s14unimog

Unfortunately that seems to be an acceptable trend with s-chassis owners these days. Some how that also parallels that emo theme too. Still no motor in the bay with my exhaust manifold hardware still at the coater. He promises tomorrow so we'll see.

Thanks, I don't have the black s14.5 anymore. I wish I could have but not only is it exhausting to maintain two of these cars, I didn't have the money at the time. When I bought that car, I had to promise the last thousand so I could afford the tow bill from NewYork. Thankfully I'm not cutting it that close anymore.

I built that driveshaft spacer out of necessity, if it helps you too, run with it. Beats buying a new shaft just for 1/2". Its held up great for the last few years with zero deformation so I feel safe to says its a reliable fix. You'll find out to use Gr.10.9 hardware, you'll need to machine one side of the hex to clear the base of the yoke flange. Be mindful of the counterbore features on mine. You would do well not to rely on the hardware for a concentric fit.



Oh ya....

Here is something I forgot I took another picture of. I finished welding up the turbo brace and tapping the motor mount. Check this out; the brace will support the weight of the turbo without flexing. I think that should be sufficient.




I also snapped a quick picture of the coolant reservoir installed. Plus my transmission oil / PS fluid came in.

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s14unimog

Updates

My hardware is FINALLY done! After about 2 weeks of back and forth with the coater, he finally finished the bolts he forgot. It was the most annoying situation. He hooked me up a solid one on the price for my ceramic coated parts but misplaced the baggy of exhaust manifold hardware. Well, it took him about a week to find them, then he relocated his paint booth, so it was down. Then "they got busy" and I dropped down the list. Sh*t, he pulled every excuse, but with enough hounding, I finally got em.

I probably could have dropped the motor and then fished the manifold, turbo, lines, dump, etc down there but with everything so freshly painted and me having zero interest in mounting that stuff with the motor in the bay, I held off. I'm sure A LOT of people on here can feel for that decision.

On with the pictures. Engine assembled...



Last week, while I waited for that hardware, I took the v/c back off and used my Bridgeport at work to surface the letters. I used a 4 insert 2" dia fly-cutter so it wouldn't leaving tooling marks. No more painted letters.



I took another shot of my turbo brace/actuator mount; luckily nothing changed with the motor weight on the mounts and the coolant lines seem to clear it easily; almost as if I meant for that to happen



You'll have to forgive the awkward angles. I had the garage door shut and if I open it at night, the door blocks the over head lights so its not much help. The oil cooler should black out my grille area nicely plus my UK lights should brighten the face up a bit.



Getting there... It was about 1am when I stopped, still lots to do but at least its onto the rewarding parts... more to come.

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jr_ss

Looks good! Can't wait to start dropping my parts back into my bay... Keep it up dude.

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Edwin562

Stunning, One of the few guys who detail is key... Im loving this build. Keep up the good work. and hopefully we get to see this beast on the rode.

nickkaplz

this build is beautiful

s14unimog

Thanks guys!

Well, progress is going a little slow. Mainly because women, work, taxes, holiday's and the house don't seem to care about my schedule.

Either way, work is getting done. Currently I'm waiting on my Star-lite fuel and crank ventilation hose to show up. I also realized a slight over sight on my part. Unfortunately I forgot to account for the return coolant line from the turbo to water neck against my BOV recirculation. Fortunately it seems a change of my straight AN fitting to a 45* is an easy fix; so that's coming with the hose.

Aside from that, I got the car back on the ground, drivetrain and exhaust installed and all new fluids everywhere. It dawned on me last night but every single fluid in the car will have been replaced with this build. Appropriately of course but it never really dawned on me as a goal.

I did how ever take a few detailed shots of the inner fenders with the car at stance. Now I've still got to do my rough suspension link adjustments before I get it aligned, but that shouldn't make much of a difference.





I've never really noticed this before but damn my 9.5 +20 is close as hell to that coilover spring.



I also mounted my HID ballasts to their mounts. I used a 3M "Hook-n-Loop" velcro. For those of you who have never explored the vast range of velco; this stuff is serious. Also to insure the adhesive doesn't give up first, I preheated everything with a blow dryer; it's not coming off.



Now these next pictures are a WEAK attampt of using my SLR Pentax. It's a K20D model and its obviously smarter than I am. Not to mention, I really need a tripod for doing over exposures and taking advantage of extreme aperture settings. I'm still learning.








OH YA! I almost forgot; check out what the wife got me for Valentine's Day. It's the Sparco Jade suit. I wondered what the wardrobe measuring was about a month or so ago... The Black Stig

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yzrider450f

siiiiicckkk

KoukiMonsta

looking good buddy!!!

what are your plans for wiring (engine harness) ?

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s14unimog

thanks!

The wiring is the next "stage" I guess but I can't get on it until I finish painting the Altima body panels you see in the back ground. I plan to construct a booth tonight and get the panels prepped for paint tomorrow in the other bay area (shit, I need more propane).

The wiring will be pretty straight forward. The main engine harness is already minimalized pretty well but I hate the accordion type wrap so I'm going to de-loom it again and redo everything with the fabric type heat shrink. As for the fuse box, I'll have to strip it down and see what I don't need anymore. Once the painting is done, I'll drag the car out into the middle, pull the dash and get to it. I should be on that next week.

The cool thing is that the harness will come through the firewall right underneath the IM. You won't even see it.

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Junior x

coming together so nice glwb

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Pinggg

looks good!

blo0d

whats the spec on your tig? how long have u had it?

codyace

Yuengling Light....really?!..."c'mon man!" haha j/k

Things look great!



HAH. Isn't that damn truth. If people understood what true machine shop costs were they'd think twice.

No, you're stupid.

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s14unimog

It's a Miller Syncrowave 250 and is property of the company I work for. Fortunately I have unlimited access to our machine shop but I don't weld enough. I need to practice more.

hey, an open beer is a good beer .... well; some times, lol.

My goal with the car, as long as I can keep it in one piece, is to continue to elevate my fabrication level each time I tear it apart. To me its about considering the whole picture and assembling something I can say, "ya, I did that." It's a wonder how some of those trash builds survive as long as they do though. Surely a testament to the original design efforts of Nissan.

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codyace

I totally agree with ya there, my 'car' is more than a car, and a challenge in a way...that is to create something with OEM reliability, but all hand built or different.

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s14unimog

^ It's the little things. I bet we would get right along Cody.

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codyace

LOL

Off topic, but I'm actually really interested to see the 20g results...those things can be had so damn cheap anymore.

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KoukiMonsta

How the heck have I not thought about this..

Feeling a bromance going on here. But yea you guys have sweet fab skills, and like unimog said, every time you tear the car apart to fix/rework you must improve. It is nice to say 'yea, I built that' for me that's where the enjoyment comes from.

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s14unimog

...no homo.

Cody, if that's your real name (lol), does some solid work. I've seen his screen name over the years on numerous topics and have come to respect his opinion. I don't know the guy but suspect, from what I've seen, we'd get along. Just to clarify though. I like tha vi-jay-jay


I'm assuming you meant to say, "they can be had so cheaply these days" ?

I think its a great turbo, it just sorta lacks in flow efficiency with lower P/R's. Call me crazy but if I don't get the response I'm after with the shorter pipes and raised C/R I'm shipping it to Billet Turbochargers in Australia and having them convert the CHRA to a BB type. I bet THAT, on top of my setup, would be stupid. (in a good way of course)

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KoukiMonsta

Yea he really is Cody haha. And will agree that he knows what's up. Pm'd him with all sorts of sr building questions earlier this year.

I think the best part is both of you guys know how to use proper grammar! It's amazing being able to read and easily understand posts..except for that last thing Cody said..lol

Fill that propane, finish that Altima, and get back to the 14! Keep it up man.

EDIT: I need 5 valve valve spring seat washers, lost them in the process of machine shop and transporting the head I guess. Either a) do either of u guys have them laying around? Due to possible upgrade? Or extra parts figured,I'd ask. or b) ideas where I can acquire them? Similiar part as USDM sr motor? Oh yea it is a Redtop..

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@UpshiftEngineering

bc.

<3 I hope you actually drive this thing like it is supposed to be driven. XD

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s14unimog

That will not be an issue.

Lanier Drift 09-17-10 - YouTube

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codyace

It's Cody. Cody Ace. I'm not creative for a funny name. Also known as 'AceAltima' on the Altima forums (I turbocharged my Altima in 2002/2003...don't ask me why, but it was fun, and yes I'd want another)

That is what I mean. It's just crazy the support they have gotten of late. I can remember when a 20g was some 'off the wall' rare stuff...so to me it's neat to see it become affordable/common

Sometimes the craft beer gets in the way I don't want to be labled a alcoholic, but I do love a good beer

Same as a FWD SE-R. I'll check tomorrow for ya.

You mean parked sideways in the Burger King parking lot right?

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s14unimog

Okay... I'm starting to feel a bit like a zombie now . I literately take too much on at once. I realize its been a minute since my last update but I have to admit, I've been busting my ass on a few things lately. Let me start with saying; I will NEVER buy another car (to flip) that requires as much work as that damn '98 Altima. What's worse is that even though I enjoy the profit, I don't actually need to do this anymore. For some reason however, I still feel like I've got to buy up all these damned vehicles and give them new life... I also promised my step mother that I would change the timing belt on her 1990 Miata; which lead me to change the drive belts, water pump, tensioners, spark plugs, VC gasket, air filter, engine & trans oil and shift boot; lol.

The cool thing about it though, is that my step mom is tickled pink, I finally got a chance to shoot a 2 stage and I made about $1000 off that POS Altima. Although it doesn't actually relate to my S14 build, I still want to share... painting a front end, in 4 easy steps; lol.

Purchase and sand OEM aftermarket replacement panels:



Construct paint booth around said panels:



Buy paint:



Shoot paint:




I learned a few things from painting the 240's bay that I tried out here, one being more plastic; I didn't paint the floor this time! The second is the issue that paint that is airborne and confined to an enclosed environment doesn't readily "settle". So what do ya do? Well I found that if I wire tie a bunch of HVAC filter material around my shop-vac nozzle I can leave it running under my parts while I spray. It's not the best thing in the world but it almost matches the air you bring into the booth, from the gun, and helps clear out the air in under a few minutes. It's what I'll do on other projects until I can come up with something better.

You'll be happy to know I also bought a protective suit this time; lol.

ANYWAYS, back to the car.

As I left it last time, the car was almost back together. I ran into a few issues with my water pump (it developed a leak) so I had to get a new replacement (thanks Phase2!) and my Star-lite hose order, for the catch tank and fuel lines, is on a 4 week back order. For now, I just picked up some FI hose from the local parts store just in case I get a chance to fire it up before hand.

If you haven't noticed already, I just left the harness laying beside the car on the floor. I decided I won't touch it until I was on to the wiring; so that's where we are.

Now any sane individual would just do what's needed to get it running. Relocate the box, stuff connectors and plugs behind the dash and call it a day. Well I can't. Don't ask me why, but I just can't have a mess behind closed doors. So what now? Pull the interior why of course! Then, systematically de-pin all circuits not in use.




I've seen a lot of people, over the years, approach this from my different sides. Some opt for the painless kits, some buy pre-made harnesses, and others do a mixture of existing and new fuse/relay boards. To me, replacing Nissan's assemblies is as if I spit on years of R&D. It's all great work and reliable assemblies, there is just stuff I don't need. So I'm removing it.

Here is the forward chassis harness removed from the car, and un altered.



...and the pile that grew from it





And how I've been spending recent nights... I sit on the towel in the middle; can ya tell?



So far all I've completed is the interior harness as well as minimalized the existing forward chassis harness. I intend to lengthen what is need for the front (headlights, blinkers, fan, etc..) and build a dielectric mount for the factory fuse and relay trays found in the forward fuse box. I will also de-loom, inspect and re-loom my engine harness with some sort of fabric braided heatshrink; similar to what Chase Bay's is using.

Here is how the interior looks as of now; much better right?



I also took a minute and reassembled the remaining of the front end, plumbed up my bumper duct and adjusted the suspension back out to its former stance. Sorry, the car is a little dusty and considering its not running I'd have no chance getting it back in the garage if I roll it out for a wash. Aren't German lights sexy as hell?

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Conrad 2NR

Suhweeeeeeeet!

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jr_ss

Glad to see it coming together, it's also good to hear you picked up a suit this time ...

I've got a question for you, I had planned on putting my oil cooler in the same location as yours, however I've noticed that the hood latch area would come into contact with it. I'm assuming that's why you removed yours? What are you planning on doing with relocating it?

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s14unimog

Kind of had to. Its one thing to get a little paint on your arms; clear coat however, no thanks.

Ya, found that out when I tried to close the hood . I assumed it would't hit but I underestimated how much room there really is. I guess I'll just machine a relief in my deflector/mount so it clears the hood and add some brackets to bring it back and down a tad. I had cut the D-ring off my hood back when I installed the aero catch latches, but the safety catch seems to still hit it. I'll cut that off the hood next but it still won't be enough to leave it alone. I need to order my fittings too, so they don't surprise me next but I told myself that I wouldn't mess with the oil cooler until the car is running well and broken in. For now I'll just take it off.

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Frank_Jaeger

Finally, an epic build thread that almost made it to the end.

I came.

s14unimog

^lol, thanks; it's not done yet... But it will be, you can bet on that.

Nothing too terribly exciting to report; I'm still waiting on parts to trickle in. I did however get my new fuse panel in. I looked at keeping the guts of the stock fuse block but it just won't be as clean as I want. So I ordered this...




This stuff is all made by Blue Seas. I went with them for two reasons. Since it's "marine grade" all of the hardware is stainless instead of the typical zinc plated junk and it's one of the few universal blocks that I've found with fusible circuits for higher amp power distribution. Not to mention, a built in negative bus and the parts look well made; very nice molds with good surface finishing. I plan to relocate my serial to USB converter and Zetronix unit from where there are now and remake the panel to fit the fuse board and power key. I'll mount the 100amp inline in the truck next to the battery. It's gonna look so clean!

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badbob2121

Very impressive..

Great work

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