OFFICIAL: NicoClub's Rally 240SX, by Finnish Fury Rallysport

[IanS]

It's nice to see the build moving again.

I usually see people pulling single cam KA's to trash them...

Then I will strip the secondary butterflies out of the intake, and clean and reinstall it.

I didn't know the KA had a variable intake system. is it the Nissan version of tvis?

I plan to dual cam head swap it later. That way I get the best of both worlds.

I think it is similar to tvis, though it does not use multiple intake runners like toyota does. There are just butterflies in every runner right before the head flange. They are activated together by a vacuum diaphragm on the back of the manifold. All S13 KAs have them, but S14s do not. I would assume, that like tvis, the butterflies are used to shift the torque curve while lowering emissions.

I picked up a new water pump and thermostat today, and hopefully I can get the engine all buttoned up, and maybe even installed in the car.

<crosses fingers.

[IanS]

Getting the engine put back together.



Accessories back of. Only one belt, sweet.



And the intake manifold. No more secondaries.



Gotta make some block off plates.



New gussets on the cage to bring it up to spec.





Gave the interior a once over with a wet rag, and taped off the ebrake handle.





Then primer. I primed the cage, the inside of the roof, and most things vertical. I left the floor for now, as way to much dust falls on it. Once everything else is painted, I will get the floor.



The floor looks primed, but thats just dust.





Im headed out now to try and get some more done.

[S13AL]

The cage looks pretty nice in a solid color.
I was just thinking about how much of a blast this car would be to drive... on loose gravel..

[mattblancarte]

Cage is looking good!

[IanS]

The cage looks pretty nice in a solid color.
I was just thinking about how much of a blast this car would be to drive... on loose gravel..

Im getting excited to test and tune. Hopefully I have a day or 2 before we leave for Omaha.

While waiting for the paint to dry, I got one of the trannies cleaned up. It was dirty.



Put the clutch back on. Despite the dirtiness, its relatively new, so I will beat on it for a while.



My cheapo motor mount solution. Pack them with polyurathane. Ive done this before, and it actually nets pretty darn good results.



The trans mount.





I was test fitting the bumper cover to figure out where the tow hook is going to go, and I decided to set the hood on and giggle about the way the car looks. Its like a little monster truck.



And the cage, gloss white.



Just need to clean and paint the floor and the interior can start to go back together.



Put the clean trans on.



Then I put the whole mess in the car.



It looks so little with all the extra junk removed. All I really need is a few coolant whoses, and the wiring installed, and she should fire up.



Well there it is. Ive got a lot left to do, but I think I might actually get this bucket bolts back together for Omaha.

Who is all showing up? Beating the piss out of this thing at the rally cross isn't going to be any fun if Im all by myself.

Ok thats a lie, that would still be fun.

[mattblancarte]

I wish I could go out and watch you test/compete with this beast. Never been to a rally event.

I was looking for info on the midwest region for Rally America and I'm failing hardcore. What course will you be running at??? How will you come up with pacenotes? Very very very curious as I am sure this is all a huge amount of stuff to organize and work out.

If I missed this info, sorry. I skimmed back through the thread and couldn't find it.

[IanS]

I wish I could go out and watch you test/compete with this beast. Never been to a rally event.

I was looking for info on the midwest region for Rally America and I'm failing hardcore. What course will you be running at??? How will you come up with pacenotes? Very very very curious as I am sure this is all a huge amount of stuff to organize and work out.

If I missed this info, sorry. I skimmed back through the thread and couldn't find it.

Well the first time the car will be out (crosses fingers) will be at the Nissan National Convention in Omaha Nebraska. I hope to beat on it at the rally cross.

After that I will be running the Nemadji trail regional rally in Northern MN.

Stage notes are provided by RA for a small fee, but you can only use them if you or your co-driver has enough coefficients. If I can find a Navi with the experience, I will run them, if not, I will make due with a route book like all the other novices.

[Ajax]

Finally came back to re-subscribe. I'd like to go to Omaha- if possible, we need to caravan.
I gotta get up to see this in person again soon.

[Ajax]

Or perhaps I need to do a regular reply, since I can't figure out how to subscribe without one. This new web design baffles me.

[Razi]

Wooot nice to see everything coming together.
Take videos at the Omaha rally!

[CTGordon]

After that I will be running the Nemadji trail regional rally in Northern MN.

Stage notes are provided by RA for a small fee, but you can only use them if you or your co-driver has enough coefficients. If I can find a Navi with the experience, I will run them, if not, I will make due with a route book like all the other novices.

Just did Nemadji 1A and 1B with Chad Eixenberger last weekend, had a blast facing off against the Himes boys, and the stage they use is just plain awesome. It is still a challenge to run after getting to know the road, keeps you on your toes (just proved last year by Mr. Utecht who probably knew the road better than anyone when he wrecked his car). Unfortunately, they do not have notes for it, it is a tulips only rally. However when it comes to doing a rally that DOES have notes, as far as I've seen they are now allowing novices to purchase and use them.

Keep it up man, wish I could get out there more to help out.

[IanS]

Finally came back to re-subscribe. I'd like to go to Omaha- if possible, we need to caravan.
I gotta get up to see this in person again soon.

A caravan is definetly in order. It will be Cale and I in the Titan towing the race car, along with Torry (EZcheese15), and anyone else we can round up. We are leaving early Thursday morning.

As for subscribing, its something the admin are working on. They are still ferreting out some of the bugs in the new system.

Anyway, on to the update.

Cleaned the floor. Still had some overspray, but thats ok.





Then I bent up a piece of steel I had, and welded it to the bumper support. Its beefy, Im not worried about it ever coming loose, though I think Im going to reinforce the bumper itself, so it doesn't yank off the car.





Got 1 solid coat of paint on the floor. Id like to get 2 or more.



J-Lak helping.



Man does it feel good to have it one color. Im going to try and lay down at least one more coat of paint later. But so far Im happy with the way its turning out.

[bllabong89]

Have you been rattle cannin the whole interior or are you using a spray gun?

[Ajax]

Pretty sure the pic of J-Lak shows him using a rattle can. Plus I can't imagine a situation for painting that Ian would actually consider using anything othern than rattle can or paint brush...

[Speedy7_7]

Surprisingly, me and Ian have decided to do the exterior with a real sprayer. It wont happen until after Omaha though.

[Ajax]

What? This goes against all logic. Quick everyone! place your bets for the Cubs to win the World Series!

[bllabong89]

well i was just wondering. they do have pre-paint prep and things of that nature in rattle cans

[IanS]

well i was just wondering. they do have pre-paint prep and things of that nature in rattle cans

I like to consider myself a bit of a rattle can master. I can do things with spray cans that surprise the heck out of people. Its all about the prep work. If you prep it right, it can be tough to tell the difference.

Lak attack, Cale and I got a little more work done today. We cut out and installed the door panel material, and raided my coupe for all of its HVAC stuff. This brings me to a large dilema.

The blower assembly does not fit. The cage tubes that go to the front strut towers are in the way. I should have expected this, but its not something world ending. After a little playing around, I think Im going to build new mounts put the blower assembly in place of the evaporator. I will need to figure out some sort of ducting so I can still have fresh air.

Thats the easy one, now for the nasty. CALLING ALL KA GENIUSES.

I need to figure out my wiring. I have a DOHC chassis, with an SOHC engine and engine harness. I had planned to use the DOHC engine bay harness, and the SOHC engine harness, but my engine harness is damaged beyond repair (dont ask).

This brings me to my question. How hard would it be to run the SOHC bay harness from my coupe, with the body harness in the hatch? How different are the body harnesses for the SOHC/DOHC cars? Is there a write up, has it been done? I have seen lots of SOHC to DOHC swap stuff, but nothing for going the other way.

And if it cant be done, who is willing to sell me a DOHC engine bay harness cheap? Cmon, you know you want to be part of Nico's rally car.

[breadbox]

I know you have to use SOHC cluster with the SOHC motor.

I wouldn't imagine the harnesses being that far off from each other.

[Ajax]

I've got some extra bits that I need to get out of my storage area- mostly old suspension bits that may or may not be useful. If you're working on the car Saturday, I'm sure I can get up there in the evening.

[IanS]

I've got some extra bits that I need to get out of my storage area- mostly old suspension bits that may or may not be useful. If you're working on the car Saturday, I'm sure I can get up there in the evening.

I work all weekend, so I wont be available for the weekend.

[Ajax]

Your schedule sucks. What about over the next few days?

[IanS]

I will be out there today, and tomorrow evening. Hopefully be out there evenings Mon-Thur next week too.

[IanS]

More updates.

The door panels. I just need to mount a window switch on the drivers side.





Getting the HVAC stuff put in.



More HVAC, and starting to route the wiring harness.





Got the engine bay portion of the body harness in.



I just need to make a few more connections for the trans, and hook up the MAF, ignition switch, and fuel pump, and I should be able to test fire the car. She is starting to look like a car again. Its been too long.

[breadbox]

Very nice. You'll be flying of jumps in no time.

[lbreevesii]

Sweet man. What did you make the door cards out of? I need to make some myself.

I opted to leave my HVAC stuff out. Just an FYI, my car w/ two stock seats, factory front belts, full glass, etc but sans hvac, dash, and the rest of the interior weighs 2380 lbs.

[Speedy7_7]

The door cards are made out of laminated particle board, Ian picked it up from Lowes for $8 or some ridiculously low number. the edges look way better than I thought they would, some generic window edging around the outside border and where we cut holes will complete the look perfectly.

[IanS]

Good news on the wiring front. I put the coupe bay harness in, and I was able to get the headlights and tailights to turn on before the battery I had died. Its charged now, and I plan to start going through all the checks.

If Im lucky, I may even test fire the engine tonight.

[breadbox]

Awesome. Glad the wiring got worked out.

[Razi]

Wooot!