A Build in the Mitten State...

[SolaraOnBronze]

I just got payment for it on another forum, sorry!

[Riq]

It's amazing how far this project has come along since the day it started to now. Are you going to test this setup at a track sometime? I don't mean drifting, more like grip?

[zach-Ka]

What did you do with your old bumper and lip?

[Riq]

Since the fenders are off you should weld on somefender bracers. I know Tanabe makes them and they make a huge diff if you don't have a rollcage that goes into your engine bay. Sucks no one will see them but you will def feel it when you take high speed corners.

[SolaraOnBronze]

I would love to try a track day someday. I'm not sure if it will happen this year, though.

A friend of mine bought the old front bumper and lip. Actually, the same friend bought my side skirts, rear valences (extra set), and front lip, lol.

Fender braces would be cool for sure. My front suspension revamp is pretty much on hold until this fall. I redid all of the rear suspension the first winter I had the car, but the front is pretty much untouched aside from the 5 lug/brakes/coilovers. I did, however, order a set of Energy Suspension steering rack bushings to toss in while the motor is out.

I've also got a kouki 180sx rear seat on the way soon. All I need is the Bride door panels and my interior will be pretty much done. I removed my attempt at suede door panels since they didn't come out good enough. I'm considering picking up my wheels tomorrow after work.

[bllabong89]

You can always do what I am going to do...Get some square tubing and make your own fender braces.

They are pretty much just square tubing welded in to a triangle with tabs welded on to bolt on where the door hinges bolt on. It will be alot cheaper too. I am getting scrap metal from a friends welding shop to make mine but I couldn't imagine it costing more than $20 or $30 in materials. I am going to make mine but remember, if you do make your own or buy them, weld them on to reap the full benefits. Bolting them wont provide the same amount of strength.

[SolaraOnBronze]

Thanks for the heads up, I haven't looked into fender braces much. This winter, I'll probably purchase/ install the following:

Energy Suspension FLCA bushings
Tein (Maybe?) inner/outer tie rods
Moog ball joints (or Megan roll center adjusters)
SPC tension rods
NISMO power brace
Fender bracers (?)

But yeah, that is down the road. I've got other things to sort out right now, like getting it running. Next week should be a big week for the car- I think today I am going to order a DIF steering column bushing and some H&R TRAK 5mm spacers for the front to keep the same 17x9 +12 fitment I had up there with the Gram Lights.

I'll keep you guys updated as I make progress next week.

[Riq]

Yeah steering bushing is a def must especially since the engine is out. You will feel a huge diffrence in steering response. I did this on my first S13 project. I want to do it on this one as well.

Where did you get the ganador mirrors. I want some sooo bad.

[SolaraOnBronze]

I got my first set of Ganador mirrors from Dewey at JDMHookup.com and the second set from a Zilvia member. They pop up for sale once in a while. And thanks for the info on the steering rack bushing, I ordered a DIF one and some H&R 5mm spacers for the front yesterday from FR Sport.

Next week should be a good week!

[bllabong89]

I would also look into Ikeya inner tie rods. The guys from Powered By Max say that they are the best on the market and they cost like 110-120 and to pair them with s14 oem outers I believe. They talk about them a little bit on their site.

Dewey from JDMHookUp.com is a great dude. Hes local to me and he always get some crazy s*** and stocks almost all nissan stuff. If you need anything, email him and he can usually pick it up when hes in Japan. He goes over seas a couple times a year, stays with his family and drives all the cars he pulls the motors from to ensure everything is legit. +1 for Dewey

[SolaraOnBronze]

haz cherry picker...

Tires should be in any minute now. Picking up the motor/trans/wheels from GR tomorrow after work. Wheels and tires will be all mounted up on Thursday. I am getting the trans all bolted up and ready to drop in Thursday night... and the motor should be sitting back in the car by Saturday evening! I should have a lot of updates coming in over the next few days...

[Riq]

Good stuff

[SolaraOnBronze]

H&R TRAK 5mm spacers for the front showed up yesterday to push the 17x9 +17 'kais to +12, like my old wheels. Also got the DIF steering bushing and rusty brake rotor mod.

Pics of the painted wheels and engine back at home tonight. ^.^

[SolaraOnBronze]

Got my wheels back from GR on Wednesday night, as well as the motor and trans. I am really happy with the way the wheels came out- the silver is really bright. Got the tires mounted up yesterday and just tossed them on the car- I haven't seen it on the ground yet, but I am really happy with how it looks!

Tires being mounted up:




Mounted:
















How the bay sits at the moment:


I pretty much finished up installing my DIF aluminum steering column bushing yesterday. I'm just waiting for my cousin to help me put the column back in:


Kouki 180sx Type X cluster. Will me modified to read to 180 MPH when I get time:

[bllabong89]

Lookin good man. I can't wait to see this thing all together...and I love the wheels. Great choice with the lug nut color I don't know why but that combo is just sick

[SolaraOnBronze]

The eagle has landed:













Apparently, my cousin and I wear matching shirts when we work on cars, lol:







Got the interior all back together after the steering bushing install- I also put my JDM back seat in, but I forgot to snap a pic. I'll grab one tonight. Still need to score some new door panels from 240 GTR and wire my gauges up:



So yeah, the SR is finally back in the car! We went through hell and back this weekend to get to that point- I can't thank my cousin Nick enough for all of the help. We messed around for about 12 hours on Saturday and 6 hours on Sunday before we called it quits. Here are some of the snags we ran into:

1. Timing chain would not lose slack. Turns out, I switched the timing chain guide bolts to the wrong sides. This was preventing the intake side guide from pivoting under the load of the tensioner. We had to pull the exhaust cam, upper and lower oil pans, crank pulley, and oil pump to fix this- so that took up a large chunk of Saturday.

2. During #1, we removed the power steering pump. In doing so, I managed to drop it and bend my nice shiny GReddy pulley- RAD. Major d!ck up, but oh well- I might see if I can have it straightened out somehow, but yeah- very stupid mistake that I am bummed about. :/

3. The key to the crank pulley was installed incorrectly, causing it to pretty much be destroyed. I am going to try to pick one up from Nissan today so that I can get the crank pulley on there.

4. When attempting to install the flywheel, we were having issues with getting the torque wrench to click. Turns out, it should have been clicking, because we broke a flywheel bolt off inside the crank Saturday night at about Midnight. Pissed off and worried, we called it quits. Nick showed up the next morning with air tools and a reverse drill bit. I sat there looking at the bolt and said "Wouldn't that be cool if it just turned out by hand?" By some miracle, it actually did! Totally saved our butts on that one...

5. The downpipe hits the transmission. I really like the design of the PSM downpipe because it tuckes the exhaust so close to the car, but in this case it's a little too close. We had to heat the downpipe above the flex section and do a little metal shaping to get it to clear the transmission. It's not quite there yet, but really close. I need to notch my factory downpipe bracket as well to get everything to bolt up. It shouldn't be too bad, but I was kind of bummed- I guess the new engine and trans mounts might have had something to do with this.

All in all, mission accomplished. Time to make it run now! I'm a happy camper:



(Wives: Sometimes, they make you pose for pictures. :lol:) Huge thanks to Alicia for letting me spend the whole weekend on this pile!

[roadboy240sx]

good to see its coming along. maybe we will see at boyland? haha i need to get workin on mine.

[nevertheless]

Shes lookin beasty, cant wait to see it back on the road.

[S_chassis_FTW]

HOLLY S*** you've made a lot of progress since last a checked. GREAT JOB!

[Bumnah]

Did you pull the whole column, or do it the way I told you about over AIM?

The OEM clutch fan and shroud are sweet.

[SolaraOnBronze]

I actually ended up with the whole column out- I removed the wrong bolts near the bushing and pulled the column out with the bushing and the rest of the steering setup still hooked to the rack. I ended up just pulling everything from the rack to the steering wheel and doing it that way, so it didn't end up being as tedious. The pics you posted were really helpful though!

I didn't accomplish much last night- it took me over an hour to get home for some reason. I hate US 23...

Here is the 180SX back seat:



I test fitted the complete exhaust and it seems like everything lines up pretty well. I am really happy with the ground clearance compared to my old setup. It can come up about an inch more than this when the hanger on the transmission mount/downpipe is installed:





I also test fitted the front bumper with the 180SX bumper support- I love having a bumper support now! It makes everything fit so much better. I just need to trim it for the front mount and I can bolt it up for good. This is basically without any bolts installed, just hanging there:







Then I wasted about 45 minutes pulling my front brakes and hammering out the wheel studs to install my new studs that came with my H&R 5mm spacers. Turns out, Ichiba hubs come with extended studs installed already. I wish I knew that, haha. But oh well, I tossed it back together and called it a night.

[scotty-2-forty]

Looking good!

[Bumnah]

Looks good. Is that a clutch damener I see? Remove that!

[SolaraOnBronze]

lol yeah, the NISMO line for it is laying on the floor on the other side of the garage. It's on the list!

[xX RB Xx]

Sick Build!

[SolaraOnBronze]

Heat wrapped downpipe:



Working on fuse boxes. Going to make brackets and splash shields to keep them in the fender wells and out of the bay:







Just need to route the lower engine harness somewhere out of the way, then install the main harness.

[gonshik007]

wow everything looks so GOOD I love it!!!! Keep up the great work and congrats on the garage!

[NismoDriftTeam]

WOW!! all I can say is that I read from page one too 15 today and I'm amazed you may have actually made me reconsider getting a hatch instead of a coupe. Your car looks so clean and fresh, props to you man! Can't wait too see the completely finished product!
-Scott-

[SolaraOnBronze]

^ Thanks!

Slowly making progress- trying to spend at least an hour or two out there working on the car when I can each night, but it just isn't possible some nights.

Earl's -06 AN fittings and braided hose for the fuel lines. I can't believe how expensive this crap is, haha:



Fuel lines installed:



Stock clutch dampener removed and NISMO clutch line installed- be gone!



How the bay sits... finally got the exhaust all mounted up after slotting the holes on the stock transmission/downpipe brackets. There is one mount for the rear of the D-Max catback that I need to fabricate a metal bracket for, but for the most part it's all mounted up! I also got the crank pulley and drive belts back on. The engine turns over smoothly by turning the crank pulley, so hopefully everything is installed correctly!



Slowly but surely things are being crossed off of the list. I just need to hit the pulleys with air tools, and then I can get the radiator/intercooler/clutch fan etc. back in. My list is getting smaller!

[bllabong89]

Nice Nice Nice...Everything is looking good. I wish my list was short.lol. My list has barely been started