Chairslayer: LS-Powered, Hand-Operated Nissan 180SX
Drifting pro Rob Parsons won’t stop no matter what obstacles are in his path.
Despite being paralyzed from the waist down from a motorcycle incident, Rob Parsons hasn’t given up on his dream to compete in Formula Drift. He’s created this unique and amazing Nissan 180SX and here are a few details that make this car so special.
In June 2011, Parsons came up short on a motocross jump that resulted in major injuries that severed his spinal cord. He would forever be wheelchair-bound. At the time, he was also drifting in the Drift Mania Canadian Championship (DMCC), and looking to enter into the Formula Drift professional series. Well, not one to take something lying down, Parsons designed his 180SX to fit his newfound needs. However, this required some very unique modifications beyond just hand controls. Thus, Rob Parsons, “the Chairslayer,” was born.
Under the hood of this JDM 180SX, is a 5.7-liter LS1 engine. The LS1 is not stock and it can’t be with the Vortech V3-Si Centrifugal Supercharger shoving more air into the intake. A set of Wiseco pistons connected to Callies rods ensure the added pressure in the combustion chamber doesn’t send one of them through the block. To take advantage of the increased air, a Comp Cams custom camshaft for superchargers was installed to bump open the Manley valves. Mean while, an Aeromotive A1000 fuel system keeps the engine fed with fuel.
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However, all of that is useless if Parsons couldn’t even drive it. So, a very unique hand control system was created by Parsons to operate the clutch and engine. It starts with the shifter for the T56 Magnum 6-speed. Keep in mind, Parsons does not have the use of his legs and requires the use of hand controls for gas, brake, and clutch. The T56 is not converted to be a sequential shifter with an inline pattern like most high-end road race and open wheel cars. Instead, it still has an H-pattern that is controlled by a Mastershift electronic shifter system.
The hand control located behind the Driven deep dish steering wheel is another unique and interesting portion of Parsons’s car. To control the electronic GM throttle, you move the hand control up and down which sends the signal to the ECU to open and close it. The control the Works Engineering brakes, you push the control forward and that pushes a rod connected to the vacuum-assisted brake master cylinder.
Finally, to control the clutch, a bike brake lever is used and connected to a linear potentiometer and tells an electro-hydraulic pump to feed pressure to the clutch slave cylinder at the same rate as you pull the lever in or release it. This pump is also controlled by the ASD Motorsports E-brake since the clutch has to be activated as you lock the rear tires up and one hand can’t be in two places at one time doing two different things. The entire hand control system, save for the Mastershift transmission shifter, was all designed by Parsons with the goal of being something a person that does not have use of their legs can also create for not much money.