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Thread: C33 laurel with rb25det

  1. #1
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    C33 laurel with rb25det

    So my S14a is now no more. However I know how you guys like something different and seemed to enjoy my cedric build thread I thought I’d share my new toy with you all, a c33 laurel with rb25det

    The shell is on 33k kilometres with a series 2 rb25det supposedly around 64k kilometres but with no proof and no knowledge exactly on what’s been done as everything was converted in Japan. From what I’ve worked out so far it’s got hybrid turbo (small front housing and spools super quick) r32 apexi power F.C. (a.p engineering version to run rb25det) front mount intercooler, red jacket coils, hks air filter, tein coil overs, rota grids, nardi wheel, blitz turbo timer and a Japanese double din Unit.





    So that’s how it arrived.

    It did have a few issues, firstly I couldn’t start it due to a flat battery, so ripped out the old mini battery



    Then got to work on doing a relocate





    Got it all mounted and fitted a separate fuse board for any new feeds I need in the future.





    Then ran through the car, annoyingly I couldn’t just peel the edge back and had to remove the rear seats and drivers seat and peel back the carpet to run it how I wanted.







    Then followed the engine loom (already run over the top of suspension turret from engine conversion) and connected back up to the original wiring and swapped out the engine earth for a nice thick 0 gauge as the stock one was really thin.

    So that got it started but it wasn’t running right, the guy I brought it from said there was a loose wire on the coil pack connector on cylinder 2 so put it down to that.

    I thought whilst I was in the boot though I might as well fit a walbro and get it hardwired. So got the old one out



    And then noticed the wires were so brittle they’d started loosing their outer coating so resoldered new cables in and fitted the new pump



    Then tucked the relay out the way under the rear light



    So I had a spare half hour up my unit so decided to change the air filter







    Think it was safe to say that it needed doing!
    Whilst it was off I thought I’d clean the maf and spruce the cage up a little



    Then all back together





    Then went to start it up and..... NOTHING! By then I had to leave, so trouble for another day.




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    So with the running rough but seeming to get better once up to temp before the non starting, I thought I’d clean out the idle control valve





    It was quite black but even after a clean it was still quite dirty inside but seemed fine, so refitted and then thought it would be a good idea to change the coolant temp sensor



    Received a Sr20det one instead?! So swapped it for the right one but still wouldn’t fire up. So decided to check the wiring on the coil pack loom as I knew there was a bad connection on at least one connector.



    Found some loose pins on a couple of connectors so re pinned them, then after inspecting the loom decided to remake it and redo all connections and add in an extra earth. Then wrapped it with red conduit I had lying around





    Still nothing! So thought I best check for fuel, there was plenty and New pump was working nicely. So then on to spark.... found I had a dead coil pack, 2 were very weak and then 3 were normal, so that made up my mind to go for r8 coil conversion. As I wasn’t 100% on the loom even after I’d redone the joins etc I decided to order a premade conversion loom





    Although the r8 are quite a bit larger than standard



    Even being so much bigger they still fit in a fashion, so carried on







    Had to temporarily run the carbon canister lines over the brace to give me space for the coils but will be removing that soon anyway, just didn’t want to keep doing bits until I fixed the non starting issue. Once the coils were fitted she fired! Got up to temp and was running nice...... until I went to move the car, as soon as I touched the throttle and disturbed the idle it bounced for a while until settling. So me and a mate did a little investigating with a screwdriver and it sounded like the water pump isn’t running as smooth as it should, sounded a little rough and the bottom rad hose was stone cold. So ordered a mishimoto cool thermostat and as they had a sale on and I had new rad hoses to fit I ended up buying a mishimoto rad too.











    It’s snug but it fits, so did the thermostat at the same time



    Needed a good clean







    Got that all back together, then all that was left was the new expansion bottle, so got that fitted and tightened hoses, filled up etc etc



    Only had yellow silicone tube for the expansion bottle as I’ve been having some issues getting red? But it was all back together and swapping a bit of tube can be done at anytime, so all that was left is bleed the system back through. Went to start it and nothing again!!!! Tried easy start, nothing, so checked the gap on my plugs and regapped them to .5



    That’s my plugs I’m running. Even with the gap changed there was nothing, so I have fuel and I have spark, engine cranks freely but shows no sign of firing, when I pulled the plugs there was fuel on them too, so that’s where I’m up to now and I’m pretty lost on the non start issue, any ideas would be welcomed


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  3. #3
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    Update

    So with the non starting I thought I best change the plugs as I’ve read a lot about people not being able to fire up rb25dets with spark but it still being plugs



    Also changed from Bkr8eix to bkr7eix as I thought they might be a bit too cold. Swapped them over with standard gapping and fired with ease straight away! Happy days as my next solution was the cas.

    I’ve also got a track day coming up pretty soon and the brakes are shocking! So thought I best do something about that before I go, when I broke my S14a I just dropped the rear subframe whole so I thought let’s just get that bolted on, then I get 5 stud, better brakes, adjustable arms etc etc so set about it



    Old subframe ready to go in





    I decided just dropping the original subframe out whole would be the easiest option again, so stripped the drums down so I could keep the stock handbrake cables, put the wheels back on and dropped it out.



    Then I had to remove my solid bushes and a set of conversion bushes I had fitted to a spare subframe, then reinstall the conversion bushes to my frame ready to bolt up







    Once I’d swapped all the bushes it was a case of man handle it back under the car and bolt it up





    So it went up pretty easily, stripped the brakes back down and attached the stock cables, I need to get longer braided lines before I can hook up the calipers so thought I’d fit the suspension



    Left - s14 hsds
    Middle - teins (already on the car)
    Right - cheap s13 (lying around for mocking up my cedric)

    So didn’t quite know what suspension I’d be using, so now it’s off I thought I’d have a look, S14 clearly isn’t going to work, s13 top mount is the same and will adjust to the heights I need so I guess I’ll be going for s13. For now though I thought I’d just refit the teins, that’s when I noticed the next issue



    The shock wants to sit right where the camber arm is?!?! So don’t know if this will cause me issues or stop the arm from performing correctly but everything works if I flip the direction of the curve on the camber arm





    It’s all a bit tight but it fits, I have emailed driftworks to check on the direction of the arms, so until I hear back from them I’ll leave them like that for now. Also got my old xxrs fitted to see how I was going to be sitting







    I’m going to have to roll the arches but on the whole very happy! Think the extra 25mm track width on each side has made it sit really well

    Ideally I also wanted to keep my original diff as it’s a 2way and not a welder like I used to run but noticed the casing is completely different so decided to stick with my welder, hopefully should make it a little more controllable as from what I’ve found so far it’s a 4.63 diff standard (goes sideways as soon as you hit boost) and my welder is only a 4.1.









    That’s the old diff if anybody knows what housing that is?



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  4. #4
    Guest ianlea73's Avatar
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    Great update mate.

  5. #5
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    Cheers mate, hopefully this one will have quite a few more updates in the next few weeks


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    Update

    Not a lot on this one, just a few little bits that were annoying me

    Already had a nardi fitted but I didn’t really like it and wanted a snap off boss too so treated my self to a new nardi and nrg short hub with snap off boss



    New goodies ready to go on



    Old nardi



    Short hub adaptor and snap off fitted





    New dishes wheel fitted, I test fitted with my old bucket seat and gives me the perfect driving position now

    Whilst I was doing bits to the interior I had to do something with the horrible richbrook universal knob!



    That quickly got thrown in the bin!





    Now replaced with a very Japanese flower and fishing hook know with 4” extension bar, I live the long knob teamed with short shifter combo so will order a new short shifter up soon too


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    your old weird diff is an R180. not very strong.

    what wheel nuts are those long ones? (in your xxr fitted pictures)

  8. #8
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    Oh right, cheers for identifying that for me.

    They were extended neo chrome wheel nuts with spiked tops (looked like chariot spikes) think 326 do something similar now as the neo chrome just flakes straight off the cheap ones like mine


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  9. #9
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    the r180 basically came on poverty low power cards like none turbo r32's and s13's etc.. just has a smaller crownwheel so more likely to strip the teeth of the thing. subarus use them.

    I will look the nuts up, it was just the fact they have a hex all the way to the end whereas most have a crappy knurled section at the end.

  10. #10
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    Nice project. Looks like you may need to swap to s13 camber arms perhaps?
    1998 Nissan 200sx s14a , 2000 std 5 speed with nismo supercoppermix clutch bn6 Sapphire Blue

  11. #11
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    Cheers mate, I did think that but thought s14 arms where longer? Wasn’t sure if s13 would have enough adjustment? I have emailed driftworks to ask if they’re ok like that so see what they say


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  12. #12
    Guest Hugh Janus's Avatar
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    Looks good dude

  13. #13
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    Getting there mate, hopefully have it out soon so you can see it in person lol


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  14. #14
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    Update

    So the past few days have been quite busy with the car. Spoke to driftworks and a few people about the direction of my rear camber arms and have been advised to use s13 camber arms, so they were waiting for me when I got home yesterday. Now all I need to finish off the rear is some braided lines as my old ones didn’t fit, so I’ve order up some custom lines from hel, just waiting on them to show up now too.

    So as I’d pretty much finished the rear I turned my attention to the front. I already had lock mods that I’d kept from my S14a so I’d ordered an r33 modified subframe a while ago with the intention of just bolting everything up.



    As you might be able to see the angle for the engine mounts are completely different, so at this point I was pretty balls deep with And engine swinging above my head from an engine crane so had to fit the New one temporarily



    That was never going to work! So took my original subframe down to a mates and he very kindly and quickly helped me modify my original subframe









    All moved forward, measures the same as the others I had already and to be honest I think looks like a better job than the one I’d originally brought anyway and as my next track day is with the mate that welded it up and he didn’t want it failing and me going straight in to his car on track he added quite a few additional strengthers.

    So whilst I was doing the subframe I thought it would make sense to do my engine mounts, I went poly this time as the solid mounts in my S14a were a bit mental



    They’re quite a bit longer than the originals and I don’t have any room at all to raise my engine! So carefully chopped them down to the same size as original



    Got that all bolted back up and all was good. So then on to fitting the rack, I kept my old S14a rack with extended track rods, ends and spacers etc so I wanted to just drop that in as my rack didn’t look to clever anyway and thought this would be quicker...... oh how I was wrong! Haha after finally getting the rack in (not easy with the bell housing supports on an rb and the rack moved forward 20mm) I had trouble trying to connect the bloody thing! The swivel connector really wouldn’t have it



    So in the end after resupporting the engine a few times and dropping the subframe a few times and a lot of swearing finally got the swivel back on! Then I noticed I couldn’t get the bolt in as S14a was a little further up the splined shaft and there wasn’t a flat spot to allow the bolt to fit and it now hit on my clutch line cooler/bleeder



    So I’ve basically wasted a day fannying around with this now and had enough of this poxy frame and rack, so I decided I was going to have to resupport the engine And drop the subframe yet again, then remove the S14a swivel and fit the original off the car. So in the end I finally got there, rack all bolted back in, steering working!

    Then whilst the system was empty I thought it’s the perfect time to fit my new power steering reservoir, hunted high and low only to realise that hasn’t even turned up yet! So whilst I was there I tidied a few cables in that area that were too long from the engine conversion and decided to finally remove my carbon canister and a few other annoying little bits





    I forgot to take some pics after I’d done them bits but it looks a lot better to me now anyway! Then I started bolting the front hubs and arms etc. Everything was still set from S14a as I thought that would be a good base to get alignment done from but once I bolted the lcas up I couldn’t get my kinked tension rods to line up, so I wound them all the way in and still no where near! So unsure if I can actually use these arms on this conversion I left it at that and went home to do some research






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    Update


    So slowly but surely I’m starting to tidy up the bay a bit





    Had a most of the last few bits I needed to finish off and get the old girl on the road



    Very impressed with the speed of these hel lines, all custom apart from the clutch line and still came next day!



    Not so impressed with the driftworks camber arms, they came quickly as usual for driftworks but both arms have lots of chips/bad finish and can’t see them looking good for very long





    But as I needed them quickly and didn’t have time to fanny around sending back etc they’re going on as is

    But seeing as I had my new brake lines I thought I best finish the brakes first. So quickly swapped my bmc as mine was leaking



    Had to add in a loop and T as I only had abs bm57s and mine was fitted with non abs originally. Whilst I was on the brakes I thought I might as well finally get round to sorting my brake adaptors out



    So removed stock S14a discs and calipers





    And on with the 315mm discs, adaptors, z32 calipers And New braided lines. Hopefully the brake on this now should be a massive improvement over the standard single pot rear and twin pot fronts!



    The rear lines also fitted perfectly



    Also fitted the new clutch line and managed to remove the stupid cooler/bleed block too







    And couldn’t resist having a little test fit with some 18s I had lying around and I couldn’t be happier with how this car is going to sit

    All that’s left now is bolt up 1 front tension rod when I get a new rose joint delivered from driftworks, bleed brakes and clutch and take her for alignment, hopefully should get all this done this week and start getting a feel for the car next weekend


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  16. #16
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    Mini update

    Managed to get a few more little bits done now and nearly ready to get her back on road



    Swapped and roughly aligned the new camber arms



    Changed my power steering reservoir and bleed the power steering through, the oem lines are a little short, that’s why it’s sitting pissed but I’ve got some new braided lines on the way so I’ll swap them over and get it sitting properly when I do



    Then I attempted to bleed the brakes through and I had leaks! I had this on my 200sx aswell, the stock steel lines and nuts don’t seal on the t-piece is fitted so quickly whipped it off and remade my drivers line, line to T and cut back passengers, also made it a bit neater as how I had it before was a real pig to get to clutch etc. Plumbed it all back in and bleed it all through, lovely!

    All that’s left now is bleed the clutch, double check I’ve tightened everything up, roll rear arches, wheels on and then alignment


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    Update

    So as I’ve gone 5 stud and consequently now running 18s instead of 17s I had to roll my rear arches







    Managed to get both sides dead flat and this was the only damage



    I was quite impressed seeing the paint was already cracked in places around the arches due to age.

    Then removed the front arch liners and found this



    It had a couple of bits of foam taped over the gaps, so I’m going to have to reroute the wiper motor cables and try get the bing back in as I don’t plan on refitting the arch liners

    Once I had the liners out I got the front bumper off so I could try fit my new tow eye.



    Had to cut through the bash bar to get to the chassis rail. Then after a bit of fettling and a lot of on and offing with the front bumper was left with this



    Just waiting for the matching rear to turn up then I’ll get that one on too

    Whilst the bumper was off I noticed my intercooler rubber mounts had shat themselves completely and that it was completely free floating!





    Managed to salvage the rubber to make up my own mounts for now



    Then turned my attention to the silicone couplers as they were badly cracked, basically anything rubber on this car has had it!





    And due to them being a bit longer I had to re adjust the rest of my pipework so thought it would be a good time to replace another dodgy joiner I’d found whilst I was doing the lock mods







    The original join looked home made and was so thin it was a joke! Now I feel a lot better about boost leaks so once it’s back on road going to pressure test it and double check I don’t have any more!

    Then moved up a little a decided to fit my new windscreen washer bottle. So found a nice little space next to my rad over flow bottle



    Moved all the wiring from behind the passenger headlight to my new pump on the opposite turret, run new washer jet hoses and mounted the bottle





    Just need to pick up a few clips to secure lines and cables and that’s all done

    And as I’d had a nice delivery from Japan decided to finally fit my bucket seat





    Once I got that fitted and sat in it to see my new position and couldn’t be happier! It’s my first time with side mount and love the additional angle adjustment to the seat and with my new wheel as well, such an improvement over the original spongy, squished and stretched driving position!


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  18. #18
    Guest ANDY black s13's Avatar
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    that was a good read,I like these ,I should have got one before they went up

  19. #19
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    Cheers mate. Yeah one popped up a couple of years ago with the engine conversion for pretty much the same money but it sold within hours of being listed so I missed out and since then have kept an eye out for another one! So when this popped up I wasn’t going to miss out again!!


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  20. #20
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    Update

    So as usual have been super busy, the cars been having bits done as And when I get time but haven’t had time to update the thread so I’ll have to catch up now.

    So as said before I’m now running 18s And had rolled the arches but was still having clearance issues, so I took the teins off that where on the car when I got it and fitted some spare s13 coilovers I had lying around to see if I could raise it up a little



    That still didn’t work as they didn’t have enough adjustment so I went on the hunt for hsds, which was surprisingly difficult so I ended up with a used (little more than I wanted but didn’t have much choice) set of s13 hsds but they needed work, so stripped them down, left in the parts washer and ordered up new damper adjusters, collars, boots and bushes etc and got to pretty much rebuilding them

    New adjusters



    Burning out the old bushes



    Nice new bushes



    Halfway there



    Only done 1000 Miles apparently lol



    All back together



    So then took the teins off the front and the other coilovers from the rear and got the hsds on





    And pretty happy with it, although it it basically on the limits of the height adjustment so if I have any scrubbing might have to wind the preload up some more





    Then whilst I was waiting for suspension parts to turn up I finally got round to swapping my gear box mount to match the engine mounts





    I didn’t bother bolting on the exhaust hanger as the exhaust is in a poor state so I’m going to alter my stainless exhaust off my S14a to fit as it’s pretty much the same exhaust and it doesn’t line up on that one mount.

    The other crazy idea I had whilst waiting for another suspension collar to arrive was fit a new alarm that I brought back at Christmas.

    That resulted in this



    Due to what this car is there was no help out there so just had to attack the looms in logical places with a multi meter. Although it probably took me a day just to work out how to removed the interior without breaking the brittle 26 year old sun bleached plastics.



    Got it all wired up and all seemed to be working well apart from the window closure module as the relay doesn’t power long enough to get my very slow windows all the way up

    Then when I moved the car the windows started self closing and doors locked etc so I think when the car self locks as they do the alarm gets the same signal and closes windows and arms so I had to pull the fuse on that for now and refit the interior as I’ve got a track day booked and need an mot and alignment and hopefully at least drive the car and see if it needs any tweaks anywhere

    Had to improvise a mount for the ecu as it’s all quite tight behind the kick panel



    Then after a very long Friday night I finally worked out how the trim went back on







    Then had to do a few bits for the mot, so ordered some horns and a relay set and wired a new set in as I didn’t have any original or idea where it was located and have tons of extra wires and connectors in the bay due to the engine swap






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