My objective these last couple of weeks has been to sort out the engine bay completely. So far I've been able to properly address the appearance and integrity (kind of) of what was the abomination I started off with, which involved an awful amount of: screws, nuts, bolts, clips, hard lines, soft lines, degreaser, sanding, wire-brushing, blood, welding, wax and grease remover, bogging, more sanding, spray paint, rags and sweat. I'm just thankful there were no cir-clips to deal with =D Irrespective of all of this, I still had more to go - so let's get to it!
Carrying on from my last post, I had the engine bay to a point where I could start re-installing everything I had taken out. It really made no difference where I started as it all had to go back in, so I began with the brake and clutch master cylinders. While it's more or less a case of just reversing what I did to take it out, that also happened over 2 months ago so there had to be a bit of trial and error until I got it right. The trickiest bit was to try and line up the mechanism with the pedals inside the car, closely followed by where I put the nuts and bolts I needed =\ At least with Japanese cars, there isn't too much variety in what they use, so I just picked up whatever worked and ran with it. I'll also mention here that I tried to replace what nuts and bolts I could with new items.
The other big challenge was the hard-lines that ran to both master cylinders. In the process of doing all this work, some of them had been bent slightly in the process of trying to remove them or get them out of the way. A little bit of man-handling managed to sort that out, but I'm sure I'll keep tweaking them as the bay gets fuller.
You can also see the list I started developing for random things I found but would tackle later... while I'm sure there's going to be things I'll forget, I want to limit that as much as I can - thanks windscreen!
The next task was to get all of the wiring looms re-installed. This was pretty straight forward thanks to all the electrical faults I've had while owning this car - to say I'm familiar with it is a bit of an understatement! The only time consuming part here was cleaning everything as it went back in. A fair bit of dirt and grime had certainly accumulated over the years, so each section got wiped down in wax and grease remover as it got put back in. I also tried to tidy it up as I went, deleting obsolete plugs and re-wrapping it in electrical tape where needed.
I knew the engine would be going back in shortly so I made a quick order from GKTech for some bits and pieces that fix some outstanding problems and make improvements elsewhere. From top left:
- New aluminium wheel nuts (to replace the 2 half-sets I currently have)
- Coilpack cover (never had one)
- Radiator overflow bottle (see below)
- Solid shifter bushing (improves shifter feel by replacing nylon bush)
- Coolant neck spacer (to make installing a water temp. gauge much neater)
You can see why I felt the need to replace the radiator overflow bottle... The old one was a generic P.O.S from Super Cheap Auto - it also used 'custom' brackets to keep it in place. I decided to replace it with a factory replica that would both look better and install the way it was designed to vs. a hack. The way I figure it, the tidier this all is the better!
I moved from here to re-installing the various ID plates and such that I pulled off. While I don't know exactly what this particular plate is for, it was too cool to leave off the car!
Chassis/engine/compliance plates riveted back in - yes it is intentionally blurry to hide the numbers =P
I also finally put the replacement power steering reservoir back in AND in its original position. Because QLD laws keep changing, a pod filter now only needs to be secured, not covered... so for the sake of keeping this as clean as I can I decided to go with factory looking and change it further down the track if required.
At this stage I decided a trip to Super Cheap Auto was in order for supplies... $230 later I had the fluids I'd need once the engine is back in to get her running, as well as some other random bits and pieces to tidy up some other jobs. Thankfully they also had a sale which means you end up getting things you know you'll need down the track (but not just yet). Come to think of it though, I can't remember the last time they didn't have a sale on =\
Here's the water coolant neck spacer about to go on - the idea is very simple, it simply spaces the water outlet on the engine and allows you to thread a temperature sensor in there... this is a lot tidier than the other option, which involves slicing your coolant hose in half and tee-ing off of that. $40 well spent.
While I was working on the engine, I decided to also clean the engine up as much as I could. A can of degreaser and 2 brushes later, I had a (semi) clean engine. As has been the case with everything else in the car, while it's not perfect it's still 100% on what it was - hopefully the combined effect of all these little touches will make a massive difference :) :)
Both belts got replaced while I was at it...
Because I deleted the catch can I needed to plumb the oil pickup back into the engine block. I had originally hoped to use the hose I already had from the catch can but it was that worn and dirty I figured it best to just straight up replace it. You can also see to the left of the dipstick (yellow handle) that coolant neck spacer installed.
You may remember a while ago I bought new rubber stoppers for the bonnet. When I started all of this I only had 2 (you're supposed to have 6) and they both got destroyed trying to remove them for painting. I won't know what to do with myself next time I close the bonnet!
And here we have the engine bay as done as it can be... I've installed everything I could either think of or find, cleaned up as much as I can and got it to a point where there was only thing left to do...
Put the engine back in :) Big thanks again to Casey for lending both his engine crane and time to get this done.
Ah just like old times... lifting donks around and putting them places =P Just a disclaimer, you will notice both Casey and Kim in these photos - that's because I was responsible for manipulating the engine crane. No, not lazy!!
Getting it in was easy enough, just lift it up and make sure that you can get enough angle on it so the gearbox bellhousing clears the transmission tunnel. We took the opportunity to plug in as many cables and bolts as we could while we still had good access to the engine.
The biggest issue we had funnily enough was getting the new engine mounts in - they just wouldn't line up no matter what we did! It's tricky because the SR20 doesn't sit flat, it has a natural angle to it. Trying to compensate for this is always fun. We did eventually get it to line up, and proceeded to bolt everything in. The gearbox was challenging though as there's play in the gearbox mount - at least while the bolts are loose. When I first bolted it to the gearbox it went in fine, but it turned out that nothing lined up when we were trying to bolt it to the chassis. Nothing serious but a tad frustrating none-the-less. We did find one thing while we were down there though...
...what was left of a Redback spider. Got to love Australia!
From here it was simply a case of systematically working around the engine, finding plugs and lines and connecting them all.
Fingerless gloves are great to work in, as they protect your hand but also still provide you with dexterity... Not a good look they give you though!
Pieces continued to be put back in one by one as they were either discovered or needed. Room naturally starts to get a little bit scarce but you do what you can. Unfortunately though thanks to some of the new parts we found a problem.
The new intake pipe wouldn't fit no matter what we tried. It fouled on the intercooler piping, the power steering reservoir and the lines that ran to/from it to the pump. We tried everything - manhandling, different silicon joiners, different angles, adding extra piping, relocating the power steering reservoir... nothing would work. Fortunately with some persistence we were able to figure out how to do it while leaving everything in its original place - we just had to tighten one hose clamp before another to give us that little bit of play we needed.
Turns out there's several improvised cup holders you can utilise around the engine bay :)
We got to a point where we were running out of daylight and energy, so this is how she sits at the moment... and I could not be happier :) it looks schmick as! To know that all that hard work has made such a difference feels damn good. We were hoping to be able to start her but we weren't able to get to the point where we could get any fluids in her, so that will have to happen during the week/next weekend.
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You all know my original goal has been to see this project through to the end - to make turn this car from a pig into a somewhat dignified lady. Because of the amount of time and money I've invested in this thing so far, I more than anyone else would love to see that happen. However, I've never had any real intention of keeping her for long after she was finished though, as she's just not what I'm chasing in a weekender. While she could be, it would take even more time and money on top of what I'd be doing to see this through, and that's a cost that's getting harder and harder to accept. The fact stands that she is a drift car - it's what all the parts in her are for, and I honestly believe it would be silly of me to make her less of what she's designed for in the interest of making it what I want. Why should I de-tune her and swap out parts that would soften her up when I could sell her as a drift car? And a good one at that!
Given the impending Matsuri Drift, I have come to the conclusion that it's in my best interest to sell her as a drift missile (car designed to be absolutely thrashed) for Matsuri. My time from here would only be spent fixing the body and painting her, an endeavour I believe would not net me the gains I'd be hoping for.
While it is a decision that is not made easily, I do believe it's the smart decision. I could pursue parting her out but that's just too much time and effort for what it's worth - so I'm better off leaving her as a complete, working car. There's still work to do before I get to that point though, e.g.
- Finish putting the engine back in including refilling of fluids
- Rivet rear guards in and install front guards
- Put all body panelling back on
- Re-install interior in a manner that would keep her functional but stripped for a track car
Basically I want to get her to a point where she's a together, working drift car that would be beautifully suited to the track. To put this in perspective, here's the parts list:
Under the Bonnet
Stock Sr20det w/rocker arm stoppers
999 Automotive 42mm alloy radiator (modified)
High pressure steering pump hose
Hybrid limited edition Intercooler
Recently serviced with all new Nulon/Penrite fluids (engine, brakes, clutch, gearbox, radiator etc.) and new belts
Cusco brake booster brace
999 engine brace (not fitted)
Brand new Nismo Engine/Gearbox mounts
NPC custom clutch
Rebuilt t25 turbo from MTQ w/adjustable actuator
Apexi Intake
PBM flex front pipe, HKS cat back
Bosch 040 fuel pump
PowerFC tuned by Matt @ FAT333, putting out ~220BHP, 700nM
Suspension/Brakes
Cusco front strut brace
Cusco rear tower brace
HSD coil overs, 12kg front and 10kg rear
KKR castor rods
PBA LCAs (custom)
Option1 drop spindles and tie rods (inc. spare set)
Rack end spacers
999 solid cradle c rings
JIC camber arms
Ikeya formula traction rods
Cusco rear toe arms
Cusco/KTS 2 way diff (can't remember which brand)
4 to 5 stud front spacers
5 stud rear conversion (r33 calipers/rotors)
BM44 Brake Master Cylinder
Upgraded front brakes:
RDA front rotors, slotted and vented with QFM A1RM pads
Wheels
Genuine Work Emotion XT7s
Front: 18 x 8.5 +32, Rear 18 x 9.5 +38
Kumho KU31s all round (60% tread with camber wear on front, however already ripped and flipped)
GKTech open-ended steel wheel nuts
Exterior
Full 180sx front conversion (panels all genuine Type X plastic where applicable) including:
Genuine 180sx bonnet
Type X front bar
Type X side skirts
Type X pods and spats, front and rear (no rear center section)
Type X wing
DMAX Fenders (30mm Front and Rear)
Jun Yan front parkers
Genuine Type X front indicators
Grenade mirrors,non electric
T5 tint, rear quarters and rear
Interior
S15 driver and passengers seats
sAAs steering wheel
Autometer boost gauge
Autotechnic water temp gague (using GKTech Water coolant neck spacer)
Drift button
Nismo gear knob
For those in the know, there's some quality kit in here - and I really would be stupid to mess with this setup. If you're reading this and you are interested, I'm more than happy to talk business.
I am probably letting myself down more than anyone here, but the more I think about it and the further I get into this build, it really does make an increasing amount of sense to go down this path - to move this on and start fresh with something that is a lot closer to what I'm chasing in a weekender. While I'm sure this isn't the way a lot of you expected this blog entry to end, I couldn't not say something given that my mind has been made up on the matter.
On that note, I guess stay tuned to see what happens from here! I'll be damn sure to keep this blog going while I finish this, and then move on towards other motor-vehicle shenanigans :)
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