And so started the build, I had five weeks to get the car from this condition to driftable so I could drive 600km down the coast to Drift Fest 02 at Raleigh!
What's a drift car if it's not JDM?
Being an auto, it was no good for drifting, so I did what any responsible Gemini owner would do, and took the 4 speed gearbox out of my daily TX.
As a dedicated track car, I wanted to make the thing as light and bare as possible. This meant stripping everything that wasn't absolutely essential for the car to be driven... Sound deadener was not least of these things.
In hindsight, it probably wasn't completely necessary to make my own wiring loom, but I did anyway! This allowed me to make my own dash pretty easily, with only the bare essentials there.
Remember the gearbox that came out of the TX? There was a motor attached to that too!
eBay spec alloy radiator and thermo keeps the temps down a lot better than I had anticipated.
A pair of autobarn seats hold you in place surprisingly well, with the passenger one on fixed rails. The 4 point harnesses were definitely worth every cent, as was the eBay spec hydro.
Battery relocation for convenience of wiring and better weight distribution.
Complete with a rushed spray can paint job, we just got it finished in time to go to Drift Fest.
We drove it onto the trailer, and started our 6 hour drive down to Raleigh, hoping that it held together for the weekend.
The next day, we drove it off of the trailer, bled the brakes for the first time and crossed our fingers, hoping it would survive its (admittedly brutal) shakedown.
All in all the weekend went incredibly well. The only real issues we faced was not having an alternator (regulator didn't show up in time), an electrical terminal falling off, and destroying a few tyres! Regrettably there aren't any decent pictures of the car on track, but I'm hoping some will surface eventually.
Now, a few months on, I have some exciting plans for this car.
