[sideways.taff]

The Taff*tune R32 GTS drift car build began back in November 2005. The car cost £500 and it was bought from a guy who had to get rid of it to be able to pay for his living room radiator, sofa and carpet after the radiator had burst and ruined the whole lot. I snapped the offer up straight away and went to collect it with a towing dolly and a Landrover Discovery a few days later. The car was ready for its transformation into a drift machine to begin. It was originally intended to be a cheap car that I could learn to drift in with a few basic mods to get me going but as time went on it got to the stage where I'd be better off making a good job of it and try my best at making it into one of the best prepared drift cars in the UK.

This write up really does have loads of photos so be sure to let them all load up.

The car began as an almost completely standard scared R32 GTS (HR32). The only mods were an aftermarket exhaust back box and a hastily made induction made from a cut up AFM and a standard sized K&N cone filter. Needless to say these modifications were of no significance to the project at all in the long run and would subsequently be discarded somewhere along the strip down.

The stripping started and the car became barer and barer each day.

The RB20DE came out and wasn't destined to go back in the engine bay.

The RB20DE was replaced by a lighter four cylinder alloy blocked SR20DET from a 200sx S14. This allowed the engines centre of gravity to remain firmly behind the front axle, aiding in the overall balance when the car is finished.

The gearbox lined up with the hole in the transmission tunnel thanks to the interchangability of various parts of the Nissan range. The gearbox is a standard 200sx S14 unit at present which is due to be replaced by a stronger gearbox or uprated internals.

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[sideways.taff]

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The front suspension came out. It, as with the RB20DE, wasn't destined to go back in the car in any shape or form.

Front cross-member modifications were made to the RB20DE cross-member to accomodate the SR20DET. I later found out that the SR20DET cross-member from an S14 should bolt up but the modifications had allready been made.

The front turrets were seam welded which turned out to be a fruitless exercise in the end given the final plans for the front end, which at this time weren't determined.

The rear subframe came out in one unit.

The engine bay got a protective coat of primer.

The first bodykit was trial fitted which as with other things on this project proved to be pointless as the final bodykit choice was the R324 Bee*r bodykit, the first of its kind to leave Bee*r.

Sound deadening was removed by chipping it away with an air chisel during the cold winter nights and the remnants cleaned off with cellulose thinners and a couple of rags.

The floorpan was primered for protection from the elements.

The SR20DET was stripped.

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[sideways.taff]

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Then the taff*tune R32 GTR blew a turbo and the GTS shell had to sit outside under a tarpaulin for a few months

The GTS doors were cut up to reduce weight, the window regulator was removed along with the glass windows to be replaced by polycarbonate units at a fraction of the weight.

The dents were removed.

New parts started to arrive, hydraulic handbrake, floor mounted pedal box and extinguisher system

Then the Tein Super Drift coilovers and D2 tension rods turned up

Rollcage fabrication and fitting work started in ernest at Owens Fabrication. A multipoint weld in cage was planned to stiffen the shell up and for obvious safety reasons.

One last look at the original turrets before they’re cut out to make way for some new enlarged and custom made ones.

More of the rollcage fabrication.

The old turrets were thrown out and the new turrets were welded onto the car

The shell came back from Owens Fabrication following all the custom fabrication work.

New front suspension front suspension geometry was bolted in. 180sx S13 front suspension geometry was chosen over the standard R32 front geometry to allow for easier adjustments to be made quickly and to allow and increased amount of steering lock.

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[sideways.taff]

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The dashboard went back in for mockup.

The turret tops were rejigged which allowed a more realistic camber angle up front.

The SR20DET went back in for mockup

And came back out again

New adjustable rear suspension links were ready to go in.

The holes in the bulkhead that were previously there for the air-conditioning pipe work were blanked off.

The car was lowered back onto its wheels for the first time in nine months. Here it’s sitting on 17x8.5 et35 wheels which are only there for mockup.

A Koyo S13 aluminium radiator went in

A plumbed in extinguisher bottle was mounted in on a custom fabricated tube frame.

An aluminium passenger foot plate was mounted in the footwell.

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[sideways.taff]

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Some A-pillar gussets were welded in and rear firewall fabricated and installed.

Remote fluid reservoirs were mounted onto the bulkhead.

A custom centre console plug was made to enable the switch gear to be mounted nearer to the driver seat as the dash was now too far away to be reached when the driver is fully belted in.

Panel templates were made prior to fabrication of custom aluminium panels.

Out on the drive for the first time, badass!

The SR20DET goes back together for engine bay mockup.

Custom centre console prototype test fitted, a bulge was incorporate to gain clearance over the top of the diagonally mounted hydraulic handbrake. The flat section at the rear will be where the switch gear is mounted.

Aluminium, boot mounted, fuel tank

Fuel pump and swirl pot mockup and panel templates were put in place.

The fuel pump mounting plate was welded in

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[sideways.taff]

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A removable top radiator mount fabricated to allow the radiator and centre section of the slam panel to be removed to ease the removal of the engine and gearbox.

Door mirrors were custom mounted onto modified original mirror mounts.

A custom throttle pedal was mocked up and a new mounting bracket fabricated. The original had to be removed to make way for part of the rollcage.

The steering column was smoothed and debracketed, both for aesthetics and to reduce weight.

The rear of the front turrets were blanked off and welded in

16th October 2006.

So thats where I'm at as of two days ago.

The Bee*R R324 bodykit is now sat in Brighton in a warehouse waiting to be cleared by customs and waiting to be picked up and sent over to me.

 

[stuartstaples]

I've followed some of this on DW and I have to say, I'm very impressed with the trial and error aspect of the build. Lots of people get an idea in the head and then blindly follow it regardless. A great project and I'll look forward to seeing it sideways at the circuits next year.

 

[plkettle]

WOW !!!!

Thats a lot of work and i cant wait to see it finished and painted up with that p0rn bodykit !

 

[Snowfiend]

Fair play dude :thumbsup:

 

[Cardiff R33]

thats awesome fair play!!

 

[Pharoahe]

Really impressed by the work taht goes in, in building this car. Love to see the end result.

keep it up

 

[NuttyRB26]

Sweeet :smokin: Thats one hell of a project you've got there.

 

[matt j]

Great write up and pics mate.

Looks like hours of hard work has gone into it.

Keep us posted with the results - top effort

 

[Conrad]

Awesome Taff, there is a serious amount of work ongoing there. Keep it up to date as it will be an interesting read.

Conrad

 

[Aphid]

Very well done.:thumbsup: im loving it. Have you done this sort of thing before or is this your 1st attempt? Keep us updated, im very intrested in finding out how this turns out

 

[sideways.taff]

Thanks for the comments!

This is the first time I've attempted anything of this magnitude on my own car, its far more daunting doing it on your own car than on one that you're not paying for. I studied Automotive Engineering Design at university and spent the four years there working as part of the Formula Student race team where I worked on 4 of 5 different cars and was part of a team who stripped, modified and rebuilt one of the cars in my final year.

I also worked for Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe in Rugby for a year working with the WRC team whilst the development of the WRC2004 Lancer was being done. So I picked up a lot of information and tips of how things should be done from the various departments there. I know how things should be done but whether I can put those into practice or not is purely down to my skill level when working on the parts. I'm learning new skills all the time so this car is more or less going to be one to develop my works. My next cars should get better and better

 

[EvolutionVI]

Looks awesome,pretty good work till here:bowdown1:

 

[markieboi]

Top thread Taff.

Keep up the good work and keep the pic's coming :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Daz]

Fantastic thread ... definitely one to keep following !

 

[GTR WANNABE]

Top project, keep up the good work!! :thumbsup: