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 
You guys all know the story but here's a video anyway, I didn't bother with the "in car footage" as it was extremely boring given the car never made it on the track 😂
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq-Rwae6XQA
Right!
Is the track still open for Saturday mornings HP & grip session?
No?
A bit late for that one?🤣
All sorted now, may or may not paint or anodize the crank pulley, will decide later.
A reduction in size of the crank pulley and an increase in size for the alternator pulley.
The combo on the right is literally stuff I had lying around, the crank pulley was modified to fit a smaller rim? (the bit the belt runs on) and then that was welded on - giving the distorted anodizing colour.
Not a perfect solution, but free and effective.
This combo should bring the alternator RPM back down under the recommended maximum.
Our Link ECU provides crucial information via logging - and also provides not so crucial but still very interesting information.
We had an alternator failure in the little March today - I know boo hoo cry me a river - but it was interesting to go back and see exactly when it failed.
I knew it had decided to leave the party at some point in the staging area but I had managed to develop some self doubt and thought maybe the entire time I was in staging it was offline and I'd just not spotted the alternator light on the dash.
Well this portion of the log shows (towards the end) manifold pressure raising and RPM not really climbing a lot - the clutch is being engaged and I'm trying to pull away after just been given the "head on out on the track"
I stalled the car (my bad - that's the red vertical line) immediately after restarting you can see we never returned to full voltage.
Right there is where the alternator gave up - right at the point where I could have headed out.
The actual failure is an open circuit in the rotor in the alternator - the spinny roundy electro magnet bit.
The cause of that failure is potentially due to the higher revs.
The fix will be a new alternator and a larger alternator pulley to slow things down a little bit AND keep a spare alternator in my bits n bobs.
The bonus is it was not a round of Superlap and there are no points or anything to worry about.
I did however want to have a crack at the roll racing.....
EDIT: you can actually see the alternator drop out just prior to the first vertical red line and a stall immediately after.
Some voltage corrections need some attention in the tune perhaps!
Sorry guys
Another frustrating failure at the track.
The alternator decided to cease participating in the days activities in the staging grid for our morning session.
I guess this highlights the importance of a thorough test before heading to the track.
A planed dyno session was denied by life stuff and things....
Anyway HUGE thanks to the everyone who chipped in to help, a bit gutting we couldn't sort it.
New ignition coils arrived for this beauty yesterday!
Installed today.
This deletes the PTU and a heap of related wiring.
The theory is she will now make the power she is supposed to make!
Some cosmetic enhancements still coming (like powder coating the balance tube) but really close to finally going back home!