# My R32 GTST Drift car build



## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

I know this isn't really a projects section, but I thought I'd post up some pictures of what I've been upto with my gts.

Bought this last august, had one practice day with DriftUK and realised it needed a couple of things doing before if was ever gonna be much good, so it came off the road on the 27th September, were it's been ever since.

Started off like this, completely standard but not terribly tidy:



















After the drift practice day it was clear I needed a set of coilovers, and maybe a better diff, so I took it off the road while I got the money together for the coilovers.

As it was off the road doing nothing, I thought I'd rip the interior out as it was a free mod, (and the interior wasn't in great condition anyway!):





































More to follow.

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Everytime I managed to save up a bit of money I saw something I wanted to buy, first it was a pair of seats:










Then a set of wheels, (so I can use the standard wheels at practice days and drive home on these):










As we're House Of Kolor distributors we got a deal/sponsorship on some paint, which I'm saving until I've had a bit of practice:










Next I got rid of the sunroof as it leaked and I didn't want my new seats to go mouldy:










And while I was welding/filling/painting, I got rid of the boot spoiler:










Neither job is done very well, but I'll tidy it up when I paint it properly.

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Next I got all the unused wiring removed completely, (more for piece of mine than anything else):



















Other parts I bought are:

Welded diff:










Camber adjustable front top arms:










Front tension rods:










Rear traction rods:










Rear camber arms:










Then I bought a set of HKS coilovers off Ebay, turned up with the valves snapped off, so Alex from Sumo Power gave me the number of a company that could revalve then and regas them. When they came back one was leaking quite badly and it appeared one has a seized spring seat, so after a lot of arguing with Ebay, Paypal and the credit card company, I was told that as I'd involved a third party, (the repair), I had no chance of getting my money back, all the time the guy I bought them off ignored me!

So just under £400 worse off and with knackered suspension I lost interest a bit, until dad lent me th emoney for a set of TEIN Super Drift, (which he didn't tell me until the arrived at work!  ):










Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

I didn't waste any time in getting the coilovers and the rest of the suspension bits fitted, looks like it's gonna take a lot of setting up though, with all teh bits that can now be adjusted! 










And back down on its new wheels:










The backs as low as it'll go, and the fronts as low as it'll go and still allow the wheels to turn. I'm expecting it to drop a bit more as the springs bed in.

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

I've also been working on the dash, as I need somewhere to put the switches and guages, not sure I like it but it's ok as a first attempt, (and still needs finishing):




























Thats it so far, just need to fit the diff, re-route all the brakes now the ABS pump is off, fit a HICAS bar, make a frame for the passenger seat, (so it can be removed to get tyres in the back), and get it MOT'd.

It's taken 11 months so far, but I finally feel I'm getting somewhere!  

Alex B


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## VSPEC-33 (Jul 20, 2006)

That is one hell of a project you're embarking on there, House of Colour paint job aswell, that will be one sweet drift machine!


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## AndrewD (Jan 25, 2006)

Awesome project there Alex opcorn: 

Maybe you should name and shame the ebay user so atleast the rest of the Skyline community never deals with such a ******!

Look forward to seeing more progress!!!!


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## junglechink (Jul 30, 2005)

*Finally!*

Awesome! I've been waiting for a thread like this. 
Do me a favor, please. Could you add purchase info on the parts (where and how much)? That would be like christmas for me. 

Keep up with the updates. :clap:


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## jamesskyline153 (May 16, 2006)

Nice project.. wow.. cant wait till the final!


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## Booty-licious (Nov 8, 2001)

Hey Alex,

Loving this post....well done so far on this project :clap: Can't wait for the next installment and of course seeing the car in the end! :bowdown1: :bowdown1: 

Claire


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

Should be cool once its done  Good call on not painting in yet, concentrate on skills first or youl just worry too much about ruining the paint!



[email protected] getting so exited tho like this is the thread they all been waiting for, lol 

If you looked at the Projects section on Driftworks there are countless threads like this www.driftworks.com


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

The seats, wheels and diff I bought second hand, everything else we can supply, pm or email me for prices, [email protected] .

I'm not gonna be worried about damaging the paint or kit/bodywork, if it gets damaged we'll patch it up, this really isn't gonna be a show car that gets drifted, it's gonna be a drift car :thumbsup: 

Alex B


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## EvolutionVI (Sep 6, 2005)

Alex j B said:


> I'm not gonna be worried about damaging the paint or kit/bodywork, if it gets damaged we'll patch it up, this really isn't gonna be a show car that gets drifted, it's gonna be a drift car :thumbsup:


That sounds goooooooooooooooooooooood:clap:


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## jasonchiu (Mar 8, 2006)

more photos! this looks like a great project!


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## maxman (Mar 13, 2006)

woow good job 
just keep up


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Thanks everyone, I'm really looking forward to getting it done so I can give it some abuse! 

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Got a few more pictures, of the front suspension bits this time:










The front camber, not sure if this is as much negative as the top arms can get or not, but both sides are about the same:










I also fitted the solid steering bush:










And lastly, for this update, is the Driftworks sticker  :










Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

I haven't had much time to spend on the gts recently due to doing a load of repair work on the workshop, but have done a couple of little jobs so thought I'd update the thread.  

Just before we started work on the workshop I removed all the ABS bits and ran new brake lines, just got round to taking some pics:

1 into 2 splitter, as I kept with an ABS master cylinder, so only had the one pipe out for the front which would have gone into the ABS pump:










New pipe work for the front nearside caliper, (not the prettiest looking brake line but never mind! 










I went to work today to fit my harness, I decided to just fit them to the standard rear seatbelt mounts, I know it's not ideal, but is only temporary until I get a cage made with a bar on to fit them to properly.




























Does this look like an ok way of fitting the harness'?

Then I decided to take a picture of my 2 Skylines together!  










Alex B


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## sideways.taff (Mar 3, 2005)

hehe nice! Reminds me of my first pic of the two R32's together way back in November last year.










The GTSt will look so much better with the kit on it though mate, my Bee*R kit should be in Southampton now!!!


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## druzilla (Jul 4, 2005)

great thread


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## kismetcapitan (Nov 25, 2005)

my GTR is your twin! Gunmetal, the oldschool Nismo wheels, it's subtle but wouldn't have it any other way...


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## kismetcapitan (Nov 25, 2005)

how are you spec'ing your engine out? I've been driving a "drift" GTS-T, but with a ton of stereo gear on board it's not a serious competition machine. It makes good power with an HKS turbo (not sure of the model) but the car is intolerably weak under 4500rpm...the car is ridiculously slow unless the revs are way way up.


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

kismetcapitan said:


> how are you spec'ing your engine out? I've been driving a "drift" GTS-T, but with a ton of stereo gear on board it's not a serious competition machine. It makes good power with an HKS turbo (not sure of the model) but the car is intolerably weak under 4500rpm...the car is ridiculously slow unless the revs are way way up.


Well at the moment its got a HKS downpipe, decat, Kakimoto exhaust, Apex'i filter and is running about .9bar, I took it to a drift practice day last September, (the last time I drove it! :bawling: ), power wise it was fine, it's just the suspension and diff that let me down!

I'll be keeping pretty much this engine spec for now, providing nothing goes wrong, then maybe doing an engine swap for either RB25 or RB26 when I need more power, (when I get better and start competing properly). 

It may be that the turbo has given you more lag, which isn't what you want on a drift car.

Alex B


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## Hedgehog Dodger (Jul 13, 2004)

great thread and good luck with the project :clap:


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## Paul750 (Aug 26, 2003)

CAr looks great alex.

where did you get all the suspension arms from/what brand?? 

let me know and good luck w/ the project.


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## gtr3 (Jun 15, 2006)

sick build.


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## Barrie (Jan 31, 2006)

looking good 

The best thing you can do is stick a rb26 in it running 400+bhp - you will soon find you need that bit extra power

Barrie


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Barrie said:


> looking good
> 
> The best thing you can do is stick a rb26 in it running 400+bhp - you will soon find you need that bit extra power
> 
> Barrie


I think this is gonna happen sooner rather than later too, been getting it ready to take to Abbey tomorrow and it seems to be smoking a bit, hopefully it's just cos it's only been moved round the yard and workshop for the last 13 months have to see if it clears itself out during the trip tomorrow.

Gotta do a bit of research into the work involved though.

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Oh, small update, now got the passenger seat fitted, arches rolled and a hicas removal bar fitted, taking it to Abbey Motorsport tomorrow to set the suspension up. 

No pictures as we've been so busy getting it ready I haven't had a chance to take any, I'll try and get a few tomorrow and post them up! 

Alex B


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## RBnemesis13B (Dec 26, 2005)

Very very nice build up. Hope all goes well and am looking forward to seeing more progress reports and the final stage.


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Small update, but no pictures.

Passenger seat is now fitted, I went the easy route of getting a Driftworks subframe, and the seat comes off it really easy with 4 12mm nuts, so I'll probably keep it like that rather than make the whole seat and frame unit removable.

We've made a Hicas removal bar, but have just blanked the pipes off for now, I'll remove them back to the engine bay and see about running a power steering fluid cooler.

The arches a kinda rolled, done it with a hammer in the end, front are really good, rears were a little bit more rotten than they looked, so they'll need some attention when we paint it.

We took it to Abbey Motorsport a couple of weeks ago to get the suspension set up properly, but had to go back before I'd even got out the drive as the front wheels hit the bumper, borrowed a hacksaw to trim the bumper, and Mark pulled the front wings out, didn't catch again all the way home! 

Couple more little things to do then we're off to Silverstone with it on Monday, looking forward to it after 14 months of work! 

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Spent today at Silverstone for a DriftUK practice day, car went really well and I started to get better, though could have done with more time out on track and less time qeueing, (isn't that always the case!).

A couple of pictures from the photographer that was there:




























Next up is to get my diff welded, and a spare diff casing for the welded diff I bought, so I have a spare. Then it'll be loads of practising  

Alex B


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## m6beg (Apr 21, 2003)

You are supposed to have burning rubber coming out of the rear mate     

hahahaha

Mick


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## Smokey 1 (Nov 1, 2005)

why did you spend all that money on new suspension components and not replace the rubber bushes.         Just seems like a lot of hard work has been done and then you will need to do it all over again to replace the old worn out ones??????
What kind of power does the car put out, or was the track wet( maybe that's why there is no tyre smoke from the rear wheels)


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

m6beg said:


> You are supposed to have burning rubber coming out of the rear mate
> 
> hahahaha
> 
> Mick


Yeah I know, Goodyear F1's aren't very good by the look of it, the Pirrellis I had on last time were very smokey! 

Plus it was only my second time out, (first was last september in a completely standard car), so give me time! :thumbsup: 

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Smokey 1 said:


> why did you spend all that money on new suspension components and not replace the rubber bushes.         Just seems like a lot of hard work has been done and then you will need to do it all over again to replace the old worn out ones??????
> What kind of power does the car put out, or was the track wet( maybe that's why there is no tyre smoke from the rear wheels)


Rubber bushes will all be replaced when I have the time and money, it's fine to learn in for now and after 14 months off the road I just wanted to get back out there drifting!

The cars a basic RB20DET, with turbo back exhaust, airfilter and slight boost increase. The track was pretty wet early on, but very few people were giving off much smoke for some reason.

I have plans for an engine conversion in the future, as this will be an ongoing project! 

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Quick update, had a couple of days at the Haynes track, its a great track, but a few of the corners are a little scary.

Had a couple of incidents with the crash barriers, resulting in light damage:



















Quick video a mate put together for me, (of the first time there):

http://www.performancejapcars.co.uk/car_vids/alexdriftshaynes.wmv

Got a bit better the second time as I knew the track a bit better and stuck to one layout.

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Been working on the car now, as it's gonna be used to promote Vertex for our company, hopfully to be launched at Japfest.

Longlife exhaust, hopfully I won't have to keep reattaching it when I go over speed bumps! It has been made so that the bit that goes below the car can be removed so that at tracks with lower noise limits we can refit the Nismo exhaust that came off.




























Spent ages welding a tunnel over it, not very tidy as I had very little room to work with, as it gets close to the bottom of the pasenger seat, should do the job though:










We are going to make a removable tunnel to go over it.

I've see a car in Jaoan with this style exhaust but it also had a screamer pipe exiting next to the exhaust, may look into that in the future!

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

As we'll be painting tha car, we want to get all the external work done so that we don't need to repaint it at a later date, (other than repairs).

After lots of thinking of an easy way to fit a battery cut off and fire extinguisher pull, I decided the only way to get it in the correct place, was to cut a hole in the bonnet:



















Should fit ok, although the wiper moter is right below thge hole and the mechanism gets very close to the scuttle panel, I think we've sorted a way of fitting the switch so that it misses.

Also, after denting the rear wing right in front of the filler cap, I thought it in quite a risky place for getting dented and jammed shut, so I've relocated it further up:










Which involved cutting the bootlid and triming the boot hinge:










Also decided to sand out the rear wheel arches to see how rotten they were, the o/s wasn't as bad as I thought, the n/s was slightly worse:



















Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Next was to try fit the Vertex kit, which fits really well, sideskirts are spot on, no trimming or work of any kind needed, front bumper is a bit tight, which may be because of the Haynes accident damaging the bumper bar, and the rear bumper just needs the mounting holes in the cars boots opening up, (same as every Skyline kit we've fitted).




























Alex B


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## Daz (Aug 14, 2001)

Looking good Alex.


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## MacGTR (Dec 31, 2006)

Just read the whole of the thread and looks a very interesting build, its looking very good Alex


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## Raz (Feb 11, 2005)

It's gonna look awsome when it's finished Alex :bowdown1:


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## kaneda (Oct 9, 2004)

Greatest. Exhaust. Ever.


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## stuartstaples (Nov 14, 2004)

Looking very promising Alex, the exhaust is inspired mate. Bloody noise limits eh  

Do you have anymore pictures of the skirts?


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## BenGTR (Apr 3, 2007)

Hi, 

this is my first post because I am just into information collecting untill I own my GTR. 

Thirst I want to say that this is a very intresting project you are running and it's quite thrilling me !

So the reason why I decided to set my 1st post right here is that I just wanted to ask you if you don't care about the heat development inside the car concerning your custom exhaustsystem. Not just for you as driver also for those components which can react demageable on heat.

It would be intresting to hear how you'll handle this aspect !

Best luck and Regards 
Ben.


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## WIT BLITZ (Apr 1, 2007)

Hi Ben welcome :wavey: I was about to ask the same question


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

BenGTR said:


> Hi,
> 
> this is my first post because I am just into information collecting untill I own my GTR.
> 
> ...


The honest answer would be that I'm gonna find out as I go, we're in the process of building a box over it, which will be bolted to the car floor and sealed. This box will be lined with heat reflective matting, the exhaust will also be wrapped in ceramic exhaust wrap, which should keep a fair amount of the heat in the pipe.

There shouldn't be any components any closer to the exhaust than standard, (bar the passenger seat), so nothing will get any more damaged than standard.

I'm not the first to have an exhaust like this, Phil Morrison, (of Driftworks), has been running this style exhaust for a couple of years, I've also seen a few cars in Japan with the same style.

Heat build up within the car is a slight problem, as the air con has all been removed and the heater set on full heat and the windscreen blower is on a swith, full power or off.
I'll be looking into adding a couple of blower fans to blow cool air into the cab.

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

stuartstaples said:


> Looking very promising Alex, the exhaust is inspired mate. Bloody noise limits eh
> 
> Do you have anymore pictures of the skirts?


I'll get some more pictures as I fit them.

Heres a couple more though:

Vertex - Skyline R32

Alex B


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## bking96 (May 15, 2006)

jamesskyline153 said:


> Nice project.. wow.. cant wait till the final!


nice 1 m8 hope u gt ur car workinin the end lol


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Few updates, been really busy recently so haven't had any time to post updates.

Due to relocating the fuel filler, and my plans to cut into the standard filler neck going wrong, (the filler neck is oval plastic so couldn't join into it!), I had to get a fuel cell to put in the boot, which meant a lot of cutting and welding:




























Still got to get all the hose and fittings to make it work though!

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Exhaust is now all boxed in and totally sealed so no fumes will get into the car:



















When the interior has been painted I'll line the inside of the box with heat reflective mat and wrap the exhaust with ceramic exhaust wrap, I'll then refit the lid, sealing it closed with fire proof sealant.

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

A few pics of the roll cage, taking a lot longer than planned but it's getting there:




























And how it looks as we left work tonight, only 2 weeks till Japfest!



















Alex B


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## MacGTR (Dec 31, 2006)

At least your not going to burn yourself now! Looks great!


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Update time:

Door mirror bases, I'm pleased with how these turned out, as I made them from scratch:



















I haven't got any of them finished, though they're fitted to the car so you can see the finished item there! 

Rollcage finished:



















Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Masked up ready for interior to be painted:










Groundcoat on the interior:










Basecoat on the interior:










Laquered interior:










Car masked up ready for paint:










Groundcoat on:










Basecoat on:










Masked up ready to paint the sponsors decals:



















Sponsors declas being painted:










Masked and having graphics painted:



















Demasked ready for laquer:



















Laquered:










Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

We then had to go back into work the next day, get the car out of the paintshop, flat it all back and remask then relaquer it:



















So this is how it stood the sunday before Japfest. :? 

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Monday morning, with 5 days before it was supposed to be on our trade stand at Japfest, we got it out of the paintshop and started the refit:




























Firewall fitted, (needed due to the fuel cell in the boot):




























Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Exhaust refit:










I then removed the exhaust and wrapped it in ceramic exhaust wrap to try and keep some of the heat in the exhaust and out of the car:



















I've also lined the box with heat reflective material and used rivets with large washer on the inside to prevent it falling onto the exhaust should it come unstuck:










I then sealed the lid on with fireproof sealer and screws:










This has prevented a lot of the heat from getting into the car, the box doesn't get any hotter than the transmission tunnel, so I think it's as good as it's likely to get.

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

I stopped taking pictures then as I was running out of time and just needed to get it finished, which we did, we left work at 11.30 pm.m the Friday before Japfest.

Heres one of the better pictures I found of it on the stand at Japfest:










The car isn't 100% finished, I still need to do a few jobs including make a panel to fill in the standard exhaust hole, make some fibreglass door panels as the standard ones don't fit with the door bars, sort some better looking wheels out, get the fuel system finished etc.

Alex B


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## lightspeed (Jul 11, 2002)

Looking good Alex - liking the cage as well as the paint.


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## Daz (Aug 14, 2001)

Looks like you've been [email protected]@dy busy then !! Well done Alex.


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Yeah we were a bit busy, other than the easter weekend, I had 3 weeks then dad joined me for the last 2, lots of 12+ hour days, well, most of the last 2 weeks prior to Japfest were 12 hour days, some longer. Painting took a while, went into the paintshop at 9.30 am, turned the lights out at 3am!

Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Finally got the fuel system finished, (well, pretty much, just got to tidy the power wires up), now it's pretty much ready to go:




























Hopefully should be out in it again in the next couple of weeks 

Alex B


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## sideways.taff (Mar 3, 2005)

Very neat Alex. That second pump looks precariously perched there on the bracket though.


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Thanks, it's not as bad as it looks, the brackets welded and is pretty stable, then 2 jubilee clips hold the pump to the bracket, it doesn't appear to move  (or are you talking about hte facet?)

Alex B


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## sideways.taff (Mar 3, 2005)

The facet looks alright. I guess I'm just used to the more conventinal cradle type pump brackets.


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## MarkMcQ (Sep 13, 2006)

I didn't realise this was the Avon Customs car. Seen a few pics of it elsewhere, and I'd been hemming and hawing about getting the vertex kit untill I saw this, and it made up my mind for me. Looks fantastic.


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Yep, it's kind or a demo car, as we're Vertex dealers for the UK and Europe but it's also going to be used, so it would be pointless to do our normal show quality paintwork on it, (thats not saying it's not gonna be looked after though!  )

Thanks for the comments 

Alex B


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## Crono (Oct 7, 2005)

Can't believe I didn't see this before, looks awesome. Keep it up.


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## joker69 (Mar 13, 2006)

Oh man. this looks after a lot of work. well done! The car looks very good and the exhaust system is cool.

cheers


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

Not sure if I've posted any of these up before, but here's a few videos, the last one was from last week:

Avon Custom Web Downloads

Cheers
Alex B


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## Ste333 (Mar 16, 2007)

very nice  Seen this, its a beaut


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## fourtoes (Feb 27, 2003)

Hopefully bump into you guys at the show tomorrow for chat Alex. Car looks fab!

bob


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

No major update really as I've been busy with other things, but a few things I've managed to get done:

Got a set of new, (second hand), wheels as the 17's looked a bit small with the kit and paint, painted them to try and match the magenta triangles, but the match was way off:



















So we quickly repainted them for a small show we put on, after trying them in the persimmon and prism, we decided persimmon fitted with the car better:




























Alex B


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## Alex j B (Apr 24, 2004)

We've also painted a set of R33 GTR wheels I've had laying around, I polished the lip to help stop the paint getting chipped with the many tyre changes they're likely to see, (an idea pinched off someone on Driftworks!):



















Masked up ready for paint:









Groundcoat going on:









First coat of basecoat going on:



























Demasked:



























And while we were doing them, I thought we may aswell paint a pair of wheels I bought last year that were badly painted and scuffed:









Alex B


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## hyrev (Apr 30, 2004)

Very neat build. I like the way the wheels came out with the polished lip.


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