superDorifto's 84 200sx Drag-Drift Party Hatch Build

[superDorifto]

Well,

here we go, starting yet another build thread...one of these days I'll actually finish one. Getting older, blah blah, bought a house with a kick a** garage - I sod my kouki in the process and for a while the KA-T project so loving documented at the below link was on the cutting block too.

Link to my old Kouki Build Thread:
superdorifto-s-kouki-ka-der-build-t530966-210.html

BUT I did not sell the motor/transmission, and I just scored a sweet, f*** cherry mint 84 200sx hatch!!!

This thing reaks of the eighties:

Digital dash - CHECK
Metallic baby s*** brown paint - CHECK
Bright Orange Corduroy/Velour Interior - CHECK
Warning Sounds that talk to you when you leave the keys in the ignition? - CHECK
....
Rust? - Nope, none, this thing is so clean I could eat off it. I've tracked down some info on the original owner, and this car has been in CT since 84 - in a garage, waiting for its greatness to be recognized...

Every piece of factory installed hardware works perfectly, I drove it to work the day after I bought it and was convinced I could have DD'd this thing everyday, but that would not do.

Pics of how it looked when I got back home from work on Thursday.







No there may not be any rust, but there was a ding to the front, so first things first - the fenders gotta come off, along with the front bumper to survey the damage.

And this is where I get to some specific advice for anyone who might end up working on an s12:
1) - get ready to use your vice grips A LOT..
2) - make sure you have a set of long nose vise grips

Issue being that Nissan decided to use HUNDREDS of pan head (round) Phillips head sheet metal screws to hold these f*** cars together....I'm having a hard enough time in a car with NO rust - if this thing was a normal New England car I would have given up a long time ago and started grinding/cutting....

Broke my good Kline scredriver before I started just using the vise grips...


Got you you little f***!!!


Also make sure you have a set of these...there are some cramped spaces, trust me...


Its been a few days, and I've made some progress. The fenders are off, still no rust, and no frame damage - f*** yeah. just about ready to pull the CA20E - starting to label the harness for tucking and integration with the S14 KA harness.





This was the pile of leaves behind the mud flap...at least the corners were clean.


about 4 cups of dirt was hidden in the frame rail - I think the previous owner hit a dirt berm. brushed it all out, and found a hide-a-key elbow deep in the frame rail.



So enough with the gardening....what are my plans for the car?

This:


My built KA with a gt2560/Z32 transmission and all the other supporting mods from my last build....along with the Glorious s*** Brown exterior and 80's d!ck punch of an interior. Only this time Coils and suspension are on the build list as well - major update planned as soon as I close on my house and start making it rain...

[Razi]

This thing is gonna be so rad.

[WDRacing]

Great intro post dude, lovin the hide-a-key!

[superDorifto]

Making good progress.

The CA20E comes out this weekend. Goign to try to wrangle my KA from my friend's garage.

I already bought coils for the S12...s*** going to be awesome.

[WDRacing]

Updates!?

[superDorifto]

My camera phone broke last weekend...so no pics of labeling the rest of the harness.

picked up JIC Magic FLT-A1 coils, mostof the parts for the hybrid front s13 suspension, and some of the last body parts that needed to be replaced. I also bought all of the body work supplies (paint/primer)

motor is coming out today, and by the end of the weekend the KA will be resting in its new home...pic update before the Holiday on Monday.

[superDorifto]

Quicky photo update - after putting up a pretty good fight the old motor is out:





Picking up my built motor from storage tomorrow.

I got a lot of cleaning/painting to do in the meantime - I figure at least 2 -3 weekends of work before the motor goes in.

[WDRacing]

Your KAT is going to look very nice residing in that hole!

[superDorifto]

paint and bodywork SUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.....................

ECU came back from RS Enthalpy today, also already picked up an N62 for the blow through. just need a few more sensors.

[WDRacing]

paint and bodywork SUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.....................

Agreed. Painting the engine bay is a tedious motherfker.

[WDRacing]

So, updates yet or what brah?

[superDorifto]

There will be a large update coming:

- Finished assembling the motor
- Stripped the ECU harness and made the neccessary body harness jumpers, I posted some questions on s12 specific boards, but they are not getting the maount of hits I would like, I may end up posting my question here...
- I'm in the process of stripping the engine bay, found a remover that is stronger than Tal-strip and seems to work really well on the rubberized under coat....man is it nasty
-installed the clutch pedal assy

big pic update comming hopefully this weekend.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

big pic update comming hopefully this weekend.

Womp woooommmmpp.

[superDorifto]

Whoa - just whoa for a minute....

I have a decent excuse, I had 30-40 pics to upload but I smashed my phone at a friends wedding a few weeks back. My new phone does not have an SD card slot, and I have not gotten around to finding another way to get them off my old card.

In the mean time, I finished the "motor" - and bought everything needed for the transmission (slave, speed sensor, bolts, etc.) Once the bay is painted we are at swap time - I swear this is going to happen before the end of August!! maybe.

I'm back to body work - spent all night Friday and Sat stripping the rest of the hardware from the bay and got back to work on the undercoat removal.

However I am now back in Canada -

Trust me in this thread eventually OP will delivery

[WDRacing]

My new phone does not have an SD card slot

Well that's a boatload of fail right there dude. Did you get a retarded Iphone or something?

[superDorifto]

No, its a galaxy, but its got 16G of memory, and no SD slot. should be putting color on tonight. Got friends coming over Friday to help install this pig.





Gave up on the skullworks adapter...It's not pretty, but it works



So much undercoat...goof off graffiti remover-**** works...



Motor essentially ready to install, sans ps pump...I've gotta sort through my build photos, have a ton of it going together



How it sits today. A few more hours of cleaning and we'll be ready for fresh paint in the bay....shooting for an engine install next week.

Lots of work so far getting the shell ready, big updates coming

[WDRacing]

Goof Off definitely works awesome. Since you don't mind stripping paint, you can also use Easy Off. s*** cuts through anything.

[superDorifto]

Goof Off definitely works awesome. Since you don't mind stripping paint, you can also use Easy Off. s*** cuts through anything.

The oven cleaner?

[superDorifto]

Updates as requested

Feels good to be making real progress

Finished cleaning of the undercoating last week and started painting and all the minor fab work to make the s14 parts play nice with its older brother.

Priming after cleaning/sanding



Silver paint going down - I'm planning to get the whole car resprayed in a few years, so for now a little rattle can will have to do.





Fitting the center of the rad support which I made removable




I had a few friends over last night and we got the s14 Koyo mounted up - needed to mount it a bit off center to keep open access to the lower port. S12s have a bit of yump in the tension rod brackets

Started with nylon/rubber isolators



A Pic of how it lloked like it was going to sit


Opted for som simple brackets - also with nylon/rubber isolators - I guess I could have fabbed up something a little cleaner, but I have a feeling that once they're powdercoated/wrinkle finshed they will look pretty damn good



Money shot


Next up fuel lines...-05 tube sleeve and B-nuts to -06 male/male adapters. THese will let the stock lines interface with my -06 lines and reg.
s*** pic of the flaring tool - make sure you deburr the edge, add a drop of oil to the anvil, and apply a little heat to the tube tip. I used a pencil torch,


Pics of the flare - lines can now be run.



Back to Fab work - had to chop off the front of the crash bar supports to route the s14 plumbing....Sawsalls kick a** - it started macking some noise cutting through that nut, but I think its pretty sweet that it perfectly bisected it, wish I could say that I planned that






Thats it for today - hoping to drop the motor in the car later next week!!!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Looks good!

[WDRacing]

FMIC looks like it was born there. Excellent work dude!

[superDorifto]

The last month and a half has been a blur. A good friend challenged me to have this thing on the road by 9/28 for a charity car show his girl-firend is organizing. I dont think I'm going to make it, but I'm so close that I can literally taste it.

I'll let the pics do the talking.

White bunny d21 clutch set-up, stock feel and good to 400ft-lb. Du-luk gold.


My cat pretending he is a shark


Motor in the actual bay
A nice clean shot before I start packing components back in the bay



Ugly transmission mount that I fabbed...blind...with a s*** welder. Well it puts the shifter right where I want it and it is strong as f***.


Proof


Mmmmmmm fuel lines.....



Mounting solution for the intercooler - spherical mounts on the bottom, it flips up into position and fits perfectly where the stock AC condensor should be - I know the clevis brackets are kinda janky, but their like .125" thick, they aint going nowhere. Also no one will ever see them.
[img]http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd5 ... 9583e0.jpg[/img]


Intercooler Brackets



Mocking up the intercooler piping




Instagram-in..



Aeromotive stealth pump...never want to pull that thing again.


Some teaser shots from this afternoon - literally buttoning the harness in...

[WDRacing]

No such thing as an ugly weld dude. That's what they make grinders for!

[Jmoore124]

Good to see this thing coming along...6 Days!


So, I haven't really researched it much, what did you have to do to get the z32 transmission in a stock 14 ka/shell?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I hate how you don't post for forever, and then its a massive data/progress dump hahah.

Looks good! What's stopping you from getting it going by the 28th?

[superDorifto]

In keeping with that MO....small update

Made progress of sorts...had to pull the motor again because it was not rotating freely. Went to set timing and install the distributor, got about a quarter of a turn and it jammed...being that I'm using a d21 flywheel and clutch I was worried about the bell housing clearance. Worst case I thought the motor had skipped timing when i was messing with it.

A member on ka-t.org suggested that some of the castings had clearance issues with the rear main seal.

Turns out that not only do you need to cut the dust plate for clearance to the d21 flywheel, you need to trim the rear main seal housing too. I had scored mine up pretty good, and put a bunch of metal into the rear main seal. Spent the morning making them play nice together and putting in a new rear seal.

A couple guys on other forums have chimed in and it seems to only be an issue with the aftermarket OEM style D21 flywheels. Oh well, I had it balanced as a set with the clutch I'm gonna use it anyway - just needed to massage the main seal housing (like .070" needed to come off the lower half of the housing.

[superDorifto]

So, I haven't really researched it much, what did you have to do to get the z32 transmission in a stock 14 ka/shell?

I actually ended up selling the z32 transmission swap. From other people running the swap, I have not heard about any tunnel fitment issues. I still have the driveshaft and will most likely need it when I swap a manual into my q.

[WDRacing]

Hammer it to fit, paint it to match...

[superDorifto]

ITS ALIVE - more to come

click for video...

[PapaSmurf2k3]

That sounds good man. Looks good too!