0R10N

+1 for comical "GT-DIESEL" decals.

Good jerb man! I told my mate that someone in the South Island was building an Iron Mask diesel R30 sedan and he got faux-stroppy because that was always going to be his pet project, hah.

This is a neat car. Drove it at Hanmer and somehow found enough restraint not to buy it on the spot, such an easy thing to drive and with a surprising amount of oomph for an oilburner. Brought back fond memories of punting around in my DR30 sedan, which @Brdflu keeps telling me I should really stop neglecting and start working on again.

As old man KY says, there's a bit of surgery involved to fit the nose, also you may need to buy some facelift bumpers and tail lights to complete the look.

Gonna be in Wellington this Saturday 16th of September at pretty short notice. Looks like I have some of the evening free - any OS boes keen for a catchup, coffee, beer?

Giz a PM or reply if so!

cheers
Ed

That is neat.

...are we driving this to Highlands?

Now that Hanmer has passed I've had a yarn to a few peeps and they have expressed some interest in attending, so I'm bumping this up again for posterity.

@kiwi808 Highlands is definitely NOT on the same weekend as 4&R Champs, correct? Just so I have my facts straight.

You can thank old mate bugalugs with the "insomniac" child for that.

Someone suggested last night that we could park in the section further away from the Warehouse and food places (roughly in front of the Reduced to Clear store) as that whole area remained fairly empty all evening. Sure it's not right next to Burgerfuel, but as mentioned neither was the top carpark at Ellerslie nor Countdown Manukau.

I'm all set. Flights booked (to Christchurch), leave approved etc.

Any Chch folks going?

@- i5oogt - @427carguy @SamBam @Cullen @Brdflu @76rolla_gurl @RWB etc

8 hours ago, Ranter said:

My Jap version has a modified floor for 4ws rear end and its rear seatbelts were screwed (self tappers) through floor and bolted through plastic/light metal speaker housings.

I took it through VINZ for WOF's and it passed so asked their advice upon discovering this crude kiwi job, registered now as two seater. I don't see why if its a real expensive pain you can't remove the rear seat. I  assume factory mounts would be there but also recall the scary seatbelt mounting jobs done on early imports so maybe they aren't,

That sounds... safe, haha.

Registering it as a 2-seater has been discussed with one of the compliance places, but the back seat and belts must be permanently removed, and they warned me that any dodginess around re-fitting it would be upon my head if I somehow got caught driving around with people in the back. Also it would look a bit ugly with no back seat, ha.

Anyway, an update on progress: A seatbelt specialist in Tauranga is currently looking into the front belts - if there are drop-in dual sensitive replacements that can be fitted in place of the existing ones, that should pass. The problem is finding a drop-in seatbelt that conforms to the weird as fuck Starion setup.

As for the rear belts - if I fit factory 3-point ones using the factory mounts before compliance, due to a loophole that I didn't bother asking for more clarification about, the inspectors will use those factory mounts and simply fit new dual sensitive belts in their place. However, if the car just turns up with 2-point belts fitted, the inspectors will not bother looking for a factory mount but will instead ask for scratch-built mounts to be fitted and certed.

Confused? I still am, sort of.

All good! Was gonna have a chat to old mate Ant to see if he could help out.

How much are you happy to pay for outside "parking"?

Should be possible, say if I had access to the car in between its arrival in NZ and its departure for compliance @fuel. A guy on the Starion FB page offered me some maroon 3-point rear belts so the option is there.

My compliance guy has already seen the photo of the back seat with the lap belts, haha. But I'm sure he wouldn't mind. They only seem to get upset if you fix things like rust/damage before they get a chance to inspect it.

3 hours ago, Firebrand said:

I guess if you know they are the same as the NZ new ones, you could just take your current Starion down to a compliance centre and see what they think...although different certifiers might have different  opinions...

Yeah I was just thinking that. Could be worth a shot.

They might be able to spin me a sharn about the queer door-mounted front seatbelts as well, hahaha.

Been trying to get my head around all the techno-babble in this link: https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/entry-certification/i-and-c/vehicle-interior/seatbelts-and-seatbelt-anchorages

Thanks @Firebrand, that helps greatly!

1 hour ago, locost_bryan said:

Were export and JDM Starions made in the same factory? If so, I'd expect them all to have the mounts installed.

You'd think so, but there are apparently a few oddball rules around retrofitting rear seatbelts.

Proving the factory points are there is only the first step, next is to convince the compliance people that they are suitable for mounting a modern seatbelt. Otherwise new anchor points have to be scratch built, which requires a LVV cert and around $4k worth of fabrication.

At this rate it's not looking favourable

Any Starion owners here happen to have a Japanese import model?

If so, how have your rear seatbelts been fitted - are you aware of any factory anchor points in the boot/rear C-pillar area?

Cheers!

12 hours ago, jesselc said:

I just don't see what the excitement would be with clocking big speeds if your car sounds like a fucking microwave.

Ask @Llama if he can submit a request to have the Jetsons noise added to all Teslas.

Another left hook Rx-7, at a slightly more palatable price. Series 2 too.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mazda/auction-1384089044.htm

5 hours ago, xsspeed said:

Lock it in,  whats best timing ya think?

How about aim to be at Stoddard after 8:30am, leave at 9am. Should get us to Smales before it gets too busy, we might even be able to score some prime real estate in the top carpark for once.

Bring that catalogue with you on Sunday Steeb! Old barrys love catalogues.

Cheers for the offer! Yeah last year was the perfect storm of prior commitment clashes all round...

My leave's been preapproved and I'm about to book some flights to Christchurch, so at least I'll be committed to getting to the South Island for the appropriate dates. I'll rent an econobox to get to Cromwell if I have to.

Or buy something oldschool and find an OSGC's house to leave it at for South Island Nats 2018, haha.

Calling all regular attendees and new - time to start thinking about this year's Highlands 101... Fri 10th thru Sun 12th November 2017 in Cromwell, Central Otago.

Jonny/@kiwi808 has kindly volunteered his house, situated halfway between Cromwell and Wanaka, as a possible base of operations, stay posted for more details to come. In 2015 we ended up doing a heap of exploring/sightseeing in addition to spending time at the track, which worked out pretty lush. Perhaps for 2017 we should check out Wanaka?

In the meantime, post general event discussion and itinerary ideas here.

https://www.highlands.co.nz/events/highlands-501/

Friday, 10 Nov: Competitor practice sessions. View from the top terrace with a Museum entry ticket, or a weekend pass. Highlands' activities such as go-karts and museum are operating as usual, but there will be none of our usual track activities operating today right through until Monday.

Saturday, 11 Nov: Event tickets are required. Free pit-lane walk. Go-karts operating as usual.

Sunday, 12 Nov: Event tickets are required. Free pit-lane walk. Go-karts operating as usual.

Meet at Stoddard Burgerboes at some point, cruise through the tunnel and over the bridge?

Keen to meet up someplace beforehand and head in together Steeb?