A garage guardian - Nissan Laurel

[AccordEuro]

Hi guys! I had a bit of a mix of a thread going ages ago. the car really wasnt that 'ccol' from the outside with wheels or anything so I got mega lazy and it was terribly written up and all, so I thought I would try this properly.

So as all great threads start, 'I bought this to daily as my other car was getting work done and it seems it has got all a bit to out of control.....'

We all know what that's like I'm sure. I have done it more than once and this wont be the last time either I'm sure. So this car might be a little odd to some of you Americans - its a late 1980's Nissan Laurel, model code C33.

I can't remember exactly when all this happened so the dates at the start are pretty vauge, but you get the idea!

I bought this nearing on 12 months ago (end of 2014/start of 2015) and it served its purpose with great ease - I daily drove it stock as a rock to and from work for quite a while! The rb20e was slow but steady, the auto behind it did not help and it could have been raining for weeks yet it still wouldnt get a foot on going at the lights - a perfect daily car.



Now some may know of this model, some may not. they came with a range of engines, some rb20e, some rb20de,some rb20det, some even CA. they are a 4 door which consists of R32 cross member and front half floor pan along with an S13 rear cradle and front suspension so basically just a mix between every S13/R32 part you can imagine will fit.



The car wasn't showroom condition, but it was a very 'honest' car. It has a little hail damage, a few little rust spots along with a couple of scratches and some well worn down mirrors paint wise. It ran smoothly and the interior was incredible.

Sadly, I ended up with a broken rocker which lead to snapped timing belt, subsequently bent valves and hence the end of the rb20e in this part of the story, it would probably be early 2015 - lets say feb/march?





So out came that boat anchor of an engine and in went the new one. A choice I wasn't sure about but had only heard good things!

The mighty little sr20det came from a workshop here in Brisbane and was fitted to the shell by them, it pumped a rowdy 160kW with everything standard bar the usual exhaust and intercooler with a t25.







I drove this around like this for a while - nothing done bar the ending swap + manual conversion. It went well, REALLY well. it drove amazingly thanks to the further back weight of the SR compared to RB and it had more than enough get up and go even with the 3.9 diff I was well impressed. even though I really didn't like SR's to begin before this car.

It was at this point thought after a few months of dailying I was back with a problem; a blown turbo in between manifold bolts coming loose etc.



So by now it was probably about april?

I will post this list below; its what the car had and what it now has; I will add to this as I go and put two photos down the bottom, the 'as it started' photo and a current one, just to keep people interested! more cool parts do come I swear, but I will do another post to continue the catch up soon!

-----------------------------------------------

Car: 1989 Nissan laurel (C33)
Originally: rb20e, Auto
Currently: sr20det, Manual

Engine:
Sr20det (low km's s13 import engine)
Clear CAS Cover
Taarks power steering relocation
Cusco Solid engine mounts
Custom catch can setup
Custom rocker cover -10 breathers
Braid line everywhere
Speedflow everywhere
All new cooler piping
S13 crossmember and mounts
A/C delete
In bay front mount
Exhaust - 3 inch - 1 muffler, 1 hotdog and High flow cat
Triple core copper tanked and centered radiator
Haltech Boost gauge
Walboro 450LPH
Boost tee

Hot Side;
Trust low mount manifold, external gate
Trust External waste gate
Screamer
TD06-20g 8cm
Braided oil lines
blocked water

Cold side;
Greddy v2 Forward Facing Plenum
R33 clutch master
BPP Billet top feed fuel rail
1250cc injectors
Proflo fuel pressure reg
SR20DE throttle body
Speedflow everything

ECU;
Haltech PS1000 ECU
Haltech Patch loom

Gearbox;
Rb20det box
Sr20det bell housing
Custom gearbox mounts
Nismo Clutch
Nismo Flywheel
Single piece tail shaft
S13 pedal box (brake and clutch)

Suspension + Steering;
GP Gmaster Sport coils
Ikeya Camber arms
Ikeya Toe arms
Ikeya Castor arms
Ikeya Tension rods
Adjustable rear LCA's
GKtech solid steering bush
Rebuilt steering rack
New steering rack bushes
Tein tie rod inners
Tein outer tie rods
New boots
Speedflow fittings/braided powersteering hoses
S14 front knuckles
S14 front hub
R32 rear hubs
R32 rear knuckles

Brakes:
S13 turbo caliper (front)
S13 T2 DBA rotor (redrilled to 5 stud) ( Front)
QFMHPX pads (front)
R32 gts-t calipers (rear)
R32 gts-t slotted and dimpled rotors (rear)
QFMHPX pads (rear)

Interior;
Grex Shift Knob
350mm Woodgrain Nardi
Cefiro manual gear surround
Cefiro manual center console (lever handbrake)

Exterior;
Front lip - club L
Watanabee Typre R; 16 x 8.5 +6 & 16 x 9 -13
205/50R15 - falken and my02's.

As it started....


As it is currently sitting, hiding in a shed....

[meech]

this thing is so sweet! looks awesome man. Makes me want a 4 door haha

[AccordEuro]

this thing is so sweet! looks awesome man. Makes me want a 4 door haha

Thanks man!

might as well continue the update.

From the blown turbo it sat around for quite a while - a few months - and I got a few other toys, like a supermotard and a 4x4 etc took priority.

I got back into the car work by first off restoring the back of the fixed back seat I had - it was covered in scratches but it was only in the clear, so I gave it a sand back and re-clear at work and to my suprise it came up mint as mint!







The plan was for this to go into the car with this purchase! A Key!s racing wheel - genuine. It came up and I have wanted one forever so had to buy it. However I don't think I will be using either now.



So I did some sily riding one day, and subsequently lost my license for 6 months - what a downer this has been but oh well. This is when everything got a bit out of control and I started buying stuff left, right and centre for it, I ended up with a greddy intake, trust manifold and gate along wtih a td06 and some 550cc injectors - a proven setup on these motors so I thought I would give it a go! (Once tuned if I like it, I will get a brand new td06 along with a 6boost highmount etc.)







Along at this point also came a mega impulse buy - I wasnt ever intending to put wheels on this car but these were to good to pass on. Watanabee type R, 16J and 5H pattern. good widths and offsets, could not say no.





At this point I didnt really care if I used them or not - they were just cool and looked good sitting in the lounge room!

Right at about this point also I decided that I was up for a re-tune. The Fcon I had with the setup had a pretty average tune on it for the injectors/turbo and was at 200kW at 12psi but lean's out mega hard when you get onto gate - so I am going to go Haltech PS1000, haltech boost controller, haltech dash and Premium unleaded tune. Pending the results dictates what I do for more power - i.e. cams/springs/turbo change and if I want to go E85 or not - however I am sure even at 200kW this will be a rowdy car, as I also added a OS Giken 2way 4.11 geared diff to actually put some power down and make this car move rather than the 3.9's it had.

I also placed a huge order with Jesse streeter, which I will post about next! Its the suspension/brakes post and cool wheels! So thats more of everyones style on this forum.

until then.....

[Shepherd]

Love this, can't wait to see more!

[AccordEuro]

Love this, can't wait to see more!

thanks! I shall add a bit then!

Wheels and suspension.

About three or so months ago, I got the car back, had all fab work done with the td06 setup etc and I got around to purchasing a few needed thigns to make the car actually handle and more importantly stop.

I had focused all my time and effort onto the go fast parts so I thought it was time to get back to what I could do in my own shed with ease. Suspension.

I ordered a few things from Jesse Streeter.

Ikeya Formula tension rods
Ikeya Formula camber arms
Ikeya Formula Castor Rods
Ikeya Formula toe rods
GP Gmaster Coilovers.






so! after a bit of pursuasion of the calipers and the use of my favoutire tool, I got these one.



In the front im using a setup consisting of:
S14 LCA - new balljoint
S14 Knuckles
S14 hubs - new
S13 turbo SR brake caliper
S13 Turbo rotors - DBA T2 streets redrilled to 5 stud.
5mm slip on spacer

So once all that - surprisingly - bolted up no worries the wheel fit on and boom. away we went to deal with the back.



So! it wasnt all that straight forward, basically my rear setup consists of;

R32 hub
R32 rear caliper
R32 handbrake (drum assembly) cables
S13 camber arm
S13 toe arm
S13 Traction arm
3mm slip on spacer

Now all this bolted up mint until I needed to install my adjustable LCA's. they were for S14 not s13 so that the mounting points were 50mm wide on the LCA's and not 45mm, after a bit of careful machining - read: Grinding - we got to where we needed to be and the rear bolt up mint!









So after all that effort, I finally got my wheels on. I need to put new hubs + extended wheel lugs in the rear setup of this car to ensure nothing goes wrong there - theres about 10mm of thread that the current wheel lugs grip to but I am unsure if that will be enough.

[arenbesu]

this thing is so sweet!

[AccordEuro]

this thing is so sweet!

Thanks man!

Its getting there!

So onto more recent work - i.e. today - I got around to swapping in my new tail lights! (s1 at the top, s2 bottom)





Going from s1 to the facelift/s2 version? They require cutting of one mounting hole and different wiring, no biggie for most but in case anyones wondering heres how its done!

Original:


Cutout for s2:


Wiring is pretty easy, there are 2 connections on each side. on s1, one connection powers indicator, park and reverse while the other only does brake lights.



On series two, one does park and reverse, the other does brake and indicator.

So the indicator wire on each side is lengthened, a 4 plug connector put onto each light and a few crimps and away it went, fits mint and looks 100x better.





as you can see the centre garnish has some quite bad pitting on the chrome sadly, however all the 'LAUREL' lettering is complete. so I should be able to find a good chrome one and either swap the bottom piece or - like most - swap letters over as they often fal off with age.

[AccordEuro]

These lights are much nicer than the others.

Anyway, bled the brakes, sorted out a few little electrical/lights issues I was having, adjusted the handbrake and the rest. Just all those boring niggly jobs that have to be done but I was avoiding like the plauge. Got the radio speakers covered in the rear with the original covers so they are looking good now also!



I like the cool OEM stuff.

Anyway, booked in for tune also today for next week!

Getting the following:

Haltech PS1000
Patch loom to suit s13 loom
1250cc bosch injectors
Top feed fuel rail + adapters
E85 capable pump
E85 tune.

I'm hoping for anywhere from 210 - 230kw and I will be happy, though I have seen such a setup like mine do plenty more than that so! I am sure it will be a rowdy bit of fun that will be safe and reliable enough as well!

[Raarasutra]

This thing is really funky, I really like it! In for more!

[anti.engineered]

Good work so far. SR set up must be much lighter, I like the point you made about the weight being further back. I'd be interested to see the F/R weight split before and after on such a long car.

Best of all is actually those adapter harnesses you made up for the tail lights. Reversible, all crimped, as pro as Nissan would have done it. Shit like that makes me respect a build.

[AccordEuro]

Good work so far. SR set up must be much lighter, I like the point you made about the weight being further back. I'd be interested to see the F/R weight split before and after on such a long car.

Best of all is actually those adapter harnesses you made up for the tail lights. Reversible, all crimped, as pro as Nissan would have done it. Shit like that makes me respect a build.

Gif's make every post better.

For weights, assuming both engines are standard with bolt on's etc (I know I have deleted A/C so I would save a little more but thats all not really that much overall) an rb25det with box weighs about 300kg, where as an SR comes in at around 230kg. So instantly there your saving a bunch of weight and being further back this gives it a really nice 'light' feel to drive when it had standard suspension in it.

I had a cefiro with a 25, and in comparisson (same chassis etc as the laurel) it always felt very looming and large to drive, where as the laurel feel much more nimble and light. its hard to explain until you actually drive a 4 door nissan (such as skyline 4 door, ceff or laurel) with a SR to understand what I mean.

The save on weight, the save on rego (due to 4cylinder rego not 6 anymore) and the lighter driving means for me, a better more practical street car which is what I was wanting to achieve!

And as for the lights - my number one most feared thing in the world is wiring, the neater and less fire prone you can make it, the better.

[AccordEuro]

did some stuff. tightened some things, loosened others, filled up a couple bits and acted like I knew what was going on.

But really I was just triple checking fluids tonight, sorting height perfectly and putting split pins back into rear hubs.

It sits at:
150mm to front bar
100mm to rails
70mm to cat
65mm to front V Band front pipe -> rest of exhaust.

[TWM Performance]

Ouuuu this is a thing of beauty, done properly as well.

- Renato

[AccordEuro]

Ouuuu this is a thing of beauty, done properly as well.

- Renato

Thanks!

So I got up this morning, did a bit of a really slack wheel alignment with my trusty piece of string.



Everything's adjustable so that was mega easy and easy enough to do. I got it loaded up on the truck and down to the shop for its tune and what not.



and just another photo of it dropped off!



And I put the order down for all the new ECU/rail/injectors so thats exciting, expecting it to be done by the end of next week, so stay posted! E85 goodnesss to come

[AccordEuro]

One dude I know messaged me this today; people are seeing my car and im not, makes me sad though he called it cool and said the wheels were awesome, +10 points.



is running on the dyno right now I assume as I was told thursday arvo, so either very shortly or tomorrow I will know how it all went! Hopefully well!