superDorifto's 84 200sx - 3rd time's the charm...

I have not been on this forum in almost 5 years - I have owned quite a few cars since my last s12, but I keep coming back to Nissans

I had am 84 that did not run that my uncle gave to me - worked on it all winter, and actually almost resurected it.  Howver in the end I hit the limit of my mechanical ability, and as little as 5 years ago, the options for a live axel auto s12 seemed pretty slim.  Looking back, maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough.  The rust on the body sealed the deal and the car was sent to the scrapper.

I replaced it with a 91 s13 hatch...then a 95...with 2-3 extra shells thrown in for parts and whatnot.  I was weeks away from swapping in a fully built SR, when an old lady ran a stop sign and totalled the car. 

That summer I picked up an 85 turbo s12 with a blown motor  to through the SR into.  The frame was clean, but the body was rotten, being an east coast car.  The whole summer passed without the swap happening.  I got an auto 96 sc300 with the insurance and chilled for a few years while I went to school.  I sold the SR swap for a motorcycle - then sold that for a down payment on an 04 GTO a few years later.  And 2 years ago I sold the GTO and went back to a 97 Kouki.

In the last 2 years I had been planning an epic KA-T build for the kouki.  I've got build threads on a bunch of forums, If anyone cares to see how the motor came together.

Link to my old Kouki Build Thread:
http://forums.nicoclub.com/superdorifto-s-kouki-ka-der-build-t530966-210.html

But life happens, I've just bought my first house - sold the kouki to finance the pruchase, but kept the motor project relatively intact.  And now I'm back, 3rd times the charm with a new s12....prolly the last clean one in CT, and certainly the cleanest I've ever seen.

....one of these days I'll actually finish one. 

Digital dash - CHECK
Metallic baby shit brown paint - CHECK
Bright Orange Corduroy/Velour Interior - CHECK
Warning Sounds that talk to you when you leave the keys in the ignition? - CHECK
....
Rust? - Nope, none, this thing is so clean I could eat off it.  I've tracked down some info on the original owner, and this car has been in CT since 84 - in a garage, waiting for its greatness to be recognized...

Every piece of factory installed hardware works perfectly, I drove it to work the day after I bought it and was convinced I could have DD'd this thing everyday, but that would not do.

Pics of how it looked when I got back home from work on Thursday.







Now there may not be any rust, but there was a ding to the front, so first things first - the fenders gotta come off, along with the front bumper to survey the damage.

And this is where I get to some specific advice for anyone who might end up working on an s12:
1) - get ready to use your vice grips A LOT..
2) - make sure you have a set of long nose vise grips

Issue being that Nissan decided to use HUNDREDS of pan head (round) Phillips head sheet metal screws to hold these fucking cars together....I'm having a hard enough time in a car with NO rust - if this thing was a normal New England car I would have given up a long time ago and started grinding/cutting....

Broke my good Kline scredriver before I started just using the vise grips...


Got you you little fucker!!!


Also make sure you have a set of these...there are some cramped spaces, trust me...


Its been a few days, and I've made some progress.  The fenders are off, still no rust, and no frame damage - fuck yeah.  just about ready to pull the CA20E - starting to label the harness for tucking and integration with the S14 KA harness.





This was the pile of leaves behind the mud flap...at least the corners were clean.


about 4 cups of dirt was hidden in the frame rail - I think the previous owner hit a dirt berm.  brushed it all out, and found a hide-a-key elbow deep in the frame rail.



So enough with the gardening....what are my plans for the car?

This:


My built KA with a gt2560/Z32 tranny and all the other supporting mods from my last build....along with the Glorious Shit Brown exterior and 80's dick punch of an interior.  Only this time Coils and suspension are on the build list as well - major update planned as soon as I close on my house and start making it rain...

I've only had to cut one fender bolt so far, and I'mtrying to be meticulous for anyone that needs OEM CA20E parts - feel free to send me a PM, I'll be listing everything in a FS thread once the motor is out next week.  Everything coming out is in great shape and I want this stuff to go to people that need it.

fuckin hide-a-key! score! sweet lookin ka-t too

That ka is clean as hell and the car to

Quicky photo update - after putting up a pretty good fight the old motor is out:





Picking up my built motor from storage tomorrow.

I got a lot of cleaning/painting to do in the meantime - I figure at least 2 -3 weekends of work before the motor goes in.

wow that ka is beautiful! what kind of numbers you trying to get outof it?

I want to get it running with the GT2560.  max I expect out of that turbo is 300hp.  but if it holds together for a full season Ill upgrade to a GTX2867 and ride the 400hp rollercoaster for as long as I can.

Not bad id be happy with 300 lol

another ca bites the dust!!

The CA is going away at the end if the week.  Free to anyone that will come pick it up....and bring me acase of Coors light.  Otherwise i'm letting my friend scrap it.

Man, I forgot how much bodywork sucks.  So in the meantime I've decided to spend some qualitytime finishing the KA.

Picked it up from storage, as it has sat for the last year or so



I would love to keep the coils, but I got rid of my AEM to simplify the build - maybe next year I'll upgrade to Megsquirt and rock the COPs.


I spent some quality time figuring out how the turbo lines were going to run.  The original plan was to run a .028" OD -3 SST hardline for the turbo feed, and -6 .035" OD SST hardline for the coolant lines, but predictably I fucked it up.  I got mixed up between -3 and -4 fittings and did not have the right size for the feed from the oil block, hence the line just hanging out in space until the fitting comes in the mail.  Also, the -6 line is like freaking rebar...I can't bend it with my hand bender, so I canabalized my -6 SST flex lines form my fuel system to route them.

Pic of the oil feed, and the clearance to the block/manifold - the jogggle is to allow access to the manifold bolts and still clear the area.


Coolant feed from block to turbo (using the Stock drainport as a feed)


Installed - it looks like the fittings are touching, but there is like 3/8" clearance (pics below)



I'll also be making some modes to the waste gate bracket so the arm clears

Pics from below showing the clearance block to turbo



Coolant return wraps around the block and goes to a custom fititng that I had a friend whip up - I intentionally left a little length in the line so I can re-route it if neccessary.


Pics of the clamps being used on the back of the block to keep the hardline and flexlines from destroying one another



Finally a tube to tube connection to allow for a little bit of wiggle room until the hardine location is set and I decide if the flex line needs to be shortened


And just because - a shot of the rods while I had the motor upsidedown for routing everything


I also picked up a set of s13 front spindles/LCAs and a lightly used set of JIC Magic FLT-A1s



The camber plate had seen better days - new parts are already in the mail


Up next - some mods to the oil pan, and finishing up the "engine build"