Newbie From The Uk

[Lum]

Hi there.

Been looking for information on Cefiros for a few weeks now and this seems to be the most informative forum out there (well, English speaking one at least!) so figured I'd sign up and join even though I'm in South Wales, UK, rather than Oz or NZ

I've just now started the process of bringing over a 1993 A31 Cefiro SE-4, it's one of the AWD variants (I believe it's based on the Skyline GTS-4) and currently has 28,000 KMs on the clock and an automatic gearbox, so I can be fairly sure no-one's been drifting in it! I intend to keep it (mostly) standard for a year or so, then try to convert it into a Skyline GT-R while keeping it as original looking as possible, though I wouldn't mind a set of Autech bumpers. Not sure how long the import company are going to take to bring it to the UK (it's currently still in Hokkaido) and get it ready for me.

Previous car was a 1999 Legacy (Liberty) B4-RSK that unfortunately had an engine failure that has taken it off the road. I mean that literally, it failed as I was going around a bend in the wet and the sudden cut-out sent me backwards through a hedge. I have a £350 bill from the Farmers Union of Wales here! Somehow I managed to convince the assessor the car was worth £7K so I'll be making a nice profit on this which will cover the massively increased insurance renewal

Here's some pictures from the dealership that's selling it:

Can't wait for it to arrive. I'm currently driving a 1991 Volvo 940 2.0 GL that I picked up for £275. The only good thing I can say about that car is it's not FWD!

[funkymonkey]

nice one... driven an SE4, and they're quite nippy. It misses out on the RWD ceffy's weight distribution though cos its a bit nose heavy (as are GTS4's I suppose). Watch out for the ABS though, had it fail on both my last GTR, and GTS4, and the SE4 I drove was prone to getting air bubbles in the system.

Other than that, a GTR/GTS4 gearbox, new rear diff to match the ratio of the front (auto diff ratio is different to the manual... unless you go the auto route) and RB26 should see it being quite the little sleeper.

Also from memory the late model ceffy's still ran non Consult based ECU's so you'll probably wanna transplant the wiring over from an R32 too.

[Lum]

nice one... driven an SE4, and they're quite nippy. It misses out on the RWD ceffy's weight distribution though cos its a bit nose heavy (as are GTS4's I suppose). Watch out for the ABS though, had it fail on both my last GTR, and GTS4, and the SE4 I drove was prone to getting air bubbles in the system.

Other than that, a GTR/GTS4 gearbox, new rear diff to match the ratio of the front (auto diff ratio is different to the manual... unless you go the auto route) and RB26 should see it being quite the little sleeper.

Also from memory the late model ceffy's still ran non Consult based ECU's so you'll probably wanna transplant the wiring over from an R32 too.

My Legacy was rather nose heavy too, what with Subaru hanging the engine out in front of the front axle. My GF used to complain about the understeer whenever she drove it (she has a 250bhp 200SX S13) so I should be ok with that. I'm probably going to be disappointed with having "only" 205bhp. From the looks of things a better exhaust ought to sort that out quite quickly.

Thanks for the advice, however I'm not too worried about the RB26 swap just yet. Yes I'm buying this car for it's upgrade potential but with a lovely own fault single vehicle accident on my insurance history for the next 3-5 years it's not going to happen. Right now no-one will cover me on a Skyline or a B4 RSK so I doubt they'll cover an RB26 swapped Ceffy.

Only other thing I want to do is get rid of that Nissan badge from the rear panel. It's always fun when no-one knows what your car is (very very few Ceffys in the UK and they're pretty much exclusively owned by drifters). Is the badge a sticker, or is it moulded in somehow?

If the ECU isn't Consult then what is it? I thought it would be the same as a GTS-4? Can I get any kind of useful diagnostics from it?

Oh, and are there any wiring diagrams for the Ceffy floating around?

Edit: Wait. You mention Auto and RB26! How much power can the Ceffy autobox take? I thought the Nissan boxes were limited to about 250bhp?

Edited October 20, 2008 by Lum

[funkymonkey]

you can use an RB20DET auto box, providing you adjust for the different ratios, but you're right, they don't handle the extra power too well.

As for the ECU, i'm not sure if they changed in the series 2 , but the series 1 used the same ECU as the R31.

[Lum]

I'll have to wait until I see it for the ECU I think. I don't think there are many SE-4s outside Japan anyway since you can't drift them.

Is there any way to make that autobox handle the power from an RB26. I like the idea of an automatic GT-R as I do a lot of long distance work, and from time to time I end up in 3 hours of stop-start traffic (UK people: I'm refering to the M6), it was causing me to get RSI in my left foot!

Isn't it the same autobox as the S13?

I think the first job is going to be to find some nicer wheels, which will be difficult, with the chrome on that car I should really get wheels of a matching colour, but I can't quite bring myself to have chrome wheels. That said these ones look nice in "shining silver".

What's the best size & offset to get anyway? 17x7.5? I don't want to do tyre stretching or flare / cut / roll the arches.

Edited October 21, 2008 by Lum