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The GTM Supercharged Silver Pheonix


andy james

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Since the rather nasty crash at the Gurston Down Speed Hillclimb last September and subsequent painfull rebuild I've had a had a fairly Quiet season of shows this year to ease myself back into the land of Zed.

http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/102295-andyjames-supercharged-silver-pheonix-rebuild/

Now she is back and looking better than ever

 

6ffa133035ffd87e53371e081d54b8e6_zpsoe1qirio.jpg

I'm thinking can I race this car again? After enjoying the first few static shows this summer I thought "this is nice,no risk and lots of polishing which I love.

So after a bit of research I started thinking along the lines of maybe I could have the best of both worlds and keep the Pheonix for shows and the occasional track day and buy another car for the sprints and Hillclimbes. Tango man Ian (thanks for all your help mate)wet my appetite with thoughts of a Clio a182 cup and have a crack at the under 2000cc class championship.

Well after a Great deal of soul searching I've come to this conclusion.

 

I modified my Zed to enhance its performance to be fast on track but i know it's not the best car to win the sort of events I compete in because it's heavy,has rear wheel drive,and a manual gearbox but I really missed the rush of driving the old girl flat out and on the edge to the best of our ability and that's why I'm going to get back out there and give it a bloody good go next season!

Fortunately the worm has turned to level the playing field on many events which now have 2 wheel drive classes.

The biggest issue with the Zed(especially a big power car)is traction and I have struggled so much in the past so over the winter I'm going to address this. On order from Clark Motorsport is a Kazz 1.5 Diff and an Extreme twin plate clutch from Clark Motorsport.

To add to my own safety if just fitted a four point harness.bab97fbe29136f96030f371ff672fd8e_zpscgytsngv.jpg

d3f5ea3d1843627d3940981d03543242_zpspgan2fhe.jpg

I will post up further progress and the events I will be entering.

Thanks to all have helped me to continue on the incurable path of Zeditus.

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Good for you Andy!

 

I have said before that returning to the track in your personal road car after an "off" (!) is an order of magnitude harder than returning in a car that is used solely on track.

 

I went through the same thought process after a BIG accident at the Nurburgring in my road BMW but when it was all straightened out I then "took to the hills" and although I had some jitters at the first event soon enough it receded and the thrill of competing again took over.

 

Best wishes for next season - my nearest "local" hill (now that I have moved) is Prescott - be good to see you there sometime.

 

David

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Good news mate, hopefully some track days too?

 

Just a thought for you, is it not worth having a pair of nice light buckets to bolt in and out for events, seats are so easy to take in and out :) weight saving, support as a bonus?

Edited by Jetpilot
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So the stories are true, you have very large round ones.....

 

Be great to see you out there competing again - when you know the events you are entering please post them up, cos I'm sure there will be many others out there like me who would come along from here when I/they can to appreciate your commitment and hopefully see you do well in your Class.

 

Good luck Andy :thumbs:

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Good news mate, hopefully some track days too?

 

Just a thought for you, is it not worth having a pair of nice light buckets to bolt in and out for events, seats are so easy to take in and out :) weight saving, support as a bonus?

Thought about this one but have been told that many aftermarket seats sit higher than the standard Z seats.

I'm already struggling with headroom with them being 6 foot plus wearing a helmet so not sure what to do.

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Good news mate, hopefully some track days too?

 

Just a thought for you, is it not worth having a pair of nice light buckets to bolt in and out for events, seats are so easy to take in and out :) weight saving, support as a bonus?

Thought about this one but have been told that many aftermarket seats sit higher than the standard Z seats.

I'm already struggling with headroom with them being 6 foot plus wearing a helmet so not sure what to do.

 

I think Tarmac do Buddy Club super low rails, but dont know how effective they are, might try to pop to the mini meet and say Hi.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Please make the trip up to Harewood this year (Britain's longhest hillclimb B) ).

 

We've got a 2wd class now and they've just voted to go to List 1b tyres too. On that basis they've moved the bogey time by 3% so the target is 62.5 seconds. I did 67.7 in a boggo Z on 1a tyres so there's 5 seconds to find. What you reckon? It sounds like a lot to me. Doable?

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Please make the trip up to Harewood this year (Britain's longhest hillclimb B) ).

 

We've got a 2wd class now and they've just voted to go to List 1b tyres too. On that basis they've moved the bogey time by 3% so the target is 62.5 seconds. I did 67.7 in a boggo Z on 1a tyres so there's 5 seconds to find. What you reckon? It sounds like a lot to me. Doable?

Thanks for the invite mate! I will see how I can get an entry.

I made up 2 seconds at Gurston with 888r tyres over standard on a 40 second run so it's not impossible.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Christmas has been hectic as ever as you all know but quietly in the background work and parts have been arriving for the next season.

I got the Rays refurbed and picked them up just before the festive shutdown and I have to say " The Wheel specialists in ferndown did an amazing job.

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The Kazz 1.5 super Q diff is here.

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I have to say that the extreme twin plate clutch is a thing of beauty and if anyone does a Perspex bell housing I'd be up for it as it seems a shame to hide it away!Lol.

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Once the the drivetrain has been installed and a set of sticky toyo R888R boots have been fitted the old girl is ready to go.

Next job is to try and refresh the crusty old driver....

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Ohh that clutch is a beauty

 

Realy interested to get your thoughts on the diff mate I have the quaife was tempted by the kazz but as mine is strictly road with the odd track day I went with quaife

I'll let you know when it's fitted mate,but I'm told the push out of corners is amazing!

On a big power car the viscous one struggles so you are already ahead of me!

The clutch is a no brainier as the one I have struggled in my last season,spinning up and was holding me back on launches off the line.

 

 

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

Now that the regs for the coming season are online I have now entered two championships.

The Hillclimb and Sprint Association which allows me to compete in some of the most prestigious locations including Prescott,Gurston Down,Aintree,Goodwood Harewood and Shelsley Walsh.

http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/hsa.asp

 

The other is the All Circuit Sprint Championship which has a two wheel drive class to allow us high power slitherers to compete at Silverstone,Goodwood,snetterton,castle Combe,Rockingham etc.

http://twmc.org.uk/

The car is booked in at Abbey on the 1st Feb for an ARC/UPREV Ecu upgrade.

The diff is being built at a local specialist as we speak and once it is back a couple of nice chaps I know are going to help me fit it along with the clutch!

Hoping to give her a shakedown on a track day late Feb early March.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Arc remap done and I have to say the flat floor shifting is bloody awesome. The last time I changed gear this quick was crashing up through a Honda CR 500 crosser!

Picked up the rebuilt diff this evening.

537ce106fc3a2b170f9b564cc906a35a_zps89l1pbqg.jpg

I have two good friends who are going to help me fit this and the Clutch very soon.

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Arc remap done and I have to say the flat floor shifting is bloody awesome. The last time I changed gear this quick was crashing up through a Honda CR 500 crosser!

Picked up the rebuilt diff this evening.

537ce106fc3a2b170f9b564cc906a35a_zps89l1pbqg.jpg

I have two good friends who are going to help me fit this and the Clutch very soon.

 

Awesome!

 

Let us know when you the crazy gang is doing the work, might pop down for the banter ;)

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Arc remap done and I have to say the flat floor shifting is bloody awesome. The last time I changed gear this quick was crashing up through a Honda CR 500 crosser!

Picked up the rebuilt diff this evening.

537ce106fc3a2b170f9b564cc906a35a_zps89l1pbqg.jpg

I have two good friends who are going to help me fit this and the Clutch very soon.

 

Hmmm sounds bloody Awsome

I've got to go back to Litchfield to get a oil presure sensor mapped into ecu

I might have to get this added to my ecutek tune

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A huge thank you to Chris and Bob at the Zed Shed.

At 9.45 I rocked up with a huge bag of assorted donuts and McDonald's for 6 with a newly rebuilt diff and a clutch.

At 6pm we had managed to remove the exhaust,prop,diff,gearbox,replace diff,fit new clutch and slave cylinder!

While they were poncing about with the boring bits I managed to sneak in a quick oil change! lol

That is a huge amount of work on the drivetrain to achieve in one day.

Once fitted Chris and I went out to an empty car park and made ourselves dizzy driving round in circles backwards and forwards to run the diff in.

The Extreme clutch has a very soft pedal and the bite is not too aggressive,throttle response with the new flywheel is awesome and it now takes all the power when flat floor shifting.

The Kazz diff will take some time to get used to as it don't like going round slow corners without hopping the inside wheel but that is a small trade off for the amount of shove you get when you exit a corner and it really squats down under full power.

I know the Zed is a heavy old bird but I'm thinking I now have a road going race car!

I Have some cracking pictures taken today which I will post tomorrow evening.

 

 

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