A Build in the Mitten State...

[Bumnah]

Car is totally legit. Great work!

[SolaraOnBronze]

^ Thanks man!

Here is a link to the D-Max lights- not sure why it says "please call" for the position lights:

http://www.frsport.com/D-Max-T029-Cryst ... 12568.html

http://www.frsport.com/index.php?target ... t_id=12558

[hoosier240sx]

Thanks for the links man, I already found them though. I appreciate you going out of your way to help me though!

[Riq]

WOW! All I can say is wow! I drool everytime I see the updates on this project. It actcually inspires me to work on my car more. Even though it gets as hot a balls here in Miami with our 98 degree 90% humidity . Keep up the awesome work, I hope my car comes out as clean as this one when I finish it.

Are you planning on staying with the clutch fan for the future or are E-fans an option? I have to admit that I like the look of the bay with the clutch fan shroud. How does the bucket hold up for daily driving? I'm thinking of going the same route but don't want to do it if it means that my back and butt will kill me on long drives.

[barefoot mat]

i wish my car was half this cool.

[Hoffman5982]

your car gives me a major woody.....

[SolaraOnBronze]

LOL thanks guys

WOW! All I can say is wow! I drool everytime I see the updates on this project. It actcually inspires me to work on my car more. Even though it gets as hot a balls here in Miami with our 98 degree 90% humidity . Keep up the awesome work, I hope my car comes out as clean as this one when I finish it.

Are you planning on staying with the clutch fan for the future or are E-fans an option? I have to admit that I like the look of the bay with the clutch fan shroud. How does the bucket hold up for daily driving? I'm thinking of going the same route but don't want to do it if it means that my back and butt will kill me on long drives.

Thanks man! I actually had e-fans last season and switched to the clutch fan. I am not very good with wiring and had some issues with the fan running reliably and consistently. I just had it wired to a switch and would forget to turn it on and off, so I decided to just go the clutch fan route. I am super happy with it- the temp is consistently right at 70-74 degrees C, even in the 90 degree weather we have had the past few days. I decided to just keep things simple with this one, and I am glad I did!

Well, the car is tuned! Matt at Monkey Wrench said that everything went really well for the most part, and seemed to be a pretty solid street setup. He rearranged some vacuum lines for me and installed a t-bolt clamp on one coupler I missed (I didn't buy enough, haha). The only real issues we ran into were:

1. Boost Controller- My older Blitz EBC was having issues with holding boost correctly. It would occasionally hit 2-3 psi higher than it was set for, realize it mid way through the pull, and then pull boost quickly- sometimes pulling lower than the value it was set for. Matt got the controller set up really well for me, but I will still need to play with it to sort that issue out if I can- or look into other options if not.

2. Test Pipe- Remember that strange bung on my Megan test pipe with a bolt in it? Well, the bolt ended up coming out on one of the pulls, lol. So I now have a cool exhaust whistle/leak- I'll toss it back in with some Loctite tonight and hopefully never deal with it again. If that doesn't work, I'll just have it welded shut.

3. Oil Leak- The car started leaking oil towards the end of the evening. We are not sure exactly where it is coming from, but it seems to be from the turbo area and collecting on the steering rack/ front subframe. I will have to get under the car tonight or tomorrow night and clean everything up, find the leak, and fix it. It left a lovely trail up the driveway of my new (to me) house as well, so that will be another project for me. :lol: I am hoping the clamps on the turbo drain/return are just loose or something.

Here are some pics!







My car was in good company at Monkey Wrench, haha:



We ended up hanging out with my wife's grandparents during tuning since they live about ten minutes from the shop. Old people dig 240s... lol.



So yeah- the numbers are going to read pretty high on a DynaPack dyno, but here is one of the printouts I got. The pull seen below was done at 10psi. We had some computer/printout issues, but the highest value I saw while I was there was 347whp at 14-15 psi. I am probably making about 300whp and 275wtq on most dynos. I'll have to try it on a Mustang dyno at some point and average the numbers, haha.



Overall, it made 285whp at the lowest boost setting which is around 9psi at high rpm, 310whp is 10-11psi at high rpm, and 347whp was at 14-15psi at high rpm.

I am very happy with the results. I only did one pull on the way home, through most of third gear, due to the oil leak and test pipe leak, but it feels AWESOME! For sure the fastest car I have ever owned by far, so it feels pretty crazy to me at the moment- and that was at 10psi! I couldn't be more happy with the setup and the tune and service that Matt gave me at Monkey Wrench- thanks for hanging out there late to get my car done!

I'll post another update by the weekend after I sort out a couple issues and get the car all cleaned up. Should be driving it a lot this weekend and hitting some meets, so it should be fun!

[Riq]

Those are great numbers, best of all you overshot your goal of 300whp. I feel ya on oil leaks. My SR is leaking from the timing chain cover which sucks because I have to pull the whole head and replace the Headgasket just to fix that dang leak. My HG is fine but I hear that I will dmg the HG if I remove the cover. I really need to update my build thread. I've done alot to the car but I'm too lazy to post it . correct me if im wrong but you're running an S14 T28 correct? If so those are awesome numbers.

[SolaraOnBronze]

I am running a S15 GT28R from NissanParts.cc. Thanks man!

[Rawrvasour]

I notice you were used an JDM cluster on your car, i was wondering if you needed anything besides the cluster for it to run properly with your sr swap. I am in the middle of swapping my sr into my single cam 240 and ive been doing alot of searching but i cant find a straight answer so i decided to ask someone who has one in there car. So basically i want to know if its just plug n play or if i need some sort of harness from the japanese car to get mine to work properly. Thanks!

[Riq]

Any plans for future upgrades as in suspension etc?

[SolaraOnBronze]

I notice you were used an JDM cluster on your car, i was wondering if you needed anything besides the cluster for it to run properly with your sr swap. I am in the middle of swapping my sr into my single cam 240 and ive been doing alot of searching but i cant find a straight answer so i decided to ask someone who has one in there car. So basically i want to know if its just plug n play or if i need some sort of harness from the japanese car to get mine to work properly. Thanks!

Sure- from what I have read, you need the S14 Speed sensor (SR or KA), S14 SR coolant temp sensor, and you need to wire the harness. I had Dreamn make a harness for me, and will also have someone modify the cluster to read in MPH if I go through with the install. I haven't had time to mess with it yet, so it isn't in the car yet. Hope that helps a bit!

Any plans for future upgrades as in suspension etc?

There are a few things I would like to accomplish this winter:

PBM Solid Subframe Risers (Instead of my old version SPL units that don't raise the subframe)
Tomei 2-Way LSD (Got a great deal from a friend, but won't install it until winter most likely)
180SX Digital Climate Control
180SX Type X Passenger Seat (If I ever find one at a decent price)

As for the suspension, the rear was completely redone in winter of 08-09. I will probably do the front this winter- I replaced the steering rack and steering column bushings while the motor was out, so I am planning to do the front LCA bushings, tension rods, tie rods, NISMO power brace, and whatnot this winter. We'll see what happens, though- it never ends!

[Dana_15]

Looks good Damon!

[Idahos13]

Car looks fantastic my friend!

[Riq]

I notice you were used an JDM cluster on your car, i was wondering if you needed anything besides the cluster for it to run properly with your sr swap. I am in the middle of swapping my sr into my single cam 240 and ive been doing alot of searching but i cant find a straight answer so i decided to ask someone who has one in there car. So basically i want to know if its just plug n play or if i need some sort of harness from the japanese car to get mine to work properly. Thanks!

Sure- from what I have read, you need the S14 Speed sensor (SR or KA), S14 SR coolant temp sensor, and you need to wire the harness. I had Dreamn make a harness for me, and will also have someone modify the cluster to read in MPH if I go through with the install. I haven't had time to mess with it yet, so it isn't in the car yet. Hope that helps a bit!

Any plans for future upgrades as in suspension etc?

There are a few things I would like to accomplish this winter:

PBM Solid Subframe Risers (Instead of my old version SPL units that don't raise the subframe)
Tomei 2-Way LSD (Got a great deal from a friend, but won't install it until winter most likely)
180SX Digital Climate Control
180SX Type X Passenger Seat (If I ever find one at a decent price)

As for the suspension, the rear was completely redone in winter of 08-09. I will probably do the front this winter- I replaced the steering rack and steering column bushings while the motor was out, so I am planning to do the front LCA bushings, tension rods, tie rods, NISMO power brace, and whatnot this winter. We'll see what happens, though- it never ends!

If you haven't already add fender braces to the list. Those are great, I also found a great deal on a Tomei 2 way but from all my research I see people only use them if the drifting. Since I'm trying to set my car up for grip im still on the fence about buying it.

[Maverick05x]

First off, incredible build. I wish I read this back in the day when I lived in EL and was at MSU. However, those days are long gone. Let me know what you end up needing to have the car read MPH. I bought mine with a JDM cluster and a KM/H only tach and plan on swapped back to the white SE MPH tach. Anything you find out will be helpful, driving the car with a speedo that barely makes it to 100mph is not much fun. If it ends up being too much of a pain might just pick up a racepak IQ3.

[kornmanz]

Love the car man! Motivates me to continue my car. Finally got the money to finish mine.


Will try to keep an eye on this one. Soooo clean. I envy you!

[SolaraOnBronze]

Thanks guys! Maverick05x, it would have for sure been cool to have met you- especially when I was living in Lansing about five minutes from the MSU meet! My sister-in-law is actually going to SCAD down in Georgia starting in the fall, so maybe we will still cross paths, haha.

Here are some new pics I snapped during the weekend's festivities:































I found this in one of my new tires on Sunday when I backed the car out of the garage to wash it...



Fail! These tires have two tanks of gas on them, lol. Luckily, my friend that manages a Discount Tire patched it for me, so the car was ready to rock again this morning. I'm going to tinker with the ride height tonight (one of my least favorite things to do) and see if I can get that all sorted out/perfect before I get an alignment.

[truckmtr240]

Your car is the best! not to be rude. but how much money would it take for me to get to your level of awesomeness?

[SolaraOnBronze]

Your car is the best! not to be rude. but how much money would it take for me to get to your level of awesomeness?

More than you can afford, pal... 240.

I can't really answer that question though, haha. I don't stop to add it all up... my head would explode if I did.

[Riq]

I friggin love this car, the more I look at it the more i reconsider going with the Sil80 look. The 180sx front looks sooo good on Hatches. Well back to installing my Greddy pulleys, these things are a pain in the a** with no powertools lol!

[slydewayz503]

whats up SolaraOnBronze read your build in another forum didnt know you were on here too.

[SolaraOnBronze]

haha, yep I am, just not as often. And thanks Riq!

[slydewayz503]

^^^^

that's cool well like Ive said before you got a clean car & build was great man. alot of attention to detail.

[SolaraOnBronze]

Thanks!

One more from the weekend...

[badbob2121]

yup ive read your build on zilvia i think.....ooppps! i said the "Z" word!! lol

[DeatschWerks]

Hey Damon,

Car looks great! Glad you got it all together. Anything left to button up?

[Maverick05x]

Man I live about 10 mins from SCAD. I drive by there all the time. My wife goes to Armstrong not far from there. I'll be back in the good ole US in OCT. So if you ever do come down that way def send me a PM I'd def get together and swap some stories. Hopefully by then I will have found a decent body shop in the GA area and had the new front end and aero kit properly fitted and painted. Its turning out to be more difficult than I thought though. So who knows, but yeah def hit me up. Keep up the awesome work on the car.

[sjbsuperman1425]

looking good man. Did you end up switching seat rails when you got the bride seat?

[matt_240sx]

Nice build man! Love this car! Keep up the good work