1989 180sx CA18DET Build -Izento-

[Izento]

I got around to weighing the pistons to get ready for weight matching. This is just one of many as an example.



The real shocker was the pin weight differences. One weighed a whole gram difference, most had a .5 gram difference.





Just out of curiosity, I weighed the clips and they all came in around .8 after the scale settled.



I weighed each piston, then weighed each pin. After using some simple math of matching lightest piston with heaviest pins, I came up with the best weight differences possible.




Piston 1 + pin: 391.07 (0.00)
Piston 3 + Pin: 391.41 (-0.34)
Piston 4 + Pin: 391.82 (-.075)
Piston 2 + pin: 392.11 (-1.04)

Not too large of a weight discrepancy tbh, which is good, but I still want Piston 2 and 4 shaved a tad. I've done the most time consuming part of the weight match, but I'd rather not shave them myself, so I'll just be giving this sheet to the machine shop.

I was also thinking how my transmission would be holding up with the extra power and I've heard that many people break their pivot balls, not from the increased power, but from repeated clutch kicks (which I'm surprised mine has held up to the abuse), so I picked a stronger one.

[WESamiss]

I like how organized and clean you keep everything. Keep up the good work.

[Izento]

Murky waters 0_0


Gasket kit arrives


Pistons out

[Izento]

New oil pump!


Cleaning process with Simple Green cleaning solution. I also had to drill out 2 screws for the baffle because they were really stuck on there, that's why I like bolts with screw heads on them, so you have 2 chances to undo it.


All cleaned up.


Inside of the valve covers cleaned. I couldn't reach the exhaust side all the way, the part which connects to the pcv system is a b****.

[Izento]

So turns out that they weren't sure if they wanted the cam covers separated or not, hahaha. I separated it at their shop (one screw stripped but I still barely got it out) and then they saw the baffling inside and decided they might just keep that housing on. Just wait till you guys see what color I chose! I'll tell you one thing, it's green ^_^

Also, as a side note, I got my engine in the machine shop. Flywheel resurface, bore, micro polish crank, piston ring filing, balance and rod resize for ARP bolts. Btw, no one ever told me that the rods should be resized to accept the ARP bolts! No one talks about that s*** on the internet when they say they got ARP rod bolts. But that's the internet and life, tacking on about $100 more to the engine build. My build is pretty much at a pause right now as I wait for the shops to finish their things. I still have the turbo to extract from my manifold and sell. I don't really want to sell it to another CA enthusiast, as I don't recommend that turbo at all, so it'll probably go on Zilvia.

[Izento]

Courtesy of Seattle Powder Coat. I am utterly astonished by how amazing this looks. I'll stop typing and let you just look at the pics





I've ran my finger through the inside and it doesn't have any residue, I gave them another call to express my concern about blasting on the inside before they did the job. I'm still going to wash these twice just to make sure I've got any hidden residue out.

[Izento]

Finally got the block and crank back from the machine shop!




If you look closely, the crank has been chamfered.


I guess when they were weight matching, the rods were off by 8 grams! Holy s***! I also had to get the rods resized (I don't know if that's actually true at all or not). New freeze plugs and resurfaced the block. I wouldn't have resurfaced the block since I'm using an oem gasket, but I knew that this block has never been resurfaced, so I figured might as well. More news later after the engine is put back together and installed.

[Izento]

Oh and if anyone was still unsure, the L20 ARP (part # 202-6001) rod bolts do in fact work.

[Izento]

Ordered Saikou Michi catch cans. I guess it takes them about a full month to make, as most are custom ordered, like mine. I decided to go with 1/2" OD. Now, the plan was to go with an AN insert for the cam cover, steel braided lines and placing a sintered bronze fuel filter before the inlet of the catch can, but I'd need to buy two and I don't have the money to drop on that right now, so I'll just be doing the AN conversion to dress up the engine a little. I've never done my own AN line building, so this will be interesting.

[Izento]

The car is up and running!

A couple of things:

I need to bleed the clutch. When the new clutch was installed, the pressure isn't enough from the slave cylinder in order to sometimes disengage the clutch, scary s***. Driving on the freeway and then I can't take it out of gear. My old clutch, I didn't bleed it properly, but the Spec pressure plate wasn't stiff, so it wasn't a problem. Anyways, doing that tomorrow and taking out the clutch damper box. I also need to rehook my gauges up. After that, I'll be doing a couple road trips to get miles on the motor, but all in all, the car is running good besides the clutch. I'll have more updates, maybe even a picture of the car, as I don't have many pics of the actual car on here.

Future plans:
Install catch cans
Rebuild Differential
Install the rest of my subframe collars
bucket seat (I'm doing higher speed runs and drifts, so at this point, it's actually effecting my driving style in order for me to stay in the seat)

Anyways, more updates to come. Sorry, no pictures this time.

[Izento]

I promise I'm not dead.


Got my Saikou Michi catch cans in. The color is beautiful, very close to my valve covers but with less flake. I also purchased some AN line fittings to make it look nice when I attach it to the valve cover.

[Izento]

Always have kill switches, for the love of god. Recently I had my car broken into. Now, if you read earlier in the thread, you would have noticed that my tools were stolen from my storage locker, which is in my garage. I no longer keep my tools in there for this reason (which makes it a b**** everytime I need to work on my car, I have to carry my 40 lb tool box down 5 flights of stairs to work on my car), had my oem cams stolen, Greddy boost controller (half of it, so they can't even really resell it). Another time, I had my radio stolen, like completely, deck face, actual radio unscrewed neatly and my glove box riffled through. Just this week I had my car broken into again, they took my garage opener and some spare change (like $5) in my ashtray. I didn't think much of it other than maybe a crackhead wanting some change.

Here's were this is interesting. My garage in enclosed for my apartment, with all tenant parking inside. The only way to get in is by hopping a large wooden fence, which is easy enough. That s*** thing is that my car is usually the only one targeted because of how it stands out and how old it is. So just today, I go to get a keycard (which is now stolen, which they have no f**king clue what it accesses) that I left in my car, and there I find the scene of the crime. My door is cracked open, battery is dead, ignition switch is cracked, steering column plastics on the floor and my glove box was gone through (which had my FC commander and face deck....which they didn't take). I have multiple kill switches and that is the only thing that saved me. I've always been paranoid about security, ever since I lived in some of the cities with the highest car theft in the country (because cops don't do s*** about it). I even called my apartment manager and asked about the security of my apartment to see if it could be upgraded, possibly by being fully enclosed (which he laughed at and said the owners are cheap and wouldn't do it, f*** that guy. I doubt he's even going to talk to them). The only defense you can do is kill switches, alarms and a good ol' fashion gun if things get serious. So if you think a garage is a deterrent, it's not enough. Install kill switches....multiple.

I'm going to get a Viper/Clifford 2-way alarm installed tomorrow, if I can figure out how to redo my key cylinder (they broke the metal tee, coming from the cylinder to the ignition switch). I never thought it would be a problem since my car is basically impossible to steal, unless it's towed, and even then it would be a b**** to get a tow truck in there. I think an alarm is just a good idea to prevent further damage to your ride, and to also catch the perpetrators.

As of right now, it's 1 AM, I called the cops at 12 PM yesterday......and they still haven't come out here for the police report.

[Izento]

I got a new ignition cylinder. I also learned how easy it is to really steal one of these cars. I'm not going to describe my installation or post pictures, cause there's no need for that content to be spread throughout the internet. All said, the car is running again, more kill switches installed, still more kill switches planned for tomorrow and also headed to Car Toys to get an alarm installed. I always know that alarms don't really stop car theft, that's why I've never thought of getting one, since they are easily disabled. Since this incident, I've decided it's worth the money to get one, so that a thief will stop and prevent further damage to a car that wont even move. I'll also be able to check on it if ever the alarm goes off and I'm near. I had thought about a camera, but many of the cameras that I've found have a terrible recording delay (only saves the file every 15 seconds), so theoretically, a thief could unplug the camera and it would never catch footage of them. I also can't install one through the walls, since I don't own this building, so my power cord would most likely be exposed. Lastly, the mounting of it is too low, that even I (5'5" guy) could reach the ceiling and knock it down.

[Izento]

Installed an NRG hub a couple of days ago to replace my Momo hub. If you look at the pic, there's a big reason why NRG hubs are more secure. The momo hub has a huge space (if you tear off that rubber ribbed cover), which has 4 spines which run up from the steering shaft to the hub attachment to connect a steering wheel. These spines have gaps large enough to fit a metal rod, which someone can use to turn the vehicle with ease. The Momo hub basically negated the need for a steering wheel and also in-turn negated my NRG hub lock. Now, with the NRG hub and hub lock, the only way to steer the car is by hand or possibly vice grips, further up on the shaft (I'm not even sure if that is possible).

The downsides are those who may like the steering position of the Momo hub. I've noticed that the NRG hub is 1/2 as small as the Momo hub. This creates a different dynamic of seating position, with my arms being extended further, but my seating position having no change, since my legs haven't grown any shorter (hopefully). I had to mess with my seat for a bit to find a better position, but overall, I feel like the smaller hub is nicer and extends my reach, which also extends my rotation of the wheel, since my arms are less cocked and confined. This is all personal preference and honestly should be considered if you're reading this thread and trying to decide on which one to get, especially the security aspect of it (which is the reason why most people get a hub and quick release).

As for the alarm, I've decided on taking it to a small business around the Seattle neighborhood instead of Car Toys. This business solders connections and would also do the install differently than the typical Car Toys install. The alarm I'm getting is decent, not Viper price , but good enough for just being an alarm, without power locks or remote start, but it comes with a backup battery. I've also heard mixed reviews of Viper, but mostly good things about the alarm I'm getting, Code Alarm.

I've also decided to install my own gps tracking system (with backup battery), so if anyone ever decides to tow it, they got about 24 hours to chop it up before they get arrested for a very long time. This will cost far less than LoJack ($700 one time cost), if I don't own the car for more than 20 years, haha.

I'm going a little overboard with the gps tracking, since my car would be a b**** to tow from where it rests, but for $36 a month, I figure why not? If the same thieves come back, they should know that they can't move the car under it's own power, so the only choice is to tow it, even though it would be difficult and honestly, my car is not that badass to warrant a risky tow job and anyone selling CA18 parts would be immediately found, because no one owns them here and no one wants them except you guys, so my bases are pretty much covered, lol. Thinking about it, we kind of have it good when it comes to this misfortune, don't we? Anyways, more updates after the installs.

This has also put back my install of tie rods, angle kit and catch cans, so be on the lookout for those posts soon.

As a side note, I got a new boss, and he's a car guy! He owns this!

Well, that's not the exact picture, but same car/colors. Anyways, I'm stoked because he said we're getting a new company car to chauffeur people around and I know it's not going to be a piece of s*** Cadillac CTS. More on that when it comes in.

[Izento]

So far, these past weeks, I have figured out my alarm is not loud whatsoever. Like, I can't even hear it even though I live 2 stories above my own damn car. I've since installed Hella horns and figured out that the installer didn't connect my horn output through the alarm. I called them back and they said they would do it for half the price they normal charge with about 2 hour labor (so it would come out to 1 hour). Well, I looked it up, figured out which wire I need to tap into and did it myself. It took less than 30 minutes. Now, to be fair, I didn't have horns installed, so even if he did hook up the horn wire, it wouldn't have done anything. But, I would think he would have done that regardless, given that my horns could be installed in a weird spot that he just couldn't see. Overall, I'm disappointed in the alarm installation and I'm disappointed in the labor quote. You don't do a half-ass job on a mechanics car, that's just asking for trouble. The company doesn't warrant a bad review, but they don't warrant my recommendations to other people.

I also got around to getting a horn button for my steering wheel while I was at it. If I got a horn, might as well get the button in case a cop asks me where the hell my horn is. I also figured out that you can't install a momo horn button on a nrg quick release without removing the steel metal ring inside. You have to remove the two golden screws on the inside of the quick release in order to loosen this metal ring.


Here's the final product (I scraped the s*** out of my retainer ring while installing my horn, damn it, haha):


Overall, my alarm is way louder and I'll definitely hear it in my sleep. I've been busy with work and haven't got around to installing fun parts yet. I changed up my pillar gauge pod to a 2 pod setup instead of 3. I don't need an oil temp gauge and it kind of got in the way when taking a left-hand turn at night. This should give me more vision and driving confidence. Next install will be the catch cans.

[Izento]

I've been slacking on the updates, just haven't been motivated to do much after all that's happened. Anyways, I've still managed to get stuff done, just haven't posted it.

Here's the Hella horns I installed to make my alarm really loud.


Here's how my new gauge setup looks like with the 2-pod. Looks better and doesn't blind my peripheral vision as much.



Here's part of my security update. I've wired a PS/2 keyboard wire into the ecu and moved it to the glove box. Now my FC Commander is removable, and on top of that, whenever a tuner connects the datalogit, they can connect it through that wire, which allows the ecu to stay in place.



This is my new dyno graph. 260 whp. My boost kept falling off in the high rev range, so my boost controller is f***ed up or something. My NEW tuner suggested a different boost controller. His recommendation was an Apexi AVCR.



Well, whaddya know? I just bought an AVCR!

[Izento]

If there are any Zilvia admins anymore, I'd love to update this build thread but it seems your picture attachment/url function is broken. Please consider fixing it.

[shaggyjake]

It’s been suggested to use an image hosting service like Flickr or Imgur. They provide [img] links for posting on forums. Would love to see an update for this