SXDevelopments 180SX (SXD180) - CNC Shiny stuff

[CaBS 6]

Hey Guys/Girls,

 

Some of you might know I've been planning an engine build for my car for awhile now. I've been the proud owner of my 95 blacktop 180SX for over 7 years. During this time the car itself, my technical knowledge and my driving skill have come a long way from where they first started. From total noob to having a reasonable idea of whats going on in most areas of the car.

 

A lot of this knowledge I have due to good advice, experience and friendships formed initially though NSCC and some through NS. This is something that has added heavily to the enjoyment I've had from owning my car.

 

Inspired and by both of the Sutton brothers cars and NFI ongoing builds I'm aiming to step the 180 up to the next level over the next period its off the road. Turning it into my vision of what an RPS13 should be. This is something that I've been planning for over 4 years now and in the build for almost 2 cant wait to get finished. I booked in 2 weeks annual leave at the beginning of august 2011 a) to be a world time attack scorch racing groupie to help NFI with his WTAC campaign and c) to get the car stripped back to a shell and the build kicked off to a flying start! =)

 

The end goal is to have a sub 1100kg car making an easy 300rwkw(+) with reasonable response good suspension setup and basic aero package. Still maintaining street registration and have the car fully engineered but also be able to put down some serious times at the track.

 

I'm planning on doing a brief recap of where the car has come from when I first got it as I've taken well over 4000 photos of all the different mods done from the first weekend I got the car until now. Then updating reasonably regularly.

More updates coming!

 

Cheers,

 

Martin.

 

 

Some pictures of the build so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2014 by CaBS

[CaBS 6]

Here is the original ad posted on SAU. I actually saw the car on carsales and still have the pictures that were posted up there(below) The last picture was taken by me and is of how the engine bay was when I first bought it and picked up the car. Not the duck tape and zip ties where the BOV should be!

 

 

 

 

 

hi guys and gals.

 

time to sell my 180sx to free up sum funds for the gtr

1995 rps13 180sx

white in colour

12 months reg

130,000 ks

 

mods are :

 

body:

full vertex kit

fiberglass fenders 30mm oversize front

duluck front bar

clear side indacators and front which i will throw in with the car

clear tail lights

very dark tints

 

interior:

momo steering wheel

2 defi copy gauges (oil temp and oil press)

blitz boost gauge

autometer air fuel ratio gauge

autometer shift light

trust twin a pillar pod

drift button

razo pedals

apexi pen turbo timer

top of the range alarm system

 

wheels,suspention,brakes:

18-8

18-9

mako wheels 2 inch dish all round

falken azenis rubber front

nankang rear

tanabe sustec pro coilovers

front and rear cusco strut bars

inside floor brace

r33 4 piston calipers front

5 stud wheel conversion

rda slotted rotors front

 

engine:

sr20 det black top

front mount cooler

stainless air filter

all alloy cooler pipes and intake pipe

boost tap 14 psi

t25 turbo

malpasi fuel reg

bosh 600 hp fuel pump

hks hiper exaust

hi flow cat

tomie dump pipe

custom front pipe

cusco catch can

custom overflow bottle

fresh gear box built by smithfield diff and gear

nismo button clutch new

c's short shifter

 

allways serviced with motul 300v crono oil every 5000 ks

 

 

 

im sure there is other things that i forgot to mention to but cant remember at the moment spent alot of time and money to get this looking how it does.

this is a good clean 180 in a1 condition i have owned the car for 3 years

 

 

price $ 16000 ono

 

 

 

please no time wasters or test pilots

the car must be seen to see it is one of the best condition 180's going around

 

if interested email me at **

 

or pm me here

 

or call me on ***

 

cheers ****

 

For the most part what he said about the car was correct and although afew of the mods were incorrect and there were some slight issues mostly it was pretty good.

Edited March 30, 2012 by CaBS

[CaBS 6]

So the first major thing I did to the car was fix the catch can setup it was plumbed up completely wrong and was pressurising the sump. This meant randomly the crankcase pressure would build up and push a ****load of oil through the turbo seal into the exhaust. Subsequently the car behind would become invisible but not for the right reasons. =)

 

This first happened the day after I'd bought the car and I was totally freaking out the motor was screwed and I'd sucked a big fat... lemon. But was pleasantly surprised when I found out it was the above issue. You can see the initial way it was done with garden hose like stuff in one of my first posts and how it was fixed it up below.

 

 

 

 

As you can see no more garden hose! =)

[CaBS 6]

The next thing I did afew weeks later was installed a plumb back BOV.

The previous owner had "borrowed a mates" and had to give it back so the car came without one. You can see in the second post I put up the outlet on the hot pipe for it which is duct taped up.

 

The car got terrible compressor surge. You could feel it let alone hear it. The car was only running 14psi and under hard acceleration you could feel it between gear changes. Boost would drop right down and when you planted your foot in the next gear would take a second or two before it was on full song again.

 

The GFB plumb back fixed this up and the car performed much better and also sounded a lot better in my opinion. =)

 

 

 

 

Here you can see the new hot pipe I had made to suit the BOV.

Plumbs back nicely into the intake just infront of the compressor housing and has worked a treat to this day. Unfortunately the bonnet skin rubbed some of my black spray job off it =(

 

[CaBS 6]

The next step was grip which the car had none of. The chromies the car came with had Nankangs on the rear and some ****ty faulkens on the front with no alignment items other than stock adjustments. Ontop of its it was 80mm+ lower than stock so bump steered and skipped like a mofo.

 

I bought some R33 GTS-T rims to throw on while I waited on the new wheels I'd order to come from japan. Finally some boxes showed up to UAS and I went and got them wrapped in SP Sportmaxx tyres the next day then we put them on!

 

Looking back I thought these tyres were pretty awesome in terms of grip. Now I have a set in the garage specifically for skidpan days =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2012 by CaBS

[joe180sx 0]

Sweet 180!! I've got similar plans. I'll be following your progress

[nfi 5]

This is still retrospective. Lot yet to come. This car is going to be awesome!!

[CaBS 6]

The chromies saw the chop

 

 

Making way for some Buddy Club P1s

 

 

 

 

 

The car also saw its first event while waiting for the rims to arrive from Japan. Which was an SAU skidpan day and alot of fun with the whole pan being used for courses. I think this is still the best skidpan day I've been to till this day

 

Edited April 13, 2012 by CaBS

[CaBS 6]

Over the next 12 months I did lots of small jobs on the car, installed some cheapy guages to monitor my temps at the track. Installed new nismo "butt plug" gearknob fitted pinapples and got the wheel alignment under control and made an airbox.

 

 

 

 

 

Towards the end of the year my stock T25G decided it had had enough abuse and threw in the towel. The next thing on the cards had been suspension as I hated the tanabe sustec pro coilovers I bought the car with. They were way to stiff and would make the car skip and your ass tense at the sight of a pothole. This had to be pushed back to get the car running with a brand new 2860RS .63 the turbo was thrown in and tuned with the FPR st unigroup as I still only had the stock computer at this stage. Then lots more driving. I took my car to wakefeild for the first time after this clocking a 1:14.7 with no front camber and sportmaxx tyres. I was pretty happy with this for my first time at the track. =)

 

 

 

The new turbo was a fair bit bigger than stock but not stupidly.

 

 

 

[tinto 0]

I like where this is heading.

The other SXD cars are stand outs to me.

[CaBS 6]

I like where this is heading.

The other SXD cars are stand outs to me.

 

Not to worry this will be up with its peers, not up to the getting serious part yet.

[SRS13 9]

What do you mean serious?

[CaBS 6]

The next items to go into the car were some 740cc Tomei injectors and a PFC. This netted me the same 195rwkw as just putting the turbo on but were were able to get a nice fat mid range out of it as well. So overall the car felt far faster.

 

 

 

 

 

I also shelled out for the biggest kincrome tool kit I could find in handheld form so it can be lugged to the track if need be to pull things apart as required. =)

 

Edited April 1, 2012 by CaBS

[CaBS 6]

So I'd been doing all the reading I could on suspension and what seemed to be working best at the time. I ended up choosing a complete kit that a suspension engineer from sydney was selling. Custom valved bilstein coilovers with selby swaybars front and rear. Also came with noltec adjustable strut tops for the front so I could dial in some camber. These were exactly what I was after and really made a world of difference to the car. No longer did it hop skip and jump over rough surfaces it just soaked everything up. While the bars kept the car feeling stable in the corners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The car had been off the road for a while with a busted lca so I'd also managed to save up for a Nismo GT Pro TT 1.5 way mechanical diff. This is one of the best mods you can do. It totally transformed the car adding way more grip. We dropped the whole subframe out to make it easier fitting the suspension kit and the diff in/out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2012 by CaBS

[harris. 7]

So I'd been doing all the reading I could on suspension and what seemed to be working best at the time. I ended up choosing a complete kit that a suspension engineer from sydney was selling. Custom valved bilstein coilovers with selby swaybars front and rear. Also came with noltec adjustable strut tops for the front so I could dial in some camber. These were exactly what I was after and really made a world of difference to the car. No longer did it hop skip and jump over rough surfaces it just soaked everything up. While the bars kept the car feeling stable in the corners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The car had been off the road for a while with a busted lca so I'd also managed to save up for a Nismo GT Pro TT 1.5 way mechanical diff. This is one of the best mods you can do. It totally transformed the car adding way more grip. We dropped the whole subframe out to make it easier fitting the suspension kit and the diff in/out.

 

 

That single pic right there made me moist man.. awesome collection..

 

also, mad props for going P1's.. easily the greatest wheel that has not been whored out like TE's/meisters etc.. love where this build is going..

[CaBS 6]

Heres a shot of the car parked at Mikes Manor the morning of my first NSCC day.

 

 

This was before the new suspension and still with the stock turbo.

[R4Race 2]

Looking good buddy, can't wait to see the end result. Will you be joining James at WTAC, we'll have to catch up once I'm down there.

[CaBS 6]

Looking good buddy, can't wait to see the end result. Will you be joining James at WTAC, we'll have to catch up once I'm down there.

 

Hey man, thanks. Yeh i'll be there as part of the support team. Hopefully my car is far enough along to be bothered displaying it. It's doubtful though as James car will use a heap of our time between now and then. The year after I might enter if all is going well.

[NickRB20 1]

I ended up choosing a complete kit that a suspension engineer from sydney was selling.

would you describe him as a sydney kid, perhaps?

[CaBS 6]

I ended up choosing a complete kit that a suspension engineer from sydney was selling.

would you describe him as a sydney kid, perhaps?

 

Yup although it wasn't part of a group buy or anything. I had met and talked with Gary afew times about it. NFIs S15 was actually one of the test cars for his kits back in the day.

[zahmad 0]

I saw this on the hoist completely stripped the last time I visited...

I was told of the great plans

[NickRB20 1]

Yeah have heard he's pretty good with track suspension, good stuff mate. Loving the quality gear in this car!

[tinto 0]

Are you heading down the BW EFR turbo path with this? I think I've seen you turn up in a few threads (NRR or time attack forums I think) talking about them

[CaBS 6]

I saw this on the hoist completely stripped the last time I visited...

I was told of the great plans

 

Shhhh

[CaBS 6]

Are you heading down the BW EFR turbo path with this? I think I've seen you turn up in a few threads (NRR or time attack forums I think) talking about them

 

Haha yeh i was super interested initially cause the concept is great and light weight etc. All the problems they've had has turned me right off them though. Maybe further down the track.

[CaBS 6]

Yeah have heard he's pretty good with track suspension, good stuff mate. Loving the quality gear in this car!

 

Thanks man. Yeh it was a very nice daily setup which could still turn out decent times. Two thumbs up from me on his kits...

[CaBS 6]

This is a mega dogey pic I took on my camera phone at the time not sure why but I always liked it

 

Did some dodgy zip tie stiching for a small section of the front bar which copped a hiding.

 

New tune agent rear toe arms and camber arms went in to help with the rear alignment. Also picked up an ultra racing 4 point rear strut brace I could notice far less creaking from the chassis in and out of driveways after installing this so it must have been doing something!

 

For the next trackday I managed to pickup these stock R34GTT rims with some old kumho v70 rcomps on them. This was my first time driving on R-comps and I was totally hooked!

 

The car had to head in for an alignment after fitting all the arms.

 

I picked up this basic sparco seat for a decent price and ordered some bride rails from an NS trader. These arrived in afew days and I took them down to get modded so they'd fit the seat.

 

A ross tuffbond oversized water pump pulley was fitted to help reduce pump cavitation at high RPM and therefore also temp. My water temps have always remained stable after this was installed. I think they're only like 7% bigger. Looking for a slightly larger one now actually if anyone knows of any? The only ones I've seen are the NAPREC ones and they look stupidly expensive?

 

Finally got some EBC love happening my trusty profec b has never failed me to this day! =)

[CaBS 6]

So the next wave of parts hit, this included a new greddy fmic as we thought the old one might be choking the power abit. A greddy oil cooler kit, nismo power brace, ultra racing front fender braces, new nissan o2 sensor and some whiteline rose jointed sway bar links.

 

 

You can really see why these make a massive difference when you look at what it replaces... When you look at how flimsily the front rad support is attached on an S13 chassis its no wonder it helps either!

 

New kit together.

 

The haul

 

You can see why I upgraded!

 

Big gap

 

Better in black?

 

Closeup of the new cooler fitted. Turned out to be a massive headache as the kit was made to sit infront of the radiator

 

Whiteline rose jointed swaybar links. These where shit and really expensive! The new design is far improved!

 

I couldnt fit these as the fouled on the guards I had on the car =(

 

Better economy after this was installed!

 

This was on of the best purchases I've made. Lets you to all the fundamental data logging nothing fancy though but god is it a help when your looking where to improve!

[harris. 7]

where did you get that GPS thingy from bro?? the performance box website?? I DEFINITELY want one of those dealies..

[jimma180 0]

coming along nicely