My S13 SR20DET Prep

[trusts14]

so far looking good. we have the same engine stand.

[positron1]

by any chance, do you have a pic of all the poop that came out of your IACV and intake mani/runners? there is a thread where people just spray a can of carb cleaner into the IACV and think its really going to help. I cleaned mine the way you did, but didn't take any pix. its amazing how much crap comes out of those things. Anyways, this is making me antsy to buy another SR to work on. GREAT job so far.

No pics but I should have taken some of it, that bucket of water was completely black after I let that stuff run off into it. There was a lot of it yes!

[positron1]

That motors coming along NICE, hopefully you should have a smooth running motor with not startup problems good work man

I hope and pray for no startup problems!!!!

[otterman]

At first I was gonna be a d!ck about how this average swap isn't worth a build thread... But this is a good thread for people who are doing their first basic/stock SR swap to check out. Lots of good pics and such.

[tercel drifter]

good work, and liking the pics and step by step and also good job on ur walbro 255 write up!

[Slideways^Jordan]

Googood job on paint on painting the motor the aluuminum color itlooks really clean whats the name of and where can i get it at Napa cause i want todo the same to my SR Redtop after i put my head back on.

[positron1]

Googood job on paint on painting the motor the aluuminum color itlooks really clean whats the name of and where can i get it at Napa cause i want todo the same to my SR Redtop after i put my head back on.

Thanks for the comments people! As for the paint I got Duplicolor engine enamel aluminumAluminumDE1615

[94_240sx]

As usual, good job!!! I'm fan of your write-ups, man...I have some comments.

1. That engine enamel will smell awful for a while when car is ready and running. Don't get surprised if you smell something's burning under the hood. I used same spray paint for my exhaust and oh boy... it didn't smell good.

2. Are you going to remove overspray on valve cover? I wish you covered it up better.

3. Front main seal is just like diiferential side seals. I used a big socket when I installed it.

4. Around the thermostat, you can just clean up the liquid gasket with fingers after it dries up. It'll give you cleaner look.

I know it's hard take pictures when you are covered in oil and stuff, but please do take a lot of pics and update this thread with details. I'll check often.

[positron1]

As usual, good job!!! I'm fan of your write-ups, man...I have some comments.

1. That engine enamel will smell awful for a while when car is ready and running. Don't get surprised if you smell something's burning under the hood. I used same spray paint for my exhaust and oh boy... it didn't smell good.

2. Are you going to remove overspray on valve cover? I wish you covered it up better.

3. Front main seal is just like diiferential side seals. I used a big socket when I installed it.

4. Around the thermostat, you can just clean up the liquid gasket with fingers after it dries up. It'll give you cleaner look.

I know it's hard take pictures when you are covered in oil and stuff, but please do take a lot of pics and update this thread with details. I'll check often.

Thanks man! Good looking out on the paint smelling after startup because I would have been freakin' out if I smelled something burning under there! I just hope that it doesn't flake up but from talking to people who have used it before and haven't had any flaking even after years, I'm confident it'll look good and stay put. I really should have taped that valve cover off better even though I am going to get a new one...that was my bad. I wish I had known about the socket thing earlier, I was looking around my place for something to place over that thing and that 36mm socket that I used on those brakes would have done the do. As far as the leftover gasket around the thermostat, yeah I'm gonna pull it off after it's done setting so thanks again.

[positron1]

Believe it or not I couldn't find Simple Green at any store here so I got the next best thing....Mean Green. So far I've gone through about 3 bottles of this stuff and it works wonders on cleaning up a engine and engine parts. Just spray it on watch the grime roll down. For example just check out what it did for my KA P/S pump.The power steering pumps were the filthiest things I had to clean yet, they were totally covered in crap. I always thought the P/S pumps were black but to my suprise it turned out to be gray underneath all that filth that it was covered with.See!

Another little tip for all those grease encrusted nuts, bolts and miscellaneous parts. I just took them, put them in a cup and let them sit in pure Mean Green for a couple of hours and they came out looking almost new except for the scratches.

Quick question, my SR's powersteering pump appears to have two pressure hoses on it, would that be a HICAS pump?

[duffman1278]

OMG thats a huge difference on the P/S pump haha, but came out good!

[Slideways^Jordan]

Wow that Mean Green is hard core where can i get it at. Your power steering pump is like brand new again i always thought it was black to well keep up the good work and keep posting pics.

[positron1]

I bought this aluminum steering bushing about two years ago, not long after I purchased the car, after being told that it was a simple install. I soon learned that, with the engine in the car, I would have to pull the entire steering column to install this thing. At the time I hadn't started to do anything on my car and I had very little mechanical know-ho so "F" that I said. Since then this bushing has been sitting in a box collecting dust, I always figured that I would be able to install it easier when I did an engine swap, and the motor was out of the car, so the time has finally come.Aluminum steering bushing.

Tools needed:Socket wrenchSocket extension12mm socket14mm wrenchPrybarHammerThreadlocker

Before I start I have to tell you that I've put a lot of parts on my car and I have to state that this was the most unpleasant install I've done and I've done the rear 300ZX brakes...it wasn't as much of a pain as this was!!!!With the engine out of the car you have room to pull just this rod instead of having to pull the entire steering column for the bushing install. It's hard to see but it's there.Use a 12mm socket with extension to remove the two nuts off the steering bushing.I used a breaker bar to bust the two nuts loose on the rod going into the rack and pinion here...remove the bolt.And here...remove the bolt.

Now this is where I ran into problems, the steering column has splines in it so you should be able to slide part of it down into the universal joint which will give you enough clearance to undo the top portion with the steering bushing where you removed the two nuts earlier, move it to the side and remove it from the car. Before I could slide the rod I had to wedge out the universal joint slightly with my prybar.It was rusted so I sprayed some WD-40 on it and continued to use my prybar to wedge out the two connecting points on the universal joint.After doing that I should have been able to slide the splines on the rod down, move the top of the rod where the steering bushing is to the side, out of that hole leading to the inside of the cabin, and remove it from the universal joint but I didn't have enough clearance. I needed a few more millimeters.Since I couldn't get it out with that part of the universal joint I tried the lower portion of the universal joint. It has splines also so I wedged it out slightly and used my prybar to move it up......and off the rack and pinion.Now you can remove the upper portion of the rod from the steering column.Here.Note the position of the parts on the rod before you break it down so you can install the new bushing and put everything back the same way.

Use a 14mm wrench to help you hold the rod while you use the socket to remove the other two bolts on the steering bushing.Nuts off.Remove the top washer.Remove the bushing.Remove the bottom washer.Done!Again, note the position of the metal bushings.Use a prybar or a screwdriver to pop them out.Oem bushing vs. the aluminum steering bushing. The OEM bushing was old and had a lot of flex in it.Take the four metal bushings...and insert them into the metal steering bushing. You need to alternate the bushings and have two of them flush on one side and the other two flush with the metal steering bushing on the other side.Now take the four plastic washers...and place them on the four metal bushings and you are ready to reassemble the rod.Take the rod and place the bottom washer on.Place the metal steering bushing on next with the two plastic spacers on the bottom.Now put the plastic spacers on the top.Next, the top washer.Now you can put the nuts back on and tighten them, sorry I don't have the torque specs on this one...anyone? Don't forget to use the wrench to help you hold the rod while you tighten the nuts.I busted this wrench in the process, gotta track down the Snap-On man Monday!Once you get the nuts tight, use some threadlocker.

Take the rod back to the car and install the upper portion with the steering bushing......back onto the steering column and thread the two nuts that you removed at the beginning back on.Now you can put the bottom portion of the rod back onto the rack and pinion...Reposition the rod by moving the splines back into the same position that they were in when you started, re-insert the two bolts on the univeral joints and tighten. The upper universal joint bolt.The lower universal joint bolt.Tighten the two nuts on the upper portion of the rod where the steering bushing is as well and don't forget to use thread locker on all three bolt sections......and you are finished!

[duffman1278]

Good work man! I'm surprised you got it to fit in all the way, that thing was a PITA when I put my steering back into the rack and pinion.

[positron1]

I finally have everything cleaned up and organized so now all I'm doing is waiting on small parts and gaskets so I can start reassembling everything and mounting the parts back onto the block. This thing is actually starting to come together.This is the crow's nest that I had before.





Had a little high heat paint leftover so I used it on the driveshaft. I'm thinking about replacing it with either an aluminum or steel one piece driveshaft though.This is a project that I was smack right in the middle of completing when I had to drop it and get this swap done!The wall of shame, all the reciepts and bills of lading for the smallest to the largest parts that I've gotten for this freakin' car. Will I ever take them down and add them up....not in this lifetime!

My poor old KA, she served me well.
Modified by positronone at 11:43 AM 1/13/2008

[homeslicej2]

^you have a lot of tires and wheels . good install guide btw, and is your current M/C leaking or is that corrosion/rust from an older one? Now is a good time to clean and paint the engine bay too.

[positron1]

That corrosion is from an older one, I think the previous owner replaced it when they did the auto to manual conversion because this one looks fairly new. Painting the bay is next on my list.

[Morph]

Not sure if I looked over this or not but are you planning on changing the headgasket and studs??? If not try to b/c wtih the engine on the stand it would be way too easy not to change it. Not hard when its in the car but if your tall like me then OMFG the back pains.

[positron1]

Not sure if I looked over this or not but are you planning on changing the headgasket and studs??? If not try to b/c wtih the engine on the stand it would be way too easy not to change it. Not hard when its in the car but if your tall like me then OMFG the back pains.

I've got the headgasket and I've been reading that portion of the FSM committing it to memory, reading up on the forums headgasket threads and I have the tools to do it but I'm still not sure if I can pull it off so I'm still on the porch on that one. If in the end I feel as though that's out of my league I do have a performance shop a few hours from here that can do it although I'd rather do it myself because I'm hands on and I'd like the experience.

[Morph]

Its not that hard. If you can take off the exhaust and intake sides of the engine and put it back together then you can change the headgasket. It seems daunting at first but, label everything you take off and put it back in the same order and you will be fine.

I'm no where near a mechanic but i managed to pull it off. Hardest part is taking the head off and back on. Since you have it on a stand that probally wont be an issue.

[Didderson]

I have to subscribe. It's nice seeing all the build threads in the winter time I'm anxious to see feedback of the steering bushing when you drive it again.

[moyea]

Can I hang out at your place? LOL!

Make sure you get those lightweight pulleys, I'd like to see you do the install. And when you get your boost gauge try to write a detailed intall that shows where your tapping the "T" fitting into.

Keep up the good work.

[Hijacker]

I've got the headgasket and I've been reading that portion of the FSM committing it to memory, reading up on the forums headgasket threads and I have the tools to do it but I'm still not sure if I can pull it off so I'm still on the porch on that one. If in the end I feel as though that's out of my league I do have a performance shop a few hours from here that can do it although I'd rather do it myself because I'm hands on and I'd like the experience.

Head gaskets are easy peasy. I really suggest that if you are going to do a headgasket, get ARP studs. They won't break your bank and your motor will love you more for it. If you don't want to get ARP hardware, get new OEM headbolts at the very least. Nissan uses a torque to yield headbolt that has to be stretched. Reused headbolts tend to not give very even clamping force over the head and can cause seepage with metal headgaskets

[positron1]

I put my heater hoses on today, if I did it wrong can someone correct me please?

Tools needed;Screwdriver

I got a heater hose kit from Heavythrottle but here are the individual part numbers.L Shape Gates part # 28467(other cross reference part #'s from Schucks: 80401, M63351, M63812)S Shape Gates part # 19606(other cross reference part #'s from Schucks: S63087, 63087)U Shape Gates part # 19666(other cross reference part # from Schucks: L63297)

Heater hose connector is 5/8" x 3/4"

Stock heater hose setup.Heater hose kit from HeavyThrottle.The hoses you have to swap out are the upper heater hose...and the lower heater hose.I used a screwdriver to remove the clamp on the upper heater hose.Remove it.The U-shaped hose goes on the upper heater hose outlet like this.Use this connector to connect the U-shaped hose and the L-shaped hose later.Next, I used a pair of pliers to remove the stock hose from the outlet.After that you need to remove this bracket.Now you can remove the hose and connector.S-shaped heater hose...installed like this but from what I've read I'll have to remove it when the engine is placed into the car because of firewall clearance.L-shaped heater hose.The L-shaped hose is connected with the connector to the U-shaped heater hose and is trimed to fit. Someone correct me if I've completed this incorrectly and don't forget about the hose clamps.


Modified by positronone at 12:53 PM 5/13/2008

[positron1]

I finally cleaned out and painted my engine bay yesterday. Earlier in the week I went in, taped things off, yanked old clips, removed old bolts, washed and wiped and removed any components that I could to avoid bagging them up.

I used Duplicolor...

low gloss black.Pulled the lower engine harness.Removed the coolant tank resevoir, P/S resevoir and fuse blocks.Bagged vital things off.Before.After.Before.After.

[codyace]

As much as I love Jeff from Heavy Throttle, and supor their business, I must say that the little plastic 'hose adapter' thingy is complete ****. I've had two melt on my hand (my own, and a friends).

I would strongly suggest, with the motor out, goto a store that sells larger fittings. Hhome depot may, lowes may, but I used a local hydraulic shop, and make your own piece using two pushloc male nipples and a common threaded bushing to combine the two

Just looking out for you, because trust me, when you watch your temp gauge skyrocket, and you smell coolant, and you're 30 miles from home....and you discover that to be the issue.....lets just say a few new curse words are invented.

[positron1]

Ran into a problem today, I was trying to put together and mount my powersteering bracket and pump and found that they don't fit together. I read on the forums that you can use the DOHC KA power steering pump with the SR power steering pump bracket...well I went to mount mine together and put them on the block and they will not work together. I found out earlier that I received a HICAS SR power steering pump so would it be that the SR HICAS pumps and the regular SR pumps have different brackets?My KA P/S pump and bracket on the left and the SR HICAS P/S pump and bracket on the right.Here I have the SR HICAS bracket on the left and as you can see the KA will not fit in that mounting location, it's a tad too long or the mounting location is a tad too short.

So I guess my question is does anyone know if a regular 2wd SR P/S bracket is different from the HICAS bracket and will it mount on my KA P/S pump?

[positron1]

As much as I love Jeff from Heavy Throttle, and supor their business, I must say that the little plastic 'hose adapter' thingy is complete ****. I've had two melt on my hand (my own, and a friends).

I would strongly suggest, with the motor out, goto a store that sells larger fittings. Hhome depot may, lowes may, but I used a local hydraulic shop, and make your own piece using two pushloc male nipples and a common threaded bushing to combine the two

Just looking out for you, because trust me, when you watch your temp gauge skyrocket, and you smell coolant, and you're 30 miles from home....and you discover that to be the issue.....lets just say a few new curse words are invented.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm definitely going to check Lowes for the pieces...do you have any pics or item numbers by the way?

[duffman1278]

I've heard of people who ran those plastic ones for awhile on their SR's and have had no problems. I guess it depends where you live. If its really hot in your area, it might not hold up too good.

[Didderson]

I don't want to jack your thread cuz I'm watching ur progress. But my build thread would probably save u a few headaches.

I got this brass fitting at lowes. i think u should be able to make out the part number even .



The hoses are correct. Nice writeups indeed. In my thread I used my KA pump in the original SR block mounting bracket. I had to swap the bracket for the tensioner piece in the front from the SR pump to the KA though. Sucks that it doesn't fit because you have hicas. I had no idea their pumps were bigger but that makes sense .Good luck with it all Keep it up.

The hose u see is going to the turbo cooling line. I cut the upper hose short cuz i didn't want a roller coaster heater core setup. I'm not running coolant to the iacv, all that does is warm the air that my intercooler makes cold.

1 more thing. if you want pics of the p/s pump to help explain stuff because it's hard to distinguish stuff, let me know.