PantherRacer's 99.9% JDM SR20 S13 Coupe build

[PantherRacer]

The story thus far:
My '98 Cedric GT Ultima was taken out by a careless Maxima driver in Jan '10, the front end busted up something nasty. Estimates were about twice what I paid for the car to get it fixed. Careless dude was not driving on proper insurance so, I have to take him to court. Let me tell you, court here is not like suing someone in the states, We still haven't had the traffic court case finished to be able to deal with the civil court case adjournments pwn me.

I was able to get an Zenki S14 shell from my friend to try and swap the VQ30DET in it. FMR? Yes Please! UN-fortunately, customs duty has gone up to 65% on car parts...which means the bill to bring in the parts I needed, would run into a few grands...and then the body still needed to be sorted out. Not good. What do I do now?

Well, seeing as it would cost the same to buy a running S-chassis as just getting the parts for the VQ project, I decided to look around for what was on the island. Ran into a clean 95 Zenki, stock as could be except for Turbo XS bov. Navan wing, kit. clean. UN-fortunately, the day I was going to pay for it, it gets sold to someone else. The hunt continued!
Then, I found her, love at first sight, got the number to her keeper from a friend...called up, checked her out, was sold on her from then! Bought her on Thursday, I always wanted an S13 coupe...my 180SX just happened to be available and affordable when I got it...then when I was in FL...the Zenki S14 was a good deal also, ended up being my KA-T exp. I basically got the S14 Silvia for the swap for free, sure couldn't pass that up.
But, yeah!
1994 Nissan Silvia, Projectors, already modified (which of course, means I have to go and check everything myself. There is some redundancy and unnecessary stuff just hooked up. (2 boost gauges and the Zeitronix controller telling me the boost I'm running? really? I mean, one gauge is bar and one is Psi, but still...) But still, she pulls nice, get's sideways really easy, yeah, she's giddy. Needs a service, belt change, you know maintenance (new belts, STAT) but, a good Solid car!

Now, Let's see here.
HKS 264's
GT28 (don't know exactly which one yet)
Equal length turbo manifold
Divorced wg down pipe, Full exh system
(Seems all the turbo gaskets have been replaced with copper silicone...is it a surprise there's a leak?)
Stg 3 clutch
Super AFC
Bee*R rev limiter
550cc injectors
Walbro fuel pump
HKS Sequential BOV
Wideband O2 (not hooked up, harness side of connector is melted, wtf?)
F+R Strut tower bars
Full coilover suspension (haven't taken off the tires to see what they are yet)
Bucket seats (with broken brackets )
Body kit
P1 Racing Rims
Manual Boost contoller hooked up, Greddy Profec B just sitting inside the car
Razo turbo timer
solid I.C.E. subs, dvd player, eq,
alarm system (and I'm gon throw kill switches here n there)
Momo commando steering wheel

That's what I remember/know for now...hmmm anything else?

oh, I guess you guys want pictures huh?
*sigh* hold on...



From right: Boost, Water temp (not reading), Boost, Volts...Need some IMPORTANT gauges now...

Airsty III Carmate Cigarette...Yeah, JDM stuff, I'm going to use it as an air freshener holder.


Cupholders!



Yup, profec B, just there yinno...not enough 2-way tape, and only hooked up to electrical.






Yeah, that's pretty eaten otu there...hood blew up on the prev. owner. Need a new one!

[mindovaanything]

That sucks about your other car and the courts, seems like you're on the right track and will have that coupe cleaned up sooner than later. Good luck.

[PantherRacer]

Yup, today I'm gonna service her, change the belts, get the turbo gaskets on to fix that exh leak. What I realized though...The Manifold gasket is also non-existent and replaced with copper RTV, and I didn't get that one yet. I could've changed all of them one time... Yeah, this is basically picking up someone else's project and doing things the right way.
I also need to check the wipers, AC, and make sure all of the aftercooler piping is tightened properly, already had 3 pop offs.
Thinking bout it, since the wipers and ac aren't functioning at all, it might be the relay box huh?

found an old vid of the car at the tracks in the burnout box.

[TurboSauce]

One day of work done, less s*** to do tomorrow.

[PantherRacer]

Post to hold the space for more pics, expect; speaker wires for headlight wires, connector-less lights, cellophane and masking tape covering twisted together wires, burnt couplers, splice n dice fuel injector wires, freaky piping size changes, wires cut and left to hang...ugh
Things you find when picking up someone else's project.
On the bright side, I found out it has Tein tie rods and it looks like megan coils unless someone knows what all companies color the perches red.

























Some good things though
JDM BABY!

[alloverdajoint]

Yesss, this is gonna be a good, resto/cleanup build. I was on the same route with an notchtop coupe, but with school, work and ridiculous body work/tidying up. i let it gooo.
Where are you located?

[Lobo240sx]

That is a pretty good foundation to start your restore. Good luck.

[PantherRacer]

Yesss, this is gonna be a good, resto/cleanup build. I was on the same route with an notchtop coupe, but with school, work and ridiculous body work/tidying up. i let it gooo.
Where are you located?

I'm in Nassau, Bahamas land of Sun, Sand, Sea, and Potholes...lmao They're supposed to be fixing the roads now, but they decided to dig them all up at once...so depending on where I go, there's no avoiding speedbumps and scraping


But in other news, I got my wipers fixed today! well, the intermittent still doesn't work, but as long as the suckers turn on, I'm cool. I also realized...my headlights are even more fubar'd than I first realized...the hi's, lows, and fogs are all mixed up...foglight switch turns on one of the hi-beams, lows turn on one of the hi's, hi-beams turns on a fog and a lo or something like that...it's ridiculous. It's a damn good thing I like electrical work. Now if only my soldering iron worked properly! I just need a new tip though.

got my replacement couplers, didn't get to the parts store in time to get my alt belt so first thing in the morning I'm gonna bus it out. I'm NOT putting that half of a belt back on just to take it back off again... after all of this, it'll be time to deal with the exhaust side!
To Do: Scrape the copper RTV off of EVERYTHING, Put gaskets where they're supposed to be, find missing bolts/studs, clock the turbo outlet, install screamer pipe . It's moving forward!
Pics are still uploading to photobucket...sigh. Updates soon.

[PantherRacer]

So kids, what did we learn yesterday? ALWAYS buy all of your belts brand new, and don't use used belts because someone says they're "like-new". Remember, you get what you pay for. Those couple dollars I saved the first time have come back to bite me in the a**.
So, here's what happened. I had gotten a PS and AC belt from a fellow S13 owner who was now building an S14 SR, said the belts didn't have much miles on them. checked them out, no major cracks or wearing visible, could just tell they had been sitting for a little while. So, in the totally wrong move, after buying a brand new alternator belt, I throw all 3 on and get to business, had a dentist appointment. All's fine and dandy until later that evening, listening to music, going to pick up one of my friends and I notice a light on the dashboard, at first glance I thought it was the e-brake light, since the brake handle and the bucket seat bolster have a personal vendetta against each other. But, this time, the e-brake was down check stock, its the battery light look at the volt gauge...reading 11V. alternator isn't charging the batt...Not long after, while I'm searching for a parking lot to get into, I hear the sounds of metal being dragged under the car, similar to what you hear when you're riding on the belts of your tire. Next thing I know, I'm seeing steam (at the time I was praying it wasn't smoke, holy **** I would have had a baby) THAT can't be good...
Find the lot, pop the hood quick, check stock...my brand new alternator belt is GONE, AC belt is in shreds in various places, and the PS belt is starting to go... F***. I made the wrong decision putting those old belts on. Now I have to buy all 3 over again. Sweet.
At least this time my tensioners should work...damn things were mostly seized when I was trying to get the belts off the first time. Yup yup, this stuff only hinders me from sorting out everything else with the car. Good thing I love this car...

[TurboSauce]

Good thing I love this car...

QFTMFT

[PantherRacer]

Sooooooooooo after checking out the full extent of the damage, front main seal is busted and leaking and the timing needle is bent. AWESOME.

[PantherRacer]

Got New belts, replaced the FM seal, fixed the cross-member tie that had stripped bolts & no nuts...


Got my S14 seats in, the buckets were too big for the car, and the rails were busted...was a pain to get into 5th & Reverse with those side bolsters.



still need to clock the turbo.


Trying to sort out a New front end, Get that whole area sorted out.
Gonna get new chassis+engine harnesses, get my electrical proper and not all hacked up.

[PantherRacer]

There's something different...






It needs to be higher though.....

[PantherRacer]

So, let's see. Been driving around trying to sort out other people's cars. But noticing that mine was breaking up/Sputtering under boost. I was thinking that it was too rich and blowing out the spark, it IS running rich...the wideband has no wires on it, so the zeitronix is just doing what it does with no input, and I'm clueless as to what A-F/R it's running.
So, I've been continually thinking it was the richness killing my power. Until yesterday.

Driving home, I hit a dead spot in third, car just falls flat on it's face for a second and then picks back up. So I think to go home before it happens again and just dies. But it does die before I get home. The car's still rolling, so I try to clutch kick it back to life, no dice. pull on the side of the road, turn on the hazards, pray that it's just another coupler popped off. Nope, everything's still solid. Hop back in the car, turn the key to ON...No fuel pump. #*&%!
Push the car to my friends house, let it sit for a while, turn it back to on, pump come on, but sounds weaker. I was thinking the sucker was too hot or working too hard since it was at about 1/4 tank. Go get some gas, but it keeps shutting off every so often. I end up through my corner and pushing the car home.
Today I trace the wiring...and of course, it's ghetto rigged to all hell...
So, I was actually leaning out under boost
I really am going to have to re-wire this whole car....I mean...how the pump is getting power... You know what? it's just better to show you guys.
Yup. WSIWYG. No connector, Nothing, just a wire stuck into the battery terminal.


Sorry for the blurry picture...Camera doesn't do up-close very well

Yup. the ground wire was very loose, just popped right out of the solder when I took off the electrical tape...
"Dere's ur prawblum"

REALLY!?!? See how SHORT they cut that wire?

Was in the trunk fixing the pump wiring...got out, closed a door...
wing + upright antenna = this


So, after another test drive, the pump STILL dies...guess all of that intermittent power/ground did it in...or there's still some connection issues somewhere.
New harness+pump? well, it was fun while it ran...

[PantherRacer]

What's REALLY bugging me about this, is it's NOT an engine swap. I've dealt with shoddy SR swaps before. This is supposed to be OEM with upgrades...Some people should not be allowed near cars.

[Hijacker]

That hack job the previous owner did makes me cringe

[PantherRacer]

just one thing after the other.
Tire goes bald, go to replace it, not paying attention I reverse into a little concrete barrier, knocking my whole exhaust down. pipe is kinked. put it up with tie straps cuz it wouldn't fit into the hangars anymore (and a couple of the rubber inserts broke), and by the time I get home, it's smoking...I guess the turbo is now gone. Thank you backpressure. More s*** to fix I don't have the money for. looks like this is going nowhere fast.
Still have to source some new harnesses, turns out the person doesn't have them anymore. Great.
but hey, at least I have new tires right?...UGH.

[Glen27007]

why you add a spoiler? good work hopefully you bring her back 100%

[Hijacker]

Try to source out the electrical diagrams if you can. The best I've been able to find so far has been the '96 Type X supplemental which is just a few of the options. if you can find the full on diagrams for the JDM model, it can help you with tracing all the hack jobs the previous owner did.

[PantherRacer]

why you add a spoiler? good work hopefully you bring her back 100%

Heh, I've always loved GT wings. big, honking, GT wings. That's the little ricer inside me, or maybe it's all that F1/GT/Road course racing and toy cars I had when I was a kid. The car is going to end up basically clean and non-aggressive with a wing...in fact, I want this wing higher Though, it's for function rather than form...if it was just for form it'd be find how it is.

Try to source out the electrical diagrams if you can. The best I've been able to find so far has been the '96 Type X supplemental which is just a few of the options. if you can find the full on diagrams for the JDM model, it can help you with tracing all the hack jobs the previous owner did.

Thanks man, I'll definitely get on that ASAP. I'm going to have to start tearing down the car tomorrow anyways. Need to check the turbo and see if it's still good, if it wasn't the hit that hurt it, it just might have been that restriction from that Kink. It isn't pretty in the least...
Gonna need a good printer for all of those diagrams, and a new soldering iron. Now if only I could get paid to work on my own car I'd be set

[PantherRacer]

Ok, so, the pipe is definitely kinked (pics later) I took off the (5zigen) cat back, because that's where it kinked. While I was under the car, saw that a downpipe bolt didn't have a nut on it, put one on there, but I still have a leak by the manifold somewhere. All the bolts are on, but there's still the little problem of silicone instead of exhaust gaskets, so...Yeah, not too much of a surprise. Ran the car for a little while to see if it would smoke, it didn't, maybe I need to put load on it or drive around for a while, let's just hope it was some extra backpressure that caused that problem. I plan to upgrade the mani + turbo anyways (XS power mani = ) Who knows, it might just be an ebay turbo on there...

In good news, I found out what type of coilovers I have. Cusco! Now I have to check again to see which system, but it's progress.
Now, I'm off to check my gf's Skyline which was giving her some problems a lil while ago...Good start to a day I guess

[PantherRacer]

So, turns out the MAF was bad. changed my N62 out for an N60. Was SUPPOSED to be another N62, but my friend had gotten the N/A Maf sold to him, going to sort that out later. Still need the wideband and tune so I can be running proper A-F/R's, but it isn't sputtering and dying. well, it died twice since the change, and will occasionally idle low, but I haven't reset the ECU, and I'm not 100% sure if the N60 is supposed to be 3 or 4 in. I have it set to 3 right now and it's doing fine though.
Still going to sort out everything in time though. I'm just glad there's some progress, now I won't have to worry if the car is going to just fall on it's face when I'm going to overtake someone, and it should be a bit better with fuel economy now

[PantherRacer]

So, wastegate spring has to be totally gone. turned the boost controller all the way down and it won't do any less than 1.5 bar.it might play around 10psi sometimes but it will just shoot right back to 1.5. and I know that's way out of the compressor efficiency range. it's a damn T28 now I didn't check which one it is yet, but my goodness...

[dhennessey]

Wow, lots of fun, i undestand what you're going through with the wiring, when i got mine, it was all jenky like that, so i just got new Wiring Specialties replacements and all is good now

Good luck man, looks like a tonne of troubleshooting

[Wiring Specialties]

Wow, lots of fun, i undestand what you're going through with the wiring, when i got mine, it was all jenky like that, so i just got new Wiring Specialties replacements and all is good now

Good luck man, looks like a tonne of troubleshooting

[TurboSauce]

Hey do you make a front harness for a right hand drive coupe? SR20DET, with triple beams (projectors) If so Please PM me, aimed at Wiring Specialties..