Hoffman5982's Super Awesome Driveway Swap- Finally Running

[Hoffman5982]

Hmm. Never thought of that. I was going to go back to the upullit and pop a couple of buttons off and repaint them. I want to get 2 sets to try out silver and see how that looks. But I'll definitely pick some of that back-to-black up tomorrow and see how it does. Thanks for the advice!

[badbob2121]

awesome to hear its running, only took like.. a year and half..lol, congrats!

[Hoffman5982]

Yeah, a year and a half and who knows how much money, and it's still just a just SR

[badbob2121]

but a healthy sr, which already has the potential to push 400whp reliably...

[Gabes13]

god this is such a nice street car.

[homeslicej2]

Glad to hear it's running well now. I understand, after leaving my job to go back to school a few yrs ago, my car sat for some time too. Things needed fixing, I started to fix them, went back to school, lost income, no $$ for car. It sucked. Finally starting to remedy that. Enjoy the ride!

[Hoffman5982]

All is well with the car. I haven't done much except thoroughly cleaning it. I've just been enjoying having it back on the road. Car desperately needs an alignment but I'm trying to hold out til I can get my toe rods. I also found an exhaust leak today while randomly looking under the car. It needs a new gasket where the piping meets the muffler. Only other issue is some slight seeping of oil at the front cover, which is common with MLS head gaskets, so not a big deal. Other than that, my car isn't leaving oil spot in the driveway like it used to which is very nice.

Today me and a couple of buddies drove out to a small drift event just to chill and have a good time. we decided to get some rolling shots along the way, which is nice because every single picture of the car is either in my driveway or in the garage. Enjoy!

[badbob2121]

looking good!

[PyR0NiAk]

threads like this give me hope... :p

[Hoffman5982]

70-145-80-135! Yeah buddy!

I was driving it the other day and some oil felt like blowing through the dipstick. I had gotten a little boost happy and was running 12lbs, but that's still within the safe limits. A part of me is thinking cracked ringlands again as this is exactly what happened before, but the motor is still running smooth, just has a very noticeable lack of power.

I'm going to re torque the head studs as a few people have recommended doing so after running the engine for a little whole with ARP studs. I don't have a lot of hope for this so I'm planning on having the motor out next sunday. On the one hand I'm bummed about taking the car off the road, but there's a few things I want to do, including resealing the oil pan and front cover and replacing the rear main seal( I think it's leaking). Luckily I have a few friends that will gladly lend a hand and help get everything taken care of within a few days. I'll report back when I know more!

[PyR0NiAk]

70-145-80-135! Yeah buddy!

I was driving it the other day and some oil felt like blowing through the dipstick. I had gotten a little boost happy and was running 12lbs, but that's still within the safe limits. A part of me is thinking cracked ringlands again as this is exactly what happened before, but the motor is still running smooth, just has a very noticeable lack of power.

I'm going to re torque the head studs as a few people have recommended doing so after running the engine for a little whole with ARP studs. I don't have a lot of hope for this so I'm planning on having the motor out next sunday. On the one hand I'm bummed about taking the car off the road, but there's a few things I want to do, including resealing the oil pan and front cover and replacing the rear main seal( I think it's leaking). Luckily I have a few friends that will gladly lend a hand and help get everything taken care of within a few days. I'll report back when I know more!

Good luck.

[krash]

[quote="Hoffman5982"]70-145-80-135! Yeah buddy!

[Hoffman5982]

Lol that's pretty much my reaction when I found out.

I did the compression test Thursday and said f*** it and took it up to Troy on Friday, which is a 3 hour drive. The car did fine and made it there and back on 3/4 of a tank which is very good. Right now, if I end up pulling the motor, I'm looking at 2 options: 2 new pistons, new rings, new valve seals(might as well since they're cheap) and a new rear main seal- $250, OR there's a guy selling a rebuilt s14 SR bottom end for 700. If I can talk him down some I could do that and have a spare block to slowly build up over time for when this happens again . Either way, I'll get it done and clean up on a few more things while the motor is out like I did last time.

[PalmerWMD]

Awesome car that will serve you nicely for years.
Well worth the effort!

[homeslicej2]

That sucks Hoffman Glad you have a good attitude about it though. Best of luck and keep us posted.

[Hoffman5982]

I think, but I'm not entirely sure, that this might be my problem....

This is piston 1, piston 3 was just as bad. Ordering 3 new pistons(piston 4 is already new), new rings, and a few other odds and ends tonight

[homeslicej2]

That'll indeed do it. I hope this finally fixes the problem.

[DriftFingerz]

jeez hoffman again , dude ill give it to ya you got some serious heart with these cars cuz you still havent gave up g/l bro i know you moved but if you need any help or maybe spare parts if i have them lmk...... o yea and my s14 is a disaster as of now number 9 for me i think i may keep this one lol pretty soon motor will be in and the wiring nightmare wil be finished

[Hoffman5982]

Hey guys, haven't gotten much done. The pistons and rings came in and today I started cleaning stuff and got the cylinders honed. I'm at a stand still til I can get my hands on a ring filer, which will hopefully be tomorrow. I did find out that the old rings, which I had professionally replaced by a reputable machine shop back in march, were never gapped. I checked today and the 1st ring, which is supposed to be 20-30mm, was at 15mm, and the seconds ring, which is supposed to be 35-50mm, was at 22mm. That would explain my problems. This is exactly why I do my own work. The only two times this car has been in the shop to have something done I was screwed over. Oh well.

[PyR0NiAk]

I know your pain when it comes to shops doing things half-way... Stick with it, man. I started on my SR back in '09, and I just, finally, started driving it 2 weeks ago.

[Hoffman5982]

She's back in bi**ez



Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures during the rebuild. I went ahead and ordered all new OEM pistons and rings. Week before last I got the cylinders honed and then I filed the rings and put them in. Everything went together very smoothly and I just took my time with it. It wanted to start but the CAS is a tooth off so we'll try again tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[s13sickboi]

Looking REAL good Hoffman! I can't believe all the work thats gone into that SR. props to you sir!

[Mercury_Hg]

Good on you for 1) not getting discouraged and 2) doing it right.

Can you get compensation or a refund from the shop that fubared the rings? That's f*** up.

[Hoffman5982]

Well, motor is in and running. I have to pull the exhaust mani off as the coolant line behind it is leaking. There is also a sound similar to rod knock, but not exactly the same. After a little bit of research it seems that my vtc gear is bad. Go figure

[homeslicej2]

Really!? I feel for you. Hope you get a new vtc gear/solenoid soon and get to where you can enjoy driving this thing.

[Hoffman5982]

I might, hopefully, be getting one of my buddy's s15 sr. I really can't afford $350+ for a new one at the moment

[homeslicej2]

Did you get a new VTC installed?

[Hoffman5982]

I have not. I can't afford to spend $400 on something until I know for sure that that's what actually needs to be replaced. I'm waiting on a new fitting for the coolant line behind the turbo that is poring out coolant. Once that's fixed I can actually let the car safely warm up and see if the sound goes away any.

I did, however, grab a few minor things from the junk yard.
I've been trying to clean up the interior. Overall I'm happy with how clean it is, but it's the tiny things that have really gotten under my skin. One thing was the side mirror controller. Mine was worn out looking, and even though that's something 9 out of 10 people would never really notice, I didn't like it. So at the junkyard I grabbed ones out of a 90s 200sx and an 02 Sentra along with their pigtails. Both fit just fine, but I couldn't decide which one I liked more, so I wired in both:

Original controller



Sentra left, 200sx right

Sentra

200sx


I stuck with the 200sx one for now, but if I decide I like the Sentra one, I'll just throw it on. Wiring was simple. All but 2 wires had the same color.

Also I've recently decided that I'd really like to have fog lights again. I still have my factory lights, but they won't fit with the intercooler piping. Bummer. At the junkyard I came across a really clean fully loaded 98 Sentra SE. It really upset me that the car was there as it was super clean and would make a very nice DD. It had the factory fog lights on it and I thought they might fit to I grabbed them. I took a picture with them sitting in place. I have to make brackets for them but I think they look great:



Other than that, the car has just been sitting and waiting on that fitting. I also scored a 96 grill last night for 20 bucks. I'll post something when I finally figure out what the problem is.

[Razi]

I think I like the Sentra one more.
Engine bay looks mint!

[240sxAli4Life]

I will say 1 positive thing about you Hoffman... you have a nice S14 and you did a good job with it! Keep up the good work, and take care of it!