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rxm6's S13 build/restore


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23 replies to this topic

#1
rxm6

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Hey everybody,

I thought I'd post up my build as I'm finally starting! This will be my birthday present to myself this year.

So, I've had this car for about 4 years now. I picked it up in 2007 for the low-low price of free. That, in itself, is a long story, so I won't go into it. This is how it was when I picked it up and the damage it had.

This needs some work...



Not so bad...



A clean, non-smoked in interior



The stock engine with 238....yeah it needs to be rebuilt. It still runs though.



To be honest, I have no idea what model it is besides the fact that it's a stick and a hatchback. It has manual windows and no spoiler, so I'm assuming its a base model? But, it came with SE wheels? I don't know.

I immediately procured some wheels, however, and this is the car washed with the new wheels and that's it.





That was 4 years ago and the car has pretty much sat around with the occasional move. I didn't work on it because I became involved....OK...obsessed with another project that I finished last year.



So, with that out of the way, I'm finally going to give this car the much needed love it deserves.

Here is how it stands now.



My intention is to keep this car street legal. So, sadly no turbos. All we get is an intake that's CARB legal. How sad. Anyhow, right now I'm pulling out the motor and the tranny to be rebuilt. The A/C still works so I'm going to try my hardest not to disconnect the system, but we'll see how that goes. Does anyone know if its R134a?

Also, I'm no expert on modifying cars. Restoration, sure. So, I might be asking you guys some stupid questions, so I hope you don't mind or get frustrated. whistle.gif

#2
mestizo

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Welcome to the board! Most cars that are pre 93-94 are R12 freon, however it could have been retrofitted and if so they may not have put a sticker stating that is has the newer freon in it. The only real way to tell is to recover it at an a/c recovery place.

Also as for asking questions, that's what this place is for... so ask away. thumbsup.gif

#3
rxm6

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QUOTE (mestizo @ Jan 13 2011, 12:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Also as for asking questions, that's what this place is for... so ask away. thumbsup.gif


If you're sure...

Well, answer this for me. Are there sub frame connectors for the S13? Does the car even need them?



#4
Jonnie Fraz

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QUOTE (rxm6 @ Jan 13 2011, 04:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
If you're sure...

Well, answer this for me. Are there sub frame connectors for the S13? Does the car even need them?


Welcome buddy! I think you have stumbled onto one of the best build forums on the net.

Now onto your question...now are you asking about a connector from front to rear sub frame? I have never seen such an animal. Do Luck used to make a rail stiffener. I don't think it connected the front and rear sub frame. They were very expensive...$400 for the pair, and I don't think they did much.
Now there are sub frame colors to the tune of $50-80.00. They help brace the worn out sub frame bushings. These are worth the money.

It is very possible to remove the motor and trans and leave the AC intact. We did this on Jessies car when we did the 5-speed swap.

I really recommend reading through all 24 pages of Mestiso's build...it is the best I have ever seen.

#5
rxm6

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QUOTE (Jonnie Fraz @ Jan 13 2011, 08:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Now onto your question...now are you asking about a connector from front to rear sub frame? I have never seen such an animal. Do Luck used to make a rail stiffener. I don't think it connected the front and rear sub frame. They were very expensive...$400 for the pair, and I don't think they did much.


Like this:



I had these on a 98 I30 I owned (just a Maxima with leather) They made a tremendous difference in the torsional rigidity of the chassis. However, the Maxima chassis is somewhat of a marshmallow. I've never really had the chance to drive the 240. So I don't know how it feels stock. I'm kind of going on what people suggest I do confused.gif

Let's put it this way, I had a 90 M3. If I can make the 240 handle as well as that car did, I'll be happy. If I can make it handle better, I'll be exuberant.

#6
InfamousJesseJames

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Welcome to the board. This is a great place to find answers like they said. There are some knowledgeable people on this sight. Just ask and I am sure someone will chime in and give you good advice.

I gotta say that is a beast of a brace...I dunno if you will need all that for an S chassis. I suggest some Stealth Custom Fab bracing. (Front Strut Bar, Fender Braces, Tension Rod Brace and Rear Strut bar) Trust me they work great. With each brace you will notice a difference in the chassis itself. And its all cheaper than name brand stuff and the construction is way way way better too. More bang for your buck!!!

I suggest looking at Mestizos thread for ideas and such. It truly is a great thread.

#7
rxm6

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QUOTE (InfamousJesseJames @ Jan 14 2011, 12:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I gotta say that is a beast of a brace...I dunno if you will need all that for an S chassis. I suggest some Stealth Custom Fab bracing. (Front Strut Bar, Fender Braces, Tension Rod Brace and Rear Strut bar) Trust me they work great. With each brace you will notice a difference in the chassis itself. And its all cheaper than name brand stuff and the construction is way way way better too. More bang for your buck!!!

I suggest looking at Mestizos thread for ideas and such. It truly is a great thread.


Yeah, I've been knee deep in that thread for a while.

I actually intended on using S-C-F stuff which is part of the reason I found this site and joined. However his site is still listed as an attack site so I can't really make a purchase. sad.gif Although, I would love to purchase some fender braces right now since the car is going to the body shop next week.

The problem I had with my M3 is that I put so much suspension stuff on it that it became sluggish. Don't get me wrong though, I really didn't care, I could easily fling myself through back roads at a high rate of speed and that was more fun to me than anything else. This is what I would like to accomplish with the S13, but I don't want to repeat the mistakes of my past and over-suspension my car.

#8
assassin10000

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Welcome smile.gif

FYI: purchases aren't made directly through the Stealth website at this time. Shoot Jon an email at jonnie@stealth-custom-fab.com for anything your interested in.


And as Jon already said, they're aren't any subframe connectors like your talking about that I'm aware of at the moment.

Andrew

#9
rxm6

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My weekend's efforts....dismal. Damn you playoffs!!!

Decided to start my tear down in the rear and take apart the leaking tail lights. Incidentally, and much to my horror, I found my spare tire practically floating in the lake of my spare tire well. Luckily no rust. Did find some rust by the tail light bolts, but body shop will deal with it.

You can see where the water leaked down.



So, football...yeah. Didn't get finished until dark and that's all I got done. sad.gif



When I put this back, should I put the silicone on and wait for it to skin, or should I put it on and immediately install the light?

I planned on tearing down the engine as well, so I could pull it and get it to the machine shop, but that will have to wait until next weekend.

I also discovered that the PO must have done an R134a conversion, because the A/C is R134a. That's a relief.

In this picture, does the SCF rstb fit through these holes in the interior?



Also, you see that tiny light in the upper right hand corner? Is that stock? The reason I ask is that I'm chasing a parasitic drain and that light's wiring is actually run outside the interior quarter panels and run under the carpet over the gas tank sensor. It just doesn't look like a Nissan installation. Additionally, does anyone know the amps the car should be drawing with the key out?

Finally, what two pieces am I missing. I looked in the FSM, but it didn't show what goes here.





#10
mestizo

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If you RTV Silicone the tail lights then just put it on and install the tail lights, you don't need to wait for it set. I have done this in the past with no ill effect.

The SCF rear strut bar may fit thru those holes... however u may need to trim them slightly to fit. I don't kno personally cuz the interior of my car was already removed when i put mine in. Also I have never had an S13 hatch so I cant tell you if that small map light is stock or not. However if its not in the stock wiring harness then chances are its not stock.

On the center console the smaller of the two holes is for the power mirror switch, and the other is for an ash tray.

And I believe the ECU when the key is off should drain less than 7amps of current, but dont quote me on that.

#11
assassin10000

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Draw should be way less than 3 amps, most cars are in the 100-300 milli-amp range with key off. IIRC.

A typical interior light bulb draws 2-4 amps, and can kill a battery overnight.

Andrew

#12
rxm6

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QUOTE (assassin10000 @ Jan 18 2011, 03:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Draw should be way less than 3 amps, most cars are in the 100-300 milli-amp range with key off. IIRC.

A typical interior light bulb draws 2-4 amps, and can kill a battery overnight.

Andrew



OK, did some troubleshooting last night. Car is drawing .33 amps at rest with the key out. So, I narrowed it down to a 10a fuse called Room Lamps. With this fuse out, the car drops to .002 amps. So, I set about finding out what is on this circuit. This circuit has the door chime, dash clock, overhead lights, trunk lights, and radio on it.

The radio is an aftermarket Sony unit and I've had a sneaking suspicion for a while now that it might be the root of my issues. So, I unplugged the radio and plugged back in the 10a fuse. The car now drew .004 amps.

For s**ts and giggles, I decided to plug the radio back in, with it out of the dash and measure amp draw again. With the radio out of the dash, the amp draw is .009 amps. So, there is a short back there somewhere when I put in the dash. I'll have to fix that.

My question is, isn't .005 amps a little high for a radio to be pulling off? I understand it needs to run its clock and keep its presets, but .005 amps seems high, especially when the rest of the car is only pulling .004?


Ok, next question.

In this pic:



See, that red wire? It's running from inside the maf sensor connector to the intake runner where it is wrapped around a screw. Seemingly, grounding something. This doesn't look like OEM Nissan wiring work. What is it doing? Should I disconnect it? I don't know, I'm always afraid to just do stuff.

Also, thanks for all the help you guys are giving. What a frickin' awesome forum. I love the lack of flame and troll. So nice.

#13
assassin10000

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It's a new ground for the MAF sensor. I've seen this done on a bunch of s13's, I think the ground wire breaks or is shitty on them (typical of nissan wiring). So people add a 2nd wire outside the harness to fix it.

http://zilvia.net/f/...ng-ecu-maf.html

Andrew

#14
rxm6

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Just a quick update:

Been tearing down the engine, about 50% complete. Took off the hood to do, so, that's headed to the shop to get prepped.

Also got an order of goodies in today as well as placed an order for everything from SCF.





#15
mestizo

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Nice Dmax Coils... I've been waiting for someone to get them so I can find out how they compare.

#16
rxm6

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QUOTE (mestizo @ Jan 28 2011, 06:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Nice Dmax Coils... I've been waiting for someone to get them so I can find out how they compare.


O great, I'm going to be a guinea pig. Well, I will post a review when I get them installed.

#17
InfamousJesseJames

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Yeah those coils look pretty sick...cant wait to hear how well they work. Please let us all know.

If you dont mind me asking...where did you get them from?

I think those wheels are gonna look good as well...any ideas on tire size yet?

#18
rxm6

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QUOTE (InfamousJesseJames @ Feb 3 2011, 09:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Yeah those coils look pretty sick...cant wait to hear how well they work. Please let us all know.

If you dont mind me asking...where did you get them from?

I think those wheels are gonna look good as well...any ideas on tire size yet?


Yeah, they look really well constructed. I can only compare them to Tein's and D2's, but so far I'm impressed just looking over them and the price wasn't bad either. I bought them from frsport.

Tire size is up in the air right now until I figure out what stock size was. Since I'll be driving this on the road, I want the speedo to work properly. I'm hoping stock size was 205/60 in which case 215/45 and 245/40 would make the speedo work properly.

#19
assassin10000

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I think the s13 came with 195/60r15's stock. Fortunately most speedometers are 'slow' by 5mph or so, so going to slightly larger dia tires should correct that wink.gif .

Andrew

#20
rxm6

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QUOTE (assassin10000 @ Feb 7 2011, 06:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I think the s13 came with 195/60r15's stock. Fortunately most speedometers are 'slow' by 5mph or so, so going to slightly larger dia tires should correct that wink.gif .

Andrew



Yes. 195/60-15 is stock size, however, 205/60 was an optional size. Also, that's interesting what you say about the speedometer being 5mph off. My 91 bmw also. came from the factory with a 5mph disparity. Apparently bmw didn't want its customers getting more tickets than other manufacturers. This is hearsay from a bmw seller but I tend to believe it.

Well then it sounds like ill just stick with the 215's and 245's and see how far I'm off. Thanks for the info.




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