few days to test for leaks. The good news is that now another week on and over 80 miles on them and they haven’t dropped a single PSI. Oddly enough there is not an ounce of wheel vibration either.
Thank fuck for that…and it passed its MOT requiring only a track rod end that has play in it.
In the meantime I’ve dialled some toe off the rear wheels and it drives so much better on the road now. Doesn’t wander around and isn’t eating tyres before. Needs a full alignment but I got messed about with that too so its not done.
I’ve actually managed to use the car and put some miles on it so I can test the gearbox and other new components out before I book a drift day so I’ve got a couple of meets and shows coming up first to get some miles on it and enjoy it. Whilst the Kranze were in bits I took it to the Squires Jap Meet near Leeds. Did a skid when I left, got pulled by the Police and awarded a Section 59. Last one I got was in about 2008 for doing the exact same thing at a different meet. Some people never learn haha.
Squires meet on the SA3R’s……and yes, I got asked what kind of Lexus it was.
Finally back on the Kranze. Loving how these wheels turned out now.
More soon. Hopefully I'll do a skid. Maybe I'll go to Rockingham.
Prepare for the story.....
Booked it in for MOT and took it to work the same day. One my way to work the mega wheel wobble returned at 40-65mph and it was absolutely terrifying. I’ve never known wobble so bad so when I got to work I checked my wheel nuts were tight and did them up FT because the panic set in.
Left work for my MOT and the wobble was still there but no bad. Got to the MOT station and found I had a front right puncture. Joy. Mentioned it to the MOT tester and he said he would quickly re-seal it after the test. 5 minutes later I come out to the car to move it in for its MOT and the front left is leaking as well. Not turning out to well so far.
Cars on the ramp, MOT taking place and there’s a loud BANG PSSSSSSSSSSTTTTT and the drivers rear goes down. What. The. Fuck. So we whip one front wheel off and its leaking from the valve which is annoying because the valves are genuine brand new Wedsport ones I got from the USA.
We dismantle the wheel and fine the inside of the tyre is full of these weird snotty lumps and you could rub the sealant off the centre of the wheel in the joins by hand. Whatever the wheel refurber had used was not right and with the heat of the day/driving its over heated and just turned up a snotty mess. Annoying but as a get me home measure we change the valve for a boggo normal one hoping this is the problem, put the tyre back on, it gets to 20psi and then it goes BANG PSSSSST again. Turns out its not the valve but the wheels were leaking through the gloopy mess of a sealant. To top this off, one of the wheels has a huge amount of weights on it which doesn’t seem right for freshly refurbished wheels.
Quick call to my Father to bring me my SA3R’s to get me home and the Kranze came off. I phoned the refurber who said he used the right sealant and to just drop them off and he would do them again. No apology despite the fact he took 6 months to refurb them, one leaked before I’d even put them on the car and he had to redo it and then 3 of them have started leaking in 20 miles. Now I’m not full of confidence.
Luckily my MOT tester looks after a Porsche race car for a local guy so he has some brains and says “Ill sort them and they won’t leak”.
Fast forward a week later and I had them back after he dismantled all 4, cleaned the snot out of them, resealed, tyres on, balanced again and left them a few days to test for leaks. The good news is that now another week on and over 80 miles on them and they haven’t dropped a single PSI. Oddly enough there is not an ounce of wheel vibration either.
Thank fuck for that…and it passed its MOT requiring only a track rod end that has play in it.
In the meantime I’ve dialled some toe off the rear wheels and it drives so much better on the road now. Doesn’t wander around and isn’t eating tyres before. Needs a full alignment but I got messed about with that too so its not done.
I’ve actually managed to use the car and put some miles on it so I can test the gearbox and other new components out before I book a drift day so I’ve got a couple of meets and shows coming up first to get some miles on it and enjoy it. Whilst the Kranze were in bits I took it to the Squires Jap Meet near Leeds. Did a skid when I left, got pulled by the Police and awarded a Section 59. Last one I got was in about 2008 for doing the exact same thing at a different meet. Some people never learn haha.
Squires meet on the SA3R’s……and yes, I got asked what kind of Lexus it was.
Finally back on the Kranze. Loving how these wheels turned out now.
More soon. Hopefully I'll do a skid. Maybe I'll go to Rockingham.
antz
Active Member
So recently…..
Went to Japfest at Donington and despite being parked in the Nissan section, next to the Nissan sign which was pointing at my car…….still got called a Lexus.
At this point I'd like to take a moment of silence to remember my tiny front numberplate which broke free on the A64 and hasn't been seen since. Assumed MIA and most likely flattened by a truck.
Attended Retrorides Gathering at Shelsley Walsh. Didn’t get as much attention this year as last year but it was great to see two other C33’s there and a couple more cars from this Forum such as the blue Y32.
It started dropping oil which it never ever used to do so I borrowed a mates ramp to investigate and found it to be one of the breather pipes vented to atmosphere that stops by the crossmember. Because it doesn’t go anywhere except under the car its slowly coating the entire underside in a film of oil which I’ve never noticed when I did the gearbox change because I only drove it twice after it mapped and it hadn’t been driven enough to be an apparent issue. I quickly made a catch can from an old Fanta bottle…..job done.
Swapped out the stock clutch slave cylinder and rubber line for a Nismo slave and a HEL braided line. Used ATE Super Blue fluid as I had some left over. Didn’t actually feel any better than before I was a bit disappointed that I spent a good chunk on cash on it for it to feel exactly the same.
The new gearbox was still crunching a bit at high RPM which I put down to a combination of a poor quality short shifter and me being used to banging gears in my E36 so I threw the short shifter in the bin, made myself aware to just change gear slower and be more precise…..and threw in some super thick Redline MT90 Heavy shockproof oil which has done the job nicely. Little bit more transmission noise but I can live with that.
Fire extinguisher fitted
Gave the underneath a good coating of waxoil and filled in the areas I missed last year. You can see here that for some reason my subframe is metallic blue and has been strengthened will all sorts of little gussets and plates.
Finally had a proper 4 wheel alignment using some settings that BenRice gave me and it drives a billion times better on the road. It no longer wants to wander off into a field and kill me.
Booked onto a Driftland private hire day with 6 mates the day before DriftCup practice so my mind went into full melt down as I panicked about my gearbox blowing up and everything that could potentially go wrong…….and I didn’t need to.
The car was perfectly fine on the 600 mile round trip. At Driftland is was performing almost faultlessly. My only issues were the alternator belt tensioner bolt kept backing itself out every few laps and my talent. Having never driven the car on track in the dry and it being only my 2nd time drifting it, I started out being careful but got into the groove and managed to do a bit of following and leading which I have never done. I told my mates to give me some space just in case I span out and left some space just in case they did and I had time to react. We ran the Drift Cup layout and I was missing a couple of clipping points on purpose because one had a big hole next to it that I didn’t want to end up in which obviously upset my line for the next one but I was just out there to have fun and get used to the car.
Damaged both bumpers. Front one when I did a big spin and swiped the cone at clipping point two ripping the bumper off and my final run of the day I hit the cone at clipping point four with my rear bumper and ripped that one off. Easy fixes but I’ll probably still remove them at tracks which let me remove them so I don’t damage them further. Unless I can find another Final Konnexion kit cheap somewhere to keep as a spare.
Here are a couple of videos taken with a potato during the day:
I’d like to upgrade the gearbox to something else but everything has its pros and cons. RB box makes sense but they are expensive and old. CD009 are strong but expensive and massive with no speedo pickup. 330D is cheap but expensive to fit, massive and again no speedo pickup. Z32 boxes are cheap to buy when they come up but the adapter kit is super expensive. They all work out about the same cost to buy and fit from my rough calculations but all have their flaws. We will see……
For now, Winter is approaching and I have other cars that need to be worked on so the C33 will be going into storage very soon until Spring and I’ll be back doing drift days in my E36 328i.
Went to Japfest at Donington and despite being parked in the Nissan section, next to the Nissan sign which was pointing at my car…….still got called a Lexus.
At this point I'd like to take a moment of silence to remember my tiny front numberplate which broke free on the A64 and hasn't been seen since. Assumed MIA and most likely flattened by a truck.
Attended Retrorides Gathering at Shelsley Walsh. Didn’t get as much attention this year as last year but it was great to see two other C33’s there and a couple more cars from this Forum such as the blue Y32.
It started dropping oil which it never ever used to do so I borrowed a mates ramp to investigate and found it to be one of the breather pipes vented to atmosphere that stops by the crossmember. Because it doesn’t go anywhere except under the car its slowly coating the entire underside in a film of oil which I’ve never noticed when I did the gearbox change because I only drove it twice after it mapped and it hadn’t been driven enough to be an apparent issue. I quickly made a catch can from an old Fanta bottle…..job done.
Swapped out the stock clutch slave cylinder and rubber line for a Nismo slave and a HEL braided line. Used ATE Super Blue fluid as I had some left over. Didn’t actually feel any better than before I was a bit disappointed that I spent a good chunk on cash on it for it to feel exactly the same.
The new gearbox was still crunching a bit at high RPM which I put down to a combination of a poor quality short shifter and me being used to banging gears in my E36 so I threw the short shifter in the bin, made myself aware to just change gear slower and be more precise…..and threw in some super thick Redline MT90 Heavy shockproof oil which has done the job nicely. Little bit more transmission noise but I can live with that.
Fire extinguisher fitted
Gave the underneath a good coating of waxoil and filled in the areas I missed last year. You can see here that for some reason my subframe is metallic blue and has been strengthened will all sorts of little gussets and plates.
Finally had a proper 4 wheel alignment using some settings that BenRice gave me and it drives a billion times better on the road. It no longer wants to wander off into a field and kill me.
Booked onto a Driftland private hire day with 6 mates the day before DriftCup practice so my mind went into full melt down as I panicked about my gearbox blowing up and everything that could potentially go wrong…….and I didn’t need to.
The car was perfectly fine on the 600 mile round trip. At Driftland is was performing almost faultlessly. My only issues were the alternator belt tensioner bolt kept backing itself out every few laps and my talent. Having never driven the car on track in the dry and it being only my 2nd time drifting it, I started out being careful but got into the groove and managed to do a bit of following and leading which I have never done. I told my mates to give me some space just in case I span out and left some space just in case they did and I had time to react. We ran the Drift Cup layout and I was missing a couple of clipping points on purpose because one had a big hole next to it that I didn’t want to end up in which obviously upset my line for the next one but I was just out there to have fun and get used to the car.
Damaged both bumpers. Front one when I did a big spin and swiped the cone at clipping point two ripping the bumper off and my final run of the day I hit the cone at clipping point four with my rear bumper and ripped that one off. Easy fixes but I’ll probably still remove them at tracks which let me remove them so I don’t damage them further. Unless I can find another Final Konnexion kit cheap somewhere to keep as a spare.
Here are a couple of videos taken with a potato during the day:
I’d like to upgrade the gearbox to something else but everything has its pros and cons. RB box makes sense but they are expensive and old. CD009 are strong but expensive and massive with no speedo pickup. 330D is cheap but expensive to fit, massive and again no speedo pickup. Z32 boxes are cheap to buy when they come up but the adapter kit is super expensive. They all work out about the same cost to buy and fit from my rough calculations but all have their flaws. We will see……
For now, Winter is approaching and I have other cars that need to be worked on so the C33 will be going into storage very soon until Spring and I’ll be back doing drift days in my E36 328i.
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antz
Active Member
So after Driftland in August I put the car straight into storage for winter then promptly lost the keys between September and late February. Yay, go me!
I haven’t done too much to it due to giving my E36 a full suspension makeover with structural repairs which it then threw back in my face and continues to do so. Rust and running issues. Yay.
In the meantime though I did 2 things of importance which affected the course of this update.
1. I fell off a set of ladders in early December spraining my ankle so badly that even now over 3 months on I can’t walk that well and I’m having physio on it.
2. I didn’t help the healing of number 1 by going to Japan for 2 weeks in February and refusing to slow down for fear of miss out on anything. Pain killers were part of my stable diet for those 2 weeks.
Whilst in Japan I went nuts and bought a tonne of stuff so I’ve been playing catch up fitting it all to the car now I’m back in preparation of the show season and summer of drifting ahead.
I bought a pair of backlit licence plate holders from an Up Garage and with a mate we hatched a plan to make these work with UK plates. I ordered a spare 13x6.5 import rear plate and set about making it work then another mate wired the plate surround in to a switch on my dash so I can alternate between OEM plate lights and the panel at the flick of a switch. It’s all still UK font, spacing, reflective and has the BSAU numbers on it.
My absolute favourite drift driver ever is Masashi Yokoi of MCR Factory and I was lucky enough that everything fell into place so I could pay a visit to his shop in Nagoya and pick up a straight cam SR20 cam cover freshly painted by the man himself. He wasn’t there that day but his staff were super friendly and let us have a quick look around at his D1GP chars (we didn’t want to get in their way). On the way back from Nagoya a quick stop at another Up Garage gifted me a brand new genuine Nissan straight cam SR20 cam cover gasket in the original bag from their clearance bin for ¥100 (about 70p) It made up for the £80 in expressway fees I racked up travelling from Osaka to Nagoya and back in a day.
I coupled the new cam cover with a Yashio Factory oil cap I got from their shop on the edge of Tokyo. I know it’s not an S15 and they specialise in S15’s but it’s Nissan, its pink, I like it.
Got rid of the Chinese quality high capacity sump for a nice Trust item sourced and recommended by Jesse Streeter. I never did like the Chinese one, it fitted poorly, leaked, the drain plug thread was held in with willpower and PTFE tape. The Trust item is much nicer in every single way and worth the extra cash.
I never liked the HKS 60mm water temp gauge I fitted because the white face didn’t suit the interior but it was better than a broken Greddy gauge I got the car with. I swapped the HKS into my daily driver and I fitted a Defi Racer temp gauge with a black face that suits it more in my opinion.
Contracted my local seamstress (mother) to make me a new padded lid for my centre console. When I got the car someone had ripped the factory velour off and replaced it with carbon wrap which promptly went in the bin and the hardness of the lid kept ruining my elbow on long journeys.
Oh I also threw away the ridiculous 20mm slip on spacers and stupidly long studs I had on the front in favour of some Superforma hubcentric spacers and normal size studs. Forgot to take a picture though.
Next drift day is 22nd April Easter Bank Holiday at Teesside. Looking forward to heading back up there in the Laurel after my gearbox explosion on Easter Bank Holiday last year. Hope I don’t repeat that feat. I have a large fear of SR20 gearbox destruction now. Frightened…..
I haven’t done too much to it due to giving my E36 a full suspension makeover with structural repairs which it then threw back in my face and continues to do so. Rust and running issues. Yay.
In the meantime though I did 2 things of importance which affected the course of this update.
1. I fell off a set of ladders in early December spraining my ankle so badly that even now over 3 months on I can’t walk that well and I’m having physio on it.
2. I didn’t help the healing of number 1 by going to Japan for 2 weeks in February and refusing to slow down for fear of miss out on anything. Pain killers were part of my stable diet for those 2 weeks.
Whilst in Japan I went nuts and bought a tonne of stuff so I’ve been playing catch up fitting it all to the car now I’m back in preparation of the show season and summer of drifting ahead.
I bought a pair of backlit licence plate holders from an Up Garage and with a mate we hatched a plan to make these work with UK plates. I ordered a spare 13x6.5 import rear plate and set about making it work then another mate wired the plate surround in to a switch on my dash so I can alternate between OEM plate lights and the panel at the flick of a switch. It’s all still UK font, spacing, reflective and has the BSAU numbers on it.
My absolute favourite drift driver ever is Masashi Yokoi of MCR Factory and I was lucky enough that everything fell into place so I could pay a visit to his shop in Nagoya and pick up a straight cam SR20 cam cover freshly painted by the man himself. He wasn’t there that day but his staff were super friendly and let us have a quick look around at his D1GP chars (we didn’t want to get in their way). On the way back from Nagoya a quick stop at another Up Garage gifted me a brand new genuine Nissan straight cam SR20 cam cover gasket in the original bag from their clearance bin for ¥100 (about 70p) It made up for the £80 in expressway fees I racked up travelling from Osaka to Nagoya and back in a day.
I coupled the new cam cover with a Yashio Factory oil cap I got from their shop on the edge of Tokyo. I know it’s not an S15 and they specialise in S15’s but it’s Nissan, its pink, I like it.
Got rid of the Chinese quality high capacity sump for a nice Trust item sourced and recommended by Jesse Streeter. I never did like the Chinese one, it fitted poorly, leaked, the drain plug thread was held in with willpower and PTFE tape. The Trust item is much nicer in every single way and worth the extra cash.
I never liked the HKS 60mm water temp gauge I fitted because the white face didn’t suit the interior but it was better than a broken Greddy gauge I got the car with. I swapped the HKS into my daily driver and I fitted a Defi Racer temp gauge with a black face that suits it more in my opinion.
Contracted my local seamstress (mother) to make me a new padded lid for my centre console. When I got the car someone had ripped the factory velour off and replaced it with carbon wrap which promptly went in the bin and the hardness of the lid kept ruining my elbow on long journeys.
Oh I also threw away the ridiculous 20mm slip on spacers and stupidly long studs I had on the front in favour of some Superforma hubcentric spacers and normal size studs. Forgot to take a picture though.
Next drift day is 22nd April Easter Bank Holiday at Teesside. Looking forward to heading back up there in the Laurel after my gearbox explosion on Easter Bank Holiday last year. Hope I don’t repeat that feat. I have a large fear of SR20 gearbox destruction now. Frightened…..
r32_doriftoo
Member
Finally someone took the time and effort to replicate those Japanese light up plates. Looking really nice man!
antz
Active Member
Busy weekend.
Took the car to work on Friday. Got asked if it was a Lexus.....still no.
Went to a car meet on Sunday:
Monday was drift day at Teesside. Was bricking it all weekend hoping nothing would go wrong like another exploding gearbox. Thankfully that didn't happen.
The car was a whole new learning curve for me. Having only driven it previously at Teesside in the wet for a couple of hours and a day at Driftland running the 2018 Drift Cup layout, yesterday was the first time I actually tried any kind of 3rd gear work in the car. Took some getting used to having come from a heavy E36 328i into a big heavy boosted Nissan.
I struggled all day with my line from turn one into turn two on National course, only nailing it once. Having spoken to a couple of mates they both said "take a brave pill and hit turn one quicker" so next time, that's what Ill aim to do.
I am definitely the weak link in setup. The car is far more capable than my skills allow. Engine temps were ice cold all day and no issues raised their heads except my alternator tensioning bolt keeps loosening off every few laps. I meant to fix this after Driftland but I didn't. My own fault.
Span out plenty of times:
Did actually do a few skids though:
The only casualty of the day was my rear bumper which took a knock from the tyres outside of turn three. It didn't snap into pieces but its now got a few big cracks in it which is annoying but that's one of the risks. I'll look into getting another kit to use for shows and road use then keep this one for drift days, that way it wont matter how badly it gets mashed now I've managed to damage both the front and the rear parts.
Next drift day will be the end of May at Teesside again.
Took the car to work on Friday. Got asked if it was a Lexus.....still no.
Went to a car meet on Sunday:
Monday was drift day at Teesside. Was bricking it all weekend hoping nothing would go wrong like another exploding gearbox. Thankfully that didn't happen.
The car was a whole new learning curve for me. Having only driven it previously at Teesside in the wet for a couple of hours and a day at Driftland running the 2018 Drift Cup layout, yesterday was the first time I actually tried any kind of 3rd gear work in the car. Took some getting used to having come from a heavy E36 328i into a big heavy boosted Nissan.
I struggled all day with my line from turn one into turn two on National course, only nailing it once. Having spoken to a couple of mates they both said "take a brave pill and hit turn one quicker" so next time, that's what Ill aim to do.
I am definitely the weak link in setup. The car is far more capable than my skills allow. Engine temps were ice cold all day and no issues raised their heads except my alternator tensioning bolt keeps loosening off every few laps. I meant to fix this after Driftland but I didn't. My own fault.
Span out plenty of times:
Did actually do a few skids though:
The only casualty of the day was my rear bumper which took a knock from the tyres outside of turn three. It didn't snap into pieces but its now got a few big cracks in it which is annoying but that's one of the risks. I'll look into getting another kit to use for shows and road use then keep this one for drift days, that way it wont matter how badly it gets mashed now I've managed to damage both the front and the rear parts.
Next drift day will be the end of May at Teesside again.
antz
Active Member
Done a couple of drift days and some mechanical maintenance since the last update.
Fixed my alternator belt loosening off by putting a nut on the back of the tensioner so it couldn't wind itself off.
6 days before Japfest at Silverstone I found my rack bushes were destroyed. After being messed about by JDMGarage for 3 days who said they had them in stock but only told me on the delivery day they didn’t, Conceptua Tuning came to the rescue and rushed me a pair on next day delivery before midday. Absolute life savers.
I picked up a Cusco catch can from Up Garage when I was in Japan but never fitted it because I was lazy, choosing to opt for a Fanta bottle. Bad idea. When it got remotely full it just spat oil everywhere.
After trying 3 different places in the engine bay and a set of melted pipes, its finally in and working. The old SR breathes quite heavy into the catch can when it’s getting a beating but I’ve heard it’s a straight cam Sr thing….or it’s just an old SR. Either way it runs fine so I’ll keep topping it up and emptying the can when necessary. Be reet!
Forgot to take a picture. It’s a metal tin by the wiper motor. Use your imagination and dial back 10% fit and finesse on the install.
Developed a biblical oil leak which turned out to be the oil drain that had burst and was spitting oil everywhere! Got that fixed with a new pipe.
I dug out my Up Garage special wide front fenders. Gave them a rub down and a tickle of satin black to see what they fitted like. Not bad but they need some repair work so I’ll have to get the bodyshop to sort that for me and paint them up.
After my first real day at Teesside, I was itching to get back out there so I booked onto a May drift day at Teesside and again, I struggled. I just couldn’t seem to get used to the car but kept saying to myself that I’ll get there with more seat time. I worked on raising my entry speed into turn 1 on the national circuit by a good margin but I couldn’t get a decent line into turn 2. I came away from that day a bit disappointed in myself because I didn’t feel like I’d progressed at all and wound myself up about it. It shouldn’t be this hard to get used to a car but I just couldn’t do it.
Still got some good photos from the day but I wasn’t happy.
I decided it was time to book on a Pro Drift Academy day in July with more seat time and some instructor guidance. Again in the morning I was having the exact same issue which Kenny the instructor could also see. He helped from the side-lines saying I had plenty of entry speed but my initiation needed work. He told me to switch my initiation technique which helped a lot and eventually resulted in my first ever foray into the gravel. Never been into the gravel before so it was a novel and painful experience.
Getting back into the pits after my gravel hunting experience gave me a eureka moment about the progression wall I couldn’t get over. I had been holding back for fear of damaging the car. I’ve shunted my E36 into the tyres a few times but that’s a cheaper car to repair than the Laurel and even then, I always played it safe in the E36. I was just scared of damaging the car. By that point I was fired up though and figured that with both bumpers damaged it didn’t matter anyway so I hit the track again.
Pushing myself as hard as I could I ended up in the gravel a further 2 times. I was still struggling with lines but I was really enjoying pushing harder than before and getting used to how the car handled. Managed to ruin my rear bumper by wall tapping the tyres on the entry to turn 2 as well.
That photo really highlights how badly colour matched my rear door is to the rest of the car.
In the final hour Kenny sat in with me and I ran some laps my way then he gave tips. He said my speed was perfect but I was simply initiating too early which resulted in my bad line. After a couple of runs where I chickened out and my 4th excursion into the gravel I managed to get a couple of solid runs I was finally proud of. The best runs I have ever done and I really owe it to Kenny’s advice.
Now I had some bodykit to bodge back together until I can fix it in winter. I might also invest in a fibreglass vented bonnet for next year to get the engine bay temps down a bit and I can’t wait to get out there again.
Bodykit bodged back together. Your drift car will always be a show car but your show car won’t always be a drift car….right?
I’ve got some VW coilpacks and the components to make a couple of conversion looms. Just need to get my sparky mate to actually make them.
Next drift day is August bank holiday and I want to try and get one more Pro Drift day in before the Laurel goes away for winter and the E36 comes back out.
Fixed my alternator belt loosening off by putting a nut on the back of the tensioner so it couldn't wind itself off.
6 days before Japfest at Silverstone I found my rack bushes were destroyed. After being messed about by JDMGarage for 3 days who said they had them in stock but only told me on the delivery day they didn’t, Conceptua Tuning came to the rescue and rushed me a pair on next day delivery before midday. Absolute life savers.
I picked up a Cusco catch can from Up Garage when I was in Japan but never fitted it because I was lazy, choosing to opt for a Fanta bottle. Bad idea. When it got remotely full it just spat oil everywhere.
After trying 3 different places in the engine bay and a set of melted pipes, its finally in and working. The old SR breathes quite heavy into the catch can when it’s getting a beating but I’ve heard it’s a straight cam Sr thing….or it’s just an old SR. Either way it runs fine so I’ll keep topping it up and emptying the can when necessary. Be reet!
Forgot to take a picture. It’s a metal tin by the wiper motor. Use your imagination and dial back 10% fit and finesse on the install.
Developed a biblical oil leak which turned out to be the oil drain that had burst and was spitting oil everywhere! Got that fixed with a new pipe.
I dug out my Up Garage special wide front fenders. Gave them a rub down and a tickle of satin black to see what they fitted like. Not bad but they need some repair work so I’ll have to get the bodyshop to sort that for me and paint them up.
After my first real day at Teesside, I was itching to get back out there so I booked onto a May drift day at Teesside and again, I struggled. I just couldn’t seem to get used to the car but kept saying to myself that I’ll get there with more seat time. I worked on raising my entry speed into turn 1 on the national circuit by a good margin but I couldn’t get a decent line into turn 2. I came away from that day a bit disappointed in myself because I didn’t feel like I’d progressed at all and wound myself up about it. It shouldn’t be this hard to get used to a car but I just couldn’t do it.
Still got some good photos from the day but I wasn’t happy.
I decided it was time to book on a Pro Drift Academy day in July with more seat time and some instructor guidance. Again in the morning I was having the exact same issue which Kenny the instructor could also see. He helped from the side-lines saying I had plenty of entry speed but my initiation needed work. He told me to switch my initiation technique which helped a lot and eventually resulted in my first ever foray into the gravel. Never been into the gravel before so it was a novel and painful experience.
Getting back into the pits after my gravel hunting experience gave me a eureka moment about the progression wall I couldn’t get over. I had been holding back for fear of damaging the car. I’ve shunted my E36 into the tyres a few times but that’s a cheaper car to repair than the Laurel and even then, I always played it safe in the E36. I was just scared of damaging the car. By that point I was fired up though and figured that with both bumpers damaged it didn’t matter anyway so I hit the track again.
Pushing myself as hard as I could I ended up in the gravel a further 2 times. I was still struggling with lines but I was really enjoying pushing harder than before and getting used to how the car handled. Managed to ruin my rear bumper by wall tapping the tyres on the entry to turn 2 as well.
That photo really highlights how badly colour matched my rear door is to the rest of the car.
In the final hour Kenny sat in with me and I ran some laps my way then he gave tips. He said my speed was perfect but I was simply initiating too early which resulted in my bad line. After a couple of runs where I chickened out and my 4th excursion into the gravel I managed to get a couple of solid runs I was finally proud of. The best runs I have ever done and I really owe it to Kenny’s advice.
Now I had some bodykit to bodge back together until I can fix it in winter. I might also invest in a fibreglass vented bonnet for next year to get the engine bay temps down a bit and I can’t wait to get out there again.
Bodykit bodged back together. Your drift car will always be a show car but your show car won’t always be a drift car….right?
I’ve got some VW coilpacks and the components to make a couple of conversion looms. Just need to get my sparky mate to actually make them.
Next drift day is August bank holiday and I want to try and get one more Pro Drift day in before the Laurel goes away for winter and the E36 comes back out.
antz
Active Member
After the last Pro Drift day I decided to do some preventative maintenance and replace my cracked OEM coilpacks for some VW ones. Sod paying £155 for a loom, I made my own. First attempt looked good but misfired like hell (don’t use those heat up solder connections. Lesson learnt). Next one I made I used good old fashioned crimps and it worked a treat. I used genuine coils from my local VW dealer. Had a bit of a laugh when he asked for my registration number even though I’d given him the part number so I gave him the Nissan one and let him get confused for a while when he couldn’t find it on the system.
Went to Retrorides Gathering again. Absolutely love this show. Got snapped driving home and sent this mega filtered picture which I quite like.
I’ve had a re-occurring intermittent problem with only one headlight working and my wipers not turning off. After cleaning out the stalks I took the plunge and ordered a brand new pair from Japan. The cost was eye watering BUT the problem is solved so ultimately it was worth the money.
Two more drift days under my belt in this now.
Did August bank holiday at Teesside which was ridiculously busy. Far too many cars and it was stupidly hot for the UK. Spent most of it sat in queues sweating my balls off. It was so warm that I camped at Teesside the night before and slept under the stars next to the car. Only bounced my head off the rear bumper twice.
So glad I fitted some bonnet risers (well 3 bonnet risers ad a gudeon pin cut in half) to loser the under bonnet temps when sitting in the queue. Im aware it does nothing when driving and it looks poo but in the queue it really helped.
Managed to get a few good runs which proved that what I’d learnt on the Pro Drift day hadn’t been forgotten. Ended up in the gravel twice, losing my rear bumper again and damaging the front one even further. Skirts now held on by screws, washers, hopes and dreams by this point.
I’d fitted a universal door bar kit to the driver’s side so I could run with others on track. Did a couple of tandem runs with a mate who agreed on a “gentleman’s gap”, forgetting his was a drift cup driver that went out the window in 3 laps and he sat on my door, scared the life out of me and I bottled it.
Pieced it back together and booked on 11th September Pro Drift day at Teesside again. It rained just after briefing and was super slippery. I was all over the place despite Kenny’s best efforts to guide me, after a trip into the gravel and losing my rear bumper clipping the tyres on the entry to turn 3 I called it quits because I was getting annoyed with myself again. After the track dried out I settled into a groove and by the afternoon I was consistently linking 1 into 2 on a middle line around South Bank with the odd push onto the higher line (need to work on this line).
Did a couple more tandem runs with another guy who had no experience of tandem so the gentleman’s gap was adhered to by both of us. With his E46 being down on power due to a throttle issue, I had to keep backing off in the chase and left him for dead in the lead so it didn’t go to plan really.
Got a bit carried away on the West Track and obliterated some tyres on the outside of turn 2 running too fast and too wide.
Still, came home feeling pretty proud I only ended up in the gravel once and I actually felt like I’d progressed as a driver for the first time in ages.
Local garage pushed out the quarter panel for me. Little bit rippled by the arch but its better. It’s been a drift car in Japan and that’s not the first time the rear quarter has been bashed out as evident from inside the spare wheel well so I’m not bothered. It was always a “when I bend it” not a “if” so in some ways I’m glad it’s done and that the cherry popped.
That’s it for drift days this year with winter closing in. I like my Nissan to be made of metal so it stays off the road in the shitter months.
Plans for winter:
Replace a wobbly tie rod end
Invest in a new Final Konnexion kit (I’ll keep that one for shows and use this one for drifting)
Re-route the oil catch tank so it doesn’t fill up as quick #straightcamSRlyfe
Finish repairing my fibreglass front wings, get them painted and fitted
Fit a passenger door bar
Maybe…..just maybe……invest in a vented bonnet
And finally, looking through the paperwork from Japan I deciphered the Export Certificate stating the temporary owner as the dealer I got the car from but the last registered owner was CLUB TRADERS in Fujisawa. They seem to be a dealership specialising in drift cars. Googled their address from the website and found my car on their forecourt in 2015!
Went to Retrorides Gathering again. Absolutely love this show. Got snapped driving home and sent this mega filtered picture which I quite like.
I’ve had a re-occurring intermittent problem with only one headlight working and my wipers not turning off. After cleaning out the stalks I took the plunge and ordered a brand new pair from Japan. The cost was eye watering BUT the problem is solved so ultimately it was worth the money.
Two more drift days under my belt in this now.
Did August bank holiday at Teesside which was ridiculously busy. Far too many cars and it was stupidly hot for the UK. Spent most of it sat in queues sweating my balls off. It was so warm that I camped at Teesside the night before and slept under the stars next to the car. Only bounced my head off the rear bumper twice.
So glad I fitted some bonnet risers (well 3 bonnet risers ad a gudeon pin cut in half) to loser the under bonnet temps when sitting in the queue. Im aware it does nothing when driving and it looks poo but in the queue it really helped.
Managed to get a few good runs which proved that what I’d learnt on the Pro Drift day hadn’t been forgotten. Ended up in the gravel twice, losing my rear bumper again and damaging the front one even further. Skirts now held on by screws, washers, hopes and dreams by this point.
I’d fitted a universal door bar kit to the driver’s side so I could run with others on track. Did a couple of tandem runs with a mate who agreed on a “gentleman’s gap”, forgetting his was a drift cup driver that went out the window in 3 laps and he sat on my door, scared the life out of me and I bottled it.
Pieced it back together and booked on 11th September Pro Drift day at Teesside again. It rained just after briefing and was super slippery. I was all over the place despite Kenny’s best efforts to guide me, after a trip into the gravel and losing my rear bumper clipping the tyres on the entry to turn 3 I called it quits because I was getting annoyed with myself again. After the track dried out I settled into a groove and by the afternoon I was consistently linking 1 into 2 on a middle line around South Bank with the odd push onto the higher line (need to work on this line).
Did a couple more tandem runs with another guy who had no experience of tandem so the gentleman’s gap was adhered to by both of us. With his E46 being down on power due to a throttle issue, I had to keep backing off in the chase and left him for dead in the lead so it didn’t go to plan really.
Got a bit carried away on the West Track and obliterated some tyres on the outside of turn 2 running too fast and too wide.
Still, came home feeling pretty proud I only ended up in the gravel once and I actually felt like I’d progressed as a driver for the first time in ages.
Local garage pushed out the quarter panel for me. Little bit rippled by the arch but its better. It’s been a drift car in Japan and that’s not the first time the rear quarter has been bashed out as evident from inside the spare wheel well so I’m not bothered. It was always a “when I bend it” not a “if” so in some ways I’m glad it’s done and that the cherry popped.
That’s it for drift days this year with winter closing in. I like my Nissan to be made of metal so it stays off the road in the shitter months.
Plans for winter:
Replace a wobbly tie rod end
Invest in a new Final Konnexion kit (I’ll keep that one for shows and use this one for drifting)
Re-route the oil catch tank so it doesn’t fill up as quick #straightcamSRlyfe
Finish repairing my fibreglass front wings, get them painted and fitted
Fit a passenger door bar
Maybe…..just maybe……invest in a vented bonnet
And finally, looking through the paperwork from Japan I deciphered the Export Certificate stating the temporary owner as the dealer I got the car from but the last registered owner was CLUB TRADERS in Fujisawa. They seem to be a dealership specialising in drift cars. Googled their address from the website and found my car on their forecourt in 2015!
