Lp's Track Pulsar

[Miguelone]

Wouldn't it make more sense to run something like a Tomei N2 block on the engine and do away with the factory heat exchanger? You'll simplify the entire cooling system quite a bit.

[Leroy Peterson]

Wouldn't it make more sense to run something like a Tomei N2 block on the engine and do away with the factory heat exchanger? You'll simplify the entire cooling system quite a bit.

not a bad idea that. will clear a fair bit of space.

its a different bolt pattern than normal SR20's (because GTiR) but luckily there is one available: http://www.mazworx.com/store/p/134-Mazworx-SR20DET-GTi-R-Oil-Block-Adapter.aspx

[Leroy Peterson]

so the mazworx oil block arrived

before:

fitted:

saves a lot of space which is good, get to delete those two small coolant hoses too.

going to have to get some new oil fittings and probably new lines *shudder* hate oil fittings/sizes.

in other news, the gloria has arrived

finished compliance and getting picked up tomorrow. have booked a roady for early december when im back in melb then onto rego.

some wheels being made in japan for it (minus the black paint between spokes):

[Leroy Peterson]

not much to report on the pulsar front. been lazy with cars these holidays.

the gloria has had a few maintenance items taken care of, plus coilovers.

[Leroy Peterson]

well last year the job was shelved waiting on parts. engine place has been flat out and job is going to be shelved again waiting on parts *sigh*

got a new gasket kit, head gasket from Pten (same cosworth 1.1mm as last time) and set of SCAT rods. ideally i wanted to replace just one, but that was half the price of a set of 4 and there was no guarantee they would balance out or be within acceptable weight regions. they took a while to come in.
Crank has been balanced and is good. Once all the bottom end parts were gathered, started assembling the bottom end and took apart the head...

Cams were worse than we thought once taken out. Cylinders 2 & 3 on both must have been wearing away for the whole running period because there are noticeable lips on the edge of the lobes. plus you can see in the centre of the lobe where its been worn down. so frustrating. poor oil pressure in the head for most of the running period is the only reasonable cause.

I visited Clive cams in Ferntree Gully who said he could do a re-grind, but different size intake/exhaust meant he would have to make 2 masters and then the head would need to be re-shimmed to make up for the changes in the lobes. A more expensive option than buying new cams and would still take 4 weeks. oh well. ordered identical cams from JUN, so now we wait the 7 weeks for them to arrive.

[Miguelone]

Were the cams run in initially?

[Leroy Peterson]

They were bedded in on first start. Give it varying revs for about 20mins on start up I think.

[Leroy Peterson]

round 2.

cams arrived. Shims were very close to required clearance, which is great.

Couldnt find new piston rings for the Mahle's, apparently they run their own size?? workshop couldnt source any, so went to same compression Wiseco pistons.

Whilst assembling the head, a small tap was made into the oil gallery that feed on the intake side of the head. Will hook-up an oil pressure gauge to monitor on first start up and any other time down the track.

Next on the list is to helicoil all the exhaust stud threads on the block. Been having issues with those for a while. 10mm spacer + thick exhaust manifold plate puts a bit of stress on it.

[Leroy Peterson]

getting closer.

rummaged through the spares today and just collecting the last few bits and pieces.

Just need 2x metal exhaust gaskets (probably from gktech) and another box of BKR8's gapped to 0.8mm.

putting the turbo back on revealed some damage to the actuator spring housing. its up against the block and crushes it when tightening the exhaust bolts. I spoke to Eastern Turbochargers in Bayswater and thats the smallest housing around. HKS one is the same too. Will trim some material off the block but may need to play around with the mounting bracket a bit.

[scotty nm35]

Should be ok, the spring isn't as large as the body, which is just a chamber.

[Leroy Peterson]

Should be ok, the spring isn't as large as the body, which is just a chamber.

ok, makes me feel a little better. will file down the edge of the block a bit where its pointiest

[Miguelone]

Time for external gate...

[Leroy Peterson]

recently replaced all coolant hoses with new double-layered ones. impossible to do once motor is in or once all the vacuum lines are on (of which there are many).

8 hoses underneath the plenum (10 if using stock oil cooler) and 2 large hoses to the radiator.

Degreased the empty engine bay and firewall. Kept getting distracted wanting to re-organise the engine wiring. its a mess, I really need a new loom made up. and the alarm system to be removed. Anyone know a decent auto elec in the east?

With the radiator and oil cooler usually behind the intercooler, i noticed it was only spray black on one side so painting that again all over. Also painted the plastic foglight blanks and front lip. the factory dark grey plastic is very average plus sanding it back removes a lot of the scratches.

Finally dummied up the new bonnet then fitted the washer jets and hoses. should look pretty good once everything is back on it.

...and heres the gloria at the moment:

[Miguelone]

Looking good,when did you get the strut brace?

[Leroy Peterson]

Looking good,when did you get the strut brace?

the other week. 3000yen at auction. full stainless, even the nuts and washers. bit of metal polish and was good as new.

did the VQ rocker cover gasket today. so much shit to move out of the way. but was nice to see the head was clean

[Leroy Peterson]

my wallet is really starting to worry now...

came across some nice items

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpage13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp%2Fjp%2Fauction%2Fr128356741

i dont even like SP1's but those sizes are almost too good to pass up!

and then i saw someone with crazy hornet fenders in carbon fibre and will have to have them (at some point).

would look great with the bonnet.

canards a bit too try hard?

http://www.crazyhornet.com/?pid=55546709

or even pulsar with N1 nostrils

[Count Grantleyish]

SSR? I like where it's heading.

Don't do canards, just screams ricer IMO.

[Leroy Peterson]

SSR? I like where it's heading.

Don't do canards, just screams ricer IMO.

i dont think the design would clear my brakes, and im just not sold on the style... think i might pass them up and wait for something better.

Turns out those fenders dont come in carbon fibre, just fibreglass that was hydro-dipped the CF pattern. still want.

also looking at ECU options if i get a new loom made up. do things properly and ditch the ancient PowerFC.

[Leroy Peterson]

playing around with the engine a bit more whilst its out...

getting rid of useless shit makes me feel good too. most of the stock vac lines on the ITBs were blocked off, so I've removed them all. Surely you would be better off going from the plenum pressure rather than combining the vacuum from the 4 throttles together (after the throttle itself) ?

Engine shop crafted some aluminum blanks and popped them in.

before:

after (and with plugs in)

I've been working on making a headlight replacement. Being glass its not as easy as other jap cars, so i made a mold using perspex then bogging any rough/warped edges. Silicone to the gutted light and fill with filler foam. Turned out a bit average, but good enough. Might give fibreglassing a go on the next headlight.

this is one I got off an old PGA member, i dont need an intake up there anymore and it doesnt fill out the space as much as I wanted.

also decided on some new wheels for down the track...

Work T7R's in 17x8 +32. its the most aggressive single piece wheel i could find in 4x100 basically. (without going custom). Not a massive fan of the design, but running 225's and clearing the front brakes without spacers would be swell.

[Leroy Peterson]

well the build has taken a more drastic turn the last few weeks. Being sick of the messy, cumbersome and confusing wiring, I reached out to Jason from Advanced Motorsport Electrics to re-do at least the engine loom and anything else that got in the way. Since the car is getting a re-wire, might as well swap out a few bits and pieces including: ECU, electronic boost control, turbo timer, gauges, sensors, fuel pump, the entire ignition system, clutch line, brake lines and master cylinder. While I'm at it, may as well remove the ABS system, headunit, front speakers & tweeters, car alarm and immobiliser.

phew.

What to tackle first? everything at once!

ABS stuff is a few kgs, remaining A/C parts were a few more, needlessly heavy cables too.

Starting point:

Stage 1:

A lot of wiring in the engine bay I can't really touch. 1 out of 3 engine bay fuse boxes are redundant, but they're all connected together on either side of the engine bay. Auto elec can call the shots when he gets involved.

The walbro 255 I think is/will struggle with the power im pushing now, but wanted to retain in-tank for the moment. Aeromotive Stealth 340 suited the bill. The awkward shape fuel tank and pump housing means I'll have to retain the walbro sock filter.

Decided to change to an Autronic SM4 ECU. Was a tough choice between the Haltech Elite 1500, but got the Autronic secondhand for a decent price. The haltech engine protection features were pretty cool though. So will be switching to MAP sensor, and be getting an air intake temp sensor, new oil pressure and oil temp sensors too. The other benefit of running an Autronic with the latest 1.09 chip is...

I can keep the factory CAS disc. Its only a minor inconvenience swapping it out, but finding a 50mm disc is a bit harder than getting a 54mm one. Which leads me to the next change...

Ditching the distributor setup and going coil-on-plug. might as well go CDI and run motorbike pencil coils hooked up to an MSD 6A box (the autronic CDI unit is like $1000).

These AEM pencil coils fit perfectly (other than the bolt holes) but I cant run the NGK BKR8 spark plugs anymore... they need thin thread plugs. So that means going to Denso IK24 or 27 plugs, which are iridium and pricey. So Bosch FR6 DCX's will do for the moment.

An issue with going proper-standalone ECU is the desire for a crank trigger. Damn Nissan. I dont want to spend big bucks on a harmonic balancer, so playing around with the idea of hooking a sensor up to the flywheel. A tuner told me about someone running one successfully, so giving it a crack. Not sure if the signal will be good enough.

Swap 6 bolts on the flywheel for extended ones, mount a hall sensor on the plate underneath the block... you can see the bolt poking through below (trimmed the 45mm bolts down 1.5mm, not pictured)

Non-ABS brake master cylinder has arrived, then to take measurements and start making up the braided lines. will do a clutch line too.