Project drift S14 (part 8)

The past 8 months since the last "project_drift_s14" have been filled with automotive shenanigans with plenty of highs and lows.

She ran great for a short period of time where we took her to the ocala car meets, did an autocross event, and did some drifting on the back roads of Marion Oaks.

https://youtu.be/aw8apBimGD8?list=PL6RNybc8PV_yHYlh0Rzoh3pNcSdHt2xoc

As far as the last post is concerned i'll address the points that I intended to tackle once returning from the trip to the keys.

• The Fuel tank.... still leaks. Still want a fuel cell.
• I replaced the shifter boot seal thingy. No more gear oil smell or loss of tranny fluid.
• No more screwdriver needed to start the car. There are switches for power on, fans, and a button for the starter.
• The power steering still slightly leaks...
• The slight pull to the right in the steering was remedied with new tires. It still needs a front end alignment though.
• Not sure where the oil leak was but it is fixed now because we got rod knock drifting in Marion Oaks and had to pull the bottom end apart to change the bearings. That was a huge ordeal but now there is no oil leak, new rod bearings, the engine bay was painted and the wiring harness was tucked while the motor was out. Cool stuff!

• The differential was just welded last week and the one test drive so far was awesome! It feels like a real drift car now.
• The hydraulic e-brake is hooked up and mounted but the rod that connects the master cylinder to the handle is not strong enough to handle the force of being snatched on. I have to build a much stronger one.
• Rear camber arms and toe arms are going to be coming soon. Along with bolt on wheel spacer to get the offset for the new Rota wheels I picked up perfect.
• Still need injectors.
• Paint. Yeah it's painted. Rustoleum gloss white. Rattle can baby! I am really happy with it though.
• No body kit yet. I got a front lip for the bumper so i'm thinking of getting some side skirts and calling it a day... for now.

She's becoming really legit really quick.  Several drift events are on the calendar this year and with Austin learning how to drift we can't wait to crush the crete!

Project drift S14 (part 7)

This is the last "project drift s14" update for at least a month.  I'm only slightly sad about that because we head to the boat tomorrow to finish provisioning for the keys!  

The car (that will now be called "Silvia" to help differentiate between all the project vehicles I have) is in the best version of itself to date.  She is running better, more reliable, and more powerful than she ever has.  While there are a few issues to still iron out I can now just hop in the car fire her up and go tear up the streets.

The issues that sill be addressed once we get back from the keys are:

• The fuel tank cannot hold more than three gallons of gas without leaking. Fuel cell time!
• The tranny leaks fluid.  I replaced the rear tranny seal a couple days ago so this issue may be fixed but I know I still have to fix the upper seal around the shifter.  Fluid escapes up through the shifter hole during acceleration.  When the fluid gets low in the tranny the syncros start to grind.
• The car is still turned on by a screwdriver.  Once I figure out the current draw on that circuit I can get a switch of the correct amperage to turn the car on from the center dash panel.
• The power steering also has a very slow leak but it is negligible.
• There is a slight pull to the right and a little wheel feedback on sharper right turns.  These will hopefully be sorted out with a front end alignment.
• Lastly what appears to be an oil leak has surfaced today. I have no idea where it is coming from and unfortunately will not be able to diagnose until July.

Those are the issues that effect drivabilty.

These are the fun things that will improve the car:

• Most importantly is the differential.  I was drifting for years on an open diff. It's time to get serious. I may buy an extra open diff and weld it, or I may just save the money for a real Tomei
• The hydraulic e-brake handle and master cylinder is bolted in place now but is not yet hooked into the cars brake system. It looks awesome though!
• Rear camber arms. The pretty low now with the ISR pro series coilovers installed. This is cause major camber in the rear. I'm going for performance oriented, not show. Plus I will be chewing through enough tires as it is. I'd rather not wear the insides out prematurely.
• Fuel injectors!  The gt2871r turbo is limited to around 14-15 psi before the stock 370cc injectors loose the ability to keep up. With new injectors the car should be able to boost up to 20ish psi.  The catch to that is it would be wise to change out the head gasket, head bolts, and get a rom tune for the ecu.  Enjuku Racing in Clermont, FL can facilitate all of this but it just takes time and money.
• Paint - not the highest on my priority list but it will look great once the car has a...
• Body kit - because. just because.

There is much more bubbling around in the convoluted thought-soup I call my brain, but only time will tell what comes from it.  For now I get to veg for an entire month while sailing to the keys!

Wooooo!

Project Drift S14 (part 6)

It's been 5 months since the last update and there has been progress but not nearly as much as I would like. 

So far completed:

• rear subframe fully bolted on
• interior cleaned
• engine bay cleaned
• wiring harnesses re-ran
• airbag systems removed
• door panels and rear seats installed
• fabricated new center dash panel
• pillar mount gauges installed
• intercooler and piping installed
• radiator installed (although it gets pulled back out when the motor goes in)
• new water pump installed on sr20
• front main seal replaced
• hood latch reinstalled

So far purchased and waiting to install:

• pilot bushing
• clutch release bearing
• isr radiator lines
• isr thermostat
• clutch slave cylinder
• isr power steering line

Still need to buy:

• GT2871r turbo from twisted motion $350
• turbo clocking adapters $65
• turbo lines $120
• starter switch panel $70
• front and rear driver side 300zx brake calipers $120
• battery $110

Still have to install:

• center dash panel
• all gauges
• Greddy boost controller wiring and mounting
• Apexi fuel controller mounting
• starter switch panel
• turbo/motor/trans once all assembled
• battery
• brakes
• clutch slave cylinder
• thermostat
• radiator hoses

Things are getting close now and the list of todo's is not nearly as daunting as it was in the beginning. The big hold up has been the turbo. When we pulled the t25 apart the bolts holding the exhaust side to the center housing were seized. Even after grinding the bolts off we found that the exhaust side and central housing had seized itself together. We banged, pried, leveraged, and wacked in every way we could think to try and separate the two without damage to the fins and center shaft. 

Finally i threw in the towel. After calling a local certified Garrett turbo rebuilder and getting a price quote of 350 we changed directions.  My original goal for the car was 375 horsepower. I feel that's plenty of power and I don't have to upgrade the stock internals of the motor.  Instead of rebuilding the stock t25 for $350 we are putting that money towards another turbo.  

Twisted motion turbos, even though they are not garretts, seem to have good feedback and they come with a year warranty. The turbo itself runs $350 but requires $65 clocking adapters to mate with the the intercooler piping correctly. Also highly recommended by Josh from Twisted motion (who returned my text immediately with a call and was extremely helpful) was the stainless turbo lines ($120) which helps avoid stripping the threaded fittings on the block.  

That's not much more than the price of the rebuilt t25 turbo and we are at the power levels I originally wanted. It kind of seemed like a no brainer to me with the warranty and since the car won't be daily driven the longevity of the turbo should not be an issue.

As far as short cutting things we decided to put back in the act clutch that is almost worn out. The friction pads are touching the rivets but there is still some pad.  The motor is easy enough to pull out when the clutch goes. Keeping $300 + or - in my pocket is nice too.

I will do another post once more significant progress has been made. Hopefully that post will be when the car is running!

Project Drift s14 (part 5)

With the gas tank back in the only thing left was to put the rear subframe back into the car.  I tried squeezing this delicate activity in between changing my sister's brakes and getting ready to work.  Of course my "law of three" took over the situation.  My "law of three" is that how ever long you think it will take you to do something on a car it will take three times as long. This applies to most projects as well like building computers, or plumbing, or construction projects, etc.

I was able to wrestle the subframe up into place with use of a motorcycle jack, 3 ton floor jack, and a broom handle.  In the process I pressed out some of the new bushings that I have to squeeze back in.  I was cut short from finishing this by the impending doom of being late to work and misplacing one of the main nuts for the subframe.  There is no telling where it went during the time the project has been stalled.  Hopefully i will be able to pick up a replacement tomorrow and slap it together.  The subframe is at least got 2 fully attached points out of the 4 that hold it in place.

Hopefully i can pick up the project tomorrow and snap a few pictures of quintessential shade tree mechanic-ism. Stay tuned!

Project Drift S14 (part 4)

When we last left our heroes they were locked in a battle of might and wits with the subframe bushings and the leaky gas tank. Last week I got the last subframe bushing installed while Austin was over to help.  Today I made the trip into town to pick up the replacement fuel lines for the ones I cut thinking I was going to install a racing fuel cell.  After cutting the lines I compared prices of fixing vs replacing.

Fix:
$5 - JB plastic weld
$6 - Fuel lines
$2 - Clamps
$0.2 - Duct tape

Replace:
$150-200 - Fuel cell
$75-125 - Fuel pump
$??? - Fittings
$??? - Fuel lines
$??? Trunk floor modifications and bracketing for cell

It's easy to see why I went with fixing vs replacing. Also I already have a walbro 255 fuel pump in the stock tank which is more that enough to feed the planned turbo upgrade.

What was the duct tape for you ask? The crack in the tank was not very big and I think the jb weld will do a fine job but the reason it cracked in the first place was because one of the two metal straps that hold up the tank caused a stress crack right on the edge where the strap presses against the tank.  I tried to put a few layers of duct tape between the tank and the straps on both side to provide a little bit of cushioning and protection.  We will see how long it lasts.

So I picked installed the lines onto the tank and the tank into to car.  So except for wiring the fuel tank is completely hooked up. Wiring is going to come in one fell swoop later on in the build. For now the fuel tank is one more thing off the list.  Next will be getting the motorcycle jack out to put the rear subframe back in the car and removing the airbag system parts that are stuck in with tamper proof torx bolts. Stay tuned! (no pun intended)

Project drift s14 (part 3)

Today consisted of jb plastic welding the cracked gas tank and several hours of banging on the subframe with a small sledge (the candy hammer) and a screwdriver. What..a..pain..in..the..ass..   I'm sure I'm doing something wrong to make this so difficult but I do have 3 out of four subframe bushings changed.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the last bushing changed and start bolting everything back into place.

Project Drift S14 (part 1)

So this is to give a little back story on my most current project.  Its not that it is the newest project but it is the one that is taking the most of my attention at the moment.  I work in phases like that with my interests.  I may put something to the side but then I will come back to it later and pick up where i left off.  My interests usually cycle in 6 month to 2 year intervals.

Back to the topic at hand. This is my 1995 Nissan 240sx se. I have owned it for over 10 years. It is my baby.  Although i have been neglecting my baby the past few years that is due to my life situations that i have freed myself from. In the beginning I financed the car and used a insurance check from my totaled Honda crx to buy a used sr20det motor from Japan.
 

I drove the car around on the stock motor while collecting parts for the sr20. When the old ka24 finally kicked, which happened to be getting off of i4 onto international drive in Orlando, I towed the car to my friend Buddy's Grandpa's airplane hanger and learned how to swap my first engine. Three months, and a maxed credit card, later she was road worthy. It took several months to iron the kinks out but it wasn't long before I was tearing up the streets with her.  My main focus was drifting. We spent a lot of time hanging out at my friend Zack's and tinkering with various cars.  Saturday nights we would hit up strategic parking lots in ocala to bull shit with other street racers and organize where the racing, drifting, or chilling spot would be for the night.  This continued on for many years with a smattering of autocross, drift events, car shows, and more street racing thrown in.  All good things come to an end as they say. Of course life takes over for most people at some point and you reside yourself to the fact that you will never be able to do the things you love anymore and that's just the way it is.  F@$# that! I'm being selfish and living my life the way I want to. So my son Austin and I went down to Orlando to watch a pro/am drifting practice, mainly to see if the scene was still kicking.

It was.

So now between my car enthusiast friend Jesse (pictured below), and my soon to have his learners permit son Austin (shown in the video), and my ridiculously supportive and wonderful girlfriend Amber, I am hell bent on getting my baby running again and doing some more stupid shit with her like I used to
 do.  So far we have pulled the motor.


Stripped the interior.

and started fixing all the shit wrong with her from years of very very hard daily driving and street racing.  Now we are going to rebuild her better than before and twice as sassy. That's right is said sassy.  At the moment my vision for the S14 is a barely street-able track prepped drifter.  Follow us on this journey into tire-smoking, money sucking, overgrown man-child madness.

Project drift s14 (part 2)

So my son austin and I tackled a part of the car rebuild that had really been the straw that broke the camel's back for putting the car down. the gas tank had a small crack in it that only allowed a gallon and a half of gas to be put in before it started leaking out.  in order to get at the gas tank we have to drop the entire subframe. upon inspection of the subframe  bushings we discovered there was barely anything left of them, the rubber was completely shot.  the chassis does have 300k plus miles on it. Now I have ordered some Energy Suspension black subframe bushings and will be putting them in soon.  Stay tuned.

'The beginning: projects post...

This is the post that starts it all.  Or at least starts it in the beginning of where I am in the countless list of projects that I am constantly tinkering with and adding to.  So I am attempting to catalog my progress through these adventures.  Currently the projects on the forefront of my list are...

• getting my nissan 240sx running and racing again
• getting my 1964 chevy c10 ratrod running
• turning my 21ft scatcraft boat into a tiki bar
• building my ar15
• brewing beer
• crafting spirits
• my wiener dog
• etc

So my plan is to log my progress on these projects and share my successes and failures with you. Cheers!