what track in birmingham? I'm less than an hour from there. Would love to come out and watch.

 

Midpond Racing Circuit.. Apparently a dormant go kart track. Looks like its gonna be insane amounts of fun!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1022886817806764/

 

an iTrack Motorsports Event. Those guys are really cool people. I'll definitely come out and watch you get slidewayz

 

right on man, come say whats up a the event!

 

Well we got this ole jalopy spit shined up for iTrack Motorsports event at Midpond Circuit!





Went with the Shine half bumpers, and skirts. came out looking very street car, and I couldn't be happier with the fitment and quality of the parts! expect to see the full shine catalog on this car eventually!

Anyway.. Midpond.. The event was at a very tight, go kart road course. The organizers were kind of going for a final bout-ish vibe, so everyone got their buckets cleaned up, and looking fresh for the event!



There were A LOT of very nice cars there. I was too occupied with drooling, and driving rather than snap photos. really regret not walking around and taking more, because it really was a rolling car show.



Got a ton of seat time, and kinda forgot I had my go pro. Slapped it on at the end of the day and caught a few good runs though.









@ 1:14 is probably the best clip in this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sStV...ature=youtu.be





Needless to say, it was a great time!

Then, just the next day, me and a few dudes from Midpond, trucked a few hundred miles back up north for a "little" Night event... It was PACKED! Also spent way more time driving, than taking photos, so yeah. No go pro footage from that one. But there was also some very nice cars there too, including this built JZ 350z. rear mount rad, the whole 9 yards. basically a pro2 car.





Awesome way to spend the 3 day weekend! now time to freshen it up for Turismo round 3 coming up in a few weeks!

 

Well, Turismo Round 3 has come and gone. Really felt like this would be my round to atleast make top 16. Showed up to the track early, and got my pits all setup for the day, trying to keep a clear head.



The car felt great in practice, and we were running close tandems early in the day after only one or two warm up laps.



My friends from St. Louis came down for the event with David Mesker and his insane 1jz s13. damn thing is basically a pro2 car.



Obviously he had more power, grip, tire, everything more than I have. But we had a blast, and first time out it was too close to call, and we went for a OMT.



That fender exit open wastegate is pretty insane that close to your face hahaha!



During our one more time, he left me for dead off the start, and while playing catchup going up the hill, I looped and ended the day. Pretty disappointing to say the least. David is a good dude, and he out drove me in the OMT. But me, friends of mine, and aparently the entire crowd, all disagreed with the OMT call.. What do you guys think?

footage of all 4 runs starts at 1:15



BUT, its all good. **** happens, and hopefully round 4 will be a better story..

The following weekend, we were out at NSS again for another private day, and the season final of State of Drift.





The weather was perfect, and the driving started early with 100+ mph entries!




The competition started at about 3, with a top 16 lineup. One battle won, led to another, and next thing I know im in the finals!!



It was a close battle, and a lot of fun driving with him, in his new v8 powered s14




Sean ended up taking the top spot leaving me in 2nd place!!!! highest finish of any event ive ever gotten! This was a huge confidence booster to come out and stand on the podium at such a big high horsepower friendly road course!





in the middle of a small 2 week break right now, getting the car shined up again for Import Alliance in Bowling green soon. Turismo round 4 in about a month.

 

Wellllll ****........












Found the wall at Import Alliance in a bad way. really lame and bummed to say the least.. Took out a bunch of body work, a wheel, lower control arm, and tie rod.




Hard to see in that photo but the control arm is wadded up all to hell. Oh well, this is a part of it I suppose. trying to look at it as a time to upgrade and improve... more posts to come once I get this stuff installed.

 

Whoa which kit is that

 

Mike feiok makes it.

 

Been putting in a bunch of hours on this thing. Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Did a lot more damage than I thought in the wreck. Next stop is the frame rack, then alignment, and hang new body panels!....... again...

 

Dang that accident damage sucks man. Your car always looked so clean. At least you've got the off season to put it back together again.

 

Yeahhh.... thats why being a body shop manager is great when you have a drift car! itll be back to new in no time. Sadly gonna have to go with fiberglass fenders all around which I hate to do, but the new wheel setup will have to have it, plus the front needs it for the wider track. Hoping to get body panels hung, and fitted for an event in January to test the angle, and sort any rubbing issues. paint and such mid to late February. Doubtfull Ill do anything performance wise since the motor still seems to be running happily. if it aint broke, dont fix it right?

 

Great build and awesome thread! How do you like the KMR low mount PS bracket? I was thinking about picking one up. I haven't been able to find any good pics looking strait down into the engine bay with one, but I would think it moves the pump down enough that it clears up all that space around the plugs no?

 

Honestly, its a nice, solid well built part. But the pump didnt line with with the rest of the pulleys. the pump sat too far forward, making a sharp curve in the belt. had to notch it quite a bit to make it fit. kind of a pain, but if he has resolved that issue, its great. bolted right in with no issues.

 

update time!


so about that crash damage.... it pushed the frame rail, and core support over a little over an inch. so that sucks. also the angle kit was producing so much angle, that the wheels were hitting the frame rails on both ends. that also sucks.. luckily, as of a few hours ago both of those things are fixed!




Took the car out of home base and took it to a friends shop to play with all the adjustments, and make this kit fit this car.




A bit of cutting later we have clearance Clarence! this has since been boxed in and welded shut.





After that, the car was ready to get tugged around on the frame rack




a few pulls later, some creaking, and a very loud POP! shes siting square again!





Time for an alignment, and a ton of other crap that needs to be done in two days for testing at the super speedway! new body panels are about 2 weeks out, and more updates will come then. For now, just admire that angle.

 

Well. We made it. First event of 2017 was a massive success! I can honestly say the car has never driven better than it does now, and man was that a good feeling! Got the car aligned, and tires mounted the thursday before the event.... and right after that was done the water pump decided to leak like it was falling off the car... just my luck. Thankfully, the parts store happened to have ONE in stock! so, the night before the event we jamed on it untill about 1 am. (ive never done a water pump before, and the entire V mount system had to be removed.... it was a bitch)





Also made this rad switch panel!






But finally, that was done, and I loaded it up inside the shop for the night, DYING to go test this thing out.







Showed up to the event late AF and discovered a few more leaks from slapping everything together in a sleep deprived daze. got those patched up and it was time for the first sighting lap since the crash. Thank god for the covered pits!





I fully expected the thing to fall apart, drive like ***, and just suck over all. None of that happened. First lap out, I nailed the entire course, full throttle, freaking out at what steering angle feels like! I kinda couldnt even believe it at first, but man this thing felt good!




Spent the day burning off all my tires, and running a few tandems. quickly getting comfortable again, hitting the first sweeper well into 4th gear!







After a great day of driving it was time to take it home. Took out a full tank of fuel, and 10 tires. excellent way to start the year!










Now for the really good stuff.. three days before this event I got a random message asking if I was in the market for another rx7.. Long story short the deal was just too good to pass up, and I brought home this cream puff with a FULL truck bed of parts!







Its a roller, so we got a spare NA rear end, and axles, as well as a full t2 rear end, TONS of cool performance parts, ultra clean interior, 8 spare turbo wheels, aluminum hood, mint condition FSM, and more stuff that I have even figured out I have now.

This will be the new drift car by the start of 2018. I will drive the vert in its mad max form throughout the year and a handful of events, while prepping this thing for a full color change, cage, etc to transplant everything from the vert into this. I hate red, so there will not be a spec of it left. Kinda sad to see an end to the vert. I got the car as a learner chassis, to figure out how to work on these car, drive them, and inevitably, **** them up. Gonna take my knowledge from this thread, and build, and put it into making the red car ultra nice, streetable, and overall fun to drive. current plan is race car with full interior, up to date plates, and insurance. should be a fun project, and Ill make a new thread for that car once some work gets put into it. With all that said, this will probably be the last update on this car unless I get a sweet raise, and can afford to build them both. Ive loved this car, and its been a blast, but I am ready for a fresh start. If anyone would like to buy the vert as a roller hit me up in the DM's!