I drove Dens s12 (JAPSTER)
 

We all met up at dens today for a brew and to get a few things sorted.Dens car had been having a few electrical problems. We narrowed it down and fixed it. It was the alternator charge wire. We put a new one in and me and den went out for a spin. He isnt afraid to give it some stick. Flat out at 26psi over a hump back bridge was a memorable moment.lol
He then let me have a go and was egging me on. after the first stretch i had got used to the paddle clutch and the different gear linkage position. Its fecking awesome. It goes sideways extremely well and the long gearing ment it was right in the power band at a good speed in second coming out the bends. We hammered it around for about an hour. He doesnt like to see anything but full throttle. All was going well until the last road back to his when his brother called and said he was behind us and wanted to see how it goes, so i came round a tight bend after some traffic lights and dipped the clutch slightly to bring it into the power band and floored it. the thing felt like it was going to pull a wheelie......until BANG! clonk clonk clonk lol/ First thing Den said was 'is that the gearbox' as hes buggered one before.We pulled over and Luckily it wasnt. The propshaft was dangling on the floor:trout :ghey . I had managed to twist two legs clean off a u.j in the prop. i was very apologetic but He didnt seem all that bothered at all and was happy it had happened 5 minutes from his house instead of at a track etc. Its the first time its been working well enough to give it some proper abuse as he has had turbos and clutches go recently,The prop shaft is all in good order still bar a few scuffs so it will be a cheap fix.
So all in all it was great fun. Norris designs have done a damn good job with that setup imo. Love it. Cheers Den. :cool:

I am Laughing my Arse off!!!

Excellent!!!!

:trout

yep it does go well, so is it a prop he needs, or a uj, is the uj welded on.bad news there den:( ,we should see if we can source him one, any probs, i'll come down and see if i can give you a hand if your stuck with it den.;)

Yep I'll lend a hand too :)

its just the uj I checked the prop from what i could see and it all seems fine. The prop is a custom one from norris. Apparently it wouldnt break. maybe it cant handle a pukka right foot:D .....

The uj is just held in by circlips so it just needs them popping out and a new uj putting in. Ive got some at work but need the size. I think he is just going to call up ND for one though.

It did feel like it had a bit too much bodyroll on the rear end though which Den knows about. It could be subframe bushes or rear dampers or too soft springs. I recon it could do with the lot uprating. Its not terrable but i think he wants the best from his car like the rest of us. i dont know much about all that subframe bush stuff so he needs your knowledge there i recon

You did a gd job on his 4 pots Shaun. Spot on

Thanks for the offers guys! - It was a DAMN good meet, and I finally have JUICE! - Bloody sodding electrics...:rolleyes:

DAMN Pukka knows how to launch! lol! - It really did feel like the front wheels were gonna rise up when he dropped it, and like I said - It would have def. done it the first time I'd got a good launch, as it was obviously stressed already, so Pukka mate - Seriously, don't worry about it! - Anyhoo, it'll mean I can rag it even more with a couple of new ones on... :p

Yep indeed - Simon sure knows how to build a cracking engine! :D - I'm just glad you were impressed mate :D - God knows it's been long enough since I first offered you a spin, and the subsequent problems have just made it longer, so now you know how Wacomuk felt... :D - Having said that, he had a slipping clutch and pretty much NO Brakes to contend with, so I erm... daresay his blast was slightly more... erm.. adrenalyn inducing?... lol! :eek:

All the best guys, and I'm sure she'll be back up and ready for more sideways shenanigans real soon... :p

PS - Pukka? - The way you took those corners was well 'ard... lol! :p mighty impressed matey!

Will probably go over to Den's on Saturday and help him get the prop off and hopefully sort out a decent recovery point as well.
Not the easiest thing to tow with the front splitter on.

That won't be the first or last propshaft or anything else in the transmission breaking from dumping a paddle clutch unfortunately.

Thats why clutches have sprung centres to soften the impact. Bigtone from sxoc had a paddle clutch shatter dumping it in 3rd and it shat itself smashing the gearbox bell housing to bits. He's running around 600bhp as well.

Does the paddle clutch in there have a sprung centre do you know?

Sounds good - all offers greatly appreciated mate - Have to check if Simon's got the right UJ in stock though first! - If so, are we looking at another meet then on Sat? ;) lol!

Martin? - Cheers for the info - I honestly don't know if it's sprung or not, but I guess if the clutch is gripping that well now I should be happy compared to previous clutch problems! :D

Will find out, but yeah - Will be good to get a proper launch with a new UJ, as that felt f*cking awesome! - You could feel the car rearing up ready to fly... - Second time lucky Pukka? :D

Cheers all - You really do look after me, and it's appreciated... :D

So whats the spec of your engine then?

We should organise a bit of a track day (or even the whole of one! :rolleyes: ), sound's like it could be a giggle mixing it up with some of you!.... plus it keeps us off the roads ;)

Nutter !!!
 

Jon you fooking nutter!!!

Den lol you are truly a legend, bet it had Jon smiling all the way home. :D :D

I didnt Dump the clutch.Why am i continiously having to set you straight. :(

The thing with dens setup is that it has longer uprated gear ratio's in an s14 box and a modified 300zx rear diff(unsure of crown and pinion size) To get any sort of decent launch it would involve launching at a higher rpm and slipping the clutch slightly to stop it from bogging down. I didnt bugger his prop from negligence or ignorance, I drive cars with twin plate sintered clutches all the time,A paddle clutch is easy work. I found his a little harsh in traffic due to the 1st gear ratio but other than that very well set up. It broke as it was either allready stressed or because its not upto the job.He has an uprated box and diff, the bit in the middle is going to be the next weekest point. The uj did look to be slightly undersized to be honest but its probably worth replacing with the same and see how it lasts.

Yeah ive been shouting my mouth off about his car for the last 2 days non stop :o . Love it

Dumping the clutch is the wrong term but the harsh action of a paddle clutch is just like that. Its the harsh impact that breaks things. Its like using a 2000 lb/ft impact gun on the prop

I've driven an S13 with a paddle and it was fine, but I drove a Supra with one and it was a disgrace due to having an unsprung centre.

Fair play sorry for my reaction, I just didnt want people getting the wrong impression. I do try and respect other peoples cars. I think it would of been rude of me to drive his car like a pansey.His clutch felt very nice, main issue was the long 1st gear along with it. Its not his everyday car and he gets along fine with it though.

lol! - What a ruckus my car's causing... :p

Seriously though - Pukka was a gentleman with her... lol! - If anything, he was trying to be nice, and wasn't taking her up the rev range enough - In fact, I don't think he hit the limiter once - it was a disgrace... :p

BTW - Cheers Kenny-boy!... :D

It's always nice to get a fellow S12 owner's impression of where you've taken your car's power, and it was an eye-opener sitting in with someone who KNOWS how to drive hard enough to push her to do what she's meant for.... :D

As for the spec Martin - I don't know where to start mate! - 720cc injectors, steel con rods, lower compression pistons, reinforced piston rings, re-profiled cams, etc...

Pukka's got it all somewhere on site I think! :D

Cheers all - May have to source a larger/stronger UJ methinks... :)

Pukka's spot on about the gear ratio's.
When Japster took it to stratford last summer he ended up trying loads of different technique's for a good launch as Im sure he'll confirm.
Cant wait to see and hear this car on the quarter mile again (hopefully manage to keep some of the footage this time :D ).
Also have contacted Curborough sprint circuit regarding track hire for the day,
this place is pretty central to the whole country so hopefully will be well attended, only down side is that summer weekends are all gone.

Is the prop all back together now?

If you get me the uj measurements il send you a new uprated one down from my works suppliers

Hi matey - nah... Will have to look under it this week if possible! - Thanks for the offer - Will check what size it is, but this will no doubt mean giving you a ring for a bit of advice... :D :o

Cheers again all - Trackday sounds a good place to try the uprated UJ... lol!

finally got Den's prop off yesterday evening.
Did it just in time before the snow hit.
He did say he would take some photo's and shove em on the thread,
Not sure about a replacement UJ because the prop is a modified S12 item.
Gearbox is an S14 and the Diff is a 300ZX so who knows?

yep - Cheers matey - much appreciated...

Yep - Took some piccies - Will have to show Pukka, but the one end of the broken UJ is welded to the rear section of the shaft, and it's snapped the inner bit - The photos'll show it better than I can explain!

If the inside bits can be took out, then I guess it can just be replaced, otherwise i might be needing to send it back to the guys to get it repaired - Again, the piccies'll give us all a better idea! :)

A decent custom prop should have a groove and circlip type fitting,see if you can get this next time .Send it away to get repaired and 4ward me the bill.:) . Dont go through Norris though as he may just shove a handling charge on top

What a pain.