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Build Projects / Re: My Nissan 200sx S12 - Careless Whisper

« Last post by darquizard on 10:49:19 AM / 26-May-18  »

Well I very lightly torqued up the AT Oil pan bolts in a x-cross pattern, they weren't even finger tight to begin with, I could turn them freely. Looks like the leak has stopped, so that is okay for now.

I'll get the boots replaced before I try driving again, I'll have to do that before we finish moving.


I'm buying a VG30E engine from a junkyard, between 190-200 compression in all 6 cylinders and guy said it ran fine but exterior of the vehicle was completely totaled. So I'll be able to build a motor while still driving my car, then swap, and maybe build the other and sell? Who knows.
Post MergeWhat have I got here? Some kind of vacuum leak? It sounds really loud. Also sounds like some valves tapping? Not sure how much of that is normal. The leak sounds pretty strong though, and my idle is a little rough, kind of hops between 700 and 800 and coughs down at 650 very occasionally.

https://youtu.be/lcFewagePvM

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Build Projects / Re: My Nissan 200sx S12 - Careless Whisper

« Last post by CzechSilvia on 01:37:32 AM / 26-May-18  »

1. Finding powersteering fluid inside would be bad sign, it should only be greased. If I were you, I would clean the inside from the old grease, as it's probably contaminated with dirt or other garbage from outside, and then put some new grease in and replace the boots, they are not that expensive, the part number of the boot I used for both sides of the steering rack is 48203-05F00 .

2. Never had a car with automatic gearbox so I don't know much about that, I didn't even know they had oil pans but I'm pretty sure they should not leak, seems like you have another job to add to your TO-DO list.

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Build Projects / Re: My Nissan 200sx S12 - Careless Whisper

« Last post by darquizard on 02:10:51 PM / 25-May-18  »

Well, I had not gotten under the car very much at all since I bought it, but I found a couple of troubling things

1. The steering rack boots on both sides are torn completely, I'm not sure if there should be grease in these or power steering fluid or something, they appear to be greasy but empty. Major concern? Something that can wait a few months? Don't drive at all starting now?

2. The transmission fluid pan appears to be leaking, very very slowly. But there is bright red trans fluid on a few of the bolts, and the whole pan has a little bit of fluid on it in various places. Is this is a difficult fix? Just pop the pan off after draining trans fluid and then re-install with a new gasket? Or something more to it than that?

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Build Projects / Re: My Nissan 200sx S12 - Careless Whisper

« Last post by darquizard on 01:24:09 PM / 22-May-18  »

Not a lot of work done on the car the past couple of weeks. My wife and I got an offer accepted on a house though, so with any luck and if the VA loan goes through okay, we'll be moving at the end of June and I'll have a proper, large 2-car garage (24'x24'!!!!) to work in.

The tail lights have been wet sanded with 600, then 1200, and then 2000 grit sandpaper, and applied clear coat to them.  I am a total novice when it comes to spraying / painting. Had some really bad runs with the clear, I got the technique down towards the end so I'll need to re-do them but for now, they look way better than they did before.

Tailights


Also as I'm getting ready for paint slowly but surely. I've gotten the rubber door molding removed so I can get at the small dents and dings.

This was actually a long process, I used the heat gun and slowly removed them from the car. The trick to getting the old foam glue off is a very sharp flat razor, get a nice cut under the foam and then run the blade as far and smoothly as possible. I've got about 99% of the glue off, still needs some touch up, but I have a feeling the paint stripper will pretty much take care of the rest when it's time for that.



I've also re-hung the passenger side door, it was also starting to become poorly aligned, now that i knew how to do it - I just had to remove the passenger side quarter panel and get at the bolts, jacked it up and fixed it no problems at all.

Also the hatch shocks were replaced with MightyLift shocks, they seem to be working great and installed without any issues, the hatch opens very easily now, booyah!

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Build Projects / Re: 87 200sx CA20E A/T (for now MWHAHAHA)

« Last post by Skeeter on 07:23:25 AM / 19-May-18  »

Finally got my hands on a decent set of used coilovers. Once it stops raining every day, I can actually finish the conversion.

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Handling Tech / Re: Stiffer Springs

« Last post by Skeeter on 07:19:15 AM / 19-May-18  »

I've got a full Z31 Eibach Pro-Kit setup on my mk2 hatch (thanks to the previous owner) and they're pretty stiff, also progressive rate. I think the dimensions on the front springs are different from S12 to Z31, but not positive. From looking at pics of other's cars, it doesn't seem to be too much lower than stock, maybe 1" all the way around lower since the 12 is lighter than the Z. You can run 280zx springs on the front and Z31 in the back. Most aftermarket springs out there will lower 1-2", but have higher rates.

You might look into the MOOG replacement springs if you want stock ride height. I don't remember what the rates are, though. Happy hunting!

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Build Projects / Re: The story of my Silvia in my tiny little garage

« Last post by CzechSilvia on 02:58:53 PM / 18-May-18  »

Wow great progress on your build so far. Keep it up! I'd like to upgrade to the BC coils as well down the road one day. Being the s12 is just my daily driver though I hate to give up the cushy stock suspension. Or maybe I'm just getting old and turning into a wimp lol.

Love the ca18det upgrade. Obviously its not nearly as common as the sr20 swap but is a timeless classic nonetheless. Really underrated power plant if your not looking for crazy horsepower numbers. Only major drawback it seems to have is aftermarket support being a lot more limited compared to the sr20 but that is to be expected and not a deal breaker by any means.

Thanks, there's more to come! The stock soft and tired suspension was what was bothering me the most when I was driving it, now I'm finally happy with how the suspension feels. The swap is a longer-term project, rebuilding the CA18DET and the modifications I'm planning to do to it will be expensive and there's nothing wrong with the engine that's in the car now so I can drive the car as is until I save up the money I need.

I didn't even consider the SR although I know a guy who has one in his s12. In my opinion the 16valve CA is at home in the s12, it's the engine the car was supposed to have from the factory, that and the turbo FJ. Funny thing is I wasn't originally planning on swapping the engine because of how expensive it is and it's also generally very sketchy legally because they check the engine with what's in your papers at tech inspection but I saw the ca18det for sale for cheap and just couldn't resist. I think I'll be fine as far as law or tech inspection is concerned, my papers state that the car has an "CA18" engine which will still be technically true after the swap.

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Build Projects / Re: My Nissan 200sx S12 - Careless Whisper

« Last post by Redneck on 09:58:26 PM / 16-May-18  »

The 5 lug s14 SE wheels as well as the ford crown vic wheels are very common wheel upgrades for the s12 SE that look good and can be had for cheap. I ran the s14 wheels on my old SE before it got totaled and loved em for a basic wheel upgrade.

Upgrading the seats in the s12 seems to be somewhat of an endeavor. I haven't researched the subject extensively but from what I have gathered the rails are kind of a pain to modify. Totally doable but unfortunately just like with most things on the s12 its not like you can just pick up some aftermarket seat rails online. I'd imagine there is lots of old threads you can search regarding seats though if your more interested. Luckily engine and suspension upgrades are pretty straightforward, generally speaking s13 engines/suspension swaps over with relatively minimal modifications in that department.

Sadly the forums are pretty dead now compared to what they used to be (thank you social media) but welcome to cs12 lol.

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Build Projects / Re: The story of my Silvia in my tiny little garage

« Last post by Redneck on 09:05:43 PM / 16-May-18  »

Wow great progress on your build so far. Keep it up! I'd like to upgrade to the BC coils as well down the road one day. Being the s12 is just my daily driver though I hate to give up the cushy stock suspension. Or maybe I'm just getting old and turning into a wimp lol.

Love the ca18det upgrade. Obviously its not nearly as common as the sr20 swap but is a timeless classic nonetheless. Really underrated power plant if your not looking for crazy horsepower numbers. Only major drawback it seems to have is aftermarket support being a lot more limited compared to the sr20 but that is to be expected and not a deal breaker by any means.

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Lounge / Re: Where did our Silvia take us this time?

« Last post by Redneck on 07:47:21 PM / 16-May-18  »

I'm a little late to the party but nice thread czech. Pictures are displaying fine for me and I don't have a dropbox account. It's weird noticing small differences in euro model stuff sometimes. I'm not an sw20 expert by any means, just know the basics about them, but I instantly noticed the front bumper seemed to look a little different from the american models. Sure enough here is a stock usdm model front end for comparison.



And euro.



Not a huge difference but the relocated side marker light and front light going orange/clear/orange on the euro model really makes the front end look a lot sleeker in my opinion. Same thing with your tail lights. Love the Mk1 s12 euro tail lights. They just look soooo much sleeker then the Mk1 s12 american tail lights. The usdm Mk1 "6 pack" tail lights aren't necessarily ugly but I don't really find them sleek or sexy either.

Anyway, don't want to derail the thread topic, just seems like a fair amount of the euro model stuff has small differences compared to the usdm cars that make them look more streamlined and sleeker. And as an american getting the often slightly uglier usdm stuff... I'm jealous haha.