Project Refresh.

It's been a while..a very long while infact, but I am the new owner of an 88 SE, formerly owned by Xano. It took over two weeks, and no joking 20 phone calls, but its here.

As you can see, there are no pictures at the moment. Time, isn't something I have a whole bunch of at the moment as im getting married in one week, and work is just takin up every other minute. That being said, pictures of the car in its current condition will be up within a few days. Here's whats needing done thus far...

-Exterior.
Man, its a bit rough. Not a bunch of rust, rather the rear bumper was pushed in at some point, left front was hit at somepoint (it has an mki fender...), and the whole car has been flat-blacked. While the flat black fits the look/feel of the car...its not for me. I like my cars shiny and pretty, so i've got some work to do.
-Interior.
Ugh.  Screws through multiple panels, multiple panels missing (or at least not attached.) it smells, but that was kind of expected for a car thats been sitting for a bit. It's dirty, but Im not afraid of that. No radio, random toggle switches.
-Drivetrain.
It does run, but is said to have 5th gear issues. plans are to pull the engine & trans after initial diagnosis. likely a re-gasket & clean of the motor, and a rebuild (or replacement) of the trans. Rear end..is unknown, but it rolls so it can't be that bad?
-Suspension. I don't know yet. It appears to have new rear shocks, but there is a hellatious knocking noise under power (when letting the clutch out) in the rear. I drove it 25 feet into my garage tho..so more to come here. Its got aftermarket wheels..Not my style, but functional-ish (leaky).   

Again, there's more to come. I need to spend a few hours and go over the car with a fine tooth comb and make a list.

What are my plans? ? The short of it so far..
Back to Stock with body/sheetmetal, etc. Just make it look as its supposed to.
For now, Just get the VG running properly, with bolt-ons where possible (intake, exhaust, ignition, etc)
Make it handle!! Im workin my list, but im probably going to get the CM springs (worked great on my last SE), but this time get the proper struts/shocks. Poly bushings everywhere, other goodies.
Give it some braking power. My last one did good, I want better (cause i can..). I've already got some of the z31 front end stuff for brakes.

Ultimately, its just gonna be a leasure car. If i could get it to 250 whp, (ka-t..?), carve corners (my last one did, this one will be better), and look pretty..I would be happy.  Time will tell. Next update will be w/ photos, and inspection report.

i just went from canucks to coil overs and i am not sure what to do with my springs to be honest...i might keep them for a couple of weeks just to be sure i dont want to go back...but...maybe we can work something out. I am glad this thing is in good hands though!

Got some pics taken/uploaded.


A view from the front. Tested the headlights out after this pic. WAY up at the trees. If you look, you can see some body alignment issues.


Couple more body alignment issues can be seen here, as well as the MKI fender.


Front of the fender is mushed in a bit here, and the hood as well, should be able to be repaired though. pass side door handle is broken.


Missing some paint (not a worry), what you can't really see, is that the rear bumper support is pushed in. hey, the tail lights look good. just need to clean up the center piece.


Inside. every single dash vent is mising. poop. driver seat torn, and not very supportive on the bottom. original floor mat on this side.


Look at that steering wheel. still not sure if its staying though. 


Rear area. Missing a few little pices, but mostly there. not great condition, but ok for now.


Hey look, an engine. Its got lots of tears in the vacuum lines, a rusty air filter, and OEM ignition wires? any confirmation on that? they have the numbers printed on them.


Electric cooliong fans. I just need to make them temperature switched, not manually switched. easy peesy.

Still no time to fully check out the suspension/brakes. I can tell it needs some work, but the underside is pretty clean. both rear quarters need some attention, as the sunroof drains caused some small rust, but otherwise thats it. some surface rust on the rear crossmember, but again nothing major. It's cleaner underneath than my 2004 malibu, due to ohio salty winters.

He still owes me for that MKI fender too.
(I'll bet you he's forgotten)
And one of the door windows too.
(I'll bet you he's forgotten)

black on that color is so fine , l hope your S12 SE goes as well too

I'm still up in the air as to what i will paint it. Heh. I'm not actually painting it, as I can't do that.

I'm leaning away from black, as i'm too particular, and all the littlest flaws would stick out. My last one was red, and thus far thats my color of choice. I've even though about doing a silver/black 2 tone, except switch the colors from OE, as in the silver for the upper, and black for the lower. But, a solid color is likely less expensive.

idk..

Don't hint at a KA swap in a thread with an SE... People around here get bitchy about that sort of thing. :P

seishuku on 10:59:02 PM / 08-Sep-11
Don't hint at a KA swap in a thread with an SE... People around here get bitchy about that sort of thing. :P

Yeah!... fuck KA's

Hey, everyone has their own opinion about this motor in this car blah blah blah.

It's my car, therefore I'll do what i want. ka's are a dime a dozen (along with their parts) last time I looked around, So it just seems to be the way to go, should I decide I want a turbo'd 4 banger.

As much as i want to keep the SE in its oe form as far as the driveline goes, If there's an option that just works better, I'll do that. At this point, it's looking like a regasket of the stock motor, but thats pending a passing compression/leakdown test. If it doesn't pass...I'll cross that bridge when i get there.

Wolf Dilworth on 11:17:51 PM / 08-Sep-11
Yeah!... fuck KA's

Obviously, some did not get the/my humor...  Oh well fuck it all.   >>>>LOL<<<

His thread...

I have a boner.....sorry

Kustamogen on 03:29:43 AM / 11-Sep-11
I have a boner.....sorry

Continuation of a dream is better than squashing it, good luck man!

1. Knocking noise is the rear subframe bushings, replace them with the Polyurethane ones I gave you from the Z31 shop. 
2. I do apologize for the shitty look, i had to daily drive this, it was my only car at the time :(
3. Rear springs and shocks are 6 months old.  Brand new front springs and shocks are somewhere in the mass of parts and stuffs I sent with it.
4. Probably OEM wires, I never touched them.
5. Go KA with it, that VG was slightly misfiring/would idle down and die at stoplights when I bought the thing.
6. I put 15k on a 500 dollar car, I'm content with what I got out of it.
7. Keep me in mind if you fix it up real nice, I may pay you 10x what you paid to get it back :P

I think my problem was, i ran out of time, and money, and space, and burned myself out due to working on my first VG as much as I did.

dont you dare swap in a KA instead of that VG, last guy that did had his blow

Colonel Gustard on 01:23:16 AM / 17-Sep-11
dont you dare swap in a KA instead of that VG, last guy that did had his blow

^^^ I remember reading through that. I however, am no fool. I know my way around a car. Moving on..

Thanks ben for the tips. I laughed my ass off when i saw the RTV/epoxy for subframe bushings. they do make noise, but the bigger noise is the exhaust. One thing. This one won't be sold. I'll be buried in it, lol. I should transfer the title.. (dont worry, its in a garage at the back of my yard.). The shocks/springs that are on it now aren't what im looking for, in terms of performance.

Spent a little time with the s12 today. wow. I still think the body work will be the most expensive part of this, largely due to the fact that i don't do well with bodywork, and can't weld for shit. I've got a partial list of what I need to do. here we go..

Exterior Bodywork
-Needs both front fenders
-Needs both exterior door handles
-Pass front window run channel (weatherstripping)
-Front bumper (may be able to get just the lower support and be ok)
-Both front marker lamps.
-LF inner fender liner
-Pass front window exterior trim (adhesive on it, ruined.)
-windshield
-rear quarters need patched. (rusted)
-Lf corner pulled.
-Lf mirror housing
-Painted.
Interior Stuff
-2 complete door panels preferred, but driver side is workable
-driver window switch(works, but have to press hard, maybe rebuildable)
-passenger side window switch. (gone)
-carpet (not necessary, but something to get)
-all dash vents.
-steering wheel w/horn.
-rr ¼ window handle
Front suspension/brakes/steering
-Tension rod bushings
-stabilizer links and bar bushings
-cm springs
-tokico illumina(280zx) strut inserts
-bump steer spacers (280zx)
-z31 front brake conversion (already have calipers, hubs en route)
Rear Suspension
-cm springs
-tokico illumina (z31) Shocks
-subframe bushings
-brake pads n' rotors(stock for now)
-rear e-brake cables.
-diff carrier bushing
-drop fuel tank, find leak (can smell it)
Engine
-Determine cause of cyl 1 misfire.
-replace rotted vac lines
-clean/repair/remove electrical harness(s)
-convert electric fans from manual to temp activated
-remove remaining a/c components (evap can stay in dash, unless dash is removed)
-replace exhaust from y-pipe back. Ceramic coating for manifolds, y-pipe?
-oxygen sensor.
-install pcv breather catch can, or back to stock.
-maintenance (T-belt, fluids, etc)
-install PS belt, does it work?!
Transmission
-Why is 5th missing? (no engagement, but does grind)
-get rid of the clutch damper
-replace slave cylinder (just cause)
-evaluate clutch/flywheel when trans is out
-short/cut shifter. New knob.

This isn't a complete list. I'll say 90%. There's still a few things I need to sort out. I think the rear hatch release cable is stretched as it won't open without help. I need about 1000 screws, fasteners, and clips. So many are missing. I need to remove the stuff that's attached to the interior plastics. (cup holder, fan switch, etc.) and have it repaired (I have someone lined up already, she does amazing work). So yeah. Off to the grindstone I go.

Once I get the misfire/rough run determined, I'm going to pull the front fenders, bumpers, remove the engine/trans, and get to work on the transmission. Hopefully is as simple as replacing a shift fork, or the synchros, and its game on. I expect to replace the clutch and reface the flywheel. From there, re-gasket the entire motor, pending no mechanical problems. Then off to the body shop for pulling, cutting, welding, and paint. (that's gonna cost quite a bit). Then, do up the suspension, and hit the road. My goal, is late spring  but mother nature plays a big role in that. depends when the thaw happens . Time and money are the holding points. Not to say I'm rich (cause I'm far from it), but time is more the factor that money, so I'm confident I can hit my mark if I can make the time.

Dude I am SO STOKED that you got an S12 again, and that it was kept "in the family"... I figure Ben will get himself another one, maybe something clean and unfucked with... I hope this one gets set straight. I know you have the know-how and obviously the space to keep it and work on it at, which was Ben's problem basically...

I think red and black would look awesome. I also think those wheels have got to go lol... I like the AmRacing Outlaw II's, but in a deeper dish and clean. These ones are good for a rally setup, which is what Ben was going for, but I suspect rally isn't on your thoughts with this car.

oh no. the wheels are def. going away. not my style at all. I was actually just researching that. prob gonna be a 16" wheel (16x7) w/ a 225/50r16 for rubber. +20 offset should work, if i dont do the z31 rear arms, may need to get some longer studs and spacers for the rear, for aesthetic purposes.

if I get too close to my projected budget, i can always go stockers for now as ben gave me the oe wheels. one is bent, but im gonna play w/ that one and try a bending technique. 

definately not going rally. gonna be mostly street, maybe a few track days.

Your desired wheel specs are headed towards what is on my RS-X... It has 16x7 in front w/ 205/55-16 and 16x8 in rear w/225/50-16... I forget the exact offsets but they're printed on the inside of the wheel, if you really want I can pull and look at them again. My fitment is flush, see pics in my thread.

On the subject of 5th gear, i think the linkage broke internally.  I think its there, but broken, so when you try to push it into 5th, its hitting the two pieces of linkages together, causing it to push a LITTLE bit into gear, but not enough to ever engage.  I'd drop the trans and remove the main case.

On the wheels, if you want to switch em, hold on to em, there are ford guys that want those still.

...Does Reverse go in and/or  feel a little odd? 

Fifth and Reverse use the same fork so if one is broke then the other...

A sheared roll pin is pretty hard to do since they are doubled up.  Unless someone went all ghetto on ya.

Cracked/broken shift-fork is going to be a PITA.  be sure to find all the pieces before you button her back up.

Best of luck.

reverse is good. ill know more on that once its out of the car..

I got it running alot better. It purrs like a kitten. albeit a sick kitten, its not all lumpy and surgy and way better than it was. why? timing. it was just a bit too advanced. how far you ask? my guestimates put it at 60* bdtc AT LEAST. the distributor was two teeth off!

It makes me wonder though..is the valve timing off? how the hell didn't it blow up. better yet, how did it even run? so now i just wanna get some vac. line, and clean all the under hood connections, and make sure nothing else (internal engine) needs corrected when pulling the motor.

Sounds like it is time to run it around to TDC on #1 cylinder and remove and reinstall your timing belt as per the marks... 

Two teeth on the dizzy gear is pretty bad.

The whole motor will be coming out with the trans. gonna clean things up a bit. at that time i will be going over things such as that. My intentions at this time were to determine whether the miss was from the mechanical side of things, or electrical. got that done.

on a side note, the p.o. (maybe not ben), has apparently bypassed the clutch switch, cause i can start the car in gear. well, during all my testing yesterday, the car was in 1st gear. found out the left rear caliper is nice n' stuck. how? left rear rotor was smoking. lol. with any luck its just the pads stuck in the slides. e-brake springs aren't locked up, so suprisingly its not that. thats piddly stuff tho.

alright.

yeah, that was the PO, I did that once or twice myself.  the caliper is probably from the few months of sitting in a fairly damp area without being driven (just started and moved around short distances)  On the timing, never touched the dizzy while I owned it, so not sure on that one.

things movin slow.. work/life not giving me time.

Parts received:
z31 front calipers
Exp. Engineering t/c "bushings"
20 stock lugnuts. pricey bastards, even w/ my nissan discount.

In route:
m30 clears
z31 turbo hubs

work to do:
-Need to change the oil. Just cause, but also cause the car NEEDS to be road ready by months end.
-swap good tires onto stock rims, massage stock rim. (or just use aftermarket rims if unable to fix the bad one

Messing with the power steering last weekend, found out the pump is likely trashed. Also need to find the sensory problem. why? When i start the car (cold) it runs SMOOTH as silk for about a minute or two. ya know, the time it takes to get into closed loop. then it runs like trash. NO throttle response, will idle 'ok', but thats it. if i let it run long enough (5 minutes or so at idle) ill get some throttle response, but not much. havent run codes yet, but i suspect a maf related issue. be it false air or otherwise.

But yeah, the car needs to be driveable (5 miles roundtrip) so i can get the title inspected. basically, I need to get the car upto the bmv (aka dmv in every other state) have them verify mileage, vin, year, make and model. thats it. so stupid, but i cannot get the title in my name until then. so ben, still 'technically' owns this car. I'm sure he doesn't care, and i have faith he's not gonna pull some stolen car 'bs', i just dont want him being legally tied to it, for liability's sake. (basically, i don't wanna screw ben over in some weird roundabout way).
so yeah. new oil, tire stuffs, and drive for 5 miles. i guess i could just put a resistor in the chts connector, and see what happens (hell, it could just be that  :idea: )

You are going to love those T/C Bushings once you get them on the road.  Very solid tracking even under very hard braking.  Had an idiot in a Mustang pull a bonehead maneuver right in my path, very controlled braking and sidestep lane change with out even a whimper from the tires, or over-correction needed.

I want some T/C bushings, I messaged him but i got no reply lol. Guess i should check out the site

Yes check out his website, they sell out quickly.

You can PM him directly here, he is "Mr 510".

I Pmed him a few weeks ago but have not gotten a reply lol

There is a cat that works with the "mad genious", his name is Cody and here is his addy.

I will give him a heads up that you are interested in the TC bushings.

Yeah i got a reply on my E-mail, thanks tho Mr. Wolf. I am sending him the money tomorrow and they will be here shortly :D. Keep hearing nothing but good about the bushings so i cant wait to install them. Ill stop thread jacking now :P hahaha

Cool beans...  Glad it all worked out well.  I am sure you will be happy with them. 

Absolutely the biggest/best improvement you can make to your car in under a half hour.

i ordered my tension rod pivots from EE on their ebay store. BE PATIENT. it took them a few days to get them in the mail, and then forever (and a day!) for the mail truck to deliver. I however live in ohio, their shop is oregon, so that explains the delay in transit.

Got the Stock wheels cleaned up, tires from the ford rims on the stock rims. fixed the one bent rim. actually came out way better than expected. can barely see it visually, measured 13 lbs roadforce variation (imbalance 0.75/0.50), so i'll call it a win.

on a side note, mother nature sucks. its been raining like hell for the past week (worst today n tomorrow) so the  yard is wet, and i dont feel like tearing my yard to bits trying to get a rwd car out of the mud. So it waits. Im hoping for sunday to be dry enough, but we'll see. if not then, hopefully sometime early next week.

more updates.

Got the car to the front driveway. found out an idling car, isn't necessarily a driveable car. the frustrating part, is that its somewhat intermittent, but for the most part, its hammered out. Played with it a bit today. turned the pump on with the fuel line off, and cleared out some of the gas that was in there. put in 5 gallons of fresh stuff, and fired it up. nice difference. holds a smooth idle for as long as i tell it to. off idle though.. ick. I tried to drive it..full of fail. got MAYBE 200' and turned around. just wouldn't have it.

played around a bit. tapping lightly on the maf, causes it to stumble, stall. time for a new maf + air filter. pulled codes from the ecu. 12 (maf) 13(chts) 14 (speed sensor) 22 (throttle switch iirc) 23 (fuel pump iirc).  might have them mixed up. The fuel pump sender is off. WAY off. I put 5 gallons in, and am at just under 1/8 tank. Vehicle speed sensor. I could care less right now. throttle switch seems likely. definately needs a new MAF. suspect the CHTS is bad, given the running conditions (need to do a resistance test to verify).

fuck. I have to do this by November 6th (temp tags expire then) in order to get the title switched. gonna be pricey.

i have an SE maf in my garage, pretty sure it works since my friend gave it to me when he swapped to the 86 set up. let me know if you want/need it.

So wait, I technically still own an S12? :P

I must say, out of all the S12's I had, I hated that one.  I loved my XE (though it was really beat up when i bought it), and I loved my 1st SE.  The one you have is the 2nd SE I had, and my brain was too busy with college and work to even think about it :(  I'm glad to see that you're getting some of the issues sorted out.  Did you get a chance to put the Prothane bushings in from the Z store?

No. for the most part, im not gonna mess with suspension stuff til winter. then i can dismantle, clean, and reassemble with new shiny stuff! right now, im trying to get the title thing handled.

I put the new MAF in, put on a new set of wires (fyi, bosch wires fit PERFECT!). started her up, and she runs better. I can rev to the moon if i want. until it runs for a minute or so. It's not crapping out like it was, its just got a lot of popping going on, and a light throttle delay (tps probably). I think if the rear brakes werent locked up, it would go under its own power just fine. I was at least able to go up/down the driveway (all of 25 feet, lol) without major issues. So my next lil project is to tear apart the rear brakes, and see if its a caliper problem (please dont be, lol) or just stuck pads. Im not afraid of rebuilding/replacing the calipers, just would prefer to hold off for now.

ben.. I went thru a box i classified as 'stuff' this past weekend. guess what i found? 20 usable factory lugnuts. DAMNIT. I made a $60 mistake not going thru that box ( i bougt all new lugnuts).

Haha, man I gave you nearly everything I had, i didnt ever really throw out anything until this past weekend when I went back to the QC and cleaned out the garage for my dad.  I've got the key for the crappy aftermarket lugs here too if you need it (if not i'll just pitch it).  Only reason i used the aftermarket lugs was due to the smaller hole on those wheels for the lugs.  The factory ones were too tight of a fit to be comfortable with using em. 

Like I said on the rear brakes, they worked fine when I parked it, worked fine the first few weeks after parking it, then I noticed them sticking quite a bit when I tried to move it in the driveway.  I don't think 3-5 months of sitting would seize calipers, but I've been wrong before.

pads were stuck due to a rust buildup beneath the shims. cleaned, lubed, problem solved. right rear caliper has been replaced before, as it turned in much 'easier' than the left rear. my 3/8" impact doesn't care. it either turns, or it doesn't. lubed them up, and they both spun ok. the e-brake cables in the rear don't move, or at least not without great force. so for now they're disconnected (gonna need new ones).

Tried to drive it. no dice. ran great for the first 10 minutes. then it went to crap. now it barely starts. back to square 1. gonna check fuel pressure tomorrow after replacing the filter. it moves SO much nicer without stuck rear brakes.

Well, i installed the fuel filter, and the car was able to run long enough to drive. it had about no power, but it ran nevertheless.

..and then the fun began. It still didn't run right, so i pulled the upper timing cover..and then pulled the lower too.  Here's what i found.




Obviously, my crank is off about 1/2 tooth in the picture..but..have you seen the cams?! 6 teeth! BALLS!!!

So. I released tension, moved things into proper time, adjusted the distributor per FSM. crank...crank...crank.. NOTHING. wtf? I ended up initially getting timing wrong with the distributor, and then vehicle would ..crank STOP crank STOP.. so I moved it to what i thought was propery.. crank run stall.. crank run stall. ok. thats when i consulted the manual (lol). got it right, verified cylinder 1 is firing properly (spark) using the timing light. its right about 20* bdtc. It just wont run. fuel is there. (pump turns on, it was there a day ago, why wouldnt it be now?!) its reading a proper airflow signal.

Im 100% lost. If the valves were bent, it wouldnt have run before. so why wont it run now? gonna post elsewhere too, see if i can get a resolve.

hmmmm, interesting. the timing marks and such are back in alignment right? i know a bad MAF can cause the car to start and then stall. Tried this on a friends SE and with a bad maf it would turn on, idle like crap for about 2 or 3 seconds, then stall itself. maybe maf?

Just replaced the MAF with a reconditioned unit. it functioned as it should prior..

I've created a topic in the VG section, for ease of future reference and so on.. http://club-s12.org/v3/index.php?topic=34131.0

Dude, it looks like you need a new belt.  There some teeth in one image that look pretty ratty.  Inspect for sure.  Are the alignment marks still visible on the belt?  If the belt is good then remove it and install as per new belt and FSM.  You can not simply align the crank and expect top pulleys to agree.  Remember this is a four cycle.

Seriously, remove the belt and start from square one, page one.  Ensure TDC, ensure belt is facing the correct way (it is directional)

Yes PITA, but it is the ONLY way to be certain.

Best of luck.

Got it back together. while putting things back together i installed the CHTS.

filled the system with coolant. got everything in order. excitement started to build. started it, and it runs...but only at idle. man. I see why ben hated this thing so much. so many problems. given whats been tested/replaced, i went to fuel pressure. Upon first key cycle is has a steady stream. not very powerful, but its there. cranking fuel pressure? eh. barely a trickle. I think its prostate (aka fuel pump) is going bad, but i need to get a guage on it to check actual pressure. pretty sure its failing the fuel flow test at this point.

lol, just dont do anything illegal with it, I have the paypal receipt as a bill of sale, so i'm covered, but still...

When you get it running right, can i have it back? i'll pay you the money back :P