So thanks “6u’3YaN HaCkErr” for the reminder

Was a good excuse for some file cleaning as well!

Though I’d like to know the exploit, you seemed to get into the admin with only one post to the login?

He had been having a few electrical gremlins so it was a logical place to look, well this is what we saw…

While it is hard to tell from that picture there are at least 4-5 wires fully cut, so that was a good place to start with for any problems!!

Today we set aside some time to fix this, the idea was to fix the wires and relocate the loom higher up in the arch.

However the first problem to greet us was the fact that the sideskirts and front bumper had been bonded on by the bodyshop when the kit was fitted to his car. The front bumper was no problem, we cut through the bonding, but the sideskirt proved to be more difficult. It required heat/hacksaw blade and a fair bit of time…

Once we finally got the sideskirt off, and the wing removed from the body it was time to see the extent off the damage:

As you can see the wiring had seen better days…

.. this obviously wasn’t the first time either, several of the wires have previously been wrapped from where the insulation is broken, the inner lip of the arch has been bent up and the loom seems to have been moved slightly up as well.

We however had to deal with the 5 or so wires that where truely buggered, out came the soldering iron and I began getting to work. I am by no means an expert with a soldering iron so it was a good crash course in getting it right!

A couple of the wires had to be crimped instead of soldered, due to the solder not wanting to stick, but we got them all fixed.

The loom was wrapped back up, and then located higher in the arch to keep it out of harms way. To keep it in place we zip tied it up using the holes at the top of the arch.

The wing was put back on, a little more snug than usual, and job done!

Moral of the story, if you are lowering your S13, relocate the loom before it takes any damage!!!

Having said that probably the quickest exhaust swap I’ve helped with (on mates 205 GTi). Having a pit makes it sooo much easier!

Today we had a trip to down to the Team D:Mon unit to pick up Joe’s new wheels, we also got to have a gander at Steve’s S13 project and Jason’s Silvia (below)!

and these ended up in Joe’s hands

Which looked something like this

However it’s the car that always makes it akward, and as usual it took longer than expected!

The first thing to tackle is removing the filter to turbo piping to gain easy access to the actuator and turbo piping as pictured below:

Once that is all out the way you should be able to see the pipe joining the actuator to the turbo, with its wire clips. Because these are probably at least 15 years old expect them to be well, pretty rusty:

We opted to slice the pipe at the connecting ends after snapping the clips (seeing as we were to replace them anyway).

When that was done, the new profec piping connected to either end which was then cut it half to give us two pipes, one from the actuator and one from the turbo. These will then connect to the solenoid.

With the new pipes on and cut all the air filter piping was put back on and the pipes routed how we wanted them, be sure to remember which pipe is which!!

Next up was mounting the solenoid, on my S13 I have screwed it to the wheel arch and we had intended to do that here, until we saw a convenient empty screw hole, I’m guessing left over from the old air box.

Sits perfect and no issues with bonnet closure. Once this is all secured the vacuum pipe that runs to the actual unit in the cabin needs to be hooked up, this can be t-pieced off the FPR. This time we t’ed it into a vacuum pipe coming off the inlet manifold as the stock dump valve is gone and the pipe was already t’ed off spare.

Finally we ran the the wiring and piping into the cabin and hooked it up, wired it in. Fired the car up and all was good!

Job’s a good un!

Meanwhile Joe was taking off his URAS BGW, as the car is booked into the bodyshop on Wednesday to have an S15 Spec R spoiler put on, should be looking pretty sweet on Thursday! I’m looking forward to seeing it! However, I must admit I really like it running despoilered, but I couldn’t convience Joe.

It was night, cold and I had no tripod, but you can check the results in my gallery here. I need to do some more night shots!

and a random compilation of shots from the cam mounted in Joe’s 180 (mucking about with long exposures):

For a full account of the night see my post on 180sx.co.uk

Took it out for a spin locally last night and all appeared to be going well, making about 10psi at the moment according to the AVCR which is yet to be set up. The Apex coilovers feel very solid, but pretty comfy at the same time. I went for 6/5 springs as opposed to the harder 8/6.

Tracking and a full alignment won’t go a miss, but until I get smaller tyres on the front it will do.

The real test came today, driving to Cambridge and back (with Joe’s 180, and GK’s RX7), while not a massive disctance it was a nerveous drive none the less due to the period of time it has been off the road.
Verdict? I am very very happy, the old beast performed perfectly didn’t miss a beat and was a thrill to drive.

Can’t wait to get it set up properly!!

The car was used as a road car, set up with Kei office coilovers, basic engine mods and Bomex body kit.
It’s an awesome car, feels very well set up and planted, and looks incredible. The 18″ Adavn RG’s really work, and the colour just sets the whole car off.

To see some more pics, along side Joe’s 180sx go here