My first attempt at jdm: Back from the dead 1998 s14a

[auda]

On to the front bushings.

This bushings have no hole thru them, so the first one i just destroyed with a hammer.

Not the recommended way...









The second bushing i drilled a hole thru the rubber part so i could use the saw. Way easier.

The vag pulley i used as a press tool died so here is v2 of the special tool.





Whatever works...

All the solid bushings are in and painted the exposed metal with black hammerrite.



Time for the balancing act.



Normaly i would have disasembled the whole crossmember, painted it and so on.
But my other car is down with a broken clutch, so i had to do the whole job in one day.

Will post some more pics of the height difference on the crossmember compared to the stock bushings.

[auda]

Bought a set of cusco pillow ball upper mounts for the front to get the adjustable camber.
That was before i changed to bilstein shocks in the front.

The stock shock has a m10 nut and the piston rod is 10mm.

So the stock cusco nut is m10 and the spacer is 10mm.



On the bilstein insert the nut is 14mm and the piston rod is 15mm.

Step 1 spacer from a vr4 with 15mm hole.



Step 2 swear a lot when you realise you have ordered the wrong size nut m12 instead of m14

Step 3 got to the nearest auto store and buy a m14x1.5 thread tap...

step 4 Drill the hole with a 12.5mm drillbit.



Step 5 new threads



Here is m14 on the left and m12 on the right.





Stock s14 on the top, modified for bilstein at the bottom.







Looks almost the same from the top.

The difference is that the s14 spacer is 18mm tall while the vr4 spacer is 10mm
So should be 8mm lower with the new setup.



Stock



Bilstein vr4



Hopefully there is still enough clearance for the upper spring seat with stock type lowering springs.
On coilovers there is no problem to use this.

[auda]

Here is the oem strut mount with a 6302 ballbearing to match the bilstein insert.



Oem vs cusco bilstein.



Was a bit worried that the upper spring seat was going to touch the body.
But it worked perfect

[auda]

Summer is closing in, so it is time to get the summer tires ready.

The best option i have is the 18" bbs lm wheels but they need new barrels,lips and tires.
Have to decide which direction i am going with the car before i spend money on them.

Option 2 is the 18"jr 11 wheels, but there i have to change the front rims/tires to narrower type.

Option 3 is the 19"ssr proffesor 3 wheels. I think it is probabely best with 18" on the 200sx.

Anyway decided to test the front wheels on the car. 9.5 et 10 with 265/30 tires.









Had to put on a 5mm spacer to clear the brakes.



Looks like the ssr wheels is the "cheapest" option at the moment.

Have to order some h&r 5mm spacers and a pair of +45mm origin frontfenders.
+ drop it about 2.5cm in the front.

Old picture when i tested the rear wheels 10.5 et 18

[auda]

When i got the car approved i got a remark on the k&n filter. Apperently this gives 20 hp... The guy also said skylines was delivered as left hand drive...

K&n in place.



Pretty big.







It is made for a stock 200sx.



Here you can see the new holes i made to fit the z32 lmm.



So i have to mount a stock/stock looking airbox.

[auda]

When i tested with a stock 200sx airbox there was not enough room for it.
Cant remember what the problem was, but nothing i could change to make it fit.

So in the mount as many vag part as possible on the nissan project...

Her is the airbox from a golf 6 2.0 sdi







Nice and compact.

Large round filter should be able to handle some power.



Removed the original outlet.



Empty.



Cut of the old mounts to get a flat surface



First testfit, looks promising.





With lmm.



Trimmed the hose to the turbo.



Here i have started trimming the airbox so it fits better against the inner fender.



Final testfit with airfilter and lmm.



Here you can see where i trimmed the box and moved one of the old mounts.



Fits pretty good now.



Bottom mount.



outside mount.



It even fits with the bottom hole.



Happy with the look now.



Looks almost stock.

[auda]

It was looking pretty empty where the battery used to be.



When i changed the airfilter i had to move the coolant tank.

Hmm, can make this work.



Height seems pretty good.



Drilled a hole for the bottom guide pin, 1 bolt in the fusebox and mad a new end mount.





Fits better than i thought.

[sx rider]

Good work mate, you're making quick progress with this.

[auda]

Good work mate, you're making quick progress with this.

Thank you

Its a easy car to work on, the hardest part is finding the parts i need for it.

Changed the strut mount on the other side also.



Have to find something to cover them with so they are hidden.

Gave the engine bay a much needed clean.





Starting to look a bit more oem now.
But i have to remove the engine and paint the enginebay sometime.

Origin lab +45mm front fenders and 5mm h&r spacers is on its way

[auda]

Removed the old cracked exhaust mounts.



Have to do somthing about the exhaust tip, at least center it maybe change the tip if possible.



All new rubber mounts.









Have to adjust the exhaust properly when i get the car on a lift.

But at least the annoying vibration from the floor is gone now

Cleaned the interior.





I want to change the dash sometime in the future, maybe if i can find a complete s15 dash....

The s14 looks way to 90s.

[auda]

More packages



Coilover tubes and h&r springs.



Testfit.



The old oem shock housing.



The point of no return.



Presision cutting.



Lenght looks good.



Cleaned up the old weld.





And it fits. Never discount blind luck...



With the shock insert.



Had to adjust the hole on the tophats from 10 to 15mm.



Complete strut.



No clearance.



Luckily i had already planned for this, Eibach camber bolt kit.



Works a charm



Plenty clearance now.



Doesnt look to bad



Have to refresh the shock housing later.

30mm lowering springs.



Homemade adjustable. The spring will settle so this is not the final height.



Fitted dust seal since the dust boot doesnt fit anymore.





The old spring.



Yepp still got tension



Chop chop.



Finished.

[auda]

The spacers arrived.



h&r 5mm spacers.



Knocked the old studs off.



Old vs. new.



Mounting the new studs.



Trimming the dust cap for the shock.



Ready.



Had to adjust the coilover tube also.



Fits perfect, with the help of a hammer.



Looks pretty good.



Finished

[auda]

Time for some adjustment on the grill.





Marked for trimming.



Quite a bit more flow now.

[auda]

Then it was time to change the spark plugs, the car was running a bit rough on idle.

Didnt look to bad.



New plugs gapped to 0.9mm (tfsi coils)



Mounted.

[auda]

Steering time.

The car felt a bit nervous when i was driving it. Look at the angle on the steering arms....







Surprised the car drove as good as it did.

Mounted the gktech arms and adjustable ends.



Much better angle now.





Mounted the joint as far down as possible.



If anyone is wondering how much difference the solid subframe bushes makes in the rear?

It is about 0.4 degrees difference

used to be 2.4, now it is 2



In the front the adjustable lower camber bolts actually adjusted to much.



So with the top mounts on max camber it was still to low.

Put the stock bolts back on and adjusted it.

Still has to much camber in the rear, have to order new adjustable bushings.

[auda]

Then it was time to change the ugly pedals.

Got a full used set for a 350z.

Just remove the old rubber and mount the new one.



350z footrest



After som "minor" adjustments.



The throttel pedal needed a lot of work to fit.





Ready.

[auda]

Just gets better and better

[auda]

I have been super busy, but have managed to do a few things to the car anyway.

First is the sound system in the car, there was no sound from the left side.
Decided to mount a full system to get some good sound.

Dismounted the speaker holder.



Started trimming to fit 6,5" focal k2 speakers



Fits perfect.



soldered on the wires



Stock speaker



Clears the window also



Old but good cadence zrs amplifier

[auda]

Ordered a adapter for the gear knob.



Mounted



s15 knob fits perfect now

[auda]

The origin lab fenders arrived, in bubble wrap



The problem with the bubble wrap is that its almost impossible to see if there is any damage...



And the result





Both upper rear corners was damaged. Trying to buy quality parts was a big fail...

But i had a show to get ready for so pushed on





Making the hole for the bmw blinker



ready for the right side fender