LuckyX2's S13 SR Build

[LuckyX2]

So things haven't been going too well lately.

I'm pretty sure my IACV is bad because my idle was up at 2k. I capped it for now and I'm back down around 1k.

Also, I think I put my clutch disk in backwards because now it won't disengage right and is a downright pain in the ass to drive.

Finally, this happened on the way up from PA to NY:



Just thought I'd toss up an update about what's been going on.
At least the engine was running strong before the manifold blew and the new shell is super clean and looking good.

[codyace]

Ah man that freakin stinks to see that manifold break like that. Perfect chance to go external gate on a stocker now (I have one ready to ship too

[LuckyX2]

Originally Posted by codyace

Ah man that freakin stinks to see that manifold break like that. Perfect chance to go external gate on a stocker now (I have one ready to ship too

Yeah, but it's my fault because of how I wrapped it. The collector there isn't wrapped while the rest is. That made the manifold expand/contract at a different rate for the collector vs the rest of the manifold and that is obviously bad.

PM me with a price on one of the external gated stockers please. I found a stock one locally for now so I can at least drive the car but I may go with an externally gated one later; not sure yet.

[LuckyX2]

Replaced the manifold!






I also figured out why my idle has been so high. I always knew my IACV wasn't working properly so I went to buy a new one and I came across a picture of the gasket. That made me remember back when I put it on I never noticed that the gasket covered up an opening on the IACV and just RTV'ed it instead. So now my IACV has a big hole in it that's supposed to be covered and it's letting in tons of air. I'm not sure why it's designed like that. It seems stupid that they'd make a hole, only to cover it up with a gasket... Oh well, I'm just glad it was a $5 fix!

So next on my list is dropping the trans and figuring out why my clutch won't disengage... That's happening today hopefully.

[drscooper]

this build is awsome and on point man!!! VERY NICE!!!

[blo0d]

hey i hope you addressed why your manifold broke.... check your mounts, do you think you need a flex pipe in your exh DP?

[LuckyX2]

Originally Posted by drscooper

this build is awsome and on point man!!! VERY NICE!!!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by blo0d

hey i hope you addressed why your manifold broke.... check your mounts, do you think you need a flex pipe in your exh DP?

I haven't yet but I know the reasons and will take care of it soon. One was how I had it wrapped created a cold spot at the collector where it cracked. Also my new mounts are super stiff and lowered the engine an inch or two which is going to change the geometry of the exhaust and put some extra pressure on the manifold. Those things combined with the fact that I don't have a flex joint and it was only a matter of time before this manifold cracked...


As for my clutch issue. I dropped the trans and everything was fine. The pivot, fork and TOB were all on correctly and moving freely and the clutch disk was not backwards. I even made up an extended rod for the slave and it's still not releasing. I can watch the pressure plate fingers compress as a friend presses the clutch pedal so I really have no idea what's wrong.

[LuckyX2]

So I was tired of dealing with my new clutch's problems so I just went back to my old ACT pressure plate but with a new sprung 6-puck disk (old was unsprung). Annnnnnd, it works great now!

Turbo isn't spooling now tho... I tried to spin the compressor by hand but it's seized completely. I'm guessing that a piece of my old broken manifold fell in the turbine housing. I'll be checking it out this week.

[DaHawaiiKid]

nice thread hope everything turns out ok! and you make me wish i had money! i envy you my friend!

Sub'd!!!

[LuckyX2]

Originally Posted by DaHawaiiKid

nice thread hope everything turns out ok! and you make me wish i had money! i envy you my friend!

Sub'd!!!

Thanks!

So here's what has been going on lately...

I took off my RPS that was giving me troubles and put my old ACT Xtreme pressure plate on but this time with a sprung disk.





All was good for a day or two and then I realized my turbo wasn't spooling. Turns out there wasn't a piece of the manifold in it like I had thought but actually a bearing in the CHRA came free and got stuck, causing the turbo to be seized stiff.
Well I guess that's as good of an excuse as any to upgrade... So I picked up a GT2871r 56 trim .64 AR (the turbo I was originally supposed to have...)

Here's a pic of the old GT2560r compressor wheel and housing next to the GT2871r which looks gigantic in comparison haha. Should be good for another 75-100whp.



I also finally made the switch to E85 like I had planned since building the engine. A quick 30% bump to the fueling in my Haltech and an extra 4 degrees of timing and I was driving a whole new car. I've been wanting to fine tune the fuel but guess what? My Innovate wideband controller broke... I've just been having the worst luck; things I never even messed with are breaking left and right. At least the stuff I just redid recently (like the whole engine lol) is holding together well. I picked up some cheap-o bare circuit board wideband controller on eBay for $25 and will be using that until Innovate sends back my repaired LC-1.

There are autocrosses in my area the next three weeks that I'm hoping to attend. When/if I do, I'll post my best runs.

[mortadellama70]

Very nice Build!! Glad to see she's coming along!

Are you running any wheel Spacers? Front? Rear? What sizes?

I'm interested in running these same wheels, but I'm a little worried about fitment... Plus I would like to run the 17 x 10.5 Rears and 17 x 9 Fronts...

Thanks!

[Conrad 2NR]

Wow @ stuff breaking. This is EXACTLY what I've been experiencing, up to recently where I threw a rocker arm and damaged a valve and possibly some other stuff.

Keep on truckin' man, love the progress thus far.

[LuckyX2]

Originally Posted by Conrad 2NR

Wow @ stuff breaking. This is EXACTLY what I've been experiencing, up to recently where I threw a rocker arm and damaged a valve and possibly some other stuff.

Keep on truckin' man, love the progress thus far.

Thanks

And yeah, it's one thing to have something go wrong because I installed it incorrectly or something but it's another to have a manifold, wideband, turbo and new clutch all go bad on me in a month through no fault of my own.

Shit sucks.

Originally Posted by mortadellama70

Very nice Build!! Glad to see she's coming along!

Are you running any wheel Spacers? Front? Rear? What sizes?

I'm interested in running these same wheels, but I'm a little worried about fitment... Plus I would like to run the 17 x 10.5 Rears and 17 x 9 Fronts...

Thanks!

Thank you

The fronts needed a 5mm spacer to clear the Wilwoods. No spacers on the rears. The wheels are 17x9 +20 all around. Absolutely zero issues in the rear and more room to grow but the front is a tight fit especially because I jumped on a good deal and went for 45 sidewalls. 245/40/17 or 245/35/17 should be fine on the fronts with some fender rolling/pulling. Not sure about 17x10.5 in the rear; check the maximum rubber thread for that.

Btw, the last autocross was pretty crappy and the course was basically just a circle. I don't think I'm gonna bother posting it. There's one this Sunday at the Buffalo Bills stadium that should be good tho.

[LuckyX2]

Well, spring is coming and its time to get the 240 back on the road!

I picked up this bad boy for an absolute steal yesterday. GTi-R ITBs and plenum for only $165 shipped.


Very excited to get this fitted, synced and tuned so I can start enjoying the throttle response it will bring.

[reeskm]

Sick! I've wanted to see how to fit the GTIR ITBs, but many people keep saying "bad idea dude" and "it's not possible" and all sorts of other excuses.

By the way, who made your injector rail for your ID1000's? My tuner is reccomending that plus a haltech. I'm planning on almost the same setup as yours except for 91 gas and not e85, and either a gtx2863 or 2867r...

Nice work!

[LuckyX2]

Originally Posted by reeskm

Sick! I've wanted to see how to fit the GTIR ITBs, but many people keep saying "bad idea dude" and "it's not possible" and all sorts of other excuses.

By the way, who made your injector rail for your ID1000's? My tuner is reccomending that plus a haltech. I'm planning on almost the same setup as yours except for 91 gas and not e85, and either a gtx2863 or 2867r...

Nice work!

Thanks, I'll hopefully have them fitted within a few weeks. They're gonna get here Tuesday and then I need to find a shop to cut, flip and weld the runners. After that it's just up to me to mess with it until it fits, make a throttle cable bracket, adapt the IACV, flip the TPS wires, sync and tune. You can find some ITB setups HERE if you're interested.

As for the rail, it's just some cheap generic one that I painted black. Something like THIS
Actually, I'll be putting mine up for sale when I get the ITBs on if you want it. The rail on the ITBs is already top feed so I won't need it anymore.

I really do like the ID's, they're some of the most consistent injectors out there and my Haltech has been a pleasure to work with too. So what are your power goals? If you're shooting for 400whp+ go with the 67, otherwise stick to the 63 and get your power earlier.

[Extreme Dimensions]

Nice man!

[codyace]

Originally Posted by LuckyX2

Thanks, I'll hopefully have them fitted within a few weeks. They're gonna get here Tuesday and then I need to find a shop to cut, flip and weld the runners. After that it's just up to me to mess with it until it fits, ....

It will be interesting to see how they work, as around that power level even the FWD guys begin to go with a large plenum setup vs the GTiR as the sizing of them begins to hurt top end.

I don't want to be debby downer, but just making sure you know it's a possibility for sure.

Hope all has been well!

[LuckyX2]

Originally Posted by Extreme Dimensions

Nice man!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by codyace

It will be interesting to see how they work, as around that power level even the FWD guys begin to go with a large plenum setup vs the GTiR as the sizing of them begins to hurt top end.

I don't want to be debby downer, but just making sure you know it's a possibility for sure.

Hope all has been well!

Thanks for the heads up and yeah, the plenum is a bit of a downsize from where I'm at now. I wouldn't mind losing a little up top to gain some down low though; I could use it for autocross. I'm planning on cutting off the inlet and getting a 2.75" (or whatever size my IC piping is...) welded on which should eliminate the biggest restriction. Hopefully the rest of the plenum isn't too bad. Ultimately I'm counting on the higher velocity air and equalized cylinders to make up for the lower volume but we'll see how it goes. If it proves to be too restrictive I could always make a larger plenum!

And yeah, all is well here, hopefully things are good on your end too. I'm hoping this season will be the one where I get my car throughly situated and can shift the focus to driving it rather than working on it. Hoping for lots of autox/track time this season. Are you planning on going to the Glen at all? I think I'll be there for the PCA weekend.

[reeskm]

There's a lot of potential for sure. Turbos are the great equalizer. Even with restricted intakes you can still make ridonculous power. (WRC restrictor plates are a famous engine builder's hurdle, but examining how they get around it is fascinating).

The original ITB setup was cast like every other factory part. It's nothing special except for the ITBs themselves, which are factory parts. Being cast, and mass produced, there is still huge gains to be made by proper porting and extrude honing and generally hand fitting of parts. A larger inlet could do wonders, and experimenting with different runner lengths pre-TB could lead to some fantastic gains up top.

I wonder what they did on the WRC GTIRs? How much of the factory ITB setup did they keep, at all? Hmm......

Either way, ITBs suit a responsive motor build. Sometimes, up-top power isn't that useful. I say fab it up and test it out!

[LuckyX2]

I tried finding some pictures of WRC GTi-R setups but didn't have any luck unfortunately.

I'm sure one way or another I'll make this work though. ITBs are just too cool to pass up so I'm planning on doing whatever I need to make this into a good manifold for my use. It shouldn't be too hard since size is basically the only disadvantage and a little grinding, cutting and welding can take care of that. It's a lot more work for sure but between the uniqueness factor and the potential for getting power a good bit earlier, I'm very excited.

I just wish I had the money to blow on more dyno time though. I'd love to be able to tune it as is then tune it with the ITBs and see the exact effects. It takes me about two hours to tune it and I don't really feel like spending $200 in dyno time just to see the difference. Also, my engine is a little unusual with E85 and 10.5:1 compression so it's hard to just do one dyno and then compare it to other peoples' builds. I'll do my best to give an accurate report on the setup though.

[LuckyX2]

Got the ITBs today, tore them down and cleaned them. Now I need to find someone with a TIG to get these flipped.












There's approximately a 1/16" lip around the throttle plates that I plan to smooth down and pick up some flow from.


About 2 1/4" for the inlet. I think my cool side piping is 2 3/4" so hopefully I can widen this a bit.


All together I don't see this restricting flow much. The ports are large (aside from the inlet), the plenum is pretty large with a slightly coarse finish to prevent laminar flow and the individual inlets have a nice teardrop shape to them that should guide air in nicely.

Also, does anyone know where I can get a wiring diagram for the GTi-R IACV? I'd rather use the one that came with it than rig up my current one that I think is busted anyway.

[LuckyX2]

Did a little porting today.







And if anyone has or knows where to get a GTi-R TPS with bracket, let me know. That's the one thing I'm missing. Or maybe I can just fab up something to use my SR TPS.

Also, I'm thinking about grinding down the bar that the throttle plates bolt to. They take up a significant amount of the cross-sectional area at WOT. Thoughts on this? I imagine it could only help.
Or even better, I could remove one side of the bar completely and grind the other side down a little.

[LuckyX2]

Picked up a new LSD over the weekend!
My VLSD just wasn't cutting it and my 4.6 final gear was too short for the power I'm making/planning on making so it was time to change.

I came across this guy on eBay who didn't realize he had a $1,500 Nismo GT LSD. I'm hoping it's a pro but I won't know until it gets here and I can check for the internal adjuster.


He was asking $695, I offered $600, he came back at $650 and I bought it at that. Quite a deal if I may say so myself; gotta love eBay. The 20 clutch plates in this should lock up nice and smooth and the 4.11 gearing is a better fit for my engine and will let me go a little faster in second gear for autocross. All together I'm pretty excited to get this in. I have some solid bushings on the way for it too since it's in a skyline housing and needs bushings to bold up to my S13. By the way, what gear oil do you guys like? I'll need to buy some of that too.

And currently, I've been working on my tune. I'll post up some datalogs after I do a few more street sessions but I'm really liking how it's doing now. I'm only running 15psi and the timing is retarded until I know the fueling is solid but even then it likes to spin 1st through 3rd The turbo is nice and responsive too. From 2500RPM or so in 3rd gear it's only taking a second from when I first get on the throttle until it's right up at full boost and about 1500RPM higher. And that's with me slowly easing onto it since if I floor it, the tires spin. Very happy so far.

[reeskm]

Nice work man!
I've used redline in my diffs for years, but now I have an OS Giken unit in my S13. With that diff, you should use the OS fluid to go with it. It's $, but OS recommends factory drain intervals in their diffs. That's why I spent more on an OS unit.

With the Nismo one, if you're really anal and want it to perform, use the Nismo fluid. Otherwise just use and proper LSD fluid that's quality.

[e1_griego]

I used redline in my GT.

Mine wasn't very smooth at all, just fyi.

My giken is buttttttter smooth.

[LuckyX2]

Thanks!

For the oil, I went ahead and bought some Motul 90PA. Motul makes the oil for Nismo so I figure it's mostly the same stuff just without the premium price. It was pretty cheap too at only $25 for 2L and it already has the friction modifiers needed for clutch types. Everything should be here Tuesday/Wednesday and hopefully I'll get it installed and tested by the weekend. The diff upgrade couldn't have come sooner. My current VLSD isn't handling the power I'm making well and it pulls me left under hard accelleration. This Nismo is supposed to be 50/50 distribution with a progressive, strong lock. I'll find out soon...

As for the ITB's, I'm just trying to find a fabricator locally to cut and weld my manifold. I'd like do it myself but with no TIG, that's not happening. Hopefully it won't be too much and won't take too long so I can get on the dyno soon. A place by me has a Mustang Gladiator dyno that they rent out for $100/hr. I can't wait to get on that and do some serious cell by cell tuning.

And griego, I was initially eyeing up an OS Giken since it came highly reccomended from my SMF nationals winning friend but at $650 I just couldn't pass this up.

[reeskm]

For $650 the Nismo unit is a steal. Like I said, I figured the OS unit I paid for was worth every penny for the quality and butter smooth operation, factory service drain interval, and reliability. However, most clutch pack diffs need fluid drains and changes every 3000 kms which is not what i'm interested in at all. Plus frequent clutch pack rebuilds are a waste of my time when I could be out making more 11's.

Either way, Motul is super nice fluid. I'm sure you won't have any issues.
With OS, they have a custom blend of modifiers and weights in their fluid that make their diffs operate smoothly and chatter free. If you use another oil, they are reliable and work the same but are noisier.

Depends on how anal you are, like I said.

Good luck with the ITBs! I heard the tuning is a total PITA. If you make huge success with it it will change rumours about ITB being "impossible".

[LuckyX2]

I don't mind the noise much seeing how my car already sounds like it's going to rattle apart between the high idle, solid bushings, poly mounts and 3" barely muffled exhaust lol.

And I've already started changing my tune over to TPS load instead of MAP load to prepare for the ITBs and it has been going well.

I think with my Haltech and TPS load for VE tuning, it should be very easy. Because I'm using VE, vaccum and boost are already accounted for in the ECU's calculations so I won't even need to make a MAP correction table. Tuning should be as easy as holding RPM steady with a load dyno like a Mustang, increasing load with the throttle and increasing/decreasing each cell's VE until I'm at the desired AFR. I'll do this for cells at critical breakpoints and then linearize inbetween. Same thing will be done for ignition timing but with the goal of MBT, not AFR. All together, I'm not expecting to spend more than 2-3 hours on the dyno and I should have a great tune by the end since I'll be optimizing cell by cell.

The only reason ITBs are hard to tune is because the MAP signal equalizes to atmosphere much faster than with a single throttle. This means you have a very hard time getting good MAP readings in partial throttle vacuum areas of operation. Tuning with TPS solves this and so does using a MAF since that measures air mass directly.

You can follow my tuning efforts HERE. I made a thread on Zilvia too but nobody replied so I just focus on the Nissan Road Racing thread now.

[reeskm]

Thanks for the info! I have heard tuning by TPS is the way to go, but couldn't find someone explaining why. My tuner was saying that ITBs even on a GTR are a paint to tune, but maybe he doesn't know what you know.