Words by: Cobey B-R | Images by: Byron Hayes
From Autosalon to Drift Stallion
Nick started out in the complete opposite direction to most, He started in an era most want to forget. That's right, Nick started out with an ex-Autosalon sr20de s13. From 20" chrome rims, to an all leather interior and well no place in today's era of "Drifting". So as soon as Nick got his hands on it, the poor car didn't know what had hit it. Nick decided he no longer needed the sr20de as he had a built sr20det in his garage ready for the transplant, so Nick decided to have some "shed skid" fun until the standard motor popped due to lack of oil. Shortly after the 20's were gone and the car was slammed on a staggered set of 17/18 Work XT-7s sporting a DMAX body kit with Origin boot lip and roof wing, Still rocking the "fresh pink" Autosalon colour.
Not long after Nick was out of the shed, with a new creation! Rocking a fully built SR20det. This boy doesn't muck around, JE Pistons (+20 Thou) JE Rings Nitto Rods ACL Race Bearings ARP Head/Main Bolts, GTI-R Oil Pump, Tomei Sump Pan, Cometic 1.0mm Headgasket, BC Step 2 Camshafts, BC Titanium Valve Springs/Retainers, BC 1mm Oversize Valves, Valve Guides, Extensive Port and Polish, (In/Ex) New Water Pump, Tomei RAS, Tomei Cam Gears, Nissan Rockers Precision Lifters, Enduratech Timing Kit, Crank Balanced/Linished, Powerbond Race Harmonic Balancer, Once mated with a Greedy intake plenum, 1000cc Id injectors, Top feed fuel rail, Turbosmart fpr, Denso intank fuel pump, Bosch external 044, Flipped inter-cooler with shorted piping, 6boost twin scroll manifold, Gtx 30/76 twin scroll .82 rear housing, 2 x tial 38mm external gates, custom 3" dump and screamers by fabulous fabrications and a Super made VIP cat back system (twin 4.5" pipes!!!)
Now I bet your thinking what is going to hold all this down to the ground, well Nick had that sorted too with a Npc hi torque organic single plate clutch with 10" flywheel. A Z32 5 speed manual gearbox Ets sr to z32 adaptor plate, Custom tailshaft, Nismo 4:11 2way LSD, R33 gtr drive shafts, Bc 8/6KG spring rate coil overs, Megan racing fully adjustable Camber arms, Traction arms, Toe arms, Tie rods, Rack ends, Castor arms, Z32 front lower control arms, Rear Whiteline Sway-bar, Carbon front and rear adjustable strut braces and He was sorted. This tidy little rocket had 427rwhp on e-flex at 21psi, so definitely not something to be shy about. He definitely showed some of that power off at a few morning sessions, Friday night practices and then a Stanthorpe drift event. During this time body also got a little bit of a touch up.
Nick wasn't happy that he had half demolished his DMAX kit and decided its time to freshen up the outside to go with his new goodies under the bonnet. Back to the shed he went. After a few late nights and many a beers. Nicks s13 was prepped and ready to receive a full Supermade body kit and fresh paint. In saying this, Nick had grown attached to the attention of the autosalon paint job and tidy drift car look, so he went all out with a Metallic purple Finish! Nick was ready for Powercruise and ready to show of his newly built glory. After towing it to Powercruise and having a ball, the car decided to give up on Nick. His built SR20 a mere 6 months old decided to go bang due to an engine builder fault. This didn't stop Nick having some fun in he VE SS ute tow car at the time though.
Then came the moment of truth, what did Nick want to do? After using his V8 for Powercruise he was in two worlds. Build another SR which has already let him down, or cut his losses and go LS? It didn't take long or much persuasion and Nick had bought a manual VX Commodore to start creating a monster. Heading back to his trusty shed Nick had already decided a standard 5.7L v8 wasn't enough for him. So the parts started rolling in. Utilising the standard motor Nick added a long list of parts including Double valve springs, Decked heads, 20 thou New length push rods, Cnc and ported heads, clevet bearings, Arp rod bolts, main studs & head bolts, Balanced linhished crank, Moroso oil pump, Roll master timing chain, 212 218 @.050 comp cam Morel lifters, Total seal ringa, Ross balancer Moroso schassis sump, Pp polished 96mm intake and throttle body and with this linked to the T51 transmission with a core/hurst shifter and Custom built Direct clutch twin plate to hold the combo together.
Nick now had what he thought to be a reliable engine, but during this time he didn't just sit around no. Nick had now cut the front off the s13, why? He wanted to make room for his new custom tube front conversion, fuelled racing LS conversion kit to make the job easier. And moved his steering rack position forwards. To top it off, none of this could work without his Wilwood Pedal box and full custom rewire to get the beast cranking.
He didn't stop there, new car, why not new wheels too. Nick decided to go with a VIP look rocking Work Eurolines 18x9 +22 (f) 18x10 +18 (r) with 20mm spacers all round still rocking the standard metal guards with a nice tuck and pull.
Now making a smooth 348 hp at rears with 500 NM of torque he was ready to hit the track once again. This time his opening drift event was a morning session at Queensland Raceway. First lap Nick started with just a cruise and occasional boot to get used to the car then the second lap the fun begun, or so what we thought... Suddenly Nick is back into the pits pulling the car apart, yet again something had gone wrong. The car was making the sound all car enthusiasts hate, a rattle. After towing the car home yet again, further inspection had show the lifters were in pieces, luckily he had stopped in time to save the motor from further damage.
Nick was over it, I'm sure I could use some of the colourful words he said but we may refrain from that. At this point he didn't trust Morel after hearing other horror stories, Nick decided to swap his out for some Comp cams short travel hydraulic tiebar lifters.
Finally the car was running, and reliable. After a few closed road tests, Nick prepared his car for SecretDrift RadTimes 2.0. I'd never seen so many jaws drop, the sound, the colour, the wheels just the whole look of the car was unbelievable. Even the engine bay was immaculate. Now, you didn't think he left that leather interior did you? Well of course he did with a few changes, he painted the leather door cards black just to keep a bit of its former history. He also added some Sparco seats and harnesses along with the timeless classic of a Nardi wheel.
All in all Nick had re-created this car, not once but twice with many hiccups and mishaps in between. Then of course he went out and had some fun, he drove all day only progressing and getting used to the car or should I say monster he had created with no further problems. Nick hopes to refine his skills with the new car and get back out there soon for some well deserved driving pleasure.
I tip my hat to you and your glorious machine.
Thanks, Streetkarnage.
From Autosalon to Drift Stallion
Nick started out in the complete opposite direction to most, He started in an era most want to forget. That's right, Nick started out with an ex-Autosalon sr20de s13. From 20" chrome rims, to an all leather interior and well no place in today's era of "Drifting". So as soon as Nick got his hands on it, the poor car didn't know what had hit it. Nick decided he no longer needed the sr20de as he had a built sr20det in his garage ready for the transplant, so Nick decided to have some "shed skid" fun until the standard motor popped due to lack of oil. Shortly after the 20's were gone and the car was slammed on a staggered set of 17/18 Work XT-7s sporting a DMAX body kit with Origin boot lip and roof wing, Still rocking the "fresh pink" Autosalon colour.
Not long after Nick was out of the shed, with a new creation! Rocking a fully built SR20det. This boy doesn't muck around, JE Pistons (+20 Thou) JE Rings Nitto Rods ACL Race Bearings ARP Head/Main Bolts, GTI-R Oil Pump, Tomei Sump Pan, Cometic 1.0mm Headgasket, BC Step 2 Camshafts, BC Titanium Valve Springs/Retainers, BC 1mm Oversize Valves, Valve Guides, Extensive Port and Polish, (In/Ex) New Water Pump, Tomei RAS, Tomei Cam Gears, Nissan Rockers Precision Lifters, Enduratech Timing Kit, Crank Balanced/Linished, Powerbond Race Harmonic Balancer, Once mated with a Greedy intake plenum, 1000cc Id injectors, Top feed fuel rail, Turbosmart fpr, Denso intank fuel pump, Bosch external 044, Flipped inter-cooler with shorted piping, 6boost twin scroll manifold, Gtx 30/76 twin scroll .82 rear housing, 2 x tial 38mm external gates, custom 3" dump and screamers by fabulous fabrications and a Super made VIP cat back system (twin 4.5" pipes!!!)
Now I bet your thinking what is going to hold all this down to the ground, well Nick had that sorted too with a Npc hi torque organic single plate clutch with 10" flywheel. A Z32 5 speed manual gearbox Ets sr to z32 adaptor plate, Custom tailshaft, Nismo 4:11 2way LSD, R33 gtr drive shafts, Bc 8/6KG spring rate coil overs, Megan racing fully adjustable Camber arms, Traction arms, Toe arms, Tie rods, Rack ends, Castor arms, Z32 front lower control arms, Rear Whiteline Sway-bar, Carbon front and rear adjustable strut braces and He was sorted. This tidy little rocket had 427rwhp on e-flex at 21psi, so definitely not something to be shy about. He definitely showed some of that power off at a few morning sessions, Friday night practices and then a Stanthorpe drift event. During this time body also got a little bit of a touch up.
Nick wasn't happy that he had half demolished his DMAX kit and decided its time to freshen up the outside to go with his new goodies under the bonnet. Back to the shed he went. After a few late nights and many a beers. Nicks s13 was prepped and ready to receive a full Supermade body kit and fresh paint. In saying this, Nick had grown attached to the attention of the autosalon paint job and tidy drift car look, so he went all out with a Metallic purple Finish! Nick was ready for Powercruise and ready to show of his newly built glory. After towing it to Powercruise and having a ball, the car decided to give up on Nick. His built SR20 a mere 6 months old decided to go bang due to an engine builder fault. This didn't stop Nick having some fun in he VE SS ute tow car at the time though.
Then came the moment of truth, what did Nick want to do? After using his V8 for Powercruise he was in two worlds. Build another SR which has already let him down, or cut his losses and go LS? It didn't take long or much persuasion and Nick had bought a manual VX Commodore to start creating a monster. Heading back to his trusty shed Nick had already decided a standard 5.7L v8 wasn't enough for him. So the parts started rolling in. Utilising the standard motor Nick added a long list of parts including Double valve springs, Decked heads, 20 thou New length push rods, Cnc and ported heads, clevet bearings, Arp rod bolts, main studs & head bolts, Balanced linhished crank, Moroso oil pump, Roll master timing chain, 212 218 @.050 comp cam Morel lifters, Total seal ringa, Ross balancer Moroso schassis sump, Pp polished 96mm intake and throttle body and with this linked to the T51 transmission with a core/hurst shifter and Custom built Direct clutch twin plate to hold the combo together.
Nick now had what he thought to be a reliable engine, but during this time he didn't just sit around no. Nick had now cut the front off the s13, why? He wanted to make room for his new custom tube front conversion, fuelled racing LS conversion kit to make the job easier. And moved his steering rack position forwards. To top it off, none of this could work without his Wilwood Pedal box and full custom rewire to get the beast cranking.
He didn't stop there, new car, why not new wheels too. Nick decided to go with a VIP look rocking Work Eurolines 18x9 +22 (f) 18x10 +18 (r) with 20mm spacers all round still rocking the standard metal guards with a nice tuck and pull.
Now making a smooth 348 hp at rears with 500 NM of torque he was ready to hit the track once again. This time his opening drift event was a morning session at Queensland Raceway. First lap Nick started with just a cruise and occasional boot to get used to the car then the second lap the fun begun, or so what we thought... Suddenly Nick is back into the pits pulling the car apart, yet again something had gone wrong. The car was making the sound all car enthusiasts hate, a rattle. After towing the car home yet again, further inspection had show the lifters were in pieces, luckily he had stopped in time to save the motor from further damage.
Nick was over it, I'm sure I could use some of the colourful words he said but we may refrain from that. At this point he didn't trust Morel after hearing other horror stories, Nick decided to swap his out for some Comp cams short travel hydraulic tiebar lifters.
Finally the car was running, and reliable. After a few closed road tests, Nick prepared his car for SecretDrift RadTimes 2.0. I'd never seen so many jaws drop, the sound, the colour, the wheels just the whole look of the car was unbelievable. Even the engine bay was immaculate. Now, you didn't think he left that leather interior did you? Well of course he did with a few changes, he painted the leather door cards black just to keep a bit of its former history. He also added some Sparco seats and harnesses along with the timeless classic of a Nardi wheel.
All in all Nick had re-created this car, not once but twice with many hiccups and mishaps in between. Then of course he went out and had some fun, he drove all day only progressing and getting used to the car or should I say monster he had created with no further problems. Nick hopes to refine his skills with the new car and get back out there soon for some well deserved driving pleasure.
I tip my hat to you and your glorious machine.
Thanks, Streetkarnage.
