Introducing the ChukiMonster

[the_garynator]

Figured I'd share my latest project. I've been putting this thing together for daily-driver duties as well as track time since my current 1990 hatchback (the s***) is ready for some downtime (leaking a lot of oil; rusting really bad; etc.).

I put my rb26 build on hold for now (I don't have a build thread yet, but I've got the car, motor, etc.), will probably be starting back up on it in a couple months (1993 coupe, kaaz 2-way, stock twins, etc.).

I'm building this for autox (Street touring, (I know it's not technically ST legal but our club and fairly lenient is small and the things that don't make it legal are not huge), lapping days, a bit of drifting, and of course daily driving).

When I originally purchased this car, it had an RB26DETT in it, but it blew up on the way home from picking it up . Ring-lands on Cyl. 6 let go, but that's another story. I recently purchased a 1993 Coupe (super clean ) that I pulled the motor out of to swap into this one.

Current Mod List:
Lightweight XTD Flywheel
XTD 6 puck clutch
Full exhaust (2.5" header, test pipe, 3" cat back)
Ebay Intake
Megan racing short throw shifter (V2)
3" radiator with electric fans

I also replaced all hoses, belts, filters, pcv valve, etc. removed A/C and egr.

Some things about the chassis:
1991 fastback
Hicas model
Hicas delete
ABS Delete
cross drilled rear rotors (front coming soon)
Solid aluminum rear subframe bushings
VLSD
Hicas steering rack (quicker ratio)
solid aluminum steering bushing
new OEM front lower control arms
Moog front sway bar end links
polyurathane tension rod bushings
Adjustable Rear Upper Control Arms
K-sport lowering springs
unknown aftermarket struts
HID conversion

Wheels/Tires:
For autox I'll be running 225/50/16 Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs all around on the white rims in the pictures
Daily Driving: I have a set of stock 7 spoke rims with 205/50/15 Falken Azenis
For lapping days: Picking up a set of stock tear drops and putting 205/50/15 slicks on them.

Here are a few pictures:
After the RB26 was removed:

Engine:

Interior:



For all of the pictures of the build from start to present check out my album on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b9fbdbfb0a

I'm hoping to have it on the road this Saturday.

More updates to come. Thanks for looking

[the_garynator]

Oh and for those interested, here's the build album for my RB26 swapped coupe: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... afcb216d14

[the_garynator]

Few updates, worked on it a bit tonight.

Got my passenger-side front sway bar end link installed. These things are nuts, they're super beefy and like half the price of aftermarket Megans. Moog FTW.
Installed fender liners
installed the rods for my battery tie-down
bolted in coolant overflow tank
installed engine to chassis ground wire
installed front bumper vents
put front wheels back on

Some pix:
Super amazing end link installed





my baller suede glove-box

[Razi]

Wow those Moog endlinks are crazy huge.

Get some videos up when you get to AutoX!

[the_garynator]

Will do!
Just titled her a few minutes ago. Should be able to start driving it on Sat. Should have 7 days to brake in the clutch LOL

All that's left to do to get it ready for the first event of the year is:
install exhaust (header, test pipe and cat back)
Wire radiator fan
top off transmission fluid
bleed brakes/replace brake fluid
replace diff fluid

[the_garynator]

Another Update. Got her on the road on Saturday. Drives wonderful...just got a few more details to iron out. Ordered a Circuit Sports tie rod kit and new steering rack bushings. Those will go on next week (after the first autox of the season on sunday) and I'll get an alignment. Also going to be picking up some new engine/transmission mounts and new electric fans (one of mine is dead and I think i'm going to get the shroud) in the near future as well.

Rear section of exhaust

Front Section of Exhaust

HKS Muffler (just temporary, going to probably switch to a Greddy SPL muffler that I have just to quiet it down a bit

Exhaust

Header installed


My roommate in the background working on turboing his KA

HIDS


I'll post pictures and video from the autox this weekend.

[the_garynator]

finished off the rear tires last night:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOGqasDuSFg[/youtube]

[the_garynator]

So I got her on the track yesterday. For some reason it was running strange. Acted like I was only giving it half throttle the whole time, but there wasn't any sputtering or anything. Thought it might be bad gas, but the weird thing is that after dinner it started running 100% normal again. ran fine to the track and didn't notice anything was weird until the start of my first run.
Also, my brakes were sketchy (really spongy), I think it's because my rear calipers are shot. I tried bleeding them on Saturday but it really didn't help. I'm going to pick up some new rear calipers and throw them on before Sunday's lapping day.

I ended up getting 5th in my class. 1st was a civic that was driven by a semi-pro driver (http://www.chrisprey.com/index.html). 2nd was a friend of mine in another 240, third was Chris's friend driving the same car, and 4th was a new 2.5rs. I was within 3 seconds of first place, so all things considered, I don't think I did too bad. Can't wait for the next autox to see what she can really do.

Either way, here are some pictures and an in-car video. I'll have a couple more videos and possibly some more pictures later. I'll also post pictures/video of the lapping day this sunday assuming it doesn't get snowed out...yes, I said snow


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NS2JPxnxSw[/youtube]

[Lobo240sx]

[the_garynator]

Put new rear calipers on on Friday:


Some pictures from the lapping day I attended on Saturday, had some tires to burn off, so I was sideways a lot lol. Slid backwards into a man hole cover (exhaust hit it) and it tore down the exhaust and bent my header...Now i have to buy a new header














Should have some videos up later.

[mindovaanything]

good stuff and nice pics, at first I was like wtf? why would you take out the RB for a KA and then I saw that it's in the coupe

[the_garynator]

not in the coupe yet, but it will be...I'm actually probably going to pick up a new rb26 for it as I'm not sure I want to go through a full rebuild (if I do rebuild it I'm doing full forged internals, etc.). But I kinda want to just get it on the road. I'll probably hold onto the old block and rebuild it down the road.

[the_garynator]

Car was running strange like it was at the autox when these videos were taken, I'm starting to suspect it may be the coil pack. Was acting like it was at half throttle anywhere over 3500rpm
Sorry for the long section at the end on this one. Didn't have time to edit it out. I lost a tire in this video lol, rim didn't get damaged at all luckily.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5pMe_mShkk[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k34ZGqPF_I[/youtube]

EDIT: btw, I did not use the e-brake or clutch kick it once

[the_garynator]

Been a long time since I've updated this thread. A lot has happened since the last update.
In the interest of keeping things somewhat reasonable I'm going to post the highlights in this post and then work on catching the thread up in the following posts.



Doin' Work:



Some comparisons between roughly where i left off and more recently:



Engine Bay Then:


Engine Bay Now:


Underbody shot:


Some videos:
My favorite burnout video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WejgFB-2ZSQ[/youtube]
first burnout at my new shop:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6XwTlhaK60[/youtube]

[danshaz82]

that blue VC really makes the bay look a lot cleaner. car looks good!
and were those first vids from NSB?

[the_garynator]

that blue VC really makes the bay look a lot cleaner. car looks good!
and were those first vids from NSB?

Thanks man, and which vids?

[danshaz82]

the ones at USAIR. i thought they were from no star bash, but i just noticed the dates you posted

[420sxWETDREAMS]

Nice my ka can barley peel out

[300ZXttZMAN]

Loving the shop!

[the_garynator]

Keep forgetting to update this thread. here's starting last spring:

Got some new meats – 225/50/16 Hankook RS-3s:


Installed:


Rear were rubbing so I rolled the rear fenders with my fender roller:


Got stupid at Legend Auto one night and thought it would be a good idea to do a burnout indoors…ended up finishing off the last of the ebay 6 puck clutch:




Carnage:


Installed new rear main seal, fidenza flywheel, comp stage 2 clutch:
(also picked up an S14 intake manifold (no butterfly valves))




Decided to do some suspension work at the same time as well. Repainted rear struts:


Blasted rear upper control arms




Installed new suspension techniques swaybars:






Suspension back installed:


This is about the time that I started acquiring more turbo parts (already had some):

T25 (selling it because I ended up finding a T28) and manifold:


Oil feed line:


Got a crazy deal on an emance tuned ecu and i/c piping:


Megan racing downpipe:


Bought a couple new gauges:


New OEM heater hoses:

More to come!

[the_garynator]

Onto the fun stuff, boooooost. Used this as a chance to do a lot of things I hadn’t done in the past, like make things pretty.

Started by sand blasting and painting the new s14 intake manifold:




Old vs new:


Disassembled the throttlebody, lower intake manifold plenum, water neck, sandblasted and painted them:








Blasted:


Comparison between s13 and s14 (top):


Prepping fuel rail for paint:


Swapping to a non-abs brake booster – prepping for paint:


Restored parts ready for install:


Painted brake booster:


Throttle body reassembled:


Nissan Quest 125amp alternator upgrade:


Bolting on parts for the Intake manifolds:




Mockup with fuel rail


Driver’s side strut tower had some rust issues:


Removing rust/welding new panels back in (ain’t pretty but welding on that thin 20yr old sheet metal is a pita and it didn’t need to look pretty):




Prepping for bedliner:




First layer on:




Prepping passenger side for bedliner:


Cut out and replaced some rust on the strut tower:




Cut out the rust on the passenger side strut tower:


New metal welded in:


Filled in some of the holes on the wheel well:


Tator did some nice bondo work to smooth everything out:


Welded some nuts where the stock threads were stripped out:


Strengthened lower radiator support welds and prepping for bedliner:


Welded in some mounts for the intercooler:




Bedliner on passenger side strut tower:


Engine bay (besides firewall) all covered in bed liner:


Sandblasted and primed parts:


Rubberized undercoating done in wheelwells:




Tension rod bracket/power brace repainted:


Bumper supports bedlined:


Reconditioned the coilpack:


Reconditioning bolts/nuts (little OCD I know):










Oil pan painted:


More to come!

[the_garynator]

Made some brackets for the fuse/relay box so I could mount it like stock. The previous owner removed them and I didn’t have a spare bracket.


Oil Pan mounted:


Oil cooler mounted:


Keeping with the OCD theme, pulled the starter, this is how it looked before:

After:


Some more progress on assembly:








Made a bracket for the brass fittings to hopefully keep them from sheering off, but it did not work, ended up having the brass adapter break, but got a fix in the works.


Bedliner on bumper:


Suspension pretty much back together:


Workin’ so hard, Tator fell asleep on the toolbox:




Ready for a test drive!










Cruisin’


Front end back on and piggy lip back on:



Car was down for the rest of the fall due to the bearing going to hell in the T25 I was running.

New hotpipe with bov flange and knock off greddy bov. Might try the knock off since it will be easier to recirc, but if it sucks, I have a real greddy I’ll toss on:

[the_garynator]

Onto this spring:
Swapped the front knuckle/lower control arm/tie rod setup on from the Yeti for the time being. s***'s beefy!


Boxed in s14 lower control arms, Moog ball joints, Dream Fab knuckles


SPL tie rods...friggin things are massive


Steering angle is limited by the factory struts it seems, but still tons:




Now onto this year:

Ended up deciding to stick with the T25, picked up another used one, scrapped the t28/excessive intake manifold/550cc injector idea because I just want to get this done and get working on the Yeti. Just going to sell of those parts.

Anyway, while swapping the rear hubs to 5lug I noticed that one of the stupid rear wheel steer ball joints was shot. Had been waiting for this to happen and was somewhat prepared, already had a spare non HICAS subframe ready. Prepped it for paint:


Couple coats of bedliner:


Tearing the suspension off:


Found that the metal sleeve in one of the subframe bushings was rusted to the bolt. Ended up having to burn the bushing half out with the acetylene torch then cut the rubber off the sleeve on one side and heat it up then beat it with a hammer. Finally got 'er off:


old subframe:


Cleaned up the subframe bolts and used some galvinizing spray to coat them:


Cleaned up the chassis, shot some undercoating on, replaced the fuel lines and used nice clamps:




pressed the ball joints out of the rear knuckles:


sand blasted them as well as the rear lower control arms:




Painted the knuckles:


Assembled them with new 5 lug hubs, pressed in bushings to replace the ball joints:

[the_garynator]

Bedliner and new moog ball joints in the rear lowers:




subframe mounting washer things and strut washers before:






Painted and installed:


Cleaned the diff up and painted the housing:


blasted and painted the rear cover:


rear end going back together (swaybar not installed in these pix):






wheels mounted:


She's back on her own wheels now:


blasted and painted the compressor housing and outlet:


All assembled, just need to mount the turbo elbow and put gaskets in the inlet and outlet:


That's it for now, hoping to have her back on the road in the next week or two