My Daily C33 Laurel

[raZ1911]

Hey guys,

Thought i would post up my C33 Laurel. Bought this back in 2010 in NSW from a place called "Frogs Autos". Guy that owns the place was a champ, he told me that he was selling it for a old Italian couple whose wife didn't need the car anymore as she just putted it around to the shops etc.

When i bought the car it was stock, RB20E auto. It had weathershields on it fuse box was a bit dicky and had a slight dent in the drivers side rear door. Other than that though inside was nice and outside really needs a new paint job, which i'll get to some day.

Some pics of when i first got it:

The guy i bought the car off told me and a mate i was with "Watch out for ticks, leeches and snakes boys". After me telling my mate to not be paranoid about it i bought it home and a few hours later i didnt realise a leech was on the back of my ankle, Looked down blood everywhere! (was wearing long pants so couldn't see). a few hours before i did jump and thought something went on my leg but i got over it and thought it was nothing. So clearly i was wrong lol. Heres a pic for your enjoyment:

Unfortunately the weather shields on the car got pulled off from the car, which sucked be because they are rare as hell

Some pics once i got it home a few days after. I also used some of those bomb things that spray up in the air that are meant to kill the bugs in rooms etc. Put one in the boot, one inside the car and one in the engine bay.

The seatbelts in the car were broken so i ended up finding some online and bought them off a guy but they ended up being the ones they remove when you get the car complied. They are the ones you can remove and buckle them just around your lap if you want instead of around your shoulder. I ended up using them anyway lol.

Did a service on the RB20E and the oil filter had all white stuff inside it which didn't look good and the fuel filter wasn't much better. Brakes were quite rusted too.

Removed the tape:

After that i had to fix some of the Window regs that died. So thanks to Japanese Parts and Performance i got some new ones and all was good again. Had plans to sell it and had it up for sale for a coupe of weeks then decided not to.

Tired some new wheels:

Bit of a interior upgrade and bought a Nardi wheel

Bought a body kit from JDM Garage:

The side skirts didn't come with it though so i thought id find some to match later down the track as this "Grace" body kit seems to be quite rare.

I put some suspension in from a 180sx i had at the time. The springs were only slightly cut lower when they were on the 180 so i didn't expect it was going to be this low lol.

I ended up buying some R33 5 stud gear and was going to then buy these wheels. But then found out they were buckled and had to be fixed so i didnt buy them Would of looked good though.

I tried some 16x10 0 offset steel rims that a mate had:

Decided against it for daily duties as it had a bit too much poke for me.

Got defected for too low a few months later but cop was nice and didn't get me for the steering wheel.

I bought some new lights for the rear as they are cracked and the center bit has the "Laurel" letters missing.

Just kept it on the stock wheels and didn't use my 5 stud i got. Even bought a RB25DET for it but ended up selling it.

Stayed as it did for a while till i found a RB20DET and gearbox for cheap. Came with GTR injectors minus the resistor pack, Link G1 ECU, Clutch, adjustable cam gears, eBay highmount and some random turbo.

Finally got around to installing the R33 5 stud and threw the engine and other bits in:

I didn't end up using the highmount and unknown turbo (it didn't have a brand). So i bought a stock manifold and bought a HKS 2510 turbo. Found a resistor pack for a GTR as a friends house mate didn't have the injectors but had the resistor pack so that was lucky. I bought a R34 Side Mount intercooler and installed the cam gears.

next to my old 180sx:

Sold that 180 but kept the wheels for the Laurel, Once all the engine bits were done i got some coilovers and went to get a exhaust and metal intake pipe made up thanks to All Performance garage.

Some more pics:

Kept it untuned for a while as money was tight so a few months later got it tuned:

Finally got it tuned with E85 but the GTR injectors ended up maxing out at 210 kw at about 17 PSI. Cam gears were suspected to be adjusted a little on install. Didn't bother adjusting them as injectors were maxed out anyway so after i get bigger injectors ill go more boost and adjust the cam gears. Also the ECU has boost control so i might use that instead of a T piece.

Big thanks to Ben M1 Tuning (If you need a tune on the Gold Coast or Bris here is his facebook http://www.facebook.com/ben.phillips.7311?fref=ts) for tuning the car, very happy with how it turned out and how it drives.

Right after the tune was finished (as in just about to drive it off the dyno) the map sensor died. So called someone who luckily had a Link G1 map sensor and borrowed it for a while till mine was fixed.

Ben who tuned the car went home with my map sensor and took it apart and found out the problem:

So mods are as it stands:

RB20DET with RB20DET gearbox

4.3 ratio diff

Cam Gears

HKS 2510

eBay Boost T

R34 Side Mount Intercooler

GTR injectors

GTR rear swaybar (stock up front)

R33 5 stud all round

Solid rear cradle bushes

Link G1 ECU

Walbro fuel pump

3" exhaust with 3.5" Diff back

stock coilpacks

Solid steering spacer

Copy Nardi wheel

Work VSKF 17 x 8 (front) and 17 x 9 (rear)

Might be some other things but thats all i can think of for now.

[toffy]

looks nice and tidy!

[raZ1911]

Does anyone know if going from the stock rack thats in it to say a S14 or a S15 one makes much of a difference. I can't t tell if its a PS issue or a rack issue but sometimes steering feels smooth and other times it feels jolty and not nice. Also i am starting to hear a loudish noise sometimes when turning the wheel about half way.

[raZ1911]

Also I have this issue where the car will pull to the left when driving but when i stop, go full lock left and full lock right again, its fixed?

Does anyone have any ideas what could be going on?

[DannyC33]

nice lookin car mate.

always good to see more c33s gettin around

[DannyC33]

also how do you find the 2510?

im lookin to upgrade my turbo from the vg30 op6 ive got and been thinkin bout a 2510/2515 sized turbo.

[raZ1911]

2510 with my 4.3 diff is good. Feels like its always on boost. It feels pretty progressive too its not like nothing nothing ON its smooth and if i adjusted the cam gears i could've kept the power going for longer. On 98 they seem to max out around the 210ish kw mark but when i retune it with bigger injectors, adjust cam timing and tune a little i hope it gets a bit more.

[DannyC33]

Ah ok cool.

Im lookin for the 220-230 ish.

Sounds like a nice turbo to drive daily though.

Main thing I hate bout my vg30 op6 is that its quite laggy. Full boost is at 4ish but hold it till 9k.

[Frenchie1001]

Ah ok cool.

Im lookin for the 220-230 ish.

Sounds like a nice turbo to drive daily though.

Main thing I hate bout my vg30 op6 is that its quite laggy. Full boost is at 4ish but hold it till 9k.

thats the 20 power band, better off getting a turbo that will work with the motor rather than trying to fight it and get response. my td06 is on by 4.3 or something

[Kris..]

yup id never go anything but a td06 on a 20, most amazing thing ever

[toffy]

does your car have functioning hicas? if it does , get rid of it , 99% sure that's your steering problem

[DannyC33]

yeah im just gonna put a 25 in it.

decided i cant justify spending the money rebuilding a 20. so gonna drop a wrecker 25 in and wait for the gearbox to explode haha

[Dan_J]

nice c33

figure the only reason the gtr injectors are maxing out is because your running e85, usually with gtr injectors you would see 230+ on 98 before they max out.

also make sure you've done the fuel pump direct rewire mod for more voltage

Edited April 28, 2013 by Dan_J

[Frenchie1001]

yeah surely GTR's push like 260?

[RBC33]

as Dan_J said zac, its most likely the e85,

Usually people double their injector size when going to e85. Maybe not quite double but if they had 550's /600's they go to like 1000cc/1200cc injctors

[Frenchie1001]

he said 230 + on 98, they alot more than 230

[RBC33]

230 killerwasps maybe??

[raZ1911]

does your car have functioning hicas? if it does , get rid of it , 99% sure that's your steering problem

Nah mines non hicas from factory. To add to the randomness it hasn't been doing it and the PS noise has gone away but i got the parts installed that i got from Racing Logic it didn't fix the damper problem but it feels better to drive. So i still can't adjust it but it must of done something to help lol.

Got the manual cluster installed, boost gauge where the clock used to be, HIDs, other stuff fixed up like reverse lights and got my air con working etc, made all the lights glow green to match for wank factor too.

Also this is how i made the manual bits hook up with the auto stuff. Looks pretty clean imo. (gear stick is in reverse thats why its back like that)

[raZ1911]

nice c33

figure the only reason the gtr injectors are maxing out is because your running e85, usually with gtr injectors you would see 230+ on 98 before they max out.

also make sure you've done the fuel pump direct rewire mod for more voltage

Yeah on 98 would be much more power left in them.

[skyline32sup]

minty man

this is for sale isnt it?