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spiderwebfx's '85 Silvia S12


spiderwebfx

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Time I posted up my ride. I've been trolling and adding a little bit of input to the forum where I can, but overall I'm a nobody without having posted my project. It's not as old as a lot of other projects on here, but I'm going to post it anyway.

Anyway...

In August 2010, I bought this:

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I bought the car with no engine, gearbox, or driveshaft.

One of the first things I did was pull everything out of the engine bay so I could respray it.

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I gave it a good sand and did some anti-rust prep. I etched primed it to get a good base and then sprayed it with Icy White paint.

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I bought a S15 SR20DE and manual gearbox to go in it. Then it sat on the ground for 12months while I mucked around with other stuff.

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I bought a shortened 2WD Hilux diff for it and cut the old diff housing up so I could weld the brackets and everything on to fit it in. Five stud conversion ftw!

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As for the front suspension. Decided to go the S13/S14 hybrid suspension route, four pot turbo brake calipers and also put in a S14 power steering rack.

Front suspension consists of:

S14 Cusco coilovers. (Dual camber adjustment. Slotted mount and camber plates.)

S14 hub carrier.

S14 turbo five stud hubs.

S14 castor rod brackets.

S13 adjustable castor arms

S13 lower control arms with Nolathane bushes and S14 balljoint.

S13 swaybar with Nolathane bushes.

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Front brakes:

S14 four pot turbo calipers.

S14 Znoelli S12 rotors.

S14 EBC Yellowstuff brake pads.

The rotors and pads I pulled off my S14 before I sold it. Photo is from when they were new.

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Steering rack:

S14 steering rack.

Custom spline shaft to mate S12 steering column to rack.

S14 rack ends shortened 10mm.

S14 tie rod ends.

I'd like to get aftermarket rack ends and tie rod ends but it's huge expense even for second hand ones.

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I also bought the Techno Toy Tuning adjustable arms for the rear axle.

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Rear brakes are factory S14 calipers (with integrated handbrake) and new TSW rotors. I'm still figuring out how I can do this. I'm thinking of just dropping an S14 handbrake lever and cables straight into it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did a little bit more on this today. Swapped out the Z32 rack-ends in the front for some slightly shortened S14 ones. I can actually get the wheels to point straight now rather than having massive toe out.

Also pulled the factory handbrake lever out so I can start adapting the tunnel for the S14 lever to go into it.

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  • 7 months later...
Put the S14 fuel pump in the S12 and took a photo of it with the new wheels on.

Managed to get the S14 handbrake lever and lines set up a few months a go too. (Jeez I'm slack with updates.)

 

 

 

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Wheels are 16x8.5 +35 Weds Adula Mesh.

225/45's on front and 205/55 one rear.  (Rears are due to thats all I had, will eventually get 225/45's all round)

 

Even though they are high offset, the fronts sit pretty much perfect (due to the wider track) and the rear does need some 15mm spacers.

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  • 7 months later...

Shit I've been slack on this.

 

Couple of days ago I put some 225/45R16 Toyo T1R's on the rims.  Will look great once they're on the car.

 

Today I finally did something with the power steering, have a couple of Aeroquip fittings coming due to having to make a right angle out of the power steering rack.

Also pulled the diff apart to get the spring perches modified...

 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have the power steering bits finished, alternator on, and the gearbox loom in place.

 

 

Does anyone have any tips for battery relocation on the cheap?  When I painted the engine bay, I pulled the battery tray out.  Was also considering still having proper terminals inside the engine bay some how?

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Did a bit more today.  Aeroquip fittings showed up for the power steering, so got that installed.  Does anybody know where to get a 15mm ID power steer hose?  Everything seems to be 1/2" (12.7mm) or 5/8" (15.9mm) which is too big and too small.

 

Also made a little plate to hold the speed sender in the gearbox, and pulled the gearbox crossmember out to repaint it again.  Installed alternator, and started putting on that part of the loom.

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  • 6 months later...

So not much after my previous post I sorted my hoses out.  I've got all the power steering lines, the clutch line and all the brake lines hooked up.  Got the heater hoses hooked up.  (Had to find a 19mm tail to 16mm tail adaptor that took up no extra room.)

 

 

Then I broke up with my daughters mother, moved into a new house (again), lost all motivation to work on the car, or anything for that matter.

 

Then I bought a spare parts car, still had no motivation to do anything so I haven't stripped it, or really looked at it for that matter.

 

And now five months later, I did something

 

I put the radiator in about two weeks ago.  Had to slot a hole in each of the castor rod brackets and get new rubber mounts for the bottom and made aluminium brackets up for the top.  

 

A few days later I installed my Truhart castor arms I had just received (and took the shitty chinese ones out).  While doing this I adjusted the left front camber adjustment on the bottom of the coilover )it's got a slotted hub carrier bolt hole) so that the tyre no longer rubs on the spring, and then checked on clearances for my steering.  Apparently my right front tyre hits on the sway bar at full left lock.  So I'll need to put some adjustable bolts on the LCA to limit the steering movement.

 

Also rolled the rear lips up so my back tyres no longer rub.

 

And cleaned some more carpet.

 

 

I've gained a little motivation so might slowly be doing more little stuff until I can afford to get the other bigger stuff I need. (rear shocks, battery relocation, engine wired up, driveshaft made)

 

And some photos for good measure.

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So the few things I need to sort out.

 

How the f*** do I do a battery relocation, and what do I connect it to in the engine bay?

Who's going to wire the motor up for me for SFA?

And who's going to shout me the KYB AGX 743020 shocks from 'muricaa for me?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Did some more fluffing around the last couple of days.

 

I spent all day Saturday researching the wiring diagrams for the S12 and S14 motors and sensors to make sure I get the sensors right. On Sunday, I put a new plug on the S14 starter and alternator loom and a new one on the body loom so I can connect them together properly and extended the AFM wire so I can put it over the intake side.  I've still got a handful more to connect up, but I might be done with them tomorrow.

I also started the battery relocation.  I've got the box in the boot, a 120 amp circuit breaker and a kill switch.  Then the cable to the engine bay.  Which connects to a terminal post from Jaycar to keep it all tidy.

 

Have put brake fluid in.  Unfortunately I have a couple of leaks.  Anybody got any tips or suggestions to getting tapered fittings to not leak? 

 

Oil is in.
Engine loom is in.
Power steering fluid is in.
Gear stick is in.
Clutch fluid is in.

I'm still trying to track down a S14 fan shroud before I put the radiator hoses on.
 

 

If all is going to plan, I'm hoping to be able to turn the key and try and start it by this weekend.  This'll be the first time I've had it running in the five years since I've owned it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Oh god the motivation is real at the moment.

So following up from the last post, a lot has happened.

 

Turning the key wasn't so simple.  I ended up wiring it three times before it finally fired.  And even then it was with the fuel pump controlled by the ignition switch, for some reason the ECU won't control it and I couldn't figure out why.
So it starts and runs, runs perfect considering its missing most of the exhaust and the intake is just bodged up to get it running. I also removed a lot of the wasted stuff from the engine loom that hadn't already been taken off, and then completely retaped it.  I mounted the new ECU inside the old ECU box so that it could be put in the same place.

 

I went to Repco and they managed to find some rear shocks that were the right length and have the right ends.  They're 6" shorter overall than the factory ones which means I can lower it more, and not have to worry about the springs becoming uncaptive.  I did need to try and figure out the spring rate though.

I got a single piece driveshaft made.  I got so many different opinions on this vs two piece that it ended up coming down to money.  If I got a one piece made, which I had both ends for, it was going to cost similar to getting the S13 one lengthened and a different flange(?) put at the diff end.  So by getting a single piece made, I ended up selling the S13 one complete for $100.

 

I've tidying up the battery relocation so that it's all bolted down proper.  It has a kill switch on the top of the battery box, as well as a 120amp circuit breaker.  I also put a single kill switch on the injectors, ecu and fuel pump.

I'm picking a trailer up on Wednesday next week so I can take it to work and get the alignment set up a bit better.  I'll have to do it again eventually but I need to get the track and everything sorted with the T3 rear arms and the camber, caster, toe at the front.

I bought a driveshaft safety hoop from BNT. $72 trade.  So even though it was a little more expensive than trademe, at least I'm supporting the business's that are in Rotorua.  Will probably put this in when I have it on the hoist at work next week.

 

I reassembled all of the dash and tidied up all the wiring the last owner left sprawled everywhere.  Stereo wiring is going to be a bit of a drama, but I now have a 2 volume edition of the workshop manual.  It's so much better having a hard copy than using one on a computer.

 

I put all the front panels and lights back together.  I didn't realise how rough the body is. Not sure what I'm going to do about that yet.

 

I'm going to ring a guy in Papamoa who does certs and see if is able to do my car, if so, I've got a few questions but will look into booking it in with him in about a months time once the exhaust has been done.  I'm so not looking forward to this.

 

I'll probably put it on the ground on Monday and see if it'll move under it's own power.  I haven't checked the clutch yet 'cause the rear is up on ramps.

 

Sorry for lengthy worded posts, I'm not good for photos at the moment, I type this after the garage is shut up, and when I'm working on it, I don't want to take photos.  I'll try update with some photos tomorrow night.

 

 

For now though, a quick photo of the wiring in the glovebox, I'll probably end up cutting a piece of perspex or something to go in front of it to protect it: 

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Thought I'd chuck a couple more photos up.
Driveshaft hoop is in, alignment kind of done. Need new front coilovers, extended balljoints/roll centre adjustabers and lowered tie rod ends so I'll have to re do it.

 

And got told cert is going to cost $900 because I need bump steer test :/

 

Is Neil Miller in Hamilton ok to deal with?

 

Rear end:
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On the hoist for exhaust:
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Driveshaft hoop:
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More updates:

Got told my cert is going to cost $900.  $500 for cert and $400 for bump steer check.

Got small intake pipe made up.  AFM wires I relocated to the drivers side for a tidier look. Just needed this pipe to finish it off.

Exhaust was completed this morning. Has one leak which I have to take it back to get fixed.

Put it back on the hoist at work and have found out the right rear caliper has shit itself.  Will have another here tomorrow so will probably do that over the weekend.

Ordered a pair of Yellowspeed coilovers off Moonlight Racing, they'll be here in a week.

Discovered I need a rear sway bar.

When running it had a tapping noise in the head.  Got told the typical VCT rattle, but it was coming from the length of the head, not just the front. Someone said the lifters can't self-bleed on these so they probably need to be done because the engine has been sitting around for so long.  So.. Did this tonight, and sure enough, that problem is gone.

 

And some more photos:

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  • 3 weeks later...

More progress. Yay!!!!

 

I put my interior back in.  Got it looking all tidy.  

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Also made up a stereo surround, gap filler (for where the tape player used to be) and a gear stick surround out of dark perspex to help tidy it up.  Working on an idea with a material to make a gear boot to cover the last of the ugly hole.

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My new Yellowspeed coilovers showed up.  So I put those in and adjusted the height.  

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Unfortunately they didn't fix the issue I'm having with the rear end so I'll chuck the rear swaybar on when it shows up and see if that makes a difference.  Rear springs are currently 8kg as well, so I can't put firmer springs in it to try fix it.  

 

I also need to change my rear spacers to 10mm ones as the 15's I think are just slightly too big.

 

And I did a bump steer check.  With 70mm of travel (+30mm / -40mm) I have 0.6 degrees of bump steer.  I can't go the full 100mm of travel as the tyre lifts off the ground, or the shocks won't compress anymore.

Make shift load thingy whatsit.  Two 15t bottle jacks, two steel beams and two chains.  Worked really well.  Wheels were on slip plates and readings were taken in 10mm increments off the alignment machine.

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After doing the lifters, I noticed that the car seemed real gutless and had a miss.  I couldn't take it anywhere as I have this thing against driving illegal cars on the road.  Finally got it to work yesterday and discovered that under load, it had no power until 2500rpm.  Wasn't to sure why, so borrowed a timing light off a local workshop, discovered that I had turned the dizzy at some point and it was almost fully retarded.  Turned it to the opposite end of adjustment, and it runs MINT.

 

Took it out the back of work and got it swinging a couple of o's.  Without having to clutch kick it, which also means the LSD is locking (I thought it wasn't)

 

I then took it inside, and noticed a rattle when the rev's are dropping.  Then noticed that when you blip the throttle, there is a twang when it peaks on the revs.

 

Turns out the big ends are gone.

 

Off to find another motor now :(

 

 

So due to having to source another motor, and finding the time to put it in, I'm going to have to postpone my cert for now, as funding doesn't allow for me to do everything in time for the cert.

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  • 2 years later...
  • 1 month later...

No photos just quick update.

Was doing some little maintenance things on the car.  One of which involved fixing 4 leaks in the intake system.  Once that was done, the car wouldn't run or idle or anything anymore.  Went through so many different things trying to fix (injectors, CAS, replacing AFM, fuel pressure/fuel pump)  turns out the guy I bought the motor off gave me the wrong AFM.  (I bought one with the same part number)  $40 later I had the right one and it runs primo.

Replaced rear springs with 5kg rears.  Looks like I had 8's in it which is why it was so hard riding.

 

and big news;


Cert booked for next week.
nearly 7 years and it's almost legal.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well car failed cert.  Pretty small list in all honesty, but one of them is possibly a big job.

No spring washers on engine mounts. (Easy fix)
No rear bump stops. (I thought the were on the shaft of the shock)
Rear suspension is too hard.
Upper 4-links touching on chassis.

So the last 3 are really all hand in hand with each other.  The car still feels a little bit like you sitting on bump stops.  I'm wondering if a lot of this is too do with the 4-link arms being rose-jointed as opposed to the factory arms having bushes.

So my plan, too lift it a bit higher, find different shocks for the rear... again...  that also have bump stops on the shaft.  Hopefully this will sort the whole 3 things out.

I lifted it tonight, about 15-20mm.  It's given heaps more clearance underneath so that, combined with bump stops will fix the upper 4-links from touching the chassis and hopefully, improve the ride quality so it's suitable.


Certifier will be back in Rotorua week after next so I'll get it done by that and then see how I go again.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

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