Circuit Race Car Build
I’m Tarun — the web developer behind the scenes here at Joel’s Garage Gear.
When I’m not busy helping Joel sell workshop equipment I am usually found playing with rear wheel drive Japanese cars.
One of my goals for 2018 is to get back in to club racing again.
The Albury Wodonga Car Club hosts the Rapid Lap Dash series each year of which I’ve previously had great fun driving at a few of their events.
At the time my Nissan Silvia was simply a street car with budget tyres and a welded differential. So this year it’s time to get a little bit more serious about it all.
In the past I’ve had to find the fine balance between making the car competitive as well as making sure it remained roadworthy.
But while it’s convenient to be able to drive to and from the track, there is nothing like having a dedicated track car with no limitations.
Sticking with the same s-chassis platform that I’ve had experience with in the past the latest 180SX should be a lot more fun once it’s properly set up.
And by ‘properly set up’ I really mean built at home by an enthusiast with no formal mechanical knowledge.
I do have a 2 post hoist from Joel which makes most jobs a lot easier. It will play a vital role in this build and I couldn’t imagine doing it without it.
Underneath the dust and cobwebs is a fairly straight shell that has already had a cage welded in and the interior stripped out of it.
The previous owner gave up on it and let it sit for the best part of 2 years. So it will require a good service and a tune before it will be ready for track duties.
Under the bonnet is a mildly worked SR20DET which is a 2 litre turbo engine that came in this chassis from the factory.
I didn’t get much history with the car but from a quick visual inspection I can see that it has been treated to an upgraded T28 turbo and an aftermarket exhaust manifold.
The restrictive AFM has been removed in favour of a MAP sensor and it has bigger injectors installed along with new coil packs.
In addition it also has an ECU managed boost control solenoid which should make things fun!
The real star of the show however is the standalone Vi-Pec ECU installed to control the updated setup.
This will allow me to have the car professionally dyno tuned to get the best performance out of it whilst keeping the engine safe.
Before we begin to worry about all of that though, first we need to be able to stop.
Luckily I have a couple of R33 Skylines laying around that I can borrow the brakes from.
The great thing about 90’s Nissan’s is the interchangeability of parts between models. The larger brakes from the Skyline will literally bolt on to the Silvia with not much effort at all.
What it will also do is convert my wheel stud pattern from 4×114.3 to 5×114.3 which is exactly what I need as I plan on running 17×9 wheels from an R33 GTR Skyline in order to fit some meaty 255/40/R17 semi slick tyres.
The wheels are currently away being powder coated. So I need to get the 5 stud swap done before they get back.
That’s where I’m currently at with the build. It’s going to be a busy weekend ahead!
Unfortunately I’m still waiting on a heap of parts deliveries and there is a tonne of work yet to do before Round 1 on Sunday, 11 March 2018.
Interested in following the build?
