Probably the 9000th s-body build thread...
- Thread starter James D
- Start date
Koguchi power +50mm front wings, +70mm rear overfenders
James D
Member
If you want to do it bmw laguna seca blue I still have 2.5/3 litres left over I'll never use - it'll match my old skid cars wings etc you have there. That bumpers a genuine origin item too although I had to repair it once or twice :-0
loving your fab work - cars really Looking awesome btw - following your build
Good luck buddy!
Thanks dude, don't think i want it that colour if i'm honest. I have a mate that has been photoshopping some ideas for me in different colours - i've kind of settled on white with a gold pearl over the top, white only looks like this (he's lowered it and blacked off where the wheels would go for now:
Put the cage roughly into position so i can work out where needs reinforcing and where to put in spreader plates - also removed the carpet which is something i've been putting off as i didn't want to see what was underneath... turns out it actually isn't too bad, just a bit damp so the carpet has gone in the bin. Turns out my girlfriend finds it "therapeutic" to chip off the soundproofing for me so saves me having to do it!
Freddy manifold finally arrived so tried fitting it only to find out the clutch master cylinder was too long and wouldn't go in at the back. Found out an S14 CMC is shorter and now it fits like a glove
Also started finishing off the vents in the bonnet vent as the first one is a bit dodgy and needs finishing
Ooooh, Nissan fwends
James D
Member
Started on chipping away the soundproofing in the car, you'd be amazed at how much this stuff weighs, its mental.
Oh, and while fitting the bonnet catches i was... incredibly tired. spot the mistake:
Problem solved (luckily) and if you looked underneath you wouldn't even be able to tell!
Dropped the rear end out and i need to burn the bushes out ready for the solid ones!
Got started on lining up the bodykit... for those of you that don't know - use some skin pins to line it all up before you attach your rivets/screws. They're essentially temporary rivets that you wind into the hole and they fix in position until you undo them!
Oh, and while fitting the bonnet catches i was... incredibly tired. spot the mistake:
Problem solved (luckily) and if you looked underneath you wouldn't even be able to tell!
Dropped the rear end out and i need to burn the bushes out ready for the solid ones!
Got started on lining up the bodykit... for those of you that don't know - use some skin pins to line it all up before you attach your rivets/screws. They're essentially temporary rivets that you wind into the hole and they fix in position until you undo them!
James D
Member
So it's been a while so thought i'd update current progress...
Got some wheels... 18" et +12 9.5" front 10" rear Rota D2ex
Hope to look like this when fitted... if they do, i think that i may weep tears from three eyes
Started on the rear tubs for the overfenders - using a tool i made as an apprentice i scored a line way up high so i knew where to cut...
Also, sir Daze who runs the internet came over to say hi before we headed to Anglesey Matsuri for one heck of an amazing weekend!
Hudson braved it and drove all they way from portsmouth to anglesey and back... had half hour sleep before going back into work on monday morning - cracking effort lad (y)
And got my favourite image ever to date:
Erm, i also got a job at Valley Gas Speed Shop in Andover for a while, worked on some seriously cool stuff as well in the process
But yeah, back to Nissan - I got an OBP pedalbox with remote reservoirs and bias adjustment bar, just need to work out stuff behind the dashboard so i can topmount the box which currently looks slightly problematic... think i may have to use custom steering column braces to the firewall with rosejoints then that allows me to remove the steel brace that's on the chassis which sandwiches between the dash brace and the column
Removed the wiring loom... it's going to be a while longer yet before this thing runs it looks like!
The heater matrix was removed along with the blower - i've removed the heater core and will be running a CPU fan behind with a dash switch that will direct the air through the stock top part of the blowers directly onto the windscreen... more on that soon. Genius
Got some wheels... 18" et +12 9.5" front 10" rear Rota D2ex
Hope to look like this when fitted... if they do, i think that i may weep tears from three eyes
Started on the rear tubs for the overfenders - using a tool i made as an apprentice i scored a line way up high so i knew where to cut...
Also, sir Daze who runs the internet came over to say hi before we headed to Anglesey Matsuri for one heck of an amazing weekend!
Hudson braved it and drove all they way from portsmouth to anglesey and back... had half hour sleep before going back into work on monday morning - cracking effort lad (y)
And got my favourite image ever to date:
Erm, i also got a job at Valley Gas Speed Shop in Andover for a while, worked on some seriously cool stuff as well in the process
But yeah, back to Nissan - I got an OBP pedalbox with remote reservoirs and bias adjustment bar, just need to work out stuff behind the dashboard so i can topmount the box which currently looks slightly problematic... think i may have to use custom steering column braces to the firewall with rosejoints then that allows me to remove the steel brace that's on the chassis which sandwiches between the dash brace and the column
Removed the wiring loom... it's going to be a while longer yet before this thing runs it looks like!
The heater matrix was removed along with the blower - i've removed the heater core and will be running a CPU fan behind with a dash switch that will direct the air through the stock top part of the blowers directly onto the windscreen... more on that soon. Genius
James D
Member
Now to some more fabrication work...
This is how the engine looked a fair few years ago in the PS13 it came in:
The throttle bodies are from a Gti-R Pulsar and as far as myself and Stu (previous owner) are aware - they are the only set in the UK that are proven to actually work and they came on the car from Japan so trying to get another set to work from images and knowledge from stu from when he took them off or worked with them is proving very difficult considering they are currently in a storage unit somewhere in Essex - i have images of the top, but not the bottom... much head scratching is occuring, mostly regarding the idle control and balancing of the bodies themselves as it is a blow through system with turbo rather than N/A.
For now i have removed the Freddy manifold - only recently when talking to a friend i found out about the reasons freddy manifolds starve cylinder number 4 of air. Apparently there is a video floating around somewhere of a clear topped inlet manifold and it is clearly visible that due to the stroke of the engine it is drawing way more air through cylinder number three than four, so obvious is fact that cylinder number 4's injector is actually injecting fuel and it is seen being sucked back into the chamber and into cylinder number three, making four a lot hotter and meaning the fuel needs to be leaned out on three and richened on four. I'd rather that didn't happen to this engine so have decided to get myself a set of pulsar ITB's.
The reason for this is to hopefully stop the above problems - the only problems that i can see which need adjusting to make fit are of course the hole pattern is to fit a pulsar SR20 so they need re-drilling, the plenum needs rotating through 180 degrees so the inlet is facing the other way (Pulsars have them mounted accross like a FWD instead of long as they are AWD meaning the plenum faces the wrong way) aaaaaand the idle control needs to be mounted remotely... Some holes need capping off, and the fuel rail should fit - with some modification of course.
I got them from P555Ben on the sales section for £90 delivered including an adaptor plate of sorts... which as you'll see so far i have only used for hole location when redrilling the pulsar bodies. When laid on top you can clearly see that along the top row, the holes need slotting upwards and along the bottom they need redrilling completely - i would weld the holes up and redrill all of them properly however i'd rather prove that they actually work first on the car!
Once redrilled and slotted, looking down the bores you can clearly see that they line up perfectly with the head without having to port match or any other modifications which surprised me slightly given the amount of head work it has had done (although also makes sense as any machining would have probably been done inside the port, not on the flange face)
Above the adjuster screws i tapped all of the ports so i can screw in capping bolts to stop anyone coming along and tweaking them... plus it is also so i can mount a throttle cable bracket right near where it needs the most support.
Fuel rail before:
Fuel rail after:
I will be fitting an AN fitting either end so it is a crossflow feed through braided lines to the rear swirlpot setup (y)
And this is how they look at the moment! Tomorrow hopefully i should have use of a bandsaw to cut the ports and rotate round 180 then re-weld. The top half of the plenum also needs modifying to have a 3" pipe on the end which i'll just point directly to the intercooler and then should have pretty sweet pipework.
Had a rethink about the turbo setup while i was there as well so i bought a 44mm Tial wastegate:
This also means i'm selling the holset, cast manifold and ebay external gate as i hopefully should be ordering an AWP manifold with 44mm v band for the wastegate and then another V band on the top port for a v band housing GTX3076r with metal cage and .68 housing... ain't no messin' yo!
Think that's it for now...
Oh, and i found out i'm dyslexic the other day - who knew eh
This is how the engine looked a fair few years ago in the PS13 it came in:
The throttle bodies are from a Gti-R Pulsar and as far as myself and Stu (previous owner) are aware - they are the only set in the UK that are proven to actually work and they came on the car from Japan so trying to get another set to work from images and knowledge from stu from when he took them off or worked with them is proving very difficult considering they are currently in a storage unit somewhere in Essex - i have images of the top, but not the bottom... much head scratching is occuring, mostly regarding the idle control and balancing of the bodies themselves as it is a blow through system with turbo rather than N/A.
For now i have removed the Freddy manifold - only recently when talking to a friend i found out about the reasons freddy manifolds starve cylinder number 4 of air. Apparently there is a video floating around somewhere of a clear topped inlet manifold and it is clearly visible that due to the stroke of the engine it is drawing way more air through cylinder number three than four, so obvious is fact that cylinder number 4's injector is actually injecting fuel and it is seen being sucked back into the chamber and into cylinder number three, making four a lot hotter and meaning the fuel needs to be leaned out on three and richened on four. I'd rather that didn't happen to this engine so have decided to get myself a set of pulsar ITB's.
The reason for this is to hopefully stop the above problems - the only problems that i can see which need adjusting to make fit are of course the hole pattern is to fit a pulsar SR20 so they need re-drilling, the plenum needs rotating through 180 degrees so the inlet is facing the other way (Pulsars have them mounted accross like a FWD instead of long as they are AWD meaning the plenum faces the wrong way) aaaaaand the idle control needs to be mounted remotely... Some holes need capping off, and the fuel rail should fit - with some modification of course.
I got them from P555Ben on the sales section for £90 delivered including an adaptor plate of sorts... which as you'll see so far i have only used for hole location when redrilling the pulsar bodies. When laid on top you can clearly see that along the top row, the holes need slotting upwards and along the bottom they need redrilling completely - i would weld the holes up and redrill all of them properly however i'd rather prove that they actually work first on the car!
Once redrilled and slotted, looking down the bores you can clearly see that they line up perfectly with the head without having to port match or any other modifications which surprised me slightly given the amount of head work it has had done (although also makes sense as any machining would have probably been done inside the port, not on the flange face)
Above the adjuster screws i tapped all of the ports so i can screw in capping bolts to stop anyone coming along and tweaking them... plus it is also so i can mount a throttle cable bracket right near where it needs the most support.
Fuel rail before:
Fuel rail after:
I will be fitting an AN fitting either end so it is a crossflow feed through braided lines to the rear swirlpot setup (y)
And this is how they look at the moment! Tomorrow hopefully i should have use of a bandsaw to cut the ports and rotate round 180 then re-weld. The top half of the plenum also needs modifying to have a 3" pipe on the end which i'll just point directly to the intercooler and then should have pretty sweet pipework.
Had a rethink about the turbo setup while i was there as well so i bought a 44mm Tial wastegate:
This also means i'm selling the holset, cast manifold and ebay external gate as i hopefully should be ordering an AWP manifold with 44mm v band for the wastegate and then another V band on the top port for a v band housing GTX3076r with metal cage and .68 housing... ain't no messin' yo!
Think that's it for now...
Oh, and i found out i'm dyslexic the other day - who knew eh
James D
Member
Did some hacking about and cut the plenum down the middle using a bandsaw a nice bloke let me borrow:
I then went about and cleaned them up, removing fixing points i didn't think i'd need - could have probably removed a couple more but oh well! Also ground a 45 degree chamfer on the edges to help the welding...
Bit of pre heat to warm the cast up and hopefully help it tack. If i was being seriously anal about it, i would have baked it to get all the excess oil out of the cast ally - but my mum wouldn't have been best pleased so a blowtorch it was:
I then tacked it in position either end and offered it up to the car...
Thought all was good, then i looked at it from the side... uh... it sits a little high...
Good thing i have the bonnet vent as with the bonnet down, it just about clears:
Cut the tacks off, and cut the ports as much more of an angle, this shortens the run slightly and brings the plenum angle downwards so i was hoping it would come down enough to clear... which it did! Luckily...
Like i said earlier, i have excuses for the welding being poor - plus also it's cast ally and my fit-up wasn't the best if i'm honest. Once welded, i attacked the inside of each port with a dremel and made them as free flowing as i could. while i was there i also removed a slight casting mark that ran down the middle. I didn't want to polish them, wanted them to still be slightly rough so the air/fuel mixes together better (polish exhaust side so it allows the exhaust gas to leave better but leave inlet slightly rough)
I then took some silicone sealer and siliconed it flat onto my workbench
May sound weird, but there's method to my madness - i wanted to leak test them to see how crap my welding really was so once the silicone had set slightly i filled each chamber up one by one and checked to see if the welde were weeping water - one of them was fine first time, but cylinder 1 and 4 had one leak and 3 had two! one either side!
Glad i checked that after all... can kind of see the water sitting on the top of the flange here:
Once i knew where they were leaking, i then re-welded those areas, repeated the leak test and once happy i refitted them to the car to check the angle was still ok - which it was! I also cut the end off the top half of the plenum so i can weld a 3" bit of flared ally pipe to it and point straight at the intercooler to hopefully get as much air in as fast as possible to help throttle response
That's all for today, more to come soon i hope!
I then went about and cleaned them up, removing fixing points i didn't think i'd need - could have probably removed a couple more but oh well! Also ground a 45 degree chamfer on the edges to help the welding...
Bit of pre heat to warm the cast up and hopefully help it tack. If i was being seriously anal about it, i would have baked it to get all the excess oil out of the cast ally - but my mum wouldn't have been best pleased so a blowtorch it was:
I then tacked it in position either end and offered it up to the car...
Thought all was good, then i looked at it from the side... uh... it sits a little high...
Good thing i have the bonnet vent as with the bonnet down, it just about clears:
Cut the tacks off, and cut the ports as much more of an angle, this shortens the run slightly and brings the plenum angle downwards so i was hoping it would come down enough to clear... which it did! Luckily...
Like i said earlier, i have excuses for the welding being poor - plus also it's cast ally and my fit-up wasn't the best if i'm honest. Once welded, i attacked the inside of each port with a dremel and made them as free flowing as i could. while i was there i also removed a slight casting mark that ran down the middle. I didn't want to polish them, wanted them to still be slightly rough so the air/fuel mixes together better (polish exhaust side so it allows the exhaust gas to leave better but leave inlet slightly rough)
I then took some silicone sealer and siliconed it flat onto my workbench
May sound weird, but there's method to my madness - i wanted to leak test them to see how crap my welding really was so once the silicone had set slightly i filled each chamber up one by one and checked to see if the welde were weeping water - one of them was fine first time, but cylinder 1 and 4 had one leak and 3 had two! one either side!
Glad i checked that after all... can kind of see the water sitting on the top of the flange here:
Once i knew where they were leaking, i then re-welded those areas, repeated the leak test and once happy i refitted them to the car to check the angle was still ok - which it was! I also cut the end off the top half of the plenum so i can weld a 3" bit of flared ally pipe to it and point straight at the intercooler to hopefully get as much air in as fast as possible to help throttle response
That's all for today, more to come soon i hope!
James D
Member
I did my mech. engineering apprenticeship as a fitter/maintenance engineer and one day i just watched one of the welders as he worked for 10 mins, it turned into half hour the next day, an hour the next week etc until one day he asked if i wanted a go so checked with my boss who said it was fine - started on stick (Arc) then had a go at TIG so learnt TIG on mild steel and then gradually got to thinner and thinner stuff, until i could weld stuff thinner than the old bloke who taught me (like, razor blades for example) - i used to be a lot better back then when i had supervision haha, now i've just gone into loads of bad habits!
He never taught me how to weld ally though so all my ally welding is self taught - i actually find it easier to do, although that's probably because i have picked up so many bad habits it just makes it easier that way!
Same with MIG, MIG is all self taught but really once you understand the basic way welding works then you should be fine - puddle control, frequency, looking where you need to add more/less wire/heat etc
Put it this way, i can understand why the old set was sold for £600 as i'd probably charge that for this set if i sold them - there's a set on facebook that sold last night for £250 but they were different, had no idle control and instead of reverting the plenum, they had cut a stock manifold and attached it to the ITB's... here's a pic:
They also sit at a very low funny angle compared to mine...
Yeah that's what I figured. Just gonna buy a tig welder at some point and practice, that's how I learnt to mig. Although starting on 0.9mm body steel probably wasn't the best idea as it's fucking hard to get right hah! Luckily I've got a decent welder with a chart, so I just pick the metal thickness, wire and gas and away I go, no messing about with dials etc.
James D
Member
So it's been a while - just thought i'd drop a cheeky little plug here and i'll come and do a more detailed update later about what's been going on.
Finally got the arms i've been waiting for since october last year!
These are high quality, very well designed and look absolutely awesome - Kaizenforce (part of OPJP Imports) have had these arms in development for a long time now and have been tried and tested on the likes of Daze Coopers' old S14 and a few other more under the radar names. All of the bearings are sealed units and are of a very high quality so should remove any issues you have with your stock bushes!
Very happy with how they've arrived and they sure do look awesome, now just to fit them to the car!
Get yours from KaizenForce - OPJP Imports if interested - only waiting on kinked tension rods for the front and then i should be all sorted!
Finally got the arms i've been waiting for since october last year!
These are high quality, very well designed and look absolutely awesome - Kaizenforce (part of OPJP Imports) have had these arms in development for a long time now and have been tried and tested on the likes of Daze Coopers' old S14 and a few other more under the radar names. All of the bearings are sealed units and are of a very high quality so should remove any issues you have with your stock bushes!
Very happy with how they've arrived and they sure do look awesome, now just to fit them to the car!
Get yours from KaizenForce - OPJP Imports if interested - only waiting on kinked tension rods for the front and then i should be all sorted!
James D
Member
Long overdue update needed!
To be honest, still not much has happened, i know - i'm trying!
To start off with, i removed the BJ's and bushes from my S13 front LCA's. Cut + extended 30mm (basically an S14 arm extended 20mm) then plated on the bottom and also up around the rear of where the bush goes as i have seen a couple arms fail due to them not being strong enough at this area. Drilled out a few holes to reduce a bit of weight but also mainly to help when they get powdercoated as i'd like to ensure they are coated on the inside as much as possible to stop them rusting out from the inside! I also ground some material back on the side lip to allow for a bit more clearance
Also got a whiteboard for the garage, to try and keep on top of things so i know what else i still need to buy/do to keep me motivated. Split into things i need to buy, need to do, and also a list for powdercoating so i don't forget anything when i send it all off! (With the addition of being told to do more bits by a mate... thanks Robin)
Got some offcut ally kickplate from where i was working, cut it to size and added a 42* bend about 250mm from the top part. I then fitted it in the footwell and cut around the protruding parts - idea is to draw up the modifications on CAD and i can then have them cut + folded if anyone else wanted them! I'll be sticking some dynamat on the bottom of mine to reduce a little vibration... Got to have some comforts after all!
To be honest, still not much has happened, i know - i'm trying!
To start off with, i removed the BJ's and bushes from my S13 front LCA's. Cut + extended 30mm (basically an S14 arm extended 20mm) then plated on the bottom and also up around the rear of where the bush goes as i have seen a couple arms fail due to them not being strong enough at this area. Drilled out a few holes to reduce a bit of weight but also mainly to help when they get powdercoated as i'd like to ensure they are coated on the inside as much as possible to stop them rusting out from the inside! I also ground some material back on the side lip to allow for a bit more clearance
Also got a whiteboard for the garage, to try and keep on top of things so i know what else i still need to buy/do to keep me motivated. Split into things i need to buy, need to do, and also a list for powdercoating so i don't forget anything when i send it all off! (With the addition of being told to do more bits by a mate... thanks Robin)
Got some offcut ally kickplate from where i was working, cut it to size and added a 42* bend about 250mm from the top part. I then fitted it in the footwell and cut around the protruding parts - idea is to draw up the modifications on CAD and i can then have them cut + folded if anyone else wanted them! I'll be sticking some dynamat on the bottom of mine to reduce a little vibration... Got to have some comforts after all!