Project: Budget thrasher.

So I've started stripping out my N13 pulsar to use as a race car for townsville events. It'll be mainly for use on sealed surface circuits (go kart track, mt stuart, etc) And won't be a big power car.

My first plan is to strip it and paint it, and maybe find a less leaky engine. Anyone who can offer any kind of help with anything is invited to come help out, and i'll try and organise a bbq and beer for those days.

A few pictures of the puppy:

The front


The back


The paperweight with a massive CAI :p


Some interior pics ish



The obligatory rice


The sound system is going too, if anyone is interested in some items for cheap: BZ1000 1000Wrms Monoblock amplifier, BZ475 4x75Wrms multichannel amplifier, both amps have adjustable gain and bass boost and some other thingos. Twin 12" Bezerk subs in a ported box and a kenwood mp3/cd player. I also have some wiring, a fuse box, and i think either some 0 or 2 guage wiring.

So i'm in the process of ripping out anything unessecary, then installing: my "drift" racing seat, 4" tacho, 2" temp guage, and my recently purchased "handling pack" consisting of:

King low springs,
KYB Excel G shocks
Whiteline front sway bar
Whiteline rear sway bar
Front strut brace

Now all i need is a motor that doesn't leak, or some ghetto work on the current motor. I also have an OEM clutch and pressure plate.

So if anyone has any ideas or suggestions throw em too me. I'm not too flash in the working on cars department, and i could always use a hand.

Cheers

Yea i'd love to give ya a hand at stripping it down if you want. You got a painter already or? My dad's a pretty good painter. Wouldn't charge much. He already has all the gear he would need aswell. Looking for a turboed motor?

Nah no turbo, if i was going that route it'd be a CA18 though. Uses same engine mounts and gbox.

Prolly just upgrade to the 1.8 and leave it at that.

I don't have a painter lined up at all. I was just gonna give it a shot myself

Yea well if you want to i could talk to my dad. Any idea's of what colour? Yea 1.8 sounds nice. i've got a mate that has that in her's. yea CA's go well (Y)

I was looking at a burnt orange colour. Similar to those that you see on silvias all the time. A nice rich colour, with black highlights here and there. But paintint isn't so important, i need a tidier engine first. And no tsv wreckers have any 18le's apparently

Yea you've probably seen my cousins 33 out? the orange one with a black bonet? Like that colour? Yea well keep looking they will surface somewhere lol

Yeah i'll be keeping my eyes open. There's a high comp with quad throttles for sale, but out of my price range lol.

Ask your dad about the painting anyway though.

Ultra blue does wonders for leaking engine parts. If the idea is budget then this could be an option.

I was thinking a gloss black bay? jdm style :p

A little update.

Sound system mainly removed, boot lining and spare wheel removed, half of rear seat removed.

I came across the damage of a leak near the tailights that i fixed years ago, one rusted spare wheel and a custom orage coloured spare wheel well. None of the body is affected by sust in the boot.

So far the only rust I can see is very light surface rust on the tailgate and a small spot of rust on the roof.

I still need to remove front seats, rear seats, floor carpet and all plastic trimmings.

Is thtere much DIY work that can be done to the engine? cos its about now that I'd like some guidance/help from someone whos knows a bit more than me lol

When I get back I can help with some stuff mate. Thought of an Atmo CA from an EXA? Bit more power and a basic swap. You can still use your gearbox etc just need someone in the know for wiring it up. Maybe Troy could help with that if you ask him nicely.

Atmo CA are cheap as chips too. If that is not an option you could get the 2 litre LE block from a Camira and use the 1.8 LE head for a little more compression.

Engine work is easy. I have built a couple of engines years ago now and they still work. I also did the 18LE I used to have. Only the top end though. Pity the bottom end let go in it.
I may even have some parts at home you could use/adapt to fit too. T25 anyone???

Well you can't use the 2L JD/JE camira block, its a completely different design. The 18le and 16lf were heavily customised to fit the nissan box and mounts. The internals can be a swap though. But where am I going to find camira crank and pistons? (18le rods are stronger)

I never consider a CA18de before though. Basically my budget is only a few hundred for the engine. Or a bit more if its spaced out. The big money has gone into the sussy.

An upgrade from the 1.6L is really needed though. 46 flywheel kw is miserable lmao.

Maybe i might try and find a thrashed out ca18det or a good cond ca18de and fit stock turbo parts to that? I hav eno idea where'd find a reliable cheap CA in the NQ region.

hmmm more fuel for thought.

Also bob, did you want some spare interoir plastics? cause i have a frogger i don't need lol

Hold onto them till I get back if you can. If you cant then no big deal. I will go through and see what I need.
There is a wreckers in Ayr that had a couple of EXA's. Also I think Jap motors may have a couple of CA18's. For a budget car dont even bother with the det. If you find one cheap enough then it will need rebuilding and that will blow out your budget.

I remember seeing a couple of camira's in a wreckers in townsville. Cant remember which one though. You could ask a workshop/wreckers to locate you a crank though. Or get on the Aust wide wreckers site and find one there.

links? i because then i might just need an 18le head, and just bore out the 1.6l block which would need to be done anyways

I dont have any links I can give you over here. Go to google and type in wreckers. Should be one in the called Aust auto wreckers or something like that.

Just found a website, giving it a shot now

i think you should deal with the current motor for a little while, keep learning how to get it round a track as it is, i know its not fast, but it would be a good platform to learn from and also pretty cheap which i gather is what this build is about. its also easy.

learn how hard you can throw it into corners etc, and then when the funds become available, then look at the convo.

also, i think that you could possibly do a couple of low cost mods to boost the power a bit, rejet/replace the carby, decent air filter, drop the exhaust off halfway (actually, no it has to be legal right? in that case you kinda need the interior or an engineers cert.....) but i think you get my gist.

as 816fly was saying, with a leaky engine, your best friend will be ultra blue/grey which is a silicone engine part sealant. its easy, remove part, ultra blue the puppy out of it (not really, sometimes less is more) refit part = no more leaks.

there looks to be a bit more stuff that you could remove for a basic track hack car, but then it starts to intrude on the legalities. i am of the understanding that you want to be able to drive it to and from the track?

but anyway mate, thats just my 2c for what its worth, i think you will have a lot of fun with it either way, and i would also be keen to lend my mechanical skills for beer and sausages on bread

Nah its not going to be road legal. Its rego has expired and i'm not going to fork out the cost for it to be brought up to RWC spec.

Its throttle bodied injected, not carb'd. Air filter is quite new, but if i can source an SB barina intake, i can fit a pod filter. But the intake doesn't really matter, the runners are tiny and the manifold is heated, so there is no real benefit in a CAI setup. I was thinking of leaving the muffler, but punching out the cat.

As for to and from the track, i'm buggered if i'll know how to do it. Might just buy a car trailer? because i don't want to be forking out each time i take it somewhere. There are no shortage of people I know with borrowable tow cars, so thats sorted. Anyone else have any suggestions on transportation?

Slap plates on and wing it?

The engine i'm not going to do before next year. I know for certain that a new one won't be done in time, but i really need to replace rack ends and brake lines, as apparently they are fubar'd.

The new engine would just sit in the garage for a while while i cleaned it up

Maybe run a Fuel Pressure Reg and perhaps larger injector size (or just run the injectors at a higher pressure with the Reg).

With the exhaust if it isn't gonna be street legal, maybe source some piping and run it straight of the flange (where the cat would join) and run out the side of the vehicle, nice note and minimal restriction without going up a size.

As for towing, yeh some towies will do a return trip for about 60 bucks just call em when you need them (give them prior warning though) and keep using him. Car trailers can be a bit exxy, so if a mate has one then awesome.

Just a couple of ideas to throw around.

Yeah the towie one sounds good. I suppose i just gotta weigh up how many events i want to go to a year versus trailer rego.

Another thought, semi slicks, or at least semi decent tyres. Any suggestions on where to get a set for cheeeap to fit R13 165/70? Not sure on the 70 though.

Maybe just some good tyres that are second hand? the current tyres are as grippy as ice skates.

Try getting some cheap 14's or 15's. Even if they are steelies from the wreckers, better selection of tires and also lower profile so less tire roll in the sidewalls.

Okay bump for this beastie. Its still registered, has many problems but leakes slightly less. Biggest issue at the mo is the clutch not disengaging properly, makes it very hard to drive!

The clutch cable is new and full adjustment, which was good for a few weeks but then started going puppy again. So i'm going to need help with that in the near future.

I've really made little progress on this, there is just so fuggin much to do!