Hcr32 - Nelsonmx's Lightweight Track/street Build

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 8 – Speedo mod and LED cluster lights

Small update..

Was just messing around at work one night with some customers things and new molds, then i tackled a few other little projects;

Carbon Coil pack cover.. this is just the prototype too, it came out pretty nice.. unfortunately i ran out of clearcoat so it didnt thicken up quite well.. I’ll wet sand it an redo it tomorrow..

A customers center vent gauge is almost done as well.. had to make a new mold for that; it should actually turn out pretty epic!

I had my LED bulbs come in early last week so i figured i’d tackle those as well,

The stickers kinda funny; came with them. Obviously i chose something that had “rb20″ in it.. Had to keep it real

My ODO had been bothering me.. Seeing 130,xxx km drove me insane, and it looked terrible IMO, so i got to work on that too!

Of course i wont divulge the steps, i think its pretty self explanatory as to WHY.. However if you must know, pm me and i’ll fwd you the pics and steps..

Grade 3 Calculator games? Yes…

3 km test drive

Some fun;

Stock RB20;

Stock bottom end RB20; turbo, cams, valvesprings, valves;

Built bottom end RB20; forged rods, forged pistons, bearings, blueprinted, cams, valvesprings, valves, solidlifters, turbo..

Figured i’d get to shaving some weight as well, considering i was messing around with the interior..

Decided to remove the roof liner. Not sure why, but seeing as i’ll have my cage in the back and no rear seats, i guess it just fits the motif, and it weighs a fair amount!

This is the rear passenger holy crap handles plus brackets and etc.

The weight was actually .136 kg more, as i placed some items on the scale prior to zeroing..

Roof liner,

Next is to cut the rear speaker deck tray out and other junk, then tackle the carbon shelving for the rear and cage welding..

Also going to pull my pistons out soon enough and have a look at the other block.. Have it sent out for cleaning along with the head and then decide my final move.

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 9 – Rewiring, relocating, and removing more weight!

Rear defrost units (there are 2)

Rear speaker deck amp

HICAS wires (the useless ones)

All affiliated wires

Only thing going to my trunk now are turn signal/brake lights and fuel pump..

Also removed the sound deadening in the trunk, as tyler pointed out, theres some in there which i totally missed.

Also about done cutting my rebar.. Only purpose now; to hold my IC up..

Relocating my washer bottle to the trunk now too ..

Moar wiring..

Oh and that wiring on the floor of the driver; Hicas module/rear lights AND my 4AWG power wire! Not bad when compared to the stock wiring loom, especially for a street car!

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 10 – Washer bottle relocation

Water bottle relocation DIY;

Need;

16′ of 3/16″ hose or 2 10′ hoses like i did. In this case you’ll need a joiner.

16′ of wiring – very small gauge..

Zipties

Soldering iron/rosin core solder (or electrical tape, if you like things buggering up after 3 drives)

Pretty simple really..

1. Remove wiper reservoir from engine compartment – that’s a given..

2. Locate wiring harnesses and make the appropriate cuts leaving enough of the loom to solder after wards

3. From these wires (in the wiring loom of the car, not connector), splice in your new wire keeping account of which one goes to which colour and feed it through the firewall

4. Run this along the runners until you reach the trunk. Best to feed through the rear fender gap as you’ll be able to go directly to the reservoir without passing through the trunk

5. IF you dont want to use your rear wiper anymore, you’re in luck, the hose is already back there, so take this hose from the rear wire, feed through the same passage as your wires and connect to your front window squirters

6. IF you cut yours out like a moron, as i did, then realized this would be a fun thing to do, well then you’ll need to re route the hose.

I ended up T the hose off – 1 goes to wipers, 1 to front. Instead of running two hoses, at the track ill just relieve the T fitting and run the sprayer to intercooler as it wont be required for the street..

7. Ziptie this beast in place.

You may have to remove your rear window defrost module, seems to be some sort of transformer or something, so get rid of it. or keep it, and fend for yourself!!

Tidy up, and voila, done..

tube

To intercooler

Wiring to reservoir;

Tube route inside firewall;

Follow runners to the first inlet to the rear fender;

Tidy up!

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 11 – AC Matrix removal / TIG welding practice!

Couple updates;

Had my first shot at tig welding. Took care of smiling mcgee IC piping..

Voila.. TIG isn’t very hard, or at least not as hard as people make it out to be.. And this was my first ever weld. I cant wait to have a go at my new plenum!!

Also, after speaking to a friend the other night (M13 on GTRC), he was telling me about removing the AC matrix located under the dash; he estimated about 5-7 lbs depending on the amount of crap stuffed in there after years of driving; he wasn’t far off..

Here’s a how-to for those of you who’ve deleted your AC!

1. Remove glove box and metal cross member supporting the glovebox

2. Locate the big white plastic box – ZEXEL Stamped.

3. Remove the holder screws (5 i think)

4. Pull it down and then from the top view, you can see the screws holding the box in one piece, remove these and pull it apart.

Tada;

Weight reduction. And it rids of the nasty smelling air you get when you pump the fan’s (Air passes through this upon entry into the vehicle, then from there into the ducting system)

FYI, weight is in KG.. 5.11 lbs

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 12 – DIY RB20 Front facing plenum and Carbon speaker deck

Spent all day messing around with the TIG!

For my first real welding project with no previous experience, i have to say it’s quite a challenge, but you do eventually get into the rhythm of it. I absolutely love it, and i never thought i’d enjoy welding as much as i do now.

Planning to offer this to people looking for a front facing plenum option and who dont want to spend 600+ dollars on a standard front facing “Greddy” type.

And no, it does not lean 5-6 as most people like to believe. After doing my research on SAU, GTRUK, GTROC and the likes, there is no signs of leaning and if there is doubts, a simple tune would rid of the lean condition. Better yet, it’s said to lower spool upwards of 400-600 rpm with a stock setup, (2700-2800 with FMIC and stock RB20/turbo). With a proper tune, this could really be a great addition to a person trying to gain more low end on a bottomless RB20. Also, it gets rid of the J-pipe and the likes and cleans up the engine bay quite nicely.

http://www.skylineowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70143&page=4

Also did this

Any guesses?.. Pretty obvious..

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 13 – Customers vinyl wrapping and new Plasma cutter!

Plasma cutter;

Horizontal band saw;

I also got some new goodies in the mail.. I’m collecting everything and putting it all in one photoshoot before it goes onto the car so i can have one family gathering before everyone goes their separate way..

But here’s what came today! Thanks Mark (Craftz)

20 year old intercooler??

And off to work related stuff..

this is for Adam on our boards;

Almost done with that.. And a few more other customer projects to do, then i can get around to more car stuff like finishing my rear carbon deck/firewall cover

Now with the new plasma cutter, i plan to cut the entire rear speaker deck out, and since we now have access to welders and a bandsaw (horizontal), i can make my own custom bracing instead of the rear deck!

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 14 – Engine removal and wire tuck

The RB20 is out. Note i did the job with the transmission still intact.

Relatively easy job, and considering i did it alone just over an hours time, i think anyone with the right mindset, tools and even a friend could easily achieve the same.

One big thing to note when doing this without a lift, first and foremost, place a HYDRAULIC jack underneath your transmission bellhousing. Theres a flat area with a small step in it, good place to mount your jack.

I emphasize on hydraulic because you’ll need to play with the height of the trans as you pull it out.

The CFG of the RB20 is rather far back; i’d say somewhere along cylinder 6.

Since you need to pull the motor and transmission on an angle to clear the tunnel, you will have to use the jack as support as to not destroy or snag on your power steering rack/subframe. Also, the jack is required to drop the transmission/engine mounts off the rear.

A good note is that there are only 3 mounts on an RB20. 2 at the front by cylinder 2, and 1 at the rear at the end of the trans.

Easiest way to keep most of the bottom end intact is to undo the driveshaft carrier which will allow the driveshaft to slide out the end of the input shaft on the transmission.

Now all that’s left is to make sure there are no connected hoses and wires, then begin to loop your chains/ropes/cables onto your block and attach them securely to your lift.

Once that’s done, loosen your mounts at the front – 4 14mm nuts on either side of the mounting plate. (not necessary to remove the bottom 2 but makes it easier instead of getting cocked on the studs)

Now begin to lift, watching your supports dont shift inappropriately and that the weight is being well supported.

Use the jack to lift then lower over the front subframe/steering rack.

Once that’s clear, the jack will free up and can be discarded.

Once it’s high enough you can grab the as$ end of the transmission (coupler where the driveshaft enters) and tank it over the radiator crossmember.

That should be it.

The weight of an RB20 (FULL, head and all) with transmission is only 538lbs if i remember correctly. A 1 ton jack will suffice given the arm length adequate to reach inside our enormous engine bay depth.

Here are some photos of the job along the way;

A teaser of my new goodies How well do you know your boxes??

After the engine was pulled, it was time for a clean up. My first thought was that i was going to need a repaint.. but..

- Before;

- After;

Also did a nice wire tuck on the passenger side;

Capacitor location;

Now i just need to figure something out for my steering reservoir.. I deleted the remaining hicas loop-to-cooler that i couldnt reach prior to removing the motor, also a few brackets which came out to a solid 1.3 kg or so with hardware.

Cleanup is still going on, but seeing as the paint is in amazing shape, i’ll likely can the repaint idea and continue to finish tucking wires etc before finishing my motor/transmission rebuild..

Still need info on the oil squirter bolt head size and tool name (inverted torx?) just so that i can strip my other block completely before removing it from the stand.

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 15 – RB20 Engine disassembly

Disassembled the motor today.

Looks as though things aren’t as bad as I had anticipated. Pistons are new and have been recently changed, thus the reasoning behind my 150-155 compression numbers. I’ve also revealed the cause of the mysterious cylinder #4 knick; ring compressor upon reinstallation.

When the motor was last rebuilt (by whomever, assuming in japan because this car was imported by a friend), the ring compressor scored the top of the cylinder. Nothing was done about one for 2 reasons; 1 it was freshly line honed and the cross hatching is still vividly visible, and 2, the knick in the cylinder has zero affect on the rings ability to seal because it is nearly a millimeter HIGHER than the top ring land, meaning no ring strikes this or interferes with it at all.

Now I’m left with another small cylinder score, nothing too bad, but caused by the removal/install of the previous job due to the con rod scraping on its exit/entry. Typical mistake, oh well..

Going to do a light in house hone with some heavy duty scotch bright, then a lighter grade to clean it up, should get rid of all the marks minus my larger knick, but since it’s not an issue i wont address it just yet..

Being that the pistons/rods/rod bolts are all new (if you look closely at STOCK conrod bolts, they have a small indent at the base, these do not) I’m going to just throw it all back together and run it as is.

Got this off in 2 seconds, luckily;

….

Engine is ready for reassembly!

Finished cleaning the block and waterways with degreaser, than, with the thermostat out, I was able to jet enough water through the galleries to thoroughly rinse them.

New N1 water pump was on already, so that will be good to go for the next season!

All clearances checked out – Rod journal clearances were well within spec, as well as the crank journal pin being well within as well! Rod/crank horizontal clearances were great too; absolutely no complaints. My assumptions on this motor having been rebuilt recently seem to check out which is a sigh of relief.

Tonight, I’ll be going back to finish cleaning the head.. I picked up some new carbide tips for my dremmel as well as some for my die grinder to tackle the larger, more heavy duty job of doing the proper gasket matching and removal of material on the exhaust manifold divider plate. All mouths and openings will be gasket matched and this should remove at minimum 3/32 of an inch of material on all manifold ports and more than double this at the manifold entrance to the turbo. The snail as well, will be gasket matched before being sent for rebuild at Cherry turbos.

Placing an order tomorrow night for a valve lapping kit and a valve spring compressor. I could potentially remove the originals with a socket as I’d have access to the collets without any real issue, but to replace them with the heavy duty Tomei’s is going to pose an issue. So it’s a safe bet to have a compressor handy..

Also found out that the nut/rod bolt’s ARE reusable. The only reason they would no be reusable is if; A. You remove the rod bolt from the rod, B. You change to an oversize bearing (0 vs 1 Sizing) because this will affect the deformation pattern of the bolts, being paired already to a different sized race. Even if there clearances are off a thou, it’s not worth reusing, this will just introduce unnecessary stress to the bolts and likely wind up sheering under high load.

Con rod bolts are not necessarily stretch bolts by any means. The general thought is, these bolts stretch when first torqued, thus are no longer reusable. This is wrong, these bolts do not stretch, as a matter of fact, then torque numbers are incredibly low at 4.5kg/m. The one thing you need to be aware of is deformation which is the actual, physical ‘bending’ of the bolt inward to cater to the size of the crank pin (where the rod end connects). Same typical principle applies to head stud bolts. They don’t necessarily stretch, but if you swap headgasket, to crush the headgasket in the same manner the previous one was squashed, you will need to apply considerably more force, this leads to fatigue issues in the future creating a possible sheer at high temps and high rpm as pressure increases. Potentially you could reuse stock bolts if you reused the same headgasket and tolerances weren’t changed, unless otherwise specified..

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 16 – Head cleaning and gasket matching

Finished cleaning the underside of the head last night in preparation of removing the valves.

One thing to note is to do this cleaning process before removing the valves that way you wont damage the seats when cleaning afterwards! IF the seats become scratched or damaged it could result in a leak, otherwise you’ll need the head shipped to a machinist who can replace the seats.

Tools you’ll need;

• Degreaser or oven cleaner
• BRONZE brush or dremmel bit
• Air gun or good lungs

Give the head a good spray down with degreaser and let sit for a while, then begin the process of removing all the gunk..

The result;

To ‘deck’ the block and the head, start first with a blade to scrape off the excess junk, then move to green scotch brite as its quite abrasive, then from there to a light 400 grit sandpaper. That way you can ensure the block and head is nice and smooth.

Next, take a ruler or the straightest edge you have, and lay it flat on the top to check for high spots or warping. Try it on different angles until you can be sure its flat..

Manifold and turbo gasket matching;

Our stock manifold outlet is terribly cast. If you line the gasket up with the bolts you’ll see what i mean, there is a ton of excess material that can be shed, the same goes for the turbo.

(i started a bit)

The outcome is this;

Smooth, no more edges and 3/32 of material has been removed.

Same for the turbo;

The turbo has a big stamp inside the snail, mine was a large 2. The castings are generally just terrible. Anything to maximize flow ensures you’re doing everything to extract every bit of power!

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 17 – Valve lapping kit and Engine paint

Have acquired some goods today!

Ordered my valve spring remover and piston ring compressor, should be here at 8 am tomorrow.

Picked up a valve lapping kit;

Paint;

For this;

Which ended up looking like this;

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 18 – Valve spring removal

——————————————-

Received my valve-spring compressor, along with my piston ring compressor this morning. I have all the necessary equipment to reassemble and reinstall my motor, minus a new rear main seal, and top end gaskets (aacv/intake manifold etc).

I finished the remainder of my porting;

If you’re going to be tackling this job yourself, you’re going to need these;

1. Dremmel

2. Diamond carbide bits

3. Green scotch brite

4. Red scotch brite

5. Metal polish

6. Buffer-dremmel attachment

First thing you’ll notice after cleaning and prepping the head is that Nissan left numerous casting flaws. The biggest issue with these is that they create turbulence, making the air that’s passing through these channels less efficient. You want to reduce turbulence by porting and polishing. Porting is the physical removal of metal, and such castings, by using a carbide bit attachment on a dremmel. After that’s complete, take your scotch brite pad (green 1st) and clean the surface you just dremmeled to a smooth finish. The Red scotch brite will create an even smoother surface before continuing on to the polishing phase. Polishing is not necessary, and is sometimes classified as insignificant. The velocity of air on the wall is always considered 0. This is because at this psi, air becomes viscous and thick, as opposed to our normal ‘breathing air’. The air will cling to the walls and create a sort of duct, contradicting the myth that a polished surface will enable more air to move more vigorously. That being said, i do it regardless because it’s something i’m accustomed too, and the step only takes 20 or so minutes…

The greatest loss of air is typically downstream of a valve, so its crucial to follow the air path in, and make sure there are no castings creating obstructions of the sorts. This is basically what i’ve done here;

After;

The oem castings just past the seats were rough. This roughness was a collecting a great deal of carbon, which is typical of any motor. To reduce these deposits, smooth out the areas as much as possible.

Cleaning the castings on the exit port help as well to increase flow. I also removed a great deal of material to open the mouth as much as possible as well, interested to see how it does on the dyno.

Before;

After grinding;

After polishing etc;

Cleaned head;

These will be done tonight;

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 19 – Valve lapping guide

So last night I returned to finish my head.. Figured I could get a 1 day turn around on this beast – 1 day is a slight underestimate unfortunately..

I can say this much, I have zero patience for installing collets and do not plan on doing this until my valve guides and seals give, or a valve breaks. (btw all guides are nice and snug, look to have been changed along with the seals)

First and foremost I had to lap my valves into the seats. This ensures a tight-closed fit and promotes a solid sealing surface. You can see after use that the finish has become almost like a mirror, shiny and even corroded slightly.

A lapping kit includes;

Wooden dowel and suction cup

Lapping grease (sandy grease)

Theres 2 ways to get this one. Both require you put a small amount of lapping grease on the sealing surface of the valve, then put it into the guide and close it. Take your plunger and suction it to your valve face.

Method 1; fire starter, as i like to call it, as you’ll be rolling the dowel between your hands vigorously. Every 4-5 twists, raise the valve with the plunger and smack it back down. This brings all the lapping grease back into contact with the seat. Do this 5 times approx, or until the coarse grinding sound fades to a light gritty noise.

Method 2; is the proper, original method (from what i hear), which requires the same technique, but instead of keeping the valve stationary and twisting, you lift and twist at the same time to continuously draw the grease out. It’s hard, because the suction cup tends to let go and requires you stop, reattach, and continue. This was too time consuming IMO, and both methods should yield identical results.

Make sure the lapped surface is now clear of grit, and that its uniform. It should look like a rough piece of metal on a background of shiny metal, meaning the lapping has been done successfully, like such;

Before;

After;

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 20 – Reinstalling Collets – tips

Next; installing collets.

This took a lot longer than I had hoped. It’s really a tedious job, and unfortunately there is no physical way to speed up the process as it’s just meant to be a long and tedious job.

With the spring compressor back in place, make sure you have ample room to move the collet into position. They are quite long, so make sure the springs are compressed quite a bit. Next, take a spray can extension (red plastic tube) and get a tab of grease on the end, as well as on the mating surface of your collet. Next, finagle your way in there and enjoying the quality hours spent screaming!

[nelsonmxmarc]

Chapter 21 – Piston reinstallation

The piston went back home. The spring compressor revealed the mysterious cylinder scoring.

Whomever tackled the previous engine build decided to lodge this down inside the cylinder to facilitate the reinstallation of the piston. This would seem to most like the proper way to do it, however, it is far from proper.

First, line up the rings in their proper calibration. This is listed on page 223 of the FSM. The oil ring has 2 openings, upper and lower, and this one was not properly calibrated, so check to make sure everything is aligned beforehand. Once they are, get a good amount of oil on the piston, or engine storage spray, as well as on the surface of the piston ring compressor and pair the two. It’s not stringent on how high or low the piston ring compressor is on the piston, as long as the two are together snug, and the ring compressor is not cocked.

Next, place the rod inside the bore. Best bet is to tape the rod end bolts so they dont score your journal. I didn’t do this, but luckily when i replaced my piston, the con rod bearing fell directly onto the crank journal, so let that be a lesson!

Now, because its a snug fit, you can either use your own force to push/transition the piston from the holder to the cylinder. Other option is a piece of wood and a light hammer to slowly tap it into place.

MAKE SURE YOUR RINGS DONT CATCH THE CYLINDER.

Should flow pretty nicely if you’ve followed the above steps.. Just don’t hammer the compressor into the bore.. Common mistake, obviously, and can easily be avoided..

[nelsonmxmarc]

Here are some updated interior shots along with our newly developed carbon cooling plate. This was our prototype for the GTST+GTR!

Installed is the rear carbon firewall cover, and the speaker deck (not shown). White cocking matches my new white stitched leathers from TopGaiters!

More to come, when i finally get over the fact i'm already back at school.

[Roy]

Doing some nice work....good to see another GTSt getting some love

[Rowdy]

roy is right, its good to see rb20 love. to many haters. nice build man (Y)

[nelsonmxmarc]

Thanks a lot guys!

It's true out on our side of the world too.. We rarely praise the light weight brother of the GTR; all about hp #'s i'm afraid! But 350whp in a sub 1100kg car is not something to overlook!

Glad you guy's enjoy the build. I'm writing up a few updates as we speak.. ARP sent me the wrong headstuds setting back my engine build a week or so.. And i've just disassembled my rb20 trans to see why i'm getting so much gear clash going into reverse, as well as swap out the whiney input shaft bearing..

The DIY should be up soon!

[Mareko]

loving the build.... keep the updates coming

Edited January 25, 2011 by Mareko

[sav man]

what did you do to get the car down the 1120kg to start with? As it looked like a factory car with all the deadaning, ac...etc still in it