time to fix the rust!!!

so the moms on vacation and im driving this



anyway i decided to start the fix on the sunroof and maybe if my friends boss permits we'll start the paint process *crossing fingers*. we did one side and i forgot the camera so here is a pic of the first side we finished.
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the driver side still needed to be done. first we started by cutting out the rust.

after the rust is cut out we made a template of the hole and put it on to weld.



when welding was done we started with grinding to smooth out all the welds and to help strip off some paint.


we had to repeat the process on the hole next to this one also.

after they were both welded and ground down we proceeded to put on fiberglass body filler

this is what we used, its called tiger hair



some shaving of the fiberglass has to be down to see if everything is level


a few taps to smooth out here and there


then some more fiberglass and we let dry.





thats basically it. next week we will be sanding the whole roof down and spraying primer. the whole sunroof assembly is out so im going to have to get a vacuum cleaner ASAP.


p.s. i also bought a daily driver to keep the 240 lower on miles and cleaner


its a 5speed 94 legacy awd turbo :)


p.s.s. i sold my enkeis :( . check out how the car sit now :(

new shoes

i've been looking for a suitable replacement for my enkei racing S wheels. requirements would have had to be 2 or more pieces, low offset and supa JDM (not into fake wheels). well i think i have found a cadidate. i'll let u guys be the judges.

my friend danny caressing the new hotness






real deal!!!




most ballerest valve stem caps EVA!!!




and what they will be wrapped in









sizes on the SSR Star Formula Mesh are 17x7.5 +32 and 17x8.5 +32

DYNO!!!!

i know i know its been a while since i've updated but there wasnt really anything to report being that i was graduating and all that jazz. well i went ahead and dyno'd my car on sunday since i was off from work. i was hoping to break the 200 whp mark being that my ecu isn't reading the tps. since the computer isn't reading the tps the computer doesn't know when to switch to a more power making timing and fuel map. the computer still thinks im at idle wherever i drive :( . to remedy this i have concluded that either the engine harness has to be fixed OR i have to swap out the harness with a new one. i opted for the latter because it's the easiest to do.

well as i said before i wanted to break the 200 whp mark. im happy to say that i accomplished this but only on high boost. on low boost i only made 183whp :(. the car is running SUPER rich with a AFR of 10.8. there is tons of more power there just gotta change the harness.









here's the two runs. the first one is of the 10 psi and the second one is at 12 psi

It's been a long month :(

Well thanks to nyc roads I broke 3 of the 4 bolts that hold the turbo to the manifold and cracked the manifold. Well I decided it was time to upgrade the turbo at this time since the manifold had to come out. Fixed everything and put everything back together and then...the lines didn't match up. We tried bending them but it wasn't good enough. I said screw it and ordered steel braided lines and got them Thursday. Went to my friends shop today to finish up. For anybody doing a turbo upgrade on a SR (my motor) do yourself a favor and have the steel braided lines ahead of time so your car doesn't sit for a week. Here are the pix from today. Any question feel free to ask as its still fresh right now on my mind.

These are the lines that I needed to do the swap. They can be purchased at http://www.takamotorsports.com/ and the item number for the lines is NISX1000TB



Here is how the engine bay looks without the turbo manifold and turbo. To remove just unbolt all the necessary nuts and bolts that you see.




Here's the turbo with stock lines. These were the lines that didn't want to bolt up with the new turbo.




And here is another angle.




Here is my friend doing the light but harder stuff which includes getting the nuts under the manifold that bigger hands have trouble getting to. If you have a friend with small hands, this is where you would call him over for some drinks to entice him to help.




After bolting up all the bolts that were removed before this is what you should get. Looks basically the same as before doesn't it? Thats the point of using this turbo. It allows you to be faster while retaining a factory look.




I don't if anybody putting in a t28 had this problem before but the lower oil return tube on mine was going to hit the steering shaft so we had to customize something for it. We had a hose laying around that was the perfect diameter. We cut a piece that was the size that we needed that way we could clear the steering shaft.




Bolting everything back up posed another problem. The hotpipe was too long so we customized it by cutting it by 2.5 inches.




Here is how the hotpipe looks installed. It looks like nothing ever happened to it. Notice how almost everything under my hood is black, that is to give the impression that the motor is factory so as to not attract attention.




Remember that removing your turbo will spill all the coolant from the motor. This I cannot stress enough, please refill your motor with coolant before turning it back on.




Well after we put it together there was still an exhaust leak. I had to order a new manifold and do the process all over again. It was basically the same process so I did not take new pictures. I did however take a comparison picture of the two turbos side by side to show difference in size. You will also find 2 videos of how it was running before and after.

Here is a comparison of the old turbo versus the new turbo. Notice the difference in size. That is one of the key difference in why the turbo makes more power. Also the blades that spin inside the turbo are bigger and made with ball bearing which allow them to spin or spool faster.




Here is another angle showing the size difference between the turbos.




This is the back of the turbos.




Here is the video I made before we changed manifolds and fixed the leak. Notice the difference in sound between the two videos. That difference in sound also meant that the car was running really poor. After the fix however it was running in tip top shape.



This is how the motors sounds with the new manifold on.



I must say the car is more peppy now. Not just power wise but I guess the combination of shorter hotpipe and the little maintenance we did the car is much more responsive. Now for the good part, the car feels STRONG. The boost is set at a little bit above 8 psi and the turbo spooled up so quick. It pressed me against my seat very nicely at 8 psi that I didn't feel before with the t25 at 10 psi. I believe it is stronger than when I was pushing 12 psi high boost on the t25 also. The car is feeling great but I didn't want to push it too much just yet. Will try to get a video of my beautiful sounding compressor surge as soon as I get a chance. Stay tuned (get it?)

having problem with decel air

I have been having problems with the decel-air function on my s-afc. I have followed the instructions posted on here http://www.zeroyon.com/index/content/view/64/47/ and I can't get it to work. Here are some videos of my settings and how they run on my car. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7cn6K3vXGU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtIr3xFdjP4

I also have follow the instructions that APEX'i provided http://www.apexi-usa.com/

the motor swap and the birth of "smokey"

In 2005 the time came for me to begin my motor swap. The engine I was replacing was very high mileage and very weak. The new engine is the engine that comes in my car but in Japan. This engine was not brought to this country in its turbo form so they have to be brought over to the states. My engine was a sr20det from a 1994 180sx with 79,000 miles. The clip I had purchased was fairly stock except for a cone filter. Being stock means that the previous owner was less likely to be trashing and beating on the motor. This also means that it will be more likely to be in good condition. Here are some pictures of when I received the clip and how it looked.





Here's the clip with the hood open. Mint condition




Close up of the engine.





It looked so nice and clean in there but we had to start tearing it out.




Almost have the engine out here.




My friend mike at the helm of the forklift.





The motor is out and all wrapped up.




Then came prepping the motor to be dropped. We installed an equal length tubular manifold, changed plugs and valve cover gaskets, both coolant temp sensors and the thermostat while the motor was out. I also installed a Fidanza flywheel and a 6 puck sprung clutch to put it all down to the ground through an aluminum driveshaft.






In the time the motor was getting prepped I landed a set of Enkei racing S wheels. These are very nice two piece wheels with a nice lip. I love them.




Then on April 17 the swap was underway. First order of business was to take out the old ka24de out.










I cleaned the engine bay up because we were going to paint it so the cleaner the better.



And at the end of the day this is what the car looked liked.



Two days later it was time for the new heart to go in.




Here we see the motor going it. It had to go in at an angle so the transmission would clear. My friend had to stand on it to get it to clear the firewall also :)





With the motor in it was just a matter of making all the wiring connections and putting the pipes for the turbo and intercooler and radiator.


She looks cool like this right? Who needs a front end?....well we all do so we dont go to jail :(




3 days later the engine was running and all the connections where done.



After putting the new front end from a Japanese Silvia on the car it really looked the part.




Though the car was looking great the motor wasn't running 100% at first. I had a lot of stalling issues to deal with which made drivability harsh. This is around the time that the name "smokey" came about because of the black smoke coming out of the exhaust for the boost leaks. After asking around on the forums I came to the conclusion that I had boost leaks everywhere. To solve this problem I got myself a set of t-bolt clamps to replace my old worm clamps. These clamps have been on the pipes and have not loosened up not once. After the t-bolt clamps the motor started to run great.

The motor swap was great. Me and my friends had a great time doing it and we learned a lot. The power the car makes gives me goose bumps every time I accelerate the car. After almost a year after the swap I still have no regrets. I have had no problems with it and the car is a force to be reckoned with.