Olly's JZX100 Mark II
 

So I thought I would put up a build thread on Zilvia as I still enjoy forums and it's probably one of the most active ones out there.

I used to own this:

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Which was the car I was going to have for a long time. Then it was stolen and recovered and I parted it out.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...74_b.jpg?w=900

Looking back - I should have kept a few things from the above photo. Oh well. I actually didn't do badly out of the part out.. Not compared to today's ridiculous s-chassis parts prices, but not bad. Then I built a JZX110 IR-V, which I really enjoyed, it was a cool chassis, fast enough and just looked great. I probably should have kept it.. althought the fake Vertex was a pain in the ass.

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4 year's went past and to be honest i missed having a car throughout that period.. my son then hit 3 and started to really get into cars & anything with wheels.. I would take him to a track day and he would want to sit in any car he was allowed to.. this lead to the inevitable "Dad we should get a race car" comment.

Unfortunately in that time Silvia & 180sx prices in NZ have gone through the roof, a fairly average condition 180sx Type X is now $20,000 - $27,000... JZX110 are slightly cheaper but most of the ones in NZ are either high km or just average condition and you can't import them anymore. Most of these cars are modified, either in Japan or poorly in NZ, I didn't want anyone's problems, I wanted to build a car from scratch again.

JZX100 however are cheap as chips in NZ! Especially automatics. I knew I wanted a Mark II so started collecting parts whilst keeping an eye out for the right one to pop up.. all my builds have been pretty simple, this one is no different. This is not a drift car, it's a weekend car and I might do an occasional grip day once it's manual.. unlike the 180 haha.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...3745.jpg?w=900

In the meantime I picked up a genuine Vertex Lip Kit from Toyota NZ which I found funny.. There is one Toyota Dealership in NZ that sells Genuine Vertex products as well as Cusco and a few other genuine brands. This kit hasn't been cut in half or anything like that.. the quality is amazing, it's far better quality than the hotroad kit I had on the 180. I also managed to find facelift tail lights and a boot for cheap as well.

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I was stoked on the boot; no spoiler, no badges apart from the Toyota emblem and the whole lot was in ''as new'' condition. Check out the back of the corner lights:

I looked at 3 different Mark IIs, a rose red one with 170km, the colour was insane but it wasn't that tidy and had high km (178km), then another silver one with 168km which wasn't that tidy, regardless - I was about to buy that car for nostalgic purposes (Silver / Non-sunroof like the 180) and then this one popped up. Almost the same car but in great condition, certainly for a 22 year old car I couldn't complain at all. When I compare it to the 180sx when I got it, it's far better.

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vs.

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It's 1996 Tourer V, so 1JZGTE VVTI, One Japanese owner, 90,000km, full service history in the glovebox and overall condition was 9/10, interior is 10/10 not a mark anywhere.. the only modification was a full Kakimoto 3" exhaust (I've always wanted one, score!) and the rear boot was missing the V badge, not that I cared.

I jumped on this right away and then chucked it in the garage and continued to collect parts.

Handling wise I bought BC coilovers with 18kg / 12kg springs (wishing i went higher), Greddy Intercooler & Cusco front and rear camber arms. I want to get an air cup kit later and they work with BC coilovers which is perfect, although - one thing I didn't realise being out of the scene for so long is Stance do a really nice coilover setup for JZX now.. doh. Oh well.

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Then I refreshed the whole front end buying parts off Yahoo Auctions with Jesse's help. GX100 grill, Dmax corner lights and I modified some standard indicators (removed the orange inner plastic using a Dremel and then bought some orange bulbs)

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...4912.jpg?w=900

Then I needed some wheels, I wanted XT7.. basically to build a Mark II version of the 180.. Silver car / Matte Grey XT7.. anyway, I couldn't find any in NZ, since they've been discontinued they've become quite rare which sucks.

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It wasn't the end of the world, I did manage to pick these up, they're re-lipped (threepiece.us) Work VS-KF, 18x9.5+18 square so pretty much perfect sizes, and the centres are close the MGS colour.. I got them balanced by a wheel shop and checked over and then refurbished the inner barrels..

Then it was off to a mates workshop to install everything

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We lipped the guards in the rear and I've actually got away with keeping the inner guards up front but this will probably have to go as I do want to lower it a bit more. Tyre sizes are 225/40 & 235/40.

Then it went to paint to get the kit sorted, it took 2 times to get the paint right which was frustrating (silver sucks to paint) Anyway, got the car back and was stoked, we are going into summer in NZ so the timing is perfect.

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Couple of weeks later I grabbed a new R154 (again from Toyota) and a second hand Torsen LSD, I was thinking about going for a 1.5 way but in all honesty I think this is going to be fine.

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Right now I've just been working on the interior.. I'm halfway there. A Nardi Classic I got of Keisuke which was basically as new condition, but a lot cheaper than buying a new wheel...

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& replaced the JDM double din with a new Alpine headunit.

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The car is booked in to get the manual conversion and the diff installed early next month, the only other thing I'm keen to do before the end of summer is larger sway bars and maybe a subwoofer in the boot.

Will try to keep this updated as I go.

Thanks for reading.

Ouuu I've been following this on another forum. Glad to see that you've made it over here!

https://media2.giphy.com/media/l4JyO...45334941076e7c

Welcome fellow Yacht owner!

hell yea. love me some JZX. this build thread is going to be solid.


how are you liking the Cusco front upper arms? thinking about putting the JZX ones on my IS.

I think JZX are going to be the new Silvia if I'm honest. They're pretty common and therfore cheap to get your hands on (in NZ anyway). They don't handle as well but it's not too hard to fix that (I'm going to grab some Cusco swaybars as well)


Cusco upper arms were ok.. I guess I don't have anything to compare them to.. I had the choice of Cusco or Hardrace.. and I've never heard of Hardrace which were also more expensive. The Toyota branch I mentioned above also sell's them off the shelf with good after sale support, so it was a no brainer.


TBH they don't feel amazing or anything, just standard. Nothing like Ikea Formula. the PBM stuff that I had for the 180sx was nicer.


There was no notable increase in driving noise or anything like that so that's a bonus when you're older haha.

Baller John Deere tractor for your boy, I work for a dealership here in the states. Nice build!

Whoa, this looks wicked.

I loved your 180SX, in for this.

This is awesome. Going to sacrifice my Silvia for a JZX90 Mark 2 here within the next year lololol

Glad you decided to share the car with us here Olly- awesome to have you back! One of the best in the biz.

Damn it looks so good man! I wish it was being drifted tho :( would look killer going sideways.

I've always been a big fan of your cars, your 180sx was a big inspiration for mine.

That Trust knob looks amazing; is it powdercoated?

I believe it’s fake.

Nope I do not believe it is fake. I have two Trust shift knobs. One is the regular metal one and a plastic white version exactly like yours. To my understanding they made both.

Joe, please sell me the plastic one!

Re: Grex knob - that's a bonus! I did not know they made white ones.

3 month comparison:

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...3793.jpg?w=900

Few more bits ordered; floor matts, Cusco Strutbrace. Not long now until the gearbox goes in and the car goes off to be certified.

One item that is hard to find is a really good condition manual shifter surround, after 2 months of looking I found something I'm hoping is going to be as mint as the rest of the fake carbon interior and match well.

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I had the opportunity to do a bit of a road trip this weekend and some spirited driving through a well known Northern road, I'm really stoked how it went.. no drama apart from eating away some of the inner guards

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thanks for the info on the cusco arms. still torn on what I want to do.


any plans for short spindles? I believe these chassis have the same problem with the FUCA hitting as other Toyota/lexus vehicles.

In for updates I love mark II’s 4 in a half years and we can have them here in the states!

99% there.

So we built a 4.1 LSD with the two diffs (Toyota Crown 4.1 Open + Toyota JZX100 Tourer V 3.9 LSD). The LSD wasn't a torsen when we opened it up, it's apparently some factory option diff above the torsen that you could order from the dealership... If anyone has any further info yell out.

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Then I found a deal on some Cusco swaybars with 1000km or so on them, they basically look new.

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And the box was converted to a push type clutch and all installed with an exedy heavy duty clutch & light weight flywheel. I went with the fabricators recommendations on the clutch, he's built quite a few R154 shifted cars over the year's so I'm sure it'll be fine.

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Manual shifter surround - 99% match which is great.

Interior is basically done now. I picked the car up yesterday and whilst I haven't had a chance to go for a real test drive yet I've noticed 2 things - the R154 shifts like a total dog compared to any SR box & 1st & 2nd gears with the 4.1 diff are amazing! Also it pulls 2,800rpm at 100km/h incase anyone is wondering.

https://sr20.driftworks.com/forum/at...72-jpg.287148/

Where can you get that shiftknob? I need one in my life.

better then the 180

Shift knob came from NZ's version of ebay.

Got a call on Friday to say the car is 100% street legal :), so looking forward to getting it back next week and getting the rest of this stuff sorted.

I also picked up a set of 'brick' headlights that needed a clean up, they're pretty rare in NZ and keen to see how they look on the car

Before
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After
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Awesome build so far, loving it! Details on headlight resto? I do this frequently for customers, I typically wetsand then use compound for polishing only. Any clear coat used?

All I used was some rubbing compound and a DA.. I probably didn't do that great of a job tbh.

I got the car back on Friday certified, it didn't fail on a single aspect which is great. Once i had it back I gave it a good clean inside and out.

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I also picked up a set of XT7 in 18x9.5+12 which I'll try to restore early next year (if they fit)
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& a fairly new Zeta 3, I'm going to order some black cushions for this in the New Year

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That'll be it for 2018, Stoked I can drive this car through summer and not have to worry about a thing, already took my son to swimming this weekend in it.
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awesome car dude!! No engine bay shots though? :(

Really nice! I like the floor mats, seem to suit the car really well. Gives her a old school vibes and I like it a lot!

def looking forward to see how you fit the xt7s! looking for that same size for my 90, but im thinking ill have to roll/modify the rear arch a little.

Awesome car and build. Was a huge fan of ur old 180


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

100% stock.

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Thanks for the comments, I did a 2 hour road trip before just to check for leaks or problems, no issues at all. I also had a test fit with the xt7's before... it's not looking great :-/

Those are +12 offset yeah? From what I remember, there's going to be a bit of poke, and a bunch of camber... You can make it work though, but there's a lot of arch work, and fine tuning.

Got a seat rail and the Zeta in.. the graduation has to go. It does sit nice and low though which is a bonus.

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Have been driving the car non-stop over Christmas and New Year which has been great.

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I tried them on and worked out what would need to be done which is realistically a decent roll or flare of the guard... I'm really not keen on ruining the stock guards, I think so many people completely stuff there cars up by doing this badly.. even with the 180sx I wasn't overly happy with how they came out..

So the XT7 were sold and I put a bit more effort into the VSKF.. one thing that bugged me about these wheels is the water marks and general dirty appearance of the lips.. they came from threepiece.us and I couldn't actually tell if they were anodized or polished alloy.. in the end I found they were the later which is a massive bonus, I picked up some autosol and the results were awesome.. seriously happy with how these look now. I've always owned single piece wheels in the past so the maintenance on these is a bit of a learning curve.

Before / After

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Came up amazing. Also after selling the XT7 I managed to pick up a few things I wouldn't have otherwise.

The first is some ganadors.. talk about drift tax! I bought my first set of ganadors for the 180sx brand new in a box for $250. These were... much more... hopefully they show up soon as they're still with Jesse.

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I also bought a plate.. I was always 50/50 on personal plates.. I honestly always hated NZ number plates with a passion, most of my photos I would blank them out. I could never justify buying a personal one.. and what would you get anyway?

A mate and I were looking at the website to see what might be available and V OPT came up as untaken.. I thought it was cool, it perfectly reflects the type of car style I like a lot.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...img_3224-1.jpg

And that's everything up to date.. I'd like to promise next update will be a track day and some in-car footage, but I'm pretty similar to Damon with my cars and just like tinkering and doing aesthetic stuff haha.

Very clean build!

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Updates look awesome man. Love this thing!

Right few more small updates.

Most of my cars have had subs, probably 6 cars? so only a matter of time before this car got the same treatment.. I'm not an audiophile.. I probably spent more on this combo than I would have normally as I told myself I won't be selling this thing anytime soon. The 180sx had Alpine Type S 6.5" components and an average sub and amp.. and I loved it..

I ended up grabbing one of these: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-Ok9M4xeZCj0/p_5751P31X12/Rockford-Fosgate-P3-1X12.html[/url]

And a fairly chunky amp which I've aleady forgotten what it is lol, but its 760w RMS

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The one thing I've noticed with the JZX is the fuel tank is behind the rear seats, so getting the sound through is actually pretty difficult. The JZX110 must have the fuel tank under the boot floor as there is plastic compartment that is removable.. I'm pretty sure I put the sub there in that car too.

So yeah, kinda underwhelmed with it so far as the fuel tank is blocking a lot out but once I get some components I'll get the audio shop to tune it. If anyone has recommendations for the components keen to hear them.

Funny thing about the car - they come with components up front, rear speakers & 8" subwoofer in parcel shelf (you can kind of see it in that second photo in the middle) from the factory, so not bad at all.

My ganadors & black seat cushions also showed up and are at the painters now, really stoked on the condition of these and they are the blue tinted glass which I've never had.

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I'm going to have a go at wrapping that centre console with some black fabric too as it's a bit faded. You can also see my arm is leaving a nice sheen on the bride seat haha.

Few other random photos
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Still stoked how mint these lips came up, and updated with ganadors on now:

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Looks great as always!

fuckin mint!

Is silver your favorite car colour?

I’m colour blind

Replaced the tired components with Alpine Type S, which I had in the 180.. Pretty straight forward install in JZX100, I used the factory plastic mounts that I modified with a Dremel

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Went to Highlands Motorsport Park in Quenstown and drove this, which is probably the fastest car I've driven.

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After that trip I had a lot of motivation to get to the track. I gave my car a decent service, went for a final test drive up north, got a helmet bought some decent pads which turned out to be useless and went and did a test day at Hampton Downs with my mate in his SR20 powered C35 Laurel.

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https://youtu.be/ivXz4AgvL78

Another photo from the track day

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...45ec.jpg?w=900

Slowly collecting parts to solve my average stock brake issues.. looked at Project Mu, LS400 & Wilwood, but decided to go with Supra due to value for money and the fact I could buy from Toyota again... just waiting on adapters from Figs to show up then good to go..

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I'll probably do the rear brakes as well at some point, interesting that the rear rotor size is 324mm vs 323mm front.

Ouuu I need me some Supra brakes in my life... I’ve been eyeing a few front and rear sets on YAJ...

Rear seems to be a bit of a headache! More adapters and different handbrake shoes as well.. I'm going to do the front and see how it goes.. rear's are mainly for looks right?

Waiting on the adapters now, hopefully end of this month. I managed to get the Vertex Roof and boot wings painted, then repainted as I dropped one 30 mins after collecting it :bash:

Stoked with how these look though, so subtle compared to every other wing I see on these cars.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...7db.jpg?w=1000

Ah, near perfection.

vskf the best wheel

Small update - the rear adapters finally arrived so the car's getting the supra brakes put on this weekend.. finally.

In the meantime I got the centre muffler deleted from my exhaust and the tip extended so it's not sunk in.

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The sound isn't quite there but it's much more raspier than before and will do me for now, I want to run a full stainless 3" exhaust at some point and delete the cat, but want to get an ECU sorted before I go down this road.

In sad news the VSKF are O Disc - meaning there is no way in hell any large caliper is going to fit behind them.. maybe I shouldn't have sold the XT7 :D anyway I picked up some 57C6 and had them fixed up.

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Cars been great over the last 3 months, no issues at all which is pleasing.

Those wheels in that color will look bananas on this platform.
Bananas are good by the way. Looking forward to pictures of them installed with the brakes behind them.

Thanks mate, I tried to find a set of these for ages.

Managed to get the front Supra brakes and wheels on today. Very happy, stops so much better. The alignment needs a bit of tweaking and there's a bit too much poke but right now they're on, and don't rub anywhere which is awesome.

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fire.emoji
fire.emoji

this is fuckin goooood

This car is soo awsome! Sweetness

Thanks guys, really stoked on it right now.. so similar to the 180 with the single piece wheels

https://www.driftworks.com/forum/att...29-jpg.300680/

Hopefully get the rear calipers on soon and get another track day sorted :D

this thing is too good

i love it dude! very good!

hnnnnnnngh looks amazing, I even like the rays more than the vskf

Looks perfect Olly!

Sub'd! cool cars dude!!

Agree :cheers:

Thanks guys, glad you like it.. have done few things over the last month, mainly got my hands on some defi gauges (at first with no controller or wiring but I sorted that this week).

I was tempted to drill into the dash again like the 180 but a guy in NZ makes these holders out of FRP and I thought I'd give one a shot

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Painted satin black and installed
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This weekend I managed to get back to Hampton Downs for another track day which gave me a great opportunity to try the supra brakes.. I took half a second off my best time which I thought was pretty good considering the club circuit is a 30 - 50 second circuit depending on what you're in so it's very very short.

Didn't get many photos but I'll try to upload a video later.
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...6-1.jpg?w=1000

The car was awesome, all I did for prep was change oil and check fluids and tyre pressure.. the semi slicks combined with better braking just gave me so much more confidence and I really enjoyed the day a lot more than the last one.

I gave it absolute death for most of the sessions and probably had one cool down lap for every 5 or 6 fast laps I did. So stoked it had absolutely no issues at all :D

I LUV THIS CAR. Built just right

Very good as always man. Glad to see you are enjoying it!

Vskf pleaseeeee

Been driving this thing quite a bit lately, summer's coming up and its been a champ. Drove to Taupo and watched some drifting.. NZ car style has changed quite a bit haha.. more missile based rather than 01 style.. was still a good trip down.

Car has a fair bit of poke which I might try to fix with an alignment this month.


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Car looks amazing. Fun, manual and great engine. Keep it up man

Man, ganador prices are nutty nowadays

I got a last minute call up to go and test the car at Hampton downs 'skid pan' which is a large concrete area with water jets that you can operate manually.. I've never drifted before but this was the most fun I've had in this car and probably any car, can't wait to get out again.

We started the day with a few donuts, then figure 8s, then set up a track which consisted of 3 or 4 corners.. mostly slow second gear stuff.. by the end of the day I got to battle a few cars (badly) and then I stopped as i was really pushing my luck and most of the other cars were missiles haha.

That track layout looks like a nightmare. Concrete walls, and other cars coming towards you.

Na it’s fine.

You can’t see but there is a gravel trap that runs round the whole track. You can’t get anywhere near the walls.

The track is split between a donut pad and a small circuit. You can see the pad when I finish the section.

There’s no way I would chance my car getting wrecked and I’d happily do it again.

Someone asked me about the Cusco front camber arms and now after 10,000km or so of driving I can review them a bit better..

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Apparently the above is due to excessive camber on the ball joint meaning the load is not evenly distributed. You can fix this by cutting and shortening the uprights but I'm not overly keen on relying on someone's welds with my son in the car all the time.

I guess that leads me to figuring out what to replace the Cusco front arms with. The only real option is a serial nine front arm.. but I'm a tad confused on what to get..

https://www.serialnine.com/product-page/is300-fuca

These look great and I think as I'm going to run more camber in the rear to try to remove some of the poke I want to match that up front..

On the 180 I ran -7 front camber and -3 rear.. If I could get away with -5 front and -3 rear i think this should even out the look a lot.

If anyone has used serial nine stuff before I'm interested to hear of your experience, I'm definitely going to get the bushing kit that they sell shortly.

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Also managed to find some brand new OEM clear indicators.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...158.jpg?W=1000

And I installed a Koyo Rad as I want to start doing some engine bay dress up stuff and make it look not so junk.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...af1.jpg?w=1000

I'm in two minds right now with the car and the engine - I have a hi-flow turbo with a Garrett GTX3071 front wheel and standard steel rear wheel that I could put on, it should provide a bit more 'punch'. or I could sell it and run a GTX3076r Gen 2 setup which is way more money and probably over kill for the kindergarten run. :D

Until next time

This photo really shows how bad the rear poke is
https://sr20.driftworks.com/forum/at..._o-jpg.306576/

I know a number of guys running serial9 arms on GS or JZX chassis with no issues (other than the cost, they're expensive!).

I got another late call up to a mid-week drift day, this time on the Hampton Downs club circuit. D-Club had just held the Animal Style GP there on the Sunday and I took my son along to watch for a bit. Here he is taking a few photos of his favourite cars:

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...3d7.jpg?w=1000
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...83a.jpg?w=1000

The driving on this day was another level, some of the best 3 - 4 car tandems I've seen, anywhere.

Anyway, this was my first day drifting a track and I was nervous as hell, I borrowed a mates pair of XT7 and bought some cheap 225/40/18.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...876.jpg?w=1000

I did 3 sessions and by the third I was pretty happy with how my driving ended up. I couldn't link the first and second corner but I could add a manji and it made things a lot more fun. I might try to leave it in third next time.



Car was a champ. So stoked on this thing. No issues again.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...752.jpg?w=1000

looks like an awesome event!

you'll get it down with more seat time!

Small update - For anyone doing JZA80 Supra brake conversion on a JZX100, specifically the rear: JZA80 inner brake shoes for JZX100 are needed, this allows the factory handbrake to work. I haven't installed the rear calipers and rotors purely because I didn't know these existed and I wanted to do some drifting and it would have sucked without a handbrake.

There are 2 companies that make the shoes - Kazama and Project Mu. I went with Project Mu conversion shoes.. I've had some varying feedback on how good they are but we will find out.

Visually - having both Supra front and rear rules.. it looks 1000x cooler. It also surprised me what a difference it made to braking.. the rear helps a lot and the car pulls up a lot more evenly rather than the front dipping down under a lot of hard braking.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...00e.jpg?w=1000

The factory rear brakes are gross:

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...825.jpg?w=1000

All new:

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...414.jpg?w=1000

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...297.jpg?w=1000

In other news, I managed to find a Power FC locally (new in box) for a really good price so I grabbed it, I also ordered a Tomei cast manfiold, tomei dump pipe and j-pipe delete kit.

And I changed the headlights.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...635.jpg?w=1000

Can you explain the differences in headlights? Different years different spec I guess?

I think there are 4 different types of front lights for a Mark II, Basically tripple vs double and chrome and black housings. The double housings which look similar to brick headlights or Chaser headlights were only available in GX100.

This car was kinda the reason I wanted to find some of the black housing ones.

http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3...800.jpg?w=1000

Looking great as always!

Sweet as build. Simple and effective.

Thanks for all the comments guys, its been a fun build so far!.

So as of Monday I've been working from home probably like a lot of you, pretty stoked just to still be working when I see whats happening in other sectors... the whole situation in NZ is bizarre and I think we are actually pretty well set up to respond being so isolated..

I've decided to keep up with my hobbies whilst at home so I don't go insane so been picking up a few bits and driving the car a bit more when I have the opportunity.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...544.jpg?w=1000.

I ordered a Tomei Expreme Cast manifold

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...1_b.jpg?w=1000

The Power FC & J-pipe delete kit showed up.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...846.jpg?w=1000
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...686.jpg?w=1000
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...685.jpg?w=1000

The guy I bought the Power FC off also had a decent fuel setup for sale that I bought too, it's a bit overkill but it's an awesome setup.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...4512161904.png

It's a Sard Fuel Rail, Bosch 750cc injectors & adapters, Sard FPR & Bosch 500hp fuel pump.

It saves me buying a lot of stuff separately and I guess all I need now is a boost controller and to get the defi's wired in properly and it's good to go for a tune.

I have a hi-flow turbo, fairly standard but with a Garrett GTX3071 front wheel.. It's not going to do much over 18psi but in all honesty.. if this thing makes 250 - 260kw to the wheels I will be over the moon!

The only other thing that might choke it would be the AFM, I could convert to a Z32 AFM or something but will see how it goes.

And yes I know I could have gone down the road of a Haltech or a Link but it totally doesn't fit what I'm trying to build here.

Very cool! Stay safe and healthy man. Best wishes to you and your family.

Olly, stoked to watch the build progress as the count of days indoors increase lol. Such good work man, and hope all stays well on your end.

Which headlight corners are those with the blackhousings ?

The corner lights are DMAX smoked.

NZ is now in total lockdown, you can visit the doctor or the supermarket and that's about it. I am glad we got to this point sooner rather than later but at the same time I'm going a bit stir-crazy at home.

This weekend I decided to embark on a project with my old headlights, I split the lights by heating them in the oven to 100*c for 14 minutes.
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...880.jpg?w=1000

Then wet sanded down the old chrome housings.
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...238.jpg?w=1000

Some satin black paint
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...994.jpg?w=1000

Mocked them up and deleted the yellow fog (will replace with white LED)
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...565.jpg?w=1000

I then gave the interior plastic a really good clean and was suprised as to how much dirt was on the inside of the lense. Back into the oven for 14 minutes at 100*c and it's super easy to just push the plastic back into the housings. I gave the front of the plastic lenses a quick compound and this was how they came up

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...696.jpg?w=1000
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...981.jpg?w=1000
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...980.jpg?w=1000
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...874.jpg?w=1000
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...2020/04/21.jpg

These look so clean now, like too clean almost for how average the rest of the car is. You may asked why I bothered, but the twin brick headlights have completely different plugs and run No HID, so you have to retrofit all this sh1t and I did most of it but it didn't really work that well. I want to use the factory HID, the factory fog lights and the factory headlight adjustment instead of having scattered light everywhere.

My tomei manifold also arrived just before lockdown (literally the morning of lockdown). So yeah, once we get out - it's all go with tuning haha. Hope everyone is taking care.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...891.jpg?w=1000
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...892.jpg?w=1000

Very Nice bulid!. im also from NZ and getting back into forums during the lockdown has been a great way to pass the time while also working from home.

Looking at getting a jzx in the near future, just wondering if you can remember the total cost of the manual conversion. just want to know so i can factor that in when pricing an auto that i'd have to convert vs an already manual.

Cheers Mate and stay safe!

Car is so fkn FIRE!

Fantastic work as always, Olly. This is sensational machine.

Thanks boys!

For anyone suffering from boredom - I re-activated the old blog - www.taupaki.net. Lots of good nostalgia and the entire 180sx build is in there.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...279.jpg?w=1000
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...930.jpg?w=1000https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...181.jpg?w=1000https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...a_o.jpg?w=1000https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...1/3.jpg?w=1000


And finally - my car isn't going to get any cleaner, I painted the grill satin black and then ran out of things to do.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...5bd.jpg?w=1000

My defi gauges don't have any sensors so I found some on ali-express and a genuine boost gauge from RHD Japan, I have no idea how long the ali-express ones will take to get here..

I also had too much to drink one night and bought a turbo. It's a Garrett GTX3076R GEN 2, but in bottom mount configuration, so it will bolt on to my Tomei manifold and I can use a Tomei dump pipe as well.. I think it's good for around 300kw, 350kw with cams.

I'm not going that nuts, I want 270kw at the wheels, with this I think it'll get there easily and not struggle, with the hi-flow I had it would be maxed to get there. Should be fun and I'll post up a few images when it gets here next week.


Stay safe everyone.

Pretty happy about how this is coming together. The turbo arrived yesterday. NZ is out of full lock down on Tuesday, we're still limited in what we can do but the tuning shop is open from then.

Few things left to collect - mainly a boost controller and then we should be good to go.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...816.jpg?w=1000https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...817.jpg?w=1000

Good looking pieces!

For some reason that cast manifold is going to look so nice and clean in the engine bay, maybe even better than a big tube manifold.

love this build so much

The manifold came with instructions to run the factory heat shield so I'm not sure you're going to see it which sucks. I booked the car in to get tuned on the 27th and the only thing I need to find now is an air filter.

More boring parts photos.
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...250.jpg?w=1000

One thing I have picked up recently which I'm super stoked on is a Bride Ergo2. I loved my Brix2 in the 180, I was initially put off by the graduation on the Ergo but I've since discovered the middle cushions and lower seat are very easy to remove, so they're going to get recovered in a black perforated fabric asap.

I think the Zeta3/Ergo2 combo should look awesome.
https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...330.jpg?w=1000

Nobody wants more headlight photos but I found a pair of LED fog lights, so I now have LED/HID/LED combo.

NZ's lockdown eased this week again, so I've actually been able to get out on a few good drives, the racetracks opened yesterday as well so planning on getting out in June to test the new set up.

https://taupakidriftclub.files.wordp...147.jpg?w=1000

Just popped in to say that I absolutely LOVE this thing! I should probably be less lazy and update my thread HAHA!

What boost controller are you thinking about running? Honestly if I didn't already have the POWER FC boost kit, I'd be looking at the new Greddy Profec unit.