My 200SX project

[Clutch]

Thought id start a project for my 200. Seeing as i took loads of pics i thought i might aswell its also something else to read when your bored

So here it goes, back in December i became the owner of this beast

A 1995 Nissan 200SX S14 with 138k on the clock




The previous owner hadnt had it long and didnt realise quite how expensive it was to run. It had some work done to it, including a full turbo back exhaust system (which is very very loud, sets off car alarms), a fudging mahosive front mounted intercooler, filter and uprated fuel pump.

This thing was such a step up from the corsa, its was stupid quick! the first two weeks of ownership were "interesting" i had the rear end out on many occasions! Soon later my beloved corsa was sold .... to my brother which was a result

First things first was to install my kenwood headunit as the standard unit was sh*te and didnt play my CDs i could no longer use the 10 CD changer which was a blow.



I also fitted my ipod interface neatly in the centre console, a bugger to fit as there was little room. So i now have all my tunes when i get bored of the exhaust drone




I was pretty much skint after buying the car, what with xmas and all too it didnt really help. (dont buy a car over xmas not recommended ) I still managed to squeeze in a few mods though

The front bumper was in need of attention, one of the previous owners had cut a massive hole out of it for better airflow to the intercooler, they left part of the number plate recess on it and the marks of the saw around the edges, which wasnt very appealing.



I cut the rest of the number plate recess off and lined the edge with insulation from a piece of cable, BODGE but simple and neat. I also fitted some clear indicators which i had to import from New Zealand as they are rare as rocking horse sh*te



Much better

Next job on my list was amuch needed oil and filter change, what a pain it was! compared to the corsa filter its bloody tiny! half the size of a corsa one and it awkward to get too, just to add to the pain it was on there tight, very tight, it took me 2 hours to get it off, i managed to crush it with my oil filter removal tool, so i called my dad who smashed a screwdriver into it and ripped the bugger off ...crude.



I also fitted a driftworks magnetic sump plug just to catch any harmful pieces of metal floating around the engine, prevents any possible problems in the future

Next job was to fit a washer bottle and pump. The previous owner who fit the intercooler removed it to fit the intercooler pipe it was a mahor ball ache what with it being winter the windscreen got dirty very quickly. I bought a washer bottle and pump off ebay which was apparently fitted to an old lamborghini , few hours later it was all plumbed and all the pipes and jets were unblocked You dont realise how you take these things for granted

It wasnt long after this that i started to have some problems i got the car over a pit to have a look and found to my horror, water leaks from the radiator and the waterpump seals had gone, also to top it off i was losing oil from the turbo feed pipe and power steering fluid. It was a complete mess, the car was like a sieve!!

This is a pic of the block as you can something isnt right! this was from the water pump.



I ordered up a new waterpump and one of Apex mega big 56mm core alloy radiators i got it at a tasty group buy price of £95 (normally £180) I also bought some samco coolant hoses to top it off.



I fitted the new waterpump which was relatively straight forward, although did have to remove the radiator, fan, belt etc . It really needed, just look at the state of the old one!!!



Old vs. New, dont you just love shiny new bits



All was good... so i thought, i have found out that i have take out the new pump as the gasket hasnt sealed properly!!! Not the kind of job you want to do twice. It something that i will have to do when the weather gets better

So all was well again but this didnt last long, this car was starting to piss me off , i was getting a "whooshing" noise on boost, i lifted up the bonnet to see exhaust gases escaping through the turbo gaskets a common problem and also cheap thankfully, but still something i didnt really want to do. I ordered the new gaskets and some braided water and oil feeds to the turbo as the standard hard pipes have a tendacy to crack and arent very good



There was no chance that i could do this with the manifold attached to the car so i took the whole lot out, including the downpipe as the nuts on the elbow were on fooking tight !




One Garrett T28 turbo, as you see at the bottom the rubber oil return hose had seen better days, this was a problem as i didnt have a replacement and nissan wanted £26 for the thing!!! What you cant see in the pic is that the turbo nuts which bolt it onto the manifold were loose, so loose you could see light throught gap!



One knackered oil return pipe and turbo gasket



Back the NA power!!!




The gaskets were fitted, i also stuck lock tigh to the driftworks lock nuts which were i bought just to make sure they werent moving anywhere , this wasnt a job i wanted to do again As for the feed pipe, i did a bit of surgery and removed one of the breather pipes on the cam cover and used that, it was the perfect material, size and even the angle was spot on

Next thing on my list was the timing chain rattle. I didnt really notice it at first but after i did an oil change and changed to a thinner grade of oil it became really loud. I changed the chain tensioner to see if it would stop it rattling, which it didnt....

I knew exactly what was wrong, the chain was hitting the top guide but i thought perhaps the tensioner would sort it. So the best solution to this was to remove the whole guide no fan*ying about with this one. So off the head came...



Which showed some nice healthy cams which were all coated in oil which is nice to see.

Just as i thought the chain had been hitting the top guide, in the pic you can clearly see the score marks. What a result easy fix





Whilst the cover was offer i decided the spray it, and clean the spray bars which feed oil to the cams, nothing lairy just a new coat of black.

This is where things became a nightmare.....

I painted the cover which came out rubbish as the paint was crap, to top it off it was very windy and somehow had collected sawdust, i did my best to get it off but just sprayed over the top of it. I wasnt in the mood to strip it all off again!

Then when refitting the spray bars i managed to snap not 1 but 2 of the bolts which hold the camshafts in place i was nearly sick i couldnt believe it! they didnt even reach the right torque setting! luckily my dad came to the rescue and we managed to drill them out, i breathed a huge sign of relief! Wasnt one of my best days.

After a mad weekend the car was up and running again Whilst i was at it i fitted a driftworks oil catch tank, the intercooler pipes were in such a state with all the oil that past through them, it needed it, was definitely a good little mod as now the oil vapours vent to atmosphere


You can see the new radiator, cam cover, catch tank, radiator hoses, washer bottle

Wasnt in that picture but i also fitted a Nismo oil cap, nice little detail and got off ebay for 99p didnt fancy paying £40 for one off Apex!

The MOT was the next obstacle to beat, which it failed only minor things which were sorted pretty quickly, but it was also useful as i knew exactly what needed attention. One of the anti roll bar drop links had snapped so that needed replacing. Not wanting to do things by halves i reaplced the hole lot front and rear was some uprated items



Didnt make a noticeable difference but at least i know that they arent going to break

Next job was the tension rod bushes, not a MOT failure but they were leaking silicon and looked a state, I bought some uprated solid apex replacements as the standard ones are very soft



I whipped off the tension rods and drilled, cut and bludgeoned the old bushes out



Fortunately the new ones went in no problems as they came in 3 pieces, whilst they were off i also gave the arms a coat of paint, adds to protection and it looks good too



There was a noticeable difference after fitting these, the steering was more responsive and got rid of the slop, worth doing.

Next jobs are to fix the rear wiper as its not working and spray my boost guage pod, should be cracking on with this soon as iv got the week off work a new clutch is due too but still undecided on which one to go for

[Goosenufc]

That is one tidy car.. well done mate, ill be checking this thread.

[Hoggy]

Beautiful!

[Demon]

very cool

[Mattie]

GIT!

He knows my opinion on his s14. Especially as a mate of mine drives a 300ZX.

GIT

[Steve]

Love it mate - great read to - lots of banging your head against a brick wall

Any other plans for it apart from whats been mentioned at the end?

[jim610]

great looking car up close mate but whats the magnetic sump plug for by the time you see the metal pieces on there what ever it was would have ****ed the engine.

[dearing5]

great thread mate

keep us updated.

what is it with turbo cars and leaks lmao

[venney]

good read

[Huffski]

Excellent well done

[andy_n]

nice looking car mate
what else you got planned my brothers had his on the rolling road after hed put on a different ecu and boost controller came in at 300bhp with 300 torque what ever its measured in
hes also got a front mounted intercooler apexi coilover kit 350z wheels
from the manifold back 3.5" exhaust
hes just ordered a manifold for it and a screamer pipe they are ment to add about 30 bhp apparently

[corsasi]

I love the s14's

[corsa_power]

Im looking at s14s after seeing yours in the flesh a while back mate. tidy car

[Clutch]

Blimey thanks for the nice comments

Yeh its a pain the arse but its worth it

Future plans include:

coil overs
Big brake kit (330mm)
JDM or navan bumpers
Full respray
Works or Rota rims, got to be at least 9.5j
H-dev stage one chip and remap
Oil temp, pressure and water temp gauges

She should be running a healthy 280bhp once iv sorted the engine work out

Iv also been thinking of whether to have an engine rebuild with forged internals but thats something that will depend on what im like finanically later this year.

Short term plans are to fit my temporary wheels, replace the clutch, and the big brake kit, there are some other little niggly bits that still need doing. Im gettin alot of axle tramp whenever i light up the rear wheels so thats an issue that i need sorting.


Got a few goodies to order tomorrow so will keep you posted

[mattyvsxi]

Sweet, loving your car mate.

[GallaUK]

Lovely car mate

[VeinDesigns]

nice car mate got one thing to say

thank god for dads

[Clutch]

Originally Posted by VeinDesigns

thank god for dads

So true, dad saves the day, he always pulls out tools iv never knew he had or even seen before

[Sherbert]

lovin the car mate, and agree I dread to think what state my car would be in without my dad and if they don't have the right tools they're a dab hand at altering one they have to do the job

[Clutch]

Driftworks goodies came this morning which means i will be able to put my wheels on now havent had a chance to do anything with the car this week as iv been too busy with other peoples motors.

If the weather holds up i will put them on this afternoon