tb13

Man, I though I was done with S13's when I sold my last coupe, but I just cannot escape these damn cars... This car has been passed around between a few of my buddies and finally made its way to me, I figured I'd do it a solid and give it a chance to be useful again. I've been really interested in trying out drifting, seems like a great time and I hope this car lets me experience it.

Car was picked up with a blown KA under the hood and obvious signs it had been drifted prior and returned to a stockish form. First order was to strip the thing and get rid of the interior that was rotting away, windows wouldn't roll up so it was a disaster.




KA was ripped out and thrown away, my buddy had his entire SR swap stolen by a local shop and decided to give up on the car which really sucked. I stored the car for about a year until another buddy of mine decided he was interested in putting the shell to good use. We found a Kouki SR20DE on eBay for cheap and decided to keep it simple. Engine was super clean inside, we resealed it and threw it in.






Car would not pass emissions once swapped, we had a ton of issues with getting the SR to run right and it sat for another year and a half in a sad state. I decided to buy it and finish the car up, I wanted to keep it simple, yet capable, didn't really go as plan...

I am what would be considered a hoarder of parts I had no use for, this car fell into my lap and made a whole heap of parts useful again. Front of the car got S14 LCA's, S14 Knuckles, S14 5 lug, GKTech RCC, GKTech outer tie rods, GKTech tension rods, ES LCA bushings, Moog ball joints, S14 Cusco coilovers, R32 calipers/rotors and a pair of 17x8 Work Equip Voggards. Almost completely refreshed the front suspension putting all of this onto the car and added a decent bit of angle. I need some smaller front tires, but overall I'm pretty happy with the outcome.






Rear suspension was in complete disarray, pulled it all apart and found the car already had solid subframe bushings, but needed every other bushing replaced. Replaced all of the bushings with an ES kit I had laying around from my last S13, what a pain in the ass. Threw on GKTech arms, Z32 5 lug hubs, Z32 calipers, Z32 Ebrake, Z32 VLSD w/ S13 VLSD cover, S13 5 bolt axles, Moog ball joints, and a pair of 17x9 Work Equip Voggard's. I'll never had to worry about breaking an axle and with all new arms/bushings the rear alignment will be perfect. Wheels are super sunk due to them being high offset, but I have something in the works to make it look the part






As of today it finally runs properly and is driveable. Its taken way to long to get to this point, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Interior got a Tomei Steering wheel and a Shirtstuckedin shifter along with a new to me center console and OMORI oil pressure gauge. Will be getting an alignment this week and a good inside/outside cleaning. Super excited for the next drift event and to see what this turd will do! In the meantime here is how it sits as of this afternoon, I have some more things planned for the exterior that should shape up soon

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tb13

Didn't realize this thread got approved, sorry mods for trying to make another thread Anyway, here is a little update!

Rear coilovers were eBay trash, decided if I am really going to enjoy this thing it needed proper coilovers so I opted for some Powertrix R/T. I run these on my Z32 and have ran them on previous Z32's I've owned loving every set. These go even lower and gave me the rear ride height I wanted. Still need to get the fronts installed, but they need some work to fit the S14 knuckles.





The stripped interior of this car doesn't really bother me other than the doors. Stripped door panels look and feel awful, saw Street Faction's new V2 door cards a while back and decided to grab a pair. Fit and finish is great and they really help to make the interior look and feel more comfortable.




A while back I picked up a set of 17x8 +4 Equip 05's, they sat for a few months until I got the motivation to clean up a pair. Some powder coating and polishing later and they look insanely good. Super stoked on the sizing, since I've low power these fill the rear quarters well and let me run a 215.





Pretty happy overall with how the car sits today! This weekend I'll be taking it out for the first drift event, no idea how its going to go, but it should be fun!

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TheRealSy90

Dang, maybe I should make a build thread for my white hatch when it's drivable agian lol. Hope to see you this weekend

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tb13

Was great meeting you yesterday car looked awesome and you were killing it! Tried to come say hi earlier, but you seemed to spend most of the evening on track ahaha.

I wasn't able to take my car out Saturday, I was having issues with one RUCA being loose regardless of how I set it up, was not interested in it ripping apart so I sat the event out. Still had a great time hanging out, will get the car 100% for next months event and finally see how it holds up.



Met up with a friend at the track and picked up a really cool shifter for the car. I'm a sucker for cool JDM stuff so this Mines Direct Shift Pro will be a great addition, was super excited to see the Mines bag it was in too. Will be topping it off with a ShirtsTuckedIn knob to add some more flair



I also noticed the car has horrible wheel hop, not sure why considering its got brand new coils, solid subframe bushings, refreshed LCA's and all new arms. If anyone has an idea on what I could change up to help I'm all ears, current alignment in the rear has it sitting at 0* of camber and I'm running a 215/45r17 Federal 595SS.

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tb13

Before I go all out on the Z32 I wanted to get the S13 sorted and to a point where I can step back and say "That'll do"

I missed the last drift event because of some issues I was having with my RUCA's. The GKTech arms simply were not long enough to allow the car to be properly aligned, the adjusters were too far extended and would not properly tighten. Last thing I wanted was for a RUCA to snap so I picked up some PBM RUCA's. These things are super beefy compared to the GK stuff and do not have any coilover clearance issues like the GK arms. I also threw some helper springs on my rear coils which seemed to soften the rear up a bit.




The car has also been leaking PS fluid ever since I got it running, I was going back and forth trying to decide to leave it or replace the rack, but the car pushed my hand when it completely blew out one of the seals after I parked it. Threw a new rack with some ES bushings in, one more issue checked off the list!




My last post I talked about a Mines shifter I grabbed for the car, turned out its for an RB25 so it wasn't going to work. Ordered up a Nismo 32839-RN540 shifter off YAJ and finally I have nice shifter feel, topped it off with a ShirtsTuckedIn knob for some flair




I've wanted a kitted S13 coupe for as long as I can remember, finally decided to do it. Unfortunately I was only able to get a bumper and skirts for the time being, but it'll be complete soon. Pretty happy with the fit and the primer white doesn't look bad just throw on, needs some more finishing work, but it'll do for now and I won't feel bad if I break it. Also tossed in some clear/red tails to get rid of the faded stock lights. I just need some corner lights and fender markers to finish the front off.

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TheRealSy90

Looks good man! I gotta get my sr20 hatch finished up so we can meet up and cruise on weekends. With the showdown event this weekend i've been busy working on that car instead.

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tb13

Took the car out last night for the first time and had a great time. Car has good angle, drivetrain is solid, but it does have some issues that need to be addressed.

Main issue is grip, the car simply has too much rear grip for this DE SR. I'm running a 215/45r17 595SS with 0* camber and 1/8in toe in out back. Started at 35psi, moved to 50psi and ended the night at 60psi, adding tire pressure helped, but still wasn't enough to overcome the mechanical grip. Low speed stuff was not an issue, I could toss the rear out and hold angle for a single corner. Once I was trying to run the actual laid out track it was a different story, if I was able to break traction I'd have to stay deep in throttle to keep the car from gripping back up and I'd end up coming out of the corner waaaayyy too fast with no gear/rpm left to transition. The car would snap back and I'd end up backwards or doing a full 360.





Before the event I threw some e-fans and a shroud on the car that I got from a friend. I don't have the stock fan shroud so I figured some e-fans with a shroud would be a better solution for the time being, but it didn't really work out. Car was getting pretty hot during the day, pulled the hood off and it didn't really help. Going to rip the cheap fans off and throw some quality ones on before the next event which should remedy this.



Night ended with me kissing a stack of tires and exploding my front bumper. I had noticed my drivers front tire was contacting the inner fender a full lock causing it to bind up. I was still driving because I didn't feel like messing with the caster and it ended up being a mistake. Last run I threw the car into the last corner, deep clutch kick and it snapped to full lock. I was too close to the inside, car basically pivoted 90** on the front left tire and drove straight into a tire stack Bumper exploded, core support bent back a bit and cracked a headlight bezel. Toe strap, a friends truck and reverse got it back pretty straight, I'll have to pull the headlight and access the damage this week.



Overall had a great time, not even mad about what happened. Super happy I was able to drive as much as I did and can't wait to address the issues the car has and get back out driving!

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tb13

Event two went really well! Car did great again and changing up a few things really helped.



The E-Fan setup that was on the car was not going to cut it, after battling over heating issues I decided to buy a pair of quality fans. I'm not a huge fan of Mishimoto products, but these fans were cheap and I figured I'd give them a shot. Swapped the two junk 11in fans for some 12in Mishi race fans and had absolutely zero issues basically hot lapping at one point!



Swapped from the 595SS I was running on the rear to some 215/45r17 Braum tires I snagged from Discount last minute. Threw them on some 17x9 CR Kai's and they were awesome. It was way easier to toss the rear end out and basically got rid of the super aggressive snapping from lock to lock leading to me spin 90% of the time I actually got the rear out. Still need less grip, the little SR has some trouble keeping these spinning with the aggressive alignment.



Overall night went really well, had a great time with friends and figuring out how to more properly drive the car. Night ended with me spinning, trying to grab second as I pulled off the track and my shift knob exploding I
reached out to the ShirtsTuckedIn guys and they said they'd get me a new one sent out!



Car set back out in its resting place, I have some plans to make the car a lot more fun and stylish soon

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tb13

NEW KIT IS HERE!!!

Wasn't able to get my hands on another DMax Type 3 style kit so I got this cheap URAS Type 4 kit to run for the time being.



My S13 bumper support got annihilated when smacked the tires at my first event, grabbed a Type X bumper support to get this new kit on. Also got some Type X marker lights, smashed on of mine forever ago and it was pissing me off having an open hole in my fender. Really like the look of these, kinda pisses me off Nissan used different sockets/connectors on each of them though...




Kit fit like absolute shit, as to be expected from cheap rep fiberglass. Grabbed a die grinder and angle grinder and got to work hacking it up. After about two hours of grinding, cutting and test fitting it fits okay. Really like the overall look, make a huge difference having a rear bumper on the car too. A friend gave me an Origin roof spoiler for the car too, kinda dig the look with the OEM trunk spoiler.

Front of the car needs to come down a bit to match the rear, but I'm going to have to chop the tubs out before I can make that happen. Hopefully I can find some paint and get the kit to kinda match the rest of the car this next weekend!








SR20DE+T coming soon

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Krusty_s13

yes please!

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S13project

Rear glass sticker placement is amazing. "Enjoy Never". So wild your shift knob shattered like that. Too bad Mine's shifter was for RB25 trans. Rad piece.

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tb13

The DE is cool, but man its slow. I was trying to decide between throwing a 4.9 final drive in and leaving it alone or going turbo, turbo just seems like it'll end up being a lot more fun to drive. Plan for now is to use all of the parts I have laying around, PFC, DET harness, DET CAS, 740cc injectors, Z32 MAF, T25 etc to make a super responsive setup that'll be a blast to drive and hopefully reliable.

I didn't even notice the stickers

The car is all "White" again, pretty happy with how it came out for some rattle can. Really wanted to roll it out into the sun, but the damn battery is dead so I'll get some better pictures later.






Next update will hopefully be getting rear overs fitted up, a set of matching wheels on and getting started on the turbo setup

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Fuglychuki91

I love the build man. Turbo will definitely be cool and be pretty responsive with the higher compression on the na motor as long as the tune is okay on it. You sound like me talking about my car being slow haha I drive a single cam ka with stock rear, 215/40s probably 50 psi cold depending on track surface and temp. But it?s relatively torquey for what it is. Contemplating chucking a 4.3 rear in it. I?ve done a pretty big oval track with it and it was fine but you are entering at probably 45-50 mph so you have a lot more momentum to kinda keep the car loose vs gripping up.

Can?t wait to see the progress! Remember to keep your foot down

Krusty_s13

Sweet! I am actually doing the same, but I will be using the DE harness and Distributor (s14 sr20de). I ran my car with a 4.6 final and it definitely made it alot better to stomach. But I am having to run 215/40's @ 60psi to make it work. DE is a torquless wonder.

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TheRealSy90

With the slight compression bump of the DE internals I really think you should spring for a t28 from the get-go, it will be just as responsive as a t25 and have more head room. The t25 falls off so hard above 6k.

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tb13

So on top of everything I'm going to have it running ethanol, we've got regulated E54 from the pump out here so it makes it really easy to have the car tuned and not worry about content changes. I've seen great results from E54 on my daily so I figure I'll give it a try.

The last event I was going faster and faster with entries, but I just couldn't keep the rear out or I'd end up backwards because of the grip level the car has. The alignment feels good, its super controllable at low speed, but there is just too much grip and not enough power to properly run any actual layout.

Torqueless wonder is beyond accurate. The final corner of the layout we've had recently was somewhat slow, big flick, bit of hand brake and a clutch kick would get the rear out no problem, but keeping the tires spinning was another story. I think I was running around 40psi on some all seasons and about half way through the corner it was struggling to keep wheel speed. I was trying to clutch kick again mid corner, but it would grip up and I'd end up backwards

I think throwing in the 4.9 I have would have helped a ton, but since I'm driving to each event its not ideal for the freeway. Only positive to still having a 4.11 is I could cruise at 80mph no prob from my house to the track. With the 4.6, where do you sit in the RPM range around 65-70mph?

I agree, I should just go T28 and call it a day, but I think a T25 will be just fine for a bit. I have some JWT S4 cams to throw in when I do the turbo, even if the turbo is falling off up top the cams should help a bit. I'm hoping for around 250whp with a very useable midrange.

If it ends up being lame I'll probably grab an S15 T28 and see what happens.

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Fuglychuki91

Ethanol is definitely good idea if you have it around you

Krusty_s13

Its been a bit since I've had the 4.6 in the car, but I think I was around 3.5-4k at about 70-75mph. It's a bit higher than the 4.08 but not unbearable. I was also running a oem exhaust so it was nice and quiet, aside from the diff howling due to uneven wear / backlash.

Def want to try a new gearset out but I'm going to finish up the turbo kit and see how the car feels with the 4.08 that's in it now.

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spitfiredc7

Yaaaaaassss

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snailperformancemarkos

TheRealSy90

The t25 drop off up top with the S4s is even worse lol. I've been there.

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tb13

I'll for sure keep this thread updated with how it goes, I'm really curious how the DE will hold up to abuse boosted on ethanol.

Oh that doesn't seem bad at, this car had a 4.9 in it before I swapped to the 5 bolt rear stuff, it was sitting at around 5k at 65 if I remember correctly, was absolutely awful on the highway.

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Laurentino.oo

I've been wanting a s13 coupe but could never find one. Can someone help me find one for under 10k. Please

tb13

Little update, local drift events are back on beginning of next month so its time to prep!

Finally got the kit actually mounted up and rolled the car out into the sun. For what is is, I'm pretty happy with how it looks. One of these days I'll get the entire car re-painted with a higher quality kit. Also dropped the rear back down a bit, somehow my tire is rubbing on the fender, quality pull job by the PO of this chassis




Went back out to bring the car home and it wouldn't start, scratched my head and checked everything. Ended up looking up under the dash and finding the clutch safety switch connector with a piece of speaker wire jumping the terminals... Can't believe the car ran for as long as it did before this gave me an issue, again thanks PO of this chassis.



I also got around to getting the cams in the car, install went smoothly. I was told these are JWT S4's, but they don't chop at idle like S4's, not sure if thats because the DE ECU seems a bit unhappy or if I got duped, regardless it sounds prettey sick.




Once the DET electronics go in, I'm going to clean up the bay and add some bling. Friend of mine made these super nice coil pack covers and I had to have one for this, if you want one check out his IG @boostinjoostin




Lastly, got some more goodies, nothing planned for this stuff right away, but hopefully by the end of summer this car will be a lot different than it is today

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tb13

So I picked up a 4.6 ring and pinion set for the car and went to install it Friday. Got the Z32 VLSD out, tore it apart and found the Z32 pumpkin uses a larger inner pinion bearing Tried pulling the bearing off the Z pinion to no avail and ended up having to go buy an S13 differential. 3 days later the diff is back together and in the car, it whines a bit so I'm sure the backlash isn't correct, but I'm just going to run it.

After I did the cams I checked timing and found the mark someone else left on the distributor was at 10* BTDC. Got it back to 15* and the car has a whole lot more pep. Along with the new gearing its a completely changed car!





While the car was in the air I taped one of the new overs on it and threw a Panasport on. Really love the look of the Type 3 fenders, going to re-lip these from 17x9 (3in lip) to 17x10.5 (4.5in lip)




Also threw an Origin roof wing on the car, really like the look with the factory trunk wing. Car needs a good wash and it'll be ready for the next event!

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s14pit

The na sr is super cool. Would not mind seeing it in person at the next drift event.

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1989 240sx coupe 2jzge swap
1997 t-100 4x4

PoorMans180SX

This thing is pretty neat dude. Love the Panasports.

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Build: http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=643065

Friends don't let friends buy knock-offs.

tb13

Thanks man! I love how simple the setup is, if I had left stock brakes, 4 lug and picked up some 15in wheels going for a "Dorisha", stock body aesthetic, it would probably stay N/A. Since the quarter panels are smashed I kinda got away from that style.

For the style I am wanting, with the parts on the car, it just doesn't really do it for me. I can't justify paying for a tune to run my PFC just to make a whopping 150whp and still have to run a super small wheel for drifting.

Its getting there! I almost sold the Pana's, but I'm glad I kept them, they will fit the car so well once the overs go on and they are re-lipped to fit!

In other news, I finally got my hands on a PBM intercooler, core support is already cut and the short piping is something I really like about this kit. Should be fun to see what the DE does with a GT2530 on E85

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tb13

Give me some input guys, to turbo or not to turbo? My main goal with this car is seat time and longevity.

I dug out all of my parts I have been hoarding to throw a turbo on the DE SR today and realized I basically just need fittings and some time to make it happen. PFC, DET harness, CAS, coils, turbo, maf, manifold, downpipe, injectors, intercooler, etc.



If I do it, its not going to be half ass thrown together, it'll be proper, I just worry about the longevity of the setup. With SR's getting so expensive, is it worth stressing this poor DE until it lets go and being left with a hunk of useless parts?

As a hoarder, I do have a good bare DET block and some other goodies just sitting around. I could easily tear the DE down, pull the good crank and build a forged 86.5 bottom end that would take the abuse. Would keep it all simple, I don't want another endeavor like my Z...




Other option would be to drop in the S14 DE I've been sitting on for a while now. Would give me a little bump in whp and should be extremely reliable as the engine is beautifully clean inside. Instead of spending time and money building an engine (or replacing one I blow up), I could get all of my aero/wheels sorted and paint the turd.



Fuck, I kinda hate owning multiple project cars

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Fuglychuki91

I vouch for na. ONLY because it?ll be a bit less of a headache and money And you can still learn to drive well with it. Yes power can be a limiting factor in driving, but I?ve seen Multiple people Drive grange in a stock ka car fine. It?s about skill, and knowing how to work the car/clutch When you have low power. That?s what makes it fun to me. Now this is JUST MY OWN opinion lol I?m a stickler for what seems to work easiest. So take that for what you will. Many will disagree because anything turbo seems to be better to a lot of people on here which 100% okay. Ultimately it depends on what you want to do with car. I drive with a single cam ka and people seem to be suprised that I drift it with so little power they all think it?s boosted for some reason. I had 18x10s at one point on it. I also have a friend who drifts a na sr with a 4.9 rear and he seems to love it. Keep it simple man and have fun

PoorMans180SX

Plenty of compromises to either, like Fugly is saying.

Track only car? 4.9 diff and NA will get you a lot of fun for little money.

A car that sees the street is gonna be real annoying on a 4.9.

NA with stock rear end is boring imho. You have to run small or low grip or a ton of pressure in your tires and while it's fun for a bit, it gets kind of old. Trying to do high-speed stuff with that kind of setup gets sketchy.

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