My S13 Build Progress - 56K Warning

[Vatche]

i see trillian there on the far right monitor, good choice, the canister is not needed, the hard line i think is just left disconnect on my car, i dont remember
the battery tray is removable i know people have done it before look it up.

good luck with everything.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by sr20detman

i see trillian there on the far right monitor, good choice, the canister is not needed, the hard line i think is just left disconnect on my car, i dont remember
the battery tray is removable i know people have done it before look it up.

good luck with everything.

Thanks a lot, I'm glad I already disconnected it under the passenger side then and left it atmospheric. Less crap to install later

Trillians awesome, its a good way to hide that you're on AIM at work when you're supposed to be using MSN, haha

[initial_drifter]

You should relocate your battery to the trunk after
That is if you already hadn't thought of that

Looks good so far

[phreze]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

It's rediculous, really.

Yeah it its just get one that is 3x the size. Keep up the build progress though!

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by initial_drifter

You should relocate your battery to the trunk after
That is if you already hadn't thought of that

Looks good so far

Already on it I plan on either buying this one or just getting the parts at the part store. I saw that they sell the boxes at WalMart and pretty much everything you need so maybe I'll just price it there and compare. Only problem is the lengths they sell of cable are kind of short. I think 51" is as long as it gets, which I'm not too sure will make it all the way back there. I'll measure tomorrow.

Thanks for the compliments everyone! Oh, and thanks for that Koukimonster!

[drew935]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

I like how there's a plastic tarp laid down on the ground to keep it clean. That's Uber JDM thinking on your part. Props for doing it in a storage as well.

[Duzzes_Wild]

i've never thought about doing my stuff in a storage unit, hmmm

[MELLO*SOS]

Awesome thread dude.

Good luck and keep the updates coming!

[_shift240]

Looks great so far, I never even considered working out of a storage unit to do work. Living in townhouses, the neighbors do not appreciate people who work on their own cars, plus the lack of garage doesn't help.

Also, in your comparision, you'll more then likely find that it is cheaper to just buy your own pieces and reroute the battery to the back rather then buying a kit, plus you have the option of getting exactly what you want, as opposed to whatever the kit is set up with. Just my .02 cents though.

Very clean though, I look forward to keeping up with your progress, congrats!

[Jason240sx]

great thread keep us posted

[jrmiller84]

Day 7 [Back to index]

So today I drove to Orlando to get the motorset. This is the first time I have ever towed something and it's just my luck there would be torrential downpours on the way there. Then on the way back it was stop and go from the Florida Turnpike to Ocala due to the Gator Nationals. I'm exhausted after the driving so I probably won't be doing any work today.

Sadly they didn't have all of the parts in stock so they'll be here in a week or two. Here's what I was able to pick up today:

• Visteon Radiator w/ dual fans attached
• HKS SSQV Bov
• Intake Cone w/ MAF adapter
• Greddy Profec B-spec II
• Heater Hoses
• Red Samco Radiator Hoses
• Belt kit
• NGK Iridium Spark Plugs
• Walbro 255 fuel pump
• Fuel filter, oil filter, and oil
• AIV plug
• Entire SR20DET Blacktop motorset

I'm missing quite a few things, but that's alright. It gives me more time to clean the engine bay as well as the engine itself. Ray said that the Visteon radiator is nicer than the Koyo, has anyone used it? He said they use it in their shop cars. Picture time






I think I may go pick up the KA wiring harness and start on that tonight. Something less stressful. I may post my results online for you guys to double check for me.

[koukimonster139]

awesome man

that rad is rad i wish my koyo came with the fan bracket thing

[Jonnie Fraz]

For your battery cables you can go to a boat supply and buy very nice battery cable in almost any color, they should also have all the cable ends that you would need.

[jrmiller84]

Day 8 [Back to index]

Today was my first full day with the SR and I got quite a bit done. Took off a lot of things I knew I wasn't going to need like the AC Compressor and its mounting bracket (both heavy!). If anyone is interested in the compressor, PM me. I can't vouch for if it works but it looks like it's in good condition. I have posted it in the for sale section as well.

Back on topic.

I replaced the thermostat just to be safe. It actually looked like it was in good condition, but now it's in excellent condition.


I took off the metal intake tube that is attached to the turbo so I could check for shaftplay. Thank [insert deity] there was none.

I removed a bunch of cut tubes that were still attached to it to clean it up. They left the radiator tubing half cut on the engine as well as the fuel lines and many others. I also removed that hideous clutch fan. For some reason it did not want to come off and I had to use a hammer to get the remaining metal spindle off that the fan attaches to.

I also found some things I wanted to ask you guys about.

Is this an AC line? It seems to run from the back of the motor but I can't be certain since the intake mani is in the way.



Am I missing a vacuum tube flange here?


Is this the oil pressure sensor connection? If so should I use the KA one or is this one fine?




But don't stop reading yet, I'm here to deliver awesome today. If any of you looked at the pictures of the SR you may have noticed how horrifying the valve cover looked. The people who pulled it wrote all over it with marker and there were numerous imperfections. Since blacktops aren't naturally blessed with the good looks of that red valve cover, I wanted to try my hardest to make it look even better than the redtops

So before I left today, I disconnected the spark plugs and removed the cover to take home with me.

Here it is after I cleaned it at home. That's right, after I cleaned it. Still looks like ass.



So I broke out the sand paper and started going at it. I got pretty far but I couldn't quite get the dirt/imperfections out of the letters. Here it is after I scuffed it up, note the still dirty letters.


Since I wasn't satisfied, I busted out my trusty dremel and went at it. After that the letters looked pristine. So I taped all of the breather valves up and put tape over the letters. I then cut the tape so that it only covered the letters on the valve cover. After that I sprayed it down with glossy black engine paint.



Looks awesome, but wait, it get's better.

Here it is after I removed all of the tape.


I can't believe how awesome it looks. I was worried that the spray paint would look like crap and be tacky but it's actually the opposite. It's extremely smooth and I can't see any imperfections. The sanding must have gone a long way towards helping that.

Now I have to find a way to clean up the plastic spark plug cover. I think I may do the same thing to it assuming paint will stick to it. I'm sure if I scuff it up it should be fine.


More work and updates tomorrow!

[ecuastyle84]

paint looks really good...nice job on the valve cover...cant wait to see more pics 2morrow

[fromxtor]

this thread is full of win.

[sepulchral]

you can use the factory tubing from the SOHC to fabricate perfectly fitting rad hoses, just look at the way the bends have to be and you'll figure it out

[Ninjabread]

Awesome build thread. Makes me think about next week because i'm pulling my motor too!.... but the ka is going back in :P

Good luck!

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by sepulchral

you can use the factory tubing from the SOHC to fabricate perfectly fitting rad hoses, just look at the way the bends have to be and you'll figure it out

I actually bought red Samco hoses to match the color to the body as it will stay red after paint later.

If you're talking about this hose:

It's not the rad hose, the radiator hose goes below that one.

[sepulchral]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

It's not the rad hose, the radiator hose goes below that one.

hahaha

i know i know


did you cut yourself? i see blood

[jrmiller84]

Nah, that's liquid gasket I used when I put the new thermostat in. Believe me, blood has definitely been a part of this endeavor though.

[Mo_Jo]

The hose is for the IAC, and will need to go on to the cold pipe.

[ROTTEN EGG]

I used a flat chissel to tap the battery tray off but i believe you can only reach the sides with the it. I cut that whole rusty area out. no i have a big hole =/ but no rust! and for the letters on the valve cover, just use some fine grit sand paper, makes it look new if you havent already done that. pictures dont show enough. good work man keep us posted!

[koukimonster139]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

haha fuckin right
get it hot tonight!

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by koukimonster139

haha fuckin right
get it hot tonight!

haha, yeah I was going to comment on that but I knew someone else would catch it, haha.

It's nice having a roommate who works at a pizza place.

[jrmiller84]

Day 9 [Back to index]

Today I finally took care of the task I'd been putting off for a few days, painting the engine bay.

Let me start off by saying that I by no means intend this car to be a show car. A lot of people argue that you should pay money and get this done at a shop so that it looks immaculate instead of doing it yourself, but for my purposes that isn't necessary. I would rather spend that money on parts to get this thing running.

With that being said, I am very impressed with the way it turned out.

I started by making sure I had all of the grease out of the bay where I was going to be painting. I then scuffed all of the paint up with some sandpaper. Then came the tedious part, covering everything with tape. I was hesitant to remove the brake lines so I just covered them. If you wanted to go the extra mile, I would recommend taking them out but I made out just fine going around them.

Then I covered the bay in primer.


I let that dry for a few minutes (it dries really fast) and then sanded some of the areas down where I noticed any imperfections.

Then it was time to spray it down with red paint. The first thing I noticed was that the red shown on the can of paint was slightly misrepresented. It was a shade lighter than the bottle led me to believe, no big deal though. As long as it's all one uniform color, I'm down with that.

It took two cans to finish the entire bay because as it would dry you could see places where it needed a second coat. Here is what it looked like before I primered it so you can get a feel for how much better it looks.




And here it is after I painted it, let it dry, and removed the tape.


It looks a whole hell of a lot better. There are some imperfections but I'm not worried about it. There are some places where it needed quite a bit of paint and it started to run a little bit, but they are few and far between. Overall, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Maybe tonight I'll take care of that wiring I've been meaning to do

[JewGal]

Phew!
For a second, I thought your were painting your bay flat/satin black. Looks good. Red s hot!

[civilized_drifter]

very nice keep up the good work

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by JewGal

Phew!
For a second, I thought your were painting your bay flat/satin black. Looks good. Red s hot!

You know, I actually thought about painting it glossy black. In fact, I think somewhere on here I even said I was going to. I thought about it again though it just seemed like a bad idea.

[Disturbed]

nice job so far dude. impressive dedication. more patience than i have, thats for sure.

edit - thanks for the neg rep whomever you are. real mature.