NismoRich

what's up everybody, so my name is Rich and i've known about zilvia for a long ass time, just never made an account, and thought i would share my recent build with you. back in 2005 i bought my first S chassis, clean 92 S13 hatch with a blown ka and wheels for $1000. i bought a Kaaz 2 way diff and then an rb20 half cut from Doug at U.P. Garage and swapped everything in and started having fun with it. used it as a daily and drifted it a lot at my local tracks "test n tune thursday" South Sound Speedway(i lived 10 minutes from the track, it was nice). then in 2008 i was stupid and drove home drunk and stuffed it into a telephone pole at 35mph. i still have the car and trying to piece it back together for a track beater. so then i found a non rolling S14 shell with clean title in 2010 for $400. clean car just missing a lot. it had no front or rear bumpers, head lights or corners, rear trunk, no seats, no front suspension, no rear subframe/suspension. i used most of my S13 pieces to get it into a roller and then rebuilt the RB20 and started having fun again. after having the same RB20 for so long i wanted to change it up so i sold the swap and decided to go with a VH45. so here we go. now on to the photo dump to get caught up to speed

My S13 in the beginning of 2006






did a lot of this from 06-08


drinking and drifting=bad combination.


bought as a non rolling shell with no suspension and mostly no interior, no front or rear bumpers, no trunk lid and no head lights or tail lights. started piecing it together and the car started going through a few phases




did some body work, bought a cheap bodykit since i couldn't find stock bumpers at the time and painted it white

NismoRich

then put the rb20 back together and back in it







then found stock bumpers



and did some more of this




project drift - YouTube

then painted it black and this is where the car is now at this stage





So now the RB20 is still sitting in the S14 and is about to be pulled to put in a VH45. I bought a Z32 NA trans


then found a 94 Q45 in a wrecking yard. the chassis had 269K miles on it, but one look at the motor and i knew it was not the case with the motor.


leak free front end and new water pump and new alternator



so i spent a few hours pulling it out and took it home...with a 13 month warranty!



got it home and took off the torque converter and flex plate. no leaks from the rear or the oil pan.


and the heads look like new. these phone pics do not do it justice how clean the block and heads are


exhaust ports are clean with no carbon build up, just a change in color

NismoRich

curiosity got the best of me, so got it on the engine stand and took the passenger side valve cover off to see how it looked inside and i am happy with what i see.










pulled the entire front end off and began to stitch weld the front.



then decided to make life easier and cut out the radiator support and make it a removable bolt on piece.



then did a little paint test to see how this paint will do before painting the entire bay once everything else is done.



and lastly, i pulled the dash so that i can start cleaning up the rats nest of a wiring i got going on




i was trying to figure out what i wanted to do with the chassis harness and fuse box. i contemplated putting it inside the car, but later mocked it up like this and i and i liked it




then took the fuse box apart and downsized it. de-pinned some of the wires and relocated everything into just one block and i am going to mount it right behind the headlight and enclose it so that its pretty much waterproof




driver mount, not finished


passenger mount, not finished


plenty of clearance between the oil pan and the sway bar.


pretty much how it sits on the mounts


just barely clears my booster. plenty of room between the oil filter and the frame rail. plenty of room to run the coolant lines for the heater core, hell the Q45 ones lined right up. still have to cut and weld another support piece for each mount. going to have to make a bracket to hold the alternator and power steering pump. next major thing is to make an adapter plate for the trans and get the bellhousing machined.

NismoRich

a little bit of an update. i got my bell housing back from the machine shop today and also picked up some parts from Russell @ Nissan.

i had it machined 1/2" for the thickness of the adapter plate i am making.



while i have the box apart i inspected the gears and synchros for any excessive wear and all looks good.


new OEM clutch fork and TOB sleeve with springs from Russell


and last but not least, brand new Apexi N1 coilovers thanks again to Russell @ Nissan



well clutch and flywheel got here quicker then expected, which is always good. had Russell order me some ARP flywheel bolts today as well. one step closer i guess.

JEGS header kit showed up today. 1 3/4" primary tubes to 3" out merge collectors. should help make some beautiful music!


driver side exhaust manifold finished! the welds are not the prettiest because i was using a crappy flux core mig. but its sealed and that's all that really matters


and the Sqaure G6's i ordered showed up


i put my NRG quick release on today and then i went and picked up a brand new set of front TT 30mm brake calipers, rotors, pads from oreillys. i got the last set in washington state i guess, lucky me. oh and also picked up a new slave cylinder. so tomorrow im going to order the conversion lines, the starter, and maybe some new balljoints for all four corners and rear wheel bearings cause it needs em. then maybe ARP wheel studs too.

NismoRich

ceramic coated the driver side manifold today



also painted my Z32 brake calipers and rotors black (nissan will be white)




my ARP flywheel bolts showed up from DRFTBLD



as well as my Z32 speed sensor




i ordered some brand new front lower control arms and new O2 sensors from Rockauto. still in the collecting parts faze since the weather sucks, but i am going to try and get going on the adapter plate here soon so that i can make some real progress on this thing


new O2 sensors from Rockauto!


new front lower control arms from Rockauto!


i bought new Timken rear wheel bearings from Rockauto since mine are starting to wear out. so i took my extra set and knocked the spindles out and cut off the inner race off of them


got the old auto pilot bushing out. i welded a nut onto it and used a bolt to push it out. then pressed in the new OEM nissan brass bushing


and test fit the new flywheel and ARP flywheel bolts i got from DRFTBLD


and lastly, i took off the intake manifold to delete some of the useless crap. the only things i am going to keep is the idle control valve and maybe the rear crank case vents, depending on how i decide to make my catch can setup. all the useless coolant lines that run to the TB and what not will be removed.



so as of right now, parts that i have ordered and i am waiting on are my ARP wheel studs from JEGS and new open end lug nuts for the new studs. the new Timken rear wheel bearings from Rockauto. ARP pressure plate bolts from JEGS since they sent me the package with 6 and not 9 like it was suppose to be. I test fit my Z32 brakes today to see if they would clear my Square wheels and they do not. so what i am going to do is if the ARP studs are a little but longer then the stock ones, im going to use a 10mm slip on hubcentric spacer and they should clear just fine. i will probably have to roll my fenders and do a small pull, which i was trying to avoid. but we will see when i get to that point.

NismoRich

well i finished the lettering on the brakes, and my ARP wheel studs and lug nuts arrived. and also the front conversion lines.






^^^ the ARP's are also about an inch longer then factory, which works out perfect for me also. i test fit my brakes and wheels to see if the wheels would clear em and they did not. i had a pair of 1/4" (6mm) slip on spacers laying around so i used them to see how much spacer i will need. 1 6mm spacer needed just a little more room to clear and both 6mm spacers stacked together was way more then enough for it to clear the brakes but did not have enough thread to even put a lug nut on. so i am going to order a 10mm hubcentric slip on spacer which should be enough to clear the brakes and the ARP's will have plenty of threads. since i am running 215/45 series tires on the wheels, hopefully i wont have to "pull" the fenders at all, just "roll" em. im not into the whole negative camber bs


some more parts are arriving so i thought i would give a little update and also see what people think of some ideas i have.

first the timken bearings came from Rockauto, great deal on these. probably going to re-grease them with heavy duty bearing grease.


my 10mm hubcentric spacers showed up


so i test fit the brakes and wheels again



got my power steering pump mounted. fab'd up a little bracket using scrap pieces. its even with the outer most spot on the crank. since i solid mounted it, im going to modify the factory belt tensioner in the pic to tighten the belt


my little ghetto bracket


while back i ordered the ARP pressure plate bolts from JEGS. if you look up the part number you will see two different packages, one with 6 bolts, and one with 9 bolts. i called JEGS before ordering and they assured me that there would be 9 in the package. they got here and there was only 6 lol. so i called them again and explained the situation and they sent me another set.



new knock sensors showed up today. you can maybe see i reinforced the motor mounts more and painted them.



starting to make some progress now. plasma cut out the adapter plate and punched out the bolt holes today. also got the ARP studs pressed into the rear spindles and the spindles into the new rear wheel bearings. only crappy part is that the studs are a bit to long and i will have to cut at least 1/4" off em for the rear, or get another new set of lug nuts that are longer. the fronts should be ok because of the spacer needed to clear the brakes. also started on the little fuse block tray before running out of day light. and also removed the front suspension and x member so i can replace the front wheels studs tomorrow and cut and move the rack forward for the modded knuckles ill be doing later.

adapter plate progress. finally plasma cut and holes punched. still need to flat-cut the larger holes for the bolt head and socket to fit into. also need to clean up the circular part with a grinder to ensure it clears the flywheels


new ARP studs in and new rear wheel bearings



first off, i made a little more progress on the fuse block din. still not sure how i want to do the top. my two ideas was that i could either plate the top as well with it on hinges, or leave it open and make a fiberglass cover for just the fuse block part. what do you guys think?




in the process of moving the steering rack forward about 20mm because i am going to be running modded knuckles. problem is now i have to cut the oil pan cause of that stupid hump that drops down. oh well, nothing but a little more cutting and welding




got the cross member finished welded up and painted today.



then decided to box in the new front control arms



and then took off the oil pan, cut out the lump, tacked the plate into place and bolted it back on the engine and started welding it back up. still have to cut and weld another piece but i ran out of day light

NismoRich

well still trying to make some progress on this thing.

i got the adapter plate another step closer. flat cut some holes. its ready to be bolted onto the engine, just need to fit the trans and drill and tap the last holes and it will be done


finished the oil pan. i did multiple passes to ensure it will not leak at all



my welds getting a little better


got my tires mounted on the new wheels so i test fit them(oem strut without the spring so i could play with ride height). they have way more stretch that i had hoped(im not into this stretched stuff or that hella-unfunctional-negative camber stance crap) but you can't complain when they are new, and free. 215/45s on all four 17x9. i want to run at least 225 or 235/45's in the front and 245/45 or 50 on the rears.




and lastly, stripped, primed, and painted the engine bay



its almost time to start putting all the new parts on and the engine in for the last time(hopefully)



took the wire wheel to the front wheel wells and sprayed em with undercoating. moved onto the rear, thinking it was going to be quick and easy and i could start adding new parts, to find out that the previous owner did a ****ty job trying to stop a rusted out rear quater panel. instead of cutting out the rust and welding in a small patch panel, he just decided to cover it all with silicone. i guess his thinking was "out of sight, out of mind". so i spent most of today cutting out the rust the best i could and started on the patch panels(ran out of welding wire tonight). will have it all finished up and pics tomorrow

not what i wanted to see...



luckily it only spread this far...


found another little hole a little bit further up...


just nasty...


finished the rust repair today, patch panels welded in and got the driver side stripped and re-undercoated.



put in the driver side coilovers front and rear and the new rear wheel bearings/arp wheel studs. ran out of day light, finish passenger side tomorrow.


then rolled it out to see how it looks

NismoRich

this is where i am at as of today, January 16th 2014....

put on the front brakes/conversion lines/new lca's/tension rods today. still have to drill the new rotors and put them on but the front is about done. 10mm spacer to clear the brakes




got the passenger side coilovers and wheels on also


sat the driver side fender on and test fit the kouki side skirts to get an idea of how she's going to looks, well the direction im going with it anyways. previous owner plastidip'd them white and i haven't gotten around to peeling it all off yet





i need adjustable rear camber arms, but i really want to keep my poly setup, so im going to try and make a set adjustable. once i get rid of the negative camber in the rear it will look a lot better and no small spacer will be needed.

won't be long now and i will have the engine and trans together and in the car. then i can have the driveshaft made while i make the passenger side manifold and start getting it ready to run

Moncef

Good progress so far man...

What made you toss the RB in favor of the VH?

NismoRich

having it so long, i had about as much fun with the rb20 as i could have, other then going bigger turbo/injectors/ecu and more power. i knew if i did that i would also have to do an rb25 trans and new driveshaft. that would of been at least another $2500-3k (after already spending $2500 when i rebuilt it). not to mention i would of had to take the motor apart again and have an extended oil pump drive put on. after all that money just to end up with a 400-450hp rb20(which would still be fun, but still a little torque-less). so i figured it was time to get out while i still could and go for something else. wanting to stay with a nissan motor, i figured the VH would be the best bang for its $$. i will still be under $2K into the VH conversion(less then what i sold the rb swap for) when i am done with it. my plan is to eventually do a rear mounted turbo and shoot for a conservative 500hp once i replace the valve springs and do a rebuild on it.

Lockiess15

Quite a big difference with the S14 there from when you got it to now, also good you stayed with a Nissan V8 instead of the normal LS thing. Terms of drunk driving you should try give my idiot mate some well needed advice, been caught already and continues to do it >_<

NismoRich

thanks, its definitely came a long way.

that would be what we call "domestic violence" and i couldn't do that lol

some people don't learn i guess lol. once was enough for me, taking out that telephone pole put me $25K in debt, that was just with the power company that replaced the pole. luckily no dui charge. crazy how sober you can become from a 35mph head on with a pole lol

Lockiess15

It's a nice build . And yeah when he was caught first time it's because he was txting while driving [not legal here in NZ] and had been drinking as well, ended up going straight in to a fence due to not watching where he was going

anothersr20

Let me know how your headers work out. Mine are terrible and sit wayyy to closer to my fuel lines. Trying to find other options

NismoRich

will do. i won't be making them until i get the trans and starter bolted on just to make sure i clear the starter. i too was nervous about the pipes being too close to the fuel lines, but i am going to get some thermal shield tape from JEGS which should do the job.

anothersr20

Wont be enough.. I tried that still after a few laps at the track the headers got to hot and turned the fuel to vapor and the car would die completely. Wouldnt start, but as soon as the car cooled down it run just fine.

Yellow4g63

About the only way would be to run new lines down the center of the tunnel away from exhaust.

__________________

95 240sx RB20 415whp
91 Nx2000 VVL yo

FourtyKid

Or try running it on the outside of the frame rail or even inside the frame rail, instead of inside, right next to the headers.

__________________
@s13cole

NismoRich

was that with your manifold wrapped also? cause i was thinking header wrap the manifolds and thermal shield tape the fuel lines would be more then enough

NismoRich

got the new poly steering rack bushings in and on the rack.


finished my adapter plate finally!

NismoRich

its finally starting to feel like its getting close even know there is still a lot of work a head of me. few little parts showed up today also

300A kill switch


as well as the exedy 5/8th's clutch master i'm going to use for the hydraulic handbrake i'm going to make



onto more exciting stuff, i got the engine and trans together (with the driver side manifold on) and into the car for the first time (very tight squeeze).



made the trans mount today


notched a little area and tucked the harness up. won't hit it at full lock now!


stance with engine/trans in


my oil pan is going to be lower then the crossmember (by a 1/2"), but there is still 2.5" between the oil pan and the ground. so i will probably make a piece to bolt onto the crossmember just incase i do hit a bump and it bottoms out, it will hit the crossmember and not the pan.



i got the passenger side manifold flange in, so i will start on the manifold this weekend and also measure the length for the driveshaft. then pull it all back out and start on the final touches so i can put it all back in for good

NismoRich

so started the day with the engine and trans in it. got the driveshaft measured so i will go have someone make me that this week


got the manifold made


all tacked together


motor and trans out for the last time (hopefully)


got the manifold all welded up, just need to clean it up and ceramic coat it and wrap them. now its on to the final push on all the small stuff to bring it all together. wrap the manifolds, thermal shield the fuel lines, re-route the factory rear brake line for the hydraulic handbrake, remove all the unnecessary stuff under the intake manifold (coolant lines, vac lines etc), replace fuel lines. make the shifter mount, pull the valve covers off and give em a nice cleaning, maybe some fresh paint. make the alternator mount. and all the other fun stuff

NismoRich

passenger side finished welded and coated.


DEI Titanium wrap. highly recommend this stuff over the normal fiberglass stuff. never mind the plastic ties, i hadn't went and got more steel ties yet

NismoRich

well tore off the intake manifold and replaced my knock sensors, resealed everything and eliminated a lot of useless vac/coolant lines. the knock sensors were both cracked in multiple spots




took off the driver side valve cover and man this thing is really clean inside. not a single scratch on any of the cam lobes. i have to take off the front covers and take out the lifters and re-bleed them since i had the motor upside down on the engine stand, but once i get that done this thing will be going in for good. started stripping the valve covers for paint as well



got the fittings i needed for my hydraulic handbrake. i had to re-bore and thread the inlet. still figuring out where exactly i want to put it so that the stock ebrake is still functional, yet still comfortable for me.


made an X pipe. going to run dual 3" all the way back



V bands showed up so i got them welded on. finished pics of the manifolds

NismoRich

went and picked up 20' of 1.25" schedule 40 pipe from my local steel supplier today.


when i bought the shell it was missing the front and rear steel bumpers (i was later given a cut front one for free but it's kind of flimbsy), so i started off by making a rear bumper. i drilled and tap'd two holes on each side so it bolts in the original holes as the factory one. finally, tire changes won't take so long lol

NismoRich

i wanted to stiffen up the towers since i cut out the wheel wells, so i pie cut about 3/4's of the way through then bent to the needed angle and rewelded it. i know its not the best way, but i will eventually cut them out and replace it with proper bent ones when i get access to a bender.



energy suspension subframe bushings came in. i think i figured out a way to be able to use these and raise the subframe too. we'll see when i get there i guess


removed the traction control from the throttle body. removed everything then cut the base off that the motor mounts too, then tap'd the two remaining holes and plugged them with bolts. poor mans non-TC TB.



got started on the alternator mount bracket. just need to clean it up and paint it now.


then later started on removing everything so i could get to the lifters and re-bleed them. my little air compressor barely had enough balls to remove the crank pulley bolt


front covers off. pretty happy with how clean it was inside.


cams out and driver side lifters done.


that's it for now

bova17

nice, is that just a half inch thick trans adapter plate or do you have to also space the flywheel just a little?

NismoRich

yeah its a half inch adapter plate and the bellhousing was machined for it. no flywheel spacer, just using the little stock flex plate spacer

NismoRich

got cam cap bolts today and finished bleeding the passenger bank lifters


timing chains back on. 1 SR, 2 SR lol


timing covers back on. ready to run now. just need to clean up the covers with some brake cleaner


subframe out



burn bitches, burn! getting the sleeves out was fun, i didn't want to cut through the cup so i was overly cautious and it took forever. cleaned em up with a wire wheel and installed the bushings



few years ago i had one of the differential bolts break off into the subframe and the nut inside the subframe would just spin, so i had to ghetto rig it for the longest time. so i cut that out, welded in a new nut and welded the subframe back up. my luck will be now that i got all everything back in the car, the other nut inside the subframe will break.



so onto the bushings... figured out a way to raise the subframe a half inch. i know everyone will say i should of just gotten solid ones, but i don't care.




while i was doing the bushings, i knew i wanted to raise the rear of the car a half inch, so after raising the coils a half inch and the subframe fixing for a half inch, this is where my suspension arms currently sit. definitely better then it was before




just waiting on the chain wrench i ordered to show up so i can torque down the crank pulley. just need to button everything back up on the motor and it will be ready to drop in for good. i decided i wanted to do a custom cluster so i ordered some new gauges last night, should be here next week. that's it for now

NismoRich

well, been sick lately so i haven't gotten much done. but i ordered a bunch of stuff last week and stuff is starting to roll in so i figured i would give a little update. i ordered 10' of gates 5/16" fuel line off ebay since all the local parts stores wanted over $5/foot for the exact same fuel hose i got for $14 shipped which got here in 2 days. replaced all the fuel hoses on the fuel rail so far. still waiting on my longer Maxima tie rods to get here. should be here tomorrow.

so i was playing around with the knuckles and i was hitting the lca's with the leading wheel, and hitting the sway bar and tension rods with the trailing wheel, which was killing some angle with these wider wheels. so i extended the lca's a half inch and am going to offset the tension rods which will give me a 1/4" more room and notch the lca's which will give me a little more angle as well, might even have to replace the sway bar. i'm going to have to roll the front fenders, which i was trying to avoid, to get the good amount of angle i am after but hopefully will not have to pull them dramatically. im trying to stay stock fenders.

knuckles on the jig ready for weld. these probably won't get done for a while though since my welder is booked on a job for a while


my gauges came in. electric water temp, mech. oil pressure, electric fuel level. mech. fuel pressure(forgot picture)




so i played around with some cardboard to see what it would look like before cutting out the sheet metal. fuel pressure gauge won't be in the cluster unless i get an isolator


and i stripped the valve covers down to bare metal, gave them a coat of bare metal primer, then took them to my friends heated shop and gave them about 6 coats of white and about 5 coats of clear. pretty happy with how these turned out, hopefully they hold up to the engine heat.


did the intake manifold metallic charcoal with about 5 coats of clear


i think this will look good with the black background of the engine bay



that/s it for now. once i get some dry weather i will be putting the motor/trans back in for good