Happy New year to you all, we hope you all managed to enjoy the amazing start to summer and long may it last! The Fraser factory had a super busy end to the year and I think we were all ready for some relaxation and time off with our families.
Coming into the break we began the fabrication of our two latest Frasers. Both Clubman S powered by Honda F20c engines, one destined for David in Nelson and one for Wayne in the Waikato. Both chassis are now well into the fabrication phase and we will be getting them off to their owners as soon as we can. Over the years Frasers have used a variety of rear differentials in our cars, from Ford Escort live axles, to Ford Sierra, Mazda RX7, Nissan Skyline and Mazda MX5 in our de-dion system. The changes have come about mostly from supply issues, as the donor vehicles get older, their parts become harder to get and more expensive. Something that has been on our radar for a while now is the diff used in almost every Subaru since the early 90’s and still in every new Subaru to date – the R160. Other than availability, there are a few more advantages to using these diffs – they have a wide variety of ratios available as well as LSD options. However the biggest advantage would be the weight, saving over 13.5 kg off the Nissan and 5 kg off the MX5, it definitely allows for a couple of extra pints and maybe even a pie for the driver! So with Mazda diffs demanding crazy money, and two new builds on the go we have decided that now is the time to make the change. We have redesigned our diff mounts to accept the new diff and are currently waiting for the first set of CNC bent laser cut brackets to arrive so we can install them into the chassis and work out the new axle lengths.
Stu’s BEAMS 3SGE powered Fraser Clubman S is getting nearer to completion with a new bonnet all fitted up and off to see the inspector for its LV inspection we are definitely getting close. Once we get the car through certification and road legal we will get the bonnet painted to match the rest of the car.
We have had a spate of Frasers in the workshop recently for small maintenance type jobs or the odd little upgrade, this can only mean that people are out enjoying their cars! We have just fitted a new steering wheel to Howards yellow monster, Geoff has been suffering a slight overheating issue which is all sorted now. Barry has his Fraser in for a new set of Webers, Didier’s car is in for new shocks, an aeroscreen and a racey wheel alignment. This can only mean that people are out enjoying the cars!
Bruce has been busy repairing rust on Rob’s very special little 1973 BMW 2002 Baur Cabriolet. Only around 2500 of these were built and Robs is a very nice example. It was repainted sometime in the 90’s and there are a few dreaded bits of rust showing through here and there so he has brought it in for us to sort out before it goes off for paint. The body itself turned out to be pretty good, unfortunately the bottom half of both doors needed to be completely rebuilt.
We are very excited to have “The Fraser Pit” back up and running. For the unfamiliar, one of our Fraser owners Rowan owns a company called Global Workshop. They offer an online workshop portal which allows us to post progress on the projects we are working on. As a customer you can also post any updates of work or anything you like about your car. You can then share the project with anyone you want to show it off to. It is a very cool system and something we intend to use more and more going forward. Log on and have a look for yourself at https://thepit.fraser.co.nz
Hopefully dirty old Omicron won’t ruin our chances of our Taupo track day this year and we all look forward to seeing you!
