-
Project Drift s14a
I have had my s14a for 7 years now, and have decided to take it off the road completely and track / drift it. Over the years I have added a few bits and pieces as I went, but now the real work begins. My aim is to have a BDC spec car ready to compete in next year, assuming I can get to a licence day and actually get one.
Years ago, when I was a proper little boy racer, a few mates and I used to spend most of our time and cash on our cars. One particular night we were part way through an all-nighter (trying to get a car ready for a show) when one of the lads turned around and said that we needed to come up with a team name. After about half a second, another came up with the name Random Developments, for no reason other than the fact that we had probably the most random collection of cars around. The name stuck and we each still have Random Developments stickers on our cars.
So this is Random Developments Project Drift.
1999 Nissan 200sx s14a touring in Emerald Green.
Engine:
Apex front mount intercooler
HKS mushroom induction kit
Mongoose exhaust system – turbo elbow back
Bailey dump valve
Brakes:
Apex 310mm front brake conversion kit – uses standard callipers
Brembo plain discs on rear
Redstuff pads front and rear
Hel braided hoses front and rear
DoT 4 brake fluid
Suspension:
Apex Gen 2 coilover suspension
Apex front upper strut brace
Apex front lower strut brace
Apex rear upper strut brace
Miscellaneous:
Boost gauge fitted to ‘A’ pillar pod
Apex short shifter type 2
Parts to fit:
Goodridge braided hose for turbo oil feed
Apex rear subframe collar kit
HKS turbo timer
Cobra Imola Pro GT seat with Cobra side mounts
BMC stopper
Greddy Profec B2
Catch tank
Driftworks gearknob and drift button
Apex roll cage
Driftworks 4-point harness
Momo drift steering wheel with quick release boss kit
Front and rear tow straps
Pics to follow soon...
-
-
May 2011.
Apex Gen 2 coilovers fitted and set-up ready to go play at Crail.
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...4052011236.jpg
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...4052011234.jpg
The spoiler went back on at this point as I had a small off the previous year and reckoned the lack of rear downforce had been a partial factor. Yes I was driving too fast and yes I was a prat for doing it.
-
Crail 15th May 2011
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...t/100_0908.jpg
This is the most recent picture I have as the car has been off the road and hidden away in my workshop ever since.
I will be into the workshop tomorrow with the parts I have been hoarding for the last year, so hopefully there will be some serious progress and some new pics to come.
-
I managed to get into the workshop for most of the weekend and made some progress on the car.
Saturday:
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0820131001.jpg
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0820131002.jpg
Got most of the interior stripped out. Just the dash and door cards to go.
-
Sunday:
Got the dash out and door cards off. Cage in and tightened up.
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0920131003.jpg
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0920131004.jpg
The cage went together without too much grief, although we did have a few problems. As with most of the latest Apex cages the front bar was fouling on the dash bar. Simple solution.....
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0920131006.jpg
Not the neatest of cuts, but it has been tidied up and will be hidden behind the dash once its refitted. As this is a track / drift car the bar was not needed. Unfortunately, when my mate and I were removing the section of dash bar, we had a small accident.....
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0920131005.jpg
I managed to source a new screen today and it will be delivered tomorrow then fitted by another mate who fits windscreens etc for a living.
Got a box load of goodies today, pics will follow as I have another box coming tomorrow.
Still on track for Driftland this weekend.
-
New window is now fitted, and the roll cage is all bolted down nice and secure.
Tried to fit the Cobra seat and found that it's way too wide for the runners I bought, so the stock seats will be going back in for the time being. Had a good look at the runners and side mounts, and have come up with a plan to offset the runners by using spacers. Fortunately a friend of mine is a welder / fabricator so it shouldn't be a big deal.
Off to the workshop again tomorrow to get things put back in ready for Driftland on Sunday.
-
This is littery going to be just like my car haha :P more pictures i want tonsee moree!
-
It was a busy week last week. Managed to get the car ready for Driftland on Sunday, and had a great time there. Shredded all my tyres and still had time left before the end of the session, so more wheels are on the cards now.
Saturday was busy getting the interior put back together and fitting a seat. With the cage all bolted in position, even the stock seat was a squeeze to fit in. This wasn't made any easier by me being 6' 1" tall. In the end we got the seat in and slightly reclined so that my head wasn't stuck to the roof (and that is without a headlining).
We managed to refit the chopped dash without breaking the new window, always a bonus :D The new window was fitted using a kind of universal seal, so in the future if the window needs to be removed again it will come out much more easily. My mate says its almost impossible to remove a window from a Japanese car without damaging it. The seal also looks better than the stock trims :D
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0920131019.jpg
Got the Momo steering wheel fitted using an e-bay boss and the Driftworks quick-release boss. The horn wiring has been removed and will be hard wired at a later stage. I was a bit concerned that the wheel was sitting too close to me, but after drifting I found it to be spot-on. The quick-release was definitely needed, wouldn't like to try and get out of the car without it...
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0920131017.jpg
There is still loads to do inside, as well as fitting all the parts I have still in boxes. I think it will be a busy winter, but what else is there to do lol
A few pics from the weekend:
All loaded up and ready for the off.
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0920131020.jpg
Driftland.
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...0920131021.jpg
My wee helper.
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...97543587_n.jpg
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...85986974_n.jpg
I'm gonna drift when I'm bigger Dad.....
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...43562651_n.jpg
-
Been a while since my last update here.
Bought a few parts from Japspeed after winning the wee competition for the alloy header tank. Hopefully get those parts fitted this week.
A wee pic courtesy of my 6 year old.....
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...cs/RaceCar.jpg
Not a bad likeness to my s14 I think :)
-
It's been a long time since I last updated this. There hasn't been much of a change though as life got busy and the car took a back stage for a while. Hopefully things have settled down again now and I will be able to make some real progress.
My wife and I had been working on starting up a new business in our town, but the local council were not supportive of our plans. We submitted a planning application which was refused. We appealed, and the appeal committee upheld the refusal. We then went back to the "drawing board" and tried to address the concerns that had lead to the refusal. We then submitted a new application, which had addressed all of the concerns raised during the first attempt. They refused again. Now we have appealed this latest refusal, although we neither have the money nor the drive to actually go forwards if they approve. But at least this way we can give up and be confident that we did all we could.
The reason for my prattling on about this is the fact that we own the building that we had intended to run the business from. It is an industrial unit about 30m x 12m with an adjoining office block of around 10m x 3m. I currently rent a workshop nearby, but it is pretty small and not that convenient for working on cars. The unit is 5 minutes walk away and is ideal for working on cars. When we bought the unit there was always a back-up plan of my moving the workshop, although I think my wife never expected it to come to this. The appeal is being heard on February 16th, so in 2 weeks time we find out what is happening, and I might just be starting a new thread in the garage / workshop section...
Anyway, to catch up with the car...
Autumn / Winter 2013:
I had bought a load of parts from people on here as well as Japspeed, Driftworks, and Apex. Absolutely nothing from that pile of parts has been fitted yet :( Huge apologies to Japspeed in particular as they had asked me to take pictures of the new alloy header tank and black radiator being fitted. I'm really sorry guys, I still haven't managed to get that done yet.
I don't think I even touched the car in between the Driftland day in September 2013 and the New Year.
January 2014:
I finally managed to find some time (and got permission from the boss) to get the car out and go up to Driftland. So I got the car out and sorted some fresh tyres. Gave the car a wash as it was filthy and went off to Driftland for some skids. Had a good day even though it was chucking it down, managed to improve and build up my confidence as the day went on, until I overdid it an parked the car in the middle of the infield in the mud :clap: had to be towed out :facepalm: The only decent pic of the day...
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...36814462_o.jpg
February 2014:
I managed to get one of the tickets for the BDC license day at Teesside at the end of February. So I got the car out and cleaned up again, sorted some fresh tyres, and headed down to Teesside. Turns out I'm not quite as good at drifting as I had thought / hoped.... Failed to get a license and had a pretty crappy weekend. It wasn't helped by my being ill for the week up to it, but ultimately I just wasn't ready for it. The fact that I had left my tyre pressure gauge and pump at home, so was running unknown pressures didn't help either.
The upside of Teesside was that my wife decided I needed to get more seat time :thumbs: and that I should probably get myself a missile car to practice in as I was too afraid to really push it in the 200. What a wife :D
March 2014:
So I have joined the dark side and bought a BMW...
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...2014-03-06.jpg
Bought this off Jeek. Ready to go missile spec, 2 "careful" owners... The only thing missing is a cage (I promised my wife I wouldn't take ac car on track without a cage) which I figured wouldn't be too hard to sort. Turns out it was easy to find, but it took me a wee while to save up enough coin for it.
Parked up at the workshop where it has remained ever since :(
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...-03-10%204.jpg
May 2014:
The BMW was still sitting outside the workshop waiting for me to save money for a cage, but I decided that the 200 needed another outing. So I booked in for the Sunday of the May Weekender at Driftland. I got fresh tyres sorted, filled up the fuel tank and headed on up to Driftland. I was really nervous getting back on track after my driving at Teesside, but I soon got back in the swing of it and started pushing myself harder.
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...03696935_n.jpg
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...81929112_n.jpg
It was all going well until I went into the big corner off the wall a bit quicker than I realised...
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...30266981_n.jpg
Had to be towed out... (getting to be a habit)
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...29178892_n.jpg
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...93126936_n.jpg
Had a cracking day though, and got my confidence back.
That was the last time anything was done with or to the car. I spent most of the summer working, sorting the house and garden, and getting some real family time with the Mrs and the ween man. Planned to get up to Driftland a couple of times but either work got in the way or other things cropped up. Before I knew it the year was done and it was 2015.
-
January 2015:
So as I said things took a back seat for much of 2014, and there was a pretty big question mark sitting over what would happen with my workshop. It looks like I will probably be moving into our big unit in the next few months, so I'm glad I haven't started work on the 200 yet, although I wish I had found the time to get at least some of the upgrades fitted.
I did manage to get the car out of the workshop and get some fresh tyres on ready for a run at one of the Driftland winter practice days. It was snowing / sleet / rain throughout the day. Don't think I have ever seen a track so wet.
I don't know if it was the fact that I haven't drifted for a while or whether there are mechanical issues with the car, but I really struggled the whole day. I had a massive problem with under-steer. Checked the tyres and adjusted the pressures a bit, which did help. I spoke with some of the lads at the track and they suggested I go in a bit slower and a bit more aggressively, which again helped a bit but it didn't sort the problems.
February 2015:
So that's all up to date again. Nothing done to the car except drift it occasionally :( Hopefully 2015 will see me get things really moving.
The BMW cage has been bought and should be getting fitted this month ready for some regular track action throughout this year.
As soon as a decision is reached about the workshop I will be starting to strip down the 200 for what I hope will be a full rebuild. I have read through several major threads (Petrol and spice_weazle in particular) so I have loads of ideas running about in my head. One thing for sure is the Apex cage will be coming out and a full weld-in cage sourced and fitted.
