Thanks man!! Ye IVF is such a long process and expensive!! For what we've put into it I could have bought another S13 the same spec as what mine will be when its done for this year lol - but its totally worth it!!
A few engine parts have arrived Although at the moment I can't fit them as I need the Tomei Valve Springs to arrive and get them fitted before I can fit the head etc... so on the shelf they go. {} More goodies arrived from JDM Garage UK - Z32 rear brake pad holding kit and new Pagid brake pads(I'm not too sure how good these will be but I'm hoping for the best... {} Also new braided brake lines front and rear along with Skyline driveshaft bolts {} Finally got my front wheels test fitted against the new brakes {} Got the Z32 rear caliper built up with new pads {} Fitted to the knuckle and then was tightening my new rear braided brake line and I thought it was funny how it kept just tightening and tightening, and tightening and tightening. Eventually got bored so undid it the other way and pulled it out to find it had stripped the threads inside the caliper, without even much force at all!! Thats what you get for running aluminium calipers I guess {} Lucky for me I have a spare rear Z32 caliper, but it was 1 piston down, so I spent about half an hour trying to get a piston out of the current caliper before remembering I had a compressor with air in it and used that to push it out. Got the spare one built up, fitting it to the car and the bottom mounting bolt goes really tight, so instead of forcing it I have removed it and got the tap & die set out ready to clean up the threads before it goes on properly next time I have a spare hour or 2. {} Managed to squeeze in 10 minutes to get the driveshaft bolts fitted too finally. {} Question - The spare caliper I have got is for the drivers side as the bleed nipple sits at the top if bolted that way, am I going to have any problems with the bleed nipple being at the bottom of the caliper when mounted?
With the bleed nipple being at the bottoms you will not be able to bleed the air out, brake fluid is heavier than air so will just drain out, leaving the Cali per full of air. Quick fix is to unbolt, endure bleed nipple is at the top, place on the brake disc (to stop pistons closing) bleed it and then bolt back up
Small update with a fair few photos - gonna keep the text short with this one... Nipped down to Retro Speed Shop and picked up the bits they have kindly done for me this year - a spare pair of Extended LCA's, and their new V2 Hyperknuckle with a bit more lock and some bump steer correction added in aswell now! Mega excited to try these {} Only fitted the knuckles as the lower arms didn't have any bushes or balljoints in the new arms, plus they are no different to my current ones anyway.. {} Also bashed my inner arch to aid for more clearance with the new wheel setup. {} {} Fun task of bleeding the brakes up on my own - few friends on facebook suggested a bottle with brake fluid in the bottom - did that and it seems to work, although I'm struggling with the hydro so maybe need somebody to help with that...but the brakes themselves feel alright {} Had some spare time so sorted out my drivers door (after the smash at Drift Matsuri...), had to swap the loom out of my old door and also re-attach a few wires {} {} and door card {} Then spent some time removing all the residue and stickers off the car as its going for paint on Monday. {} {} {} Last year I bought a pair of +20mm non vented fibreglass front wings for the S13 - trying to keep a subtle/street look about the car... {} The only problem was they were 4 hours away and the seller wasn't willing to post... {} Anyway after work on Thursday, I went home, had tea and then set off about 8pm, arrived at Aberystwyth around 11.45pm , threw the wings in the car and set off home again... Got home at 3am...urgh! Got the wings test fitted on the car and they aren't great fitment unfortunately... {} Even after a bit of fettling with the heat gun and drilling the mounting holes a bit higher up they still aren't amazing - but they're cheap fibreglass and I'm not sure who made them so I guess thats what you pay for... {} {} Fingers crossed the bodyshop have some ideas but if not they will have to do for now until they explode and then I'll pay a bit extra and get some decent ones I reckon... Many new parts too! Ordered this thermal intake gasket from America and it arrived within a week! Real happy! Supposedly these keep the intake nice and cold and it was only about £30 delivered all in. {} My Tomei Cams and Valve springs finally turned up after Customs had their way with them!! (Apologies for the story screenshot...) {} Also came across these on facebook - 6 Genuine Bosch Audi TT 1.8T coilpacks for the same price you'd pay for 4 ebay versions! And I've got 2 spare incase of any issues... {} The last bits I did were fit all the fenders/kit properly just to get an idea of what it looks like, plus it makes it easier transporting it all to the bodyshop, and I can just unbolt it all when I get there {} {} The next updates will be on the engine - Monday night the lads from AB Auto-works are coming round and helping me put it back together now that the Valve springs and cams are finally here! Exciting times and progress finally!
Loaded the car onto the trailer Monday and dropped it at the body shop - the next time this will be seen will be when its fully finished, paint & livery {} Got a message off Adam saying that whilst he was fitting my new valve springs - he found numerous stem seals that were knackered! The engine shop had replaced some of them with new but not others oddly?! Luckily I got some new stem seals with the Genuine Nissan Gasket Set I bought so dropped them with Adam straight away. Need to ring the engine shop at some point to find out what the crack is {} Had a tidy up in the garage now the car had gone and got all the parts out ready to crack on with the engine {} Then Adam and Ali turned up from AB Auto-works and they got cracking on the engine whilst I made drinks and stayed out of their way. {} Got most of the bits buttoned up, head on etc, and then when cleaning up the rockers, we realized how bad they were! Really big ridges that you could feel very easily with your fingers - argh! {} Messaged Harry and he had loads spare, so he dug out 8 good ones and sent them up - arrived next day surprisingly!! {} Bled the lifters and then installed them along with the rockers {} {} Then got the upper sump on along with the baffle plate and oil pickup {} Then the baffle before the lower sump pan {} then the lower sump along with a new sump plug washer {} {} Thats how the engine sits at mo {} Bits left to do: Fit Tomei cams Fit turbo and new braided oil/water lines Time engine up Fit rocker cover Create new air filter pipe MAF Wiring Also some shielded cable arrived so that I can re-route my MAF wiring as I'm running an R35 MAF this year and it is located close to the Throttle Body on the Intake side of the intercooler piping. {}
I had a crack at trying to wire up my own MAF plug with shielded cable and it came out looking horrible, think I might leave this one for Martin to do for me... Wiring has never been my strong point (Infact, I can't really think of any strong points of mine ) {} Test fitted the Audi coilpacks with the loom and its a perfect fit {} Got the Tomei Poncams fitted up aswell finally! This was scarier than it sounded as the instructions were Japanese translated into English so made it sound alot harder than normal... {} Also Ali from AB came round and helped me finis off the last few bits of the engine that I couldn't do on my own, such as the timing. This is the first time I've built an SR20 ever so having these guys on hand to help with any issues has been great and I think I definately would have struggled otherwise! {} Fitted the rocker cover and test fitted the Audi coilpacks, I think they look pretty good tbh and fit extremely well! {} {} Then got a call from the bodyshop to advise the car was done so could go and collect it... Headed upto where I store my trailer and was greeted by this. During the heavy rainfall we had on Sunday it had washed away the road that leads upto where the trailer is stored so that was a no-go... {} Adam from AB Auto-works has kindly agreed to help me out and collect the car with me today(Tuesday) using his recovery truck seen as I can't get to the trailer Heres some teaser pics - even got the wheels re-done... {} {} Just waiting on an oil restrictor for the turbo, then I can get that fitted along with the new braided lines for oil/water feed/returns etc... Then it's just a case of mating the Engine & gearbox back together and fitting it into la vehicle!
Restrictor received and fitted {} Modified the oil drain to fit the new turbo {} Fitted said turbo with manifold and all the lines - looks sweet! {} Also lopped the backbox off my exhaust as I want the car to be louder this year {} Really excited to find out what it sounds like with the cams and manifold - Hoping its going to be nice and raspy. In reality its going to sound like a normal bent cam just louder and fartier...lol {} Took the car down to Driftnuts so they could work their magic with the vinyl, but whilst it was down there they also let me fit the engine. We had a bit of drama after plumbing and plugging everything in, the car would just crank over...not even attempt to fire. {} Checked it was getting fuel, made sure the lines were on the correct way (ey ey @BenRice), checked the coils/plugs were sparking and also removed the cam cover and double checked the timing and made sure the CAS was set correctly. We were stumped. In a last ditch attempt I nipped home and grabbed a few bits. Came back and fitted the stock S15 coilpacks, the bloody thing fired straight up! Without hesitation or anything... and idled perfectly for a good 2 minutes until it started warming up and then just died seen as there was no IC piping or AFM attached - My video only shows the last 12 seconds before it died haha - massive thanks to Brad at Driftnuts and Jamie from Jimbobs Motors for helping with the engine fitting and help getting it running! Hope this link works Friday just gone was Valentines Day, so of course me and Amy spent it doing couple stuff, this involved spending 6 hours in my mums van(with my mum driving) to pickup my tyres for the season that Kenda have kindly sent over!! I picked up 82 tyres in total and they filled my mums Peugeot Boxer LWB Hi-top to the brim, we could not fit 1 more tyre in so we got lucky there!! {} I can not put into words how grateful I am that Kenda have stayed onboard for 2020 and are helping me out massively! Even supplying me with their KR20A in 265/35/18 flavour for the rear and 235/40/17 for the front! Fingers crossed my car has a bit of speed this year and I can throw some shapes! This picture shows half of the tyres, stacked 2 deep in rows... {} Then took the car over to Eclipse Motorsport for a full alignment and some final bits before mapping! Gave it a full alignment with fresh settings that I'm keen to try out - also got all the IC piping on, bolted up the new R35 MAF {} Made up a new intake pipe that accommodates the stock intake pipe breather setup - this worked perfect last year with no issues so don't see why I should need to change it? {} Then swapped the injectors over for the new 740cc jobbies {} and some fresh colder BKR8EIX spark plugs {} The car is now done pretty much and ready to go down to Martin Battye for mapping hopefully end of this week, the car will be with him for a week or 2 and then once its back, final checks and get it to a practice day and see how it feels!
Glad to see someone else struggle with a first start up This thing is going to feel like a whole new animal this season. Bigger tyre & more power will open up a whole new style of driving Did i miss any gearbox/clutch upgrades? And what axles you going to run?
Can't wait for this man - just driving it is going to be a whole new experience, so I'm excited to try and tame it!! Jon is correct lads - After I blew up the stock 5 speed box at BDC R5 Three Sisters, I threw a Z33 box in it straight away, so thats already done Clutch wise I'm running a Driftworks S15 6 speed lightened flywheel with a CG Motorsport 5 paddle clutch Diff/Axle I've upgraded to a Skyline GTS 5 Bolt Diff and shafts - Kazz 2 way 4.1 Ratio - no more welder haha
Apologies for the lack of updates - the car has been with MB for a while now but hes been busy so he hasn't had time to get round to mapping my car unfortunately. Hoping it'll be done in the next week as I've booked and paid for Three Sisters on the 15th March as a first test day... Had to trim my front bumper to fit over the intercooler as it hadn't been fitted before with all the pipework on {} {} Also (finally!!) bought a new jockey wheel and clamp for the trailer as the old ones were pretty shonky and barely did the job! {} Dropped the car with MB - but I can't show you the car just yet...so heres a pic of my trailer looking pretty {} Also bought some Auto-Collect Storm wing braces as now running fibreglass I don't want them flapping about everywhere! {} Also treated myself to a HANS device for this year - with the discount BDC Drivers get from Simpson, it was well worth investing in a Hybrid Sport as they are mega comfy and you can't feel it when you have it on! {} So hoping that the car is done this week as I need to do a few finishing bits on it before drifting next Sunday!
So - I had the first test day on Sunday at Three Sisters - and it went really good!! (Despite the car breaking just after lunch, but we will get to that later...) We got there in the morning and got the car all kitted up etc and I got some pictures of it with the 2020 look, I am mega happy with this and it has come out ALOT better than I expected!! Many not be to everybodies taste but it definately is mine!! {} {} {} The car performed amazing in mapping too - quick rundown of the specs SR20DET VVT Tomei Poncams Tomei Type A Valve Springs Siruda 1.2mm MLS Headgasket Modified SR Injectors(750cc) R35 MAF 2871r Turbo Japspeed RS Manifold Nistune ECU {} It is so fast and yet still responsive! And it is really exciting to drive! The car is amazing to drive... The gearing now with the 4.1 Diff, 350 box and the 18" 265/35/18 rear setup is amazing - the car is pretty much 3rd everywhere and 4th in the faster corners!! Can't fault it one bit!! It squats and picks up so much more speed now, I really can't wait to drive it again!! Also the new RSS V2 Knuckles are really good, took a bit of getting used to and I'm still not 100% but they steer alot faster! I cant wait to make full use of them with more testing! Only had useable footage from the afternoon of my 1 and half laps haha - so here it is! Few external stuff aswell - Please just listen to how it sounds... Right now it is perfect!! I could not wish for my SR to sound any better! The only issue I'm having is its a tad loud - Measured at 112db so need to fit a silencer in which I am worried will affect how it sounds... Chasing Damien in his JZ E46 Compact Onboard from Damien chasing me in his JZ E46 Compact Heres a few photos from Sunday of the car in action {} {} {} {} {} and 2 more from the pits that somebody took {} {} After lunch I went out and did my first outing lap from the pits - bob on! Queued up to go again and managed the first 2 corners fine, then as I was mid-way through the 3rd corner, the car cut out and started spluttering! Me and a few mates spent the best part of 2 hours trying different things left, right and centre with no luck - changed plugs for new ones, changed coilpacks, took cam cover off to check for any damage to the cams or rockers, nothing! Spoke to Martin @ MB Automotive(the guy who mapped the car) and he said best to get it plugged into a Nistune, but from what I've explained it sounds like either the injectors leaking or the AFM is dead due to how rich it is running. Followed his advice and luckily one of my sponsors, AB Auto-works had the Nistune software so he let me borrow it. Plugged it in and boom straight away. MAF issue - checked the wiring but can't see any issues anywhere...so I am presuming the MAF is dead itself. {} I have ordered a new MAF(this time a genuine nissan job) so fingers crossed its the issue and I can happily plug it in and be on my way!!
Another small update... Ordered a brand new R35 GENUINE MAF - got that fitted which fixed my issue so the car runs sweet now! Fingers crossed no more silly issues {} Also fitted some stickers i've bought over winter {} {} Bought these aswell, Auto-Storm Collect wing braces - now that I'm running fibreglass front wings I don't fancy them flapping about if I ever run front bumper-less. Very easy to install and good quality. {} Aerocatch also sent me a fresh new bonnet catch as the one on the left had seized up and wouldn't open without the use of a screwdriver - great service! {} Purchased a new hydro handle aswell from Andy @ Icefab - mine was just an old bit of bar bolted to the original hydro handle, but I like the style of this one so thought I try and spruce up the interior. {} Before & After {} Finally fitted a fresh pink tow-strap as last years was looking filthy!! and for £15 each they are well worth it in terms of aesthetics! {} Also did the school run in the S13 - Scarlett loved it haha {} Heres a few more pics from The Three Sisters test day - now we are in Lockdown in the UK, I'm super glad that I got to test the car before all this kicked off!! {} {} {} {} {} {} {} Also BDC Round 1 has been post-poned until the 2nd Weekend in September - so not even sure I can make that anymore - we shall see! Fingers crossed this all blows over fairly quickly! Stay safe everyone and stay home!!
Almost a month since I last updated this...jeez First off, I hope you're all staying safe throughout this Pandemic, and also keeping busy building your cars!! I did a comparison of my S13 over the past 5 years for some facebook post so thought i'd throw it up on here - let me know which is your favourite over the years! {} Placed an order for this fancy GkTech bracket from VIP Motorsport, this converts the standard handbrake into a hydraulic handbrake which is amazing - for me this is the perfect solution as I prefer the feel and movement of the stock handbrake in my S13 over a huge stick that I pull towards myself. {} Wasn't the easiest thing to fit on my own but I managed eventually! {} {} {} All done and dusted - huge thanks to Amy for helping me bleed the brakes - the hydro feels really good now! {} {} Added some more stickers to my passenger side of the dash aswell Give the passengers something to look at when I've stuffed it up a banking and we're waiting to be recovered. {} Then took a fancy interior shot with some advice from a good friend {} Then gave the car a wash as I hadn't touched it since drifting last month and it fully deserved it! {} {} Ordered some front canards from Huxley Motorsport - I've wanted some of these for ALONG time but never had the spare budget for them, nor did I think the looks suited them - but now was the time! {} Got them fitted up very easily and I think they look great! Add alot more aggression to the front of the car I think so took some fancy photos of the car again with some help from a friend who edited them for me! {} {} {} {} Amy has been telling me for agesss to remove the paint off my old bonnet catch as I had to replace the drivers side one with a new one - so I did remove it(Amy did it mainly tbh, I just used some paint thinners once she had done to clean it up ) {} I then removed the front bumper, and took out the metal braces from each corner. As I'm running wider fibreglass front wings, the bumper didn't line up at all and was very rigid due to these braces {} The last small thing I've done is add a 10mm spacer onto the front wheels, to help increase scrub radius and also improve looks slightly - although I have had to trim the front bumper and rear of the front arches to help with clearance now its that tight! Im so excited to drive this thing!! {} {} {} The list of things to do to this is getting smaller and smaller and I honestly can't wait to drive this again - it is turning out to be my dream car and I am so grateful for all the help I get with this thing!!
Few more small bits and bobs done to keep me busy during this odd time! I'm not sure if you can tell, but Amy rather enjoyed cutting up my Genuine Type-X Front Bumper... {} For N1 Vents! Woohoo - just need them painting before I mount them {} Also finally got my oil cooler cleaned out and refitted which I'm mega happy with {} I have mounted it backwards this time so that it sits off the front crossmember, rather than on it {} There is a breathing gap between the cooler and the radiator now unlike last time(pictured below) {} Also got round to welding in my front tension rod bracket braces that I got from Slide Motorsport a few months ago - this is a job I am happy to never do again whilst they are mounted to the car and no ramp... My neck is still sore! {} Painted {} The latest job was to replace my passenger side headlight motor as it was a bit lazy and slow coming up! {} Now I have even headlights that do exactly the same thing - How cool! {}
Finally got my hands on these! If anybody wants 1 I'm happy to post out - only asking £2 each to cover postage costs mainly! Already had way more orders than I expected so over the moon with that!! {} Went out for a spin in the S13 and tried to take some arty pics lol - after I sent them to Dan Martin for a bit of editing I think they came out alright?? {} {} {} {} Then I had a bit of spare time so tried to setup the spring rates on the car best I could - First I reset the rears and then adding a slight bit of preload, then moved onto the fronts - I have added about 10-15mm of preload on the fronts aswell as maybe raising the car a little bit... {} {} {} {} Then took the car over to Arrowtech Automotive so that Jodie could fit a silencer in the exhaust as when I tested the car at Three Sisters it was measured at 112db... tad loud for UK tracks unfortunately! {} Very nice and neat install and retaining my turndown tip which is nice! {} Although after starting it - it's not as raspy as before which I sort of expected, although I think now it will just sound shit - if it does I may change it again, remove the backbox and fit a silencer as close to the turbo as possible which will hopefully return some of the raspyness it had before! Whilst the car was on the trailer after this on the drive at home - I got chance to look at the rear suspension height and how it sat whilst on the ground - I'm pretty happy with the angle of the arms to say I'm on stock knuckles - Looking forward to driving it more! {} Next up I have the dyno tomorrow as I have now got a Genuine MAF fitted(DONT FIT EBAY KITS KIDS!) and also got the Audi coilpacks on so might even be able to push it for a bit more power which would be nice! More updates shortly...
Sorry to say it fella, but the SR20 always sounded shit Are you driving and adjusting all the suspension as you feel, or are you going for an alignment (and corner weight?) Do you have some base numbers to work off so you have a rough idea of where you like the alignment to be?
@r3k1355 - Re Alignment settings - I have some base settings that I initially set the car and haven't changed since, just made some damper/spring changes - although I will be making the setup a bit more grippy/aggressive shortly. PS Car still sounds amazing! **UPDATE** So - I got invited to a drift day at Teesside - it was their first allowed by the council to see if Social Distancing would work at a drift day {} This time I wanted to use the 180tw tyres from Kenda and see how they were compared to the 300tw I had on Three Sisters - The car felt really really good on them, could place it exactly where I wanted it and really responsive to any sort of inputs - then I was on West Track and coming out the last corner I clicked 3rd and then the revs shot up and it went all slippery like Ice - I slide towards the barriers and wondered what was going on, looked down and spotted my oil pressure light on. "OH SHIT!" Knocked it off almost instantly. {} Opened the bonnet in a panic wondering if my oil lines to the turbo had split and I had a fire... Oil everywhere on the inlet side {} Looked under the inlet and spotted my sandwich plates and oil filter were not attached to the engine anymore...great! {} Back to the pits and removed the old housing - snapped the threads clean off - looks like I have overtightened the sandwich plate bolt at some point arghhh - not ideal at all - managed to find another housing locally and got that fitted ready for the afternoon session once lunch finished. {} Went out for the rest of the day with no issues at all - was cautious of the bottom end running with no oil pressure so did 3 laps and then did 2 cool down laps to make sure the oil didn't get too hot. No media there but Amy came with me so she got some videos thankfully! Single run on my own on the big track at Teesside Onboard of the same run Chasing BDC Pro driver Adam Simmons in his 500hp+ Z4 West Track fast entry The car absolutely rips now - like really fast, There was a few Pro BDC Drivers there and I wasn't struggling to keep up with them in the slightest - and the S13 has so much more potential to come from suspension/alignment changes and even tyre pressures!! Got home and looking round the car I noticed this lovely mark on my door ha, not sure who or where its from though! {} When I was entering west track I was noticing that the front leading wheel was rubbing alot - to the point it took some chunks out of the tyre itself, looking round and spotted that I was missing lockstop completely - looks like it has wound itself out - boo! {} Got a new one fitted - also smashed my arches some more where the tyre had been rubbing {} Never known front wheels to get caked in brake dust from a drift day! Must be these pads that are in the Z32 calipers! {} If you follow me on Instagram(Chulme123) or Facebook(Charlie Hulme Drifting) then you'll know whats coming next.... I removed the oil filter from the car and and cut it open - looked inside and looking at the oil itself it had alot of copper/gold flakes in it - great. {} Engine out time then...Don't fancy this blowing up half way through a drift day. {} Whilst I Was down at AB, I also put some fresh rubber on the wheels. {} Mid-way through removing it all, I also managed to run over and crush my CAS plug ffs... Guess I'll need to get hold of a new one of them somehow!! {} {} Got it all out Thursday morning so now my garage is a total mess {} The lads from AB Auto-Works have offered to help out with the engine, stripping it down and building it again so I managed to get it over to theirs this morning and will hopefully know the outcome very shortly - I am hoping to get away with replacing the bearings but god knows what else could of happened. {} I have ordered some more parts that will prevent the oil filter housing situation happening again - you live and learn ey - fingers crossed it won't require a full rebuild as I really can't afford that right now.
Tough luck. Check it didn't contaminate the oil cooler and lines as well. You gunna pull the top end apart and check the cams and stuff are all ok as well?
