Hilux Project Part 4
It’s been a wild ride in the 3 Parts of this Hilux Project so far, now it’s time to get some driving in.
With the New Zealand tour and the QLD Matsuri Trip completed it was time to clean things up and reset.
I fitted up a fresh set of Falken tyres to the Driftmaster rims and started planning the next event.
Ever heard of that Australian event called Summernats? Well I was here to do drift demos and I was excited for it.
Day 1 drift demos went well but the same can’t be said for day 2 where I tapped the wall, broke a right hand rose joint, lost steering and proceeded to tap the left side wall damaging 3 rims in total. I put the car on display, enjoyed the event and went home a little dejected.
I sent the rims up to Sydney to be re rolled, filled and polished and as soon as they came back I replaced the rose joints and loaded up for the racetrack. This time a grip day at my favorite place Phillip Island.
Come for a ride with me around this amazing racetrack.
I took things relatively easy and there was a lot more pace left in it, I had worried about the structural integrity of the rear bodywork at high speed so I progressed through the day and thankfully it all stayed attached.
I love the view from above and the crazy amount of fabrication that it’s taken to bring this to life.
It doesn’t have to be sideways to look good on track, I definately get inspired to build a Time Attack version of this every time I enter a grip event.
Back to World Time Attack for another year, as much as I wanted to be a part of the demos I couldn’t handle both the trade stand and the driving. I decided to make some money and meet the fans instead of spending money on the racetrack.
It was cool to meet Chairslayer and compare our PBK Painted helmets.
There’s always something to do, but luckily I thought long and hard about how servicing would be made easier during the build process. Removing the front clip and the body makes life easy to clean out the rubber, service everything that needs attention and make sure it’s ready to go for the next event.
I thought this would be the perfect time to deep dive into some technical chat.
All of the detail you need on this build is right here in this video.
In our fabrication courses you can learn to build a turbo manifold like this one I constructed for the Hilux, I can’t wait to finish up the sytem and see how it goes. The aim here was to reduce the heat in the engine bay and mount the wastegate and turbo in a more convenient location.
Get anytime access to the best Fabrication Courses, learn the staple skills of fabrication all the way through to roll cages and turbo manifolds.
I tried the S15’s magnesium race wheels on for size, damn they look good, but they won’t be staying here.
Im currently working on a host up upgrades for a return in 2026 so keep your eyes peeled for more spaceframe Hilux goodness to come.
Thanks for reading/ watching.