Hayden's Cars- Annual update!
- Thread starter Hayden
- 428 comments
- 78,112 views
- 27,203
- United Kingdom
- 3,694
- South Australia
The wing mounts are angled slightly back even at rest due to the body lines of the car not perfectly matching the CAD model I used to design them. They are 8mm thick solid aluminium plate, in 3 seperate sections that we had professionally welded with the instruction of over a tonne of force each side. They are bolted through the rear quarter panels in two places, into more of the same plate inside, to prevent any possible shearing. They are over engineered two times over as I was very concerned with potential failure points while designing them. Every step of the way I went above best known practice and spoke to professionals where possible.
We believe the rear quarter panels, along with the horizontal plates, definitely do flex a bit under high load however. Some flex is normal and safe in ferrous material though and with no sign of stress so far, we aren’t concerned about them snapping.
Thank you sir
It’s my third consecutive year at legends and every time I live the course more. It rewards bravery and has such a tricky flow of corners and hills that you never really get comfortable with it. Its my favourite hillclimb course by miles
FPV MIC
Premium
- 4,284
- Australia
- GT-MIC
I never thought I'd ever see a Chrysler 300c go up the inside of a BMW into an hairpin... and yet I did 
.
My wife missed the lap that it happened but this was the BMW and 300c in question (I think it was the next lap??? on Saturday morning).
Some other random pictures she took of your car.
I bet you had an absolute blast
. My wife missed the lap that it happened but this was the BMW and 300c in question (I think it was the next lap??? on Saturday morning).
Some other random pictures she took of your car.
I bet you had an absolute blast
- 3,694
- South Australia
Thank you very much for the photos and kind words @FPV MIC ! Please pass on my sincere thanks to your wife for the great shots! That session was a hell of a lot of fun and I’m glad you enjoyed watching me throw the big beast around 
The rest of the weekend unfortunately didn’t go quite so well, but I’ll cover that in a proper post later on
That session was a hell of a lot of fun and I’m glad you enjoyed watching me throw the big beast around The rest of the weekend unfortunately didn’t go quite so well, but I’ll cover that in a proper post later on
- 3,694
- South Australia
The Geelong Revival was a great event for us. The 1/4 mile, curved, beachside sprint, fully open to the public format and very relaxed vibe was a lot of fun. I knew we were on for a good day when I drove the car straight off the trailer and into the coolest car park on the whole street
Throughout the day we had swarms of complete strangers come up to complement us on the car or to ask a raft of questions. I had a lady tell me that she hates the 300c but loves ours; was told it was the coolest car there (); made friends with a steward who told me it was the most gangster car he’s ever seen and had an in depth conversation with somebody who wants to make a sports sedan out of one. I even had a fella ask “does that wing actually work or was it just a stab in the dark”, which lead to him probably finding out a bit more about aero than he’d initially planned
I think the main reason we had so much attention wasn’t entirely down to the wing, or the splitter, or even the glittery paint. I think it was because of this...
Try as I might (and I really did!) I simply could not get traction. No matter what gear I started in, how gently I feathered the throttle or how softly I changed gears, every single run pretty much became a moving burnout.
For the last run, I was determined to set a good time so I focused really hard, let off the clutch very gently and... you guessed it!
Honestly as a slightly competitive person, it was a bit annoying... but the crowd and dad bloody loved it, and it was a whole lot of fun. Despite creating enough clouds to cause a flood, she ran a 12.5 on the unprepped, curved 1/4 course, which made it one of the quicker cars on the day.
Thanks for reading and a big thank you to all the photographers who shared their images on Instagram
Throughout the day we had swarms of complete strangers come up to complement us on the car or to ask a raft of questions. I had a lady tell me that she hates the 300c but loves ours; was told it was the coolest car there (
); made friends with a steward who told me it was the most gangster car he’s ever seen and had an in depth conversation with somebody who wants to make a sports sedan out of one. I even had a fella ask “does that wing actually work or was it just a stab in the dark”, which lead to him probably finding out a bit more about aero than he’d initially planned I think the main reason we had so much attention wasn’t entirely down to the wing, or the splitter, or even the glittery paint. I think it was because of this...
Try as I might (and I really did!) I simply could not get traction. No matter what gear I started in, how gently I feathered the throttle or how softly I changed gears, every single run pretty much became a moving burnout.
For the last run, I was determined to set a good time so I focused really hard, let off the clutch very gently and... you guessed it!
Honestly as a slightly competitive person, it was a bit annoying... but the crowd and dad bloody loved it, and it was a whole lot of fun. Despite creating enough clouds to cause a flood, she ran a 12.5 on the unprepped, curved 1/4 course, which made it one of the quicker cars on the day.
Thanks for reading and a big thank you to all the photographers who shared their images on Instagram
- 16,050
- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
You should've said hello to me at the Revival! I had no idea that Chrysler was yours!
It is featured in this video briefly, but I didn't record your run for some reason.
It is featured in this video briefly, but I didn't record your run for some reason.
Last edited:
- 3,694
- South Australia
You should've said hello to me at the Revival! I had no idea that Chrysler was yours!
View attachment 797832
It is featured in this video briefly, but I didn't record your run for some reason.
“Wow.. this is something different!”
Great video mate, nice shooting and commentary. I enjoyed it thoroughly
Wish I knew you were there, definitely would’ve loved to say g’day and show you around the car. If we get to go next year I’ll hit you up before the event
I’ll get to that!Nice burnouts @Hayden, and what ended up happening to the big beast at AMF... or is it one of those things you just too painful to talk about.
Just wanted to give this event the limelight it deserves before things got a little bit dark a week later hahaha. Promise the AMF post isn’t far away
- 16,050
- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
It was easily one of the maddest cars there; I had to have it in my video. I hope you can come back for another year.“Wow.. this is something different!”
Great video mate, nice shooting and commentary. I enjoyed it thoroughly
Wish I knew you were there, definitely would’ve loved to say g’day and show you around the car. If we get to go next year I’ll hit you up before the event
- 3,694
- South Australia
So, onto the story of the Adelaide Motorsport Festival. This event has the second biggest attendance of South Australian Motorsport; trailing only the iconic Supercars 500 event. Legendary cars from Formula 1, Le Mans & Supercars were in attendance. The Holy Trinity of HyperCars, along with the Brabham BT62 took centre stage while legendary drivers from Bowe to Lowndes, Brabham, McRae & Capelli all descended on little Ol’ Adelaide.
Along with the top tier categories is a handful of application only groups, filled with the coolest and most unique race cars in the country. The themes this year included former V8 Supercars, Porsche Cup cars, Porsche clsssics, Alfa Romeo, Nismo, Evo VS WRX, historic sports sedans, GT3, pre 60’s F1 legends and luckily for us, Time Attack.
We didn’t expect to get accepted, but by a stroke of luck, the committee decided we were worthy. This event was the main reason we resprayed the car and it was cool to see our car reflecting in the Adelaide sun.
I dropped the car off there on Thursday and got to have a sneaky look around the paddock. Getting the opportunity to have a proper, in depth look at the Brabham BT62, Jaguar XJ13 and Le Mans 962s was something I’ll genuinely never forget. I spent at least 10 minutes with each of those cars, and it genuinely felt like exploring them on Gran Turismo’s photo mode.
Then on Friday was the closed practice session. I started the day giving the car a thorough detail and meeting some of our competitors. A couple guys that it was very cool to meet were Neil Kinsey whose brilliant, featherweight E46 M3 build I’ve followed for a while.
And Justin from Golden Sloth Racing. He’s been building his Supra for nearly a decade and I competed against it in our skyline at my first ever Gymkhana 5 years ago. It’s changed a lot since then and now the 2JZ has been removed for a Lexus 4 cylinder and been built for more than 1000BHP. He also has full schematics for a WTAC spec JKF aero kit that he had done prior to YouTube’s smartest car guy getting a gig at McLaren’s F1 team. He showed me the 3D model and good lord is this car going to be a weapon in a couple years time.
It was beyond awesome to hear that both of them had been following our build too; and that they really liked it
After a drivers briefing with some of the greatest steerers in the country (
) and a brief wait, it was time for my first go on the track. What can I say? The Adelaide F1 circuit is legendary and was famously a favourite for the great Ayrton Senna. I planned on taking it easy on the chicanes, but a couple laps in; I said to myself, through a massive grin “🤬 that, I’m a V8 Supercars driver!” And proceeded to launch over them mofos like Scott Maclaughlin himself. Truly terrific fun!!The rest of the course, while shortened, carries much of the charm of the 500’s circuit. Tight, challenging and surrounded by walls. The car ran faultlessly for the 1 session we got on Friday and It gave me an opportunity to see who was around our pace and thus where I should line up in the grid for the next day.
As we arrived on the Saturday it was a calm before the storm. Some quiet suspension tweaks and sausages cooked by Supercars driver Todd Hazlewood occupied our morning, while the crowd started to roll in. By the time our first session came around, there was thousands in attendance and the pressure was on.
That session will go down as the most fun I’ve ever had in a car. It started with a standing start 1 v 1 drag race (which I won
) then a flat out door to door race for the next 15 minutes. I chased Neil’s BMW hard for a couple laps, before as @FPV MIC reported, I got him up the inside into the hairpin.
Then things just flowed. I overtook car after car, as they had mechanical issues, cool downs or let me by. It felt like I was truly flying and the smile was probably visible through my darkened visor.
As the session ended and we had our coast lap back to the pits; the crowd and stewards were giving me thumbs up all around. Something that continued all through the long drive back to the pits and one of the coolest feelings I’ve ever experienced. I guess it’s just as much fun watching a bewinged Chrysler hammer past built Cressidas, M3s, ZL1 Camaros and Supras as it is driving one
Through the wait for the next session we had a seemingly never ending stream of people coming to talk to us about the build. Amazingly, after they’d seen it perform, we heard only positive remarks. A clear highlight for us was, as dad and I walked to get yet another Hazlewood snag, we saw two mates pose with the car to get a photo taken. Dad and I laughed about this for a good few minutes. Never in a million years, surrounded by such precious metal, would we think people would want a picture with our yacht!
Time went by and I lined up for my next turn. It started off well, with a couple quick warm up laps before i put the hammer down.
Hitting the back straight, I felt what seemed like a cough, but it was only for a second and went away. Then, a full lap later at the same section, I felt a bang.
Checking my mirror I saw a huge cloud of shrapnel and smoke. Thinking it was a blown tire, I began to brake and changed down a gear. That’s when I realised I had no drive.
Trying to brake and steer was extremely difficult, with oil and coolant flowing onto the tyres.
I wiped off what little speed I could, then threw it into the chicane borderline sideways and basically held on for dear life.
With the chicane safely navigated, i thought back to the briefing and when they said “if you have an issue, get off the racing line!”
I headed straight behind a barrier, grabbed my fire extinguisher and popped the bonnet.
It’s weird, in this moment, I could literally hear the shutters going off from the large group of photographers sitting in that corner. Yes. I know I need a haircut
In my wake, Justin had a big spin in the Golden Sloth Supra and nearly put it in the wall, while marshalls put up the red flags and investigated my very long trail of fluid. The session was over and I was taken back to the pits on a flatbed. The entire way, all those people that were giving me thumbs up earlier, now had their phones out, capturing the stricken beast for their Snapchat stories. Not gonna lie, I would’ve loved to tell them all to 🤬 off
By the time the truck made it to our pit, their was a huge (and I mean huge) crowd waiting for it. I jumped out, looked at dad and shrugged my shoulders. He did the same.
As we pushed it off the tow, the crowd started closing in. “What happened?” “Is it fixable?” “That looked expensive...” we hadn’t even opened the bonnet before they’d fully immersed us.
A fella who’d been out there with us in his mates Cressida (because his S15 was broken) looked at me, smiled grimly and lifted his leg onto the bonnet of his mates car. As we looked inside the engine bay, he was quickly proven right. We’d “chucked a leg”. Also known as “throwing a rod” or “completely destroying a very expensive, purpose built racecar engine.”
There were three sizeable holes in the engine- two in the block and one massive one out of the oil pan. Oil, coolant and shrapnel was absolutely everywhere. It was clear to all around, that our goose was well and truly cooked and our day and weekend was over.
A massive thankyou to all the brilliant photographers and the event organisers.
Last edited:
- 3,694
- South Australia
Zurprise!
Yes that’s my 300zx ‘Vert and yes, it is on display at the Superloop Adelaide 500 Supercars event this weekend! It’s a hell of a story as to how and why it got here but for now, I just really wanted to let the cat out of the bag and say how excited I am that it is!
If you’re going to the race, look for it in the Indianapolis display on the final corner. I’d love to see photos from fellow GTP members.
If you’re watching/streaming the race on TV, look for me (as I’ll hopefully!!!) be driving around one of the Nissan drivers in Sunday’s pre-race Drivers Parade
Yes that’s my 300zx ‘Vert and yes, it is on display at the Superloop Adelaide 500 Supercars event this weekend! It’s a hell of a story as to how and why it got here but for now, I just really wanted to let the cat out of the bag and say how excited I am that it is!
If you’re going to the race, look for it in the Indianapolis display on the final corner. I’d love to see photos from fellow GTP members
.If you’re watching/streaming the race on TV, look for me (as I’ll hopefully!!!) be driving around one of the Nissan drivers in Sunday’s pre-race Drivers Parade
FPV MIC
Premium
- 4,284
- Australia
- GT-MIC
Does it still looks as pristine now? I've seen how dusty cars on display get at that eventZurprise!
View attachment 802906
Yes that’s my 300zx ‘Vert and yes, it is on display at the Superloop Adelaide 500 Supercars event this weekend! It’s a hell of a story as to how and why it got here but for now, I just really wanted to let the cat out of the bag and say how excited I am that it is!
View attachment 802943
If you’re going to the race, look for it in the Indianapolis display on the final corner. I’d love to see photos from fellow GTP members
View attachment 802945
If you’re watching/streaming the race on TV, look for me (as I’ll hopefully!!!) be driving around one of the Nissan drivers in Sunday’s pre-race Drivers Parade
View attachment 802946 View attachment 802947 View attachment 802944
.
- 3,694
- South Australia
Yea she was getting pretty dusty toward the end of the day yesterday. Going to give it another quick once over this morning with quick detailer. That stuff is so handyDoes it still looks as pristine now? I've seen how dusty cars on display get at that event
In more good news, I’ve got the nod! I will be chauferring Simona De Silvestro in today’s parade, in just under 3 hours from now!
FPV MIC
Premium
- 4,284
- Australia
- GT-MIC
Cool 👍Yea she was getting pretty dusty toward the end of the day yesterday. Going to give it another quick once over this morning with quick detailer. That stuff is so handy
In more good news, I’ve got the nod! I will be chauferring Simona De Silvestro in today’s parade, in just under 3 hours from now!
- 3,694
- South Australia
Unfortunately the drivers parade was cancelled due to some of the drivers having heat stress from the previous day’s racing. It was pretty disappointing, and many of the other owners were quite upset, but it’s just one of those things no one can control.
I still got to drive the track, with my fiancée in the passenger seat; which was very cool in its own right... Even though I got to race around most of it less than 6 months ago
I was meant to take “Harvey Norman Racing” Nissan Driver, and the only female on the grid, Simona De Silvestro in the parade.
It was a very cool end to the day to find that the organisers had slipped a Adelaide 500 poster and driver’s card (both signed by her) into the roof-down interior of my car. A very thoughtful little surprise which I quickly framed
And mounted on my garage wall with all my other Adelaide/Clipsal 500 & Nissan Motorsport collectables. The programs were actually left to me by my fiancée’s grandpa who was a great man and an avid Holden fan. I always thought that a collection this complete truly deserved to be displayed
Now I did say there was a back story that preceded the event. I’ve simplified it a bit but it’s still a long one. You have been warned
- Man asks in Z group if anybody has a convertible 350/370 convertible to potentially display & use at the event
- I ask if a 300zx would be an option, after a couple days I get a yes
- I contact very highly regarded JDM workshop two months out from the event and tell them I need a major service, plenum pull and some tidy up jobs done before the event. I stress, heavily, that it needs to be done before the event and if there was any risk of failure, I’d take the car as-is
- I was reassured and booked it for the first available slot, three weeks from the event. I’m promised it’ll be done with 1 week to spare
- I kill time by detailing car, plastidipping some faded/worn trims and ordering a few parts from the US
- I drop the car off, hear nothing for a week
- I’m finally contacted, apparently there was an issue with the part supplier and they hadn’t received my timing belt kit yet. I’ve had issues with that supplier before so understood the situation.
- My stuff comes from the US. Cool, I’ll be able to install it before the event.
- Couple days later, the shop’s parts have arrived but the car won’t be ready on originally planned day. Will still be ready a few days before event.
- I don’t hear much until the (late afternoon) of two days before the event, and the day before I planned to drop it off. “We asked the part supplier for a crank gear and it wasn’t supplied. Yours broke during removal, there’s no others in Australia, you won’t be able to do the event.”
- I, hugely disappointed, desperately ask the local Z group if anybody has one of these parts spare
- By some total miracle, a legend of a bloke offers me his brand new item, which he had ready for his race car engine, for free! Provided I buy him a replacement and drop it to him when it arrives.
- I am waiting at the workshop, part in hand the next morning. Stunned, the mechanic promises the car will be ready around lunchtime. This was important for me, as I had a flight to catch that night and there was only two windows to drop the car off. This afternoon/night, or early in the morning. While I would be flying home that next morning, I wouldn’t be able to make it from the airport, to the garage and back to the track in time to not get locked out of the event.
- I go to work and wait for the promised lunch time call. It never comes. I call them at 1.30. A part broke and we had to repair it. Car should be ready in an hour, we’ll call you when it’s half an hour from being done.
- 2.30 passes, than 3, than I go to the workshop to ask what’s going on
- “it’ll be half an hour” I wait. And wait. An hour passes, I won’t be able to drop it off tonight but I could drive it to the airport and drop it off first thing in the morning.
- More time passes, and more, until it finally gets to the point where I’m probably going to miss my plane. I tell them to call me a taxi and figure out a way for my car to be waiting for me at the track the next morning.
- I get Vin Diesel as a taxi driver, he took my situation as a challenge and wiped 15 minutes off the estimated travel time. I deadset get on the plane while they’re doing the final call.
- Get off plane in Melbourne to a message with a finalised invoice, which asked me to pay my bill before they release the car. Fair enough. It’s $1000 more than quoted and half what I asked for wasn’t done, but the car was a bastard to them so I took it on the chin. Paid then and there.
- Great little night in Melbourne, fly home early the next morning to a message saying tow truck is on its way and should be at the track by 7.45. I get there in an Uber at 8 and he isn’t there yet.
- I wait 15, then call him. “Im 10 minutes away mate.” With 45 minutes until the gate closes for the event I sit on the curb to wait for him
- Finally, just 10 minutes before the gates are locked he arrives, I just make it inside in time, Park it with the other Nissans then catch an Uber straight to work.
- I have a good weekend at the event as mentioned at the start of this post.
- 1KM from home, I feel heavy vibration and rattle. Nurse car home to see puddle of coolant under it and notice a very loose clutch fan. 🤬
- I ring them the next day. They’re shut. Ring the following day, they answer. “Sounds like we were supplied a dodgy water pump from the supplier who stuffed us around with everything else. We definitely didn’t over tighten the belt, we do this for a living, etc, etc.” They’ll cover the tow, labour and a new pump and contact the supplier for their own refund.
- Tow truck grabs car and I ask them to fix some other minor stuff while they’re at it, “no dramas.” They ring me a couple days later and ask me to come grab it and that if I want the other stuff done I’ll need to book it in again.
- Part supplier posts semi-passive aggressive Facebook post about the importance of correct tension of belts and potential risk to water pump. I don’t really know (or care) who to believe anymore.
- I pick car up, drive it home, notice minor coolant leak and that they didn’t put my splash shield back on, decide I really can’t be 🤬 with it anymore.
- Through everything I was as patient, understanding and helpful as I could be with this workshop. Even now, I’m choosing not to name them out of respect for their reputation; the fact that they’re genuinely good, passionate people who had a lot of bad luck; their support of local Motorsport and the fact that nobody else will touch Zs around here and I will probably have to use them again. That doesn’t mean I’m not pretty annoyed by this whole situation and I know that if I use them again, for their sake and mine, no 🤬 deadlines will be involved.
- let Local legend know his part’s arrived and he insists on coming to my house to collect it (pretty sure he just wanted to look at the car.) Despite his objections, I slipped him some cash as a thankyou for his trouble.
- Finally install parts from the US. Write long winded rant on GTPlanet
- Slowly exhale the stress from one of the most ridiculous weeks I’ve ever had.
Anyway... look at my pretty new tail lights
I still got to drive the track, with my fiancée in the passenger seat; which was very cool in its own right... Even though I got to race around most of it less than 6 months ago
I was meant to take “Harvey Norman Racing” Nissan Driver, and the only female on the grid, Simona De Silvestro in the parade.
It was a very cool end to the day to find that the organisers had slipped a Adelaide 500 poster and driver’s card (both signed by her) into the roof-down interior of my car. A very thoughtful little surprise which I quickly framed
And mounted on my garage wall with all my other Adelaide/Clipsal 500 & Nissan Motorsport collectables. The programs were actually left to me by my fiancée’s grandpa who was a great man and an avid Holden fan. I always thought that a collection this complete truly deserved to be displayed
Now I did say there was a back story that preceded the event. I’ve simplified it a bit but it’s still a long one. You have been warned
- Man asks in Z group if anybody has a convertible 350/370 convertible to potentially display & use at the event
- I ask if a 300zx would be an option, after a couple days I get a yes
- I contact very highly regarded JDM workshop two months out from the event and tell them I need a major service, plenum pull and some tidy up jobs done before the event. I stress, heavily, that it needs to be done before the event and if there was any risk of failure, I’d take the car as-is
- I was reassured and booked it for the first available slot, three weeks from the event. I’m promised it’ll be done with 1 week to spare
- I kill time by detailing car, plastidipping some faded/worn trims and ordering a few parts from the US
- I drop the car off, hear nothing for a week
- I’m finally contacted, apparently there was an issue with the part supplier and they hadn’t received my timing belt kit yet. I’ve had issues with that supplier before so understood the situation.
- My stuff comes from the US. Cool, I’ll be able to install it before the event.
- Couple days later, the shop’s parts have arrived but the car won’t be ready on originally planned day. Will still be ready a few days before event.
- I don’t hear much until the (late afternoon) of two days before the event, and the day before I planned to drop it off. “We asked the part supplier for a crank gear and it wasn’t supplied. Yours broke during removal, there’s no others in Australia, you won’t be able to do the event.”
- I, hugely disappointed, desperately ask the local Z group if anybody has one of these parts spare
- By some total miracle, a legend of a bloke offers me his brand new item, which he had ready for his race car engine, for free! Provided I buy him a replacement and drop it to him when it arrives.
- I am waiting at the workshop, part in hand the next morning. Stunned, the mechanic promises the car will be ready around lunchtime. This was important for me, as I had a flight to catch that night and there was only two windows to drop the car off. This afternoon/night, or early in the morning. While I would be flying home that next morning, I wouldn’t be able to make it from the airport, to the garage and back to the track in time to not get locked out of the event.
- I go to work and wait for the promised lunch time call. It never comes. I call them at 1.30. A part broke and we had to repair it. Car should be ready in an hour, we’ll call you when it’s half an hour from being done.
- 2.30 passes, than 3, than I go to the workshop to ask what’s going on
- “it’ll be half an hour” I wait. And wait. An hour passes, I won’t be able to drop it off tonight but I could drive it to the airport and drop it off first thing in the morning.
- More time passes, and more, until it finally gets to the point where I’m probably going to miss my plane. I tell them to call me a taxi and figure out a way for my car to be waiting for me at the track the next morning.
- I get Vin Diesel as a taxi driver, he took my situation as a challenge and wiped 15 minutes off the estimated travel time. I deadset get on the plane while they’re doing the final call.
- Get off plane in Melbourne to a message with a finalised invoice, which asked me to pay my bill before they release the car. Fair enough. It’s $1000 more than quoted and half what I asked for wasn’t done, but the car was a bastard to them so I took it on the chin. Paid then and there.
- Great little night in Melbourne, fly home early the next morning to a message saying tow truck is on its way and should be at the track by 7.45. I get there in an Uber at 8 and he isn’t there yet.
- I wait 15, then call him. “Im 10 minutes away mate.” With 45 minutes until the gate closes for the event I sit on the curb to wait for him
- Finally, just 10 minutes before the gates are locked he arrives, I just make it inside in time, Park it with the other Nissans then catch an Uber straight to work.
- I have a good weekend at the event as mentioned at the start of this post.
- 1KM from home, I feel heavy vibration and rattle. Nurse car home to see puddle of coolant under it and notice a very loose clutch fan. 🤬
- I ring them the next day. They’re shut. Ring the following day, they answer. “Sounds like we were supplied a dodgy water pump from the supplier who stuffed us around with everything else. We definitely didn’t over tighten the belt, we do this for a living, etc, etc.” They’ll cover the tow, labour and a new pump and contact the supplier for their own refund.
- Tow truck grabs car and I ask them to fix some other minor stuff while they’re at it, “no dramas.” They ring me a couple days later and ask me to come grab it and that if I want the other stuff done I’ll need to book it in again.
- Part supplier posts semi-passive aggressive Facebook post about the importance of correct tension of belts and potential risk to water pump. I don’t really know (or care) who to believe anymore.
- I pick car up, drive it home, notice minor coolant leak and that they didn’t put my splash shield back on, decide I really can’t be 🤬 with it anymore.
- Through everything I was as patient, understanding and helpful as I could be with this workshop. Even now, I’m choosing not to name them out of respect for their reputation; the fact that they’re genuinely good, passionate people who had a lot of bad luck; their support of local Motorsport and the fact that nobody else will touch Zs around here and I will probably have to use them again. That doesn’t mean I’m not pretty annoyed by this whole situation and I know that if I use them again, for their sake and mine, no 🤬 deadlines will be involved.
- let Local legend know his part’s arrived and he insists on coming to my house to collect it (pretty sure he just wanted to look at the car
.) Despite his objections, I slipped him some cash as a thankyou for his trouble.- Finally install parts from the US. Write long winded rant on GTPlanet
- Slowly exhale the stress from one of the most ridiculous weeks I’ve ever had.
Anyway... look at my pretty new tail lights
Last edited:
- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
Time to pick up a workshop manual dude and do some DIY. It'll both save you a lot of headaches and give you a lot of headaches but there will be more satisfaction
- 3,694
- South Australia
@Punknoodle & @eiriksmil
This was pretty extreme circumstances and a tight deadline which I really didn’t want to risk messing up. Could you imagine if I dropped coolant on the track and delayed the start of this massive event
(Which nearly ended up happening now that I think about it
)
I’ve never been particularly confident mechanically, and while I like to think I know my way around the Chrysler pretty well now, the Z is a very different car and everything is so tight. I also don’t have dad there to check my work or ask dumb questions to, which is probably more of a reassurance than anything. Tools is a bit of an issue too, but I have been gradually collecting those for a while now.
This whole saga with the Zed does push me back in the direction of DIY to be honest. This time especially, I feel like I did everything right and it still blew up in my face. Nearly quite literally.
For the price of their bill I literally could’ve bought a cheap TT T-Top Z. Or a pretty decent holiday, or a raft of other things that are important in adult life.
Maybe it is time i pick up the spanners again...
This was pretty extreme circumstances and a tight deadline which I really didn’t want to risk messing up. Could you imagine if I dropped coolant on the track and delayed the start of this massive event
(Which nearly ended up happening now that I think about it
)I’ve never been particularly confident mechanically, and while I like to think I know my way around the Chrysler pretty well now, the Z is a very different car and everything is so tight. I also don’t have dad there to check my work or ask dumb questions to, which is probably more of a reassurance than anything. Tools is a bit of an issue too, but I have been gradually collecting those for a while now.
This whole saga with the Zed does push me back in the direction of DIY to be honest. This time especially, I feel like I did everything right and it still blew up in my face. Nearly quite literally.
For the price of their bill I literally could’ve bought a cheap TT T-Top Z. Or a pretty decent holiday, or a raft of other things that are important in adult life.
Maybe it is time i pick up the spanners again...
- 3,694
- South Australia
The local 86/BRZ club is competing in a “club challenge” hill climb event at Collingrove on the 22nd of June. They’re entering two teams of 5; team 86 & team BRZ... naturally.
Unfortunately 86s are more common and we ended up with 6 Toyota’s & 4 Subaru’s. I volunteered to play for the blue brand and to get in the spirit, I’ve ordered some cheapo eBay stickers
My plan is to also cross out my Toyota & 86 badges with really obvious red electrical tape. Just to push the point.
As a final, (though far more purposeful) joke, I happen to have a set of ‘05 STI wheels laying around. I also have the adapter spaces to fit them to a 5x100 car. I test fitted them today to check clearance, and I’m now on the hunt for some cheap second hand semi-slicks
Unfortunately 86s are more common and we ended up with 6 Toyota’s & 4 Subaru’s. I volunteered to play for the blue brand and to get in the spirit, I’ve ordered some cheapo eBay stickers
My plan is to also cross out my Toyota & 86 badges with really obvious red electrical tape. Just to push the point.
As a final, (though far more purposeful) joke, I happen to have a set of ‘05 STI wheels laying around. I also have the adapter spaces to fit them to a 5x100 car. I test fitted them today to check clearance, and I’m now on the hunt for some cheap second hand semi-slicks
- 3,694
- South Australia
Semi Slicks acquired!
A full set of Kenda KR20A, in the Soft 180 Treadwear, in perfect 235/45/R17!
These are well regarded by drifters and tarmac rally guys for the very good grip they provide and low cost. The consensus is that they grip better then the (pretty darn grippy) Nangkang NS2Rs I have on the Zed.
They’ve seen a little bit of use but there’s plenty of life left and they aren’t too old. I got all 4 of them, for less than the cost of 1 new one!
I love it when a plan comes together
A full set of Kenda KR20A, in the Soft 180 Treadwear, in perfect 235/45/R17!
These are well regarded by drifters and tarmac rally guys for the very good grip they provide and low cost. The consensus is that they grip better then the (pretty darn grippy) Nangkang NS2Rs I have on the Zed.
They’ve seen a little bit of use but there’s plenty of life left and they aren’t too old. I got all 4 of them, for less than the cost of 1 new one!
I love it when a plan comes together
- 3,694
- South Australia
Well that was a great day out! It started with an hour’s drive, much of it through suburbia, to the track. The Fluro stickers attracted a lot of general public attention. Like a ridiculous amount. If I was an easily embarrassed person, I probably would’ve regretted doing the “conversion”
On arrival, my team mates from the 86/BRZ club were quick to have a look and a supportive laugh at the car. It was a very positive response from a very friendly group of guys.
Team captain, and BRZ owner, even said he was thinking of buying the stickers for daily duties. I hope he was joking
It’s been 3 years since I’ve done this course, setting a 39.36 at Collingrove in this car in 2016. Since then the cars done around 40,000ks, got a set of cheap semis, gold wheels and Subaru stickers.
The day was a “Club Challenge.” With individual competitor times compared to class records to form a percentage. Which, combined with team mates, creates a team score. Simply, the team whose drivers can all get as close to the record as possible would win. The 86/BRZ club was also awarding trophies... to all 10 of its entrants. My aim was to beat my previous record and hit the top 5.
The course is incredibly steep, cambered and narrow, and it took me the first few runs just to remember and get used to the circuit. I was sitting on a 40 second lap going into my 4th run, when I listened to someone’s advice about taking turn 1 flat, and had a bit of an off. No damage to the car, but a bit of a wake up call. This photo was taken about a second before I left the road.
Run 5 was a solid 39.3, putting me into the 5th spot I was aiming for and just off my own record. Going into the last run of the day, I dropped the Tyre pressures to 25 and tried to tie together a good lap.
I hit a 39.17 in the end which, to my surprise, got me 2nd out of our team of 10. In a field with some very experienced racers and heavily modified 86/BRZs, I was very happy with that!
In the end, my team, team BRZ, took 5th, and team 86 got 10th in the rankings. A good day out for the club, a good laugh for the spectators and some cool photos for GTPlanet. Oh and a tiny little silver trophy. Great day out indeed
Edit: Final results just came through. I was 34th overall (of 73), 4th in class (of 17), 2nd 86/BRZ (of 10) and beat me previous best by 2 10ths.
I’m pretty happy with that
On arrival, my team mates from the 86/BRZ club were quick to have a look and a supportive laugh at the car. It was a very positive response from a very friendly group of guys.
Team captain, and BRZ owner, even said he was thinking of buying the stickers for daily duties. I hope he was joking
It’s been 3 years since I’ve done this course, setting a 39.36 at Collingrove in this car in 2016. Since then the cars done around 40,000ks, got a set of cheap semis, gold wheels and Subaru stickers.
The day was a “Club Challenge.” With individual competitor times compared to class records to form a percentage. Which, combined with team mates, creates a team score. Simply, the team whose drivers can all get as close to the record as possible would win. The 86/BRZ club was also awarding trophies... to all 10 of its entrants. My aim was to beat my previous record and hit the top 5.
The course is incredibly steep, cambered and narrow, and it took me the first few runs just to remember and get used to the circuit. I was sitting on a 40 second lap going into my 4th run, when I listened to someone’s advice about taking turn 1 flat, and had a bit of an off. No damage to the car, but a bit of a wake up call. This photo was taken about a second before I left the road.
Run 5 was a solid 39.3, putting me into the 5th spot I was aiming for and just off my own record. Going into the last run of the day, I dropped the Tyre pressures to 25 and tried to tie together a good lap.
I hit a 39.17 in the end which, to my surprise, got me 2nd out of our team of 10. In a field with some very experienced racers and heavily modified 86/BRZs, I was very happy with that!
In the end, my team, team BRZ, took 5th, and team 86 got 10th in the rankings. A good day out for the club, a good laugh for the spectators and some cool photos for GTPlanet. Oh and a tiny little silver trophy. Great day out indeed
Edit: Final results just came through. I was 34th overall (of 73), 4th in class (of 17), 2nd 86/BRZ (of 10) and beat me previous best by 2 10ths.
I’m pretty happy with that
Last edited:
- 3,694
- South Australia
W Chamberlain Photography captured some amazing shots of the Toyobaru on the weekend. 
And while I was digging through a fellow AMF participants photos, I saw a picture from someone I hadn’t heard of. I followed the link to Dennis Allen Media to find these absolute beauties!
I’m so glad the local car community is supported and documented by such talented people
And while I was digging through a fellow AMF participants photos, I saw a picture from someone I hadn’t heard of. I followed the link to Dennis Allen Media to find these absolute beauties!
I’m so glad the local car community is supported and documented by such talented people
- 3,694
- South Australia
It has been a very long time! Ok, so what’s happened since June 2019?
The Chrysler’s engine got rebuilt (by a professional) and dyno’d, making 520RWKW. It’s something around 800BHP as a manufacturer measures it.
We bought some wider wheels, used some 4WD rubber to flare the guards and got some 315 width Nangkang AR1s for Legend of the Lakes 2019. I found the tyres less grippy than the far narrower (but much more expensive) 265 Advan A050s we’d ran the year before. We didn’t beat our best but a time of 58.87 kept us under the 1 minute barrier and in 47th overall
Not long after that we took it (along with my Dad’s drag Ute) to the Mopar nationals event in country Victoria. Dad, myself and my brother all shared both the cars, and ultimately the Ute hit a 10.02, while traction issues kept the Chrysler to a 12.4 at 130MPH. I’m not too proud to admit that neither time was set by me
In January 2020 came my wedding day,
which, while not strictly car related, did have cars in it. My parents SRT8 Jeep & V8 300c Wagon.
I would’ve preferred my 86 & 300ZX but they unfortunately weren’t practical for the purpose.
After that came our honeymoon, which we were so ridiculously lucky to be able to do that I honestly feel a bit guilty that it happened. Long story short, we planned the wedding and honeymoon in 3 months. Not for any particular reason, no one was dying or pregnant, we’re just not the long-term organisation type of people. But anyway, we landed in Los Angeles 3 hours after America’s first confirmed COVID-19 case, and a month later arrived back to Adelaide 2 weeks before the border was slammed shut.
Apart from using hand sanitizer, our holiday was completely unaffected by CV19. Unlike so many much more organised and deserving people, we not only had a good holiday in 2020, but the best month of our lives... see why I feel a little guilty about it.
While in the US we got to do some cool car things. In California we went to the Petersen museum containing, among other jaw dropping things, the VW IDR and the actual DeLorean from that movie.
I rented a manual, V8, 07 Mustang through a private owner on an App in Las Vegas, and had a blast driving it through the deserts of Nevada, Arizona & California. The yanks are a bit (lot) more lenient on speed limits than we are in Australia, which took some getting used to but was a bit of fun. The best compliment I could give the car is that my wife fell asleep in the passenger seat at 100mph. Good times.
On the opposite side of the country we went through hertz for a rental car. The lady said “you can have any car in bay 1.” There was a Nissan Altima and a Ford F-150. I asked sheepishly, “does that include the pickup truck?” The answer was yes
It probably used lots of fuel, but for the life of me I still don’t know how American money or quarters of gallons actually work so I’m not sure. We drove it from NYC to Philadelphia (literally just to get a philly cheese steak) Washington DC, Gettysburg, then up to Buffalo and across the Canadian border to Toronto. It was a comfy big mile muncher, and it did a great job in the snow.
The automotive highlight of that leg was certainly the Canadian International Auto Show, which we just happened to be in town for. I swear it was a coincidence. It was. Probably... Anyway, I got to see the new Corvette, Mach E Mustang and a Toyota TS050 in the flesh. Dream come true
The engineering highlight, which very slightly beats out the LMP1, and a Space Shuttle, would have to be seeing and sitting inside a Concorde in a museum in NYC. My inner child was, and still is, in complete disbelief that I got to see one up close and go inside.
After that it was 36 hours of straight travel. Leaving Toronto by pickup truck, flying out of JFK to LAX, onto another plane to Brisbane, then a final one home to Adelaide. We were exhausted
In October, I sold the Chameleon 300zx. We’d owned it for over 5 years and with me 4 hours from the car, and the mate I share it with another 10 hours from there, it became obvious we just weren’t going to finish it. In the end we doubled our money on the car and I doubled my money on the bronze LMGT4s I’d put on it. The new owner is intending to get it off defect and back on the road where it belongs. I wish him all the best
That was pretty much it until Legend of the Lakes 2020, where with no changes on the car, and older tyres, we weren’t expecting great things. We also weren’t expecting me to park it in a pile of bark chips
I was a victim to warming confidence and a cooling track at the end of day one. Sorry to say the splitter is no more. Glad to say everything else (including me!) is AOK.
The car was noticeably less planted without the front aero, and I couldn’t better my best time on the 2nd day, even with much nicer weather. It is nice to know that it actually worked, but it’s not how I planned on finding out. I haven’t figured out what I’ll do with splitter V2, but expect it to be even more outlandish and even more functional
Not long after that we found out that my wife, after nearly three years of us trying, is pregnant! The baby is due late April and we are so ridiculously excited!
And that catches us up to now. Thanks for reading GTP amigos, I’m very glad to be back!
The Chrysler’s engine got rebuilt (by a professional) and dyno’d, making 520RWKW. It’s something around 800BHP as a manufacturer measures it.
We bought some wider wheels, used some 4WD rubber to flare the guards and got some 315 width Nangkang AR1s for Legend of the Lakes 2019. I found the tyres less grippy than the far narrower (but much more expensive) 265 Advan A050s we’d ran the year before. We didn’t beat our best but a time of 58.87 kept us under the 1 minute barrier and in 47th overall
Not long after that we took it (along with my Dad’s drag Ute) to the Mopar nationals event in country Victoria. Dad, myself and my brother all shared both the cars, and ultimately the Ute hit a 10.02, while traction issues kept the Chrysler to a 12.4 at 130MPH. I’m not too proud to admit that neither time was set by me
In January 2020 came my wedding day,
which, while not strictly car related, did have cars in it. My parents SRT8 Jeep & V8 300c Wagon.
I would’ve preferred my 86 & 300ZX but they unfortunately weren’t practical for the purpose.
After that came our honeymoon, which we were so ridiculously lucky to be able to do that I honestly feel a bit guilty that it happened. Long story short, we planned the wedding and honeymoon in 3 months. Not for any particular reason, no one was dying or pregnant, we’re just not the long-term organisation type of people. But anyway, we landed in Los Angeles 3 hours after America’s first confirmed COVID-19 case, and a month later arrived back to Adelaide 2 weeks before the border was slammed shut.
Apart from using hand sanitizer, our holiday was completely unaffected by CV19. Unlike so many much more organised and deserving people, we not only had a good holiday in 2020, but the best month of our lives... see why I feel a little guilty about it.
While in the US we got to do some cool car things. In California we went to the Petersen museum containing, among other jaw dropping things, the VW IDR and the actual DeLorean from that movie.
I rented a manual, V8, 07 Mustang through a private owner on an App in Las Vegas, and had a blast driving it through the deserts of Nevada, Arizona & California. The yanks are a bit (lot) more lenient on speed limits than we are in Australia, which took some getting used to but was a bit of fun. The best compliment I could give the car is that my wife fell asleep in the passenger seat at 100mph. Good times.
On the opposite side of the country we went through hertz for a rental car. The lady said “you can have any car in bay 1.” There was a Nissan Altima and a Ford F-150. I asked sheepishly, “does that include the pickup truck?” The answer was yes
It probably used lots of fuel, but for the life of me I still don’t know how American money or quarters of gallons actually work so I’m not sure. We drove it from NYC to Philadelphia (literally just to get a philly cheese steak) Washington DC, Gettysburg, then up to Buffalo and across the Canadian border to Toronto. It was a comfy big mile muncher, and it did a great job in the snow.
The automotive highlight of that leg was certainly the Canadian International Auto Show, which we just happened to be in town for. I swear it was a coincidence. It was. Probably... Anyway, I got to see the new Corvette, Mach E Mustang and a Toyota TS050 in the flesh. Dream come true
The engineering highlight, which very slightly beats out the LMP1, and a Space Shuttle, would have to be seeing and sitting inside a Concorde in a museum in NYC. My inner child was, and still is, in complete disbelief that I got to see one up close and go inside.
After that it was 36 hours of straight travel. Leaving Toronto by pickup truck, flying out of JFK to LAX, onto another plane to Brisbane, then a final one home to Adelaide. We were exhausted
In October, I sold the Chameleon 300zx. We’d owned it for over 5 years and with me 4 hours from the car, and the mate I share it with another 10 hours from there, it became obvious we just weren’t going to finish it. In the end we doubled our money on the car and I doubled my money on the bronze LMGT4s I’d put on it. The new owner is intending to get it off defect and back on the road where it belongs. I wish him all the best
That was pretty much it until Legend of the Lakes 2020, where with no changes on the car, and older tyres, we weren’t expecting great things. We also weren’t expecting me to park it in a pile of bark chips
I was a victim to warming confidence and a cooling track at the end of day one. Sorry to say the splitter is no more. Glad to say everything else (including me!) is AOK.
The car was noticeably less planted without the front aero, and I couldn’t better my best time on the 2nd day, even with much nicer weather. It is nice to know that it actually worked, but it’s not how I planned on finding out. I haven’t figured out what I’ll do with splitter V2, but expect it to be even more outlandish and even more functional
Not long after that we found out that my wife, after nearly three years of us trying, is pregnant! The baby is due late April and we are so ridiculously excited!
And that catches us up to now. Thanks for reading GTP amigos, I’m very glad to be back!
Last edited:
