Hi, I did start a thread quite a while ago however lost my log ins the name is in at the deep end as this was my first drift car which then turned into my first project and then quickly escalated, so here we go again! Quick overview: I got into drifting several years ago when a good friend (Callum Peate) took me out in his 525i around Norfolk arena from then on I've had the disease. In 2014 after several months of looking I found an s14a for a good price with a good spec for me to get started in, it was "drift ready" needed bits here and there doing but it seemed more than good enough for the basics and a bit more LITTLE DID I KNOW!!!!!......................... Spec 1997 Nissan 200sx s14a 118000 miles Engine/ drivetrain Sr20det t28r turbo 555cc injectors Hdev stage 3a map Blitz air filter FMIC walbro fuel pump engine damper Stage 3 paddle clutch Greedy boost controller braided turbo lines Alloy radiator Bee r rev limiter chassis full apexi arms apexi coilovers fully polly bushed Drift button handbrake boost guage im sure theres other stuff missing but yea it was ok see pics....
Slapped some rotas on for inspiration and was very please with the result! Did a wiring loom re route to avoid any future issues.. Then I went to route a battery cable through the car to relocate the batter to the boot and OMG I got a surprise when I lifted the carpets to say that I was p***** off would be an understatement........ which then lead to further inspection and I found ....... I was devastated that I hadn't picked up when looking around the car, due to the previous owner lying and masticing plates over rust I was none the wiser sadly my inexperience and mistrust had let me down what to do next was now the question...
Luckily for me I have an awesome dad who has over 20years of engineering background and he agreed a deal based on beer, peanuts and ice cream to help me out as the chassis rails and rest of the floor was all solid, we quickly got to work because by now I've not drifted the car but owned it 3 months. All welds were sealed with some special filler and also fully undersealed to future proof it and tidy it up a bit.. Also brought myself some wheels and toyo`s to cheer myself up as undersealing was getting rather dull I could carry on with many more rust pics but it gives you the idea, it took us a total of 2 months to fully sort all the rust and underseal but I can now say with great pleasure the car is completely solid although now a lot heavier than it originally was.
Finally it seemed that I was time to do a skid day, I got the 2014 Norfolk weekender booked fitted an air filter, fitted a bucket seat so I didn't fall out, fitted that troublesome battery relocation, did a full service and then did a skid!!!!!! Norfolk weekender pics Also got a nice pic with Ross Gregory, had a chat with him aswel and he gave me some really positive feedback so I was pretty stoked!!
Although I did manage to drift a bit I did really struggle with the car, it would not boost and it kept misfiring so I couldn't finish the Saturday or do the Sunday drift day so I got a cool pic with Callum Peates E46 and Ash fullers R32 then it was over too see Jack Tonkin at J`s Garage too upgrade and fix before the next drift day.
It was found that the MAF was dead so I upgraded to a Z32 and a nistune ecu which was to be mapped by MB automotive to hopefully get the car up on boost and more response. The car also decided to shit its turbo so threw on a used GT2871r, the ABS pipes and module were removed finally Jack did my a really sweet hydro set up! was mega excited to see the improvement!!
HOWEVER ONCE AGAIN the car let me down, Martin and jack were warming the car up to map it when it started pouring smoke. They immediately stopped and did various tests to find the issue. It was found that on the leakdown test the engine was very poorly and badly needed some TLC before mapping. I felt terrible for jack and martin after racing about to get my car sorted it was all a waste of time and also I was now 8 months into a car that I had invested a lot of time and money into and it still wasn't even close to working.
As the engine bay was a bit crappy I thought whilst the engine was out I would sort it out and decided to spray it in BMW Black Sapphire as I work for BMW I can get the Paint easily and it looks good in the sun.
Started Stripping the engine with once again the help of my dad at the expense of a 24 pack of becs Stripped!! Then got YET ANOTHER Nasty surprise when taking the bottom end apart
NASTY!!!! also after gapping the piston rings I found they were badly worn but the bores were fine so the plan was ... Crankshaft Polish New ACL bottom end bearings Genuine Nissan piston rings Genuine Nissan gaskets New Clutch Plate and take my time doing it properly! Got my priority's right and painted the rocket cover first.. Skip to the done bit... also added... Cars looking sorry for itself..
Just too add to the expense, the "mint" coilovers that I was told were on the car were knocking and leaking so brought some brand new HSD`s, seemed to be the standard drifters choice really
After A lot of swearing late nights and yet more beer and food I managed to get the engine back in and inlet etc. back on. at this point I also fitted a standard manifold back to the car as its far stronger than the cheap shit one that was on it and after a very impressive compression test new plugs and fitting an oil pressure guage I proceeded to do the standard 500 miles running in. Oil pressure gauge set up to be screwed into where to normal oil pressure warning light switch screws, I don't really like the idea of the plate that you put between the oil filter and block.
Too stop the manifold from falling off aswel which I tried to do whilst running in I made some little tabs, very ghetto but worked very well.
I guess it would be seam sealer that's what I normally use. Looks good dude putting the effort in and doing a good job, a lot of people would of just broken it after finding that much rust.
nothing really special about it just seem seam sealer :L sorry for the confusion, Thanks LOKISY, all UK s14s seem to have rust underneath my car and in the engine bay, boot etc. the car was fine it was just the sills and wheel arches it was borderline whether to brake it or not but im glad I dint now
UPDATE MAPPING !!! over a year into the build and the car was ready to be mapped!! after sorting a small oil leak from the banjo (see pic below if high tech shit fix) I took it too Hudson Speed shop which is only 45mins from my house for it too be live mapped, after the car putting up a fight it eventually had to be cacelled as the VVT rattle was too bad for the mapper (tom) to be able to map it. I fitted a new VVT sprocket took it back only then to get a call 48 hours later with bad news!!! Tom had taken it out for its first run and the turbo shat itself!!! I was gutted to say the least, yet again the car had let me down and I had a drift day booked that weekend. not to mention the turbo had only been put on a few months back. Tom was awesome though he managed to find me a t28 that afternoon, bolted it on that night and got it mapped the day before the drift event. I had a frantic rush to get the rear brakes rebuilt that night aswel as they had decided to fall apart but I got it done in time!!!!!!!!!
My First Video on My first drift day with a car that works didn't do too bad sorry for the quality it but gives you an idea [video]https://www.facebook.com/adam.marriott.773/videos/10153306362451518/?l=3928271270319244291[/video]
