Daily Driver 5.3L/4L60E S14 Build

[bprzybyl]

Getting the entire rear subframe to the condition it's in has taken forever.

Process was (assuming everything's already torn apart):
Burn out bushings
Cut out bushing shell
sand blast/clean
paint
install poly bushings (poly part only)
install grease zerk
install bushing center

^ and do that on all 8 arms in the subframe. I totally half-assed the subframe itself, I just sprayed the rust spots with rust converter, and painted the whole thing. Of course, that's after removing the subframe bushings and diff bushings. I'm hoping it's going to be worth it, because it was a ton of work.

Regardless, looks like I'm going to attempt the diff-


(10) 0.031" shims, (10) 0.002" shims, and (10) 0.001" shims. This should allow me to create any shim I want in 0.001" increments. They're made to inch dimensions as opposed to metric, so there will be a little space between the center of the shim and the pinion shaft (35mm vs 38.1mm). I've asked around to verify, and nobody thinks it'll be a problem. The bag with the 0.001" shims feels like it has nothing in it.

Instead of completely redoing the trans mount, I'm going to try and use what I already have. The big issue is the left most support that goes from the shifter hole to the part that mounts to the original crossmember holes is in the way of the future shifter arm. Pictures of crossmember and new shifter setup below:

[jmac636]

Looking good man! Your build has helped me a bunch on figuring out what I need for my v8 build. I have 2 S14's. One is a fully built holset boosted Ka-t @20psi. I daily it at 15psi and have put over 15k miles on it since being boosted. I love to customize my vehicles so now that I am done with my red S14 it's time to move on to the other S14 that I call my wifes. Is their any way you could get a measurement of your driveshaft for me please? Center of u-joint to center of u-joint cup. I know yours is a little tight so I may make it a tad bit shorter than yours. I am just trying to get everything ready before starting my build. I have the same setup 5.3 /4l60e and a j30 vlsd going. I have an aluminum f-body drive shaft I'll be resizing soon. Thanks.

[bprzybyl]

Hey, sorry I haven't gotten that measurement yet, I've barely even had a chance to work on my car.

Was supposed to be in the garage all day today, ended up spending most of the day at work. Not to thrilled about that.

As far as progress on the car (pitiful) I've got the rear suspension 80% back together. As far as the front suspension, I'm just going to install bushings and ball joints in the stock arms and throw them back in.

Also got these guys-

EIBACH SPORTLINES FROM CANADA!!

They were cheap, and not cut like the stockers on there now.

The grease zerks, while a ton of work, have worked great to grease the bushings. I obviously haven't used them enough to wear out the grease, so that'll be the real test.

Being that we're now 8 days away from when I wanted to be driving the car, I'm looking at cutting down the work to do to a bare minimum, which I would quantify as

• Finish reassembly outside the car
  
• Mount linkage based shifter
  
• fix wipers

With that stuff, I'd be comfortable dailying the nissan. I should probably add in getting all the crap under the dash back in, as well as the dash. But there's no need to really. You may notice I left out the differential. It's simply not necessary to get everything running again (assuming it's not trashed) and I'd need to visit the tuner to get the PCM reprogrammed to 3.54 rear gears as well.

Fun Stuff.

[HasNoTiresLeft]

jealous of your diff Im in the same boat, got some small stuff to finish up then ill be back to beating on it.

[bprzybyl]

From the site:

Local forum event happening about an hour away, so now I'm in a rush to get as much done to get it roadworthy. With all the suspension work, an alignment is now a necessity. So, things I was going to put off have now been bumped up to priority.

Shortlist:
-Front Ball Joints
-Inner & Outer Tie Rod Ends
-install bushings in FLCAs
-refinish LCAs
-Install Tension Rods
-Mount Springs
-reconnect fuel lines and figure out something for a tank breather
-reinstall trunk mounted battery
-tighten power steering fitting to fix leak
-Fix wipers in case of rain
-POSSIBLY IF THERE'S TIME redo my shifter

The shifter is the biggie, as right now i've still been lazy and haven't even mounted the cable shifter. I'm looking into using the old grand am shifter I was going to try using before, and it just might work.

So, hoping to get everything done at the latest by friday night so I can get an alignment on sunday.

I promise pics and moving pictures if I make it to the event.

[bprzybyl]

Current state at about 2:00AM


So this is going to be the most boring update to everyone otherwise.

Accomplishments:
front springs changed
front lcas out
tension rods out
tie rods disconnected from spindles

Final Goal:
Get alignment done

Tasks before goal (In order of expected completion):
Recondition LCAs
-Press out ball joints
-sandblast & paint
-install bushings & zerks (might not with how easy these come apart)
-reinstall
Tie Rods!
-pick up r&p boots/bellows
-Remove/Install tie rod ends and bellows
Springs:
-install rear springs & reinstall spring/strut
Exhaust
-Reinstall
Battery
-Attach ground cable somewhere
-run vent tube
-tidy up
Fuel system
-re-attach lines
-figure out a vent
Shifter
-If there's time (HIGHLY IMPLAUSIBLE) make cable one work
-if not, reinstall old cable operated

I think that's it, with that stuff done I can get an alignment done. And with an alignment, I can destroy tires.

I'll throw up another update tomorrow night.

[kirk]

Sounds dumb. Just quit working on it already!!

[bprzybyl]

[bprzybyl]

So I managed to get stuff in traffic, which is infuriating when I leave for work with enough time to get there under normal driving conditions but traffic makes me 20 minutes late. I did manage to use the time for good though.

Using the Aeroforce Scangauge I have, I took a look at the temperatures available to me. It was stop and go, which I would think is the worst possible condition for cooling (besides burnouts ). With ambient temperature around 60*F, my coolant temp slowly raised up to around 197*F, from the typical ~190*F. Transmission temperature never got above 170*F, which sort of worries me because 170*F is the sweet spot for autos as far as I know.

More interesting was my IAT. It topped 150*F and I believe it knowing how hot that bay gets. But once I got moving again, it dropped down to around 100*F, and finally dropped to around 80*F once I had a few minutes of 60+MPH driving in.

This just makes me want to build a shroud around the intake, and to wrap the intake tube with heat wrap.

Other than that, I haven't been updating because I've been out driving! The accelerator pedal throw is ridiculously short, so i'm going to see if the tuner can change that once I get a chance to get over there. I've been getting decent gas mileage so far as well, I'm estimating around 20mpg.

JEGS rules as far as shipping. I ordered a shifter cable to finally make a permanent solution for the shifter (I don't think the unimatic is gonna last much longer) so I won't have to awkwardly shift the vehicle each time. I ordered yesterday afternoon, and apparently fedex says my item will be at my doorstep by days end. Awesome, awesome to the max.

I need to get up some cool pictures for you guys. I've got this monkey on my back pressuring me to go do burnouts somewhere as well, and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold out.

[bprzybyl]

My engine bay fuse box has been aggravating me, so I think I might have an interim solution:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=10030-223-E987RR&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3256600&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

Basically, I'll paint that garbage flat black, and throw it in the spot where the battery used to be. That way I can just run a battery cable to it, and call it a day. Won't be hidden, but should be much better than the garbage way I've been showing off my engine fuse box. Plus it'll be much more weather proof.

Other than that still dragging my feet on the interior wiring...maybe this weekend I'll get to it. I really just don't want downtime. I used some Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner (I HIGHLY recommend Lucas products) and it seems the engine has become much more controllable. I passed someone today going around 40, stepped on the pedal a bit, trans flawlessly downshifted (assuming 4-3, i'd bet I'm in 4 90% of the time), and it planted beautifully. After getting back in the lane, I was somehow going ~72 . More and more I find myself saying "this was totally worth it".

[TurboGoKart]

Heck yeah man!! Glad to see it all coming together!!

_________________
If you want something done right, do it yourself.

[Briggs]

Car looks good man. I want your Navan front. Did that guy on the bike get hurt. It always hurt my ankles landing on flat ground. I know that had to hurt his legs.

_________________
-JOSHUA-

240 vert -drifting "Lucy" in progress
S14 Zenki -DD
2007 civic si -wifes DD

[bprzybyl]

Thanks, I love the navan bumper, I wish the sides were more available/affordable. I have a set of kouki sides, just haven't had the time to put them on. As for the guy on the bike, it was absurd to watch. All I could think was that he was gonna land on the S2000's fender or hood. He didn't seem phased by the landing though.

As for my car, I took apart the trans mount so I could redo it, and just finished putting it back together. I've gotta fix my camaro so I can sell it, and I don't feel like changing lower intake manifolds out in the driveway. So, nissan had to come out of the garage. All of this is so I can make room for a new-to-me '03 WRX I'm buying off a co-worker for very cheap. It needs some maintenance done to it, but otherwise is in great shape.

[Green Durant]

I also vote in opposition to painting them.

_________________
Wholesale Gucci Shoes
Nike Shox Shoes
Polo Shirts Wholesale

[bprzybyl]

HELLO!


Had to do my first repair on the swap, the transmission output shaft seal was leaking. In the event anyone's gotta do that, a 2" PVC pipe cap fits the face of the seal perfect to tap it in. It didn't wanna tap in with just a hammer around the edges, so 3 seals later, it was done.

So I decided to take it for a drive, I seem to be getting terrible gas mileage. My guestimate is somewhere around 15mpg. Regardless, I had a blast driving it around. I even used a wire to get the drivers window down.

Speaking of which, if anyone has a 95 Driver side Window switch (the connector has a long row of small pins a a long row of wide pins) they wanna get rid of, PM me a price.

BUT, I also found you can get your car weighed at a Certified Scale at a truck stop for $9.50. So, missing 4.2 gallons of gas and without the passenger seat, my car weighs 2980lbs. There's still a bunch of crap I need to get rid of, but I'm pretty happy with the weight. That's an aluminum block with a 4L60E (roughly 60lbs more than T56?).

I also took off the spoiler as seen above, and managed to damage the paint when doing so. It might've been that way before, but whatever. So, I may try spraying the trunk or getting some 3M DI-NOC vinly carbon fiber. I've always liked white cars with CF trunks/hoods.