Project R33

[tidytobes]

Right so i figured it's about time I added a build thread for this one as it seems things have somewhat gathered momentum of late. The story goes as follows;

Middle of 2010 I bought my PS13, knowing it needed work, but it was beautiful so i decided to work on it as and when whilst buying another 'cheap toy' for me to abuse in the mean time.

This was as far as the Silvia got before she was temporarily put on the back burner..



So in December 2010 during a shitty wet christmas holiday, me and a mate took a drive down to cornwall and collected a cheap R33 I'd bought for me to mess about in



Was a perfectly capable car even running close to stock power, had a set of coilovers and we welded the diff up and fitted a HICAS lock out and then went skidding..



Simples!!!

Or at least it was until a minor incident with a lack of talent and a kerb prompted the need for a new wheel, and this then developed into a new set of wheels, proper ones this time, Rota GTR-D's in 9.5J and 10J ET12 flavour..



Which then required a slight suspension adjustment, so a nice shiny new set of Daiyamas soon started to cater for that particular requirement



Then picked up a nice set of Duce overfenders and Vertex Front Wings to accomodate the new rolling stock



Fitted a few suspension arms and things



Finally got round to stripping the f**king c**ting b**tard sound deadening out, which was fun..



and then painted, was really pleased with the results considering I used hammerite, its gone on really well..



picked up a few cages for me and some friends..



took a trip to EP Racing for some bumperage



Fitted the cage



test fitted some bodywork, front arch clearance wasnt great with the vertex wings once the Rotas were on..



stock arches werent going to cut it either



so the vertex wings got swapped for some D-Max 40mm jobs



test fitted the kit again with some proper ride height


sorted the brakes and front suspension arms



then got my mate Christian to come and fit my handbrake mechanisms as i know they're his favourite.. i think???



either way they got done..



kept myself entertained by fitting a shiny red apexi strut brace, not much more to see under this bonnet!!



Re-fitted a nice freshly MIG Spec'd diff after Christian stole my old welder half way through the 2011 BDC season..



Picked up a nice carbon bootlid from a local chap over on skylineowners.com



and bar the fact i had re-fitted the vertex wings to check something this is how the car sat



and as of half an hour ago this is how she's sitting now,



in MOT friendly spec, just waiting on a couple of final bits and pieces to make her legal and then off to get a shiny new ticket for the next 12 months, then from there on to get 4 wheel alignment done, and then bodyshop for the kit to be sprayed/fitted and then back out for some spring/summer skids at last, hope everyone likes it, i'm open to comments and ideas and look forward to seeing a few of you at BDC rounds or Norfolk Arena in the near future..

And then getting back on the PS13

[milez]

looks good mate. Theres a few nice r33's round at the mo.

keep up the good work

[thai mai shu]

R33's are the future lol... looking good mate! Can't wait to get ours together again!

[milez]

what front bumper is it dude?

[tidytobes]

what front bumper is it dude?

Vertex mate, was in two minds between this and BN but seems that this is a little rarer..

[grant s]

looking very good tobi...some hard work gone into that but as we all know white r33's are the future

[Tim200s13]

lookin good m8, like the wheels

[tidytobes]

Time for a brief update



Got the car MOT'd and moved it to a friends workshop to finally sort the last few niggles and bits..



The 'ghetto' rear arch flare looked suitable for clearance once the overfenders covered it, but upon actually driving it became clear this wasn't the case at all



So out came the grinder and welder combo



And lots of help from a mate who can actually weld!!!

[tidytobes]

Lots of cutting, grinding and welding ensued...



And more..



And more..



Until clearance was no longer ever going to be an issue

[tidytobes]

Whilst he cracked on with the welding I started on some other bits that needed doing..

Driftworks HICAS removal kit instead of the old lock out bar..



Getting the current exhaust off to inspect and count the holes (21 in total) then decide whether to repair or replace (still undecided)..



The old Intercooler looked like this..



Which was fairly small and the pipework was very low, so a bigger more sensible one was purchased..



And whilst having tea it got fitted..



Which was nice

[tidytobes]

So then it was onto the bushes for the hicas removal kit, hubs off and ready..



Ball joints out and new bushes pressed in..



But whilst removing the hubs it became clear that a previous incident had taken its toll on one of the lower arms and it's ball joint, so a decision was made and some more bits followed..

Japspeed Rear LCAs



As well as Traction Rods, Tension Rods, Steering Rods and Ends and lots of work to do.. Progress should be made by this weekend with a bit of luck, and then the car heads to the Bodyshop for the kit to be fitted and sprayed and the attention turns to my PS13..



And my mates E46 BMW track car which is currently sharing the workshop with the 33, this BMW is undergoing a full cosworth 4wd conversion, not exactly driftworks material but amazing fabrication work nonetheless..



More updates soon..

[cefiro_drifta]

sexaaaayyyyy time

[tidytobes]

Thanks for your kind sentiments Mr Cooper

[milez]

good shit dude. Ive gone for the bn kit on my 33.

Keep it going mate

[tidytobes]

Should be on this for the weekend, got all the arms and bits together now and should have a new shotgun exhaust going on also.. Updates as and when they actually happen..

[tidytobes]

Updates..

Whilst I went round to some friends last night and ended up ruining myself and singing random karaoke it appears my good old buddy squeak who has been majorly assisting with the last few items on the car took it upon himself to repair and fit my new exhaust..

Got it from a friend who had experienced a close encounter of the Essex arena wall variety and it didn't look too healthy!!



And the damage continued further up..



But this didn't seem an issue and by the end of the night I was amazed to see that all was well..

From this..



To this..



And this



Once in finished at work today I'm off over to Gav at Driftbitz to grab a couple more essentials and then by the end of this week I'm planning to get the car to the Bodyshop for some prettying up..

[champ]

Some really good work going into this, Any under the bonnet plans in the future

[Alex.j]

I'll be watching this closely!

Always had a soft spot for the 33's

[chanyboi]

whats the update?

[tidytobes]

Well there has been some more work carried out over the weekend but no pictures or anything yet so will update the thread once i have..