S13 Two Tone – Naturally Attractive

Ill give you a little insight into whats been running through my brain lately. Be warned no pics and lots of rambling.

Within my shed lies a lot of work to do, ill run you through what ticks over in my brain when i see my projects.

First theres the Hilux, im still waiting for the motor to be finished for it, the SR20 im using for it is out of my S13, this motor had a few issues which was part of the reason it had not been driven in a while, the decision was made to remove it, fix the issues and then use it in the Hilux chassis, when it comes back its full steam ahead with wiring, plumbing and making all those bits an pieces to get it driving, im also waiting on all my brake fittings and air jack fittings from the US aswell as a few other bits and pieces.

So theres not a whole that can be done at this point on it, its just a matter or waiting. I dont stress about things like this, building a car is a long process, i dont have a deadline or sponsors aking questions it will be done when the times right.

The 180SX is also parked in the shed, fresh from 3 full days of QLD Matsuri fun its basically an exhaust repair and some new aero away from being able to take to the track again, the car ran faultlessly at QLD and im really happy about the mechanicals on the car, the engine bay had a clean up and i addressed a few issues when the head was off so its good to go again.

The trailer is still in the worx, im up to sheeting in the nose cone and just trying to find a supplier for Pro-Bond alloy/composite sheeting, then its time to strip, paint and refit everything ready for towing duties for the next few years.

Above the trailer on the hoist is the S13, the car ive owned and loved for many years. Its been one of those cars, its the one that dosnt really get driven because its not 100% right in a few areas, ive had many ideas about bringing it back to life but most have been fairly half hearted. By using its motor for the ute its given me some inspiration.

The old motor was a built SR20 running a TD06L2 on a Brae Manifold with my custom made plenum setup, to build this car as a SR20DET again then id be basically doing the exact same setup ill be running in the Hilux and 180SX. Too many parts, too much money and just a little boring for me.

So what to do? Well i need to force myself to learn how to build motors, theres never been a better time to build a motor to power this S13 than an “All Motor” SR20DE, by 2014 the cars able to be “engineered” an road driven as a classic club car and being NA this will make life a lot easier to go through this process.

So where am i at now and what am i doing about it? I have stripped down the car and started working on a few things, ive ditched the Power Steering by removing all lines, pulled apart the steering rack, plugged the holes, drilled holes in the internal divider, while doing this ive been looking at the factory crossmember and caster mounts so im remaking these from tube, redoing the roll cage and cleaning everything up.

Erin and the guys at JDM Garage in Brisbane have palleted up an SR20 with a few neat bits inside that needs work, when it arrives ill be building a pretty full on set of long tube headers, 52mm Individual Throttles, rebuilding the motor with some higher compression, some headwork and massive cams to suit the new throttles and exhaust.

So thats an insight into what my brain goes through every time i open the shed, theres so much to do and im not even going to start talking about the 530 KTM Street Bike i want to build. Now to get back to my day job and afford all this…………….

21 Comments
  1. nitrous

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  2. ..Is that an S15 shell cut up next to the PS13?

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  3. Excellent Nigel.
    Here is a link that might help you: http://www.borla.com/products/induction/ThrottleBody/ThrottleBody-FR.html

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  4. Can’t believe the S13 will be NA 🙁

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  5. S13 NA toughness…

    AWESOME! 🙂

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  6. Is that half an s15 to the left? :/

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  7. NA SR’s are an entire world of pain and suffering.. they make NO power and are completly YUK to drive..
    Only way to make any sort of usable power from one is to go VE head..
    The addvantages far out weight the cost of purchase…

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  8. Go for it Nigel!! Please dont be discouraged its such an awesome idea, have always been a big fan of na silvias. For reference this is a 230ps tec-arts na s14 that popped up on caseys blog that I have been a big fan of for a long time http://shirtstuckedin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/NAS142.jpg and this is the spec sheet http://tecarts.com/photo/p09/index.html

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  9. I am an NA at heart…..because it’s not about cranking out power. These days EVERYONE wants power. It’s the challenge, the ability of squeezing out all the power from every single component. Be a rod, or a piston, or a cam, or those coveted VE head (they do make power BTW).
    Nigel, slap in some 12.X:1 comp. some big cams, ported VE head, some ITB’s, and knife-edged crank, and let it scream 🙂

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  10. I like the fact that you are motivated to try something different Nigel…………………… ITB’s ,portwork and big shafts will make it sound so angry …………. all the guys on hear saying you wont make huge power should realize its no drag car and its not all about huge HP …… NA cars are awesome and reliable ……….. there are about 3 guys in QLD with stock NA sr in there s13s and they keep up with some fairly fast cars on the track

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  11. Llyod. Your statement makes NO sense.
    1.. Itb’s portwork and big shafts will make it sound so angry… YES it will and it will also be horrid lumping pig to drive.
    2. Its not a drag and you ont make huge HP.. Whats the point in modifying at all then.??
    3.. NA cars are awesome and reliable.. NO NO NO.. they are no where near reliable.. The constant high revs required to make any usefull power also means they are more prone to rocker issues. And getting ITB’s tuned perfect is a giant pain..
    Also getting the runner lengths right on both the intake and exhaust is an art unto itself.. and is JUST as important as the rest of the engine..

    It take far far more effort to get 200whp out on and NA sr20de as it does to get 400whp from a turbo version..
    I have been there and done it.. GIANT WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY unless you leave it near stock..

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  12. I love the idea of N/A, it certainly never hurt the fun factor of AE86s… and it also makes a point of difference between the 180sx.

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  13. Can’t wait to see the exhaust work on this!

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  14. Love the concept Nige. an at the end of the day its Nigel’s car he said he wants to use it on the street, who cares if it if its a dead stock sr the car is still cool as all hell

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  15. Go LSX , it will still be n/a 🙂

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  16. Haven’t read the blog in a while.

    NA is cool as hell (I for one love screaming NA engines), but you’ll want some low end torque, and by that I mean you shouldn’t get 300+ degree cams. Would recommend a VE head but the build’s already on its way.

    If only you had money… well you do work for Ford, surely there must be a falcodore racing engine? 🙂 I love sacrilege.

    Anyway, good luck with whatever you want to do, you seem to be a top bloke, if a bit of a recluse :).

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    • Lol, thanks man, haha i am a recluse, my sheds my cave 😉

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  17. what’s with the hacked up shell on the left?

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  18. vq with itb’s would be nice to.

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  19. Love it! I’ve been NA for a decade now and swear by it. While all my turbo friends are in the pits spraying intercoolers and radiators with water I’m out driving. Yeah, there’s no power, but there’s response, linearity and cheapness. I know that last one doesn’t matter to you haha! It’s a blast learning how to manipulate the entire car and not just the throttle.

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  20. Just in reference to the alloy composite sheeting. my work sells it. It’s called iBond

    Reply

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