Nissan Silvia rally car build part 4
We were down to the last few weeks before the debut rally and some long hours were being spent on the Silvia. With the major mechanicals and the exterior sorted it was onto the list of smaller items to get the car ready for competition. The owner had found a set of used Velo race…
Nissan Silvia rally car build part 3
As we started to put the car together we tackled a few tasks simultaneously. A new fuel tank, Warlbro fuel pump and filter were fitted and plumbed in. We received the car with the original tank removed and inspection inside revealed plenty of rust from exposure to the elements. A HDPE fuel tank guard was…
Nissan Silvia rally car build part 2
The next step was to tackle the wiring loom. As the car originally had a CA18 engine, the loom was different. Adding to that, the wiring had been chopped and reduced to only the functions required for circuit work so many parts required for rally were missing. The easiest solution was to use the loom…
Nissan Silvia rally car build part 1
During our busy rally season we started the build of a new gravel rally car for a customer. The brief was short and clear. Build a rear wheel drive rally car that could be used for gravel and tarmac. With a relatively short list of cost effective rear wheel drive cars available the decision to…
The road to restoration part 4
The final part in our series of our restoration of a 1971 Mitsubishi Galant rally car. Before prepping the car for painting, we took the car to our venue for some shake down and testing. It was a chance to make sure everything was performing as it should and bed in the new rings and bearings…
The road to restoration part 3
It’s the one area where most people go wrong. Electrics. Considering how critical electrics are, it’s amazing how much poor wiring we see in rally cars. Everything from putting someone out of an event to an electrical fire waiting to happen! The Galant had just about the whole spectrum. [As a side note, we’ve seen…
The road to restoration part 2
We began our suspension works by tackling the front first. The major issue was the front sway bar. Inspection revealed that the front mount bolt holes were completely stripped in the chassis and the sway bar was freely flapping about. There were no bushes left either which possibly caused vibration, leading to thread wear and…
The road to restoration part 1
Quietly over the last 18 months we’ve had a project we’ve been chipping away at. We’ve been rebuilding a little 1971 Chrysler/Mitsubishi Galant rally car so named for this series as the road to restoration. The car was originally built to contest the Clubman Cup in the late 90’s. By the time we got the…