Hayden's Cars- Annual update!

[Hayden]

I'm never, ever, ever going to give a time frame when it comes to working on my cars again. So, just like that a month has passed, however I do have extremely exciting news!

I had a mate around a while back to help with bleeding the brakes, just to find fluid leaking from the drivers side caliper. And, when I went to back it out of the shed to give it a wash on a lazy sunday, I discovered I'd failed and the anoying tailshaft rattle was still there. So, I basically threw up my hands, walked inside and played videogames for a while.

Last week I decided that there is no point owning the car If I can't use it and that my lack of time, mechanical knowledge and patience would not allow me to finish it. So, slightly embarrassed, I gave a call to the local mechanic that my parents trust to look after their SRT8 Jeep and told him to just finish the 🤬 thing.

I had to wait for a booking to open up, and this morning I snuck the car to his shop with next to no brakes and the incredibly annoying rattle. I can now say though, it was totally worth it. He had no problem rectifying both issues, along with many small other things he found while giving the car a very thorough going over. At the end of the day all he said was...

"The radiator fan's got a little flex in it under acceleration, so don't push it too hard or you might have a blade go through your radiator."



With that in mind I jumped in and went for a playful yet conservative drive. I did some cruising around town then headed out to get a feel for the car at highway speed. It was just as I remembered, with the top down, the music up and sun setting in the rear view all of life's issues just melt away

After a few minutes I happened to glance down to notice an immediate issue that wouldn't just melt away. I was nearly out of fuel, so I reluctantly headed back into town. I was just 500m from a servo when It coughed, spluttered and died. I'd never ran out of fuel before tonight but between getting swept up in the moment and the Vert's lack of a fuel light, I guess this was bound to happen


There's a car cruise this Sunday that I'll be going on and depending on the weather I'm hoping to take the Vert. After driving it tonight I'm really, really hoping the sun is out. The turbo sounds are super intoxicating ... Not to mention the rush when they kick!

Tonight showed me why I've spent all the time, money and effort on this thing. There's just nothing better than a cruise to nowhere in a cool car

Cheers for reading GTP! Without your support I don't think I would have ever had the motivation to get this thing done! While I'm not proud that I had to call in the experts, it just got to the point where enough was enough. So, putting that and the fan issue aside, I'm calling it there. The bloody thing is finally done!

 

[Korza]

I wish there was a way to like the post more than once.

It looks amazing dude. 👍

 

[Stavingo]

Whoa the Z32 looks so good

 

[Hayden]

So today was the first true test of the Zed and I'm stoked to say it didn't miss a beat!

The car ran well all day and despite a slight whine in the gearbox, there is nothing negative to report on the car at all. I'm unsure what this whine is, or the possible causes of it, but it almost makes it sound like a race car's gearbox. The oil level is fine so I fear I might be looking at an expensive fix down the road...


With that aside though, it was a great day. I even won a prize in the meat raffle and bought this extremelly fashionable pink helmet in the charity auction! Hey there GTP

 

[Hayden]

In the wake of "finishing" the conversion I've been doing a lot of thinking about my future, both automotive and beyond. I read an article in a magazine recently that talked about the feelings I've had.

Performance Imports #194
What I've seen is the build finishes, the car is driven and there seems nothing left to do... You drive it and your head starts to wonder "what if" again. It's the same problem as people who come into retirement. They've spent most of their lives working. Suddenly finding themselves with infinite time on their hands they grow bored and (more often than not) drop dead.

You see humans need purpose. We need projects and plans and ways to tinker. Hunting and gathering these days is done with product catalogues and part websites.

The article covers In broad stokes the trend of people pouring money, time and effort into a build, then selling it when they're done. I think you see where I'm going with this...

Guess again. No the Vert is not for sale, nor will it be in the forseeable future. In fact, much the opposite is true. I've decided to keep working on it, and I'm going to move to the city. Long story short, the positivies for my girlfriend and I, coupled with the oppurtunity I've been presented, are far too good to pass up. It's set to happen in January next year.

Basically this means I'll be putting way less KMs on the 86 (currently at 32,xxx) and won't need to use it as a daily. I'm pretty sure I'll hold onto it for the next couple of years, eventually trading it in on something more family friendly... Like a WRX STI

I'll also be closer to capable mechanics and in reach of regular cruises actually suited to my cars. I've brought the only Japanese car to the last 4 I've been on and nearly everyone there has been twice my age. While it doesn't bother me, the prospect of getting to see some cool JDM metal and meet fellow young car people has me pretty keen.

And finally, the most exciting prospect is that I'll be within an hour's drive of three different race circuits. One of which, Tailem Bend Motorsport park, is currently undergoing a huge transformation. It's going from a runway with a skid pan, to a world class Motorsport facility, set to open in 2017. The word excited doesn't even come close

As for the mean time, it's full steam ahead on saving money for the big move! This will be the first time my girlfriend and I have ever lived together, so I want to have as much money set aside as possible to make it a smooth, relaxed transition. But I also want to buy car parts because reasons.

With that in mind, I couldn't help myself and bought a couple things today. The first is a Greddy Profec BSpec 2 electronic boost controller. I'll have that installed when I get the Vert tuned early next year. (Not my hand )


The second is a set of tail lights with a genuine 2k spec centre panel. It features red 300zx lettering and is worth about twice what I paid for the lot. This stuff should all be here next week some time.


I intend to complete and sell the chamealeon car prior to moving. I also need to get rid of the wreck and all of the leftover parts... I might have to get my 🤬 together on all that!

 

[Hayden]

So, i'm right in the middle of a very Mopar couple of weekends. Last weekend I went to Adelaide with some mates for a lads trip. It was a pretty standard adventure, except for the car we took. My mate is a panel beater by trade and has just finished working on his Chrysler Valiant VJ Ranger.

Fortunately, I don't drink, so I was the designated driver and got to cruise around the city while everybody else consumed copious amounts of alcohol. Its column shift manual, tired brakes, heavy clutch and low rev reluctance made for a very analog experience that was actually really fun!

That's not even taking into account the reaction it gets from people. I'm used to driving cars that turn heads, but this thing snapped freaking necks! Everywhere we went saw constant thumbs ups, smiles and staring. One of many funny occasions saw me pull up at a set of lights near a park, where a class of college students were out and about. A few of them turned and stared, so seeing their smiles, I gave it a quick couple revs and the whole group cheered like they'd just seen a goal scored. The passengers all agreed that the teacher was the first one with his thumb in the air 👍

It was a pleasure to drive the old beast and I'll admit that it did put a few ideas in my head. I take pride in respecting other people's cars and not judging them until after I've sat in their seat. Don't get me wrong, I love my Japanese sports cars, but after the weekend I can definitely see the draw of a big, thirsty, charismatic old boat with more presence than an angry lion. Doesn't mean I'm gonna buy one though! I like the sound of blow off valves too much

If all goes well, I'll be getting to drive another Valiant this weekend, but I'll do a proper post about it in the next couple days. All I'm gonna say for now is "Methanol"

 

[SVX]

Why not both? RB Valiant sounds intriguing.

 

[Hayden]

@SVX- Intriguing indeed! An RB26DETT powered Centura or Galant would make for a very, very fun car. I don't think I'd put one in a full size Valiant though, purely because the 6 cylinder 265 hemi they have is an excellent engine in its own right. The E49 Valiant Charger pretty much speaks for itself in that regard. I suppose turbocharging one isn't completely out of the question though

So I wasn't planning this, but seeing as it happened and it ties in with the theme of this week, I'll talk about it. Today I drove another piece of Mopar. This one, is my dad's Dodge RAM 2500 V10 Magnum.

He's only had it a couple months and I'd never actually used it before, but I had some freight to deliver that was to tall to fit inside the roof of the truck. Seeing as the Ram already had the trailer attached, I got to take it for a couple hours of driving to drop off the cattle ramp. There is a few perks to working for your parents... Especially when they're mad car people

What can I really say except 'Murika. It's big, wide, long and powerful. It's V10 is a big, lazy bastard that feels like it's not even trying as it accelerates and pulls weight. Give it a little bit of stick though and it's creeping over the speed limit before you know it. It was also quite comfortable, very spacious and towed really, really well.

I definitely walked away impressed with the Ram. While it's certainly a far more industrially focused vehicle than their SRT8 Jeep, it's very good at its job and cool in its own right

Tomorrow night I'll talk about Mopar #3. I'll just add that the word "Cage" will be mentioned. Just to keep your interest

 

[Hayden]

So I guess it's time to stop with the hints and get down to business. I've mentioned previously that my Dad has a drag car and that I wouldn't really talk about it in here because I don't drive it. Well.... That's about to change.

He rang me up on Monday and asked if I'd like to drive it for him at the Heathcote 1/4 mile for the Mopar Nationals drag competition. He entered last year and they rang him up last week to tell him that his car is a crowd favourite and they'd really like to see it back. While dad feels perfectly capable of driving the car, he feels his reactions are too slow off the line and so, I got the phone call.

It's a 1969 Valiant VF ute. I went with him about 10 years ago to pick up an unmolested 225 slant 6 powered farmer's ute from Glen Rowen; home of Australia's most famous bush ranger. Driving miles to buy old Chryslers was a pretty regular thing during my childhood, as dad collected them like some people do stamps. This time though, was different. Rather than flipping, restoring or wrecking it, he had his sights set on building his own drag car.

The first thing he did was tackle the paintwork. He settled on Devil Yellow from the (at the time) brand new Holden Monaro. He then painted the bonnet black in the style of the Valiant Pacer, just like my mate would go on to do to the VJ Ranger that I talked about the other day. I still remember complaining while helping dad wetsand the ute that I'd much rather be playing Gran Turismo 4

It was then used on a couple car cruises before he ripped out the 6 and dropped in the 360 V8 it has now. Over time it's been fully built, bored and stroked to a 408, supercharged, methanol injected and completely transformed into this monster. Dad has done all the major work, including welding in the cage, in his own shed. The car currently produces upwards of 800BHP and runs a low 10 second quarter mile.

Which is all well and good but the last time I drove on a drag strip was 5 years ago, in my first car that couldn't pull the skin off a custard tart. Add to that the fact that this ute is still using standard, entry level 1969 suspension and brakes... It's fair to say I'm a little bit nervous.

Alas, I'm always up for a challenge! The event is on Saturday where the temperature is set to be 37*c+. This is obviously Ideal temperature for wearing a helmet, fireproof suit and sitting in a greenhouse with a massive heat source and no air conditioner . Temperature aside, it promises to be quite the event!

I'll be bringing my Go Pro and doing a detailed write up on the day so you'll be able to see and read all about what happens, be it good or bad... Assuming I survive the latter

 

[Hayden]

So we went to Heathcote on the weekend and I got to drive the car that's probably more responsible for my love of cars than any other in the world, Ol Yela.

The day started with the 4 hour drive to the track, with dad giving me a few explanations regarding the switches on the dash board. There's the line locker, which disables the rear brakes for the warm up burnout; the ignition switch; the "i don't know what the hell that even does" switch and the thermo fan, which I'd have to turn on as soon as I crossed the line. It also has a transbrake button on the steering wheel, which would allow me to get the car to optimum (around 3k) rpm and release it as soon as the light goes green.

As I awkwardly stepped through the roll cage for the first time, I suddenly became quite nervous. After all, it is a nearly 50 year old, 1.6 tonne utility vehicle with 800BHP and 800 ft Ibs of torque. Idling it to the track was difficult, as it creeps very quickly and the front wheels rub on the exhaust if you turn too tight, but I eventually made it there. As the marshall waved me up to the water for my burnout, I ignored the nerves and the advice to take it easy. I held the brake and gave it an absolute bootful. Instantly the shift light blared in my face and I let go of the brake and allowed the car to gain traction. As I coasted to a stop, put it in reverse and prepared for the proper launch, I knew I was in for a hell of a ride. I crept up to the line, engaged the transbrake, watched the tree and launched the car as hard as I could.

When you're driving a car, you feel it accelerate. When you're in a fast car, you feel it accelerate rapidly and push you into your seat. In this thing, I didn't even feel acceleration. It seemingly went from stationary to holy 🤬 instantly. I backed off momentarily, recovered from the shock and put my foot back down. As the rev light blared again I hit the B&M shifter into 2nd (top) gear and carefully rode out the last couple hundred meters to cross the line in 10.8. At high speed the car moved around a lot, which was both scary as hell and incredibly exciting. What a rush.

I came back to the pits, talked over the run with my dad and tried to calm myself from the ridiculous feeling I'd just felt. Before long, I was back in line and running through what I needed to do in my head. I got the left lane this time and did a quick, first gear burnout before lining up again. I now knew what to expect and was focused as I watched the lights like a hawk. I was at 2k RPM with the trans brake when the third yellow showed. I released the button, planted my foot and held on for dear life. This time, the shift light started flashing before the end of the strip when I was in top gear, so I backed off. This run turned out to be a 10.4 and it felt phenomenal. Talking to dad later, he said that in the next run I should hold it through that, because the light is set up on the safe side.

So as I lined up for the third run, I felt confident that I had all my ducks in a row and I was ready to do a good run to establish the dial in time for eliminations later in the day. I pulled into the water and floored the car. As the RPMs climbed I shifted up and held the brakes to do my best burnout of the day. As I came to a stop and put it in reverse however, I caught a glimpse of someone running in my rear view. He ran to my window waving his arms and telling me to turn off the car. I immediately did, undid the harness and jumped out the car. There was a long line of oil where I had been and the car was still leaking.

As it turns out it was transmission fluid, as the car had snapped the 4 bolts that hold the torque converter to the flywheel. It's a testament to just how much torque it has, but at the time all we knew was that we, were going home. It was a long, dull trip knowing I never got to do a run I felt happy with and that we didn't get a chance in the eliminations. It would've been cool to try finishing high up! But that's racing.

Overall I really enjoyed my drag racing experience, and will happily take the car out again, but I do know that I'd never build a drag car. The cost, effort and travel required for such minimal track time, even with the amazing rush, just doesn't add up. Dad built this car a long time before he knew anything about drifting, and in hindsight he wishes he'd seen the light years ago. Being the Mopar nut that he is, he speculates that a turbo'd SRT8 drift car probably would have been the result.

With that aside, we have this thing now and it is damn fun! There's another event on at an 1/8 mile track this weekend that we might go too. If not, I'm not sure when the next event will be... I might have to go back to talking about my own cars for a while

 

[carracerptp]

That was a good read, it sound like even with the break down it was a fun day!

 

[Nismo34]

After seeing the Facebook post, how did I know there was going to be a write-up? Definitely a good read, got me hyped for that last run just a pity it broke 👎 Also good to see the vert going 👍

 

[Hayden]

@Nismo34- Am I really that predictable ? In all seriousness, 90% of the people on my Facebook have no interest in cars whatsoever so when I post there, It's usually nothing more than a digestible headline and a quick video. I know that a majority of my "friends" still won't stop for it, but I like to make it accessible for them.

When I post on GTP however, I feel comfortable to get into the nitty gritty because the people here genuinely have an interest in cars. I'm sure some folk on GTP may skim read my posts and look at the pictures, but I like to put in the extra effort for those that are interested. Partly because I have a long established obsession with archiving things, but mostly because I really like it when others post in a way that makes me feel like I was there and I know I'm not the only one


My Facebook friends only get the headline, my amigos get the full article.

 

[Cano]

Yes. All of the yes from Mexico to Australia.

Cano-approved.

 

[Hayden]

Accidental post, sorry folks!

EDIT: To explain, I sometimes start posts than slowly add to them as I find a spare minute. Unfortunately, my phone occasionally glitches out at exactly the wrong time, causing me to press the post button when it's not finished.... Or in this case, when I'm one line into a long write up and its too late at night to finish it properly.

So, from here on out, I'll be drafting out my posts in the notes section of my phone which unfortunately puts them into a strange font. If anyone knows what GTP's standard font is called in the forum code, please tell me!

 

[Watchman]

 

 

[Hayden]

Thanks @NP!

My dad had to work, so unfortunately we didn't get to take the ute out again. Luckily I've got my own cars to talk about

Thursday evening after work, I felt the sudden urge to drive the 30 minutes to my parents place to spend some quality time with the chamealeon cars. My weekends are always busy so It's been months since I've seen them, but with moving day fast approaching, I need to find the time.

So the first thing I did was address the very tatty old 2K spec replica tail lights on the good the one. I'm sure that when they were first done, these taillights would've looked pretty good, but after quite a few years they have significantly deteriorated.

I decided that the best solution was to put the pair of original taillights I got with my genuine 2K spec centre panel onto it. About an hour and 20 bolts later and it was done.


Next I took the taillights I'd just removed from the good one and put them onto the wreck with the worst centre panel I had laying around. While none of these parts were in good condition I feel that by having them, the car seems more complete which may make it more inviting for prospective buyers. After the guy with the idea of turning it into an LS3 powered drift car pulled out (leaving me his deposit) I'm really hoping someone with a similar idea comes and picks this thing up. I don't want to scrap it but I'm running out of time


After that it was back to the good one where I decided to spend some time trying to clean up its boot area. While doing so I found a full role of garbage bags, a lot of speaker wiring, a pair of old Seat covers and this cool little Acura NSX made by Hotwheels Malaysia. I don't know why, but I find it really cool that I found a modified Japanese hot wheels car in a modified Japanese real car.


A while back I decided that I wanted to put my bronze LM GT4s on the good Chamealeon car, so I had the illegal tyres on the rear replaced with a brand new pair of Kumho RE003s (from memory). I got them from the shop that supplies our drift tyres so he cut me a really good deal!


That was back in June () but I never got around to fitting them.... Until now

 

[Korza]

Does that mean I don't get the bronze LMGT4s?

 

[Hayden]

Does that mean I don't get the bronze LMGT4s?

Money talks

My plan was to basically use them to help the car look good in the ad when it comes time to sell it. There would then be a note at the bottom that it comes on S15 stockies unless they're willing to pay extra for the LM GT4s.

If you are seriously interested though mate, send me a message and we can talk numbers. I'd be happy to arrange shipping And as I said a while back, I'd let them go cheaper to a GTP member than a random civilian. Not too cheap though, they're pretty special and I'm still in love with them

 

[Korza]

Money talks

My plan was to basically use them to help the car look good in the ad when it comes time to sell it. There would then be a note at the bottom that it comes on S15 stockies unless they're willing to pay extra for the LM GT4s.

If you are seriously interested though mate, send me a message and we can talk numbers. I'd be happy to arrange shipping And as I said a while back, I'd let them go cheaper to a GTP member than a random civilian. Not too cheap though, they're pretty special and I'm still in love with them

As much as I love them (and they would look awesome on the Max) the money isn't there for me to buy them. Plus I have plans for the Max which I'm putting my money towards.

Maybe one day I'll get a set LMGT4s...

 

[Hayden]

@Korza- No worries at all man, I'm more than happy to keep them. I reckon they'll look pretty sweet on the Skyline if we ever take it to a track day or hill climb

 

[Ibonibo]

*Damn son.jpg*

DAT Z looks gorgeous... been lurking without liking or commenting... nice updates as always...

 

[Hayden]

December 27th, marked the 2 year anniversary since I purchased the first 86. It's been an amazing 24 months, with plenty of ups and downs, but I'm glad to say I still love this car and I only have 1 year of loan repayments left. It's currently sitting at 36,000KMs.

Fortunately I was in Adelaide filling in for work these last couple days and I had a lot of spare time and access to my mum's new Nikon D5500 DSLR. I spent about 8 hours over two days just cruising through the hills roads, enjoying this excellent sports car in it's natural habitat and trying to capture the moment.

I'm no photographer by any stretch, especially compared to the guys on here. I didn't touch any settings, modes or options and these photos are unedited. There were some locations that were nicer than these but there was sadly no where safe to pull up. With all that said, I hope you guys enjoy

Spoiler

Images in full size are here

 

[SVX]

Love that shot of the badge 👍

 

[Hayden]

@SVX- Cheers man! As soon as I saw this shed I knew I had to get a picture of it and after about 7 shots of the badge, I finally got one I liked. Here's a photo that shows you the signs on the shed a little better full size

With the next Matsuri event on the horizon, we've been looking into our options going forward for the skyline. Dad is insistent that it should have more power sooner rather than later, and while I feel that I still have a lot to learn with it's current output, more power would be handy for some of the longer sections of Mallala. We put the call out looking for a turbo, manifold etc. to produce 300rwkw and had a few people offer their setups. However, dad is something of an idea's man and he's had a crazy one.

He's been working on turning a late 30's Dodge pickup truck into a burnout car for a while now, with the end goal of using an SRT8's 6.4 litre V8 and possibly turbo charging it... Well he got his tape measure out and now he's certain that his desired engine will fit inside the Skyline. The SRT8 engine is around 300rwkw stock with limitless power obtainable through the aftermarket. It's also verry torquey, bulletproof and surprisingly cost effective.

The parts we need to hit the 300rwkw mark with the RB25 total around $3000, with more easily being spent if we aren't very careful. Written off, salvage titled 2013 300c SRT8s go for around $6000. By the time we strip and sell the interior, driveline, undamaged panels and the RB25, we should be able to get it for next to nothing. It's going to take a whole lot of work and there's bound to be issues that arise during fitting, but considering the positives, we feel it's worth it.

With our future plans in mind, we decided that it'd be a good idea to get a bit more experience under my belt before we take the plunge. No matter how you swing it, $3000 each is a considerable amount of money, so we want to lessen the risk of me sending it straight into a barrier as much as possible.
So we've welded the diff, bought a shimmed up one as a spare and got our hands on a power steering pump so it'll be ready for January 14. I've gotta say, I'm very keen to see how it drives without having the horsepower disappear through the unloaded wheel mid-drift and am just plain excited to get back out there! Motorsport is an addicting drug.

 

[Ibonibo]

I actually like the idea of a Hemi Skyline...

Interested in the outcome of this, handling wise...

Do you have the loads of the engines and transmissions?

 

[Hayden]

@Ibonibo- The precise weight of both setups is hard to find, but with our research we estimate that we'll be adding about 150kg to the car. Obviously weight is the enemy in any performance car but it's a price we're willing to pay. As for power, stock vs stock the Hemi has nearly twice the power. The Skyline obviously isn't stock though and is only about 50BHP shy of the V8 as it sits. However, the most important thing is its potential and while the RB is a famously tough engine, the extra displacement of the Hemi and its strong American aftermarket sees many 1000+ BHP options available.

While this is obviously possible with an RB as well, it requires a great amount of modification, tuning and money that we feel would be better spent on making something really unique. At the end of the day both engines have their upsides, but as a project that combines my interests with dad's, we just can't go past the SRT's Hemi.


Since owning the Skyline, Dad and I have developed a habit of leaving everything we need to do to get the car ready as late as humanly possible. It's not done on purpose, we're just two busy people that don't get much free time. Although it has worked out pretty well for us so far, it's only a matter of time until the midnight rush catches up to us. Worried we'll end up driving 5 hours only for something we've botched to blow up in our face, this time we decided to get it done early.

We started with the handbrake, which despite being functional, was somewhat inconvenient to use in its old position. Due to its awkward angle and close proximity with the shifter, you could never really get a good grab or strong pull on it. With some new mounting points welded in and the old ones ground off, it was soon in and looking good. Most importantly though, the new location is ideal, allowing a proper, natural motion to lock the wheels.


Next up was the power steering pump, whose failure put us on the trailer last Matsuri. Dad had a feeling that the issue may be with a valve, rather than the entire pump so pulled them from both the skyline and the replacement pump I bought the other day. To our surprise, they were completely different looking parts, but the replacement bolted straight in. There is many different PS pumps available for RB engines, depending on year, capacity and whether or not the car has HICAS rear wheel steering. To our shock, the different part not only worked with our existing pump, but made the steering incredibly light. The Skyline has always had heavy steering which has made drifting it quite hard on a driver's arms and shoulders. It's going to take some getting used too, but this is a very welcome change!

While dad was doing that, I was "repairing" some damage that had occurred while the car was in the shed. It is a place of work and it seems that someone may have hit it with a pallet or forklift, breaking its (already bodged together) passenger side front bumper mounts. Naturally nobody is admitting to it and we're blaming a former co-worker who was a bit useless. Cause aside, a bit of drilling and cable tying later and the Skyline was looking like a proper drift car

Next we bleed the brakes, as in the rush to have it ready for the last drift event, we hadn't managed to get all the air out of the lines. This meant I had lots of trouble locking the rear wheels and when you're trying to drift, that's a rather large problem.

After completing the age old process of pump, pump, hold "yep" push "yep", we took it for a quick test in our paddock. The handbrake was locking like a champion and the welded diff and repaired PS pump made it feel like a completely different car. Faster, sharper, more sensitive and yet so much easier to handle. I am literally gonna have to relearn this thing from the ground up next Saturday.


Unfortunately, after the quick play it became clear that we had a problem with the car leaking oil from somewhere around its centre. A quick look found it to be brake fluid and on closer inspection it was clear that during our re-routing of the handbrake, the braided line had been pushed against the sharp edge of the bodywork and been cut open. There was also a small leak around the handbrake, as the fitting we created in a rush a few months back, seems not to have been up to the task. So we removed it and are getting a new one while we buy the replacement braided line.


With as much of the important stuff done as possible, dad went home and I focused on trying to make the car look a little more presentable. I gave it a quick wash and cut & polish by hand to remove the white overspray that's been making the car look almost pink for years now. I followed that up with a run over with the random orbital polisher I got for Christmas and some Turtle Wax polish. It was dark by the time I finished so no proper photos yet, but at least it'll be nice and cleancome the drift day.

 

[Hayden]

I edited together a quick video of the day. Enjoy it guys!

(I've put the video in the spoiler because the Facebook comments contain swearing.)

Spoiler: Video

Yesterday saw us venture once again to Mallala for the Matsuri drift event and I'm pleased to say that all went well!

While normally I like to start the day with a session in the skid pan, this time we were a little late so by the time we were ready it was my class' turn on the track. Having not done a drift event for quite a while and with the car behaving very differently, this first session was a bit of a mess. I found myself constantly spinning and running off while I tried to come to grips with the car.

With my session over I went straight to the skid pan, which was unusually unpopular. I drove straight on and got a good 10 minute session to myself to get used to the car. One of the biggest things I found was that the car didn't want to lose traction as easily and that this caused me to either throw or rev the car harder depending on the circumstance.

A while back we adjusted our rear camber down, as the angle was torturing the inner part of our rear tyres. The old setup did have its advantages though, such as making the car more planted while sliding and having less rubber on the road on entry, helping to get it sideways. Dad proposed bringing in the upper control arms to bring some angle back. We took them in 5mm each on the thread, from 80 to 75 and the difference was noticeable. Not sure what the actual angle is though

On my next session on the big track i noticed that the car was losing power while mid-drift at the top of 3rd gear. Suspecting a fuel issue, we tried cleaning out the fuel regulator, but after a quick test, the issue was still there and had gotten worse. It was now stealing power in second gear as well and putting a lot of load on the fuel pump, causing it to become very noisy.

Clutching at straws we pulled the fuel pump from the tank and immediately noticed an that there was an issue with the filter that the fuel is sucked through. What should be a spotless, copper coloured empty mesh bag was visibly red with large dark sections also visible. After putting it in a bucket of clean petrol and spending about 10 minutes twisting, prodding and squeezing it, the fuel had turned brown with floating bits of red. This had come from an emergency repair we did years ago, at one of our very first gymkhanas, when we had to repair the fuel pump's broken O-ring with some gasket creator dad found laying around. Some of this stuff had clearly worked loose into the tank, been sucked into the filter then clogged it up. Thus stopping the car getting fuel and causing the issues I mentioned earlier.

With this fixed, the car was far happier to rev and my next two sessions were far better. The car felt noticeably more powerful throughout the rev range and I was far more successful in controlling the car mid-drift.

Toward the end of the day I could feel the issue coming back as the pump sucked up a bit more of the gasket stuff. With it getting dark and me having just one session remaining, we decided to get a head start on the 5 hour drive home. We worked out on the drive home that I got about 3 hours track time, which is definitely a record

 

[Ibonibo]

Very nice 👍

 

[Hayden]

I've been interested in the new Mustang since it was announced they'd be sold in Australia and I even enquired about the price of a V8 manual convertible to my local dealer about 12 months ago. Unfortunately the number he gave me was ridiculous ($40k larger than what would become the RRP), so I forgot about it and moved on with my life. A couple weeks ago a Black, V8, automatic hardtop arrived at my local dealer, and I immediately picked my jaw up and ran in to book a test drive.

Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to drive the V8 due to their insurance policy but I was still able to drive a Mustang. This particular one was an Ecoboost Auto convertible. It had literally just came off the truck and only a mechanic had driven it (and that was only around the dealership) before me. I was the first person to drive either a turbo 4 or a convertible Mustang around the streets of my town. Even before someone who'd paid cash for his V8 'vert over 6 months ago

I'm happy to report that I liked pretty much everything about the car. Particular highlights were its strong & muscular lines, sporty and high-tech interior, excellent ride and handling, extremely quiet cabin with the roof down, the roof's simple operating system and the way sitting in the driver's seat makes you feel. There's no cars like the Mustang in Australia. It has no competitors and its predecessors were so expensive after importing and converting, that they're incredibly rare. It looks, drives and feels incredibly unique.


I was however, not particularly impressed with the ecoboost engine or the automatic gearbox. While I'm sure it's a quick car in its own right, the lack of sound, drama, a clutch and a proper shifter made it feel somewhat dull. It's worth considering that my other cars probably influenced this, with the Skyline & 300zx both being loud, brash, tail happy and really engaging with their power delivery.

With this in mind I asked to go for a passenger ride in the V8 and the salesman who took me out left nothing to the imagination. The sound and power of the V8 put an immediate smile on my face and while the lack of engagement was still there, I figured a manual box would probably fix that. I knew in my heart that I wanted one, really, really badly.

So I sat at the table with the dealer and talked turkey for a while. I came with the knowledge that by selling both the 86 & Vert, I could walk into the Mustang with about the same loan I got for the 86 two years ago. Payments wouldn't change and I'd only need to pay one lot of registration and insurance, which would actually work out a fair bit cheaper. The numbers he gave me added up, but there was a problem. The Mustang is not offered in Australia as a manual convertible and special orders are not possible due to government import regulations.

I mulled over it for a few days trying to decide if the softop or gearbox was more important to me. I had moments where I lent in either direction but I ended up deciding that if I was getting rid of two great cars, I'd need to be getting one that was 100% perfect. I didn't want to be left wanting and I knew that with an automatic gearbox or hardtop I always would be. I rang the dealer and told him the bad news and he promised to get in touch if Ford ever decide to bring in what I want. Part of me is disappointed but knowing there's a 14 month waiting list and I would've spent 3 more years in debt has helped me sleep at night.


I'm not sure what my next car will be, or how many years until I get it, but here's some news on my current ones....

- The good chamealeon car has its inspection next Tuesday and there's a couple more things I need done by then. Expect a new post in here about that in the next couple days.
- The wreck needs to find a new owner ASAP. I've put it online and have a few serious parties interested. Expect to see it gone in the next couple of weeks.
- The 86 is just a few hundred Ks from being due for a service. It'll be getting done on Monday.
- We lost an auction for a 300c donor car for the skyline by just $100 last week. We're pretty serious on the idea and will be waiting for another to show up.
- The Vert's at a mechanic to get that fan issue sorted. I've barely driven it due to fear of this issue, so I'm looking forward to getting it back and actually using it!

Thanks for reading!