My S13 Build Progress - 56K Warning

[jrmiller84]

Update

Today I decided to take a break since I didn't have school. I did go out on my lunch break though and partially installed the boost controller and the bezel. Got it all wired up and made sure it has power only when the car is cranked. I glued the bezel to the headliner and clamped it down so it could dry. After it dried I took some "action shots." Now, keep in mind that the boost controller isn't mounted yet so in these pictures it's actually hanging about a half inch too low. It will look much better once I have it mounted at the correct angle. Regardless, I am still happy with the way it turned out. I really didn't want to put it in the empty DIN slot since I have some pretty large plans for the electronics in the car (a project to come for everyone, it won't disappoint, don't worry ). Also, I couldn't get the light just right or the distance so they're kinda blurry, but then again I am no photographer. Pictures











Today I also decided to take a small video to document the clicking sound it is making when I try to start it. I tried another battery in the car I know is good and it still did the same thing. I'm not too worried about it right now since the car isn't completely put together, but just to get the gears turning in everyones head in case they are familiar with the problem. The video quality, as with the pictures, isn't anything special but I mostly wanted the sound to be heard. It's a loud smack sound almost. Like I said before, it sounds like the starter solenoid thrusting outwards, but I can't be certain.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by westin

are you building this for a daily drive or for a track car, just curious nice build!

Daily drive/track I suppose. I don't currently plan on going super crazy on horsepower, but we'll see how that goes. I would like to be in the 300-400 range, but once again, we'll see about that. I don't have any definitive goals for the car.

Now that I think about it, maybe I have just one small goal I want to be able to at least give my dad a run for his money in his stock 94 Vette So maybe I'll need more power than that, haha.

I grew up in an American car obsessed family, so to be able to stick it to him in a Japanese car would be great, haha.

[Okinawa Drift]

the position your boost controller is in is so unique, haha i have never seen that.. i cant wait to hear your car start!

[S14DB]

pull your starter but keep it wired and see if it spins up on it's own.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by S14DB

pull your starter but keep it wired and see if it spins up on it's own.

I was going to take it to get tested, but I bet that's all they look for anyways. I'll do that then.

Just to take it a step further, could it be something I did wrong with the flywheel or transmission in general? I can spin the crankshaft just fine so I would assume everything is fine in that department.

[Mr. H]

definitly an interesting mounting point for the boost controller (interesting in a good way)

[xblack240x]

I like the location of the boost controller. Unique, keep up the good work and keep us updated. Good luck running your Dad's vette. Can't wait to see this thing completed.

[S14DB]

Easy to tell if it's a Flywheel mesh problem or a starter problem quickly. Still may need to take the starter in if it extends and spins.

I wondered why there was a ghey red vacuum line hanging in the pic of your GF.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by S14DB

Easy to tell if it's a Flywheel mesh problem or a starter problem quickly. Still may need to take the starter in if it extends and spins.

I wondered why there was a ghey red vacuum line hanging in the pic of your GF.

By meshing I assume you mean the teeth in the starter mating with the flywheel? I'll test it on the car like you said and take it in to get tested just to reassure myself.

Yeah, that gheyness will be gone soon. I found the old brake booster line so if it can reach the vacuum nipple on the motor, I'll be using it. Even if it doesn't reach, I still won't be using the red tube.

[statik]

you can also test with the starter in, though this is probably harder with the stock intake manifold, just use a small piece of wire to jump the solenoid from the power wire at the starter, see what it does, Though it does sound like power is getting to the starter fine and you may have issues with the starter itself.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

you can also test with the starter in, though this is probably harder with the stock intake manifold, just use a small piece of wire to jump the solenoid from the power wire at the starter, see what it does, Though it does sound like power is getting to the starter fine and you may have issues with the starter itself.

Yeah, I'll try that first before I take it out and test it the way S14DB said. I'm gonna try it on my lunch break today since I have class this afternoon. Should have some type of update on it around noon. There are a couple of auto parts stores around my job so maybe I'll even be able to get it tested on my break.

Gotta find out where I can get a replacement in case it is actually bad. I don't see them offered on Enjuku, maybe the for sale section has one up.

[fromxtor]

Good job keep up the good work, btw nice desktop also.

[jrmiller84]

Update

So I believe I found out what was wrong and it was a very amateur mistake. I took the starter motor off the car after attempting to connect the wires first. I couldn't find a thick enough wire that was long enough to try it with the starter motor on the car so I just removed it. I moved the starter to the top of the engine with the wires still connected and then attempted to crank the engine. Nothing happened. The bendix didn't extend nor did it spin. I was almost convinced that was the culprit, a bad starter. I wanted to take it to the parts store to get tested to be absolutely sure so that if I had to return it, I would have empirical evidence.

Got to the parts store, they hooked it up and low and behold... the damn thing works.

As I was looking at how he connected the starter motor, it hit me...

I have yet to ground my motor.

That was one of the last tasks I had to do to complete my wiring. I'm guessing the clicking noise I heard was it getting just enough juice from a small, unreliable ground somewhere in the car which was not enough to spin the starter motor. Or at least I hope that's what it was.

I'm going to go out there after class tonight to test this theory out. I want to hear her turn over

[atutt]

It's an awesome build thread, but that re-welding is still pretty brutal, no offence.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by atutt

It's an awesome build thread, but that re-welding is still pretty brutal, no offence.

A lot of the "brutality" you are seeing is becaue I haven't ground it down or smoothed it out any. It will look much nicer once the first welders fuckups are completely gone and I have touched up the new welding. They are solid though.

[statik]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

As I was looking at how he connected the starter motor, it hit me...

I have yet to ground my motor.

That was one of the last tasks I had to do to complete my wiring. I'm guessing the clicking noise I heard was it getting just enough juice from a small, unreliable ground somewhere in the car which was not enough to spin the starter motor. Or at least I hope that's what it was.

I'm going to go out there after class tonight to test this theory out. I want to hear her turn over

You should have a thick ground that originally ran to the intake manifold on the ka, that should reach somewhere on the SR intake manifold, I also added about 5 cables out of some ebay ground kit for $5 but it's not necessary to get it running, I just like a happy electrical system.

[240trainee]

Yea, and Nissan electricals love a good ground, so yea, you can't overground the thing, lol. You can underground however, so be careful, hopefully nothing is fried.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

You should have a thick ground that originally ran to the intake manifold on the ka, that should reach somewhere on the SR intake manifold, I also added about 5 cables out of some ebay ground kit for $5 but it's not necessary to get it running, I just like a happy electrical system.

Since I bought all new battery cables to relocate the battery, I have my old negative battery cable still that I'm going to use for the ground. It's really thick and should do the job perfect. I found the grounding point on the SR intake mani the other day. For whatever reason, I just didn't hook it up.

Originally Posted by 240trainee

Yea, and Nissan electricals love a good ground, so yea, you can't overground the thing, lol. You can underground however, so be careful, hopefully nothing is fried.

I hope not. I guess I'll find out tonight.

[sblack13]

Haha i was gonna suggest that, i've done that before. Anyways the wait is killing me, let us know!!

[GSXRJJordan]

Great, glad you found out it will hopefully be a cheap (free) fix. I had a similar problem once, with my dual battery setup, and found that the best ground was through my ECU - bye bye ECU lead... had to lift/jump a copper trace on the board... not fun... anyhow, take a vid of the startup!

[Farzam]

I'm about to pee from joy d00d.

[jrmiller84]

Work Day 23 [Back to index]

Today after class, I ran out there to test the starter out WITH the engine grounded. I was right, that was the culprit. Turned over perfectly.

But wait, it gets better. I decided to take a chance and see if it would crank. I knew I would have to turn it off almost immediately since I didn't have the intercooler piping hooked up yet but I wanted to see if it would fire.

It fucking cranked on the first try.

I about pissed myself, no really, I had to go piss and I almost lost it. I can't fucking believe it. I immediately turned it off so I wouldn't screw anything up. It had the fluids filled so it'll be fine. It would have just run really rough. I got scared for a second when I noticed smoke coming from the engine bay almost immediately but then I remembered "oh yeah, the exhaust isn't connected yet." Even though it scared me at first, it made it really sink in that it had actually turned on for there to have been exhaust fumes. I'm fucking stoked. I would have taken video, but I really didn't expect it to turn on. Besides, it was on for all of a second or two.

I'll get a good firing video this weekend when I get to keep it on

I did notice a problem though, not related to the starting thank god. I cut the hole in my battery tray today and when I installed the cold pipe, I noticed that the threaded fitting I had welded on sticks straight up. Once I screw a vacuum nipple onto it, there's no way the hood is going to close. Here you can see it sticking up above the fenders.



So that means I have to take it back to the welder to get him to cut it off and cover it with a metal plate What I think I may do is get him to cut it off and weld it shut and then I'm going to drill a hole in a better place, thread in a vacuum fitting, put a screw on the inside, lock it all with loctite, and seal it with some liquid gasket on a washer so that there's not an air leak. I'll do a leakdown test of it before using it.

The reason I want to go this route is because the welders smallest threaded fitting is still too large for any of the threaded vacuum nipples I can find. From what I've read, most people just thread their own holes anyways. Hopefully he can get it done tomorrow. If not, I'm going to just wait to get it done until Monday so that I can at least drive the car with the hood off initially and see how it runs. Maybe a little bribery can get him to move his ass on it, haha.

This weekend is gonna rock my face off.

[ni5mo240]

sounds great to hear it start on the first try, I remember mine!! Nice progress keep it up and post vids!

[Farzam]

I pee'd, you pee'd, we pee'd.

So what are you plans for exterior/interior/suspension?

This is a 90% style 10% gay personals website...so you better start ordering your Origin aero and Recaros.

You gotta step ya game up.

[statik]

Not sure if you did this just in case, next time you try to start the car, disconnect the cas and crank the motor over until the oil light turns off, you have to stop every 15-20 seconds and let it sit a bit and do it again so you don't fry the starter, basically you need to build oil pressure throughout the motor so you don't starve any vital engine parts.

As for that bung on the cold pipe, is that going to be a source for the wastegate? If it is you and you have to cut it off, you might want to consider putting it on the hotpipe right near the turbo, less vacuum line routing, makes the engine bay look cleaner.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

Not sure if you did this just in case, next time you try to start the car, disconnect the cas and crank the motor over until the oil light turns off, you have to stop every 15-20 seconds and let it sit a bit and do it again so you don't fry the starter, basically you need to build oil pressure throughout the motor so you don't starve any vital engine parts.

As for that bung on the cold pipe, is that going to be a source for the wastegate? If it is you and you have to cut it off, you might want to consider putting it on the hotpipe right near the turbo, less vacuum line routing, makes the engine bay look cleaner.

Yeah, it is for the boost controller/wastegate. I've read arguments between which pipe to connect it to but there shouldn't be any difference, correct? Same pressure just different area and temperature I would assume. Just hope the temperature doesn't mess with the boost controller solenoid. I'm taking it to him to get it chopped off and sealed today. If he can't finish it today, I'm just going to seal it with a bolt until Monday so that I can at least test drive it with the hood off.

I made sure to build up the oil pressure. I turned it over until the light went off and then I hooked up the CAS just like you said. I wish I had an oil relocation kit so I could hook up my oil pressure gauge and see the oil pressure go up to be absolutely sure rather than just a tiny light. None the less, I did what every walkthrough said out there so I'm assuming I'll be fine.

Originally Posted by Farzam

So what are you plans for Exterior/interior/suspension?

Well, I've given it a lot of thought over the years actually. After I get this thing running smoothly, my next mod will be to swap in some 5 lug hubs. I want to get the body fixed since it looks like complete ass but I don't want to get nice body work and have these hideous stock tires. It would be pointless. I'm probably just going to go with the origin 180sx stream kit even though it's fairly common. My reason being that it's not too extreme (no crazy boso shit), the price tag is extremely reasonable, and it looks damn good. Since we have an autox course right here in Gainesville (who'd have thought?) I'll be doing the suspension after that. As far as what suspension parts I'm interested in, I'm not sure yet. Honestly suspension is where I've done the least amount of research. I've looked into the reputations of each brand but I have no idea which brand will give me the response I want as far as eliminating under steer and whatnot, I'm not sure. I guess I need to decide soon though since I'm putting tires/wheels on it.

After that I've got some huge plans for electronics that I've been putting together for almost four years now. Along with the stereo install, I'm going to be putting in a very tiny carputer.

Since I have a broadband enabled smart phone, I'll be able to have internet in my car which = awesome. I can have satellite imagery for my GPS, a synced mp3 collection at all times, dyno software that allows for street dynoing, web browsing, streaming internet radio, you name it, it's possible. What can I say, I have a data addiction It could also allow for GPS tracking in case of theft for an added layer of protection (and another layer of awesome).

I've been collecting parts over the years and I've almost got everything I need. I've just never had a car that I thought was worthy of something that nice. One of my prerequisites though is that the system be as light as possible.

So that's a short(kinda) blurb on where the car is going. I could go into more detail but we'll be here all day

[statik]

Most people run a source directly off the compressor outlet casting, the source does not matter so long as its after the turbo.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

Most people run a source directly off the compressor outlet casting, the source does not matter so long as its after the turbo.

That's pretty much what I plan to do now that I can't use the other outlet. I really hope he can cut that thing off today. I want to be able to reassemble the car this weekend.

[statik]

worst case plug with with a bolt or something until he can cut it off, use some teflon tape to help seal it

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

worst case plug with with a bolt or something until he can cut it off, use some teflon tape to help seal it

I'm gonna see if I can bribe him so I can be done with it today But yeah, if not that's what I'm going to do.