Matt's break it 'til it works thread

[benchwarmer]

I'll take some pics in a bit so don't go getting your panties in a knot just yet!

I am the proud owner of a thoroughly trashed 87 NA. I found it completely by accident in, of all places, my soon-to-be father-in-law's backyard. I was shooting pool with her brother when I happened to look out the back window and saw a Nissan Pulsar sitting abandoned off to one side. I turned to him and asked why no one was driving it and he said "I don't know but I'd rather have the Supra."

I dropped my pool cue and stuck my head out the window and there it was, the most perfectly abused piece of Japanese perfection I've ever seen. Turned out it was my fiance's uncle's car, left when it broke down for the third or fourth time. As he was visiting at the time I went straight to him.

I walked up to him and asked if that was his Supra in the back yard. He said yes, he got tired of fixing it all the time so he left it here and bought a new car. I asked if he would be interested in selling it. He thought for a moment then said, "you can have it." Just like that. No haggling, no make me an offer, just bring over a trailer and it's yours.

A replaced BHG and a new clutch later and I was driving it around and instantly in love. I knew what I had to do. It was only a matter of time before the motor gave out so I started collecting parts to make an all motor screamer. The motor held out for 6 months before spinning a rod bearing. That's when the fun started.

I need to get some tuning done before sundown(MAFT Pro on NA 7M:icon_bigg) so I'll continue this shortly. I guess I'll snap some pictures while I'm at it.

 

[queenskid926]

ill be looking forward to it, when do you plan on taking it to the dyno? im curious to see what this n.a will put out

 

[ms07s]

Wow, you can't argue with Free! Love your title, reminds me of my life.:biglaugh:

 

[benchwarmer]

ill be looking forward to it, when do you plan on taking it to the dyno? im curious to see what this n.a will put out

I'm curious myself. Once I get this MAFT set up functioning and tuned I'll get it dynoed. I'm shooting for 250 RWHP but I may be past that. The trick is getting MAFT to work:3d_frown:

 

[benchwarmer]

Let's see, where was I. Ok, so I had by that time added several bolt-ons to little effect. The K&N FIPK and 2.5 in mandrel bent exhaust helped low end power a bit but the motor was still choked from 4k RPM on up. So I bought some brand new BC 264 cams and dropped them in. The car then pulled pretty consistently all the way to 6000 before dropping off. The tired old motor still didn't put out much power but it was fun to drive so I let it be.

When the bearing died on me, I knew it was time for a full rebuild. Rebuild, of course, is just another word for upgrade so that's what I did. I got a good crankshaft out of a 90 NA both for the better balancing and to replace my chewed up original. I had the block decked, bored out .030 over, and line bored. My stock rods were in great shape so I topped them off with forged 10.5:1 pistons and started reassembling.

I figured there was no point putting a restrictive head on my nice shiny bottom end, so I ported and polished mine before putting it back on. I also added a Fidanza lightweight flywheel, Centerforce II clutch pack, and just the other day installed an aluminum one piece driveshaft from Shaftmasters.

Here are some pics from today:

Think I was kidding about the abused part? The discoloration on the left rear is where I pounded out a series of significant dents and primered over it. A paint job is coming, someday.

Abused and dirty, no one suspects what she can do when I pull up at a stop light.

The heart of the beast. Except for the filter and MAF sensor the engine looks completely stock. All the mods are internal so those rascally smog techs don't notice. Don't mind the dirt and ugly wiring, it's getting cleaned up once I finish this MAFT setup.

My slowly being rehabilitated interior. Those rotten door seal make it impossible to keep clean.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! 'nuff said

My disgusting dashboard....


...has been replaced by a pretty one.

You're next, door panel!

That's it for now. I have some in progress pics of the engine build and my suspension swap but those will have to wait.

 

[benchwarmer]

Well I've broken all kinds of stuff lately so I figured I should update this thread. First on the list of broken items is my poor daily driver.

It was an '88 Pulsar, now it's a scrap pile with a really nice interior. On my daily commute to CSUN I was stopped in traffic and got rear-ended by an Explorer going 70. I'd say that's what I get for driving a Nissan but it took impact much better than I was expecting for such a small car. My passenger and I both walked away so I can't really complain.

Well that left me with out a DD so a day or two after the accident I went on Craigslist to see what I could find. Literally my first search turned up a winner.




It's an 82 L-type with 128,000Mi on it I picked up for $900. The body is in great shape and the interior is immaculate. When I took it for a test drive I knew immediately the timing off and it had a definite exhaust leak but nothing I can't fix.

When I got it home I tried to set the timing but it just would not line up correctly. That's when I discovered that the crankshaft pulley was not aligned correctly. I removed the pulley and discovered this:


Needless to say there was a great deal of swearing involved, both in getting the pulley off and when I discovered the damage. I managed to source another crankshaft from a local junkyard but it won't be ready until next week.

Just before I parked the car one of my A/T cooler lines burst and sprayed ATF all over my engine and engine bay. Since the engine is out I decided to clean up a bit. I'm not a particularly tidy person by nature but it looked to disgusting even for me. Before:




After:



That's about it for now. I have more to go into this thread but it needs to be organized first, so I'll be back later.

 

[SupaMan]

nice job! im liking this tread already!!!

how do you like the shaftmasters peice? Im litterly about a week away from pressing the order button on one for my n/a. Ive seen alot of stuff on them turbo guys loving them and all but ive never asked an n/a guy before so i figured i would.

 

[Blksupra1jzed]

Man I dream about running across a deal like that! Way to go man! Sounds like ur getting the transformers thing goin on. Beat lookin car then you pop the hood and awesomeness lies beneath! ha ha ha!

 

[benchwarmer]

nice job! im liking this tread already!!!

how do you like the shaftmasters peice? Im litterly about a week away from pressing the order button on one for my n/a. Ive seen alot of stuff on them turbo guys loving them and all but ive never asked an n/a guy before so i figured i would.

I love the Shaftmasters 1-piece. Even on an NA the difference is noticeable and I have not had a single problem with it. If they made one for the MKII I'd buy that too.

Man I dream about running across a deal like that! Way to go man! Sounds like ur getting the transformers thing goin on. Beat lookin car then you pop the hood and awesomeness lies beneath! ha ha ha!

LOL. That's what I was going for originally but it kind of backfired. The poor car is so beat up nobody even gives me a second look when I'm driving around. Even the ricers leave me alone, it's depressing. It's all good though, I found a source for OEM paint so she's getting a fresh coat this winter.

 

[SupaMan]

I love the Shaftmasters 1-piece. Even on an NA the difference is noticeable and I have not had a single problem with it. If they made one for the MKII I'd buy that too.

nice! thats what i like to hear! how high up (speed) have you had it? any vibrations or noises at all?

 

[benchwarmer]

I've had it up to 115 with no vibration at all. So far it's been a real install and forget upgrade.

 

[SupaMan]

I've had it up to 115 with no vibration at all. So far it's been a real install and forget upgrade.

nice! thanks for the info! my center bearing is goin out i got up to about 80 one day on a small pull with my friend in the car and pushed the clutch in the vibration was HORRIBLE, I figured it was time for an upgrade! plus dropping from 32lbs to 11.5lbs just in weight will help alot of things.

keep up the work man lets see some videos of it if you can!

 

[benchwarmer]

And the forgotten thread returns! While my trusty MKII has been my daily driver for quite some time now, my MKIII has been faced with the dreaded Kalifornia smog. While I have been preparing my modded NA to pass the visual inspection, it passes the sniffer test just fine, I still troll the sale threads from time to time to see what available. And look what I found...







Uh oh. Benchwarmer with a turbo? This has win/disaster written all over it. For my fellow NA holdouts(all three of you) no need to worry. My trusty high compression GE will be transplanted into my MKII.

 

[Zumtizzle]

Sell me your Cams.

 

[IJ.]

I've had it up to 115 with no vibration at all. So far it's been a real install and forget upgrade.

Drafting a GTE?

 

[ma71supraturbo]

If you can swap a 5spd in the mk2, that high-comp 7mge should make it quite a quick ride...

 

[Tanya]

Pssst... there are one piece aluminum driveshafts made for mk2s, just not by Shaftmasters.

Drafting a GTE?

LULZ :biglaugh:

If you can swap a 5spd in the mk2, that high-comp 7mge should make it quite a quick ride...

Ewwwwie!

 

[Moy]

It'll beat your car, T

 

[benchwarmer]

Drafting a GTE?

No I was going downhill. A steep hill.

So the plan is to rebuild and build up the GTE over the next 6 months to a year then swap it into the MKIII. I've been bouncing ideas around about what to do with it but nothing is set yet. So far the likely candidates are: 57 trim CT26, BIC downpipe, FMIC with custom piping, the MAFT Pro setup off my GE, 550cc injectors, MBC, fuel system upgrade to be determined. There is more I need/want to change I just haven't hashed it out yet. I'm not looking for crazy power, just something different.

For the MKII, it will get the GE minus the MAFT Pro with a 5-speed swap. If funds are sufficient I may just purchase another MAFT PRO setup and have it on both cars. I've been running my MKIII without it for a few weeks now while I gear up for smog and I hate it.

 

[Tanya]

It'll beat your car, T

yeah because the 7MGE has a shit ton more power than my 6M :sarcasm:

riiiiiight.

/threadjack