1991 C33 Laurel Medalist Turbo

I thought I’d start a thread for my new project so I can try and keep a track of my progress and also ask some probably stupid questions along the way.

I've been doing drift days in my 1996 BMW E36 328i Coupe for a year now but I've always wanted something Jap. I bought this 1991 Nissan Laurel Medalist Turbo in late December from Japan as a Christmas present and collected it from Newcastle dock at the beginning of the month. Part of the appeal was that the RB20DET and auto box have been replaced by a red top SR20DET and manual box from a 180SX. I know its not to everyone’s taste but I liked the idea of it and it ticked every other box on my “want” list.

I could tell from the photos it wasn’t mint, it’s had a life and its done skids but that’s what I like about it. Its not mint but its useable and full of that “JDM charm”.

Here is the spec I can figure out so far:

Exterior:
Final Konnexion kit
Kouki Rear Lights
Manaray 17x8 and 17x9 wheels

Brakes:
S14 brakes
EBC red stuff front pads & Project Mu rear pads
Unknown handbrake conversion with the usual drift button
5 stud conversion

Interior:
Full C33 bolt in cage
JDM spec single Bride Seat
Greddy water temp gauge (doesn’t work)
Nardi Steering wheel
The worst stereo I’ve ever seen

Engine & Drivetrain:
Red top SR20DET
Aftermarket headgasket (according to the auction sheet)
S14 Turbo (according to the auction sheet)
HKS Actuator
Tubular Manifold & Aftermarket turbo elbow
Full Exhaust System
Blitz pod filter
Front Mount Intercooler
HKS Remote oil filter & oil cooler
Stock ECU
Stock Injectors
Stock MAF
Unknown upgrade fuel pump
Blitz Dual SBC Boost controller
Alloy radiator
Mechanical LSD (works well but clunks like mad so it must be super tight)
Reinforced Clutch (according to the auction sheet)

Suspension:
D-Max coilovers
Loads of aftermarket arms & bushings (haven’t figured out what its got yet)
Solid subframe bushes

My first issue is that on collection the boost controller was turned off so to be careful I drove it home on the stock boost as I didn’t want to wreck it. Since then I've played a bit and the boost controller was set to 1.03 bar. The ECU is stock inside with no labels on the outside either. The injectors are grey which I’m sure are the stock 180SX ones and it’s on a stock MAF but it has an upgraded fuel pump. YAY! I'm not sure how its managing to fuel itself correctly with this extra boost so for now I’ve turned the boost controller down to 0.8 bar until I can find some decent injectors, a Z32 maf and get it booked in for a Nistune upgrade.


The auction photos:






The ship it came in on:



Some pics of it leaving the ship:





The first time I saw it in person at the port:







First wash:









Removed about 11,000 metres of Japanese spec stereo wiring that didn’t go anywhere.



I had to swap the steering wheel for my Nardi since the original wood rim was cracked so badly it had started to flex, the yellow carbon fibre was ripped off the dash immediately, I’ve started to waxoil it, removed the awful Jap spec radio which hardly worked and the HID’s which didn’t work, changed the spark plugs, made a boot carpet, wired in a rear foglight, fixed the brake lights, fixed the indicators, made a new gear lever boot, re-wrapped the handbrake with some tape that wasn’t rancid, fitted a gearknob that wasn’t red, change the handbrake button to a silver one from a red one, refitted the rear seat correctly, removed the fake wood stickers off the dashboard, straightened the exhaust tip out and generally investigated what I’ve bought.

More soon…..

 

Thanks all! The colour is KH2 charcoal. It is the factory colour too but the paintwork is far from good in some places. Ill address that another day though.

I really want to get it on a Nistune so Ive been researching what to buy. The common census seemed to be 550/555cc injectors. Z32 MAF and a Walbro fuel pump so that’s my plan.

Bought some Denso 550cc injectors in an SR20DET fuel rail from Australia. Would have preferred Nismos but I’m not made of money and these were well priced.


Found it already has an aftermarket fuel pump in it. Don’t know what though so I’ll probably sling a Walbro in it anyway.


My mother being the excellent seamstress she is made me a new handbrake gaiter from the shredded remains of the original and a gear lever gaiter with pure guesswork. They aren’t to everyone’s taste but I like them.



Finally got a working radio and my electric aerial sprung back to life. Ended up binning all the wiring back to the factory harness and used an S14 radio harness adapter. Now I have a single din with cubby hole from a Primera which looks better than an ancient double din minidisc player that didn’t work so I can drive about listening to Eurobeat at much volume. Bonus that my electric aerial works perfectly. Even the switch for raising and lowering it works……..discovered the passenger left speaker shuts off if you brake though.


Dropped in for an MOT on my way to work. Failed. Needed a passenger front track rod end and my rear fog light wasn’t bright enough because my mates wiring diagram was rubbish. Took it to work after my MOT and had 3 people disturb me whilst at lunch to ask me if it was mine (no I'm just sat eating my lunch inside it) then asked what kind of Lexus it was.


Bought a HKS water temp gauge which is on its way from Japan to replace the broken Greddy one. I don’t trust the factory one in the dash because half the time it doesn’t work, then it goes up and down depending on if the heater is on so I decided to get a proper gauge in it so I can see what its doing and investigate any problems. I also have a Nismo thermostat I should really fit but can’t be bothered to do just now.


Big wing sump on.


Takata harness fitted.


eBay short shifter fitted. I no longer have 1st and 2nd gear registered at different postcodes. Forgot to take a pic though.

Discovered it had Greddy boost pipes…..and no dump valve whatsoever. I'm not sure if I should fit one or run it without. Answers on a postcard…..


Replaced the Track rod end, straightened the rose joints, fitted some proper brake line clips and waxoiled about 80% of the underneath. Told 3 passers-by it wasn’t a Lexus.



In at my local garage for diff oil change and tracking the day before my MOT re-test. They didn’t do the tracking because they said the bumper was too big and didn’t think to undo the 2 bolts that hold it on and remove it. I ended up tracking it by eye that night. It drives straight and the steering wheels straight so its not far off but I still want it double checking at a later date.


Went to work in it (got asked if it was a Lexus again…..still not a Lexus) then stopped off for my MOT re-test on the way home and it passed. YAY!


Now I can finally get the V55/5 form sent off to register it 4 weeks after it landed. I lost a week because my MOT tester was on holiday then another week trying to find the right Track rod end.

More soon…..

 

Finally got it registered with the DVLA. All that hassle with the forms and they send my V5 back that just says “Nissan”. No mention of it being a Medalist Turbo in the model as I put on the V55/5. Morons.

Fitted my HKS temp gauge. Turns out the stock temp gauge is reading correctly but it’s nice to have a proper gauge to check. Don’t like the white face but it’s better than a hole in the dash.






Bought a Greddy BOV on a S14 pipe for a whole £45 delivered from Japan. I had Alonze Custom in Scarborough chop the flange off and weld it onto my pipe as well as fix a whole multitude of bad welds on the hard pipe. After fitting the BOV I’ve found my boost pressure has increased from 0.55bar to 0.68bar with the boost controller turned off so Im guessing the HKS actuator is set for a slightly higher boost and the hard pipe was leaking badly.

The quality insulation tape fix done in Japan wasn’t that great. Im quickly learning that just because its from Japan doesn’t mean it hasn’t been bodged together.








Resprayed the intercooler pipes in Nissan Intense Blue.



Discovered my local Nissan dealer is utterly useless. Even though on their website they claim to look after all Nissans from GTR’s to Jukes, the only person there on a Saturday morning made such a fuss over me wanting some parts you'd have think I'd just asked for the bloody of his first born child. Then he openly said to me ”I don’t like Jap stuff” and failed to fine 5 of the 7 part numbers I gave him and the final two were more expensive than buying off eBay. Wont be going back there....

On the bright side though, with the 29 degree heat I discovered my air-con is absolutely ice cold! WINNER! I’m loving the air-con life in the Laurel.







Wrapped the dashboard in matte silver vinyl. It had a really bad fake carbon on it when it came from Jpan that was peeling off. It went in the bin and I left it as a black plastic for a while which looks just as bad. My wrapping skills are terrible but it was just a test to see what it would look like. When it starts to fall off Ill get it done by a professional.






No pics for these:
hard wired in a brand new Walbro 255 from Conceptua Tuning
Z32 MAF arrived
Fitted a new coolant reservoir from a R32 since someone in Japan thought a good crack repair was Japanese Bondage Tape.
Fitted new bonnet struts from a Jag X-Type which worked perfectly….for a day. Now they don’t so I need to find some better struts.
Sourced a C33 rear seat arm rest in the correct colour from Australia. Cost far more than I wanted but it looks so much better with the arm rest sitting there rather than a gaping hole.

But the big news is that I managed to booked the car in for a Nistune upgrade, Z32 MAF fitted, 550cc injectors fitted and final mapping with Greg at Protuner. I’m really looking forward to having it setup properly and getting to experience the SR’s full potential.

 

Been a while since I updated this but stuff has been happening slowly.

Fitted a centre arm rest for the back seat I located in Australia.
Fitted some more bonnet dampers. This time from a Y61 Patrol and they work perfectly.

Couldn’t live with the MX5 Nardi wheel so that was sold and I bought a Nardi 350mm Deep Corn wood rim wheel from Driftworks which is gorgeous. Im totally in love with it.


Went to a local car meet.


Went to Retrorides Gathering at Shelsley Walsh. Was a bit apprehensive taking it on a 400 mile round trip and not knowing my management I’d already driven it home 2 hours from Newcastle dock so thought it’d be OK. Took it at a steady 70mph all the way there and back. It ran perfectly though all weekend.


Went to a local car show.


And finally I went to see Greg at Protuner for a full Nistune ECU upgrade. Greg was absolutely brilliant and did a compression test which came back fine, smoke check which found a couple of small leaks and disclosed my breather system was utter garbage so he re-routed that for me, fitted the Z32 MAF, Nistune piggyback, some S15 Spec R 480cc injectors went in and then it hit the rolling road.


In the end it made bang on 300bhp at 1.0 bar of boost and it drives so much better now.


Now all I need to do is get it 4 wheel aligned because I discovered in the wet and whilst changing motorway lanes in the dry at high speed it feels sketchy as fuck. I’ll get it booked into Slide Motorsport for that as soon as I can get a day off.

After that……find some 16” wheels that fit then it’s time to hit the track and see how it does.

 

Tempting but I have a few other bits to do first. My turbo manifold has just started to crack so I want that repairing and the manifold bracing to help it. Ill probably hold off any further engine mods until it needs a rebuild then freshen it up with some new cams and a bigger turbo since its only on a stock S14 turbo right now.

 

Hey thanks! I can say the same about your S13 which I'm positive I've seen at Teesside!. I'm over near Scarborough so not too far away really. A meet would be cool!

 

I love Teesside. Found you on FB but cant add you as a friend so Ive sent you a message instead.

 

Well recently I managed to bag a pair of D-Max? front wings off Up-Garage and had them shipped over by Jesse Streeter. The import charges alone were more than the wings actually cost from Up-Garage which pains me a lot. They needed some repair so I've already got them solid for the bodyshop man to do his final prep before paint and fit.


I also stumbled upon a set of Work S2R's on eBay really cheap. All 4 are a bit buckled but they will repair easily. The specs are 17x8 ET38 and 17X9 ET35 so tried a 17X9 on the front to see if it looks any better than the 17x8 ET38 Manaray wheels.








It looks OK but I still had to have a 20mm spacer and my mind keeps saying "just buy some 18's". Because of where I live, I can't run the car any lower than it is which pains me greatly (might go a touch more anyway) and with the 17's it just looks ridiculous so 18s in a decent offset are on the cards. Not sure what I'll buy yet but I have winter to do some eBay trawling and Googling to see whats about and suits them.....please feel free to share any ideas on what you think I should run!?

And finally I went to a meet which was great to meet some of the familiar folks on here and get the Laurel out and about. I didn't know anyone and I'm not the most outgoing person so didn't talk to many folks but it was a good night and I really enjoyed myself. The dampener for me though was that I found my crap rear alignment was worse than I thought and it ate my rear tyres in 1000 miles so sadly I couldn't participate in the burnouts upon leaving and I had a scary 110 mile drive home on tyres that were so bald they make Sinead O Connor look like a wookie. I knew I should of got it done but work constraints mean't I hadn't been able. My own fault in the end for not getting it done or at least checking my tyres before I set off.

So with bald tyres, a blowing turbo manifold and a few other jobs to do, its time for winter hibernation. It gives me chance to do as much preventative maintenance as possible and a couple more drift days in the E36 before I take this on track next year.

I bought it to drift and I will do it providing Nissan life stops biting me in the ass long enough for it to actually make it to a drift day.