Last week’s teaser entry introduced you to „how it all started“ . Getting the car home was already great fun, although it was almost stock, sporting 160-180hp.
On winding roads and at traffic light launches, the lame CA18DET did not really excite. Boost built up late and throttle response was similar to a tractor. But when on the „Autobahn“ and being rpm’ed beyond 5000, the small 1800cc was quite a blast.
When arrived at the garage, I immediately started checking up the whole car. Since there were weird sounds from the engine when on boost, small ponds of oil built up under the car when parked for a certain amount of time and boost/throttle response was Grand-Ma’ish, I couldn’t help but get to work on the car.
I found two small boost leaks and you guess it… a wasted turbo gasket! This seems to be symptomatic for S13/S14. Ok now once fixed, I tried to locate the reason for the oil leak. I found that it must be the turbo itself, unfortunately couldn’t exactly tell which part of it, since it was all covered in oil and residues. After 2h of fussing, I decided to remove the ol‘ f***er from the manifold. Anybody who have ever worked on an S-chassis turbo know what a pain in the *** this is. Japanese engineers must have had the tiny fingers of 5-year-olds or must at least have expected the local Nissan dealers to employ such kids to work on Silvias.
Once the turbo was out, I found that the M16 thread of the oil feeder line was wasted!! Normally, this means; go buy a new center housing or entire turbo.
Lukily I was able to get my hands on a similar hydraulic bolt with an M17 thread. This bolt could be mounted and torqued just enough to stay tight and dense.
The S13 with CA18 feature a really restrictive exhaust system right after the turbo. So I could’t help but upgrade a little bit. As the rest of the exhaust, incl. the catalytic conv., is more or less ok when it comes to diameter, I only added some performance upgrades between the blower and the cat. That meant a 80% DIY true 3″ piping including a nice 3″ flex piece (to cure the known cracking of exhaust parts).
Together with a mild boost-up (~0.8bar) and a nice HKS replacement air filter, it all effected in a crispier response of the engine and approx. 200hp at the flywheel.
I decided to install a set of nice coilovers with two-way adjustable dampers. As the brake discs were wasted anyway, a new set was installed.
I fell that much in love with the oldschool mesh 16″-wheels, that I wanted them to stay on the car. So the looks were nearly stock, besides a considerable drop in height.
Of course – as with all my cars – I had to install a remote control and the corresponding servos. This was a great occasion to untinker the cars electrics. Some nerds must have tried to install an anti-theft system along with some other weird stuff in the S13’s cockpit.
In order to hold my butt in place and please my eyes and hands with some goodies from Japan, a few interior upgrades needed to be installed too.
Finally I donated myself with a new set of „Koukis“. In my opinion, those rear lights really boost the looks of the S13 in every way! It is just a pleasure to look at them… at day and at night.
The S13 now was ready to be driven to work and beaten over mountain passes the whole summer. It was really fun to drive, also quite challenging due to the peaky rev-band. For me this was a great way to start to get to know the S-chassis and become familiar with it.
stay tuned for part 2 …
Last week’s teaser entry introduced you to „how it all started“ . Getting the car home was already great fun, although it was almost stock, sporting 160-180hp.
On winding roads and at traffic light launches, the lame CA18DET did not really excite. Boost built up late and throttle response was similar to a tractor. But when on the „Autobahn“ and being rpm’ed beyond 5000, the small 1800cc was quite a blast.
When arrived at the garage, I immediately started checking up the whole car. Since there were weird sounds from the engine when on boost, small ponds of oil built up under the car when parked for a certain amount of time and boost/throttle response was Grand-Ma’ish, I couldn’t help but get to work on the car.
I found two small boost leaks and you guess it… a wasted turbo gasket! This seems to be symptomatic for S13/S14. Ok now once fixed, I tried to locate the reason for the oil leak. I found that it must be the turbo itself, unfortunately couldn’t exactly tell which part of it, since it was all covered in oil and residues. After 2h of fussing, I decided to remove the ol‘ f***er from the manifold. Anybody who have ever worked on an S-chassis turbo know what a pain in the *** this is. Japanese engineers must have had the tiny fingers of 5-year-olds or must at least have expected the local Nissan dealers to employ such kids to work on Silvias.
Once the turbo was out, I found that the M16 thread of the oil feeder line was wasted!! Normally, this means; go buy a new center housing or entire turbo.
Lukily I was able to get my hands on a similar hydraulic bolt with an M17 thread. This bolt could be mounted and torqued just enough to stay tight and dense.
The S13 with CA18 feature a really restrictive exhaust system right after the turbo. So I could’t help but upgrade a little bit. As the rest of the exhaust, incl. the catalytic conv., is more or less ok when it comes to diameter, I only added some performance upgrades between the blower and the cat. That meant a 80% DIY true 3″ piping including a nice 3″ flex piece (to cure the known cracking of exhaust parts).
Together with a mild boost-up (~0.8bar) and a nice HKS replacement air filter, it all effected in a crispier response of the engine and approx. 200hp at the flywheel.
I decided to install a set of nice coilovers with two-way adjustable dampers. As the brake discs were wasted anyway, a new set was installed.
I fell that much in love with the oldschool mesh 16″-wheels, that I wanted them to stay on the car. So the looks were nearly stock, besides a considerable drop in height.
Of course – as with all my cars – I had to install a remote control and the corresponding servos. This was a great occasion to untinker the cars electrics. Some nerds must have tried to install an anti-theft system along with some other weird stuff in the S13’s cockpit.
In order to hold my butt in place and please my eyes and hands with some goodies from Japan, a few interior upgrades needed to be installed too.
Finally I donated myself with a new set of „Koukis“. In my opinion, those rear lights really boost the looks of the S13 in every way! It is just a pleasure to look at them… at day and at night.
The S13 now was ready to be driven to work and beaten over mountain passes the whole summer. It was really fun to drive, also quite challenging due to the peaky rev-band. For me this was a great way to start to get to know the S-chassis and become familiar with it.
stay tuned for part 2 …