PROJECT RS13.5

front wheel arch tubs

2009-11-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

front wheel arch tubs are fabricated and tacked in,rear parts to follow next week

The epic cage

2009-11-18T13:21:00.000-08:00

My favourite part of the build so far

Full multipoint weld in roll cage
X door bars, rear X diagonals, X roof bars strut bar, strut-main hoop bars, harness bar and diagonal, dash bar welded into cage, cage gusseted to A posts
through bulkhead and welded to wrapped front strut towers

the beginnings of an epic cage

2009-10-25T04:49:00.000-07:00

main hoop

main hoop

main hoop

front legs

rear turret wraps

2009-10-25T04:39:00.000-07:00

these are the rear turret wraps that the rear stays of the cage will weld to

trial fit

2009-10-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

while i was at RSF i trial fitted the rear overfenders on to see how much needed
cutting out of the metal underneath, also offered up my carbon fibre roofskin

even more seam welding

2009-10-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

more seam welding

2009-10-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

seam welding

2009-10-16T13:18:00.001-07:00

fabrication updates

2009-10-16T13:08:00.001-07:00

about time i updated this with the fabrication thats been happening
firstly the spit attachments

lots of carbon fibre and frp

2009-07-31T14:45:00.000-07:00

shell is off being blasted at the moment

today went for a trip down to essex to SRB Power and picked up everything i've ordered for weeks now, so i have:

SRB Power 50mm fender roll rear overfenders
SRB Power FRP doors
SRB Power carbon fibre roof skin
SRB Power carbon fibre rear window spoiler
also have some flat FRP sheet to make into some flat door cards
and have the lexan rear quarter windows on order now aswell

the doors are amazing at only 4.5kg each

soon as the shell is back i can crack on trial fitting everything and start prepping it all and getting it ready for paint

big holes

2009-07-17T11:35:00.001-07:00

popped into RS Fabrications today to find the shell had some metal missing from it :)
the roof skin has been cut out ready for the roll cage and the inner wings have been cut out for the wheel arch tubs,more cutting to come.

more parts

2009-07-16T12:19:00.000-07:00

more parts have been bought for the project, i now have a pair of chargespeed S13.5conversion wings and a pair of lexan front windows (slider in drivers side)i'm hoping with all the lightweight fibreglass,carbon fibre and lexan windows that it will be lighter than standard even allowing for the extra weight of the cage.

hmm carbon fibre

2009-06-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

went for a trip to EP Racing today to collect a couple of things

i had this made for my other s13 but i'll be swapping the carbon fibre chargespeed tailgate over and fitting this to it :)

carbon fibre kouki type x rear spoiler
i'm over the moon with how it's turned out and it's the first one made :)
also jeffrey had saved me a pair of sill covers they had a deal on some picked them up aswell :)

safety bits

2009-06-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

i have a pair of Driftworks tow eyes to fit to bring the car upto competetion spec

and also the parts i need for relocating the battery to inside of the car

red top race battery
red fibreglass battery box
cabling for battery relocation
bulkhead fitting for battery cable
terminals and P clips
heat protection sleeve

the first panels

2009-06-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

thanks to dan @ SRB Power i have a pair of 50mm fender roll rear overfenders
being made :)

so in a few weeks time i'll have them and my carbon fibre roofskin and
rear window spoiler :)

worst job over

2009-06-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

the worst bit is almost out the way now, 99% of the sound deadening has been removed, worst job ever good news is no rust underneath it, very solid shell is a good start :)

windows out

2009-06-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

front screen and rear quarter windows have been taken out by a local company wizard windscreens so once the subframes are off and the spits are made it'll be off to the blasters.

the strip down

2009-06-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

shane from RS Fabrications went down to collect the shell on tuesday morning and i got to see it by lunchtime, wasn't a completely bare shell so last night
i popped into RSF to start stripping it out, so far i've taken out the seats,dash, centre
console,heater and carpet and was pleasently suprised to see no sound deadning
under the carpet in the back and under the seats so all i've got to remove is the front footwell sound deadning, bonus
also took out all the brackets and clips left in the engine bay and removed the whole wiring loom, so far i've found no rust at all just a couple of patches that need tidying up
where i presume it's had a weld in rear cage at some point.

the arrival

2009-06-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

this is how the shell arrived at RS Fabrications

with some of the interior/loom and trim still fitted

the plan

2009-06-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

welcome to my new project :)

the build of my nissan RS13.5 drift car (RS13 from the body style .5 from the S15 front end conversion it will have)

i've always wanted to build a car from a bare shell as i felt that was the way to do the job right
and the job of all the fabrication will be handled by the guys at RS Fabrications in banbury,oxfordshire
so here goes

the plan:
start with a completely stripped bodyshell
remove all sound deadening and all excess brackets and fittings that aren't needed
fully sand blast the shell inside/outside/underneath
multipoint weld in roll cage with cross diagonals to roof/rear and doorbars
full seam weld
tubbed front arches
rear arches cut and widened to fit fibreglass overfenders
3" stainless steel downpipe and exhaust
bespoke radiator and intercooler fitment
bespoke intercooler pipework

i'm hoping to have the car finished for late 2009/early 2010 in time to try and gain a licence
to enter the British Drift Championship (BDC) with it.