My S13 Build Progress - 56K Warning

[jrmiller84]

I've said it before along side plenty of other Zilvians, you truly get what you pay for in the S-Chassis community.

I'm glad you had a good eBay experience, from what I've researched a lot of people don't. In the long run, buying a motor from eBay and a motor from a reputable shop can't compare. You have no idea what type of customer service(or motor for that matter) you're receiving from an eBay shop, but the reputable shops are reputable for a reason. I knew that the motor would not only be in good shape, but they would support their sale with a good warranty and knowledgeable customer service to help me get my swap done correctly. Not only that, but purchasing all of my parts through one vendor set me up to have one business to consult with in case ANY part of my swap was not functioning right, not just the motor.

A swap in four hours may be possible, but he obviously has the facilities and experience to get it done fast unlike I did. That is, unless the quality is horrible. All of the good shops in the central Florida area told me on average a minimum of three days was required to get the swap done, and even from the best shops that time was tentative. I personally would worry about the quality of a swap done in four hours, especially when I'm dropping thousands of dollars on it.

Thousand dollar mistakes suck.

[harangatang]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

I've said it before along side plenty of other Zilvians, you truly get what you pay for in the S-Chassis community.

I'm glad you had a good eBay experience, from what I've researched a lot of people don't. In the long run, buying a motor from eBay and a motor from a reputable shop can't compare. You have no idea what type of customer service(or motor for that matter) you're receiving from an eBay shop, but the reputable shops are reputable for a reason. I knew that the motor would not only be in good shape, but they would support their sale with a good warranty and knowledgeable customer service to help me get my swap done correctly. Not only that, but purchasing all of my parts through one vendor set me up to have one business to consult with in case ANY part of my swap was not functioning right, not just the motor.

A swap in four hours may be possible, but he obviously has the facilities and experience to get it done fast unlike I did. That is, unless the quality is horrible. All of the good shops in the central Florida area told me on average a minimum of three days was required to get the swap done, and even from the best shops that time was tentative. I personally would worry about the quality of a swap done in four hours, especially when I'm dropping thousands of dollars on it.

Thousand dollar mistakes suck.

Well, dont know which came first, the shop on ebay, or the actual shop, but Id go to believe the shop was in place first and they were only using ebay to increase sales. either way, buying an engine from anyplace or person is risky. And about quality.. I may not have gotten it done in 4 hrs, but the electrical side of my swap looks better then it did brand new out of the factory. cheers to a dad in electronics for 20+ years! I sure bet the other guyz 4hr swaps dont look nearly as clean as mine does.

[prang11]

Any updates? I still want to see how the gauge pod tunred out. Thinking about buying one myself.

[jrmiller84]

Updates.. I suppose there are. I'm going to wait until next Tuesday to take a picture of the gauge pod. That's when my 52mm tach is supposed to be here. Right now the ATI pod only has a water temp gauge in it so it looks kind of lame.

Also, it doesn't have the Megan gauge installed. I wound up putting an Autometer gauge in because the Megan temp sensor snapped in two when installing it into the Greddy radiator hose fitting.

I've had to put the dash mods that I was going to be doing aside because I need to address the transmission. The clutch is most definitely glazed over. Any time the car is warm and I want to haul ass, the rpms jump but the car doesn't. Soooo... I bought a new Exedy clutch to replace it with and I'm going to break it in like it's supposed to be broken in. I can drive the car fine when driving normal, it's only when I really want to give it the beans that it starts to slip.

I'll also be replacing the front and rear main seals as well as reinstalling the AC compressor. I should have replaced the seals when the motor was out the first time as should everyone. I'll be taking care of this the end of next month when we move into our new place that has a garage. Luckily I sold my enginge hoist to a good friend so he's going to let me borrow it for that weekend.

As for my current plans, I'm still looking for wheels and tires. I'm finding it a bit hard to pick a particular wheel.

I'll post that picture of the gauges next Tuesday.

[Farzam]

What aero?

Ahem.

[jrmiller84]

I'll be getting the Origin 180sx Stream kit. I didn't want anything too extreme when it came to the body work. I'm still waiting on wheels though before I buy the kit so it's going to be a little while.

[Chez]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

I bought a new Exedy clutch to replace it with and I'm going to break it in like it's supposed to be broken in.

The Throw out bearing that comes with that kit is garbage make sure to pick up a quality one before the install. If you dont switch it out and just use the one that comes with it after about 5k miles you will notice the clutch pedal has a vibration when you rest your foot on it before you push it down to dissengage the clutch. It's really quite annoying if you never felt it before. I wish I picked up a quality unit before doing my clutch...

[jrmiller84]

I don't really have to worry about that. When I put the current clutch in I replaced practically everything with the new parts Spec* gave me. I put in a new pilot bushing, lightened flywheel, clutch, pp, and throwout bearing. So all i'm replacing in there now is the rear main seal, clutch, and pp. Everything that's not being replaced is working flawlessly.

[S14DB]

Spec is junk.

[jrmiller84]

Yeah, I'm learning that now, hah. I like the flywheel and I'm sure I'll be happier with the Exedy clutch. They have a much higher reputation.

[Farzam]

Nice aero decision.

Exedy isn't bad.

[CA18_S13]

Sweet write up.

[jrmiller84]

By popular request, here are some pictures of the ATI gauge pod as well as the new tachometer I installed today. I thought the tach was a 52mm gauge, but it was actually a 60mm gauge so it didn't fit in the ATI pod. I'm going to purchase an AEM air/fuel ratio gauge to put there once I start doing power upgrades so until then it'll be empty.

I couldn't get the tach to work yet so it's just sitting there now with the backlights on. If anyone knows which wire is the tach signal wire let me know, I started a thread in tech about it earlier after scouring zilvia and the fsm. I tried every wire on the connector that comes from the ECU to the dash cluster, none of those worked so I'm not sure where else to connect it.

Without further ado...

[Farzam]

Take off the Megan racing sticker.

Eww.

Niceeeeeeee setup.

Fill up that empty pod though...A-sap.

[jrmiller84]

Yeah, I was bored one day and I found all of the stickers I got from the vendors. I need to take it off. I like my HKS one on the hatch, keeping that one.

[Farzam]

Got any leftovers?

[jrmiller84]

Nah, what I had left went on my new laptop.

[RPS1392]

Wow, nice writeup. My car is almost the twin of yours. Red hatch, blacktop.
Mines taking quite a bit longer to complete than yours tho, bought a house, and that takes up a lot of my time. But again, Nice work.

[Casse]

This was one excellent thread, Ive been through it so many times. Congratulations to you for doing this swap all by yourself and thankyou for sharing this wonderful bundle of information with the rest of the community, I cant wait to see it with a kit and some wheels, it will be the dopest DIY 240 yet.

[unicoladron]

i just started a new build thread and NOW that i read yorus i'm embarassed. mine is lame as hell compared to this yours, you've inspired me to take better photos and post comments for each of my photos with more details, what was i thinking?!

although i didn't get a storage container, i am doing it on my SLANTED ass driveway with weeds and shit in my way haha

nice build brosef , you've inspired me to do a much more thorough writeup!

[jamlanta]

whats new with the car? do you have suspension and wheels now?

[wannabe_drifter]

^^ --> http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=178032

[alindeman1989]

Great build thread. Very detailed and lots of pics. +1

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by jamlanta

whats new with the car? do you have suspension and wheels now?

Nope, not yet.

As a user pointed out a few posts ago, I'm working on a carputer install.

Since the build I have done a few things though. I got an entirely new front end and swapped from pignose to a chuki front end, looks a lot better now. I also swapped out my Spec (read shit) clutch for an Exedy clutch. Oh, and I got the windows tinted.

Carputer will be done in the following weeks.

[bizzyj83]

wow
great build!!

[Onitsukagirl]

Very entertaining thread to read, im so bored at work.. it has taken me over an hour to go through it all.. really really nice job. I did my swap all by myself too so I know how it is. Less distractions when you do it by yourself haha. Fun stuff. Great job, I remember how happy I was when I heard mine start for the first time. It took a couple friends to figure out that I simply had the fuel lines backwards... my bes' friend called me up (they had my car at their shop) and said "do you hear that?" I heard the SR revving up over the phone, I wanted to flip! I was so happy... I went down there immediately best feeling ever in the car world. hehe.

[CoreyS13]

Started on the first page 2 and half hours ago and have taken this journey and followed the emotional roller coaster along with you and many others along the way. Glad everything worked out in the end and thanks for all the great info.

A+++ would read again.

[Darren]

Originally Posted by CoreyS13

Started on the first page 2 and half hours ago and have taken this journey and followed the emotional roller coaster along with you and many others along the way. Glad everything worked out in the end and thanks for all the great info.

A+++ would read again.

x2

Just want to thank you for documenting your trials and tribulations. I bought a 90 hatch with a blacktop sr20 already swapped in and this has helped me sort out quite a few issues, and also understand better who my motor is supposed to be setup.

Good research, good inspiration...