The Lab is a light engineering & automotive/repair fabrication company specializing in Nissan modifications, Nissan Navara V8 conversions & carrying out mild to wild modifications on almost anything owned by someone wanting special attention to detail & high quality workmanship.
Owned & operated by Glenn & Christine Hodges, Glenn has over 12yrs experience in the aircraft servicing & repair industry & has been working on cars & selling car parts professionally for over 30 years.
The Lab was founded in 2010 & we operated from a modest unit in Tawn place in Hamilton, we have since relocated for the short term while we try to enjoy the early years with our little girl.
One of the best things we offer is on the spot quick thinking & solutions to problems other places may struggle or not even be able to solve, This ability is demonstrated fairly well with our little Nissan march racecar that now holds ~650hp & AWD, a fairly serious upgrade from the factory layout!
TIG, MIG, arc & gas welding, lathe work (up to 320mm diameter max) & general fabrication done on site with access to virtually unlimited machinery via sub contracting.
From basic maintenance to complete engine rebuilds, making a letter box through to a full automotive restoration/rebuild, The Lab can help you.
Please feel free to check out our extensive albums on out Facebook page or view our brief descriptions of notable projects listed here (we will be adding more very soon!)
Contact Glenn directly on 027 2789691 
All ready to load up for NZ Superlap Series round four (round two for us) at Hampton Downs tomorrow and Sunday!
Let's go take on some of Nissan's beasts with a shopping trolley on roids!!!
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.This one's just a tiny little tweak purely for technicalities.
When we went to the bigger Nexen Tyre NZ SUR4Gs in 275 width at the front there was a small area of the tyre visible outside of the gard when viewed from the top.
That's actually a big no no if we follow the rules to the letter.
I've added that tiny little bit of trim on the outside edge of the gard (above the much larger one on the bumper) just to keep within the rules.
It's no fun arriving at the track and being told to go away and fix something!
Tomorrow is booked out for other stuff, that leaves two days before test day then racing this weekend!
For about five or six years there has been a sheet of material in storage in my workshop.
Today I finally put it to the use it was purchased for!
Keen followers will have spotted the side skirts/side pods now have a flat bottom on them - finally!
With the trickery going on at the back end of the pods we should in theory see an increase in cornering speeds :D
Less than a week to go until we are racing again at Hampton Downs with NZ Superlap Series.
Today's effort on the March 🙂
Lap joints riveted together are heavy and relatively weak, two long joins replaced with butt welded joints.
Jacking points were useless so they were ditched.
Then I needed some room for a better path for some scat hosing.
That's more than a can of Coke removed today 🤣
One of the previous critters who owned this blue Z went nuts on weight reduction (will neither confirm nor deny it was Glenn).
But seeing as comfort is more important than lightness we are installing Dynamat to replace what was removed.
Glad to be using the correct products for the job this time - makes for a MUCH nicer job 🙂
This beast is getting very close to being fully sorted :D
Yeeees it's a 300ZX so it's making us work hard to get the results.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypzGt3oSKKs
JDM slicktop twin turbo Z32 ready for tune!
www.youtube.com
Another small speebump to deal with but nothing all that serious fortunately! We should be pretty good for the tune that is booked for early next week.#Z32#J...Yip
That's a leaking frost plug
Yip it's on a VG30DETT
Yip that chewed up most of the day
Fixed now though 🙂
Busy busy busy!!
One more weekend to go then it's time for the final round of NZ Superlap Series
It seems odd saying "the final round" when I will have only done two rounds - but that's the way it is! 😂
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTvdfND-1hM
Wiggins clamps installed & a couple of other tweaks
www.youtube.com
After abandoning work on the Z32 on Friday the 13th (because I'm not insane) I attacked our little mega HP 4WD Nissan March.Some new couplers in the boost sy..."It looks the same - why the same picture again!?"
Well those of us that are slightly OCD will have been going nuts over that LHS O2 sensor lead being shorter than the RHS one leaving it hanging out in the breeze.
I fixed it for you/us 🙂
Amazing how much better it looks!
I know I know the clamp on the strut tower is higher on the RHS - I'm not fitting a new rivnut to fix that 🤣