Another Nissan turbo project.

[GlenM]

Unfortunately I feel too rough to isolate in the garage!

Sorry to hear that your isolating Glen. I’ve just done the fifth day of isolation myself. BORED.

Get well soon.

Is that your last day then? Thanks. I do feel a bit rough and very tired. I have loads of paperwork for work to catch up on, so I will be doing that for the next few days.

[Bish]

I had hoped I would be free of iso today, but unfortunately I’m still testing positive this morning. Bugger.

I’m ok though, just groggy. I’m sure you will be ok too, just got to ride it out.

All the best

[GlenM]

It took a little while to shake off the COVID symptoms, in fact I still have occasional pains in my arms, so I haven't got a great deal done on the Dolomite.

I did buy an MVT intercooler which looked to be a much better size for the nose of the Dolomite, rather than the P38 Range Rover one, which needed to have chunks of metal removed from around the bumper mounting area.



I bought some 90 degree silicone hoses for it and trimmed them down as much as possible, to keep the bends tight.



So the intercooler fits nicely and the hoses just clear the back of the headlamp mounting area. They are also just clear of the sides of the S13 radiator.



I am going to make up a lower bracket, fixed to the original radiator mounting points, which will also support the radiator. Then a flat sheet of metal can be fixed in line with the bonnet hinge panel, to fix the top of the intercooler and the radiator, and also to duct air into both.

[GlenM]

I finally got a call from Max Benton in April to say that he had found a new workshop and could make up the turbo manifold for me. I trailered the Dolomite to Reading and agreed with Max that he would also do a few other jobs on the car.

Here are the first few stages of positioning the turbo on the engine.









And here are the initial stages of fabricating the manifold.







Here is the manifold fitted to the engine.







Max also made up a downpipe in stainless steel, with a lamda boss for an AFR gauge and a flexi-joint.









The Turbo Technics wastegate actuator bracket wouldn't work with the turbo clocked, so Max made up a new one.



And the turbo outlet elbow needed to be modified to be angled straight towards the intercooler.







Here is the whole set up fitted to the engine.





There is sufficient clearance under the bonnet to allow for a T28 to be fitted in the future.

I also got Max to sort out the clearance on the clutch slave cylinder. This was achieved by re-engineering the rear brace on the subframe and making it removable. The new brace has more ground clearance and will allow the gearbox to be dropped out from below.











Max did a couple of other jobs on the car, including extending the n/s engine mounting plate downwards to match the o/s one, and trimming back the front of the subframe a bit further to allow better clearance for the sump.



The work that Max has done is absolutely first class, so I have gone rather mad with the photos.

[yorkshire_spam]

Great photos! Keep them coming! And as you say the work done looks superb!

[SprintV8]

Stunning workmanship.
What did he charge for the manifold.
You can drop me a message if you don’t wish to broadcast it.

[new to this]

That manifold is a nice bit of work,that was a lot of work what size it the manifold,is the exhaust down pipe 2 1/2 or 3 inch

Dave

[GlenM]

Sam,

Will post more when I have some. It's down to me to get some more jobs done on it now but at least any welding I do on the exhaust is under the car and not visible!

Phil,

His work is absolutely perfect, you really cannot fault it. He even fitted the manifold nuts with fibre washers to avoid scratching the stainless flange. The manifold was a very good price for the work involved but I will PM you, rather than make it public. I know you are doing the RX8 conversion but he has got a jig of my manifold, if anyone else wants to do the CA swap.

Dave,

It is indeed. The downpipe is 2 1/2". I was going to try and fit a 2 1/2" over axle pipe but it's going to be tight, so I might have to take it under the axle.

[GlenM]

I can't believe that my last post was 18 months ago. I have had a couple of building projects going on at home, so progress on the car has been rather slow.

I did take the axle out and get it over to Rob at Sprintspeed. He did a complete re-build on it, including fitting the Helical LSD and one of his rear disc conversion kits.







He also machined some longer Ford 7/16" studs and fitted them to the rear hubs, and supplied me with another 8 for the front hubs. These will be necessary to fit the Minilite wheels later.



The longer studs meant that I was unable to re-fit the Sprint wheels, for now, so I have added some spacers.



Rob modified my rear tie bars to make them adjustable, and got the trailing arms powder coated. I fitted them up with the Superflex bushes but I have kept some of the standard bushes from the trailing arms, in case I need to revert to them later.







I have blasted and painted the front calipers, ready for re-building.



I had originally sourced my turbo from Jermaine Kinge (who is well known in CA18 DET circles) and last year I noticed that he was selling a slightly better specification one. I messaged him about it and he very kindly took my original one in part exchange, giving me back the full price that I originally paid him. The new one is a rebuilt Garrett GT2554 that has been upgraded with a high flow GTX billet compressor wheel. Capable of producing 280-290hp, with fast spool up & response. It has a 11/0 Billet High Flow Compressor (42/58mm), an inconel Turbine Wheel and ceramic Dual Ball Bearing Cage





I started plumbing in the turbo with a set of pre-made stainless braided hoses but they didn't work particularly well for length, so I bought some black PVC coated hose, and various fittings, and made up my own hoses to suit.







Finally, I have started working on the intercooler and radiator mounting. I have added a flat mounting plate to the top of the original radiator brackets, which avoids drilling any more holes in the front panel. I am then going to add another lower mounting rail further back, to support the bottom of the radiator, although I will probably have to add some rivnuts to the chassis rails to support the outer ends of this. The top of the intercooler will be held in place by an additional plate fixed to the front bonnet gutter, which will also help divert air into it. The radiator top mounts will be the standard S13 ones, bolted to the intercooler plate.



I probably have another 3, or 4 months finishing off the building work, then I should get more time at weekends to get on with the Dolomite.

[RichardHyde]

Coming along nicely Glen…may be we’ll both be done for this year’s TDCIR ?!

[new to this]

nice work, there's more work with turbos than i thought, maybe one day

[GlenM]

Coming along nicely Glen…may be we’ll both be done for this year’s TDCIR ?!

You might be Richard. Not a chance that I will, unless it goes on a trailer!

[GlenM]

I put the wrong caliper picture up! I am not going to be running a car with this engine and the standard Dolomite calipers.

[jackharper]

sorry, slightly off topic but just curious as I used to own a 180sx - are you going to fit the CA with an oil drain kit? (from head back to sump) - used to be a bit of a must-have when I had a CA in mine. (actually I had two while owning it, an early 8-port JDM model and a 4 port one too!)

[RichardHyde]

I’ve got the kit and it’s on the to do list…