S14 Zenki Build

hi guys, been meaning to do this for a while , but due to spending most of my time fixing the thing i havnt really been bothered to start a build thread.

i bought my 1996 s14 about 6 months ago from near bristol for not a bad price, shell seemed pretty clean which of course is a rarety so took the plunge into s body ownership. some of the pics from the add.





it had a ok basic spec from the previous guy, including : apex front mount intercooler,blitz nur spec r exhaust system,walborough 255 fuel pump, engine damper and a couple of other basic small bits.

after getting back proceeded to get rid of the erm nice rear tints and tinted rear lights to be replaced with stock ones again.


i also had a few bits left over from my previous mk1 mx5 which some of you guys may remember or seen.



so bucket, harness and wheel went into the new build.

next on the list of things to sort was the turbo set up, the previous fella had a holset topmount fitted but never bothered to fit any of the supporting items such as injectors, maf , or having it remapped to suite, so it was constantly hitting fuel cut etc and running like shit.
so the decision was made to sell the topmount and holset etc and return it back to stock and use some of the funds else where.

picked up a 'mint' t28 and mani etc and got to fitting it along with a set of braided lines and japspeed superlow downpipe. well that 'mint' turbo lasted about 2 weeks before it shat itself, so the hunt was on again for another t28.

after alot of time wasters and being messed around i got hold of another tubby and on it went.

it gets better, in those 2 weeks of the first t28 i get a nice suprise when driving home from work, a loud bang and a clatter and she is running on 3 cylinders, open the bonnet to find my number 2 cylinder spark plug still attached to the coilpack resting on my rocker cover!!! it had spat the whole lot out smashing through the coipack plastic cover and leaving a nice dent in my bonnet. luckily it hadnt stripped the thread in the block , on further inspection all the sparkplugs where found to be finger tight. ggrreeaaattttt. so new plugs where fitted and put in.

next on the list came a set of advan avs 5's for silly cheap from a couple of mates to get rid of the stock shitly sprayed black s14 rims.



picked up a set of hsd's to get it sitting a bit better and a set of 14a touring skirts.



next to go wrong was waterpump on the way up to lydden hill bdc round one.



so ended up being flatbedded back home at the end of the day. waterpump and drive belts all replaced.
whilst i done this replaced all the 'nice' blue vac hoses for some more subtle looking black ones and also got rid of the useless ebay special gauges and replaced with a greddy boost gauge to tidy things up.

after this i was still suffering from overheating issues on long trips so out come the bank card again and ordered a japspeed 52mm ally rad and fitted that to help with temps.

eventually had some spare cash when not fixing the thing to go n get diff welded and subframe locking collars ready for first drift day in the zenki,
also decided to lower it a bit more and also tuck loom out the way.



first drift day at pod went well suprisngly with no troubles.









recently sorted the gash mismatch of intercooler pipework for a half decent set and fitted new spacers to the front and moved the old ones on to the rear, and fitted new rear discs.

also just recieved my new exedy clutch and rear camber arms, so they will be getting fitted soon as well as a much need alignment.

next to order is new front discs and pads (whilst at it will paint those god awful blue calipers lol) and a few bits from the guys over at gk tech including handbrake extensions and coolant neck spacer.

will leave first update with a few pics from guys over at 272 Heroes – Welcome to 272heroes.com. from a recent feature they did for me. thanks guys













thanks for looking,most likely a few bits i have missed, hope to keep this updated.

 

Hahaha i no the feeling, there is always so ething that needs doing. Its ok just tuck exhaust etc up out the way.

Forgot to mention she has nismo engine and gearbox mounts aswell. Hopefully getting back out on track next month after clutch and alignment.

 

Couple of small bits sorted this afternoon for mot, including horn, washer jets and battery tie down.



Looking forward to getting this lot fitted



Decided going to try and pick up a bride brix or recaro recliner for the passenger side at some stage. Also after a greddy water temp gauge to go with goodies coming from gk tech.

 

Update.

Clutch has gone in and all bedded in now. Bit of a pig to drop box out due to the nismo engine mounts but we got there in the end.

Old clutch had seen better days.



When we popped the box off happened to find this


So new input shaft seal and gasket has been ordered and gunna be done on the 12th.

Camber arms and alignment also been done



Feels alot better now, running -4.33 degrees on the front and the lowest we could get on the rear was -2.30 due to still running stock rear toe arms, so they will be next on the shopping list.

Had a friend of mine sort a sunstrip out for me due and a few words of wisdom on the inside for next time out on track lol.





Just sorted a greddy temp gauge (ta norfy) to match my boost so that will be going in as soon as bits turn up from gk tech.

Have had a few vibration issues lately from what i belive to be from the exhaust, only when i reach 3k and goes away again by the time i get to 4k, used to think it was the exhaust hitting the prop bracket due to the superlow down pipe



But have beaten and re shaped it now and it has clearence.

Any one else had a similar problem?

 

update. been a fucking while.

right since last time i was on here few bits and bobs have happened.

bought a new set of shoes for the old girl in shape of some weds farmahs for a good price off a friend, need a refurb but will get round to that at some point.



always loved split rims but was just waiting for the right ones at the right price.

whilst i was there i also bought his navan spats aswell



next was a egay bargain, cobra daytona recliner for the passenger side of which cost all of £35 , boom ta very much



sooooo spats and wheels on,



sprayed up spats with what i was told was nissan marlin blue fn2 by the whizz kids of shitty halfords, which suprise suprise wasnt even fucking close.

next up was to replace inner gear stick boot as it had split and would stink on long journeys when the gearbox would get warm.



had a spare universal cv boot laying around so trimmed that and does the job fine.

been meaning to sort my front brakes out for ages so ordered up new drilled and grooved discs and brembo pads.
eventually got round to fitting them, but had a ballache with one of the calipers as turned out one of the seals had split and was seized, luckily mate of mine had a spare.

whilst i was at it fitted new tension rods as the bushes on my original ones where fucked.



gave jez a call at horsham dev about booking in for getting one of his stage 1a chips sorted for the 14 and a dyno run to make sure all was running ok before the upcoming lydden day.

popped up there and fitted everything and made a few tweaks on the dyno to boost etc.



all went well and made some decent figures,



298hp at 0.9 bar, said engine was running sweet and no problems.

this gave me a bit more confidence and reassurence that wasnt going to go pop and shit itself just yet lol.


morning of lyddenhill came and me and th gf headed of with a fully loaded s14 to meet some mates up there.

had a really good day seeing as it was only my 2nd drift day in the 14 and my 1st time at lydden out on track.





though sods law first session out i over cooked it into the elbow and spun it into a wall haha





wasn't to disheartened and got on with the rest of the day, cant wait for the next one in september.

few friends sorted me out a new bumper and light and managed to push alot of he damage back out again,



bit of a quick shitty video made. excuse the mass amount of hand flapping.



possibly drop it off to a body shop in the future but not fussed about it atm.

so thats about where i am today, need to give it a service before the next lydden day and give everything a once over.

 

cheers guys, will most likely get it sorted sooner rather than later as was looking clean before hand.

yeah pretty chuffed with power wasnt expecting that, that is at the fly btw.

wheels are 17's by 8j and 9j , not certain on offsets but are pretty low, around et 6 ish i think, with 5mm spacers all round.

am going to have to take a hammer to the top of my rear inner arch as they rub like a bitch when loaded up hahaha

also found i have either a slow puncture or a leaky split rim on the front. nobody likes a leaky rim lol

 

cheers j.c dude

 

lol yes ben yes i am, are you the dude who loos like howard wallowitz?

 

right been faaccking ages since i updated this so here goes, alot has happened since the last one, so here is a brief summary of which no doubt i have most likely missed a shit load out.

feb 2014 i went to snetterton which was alot of fun with fellow team mates from Throwdown,



decided to give the weds a bit of a freshen up with a lick of audi quartz grey.







next i took a bit of a gamble in trying to install a hydro but still using the stock handbrake lever similar to the c's garage one but unfortunately that didn't work so the decision was made to source a r33 brake setup.

in the meantime my subframe bushes had shit themselves so out came the subframe etc for that job we all love,



decided with fitting polly bushes as apposed to solids as not forgetting this is still my daily use car.

managed to pick up a set of r33 calipers for a good price and started collecting the neccesary bits and pieces to get them fitted.
friend of mine had recently done the same conversion at this time, to which we found out that my weds where not going to fit over the larger calipers due to the flat faces of the centres.

good excuse to buy new wheels then.



rota torque drifts in bronze , 17" 9.5j et12 all round

fitted the rear setup as news of the finalboss weekender was going to be happening. still need to pull my finger out and buy front discs and pads to fit the fronts.

during this time i did a few other little bits and pieces like strut braces and fitted some new gauges, s13 diff etc etc which i wont bore you with.

all was looking good , final boss weekender was only 3 days away and then i found Hampshire's psycho who lovingly did this to my pride n joy







which as you can imagine i was really chuffed about, luckily had 5 witnesses , one of which had video evidence of the unprovoked n completely fucking random attack, aswell as cctv footage of alot of it. which even when shown the guy to this day is still pleading 'no comment' to police questioning.

any ways.... his insurance paid out after cat c'ing the car. got the car back from the insurance and is now starting to look a little better.





hopefully due to get re sprayed in the next few weeks.

still went to finalboss weekend with friends and had a blast none the less but not quite the same as taking my own car up there.

whilst the whole insurance bullshit was on going, decided to freshen up rocker cover with a bit of paint and new gaskets.




also ordered a new grip royal steering wheel which should be here soon. as well as this i got round to finally doing something about getting a bit more lock, so tein tie rods and spacers where ordered , which i should be fitting soon.

also awaiting my nismo half cage to come back from the powdercoaters which will be fitted before pod on the 27th of aug.

also need to squeeze in alignment and a oil and filter change too before hand.

will try and keep this updated a bit better from now on.

 

By ramming it 6 times. What's worse is that the prick done all that damage with a ford k a!