At one point, my car had all its body panels, suspension, and drivetrain… then I pulled it all out again. Feels like I’m working backwards! On a positive note, since I had to pull the engine again to fix some miscellaneous issues, I was able to make space to get some more optional bracing installed on the car and finally get wheel tubs. My buddy Chris cut out the wheel wells and began to mock up the cage-to-strut braces and the tubs. Much more cutting will be done, but he’s been busy finishing up a few other projects, so my tubs will have to wait until closer to the end of Summer to be finished.
In the meantime, I had a couple spare 315 Hoosier A6’s lying around, so I bolted the suspension back up without springs and ran some wheel travel tests to figure out where I would rub. We have a lot of cutting left to do. I probably won’t be able to afford to run new 315’s 18″ R Compounds any time soon, but it would be nice to be able to run them. I also plan to run full racing slicks instead since the X Prepared class allows for it – again, all depending on how the shake-down goes & what my budget is by then.
At least I won’t be rubbing anything at full droop, hehehe. At the stock bump stop, I still rub in the front during turn-in. In fact, I kind of rub all over the place during turn-in. I’ve recently found some potentially stickier and more affordable wheel and tire combinations that may work out. We will be testing the new tires on another car I race; if that pans out, I will be testing the tires on this car once I run out of the old R Compounds.
My wonderful D-Max +40mm S13 Silvia front fenders will also need some trimming and perhaps an additional flare added on to cover the tire. I think I can make this work, though. So far, things are looking promising. Can’t wait to finally get her back out on the track.
