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 My First Foray Into Drifting With An R31 S3 5spd - The car, my mods so far, and progress skill-wise  

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lil_bobby_260
  • lil_bobby_260
  • Jesus loves you. I think your an ass.
  • Member No.: 125,208
  • Joined: 28-June 08
  • Posts: 5,113
  • From: Bellmere
Post #1 post 10th May 2009 - 11:09 PM
<PST RECENT PICS ARE ON PAGE 11...

EDIT - Mods so far -
Pod filter with CAI, MSD Coil, TG 8.8mm Leads, Bosch Super 4 plugs, 2.5" cat back exhaust, chipped ecu with leeched tune settings, Surge tank and VL Turbo fuel pump, minispool diff centre, short shifter, new brake pads and rotors, new shocks and lowered, heavier rate springs, Whiteline front and rear swaybars with nolathane bushes, all fresh fluids and filters including gearbox and diff.
NEXT ON LIST - strut brace, 4.11 diff ratio (5speeds all come with a 3.7), and front camber adjustment.

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The story...
With some track racing experience in an MX5 Cup car and a SSS Pulsar in Top Gear events and hillclimbs, a couple of weeks ago i decided to pick up a cheap car with the intention of making something drift-worthy out of it.
.
Had a look around and found, here on Boost, an 11th month 1988 R31, with original RB30E and 5speed.
Silver paint in pretty rough condition, but very straight panels and not even the tiniest bit of rust - not even SURFACE rust. Interior is like a new car, amazing. No cracks, rips, tears or anything. And nothing missing. Took it for a drive, VERY strong engine, very grippy clutch, and no dramas spinning tyres through first and second gear. Slight whine from the gearbox in first gear. No diff chatter.
.
Parted with the cash and took it home.
.
Next day - Gave it a good clean, looks like it just rolled out the factory except for the faded roof paint. Nearly a shame to do what we're about to, but its all in fun. We had initially decided to strip the interior, but decided that for what the weight difference is worth, its just in too good condition to pull apart.
Serviced it - engine oil and filter, new plugs, tested lead resistance, radiator flushed and refilled. Runs a bit smoother and cold starts better with the new plugs.
Painted the bonnet in satin black. Normally i wouldnt, but the bonnet had been rubbed back and painted in primer by the previous owner at some stage, so needed a quick hit of paint to stop it turning to shit.
Looks tough as haha.
.
That night - Had a couple of beers while sitting there lookin at it. Its pretty cool haha. Got rid of about 40kg of towbar. While i was under there i figured i'd ditch the muffler, so it now has nothing but a cat, then a pipe that dumps at the diff. Actually made a noticeable difference to power (will start slides on corners where it normally wouldnt) and is actually not that loud. Can be driven quietly no problems.
.
Day four - Up on chassis stands - fitted 4 new brembo rotors, bendix ceramic brake pads, and pulled down and reco'd the calipers with new grease and seals. Squirted through some super dot 4 and brakes are much better! Brake lines in great nick.
.
Day 8 - new springs arrived today, so picked up my new shocks and fitted these. Nolathane bushes for the swaybars combined with lowered, heavier rate springs and some cheap (but tried and tested) ultima shocks make for a HUGE i repeat HUGE, MASSIVE difference in handling, without compromising driveability. Again, we were going to run coilovers but because of the condition of the car, decided we wanted it to remain useful and comfy enough as a daily.
Could do with stiffer anti-swaybars, and im not sure if front and rear strut braces do much on these models...?
.
Last night - Fitted short shifter, boss kit and aftermarket 'drift' steering wheel. Super fun to drive and highly recommended! really updates the feel of the car, and makes shifting and steering much more manageable.
.
Today - Started rubbing back the roof and bootlid etc with 1200 ready for paint. I have painted inside the engine bay and boot, and the underside of the bonnet. Door jams etc are in great condition and so are the rubbers, so seeing as im painting the car its original silver, im going to leave them.
.
I have a set of white 16x7 lightweight jap wheels from a 180SX that will go on it once my spacers arrive, and also have a pair of 16x8 watanabes with enough tread for some practice at the local industrial estate.
.
Tracking down extractors at the moment, to do a full exhaust, and have parts sitting there to make a decent cold air intake with a decent looking feed from the front bar using a down pipe coupler that i will fibreglass to the front bar. Should look great and be very effective. I also have a minispool, and a new diff gasket and 2L of oil sitting there waiting for when i get serious!
.
I'll post some pics up of the work we've been doing, and keep this thread going with future mods and progress! If you see me out, give me a beep or come say hello!

This post has been edited by lil_bobby_260: Sep 3 2009, 12:32 AM
 

--------------------
Helping smart-arses look like dumb-arses since August '85
Me on TripleJ and smashin it!
72 Ford Galaxie (557 stroker in build)
73 XB Falcon (351/toploader/9")
80 CM Chrysler (265/4spd)
94 XG Falcon Ute (4.0/5spd)
93 EB Fairmont (302/BTR)
WANTED: poor condition 2nd hand alloy wheels and tyres.
Want some alloys repaired and refinished? PM me
TOP
Sti-SG9
Post #2

And so it begins...

biggrin.gif

lil_bobby_260
Post #3

I have the 16's on it now. Its amazing the difference a wider tyre with 2" less sidewall makes - much less flex means much better handling, combined with the higher tyre pressure.

The car holds a slide very well, and doesnt need a lot of throttle to do it.

supreme
Post #4

QUOTE
Day four - Up on chassis stands - fitted 4 new brembo rotors, bendix ceramic brake pads, and pulled down and reco'd the calipers with new grease and seals. Squirted through some super dot 4 and brakes are much better! Brake lines in great nick.


lol what the hell the brakes would have cost more than the car

lil_bobby_260
Post #5

Nah youd be surprised how cheap Brembo rotors are. Spun me out too. Brakes are pretty awesome now tho - was going to upgrade to S13 or R33 with 5 stud conv but not really necessary for how im using it.
The whole brakes setup cost me under $400, but youve gotta know where to shop. Helps if you know the people where youre shopping too, haha

John.
Post #6

Bendix / Brembo rotors aren't much chop as in Performance, unless you can get Bendix Ultimates. (which are now discontinued I believe)

I've tried lots and lots of different pads & rotor combo's in my E34.

Brembo F Rotors / Bendix pads.
Brembo F Rotors / EBC pads.
Brembo F Rotors / Lucas pads.

I still noticed abit of fade with all combo's.

Went to.

DBA Slotted F Rotors / Bendix pads. - Good, still fade, very slight.
DBA Slotted F Rotors / Lucas pads. - Fucking fantastic. Is what I've stayed with for the past 2000k's. NO fade, Sharp. - Is alot of dust though.



Good luck with your project dude!.. Get it out there and have some fun smile.gif

lil_bobby_260
Post #7

Thanks mate! but yeah im keeping it on a budget cos its still always going to be 20 year old technology - once i get up there a bit ill sell it on and go with a 180/200SX.

At the moment they seem to be getting the job done more than adequately. Theres definitely better combos out there, but im trying to keep the expenditure to a minimum.

Purely by accident the car now looks like a drifter at least.


 
lil_bobby_260
Post #8

This is the beast how it sits now. I think it needs to lose height for the 'look' but so far im happy with the handling of it except for some body roll which really needs to be addressed.
I'll try to get some 'action shots'. there is an industrial estate being built nearby that has a lot of smooth wide roads (for trucks) that allows for good safe slides. Its just road with a mixture of curves and nothing on either side except for flat dirt :-)
We've all gotta start somewhere.

Modifications to date - Rotors, Pads, Shocks, Springs, Short shifter and race type steering wheel, Wheels & Tyres, Extractors and exhaust, CAI with pod behind front bar, Top Gun leads, MSD coil, Bosch Super 4 plugs.

Things i'm starting to really need - Anti-swaybars, better drivers seat, possibly a hydraulic handbrake but im trying to not use it, need to fit the minispool (to add a bit of predictability mainly).


 
marv
Post #9

Looks good bud... Like the mismatch rims.

YellowLemon
Post #10

This is awesome! I wanna see this thing drift sometime smile.gif

psiwpn
Post #11

looks sweet mate. just loose the wing ang lower it a bit will look the goods then.gl with it

lil_bobby_260
Post #12

Its the standard wing so it'll be staying - it has my 3rd brake light in it plus id rather a wing than holes in my boot :-)

Cheers for the positive comments! I have a full set of the white wheels in 16x7, but only a pair of the 'tanabes which are 16x8, to go on the rear. Running 225's up the back, 205's on front.

Once the minispool is in it i'll be taking it to 'streetwarz' for a bit of fun - show the V8 boys that there is more to burnouts than just sitting in a spot pumping out smoke or moving at 5km/h with your tyres spinning...

mighty-toy-boy
Post #13

hey your in morayfield, i'm just down the road in burpengary.
what industrial estate do you go to?

common mod is double rear sway bars.
basically just extending the brackets and bolting another rear sway bar on top of the original.
theres atleast one writeup on it somewhere

CarFanatic
Post #14

Nice work man, keep it up. thumbsup.gif

lil_bobby_260
Post #15

Cheers for the feedback guys! glad to hear im doing something right with it haha...
The ind. estate is (at this stage) a well kept secret between me and a few others and we are hoping to keep it that way as long as possible. As soon as anything gets built there we will clear off, but for now it is a good environment to learn without causing any harm or danger.

I'll be picking up a set of whiteline HD swaybars asap to fix up the body roll issues which should make things a bit more predictable. Was going to try to get to Stadium Drift tomorrow but dont see the point with how the car is now - id rather spend the day fitting the minispool and having a beer.

As it sits the car is 100% roadworthy and legal, so im going to try my best to keep it that way, with the exception of the MS centre.

1g love
Post #16

Neat looking 31 mate, i had one a while back. One of my mates built a 31 drita, was a mean car. All he did was a little bit of head work, s13 coil overs, hubs and brakes. whiteline sway bar in the front. weldie. leave the standard air intake box on it as the 31's make more power with that than a pod. it used to beat rb20dets easy as. only problem you might want to look at is fitting a surge tank. because they have bad fuel cut problems when they are under quater of a tank and drifting to the right

lil_bobby_260
Post #17

Surge tank fitted with a VL turbo fuel pump :-) not sure if the pump will make much difference but it came with the tank setup. Yeah i heard the stories about them running out of fuel when your pulling some half decent lateral G's.
Couple more pics - interior, engine bay not long after i picked the car up, and a quick shot testing the new rear tyres for traction.
Still havent got around to fitting the minispool. Just slackness really.


 
branden
Post #18

hey mate,nice job on it bro smile.gif looking mean atm but i reakon u need to get a full respray in like gun metal grey or black would look sick....lol.... keep us posted on your build up cause i really enjoy watching build ups (especially cause im looking at getting a r31)



cya

180sxy
Post #19

Fuck yes I plan on getting me a 31 for the same purpose, Cheers for the write up! smile.gif

lil_bobby_260
Post #20

Car is getting resprayed in its original silver but probably with a bit of a blue pearl in the clearcoat - dont want to have to worry about repainting inside the engine bay and door jambs etc, but will come up pretty good.


Took it for a bit of a run earlier - mainly because its been raining, and its an opportunity to take it sliding without putting too much stress on components, and means i can do it at slower speeds to get a feel for the car. Definitely starting to get a feel for it! can hold a decent slide and start a slide well before the corner, just trying to get the car in close to the apex and allow plenty of room from the outer kerb on exit.

Wouldnt mind having a bit of a meet with other cars being built up on the street for drift.

mighty-toy-boy
Post #21

i try to get out occasionally.
however due to the state of my license and how obvious my car is i don't do it too much.
i'd probably be keen though...

branden
Post #22

u been out lately ? lol is the weather bad where u r atm? yer the stock silver looks nice and not really sure what blue pearl will look like? hopefully he doesnt load to much pearl in cause it might take away from the nice silver....

lil_bobby_260
Post #23

not a lot - really just enough blue pearl to brighten up the silver (it cancels out yellow a bit) so will clean it up. Going to paint the bumpers, door handles, mirrors and body mouldings (protection strips) body coloured to update the look a bit, and will be painting the door window frams in black for the same reason. SHould be neat, clean and easy.

The car is fairly cop-baitish at the moment, just because of how it looks, but is 100% street legal except for how the rear tyre tread is starting to get.

Yeah weather has been rough but its an opportunity to hone skills without any real hassles.

branden
Post #24

ah good idea yer to much blue pearl will look kinda lame.... but yer a little will look awesome smile.gif keep us posted, this is so kewl cause i might be getting a r31 next week for first car YAY!

lil_bobby_260
Post #25

Mate they are a good fun car - and can get parts cheap and easily. Ill probably pass mine on to my younger brother when he gets his licence, if i havent pulled it off the road as a dedicated track/drift car.

Im heading in to Drift Bodyworks who have painted cars for me in the past to talk about sponsorship :-) might get lucky there i think - cheap paint for some Drift Bodyworks graphics.

FLMN HT
Post #26

hey, you've really helped me out a bit i recently just bought an 86 rb31 with the rb30 in in too, picked it up for 350 bucks only cause it had the 5 speed in it, but i was also going to set it up as a pure drift car seein tho i my own trailer and all, i was just wondering with the suspension as it is its fully independent but i wanna put coil-overs in it to make it really hard and no body roll and was wondering if you had looked into it to see wat wud fit without to much modification or none if possible, my only problem with the engine is that it has a slight knock in the bottom end i think i may be that 1 of the lifters has shit itself. my enterior is imaculate like it just come outa the shop, i've cut all the rust outa the roof and filled it in, i have painted the bonnet a satin black with some orange stencils that i made up so its called the DRIFT PIG lol original i know but it'll suit it as i am not painting the rest for a while and just spending my $$$ on suspension know i half know wat i need, and an engine conversion l8r on in the year with a rb25det turbo with a new turbo 5spd gear box from a japan import place in redcliffe.

lil_bobby_260
Post #27

Hey mate thats good to hear, got a good buy there i think. An R31 with a 5 speed is getting hard to find in decent condition.

Suspension - you can convert the front to the S13 Silvia suspension setup, using S13 control arms etc, and even change the brakes if there is much to be gained there. This will allow you to run coilovers designed to suit a silvia. Make sure you get height adjustable ones, and you will find you'll have to set them fairly high. You can also run S13 coilovers in the rear but you will need to re-drill the rear upper mount to suit the silvias two-bolt setup instead of the 3 bolts that the R31 strut top has.

You can also run an S13 steering rack to give you much better steering lock.

Being an overhead cam engine, pretty sure it doesnt have lifters, so if you have a bottom end knock you might find that is is big end bearing related...? Im not an engine builder so im not 100% sure there.

The RB25DET conversion with the tougher gearbox they come with (in your R33's) is a popular upgrade, and not hugely difficult i dont think, but im keeping mine as a 3.0L, keeping the RB30E and just playing with it to make it more effective.

Im trying to keep my car still usable as a daily driver is the main difference, so id like it to have slighty softer suspension than a city train.

woodstock88
Post #28

great write up mate, nice work, sounds like ya havin a blast. biggrin.gif

FLMN HT
Post #29

sweet as thanx heaps man, i'll upload sum photos of mine later, thanx again

lil_bobby_260
Post #30

If it rains a lil again tonight i'll get out there again. Some octane booster and a half tank of fuel and im all good.

Thanks for the positive feedback guys, ill keep you updated and help with any hands on knowledge and advice as i go!

Timmyp34
Post #31

Its good to see and read an updated build thread.

You know quite a bit from reading this. i have 2 mates building R31's ones a track car with a non turbo 2JZ and the other is street RB30E(for now) I was also going to buy one but it sold:(

this cars seem to be the new band wagon!

see you at QR some time!

branden
Post #32

hey, i just bought a r31 for my first car tongue.gif not old enough to even get my learners atm but gives me plenty of time to build smile.gif! but i plan to build it up to a strret legal drift car for somethign just like archerfield,parklands etc. hope to be drifting by october..

keep it up .........

lil_bobby_260
Post #33

Seems there are a lot of people buying and building R31's for the same reason.

Managed to get out to Streetwarz yesterday, huge turnout there but no burnouts or anything, just a support rally really. Hopefully the can continue to run it, it will give me somewhere local to have a bit of fun in the skyline in front of a crowd.

Still trying to find somewhere that does a decent bodykit for a decent price, thats what it putting off the paint job. If i can find something that suits, ill get it fitted and paint the car at the same time.

My handbrake needs tightening, so i'll have to hop under the car and tension it up a little - i think a hydraulic handbrake might be a bit much.

branden
Post #34

yer i think hydrualic handbrake is illegal?? let me know if im wrong but yer im preety sure they r...... i think i was reading on www.r31skylineclub.com u go on there?

1g love
Post #35

you can have them aslong a you still have the cable one

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