~Slideways~

Have been doing the odd thing when I have the time. One was cutting out a flange for the factory O2 sensor to weld into the down pipe. Turned out pretty well, I used thick steel so I could cut the head off two bolts and weld them to the flange. No pics of that yet. Have also made a flange for the oil return, started drilling holes but then the boy needed to go down for a nap. Dad life. But here is the manifold with both wastegates fitted: I kept the oil cooler and remote filter set up from my old race car, it was pretty much new. I might change the location of the oil filter at some stage but for now it is all mounted and the cooler fits nicely between radiator and intercooler: Remote filter location (possibly temporary). Also need to get that throttle body tig welded: I took the overfenders off to send a photo to a guy about possibly painting it early next year. You can see the rivnuts I used to mount the fibreglass: Wing, only a couple of button head bolts in to test clearance to overfenders: Rear arches cut and welded for wide wheels:

It's definitely a case of taking any time you can, but have to be fair about it. Wife needs some time for her own sanity. Also have to be ready to drop tools at any time and not get back to it for another week at least. And turning down social stuff so I can work on my race car has been pretty common haha

Cool trip/car/photos. I present you one of my thumbs.

Yeah it's why 1J vvti stuff is hard to find, I don't think Ebay cheap chinese manifolds are even a thing. Sinco make one but its 32nb pipe and costs about 5 times as much as this one cost me to make (unless I charge myself labour haha).

Thanks man. Have now finished the manifold after hole sawing both sides/scrolls for the two wastegates and figuring out a position that would clear everything and still be able to access them to change the springs.

It has been sitting for 3 weeks and it was a cold day but even if it was smoke you can't expect it to be perfect. It doesn't smoke under any other conditions eitherway, except full throttle running a bit rich but that's a factory jz tune thing.

Haha yes! So frustrating. At least now I'm semi concentrating on the one project, it was a mess with 3 cars worth of stuff.Oh really? So it's the angle then? That's really interesting! I can see that making sense since on the vvti the four inner ports are perfect circles while the two outer most ones with the most angle are ovals but not as much as the non vvti it seems. Did you have a project thread for yours? Im on the mobile version so maybe you have a link in a signature that I can't see... Edit: change to full site and can see the link

Oh yeah e30 yes it's my Chaser on Trademe, I've been advertising it for 3-4 months now. I've had heaps of interest but not one has actually come to check it out. I've dropped the price a couple of times even though multiple people have said the old price was good and better than others on the market. I'm guessing people are scared of the high km's, I daily drove it for 4 years and it drives like a new one. But people are still stuck in the way of thinking the a car can't do more than 100,000km I suppose.

I was thinking about using a single large wastegate too, with the same idea of splitting it up to the wastegate face, but wasn't confident I could get a perfect seal. So opted for using two wastegates, only problem is space and trying to design it so it doesn't crack. I'll probably end up with a removable y-pipe with a v band close to the downpipe. I wanted to try fit a flexi between the wastegates and the downpipe but I don't think it'll fit. Yeah it has been hard juggling doing this and baby stuff, some days have just turned to shit haha. Sometimes I just have to drop tools half way through and not pick them up again for a week or so. 'Where the fck is that ratchet?!' Or when my rotary tool stops working while smoothing out the manifold ports, and I can't get to a hardware store until the next Saturday. Buy a Dremel brand one, the. It ducking stops working after 15min, gaaaahhhh fcking fck I don't have time for this! Bath time is in 20min! Haha

E30 that's interesting that you've also used 25nb, it's ID is close to the Vvti ports but the non vvti had much bigger exhaust ports, it should also speed up the exhaust gas velocity to spool anyway. It'll work eitherway so it'll be good to compare how they go, I think yours is likely to breath better at the top end so probably higher peak power, while mine will hopefully respond better down low and vvti should help with mid range torque. Well in theory anyway. Have you got a project thread?

Adoom, yep race you for when it's... Uhhh, running.

Well thats about up to date really. That's about 20 months worth? Amongst being a dad and work.

The plan is to get it running on the standard 1JZGTE VVTI ecu while still using the MAF sensor. I'll run it on 7-10psi and check AFR's are safe. This should net an easy 200-230kw and lots of torque, I could maybe run more boost but I'll see. I do have an Apexi SAFC II which previously was tuned for a pretty standard one of these engines and ct15b, that made 220kw on 14psi from memory. I'm undecided on whether to use the Air Fuel Controller but I will hold off on fitting a Link ECU because of budget reasons. Plus once it starts making much more power I will be in for a lot of upgrades/costs: - Link ecu - tune - injectors - clutch - blah And I still have lots to do, including: - wiring ecu - body wiring (a lot was removed by previous owner, which is why I removed everything from donor) - heater and controls to be reinstalled. Maybe just a simple on/off set up. - speedo / tacho - driveshaft - swap diff and shafts (because imported one is better LSD) Even with 'just' 200kw it should be pretty lively, it has a 4.3:1 diff while the JZX's were either 3.7 or 3.9 from memory. Plus it'll be a lot lighter. Other things: - roll cage, because its too easy for things to go wrong and I want to be playing trains with my boy forever. - paint, undecided if I can do this myself. I have a cheapy 2.5hp compressor and another 2hp on I could join together... or just pay someone to do it. I figure white is the most forgiving colour too. - a million things I've forgotten.

To make it a nice curve from intercooler pipe into the throttle body I've shortened it by cutting out the ETCS Traction Control throttle body jobbie: I'll need to get this TIG'd back together, at the same time I'll need to get a 90deg aluminium bend welded onto the turbo outlet. Also, random photos: 17x9.5 -20's stick out a bit much even with +30mm guards: Intercooler fitted, plumbing semi done: Space for custom manifold and turbo when factory stuff removed.

Along the way I fitted a Rocket Bunny rear wing, I've attached this and the rear quarter wide body stuff using M4 stainless steel button head bolts and rivnuts. The wing needs a bit of trimming because of the rear quarters, but its almost there. It turned out pretty good and I wanted the rear quarters to be easily removable. When it comes to certification time I will need to show the cut and welded rear arches. Fitted white drivers door from donor (the car is going to be white) and the front guard to see how it looks: EDIT: oh and also fitted Blitz intercooler and used a combination of 180sx intercooler pipes and some from the JZX one. Only needed to cut two pipes. I now need to put a bead on them. There is not Throttle body on here too: And with wheels and bonnet on to test for turbo clearance:

Many many hours of cutting, shaping, fitting, refitting, testing for clearance etc etc it started to look like a manifold: Welds don't look too bad (at least until I ran out of gas...) Even so, smoothed it out anyway, there is plenty of penetration and all joins are 45deg tapered etc: 6 runners done and test fit number million: Turbo bolted to manifold: I still need to make the wastegate outlets and plumbing but before doing that I need to make a downpipe. 3" would work, but that's too easy says my stupid decision making process 'that's tight...MAKE IT BIGGER'. 3.5" would be doable, but 4" would touch the steering shaft. But I couldn't find anyone who sold 3.5" mandrel bends, the only thing I could find was donuts with that horrible weld down the centre. So I decided, again on zero experience, that I'll try out 'pie cutting' and I made this: Inside because I thought it looked cool: It's now 3.5" from the turbo down to the bottom of the fire wall, but since this is a Toyota engine in a Nissan chassis it was never meant to have an exhaust on that side. So I looked at it for ages thinking, can I fit a 3.5" flexi? That's going to be tight... gah just buy one and make it fit. So I bought a 3.5" flexi (surprisingly hard to find), I will probably shorten it as much as I can then see how much longer I can keep going with 3.5" before joining up to 3". The imported 180sx came with a nice stainless 3" exhaust so I'm going to use the back section of that. It'll need to cross over the transmission tunnel to the 'normal side' and join behind the passenger seat somewhere.

Those with an eagle eye will have noticed in the list of sold stuff, the factory CT15B and manifold etc was in there. And the photo of the quarter brace has a little surprise poking out. Yes, after much deliberation, even after buying a laser cut flange in order to make a better downpipe to free up some free powers from the ct15b. I decided that I'm going to fit a better turbo. Lots and lots of research and I ended up with a Holset Hx35 with twin scroll 12cm exh side. These have been confirmed to work very well on 1JZ's and are capable of 500+ powers of horses. But this was never going to work with the factory log manifold, it looks so very restrictive too. I know the standard turbo is happy to supply 220kw atw but then they are also happy to throw ceramics at you. So I sources the Holset. It looks huge compared to the CT15B which is apparently the biggest factory turbo from Toyota. Holsets are designed for diesels and to last half a million km's and they are built like brick shit houses with large shafts and huge housings. But through pure magic and jimi hendrix guitar solo's, they spool fast and flow like mofo's. Anyway...that's what I read on the internet. So it must be true. But to make this happen I need an aftermarket manifold, but I also need to buy food and 1000's of nappies. So I decided, based on zero experience at all, that I would attempt to make one myself. And with the power of Google Images I had a design in mind. Thus, bits arrived: I also decided to controversially use 25nb pipe, when every man and his dog uses 32nb pipe. The reason was, that the VVTI 1JZ has small exhaust ports to increase velocity and therefore response. So why fit pipe that is bigger? The reason is 'YOU'LL LOSE TOP END POWERS' Well at the top end, that may be true, but the negative effects of going from a small hole into a sausage in 6 hall ways, then trying to squeeze back into two (twin scroll) small holes again doesn't make sense to me. So I'm going against the grain and making it out of 25nb sch40 stuff. My goal is making this turbo spool while supporting 300-350kw at the wheels. If I wanted more, then maybe 32nb would help the top end. To help with spool I have also opted to go through the effort of making the manifold twin scroll, because why wouldn't you? Cutting pipe! Looking at pipe! Looking at three pipes that became one pipe: Making pipe into sextopus: By the way, I am mig welding the lot. Because I don't have a TIG. And well, I have a MIG. Collector tacked together: Positioning the turbo, using zip ties and a piece of wood: From the above, I was able to tack some scrap metal between the head flange and the collector to make a sort of jig thing:

Before buying the RKR's I test fitted them because the Nissan 4 pot calipers often don't clear lots of wheels. These JUST touch the raised NISSAN lettering, so is fine with lettering removed. You can see the calipers have been shaved in this photo, sort of. But also the quarter braces fitted after repainting the area under the guard black.

I do have a set of 17x9 RPF1's, but no tires so I would be needing those. I then came across a set of unused 17x9.5 -20 RKR's with some awesome Yokohama AD08R's 245 wide, with the cost of new tyres I couldn't pass up buying these. I had Watanabe's on my old race car so snapped these up. They aren't Watanabe's but neither is your mum. I am still usign the RPF1's, but will probably be with some Semi Slicks. 17x9.5 -20 is a pretty aggressive offset but they fit the +55 rears perfectly, the 30+ front...not so much...but I have a few idea. Do not want stupid camber though. This is up on axle stands so big gap, the car won't be super low anyway.

The front guards are +30mm wide each side, I wanted to find some suitable rear quarter wide body 'over fenders' because I wanted to fit wide wheels. Plus the added bonus of cutting out some rust and dents when I cut the rear arches. So out comes the angle grinder: I welded these up to seal and I think I did a pretty decent job. Then I bought some Origin Lab +55mm rear over fender: It makes the GTR 16x8's look tiny. Doesn't matter, I only had a pair anyway.

The R154 is a non remote, even though JZX100's were meant to have the remote shift. The Mark II was converted in Japan. But the shifter position only needed a bit of cutting to the tunnel and the lever to have an s-bend and its perfect. Test fit of a radiator, this came with the 200sx rolling body, its a decent-ish Redline thing but I will be using the radiator that came in the imported 180sx. It looks brand new and is a triple core (think it was a Koyo). Either way, not much chance of using the 1JZ viscous fan.... Test fit on the fibreglass front guards from the imported 180sx. These are excellent quality, perfect fit. They are branded 'WONDER' inside, which apparently is a good Japanese brand.

So then after a bunch of research I found some engine and gearbox mount that would work and they would allow me to fit it as far back and low as possible. These came in from the States and were a pain in the arse because the supplier wouldn't send to NZ. So I had to use NZ Post's You Shop thing, that worked pretty well apart from a guaranteed GST bill... The other pain was that the US site wouldn't take my Credit Card payment because the billing address was different due to the You Shop "fake" warehouse address. Gahhh so I ended up having to use PayPal, and because NZ PayPal is dumb, you can't top up from your bank account...more fees....yay. These work with an SR20 crossmember and mounts. I will be filling the mounts with urethane though, since they are pretty soft. If that doesn't work out I'll buy some 'race' SR mounts. This was pretty much the only 'bought' part of the conversion, I've done a lot of welding, wiring etc etc to come. The 1JZ with R154 (non remote shift) looks....BIG when sitting out of the car: Empty 200sx: But it fits! And much lower than the SR would. Also further back and lower than an RB would be when people use the Nissan parts bin for an RB crossmember. Sorry about the image size, they aren't the originals because I'm at work. Working.

For the hell of it I test fitted my Enkei RPF1 17x9's, the tyres aren't the right profile here but they would suit it. I then sold a lots of things from both imported cars to get some of the money back. Here is a list of the things I've sold so far, the descriptions are directly from my spreadsheet so not overly good: Sr20 + gbox + dshaft + pedals Window Switch + rubber seal Wing mirrors Gtr seats Teins 1 Strut Brace jzx 19" wheels SRS sensors jzx Front indicators jzx Boot + lights jzx 180 coilovers Brakes 180sx Dshaft jzx Cltuch pedal jzx Clutch master jzx Gbox trim jzx Centre console jzx Hbrake + cables jzx Teins 2 Rear subframe + diff + shafts JZX Front x-member JZX bonnet + Pass guard + seats + lights GTR 16x8's x2 JZX brake pedal F/R guard + dash trim + cup holder Bumper indicators JZX Rear windscreen JZX Visor Clips 1jzgte alloy mounts Caster arms jzx JZX passenger guard Airbag sensors JZX JZX rubber bonnet seal JZX shell + radiators + cat's CT15B turbo + manifold + j-pipe +dwn Here is a list of the parts I know I will keep from the imported JZX and 180sx: JZX Engine + ECU + Loom JZX Gbox + Clutch + Flywheel JZX Dash cluster and loom 180sx Dash Cluster and loom 180sx rear bumper 180sx LSD 180sx carpet 180sx carbon bonnet 180sx front 30mm+ guards 180sx 3" stainless exhaust 180sx front arms 180sx doors 180sx strut brace(S) 180sx front 1/4 braces 180sx front chassis brace 180sx after market lights/carbon/trim There is also a long list of parts I sold from parting out the Trueno but that's less relevant to this, but it did provide a large chunk of the race car budget. I did keep these from the Trueno: Oil Cooler Speedflow fittings, Braided lines. t_bolt clamps 2L custom oil catch can, twin breathers Remote Oil Filter GFB BOV AGM lightweight battery 3” downpipe to 2.5” I/C Plumbing Silicon Joiners

Cheers guys, I'll put up some more updates tomorrow. Wife wise I guess I just got lucky and/or she knew that cars/projects weren't a just a hobby and I've never been stupid about it throwing money away. My car projects have almost always started off as cheap fixer uppers and I've done most work myself, instead of going out and buying a $30k car which we couldn't afford. Blah blah back to building race car haha

Noooo I didn't see the rule about thread titles, now I can't add the year. Anyway. Stripping the imported 180sx. I sold the SR20DET which was one of the quietest SR's I've every heard or driven around the block totally legally. The engine, ecu, loom, gbox, pedals etc went to a guy from Auckland (I'm in Wgtn) who was converting an N/A auto one. You meet good people doing this sort of stuff. Just an observation. Also some of whom you wish hadn't been in your garage. But that's the minority. Stripping it as it was first parked. Those wheels right? 19's with terrible offset, WITH 30+ wide guards too? YES. These front quarter races were a nice surprise: As was this Blitz intercooler: It had an engine: It also came with an awesome Mini Disc stereo WITH awesome japanese music mini disc still in there. It also had a reverse camera rear view mirror which I thought was a bit out of place, but I plan to put it on my Safari. I continued to strip the bejesus out of it every time I had a spare moment amongst trying to figure out how babies work. Stripped right down to the whole body loom front to back. Stripping: Strippppingnnnnggggg: MTHRFCKN STRIPPPINGGG: RAAAAA: aaaaAAA: That'll do: