My S13 Build Progress - 56K Warning

[Zero-Offset]

wow, i am amazed on how much work you were able to do on your own!
i definately thought you would have someone helping you with all that work.

its coming together, now just get us some sweet vids of that "moment of truth" start up.


this really is a case of take your time, and do it right. Much PROPS!!

[Jason240sx]

wish u best of luck man u must be very strong that u can do everything by yourself.

mad props to you bro

[s13gold]

i'm loving all the detailed pictures.

[swift_style]

Nice work done with the wiring. +1. I may have to follow your guide.

[ni5mo240]

on your slave cylinder it looks like it's lined up straight, your slave is ok. What looks mis-aligned is your clutch fork, did you set it in right on the pivot ball? Check that because when my pivot ball broke my slave looked like that. Nice build up, keep up the good work

[jrmiller84]

I checked that before I put the tranny together. It's snapped onto the pivot ball and the fork is snapped onto the throwout bearing. I tried pushing on the fork when I couldn't get them to line up and it wouldn't go in any further, it wouldn't even budge really.

[statik]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

I checked that before I put the tranny together. It's snapped onto the pivot ball and the fork is snapped onto the throwout bearing. I tried pushing on the fork when I couldn't get them to line up and it wouldn't go in any further, it wouldn't even budge really.

Are you saying when you had the tranny off the motor you couldnt push the fork by hand (where the slave pushes it) and move the throwout bearing? If so, then yes your fork may be misaligned.

[jrmiller84]

haha, no no. I meant that I couldn't push the fork IN anymore. As in pushing on the fork towards the center of the tranny. I could move the throwout bearing just fine when the tranny was off. I can't push the fork in now(as the slave cylinder would) to engage the throwout bearing, but I figured that was because I'm not strong enough to push it on the pressure plate unlike the slave cylinder would be able to. Is that correct?

I'm starting to worry all around that something may be wrong though. I hope I don't have to pull the motor again... I noticed that my tranny is slightly hard to take out of 3rd and 5th gear, but I figured that was because it hadn't been run yet, it didn't have enough gear oil(didn't fill it all the way yet, only 2/3s of the way), or because of the new pilot bushing.

[statik]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

haha, no no. I meant that I couldn't push the fork IN anymore. As in pushing on the fork towards the center of the tranny. I could move the throwout bearing just fine when the tranny was off. I can't push the fork in now(as the slave cylinder would) to engage the throwout bearing, but I figured that was because I'm not strong enough to push it on the pressure plate unlike the slave cylinder would be able to. Is that correct?

I'm starting to worry all around that something may be wrong though. I hope I don't have to pull the motor again... I noticed that my tranny is slightly hard to take out of 3rd and 5th gear, but I figured that was because it hadn't been run yet, it didn't have enough gear oil(didn't fill it all the way yet, only 2/3s of the way), or because of the new pilot bushing.

Yeah you cant push the pressure plate by hand, if you could move it fine before than im sure it's ok.

[S14DB]

Take the rubber dust boot off and look in there to see that it's on the ball and TOB. Could have easily been bumped during the install.

[Irukandji]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

That's what I figured. I'll just buy one of those then. I'm gonna have one hell of an Autozone purchase, haha. It'll be damn worth it though.

The generic brands they sell OTC are trash. I went through 2-3 slave cylinders because I was too cheap to buy the nismo one.. but Nopi.com carries OEM Tokico/Nabco slave cylinders which has been working fine for me for little over a year now (with a heavy duty pressure plate).

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by S14DB

Take the rubber dust boot off and look in there to see that it's on the ball and TOB. Could have easily been bumped during the install.

That's a good idea, I'll try that either tomorrow morning or Saturday. Better bring a flashlight.

Originally Posted by n1sm0r

The generic brands they sell OTC are trash. I went through 2-3 slave cylinders because I was too cheap to buy the nismo one.. but Nopi.com carries OEM Tokico/Nabco slave cylinders which has been working fine for me for little over a year now (with a heavy duty pressure plate).

I was worried about that as well, so I went and took the new slave cylinder back off today. Then I went to three different parts stores on my way home from there (it's a long drive): Pep Boys, Autozone, and Advance Auto parts. I got them to let me see the slave cylinders for an S13 and S14 so I could compare the sizes. They were all exactly the same at all parts stores. Perhaps the Nismo one is higher quality, but I don't believe it would be a completely different size. I took these pictures to detail the problem while I was out there.

This picture shows the new slave cylinder on the KA I pulled. It lines up perfectly.



This shows how far away the new slave cylinder would have to be in order to line up straight with the fork.



And here is the old broken slave cylinder, showing the same huge (almost 1 inch) gap.




I don't know what to think. I tried moving the fork around today and it moves as I would expect it to. I can't push it in (towards the input shaft) because it's on the shaft inside (TOB to be exact) and I can't move it up or down because, once again, it's on the shaft. I can move it left slightly(towards the back of the car) but not right because of the pressure plate. It seems like that would be the normal use case. It also always went back to rest at the same place as well(as it should). I'll check it like S14DB said tomorrow or Saturday and if that's right, I don't know what I'll do. Just wing it? I don't like that idea. I'll be pulling the motor in that case...

I looked at the inside of my KA's bell-housing and everything is hooked up the exact same way I hooked up the inside of the SR so I feel comfortable I did it correctly. I will note that the slave cylinder was very tight onto the fork (as it should be) so it didn't seem like it would go anywhere but still... guess it's kind of a pick your poison scenario.

I'd rather pull the engine than risk it really.

[S14DB]

If everything is aligned properly in the case of the fork but you are still off. You will prolly have to pull the tranny and swap your KA Fork in.

[diomedes]

nice progress. I have to follow your guide when I'm swapping my sr.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by S14DB

If everything is aligned properly in the case of the fork but you are still off. You will prolly have to pull the tranny and swap your KA Fork in.

I was starting to think the same thing, has that been done before? I would assume so. Same sizes/strengths and whatnot?

[240trainee]

Are you sure you sat the fork on the pivot ball properly? The fork lengths shoud be the same, never had anyone have this issue before. But, if the fork came off the pivot ball, or you seated the pivot ball in the wrong spot on the fork, that could account for it.

[statik]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

I was starting to think the same thing, has that been done before? I would assume so. Same sizes/strengths and whatnot?

theres very few differences between the ka and the sr tranny, the fork should work fine, that fork is def sticking out too far, looks like you need to drop the tranny and see whats going on there.

Easiest way with the motor in by yourself is to unbolt the motor mounts, drain the tranny fluid and unbolt the tranny cross member and lower it down with a jack, then using a jack and a piece of wood jack up the front of the motor from the oil pan to angle the tranny towards the ground as far as possible without crushing the valve cover against the firewall. With the tranny on that angle you should have enough clearance to remove the tranny and then reinstall it by yourself, however that will require a second jack, one to help install the tranny and one to keep the motor on the angle to stab it properly. Thats how I normally do it, I find to get enough clearance I had to remove the upper heater core line from the back of the head though, but your setup my allow for enough clearance without that.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by 240trainee

Are you sure you sat the fork on the pivot ball properly? The fork lengths shoud be the same, never had anyone have this issue before. But, if the fork came off the pivot ball, or you seated the pivot ball in the wrong spot on the fork, that could account for it.

I'm kind of confused though. If it won't slide in anymore(towards the TOB), doesn't that mean that the Y part of the fork is around the TOB and won't get any closer no matter if it is on the ball or not? It seems like the only direction it could go now is back out (perpendicular from the TOB).

Regardless, I've decided to just pull it early Saturday morning. Hopefully I can get the motor out and back in within a few hours.

While the tranny is off of the engine, I'm going to mount the slave cylinder to the tranny. That way I know for a fact it is in correctly before I connect the transmission back onto the engine.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

theres very few differences between the ka and the sr tranny, the fork should work fine, that fork is def sticking out too far, looks like you need to drop the tranny and see whats going on there.

Easiest way with the motor in by yourself is to unbolt the motor mounts, drain the tranny fluid and unbolt the tranny cross member and lower it down with a jack, then using a jack and a piece of wood jack up the front of the motor from the oil pan to angle the tranny towards the ground as far as possible without crushing the valve cover against the firewall. With the tranny on that angle you should have enough clearance to remove the tranny and then reinstall it by yourself, however that will require a second jack, one to help install the tranny and one to keep the motor on the angle to stab it properly. Thats how I normally do it, I find to get enough clearance I had to remove the upper heater core line from the back of the head though, but your setup my allow for enough clearance without that.

That's probably what I'll do then. Only solid things I have connected at this point are the driveshaft, tranny mount and motor mounts so it should be easy to either just pull it or drop the tranny.

[jrmiller84]

Update

Took the intercooler piping to another welder today. Sadly they won't be able to finish it until Monday so once again my weekend plans of firing her up have been dashed. That's ok though, I can wait a day.

I showed him the welds and he disapproved so I have faith he'll get them right. Plus they have some kind of machine there that allows them to test and make sure it can hold air pressure. I'm actually getting him to do two things instead of just fixing those welds. I'm getting him drill a hole and weld a threaded fitting onto the cold pipe so that I can screw whatever size vacuum nipple into it that I need. Similar to this.



That way I can run that to my boost controller/wastegate. The coldpipe only came with an outlet for the IAC.

Shouldn't be too bad waiting a day. Gives me a little bit of breathing room to get the tranny and everything else taken care of I suppose.

[93 240 s13]

pulling the transmission while the motor in the car is not that hard,
i have done mine by my self 3-4 times now with 1 jack... and alot of pain
the hard part was getting it abck in... i would lay under the car with the transmission on top of me, and struggle to get it back in...but it works...
i recently invested in a transmission jack... annd it is definitly worth it

if i can ask... how old are you?

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by 93 240 s13

pulling the transmission while the motor in the car is not that hard,
i have done mine by my self 3-4 times now with 1 jack... and alot of pain
the hard part was getting it abck in... i would lay under the car with the transmission on top of me, and struggle to get it back in...but it works...
i recently invested in a transmission jack... annd it is definitly worth it

if i can ask... how old are you?

That's most likely what I will do. If I wind up pulling it, it will be with good reason.

Its cool, I'm 22.

[timtiminy]

jrmiller84 :
dude i had the same problem with my the clutch fork not aligning and i did the same thing as you (using the bolts to pull the engine and tranny together) I had to pull the tranny off and I had installed my throwout bearing with the wrong side facing the pressure plate. i just turned the throwout bearing around and put the clutch fork back on and the wire clip, made sure the clutch plate was alligned with the clutch alignment tool and the tranny went in alot smoother the second time and the engine and trans were closer together than the first time, everything turned out fine after that. good luck, i know how frustrating it can be.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by timtiminy

jrmiller84 :
dude i had the same problem with my the clutch fork not aligning and i did the same thing as you (using the bolts to pull the engine and tranny together) I had to pull the tranny off and I had installed my throwout bearing with the wrong side facing the pressure plate. i just turned the throwout bearing around and put the clutch fork back on and the wire clip, made sure the clutch plate was alligned with the clutch alignment tool and the tranny went in alot smoother the second time and the engine and trans were closer together than the first time, everything turned out fine after that. good luck, i know how frustrating it can be.

Yeah, I made sure I did all of that when I put it on the first time. I used the KA tranny as my model since I hadn't taken anything off of it.

My guess is if something is wrong inside, it may have been from the trouble I had putting the transmission back on. It may have rolled over onto the fork or something and knocked something out of wack.

We'll see tomorrow I suppose.

[Casse]

What a great thread, I definetley picked up some knowledge reading through this thread, props on the build and I look foward to seeing it complete.

[93 240 s13]

hahaha right on, man...
you got me addicted to this thread...i get to work and everyday the first thing i do is sign in to see if you have made any progress...
and you inspired me to finally install my 5 lug/z32 calipers.. haha..
good luck on the tranny

[jrmiller84]

Work Day 21

Today was a hard day. It was incredibly hot in Florida. My unit faces west so after midday, the sun shines right into it. I've never felt like I was closer to a heat stroke.

Word to the wise, everyone who thinks this is a one man job and keeps posting that they are impressed, don't be. If I had actually had a heat stroke, no one would have been there to help me. Please get help if you decide to do a swap the way I am.

Luckily I was able to get the engine out and back in before I left so all the hard work is done now.

I forgot to take my camera today so I don't have any pictures but I did solve the transmission mystery.

When I got the fork out, I compared it to the KA fork.

The SR fork was 1 inch longer than the KA fork.

So after that I put the KA fork in the SR transmission and it was a perfect fit. The slave cylinder aligns up perfectly now. The TOB and fork seemed to fit better as well. It felt slightly more snug on the TOB while the other one felt like a sloppy fit. After that I bolted the tranny and starter back up to the motor and hoisted it back in.

S14DB notified me that the motor may be a 180sx type X SR, perhaps that's why it's so different. I couldn't find any information about them so I can't be sure. I suppose that would explain a lot though.

Tomorrow I will be finishing the install except for the intercooler piping, which I am waiting to get back from the welder on Monday. I got the motor back in and I just have to reconnect the wiring harness, the slave cylinder line, and some other minor stuff.

Pictures tomorrow if I don't forget my camera

[statik]

glad you got that worked out, seems odd that it was on the tranny when you got it but the slave had no spacers or anything.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

glad you got that worked out, seems odd that it was on the tranny when you got it but the slave had no spacers or anything.

I'm not sure what you mean, the fork or the slave cylinder that was on the car? I didn't have the slave cylinder, it didn't come with the motor.

[statik]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

I'm not sure what you mean, the fork or the slave cylinder that was on the car? I didn't have the slave cylinder, it didn't come with the motor.

Ah sorry when you said "old broken slave cylinder" in one of your pictures above I thought that was the one that came with the motor set.