CURRENT S14 spec list at the bottom of the page! Hey guys! I'm gonna start a build thread so I can keep track of all my adventures and dumb things I do to and with my car! Thread will be picture heavy and contain a lot of writing, so if you don't feel like reading then you've come to the wrong thread. I'll update in stages of everything's that's happened and break up the posts to make it easier! FIRST OFF: INTRODUCTION Names Zac ✌️ (@zacbognar) 21 years old, from Melbourne Australia. Been hooked on the idea of drifting for the past 5 years, got my license at 18 years old. In Aus you're restricted on what cars you can drive heavily for the first 3 years on your license. Had a shit daily whilst trying to build trAck cars for 2013 and 2014, gave up on every build and was just a failure when it came to it. Late 2014 I bit the bullet and bought a local missile car off a friend of mine. It was an r32 skyline, bone stock rb20det and some upgraded cooling. Coil overs, welded diff and some cut n shut knuckles. No dash no interior etc was just a major pig. Having never driven a turbo car or really drifted before I did what all sensible people learning to drift would do!! Entered a Matsuri event with some of the worlds biggest names of drift, which was also 16 hours from my house and halfway across the country! Not knowing anyone else going!! Will update later with a YouTube link. Anyway, major issues towing the car there blah blah boring stuff etc. Drove all weekend, made some great mates. Rubbed doors and guards with the best of the best. Learnt more than most in the space of two days. Thanks to Luke fink, stewy Bryant, Ryan tuerck and Simon michelmore for letting me practice tandems with them!! (They never knew I hadn't really drifted before but fake it til you make it right?) PHOTOS: Best weekend of my life. A month after this in early 2015 I cracked the sads with life and decided I didn't want a car I can only drive once every few months. Built a pretty sick ke70! Streeted the fuck out of it and drove it around Aus. Anyway I blew up the 4age I spent so much money on and then cracked the sads once again and parted the car out. Bought a cheap sr20de s13 (p plate license restrictions) did the usual shit, coils knuckles etc. slapped her on 15s and continued to street the life out of it. Mountains, industrials you name it. (Girlfriend with the pose) And anyway after a few months I decided the car scene was rubbish, I didn't like the people anymore and streeting wasn't really quenching my thirst for aggressive driving. (I crack the shits a lot, oops) Bought a daily civic and told myself I wouldn't drift until 2017. AND THAT BRINGS ME TO 2016, wasn't I wrong. Made friends with a local tyre shop and started attending drift events and helping change tyres, one of my mates built a pretty mental drift ute and took me out for a passo ride. Beginning of the end right there, my bug was back and it bit me harder than ever. March 2016. Hadn't drifted on a track since my first turbo car in 2014. Went on the hunt for something as either a full built car or a suitable base to build a competitive track car! Long story short, ended up with this scrap heap two weeks before I turned 21! Post will be continued below with a spec list etc..
Stage one: Spec list: Aus delivered s14 series 1 Motor/driveline: S15 sr20det blacktop (Apparently a forged engine but no proof was supplied and honestly the guy who owned it didn't know a fucking thing) Apexi Fc and hand controller Z32 afm T28 ball bearing Stainless manifold Aftermarket dump pipe to a 3inch exhaust with a decat and cannon at the end Big front mount inter cooler Tuned at 184rwkw at 18psi (weirdest tune ever) 5 speed manual Standard 3.6 ratio diff Suspension/brakes: Lowered springs on standard struts Standard brakes and standard everything else Interior: Boost gauge Hand controller Standard everything Exterior: Jdm grill Jdm bonnet (black) Ugly vertex style hovercraft looking pos body kit Cheap 18" eBay wheels Shitty half re sprayed paint job Drove it illegally on the street for a bit (can't drive turbo til 22) Did the usual thing when I got it home, washed the car and cleaned the engine bay! Moved the boost controller and a few other things to neaten it up! Removed the terrible body kit, replaced the front bar with a smashed up standard one. And pulled the lip extension off the rear (fucked my paint oh well) And after that I just really wanted to test the car out, this is where things happen quickly. Week of my 21st birthday, also Easter weekend. Local track (2 hours away) had a practice day coming up a month later. Me and my friend decided to enter with our cars. BUT THE ENTRIES FILLED OUT IN LESS THAN A MINUTE, 60 SPOTS FILLED IN 60 SECONDS!! We were pissed, and didn't want to wait 2 months to drive our cars at the next local practice day. Wednesday night (23rd) had a joke about travelling to south Australia to a place where a guy has built a drift track in his own back yard!! Decided it was too far (12 hours) and we can do it in the future. Morning of the 24th, Thursday (my 21st birthday) Took my car to the local tyre shop to use their hoist and do some maintainance to the s14 as well as a wheel alignment. Royal purple everything!! A few phone calls later and we decided that we would drive in South Aus at jdm X park on the weekend. So me and the fellas at Gad Tyres pulled my diff out and welded it, did some servicing and check ups, bought some tyres etc At about 9pm we were still working away and my parents came down to the work shop with gifts etc and celebrated with us. Finished working on the car at 1am Friday 25th. Packed the car and got to sleep at 2am! 2 hours later I was up and headed to the servo to get fuel and meet my friends who were coming along to SA to go drifting! Borrowed a whole bunch of wheels off some friends (thanks turtle and Christian) After owning the car for only two weeks I was pretty nervous driving it 12 hours there, skidding and driving 12 hours back! (Illegally driving the car on the road as well as my license didn't allow it) We hit the road and by 6 am already had troubles, I didn't bleed the coolant properly and she was over heating heaps. Re bled and we were back on the road. Every two hours had to stop and let my car cool before getting going again. After a very failed (and dumb) attempt at a skid behind a truck stop, got a massive smell of clutch and some shitty pedal feel! ( two hours from SA and 5 hours from the track. I fucked up. But we still continued whilst I tried to source another clutch in a different state. Got to the caravan park at 5pm and changed some wheels around and settled in whilst extremely nervous to drift the day after with a busted clutch. Saturday 26th: Wow what a day, somehow the clutch lasted the whole day with massive amounts of abuse. I've never struggled so hard to drift a car before, boost came on so late and the shitty 3.6 diff gears and near stock suspension made it so hard to drift on a tight circuit like the one we were on. Made the most of it though, I'll let the photos do the talking! Well trained girlfriend! My mates full built drift ute completely dominated me before he Sprung an oil leak and had to leave the track just after 2pm! In a different state he had no choice but to sit the rest of the day out! Had massive overheating issues, as soon as the car hit 107 degrees it would no longer boost and it would just hit up quick I'd get 2 minutes out at a time All in all had an awesome weekend, best way to celebrate my 21st birthday and test the new car out. I struggled big time but managed to get some awesome videos of me clipping the walls and hitting the pool noodle clipping points. Got some really sick footage with my mate Chris in his ute! LINK: https://www.facebook.com/zacharybognar/posts/1186619708016852 I'm yet to put it on YouTube sorry! Drove home on the Sunday, constant over heating blah blah! Got pulled over by highway patrol about 3 hours from home, car for defected (can't drive it on the road til it's inspected by a mechanic) was too low and loud etc. They didn't fine me and take my license for driving turbo which was cool, at this point the car was looking thrashed as hell so I didn't mind walking away with only a defect notice! How it looked on the trip home! All this happened within owning the car for a little over two weeks!! To be Continued...
Stage two: Okay so now safe at home back in my own state with a defected car and a busted clutch along with massive over heating issues. I had 7 weeks to prepare for the next local track day! I knew exactly what I wanted done to the car and so I began with purchasing parts and installing them as they arrive! Bought a Nardi off a friend, it was silver but I've previously had about 3 silver ones so I sprayed it black (fuck me right?) Took the car down to my boys GAD tyres/Grumpy automotive developments! Started to strip out the interior and cut the dash up! Got started on the cage! Just getting a weld in half cage with side intrusions! Also bought some super cheap and super shitty used origin 20mm front guards! Painted my engine cover! Installed some 30mm extended Lcas, cut n shut knuckles, rack spacers and maxima tie rods! (Doesn't count on droop) BIG THANKS TO JDI FABRICATION! After looking forever purchased a welded abs 6 bolt 4.3 Diff! No more useless 3.6 junk!! Bring on third gear! Bought some brand new rear slideworx rear coil overs! Local company who do good products at a reasonable price! Also got some cheap d1r skid wheels, photos of how the car sat for a week! Bought a cheap factory lip and vertex side skirts also Painted the roll cage! And the rest of my interior! Didn't work so great and was spray cans but it will do the job!! Re assembled the interior! You can see in this photo where I cut the dash, created so much more leg room. My legs bow as I like to sit close to the steering will and this made life much easier! Also installed rear camber and rear toe arms to fix my rear alignment! Bought a pair of BC BR coil overs for the front! also discovered my front pair of d1rs were cracked so I fucked them off and borrowed some wheels! Started to come along quite nicely To be continued..
Stage 3: Alright with the suspension near finished I moved on! Painted my front guards (via colour matched can, way off lmao) Better than white though! Back onto a trailer and down to Gad tyres where I was getting an alignment and using their hoist to change my clutch! New clutch in thanks to Mike giving me a hand! Now home and aligned! Started the final bits for the interior! Mounted Ecu, drilled out handbrake mechanism and grip taped them, mounted extinguisher and made up some door cards! Didn't do the best job but it now has a rubber strip along the top and looks a lot neater! Also finishes off the interior nicely and will pass all scrutinering requirements! To be continued..
Stage 4: Bought some new wheels to return the wheels I borrowed! 17x9 +30 with a 25mm spacer! Ssr Koenig, tyres are way to small though! Got started on my cooling problems! Removed the blocked air con condenser, and all the lines! Removed blocked standard radiator! Fitted big alloy rad and a gktech fan, along with a nismo thermostat! Bled the fuck out of the system using only the best! PURPLE EVERYTHING Massive ball ache moment, always wondered why my rear alignment was off and fitment was different. Discovered that the lensos I bought had different offsets (+30 and +40) not happy at all so sold them on super cheap. Bought another pair of wheels with near new re002! 17x9 +12 grids! Typical just been washed photo! Swapped wheels around and installed some subframe collars! Painted some wheels Replaced a few small things like a busted cooler hose! Then onto a trailer for the next and final stage before my drift practice on the 28th of May!
Stage 5: Cleaned some wheels because it seems it's never been done before! Car was dropped off to a bloke named Marty, super helpful as all hell! BIG NEWS: Was lucky enough to get my first major sponsor! The garage, Brunswick. Jumped on board and is going to help me out over the year! So this is how I got the car back from Marty at signs sell! Got the car re aligned that arvo and picked up 8 tyres for the upcoming practice day! I'd also like to announce that GAD tyres will be supporting me through out the year also! So we put some new stickers on! And here's how she currently sits! FINAL UPDATE: Well this is where I'm up to in real time, cars come a long way since I bought it 3 months ago! Super excited to give the car a shake down but also super nervous as its only my third time on track in a completely untested car once again! All that's left is an oil flush and she will be ready for the 28th! Big thanks to my parents, Michael, Robbie, gad tyres, the garage and importantly my girlfriend for helping me get to this point! Hope you guys enjoyed the read! Will update as I go! And next post will be an updated spec list! I've probably forgot heaps but this will do for now. See ya ✌️
Updated/Current spec list! Running gear: Sr20det Blacktop, s15 vct engine (apparently forged) Rocker stoppers T28 ball bearing Stainless low mount Stainless 3inch dump pipe Full stainless 3inch exhaust, one cannon Z32 afm, hks mushroom pod Turbo smart Bov D1 Spec catch can Aftermarket engine dampener Walbro Intank pump 255lph Triple core alloy rad, single thermo Gktech clutch fan Nismo thermostat Front mount intercooler Greddy turbo timer Apexi Fc + hand controller Tuned at 184rwkw and 330nm on 18psi 5 speed manual Npc ceramic cushion button clutch Suspension etc: Bc Br gold front coil overs Slideworx rear coil overs 30mm extended Lcas by JDI fabrication Cut n shut knuckles by JDI fabrication Maxima tie rod and skyline rack ends Rack spacers Adjustable rear camber arms (unknown) Adjustable rear toe arms (unknown) S13 abs 4.3 welded diff Gktech subframe collars Interior: Nardi classic 350mm + hkb boss kit Boost gauge Alloy door cards Grumpy Automotive CAMS approved weld in half cage with side intrusions Exterior: 20mm origin wide body front guards Vertex side skirts 17x9 +12 Rota Grids, 215/45 Potenza re002 17x9 +30 SSR Koenig, 25mm bolt on with 215/45 Gktech steel wheel nuts Vinyls by signssell I think that's everything but I'll update it if i remember something
Aw yis, fresh oil before tomorrow's practice day! And fuck do I hate sr20 oil filters, someone remind me to buy a relocation kit before I spend more money on useless things
This is rad. Its nuts how far you guys have to travel to events! Currently in the process of deciding where to live (Melbourne or Sydney) when me and the mrs come over in the new year. Really want to go somewhere with a decent drift life/community, any suggestions mate? Keep up the good work.
good start to your build lad and by the way that zenki is far from a shiteheap haha!! youre heading down the road i want to go down soon but ive a built engine just gone into my car, will be keeping an eye on this!
Cool looking 14. Whats with Aus and everyone having sick as fuck S13 coupes on cool wheels?? Wish the UK was like that haha
Haha yeah wonder how bad Google made it sound! Glad you enjoyed the read! Thanks dude!! Queensland has the best scene/community/cars/tracks etc. But Melbourne over Sydney any day! Also I went to a local track only half an hour away this weekend. But besides that I'm willing to travel far and wide if it means good times with mates! Thanks man I appreciate it!! I'll never be happy with it so in my eyes it's a constant shit heap hahah! Sounds good mate get er done They're a dying breed here, our local highway patrol is taking them off the road 1 by 1!
Oops Went drifting yesterday! Was solid fun! I wont say any more but it was eventful and I'll leave you with this photo until I write up a full recap.
Calder park practice day. The big oops So I had a practice day booked on the 28th/Saturday spent a few days before getting the car ready. Oil flush etc, ordered more tyres (thanks gad)! Got another sponsor as well! Last minute bought a bucket seat Packed some stuff! I had 8 brand new 215/45/17 Jinyu tyres with me! And I was ready! So I thought.. Next to no sleep, left at 6am for the track! And to my luck as soon as I got there it starts to pour, great all these tyres for nothing. I don't have many photos but I've got a few from friends! I was put into group C (because I'd never driven the track before) and after the first session I already knew it was gonna suck, after a quick few words with race control I was moved straight up into B. Group C was the most painful thing of my life, nothing but yellow flags and couldn't put more than 1 corner together! I didn't mind the wet too much, allowed for good seat time without too much strain on the car! I think the turbos on its last legs, all kinds of coloured smoke on de acceleration and the car just felt that little bit slower towards the end! Popped a cooler hose and instead of removing the bumper I just took the lights out. Didn't want to smash them anyway. So by the last wet session I was super confident, could drive the car easy as anything. I started to get really close to the wall around the bowl, near on dragging the rear along the concrete while people egg me on!! BUT It started to dry the last 2 sessions and I had no idea how to drive the car in the dry as it was all new, first dry session was sloppy but fuck me was it fun or what! So fast and third gear rips! 2nd dry session I was having a ball, thought fuck it and started aiming for the wall again! Love that shit! RUN THE WALL Yeah haha a quick brain fart later and I hit it a little too hard I think, came in like a retard but I still went for it. I should have known better and I'm pretty fucken disappointed in myself. Terrible driving on my behalf, felt pretty low after it. I didn't give a crap about the damage, my biggest concern was my girlfriend who went side on with a concrete wall, she was okay but obviously a little shaken up. And my other concern was my family and friends and my sponsors who came down for the day just to watch me bin it. We've all put time and money into the car and I just threw it into a wall. Cars can be fixed but I didnt want to lose support! All in all I achieved what I wanted to! Gave the car a shakedown! It was awesome, the new cooling set up made a world of difference with temperatures, and the suspension/lock was so much fun. I feel like the car is lacking a little bit of power, with a high diff ratio it's awkward to drive as 2nd gear is too short and goes straight to limiter and it's just a little bit too slow for 3rd on some smaller stuff! Turbo needs to be replaced, I've got my eye on a 2871r kit! And my idle is all over the place, as high as 3k and hunting half the time. It really needs looking over. But first thing was get the car home and asses what I bent! Ps. Loading a bent car on a trailer is the WORST. Thanks guys, will upload more photos when media coverage gets released!
The aftermath (I have to pro footage on my computer I am sorting and more photos from the event are coming) So I got the car home that night, was in a terrible mood and was feeling pretty bad about my girlfriend so we went out to the city for a night and relaxed in luxury! Then came the Sunday, it was time to see what I had done! Gave it a wash to remove all the mud that was stuck underneath (fuck you rain) As you could probably guess I hit the rear first and it's thrown the front around bending something in the suspension. Anyway had to figure out a way to open my boot on my crumpled rear end, after trying everything I managed to open it buy this! Every extension bar I owned!! Stupid harness bar prevented me getting through the parcel shelf so this had to do hahaha! Wheel well was pretty bent and well honestly everything from the rear towers back was! But NOT A SINGLE PIECE of suspension was damaged in the rear end, even the will only had a tiny fold in the lip! I couldn't believe it! Pulled the front down and only ONE bit of damage! Just a bent lca where a sway bar would usually mount but I wasn't running one. Steering rack and everything else was fun how good is that? So knowing my car was a simple fix I thought I'd just straighten it as much as I can and later down the track I'll hide it with an over fender! So first job was to pull the structure straight again! Thanks jeep! And that was it for a night. On the Monday morning 30th/ I got a whole set of s1 tai lights and garnish, and a replacement lca for $100. Lca is currently at JDI fabrication getting extended to match the right side! And so we started hammering, and swearing. Lots of swearing. Until it started to look like a car again! Some primer and then some quick green paint and a test fit of the tail light! It looks terrible, but still better than what it was. I've ordered bonnet pins which I will use for my boot as the latch is too mangled! Need to play with the lights a bit to straighten them but I'm confident I can fit a rear bar again as well! So by Thursday I should have the car ready for another alignment! So yeah I'll keep you guys updated and what not! Cheers
Got my hands on this bad boy last night, ordering new injectors today. Then it's e85 and a re tune! 2871r and 850cc injectors for those interested. Can't wait
ALSO! Big thanks to Jake at JDI fabrication! My replacement lca has been extended to match the other side. I run r33 Lcas extended by 30mm. They have a different sway bar mount but I don't run a front sway bar anyway.
