Sidewayzz S14 Build "The Revival"

[Sidewayzz]

Hey everyone, My name is Chris or some of you may know me as @Sidewayzz of Instagram. I've decided to make a build thread for my 2nd S14 Silvia. Before I begin I’ll explain what happened to the first one.

In March of last year I attended a track day, and during my 3rd or 4th outing the car suddenly 360 spun into the wall around the hair pin causing significant front and rear damage as you would expect hitting a concrete barrier. Luckily passenger and I were fine but the car was a bit worse for wear.



We towed it home and got straight into stripping it apart later that day to assess the damage. Taking off the bent panels one by one the car didn't look as bad but we later discovered that the chassis rail had bent front and rear.

My second worry was that my engine that I just had spent all this time and money on would be wrecked from the crash but everything seemed fine apart from a few bent Intercooler pipes.
I sourced a cheap Intercooler and piping off Trade Me and installed it to see if it still turned over. I checked all the fluids everything was ok so I turned it over thinking the worst, it started first pop and that was a big sigh of relief. I started getting a few quotes from local panel beaters but the price was way too much and sourcing a new shell and swapping everything over was the best option.

A very sad sight and it still hurts to this day but onwards and upwards right guys?

Months flew by of searching for a s14 facelift body and nothing, I was determined to get another S14 so I started gathering bits I needed for the re shell. 5 months later I saw a black s14 pop up for sale and organised to go view it the next day. I went to view it and it was everything I wanted, clean and un molested. The car was a SR20DE and auto but I wasn't too fussed as I had my SR20DET engine and manual setup out of the other car. A deal was made and I picked it up the next day.

I drove it home with a annoyingly loud fart cannon of an exhaust complete with edaboc stickers on the rear window. I got home and took off the stickers and removed the fart cannon exhaust and swapped it for the factory item the previous owner gave me.
I think the previous owner tried to tuck this exhaust against the subframe. Very weird..

I continued to drive it as is for around 5 weeks while saving money and planning what I was going to do with this new car. I started by contacting Alex from Moonlight Racing and ordered an Origin Lab Stylish Body kit and 20mm front fenders.

I moved the wrecked S14 to the yard to I could start to dis assemble it.

I started with the engine and gearbox

First I drained all the fluids and removed all intercooler piping and radiator. Next was to disconnect all the wiring and hoses connected to the engine etc..

Next it was time to strap the engine up and remove the engine mount bolts, support the gearbox with a jack and remove the gearbox cross member. Then we slowly started to lift the engine and gearbox out checking for anything connected to the engine. Everything was free and out it came

The next day I took off the bell housing bolts to remove gearbox as I was selling it because I'll be upgrading, and to check out the condition of the flywheel and clutch.
This is what the clutch looks like. Pretty toast right? I'll be replacing this with a new item but am un decided on what one at the moment.

Next to come out was the dash, centre console, door trims, centre climate control, steering wheel, quick release, ecu etc.. Everything inside came out so I could swap it all over

Onto the subframe next, the driveshaft was already removed so it was simply removing calipers and tie them out of the way, undo the lower coilover bolt, remove handbrake cable brackets, support the subframe with the jack and undo the bolts holding the subframe and slowly lowering it down with the jack.

Next was removing the whole front crossmember including brakes/ rotors/ suspension

I scavenged a few more things from it and at this stage it was a stripped shell sitting on stands.

 

[Sidewayzz]

I picked up a GK Tech fan and NRG air diversion panel. A skid plate was also bought to protect the sump






At this time it was around mid October and I took a break and went along to World Time Attack in Sydney. While there i managed to pick up some GK Tech braided brake lines and an hks oil filler cap.





1 week later it was time to head back to Auckland and get started on the tear down of S14 v2. It was time for s14v2 to join s14v1 in the shed.





I drove it in thinking about when I could drive it next cause I know it was a long road ahead. It was the last time it would ever be driven NA/ and 4 stud and that got me excited.

Just like S14v1 I started with the engine.





There was a lot more room that the SR20DET and working around it was a breeze. I started by draining all the fluids. Next it was time to remove all the intake side and radiator.




I disconnected all the wiring and hoses attached to the engine and strapped up the engine for removal.




The auto gear stick inside had to come out in order for the box to come out.





I supported the auto box with a jack and removed the crossmember. After removing the engine mount bolts the SR20DE was ready to come out. Slowly bringing it up we checked for any wires/ hoses still attached to the engine, it all was free so out it came.








Next up was the R180 subframes turn to come out. I won’t go into much detail for this as it was exactly the same procedure as the r200 subframe out of s14v1.





The Interior of s14v2 was pretty average, the dash was cracked in 2 places and the centre console/ gearbox surround was painted very poorly.








This was no problem for me as I had all the mint stuff out of s14v1 to swap over. I started by removing both side door cards, centre console, climate control and stereo etc.. Next was removing the dash cluster then undoing all the bolts holding the dash in place. I also removed all the rear seats and rear ¼ trims as they were not needed anymore.











The front crossmember was unboleted and removed as one including all hubs/rotors/ and coilovers still attatched.
At this stage this is how it sat with everything removed




For this build I wanted to give the interior more attention. I started by removing the sound deadening as I wanted a cleaner look and it also saves a bit of weight too. Last time I did sound deadening was last year at Tech and that was the good old hammer and chisel way. This time I opted for the more time efficient way by using dry ice. I went down to BOC and got 7kg of dry ice for around $40.





I prepared the car by removing any wiring around where the dry ice was going to be laid and gave it a quick clean.





I got my little spade out and started putting the dry ice over the sound deadening. Around 3 or 4 minutes later you'll hear a crackling sound and you'll know its working. I let it sit and crackle on for around 10m.





I removed the dry ice and stared to pry it with a flat head and the whole bit lifted up as one piece.





The rear seat floor deadning came out nice and simple as one whole piece while the rest of the car needed chisel and hammering to get it off.

 

[Sidewayzz]

Working underneath the car all the time got me really got me annoyed at how untidy and dirty the underside of the car was.














I really had to give it a good freshen up so decided to underseal the entire underbody of the car. Having everything already removed made this easier and I could give it a nice even coat throughout the entire under body.

I started by cleaning the underbody thoroughly with wax and grease remover to have a nice clean surface to spray. After all the clean-up I started spraying the underseal and it instantly started looking better. I used around 6 cans and that gave a nice even coat throughout.














Since the underbody was getting a freshen up I thought the subframe could do with some work too. I removed the diff, sway bar and all the suspension arms and was left with a bare subframe.

The old OEM bushes were pretty toast so they had to go. Usually people burn them out but you have to cut the sleeve anyway so I used an air body saw. When you're cutting out the bush make sure you cut against the most reinforced part of the subframe, make sure you don't cunt into it but it's ok to scratch it.




After you have cut the sleeve get a flat head screw driver and tap it out. They should look like this when you remove them.







I de greased the subframe and sent it away to Pro Coat for powder coat.



I went for a lucent ruby colour, this is a silver with a ruby over the top. Cheers to Pro Coat for the awesome job.




Last year I was browsing for a new set of wheels on yahoo japan and came across some really nice Work Meister S1R for sale that i had to have.





I contacted Alex from Moonlight Racing and he got bidding and a few hours later I was the owner of genuine Work Wheels. They were packed in the half yearly containers coming into NZ and arrived around 5 months later in May 2014. A very long wait but we'll worth it.





Since the car has no rear subframe at the moment I just test fit them on the jack to see how you would look. What do you guys reckon?? I can't wait till it's sitting on these

 

[Sidewayzz]

The old suspension setup in s14v1 consisted of BC Gold coilovers and a range of unknown branded suspension arms including camber, toe and front caster. These were all sold excluding the toe arms as they bent in the crash.


New parts were bought from the Parts Shop Max catalog and this included Pro Coilovers, Knuckles, lower control arm/ tension rod combo, rear camber, toe arms, traction arms and rear lower control arms.








S14v1 was running a locked diff for 3 years with no problems at all, I knew that one day it would give up or it would break an axel so it was time for an upgrade. I went for a complete r32 gtr rear end setup including the r32 diff, 6x1 axles, hubs as the splines are bigger, hub carriers and handbrake lines.





The engine bay was going to get a fresh lick of paint so everything was removed





Since the car was just a shell sitting on stands I had to get it rolling again to send it to the paint shop.


All new Parts Shop Max arms were installed and the subframe was now ready to go back in. I chose to use the locked diff out of v1 to get it rolling as I wanted to get the gtr diff powder coated before putting it in.







Excuse the camber arms bring installed the wrong way, I later came to realise that they were wrong when the coilover started hitting them so they were removed and installed correctly.



The car was equipped with a half cage





Next up was the fronts turn to get rolling again. I started by bolting the front crossmember in place and installing the new Parts Shop Max arms and coilovers.





With the new steering setup the factory tie rods were not going cut it so new Parts Shop Max tie rods and GK tech tie rod ends were ordered.



You can see here the difference between the factory one and the new one.



My D-Max carbon bonnet arrived just in time. Thanks to Alex at Moonlight Racing.

 

[Mr. Booze]

Looks like a serious build. Nice parts - I love the Meisters! How much power are you getting out of that DET engine?

 

[200sx_]

Cracking start dude, shame about the incident but all of us make a mistake

I love my PBM Pro Coilovers, they're too shiny to use haha Hopefully all being well, I'll be able to get the PBM front knuckle and LCA setup like you in the near future, just the quality of the PBM gear speaks for itself.

 

[Sidewayzz]

Looks like a serious build. Nice parts - I love the Meisters! How much power are you getting out of that DET engine?

Thank you! The SR20DET is making 277kw/ 371hp on 1.5 bar/ 21psi backed by a Garrett GT2871r, Kelford Cams, 555cc injectors etc..

 

[Sidewayzz]

Cracking start dude, shame about the incident but all of us make a mistake

I love my PBM Pro Coilovers, they're too shiny to use haha Hopefully all being well, I'll be able to get the PBM front knuckle and LCA setup like you in the near future, just the quality of the PBM gear speaks for itself.

Thanks man! Yeah a shame indeed but you gotta rebuild and get back out there Yeah bling bling shiny haha, Go for it! You wont regret it

 

[Sidewayzz]

Finally after around 6 weeks in the shed the S14 was finally down on all four again.








Next day was time for s14v2 to go for a trip to GT Refinishers for Grant and the team to work their magic





The car finally made it and it was time for the fun bit, of choosing what colour to paint it the engine bay and roll cage. After a few moments discussing with Grant we were set on a colour.


The car has been there for the last few weeks and I should be getting it back any day now, (4 more days till the 4 and Rotary Nationals setup) When the car gets back I will update you all. Here's a little teaser

 

[Dem_Skids_Tho]

Goddamn I love this build

 

[Sidewayzz]

Got the car back from GT Refinishers last Thursday, here's how it turned out

The engine bay and roll cage received a fresh coat of House of Kolor candy apple red with a silver flake, while the interior got a fresh lick of saturn black. There is actually a lot of flake in the red, these photos don’t do it justice you really need to see it in person. I’ll get some more pictures up when its outside





[URL=http://s1260.photobucket.com/user/KLRS14/media/10967742_10204817892665406_1215323516_n_zpszzewglku.jpg.html]

[/URL]









Fitment of the kit and bonnet went well, only thing was the fenders were a little off so we decided to go with custom OEM single vent front fenders.

With only 1 day left till the 4 and Rotary Nationals I got the car home and started getting it ready, I knew the engine wouldn't make it in as I am planning a few upgrades but a few exterior and interior bits had to go on to make it semi presentable at the show





With the last things on it was all ready for the show.

Here's the bit you all are probably waiting for. What does it look like? Here you go haha







We made it to the 4 and Rotary Nationals! Had some really positive feedback from people which was great











Next up is Engine, Gearbox and wiring. I'll keep you all updated as progress happens

 

[jonny mac]

ha awesome dude I'm jonny_s14 on instigram with the silver 1jz s14 kouki, we are following each other

the s14v2 is coming on well!! I remember seeing your pic after you crashed the first shell

new car is looking really good!!! the dmax bonnet is awesome

 

[jimmy crowley]

This is awesomeness . Something I love aboutva prepared chassis less running gear

 

[xlewisc]

Very nice!!!!

 

[sparky_s13]

Jesus Christ that's incredible, even with no engine lol

PBM stuff is a work of art and compliments the car lovely

 

[Sidewayzz]

ha awesome dude I'm jonny_s14 on instigram with the silver 1jz s14 kouki, we are following each other

the s14v2 is coming on well!! I remember seeing your pic after you crashed the first shell

new car is looking really good!!! the dmax bonnet is awesome

Ahh Jonny hows it going man? Always look forward to updates on your build on IG

 

[Sidewayzz]

This is awesomeness . Something I love aboutva prepared chassis less running gear

Very nice!!!!

This is awesomeness . Something I love aboutva prepared chassis less running gear

Thanks guys!

 

[chrisyboi]

Wow, this is awesome!!! Top job so far dude!!!

 

[Sidewayzz]

Pushed this thing outside the other day to give it a wash and take a few pics while I was at it

 

[Sidewayzz]

Last few weeks have consisted of work, more work and working on the car, here's how it's progressed since the last update


With the exterior all done and the car not needing any more out sourced work done at the moment it was time to put the S14 back on stands again.






First the rear subframe came out, the diff needed to be changed to the new R32 GTR setup. With everything all nice and tidy underneath the car the diff needed a good tidy up.






I started by stripping the whole diff completely of the internals and got it sent out to my trusty paint shop, GT Refinishers. I couldn't get any pictures of the process as my phone died.






A couple of days later it was ready to pick up, I chose a gun metal diff body, half shafts, shields and a silver backing plate which was taken from the old locked diff.















I got onto assembling it back and here's what it looks like in one piece.






Next up it was time to fill it up with some fresh Motul oil and install the solid parts shop max diff bushes.









The problem with running the R32 GTR 6 bolt axles was that the splines are quite larger than the factory ones as you can see below so you need to run R32 GTR hubs as well.





Axles new vs old.












I am waiting for my new rear drop knuckles to arrive before putting the new axles and hubs on, these should be here within the next few weeks, and then the rear end will be complete and ready to go back in the hole for the last time.


Next up, Power Brace!


The front caster arms are prone to bending on a lowered car especially when loading and unloading cars off a trailer.









One thing I wanted to do was get gusset and brace them. The underside of the caster arm brackets received a dimple die gusset and it was also power braced, this would ensure the caster arms wouldn't bend and provide some frontal rigidity too.















After it was completed it got a fresh coat of gloss black to keep it nice tidy