Kat's R33 GTST project

[savage1987]

Plenty of work ahead but perhaps not as much as it looks from the photos

Cheap car!! and actually passed RWC pretty well straight away so that's a good start.

I'll let the pictures do the talking for now, plenty of info and work coming up in the following months.











Is anyone missing their mailbox? I think its under the car!!!!









Do you think that the pink number plates bring out my eyes?
















Replaced both tie rod ends straight off the bat, as one of them looked like this...






And replaced the hub on the same side for good measure, just in case anything was bent/damaged, and because the bearing didn't feel 100%... unfortunately it was an ABS hub onto a car without ABS, so it was time for another trademark Sam-spec backyard fix Who ever would have thought of using a coke bottle lid to fix a problem......just imagine what you could do with an entire Mount Franklin bottle.....

[Jesterarts]

Keyring = win.

[some_guy]

Looks like a good starting point.

New wheels, some paint and a vaccum and it will be right as rain.

[Clint_G]

Were you driving this out kirwin way this morning.

[ari666]

is that pic you? if so you look around 6". good luck with that sunroof. fken murder on your neck in those series 1's. the s/r brings the roof lining down by about 2 inchs so you gotta get the 'wog lean' going with your seats otherwise its head bashing time

but still looks uber fun for a starter. the series 1's are not all that bad, good engine/drivetrain combos, just the chassis and suspension setups are a bit lame (easily fixed with AM strut bars etc) quite a lot of flex in them.

this have HICAS?

[savage1987]

is that pic you? if so you look around 6". good luck with that sunroof. fken murder on your neck in those series 1's. the s/r brings the roof lining down by about 2 inchs so you gotta get the 'wog lean' going with your seats otherwise its head bashing time

but still looks uber fun for a starter. the series 1's are not all that bad, good engine/drivetrain combos, just the chassis and suspension setups are a bit lame (easily fixed with AM strut bars etc) quite a lot of flex in them.

this have HICAS?

Yeah that's me, I'm around 6'1". my head is about 2 inches off the roof lining most of the time, if I sit up really artificially straight I touch it

I'll hit you up for some more info, or a link I can check out somewhere maybe, with regard to improving the suspension setup as you've obviously read a lot more about this than I have!

Yes it has HICAS, the electronic "super HICAS" form, not hydraulic.

[azkwazere]

So, whats the plans for it?

Drift project? Cool street car? Anything super cool?

aZk.

[savage1987]

d) all of the above.




Neat streeter with a bit of power under it is where I suspect it should end up

[savage1987]

Now I face the question of where to get Nissan parts in Townsville without spending a million dollars I need an oxygen sensor.

[azkwazere]

Now I face the question of where to get Nissan parts in Townsville without spending a million dollars I need an oxygen sensor.

Overnight parts from Japan?

aZk.

[savage1987]

got one from a local (Australian) specialist company via ebay. Picked up another one for my 304 at the same time can't hurt! and they were fairly cheap, as oxy sensors go!

[ari666]

O2 being the 4 wire? should be the zircon type i think. 80 bucks from burson/repco/supercheap for a universal one, you just need to cut and crimp the wires.

[savage1987]

all good, the ebay ones cost me $59 each plus $15 combined postage

[ari666]

nice they 3 wire or 4? i cant remember

[padrickz88]

This should be an interesting build :P i want to see how you go with this.

goodluck dude, don't forget to boost it up from the pussy 7psi (i think) also wouldn't go much over 12ish psi, (most people reckon the turbo is good for about 1 bar max before the ceramic wheel goes to heaven)

[savage1987]

so I'm having trouble chasing down the source of a misfire / spark breakdown..

Idles fine
Coasting down in gear misfires
Under part or full throttle misfires at random so hard the R&R must kick in or something because it's like the power just drops away for a moment now and then


I've changed the O2 sensor just behind the turbo, there looks to be another one in the rear of the catalytic convertor but I don't know what the deal is with that..? Is this a common issue?

There's also an earth strap just hanging free from the floorpan right next to the catalytic convertor... where is this supposed to go?

The earth strap in the engine bay from the motor to the strut tower is a piece of shit, I need to replace this because it's rubbish and I'm not happy with it at all.




Other than this issue the car's going alright

[LoudVn]

never had that issue with mine only issue i had is blowning the turbo every 3to 5days ;]

[Demoniak]

im 6.0 and im glad i gave up the imports, without a sunroof i had bugger all room.. with one was murder.
You will get over it very very quickly how you have to sit to fit into it.

The only option is to change the seats and make custom rails that are lower.. and then your view is screwed..
ahhhh the japan imports lol.. how they were meant for 5.5 japanese people..

My 2002 ADR 200sx (s15) Spec R was quite roomy for the drivers seat.
And so was my 1998 Supra TT (2j)
Also the chasers are extremely roomy (fyi)

[savage1987]

I have two VNs and have driven all manner of things while I was working at a caryard.. the 33 isn't too annoying at all.

I know what you mean about S15s and Supras, I remember being surprised by the amount of space available for the driver

[ari666]

the o2 up near the turbo isnt the o2, im pretty sure thats a mixture sensor. the o2 on the cat is the o2 (lol) but if you cut that off or it fails itll have a little warning light on the dash that looks kinda like grilled cheese on the oven. little wavy heat lights thingie.

edit here it is. bottom row, rhs:



how is the wastegate in this? doesnt have a BOV does it? im wondering if you are talking about what i call the BOP (official term, of course). in manuals if you have a BOV which isnt adjusted right, or a wastegate thats a bit sticky, when you gear down it allows too much air to get dumped without altering the mixtures to suit. it then drops a tonne of overley rich mixture into the exhaust and it BOP's when that fuel it hits the hot exhaust.

does that sound right? its REALLLLLLY common, especially with AM exhausts. sounds kinda annoying, but i dont think it damages anything. just means your plugs will foul quickly from dud mixtures. eaisest fix is to close off the BOV a bit so it doesnt dump as much or replace the stock wastegate on the top of the egnine (the alloy pipe running over the rocker cover)


also the earth strap goes to the heat shield cover on the cat. but being a series 1 r33 i would image those 10mm bolts holding the cover on are gone to heaven. rusted out or snapped off when they changed to aussie cat. you can rip that strap off. i normally do when i change cats on these its just attached to the top of the tailshaft tunnel. and dont would worry about the earthing straps too much. there are bazillions in the loom. its common for people to run earthing strap kits, but i have nfi why.

[ari666]

just looked at your pics. thats a blitz sequential BOV yeah? did you fit it? if so tighten the allen key bolt on the top of it and itl will stop how far it opens. (i think tighten, been ages since i have used one)

[savage1987]

ari, thanks for your input however I'm not sold on your theory on that second sensor because I have had about four or five people assure me it's a temp sensor only and that would line up with the graphic Nissan chose for the warning light - an overheating catalytic convertor. I have replaced the sensor in the dump from the turbo and it was an oxygen sensor - a four wire, from memory (maybe 3).

The BOP you mentioned may be a contributing factor but I don't think it's the whole issue as it doesn't build power properly at all anywhere in the rpm range. It feels like the mixture is sloppy or the spark is failing, but ignition components should be all OK so I'm thinking fuel pressure or an ECU limiting issue.

The BOV is a HKS sequential item whose specs I don't know.



In other news:
I replaced the shitty factory earth strap from the exhaust manifold to the strut tower with a nice 2GA cable. I also found that the FPR's vacuum/boost line from the inlet manifold had blown itself off so I cranked a couple of cable ties onto it pretty damn tight as a temporary solution.


It seems to have helped a little, it builds power a lot stronger now but still doesn't feel quite right, and the stalling issue has come back stronger than it was before (guessing because the mixture is leaning out properly with the vacuum input adjusting the pressure properly but whatever it is I need to fix it. I read somewhere that the pumps are designed to adjust their voltage at low demand (idle conditions) by means of a switching earth and that this can be circumvented by giving the pump a fixed earth right near the tank. I'll investigate this. Otherwise I'm starting to suspect the pump may need replacing because I'm sure this is a fuelling issue and I don't think it's high enough to be hitting the Nissan ECU's 7.5PSI fuel cut..

Getting somewhere, anyway. It's nice to get a step in the right direction every so often.

[ari666]

lol, fair enough mate.

[savage1987]

can someone help me understand how the fuel system works in this car? There are what appear to be two fuel pressure regulators inline upon exit from the fuel rail, and neither of them appear aftermarket. The one right on the end of the rail has a manifold pressure/vacuum feed line, then the one after that is on the strut tower... I'm confused



I'm sure I've got a pressure issue that isn't feeding reliable pressure under boost so the power breaks down in a weird fluttering sound.... boost pressure stays up just the power isn't there.

[savage1987]

Got the Walbro in today. I set up a new relay right next to the battery with a feed directly from the positive terminal, using the previously existing fuel pump power feed as the signal for the relay. This means the new pump won't be subject to Nissan's fuel pump voltage drop at idle, which can only be a good thing, while retaining the ECU control to switch the pump off in case of an accident. I also gave the pump wiring a nice direct earth so it doesn't have to earth back through the loom.

I'll get some pictures up eventually.

While I was in the tank I removed and cleaned the fuel level sender assembly because I figured I'd be stupid not to do it while I was in there anyway. It's also worth noting that I used the pre-existing Nissan pump filter rather than the new one Walbro supplied because it (the Nissan item) afforded the pickup a little over an inch more reach downward and I didn't want to reduce my useable fuel volume.