Project Mid-life Crisis ...

[bobbo]

Congrats on the twins! That'll tighten up the budget on the car

[AL91GTR]

Yeah, no doubt. The budget has already suffered a bit haha. I've been eyeing up the Tomei Titanium cat-back for a while and was pretty much ready to pick it up but decided a new twin stroller was needed instead so i had Adam at Feast source me a very lightly used Kakimoto N1 Full mega and used the difference to pick up the used PFC / commander so basically got both items for the same $$ and managed to keep the wife happy lol. Now if I can just sneak one more bike into the garage without her noticing it will be all good ....

Coilovers: Out with the old and in with the new. There was nothing really wrong with the Ohlins, but the ride was just too stiff for my liking on the street with the 10/8 springs. I scored a good deal on the Monopros later in the summer and really like the ride quality now. Spring rates are 9 front and 7 rear:



Hicas elimination 'Kit' ready to go:

[AL91GTR]

Well, it was a long winter between twin boys in the NICU, another one at home and all the snow in Southern Ontario. But a guy still needs to blow off some steam and tinker in the garage once in a while so I managed to get a few things done.

While it was up on jack stands and the carrier bearing felt pretty sloppy - what the heck. I Pulled the driveshaft and replaced the bearing. Thanks Daryl at Right Drive for the hook up on genuine Nissan part. Really not a bad job at all. Just mark EVERYTHING as it comes apart so you don't have any issues. Result: considerably less clunky changing gears and when on/off the throttle:



I got around to installing the Turtle Garage/ISIS Pro Hicas delete and pulled the solenoid, all rear hydraulic lines and kept the cooler lines in front using a loop fitting from AMS. Wow, what a difference and no more phantom rear end moves on the highway - it was starting to become a bit un-nerving to drive.

I also finished off the battery relocation 'Kit' that I started on. I still have to install a circuit breaker (on backorder) and may switch to a fully enclosed box but it works great for now and is secured with 3/8" hardware so it may actually pass tech at a local strip (unless the guy notices my battery is not fully sealed d'oh)...

Homemade stainless tray:



Remote charging terminals and still need to move the FPR to tidy things up a bit but time is short:


The old HKS 'Legal' system was showing it's age and I didn't feel like re-welding and wanted something a little more aggressive sounding. Twin boys are expensive so the Tomei Ti system was ruled out and Adam at Feast hooked me up with a lightly used Kakimoto MegaN1+Rev system for a great deal. Superb quality stainless steel with 80mm piping from the cat and then up to 90mm after the resonator. Sadly, it has the baffle inside which seems to be a 50/50 crap shoot with Kakimoto systems. I'm planning to go at it with a sawzall and die grinder shortly but it will do for now ...

Old Vs 'New':

Replaced the rubber hangers too:


After doing Hicas delete, moving the battery and changing the coilovers I definitely needed an alignment. I opted for the corner weight balance and 4-wheel from Can-Alignment in Millgrove. Scott Murfin really knows his stuff and it feels like a whole new car. Set the ride height where you want as a starting point, bring your wrenches and let him work his magic.

Scales:


How she sits as of yesterday:


That's pretty much it for now. I picked up a Power FC with commander and a set of DW 550 injectors so basically just need to arrange my tune ....

[AL91GTR]

Minor update but I took care of a few things recently that have been bothering me:

1) The baffles inside the Kakimoto muffler - beauty system with nice 90mm piping and fairly straight runs but then it chokes down to this ******** inside the muffler (maybe 60 mm):


After about 15 min with a centre punch and a few drill bits this is the result. Substantially better sound quality and spool is noticeable faster again. I may remove completely but for now, I'm very happy with the result:


2) A compression check prior to tuning:
From Front to Back: 155, 155, 160, 155, 160, 158

3) Coil on Plug conversion: I did the LS conversion a couple of years ago but wanted to eliminate the wires. Using the stock boots and springs and a mounting plate from LS2RB.com ...



4) Shiny:


Now my 4 year old $59 catalytic converter has fallen apart on the inside and is rattling so in the process of getting a new cat installed (Ontario needs it or I'd probably put my test pipe back in) and trying to find the source of my boost issues and then on for tuning!

I'm Having an issue with getting boost pressure above 0.8 bar. I was running rock steady 1.0 bar for the past few years and my car runs very smooth and pulls strong but I'm only able to get 0.8 bar these days. AFR's are good so I don't think it's a boost leak. I suspect its the solenoid for my old HKS EVC II that's starting to fail. My plan is to install a bleeder valve to test and if I get my boost back then at least i'll know what it is.

Always something with an old car :-)

[AL91GTR]

whoo! Boost is back. Replaced the cheapie rattling cat and a few nice ceramic bricks fell out ... must have been obstructing flow enough to cause the low boost issue. Love it when it's an easy fix.

[AL91GTR]

Finally made it to the shop for tuning. I'd heard so many good things about Vlad and Slav at Eurocharged so I had it there last week. I can't say enough about the professionalism of these guys. Outstanding service and no false promises. It was nice to see that they treated me with the same respect and level of service that they showed the guys with the twin turbo Lambo's and Ferraris. Great experience all around and pretty cool to see your car in there amongst the $250k cars !

One section of the shop:


On the Rollers:


The Results - Not quite as much as I was hoping for but overall not bad for 15 Psi on some R33 N1 Turbo's. My fuel pump was having issues after that and dropping pressure. They suspect maybe wiring may be at fault. I think it was not fully submerged and sucking air. Either way, I'll take a look and see what's up.