LuckyX2's S13 SR Build

[LuckyX2]

Most useful posts in the thread:
PART 2 OF THE INITIAL POST (#/f/chat/437864-luckyx2s-s13-sr-build.html#post4544189)
NEW SHELL MEGA-UPDATE W/ ENGINE BUILD (#/f/showthread.php?t=437864&page=4)
VE FUEL MAPS TPS/MAP (#/f/showpost.php?p=5213277&postcount=151)
TUNING A LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL (#/f/showpost.php?p=5652035&postcount=200)
TWIN SCROLL EFR7163 ARRIVAL (#/f/showpost.php?p=5692192&postcount=201)

Build Summary:

Drivetrain:
SR20DET redtop
GT2871r .64
10.5:1 ceramic coated JE pistons with moly skirts
Manley rods
Clevite rod and main bearings
Micropolished crank
Hand ported head
Jim Wolf S3 260 degree cams with JW cam gears
Solid lifters
Supertech dual springs
Supertech titanium retainers
Supertech valve guides and seals
Cometic MLS headgasket
Greddy RAS
Injector Dynamics ID1000's
Walbro E85 400LPH fuel pump
Tomei FPR
Greddy FMIC
Greddy Type RS BOV
LS2 truck ignition coils
3" exhaust
Lowered poly engine mounts
Act 6-puck sprung clutch
Nismo GT new style 20 clutch LSD
All tuned by myself on a Haltech Platinum Sport 1000

Suspension:
Ohlins PCV 450F/350R
Full Geomaster 2 setup
Adjustable RUCAs, RLCAs, FLCAs, tie rods, tension rods and toe rods
Aluminum steering bushing
Tanabe Sustec front sway bar
Removed rear sway bar (possibly Whiteline on the softest setting in the future or stock)
Defsport Wilwood 12.2" 4-piston front brake kit with E compound pads
Altima rear rotors and Hawk HPS+ pads
1" Z32 master cylinder
SS brake lines
SPL solid subframe bushings
5 lug Ichiba front hubs with OEM bearings
5 lug Z32 TT 31 spline rear hubs
Q45/R32/Z32 TT 6x1 bolt 31 spline rear axles
03 Mustang Cobra replica wheels 17x9 +25 all around
255/40/17 BFG Rivals

Other:
Cobra Suzuka
Suede Nardi Deep Corn
Nismo leather shift knob
Generic short shifter
Prosport Oil, boost, AFR gauges
LC-1 Wideband
Haltech electronic boost solenoid
JDM cluster with converted 180MPH speedo and 9k tach
Battery relocation w/ Deka lightweight Battery

Future Plans:
GTi-R ITBs (Bought, just waiting to install)
2nd gen mixed flow twin scroll EFR 7163 (ORDERED!)
VE head if I get a good deal and feel motivated
Z32 trans since I'll probably break my stock one at some point
Get it back on the dyno to tune it again once the engine is "finalized"
Redo my IC piping for a shorter path
Partial cage
275mm+ Hoosiers
Cosmetic stuff (Finish the Kouki conversion, paint, etc.)
Dominate the SCCA Street Mod class? :D

Hello everyone!
I thought I'd put together a build thread finally since I'm getting towards the end of college and starting to have enough money to fix it up right. Also, it will help keep me motivated to do good work knowing that the vigilant eyes of Zilvia are watching.

My goals for this car are to have a responsive 350-400whp, make it light and make it very well handling. Basically I would like an all around fun "driver's car" that will be at home on the track/strip but still see significant street time.

I've been around the 240 scene since summer 09 when I graduated high school and picked one up to go along side my DD, a Volvo S70
http://i42.tinypic.com/vfcf2b.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/nd3q4k.jpg

So here's the 240 coming off the tow truck
http://i42.tinypic.com/1fgsb6.jpg

Here's the reason why I needed to tow it. It came like this...
http://i41.tinypic.com/vxntas.jpg

A valve popped loose, and the previous owner got fed up mid repair so he sold it to me for $3500. What I got for that price was the car (obviously), an SR20DET with an S15 turbo, Koyorad radiator, Greddy FMIC, Greddy Type-RS BOV, Greddy turbo timer, an incomplete "Freddy" manifold full 3" exhaust, ACT 6 puck clutch, ISIS short shifter, Nismo slave cylinder, z32 VLSD with 4.6 final, Megan coilovers, Q45 Brakes, z32 maf, 550cc injectors, a "tuned" SAFC II and an extra set of cheap-o wheels that I sold for like $300. Pretty sweet for $3500...

The interior was nice and clean too :)
http://i43.tinypic.com/30hngok.jpg

I tore out everything in the rear though, who needs that?
http://i39.tinypic.com/21ox5k9.jpg

I decided I wanted more power than an sr could provide so I bought this baby and its 1.6L of Honda fury!
http://i39.tinypic.com/bj6368.jpg

Actually... that was for my girlfriend's civic whose piston blew through the side of the block. So yeah, I just got to work putting the head back together with some new goodies. I figured while it was all apart I should port it a bit, solid lifters, Supertech dual springs/retainers, new guides, new seals, new valves, Greddy RAS, Tomei Poncams; ya know, do it right. Here are the cams, lifters and adjustable gears which I later exchanged for Jim Wolf gears which do not have sliders that can break free and ruin valves.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2py9jdu.jpg

Here you can see how I ground down the slight lip under the valve seat which reduced the area of the opening for the valve.
http://i39.tinypic.com/65uyj9.jpg

Here you can see how I ground down the casting marks.
http://i40.tinypic.com/2ez4or5.jpg

And here you can see how I just generally smoothed things out and brought the divider in the middle of each runner to more of a point.
http://i39.tinypic.com/13yxjs.jpg

Finally, it was time to assemble it all which was very tricky since I wasn't the one who took it apart. I could now do it blindfolded though, considering how many times I have had to take this thing apart...
http://i39.tinypic.com/5vy993.jpg

All done!
http://i39.tinypic.com/33cvknc.jpg

I took it out for a quick drive with my dad but it turns out we forgot to tighten the three downpipe bolts and it worked it's way loose about a mile down the road next to a corn field.
http://i44.tinypic.com/15f5zs.jpg

Rather than accept fate and call a tow truck I got inventive and shoved a corn cob above my muffler. Pressing the muffler down brought the downpipe up because of the exhaust hanger in the middle. Think "see-saw"
http://i44.tinypic.com/309ox0y.jpg

And here's some rust in the footwell I found shortly after. I have a growing rust problem that I have yet to properly take care of but I'm about to buy an angle grinder and mig welder so it's all getting cut out, welded over and painted soon.
http://i40.tinypic.com/qs742e.jpg


Next on my list was some under-dash wiring for some new gauges including oil pressure, boost, wideband and a failed attempt to install a little 52mm tach since the sohc tach in mine doesn't work with the SR. Also notice my new leather nismo shift knob to replace the pos Autozone one that came with the car and most importantly the Haltech Platinum Sport 1000 ECU that I would be tuning myself.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2644bp0.jpg

Got a new tubular manifold, Nismo FPR and z32 BMC too
http://i43.tinypic.com/xkzyir.jpg

I also decided now that I had the Haltech, that I'd run LS2 truck coils because they're awesome and I can :)
http://i44.tinypic.com/349dlif.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/34ysea0.jpg

I tuned this all myself on a side street for a few days off and on and then on a dyno for an hour. AFR's were pretty much rock solid under boost and I managed 293whp/299tq on a hot (94F) day. Pretty good for an s15 turbo so I was proud of my tuning job. Plus I could tell my little bit of porting work helped too since my s15 turbo could barely flow enough to hold 14psi. My engine was really sucking in some air and the turbo couldn't keep up.
http://i40.tinypic.com/111qy3o.jpg

Well that's enough writing for now. The story of my numerous valve issues, suspension goodies and a gt2871/S3 cams/Freddy manifold upgrade are coming up next :)

[future]

Nice job on the numbers! Idk abiut buying it for 3500 though. Sounds like alot for a car missing the head

[LuckyX2]

Thanks! :D I haven't yet dyno tuned my gt2871 so I'm excited to see what I can do with that.
Not like I'd be able to dyno it anyway with my crappy all-season tires I have for it now. It was spinning them so badly back when I dynoed the s15 that my first few pulls before the tires warmed up were coming out as under 150whp lol.
I'm not sure if I ever got the wheelspin under control actually. See two plots on there? The blue one was in 3rd gear and I suspected it was spinning the tires so I went for a more gradual 4th gear pull and put down another 20whp/20tq (red) over 3rd. Nice, grippy tires on some good wheels are next on my to-do list then I'm gonna hit the dyno once more.

Just to clarify, it came with the head but one rocker and valve was busted. So it was a complete engine, ready to run after reassembly.
And I just added to the description almost $2k of stuff that I forgot came with the car when I was writing it like Megan coilovers, Nismo slave cylinder, ACT 6 puck and an extra set of cheap wheels.

[2stepGoesPowPow]

nice, you're basically at your limit now since the s15 T28 maxes out at 300hp?, also 3500 is a little much, i paid 3700 for my 91 SE hatch sr swapped & i don't know much about LS2 coils how hard is it to swap stock coils for LS2? and were talking LS2 as in the V8 motor rite? And that is the nismo Type B fuel press rite?

[LuckyX2]

Yeah, I was being limited by the turbo pretty severely (could barely hold 14psi) but that's since been remedied with a gt2871. I'm actually a decent bit further along with the car than I've written so far. I'll update it soon.

And really? It came with like 10k of stuff... The guy had the receipts to prove it too. Yea, iirc that's the type b that I have.
As for the coils, if you can solder than you can install the coils. You basically just need to cut the igniter chip out and solder the wires that were going into the igniter chip to the corresponding wires on the coils.
You're going need your ECU retuned accordingly then too since the dwell time on these is different. (5ms I believe) For me with the Haltech however, it was as simple as clicking the dwell time box, typing in 5 and saving it.

Yes, these are the GM V8 coils. More specifically they are the truck variant found on Hummers/Yukons/Denalis and are more capable. You can tell the difference between the two by the presence of a heatsink; the truck ones have one and the regular ones do not.

Here's some really good info on the coils and is what I followed to install them. This and the FSM to figure out the igniter chip wires should be all you need.
Megasquirt Sequencer Coils (http://www.megamanual.com/seq/coils.htm)

[2stepGoesPowPow]

Thanks for all the info, I'm actually ordering my 2871 rite now :)

[Hoffman5982]

How was an s15 T28 barely able to hold 14psi? There are hundreds of people with that turbo running 18psi no problem

[LuckyX2]

No prob, good luck.

And as great as the gt2871 is for SR's you may want to save up a little bit more and wait a bit to see how the gtx2867 does. That should put out more power and spool faster too but nobody has proven this on a dyno yet as far as I know.

I know I'll be considering selling my gt2871 and getting a gtx2867 once there are some user reviews and I've taken care of other things on my car first.

Hoffman5982:
I know I wrote a lot so it's easy to miss but I hypothesized this came down to my porting. Suppose my porting was good, that means my engine was flowing more air and thus the turbo would have to flow more to maintain the same pressure vs a stock head. Also I had solid lifters shimmed very tight and poncams; that combination brings about a lot of lift which means more flow and yet again, makes it harder for the turbo to keep up.

The reason I suspect you have not seen other people run into this problem is because these modifications are generally reserved for higher power setups. I mean, how many people have you seen go through the trouble of solid lifters and porting just for a small s15 turbo? That's usually reserved for setups with big turbos that have the capability to flow more and thus it goes unnoticed.

Then again it could have just been my wastegate blowing open lol. But I highly doubt that since the shop I was dynoing at happened to have an adjustable preload wastegate off of a gt2871 that I swapped over. I put that one on, tightened it up for a lot of preload pressure and it still had the same problem keeping up. So I'm gonna put my money on it being caused by increased head-flow

[Tommy]

I like what you did with the corn. Did you notice a popcorn trail in your rear mirror driving back home? haha nice build btw

[va240dude]

Looks good man. I like it when people who know what they're doing take another person's mistake and turn it around! Will definitely stay tuned for more of the progress!

[LuckyX2]

Nope but I kept the cob so it's all dried out now and ready for popping...

And thanks, I'm glad to be getting some watchers. I think I have some good things planned :cool:

[HPKMotorsports3]

So how much power are you planning in getting with that 1.6L lol... Nice work on the head...

[LuckyX2]

Oh you know, I rigged up a special mani, gonna be running 4 gt30's on it, one for each exhaust port. Figured I'll be at 40psi by 3000rpm and making 2000hp or so at 15000rpm...

Thank you, it was quite tedious with a dremel and damn did my hand hurt afterwards but I think it was worth it.

And another thought on why I was only holding 14psi... It was pretty hot out and thus the air is less dense, less dense air means my turbo would be sucking in less air molecules per some time duration compared to colder weather over the same time duration and less molecules being forced into my engine means less pressure. I almost wish I still had the s15 setup just to see what I could have done with it on a cold day and tires that would grip the rollers better.

[josh_schul]

Nice save on someone elses old project man. Plans look solid and that head port looks well executed for a mild port.

Sub'd

[S14Serge]

Cool idea on the ls coils

[HPKMotorsports3]

Oh you know, I rigged up a special mani, gonna be running 4 gt30's on it, one for each exhaust port. Figured I'll be at 40psi by 3000rpm and making 2000hp or so at 15000rpm...

Thank you, it was quite tedious with a dremel and damn did my hand hurt afterwards but I think it was worth it.



lol i know what you mean i used a wiz wheel fitted with scotch brite pads to sand my rims and holy shit i could barely grip my steering wheel when driving home from work... but it was worth it lol

[LuckyX2]

lol i know what you mean i used a wiz wheel fitted with scotch brite pads to sand my rims and holy shit i could barely grip my steering wheel when driving home from work... but it was worth it lol

Yeah, that's rough too. Another hard one was cutting off bumper supports on my friend's AE86 with a cheap saws-all. My arms were jello that night haha.

Cool idea on the ls coils

Thanks, not quite my idea but I guess I am one of the few people who have done it.


Nice save on someone elses old project man. Plans look solid and that head port looks well executed for a mild port.

Sub'd

Cool, thanks for the kind words

[LuckyX2]

Alright so here goes part two of my initial post... I'll try and fit everything in here up until the point the car is today.

So first off. I had some bad machine work done when the engine was going together originally :picardfp: I was going to shim everything myself but at the recommendation of my dad I went with a machine shop. Turns out they wasted practically my whole summer that year on my head and then charged some ridiculous price for their work. This is what happened shortly after their work and not due to any fault of mine, I was simply highway cruising at 3000-3500rpm
http://i42.tinypic.com/xcnnkh.jpg


So I did what any car enthusiast would do and took things breaking as an opportunity to upgrade! Here you can see me test fitting my Jim Wolf S3 cams
http://i44.tinypic.com/35krfpe.jpg

And also, since I was disappointed with my little s15 turbo and its ability to hold a good pressure; I sold my s15 turbo, picked up a gt2871 used along with some shiny new lines and turned the fuel pressure up on my 550's, making them essentially 640's.
http://i44.tinypic.com/15rle0w.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/s43mhh.jpg

This time I built and shimmed it myself... So much engine bay room!
http://i43.tinypic.com/f0t1cj.jpg

Everything was good with that setup for a while but I figured I'd try and put on the Freddy manifold I've had lying around since I bought the car. While it was all out I decided to wrap the exhaust manifold too. Oh and don't worry, shortly after I got rid of my valve cover "breather" and rigged it up better with a catch can and suction from the intake.
http://i41.tinypic.com/nayzd.jpg
The most annoying part of getting this on was cutting the intercooler piping. Oh and the IACV coolant lines didn't line up right so I wound up just plugging them. The car idles rough in the cold now but whatever, race cars don't need to idle well :p I'll probably fix that later down the road but it's not really a big concern.

So yeah, that basically brings me to how the engine is now. This but with the breather fixed like I had said. Oil dripping on a hot exhaust is a no-no...
http://i39.tinypic.com/o6y5wx.jpg

Woo-hoo, engine's built! Now let's get to suspension!
http://i43.tinypic.com/2s81wnc.jpg
Ooooh, shiny :eek3: The RUCAs wound up not fitting though. They're supposed to be the dual s13/s14 style but there was a mix up somewhere along the line

Here's the s13 style ones I replaced them with and you can clearly see the difference in clearance for the coilover.
http://i52.tinypic.com/2s0llk4.jpg

Got some Tanabe sway bars for both front and rear along with some new endlinks. One of the stock endlinks in the rear was literally snapped and the rear bar was doing nothing :hs:

Here you can see the front sway and tension rod. I don't have a picture of the rear though since I didn't get the RUCA's on that day due to the s13/s14 mixup.
http://i39.tinypic.com/8vw8rq.jpg

A little later on I was having some trouble with blowing fuses and my taillights and I found this to be the culprit which I promptly fixed.
http://i44.tinypic.com/ogl9bk.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/10z09yv.jpg
Ew, go away rust! :rant: can't wait to get my grinder and a mig...

So that's pretty much where I am today. Here's a more recent interior picture with my gauges and a bubble knob I won in a contest lol, I was feeling festive... Merry Christmas from my 240!
http://i44.tinypic.com/ubvpl.jpg
Don't worry though, I still primarily use my nice, leather Nismo knob :)

And finally, a little sneak peak into the future... I just bought these bad boys! Along with z32 uprights for the rear.
http://i44.tinypic.com/oh47sk.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/154ytli.jpg

I am SUPER excited to replace the Megans that came with my car with a real, track-ready setup like this. Here are the details:

"Front:
veilside180sx front s13 housings
Koni 8611-1257 Race shocks (Double adjustable)
Hypercoil 8"x 2.5 x450lb springs
T3 Camber plates
T3 Camber plate upper hat system (Camber Plate Upper Hat System consists of 2 upper hats, 2 hardened washers, 2 needle bearings and two upper race washers.)
GC hardware
Coil over thrust bearings (bearing under springs)

Rear:
veilside180sx rear s13 housings
Koni 8611-1257 Race shocks (Double adjustable)
Hypercoil 8"x 2.5 x350lb springs
Tein upper mount
GC hardware
Coil over thrust bearings (bearing under springs)"


Only problem here though is that I'm waiting to put all my new suspension/brake parts on at once. No point in putting these coilovers on while I'm still running 195 all-season tires on steelies, ya know? I just got a new job so my first paycheck there is like a month out but when I get that I'll be putting the finishing touches on the suspension. I'm looking at z32/wilwood/350/Evo brakes (not sure which I'll go with yet and it largely depends upon what's for sale at the time), 5 lug conversion, some nice 17x9.5 wheels all around (rpf-1s maybe?) with 245/40/17 tires, a healthy amount of pull on the fenders and a touch of camber.

So yeah, updates will be slow for the next month or so until the paychecks start flowing in but please, let's keep the discussion going until then. :hug:

[2stepGoesPowPow]

Hah, "So I did what any car enthusiast would do and took things breaking as an opportunity to upgrade!"thats exactly what I'm doing by going gt28, i also plan on getting the same cams. How is your car running now? Psi? Tune?

[LuckyX2]

Car is running great now and I actually get 30+ mpg on the highway with my current setup :) And it feels great too but not any faster than my s15 setup since I'm severely traction limited for now. With 195 all-seasons, I just make a lot of smoke and go nowhere :-/

I haven't gotten on the dyno yet because of my tiny tires and also because I'm contemplating building the bottom end and/or getting a gt2867. So I figured I'd wait and tune it once more rather than possibly twice more. I tune it myself on my Haltech, if you haven't caught that.

I'm running about 18psi for now on my tune I've put together gradually on the street. I'll be going for 20-22psi when I get it setup right on a dyno. The fueling is good judging from my wideband and logs but there's no way to extract all the power I can from it until I get on a dyno.

[2stepGoesPowPow]

I just noticed i got my S13 last summer from your area haha, i drove 100 miles to allentown/bethlehem to get my 240 :D

[LuckyX2]

Ah, so it's you New Yorkers that made it hard for me to find a good one! :p

[2stepGoesPowPow]

Yep i got lucky and got my S13 Hatch SE No Rust rite before the end of summer :) & Polished RPF1's Would look dope , I plan on getting 17x9-9 rota grids b/c i cut afford TE37's :(. & what waste gate are you using on the 2871? I'm about to order an hks actuator.

[LuckyX2]

I'm just using a stock adjustable that's preloaded pretty heavy. So sorry, no experience with the hks unit. I'd like to go external eventually but that's down the road.

[driftsucky]

You R.I.T. kids are always taking something simple and building the ish out of it. lol. I love that. Car is looking good. I'm kinda surprised that you haven't had a local build thread where everyone calls your car stupid and slow (cuz that's typically the trend for some reason). Good luck with it all. Hopefully I'll see you around sometime once the weather warms up...permanently

[LuckyX2]

I guess that's just what we engineers do :cool: I'm a computer engineer though strange enough.

So actually, I'm the president/founder of RIT's car club. We're planning a car show at the end of April, I'll make sure to let you know more as we get closer. Hopefully, I'll see you there. And do you know any other RIT students on here? I've met ZX88, but that's it.

[Functiontheory]

i cant belive im going to say this but i like your volvo... good luck on the 240 build your off to a good start.

[LuckyX2]

Haha, thanks man. Yea, it doesn't quite fit the grocery getter image of your average Volvo. It's no slouch in the performance department either. Intake, exhaust manifold, 16t and a tune bring the 2.5L I5 right to about 225-250whp and I've got some sticky Nitto NT-05's on the OZ's, IPD lowering springs and IPD sways. Handles pretty well for a 3000lbs+ car. Too bad it's automatic tho...

[Big Zee]

which megans did you have ? whats the differnce in spring rates ?
nice build so far, keep up the good work :)

[LuckyX2]

which megans did you have ? whats the differnce in spring rates ?
nice build so far, keep up the good work :)

To be honest, I'm not sure... I thought I had the street series ones but when I ordered a replacement damper for one a while back, it didn't fit. But my new rates will be 450/350, I can tell you that much.

And thank you :)

[aledelic42]

:wan:
:trogdor:
ics
sott
http://cdn1.zilvia.net/images/icons/ka.gif http://cdn1.zilvia.net/images/icons/rb.gif
http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/aledelic42/2009_06230055sadfasdf.jpg
:bowrofl:

[LuckyX2]

^^^
Oh-noez, you can't show them when I was 4x4 status! :naw:

[aledelic42]

was?

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/264142_10150216665934109_572259108_7292471_6988495 _n.jpg

[LuckyX2]

hmph, not all of us can be super cool and run bags like you :p

At least I'm looking good there at sheetz on my 15" steelies :o

[LuckyX2]

So I think I'm pretty much settled on the direction I'll be going for brakes.
Here's what I picked up today:
http://i43.tinypic.com/2u90jzq.jpg

For those who don't recognize, that's the defsport/skullworks Willwood kit to be used with the ultralite forged 4-piston calipers and 32/48 ultralite directional vane rotors.
These unfortunately won't be able to go on until I get new wheels in a month or so.

That's for the front while the rear will be getting the altima rotor treatment. Supposing I can find the z31 bracket that is... :-/

[conrad_s13.5]

time,...will make you appreciate it that much more!

gonna be dope!

[LuckyX2]

Yeah, staring at my fancy new coilovers and brake parts for a month is going to be hard but man will it be sweet when they're on!

[marco22]

great build:hitit:0

[driftsucky]

All the RIT folks I know (most anyway) or alum or in Union House. Since I'm old, I try not to spend too much time up there cuz for whatever reason, the female population deems it neccessary to walk around in those cheerleader "shorts" more time than what I'm comfortable with. However, when the car shows and autox runs go on, I'm usually on hand. Have you jumped on Roclife (dot org) yet? It's like Zilvia except...ummm...actually it's exactly like Zilvia in a bad way. lol. And yeah, I know ZX88 but thru Roclife. I was presently surprised when I found him here (and I'm neon_guy over there cuz when I joined like 9 years ago, I had a Neon).

[LuckyX2]

Thanks! :)

Just found the z31 brackets at a local junkyard btw. They want $25 a piece but I really don't have any other option :(. Got the two rotors new for only $45 tho, so I'm still under $100 for the total upgrade.

Also, as I continue my wheel hunt, what do you guys think about some deep dish mustang reps? I'd be going with a machined finish.

And no, I'm not on roclife yet mainly because of what you said right there "It's Zilvia in a bad way" haha

[LuckyX2]

Oh and I forgot to mention that Harbor Freight was having a sale the other day so I picked up a welder like I was planning to do. It's just a 90 amp flux welder so nothing great but hey, it was only $100 :)

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/395446_10150836271872846_804717845_12663998_707361 064_n.jpg

I'll be using this to take care of the rust spots on my car and eventually weld up an exhaust that's better than the ebay rice cannon that came with my car. Hopefully I'll be able to start getting rid of some of the rust when I head home this weekend for spring break. Gotta practice on some scrap first tho...

Oh and for anyone who wants to check out the welds this unit can do, here ya go: CLICK HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ0JYpj82Fs&feature=related)

Obviously a $500 unit would do better but whatever, this will get the job done for cheap and it has a 1yr + 90day warranty

[Big Zee]

RPF01's

do it, you will not be sad.

[LuckyX2]

yea, I know those are the "better" wheel but I just really love the look of a clean, dished, 5 spoke.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HX5tG0VbDr8/Sf0qpq3I1_I/AAAAAAAAABA/b2JPsjehF-4/s1600/2008_0629tealpaint0008.JPG

That looks really nice imo. Helps that they're half the price too...

Oh and this is going to be a grip setup so I'll be trying to fit as much rubber under the stock fenders as I can.
Looking at 17x9 +27 with 255/40 up front and 265/40 in the rear currently.

[Big Zee]

^ that does look pretty nice.

if you can get them in a +20 it would work better for you. I would try for a 17x10 rear also, gives you future options to run wider rear tires.

[LuckyX2]

Sure +20 would be better? I'm just going off of McCoy's setup HERE (#/f/chat/166563-maximum-tire-rubber-fitment-thread-4.html#post1738120) where he's running 275's all around on 17x9 +35. I know plenty of other people are running large tires on 17x9 +20 with stock fenders though so I kinda figured +27 would be a balance between the two.

I'd have to pull more fender with the +20 than I would with the +27 but then again it would give me the benefit of extra inner clearance.

Not sure if these even come in +20 tho, so it may be a non-issue.

[240KAR]

Def keeping up with this... good work so far.

[LuckyX2]

Cool. Thanks and welcome.

And thanks to dopplganger1 for PMing me with an offer for his z31 brackets for $25. Saved me $25 and a trip to the junkyard! Still need to continue the junkyard hunt for some z32/s14/j30 hubs tho.

[LuckyX2]

I got a present in the mail today...

http://i40.tinypic.com/wrffdh.jpg

Thanks robertftw!

[e1_griego]

Hooray legit susp.

Was wondering who bought these.

[tuktuk23]

quality shit bro! good work and keep it coming!

yea, I know those are the "better" wheel but I just really love the look of a clean, dished, 5 spoke.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HX5tG0VbDr8/Sf0qpq3I1_I/AAAAAAAAABA/b2JPsjehF-4/s1600/2008_0629tealpaint0008.JPG


what kind of wheels are those? sexysexysexy

[LuckyX2]

Hooray legit susp.

Was wondering who bought these.

Yep, that was me. I was planning on some fortune auto's for a bit less but this deal appeared and I just couldn't say no. I have a problem with that... "Well I was gonna spend $1300 on fortunes so why not spend $1800 on these? That's my logic far too often haha. I'm looking to get these on this week btw, I'll update if/when I do. Hopefully a local dealership has the conical bushing that I need to put in the z32 uprights or else it's gonna get put off for a bit.

quality shit bro! good work and keep it coming!
what kind of wheels are those? sexysexysexy

Thanks! They are 03 Mustang Cobra deep dish replicas with a machined finish. Not sure of the size/offset in that pic tho.
I'll most likely be going with these in 17x9 +20-27 and 255/40/17 Hankook Ventus RS3's all around. But there's also a set of 4-lug 17x9 +20 fn01rc's out there with 255/40/17 Potenza's on them that's tempting me. I wouldn't have to go 5 lug for those but I like the mustang reps or rpf1's better. We'll see how it plays out...

[LuckyX2]

New parts just came in the mail!

http://i44.tinypic.com/mm8jnb.jpg
z31 rear caliper brackets. Thanks again dopplganger1 :)

http://i41.tinypic.com/mb1uzn.jpg
03 Altima rear rotors. Won't be going on until I get some wheels tho...

http://i44.tinypic.com/bgxvex.jpg
Some silicone couplers to try and route my intake better, a copper manifold gasket to replace the leaking crap on it now and a wiper switch so I can finally have more than just low speed wiping.

Hopefully I can get most of this stuff along with my remaining suspension arms and coilovers on by Monday.

[dopplganger1]

glad i could help out

[LuckyX2]

So I got to put some of my new parts on today. Replaced the faulty wiper switch, put on the front coilovers, replaced my exhaust gasket and re-routed my intake.

The intake, as you can see in older pictures, had a pretty stupid 2ft or so of corrugated plastic piping going from the turbo into the maf then into the filter. I am map now, so I don't need the maf and that plastic pipe was just plain dumb so I got rid of both and my intake is basically right on the front of the turbo now.

http://i39.tinypic.com/25juk4p.jpg

Really cleaned up the bay and ought to offer a noticeable difference in performance as I'm sure the old setup was way more restrictive.

This hole in the gasket certainly wasn't helping performance either...
http://i43.tinypic.com/elbp8k.jpg

Old and busted generic coils...
http://i42.tinypic.com/ibjkw7.jpg

New Konis!
http://i42.tinypic.com/wl7u69.jpg

Well that's all for today; hopefully rear coils, RUCAs and z32 uprights will be done Wednesday. :)

[LuckyX2]

Hey guys, sorry for no updates lately but I've been busy moving closer to where my new job is so I can start making more 240 money :)

So I got the rear suspension goodies on...

Old:
http://i40.tinypic.com/nn5ytd.jpg

New: Koni Coilovers, z32 uprights, RUCA's and traction rods. Toe rods will be going in when it gets aligned, I couldn't get the damn rusty bolt off... Oh and the rear brakes will be getting the Altima rotor treatment when I go 5 lug. I have the rotors/brackets now but just waiting on the lugs.
http://i41.tinypic.com/ht8f80.jpg

Just by the way; I weighed the z32 uprights on a digital scale and they came in at 7lbs each while the stock ones were 12lbs each. That's an unsprung weight reduction of 10lbs and better than the 7-8lbs I've been reading online.

Then during the move my wastegate rod snapped... Oh well, I should be able to get that welded back together for maybe $10-20
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/s720x720/430072_10150864853717846_804717845_12758049_432821 045_n.jpg

That's all for now. I'm looking to get new wheels/tires/hubs/brakes in the next 2 weeks or so; I'll update when I do.

[LuckyX2]

Hey all,
If you could check out the post I made about the car show at RIT on April 28th and hopefully come, that'd be great!

#/f/north-eastern-states/442592-rochester-ny-car-show-rit.html#post4589249

[LuckyX2]

Got my JDM s13 cluster a few days ago; finally gonna have a tach...
http://i44.tinypic.com/slr7mg.jpg

Decided I wanted red needles so I colored the tops of them with a sharpie and the tabs in the back where the light shines into them. Came out well IMO. Matches the red of the redline perfectly. I have some bright white LEDs coming for it and did the KMH to MPH mod also.
http://i39.tinypic.com/alnbcg.jpg

Also got some z32 rear hubs and have Ichiba front hubs with OEM bearings on their way. I went ahead and ordered a set of the cobra reps in 17x9 +24 and some 255/40/17 R-S3's. R-S3's are out of stock tho so I have to figure out something to do about that. Getting pretty close to putting on my 5-lug/wheel/tire/brake upgrade finally :cool:

Also picked up an angle grinder today btw. The rust has nowhere to hide now!

[future]

What are the caliper brakets from a z31 used for?

[Darren]

What are the caliper brakets from a z31 used for?

11" altima rotors can be used when coupling the z31 brackets & s13/s14 calipers

[future]

I knew it was something cool lol

EDITED: cause i used google lol

[LuckyX2]

It's been a while so here's an update!

The jdm cluster came out well! The needles were a little dark so I took the sharpie off of the back tabs and just left sharpie on the needles themselves. It's brighter than it looks in the picture (just a crappy cell phone pic...)

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/545000_10150914438622846_804717845_12945998_144767 8166_n.jpg

And here it is in the day with my gauges back in. I finally have a working tach!!

http://i40.tinypic.com/1693won.jpg

I got some other miscellaneous goodies in the mail one day:

http://i43.tinypic.com/2re63xl.jpg

Black lugs for my new wheels, Sylvania Silverstars, some leds for my dome light, license plate light and cluster, Ichiba 5 lug front hubs with OEM bearings and some rear 5 lug hubs off of a Z32 (not in the pic). The license plate lights didn't work tho because they were unfortunately too long to fit.

Here are the Sylvania's installed. Again, it's just a crappy cell phone pic but the light from these is very bright and pure white. It's wonderful :)

http://i40.tinypic.com/97vgxu.jpg

And Last but not least, my wheels! They're 03 Cobra reps with a deeper dish and machined face. I'll be painting over the center cap btw, probably black.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/536398_10150931775527846_804717845_13007510_136209 4464_n.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/30xjr5d.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/207rwg6.jpg

The rest of my Wilwood parts for the front brakes are paid for and currently shipping but it's going to be a while before I get it all on due to the tires I want being sold out nationwide. I really want 255/40/17 Hankook R-S3's but the month wait is going to kill me. Unfortunately all the other comparable tires are more expensive and most of them aren't even as good.

If someone can find me a good deal on 255/40/17 or 245/45/17 tires with a wear rating between 100 and 200, I'd love to hear about it. :)

That's all for now until I get some tires!

[LuckyX2]

Wound up finding a good deal on some 245/45/17 Kumho Ecsta XS's so I decided to jump on them instead of waiting for the R-S3's and paying more.

Got them mounted today:
http://i42.tinypic.com/wgt74m.jpg

Notice I moved the battery to the trunk this week too. It was just kinda floating around up front and not strapped down. That wasn't gonna fly for autocrosses so I strapped it down right.

Here's a little mock-up of the wheels:
http://i39.tinypic.com/v8leyq.jpg

I'll be needing some fender work haha.

That's all for now until this weekend when I put on the rear hubs, rotors, brackets and wheels. Fronts come later this week when I get my Wilwood parts.

Comments anyone? This thread has been dead since the week I started it...

[Pinggg]

Should of ran with a 40 sidewall! but hey if you got a good deal on them, why not lol

[LuckyX2]

255/40/17 was what I was going to get in R-S3's but I got these for like $200 cheaper than tire rack so I'm not complaining haha. 245/45/17 is only 0.63 inches larger in total diameter anyway; it shouldn't make much of a difference.

[aledelic42]

big ass tires

[benarovi]

looks good tires look awsome too nice and fat

[LuckyX2]

looks good tires look awsome too nice and fat

Thanks, I'll lose a bit of turn-in response with the thicker sidewalls but gain in straight line accel. But really tho, that 0.3" radius difference won't change a whole lot besides making my car sit 0.3" higher and have 0.3" less clearance under the fender.

On another note, I'm doing my rear 5-lug today.
http://i41.tinypic.com/2ir3j1j.jpg

Ran into an issue tho; the guy who sent me the z31 brackets so I can switch to altima rotors in the back actually just sent me 240sx brackets...
http://i43.tinypic.com/2ymt9o7.jpg

See a difference? yeah, neither do I... I'll be PM'ing him and hopefully he can straighten things out. Problem is that I already put the 5-lug hubs on so now I have to redrill the stock rotors to get them back on.
EDIT: He messaged me back and it seems he mistakenly sent me the wrong ones and will be correcting that :)


And a quick question, are the rear altima rotors supposed to be this much "deeper" than stock? I'm concerned about clearance with it sitting so far back (closer to the upright)
http://i39.tinypic.com/eog7l.jpg

This is the rotor I ordered and according to Amazon it fits the rear of a 2003 Altima.
http://i44.tinypic.com/33wm9so.jpg

[LuckyX2]

http://i41.tinypic.com/4rxqmw.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/4j2mx4.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/30ddkhw.jpg
:boink:

Fronts come next weekend.

[LuckyX2]

Hello again!

I've been pretty busy...

I bought a new shell since I keep finding worse and worse rust on mine and this one was a great deal.
#/f/sale-items/448134-full-s13-blacktop-sr-swap-s13-rolling-hatch.html

I'm gonna try to swap everything over to it the last week of May.

Secondly, I had my first autocross! My car was far from perfect with my Kumho XS's and upgraded brakes on the rear and all season tires on steelies up front with stock brakes. Not to mention it was like 45F out so my Kumho's were rock solid and sliding all over. My car developed a reputation as being a "handful"... The following video has three runs in it, the third being my best even though I spun a bit at the end. This was with only 5psi (wastegate pressure) It still spun the tires like nothing tho.

Gage Mondok: Auto-X 04-22-12 on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/40919333)

So the reason I haven't gotten my front brakes/wheels/tires/hubs on yet is because the Wilwood distributor I ordered through only sent me one rotor... I have all the other pieces tho and boy do they look pretty :wiggle:

http://i46.tinypic.com/34pyjj4.jpg

So yeah, as soon as I get my other rotor, I'll be putting these on. The next autocrosses for my area are gonna be May 12/26 and I'll most likely be going to at least one of those to try out my car with it more balanced haha.

Any tips for when I finally get my shell? Anything that's going to be easier with it all apart? I plan on sanding/painting a lot with everything out, probably gonna get some POR-15. Definitely painting the bay and cleaning up wires while the engine is out too. May do some bottom end work also if money allows.

[okoye]

what exactly is wrong with the old shell?

[LuckyX2]

"keep finding worse and worse rust on mine"

It is just getting to be a mess. From the outside it looks fine but the footwells are rusted out, it creaks, rails are rusty, one of the strut towers has a hole rusted through it etc.

Much easier at this point to just get a new shell and start fresh instead of trying to fix this only to have rust creep back in through some spot I missed.

[okoye]

well would you pass the shell on?

[LuckyX2]

My old one? Yeah sure.

It's gonna be like a month or so before I have a week off to go home and swap everything over tho. PM me at the end of May if you're still interested.

[okoye]

ok will do!

[LuckyX2]

So I finally got my second rotor and was able to get my front wheels/hubs/brakes on!

http://i49.tinypic.com/xmtkjk.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/2hwcg38.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/9rpv2q.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/xelcg0.jpg

I'm loving the beefy, aggressive stance now with 245's up front, not to mention the stopping power. I get lightheaded if I really apply it haha.

[TaterBiscuit]

Nice ride, I like a lot of the things you have done to it.

[LuckyX2]

Nice ride, I like a lot of the things you have done to it.

Thanks! It's not exactly pretty but it has the goods where it counts, the engine/suspension/brakes/tires.

I think I'm pretty much done with it performance wise. The only things left for performance would be a possible higher compression rebuild of the bottom end when I have the engine out to move it over to the new shell and renting a dyno to tune it. And maybe I'll upgrade to a GTX series turbo down the road, who knows.

The things I'm focusing on now are all the issues with it like the rusted shell, my busted 6 puck clutch which I think I'll be replacing with an RPS Street Max and my high idle is back so I need to look into that. Later down the road at the very end comes body work and paint. I'm leaning towards a midnight purple type-x'ish build but my mind is always changing on that haha.

[DreEzed]

Finally a car with good amount of meat on the tires. What are your alignment specs. Thinking about running a 245/45 up front. Also how much fender work?

[LuckyX2]

Finally a car with good amount of meat on the tires. What are your alignment specs. Thinking about running a 245/45 up front. Also how much fender work?

I'd suggest going 245/40 actually, 45 gives a bit too much sidewall IMO. The only reason I went with the 245/45 was because I found a great deal on ebay for them and what I wanted was backordered for a month or more. Originally I was gonna do 255/40/17 R-S3's all around.

These didn't take much fender work; basically I just flattened the lip with a baseball bat and I was good. Where it rubs is the seam that runs along the top of the wheel well if you know what I'm talking about. I'm gonna hammer that flat tonight and I should be good.

And I haven't gotten it aligned yet and probably won't until I swap the parts onto my new shell but I think I'm gonna go for 3-4 degrees of camber and 0.5 degrees toe out up front and 2 degrees of camber and 0.5 degrees toe in for the back.

[bataangpinoy]

what influenced you to run altima rotors?

[LuckyX2]

what influenced you to run altima rotors?

The fact that it's basically as good as z32 rears but much cheaper and it keeps the stock ebrake making it less of a hassle and it reduces the unsprung weight.

The altima rotors are like 2" larger, if you didn't know. That's where the extra performance comes from.

[bataangpinoy]

so i'm assuming that you'll be using the oem caliper in the rear, in conjunction with the z31 brackets?

thats a really neat bit of info man, thanks for sharing.

[LuckyX2]

so i'm assuming that you'll be using the oem caliper in the rear, in conjunction with the z31 brackets?

thats a really neat bit of info man, thanks for sharing.

Yep, stock calipers but larger rotor from an Altima (2003 is the year I used) and brackets from a z31 300zx. The z32 brakes have a slightly better caliper and a vented rotor but this is close in terms of performance, less complicated, weighs less and is really cheap; it only cost me $65, $40 for rotors and $25 for brackets :D

[bataangpinoy]

not bad!


msglngth

[DreEzed]

I'd suggest going 245/40 actually, 45 gives a bit too much sidewall IMO. The only reason I went with the 245/45 was because I found a great deal on ebay for them and what I wanted was backordered for a month or more. Originally I was gonna do 255/40/17 R-S3's all around.

These didn't take much fender work; basically I just flattened the lip with a baseball bat and I was good. Where it rubs is the seam that runs along the top of the wheel well if you know what I'm talking about. I'm gonna hammer that flat tonight and I should be good.

And I haven't gotten it aligned yet and probably won't until I swap the parts onto my new shell but I think I'm gonna go for 3-4 degrees of camber and 0.5 degrees toe out up front and 2 degrees of camber and 0.5 degrees toe in for the back.


Awesome info RS3's are dope. Just went through them. I was thinking of running a 255 aswell but I don't see how it would fit with out some pulling.
I'm stuck on either running RS3's or z1 Starspecs or DZ101(I daily my pos).

Yeah i had hammer the crap out of the little inner seam. Oh what do you need to run the altima rotor.

[LuckyX2]

Awesome info RS3's are dope. Just went through them. I was thinking of running a 255 aswell but I don't see how it would fit with out some pulling.
I'm stuck on either running RS3's or z1 Starspecs or DZ101(I daily my pos).

Yeah i had hammer the crap out of the little inner seam. Oh what do you need to run the altima rotor.

Definitely, I feel RS3's are the new tire to have. Star specs are still great too but man have they gone up in price... I don't like how much heat the XS's take currently and their wet performance is known to be lacking but I'm sure they'll be great on the dry summer days. I saved like $200 going with them so whatever haha.

And yeah, definitely don't do 245/45 like I did haha. 255/40 with some camber and a slight pull or 245/40 with a little camber and a roll is what you'll want. Even after hammering down that seam, I'm pretty sure it's still going to rub under heavy load and turning due in part to the extra fraction of an inch of sidewall I have. Going 40 instead of 45 would just make it that much easier to get clearance.

Altima rotors are a super simple upgrade. You just need two rotors, two z31 brackets and 4 washers. Everything bolts right up and the washers are just so that the bracket bolt doesn't come through all the way or else it will rub the back of the rotor and gouge it. One washer per bolt does it. Place the washers right under the head on the bolt btw; that way it doesn't change the spacing of the bracket at all.

[LuckyX2]

So I went to the drag strip for my first time ever yesterday and here's what I got:

http://i47.tinypic.com/6pp255.jpg

I'm Right and Left was a turbo'ed RSX.
I had a boost leak that was really killing my spool by like 2k rpm and taking about 5psi off of my max boost. Easy 12's once that's fixed. Also my launches sucked which is mostly my fault for being new to it but my crappy clutch didn't help either. I just got a new RPS Max 6 puck so we'll see how I do with that and some practice.

I plan on heading back to the strip once I swap everything over to my new shell at the end of this month. Also, I figured while the engine is out I may as well get some forged pistons/rods and bearings for the bottom end. I'll be going high compression (10:1+) hopefully and pick up a good 10% or so all over the powerband. I would love to go 90mm overbore at that time too but I'm running short on money and time is limited since this is my DD :(. I'm working on a deal for a z32 trans to go in at that time too since I'm likely at the limits of the SR trans.

Overall, the goal is 11's once I'm done moving everything over to the new shell and have the new parts in. I haven't gotten on the dyno yet to tune it either so there's a good amount of time to be cut off with that.

That's all for now :)

[LuckyX2]

Had another autocross yesterday and this time, the car was much better!
Since my last autocross, I put on the front wheels/tires, put on the Wilwood front brakes and removed the rear sway bar. It's much, much more balanced now and was really a joy to drive.
Times have not been posted yet but I have been told that my time of 62.8 was very competitive on street tires.

I should not have settled for 45 sidewall though, it rubs pretty bad on hard turns and caused the hopping that you'll see in the video. Looks like I'll be cutting/hammering the fender well some more in the near future...

zeqnIGzdog4

[okoye]

on the new chassis right?

[LuckyX2]

on the new chassis right?

Nope, old one. New one hasn't arrived yet and I won't be home in PA to swap parts until May 25th anyway.

[jr_ss]

You need to learn how to launch the car. A 2.4 60ft is horrible, for every tenth you drop it, it is typically two tenths off your ET. So say you get it to a 2.0 you have a 13.0 car, give or take.

Those tires are huge too, 40 series sidewall would've looked much better.

[LuckyX2]

You need to learn how to launch the car. A 2.4 60ft is horrible, for every tenth you drop it, it is typically two tenths off your ET. So say you get it to a 2.0 you have a 13.0 car, give or take.

Those tires are huge too, 40 series sidewall would've looked much better.

"Also my launches sucked which is mostly my fault for being new to it but my crappy clutch didn't help either"

"I'd suggest going 245/40 actually, 45 gives a bit too much sidewall IMO. The only reason I went with the 245/45 was because I found a great deal on ebay for them and what I wanted was backordered for a month or more. Originally I was gonna do 255/40/17 R-S3's all around."

Already been covered... but thanks. Perhaps you have some constructive criticism instead of just telling me my launches sucked? I already knew that. And just to give you an idea of how bad my clutch is; I went to an SCCA novice school and every single one of the five or so instructors that drove it stalled it multiple times.

There's an RPS Max 6-puck sitting on the floor behind me, waiting to go in; we'll see how I can launch with that eventually.

[jr_ss]

Already been covered... but thanks. Perhaps you have some constructive criticism instead of just telling me my launches sucked? I already knew that.

There's an RPS Max 6-puck sitting on the floor behind me, waiting to go in; we'll see how I can launch with that eventually.

Instead of just "dumping" the clutch, hold your revs up around 4-5k rpms and slip it. Every car is different, you don't want to light your rear tires up, some spin is good, but not uncontrollable spin. You may have to feather the throttle to get it to hook, it's just one of those things that you need to learn with practice.

I loved my Max street full face. I ran it with a 3071r and 360rwhp. Held up great to drag abuse, make sure you break it in for atleast 500miles before getting crazy with it.

[LuckyX2]

Instead of just "dumping" the clutch, hold your revs up around 4-5k rpms and slip it. Every car is different, you don't want to light your rear tires up, some spin is good, but not uncontrollable spin. You may have to feather the throttle to get it to hook, it's just one of those things that you need to learn with practice.

I loved my Max street full face. I ran it with a 3071r and 360rwhp. Held up great to drag abuse, make sure you break it in for atleast 500miles before getting crazy with it.

I had my revs around 4k and tried to slip it but my clutch has some serious issues. There's literally only a few mm range that the clutch grabs in. I don't have a problem feathering it in that range (dailying on this clutch has gotten me used to that :-/) but when I take off, it's hard to not move my foot more than a mm or two under the acceleration and it winds up grabbing more than I want and leaving me spinning...

I admit that I need a lot of work (it was my first time after-all) but I also think the clutch is really playing a big part in it too.

Glad to hear you liked your RPS; they seem to be liked by most who have used them. I was originally going to go with the Max Street which is more than enough for me now but I'm not sure how far I want to take this build yet. So I thought I'd future proof it a bit and go for the Max 6-puck. I hope the engagement isn't too harsh and I regret it... Anything is better than what I have now tho!

[LuckyX2]

Hello again, time for another update. I finally have a week off to move everything over to my new shell and upgrade some things. I'll be picking up the new shell tomorrow and all of my parts aside from my pistons are already here. The pistons should be in Wednesday.

So here's a picture of all the new goodies!
http://i50.tinypic.com/3byuh.jpg

New exhaust gasket/hangers, clevite bearings, stainless brake lines, throw out bearing and pilot bushing, rear/front main seals, two new valves to replace the two that some stupid machine shop ground too much, adjustable toe rods, poly engine/trans mounts, 400lph walbro fuel pump, 15/16 master cylinder (my 17/16th that I have currently is waaaay too easy to lock up), RPS Max 6-puck clutch, SPL solid subframe bushings, new oem freeze plugs, two random clamps, some shims for the two new valves and last but not least, Manley H-beam rods :naughty:

What you don't see in the picture are the dozen cans of paint for my block/bay along with some POR-15 for the underside, ID1000cc injectors and top feed rail that I have yet to order and the pistons that are coming soon.

I went a bit extreme with the pistons... JE 10:1 compression with moly skirts and ceramic crowns. The extra compression ought to net me at least 5% more power across the whole powerband, giving me a large increase in area under the curve, not to mention it will spool the turbo faster. The ceramic is also going to put more heat back into combustion, burning the fuel more completely and hotter, netting me more power, mpg and, again, a faster spooling turbo. I'll be seeing how far I can push it on gas but plan on running E85 when all is said and done to really get the most from this setup. I believe the combination of the higher compression, ceramic coating and E85 will really work together well and produce not just an engine that makes lots of power but makes it all over the RPM range.

This is hopefully just the start. My dream for this engine is for it to be one of the most efficient and balanced sr20's around. I think the high compression and ceramic coated crowns are a great start but I'd love to have more obviously. Ideally I'll be going with a ported VE head down the road and ceramic coating the combustion chamber on that too. That along with an EFR6758 or GTX2867 ought to make what is just about the perfect engine in my mind. The only thing missing would be a 90mm overbore and another compression bump to 11:1.

EDIT: I just realized I forgot to update with my second autocross.

zeqnIGzdog4

I did MUCH better this time since I got my front wheels/tires/brakes on and took off the rear sway. The car was an unfinished mess last time with all seasons and busted brakes up front but good Kumho XS's and the altima rotor upgrade in the back. The car was actually enjoyable to drive this time, really balanced! Unfortunately I had some clearance issues with the front tires that caused some hopping as you can see. Overall I was very happy with both the car and my driving (for the most part)

[LuckyX2]

Got my new shell last week and I dedicated the week following to swap over as many parts as I could. Get ready for a crapload of pics...

http://i45.tinypic.com/fkmu4p.jpg
Prepping the engine to be pulled...

http://i49.tinypic.com/2yx591e.jpg
Old, new, kouki tails, pedobear and yes, a Ducati Desmosedici RR (Not mine unfortunately) :(

http://i50.tinypic.com/2mphr2d.jpg
Look what was chilling out in my oil... A valve shim! Must have been from a previous time because all my shims were intact.

http://i48.tinypic.com/11vtxt2.jpg
Thanks for all your help Grandpa!

http://i48.tinypic.com/500fao.jpg
It was a pain in the ass to get rid of the rusty old battery tray but we did. This then got cut out to make room for IC piping.

http://i47.tinypic.com/5cip92.jpg
All painted and front suspension is on! Really happy with the color.

http://i48.tinypic.com/259z88k.jpg
Close up!

http://i46.tinypic.com/1e9lsn.jpg
bye-bye :)

http://i48.tinypic.com/24zkvpw.jpg
Mounted.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2z7ifeo.jpg
It hasn't been long since I last had the engine apart haha. Well, the head at least.

http://i46.tinypic.com/2aafxc4.jpg
Starting to strip.

http://i48.tinypic.com/jpk66p.jpg
Off with your head!

http://i45.tinypic.com/34hie1k.jpg
A cigarette? What the hell is that doing in there?!?! Must have been in there since before I got it too, because nobody I know smokes.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2nt0ld.jpg
Just the block remains.

http://i47.tinypic.com/34zg55w.jpg
Honed vs. not honed.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2lask1u.jpg
Clean, new clevite bearings.

http://i50.tinypic.com/ic2tdh.jpg
Headlights, wheels, intercooler, wires, black brake/clutch lines and new master cylinder.

http://i48.tinypic.com/x6nbkn.jpg
Got the body harness, dash and cluster on.

http://i45.tinypic.com/29xt8i8.jpg
Aggressive.

http://i48.tinypic.com/34gnb5f.jpg
It's starting to look like a drivable car...

http://i46.tinypic.com/a09g6d.jpg
Dropped both subframes and this is where it is currently.

What's left: The crank is at a shop being polished but when that gets back I'm headed home to PA for a weekend to put the engine back together, drop it in, paint the subframe, swap subframe parts (linkages/lsd), put the subframe in and drive it!

[bc.]

Nice update, now get rid of those nasty stock subfame bushings.

[LuckyX2]

Nice update, now get rid of those nasty stock subfame bushings.

Take a close look at the picture in the previous post.

SPL solid aluminum bushings :)

[S14Serge]

Dam this is an impressive build thread bro! Keep up the good work!

[ZX88]

gage do work son!

[LuckyX2]

Dam this is an impressive build thread bro! Keep up the good work!
Thanks! There's still much planned for this car...

gage do work son!
I think I did enough work this week lol. Maybe one day I'll have a 240 as nice as yours tho. I gotta join the dark side soon and go kouki. :naughty:

[okoye]

whats going back in the old shell? stock stuff?

[codyace]

new shell fun!

[LuckyX2]

whats going back in the old shell? stock stuff?

It's probably best for both of us if I just scrap it at this point. Stock suspension will be going back into the old chassis and basically none of the interior will be left. I couldn't, in good morals, charge you anything for basically just a rusted out shell...

new shell fun!

Would have been a lot more fun if it wasn't crammed into one week haha. Certainly was an experience I won't soon forget though.

[LuckyX2]

Check out what finally came today! Beautiful...

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/182338_10151189327362846_405605179_n.jpg

And I missed this picture the first time through. I just like the way the engine looks from this angle with the turbo and everything.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/579420_10151166606617846_1937957421_n.jpg

[Pinggg]

Please get yourself a s14 SR water neck so you don't have to run that coolant line behind the head, other then that good progress keep it up!

[LuckyX2]

Please get yourself a s14 SR water neck so you don't have to run that coolant line behind the head, other then that good progress keep it up!

Yeah, that line is a pain in the ass to get to while the engine is in the bay. I never knew about the s14 difference... Thanks for the tip!

[Pinggg]

Yeah, that line is a pain in the ass to get to while the engine is in the bay. I never knew about the s14 difference... Thanks for the tip!

No problem man!

[sloganish]

This thing is sick

[LuckyX2]

This thing is sick

Thanks!

Got my ID1000's and top feed rail recently too:

http://oi49.tinypic.com/346n9ub.jpg

[LuckyX2]

Finally got the rest of my miscellaneous parts to finish and I'll be heading home this weekend. Updates coming soon!

And I decided I wanted some different pistons than my JE's...

http://i45.tinypic.com/1zpscgo.jpg

[Pinggg]

Finally got the rest of my miscellaneous parts to finish and I'll be heading home this weekend. Updates coming soon!

And I decided I wanted some different pistons than my JE's...


Specs?!
mssglength

[LuckyX2]

Ask Michael Schumacher... It's one of his old pistons :)

[Pinggg]

Ask Michael Schumacher... It's one of his old pistons :)

Must be a new trend now.. you know putting F1 motor in our cars. lol :bs:

[LuckyX2]

Must be a new trend now.. you know putting F1 motor in our cars. lol :bs:


I just need to find three more pistons to squeeze in and... Boom! 18,000RPM!
Stock crank/rods/bore ought to work just fine for that right?

[Pinggg]

I just need to find three more pistons to squeeze in and... Boom! 18,000RPM!
Stock crank/rods/bore ought to work just fine for that right?

Renault F1 Engine - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2iBbwocYZw)

/thread.

[LuckyX2]

Renault F1 Engine - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2iBbwocYZw)

/thread.

Awww, you spoiled it for everyone. Now they know what mine is gonna sound like...

[LuckyX2]

There's just too much to be said about what's been done so I thought I'd let the pictures do the talking. Feel free to ask questions tho.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7255/7461967202_54339a8854_h.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7262/7461966996_242e6b8b46_h.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7130/7462402096_b7a5f6615e_h.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7269/7461966710_b8df9cbba6_h.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8167/7461966530_41168c8c18_h.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7138/7461966380_cc0cecbb67_h.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/7462404138_52546df8af_h.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8143/7462404766_46fdfde5f0_h.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8148/7462405368_d79677f605_h.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/7462405698_6b1d3cafa1_h.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8022/7462405982_5c09e57d68_h.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7250/7461965998_eb142302e9_h.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7272/7462403224_4a6b4e2772_h.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7252/7461966166_1bea1b3c93_h.jpg

It's just about ready to start and break-in. Current things left to take care of are:

-Needs a better battery ground
-ECU is not getting power
-Headlights come on and up but won't go down (timer?)
-Put fenders/bumper back on
-Roll fenders
-Alignment
-Inspection

[smdodgers]

very nice build man

[LuckyX2]

Thanks! It should be back in NY and ready to drive in a week or two, so more updates then probably.

I was delayed by issues running for a while and it turned out to be that I had a shitty knock-off FPR. I made sure to get another Tomei one but from a more reliable source and that fixed it right up.

Compression was 200psi across the board before break in (didn't check it after), it starts right up and runs nice and smooth. Now I just need to figure out the high idle issue that it always had. 1500rpms is not a satisfactory idle haha.

The IACV is at 0% according to my ECU and I have the cold idle screw in all the way but yet if I squeeze the hose providing air to the IACV, the idle drops. There's definitely some air getting in through the IACV that shouldn't be...

[LuckyX2]

So things haven't been going too well lately.

I'm pretty sure my IACV is bad because my idle was up at 2k. I capped it for now and I'm back down around 1k.

Also, I think I put my clutch disk in backwards because now it won't disengage right and is a downright pain in the ass to drive.

Finally, this happened on the way up from PA to NY:
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/185992_10151339961987846_1831531707_n.jpg


Just thought I'd toss up an update about what's been going on.
At least the engine was running strong before the manifold blew and the new shell is super clean and looking good.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/202495_10151332442782846_834577985_o.jpg

[codyace]

Ah man that freakin stinks to see that manifold break like that. Perfect chance to go external gate on a stocker now :D (I have one ready to ship too ;)

[LuckyX2]

Ah man that freakin stinks to see that manifold break like that. Perfect chance to go external gate on a stocker now :D (I have one ready to ship too ;)

Yeah, but it's my fault because of how I wrapped it. The collector there isn't wrapped while the rest is. That made the manifold expand/contract at a different rate for the collector vs the rest of the manifold and that is obviously bad.

PM me with a price on one of the external gated stockers please. I found a stock one locally for now so I can at least drive the car but I may go with an externally gated one later; not sure yet.

[LuckyX2]

Replaced the manifold!

http://i48.tinypic.com/opbna0.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/255n8mr.jpg


I also figured out why my idle has been so high. I always knew my IACV wasn't working properly so I went to buy a new one and I came across a picture of the gasket. That made me remember back when I put it on I never noticed that the gasket covered up an opening on the IACV and just RTV'ed it instead. So now my IACV has a big hole in it that's supposed to be covered and it's letting in tons of air. I'm not sure why it's designed like that. It seems stupid that they'd make a hole, only to cover it up with a gasket... Oh well, I'm just glad it was a $5 fix!

So next on my list is dropping the trans and figuring out why my clutch won't disengage... That's happening today hopefully.

[drscooper]

this build is awsome and on point man!!! VERY NICE!!!

[blo0d]

hey i hope you addressed why your manifold broke.... check your mounts, do you think you need a flex pipe in your exh DP?

[LuckyX2]

this build is awsome and on point man!!! VERY NICE!!!

Thanks!


hey i hope you addressed why your manifold broke.... check your mounts, do you think you need a flex pipe in your exh DP?

I haven't yet but I know the reasons and will take care of it soon. One was how I had it wrapped created a cold spot at the collector where it cracked. Also my new mounts are super stiff and lowered the engine an inch or two which is going to change the geometry of the exhaust and put some extra pressure on the manifold. Those things combined with the fact that I don't have a flex joint and it was only a matter of time before this manifold cracked...


As for my clutch issue. I dropped the trans and everything was fine. The pivot, fork and TOB were all on correctly and moving freely and the clutch disk was not backwards. I even made up an extended rod for the slave and it's still not releasing. I can watch the pressure plate fingers compress as a friend presses the clutch pedal so I really have no idea what's wrong.

[LuckyX2]

So I was tired of dealing with my new clutch's problems so I just went back to my old ACT pressure plate but with a new sprung 6-puck disk (old was unsprung). Annnnnnd, it works great now!

Turbo isn't spooling now tho... I tried to spin the compressor by hand but it's seized completely. I'm guessing that a piece of my old broken manifold fell in the turbine housing. I'll be checking it out this week.

[DaHawaiiKid]

nice thread hope everything turns out ok! and you make me wish i had money! i envy you my friend!

Sub'd!!!

[LuckyX2]

nice thread hope everything turns out ok! and you make me wish i had money! i envy you my friend!

Sub'd!!!

Thanks!

So here's what has been going on lately...

I took off my RPS that was giving me troubles and put my old ACT Xtreme pressure plate on but this time with a sprung disk.

http://i49.tinypic.com/j912ir.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/2qlej5u.jpg

All was good for a day or two and then I realized my turbo wasn't spooling. Turns out there wasn't a piece of the manifold in it like I had thought but actually a bearing in the CHRA came free and got stuck, causing the turbo to be seized stiff.
Well I guess that's as good of an excuse as any to upgrade... So I picked up a GT2871r 56 trim .64 AR (the turbo I was originally supposed to have...)

Here's a pic of the old GT2560r compressor wheel and housing next to the GT2871r which looks gigantic in comparison haha. Should be good for another 75-100whp. :D

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/620733_10151409453577846_1712940008_o.jpg

I also finally made the switch to E85 like I had planned since building the engine. A quick 30% bump to the fueling in my Haltech and an extra 4 degrees of timing and I was driving a whole new car. I've been wanting to fine tune the fuel but guess what? My Innovate wideband controller broke... I've just been having the worst luck; things I never even messed with are breaking left and right. At least the stuff I just redid recently (like the whole engine lol) is holding together well. I picked up some cheap-o bare circuit board wideband controller on eBay for $25 and will be using that until Innovate sends back my repaired LC-1.

There are autocrosses in my area the next three weeks that I'm hoping to attend. When/if I do, I'll post my best runs.

[mortadellama70]

Very nice Build!! Glad to see she's coming along!

Are you running any wheel Spacers? Front? Rear? What sizes?

I'm interested in running these same wheels, but I'm a little worried about fitment... Plus I would like to run the 17 x 10.5 Rears and 17 x 9 Fronts...

Thanks!

[Conrad 2NR]

Wow @ stuff breaking. This is EXACTLY what I've been experiencing, up to recently where I threw a rocker arm and damaged a valve and possibly some other stuff.

Keep on truckin' man, love the progress thus far.

[LuckyX2]

Wow @ stuff breaking. This is EXACTLY what I've been experiencing, up to recently where I threw a rocker arm and damaged a valve and possibly some other stuff.

Keep on truckin' man, love the progress thus far.

Thanks :)

And yeah, it's one thing to have something go wrong because I installed it incorrectly or something but it's another to have a manifold, wideband, turbo and new clutch all go bad on me in a month through no fault of my own.

Shit sucks.

Very nice Build!! Glad to see she's coming along!

Are you running any wheel Spacers? Front? Rear? What sizes?

I'm interested in running these same wheels, but I'm a little worried about fitment... Plus I would like to run the 17 x 10.5 Rears and 17 x 9 Fronts...

Thanks!
Thank you :)

The fronts needed a 5mm spacer to clear the Wilwoods. No spacers on the rears. The wheels are 17x9 +20 all around. Absolutely zero issues in the rear and more room to grow but the front is a tight fit especially because I jumped on a good deal and went for 45 sidewalls. 245/40/17 or 245/35/17 should be fine on the fronts with some fender rolling/pulling. Not sure about 17x10.5 in the rear; check the maximum rubber thread for that.

Btw, the last autocross was pretty crappy and the course was basically just a circle. I don't think I'm gonna bother posting it. There's one this Sunday at the Buffalo Bills stadium that should be good tho.

[LuckyX2]

Well, spring is coming and its time to get the 240 back on the road!

I picked up this bad boy for an absolute steal yesterday. GTi-R ITBs and plenum for only $165 shipped.
http://i47.tinypic.com/2cxglci.jpg

Very excited to get this fitted, synced and tuned so I can start enjoying the throttle response it will bring.

[reeskm]

Sick! I've wanted to see how to fit the GTIR ITBs, but many people keep saying "bad idea dude" and "it's not possible" and all sorts of other excuses.

By the way, who made your injector rail for your ID1000's? My tuner is reccomending that plus a haltech. I'm planning on almost the same setup as yours except for 91 gas and not e85, and either a gtx2863 or 2867r...

Nice work!

[LuckyX2]

Sick! I've wanted to see how to fit the GTIR ITBs, but many people keep saying "bad idea dude" and "it's not possible" and all sorts of other excuses.

By the way, who made your injector rail for your ID1000's? My tuner is reccomending that plus a haltech. I'm planning on almost the same setup as yours except for 91 gas and not e85, and either a gtx2863 or 2867r...

Nice work!

Thanks, I'll hopefully have them fitted within a few weeks. They're gonna get here Tuesday and then I need to find a shop to cut, flip and weld the runners. After that it's just up to me to mess with it until it fits, make a throttle cable bracket, adapt the IACV, flip the TPS wires, sync and tune. You can find some ITB setups HERE (#/f/engine-tech/225248-rwd-sr20det-itbs.html) if you're interested.

As for the rail, it's just some cheap generic one that I painted black. Something like THIS (http://compare.ebay.com/like/160781660611?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar)
Actually, I'll be putting mine up for sale when I get the ITBs on if you want it. The rail on the ITBs is already top feed so I won't need it anymore.

I really do like the ID's, they're some of the most consistent injectors out there and my Haltech has been a pleasure to work with too. So what are your power goals? If you're shooting for 400whp+ go with the 67, otherwise stick to the 63 and get your power earlier.

[Extreme Dimensions]

Nice man!:naughtyd:

[codyace]

Thanks, I'll hopefully have them fitted within a few weeks. They're gonna get here Tuesday and then I need to find a shop to cut, flip and weld the runners. After that it's just up to me to mess with it until it fits, ....

It will be interesting to see how they work, as around that power level even the FWD guys begin to go with a large plenum setup vs the GTiR as the sizing of them begins to hurt top end.

I don't want to be debby downer, but just making sure you know it's a possibility for sure.

Hope all has been well!

[LuckyX2]

Nice man!:naughtyd:

Thanks!

It will be interesting to see how they work, as around that power level even the FWD guys begin to go with a large plenum setup vs the GTiR as the sizing of them begins to hurt top end.

I don't want to be debby downer, but just making sure you know it's a possibility for sure.

Hope all has been well!

Thanks for the heads up and yeah, the plenum is a bit of a downsize from where I'm at now. I wouldn't mind losing a little up top to gain some down low though; I could use it for autocross. I'm planning on cutting off the inlet and getting a 2.75" (or whatever size my IC piping is...) welded on which should eliminate the biggest restriction. Hopefully the rest of the plenum isn't too bad. Ultimately I'm counting on the higher velocity air and equalized cylinders to make up for the lower volume but we'll see how it goes. If it proves to be too restrictive I could always make a larger plenum! :D

And yeah, all is well here, hopefully things are good on your end too. I'm hoping this season will be the one where I get my car throughly situated and can shift the focus to driving it rather than working on it. Hoping for lots of autox/track time this season. Are you planning on going to the Glen at all? I think I'll be there for the PCA weekend.

[reeskm]

There's a lot of potential for sure. Turbos are the great equalizer. Even with restricted intakes you can still make ridonculous power. (WRC restrictor plates are a famous engine builder's hurdle, but examining how they get around it is fascinating).

The original ITB setup was cast like every other factory part. It's nothing special except for the ITBs themselves, which are factory parts. Being cast, and mass produced, there is still huge gains to be made by proper porting and extrude honing and generally hand fitting of parts. A larger inlet could do wonders, and experimenting with different runner lengths pre-TB could lead to some fantastic gains up top.

I wonder what they did on the WRC GTIRs? How much of the factory ITB setup did they keep, at all? Hmm......

Either way, ITBs suit a responsive motor build. Sometimes, up-top power isn't that useful. I say fab it up and test it out!

[LuckyX2]

I tried finding some pictures of WRC GTi-R setups but didn't have any luck unfortunately.

I'm sure one way or another I'll make this work though. ITBs are just too cool to pass up so I'm planning on doing whatever I need to make this into a good manifold for my use. It shouldn't be too hard since size is basically the only disadvantage and a little grinding, cutting and welding can take care of that. It's a lot more work for sure but between the uniqueness factor and the potential for getting power a good bit earlier, I'm very excited.

I just wish I had the money to blow on more dyno time though. I'd love to be able to tune it as is then tune it with the ITBs and see the exact effects. It takes me about two hours to tune it and I don't really feel like spending $200 in dyno time just to see the difference. Also, my engine is a little unusual with E85 and 10.5:1 compression so it's hard to just do one dyno and then compare it to other peoples' builds. I'll do my best to give an accurate report on the setup though.

[LuckyX2]

Got the ITBs today, tore them down and cleaned them. Now I need to find someone with a TIG to get these flipped.


http://oi50.tinypic.com/o2sh.jpg

http://oi50.tinypic.com/24fb9eq.jpg

http://oi50.tinypic.com/f264bd.jpg

http://oi48.tinypic.com/10dbiw5.jpg

http://oi50.tinypic.com/2957fqu.jpg

There's approximately a 1/16" lip around the throttle plates that I plan to smooth down and pick up some flow from.
http://oi47.tinypic.com/112erdz.jpg

About 2 1/4" for the inlet. I think my cool side piping is 2 3/4" so hopefully I can widen this a bit.
http://oi45.tinypic.com/5txr8k.jpg

All together I don't see this restricting flow much. The ports are large (aside from the inlet), the plenum is pretty large with a slightly coarse finish to prevent laminar flow and the individual inlets have a nice teardrop shape to them that should guide air in nicely.

Also, does anyone know where I can get a wiring diagram for the GTi-R IACV? I'd rather use the one that came with it than rig up my current one that I think is busted anyway.

[LuckyX2]

Did a little porting today.

http://oi48.tinypic.com/2zsoght.jpg

http://oi47.tinypic.com/dgwzk.jpg

http://oi49.tinypic.com/swble9.jpg

And if anyone has or knows where to get a GTi-R TPS with bracket, let me know. That's the one thing I'm missing. Or maybe I can just fab up something to use my SR TPS.

Also, I'm thinking about grinding down the bar that the throttle plates bolt to. They take up a significant amount of the cross-sectional area at WOT. Thoughts on this? I imagine it could only help.
Or even better, I could remove one side of the bar completely and grind the other side down a little.

[LuckyX2]

Picked up a new LSD over the weekend!
My VLSD just wasn't cutting it and my 4.6 final gear was too short for the power I'm making/planning on making so it was time to change.

I came across this guy on eBay who didn't realize he had a $1,500 Nismo GT LSD. I'm hoping it's a pro but I won't know until it gets here and I can check for the internal adjuster.
http://i45.tinypic.com/3509hja.jpg

He was asking $695, I offered $600, he came back at $650 and I bought it at that. Quite a deal if I may say so myself; gotta love eBay. The 20 clutch plates in this should lock up nice and smooth and the 4.11 gearing is a better fit for my engine and will let me go a little faster in second gear for autocross. All together I'm pretty excited to get this in. I have some solid bushings on the way for it too since it's in a skyline housing and needs bushings to bold up to my S13. By the way, what gear oil do you guys like? I'll need to buy some of that too.

And currently, I've been working on my tune. I'll post up some datalogs after I do a few more street sessions but I'm really liking how it's doing now. I'm only running 15psi and the timing is retarded until I know the fueling is solid but even then it likes to spin 1st through 3rd :yum: The turbo is nice and responsive too. From 2500RPM or so in 3rd gear it's only taking a second from when I first get on the throttle until it's right up at full boost and about 1500RPM higher. And that's with me slowly easing onto it since if I floor it, the tires spin. Very happy so far.

[reeskm]

Nice work man!
I've used redline in my diffs for years, but now I have an OS Giken unit in my S13. With that diff, you should use the OS fluid to go with it. It's $, but OS recommends factory drain intervals in their diffs. That's why I spent more on an OS unit.

With the Nismo one, if you're really anal and want it to perform, use the Nismo fluid. Otherwise just use and proper LSD fluid that's quality.

[e1_griego]

I used redline in my GT.

Mine wasn't very smooth at all, just fyi.

My giken is buttttttter smooth.

[LuckyX2]

Thanks!

For the oil, I went ahead and bought some Motul 90PA. Motul makes the oil for Nismo so I figure it's mostly the same stuff just without the premium price. It was pretty cheap too at only $25 for 2L and it already has the friction modifiers needed for clutch types. Everything should be here Tuesday/Wednesday and hopefully I'll get it installed and tested by the weekend. The diff upgrade couldn't have come sooner. My current VLSD isn't handling the power I'm making well and it pulls me left under hard accelleration. This Nismo is supposed to be 50/50 distribution with a progressive, strong lock. I'll find out soon...

As for the ITB's, I'm just trying to find a fabricator locally to cut and weld my manifold. I'd like do it myself but with no TIG, that's not happening. Hopefully it won't be too much and won't take too long so I can get on the dyno soon. A place by me has a Mustang Gladiator dyno that they rent out for $100/hr. I can't wait to get on that and do some serious cell by cell tuning.

And griego, I was initially eyeing up an OS Giken since it came highly reccomended from my SMF nationals winning friend but at $650 I just couldn't pass this up.

[reeskm]

For $650 the Nismo unit is a steal. Like I said, I figured the OS unit I paid for was worth every penny for the quality and butter smooth operation, factory service drain interval, and reliability. However, most clutch pack diffs need fluid drains and changes every 3000 kms which is not what i'm interested in at all. Plus frequent clutch pack rebuilds are a waste of my time when I could be out making more 11's.

Either way, Motul is super nice fluid. I'm sure you won't have any issues.
With OS, they have a custom blend of modifiers and weights in their fluid that make their diffs operate smoothly and chatter free. If you use another oil, they are reliable and work the same but are noisier.

Depends on how anal you are, like I said.

Good luck with the ITBs! I heard the tuning is a total PITA. If you make huge success with it it will change rumours about ITB being "impossible".

[LuckyX2]

I don't mind the noise much seeing how my car already sounds like it's going to rattle apart between the high idle, solid bushings, poly mounts and 3" barely muffled exhaust lol.

And I've already started changing my tune over to TPS load instead of MAP load to prepare for the ITBs and it has been going well.

I think with my Haltech and TPS load for VE tuning, it should be very easy. Because I'm using VE, vaccum and boost are already accounted for in the ECU's calculations so I won't even need to make a MAP correction table. Tuning should be as easy as holding RPM steady with a load dyno like a Mustang, increasing load with the throttle and increasing/decreasing each cell's VE until I'm at the desired AFR. I'll do this for cells at critical breakpoints and then linearize inbetween. Same thing will be done for ignition timing but with the goal of MBT, not AFR. All together, I'm not expecting to spend more than 2-3 hours on the dyno and I should have a great tune by the end since I'll be optimizing cell by cell.

The only reason ITBs are hard to tune is because the MAP signal equalizes to atmosphere much faster than with a single throttle. This means you have a very hard time getting good MAP readings in partial throttle vacuum areas of operation. Tuning with TPS solves this and so does using a MAF since that measures air mass directly.

You can follow my tuning efforts HERE (http://www.nissanroadracing.com/showthread.php?t=4447). I made a thread on Zilvia too but nobody replied so I just focus on the Nissan Road Racing thread now.

[reeskm]

Thanks for the info! I have heard tuning by TPS is the way to go, but couldn't find someone explaining why. My tuner was saying that ITBs even on a GTR are a paint to tune, but maybe he doesn't know what you know.

[LuckyX2]

Perhaps he was tuning with injector timing which would be more complicatd because he would need to make a MAP compensation table. With VE, it's no more complicated than tuning with MAP because you're doing the same exact thing. The TPS table might take a little longer to make though because RPM has a greater effect on VE with TPS than with MAP. VE is pretty much linear with MAP but the relationship between TPS and VE is less clear.

Here's a pretty standard VE table using MAP as the load:
http://i48.tinypic.com/168hanc.jpg
Notice that it's pretty much a linear gradient from left to right since VE primarily changes with MAP, not RPM.

Now here's a TPS map:
http://i47.tinypic.com/142euk2.jpg
Notice now there are two gradients, left to right with throttle position and top to bottom with RPM. This is because the relationship for VE is dependent upon both. We can relate this back to MAP easily.

Think of it this way; VE is nearly linear with MAP, so if we can find a way to relate throttle position to MAP, that relation will then have a linear relation to VE. The problem is that throttle position is not the only thing that determines manifold pressure, RPM does too. At 1000RPM it might only take 10% throttle to reach atmospheric pressure but at 8000RPM, the engine is drawing in much more air and has a much greater potential to make vacuum so more throttle is needed to equalize that vacuum to atmosphere. This is known as "effective WOT" and is why when looking at the TPS table the VE at 40% throttle and 9000RPM is equal to the VE at 6% throttle and 1000RPM. Theoretically, given the load on the engine, these two points will have similar manfold pressure because of VE's direction relationship with pressure. But load is not always the same because the car will be driven in different gears and on different inclines. These load changes will show up as differences in manifold pressure and is the reason why MAP compensation is needed if not tuning with VE which already does MAP compensation automatically.

Furthermore, VE tuning with TPS as the load should theoretically provide a superior tune than with MAP as the load if done properly. The reason is simply because it is accounting for more vaiables, making it a more complete tune. With TPS VE you're including TPS, MAP and RPM but with MAP VE you are missing TPS as part of the equation and relying on the fact that VE is more related to MAP than anything else and dropping off TPS as a variable because its significance is less. It also makes tuning for transient throttle enrichment easier since throttle changes will instantly be recognized as a load increase and enrichment will happen mostly automatically.

I hope that wasn't too complicated for everyone!

[reeskm]

I hope that wasn't too complicated for everyone!

Only slightly ;)

[LuckyX2]

Well, some things came up and it looks the the dyno time with the ITBs is going to get pushed back a bit.

I came across a good deal on some Ohlins suspension HERE (#/f/sale-items/512648-ohlins-pcv-coilovers-s13-used.html) and worked out a trade for my Konis.

So I took the Konis off, cleaned them and shipped them out.
http://i50.tinypic.com/33afiab.jpg

And this is how my car will sit for a week or two until all my new suspension pieces arrive and the Ohlins get rebuilt.
http://i45.tinypic.com/14alwn5.jpg

I have a lot more on the way too: Geomaster 2 knuckles/uprights/offset spacers, Godspeed front and rear lower control arms, aluminum steering bushing and s14 front hubs and bolts to fit the Geomaster knuckles. It's basically going to be a whole new car when it comes down off the jack stands. Better dampers, corrected roll center, corrected bumpsteer, corrected dynamic alignment changes, crisper steering and there's not a single stock bushing left in my suspension now; it's all spherical or poly.

And on top of the suspension overhaul I still have my Nismo GT LSD and ITBs waiting to go on. Lots and lots of work; I can't wait to see how it feels afterwards though.

[e1_griego]

You ditched 8611s for Jdm ohlins?

Why for?

[LuckyX2]

For a few reasons:

-I was advised to take the Ohlins over Konis any day by two guys I know who work for Penske.
-Last season's SMF winner drove my car with the 8611's and an Evo with PCV Ohlins like these and said they were comparable.
-I can get the Ohlins rebuilt very cheap.
-I was given enough cash on top to pay for most of the Geomaster setup.
-The fork mount that the Konis need to retain access to the compression adjustment in the rear does not work with the various roll center corrected rear uprights like the Geomasters.
-If I don't like them, I can make money selling them.

Basically I think Ohlins + Geomasters is better than Koni + some hacked up geometry corrections.

[RalliartRsX]

Who is rebuilding the Ohlins?? I need a line to rebuild my Koni DAs :)

PM me details and how much they are charging

[LuckyX2]

My Dad rebuilds Ohlins, Sachs and possibly Penske at his motorcycle shop. I'm not sure if he does Koni. And I'm getting it at cost presumably, so I'm not sure what it would cost you. I'll ask though.

[e1_griego]

Alright, well I guess money-wise it makes sense.

Pretty sure s13 ohlins are not the pimpy euro ohlins that everyone loves. They are valved more in line with the other JDM stuff.

PJ is still playing at the pointy end of SM with 8611s -- that seems good enough for me.

[LuckyX2]

It's still the same PCV valve tech, though, isn't it? I could just valve it to whatever specs I want. And I trust that Ohlins wouldn't have licensed out their name for these if it did not meet their specifications; they have a high reputation to uphold.

And I have no doubt in the capability of the 8611's. I really liked the car with them and if the Geomasters were available in a fork mount, I probably would have kept them.

Worst case scenario, I don't like the Ohlins and my car is slightly behind for a season but still better overall with the inclusion of the Geomasters. Penskes after that? :naughty:
I'm minutes away from their main office in Reading, PA and tempted daily... Only a matter of time before I cave in and punish my wallet.

[Conrad 2NR]

I'll hopefully have the same coilovers on next weekend, did you find any advice on a setting to start them off with?

I hate the fact the ride height must be adjusted with the spring collars.

[LuckyX2]

I'll hopefully have the same coilovers on next weekend, did you find any advice on a setting to start them off with?

I hate the fact the ride height must be adjusted with the spring collars.


Nope. I'm just going to start full stiff and work my way down until I find where I like it. And yeah, much nice to have preload independent height adjustment but it's not all that bad. Especially on these with the helper springs, they'll get preloaded first and the main spring won't be affected too much by it.

Some other suspension goodies came in by the way.

Godspeed lower control arms:
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/305847_10151885541827846_755232044_n.jpg

and Geomasters:
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/72156_10151878946672846_1796137931_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/562513_10151878946762846_1831660898_n.jpg

Also should be getting a Cobra Suzuka Pro seat in soon. It's this one:
http://www.trackculture.com/shop/media/catalog/product/cache/2/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/t/c/tcsuzukapro2.jpg

$200 cheaper than the Cobra branded Suzuka; I just have to put up with that Track Culture logo... I like the blue stitching tho!

[LuckyX2]

And the progress continues...

Control arms are painted and ready to go on.
http://i41.tinypic.com/35i7pcy.jpg

Ohlins showed up and I will be rebuilding them this week hopefully.
http://i43.tinypic.com/viogab.jpg

I also ordered a set of 245/40/17 BF Goodrich Rivals since I was tired of my fatass 45 sidwall tires I have now and the Rivals also look very impressive. They're backordered until the end of May tho, so it's going to be a while until I get them. Same deal with the Cobra seat.

I also got to play with a sweet Penske setup the other day.
http://i43.tinypic.com/345hk5v.jpg

It not only has the traditional oil piston inside but also a mass that spins as the shaft compresses. In instances where the shaft is accelerating very quickly, the mass up top can provide a considerable inertial load to resist it. Think of it almost like a high-high speed compression adjustment except it works off of acceleration of the shaft, not velocity. Cool tech but waaaay out of the s-chassis league at $10k each...

[andy20det]

i also started the itb projet ! got the same itb setup as you... wich injector are you goig to use ??

heres mine http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af289/Andy20det/faff8034.jpg (http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/Andy20det/media/faff8034.jpg.html)

[LuckyX2]

I love that carbon plenum. Do you post on Nissan Road Racing too? I feel like I may have seen your setup before.

And I'm going to keep my ID1000 injectors.

[LuckyX2]

Update:

Basically a lot of delays...

-Ordered S14 front hubs for the Geomasters and they sent me S13's so I have to return them.
-RLCA's are for an S14 and do not fit my S13 (I think they forgot to include adapter spacers). Currently in contact with the seller.
-Nismo LSD is 31 spline unlike my current 5x1 29 spline axles. So I have to get a driver's side Q45 axle and a driver's side Z32 TT axle. I have the Q45 axle already and I'm going to try my luck with a set from a G35. The G35's/350z's are 6x1 pattern and 31 spline just like the Q45's but I am unsure on length and if they are 29 or 31 spline at the wheel end. Ordered some 31 spline Z32 TT hubs anyway, just in case. Will try and post my cumulative findings on diff/axle/hub combos when I'm done.
-Rebuilding the Ohlins has become a pain in the ass. One day, I can get parts, the next they won't ship them, claiming they only ship to certified rebuilders.
-ITBs are still sitting, waiting at my fab guy's house. Should be getting them back soon.
-Rivals were delayed and delayed again so I just canceled the order rather than having a $750 charge pending on my account for two months, I figured I'll use that money now and reorder when they're finally in stock.

That's all for now I guess. Lots of obstacles and I'm getting tired of blowing through paychecks on unexpected things; I just want to race already...

On a positive note!
I've ordered myself a brand new complete 180sx Kouki front, bash bar and N1 vents and I'm about to pull the trigger on some Chuki skirts and a GT-1 rear bumper. Picked up some ZG flares too but basically just because it's the cheapest way to get extra fender room. Not sure how the flares will look so I might go with replacement/over fenders later and sell the ZG's. We'll see when I get it... Planning on wrapping it all up in 3M matte metallic blue or maybe going a little exotic and doing brushed aluminum. I want it to be eye-catching and unusual but not over the top to the point that it's gaudy.

[e1_griego]

I hope you are not going to run any of the bearings or hardware that came with those godspeed arms. They're really really shitty.

[LuckyX2]

I was going to just throw them on as is temporarily since I'm in a bit of a rush but now that I have the down time, I should probably replace them.

They all seem to be in good tolerance tho, not loose and not seized.

[e1_griego]

My friend snapped one of the pins in his tightening down the castle nut.

Honestly, they all scare me, but if you trust it then go for it.


Is the rear outboard bearing a com bearing + snap ring in that tilted housing? From the pics I've seen it seems like yes, but I want to confirm before I buy a set and start messing with rear roll center correction stuffs.

[LuckyX2]

Here's a picture for you:
http://i42.tinypic.com/241tevn.jpg
So yeah, it's a com + snap ring in there.

If someone could direct me to the part number of the angled rod end that I need, that would be great.
Or I'll probably replace the pin with a grade 8 bolt and keep the rod end since it looks like that won't be breaking any time soon.

I'll just replace the pins with bolts of the same size instead of pressing out the bearings, drilling and pressing in new bearings like here:
http://www.nissanroadracing.com/showthread.php?t=1407

Def himself said 3/4" was overkill so I should be fine keeping the stock bearings and only doing a slightly smaller grade 8 bolt.

[e1_griego]

Awesome, thank you.

Are the other bearings on the subframe side just com bearings too?

[LuckyX2]

Yep, same bearings on the inner half.

So does anyone know what I need to do to install the rear lower control arms?
They claimed they fit on both S13 and S14 even though they have different pickup points but it's not fitting on my S13. I figured there would be two sets of spacers, one for S13 and one for S14 but there was only one set. When I asked the seller, he claims there aren't any extra spacers and that it should work on both. He even said out of all he's sold, I'm the first to say they didn't fit.

What am I missing here?

[e1_griego]

What doesn't fit?

s13 should have narrrower joints vs s14 anyway, so it should bolt right in.

[LuckyX2]

The inner half of the RLCAs does not fit. They simply will not line up with the mounts on the subframe.
I'll try and get a picture tonight.

[jp69]

Fuck gsp shit

[ZX88]

The inner half of the RLCAs does not fit. They simply will not line up with the mounts on the subframe.
I'll try and get a picture tonight.

my buddy had this problem the rear didnt fit.

[LuckyX2]

Fuck gsp shit

Thank you for your insightful post.

my buddy had this problem the rear didnt fit.

Did he ever get them to work?

[LuckyX2]

Figured it's time for an update. Still waiting on the Ohlins parts to come in and trying to get the right driveshafts for the new diff.

As I'm waiting I figured it would be a good time to do some cosmetics!
I picked up a kouki front, chuki skirts, a GT-1 rear bumper and some 30mm front fenders.

Best part is that it's all getting wrapped up in this:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/980745_10151976656797846_1806867413_o.jpg

Should be looking great in a week or two and hopefully back up and running not too long after that.

[codyace]

Def's Budget Baller FLCA setup is calling your name! I think i still have some GSP rod ends that I wasn't able to even MOVE with a long screwdriver

[LuckyX2]

Yeah, I'm definitely going to follow Def's guide for the control arms. Probably just going to stick with a stock M18 bolt though instead of sizing up to 3/4" like in his guide. Saves me from having to buy the com bearings, drilling out the arms and then pressing them in. Also, I have to grind down the spacers on the RLCAs to get them to fit.

But that's not what's holding me up, getting parts for my Ohlins and finding a Z32 TT driver's side axle is. Other than that, I have everything to get back on the road. It's really getting annoying having a few things holding up progress...

[LuckyX2]

Time for an update since I'm finally getting this thing together...

I dynoed the Ohlins and found the rears were fine. Since I only have to rebuild the fronts now, I finally caved in and sent them out to Ohlins instead of trying to source parts myself and save some money. They should be back in a week or two and then I'll have everything ready to go on the fronts.

As for the rears, I got the passenger's side installed:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1082162_10152106442782846_1182565851_o.jpg

Came together without much hassle using a Q45 driver's side axle and stub shaft along with some Z32 TT hubs. Only issue (aside from the shitty GSP RLCAs that I didn't use) was that my brake caliper does not line up correctly now. Looks like I can fix it with a shorter bolt and some washer shimming but I should not have to do that on a high dollar product like Geomasters. And I'm still waiting on an axle for the driver's side before I can start fitting that. Found a guy with an R32 who has some axles he'll be bringing by. Hopefully one of those will work.

Here's my results on axles for the 31 spline Nismo GT LSD:

-The standard driver's side Z32 TT axle on the driver's side and driver's side Q45 axle on the passenger's side is a known good combo but Z32 axles are near impossible to find anymore. This needs Z32 TT hubs.

-You can use two Q45 axles if you have the driver's side shortened. However, to do this you will need two driver's side Q45 stub shafts since the Nismo LSD takes two short 6x1 stubs while the Q45 only has a short stub on the driver's side. The passenger side stub is longer on the Q45's just like on a 5x1 stub. This also needs Z32 TT hubs.

-350z/G35 axles (driver on driver and passenger on passenger) should work (lengths are close) with two driver's side stub shafts from a Q45. The stub shafts on a 350z are both short 6x1 31 spline but the taper at the end is different rendering them unusable. Luckily you can swap with the Q45 stubs. An important note is that you will need the bolts and nuts for the 350z axles since they use a bolt and a nut where as the axles on a Q45 just use a bolt that threads into the axle. The axles on the 350z are not threaded. One convenient thing about this route is that the outer hub splines are 29's so you can use them with regular 4 or 5 lug hubs and not just the Z32 TT's. To my knowledge, this is new info and should be very useful since 350z's and G35's are the most common in junkyards out of all these and are new enough that replacements are still being made.

-R32 axles should work (driver on driver and passenger on passenger) with the only modification being that the passenger's side stub would need to be replaced by a driver's side R32/Q45/Z32 TT stub that is 6x1, short and the correct taper. I'm assuming the passenger side stub is longer just like on Z32 TT's and Q45's but have yet to confirm this. Also assuming the lengths are correct since S13/R32 subframes are so similar. I will confirm this when I have the R32 axles in hand. This will need the Z32 TT hubs and is also harder to source parts for so I doubt it will be a popular option.

That's all for now!

[LuckyX2]

Winter update since I've been daydreaming about getting back to this lately...

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/q80/s720x720/1391640_10152352435327846_1199501369_n.jpg

Some of the many axles I went through trying to find the right ones haha.

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1/q77/s720x720/1175187_10152207527477846_1875186567_n.jpg

Front Ohlins were busted beyond repair so I needed a quick fix. Got a nice price on Fortune Auto 500's with swift springs and radial bearings so I went for it.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/q89/s720x720/1234204_10152209713492846_1532992364_n.jpg

Front suspension lined up and ready to go.

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1/q82/s720x720/1176357_10152209906367846_91185499_n.jpg

Installed, but as you can see, the FLCA fits like shit and is crooked. Couldn't even get the rears on, and the fronts barely worked. Just gonna take these off and stay stock I guess. Problem is that I need an S14 balljoint for the Geomasters, so I'll either have to press that in or buy S14 arms. Guess that's what I get for buying cheap...

[PoorMans180SX]

Guess that's what I get for buying cheap...

I have discovered that every time I try and do something "on a budget" this kind of thing happens. It's so frustrating but one can only blame oneself. Patience is so hard, haha.

Anyway, build's looking good man! Keep it up.

[RalliartRsX]

Can you give me more details on your brake setup?? I may have missed it in the thread (read: part manufacture and number for rotor, hat, hardware and bracket used)

Thanks! Looking good!

[LuckyX2]

I have discovered that every time I try and do something "on a budget" this kind of thing happens. It's so frustrating but one can only blame oneself. Patience is so hard, haha.

Anyway, build's looking good man! Keep it up.

Yeah, it's tough trying to maintain quality on a 23 year old college kid budget... Graduation is in spring though and that means full time money coming in this season. Hoping to get this "finished" (we all know we're never really done) by summer's end.

Thanks for the compliment! I try and strike a balance by spend money where it matters and cheap out on what I can get away with. I thought I could cheap out on control arms since it's a simple piece of mostly straight steel, but I guess not. Something like a turbo that sees 150k rpm or dampers that need to be precise and durable, I wouldn't cheap out on (wish I just stayed with my $3k Koni setup since the front Ohlins were trashed). I guess you could say cost effective is what I'm shooting for.

Can you give me more details on your brake setup?? I may have missed it in the thread (read: part manufacture and number for rotor, hat, hardware and bracket used)

Thanks! Looking good!

Thank you, I'm using Def's brackets and hat with off the shelf Wilwood components for the rest of it. Installed them back on page 3.
Here's some more info for you:
http://www.nissanroadracing.com/showthread.php?t=4590

It's a great setup with altima or z32 brakes in the rear. Locks up my 245 street tires at auto-x speeds too easily if anything but it's nothing a delicate foot doesn't fix and it's perfect at higher speeds. I have to tell people to brace themselves on the dash before I give them a 0-60-0 run.

[PoorMans180SX]

Yeah, it's tough trying to maintain quality on a 23 year old college kid budget... Graduation is in spring though and that means full time money coming in this season. Hoping to get this "finished" (we all know we're never really done) by summer's end.

Thanks for the compliment! I try and strike a balance by spend money where it matters and cheap out on what I can get away with. I thought I could cheap out on control arms since it's a simple piece of mostly straight steel, but I guess not. Something like a turbo that sees 150k rpm or dampers that need to be precise and durable, I wouldn't cheap out on (wish I just stayed with my $3k Koni setup since the front Ohlins were trashed). I guess you could say cost effective is what I'm shooting for.

Yeah man, I'm 26 and paying off some student/other loans, so I feel you there. I have the same way of doing things. They're all good lessons learned I guess.

[LuckyX2]

Yes, much learned on this car... I could have easily bought something prebuilt for less but it wouldn't have come with the 5 years of lessons I have under my belt now.

Also, I really don't want to be that guy who speaks before he delivers but I'm VERY much considering a twin scroll 7163 as a graduation present to myself in the spring/summer... I think my engine is built well enough to be a good showcase for it between my high compression forged bottom end, top end good for 8-9k and E85. Would be cool to set the standard for a 500whp SR build. I'm gonna grenade my stock trans for sure though.

I'd like to change the thinking around here with a well executed, unique build. Not many people that actually increase compression around here and I think they're missing out on a lot of area under the curve. I make more power out of boost and the same power at lower boost compared to the low compression guys. A lot of the focus here is simply on peak tq/hp. I'd like to see people more aware of the finer details that make a car fast like area under the curve, time to torque, boost loss between shifts, where the torque is rather than just how much of it there is, etc.

I have some pretty great datalogging capabilities and would love to a back to back showcase of the finer differences between a 2871 and 7163 if I got one.

[futures14drift]

This thread is absolutely amazing, the attention to detail is on point..but you seem to be buying a lot of suspension pieces multiple times, lol.

Keep it up man, and im really interested in the ITB's setup, how much did they run you, how much power gain is expected? thanks.

[LuckyX2]

Thanks! Yeah, one of the unfortunate parts of slowly building a car on a budget is sometimes you don't have a clear idea of the finish. Plans evolve over time and unfortunately that can lead to redoing some things. Hopefully as I get older and better funded, my next build will be better planned.

They were only $165 shipped on eBay amazingly. Wasn't looking for them but found them and couldn't say no at that price. I'm actually not expecting much of a power gain at all from it. What I am expecting is better throttle response, more low rpm torque and hours of me cursing at my computer as I try to tune the damn thing. Since my car is primarily autocross focused, it should prove useful.

[soundboy]

very interested in the LS coils.

[LuckyX2]

What about them?

[soundboy]

Gimme a review of it..

Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk

[LuckyX2]

Well, spark is never an issue for me, that's for sure. These are some of the most powerful coils out there. They're also plentiful since they're on a lot of GM cars/trucks so you can find them for cheap at junkyards. They get rid of the ignitor chip too, so that's one less point of failure. All in all a good mod, more spark power, more reliable, cheaper than stock coils; I've got nothing bad to say about them.

[LuckyX2]

So I went home for spring break and it's finally back on it's own four wheels!

I ran into a lot of issues but thankfully got it all taken care of in a week. First I put the stock FLCAs back on since the ones I had were crap. I needed to swap in S14 balljoints to do that though. Then I found out I needed longer tie rods than my stock ones and when I used the offset spacers, it was then too long. So I wound up buying 97' Maxima tie rod inners and S14 ends since that gen of Maxima has 11.5" inners. Turns out the aftermarket companies only make them 13" now, so I had to cut some threads off. Finally it was back on the ground, I started it and let it idle to warm up when I noticed my battery spewing out acid gas... Only about a year old and I brought it inside for the winter too, what terrible luck. So I got a new battery and took it for alignment. Got it back from alignment and the toe wasn't to my spec at all (1/8" out front, 1/16" in rear), I questioned it and found out they have never heard of toe measured in fractions of an inch! So I converted it to degrees and they fixed it. Took all day waiting for that...

But it's back on the road now and driving well (it made the 300 mile drive from Allentown PA to Rochester NY). It just has some intense chatter coming from the new clutch type diff. Gonna pick up some friction modifier and that should help it. I used Motul 90pa which has friction modifier in it already, but I guess not enough. Also my idle controller isn't liking this un-seasonal weather. Gotta mess around with the adjuster and the tune.

Picture time!
Looks like crap since there's still bodywork and the rest of the vinyl to do, but I'm happy with how the kouki front and GT-1 rear looks. I have some chuki side skirts ready to go on it too.
http://i57.tinypic.com/2mhhsgk.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/21oqat0.jpg

http://i57.tinypic.com/2911hy1.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/kdk1nc.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/e7xzba.jpg

Steering lock! (And yes, I tightened that coilover nut) I'll get an underside picture of it up here soon too. The arms are all nice an parallel to the ground now with the Geomasters. I took it out to an open parking lot for some "skidpad" testing and even though it was 40F and wet out, the grip was intense. The turn-in is quick and sharp and it holds a tight radius very well

[LuckyX2]

Got some interior goodies :D

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1.0-9/1907996_10152829999752846_5102166509942603827_n.jp g

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/q84/s720x720/10247441_10152835215182846_279930503609765877_n.jp g

https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1.0-9/q81/s720x720/1621891_10152835138272846_6768962605830998595_n.jp g

Haven't gotten the seat in yet because it's been raining, so in the mean time my friends have been using it as a chair. It's more comfortable than our futon surprisingly.

For anyone interested in sizing info I'm 5'11", 165lbs and have a 32" waist and the Suzuka fits me pretty perfectly. It's a bit snug but manageable on my friend pictured above who is 5'9", 180lbs and 34" waist.

[LuckyX2]

Pro tip: Never buy Buddy Club seat rails or any modeled after them... My seat sits way too high now, my head hits the ceiling.

http://i57.tinypic.com/xn7r5d.jpg

[OLDSCHOOLRICE]

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1/q82/s720x720/1176357_10152209906367846_91185499_n.jpg

Installed, but as you can see, the FLCA fits like shit and is crooked. Couldn't even get the rears on, and the fronts barely worked. Just gonna take these off and stay stock I guess. Problem is that I need an S14 balljoint for the Geomasters, so I'll either have to press that in or buy S14 arms. Guess that's what I get for buying cheap...

In case you still have and are interested in running the godspeed (or Defsport “budget baller”) front lower control arms...

The arms (with the tension rods mounted to the top) cause the arm to rotate and contact the spacer, which appears to be your issue. If you mount the tension rods to the bottom side of the control arm this issue will likely be corrected. That’s how I fixed my poor godspeed fitment and I believe there were a couple related posts in the suspension pick-up thread and maybe even in Def’s budget baller thread.

[LuckyX2]

I tried both top and bottom and had a terrible time with them. The two holes on the tension rod just physically did not line up well with the two holes on the control arm.

[LuckyX2]

jUh-PGTGqiQ

Did my first autocross of the season today at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Took second raw and third PAX in my class. Aside from almost taking the first directional cone on the wrong side, it was a pretty solid run.

[LuckyX2]

mLvv9KVUINo

Here's last weekend's FLR event. Same deal as last time, second fastest raw time and third PAX in SM.

W9sFBvdnGyA

Also, I just graduated college and did some moving...

[LuckyX2]

Did a little work on my diff today. Stupid thing was making an awful amount of noise. Like, is my rear going to explode kind of noise. I was also having an issue with understeer on corner entry and oversteer on corner exit. These symptoms can all come from a diff that's too tight.

So here's how I fixed it:

First step was just getting it out
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t1.0-9/q81/s720x720/10364038_10152931381997846_5335590289274734848_n.j pg

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/q71/s720x720/10342433_10152931595327846_862151134975948242_n.jp g

Then came pulling out the internals. Note there is a slot for both 1 and 2 way. I left it at 1 since I autocross and don't want much if any lock on corner entry.
https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/t1.0-9/q71/s720x720/10411919_10152931715737846_6323890270890706179_n.j pg

Then I adjusted the lock by changing the order of the disks. The top picture is 100%, while the bottom has a set of disks cancelled out bringing it to 80% lock.
https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/t1.0-9/q71/s720x720/10291699_10152931664767846_7316702585713034870_n.j pg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t1.0-9/q71/s720x720/10452369_10152931666412846_1155124570369330296_n.j pg

Lastly, I changed the number of cone springs in the center of the spider gears. These are the brass colored disks in the picture below. There were three cone springs in the center, I reduced it to two. This reduces the amount of preload to give a lower breakaway torque. I'm not sure what the stock number of cone springs is but my guess would be two and the previous owner had thrown in an extra. There were also two washers. I assume this is the stock amount.
https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/q83/s720x720/10270544_10152931724637846_476277819378474415_n.jp g


Conclusion? The reduction in preload from removing a cone spring has eliminated the chatter completely. Smooth and silent now. Less preload means a lower breakaway torque which lets the wheels will more easily rotate separate as they should in a corner. So I'm expecting the car to rotate much better now with less preload. Also, the reduction in lock should help me get on the gas a little sooner on corner exit. Before, when I would get on the gas coming out of the corner, it would go full lock and the back end would slide out. Now the lock is less aggressive so I should be able to get on it a little earlier and put the power down in a usable way.

I'll be attending the Philly region autocross this weekend and will report back with how the changes felt.

[LuckyX2]

Finally got my twin scroll EFR7163 after two years of daydreaming...

What's in the box?!
http://i.share.pho.to/4fe6c9cb_l.jpeg

Oh, just an awesome turbo :yum:
http://i.share.pho.to/3804a433_l.jpeg

Shiny billet compressor
http://i.share.pho.to/fc738aaf_o.jpeg

Side view
http://i.share.pho.to/2ff7c07b_o.jpeg

Closer look at the mixed flow TiAl turbine
http://i.share.pho.to/5de88935_l.jpeg

Divided wastegate
http://i.share.pho.to/46625d90_l.jpeg

Manifold and downpipe too
http://i60.tinypic.com/2myt0yf.jpg

This manifold is perfect
http://i.share.pho.to/d738ec9f_l.jpeg

http://i.share.pho.to/f2e1d7ca_l.jpeg

Big thanks to Full-Race for being an awesome company with the highest quality stuff and to Def for throwing together a group buy.

I'll hopefully have this installed within a week and can do some datalogging. Don't expect any dyno pulls soon though, I'm leaving for a cross country drive mid August and will be gone for 2-3 weeks.

Also, I just recently did my once a year reshimming of my head and saw I ate yet another shim. High lift, stiff springs and solid lifters just aren't nice to the shims.
Time to switch to a VE head I guess!

http://i.share.pho.to/bdc23a53_l.jpeg

Hey, Full-Race posted my picture on their Facebook HERE. (https://www.facebook.com/FullRaceMotorsports/photos/a.447340302526.239779.157954962526/10152546802057527/?type=1&theater) Pretty cool...
Thanks Geoff :)

[LuckyX2]

Started putting the 7163 on today. My oil feed isn't as long as I thought so I'll need another, I snapped an exhaust stud and the downpipe doesn't want to line up with the turbine outlet. Typical issues...

http://i.share.pho.to/90b21365_l.jpeg
http://i.share.pho.to/b031a22e_l.jpeg
http://i.share.pho.to/17debf76_l.jpeg

[LuckyX2]

Well, it's gonna be a little while before I get this thing running now...

http://i.share.pho.to/6cc4b9a8_l.jpeg

That's the banjo bolt for the oil feed line and yes, that's the threads from the block broken off in it :mad:

Either going to helicoil it or thread it out to 1/4" NPT since that would be just a little larger than the M12 bolt that was in there. Not sure yet.

Also, I have no idea how the intercooler piping is supposed to fit. I bought THIS (http://www.ebay.com/itm/261528543706?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT) kit and absolutely cannot see a way it would go together. I'm starting to think they sent me the wrong pipe actually, the pieces are different than in the pictures. Next skill on my to learn list is definitely welding so I don't have to deal with stupid things like this.

In good news though, I got the downpipe to line up after loosening everything and going back at it. Probably a leak from it not lining up right where the downpipe meets the exhaust but I don't really care. It's after the turbo and after the O2 sensor, so whatever. So once the oil threads are fixed and I get some piping that works, it will be good to go.

If anyone reading this is in east PA, I definitely recommend Nyco for any of your fitting needs. I walked in with my old bottom mount oil feed line, told them I needed the same thing but twice as long and $36 and 15 minutes later I walked out with this:
http://i.share.pho.to/4e865326_l.jpeg
Very pleased with Nyco.

[LuckyX2]

Update, the install is VERY close to being done. I just need a 45* or 90* fitting for the coolant feed since the wastegate actuator blocks a straight fitting.

http://i.share.pho.to/ce040d3c_l.jpeg

Tapping the oil feed to 1/4" NPT went smoothly. Time consuming, going just a turn or two at a time but no issues.

http://i.share.pho.to/932989aa_l.jpeg

Even got my eBay piping to work

http://i.share.pho.to/d320cdf6_l.jpeg

For those considering this pipe for a top mount, here's the pipe I had to cut and how much I had to take off. I needed to use one of my own 90* elbows too, since it wasn't supplied.

http://i.share.pho.to/c7111a78_l.jpeg

And here's the finished product:

http://i.share.pho.to/1bf1db99_l.jpeg

http://i.share.pho.to/a7d3f16b_l.jpeg

[LuckyX2]

XvqMrb04HoI

Well, she finally runs. Here's a little clip of the boost recovery for everyone. 3rd gear, about 3k and I floored it. Let off the throttle after it got into boost a bit and then got back on the throttle and it was right back where it left off in an instant.

More info soon.

Update: Had a boost leak in this vid... I'll make another at some point showing the improved spool.

[LuckyX2]

2015 Season First Update!

After a lot of going back and forth last season about where I want to go visually (Paint? Vinyl? What fenders? What bumpers? etc) I finally got my act together. Vinyl was a bad idea as I should have known, so I'll be getting an HLVP gun and spraying it myself. As for the body work, I didn't like the fenders I got, there was a gap at the "point" up front and on my driver's side, it liked to rub the door when I opened it, and it broke a small chunk off... So I just picked up some Koguchi Power fenders. Got KP rear overs too, which will cover up the dent, from rolling, nicely.

Should look a little something like this with the new KP goodies. Yum.
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Battle-Evome-1-13-055.jpg

Now I just need to decide on sideskirts (old ones fit like ass, surprise, surprise) and I'm set to paint. What are some good fitting ones that will flow well?

[vox]

Hi Lucky what is the power your marina on the efr 7163?

[LuckyX2]

Not sure yet, planning on tuning it soon and getting some numbers.

[insa]

Hey there. :)

Any updates on your car? Did you have the time to have it tuned, yet?

[LuckyX2]

Hi. Sorry, no tune yet, other things just keep coming up to do on the car and more power has been getting put aside for now. Next purchase is a new LSD and then hopefully tuning after that.

[LuckyX2]

Haven't updated in a while, but I've been continuing work, mostly on the suspension. Planning on a VE head swap over the off season, so tuning got put off until spring.

Got a whole bunch of new GKTech parts, an OS Giken diff for a GTR and S14 subframe to put in soon. Need to get some 350z 31 spline diff stubs machined for the OSG and then I can put it all together. My old Nismo GT LSD is for sale btw, 6x1 Q45 30 spline stubs included... Also selling my old Driftworks Geomaster 2 knuckles, front and rear.

Anyway, here's some pictures:

http://i.share.pho.to/bda4d9d4_o.jpeg

http://i.share.pho.to/09102710_o.jpeg

http://i.share.pho.to/58e2d0bb_o.jpeg

http://i.share.pho.to/144af5b6_o.jpeg

http://i.share.pho.to/b0232c0e_o.jpeg

http://i.share.pho.to/5c6aed69_o.jpeg

http://i.share.pho.to/89dbbc0e_o.jpeg

[Hoonigan19]

sick build man

[LuckyX2]

Well, I haven't updated in a while since apparently whoever I was using to host my pictures sucks and went down, so most of my pictures are gone and it's a bit frustrating...

Anyway, I've been working on doing a P12 VE headswap lately after I shattered two rocker arms in my DET head. The head was at a machine shop for two months to get an hour and a half valve job, so that put me behind quite a bit this season.

Attached is a picture of the freshly cleaned up head/valves and two pictures comparing the old DET intake ports with the VE intake ports.

Also, I ordered the GKTech Z33 trans parts to eventually do that conversion.

[LuckyX2]

Head build is done. Running again in a week or two if there's no issues.

http://imgur.com/JKRBPg6.jpg

http://imgur.com/Kg8SRgU.jpg

http://imgur.com/0jshNG9.jpg

http://imgur.com/8dHN7rY.jpg

[LuckyX2]

Well, my dyno was today. Went well, until I started getting what I think was spark blowout around 20psi.

Still, I managed to pull out 404whp and 338ftlbs at only 20psi and 6500rpm. I think that's a pretty good sign that 550-600whp is in there somewhere with 25-30psi and 9k rpm.

Anyway, here's the printout I have that's closest to the 404whp run. I wound up not printing that one amongst scrambling to figure out why spark was cutting out.
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/13698136_10155221078217846_2327898866879480185_o.j pg

The fluctuation is the closed loop boost controller. Never got around to fixing that.


Here's one of my earlier pulls where I was testing just the low lobe so I had the switch point set high at 5k.
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14086279_10155220457447846_7801798376149481942_o.j pg

Look at that jump in torque when it switches. wow.

Finally, here's a log of the backfires.
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14124895_10155220754147846_6248902538074180370_o.j pg

You can see AFR is good (12.2) leading into the two lean spikes that were accompanied by backfires so I don't think it was fueling. My guess is spark blowout, I'm gonna check my plugs. Thoughts?

[insa]

Had a similar issue on the dyno once, was solved with new plugs. :) Good luck!