Hey guys,

Some of you might know me some not. My name is Jason Jiovani and I have been a dedicated and professionally aimed drift driver for 5 years. I am reposting my build thread for my current drift car. I have been a racer in Tampa area since 2000 and really got dedicated in late 2004. I want to give major props to All-American Street Car Performance in Largo/PinellasPark area in Pinellas County, FL. who helped a huge amount to get this car built. There is plenty of pics, vids, and some vid links to check out. More to come soon, I'll keep this updated best I can! Let me know what you think!

This is a my last video with my 4 cylinder turbo motor, if you want to see what I could do then!

Nexen Tires - Bliss Frenzy on Vimeo

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THIS 1991 240sx



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THIS 1999 LS1 6-Speed Camaro



I'll keep some cool stuff going on in here- stay tuned.
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Tommy and sean just left... they did this today, middle of the street, jackstands+a small box of hand tools+hoist.



Entire removal took less than 1hr:45min. This is my old SR20DeT 4cyl turbo motor. This motor is stock in Japan in this chassis so its not a tough swap. It did me real decent- running and taking a beating for 4 years- no real problems at all! Sad to see it go!

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ok so there was some major delays as I was convinced to get a new shell instead of fixing the 2x tweaked chassis...

A friend of mine was kind enough to give me her old shell that she started with. It was sitting all depressed at a storage area. After getting that and bringing my shell all to Dan Chilton's shop... work was to start. I didn't take many pictures because i was the dirtiest bastard ever... working on the dirt, with 2 jacks, and some jack stands- swapping subframes and fuel tank and tons of other bull.




The yellow car has continued to lose parts and now sits with ONLY a windsheild, 1/4windows, cage, and a steering wheel. its so grumpy looking with so much gone, but it put in 4 good years of really amazing driving. I'm very proud of my $600 240sx.

Here is how she sits with new cage (pics soon) from Dan Chilton. Its very sexy and I really really really like the new door bars. Still no motor or anything in it, but look how low it is already with no weight lol.




Remember this look, cuz its going to be ROCKIN asap.
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From left to right our goodies are many and mucho awesome:

RedLine Oil Products: 30WT Race Motor Oil, 75w90 Gear Oil, and Water Wetter. >> www.RedLineOil.com <<
Accusump w/manual valve
Improved Racing Frontsump pan+pickup+baffle+gasket!! ONLY $299! >> www.ImprovedRacing.com <<
Exedy TwinDisc Clutch Kit for LS1 >> www.ExedyUSA.com <<
ARP rod bolts
SLP 25% underdrive pulley
K Sport Hydro Ebrake (never installed since I crashed before had the chance) >> www.KSportUSA.com <<
2x Mishimoto 12" E-fan+ Mishimoto Racing Dual-Pass Rad >> www.Mishimoto.com <<
Pro 5.0 Shifter
MSD Super Conductor Wires
E^3 Spark Plugs >> www.E3SparkPlugs.com <<

Not Pictured...
Custom LS1 motor/trans mounts by Z28Ricer off of TampaRacing.




Just need to get it all in the car now!
New bodykit and wheels are being processed/shipped so they should be here soon!!
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Manly metal and shiny suits oh my.

DCW sexy as fuhhh cage. mmmmm







New SPARCO Tech-Light suit, Tide gloves, and X-Light MidTop shoes !




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We did some good stuff last few days.... finally got the Camaro in the shop and started digging in. With the wrecked front, it was easiest to just remove exhaust, unbolt trans mount, take out driveshaft, and then unbolt subframe+upper control arms. Then we just raised the lift off the motor! hah

DeLorean Status!





Did some removal of stuff i dont need... stock exhaust mani's... a/c... and front accessories so I can get to the internals on the front. Have a new timing chain, and oil pump to get in there. More on that tomorrow, I didn't make much progress today as I was busy picking up other parts that came in and other stuff.
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Today I had enough time to get the motor on a stand and roll her over and take off the crappy rear sump oil pan.


And I took a leap of faith and after many phone calls to different people, and researching the shit out of it. I upgraded my rod bolts to ARP. **AGAINST JOHN/SHAUN/DAVE's advice!! <<<



While I was busy doing that shit, some stuffs arrived at home...
Some sweet ass stainless steel headers from Hinson Supercars


And my latest sponsor XXR Wheels got me my new shoes
these are the 502 model and are in HyperSilver finish, looks really sweet and I don't care what anyone says, they are going to look good on the car. Lip is a decent 3.5" in the rear too. Can't wait to see it all on the car




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Another productive day. Spent a bit of time on the front and underside of the motor...

first I installed the new oil pickup for the front sump pan...


then realized i was retarded because I had to get the new timing gears/chain in and new oil pump. So i took it back off and did some of that after fighting the damn stock balancer for a while, even with a puller that bitch was INSANE to get off... Anyways, GM sprockets and LS2 timing chain, notice the links are thicker/beefier. Melling pump, and balancer is SLP.

old setup:

new:




then I put on my Improved Racing pan/baffle/gaskets. put the water pump back on with new gaskets. put a nice new rear-main-seal on and cleaned up the gunk around the back of the motor...



tomorrow leaves my fly/clutch... and remount trans and see if we can set the motor in the car! i doubt ill sleep im so damn excited to get more done!
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Saturday... planned on dropping in motor so I took the engine bay and 3 hours. I cleaned and cleaned and sanded and cleaned and washed and scrubbed.... then i repainted. I was so dirty I only got AFTER shots sadly; i didnt wanna nasty up my nice camera. Black w/metal flake






Finally got to the shop and started the next step of installing my clutch.
My uh-uh-uh-uhmazing Exedy Twin Disc is really light. The guys that work at the v8 shop said it was almost like cheating because the flywheel is so light hahaha.




and trans on...

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then there was this today:
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tomorrow is headers, shifter, RAD-iator, fans, plugs, wires... all thats stuff
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Started off this morning with the rather difficult task of installing the headers. Had to unmount the motor, unhook the steering link, then jack up the motor and pry it over and fish through the drivers side. The steering column actually goes through the middle of the primaries on the headers. Looks really sweet when its in.


Then had to jack up the car like mega high where it almost looked like it was going to roll over, and fish up the passenger side headers. Fitment is great, and it really looks baller on the motor.


Next we tackled the fuel lines, a couple trips to the store, and those are all routed with a new fuel filter. All dandy, no pics... its just some stuffs we did.

I worked on installing the plugs I got from E3 Spark Plugs. This was actually a lot harder than I expected just because of the massive 1.75" primarys on the headers. Once those were all locked up, I put on my nifty MSD super conductor wires. mmmm red wires, full of HP goodness lol.



Next up was the dual pass racing radiator I got from Mishimoto. its pretty gnarly and we had to notch the hood for the fill neck to clear, but it actually fits well. I also got two 12" fans for it that we decided to mount diagonally. They are overlappign the edge some because we wanted to bolt them to the radiator instead of just the ziptie style mounts. Sat it in the car and John got ancy and made up some custom radiator hosing from random bits around the shop, worked awesome and so thats done.





tomorrows list is:
hydro handbrake
accusump
power steering (my pulley/resevoir were both broken from car)
shifter
intake
driveshaft
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Here is how the engine bay is now with intake pieced together with my big ass 9" K&N filter :bigthumbu

other new things are the 3/4" bore wilwood clutch master cyl, Turn1 powersteering pump (reduces flow/helps keep fluid from boiling). MSD Superconductor wires are glaring through the 1.75" headers.


Here is how we ran the dual 2.5" from the Hinson headers... through an X-Pipe and all the way true dual to some bullet style mufflers. Car sounds amazing and really mean and angry haha. Can't wait to REALLY get on it.





Here is my almost race car looking interior setup. Little more to go on it, dash/few gauges. Got my Pro5.0 Shifter for the t56, riding next to that is of course the KSport Hydraulic Handbrake, and then running back, slightly tilted up, is my big shiny blue 3qrt accusump w/manual valve. Passenger floor has the Fire suppression bottle/lines. It really is all setup really nicely, and i just need to wipe down all the dirty hands spots. You can also see my PCM (ecu to us) mounted in its stock holder, against the firewall ^^






YouTube- first_start.AVI
sound quality sucks sorry, this camera is NOT LS1 certified lmao

tomorrow is coolant, hoodpins, e-fan wires, alignment and to the body shop!!
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i ran into problems today. brakes arent working for some reason... gonna rebleed them tomorrow, but i dunno wtf is up.

got some other little things, but im really not sure how the car will be ready for ATL with paint... i have a WEEK and its still not at the body shop. and i have to take it on saturday for sebring IF I can even go now... ill know more tomorrow
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After spending an hour or so grinding the steering column mid-knuckle down the steering works now... no more clang clang from the steering knuckle vs header deathmatch. We had to dent the one primary a little to, but its driveable atleast!

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so a new master cylinder is in... brakes feel bled great till car is running then its soft as shit. im talking like, no driving, just turn on motor and soft. WTF. i dont know if its related, but the handbrake doesnt even come close to locking shit... it is MEGA hard to even pull it really i dunno whats up.

who needs brakes... i did some test donuts and ricer passes... and O M G, there is not a single reason i can think of why this wasnt the best idea on earth.
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Spent another 40 minutes of bleeding the brakes and they work! Just somehow still had more air in the lines.

We are taking the BEAST to Sebrings drift practice on the runways with Bobby Ore Motorsports!!! I can't waitttttt
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So yea.... John and them were right... I rod knocked- most likely from the rob bolt install I did putting too harsh or to little pressure on the 'worn in' bearings, super upset with myself for not listening to John and them. So much work for 10 minutes.

However- HOLY SHIT this car is siiiiiiiiicckkkkk. Doing the donut/figure 8 morning setup at (Bobby Ore's) that I used to have to mash the shit out of 2nd gear in my SR, I was now able to feather the throttle in 2nd and even did it in 3rd with the LS!!!! HAHAHAHA OMG I reallllllly wish it was able to do some high speed passes

So motor is trashed but we are going to try to make FormulaD Pro AM ATL in 4 days. I have the spare LS block still so gonna try to pull motor Monday- take car to paint and swap parts on motor Tuesday- then get car and drop other motor back in Wednesday!!

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so yea, motor is already out... car going to paint tomorrow, im swapping parts onto another longblock.... wednesday pick up car, drop motor, plug in some stuff.

dont count me out for atlanta just yet!

im so sunburned im more red than kool-aid. ^^ shop had no room today. I worked 8 hours in the sun, on the trailer pulling motor stuffs. I used my shirt to wrap on my head/cover my neck that was already destroyed from sebring... so my back got full force for 8 hours. then also Had to go under car alot and the only parking spot big enough for truck/trailer is ontop of rocks with a nice ant pile next to it.

It was like someone used a blet sander on my back and then threw tacks at it. i cant even wear a shirt it hurts so bad.
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car went to paint shop early today.



i swapped parts on motors. hope to pick up car before noon and get the untested motor in by end of day.

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the motor is in, car is painted... everything i think is hooked up...

motor isnt starting. was up till 3am working on it, giving it last try now. still have to pick up body kit from paint and mount that if we get motor crankin'

+i know i have fuel pressure.
+i know battery is good
+i dont think i missed a ground, or any plugs...

really stressin... sucks if i fail now.
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I slept about 4 hours and got up looking anywhere for reasons it wouldn't start. I eventually hooked up the trailer and took her to Autoway Nissan/Chevy right near me. I asked for some help to have a tech come check my wiring harness and the desk guy argued that they won't know it. Its a STOCK harness on a STOCK LS1, how can a certified tech not know how to check the damn plugs and know what I've overlooked?! WHATEVER.... I then take it back to All-American now that they will be there.

Shaun hooked up to my diagnostic port to find something was not happy. It kept shutting power to the port on key to START. We didn't know why.

I could remember some plug getting unplugged when pulling out the knocked motor- one near the starter. But I didn't have any open plug on new motor. I look around at my old block and see that bitch staring at me! The crank angle sensor was never swapped to the new block... suuuuuuper pissed at something so small. We unbolt the starter, magic happens and we get it in. Hook up starter, turn key.....

VRROOOOMMMM the beast starts on first try. Back her out and pull her on trailer to head to bodyshop > atlanta. The motor ran for a good 30 seconds before we loaded her up and onto the trailer.

We get to body shop, bad news, they never painted the kit. So we are gonna rock the 2 tone....

We get to my house to pack up wheels, tires, and clothes for Atlanta. The kit box was far too large so we had no choice but to mount the kit at the house before leaving.
Just before leaving for Atlanta, wayyy super late, here is how she looked.


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Finally, at about 3:30PM we are leaving for tech check-in that ends at 7:30PM. I had previously kept the StreetWise Team (who is hosting the event) up-to-date on everything and he said my extreme circumstance he would grant me a later tech time, at the hotel. On the way up we note a few things that need to be done to make the car 'legal'. Headlights need power, and an emergency shutoff outside the car. Our trip ran long with stops at the store and such so StreetWise agreed to meet at 6:00AM at the track to get settled. We arrived in Atlanta about 2:30AM and put luggage in the hotel room, and went back to rig. We went to a 24hr gas station, unloaded the car, and started to work. Wiring was handled by Brett, Evan was cleaning up the car, I was checking fluid levels, and making sure all my nuts and bolts were tight. We finished by mounting the only part of the kit left, the rear over fenders. We were 3 guys, pouring effort into this racecar at now 5:00AM, at gas station. We finally get done, and load up the car. It's 5:30AM and we hit the hotel for a round of showers and go to Road Atlanta, finally. Car passes tech with a few minor hiccups we address on the spot.

3 days, unbelievable efforts, and against all odds- we made it, we are here at Road Atlanta, with my LS1 240sx. Now the realization sets in... I never really got to go faster than 20mph with this setup... time to test it all, on the most technical FormulaD track they run.
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So here we are at Road Atlanta, for the first real experience in my 95% new car. Lets review whats changed. My KSport Suspension had only been on the car for 1.5 events (crashed). My KSport hydraulic handbrake had never been tested, its now mounted in rally (vertical) style, and to the right of the gear shift (and we took out the stock ebrake). The transmission is now a 6 speed, with a totally unknown gear to speed estimates. I don't have any gauges except oil pressure and water temp, so no tachometer. I am running wider Nexen tires both front and rear (235/265) with no idea on what tire pressure to start at with this power setup. So its going to be a rough day with only 90 minutes of practice and 24 drivers registered.

The car looks pretty good considering how quick it went together. I really wish the paint had been finished, but I can't complain with the short time we did it all. Enjuku hadn't arrived yet so my vinyls were still MIA. I can't help anything and its time to go to practice.

Remember, I didn't sleep at all the night before this and the night before that was only 4 hours. Remarkably, I was so pumped on adrenaline I was able to function still. We get to the top of the hill and its my first time asking this motor to go above 2000 RPM as I do some warm-up donuts and maneuvers. I get in line with the confidence of a dead lizard on an ant hill.



I dive into my first run, slam back on the KSport hydro brake and !!!!! it doesn't lock and I get really squirrley trying to compensate for grip when I expected to be sideways. I pull it together and start feeling out the power and grip of the car. I'm all sloppy and can't believe how bad the run is. I'm always one to take the blame over the car, so I get back in line. After about 4 runs of similar results, I figure its got to be the car. We make some tire pressure adjustments, and some suspension tweaks. Nothing I can do for the handbrake, its simply can't grab hard enough to lock 265 Nexen N3000's on my 18x9.5 XXRs with the pads/calipers I'm using (full stock style). This is a HUGE issue as the entry is all handbrake here and the downhill section can need corrections with the handbrake at times. I finally just start doing a huge sway into the entry and the handbrake does just barely enough to start my slide. After that I have to be really perfect or it gets REALLY ugly.



Practice ends and I had 2 solid runs out of about 10. I was feeling ok as I went to the pits. My vinyls were here now so we took the 30 minutes to finish up putting logos on the car. Unfortunately the door was the only section that would work. I had expected the car to be yellow so I ordered black logos so they would pop. The unpainted kit is black so it really limited my space. I apologize to those of you with specific spots, I had to do what I could with what I had. I also apologize as K&N, ED, E^3 were not cut at all, they didn't have enough time. We put everything on and its already time to qualify.

We only got 2 runs, and my first I was going for speed and over shot into the dirt! So I pulled back up and played it smart- put together my best run of the day!! I felt I could easily be in top 5 after that. Results meeting came back and somehow I was only 9th, but I was in the top16 still, with all the obstacles I'd overcome I was still excited.

First battle for me was against the legendary, half-human half-god, Andy Sapp. He got to lead first and though I gave him and his sub-200hp BMW a gap, I still caught him on entry and got me all out of shape. We both had bad runs, me fighting to regain my sloppy entry and him fighting his low power. Next run when I lead, I did just like my qualifying run and laid it down really nice while Andy still fighting his power didn't put up enough for a OMT, and I took the win. Pumped from that victory, I quickly didn't like my position as I was up against Dan Willie, who qualified number 1, and has driven the track more than anyone else there.

First run, I know Dan's got a fast car, I don't give him much, enter before him and WHAT THE #### he is slowing down still going straight, I'm about to slam him rear end and I start to apply brakes to avoid (this all happened in less than 2 seconds!). He then kicks it in gear and takes off, straight up choking me with this entry game and I fall off line and try to make it up. As I work up the hill my speed is still low and I annihilate a clipping point, which takes my front kit off and under my car, exploding in glorious fashion. I stay in it, but I'm so offline that the downhill really is an issue and without the handbrake working for adjustments, its all over. I gave up when the car headed short of the clip and dipped off road. I was pretty mad by the entry he just did, knowing full well he has more power and ability. My turn to lead, I blast off and leave him, enter, and I never see him again. OMT is called and I'm in it to win it. Again I enter RIGHT on him, again he plays a game (this is where I felt the judges could have docked him for sandbagging). This time I hold together much better, but still tipped the clipping point over. My lead run again, I dust him and keep a big gap and he has an issue on the downhill getting really slow, then slams rev limiter to make it up. The judges felt that I was out driven, and it was over for me.

YouTube - Formula D ProAm Road Atlanta 2010

I really felt like I could have taken it to the top of the podium even with all the difficulties I was having. Still, I learned a lot in my "test session" here at Road Atlanta, and though taking the win would have been pure amazing, I have to be happy with how hard we worked, and how much we had to overcome to do what I had just accomplished.



Only 4 hours later, and a total of about 42 hours with no sleep, I finally got some rest.
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This past Saturday was a local competition with a driver's list of about 45 drifters. The event was hosted by JDM Ups.com at Central Florida Racing Complex. The venue is rather small and JDM Ups was putting on their first drift event. Overcoming the poor organization, I helped design a fun course in the area we had. I then went to take care of the car and get it to tech. I was really here to test out the new Project Mu rear D1-Spec brake pads I got. Trying to solve this handbrake problem.

We get it under way, with the first group to staging. The course was one sweeper, and one flick to the left. First run up, handbrake works 100% better and its awesome. I pull off many clean runs (actually didn't spin once all day), and we head into qualifying. Now this wasn't FormulaD so there is a lot of newer drivers, but the prize money of $500 is one of the biggest Florida has ever had. I was really aiming for that after taking the big hit of blowing the first motor. My qualifying run was really nice, smooth, on clips, and great angle. I was guaranteed a spot as barely anyone was pulling off clean runs.


Due to the lack of caged cars, this was a solo competition, and only a Top10 were to be chosen. The judges, decide its fair enough to just judge by "pass" or "fail" instead of real scores. Results from judging, somehow I didn't make Top10, but a driver (friend and teammate) who had car issues and it literally SHUT OFF mid-run on both his runs, made it along with a driver who SPUN OUT both runs.

I ask the judges what they are doing and how do they see it as fair. They respond by saying that "You run was just a typical run, nothing exciting.... these guys are really going for it and trying to be crazy. Besides this event is a joke and who cares" Really? 0's for scores in a competition for $500 is a joke?? I don't have a problem losing, I do it a lot hahaha, but this was just ridiculous.

After the comp portion ended, myself and 3 other drivers did some tandem (multiple car) runs in a 4 car tandem line, switching positions, putting on the best part of the day for the crowd. Funny thing that all 3 were in the Top10 without me.


It was awesome that I got to tandem with some cool guys and I was stoked that the newly purchased Project Mu D1 Spec pads were a great success.





Here is a some video of a tandem run. Its me leading, then Bill Fisher (dirt droppin!), and Charlie Thompson.

JDM UPs BattleGround Tandem session!

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The weekend of June 19th and 20th I took to the track in Florida's blistering heat. I was focused on trying to advance my comfort level with the still-new setup. John at All American tweaked the alignment from last time out, and we were confident she would handle much better. This is a long post with 2 events so don't stop till you find the 2nd video!!

The Saturday event took place at the Tampa Bay area's MLB teams stadium. Tropicana Field hosts the Rays inside normally, but on the outside this weekend, FullAuto Motorsports was putting down some rubber! This event is the 2nd of its kind from FullAuto with a dual sport setup. There is a time trial track setup on one of the 2 large lots. The other lot has an equally sized drift course, where I spent my day. Full Auto brought myself, and a couple others in as professional drivers to instruct the less experienced. We also get to drive in the advance class. As part of the advanced class, we were able to tandem with firegear, which I wore from 9am to 4pm, nonstop- getting crazy looks from people in the near 100* temperatures. Sparco's style and quality was getting me compliments. The drivers are intrigued with the gloves grip pattern and style the most.
I'm really starting to feel great in this new setup. The KSport suspension is set it and forget about it, I never feel like it 'needs adjustments' or that its unbalanced. I haven't touched the settings since Road Atlanta (our first event in the car). The handbrake is also really working out great. It took me some time to change my ebrake memory from the standard style to rally style, but I'm getting used to it quick. On this course I used the handbrake to enter, and had to feel out the inconsistencies and bumps in the parking lot. Once I was able to find the problem spots, I made run after run after run with great confidence. I was really hoping to do more tandem, but the venue cut the allotted time short on us.
I gathered some of the best shots from the various media that were present.



^^ Tandem with another V8 powered friend in his Cressida, Miles Flick.


^^ Hang Ten

If you have some time, I put together a video after scavenging the net and forums for over a week! This really shows a difference in angle, smoke, and overall consistency in the field. Some skeptics were unsure of my E^3 spark plugs performance level, and I think they have all vanished after seeing the car in action over the last events. So many people were complimenting the car and the driving that when I was giving out rides, there was such a demand for it, less than half of the people got to ride by the days end! The video below shows some solo, some tandem, and even some multiple tandem runs.

Jason Jiovani at FullAuto Motorsports 2 - 6/19/10 on Vimeo

-- DAY 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the FullAuto event wrapped, I went home and refreshed my supplies for the next day's event. I had to get up at 5am and drive nearly 6 hours to arrive at Homestead Miami's road course for a demo with FARA Motorsports. FARA is a Pro-Am racing series that allows us to host a drifting demo during their event. The drift show is mid-day and is probably the ONLY time during the day where the pits and garage areas are clear of people as they all rush to the fenceline and bleachers. I was really excited as the organizer has been after me for over a year to attend one of these, but after a billion schedule conflicts, here I was!


The section of the course we were on included 3 main turns, which we ran in both directions. The first time out I was nervous as I stared at a totally blind curve (due to the walls). I had learned a lot of my cars capabilities the day before at FullAuto, but not knowing a course, thats a different story. I left the gate in 2nd gear (I LOVE MY LS1) smoking tires off the line, grab 3rd and get a little greedy on a clutch kick and smoother than silk, I'm sliding wayyyy sideways.




I learn that this turn is REALLY sharper and longer than I anticipated so I just let my uber-amazing car feel out some grip from my Nexen's before dumping on the power as I saw daylight around the corner. The rest of the course was pretty standard and really a fun course. Reverse direction was a harder entry and I felt I could improve next time out, but it wasn't bad!



My Exedy HyperTwin did its job over and over again taking the clutch kicks and full throttling around the course, never a hiccup! And thanks to Mishimoto's quality products, I was the one waiting on others to cool down their cars after a run. Never got into hot temps at either event, despite raging with the car in 100* outside temps.

One of my ENJUKUracing teammates, Patrick Goodin, was driving his own LS1 240sx. A good friend and fellow badass driver, Patrick is currently a rising star in Florida. He is holding 2nd after 4 of 5 rounds in the StreetWise Drift ProAm Series. Look for Pat and his off-the-wall personality to turn some heads very soon!!

The following "HOLY ANGLE" moments brought to you by.... well my amazing sponsors! I like to think I had a little something to do with it too ; )

*our turn 1, race direction =


*our turn 2, in reverse direction =


Again I was told by several spectators and that I was the most on-point driver of the show, which I was suprised to hear- there was a lot of respectable drivers at this demo. I'm just really excited to be adapting quickly to my new found power!

Judge for yourself, here is the video!!

Jason Jiovani at FARA Demo at Homestead Miami 6/20/10 on Vimeo

I'll keep this post updated, I finally just got the new front kit back from the body shop with paint. Really wish i didnt destroy the first one at Atlanta ><
Plan to mount that up this week before heading out to Central Florida Racing Complex this weekend on July 17th.

Check back for pics of the new front on the car this week!

 

nice car man enjoy it

 

thanks^^

and
these are spread out in the novel, but for reference:
YouTube- Formula D ProAm Road Atlanta 2010
YouTube- CFRC Tandem
Jason Jiovani at FullAuto Motorsports 2 - 6/19/10 on Vimeo
Jason Jiovani at FARA Demo at Homestead Miami 6/20/10 on Vimeo

 

nice swap man cant go wrong wit american muscle... never been into the drift scene since a own a civic LMAO but nice drift machine dont hit a wall lol

 

already done that with the old chassis a few times^^ it happens haha.

 

Last week (July 17) I headed for a Florida competition for some fun and good times. I started out having a bit of trouble before the trip and was without a trailer. I ended up having to rent a Uhaul trailer and had a... well, interesting load up time! The car isn't super low but the car kept catching on the frame of the trailer. After quite a few different trys and techniques, this is what got me up there:
1) Take off sideskirts and front end. 2) Get frame stuck. 2) Jack up ramps. 3) Jack stands. 4) Drive on- scary as Hell. Luckily, at the track I had an angle to setup on and had no issues after this!



I get over to Central Florida Racing Complex and unload and immediately get in line to get busy.



The front kit was unable to make it due to the trailer issue and limited space in the truck. The rear was on, but the event staff said it appeared to be close to falling off (it had come off one of four mounts), so I had to remove it. Now with 2 sides, and the final logos cut, we are looking better than ever.

The course was really quite challenging due to the quick transition off of a rather fast entry. 3 of us were told by the judges that because of our cars' power, and driving abilities, that we are being held to a higher standard. We had to enter faster and earlier to not be docked for sandbagging. So lets get it on!!







This is my entry ^^ clutch kicking it hard along the dirt, dropping the tires just a hair and getting some really sick angle! I think this is my favorite pic of the event!

I was the most experienced driver in the field, but I was REALLY hoping not to make a mistake and take myself out of the competition. The course had a 60mph entry hard along the edge and across - facing the crowd - with a hard transition back left around a sweeper and finishing off with a blast back to the right! A really fun and challenging little setup.

We only did 3 runs for the competition, solo run style (lack of caged drivers sadly), and the judges narrowed it down to 4 drivers and had them pull up for the announcements.



From left to right is Jason Jiovani (me, haha), "Goofy Guy", Fello Ambivero, and Steven Admiree. Results announced and it was 1st, Consolation, 3rd, 2nd, respectively!!!

Consolation was a gift bag of random toys from the dollar store for the driver who displayed the most random driving hahaha. The guy was apparently all over the place and understeering and not having a great go at the course. The whole idea of it was pretty funny and the guy was able to laugh along with it.



(Jason 1st, Steve 2nd, Fello 3rd, Goofy Awardee)

After the competition, just like last time, we were able to have some tandem runs and just keep driving. I gave some ride-a-longs, and rode with others for help.



The whole day was a lot of fun. Below is a video someone made from the event, it has 2 runs in it from yours truly (one from stands, one from camera on car). Enjoy!!


Booyah!

 

I made a video for my spark plug sponsor


and since that event...

After the big hassle with finding and then renting a trailer for the last competition at CFRC, I started to search to buy my own. I found a number of options and eventually picked up a 18' with a pretty cool storage box welded to the front end. It was a little narrow, but it works so I hook up the new to me trailer to the truck and head home.

This is where the fun begins.

My automatic truck has felt a little sluggish as of late, but the transmission is really slipping on the way home. This can't be good. I call up fellow drift buddy Chelsea Denofa and he gives me a few things to check. Different solenoids and such. As I'm talking to him, the truck starts to fail to shift into 4th at ALL. Then by the time I'm home, it started to jump back-n-forth from 2nd to 3rd and just gets worse every second. I was already under a 1/2 mile to home so I limp her there and park it.



Call up Aamco who previously rebuilt this transmission 1 time and serviced it under warranty another. They tow it for me and over the next 4 days are diagnosing it all. Turns out my transfluid was not being cooled efficiently (due to a block somewhere) and cause the torque converter overheat and melt the guts.

GREAT.

I was supposed to be competiting in Miami this weekend (August 7-, but they won't even have the parts until Monday. Try to borrow several trucks, nothing meshing, I miss my event.

Following week, they pull it all, rebuild, new torque converter. Test it. Pressure test cooling... they find out my radiator has a pressure leak. Apparently, Dodge has the transmission cooler lines routed through the radiator, so when its low, transfluid starts taking the heat and cooks the tranny. AWESOME. Now I also need a new radiator. The day was now Thursday the 12th and I had a Redline Time Attack Demo to do on August 14-15. They get it done just before close on Friday night, and I pick her up. Props to AAMCO for giving me a hookup and getting the work done, just really terrible for my already expensive season.



Get home, hook up trailer, squeeze car on there, and head out for Sebring in the A.M. for the Redline Time Attack.
I couldn't wait to be a part of this event and showed up early and get ready to do some shreddin'. Unfortunately, we were only in a skidpad, not on the actual road course, but atleast I get to play with the beasty some more. About noon, we get the go ahead to drive and test out the course we made.


First run out I got a little greedy on angle, but linked it and was dumping smoke. Really felt good. Next run out was a 3 car tandem, lead car spooked 2nd car on entry; 2nd car spins it I'm flying in at 75mph sliding right at him, save it and we go line up again. Take off, initiate, 1st clip I hear a HUGE bang...

Snapped my input shaft on the tranmission. On my 3rd attempt into the course. Less than 24 hours from getting the truck's transmission fixed. (Since the event, we have found out that I snapped BOTH rear axles and the transmission is fine; end result is the same, but was innaccurate diagnosis before.) I was more upset I couldn't drive more that day than having to repair it. Was a ginormous tease to drive the first run and not be able to rip it up with my buds.





Load up and head home. About half way there, notice something strange on trailer wheel... ALRIGHT!! My trailer went bulimic on the wheel bearing! Jack her up, take it all off, and limp to a store for bearings. The races are so melted into the hub, I can't event hammer them out. We give up after an hour of trying and drive the last half home being a super sunday driver. The bright side is that the toll booth attendant only saw the truck + 1 axle on the trailer since it was missing the wheel; I saved 50 cents! SCORE!

We have already taken care of the trailer now, and the truck is still good (thankfully), next up is the race car. I will be getting that taken care of as soon as I can. I'm really looking forward to the good luck that is due up to me.

 

sweet deal jason, just read the whole thing, this car (old and 95% new one), have came a long way....

 

There has been much more, - here ya go!



After last event at Sebring, I was really upset having a broken drivetrain. The day before I was taking the car to the shop to pull out the transmission, I started her up and tried to feel out to make sure we had to pull out everything. By pure stupid luck, I looked throught the hole where the shifter is, allowing me to witness the driveshaft spinning. WHAT?!!? How is that possible if I broke the transmission? I shut her down and got out to go under the car. I grab the driveshaft and give it a spin and check on the differential. I can see both sides spinning... ok diff checks out good... how about my axles? Hmmm, WHERE ARE MY AXLES? Yeah, the passenger side was completely missing, having snapped off both ends of the axle/cvjoints while my driver side was sheared off at the diff joint, but still dangling from the wheel side. Really mixed feelings at this point. I'm excited as all hell because its only an axle change and not pulling and rebuilding part of the transmission, but I'm mad as hell that it could have been solved earlier.

The false diagnosis was just a perfect storm. When I orginally looked under the car it was being pushed and I saw the driveshaft spinning, and thought it was because the wheels were rolling, turning the diff, and spinning the shaft. When parked it wouldnt move anywhere and there was no noise because both axles were detached from the differential = no bars clunking around. What's done is done and I get axles out and take them to the shop with the car.

Over at All American, Dave busts out and installs the new axles in a few minutes. We also took this time to tighten a loose powersteering pulley (belt was walking off), and found out my suspension was really loose. I had been having a SERIOUS wheel wobble at full angle and attributed it to maybe wheel spaces? bad steering rack? worn out tie rods? Turns out, the lower collar on the passenger front was loose, allowing the coilover to jiggle in the sleeve... That didn't seem enough of a issue to cause what I was experiencing. Checking on the driver's side and there it is. The entire top camber plate was loose. Allowing free roaming of the coilover. As a 240sx turns and gains steering angle, the coilover rotates on the pillowball mount and allows some increased camber to happen as the lower mount is rotated with the wheel. My loose camber plate allowed the camber to be incredibly unstable and jump around causing the wobble. This was all in theory, but makes sense- test event was coming up in 3 days so we would know soon.

Next, we installed a new set of tie rods, making sure we had no weakness in the steering. Lastly, John completed the exhaust system. Previously we had a 'band-aid' on the headers to x-pipe section, and we took care of that now. The car sounds pretty sexy out of the dual bullets now.



I headed out to the local practice skid pad at Central Florida Racing Complex on Saturday (the 18th). I was the 3rd car to arrive and tech in. Pulling up to the starting line, anxious to finally drive again and we get the go ahead. The course was really technical and appeared slow speed so for my first run I tossed her in 2nd and let it rip. Felt really good to be sideways again and hear that roar of the LS1 behind me. Was suprised to find out the 2nd turn was much bigger than it appeared and I should have been in 3rd. I finish out the run and got really deep in the angle around the last turn, nearly spinning out.... AWESOME... NO WHEEL WOBBLE. So the steering is awesome now.




Next run I throw in 3rd and give a clutch kick to enter and kkkrkrkrkrkkccahsshsss. Are you kidding me? I break what now? 3rd? I throw it in 2nd and try it, kkkrkrshshshshs.... nope not the transmission, sounds like its the rear end. Seems to calm down in a straight line and get gnarly in a turn... Must be my KAAZ 2-way LSD right? Makes sense... Frustrated to all hell I park her in the spectator area and walk all the way back to grid to instruct for the day. Unfortunately, because I was there on time and within 10 minutes of track being hot, was broken, there was no action shots that I could find. I still got attention from the photogs and have been included in their blogs, and forum posts. So at least my hard parking skills are paying off.



At the end of the practice day, a few friends from Enjuku Racing were there and Adam helped me look into the issue. He was under the car on jack stands, and immediately could tell I had broken the CV joint on the passenger side again. This time the snap wasn't complete and full so thats why there was so much noise. Just trying to limp her to the trailer it came more and more apart, spilling its guts onto the pavement. Get some help from some spectators and Adam, pushing the car up the trailer.

This Friday is a big practice/demo event in South Florida with Palm Beach International Raceway. I am installing yet another set of stock axles to take her down there and bringing a 2nd spare set to the track. Considering both the axles issues I've had were all on a 3rd gear clutch kick, I am going to stick to ebrake and roll on throttle drifting for this event. No hard kicks on the clutch. I am going to be upgrading the axles soon, but in order to not miss events, I will get the stocks ones fixed.

================================================== ===

On September 24th, Ter-Tech held a first ever, night time drift event at the Palm Beach International Raceway. We have not been at this track since last summer, where I won the competition with the SR powered car. I was really excited to just get to any event, but this is one of the fastest venues we have here in Florida, and the facility is very beautiful with an amazing track.



Before the event got here, I still needed to replace the rear axle again. Fortunately, it was only one this time but I had no time to take her to the shop so it was a driveway job. Without a great angle to get full force on the axle, I had a hell of a time getting things up and in. We ended up unbolting a few suspension parts and she dropped in without issue. From crawling in and out and trying to do anything except pull the suspension, it took nearly 4 hours including setup and clean up but the axle was in!

The next night I finally got the parts I was looking for to re-enforce the fiberglass fenders and mount the front kit! Before installing the front kit, I taped off and painted the framing everywhere so the appearance of the car sans-bumper, is cleaner looking. Our first attempts were decent considering the limited fabrication abilities at my house. We had to go through several angles and mounting points for everything to look right. We put some strong supports behind the fenders and they are perfect, with no flexing. The front kit was a tight fit, I think due to the overfender shape and the supports we added. The only issue we have now is my mega awesome Mishimoto radiator is a tad tall and its very obvious with the front kit on. We have already added clearance to the underside of the hood, and are working on the best way to lower the radiator another half inch. Besides that, the ExtremeDimensions kit looks great on the car with the color and the shine from the XXR wheels.

So now the cars ready and we head out!



Arriving early, we got ready and rolled to the drivers meeting. We learned tandem class was unlimited in how many cars could run together and for the first time EVER, we were allowed to just hot lap. As we finished the course we only needed to get back to the start cone, and do a quick stop and go. With about 16 cars with cages we were sure to get a LOT of runs!



The weather played some games and we ended up with a wet track that dried up over the course of the night. The difficulty there was the track was uneven in its drying and the run would go from low grip, to high, to none, to low, to high. The car felt all unbalanced until the surface was more uniform. With the rain, and poor lighting we didn't see much tire smoke and the media guys had a hard time getting crisp shots of the action.



The other problem I faced was shifting the 6-speed. My first time making it to a high speed track and not breaking early, I was finally getting well into 4th gear. The shift gate is more narrow than my old Nissan 5-speed and I kept having an issue going from 3rd to 4th real fast (drag racing) and then from 4th back to 3rd in mid-drift. After the first run group that was drastically reduced and I had the best driving experience possibly to date in my career. I still haven't had to adjust my KSport coilovers yet since installing them in May; they are always doing what I expect and I don't have to worry about it!



We were entering near 100mph in 2-3-4-5 and even 6 car trains. This was also the first time I have seen such close tandem from other drivers. There were several people I thought I was going to hit I was so close and it was insanity. The event coordinator and owner of Ter-Tech, Harri Tervola, told me he saw me hitting other drivers!! I told him he is crazy and I never touched, he called me a liar and said he is going to check them for yellow paint, hahahahah. Harri is a highly respected driver and car builder here in Florida and that is a huge compliment from him. He is currently swapping a LS7 into a BMW and with a supercharger his car should be 1000+hp!!

This video shows a pretty nice run from 4 of us in the early wet stages.

http://www.youtube.com/v/AX3xmvwrTDo To add to the night, I even brought extra fire gear so I could take other drivers (non-tandem class) for rides to show them what we crazy guys do. Its no where near as baller as the Sparco TechLight I rock, but it got them in the action! I could only take 1 person per run group because of the setup but.... one wants to now swap to a LS1, the other (z32 turbo- rod knocked this event) said he wants to get a 240 and LS1 swap it, and the last drove an old 944 Porsche and said the speeds and angles we are getting he didn't think were possible (and for sure not possible from his Porsche... his own words!).

This video has myself leading Patrick Goodin, then a REALLY close call when Chris Jackson nearly goes into the tires!

http://www.youtube.com/v/0Lq_Khgc-Ds In this next video I get REALLY close to the car in front of me and we both pass another off line driver in a tandem drift!! crazy!

http://www.youtube.com/v/ULx5-db0oRo This last video shows me botching an entry (no ones perfect!) the track was finally getting dry and the cars were slowing down faster on braking and my entry was too early to make it with my 265 Nexens just grabbin up the pavement. I adjusted with a quick switchback and got back into it. The sad part is the last car in line loses it at the end and goes into the tire barrier on the last turn! Luckily, the safety barriers saved his car.

http://www.youtube.com/v/rkpiJpItZWI This one I'm at (0:59) following a black s14. He straightens and I just stay in it waiting for him to get back in the groove.

http://www.youtube.com/v/zIvVoOtW9So Over the night we did about 40 runs and no car issues at all! The car never even got close to overheating with that big Mishimoto radiator/fan setup. Also, the steering wobble is completely gone, and the axles held just fine. I am extremely excited to be getting back into a comfort zone with the car. Its falling into place very nicely.



For up and coming things, I am disappointed to say I can't afford a personal trip to the SEMA Show and keep up the event attendance. Unless I can find help with hotel or flight or both, I will see you at the PRI Show.

 

I have been waiting to get the video footage from the exclusive test ay we got at the brand new NOS Drift Park at CFRC. I work for NOS Engery Drink as event/street marketing team and my boss, Rob Fleming, decided to take on CFRC as a project with NOS. The skidpad previously was more like a runway, narrow and low speed. On October 29th, I was allowed to be the first person to test the new expanded facility. To up the ante, I was also giving the track manager his first ever ride in a drift car!

We warmed up the LS1 and did some donuts around the press box in the middle, then took off for a first real run. I started slow, knowing that fresh pavement and dirt and debris from the construction could be slippery. The track was amazing with its new sweeper and allowed for much more on throttle drift! I came around the first lap and did another, a little faster... awesome again! I was having so much fun I slid the u-turn and just slammed 3rd again and combo'd it back into a manji and into the entry again- faster yet! About midlap I decided to stop and get some air on the front while we go back to the full start/full speed type of run and then....

I HEAR IT. For the second time this year, I've rod knocked an LS1. I can't believe that the next day was a huge event (CFRC Frankenslide), with the new track, and a tandem class of 15 people- and I had a blown motor. I'd be watching from the stands.

In addition, I had dressed up the car for Halloween



A Bumblebee with stripes, wings, and bug eyes...

... and a stinger!





I've been waiting the video footage still to this day from the last runs... I'll post it when I get it.

This ended my season much sooner than scheduled. I have been working a ton and buying parts needed... we will be back strong in about a month from now... updates soon!