James LuPix's S14a Track Project

[James_S15]

Hi all...

Guess it's about time I spent a little time kicking off my 14a track project thread

To cut a long story short, I purchased a pretty much stock red 200SX earlier this year and during the same time, I was in the process of moving house so the new double garage wasn't quite ready to use Luckily, a good mate of mine Gav from The Speed Factory kindly let me store the car at his unit and with time permitting, I was able to travel up (about 1.5 hours drive each way) every few months and start to move the project forwards!

A couple of mates came up with me to help strip the sound deadening and clean up the nasty residue left behind. Never again! The air chisel was a total life saver Then Gav and I painted the interior the same colour as the rest of the car so glad all of that has been done and dusted! The Speed Factory also helped to completely underseal the underside of the car and replace the fuel lines which were starting to rot in certain places underneath.

So, fast forward to end of November and my garage at home was finally cleared and ready to store my project so I hired a van plus trailer and brought her back home

With a fulltime job that keeps me extremely busy, a weekend photography business (hence the name 'LuPix') and also a family including two kids, time is limited hence I do most of my work late into the evening. A cold beer plus some tunes on the iPhone is what keeps me going at 2.00am in the early hours hehe


Pics I took recently...




Aircon system removed, stock turbo and mani removed so I can fit new gaskets/3" elbow etc. Stock rad will be replaced with Koyo twin core item. Japspeed FMIC plus Speedflow oil cooler/relocation kit also sourced and ready to fit...




Making my garage look like home as I'll be spending a lot of time in here lol. The blue S15 pics on the left is my previous car (all my own photography work except for the mental S14 Banzai feature which is there as inspiration!)...




Tidied up the interior wiring, removed the aftermarket alarm fitted by previous owner, installed Apex 6-point cage and original dash has been cut ready to fit back in...






Spent a good 6 months collecting parts! Some are brand new (big shout to Gav@Speed Factory, Dan@SRB Power, Albe@Knight-Racer and Leon@EP Racing) but managed to get good deals off the SXOC and DW 'For Sale' sections as well

[James_S15]

The plan is to build a near 400 bhp track machine but for the next few months, I'll be happy just to get her up to 280+ bhp with all the basic mods combined with a H-Dev 1a chip


Still not sure about running the Daiyama coilovers so if I can get a decent used JDM or CS2 system then I'll jump on these and sell of the ones I've got on the car!


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[James_S15]

Happy New Year!!


After hours of grinding and filing the engine mount top nut which had rounded off and wasn't removable by conventional means, it's finally popped off




Now I can move onto something more interesting


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[turbonutter]

Nice collection of parts!!!

[James_S15]

Cheers mate - should keep me busy over next couple months


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[James_S15]

Apex race spec engine mounts now on the car





Test fitted the FMIC (thanks stevecrc!) which sits perfect!

[munkul]

sounds like you're not messing about

with regards to the daiyamas, they are very supple but firm coilies, definitely worth trying! I've had a set for a year and absolutely love em, and lots of people have commented on how supple they are, in spite of the stiff springs!

[James_S15]

Cheers dude


Nice to hear good reviews about the Daiyamas... it's hard to find used CS2 or decent branded JDM coilovers so I think I'll be sticking with these for at least the next 12 months. Firm is good since this car will pretty much live on the track

[James_S15]

Few updates:


Battery relocation junction box installed to one side of the engine bay fuse box...





DW super low passenger seat rail test fitted...





Quick test of the relocation wiring with new battery using... jump leads lol





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[Dare]

Looks like you had a bit of a headache with that engine mount, has really put me off replacing mine seeing that! Nice collection of parts, what do you have planned next?

Must be so much nicer to have your project back home with you where it belongs, i'm going to be leaving mine at The Speed Factory for a couple of days soon and dreading it.

[James_S15]

Looks like you had a bit of a headache with that engine mount, has really put me off replacing mine seeing that! Nice collection of parts, what do you have planned next?

Must be so much nicer to have your project back home with you where it belongs, i'm going to be leaving mine at The Speed Factory for a couple of days soon and dreading it.

TBH the engine mounts were only a ballache cos the one nut rounded off and I had to grind it apart!! If I was maybe more careful and had my propane flame gun at that time then it would have come off ok... the rest only took about an hour to sort out

I'm just currently putting together braided hoses with joiners/connectors which is also proving to be a ballache but got some handy tips on the net in terms of using electrical tape before I make the cut on the hose which is working... these are parts that will make up my oil cooler etc. Also putting together FMIC as I've had to order a full set of boost hoses in red as I didn't want the blue hoses it came with lol!!


Yeah it's great having the car home to work on now... means I can take my time etc. I'm sure Gav will take good care of yours

[James_S15]

Some more progress...


Been spending a few hours trying to put together the oil cooler kit Came with oil filter relocation as well but I decided for ease of fitting and to reduce the number of damn braided hose connectors I had to fit I could live with the SR filter staying where it usually lives and crack on with just installing the oil cooler section


Still found using electrical tape plus junior hacksaw the best way to get a straight cut with no fraying...




-10 AN hoses fitted to sandwich plate...




Testing oil cooler location...




12V demisting units have arrived! Now in process of installing these underneath the cut dash




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[Chriscooke]

How much were those demisting units? Could be perfect for my landrover if they work :nod;

[James_S15]

How much were those demisting units? Could be perfect for my landrover if they work :nod;

Just over £26 before delivery:

http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/product/E...t_Heater_DEMST

[Sean-B]

Looking good so far matey.

[James_S15]

Cheers dude We really have to meet up soon!! It's been a while

[Sean-B]

Cheers dude We really have to meet up soon!! It's been a while

Indeed we must!

Are the D2 callipers the same as the K Sport ones?

[James_S15]

Are the D2 callipers the same as the K Sport ones?

I'm not sure TBH what the difference is mate?? I've heard some people say because they look pretty much identical they come from the same 'Chinese' factory or wherever they are manufactured but then others have said they are different parts/components completely?!


Another update as I took Friday off work and have been busy since!!

12V demister units finally fitted...




Couple of mates came along to help me progress on some wiring/soldering...




Set to work on some custom carbon fibre centre console switch panel fabrication... love working with the stuff




Demister units fully wired up (direct power supply from relocated battery)... they work!!

[James_S15]

And so the project continues...


Finally soldered and wired up all the bits for the FIA battery cut off switch




Carbon centre console with provisional switches all fitted...




Oil cooler bracket fabrication...




Oil cooler finally fitted nice and snug...

[Random Tim]

Looking good matey. Gives me inspiration to just make mine work!!!