R31 in da house! $10 rebuild

Quick project almost complete.

As I recently sold the R32s and R33 and I'm waiting to build an A~Bo~Moon replacement. I picked up this well and truly thrashed and repaired  R31-house Skyline for $10 at the GCRC Swap Meet.

I already had some front and rear light buckets and spare Speed Way Pal fenders laying around, so i thought why not?.

You can see the head light paint pen effect that needed to be removed along with some original paint at the rear which now makes way for buckets

When I had the body on the chassis, I forgot I had 8mm hubs so I went for +10 fenders, but could have used 7mm. So now it's 220mm wide , much lower (ready to scrape) and looking very very tough.

Spice 13mm offset rims doing their best to fill them out.

Big crack up front is semi-repaired. but removing the carbon look sticker from the bonnet revealed 4 big holes, so I decided to make a vented bonnet and open up the front.  .

Fenders are glued and drying, so it should be back on track tomorrow. 

Small Update.....

Come follow my RWD R31 Missile at GCRC this Tuesday night. I'll be setting a line far from the wall as the back end is long and even longer with a custom exhaust.

Should be a good machine to set a comfortable line for followers of the now code named HMAS Skyline aka the Battleship!

Flat gun metal grey???   R31 in da house!

V2 - Wheel Selection

So... The wheel dilemma on the V2 continues, but choice is awesome. 



A little while ago I put the feelers out for some more of my favourite +12 rims. Top line has discontinued the N-Model Mars Drift Fighters in +12 so I am trying to find a few sets around the place. 

Tijs came to the rescue with this fluro yellow set. And as it turns out... are a pretty close match for the D1 Spec V1. Maybe a touch of smoke will tone them down just enough.

But the bonus is these +13 Spice TE37s . They have a seriously deep center which is more like an Advan T6 rim. 

So I have the following selections of Top Line Drift Fighter Mars N1 +12 OFF 

4 x White
4 x Yellow 
4 x Black with metal flake
4 x White painted Dark Blue
2 x White painted Red
2 x Chrome

But I'd like to complete the Chrome and Red sets. Red is Painted from a white set.

So now I have a few variations. I can throw in the mix. It's working out pretty well.

The V1 looks good with White, Black and Yellow.

The V2 looks good with Black and Blue ( and the 2 reds which I need two more of.)

About the only other super wide rims I have are these metal beasts that are about +13 also. They are indeed awesome.

RE-DP-DM Almost RTS "Ready to Slide"

The Drift Master is almost ready, check a few more details.

The rear has been complete for some time.

2.0FCD at the rear. Team Suzuki Arms. Kazama topped shocks and SS universals are gonna make this zing zing.

Last week, my slide rack arrived for the front. Because of the narrow mounting point for steering on the DP-DP, I devised a little plan. I lowered the steering as much as I could and drilled some new holes for the mounting position.

This Drift Package Drift Master is going to stay as 3.4CS. the front spice gear set providing the max setting for shaft drive. I don't need any more steering than this. I'm already maxed out on the CVDs and there is still more flexibility in the rack.

 So I just need the servo saver installed for steering operation.

And then receiver and Keyence Tachyon ESC /  taped in for some testing to start with the New Luxon KG 10.5. gogo!

Spice Gram Lights 57D

I picked up these little beauties. Spice Rays Gram Lights 57 D. "D" is for Drift.
 

At Offset 8. I think these will be a perfect match for the FC3s that is now getting a light kit installed also. 

Stay tuned for another update and install.

these come with stickers and there is actually embossed wording on the opposite spoke. It will become visible when dirty.

RE-Xtreme FD3s Spirit R

95% complete, but good enough for a photoshoot.

All the rotary labels in effect on this machine.

RE-Amemiya, Fujita Engineering Feed, R-Magic, Knight Sports, Sexy Style, Pan-Speed, C-West, Satoru, Veilside, Bomex, and some extra sponsors for good measure.

Yokomo and Tamiya feature with Kazama, Sanwa, Keyence, RC926, Top line, Spice and other brands I support.

A few of my own brands of course RE-Xtreme, RE-AU, .RSG. and a few shared stickers along the way.

it's all very busy but that keeps life interesting.

I have 3 tasks that remain.

LED install,
Brake ducts to replace the fake fog light sticker.
Rear Wing (rear support)

and I'll be happy.

I can't wait to get this thing into some tandem sliding.

Interior, there's a custom dash and rear parcel shelf with tower bar and a full 6 point cage. 
My driver is based on a Tamiya Wheelie body and 4wd driver's head with custom sunglasses.

he likes to look out the side, but the head position is fixed. Rear wing is a Yokomo "Cusco" item with Custom Kunnyz style end plates. I need to make a small wedge to mount the lower section more securely and increase angle slightly.

HPI details like exhaust, intercooler and mirrors add to the realism, while the street jam diffuser is a great complement to FD3s styling. Very similar to RE-Amemiya or Craft Company's rear diffuser.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the result.

Wheel Choices

This may be a reflection on my own style, but having lived in Japan for 10 years and being around the tuning car scene, the drift / time attack style has definitely got inside my head.

My selection of RAYS wheels no doubt aligns with my like of Japan's ultimate wheel company.  

However some of favourite designs are those of Advan and Enkei, but their cast mouldings often have people crying about that as inferior.

In the RC world. My TOP LINE selection comprises and has comprised of more that a dozen sets of MARS Fighters and others of varying offset. Maybe the olympic gold medal wheel of RC. hehe.

I always find myself coming back to these.

a simple color change is just a quick change away.

Here is a tip for beginners. White wheels will help you improve. Visibility of steering angle can help those eyes.

No matter ho many wheels you try, personal preference is a fickle thing. love or hate. While I love Yokomo products, their shallow offset wheels often stop me purchasing from their wheel range.  These "Yokomo Style" Enkei wheels unfortunately are copies with a deeper offset.

So what about the JZX. D1 competitor and JZX tuner Kazama Auto exist in the RC arena, so perhaps I should run their FXR wheel. 

Or perhaps the Rays Gram Lights Ultimate as were sponsored to their D1 Lexus.

in 2012 Powervehicles ran TE37SL so these Spice wheels could be used. but somehow don't really match the chrome.

This year they switch to Gram Lights 57D-R in black, so I tried on these super wide monsters

I'm just lucky I can have this many choices for relatively little money. Choose wisely.

Yokomo Mark X 275 - Update #2

Oh yeah! the MARK X is here and the project is definitely underway.

Sometimes people complain about the price of Yokomo gear, but for $45 I think this one is incredible value for money. This one is a great shape too. I love Yokomo quality, but the shapes are sometimes (FD3s) a bit long.

The accessories include, the long D1 wing. 2 mufflers and mirrors, perfect pre-cut masks and 6 decal sheets (many include chrome)!  I lashed out on the dark chrome light buckets for $5 extra. I also bought the Orido 86 wing to try, but it doesn't quite match this one.

You can see above that I also purchased new Overdose VS-KF in +7. They have a slight flange on the rim which means the tyres will only mount from the inside leaving 1mm of the wheel exposed. Nice!

But I am also going to run these HPI. the size is perfect for a 20inch Strong image. I'll be cutting these down to fit Yokomo R2 or R4 rings on them. Waiting for the red ones too.

Very cool!

Wheels are always a dilemma though. some suit a body colour and others don't.

 Compared the Overdose rims, these look downright small!

TE37SL still do an awesome job though.

Anyway, the paint work has started. I ended up doing this relatively freehand.

Next colour will be red, then white and finally black.

Still no word on sticker production. so it may not be finished for a while.