My S15... slow street build

[mrpham]

So car is going into Fahren Customs tomorrow for some touch ups on the body work, so decided to start work on something else while the car is away.

I pulled apart my old VTC gear and going to try figure out how to fix/prevent the stupid rattle noise. Been talking to a few mates and we've got some ideas on how to fix it, the trouble is how to quickly test it without putting it back into a car. We can chuck it on a lathe and rotate it at around 1000rpm but not sure if the thing needs oil pressure to simulate being inside an engine.

The inside of a VTC cam gear:

 

[mrpham]

So got my car back from Fahren Customs yesterday, had them respray/touch up my front right quarter, bonnet and front bar. They also did some plastic welding on the front bar where the middle part was cut out in the stock bar.

They also fixed up a bunch of mistakes that were done by the last bodyshop (Cameron Bodyworks), this included paint runs and uneven flared guards. The rear driver side guard wasn't pumped as much so they fixed that. Car also received a cut/polish and buffed headlights.

Very happy with the results:

 

[mrpham]

at Lakeside:

Photo Nathan from Fahren Customs took:

 

[getnkd]

love the stock s15 look! and nice rims dude.

 

[mrpham]

Not much news as of late, couple months ago I installed my 20mm wheels spacers to rear so wheels specs on the rear are now 18x9.5 +0.

Had a headache with wheel alignments because previous owner had a dodgy job done on the adjustable suspension arm installation. The rear traction arms were set way too long and this pushed the wheel position towards the rear of the car. So on full compression the tyres scrubbed on the inside wheel arch towards the rear.

I took it to Rick's Wheel Alignments and they sorted it all. Traction rods were set so wheel position was now centered and bump steer is non-existent. Final settings were -1.5degrees camber on the rear with 1mm toe in per side.

Also had a track day at Lakeside not too long ago, car is handling better then ever. Traction is amazing, especially mid-corner. It's holds a lot of grip and very predictable, I have a lot more confidence cornering now.

Now some recent photos:

 

[Fruitbooter]

Looking nice! :nod:

18x9.5 ET0 is theres some mad arch roll there lol

You need to take a pik directly behind so we can see the stance!

 

[tinto]

I love it!
Angry offset, angry arches!

 

[mrpham]

Looking nice! :nod:

18x9.5 ET0 is theres some mad arch roll there lol

You need to take a pik directly behind so we can see the stance!

I love it!
Angry offset, angry arches!

Thanks guys

Yeah the rear guards were pumped heaps, but were necessary because I wanted fat non-stretched tyres and sensible camber.


Photo of when it was 18x9.5 +20, so they are slightly more aggressive now at +0.

 

[mrpham]

So after my last track day, one of the rear adjustable toe arms has been making a lot of weird noises. Initially it went away after I sprayed some WD40 on it but it eventually returned and got worse and worse...

Jacked the car up today and have a close inspection, turns out that there it a huge amount of play in the ball joint (pillow ball joint I think it's called). And this was caused by dirt and crap getting into the joint and wearing it out.

Conclusion, don't install any suspension arms that don't use rubber boots around the ball joint...

So I just ordered some Cazman Industries rear toe arms, high quality product made in Australia. Will install once it arrives and hopefully remember to take photos while I install it.

 

[Topper]

Conclusion, don't install any suspension arms that don't use rubber boots around the ball joint...

Doh!! Where you get these from mate?

 

[mrpham]

Doh!! Where you get these from mate?

I contacted the guy who makes them through another forum, but he can be found on eBay too:
http://stores.ebay.com.au/Cazman-Industries

 

[mrpham]

So my Cazman toe arms arrived.

 

[mrpham]

So finished install my new toe arms today, everything went pretty smooth.

Jacked up the car and marked some lines on the elliptical washer/bolts so that I could put them back in exactly how they were. Removed the toe arms and measured them so I could adjust the new arms to the same length. Once they were in I did up the nuts loosely, car was then lowered to the ground and the nuts were tightened to the correct torque.

Couldn't find a (good) alignment shop open today so will have to wait until Monday to get that sorted. Kinda sad car has to stay at home all weekend though =(

 

[mrpham]

I uploaded a video showing how much play was in my no name chinese rod end.

The arms were in the car since December 2009, so just over a year of use and they were flogged out.

 

[mrpham]

So I got a wheel alignment today after installing the toe arms, everything is sweet now.

While I was at it, decided to upgrade the skinny 215/40 front tyres to 245/35 Federal 595RS-R "semi-slick" =)

 

[Adam L]

I've just swapped to those Federal 595 rs-r's myself and what a difference they made, bloody great tyres!

 

[mrpham]

Some early impressions of the 595 RS-R on the street is that they rock! So much grip in the dry and not too bad in the wet, car is definitely more neutral with slight over-steer whereas it used to be a bit under-steer. I'm heading out to QLD Raceway next next Saturday to give the tyres a proper work out to see how they handle with the extra load and heat.

I noticed there was some coolant leaking from both the top and bottom hoses, the car came with that blue silicone hose stuff too. Anyways I drained the coolant and removed the silicone hoses to inspect them. Turns out they both have cracks/splits and that's why it was leaky. So installed some OEM Nissan hoses and all good now =)

Just a photo of the split hose:

 

[mrpham]

got back from QLD Raceway, had a blast. And I spun out

Car was over boosting in 3rd gear as well, hitting 1.59bar instead of 1.2bar. Had to drop the duty cycle on the AVCR for 3rd hear, fixed that problem. Also when car was sitting in the range of 1.50bar to 1.59bar there was a bit of stuttering so either AFM or pump is maxing out. I'm surprised the GT2860RS could even hit 1.59bar!

 

[mrpham]

Just few more photos:

 

[tinto]

Cool shots. Beefy tread!
Did the steering feel / effort change much from a 215 -> 245?

...and no helmets?
QLD can't be called a nanny state