D Car — July 2004
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About this issue
246 available scans from D Car — July 2004, in right-to-left reading order. Japanese OCR and English translation drafts are available throughout. Drafts have not received exhaustive image proofreading; unreadable source remains recorded in the archival data.
Page 58 — English draft translation
“Honestly, this Del Sol gave us a lot of trouble. Weld handled the bodywork on this month’s Sport Compact King, and here is one of the challenges: fitting the tilt system to this Del Sol was difficult because there was so little room. We had no choice but to make the brackets very slim. Still, I am confident we created an interesting car by tilting even the fenders. I am not satisfied with the rigidity yet, though.” “So will you rebuild it?”
Captions and page details
See page 28 for the car introduction.
Vol. 2
Comment
Mr. Ito’s comment — “The Del Sol already has a TransTop roof. I tried tilting the gullwing doors, the bonnet, and even the fenders. When you see it all together, you immediately think it looks fun, right?”
ART FACTORY GRAPATO
(Art Factory)
This month’s cover car, too…
Weld handled the bodywork.
www.artfactory-inc.com
ALPINE
TOYOTIRES
...building a one-off tilt system.
“Please spare me (laughs).”
ALPINE F#Status
HONDA
Honda CR-X del Sol
Front fender
Bonnet We struggled to open the door to tilt-up.
It even opens this far!
“Space is so tight on the Del Sol that, like the fenders, the bonnet uses a compact internal mechanism instead of a folding design. It is less rigid than the JZX100 setup, but we managed to make it tilt.”
“Just tilting the bonnet felt like it was not enough, so I tried tilting the fenders, too. Mechanically, it is based on the bonnet setup; the difference is that the link arms are designed to save space, as shown in the diagram.”
Shift outward
Pull upward
Outer panel
Up
Pull up… then it tips forward.
Fully open!
This is the Del Sol’s tilt-bonnet link-arm assembly. It is certainly slender, but there is only just enough room for it to fit.
The bonnet support bracket. Its basic construction is the same as the JZX100 version.
When closed, it looks just like stock. You would never imagine it opens.
This lifts right up! The headlight is going to crack! My backside is going to split too—
From there, it slides downward. This movement is a little heavy because the front and rear links are different lengths. Why?
Because look: the body and fender open neatly in parallel, right? That beautiful appearance is the whole point.
After much effort from Mr. Ito, they finally got it to tilt. Here is how far it opens.
IN
ZOOM
Oh… you are right.
—aaah!!
The bonnet and windshield tilt up! After the front-mid-engine racing S and JZX100, there was yet another tilt-equipped car at Weld…
This one is also built by Weld.
It is this S14 Silvia. The car competes actively in drift racing, and that is exactly why they tilted something you would never expect. What is it? The front windshield…
Bonnet
…opens together with the side fenders. It is like a Lamborghini Miura… if you know what that is.
It still drives properly!
Now you can really drift!
A'PEXi
CAR SEASON
www.weld-jp.
Two dampers are fitted to support the weight of the bonnet and fenders.
A'PEXi
Sparco
CAR SEASON
S
Weld
grace
Alo Line
NISMO
GOODYEAR
Tilt it up! This tilt-up windshield is not something you would expect on a street car, and it is not just for show. The front-mid-mounted engine is offset to improve its performance, so the setup also makes engine servicing easier. It is a feature born from racing.
NISSAN
Silvia
Weld’s S14 Silvia is finished in a vivid deep blue. With everything opened up, it is completely exposed.
14
The windshield opening makes a huge impact. Looking at it this way, it must be much easier to work on the engine.
Front windshield
Close it up and it looks like a racing machine. It has that unmistakable presence. Cool!
—that is what it feels like.
POWER
The bracket sits here. It is simple and compact. The acrylic windshield is light, too.
grace
GOODYEAR
58