Jims Nissan S14 drift / Barrel Sprint car
Jims Nissan S14 drift / Barrel Sprint car
Since i introduced myself on here, i've been on and off but not really said anything! Not much time between the grind of the 9-5 and working on the car to sit down and get a build blog thread going. I hope to change that with this build thread.
So this was the first pic of the car when i went to pick it up from my buddy. A steady 135k miles on the clock, full Nissan service history in the book and completely factory standard. I didnt think it was too bad for £1400!!!
Intentions from the start was that it was going to become a drift car that wouldnt cost me the earth (this mindset didnt last long)
After the usual 'first things first' mods included a walbro 255 fuel pump, FMIC, apexi filter and daiyama coilovers. Whilst the car was off the road I got my hands on a Cobra Evolution seat which I was more than happy to take delivery of! I dont have many photos of my early drift ventures, so heres a pic of the last drift day when the car was 'cheap'
It then spent the winter in my dads workshop. I had spent the last six months developing my technique and dialling in the settings of the suspension but i wanted more. Suddenly my cheap toy wasnt so cheap any more! I ended up buying a EPracing MS wide kit, a stupidly large wing and Driftworks GEOMASTERS lock kit. As i started dismantalling the standard kit on the car i noticed the dreaded rust had set in. Along with the usual sill rot, i noticed the boomerang that supports the subframe showed some signs of wear....
With the rust, cured (totally forgot to take pics) it was time to get the kit and the wing trimmed and fitted.
At this point i was getting more and more excited that this thing would look and sound truely amazing once it got back on the road. Days felt like weeks as my anticipation to get my boost fix was gettin unbearable. It wasnt long before the day of the MOT came around, I jumped in the car and fired it into life. YES! Time for boost again! My childish grin lasted a mere minutes when a nasty bottom end rattle reared its ugly head. I got my mechanic mate round to diagnose the problem and it was what i feared the most. The engine was out the same day
Stripped down block and head revealed no damage in the head but the big end bearing on number 4 was paper thin and scored quite badly. Thankfully the crank was still in useable condition!
Rattling around in the pot of number 1 was a random piece of metal, to this day we have no idea where it came from or how it got there.
Anyway a full rebuild including all gaskets, rings and bearings replaced it was time to get the engine back in the car. Having never rebuilt an engine before i was quite nervous to know whether or not my efforts would pay off.
To my relief, it burst into life and after a quick timing check it was ready to go.
1500 running in miles later i decided it was time to see what the new lock kit was capable of on track. An incredible transformation! The speed and accuracy of the turn in is amazing. Things still werent right with the engine though, boost was on and off and it was becoming more and more difficult to initiate the drift.
It wasnt long after that i was approached by Pat about attending a show at Newark show ground to promote the up coming JAE show. How could i say no?! So a poorly non boosting S14 met its uncle, a BEE*R R324 Skyline GTR! I must admit I had a fantastic time getting to know this club to which Pat and Andy invited me to join which i soon did!
After the event i was determined to solve the boost gremlins and enjoy the car again, after countless leak tests and boost hoses being replaced I booked the car in for the Norfolk Arena Charity drift day. As it was such a big event at the arena i decided to go for something a little wacky and different...
Subtle as a brick to the face haha!
My favourite photo of my car to date. On lock, smoking the rears and showing off drifting one handed.
Once again the boost problem came back and i lost all power to the point where i had to limp it home with black smoke pouring out the back and it trying to stall on me at every opportunity. I bought myself a GT2871r and began stripping the hot side down to fit it, then i found this
So the standard manifold went back on, to my surprise the standard exhaust manifold is good for 400bhp which im certainly not complaining about!
This brings me to the most recent stage of the build. I noticed a sponsorship opportunity had arisen with American cooling company - Mishimoto. A lengthy application sent off and a week later, I got the sponsorship!!
Being a bit of a DIY modifier I researched into a power brace. This is a bar that runs between the castor arm brackets. So heres a quick few pics of that -
All fabricated, welded, shot blasted and painted at home, the welds arent the best but it certainly looks the part!
With the ever more extensive weight reduction going on in the car i have completely removed the heater matrix and replaced it with a lightweight heater from JJC race and rally
As of last night the engine now sports some NISMO 740cc injectors which hopefully will give the car a bit more life once it gets mapped!
Thats all for now, I've missed an awful lot out. The cage is being fitted this week, all the wiring loom is being modified and replaced and im going silly with aero catches. i'll keep this as updated as i can!! The first Barrel Sprint day is on the 5th March so im hoping to have it ready, mapped and stickered up before then! I'll be sure to be flying the OutlawJap flag somewhere on the car.
Cheers!!
Looks really good mate it sounded mental at that event and got alot of attention.
Was great having u there and can't wait to see more progress on it and it turning up to more events in the future
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Nice car mate, I've always had a soft spot for these Silvia's and although the stripped out tyre smoker look isn't my taste (I would have loved to see this thing remain road going) i can and do appreciate the effort one goes through to get their cars perfectly set up for the perfect drift abd lets face it who doesn't love a bit of sideways action, fair play to you
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Great write up, love the work you've done!
Loved reading all that brilliant build mate! will follow this one closely
Just a quick update on the car! Interior going it's new colour today. Much cleaner looking than the tired white. Brush painted because I simply don't have the time to take the windows out / mask everything up.
Next update should see the interior finished off completely. Thanks for the kind comments, it's so close to mapping now!!