Everyone's Favorite Fabricator Stewart Leask - Ep.172
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Car
Nissan GT-R
The Nissan GT-R is a fast sports car that many people love for its speed and technology. It's known for being very powerful and is often modified to go even faster.
Car
Nissan S14
The Nissan S14 is a type of sports car that is often used for drifting, which is a driving technique where the driver intentionally oversteers to make the car slide through turns.
Term
drifting
Drifting is when a driver makes a car slide sideways while still controlling it. It's a popular style of driving in races and shows.
Term
motorsports
Motorsports are sports that involve racing cars or other vehicles against each other. They can include different types of competitions, like drifting or circuit racing.
Term
front cut
A front cut is when you take the front part of a car, like the engine and front suspension, from another car to fix a damaged one. It's a common way to repair cars after accidents.
Car
Nissan S13
The Nissan S13 is a car model that is often used in racing and drifting. It's known for being light and easy to handle, which makes it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Term
MIG welder
A MIG welder is a tool used for welding metal together. It feeds a wire and uses gas to keep the weld clean, making it easier to join metal pieces.
Term
tube bender
A tube bender is a tool that helps shape metal pipes into curves or angles without damaging them. It's often used in making parts for cars.
Company
Zilvia
Zilvia is a website where fans of Nissan Silvia cars can talk to each other, share tips, and show off their car projects.
Concept
Formula D
Formula D is a competition where drivers slide their cars sideways around a track. It's all about showing off driving skills while keeping the car under control.
Term
chassis
The chassis is like the skeleton of a car. It holds everything together, including the engine and wheels, and helps the car stay stable while driving.
Part
adjustable sway bars
Adjustable sway bars are parts of a car's suspension that help it stay stable when turning. You can change how stiff they are to make the car handle better in corners.
Part
titanium exhaust
A titanium exhaust is a type of car part that helps remove exhaust gases from the engine. It's made from a special metal called titanium, which is lighter and lasts longer than regular metal exhausts.
Concept
K swap
A K swap is when someone takes out the original engine of a car and puts in a different engine from a Honda that is known to be very powerful. It's a popular way to make cars faster.
Car
Nissan R32
The Nissan Skyline is a powerful car that was popular in racing and is known for its speed and cool features. The R32 model is especially sought after, but it can be hard to find one that is legal to drive on the streets.
Company
TF works
TF Works is a company that makes parts to help improve car performance. They work with people to create custom solutions for different cars.
Part
brake master cylinder
The brake master cylinder helps your car stop. When you press the brake pedal, it pushes fluid through pipes to the brakes, making them work.
Term
fabrication
Fabrication means making or changing parts of a car, usually using metal. It's often done to create custom features or improve how a car performs.
Car
Nissan Skyline GT-R
The Nissan Skyline GT-R is a fast sports car that many people love for racing. It has a strong engine and is known for being very good on the track.
Car
JZX 100
The JZX 100 is a Toyota car that is popular for drifting and has a powerful engine. It's known for being fun to drive and is often modified by car enthusiasts.
Term
gray market car
A gray market car is a car that is brought into a country without going through the official dealers. This can cause problems with legality and getting parts for the car.
Car
Volkswagen R32
The Volkswagen R32 is a sporty version of the Golf hatchback. It has all-wheel drive, which helps it handle well on the road and track, making it fun to drive.
Car
Porsche GT3
The Porsche GT3 is a super sporty version of the 911 sports car. It's built for racing and has a powerful engine, making it very fast and fun to drive on a track.
Term
track day
A track day is when you can take your car to a racetrack and drive it fast. It's a safe place to enjoy your car without worrying about traffic.
Term
diffuser
A diffuser is a part of a car that helps it stay stable when driving fast. It shapes the air underneath the car to create a pulling effect that keeps the car from lifting off the ground.
Part
oil cooler
An oil cooler is a part that keeps your engine oil cool. It helps prevent the oil from getting too hot, which can damage the engine over time.
Part
ducting
Ducting is like the air pipes in a car that help direct air to important parts. This helps keep things cool and working well, especially during high-performance driving.
Part
intercooler
An intercooler helps cool down hot air from a turbocharger before it goes into the engine. Cooler air means better performance because it allows the engine to burn more fuel efficiently.
Part
radiator
A radiator cools down the hot liquid from the engine so it doesn't overheat. It helps keep the engine running at the right temperature.
Company
HKS
HKS is a company from Japan that makes parts to improve car performance, like turbochargers and exhaust systems.
Car
Toyota Supra
The Toyota Supra is a fast and sporty car that many people love because it can be modified to go even faster. The older version, called the Mark IV, is especially famous and is often talked about in car enthusiast circles.
LIVE
Hey, and welcome back to the next episode of the Right Hand Drive Guys podcast, the podcast
for guys who like right hand drives.
I'm Bobby.
This is Aaron.
Yo, yo.
And we are back.
We got a guest today.
A very special guest.
A special guest.
Yeah.
A definite special guest.
And if you're watching on YouTube immediately, you're going to notice we got an exhaust
on the table.
Normally, that is not our decor.
But today, this exhaust represents our guest and his very high, high, high quality work.
Very high quality.
Yes.
And also, if you're not watching YouTube, we both got matching hoodies on.
And they are leased spec hoodies.
That's it.
Today, we have our buddy Stuart Leesk on the podcast.
This is pretty cool.
I mean, I only had heard of Stuart from his work over the past few years with the GTRs.
But you obviously have known about him for much longer before any GTR stuff was going
on.
Yeah, yeah.
Absolutely.
He's been in the game for a long time, whether it be in GTRs or not.
Yeah, for sure.
He's definitely been around.
Yeah.
And so we met Stuart at the GTR festival.
Super cool guy was literally talking to people all day about anything that you could ask.
And he had a few displays, obviously, of his, well, what does he do?
He's like a fabricator, I guess you could say.
Yeah.
So he had exhausts and different piping and all kinds of stuff there that he had fabricated
some cool catch cans.
And so pretty much immediately after GTR festival, I went home and placed an order
with him because I was just like, dude, these things are like what you're looking
for pretty much.
Yeah.
No tariffs either.
Yeah.
No tariffs.
And that was the big thing, right?
Like I was like, dude, let's just support a local guy.
And we approached Stuart.
We're like, hey, you want to chat with us on the podcast, dude, like, you know, kind
of put out, put some information out there and he was like, absolutely.
So we are here with Stuart Leesk.
All right.
And we're back with Stuart Leesk.
What's up, man?
Hey, how's it going guys?
Pretty good, man.
We appreciate you coming on.
For sure.
I know you're a busy guy.
Nope.
I absolutely love you.
I love that y'all are having me on.
So I'm pleased.
Oh yeah.
And so I don't know if you noticed, man, but we got this nice, beautiful table ornament
here.
Very beautiful.
Looks familiar.
Yeah.
No doubt.
And so what's pretty cool, man, is, you know, I had heard about you through
Aaron and then we went to GTR festival and seeing your products in person was
just like, oh, okay, I get it now.
You know, like it's like that moment of realization, like, oh, this is the guy.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I definitely appreciate hearing that this year I was able to bring a bit more of my titanium
product to my booth versus last year last year I was kind of rushed.
So it was a good feeling to kind of be able to showcase some of the stuff that I'm most
proud of.
Yeah.
I would for sure be proud.
Like we were just, you know, looking over the exhaust real quick when we were waiting
for you to get on.
And Aaron's like, dude, how does he make his welds chrome?
And I was like, dude, I don't know how he does that.
Lots of argon, lots of patience.
One of the tricks of the trade.
I guess when you've been doing it long enough, right?
You start to learn a lot of those little things that put your touch to it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's a small little touch up or something that I can do here and there and over
time those kind of accumulate and add up.
So there's some tips and tricks that I've learned both from some fabricators above me
that I really look up to and also just from kind of just doing it enough times and messing
up enough times to realize like, hey, don't do that, change this, change this.
And it's just kind of getting back in sync.
Nice.
Yeah.
That's like the key, right?
Is you like, you know, everybody says it like you have to mess it up to get those
lessons in order to write, you know, at this point, obviously have one of the
most beautiful exhausts on the market.
You know, it takes some failing.
You don't start out like that.
Exactly.
100%.
But starting out, where like, where does this start for you?
Because like I said, you know, I have a welder behind the camera in the corner over there.
But I'm telling you right now, I am not doing this.
So where does this start for Stewart?
I will skip some of the entry level stuff because I've kind of been a Nissan guy
since high school.
I got my first S14 and 03.
I kind of got into drifting.
I got into motorsports.
I competed in NoB, XTC.
I was Formula D licensed.
So I had to find a way to keep my car competitive throughout multiple stages
of crashing, changes, evolution, et cetera.
And I realized very quickly that that was not going to be a very sustainable
business model for me.
I do not come from a very large financial background.
So I had to figure out a way to keep this affordable and realistic.
And eventually I just kind of just told myself, like, look, you're going
to have to teach yourself this one time or another.
I had just wrecked my S13 very badly and I actually needed to do a front cut on it.
It wasn't just like, oh, I just want to front cut it to front cut it.
Like there was some come along used at one point in time when I was trying
to pull it back to straight, it was like kind of levitating in the air
and the windshield cracked and all that.
But regardless, what I did was I bought my first MIG welder
and I bought my first tube bender.
And I was like, you either just totaled your car
or you're going to figure this out.
And from there, I just never really stopped.
Dang, that's pretty cool.
Yeah, like the necessity, right?
They've like either having to do it or you're not doing it.
Exactly. Yeah.
Because I couldn't afford to keep it.
It was just too expensive.
Was this your silver S13?
It was. Yeah. Nice.
I remember seeing that build thread on Zilvia
and I went back the other day to try to find it.
And RIP to Zilvia, I guess it got shut down.
But I remember going to that to that build thread and just,
I don't know, just something about it.
It stuck in my head.
I thought it was one of the sickest cars to like come out of taxes really.
I really, I really liked that build thread, not because it was like my work
or it's like, oh, I'm so proud of it because it's me.
I liked it because it was really reminiscent of like a Japanese style
blog to me, and I really liked contributing to that just as much
as I loved reading everybody else's build.
Like I felt like that was kind of a fun way
to fire up the community and in multiple different aspects.
And I really do miss those.
Yeah. No, I agree.
Like those like, you know, early mid forum days were there was a lot of
a lot of stuff that became big later really started brewing then,
whether it was people, cars, you know, shops, like the forums
really bred a lot of that, I for sure agree.
Yeah.
So, OK, so you you fix your car and then do like friends or like,
how does it become like least spec?
Like, how does it go from fixing your own car to like?
Yeah, this I'm still mind blown, dude.
It was it was kind of like it was a tool of necessity.
Like I said, you know, obviously I repaired my S 13.
I kind of wanted to teach myself some techniques along
the way because around that time period, I was really, really fanboying
hard over people like Nigel, like everybody, everybody that knows knows
engineered to slide is like the upper echelon of car modification.
And I always found it so it was always so influential to me
how he he always just appeared so self taught.
But his technique and his approach and his fabrication was like second to none.
So I pushed really hard to kind of meet that level.
You know, like I started with a big welder like everybody else did.
I taught myself to weld in and I tried to get a little bit more advanced with it.
And then I had a really cool opportunity to be a part of the ASD Motorsports,
like Formula D program, where they kind of taught you a little bit more
about car engineering, suspension development, actually, actually lining up a chassis
more so than just throwing a bunch of parts at it.
And I think what happened is I ended up combining that with my what's the word?
I guess how bad I wanted to pursue like having a good technique
and everything else.
And that's when I started to really kind of combine a little bit of engineering
and a little bit of welding and fabrication together.
And that's what kind of like got me to where I'm at today.
I just kind of I mixed the two up and I just kept going for it, basically.
Damn, that's pretty cool, because, you know, I'm sure there were times
I'm sure you got stories about when, you know, you were like,
Dan, can I make this work?
You know, like, of course, we all have those stories, I feel.
Oh, yeah.
But my first my first like, can I make this work was actually Ian was really
big about adjustable sway bars and like how you set them up, how you calculate
their rates and everything else.
And I remember getting a set and just lopping the ins off and remind
I was like learning TIG welding.
So I was like, very green all this and like that was my first.
I have no idea if this is going to work project.
Now that seems stupid, because that's really easy to do.
But anyways, I digress.
Right.
But yeah, it's those little things, all of those little things.
Like the culmination of them that, you know, led you to the point
where, right, you're, you're selling some of the, again, the most beautiful
pieces on the market out of Texas, you know, out of your own space.
Like that's sweet, dude.
Thank you very much.
I really appreciate that.
Okay.
I have, I have, I have an off, off question here.
Okay.
So this is my first real titanium exhaust.
I think I had, I had a Chineseium.
I think they call it exhaust, but this is my first real, you know,
like American made.
And so I always heard like, don't touch the exhaust, right?
Don't put your fingerprints on it.
It'll ruin it.
Like, can you give us a little advice on like titanium and titanium care
for like people that, like me that just haven't had it.
And, and I just don't want people ruining these beautiful pieces,
you know?
Sure.
Yeah, absolutely.
So one of the, one of the key tricks is when you're installing it, I
always like to make sure that I have like the cleanest gloves possible
because it's real susceptible to like oil and fingerprints and stuff
kind of staining into the metal.
Granted, you can always wipe it off and clean it with acetone,
but if it's on there and then you heat cycle it, it's pretty much in
there for the long haul, if that makes sense.
So like what I typically do is I try to make sure I install it
with as clean of hands as possible.
And then after I'm done and everything's situated, I take a clean
set of rags and some acetone and I just go through and just kind of,
I wipe down as much of it as much as possible, whatever I can access.
So acetone is, is the, the fix as far as what to use on it.
Okay.
Yeah, that's, that's what I use while I'm fabricating
and everything else.
So because it's, it's equally annoying while you're in the
midst of fabricating because I have to go fit it on a car.
If I touch anything, if I touch the titanium, I have to
clean it off before I can weld on it or before I can't even
begin to explain how much acetone and rags and stuff I go through.
But like that's, that's what I try to do to keep my products a step
apart from everybody.
Yeah.
Cause I was wondering when I, when I unwrapped it and, and it came
very well packaged.
Like it came very, like everything came perfect, but I unwrapped it
and I'm like, dude, how is there nothing on this thing?
Like how is this so mint?
You know, like from a guy that had to touch every piece of this,
you know, so it's nice to hear it's really just you having
attention to detail and the quality.
Yeah.
Definitely trying to at least.
Yeah.
And then the packing, I will be happy to afford that to my wife.
She actually helps me with all the packing and everything else
because I'm usually so busy in the garage.
So she is a saint.
She is my life saver.
That's cool though.
A little family action.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Yeah.
Um, yeah, I got one.
So, um, off of the GTR subject, uh, I heard you're
building a K swap skyline.
What's that building?
That's such a bad one.
So what happened is, uh, I, I previously lived in my old house
where I started this whole shop experiment experience at, um, and
at the time that I had done it, this was actually something
that I just did at nights.
So I had a day job.
I came home, I welded, I fabricated and stuff at night.
Sometimes on weekend I would be working to like two or three
in the morning, et cetera.
And it was still kind of more like a passion copy for me.
So I started this project where I acquired, sorry, I don't mean
to be looking off, I'm just looking at the car over there.
Um, I started by acquiring an R32 chassis that wasn't exactly
street legal, nor could it ever be.
It was a Canadian car that was brought over too early.
Um, and it didn't have an engine.
I had just paid to rebuild my first RB and this was like
back then before prices went crazy.
And I was like, I am not spending that much money on a
track car motor.
So I have to find a cheaper way to make this work.
Um, I work really closely with the guys at TF works,
Mike and all those guys are incredible to work with.
They were in the midst of coming up with their mount system.
And I was like, Mike, I think that this is going to be a
good fit for the GTSC.
There's a lot of similarities between the subframes.
I think I can make this work.
If you guys can get some of your like prototype parts in my
hands, let's start doing this together and seeing how
everything goes.
And then from there, it just kind of went, um, the
downside is once I moved to my new house and got my new
garage and my bigger shop set up, this became more of a
full-time business for me.
And I have a very, very hard time wanting to put time,
effort and resource into my own product.
If I see a part of my own company slacking, so like, I
know I'm a little bit behind on projects, I would feel
terrible if I knew that and then decided, all right,
well, I'm going to spend like a week to finish that
car or two weeks to finish that car.
It's incredibly close, but selfishly, I just can't
find the time to like prioritize myself.
I guess that's kind of my own problem.
Dang, that's a, that's a real good business guy right
there.
He's, he's, he puts his customers in the business
first and doesn't finish the K series skyline.
That's a good one.
That thing, I, when I tell you it's at like 95%, I
mean, like it's wired, the Entron is wired, the
transmission wired, like the mechanicals are done,
the plumbing's done.
I am a, I'm a brake master cylinder setup, uh, which
is going to end up coming from Alex Cross.
I'm not sure if you guys follow him.
He's from over in the UK.
He's been doing a lot of group A replica parts.
Um, I'm waiting on his brake master cylinder setup
because my turbo kind of impedes every other setup
that I've seen in that area.
Um, I've got to get that in.
And then really, I just have to plumb the brake system
and like get it on a dyno.
That's how close it is.
Dang.
And how, and how long have you had that again?
Uh, like five years.
Hey, you didn't say 10, dude.
So you're good.
No, no.
Yeah, I haven't hit double digits yet.
I would like to not hit double digits, but we'll see
how this year goes.
Yeah.
I mean, for sure.
And, and, you know, as a business person, you know, I
can relate just in the sense of, like, you know, business
is coming and it's, business isn't like super easy to
come by, right?
So it's like, when people are coming to you and
especially for handmade titanium parts, like they're not
super cheap, like, don't get me wrong.
Your products are actually like really good price, but
it's not a super cheap thing.
So I get where you're coming from as, as far as just
trying to make sure that that customer is coming first
instead of yourself, you know, and, and that's why
people will continue to come back, right?
Yeah, there's a, you know, if I want to scratch the
fabrication itch for like fully custom road racing
vehicles, I've got a, I've got a 34 GTR here that's
like a, a fully built, fully caged air jack.
It'll be dry sump RV call.
Like I will be able to get my fix by finishing that car
and that has been kind of like work in progress between
me and the customer for a while, but it's back off
the storage lift and it's back on the fabrication lift.
So like, I'll get to really cut my teeth on that and
that will, that will keep me happy.
Nice.
I mean, that is a perk of your job, right?
It's like, well, I can't work on my skyline, but
I'm getting paid to work on this one.
Yeah, that, that sounds good.
There are worse problems to have.
Yeah, that's for sure.
Yeah, so I got a question like, how did you, how did
you get from drifting to, you know, building GTR parts
and, you know, working on GTRs because they're kind
of parallel, but they're definitely different worlds,
I would assume, right?
For sure.
I think so I got into drifting just because it was
something new and exciting to me coming out of
high school.
I tried the competition thing and I'll be like
a really honest, some people are built for it.
Some people can really rip and that wasn't me.
I tried, I had some, well, I had some fun moments
under my belt.
I had some decent competition finishes.
I got licensed.
I did all the things, but like, I was never really
going to make it as far into driving as a lot
of my friends were.
And I actually just found that I really enjoyed
building the cars more than I enjoyed driving
them.
Like I could go to an event and get third place
and not really care that I didn't win as long as
it was like, Hey, I just did this whole slew of
revisions and I went on track and it worked and
it just absolutely killed it.
Like that was my reward system.
So I realized, all right, well, that's kind of
what I gravitate more towards anyways.
Then I started doing drifting at like a very
non serious level.
I got a JZX 100 and I just kind of started
doing it for fun.
And then when that car, I guess eventually the
fact that it was a gray market car that kind
of wore on me and ate away at me and I
really wasn't ready to get my car taken
because at the time that was kind of like a fear.
And so I bought the GTR because it was legal.
I had always enjoyed GTRs.
They were just now starting to come over.
It was one of the first wave of R 32s.
I did one track day and I remember I was
toying back and forth with the Porsche GT3.
And I don't know if the guy just wasn't the
fastest or not, but my car was able to kind
of hold its own against this car.
And I just I enjoyed it because like that is
30 minutes of tandem level adrenaline rush
versus like 15 or 20 seconds.
And like you're changing tires every three laps.
And it was just a different level.
I could see that, especially enthusiasts in
like hobbyist wise, right?
Like, like, yeah, you don't want to be changing
tire, like that expense starts to wear on you
too, if you're not sponsored or whatnot.
Whereas right a track day, like you go out
like in at the end, you can still drive home.
Exactly. Yeah, you just go out there.
If you want, bring some semi slicks or
whatever, they're going to last all weekend.
Take something you want to drive home on.
Or just like you said, drive there on some
200 treadwear drive back.
But the fact that I was getting my car built up
and with enough longevity that I could go do
like 30 minute hot sessions, that 30 minutes
was like the most enjoyable nonstop fun
I've ever had in a car.
And I was like, this is this is a lot more
worth the effort than drifting, in my opinion.
That doesn't mean I don't like drift, but
it just clicked for me a little more.
That makes sense.
And, you know, if you're talking about like
time on track, it's hard to get 30 minutes
straight drifting, you know what I mean?
So that definitely makes more sense.
You know, if you're if you're looking for
the seat time and just, you know, driving
to the limit behind the wheel, like track
days are where it's at for sure.
Exactly. Yeah.
And like you said, you get that, that
fulfillment of whatever it is that, you
know, guys like us need, you know,
whatever that is that we need.
And we get it by being behind the
wheel, full throttle, like focused on the
turn. I don't know what it is, but but
it fulfills it and that feeling is hard
to replicate, you know, with anything
else, like for sure, for sure.
Okay. Another little off the wall
question, right? So well, actually
this this would help people understand
what type of services you offer, I
guess. So do you offer
so this titanium exhaust here I have
for 34, I know you make them for all
three, right?
Correct. Yes. And is this something
that let's just say I wanted to
I'm not like a sport muffler guy, I'm
a can muffler guy. Is that an option
or are these this is the model?
It is I do the can mufflers relatively
actually I say relatively often
sometimes I get the request and I'm
more than happy to do it. I can do
the canister exit with like the midway
resonator. I've even done some valve
systems or like open it's completely
loud and then closed it's it's as
quiet as you can talk to the guy
next to you in your seat with no
issues whatsoever. I kind of do a lot
of different variations and I've been
having trouble kind of narrowing
down exactly what I want to offer as
my completely fixed like no changes
product. And what you have is
probably as close to what I would
like to offer as a standard option
as possible. I see. Yeah, that's I
mean and yeah, no, this is this is
awesome. I was just thinking about I
was like I hadn't really seen a canned
version and I was like man, I wonder
if that's like something he does.
But on the valve note, yeah, we
wrote at GTR Festival Colapo
brought us for a ride in his 33
and yeah, he like surprised us
with the with the valve and I'm
like we're like dude, what is
going on? And he's like
so quiet. Yeah. Yeah, it seemed
you know, like a typical, you know,
sport exhaust or whatever. And then
he opened that valve and then that
thing was just screaming and we're
like, dude, what is wrong with your
car? He's like, no, Stuart, put
a valve in it for me. And I was like,
that is that's like a valve and
then a completely separate suitcase
muffler that sits right underneath
the trunk. And I calculated it or
rather I built it with just enough
room so that like the V-spec
diffuser can fit underneath whenever
he's ready. So like when he's done
with the car and it's like his final
vision, he'll have like the V-spec
diffuser completely hiding the
separate valve portion of the system
that we built. Dang, man, you're
you're smart. You're smart guys,
Stuart. That is cool.
Like just to think of something
like that, you know, is just so
like so next level, you know, a
lot of guys would have just put
it out.
Yeah.
So OK.
So besides exhaust, like run us
through a few of the different
products that, you know, you're
currently offering that you're
excited about.
There. So essentially, a lot of my
products are things that I built
out of necessity as I was tracking
my car. And if I found that there
was like an area where I felt like
no other product was on the market
to achieve something I wanted to
achieve, that was when I tried to
build something. So that will kind
of start items as simple as like
oil coolers.
I sell oil cooler kits mainly
because there's a there is a little
bit of a space on the market for
one. Everybody kind of sticks to
like the old school Japanese
ones were like the 13 row bar and
plates. Yeah. And then there's
the like 19 row Nizmos.
I actually found that when I ran
my car for those 30 minute
sessions with 19 row, it wasn't
enough to keep up with
temperatures. So I actually offer
25 row setups for all of the
cars. And I kind of haven't
narrowed down exactly like one
particular model as far as how
you want me to build it. But I've
done them with ducting inlet
ducting outlet to suit Z tune
bumpers. I have a lot of different
options for those oil cooler
setups. Additionally, I also
specialize in ducting more
so than just the upper panel
where a lot of companies will
stop. I also fully encapsulate
all of the space between the
intercooler and the radiator
itself. So my ducting kits are
a top panel for like a
finisher. And then it's a
fully enclosed side and lower
portion so that every bit of
air that goes through the
intercooler is forced to go
through the radiator. I did that
because the cars inherently have
kind of like a lazy pressure
zone behind the intercooler. I
found that that's like a problem
that happens with cars where
the front mounts are so tight to
the front bumper. Additionally, I
do a lot of custom radiator
modifications. I can do triple
pass radiators as far as the
vertical configuration. I can
do many different bleeder
applications. I have adapters
where I can run like the top
bleed bolt to a remote
bleeder tank with as many
inlets or an outlet
configuration of your
preference. Again, that's one of
those things where like there's
so many options on the market
that it's hard for me to offer
just one. And I guess ultimately
that's that's kind of been my
fuss with these cars all along.
There are so many ways to
build a GTR. If you're in
England, it's most likely
going to get built one way.
If you're in Japan, it's
most likely getting built
another. And if you're in
Australia, it is going to be
all billet. And there's not
a wrong way about it. But when
you're offering products to
people and they're buying parts
from all over the world, like
my ducting kit is a great fit
for people with like an ARC
front mount intercooler, the
three inch standard one,
because it fits almost like
stock. Somebody will
inevitably buy that ducting
kit and they'll have like the
five inch old school
intercooler and it's like it
won't fit. No, it's impossible
to work around all that stuff
because otherwise you'd have
like seven revisions of
every single thing that you
offer. So again, I try to
offer these these options and
these modifications. But
unfortunately, I always have to
kind of lean towards a chassis
that's not so overly built
because that product is most
likely to fit the most cars.
That makes sense.
Yeah, that does make sense.
And you know, I guess
that's a good point.
Like how how do you feel
because like you said, there's
there's different companies
making all of these different
products in all of these
different countries, right?
They aimed at like these, I
guess, this one model of car.
How difficult is it for you to
stand out in all of that?
It's it's tough. But I'll
be I'll be completely honest
with you. I don't really focus
so much on standing out.
I just focus on kind of doing
what's true to me and how I
want to modify my cars.
I have been very lucky with
the fact that there's kind of
an audience to that and that
there are other people that
appreciate my style and my
approach in the parts that I
offer. But I try not to stand
out and I try not to compete
with other companies because
comparison is kind of like the
thief of joy.
There are a lot of there are
a lot of people out there
that are offering variations
of what I offer either before
or after. And I think they're
all great. It's not a one
size fits all products.
Yeah, for sure. And and the
big thing is like, you know,
taste, right? Like everybody
has a different taste and you
bring it back to even just
the sport muffler versus the
can muffler, right? Like that's
just a very simple comparison.
But everybody has a different
taste, which which is great,
right? Like one guy would not
do anything besides the Nismo
exhaust, right? But another
guy is like, oh, no, dude, I'd
rather try out this American
stuff like we're in America.
These cars are in America now,
buddy. Like, you know what I
mean? So that is one good
thing about the culture is
like we're all into the same
car. But, you know, for the
most part, we all have our
individual taste, which allows,
you know, smaller companies
like you to thrive in a world
of HKS and Nismo and in, you
know, all of these other big
banner companies.
Yeah.
Yeah, that that that is cool.
And so do you get much
business from Texas itself
itself?
I, um, I get a decent
amount, namely because I work
hand in hand with a local company
called Art of Assembly, and we
end up kind of going
co-op on a lot of projects.
So a lot of my parts and or
custom fabrication will end up
on those cars. Other than that,
I kind of ship stuff all across
the world, which is a really
cool thing that is cool.
Your wife must be like, dude,
Abu Dhabi again.
Come on.
I will tell you, she does not
like shipping international.
We have had so much issues
with FedEx and shipping full
size oil pans.
It has been a nightmare.
But, you know, we've come up
with a really good method as
far as like packing and stuff.
But yeah, the shipping thing,
it can get overwhelming.
And that is another, you know,
kind of thing to point out
about small businesses, right?
Like, so it's you and with
some assistance from your wife.
But, you know, you're not
only creating being the
creative, you're and then
also being the fabricator,
but you're you're being,
you know, packaging and, you
know, all of these different
things that these other
companies have different
divisions for.
And it's like you guys, you
know, which, which is awesome
because that does feel the best
because if everybody was just
doing everything for you,
you know, you kind of become
disconnected from it.
But the fact that you guys
are so in it is just like,
I love that feeling in that
part of a business, you know,
like, yeah, it's on you guys.
So what what's one of your
parts that is your favorite
to make that's like most
satisfying, you know, whenever
you get done welding it up,
you're just like, I love that.
Which one of your when I get
to look at those,
when I get to look at those
downpipes and they're all
complete and like all of the
all the tension springs are
up on it and everything.
I love that product.
So I'm very, very proud of it.
Unfortunately, it's one of
those things where like there
is next to no profit margin
on it.
And I actually do terrible
making them and selling them.
That's more of just like a
passion thing for me.
I'm truly proud of it.
I think it's something cool and
unique.
It stands out on the market.
It flows more horsepower than
most of them.
It has great ground clearance.
I'm just really, really pleased
with how it turned out.
So what what is different
about your downpipes for the
people that don't know?
Sure, I'm the only one on the
market that they true twin
three inch inlet with a three
and a half inch outlet.
I've designed it so that it's
as close to equal link as
possible.
Companies like Mines I think
are just going to be a touch
closer to like a true equal
link.
But mine is as close as I could
possibly be with the space
space constraints given.
And because it's a three and a
half inch outlet, it bolts right
up into my three and a half
inch exhaust.
And the reason I built that was
kind of out of necessity.
Me and Roman at Art of Assembly
had a big R34 project going
through where he wanted to just
absolutely maximize whatever
he could get out of a stock
location T2 based twin turbo
setup.
So Chris from Spectrum kind
of punched out these these
old 25 30s, made them
flow a whole lot more.
And then out of necessity, we
had to come up with a real big
downpipe and a real big exhaust
to kind of flow and handle all
the power.
And so that was kind of how
the downpipe came to life.
And that was how the exhaust
came to life.
And yeah, basically it was just
a product of necessity.
So OK, I have a few questions
on that real quick since I
have the exhaust.
So OK, first of all,
if you take this exhaust
and you put it on a stock
turbo car.
OK, what what I mean?
We all know, right?
If it's too much flow, it'll be
a little laggy maybe.
I don't think you'll really come
up with that issue on on a stock
twin turbo car.
The biggest issue that you're
going to have trying to run
my exhaust on a car that
has like just light bolt-ons
or maybe you're just bolting
on to a factory car is the
fact that it's a three and a
half inch inlet and won't
physically bolt up to any other
downpipe on the market.
So it's in the exact same
location and it's clocked
the exact same way.
It even uses the same style
of mounts that goes to the
transmission.
I'm not sure if you've seen
yours yet, but I just made a
custom one that accommodates
the bigger tubing.
But it won't actually bolt up
to a factory downpipe
because nothing above three
inch is meant to work with
anything off the shelf.
And so that's why I made my
product the way I made it
because like I don't know
if you follow like Mark 4
super stuff very in depth
or anything, but like those
cars had aftermarket four inch
exhausts and stuff that
supported big horsepower and
like the biggest thing on the
market, I think for our chassis
that isn't like an older kind
of like ancient Japanese exhaust
from like a big tuning shop
like, I don't know, like a muse
I think had a three and a half
inch at one point, but it
wasn't there like commonly
sold models.
And so I kind of wanted to
fill that gap because much
like the Mark 4 Supra is like
the older, the older higher
horsepower cars we were used
to seeing in magazines, et cetera.
I thought that there was like a
gap there for our chassis.
And so
if you buy your downpipe and
your exhaust, those are both
three and a half inch.
Does that remove the
catalytic converter?
Yes, none of my products
support the catalytic converter
anymore. That makes sense.
I can make special, but
my stuff does not support it
anymore. No, yeah, makes sense.
That's cool. Yeah. So I
mean, wow.
Yeah, that'd be crazy.
We have three and a half inch
exhaust on, you know,
from the turbo back on a stock
turbo car.
That'll sound crazy with no cat.
That's that's sweet, man.
I'm excited to to get it on
and and check it out and wipe
it down with acetone before I
started up.
Stuart, before before we let
you get back to your evening,
what can we expect,
you know, in twenty twenty
six from Stuart Lees?
I think the biggest thing that's
coming up is going to be that
thirty four GTR that I was talking
about, that track project.
That's going to be one of the
cooler things that comes out of
my shop.
That's more of like a passion
project. I love the owner
that I'm working with.
I love his vision.
I love where he's going with it.
And I think you see the best
results when you really line up
with somebody who you want to do
like an in depth project like
that with. So I have
all of my bets on that car,
as far as that being the cooler
thing that comes out of my garage.
Other than that, a lot of my products
will kind of consistently stay the
same.
As always, I offer still like my
catch can, my cooling modifications
like I spoke about earlier.
I can do custom oil cooler stuff.
But yeah, basically, that's going
to be kind of what I lean into
really hard this year is our thirty
four, because that's the thing
that I would say I'm most excited
about.
Yeah, that's awesome.
And so do you have anything else?
OK, the last question
you have a thirty three, right?
And you have a thirty two.
You have both.
Which do you like better?
Oh, so OK,
if it's going to be GTR, for me,
it's always thirty three.
But I think thirty threes
on street slash highway duty
is like pinnacle GTR.
Like if I'm watching old
animes or whatever else, like the
thirty three and like when gain
trim is what I just absolutely
froth over.
But if you're on it, if you're
on a racetrack and you want that
real mechanical connected feeling,
you want to feel like you're on
like this batshit crazy drive
of your life.
Nothing will ever touch
a track prepped R thirty two.
Unfortunately, I had to cheat on mine
a little bit. Mine is a GTST.
That's just kind of wearing GTR
body panels.
But I still say that the R thirty
two is like the best driver
to foot connect or driver to car
connection out of all three of
them.
And then if it's talking about
like the the otter
variants, I have my thirty four
sedan.
And in my opinion, I know that a
lot of people will disagree with
me. I am a huge fan of the thirty
four sedans.
But that is it's it's one of my
lame or like more boring cars,
but it's one of my favorite just
because I think it's so cool.
Yeah, that's that big four door
guy over. Yeah, he's a big four
door guy.
So that his next thing
it has to be a thirty four four
door. So when you said that,
I'm like, hmm, you know, like
yeah, dude, see, this is a sign.
I have I've got a lot of influence
from that shop.
I they were a little less known
before, but now they're kind of
entering the scene a lot bigger.
But Occubo factory 34s
that come out of there are second
to none. They are insane.
They are like next level.
They look they look so good.
Yeah, I was so motivated by all
of their builds that before
everything got extremely like
Nissan heritage program and
discontinued. I got a full
R thirty four GTR front end from
Shea when he was up at the Pacific
Northwest spot.
And I still have that just sitting
waiting. But, you know, like I said
with my thirty two, none of my stuff
can really take priority now until
I'm really happy with where my
business is.
Yeah, yeah, which is good because
the the parts, the cars,
you know, they'll wait for you,
right? The business won't
wait for you.
Like the business literally will not.
So yeah, I mean, it's
necessity, right?
But shout out to you for
understanding that.
Thank you very much.
OK, so if our listeners
want one of these beautiful
titanium exhausts or a catch
can or some cooling pieces,
like tell us where to find you on
the Internet on on socials,
where can we find Stuart?
Absolutely.
So TF works is going to be the
best place to get any of my
cooling products. They carry all
of my catch cans, my ducting
kits, oil pan extensions, which
you can purchase with or without
templates. If you're interested in
the oil pan modifications direct,
you can contact me or I can get
you set up with with a list of
other fabricators across the
United States that are also very
capable of doing the job.
Titanium stuff is going to be built
to order. I don't pre pre build
any titanium.
So if you're interested in any
exhausts or downpipes or if you
want to talk about custom
projects, I also do titanium
intakes, titanium merge pipes,
et cetera.
The best way to contact me is
actually just to Instagram at
Stuart Leesk and then just
shoot me a message about your
product or what you're looking
for. I specialize in
Skylines, but it's not all that I
do. I kind of have a soft spot
for I guess you would say most
JDM cars.
And there's not a lot of products
that I'll say no to.
Damn. Okay. Yeah.
That's where it's at.
I mean, for sure.
Recommend this guy.
If you if you need anything,
just sitting here in real life
looking at this, if you need
anything, just ask this guy,
Hey, is this the one from
GTR festival?
That's the one.
Yep. Wow.
I have the GT.
Dude, come on.
You spoiled me, man.
No, we appreciate you coming on
for sure, Stuart.
It's it's good to hear from,
you know, hardworking guys that
are a part of our culture and
helping continue to push it
forward for sure.
Absolutely. I love to being
here. Thank you guys so much
for having me.
It was great chatting.
All right, man.
Have a good night.
You guys too.
You'll take care.
See you.
Yeah.
Dude, love hardworking American
dudes in our culture.
It's sweet.
Dude, you know what I see after
this after talking to Stuart
and I hope it's it's him
and you know, whatever.
But okay, dude, hear me out
and we've already seen it a
little bit, but I don't think
we've actually seen it.
Check it out.
So Japan, right?
Where the cars start.
Obviously the shops come out
the fabricators, the shops,
the things, they become big,
right?
Yeah.
Boom.
Now Australia can get them.
Those tuners, those shops,
they become big, right?
And now we're coming into the
part where Americans actually
have the cars in their hands.
Right.
We've had, you know, of course
32s for a long time for sure.
But now with the 34s coming
out and mainstream attention
coming to the culture more
and more money outside of just
us broke JDM dudes.
Yeah.
More wealth is coming into it.
Now our opportunity,
Americans opportunity to really
slate themselves as like the
skyline places.
And we're seeing it.
We're literally seeing it
on this podcast.
We're seeing them emerging
and like coming out.
Coming out with like new cool
stuff that like makes sense
for these cars, you know,
where no knocking on HKS
or anything, you know,
they're just still putting
out the silent high power exhaust
and, you know, the same stuff
they've been doing.
I mean, they've had a few new
things, but like they're
not innovating like somebody
like Stuart, who is so close to
it, right?
He's so close to the culture
for so long.
Yes, as well.
And they're disconnected.
Right.
And, you know, with these
American shops and builders
and everything, they're able
to like finally express
themselves with the cars
and, you know, making these parts
where, you know, what would
have happened if there was
no 25 year rule?
Like what would be seen from
America from like way back?
You know what I mean?
Like and would we play it out
or burnt out on it?
Kind of like Japan kind of is.
Maybe.
I mean, it's probably a good
thing because like there's
some technology and some things
that are around now that
weren't around back then
that we can utilize
to make it cool.
Whereas these other
countries are already
going to the next.
Yes, right.
Because that's what I'll show you
did to Japan.
That's what we'll do to them,
you know, and we'll take it
to that next level where,
yeah, for sure.
So, you know, I'm happy to hear
that Stuart's doing well
and he's too busy to work
on his cars, you know,
like that's a good thing,
right?
If he had time to work
on the cars, I mean,
he didn't have orders.
And if he doesn't have orders,
can't work on the car.
So, no, I'm happy to hear
he's busy and we definitely
appreciate him being on.
Hit him up if you need anything.
I'm pumped to get this exhaust
on the car.
I know that.
But for this episode,
oh, actually hit us up
at our HD GUIS.
Check out the description.
Find our Facebook group.
Join, say what's up.
But for this episode,
I am Bobby.
This is Aaron.
See ya.
Peace.
About this episode
Stewart Leask, a renowned fabricator known for his high-quality exhaust systems, joins the Right Hand Drive Guys to discuss his journey from a Nissan enthusiast to a successful business owner. The conversation dives into his early experiences with welding, the challenges of building competitive drift cars, and the importance of learning from mistakes. Listeners will appreciate Stewart's insights on titanium care, his passion for craftsmanship, and the evolution of his brand, Least Spec. The episode highlights the community aspect of automotive culture and the dedication required to excel in fabrication.
Original notes
In this episode of the Right Hand Drive Guys Podcast, we sit down with Stewart Leask from Texas — a master fabricator with a deep and varied background working on everything from high-level race cars to some of the rarest Nissan Skylines in existence.
Stewart is known for his exceptional titanium work, crafting one-off components and fully custom parts that blend performance, durability, and straight-up art. We talk about his journey through the motorsports world, how those experiences shaped his approach to fabrication, and why building parts from scratch — especially for Skylines — still matters in a world full of off-the-shelf solutions.
From race-proven engineering to meticulous TIG welds, this episode is all about craftsmanship, problem-solving, and pushing the Skyline platform forward with skill and intention.
🎙️ When perfection is built, not bought — this is fabrication at its highest level.
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