180sx Eh.

[Martino]

I though originally I would make a build thread during the process of building my car, but my laptop crashed and I lost most of my pictures so I lost motivation to start it. However, with the end of this season coming close to an end I figure now's as best of time as any.

I'll be documenting, hopefully, what's new during this winter for next season.

For now I'll start with when I first got my 180. I've had other 240's prior to this but they weren't important. One went through 2 KA's, 2 KAt's and an RB20, the second was my winter beater...

I actually can't remember how many years ago I bought it but this is it the first day I brought it home. It came straight from the importers like this.




I cleaned it up a bunch and took some...better(?) photos of it






I drifted around on the street/parking lot, fucked up. Wasn't anything I couldn't fix. My pops laughed when I brought it home, his only words were "Fix it."




Threw a silvia front on, painted it all nice, then shortly realized I hated it...so I went back to popups. Drifted a few local events quite frequently.







I undoubtfully hated the way my car looked, but I was broke so I didn't really care that much.

Did some nose to nose burnouts with a friend and his 180.








Did a rain track day with some friends



Video here (skip to 2:00 for track day drifting):




Did some more local days (Canadian Sport Compact Series :: Index) which I know ironicly run the drifting portion.
















And a few other random photos throughout it's time.









This one is of a certain other car a lot of you know of.



And then, I put it away where it sat for a while as I travelled for work throughout the states.

This picture has more history then most people would even know.




The "build" started when a friend I found a unit a friend and I would later rent. Another car a lot of you know.

Brought my car to the unit after finally getting back from a friend (Centerline Motorsports) who built the cage.







It sat like this for a while until I found some actual motivation and money to work on it.

Got my motor back from the builder with a fresh rebuild so I put that back together (somewhat)





After seeing some work Liam had done to his Cefiro I decided I was done watching and attempted to attack my damaged tubs. Originally I was going to fix the stock tubs, however they were far past my liking of original....so I cut them completely out and basically mirrored what I had learned from watching Liam.

This was legitimately my FIRST time ever fabricating anything and every welding something so my nerves were through the roof. But I had some determination at least. If it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't have learned what I did, which I'm incredibly thankful for.

I even went as far as cutting way high for some extra clearance.









After everything was welded in I threw on some sealer and coated the underside in rocker guard (rubber coating).





Basically after that it was all about putting everything back together and making/mocking up what needed to be done.

Paul ended up sharing the unit with me for a while since Liam had finished his car.





I ended up buying Pauls old turbo setup (GT2871r .86).



And my management



Positioned my custom high mount intercooler (no, its not PBM...I get asked that all the time)



Made adjustments for piping and rad clearance.



During which time I needed to decide on power steering, so I went and did some research on a custom setup.

I have a FULL AN power steering setup and cooler...again, first time ever doing something like this so I was a little impressed with myself on the end result.



I later decided I didn't want to run the setup Paul had so I had my friends at Centerline fab me up a nice top mount manifold to accomodate my new tial wastegate and turbo



After everything was manily assembeled in the engine bay I pulled it out for paint



What was a heap of a mess, turned out to be quite something I was incredibly proud of.

[Martino]

I had everything buttoned up in the engine bay, all my fuse boxes and ecu was nicely tucked now in my glove compartment, everything was good to go!

I threw on some roller wheels and started it up with a base tune.



It was incredible hearing my car run under it's own power (kind of) for the first time in I think 2 years?

The feeling was speechless.



After some settling down and a few weeks/months later I saved up some money for some other goodies.

I decided I should be running an oil cooler, so I quickly ordered a matching cooler.



Also threw on some test wheels in a size I was about to purchase.



I picked up a set of my top 3 favourite wheels from another friend of mine for a steal of a deal.

18x10.5 +22 Rays Gram Lights 57dr





Tires were next, but that's later one...fenders also.

Next I booked my appointment with Sasha @ OnPoint Dyno



I had it tuned on 91 pump gas but wasn't essentially happy with the numbers. I was started to get a little knock and we settled at 313hp/300tq at 16psi. I now run 94...and no more knock.

...and obviously obligatory burnouts were a necessity.



The car sat for a little while some more dust collected and decisions were made.
My good friend hooked me up with his old body kit. A genuine 326 Power rear bumper and sideskirts. My all time favourite for an S13 hatch. I couldn't say no.



Again, sitting for a while I had my subframe powder coated (british racing green) and threw in my PBM risers.



Also bought a tomei oil block adapter because I kept leaking through the seals on my grex and was tired of sandwich plate problems...



At this point Kristian is now sharing the unit with me



Time for tires



So with everything essentially done, motor and suspension wise I figured I'd head out to a track day. I was antsy and couldn't wait to get behind the wheel of my car after so long.

So we loaded up!



It was an incredible day and the car ran flawlessly!









First time Santi and I have driven together in a VERY long time.









Videos from that day:

It's been so long I was still getting used to this "new" car.




At the end of the day some things went wrong and well...when we got back to the unit this had to happen.



Long story short, I should have done some things when I had the chance...and I didn't. Lesson learned. Fortunately a new-used bottom end was hooked up by another friend.

Then I picked up a new front bumper while the car was sitting idle and I was putting the motor back together.



Few days or a week later? The car was running again and I had it running around the unit. Decided to mock up some of the aero.







And then a few days later I threw it back on insurance (not as easy as it sounds) and got it on the road again. Decided to drive it home...where my dad was very curious about this "new" car he had never seen. He hadn't realized it was my old 180 I've had all along...he was impressed and approved. That all in its own was a great accomplishment.



And then, something happened...the two cars that were built together decided to have a little meeting.



The trio #ODDCPL



I now drive it as much as I can...when the weather is good anyways. Even to work.



I need a new front bumper...it bothers me that this one doesn't go low enough.















We have also upgraded the unit and now have more space with 4 cars, 3 bikes and still TONS of room.




SO I guess that's it for my "intro" essentially. Stuff will start to update again once I break something or a track day comes up. Nov 2 is one I'm going to try attending If I'm not delayed on my flight back from Cuba the day prior.

I'd like to thank everyone who's every helped with any part of this, and especially the people still actively involved. I have some incredible friends I can safely call family. I won't name you as you all know who you are.

#ODDCPL

I guess keep updated?

[5280VertDET]

[gbaby2089]

I was going to tell you you needed a new front bumper.

Glad, I didn't need to do so.

Other than that, I like this.

[tricky_ab]

I'm diggin' the fact that more GTA locals are finding their way on here...

I'll be following this

[Martino]

Thanks fellas

[Reece]

Beautiful Subscribed.

[IAmTheS13]

Where are you finding these sweet storage spaces?

[Martino]

A friend of mine took a few shots of my car the other night.

It's starting to get cold here so the amount of time I have left to drive my car is becoming very limited.

Photo Credit: Chris @ CoolKidsClub Drifting

[Martino]

Originally Posted by IAmTheS13

Where are you finding these sweet storage spaces?

They're specific "workshop" units that allow this type of use.

Where are you located?

[Oakville]

Those units look beautiful, cars do too. Wish I had a space like that to work in. Where abouts are they?

[Martino]

I found a video from 2010 on the same track we regularly drive. I guess I knew my car a little better back then, lol.

[IAmTheS13]

I'm in Burlington and I've been looking for something like that for the winter

[Martino]

That's pretty far from where we are.

Look into local places near you that allow "workshops" or business to be run out of.
I didn't know it until moving in but there are a TON of woodworkers that work out of units like this.

[Krusty_s13]

nice transformation. must be an amazing feeling to get back behind the wheel after having your car sit for so long. btw, what front bumper are you running?

[Martino]

So, a turn of events I guess.

Yesterday on my way to work I noticed something was a little off in the car. And during boost I noticed my water temp was adjusting ever so slightly, which wasn't normal.

I got into boost and temps began to rise, I knew what was happening...headgasket.

Pulled over, let it cool down and check for any other possibilities.

The car runs fine under 2k and no boost but as soon as I throw any PSI at the motor it begins to get passed the headgasket and start overheating.

Roel and I did a compression and leakdown test.

The compression test showed low compression on cylinder 2 and 3 however I didn't check it when I threw in the second bottom end, I really didn't want to know the compression. It's not low enough to cause any major issues.

The leakdown test showed cylinder 1 is leaking to cylinder 2 between the head and block and cylinder 3 to 4 between the block.

I'm most likely done driving the car for the season, I made it ALMOST to the end lol. If I wasn't going to Cuba at the end of this month I might consider swapping in a headgasket and driving for another week but I don't think I'm going to do that.





It's time to start making a list for the new build and new season.

[Martino]

Originally Posted by Krusty_s13

nice transformation. must be an amazing feeling to get back behind the wheel after having your car sit for so long. btw, what front bumper are you running?

It felt awesome.

It's a hotroad rep that's now for sale btw.

[Oakville]

Shitty man..very shitty.

Don't you guys run around west of the city a lot? I see photos on instagram all the time of you guys cruising the qew

[Martino]

Originally Posted by Oakville

Shitty man..very shitty.

Don't you guys run around west of the city a lot? I see photos on instagram all the time of you guys cruising the qew

Shitty, but it's not the end of the world.
Oddly enough I was getting excited coming into the 2014 build setup because I know how I want to change a few things.

We run around everywhere really. Lol.

[Big Zee]

Very Nice build dude, this is a Klassy S13

[Martino]

Originally Posted by Big Zee

Very Nice build dude, this is a Klassy S13

Thanks! First time really building it. Glad it came out the way it did.

[Martino]

Have been neglecting the car for a few days. Taking a break from cars for a couple weeks.
Going to Cuba on thursday for a week...glad to be finally taking the FIRST vacation I've ever taken.

Once I'm back I'll start making my 2014 build list. Should be interesting.

My buddy Mike sent me some pics from a couple weeks ago that he shot.

[TWest]

I love this build, looking forward to seeing what you have in store!

[Oakville]

hnnngggg those amber lights up front

[Martino]

It was nice taking a break from cars for a while.

Sat back, saved some cash, went to cuba...It's almost like a life exists outside of fixing what's broken lol.

However, back to real life...

I started taking apart the car and putting it on it's final resting spot for the winter.
Took of a few parts and sold them off yesterday actually. I threw a picture up on instagram before posting my FS ad and they were gone.

Bumper and lights went quick



Some more progress and part orders shall be had in the next few weeks. It's snowboarding season now so that will encompass some of my funding also.

It's a full house. Some cleanup needs to be done for sure though.

[Oakville]

Been waiting for this update

[Martino]

Originally Posted by Oakville

Been waiting for this update

Lol, the break for me was much needed.

[Martino]

Started taking apart my turbo setup tonight.





Normally I would have just pulled the setup with the motor out but a buddy of mine wants to mock up some manifold stuff on it tomorrow so I'm lending him my car/motor.

My plans were 50/50 on buying a precision turbo that's bigger than my 2871r but I'm still contemplating that.

My top mount setup however is for sale, including the tial 38mm wastegate. I'll post it up in the FS section soon.

[vJilly]

this thing is sick. im inspired.

[Oakville]

Originally Posted by Martino

Lol, the break for me was much needed.

I see you go pretty hard with this stuff..I can imagine. I got an invite on fb from you a few hours ago for something...a media page? start feeding breaks into the day to day brother lol