Hi guys,
Ive owned my little 1200 coupe for about 4 years now.
It sits in the garage as one car too many at the moment so it's time to make a decision.
I have come to enjoy finer ride quality/interior fit road going cars and with a growing family, a two seater coupe isn't the first choice for going to the shops on Saturday.
I'm not keen to get rid of it and have always wanted to get more involved in motorsport, so am thinking of taking the dive into circuit racing.

Most of the work I have done to the car to date has been on the boarder line of race/road so I'm hoping it's not too much big of a jump over the fence.
The car is currently equipped with a forged CA18, with a GT2876r turbo, microtech ECU, eboost 2. Last tune she made 330rwhp @22psi. From my reading of the CAMs regs this will put me in the 3-6ltr class and the 36mm restrictor is going to take a far bit away from the top end. Good thing is it currently make peak hp around 6000rpm but it is making over 300rwph from 4k to redline, not the standard peakie hp you get with a larger turbo.
Supporting setup.
Fuel:
Custom 60ltr alloy fuel tank (two baffles but not foam filled – will need to fix this), 2ltr inbuilt surge tank.
Carter lift pump, bosch 044 main, Fuel labs raising rate pressure reg and filter, custom fuel rail (Dual feed centre return), 660cc injectors.
Cooling:
Two pass copper core rad.

Standard CA 5 speed, lightened flywheel, upgraded clutch (sprung centre but ceramic material).
Custom 3” tailshaft with upgraded uni joints
Hilux rear axle – 4.3 LSD

Suspension.
Shortened Stanza struts with coilover sleeves.
200lbs king springs (300mm free length)
200b peddlers sports rida inserts (will upgrade when I finally settle on front setup).
R31 front callipers with ventilated discs.
Adjustable caster rods – maddat.
Standard strut tops.
King springs reverse eyed rear leaf
Pedders sports rida rears (same deal as fronts – will replace with better).
rear brakes are starion ventilated disc and calipers.

Body is average but is flared – flares are approx 75mm wide from top so should be IPRA legal.
I have a set of TRX wheels and A set of superlite 14”. Looking at the yokohama website the A048 in 14” have limited options biggest are 195/50R14, will that be too small for my needs? 15” you can get 205s and 225s.

Big items as I see it are:
Roll cage.
Seat.
Front brakes
New shocks
New tyres
Trailer

Any advice on this move suggested setup would be greatly appreciated.
Also after feedback on IPRA and race/sprint events in NSW – I’m currently located in Newcastle so will have to travel to race.
Are the race events family friendly?

Cheers

Bryan

G'day Bryan,

Race,Race,Race,Race,Race !!!!!!
I run Under 2L in my coupe and have a great time. The IPRA boys are a good bunch generally and the racing is pretty good. My only concern would be the flares - I thought you only get 50mm each side in width, 75mm is the radial amount you can remove from the original wheel arch shape to help with fitment / clearance.
Track time, coaching and some friendly advice will see your lap times drop faster than any bolt on or upgrade so feel free to come talk to us at Eastern Creek (19th? June or thereabouts)
Jump on to IPRANSW.com.au for more info and chat to the guys.
If you have ever wondered about racing - just do it! I have kicked myself for not doing it sooner!!
Cheers,
Jeff.

Edit: We have all types, so family friendly is okay ( keep the kids close at hand of course!!) cause we spend as much time stirring s%&t as we do racing!!
Go straight to 15" - 14" will not give you enough footprint.

Hi Jeff,
I must have mis-read the reg as 100mm either side, so it must be 100mm total, not big deal will get some new flares.
19th sounds like a good idea, check out some cars before making any radical decissions.
Bryan

gday brian
ive been running ipra in hillclimbs and supersprints. i would like to get into the series but now that there is no o-1600cc class i think id be too under powered with the a series.
from what i have heard the series is run really well, has a really good atmosphere and everyone is usually well behaved contact wise (apart from the odd error)
if you want to try having a go now, because the car is registered you wouldnt need a rollcage to do a supersprint, although i would very strongly recomend it. all you would need is a l2s cams licence at minimum which is around $99, a club membership, entry fee, usually around the $180-160 mark and your running costs to have a go. the bathurst light car club is holding a 1/5 mile drag and a esses hillclimb on the 15th and 16th of may respectivly if you wanted to check that out
otherwise go out there and have a ball.
in regards to the car definatly 15", look at the rear suspension and yeah a bigger set of brakes in the long run with the ca
cheers kurt.

C'mon Kurt, stop dreaming - start doing
Don't need a lot of HP at Wakefield, just good set up. Same goes for the creek really - except the strait seems to take forever .....
My car is way down on HP compared to the other guys but we have it turning and carrying good corner speed now so I can run in the top ten.
Make the trip to EC in June - you know it makes sense!
Cheers,
Jeff.

P.S. Any luck with the Stanza diffs?

Jeff,
I spoke to Craig Wildridge today about having a roll cage build for the coupe, I think he said he did your?
I will come down to EC next month for the next round and if you have the time I would enjoy a chat.

Starting to get some prices and idea of what it will cost to convert, and it is still less then I was planing on spending on Panel and Paint so it's still got the go ahead.

Bryan

Good on you mate! Craig has built many cages and is well respected in racing circles. Glad to hear you are coming to the creek for a look - it will rev you up for sure! Craig actually has my next racecar ( sunny coupe) in his workshop now fitting a cage - wouldn't go anywhere else!
Cheers.

i say do it..
so far ive only had a tiny taste of motorsport (2 hillclimbs) and im kicking myself for not having a go earlier..

a datsun 1200, a racetrack, and 300+ horsies at your right foot???
if you dont get addicted to racing after your first sprint then you must be an alien!

good luck with it!

Well i've started the build or maybe I should say rebirth.
The machinist from my old work made up a restrictor for the turbo, which I think is a work of art.
Am a bit reserved to post too much about it until after the dyno tune, but with E85 I am hoping for good things.

Car is now stripped of all interior parts and getting ready for a new drivers seat, then hopefully off to get the cage fitted, It looks like crap at the moments all stripped out.
Jeff, I am definitly coming next weekend to EC and am quit excited.
Due to funds I don't think I will get the car finished before the end of the year but the prospect of going racing is exciting.

Will keep you posted

Bryan

Good to hear Bryan,
Call in and say hi - we will be in carports 59 - 62. Big field in both overs and unders so you will get to see some great racing! Welcome aboard, you will love it!
Cheers,
Jeff.