Preview: NZ Performance Car Issue No. 253

C O N V E R S I O N :

R 3 5 - P O W E R E D

2 4 0 Z

S U N DAYS O N

9

MUSCLE GARAGE

U N L E A S H E D !

JAN. 2018

M U S TA N G

$10.99

N E W

416803 800821

FANGA DAN S

INCL. GST

W I L D

253

ISSUE

14

READY TO ROCK

FANGA DAN WOOLHOUSE HAS GOT HIMSELF A PONY OR TWO

04 ED

“HE ONLY HAD EIGHT WEEKS TO TRANSFORM A BONE-STOCK, DIRECT OFF-THE-LOT 2017 MUSTANG INTO A SKID-READY MACHINE”

PURE EVIL 440KW LIBERO

38

22 MURDER-Z VR38-POWERED 240Z

DEATH MARCH REAR-ENGINED VQPOWERED MARCH

54

60

GOLDEN GIRL

13B 808 BUILT TOUGH

1

themotorhood.com

CONTENTS

48

30

004 EDITORIAL 006 ED TEAM CHATTER 008 NEWS 044 SUBSCRIBE AND RECEIVE 046 CONCEPT - NISSAN’S MID4 076 WEEKEND WARRIOR 082 DIY SAFETY WIRE 084 CRUISE MODE 090 TECH TEST — PLASTI DIP 092 NEW PRODUCTS 094 WAIMATE 50 096 UNDER CONSTRUCTION 098 GIG GUIDE 099 DRAG TIMES 100 DAILY DRIVEN 102 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 104 WHAT’S COMING NEXT MONTH

78

66

030 ROCKIN’ THE CLOCKS 048 IF IN DOUBT, FLAT OUT 078 CAFFEINE HIT 066 ROADWOOD 2017 WORLD TIME ATTACK CHALLENGE

PAYING TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE GREATS AT RALLYLEGEND 2017

KICKING OFF THE SUMMER WITH CHACHACHA

WTF? A 20B HOLDEN HQ

86 THROWING THE

CATALOGUE AT IT HOW TO RESTORE YOUR PAINT’S SHINE

2

themotorhood.com

72

14

themotorhood.com

2017 FORD MUSTANG RTR FANGA DAN SWITCHES CAMP. SHOCKED? YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHIN’ YET …

WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

MURDER-Z WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TAKE ALL THE BEST PIECES FROM THE NISSAN BACK CATALOGUE, AND MIX THEM ALL TOGETHER TO BUILD A DRIFTER? BLOODY DAMN GOOD THINGS, AS IT TURNS OUT

22

themotorhood.com

WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: RICHARD OPIE

38

themotorhood.com

1994 MITSUBISHI LIBERO GT

IT MAY NOT BE THE SIMPLE DAILY DRIVER MICHAEL KIM SET OUT TO BUILD, BUT HERE’S HOW YOU PIECE TOGETHER A 440KW ‘EVO’ WAGON WORTH WRITING HOME ABOUT WORDS: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: DUNCAN ROURKE

only wanted to build something which I could drive to work and back,” admits Wellingtonian native Michael Kim. These would become famous last words for Mike, as what he now sits behind the wheel of is far from anything that resembles a ‘just a drive to work’ car — unless you’re accustomed to pedalling 440kW on the daily, that is.

Mike was once a self-confessed Honda boy through and through, and recalls that it was close mate Peka Pietkiewicz who brought him over to the so-called dark side that is Mitsubishi: “It was how raw the Mitsis feel. They are real aggressive, I can’t explain it,” Mike says, “The feeling is a lot different to the Hondas I used to drive.”

He credits Peka as being the catalyst behind the build, and says, “You could say he’s the real mastermind of the car, helping me pull together the right combination.” Although this may be true, Mike was equally humble when it came to crediting himself for the copious hours he has poured into transforming this once derelict 4G93-powered Libero into a fire-spitting animal that now seeks to claim the title of the country’s fastest for its kind.

“I got it back when everyone was into swapping cars, and this [Libero] was passed around half of Wellington before heading north and coming back down,” Mike says. “It was going too cheap so I grabbed it, but every time I pulled something out to fix what had been neglected, I would find something else needing to be done, too”. It wasn’t long until every component possible had been stripped and laid out on the garage floor, and all that remained was the shell and a lot of work to be done.

“I thought to myself at that point, why not put it back together using new bolts and bits, something simple just to make sure it was reliable.

But here we are now …”

2004 NISSAN MARCH K12

D E A T H M A R C H

GLENN HODGES IS KNOWN FOR OPERATING OUTSIDE THE BOX, AND AFTER THE FIRST INCARNATION OF HIS REAR-MOUNTED V6 TWIN-TURBO NISSAN MARCH MET AN UNTIMELY DEMISE, HE’S BACK WITH A 2.0 — BIGGER AND NASTIER THAN BEFORE

WORDS: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

54

themotorhood.com

he pages of history tell us the story of a practice so brutal that it now sits firmly amongst the most serious of war crimes. It was a practice used to brutalize, weaken, demoralize, and even destroy enemies during wartime, a practice which quickly become known as the ‘death march’. However, while neither this particular March nor its owner/driver, Glenn Hodges, plan to end up on an international war criminal list, the car itself is the physical embodiment of what a death march aims to achieve — striking unprecedented fear into the hearts of any being that may cross its path — and Glenn intends to use it to destroy the competition at the local time-attack series.

Regular readers may recall seeing the car’s first incarnation back in NZ Performance Car issue No. 241, in which we detailed the build of the twin-turbo VQ35DE-powered track killer. Back then we talked about how safety became an important factor for Glenn, after he encountered a dicey high-speed late-braking situation into turn one at Hampton Downs before completing his last season of NZ Superlap.

He put aside his then 300ZX track car in favour of a build fit for a madman, and the base for this project became a Nissan March.

Although that would not be the first choice for most, it was the result of years of back and forth between Glenn and a friend overseas, who enjoyed discussing the intricacies of rear-engined all-wheel drive cars from the Group B era. These discussions quickly turned to creating a modern equivalent, and focus was directed at taking a series of components which were never intended to come into proximity with one another, and not only making them work, but making them work incredibly well, with a hefty amount of safety equipment fitted to compensate in case things ended up pear shaped.

DRIVE

GEARBOX: Nissan Sentra sixspeed, Maxima bellhousing CLUTCH: Heavy-duty pressure plate, brass button friction plate FLYWHEEL: JWT alloy EXTRA: J32 Maxima half shafts

SUPPORT

STRUTS: RSR coilovers, King Springs springs, custom mounts and camber plates BRAKES: (F) Nissan four-pot calipers, Z1 two-piece 370Z rotors, (R) Nissan twin-pot calipers, Z1 two-piece rotors, Hawk race pads, hydraulic handbrake EXTRA: J31 Maxima knuckles, The Lab custom arms, 10-point roll cage, custom rear chassis rails, custom front and rear subframes, custom rear firewall, custom front strut tower support frame

THROWING THE CATALOGUE AT IT

BRINGING BACK THE COVER-CAR SHINE WITH MEGUIAR’S TECH EXPERTS

86

themotorhood.com