The "Mad Hatter" 92 Sentra budget build!

[Didderson]

Well it has been quite some time since I failed to pump the brakes on the 240, so I couldn't help but care about the car I drive daily. While I still really yearn for a 240sx, I respect the b13 chassis with all it's FWD glory because of its light weight and independent rear suspension.

The reason I named this car the "Mad Hatter" is because the roof is so square, and the clear coat is all gone off of just the roof, that it looks like it wears a top hat! It's a lively chassis so it reminded me of the guy from Alice in Wonderland; the Mad Hatter lol.

I chose to look for the 1.6Liter GA16de motor because I wanted an extremely good gas sipper for school, and someday I will either make it JDM sr'd, or do an electric motor plug in hybrid setup. The motor will basically stay the same for the time being, although I am experimenting with an HHO setup that currently gives me 2-3 more mpg.

I had less than 1 week to find another car for school when I wrecked my 240, so I was lucky there even was a b13 for sale near me for 900 bucks. Broken tie rod, cracked EGR vacuum line made it a despicable drive home, but I fixed her up nicely!Upon arrival:

After its first bath:

It spent the entire year just like this until this week. Undocumented Mods/fixes include (trying to list in order)-Fixed EGR vac line, bringing oil pressure back down thank God!-Fixed inner tie rod which threw the alignment way off (city car must have turned wheel into curb when leaving parallel parking space)

My weight savings mods so far are removing the spare tire and things, just carrying around tire plugs and a mini cig lighter pump like always, and I removed a few bolts/ intake manifold brackets.

Ok on with the real stuff:

First thing I did was splice the horn wire so I could install the old 240sx horn buzzer in addition to the stock one. It's almost twice as loud, so people are forced to respect my slow car now!

Old tail lights: (91-92 style)(See above) The pic is blurry, they are extremely cracked and one has a BB hole in it!

New tails from the yard/one from a friend:

Installed! Boy what a mess the stock tar sealer is!

Junkyard run pics: I had maybe 13+ sentras to choose from!sad sentra, 4spd fail!

5spd linkage and axle loot: Other axle is inside. I don't need these, but I got them off a friend for free. The only thing I bought for the 5spd swap at the junkyard is the actual 5spd transmission.

The 5spd transmission: Yes it's a 91/92, this is important because the speed sensor is a cable in the 91/92 transmission, and later in 93 it was converted to digital. I dragged this thing from the bottom of the yard near the VW beetles to the top inside a 300zx T top window storage bag! As far as I know I'm the only one attempting a GA16DE auto to manual swap.The donor car: 208K miles :/

Taking this thing out without the help of available plasma torch was a fun challenge! I made sure I got all the right wires and mounts uncut. Action shot of me prying it off! Taken by my helpful companion Nick.In field ghetto rigging shot:Pulling a transmission w/o breaking stuff at a U-pull-it yard:

Pic of almost all the import section. It's huge, and people in this area don't like imports as much as me!

The transmission as it sat for the ride home: Fit very easily in the trunk!

Aw hell yeah mud flaps! You know Rally style is on the way!

Another exterior mod: early '90s mazda mx6? Front 2 piece lip:

The lip installed via zipties: Note: some guys at the junkyard were having too much fun outside the parking lot w/ their pickup trucks and flung mud on my car. No biggie.

The inspiration for the rally style build:

I think that about does it for the beginning of the build thread. I'm lowering the suspension hot rod/poor man style tomorrow. I will post an update!

Remember kids: Just say no to DSM!


Modified by Didderson at 9:43 PM 4/12/2010

[White Comet]

the new tails look way better, but i'm dieing to see the lip on the car

[Logan76]

Your cutting the springs tommorow?!

You should get me an LS integra transmission

[White Comet]

rofl, love the last pic. so true

[Didderson]

Lol yes logan. There are far too many honda guys that pick around this yard lol. If I see one I'll see what I can do. Probably going back this week because:I found an SER so I'm grabbing the Rear brakes/ anti roll bar and maybe the tail light center piece/trunk.I also desire a new dash, mine has the warped vinyl effect of the early sentras ><.

I'll be cutting 1/2 a coil out and checking ride height tomorrow! Maybe 1 full coil by the end of the day!

I also painted the lug nut caps today silver to match the wheels because the OE paint was long gone, maybe I'll have pics of that but it's negligible because these wheels are meh. At least they're alloy!
Modified by Didderson at 10:00 PM 3/9/2009

[Logan76]

You should do a nice little homemade turbo setup on there, all J yard parts. get that beast boostin'

[breadbox]

nice car. I wanna see it all rally style.

Also, Cut Copy

I love Electro.

[nametakennow]

Very cool junkyard/dd/rally build. Keep it up!

[ProudNissanFreak]

Keep us posted man. Nice job so far! I'd like to see how far you mod that GA as I'm doing the same.

[Didderson]

Also, Cut Copy

I love Electro.

Me too man I'm STOKED! Going to see them March 23rd in DC. My 3rd time seeing them live, which I think is their 3rd North American tour .

I failed to mention yesterday I cut the front brake water/dust shields off the front rotors with my electric cut-off wheel. Fun stuff although a few sparks got in my shoe and in my ear lobe. Take caution!

Because I was forced to buy new calipers a month into driving it (darn old nissan brakes always seizing up!) I decided I should take care of them.I cleaned em with brake cleaner and a towel, scuffed em up with a wire brush and went to town with my fav silver caliper paint.

Just a tip if you like saving money: If your car pulls left or right you can adjust the steering rack inner tie rods slightly and test drive. It takes time but it's easy and free. Use the right hand rule to help you stay un-confused. Where your thumb points the rod will move toward (positive Z direction), where your finger nails point, rotate the shaft that way. Doing what I have pictured here increases the toe in on my passenger side tire, making the car steer away from the curb more. Hitch hiker thumb!

I did successfully complete the spring cutting today, but I didn't really get much of a drop because I cut the flat area of the spring. I was just being extra cautious. After doing this it drives fine, probably a bit stiffer which I like, but I realize that I drive this car 106 miles a day having class in Hburg, so I'll probably stop messing with the ride height to save my tires.

Id like to get lowering springs in the summer and throw my old XXR wheels on with the tire stretch. Springs are around 100 for a decent 2" drop anyway.

The headlight bulbs were really old and of 2 different companies, so I dropped a set of Sylvania Cool Blue bulbs in for a try. I like them! I would have to see them in the dark compared with Silverstars, but at the moment I can't tell a difference visually. Ten bucks less too, but they do burn at a lower temperature.Having the lights all fixed up makes me want to use some fog lights I scored from a friend and use the stock fog light button I scrapped from an SER... Maybe that in a few weeks I have to fix that rust!

[White Comet]

looking good, i'm really looking forward to the rust patching

[Didderson]

Well we tried to tackle the rust today. Didn't get done because my friend Joel who's helping me had engine trouble earlier today (fords ).Too bad I dont have a before pic, but I'll get a shot of the stuff we cut out.

During cutting:

cutout complete:The QP I have is from a sedan so I couldn't cut out as much as Id like to yet. If I need to I'll get some coupe metal and redo the bottom area later on.Modifying the sedan cutout to fit: removed the little molding thing too.

Completed insertion piece:

Grinding the paint off the weld area.

I don't have any pics of welding taking place and I know these are blurry and dark but some pics of how far we got today:Gas door:

s***s going to take a lot of grinding and bondo to clean up. The welder is really touchy and joel made a few holes, but we eventually got the wire speed to be decent.I'm just glad there's new metal in place and I told him as long as we get it in there I can make it look good .

[White Comet]

awesome stuff, i'm liking it. its hard to tell from the last pics, but did you use the method we talked about last night for welding the new panel in? as for the wire speed, if your free time, just practice welding on random scrap metal of different thicknesses. after a while you'll be able to judge pretty good where you want the wire speed for different things, and you'll be able to get it dialed in faster for less holes burned through

[nobody420666]

looks like ur build is goin well i hope mine does too keep up the good work

[Didderson]

Well I haven't updated but I have been fixing stuff.

First was the Front main seal. When the vac pressure was leaking the fuel pressure and therefore oil pressure were way off, so the seal leaked and never worked well again.The finishing touches on the crank pulley since it's so hard to see timing marks on a FWD engine! NOTE: The orange slash mark is my optimum timing, just makes it easier to see instead of counting white marks.The belts were absolutely horrible! I bought 2 new ones for the PS pump/water pump and also the alternator belt. 15 bucks well spent peace of mind.Also, I didn't bother replacing the AC belt because it's on the outside of the pulley and it can easily be changed if it goes. Plus AC isn't crucial to arriving at your destination.

I saw this guy at HACC. He has a sticker from tail of the dragon that reads "one good turn deserves 312 more" or something like that hehe.

You guessed it, the other tie rod was bad. Replacement pix; tie rod removed:Old vs new. Old was so shot.

My ghetto alignment method as found on youtube:

Not to shabby alignment but I will probably have it aligned by a shop.

Modified by Didderson at 1:00 PM 3/21/2009
Modified by Didderson at 1:01 PM 3/21/2009

[Didderson]

Ok, now I actually have something worthwhile for you guys. At the junkyard today I grabbed that SER rear anti roll bar. It's probably nearly twice the diameter of stock base model sway bars. Here's the install including making it last long w/ rustoleum paint I had lying around.

I cleaned it up with a wire wheel and brush, then just went to town on it w/ the silver. Not a bad color when its installed IMO. I did the bolts and hardware because I'm meticulous.

The sizing comparison. Make sure when you get your bar to take the larger frame bushings with it unless you have polyurethane ones to install. I'll probably get a poly bushing set some time soon if I don't revert back to rwd in the summer.

Replacing those 149,000 mile rubber bushings is a MUST! Energy suspension poly bushings at your local advanced auto or autozone.

Finished product:

I absolutely love the handling now! You think b13s handle great wait until you try this hehe!It reminds me of how my 240 used to feel. Point shoot handling, now if only somewhere i could find good coils cheap.
Modified by Didderson at 10:07 PM 3/21/2009

[gottarex]

any more updates. I have a 91 that I'm currently doing work as well

[hbpignosePA]

looks sweet dude... whats the word on that new zenki hatch u are thinkin about?

i should do a mock up of crap i do to the cressy.... or should do to the cressy

ive been neglecting that turd lately

[Didderson]

Well i had to buy tires for the front because my alignment had been off for a week (i was busy aite!)But my ghetto alignment fixed it, and then the guy at tires plus perfected the front toe for free . I'm superconfident in the firestone 55kmile tires lol. Because they have a higher max psi rating.

Just cleaned the interior fully last weekend, and then after finding the 240sx, I may just stop all operations. It's up to if i keep the car, or what the buyer wants/wants done. Most likely I'll be cleaning up that weld with bondo because the welder is too strong and burns holes. Or that I have to go in short bursts more.

But yeah, started working on my SR again. Prepping it for hopefully something good. Cleaned the intake mani, and found MORE WEIGHT savings!!That is the IACV cooling lines cut off completely. Originally I ran a hose from line to line but thats not necessary either. The iacv only gets coolant to make the throttle body coolant line even temperature incoming air.

[mRodiek]

Good to see your still wrenchin on a Nissan didderson. What are you prepping your SR for huh?

[heartofaskyline]

ya whats this 240 speak you meantioned

[White Comet]

its still up in the air, so i doubt anything will be revealed til its definite, but it has my seal of approval

[mRodiek]

I wanna see, for us non-east coasteners you gotta keep us updated lol

[brezzie]

love what you did to that anti sway do you or anyone for that matter know if the nx200 has the same bar.

[dmp316]

very nice build man. Good job. It is coming alon very well

[ABNRML4U]

Your doing a Great job!! You deserve a Cold one.

[White Comet]

this project is done for btw

[Didderson]

Thanks for the props guys but yeah, I "finished" working on the sentra when I bought my 240sx in april. It's a great daily, but I need some money for an apartment and will be selling it.I'm sure the nx2000 has the same bar. The nx2000 actually has the largest brakes of all b13 type chassis, because of its extra weight (rear hatch and glass adds weight).Fun fact eh?

I am putting it back to better than stock as far as audio, but I'm keeping the kicker and kenwood speakers. At least I found some to put in there lol. Old 240sx SE infinities sound really nice, hard to tell a difference from the kickers.

I'm selling it to an old friend from highschool who's gone thru some tough times with his parents divorce, he hasn't had a car for 2 years, so I'm happy it will go to a good friend.

I took out the HHO system, car runs better without it lol. I had a crappy hho generator, maybe with a better one idk. 37mpg boasted best hwy mileage without HHO. Slower highway speeds like ~60mph help increase the mileage.

I'd love to keep the car and keep the miles off the SR20det, oh well. I might buy it back someday lol, but I'd prefer a car with less rocker rust.

Check out the V2 240sx build in my sig for my current ongoing project

.

[ishkabibble]

The 100NX has the largest brakes of all B13s, as it has the rear brake calipers from the G20/Maxima and 10.1" rotors. The NX brakes are not bigger due to car weight, but because the NX was designed for road racing. The NX2000 only weighs 50-100 lbs more than an SE-R, due to the hatch and larger brakes/wheels/tires.

Nice job saving a B13!

[nissasin]

Sorry to hear she's leaving the barn