il_draconis_li’s 1987 Nissan Silvia

Online Spots                                                                                                                            S12Silvia.com2010Over on SpeedHunters they often draw upon the reader's supply of information and pictures as well as many of the staff's own works.  In February of 2010 it was guest blog month and I submitted a blog showcasing some of the best representatives of what the S12 chassis had, based on my experience.  It was indeed accepted and published online.

Stage 2 – The Rebirth                                                                                                                          S12Silvia.comJuly 2005

Hot Import Nights 2007                                                                                                       S12Silvia.comSo as stated, my car was not worked on as scheduled.  It was all but running within hours of the roll in time for HIN.  The only choice was to either skip it, which I had already paid for the entry fee, or just get my car up there not running.  I decided to get it to the show not running.  It could crank, but the tuning hadnt been worked on, so it was in no way reliable or safe.  The main nice thing about the show were the people who came by.  It was the first year there was virtually no confusion about the S12 being a Silvia and the heritage it held before the more well known S13.  In addition, I heard many other people tell their friends about the S12 when they mistook it for a Toyota AE86.  There was one perk that was totally unexpected also.  When I first put my car in and started setting up my section, a GTR from the 70's pulled up next to me.  I stopped what I was doing to check it out more in detail since I was familar but didnt know what chassis it was and found out that it was a C10.  He immediately got moved to the front half of the convention center so I didnt get a chance to talk to him.  But the following day the owner came over with his grandson and an interpreter.  He was a native of Japan and was over for some business reason in addition to seeing his family who lived Stateside.  Being of a bit of an older crowd, he knew about the S12 and the generations before it.  He was very impressed with the work done to the car and pleased to see that there was an appreciation for the S12 and older chassis Stateside.

Stage 3 – RB S12 Dyno                                                                                                                        S12Silvia.comBelow is a picture of a dyno sheet of the RB S12. Remember it is still stock, so with the lack of a boost controller, it is apparent that the engine doesn’t handle the boost well, and therefore doesn’t give good numbers/lines on the graph. But it does show what to look at as per a starting point and what can be built upon for it.Just a note, the torque is set up with the Australian system. Apparently the DynoPack was made and distributed by the Australians or the computer program was (I don’t honestly know), therefore, it wont make a lot of sense. The main reason for this is because the final gear ratio for the S12 (differential gear ratio) had to be plugged into the computer along with the R32 transmission gear ratios for a more accurate reading on the dyno.So, when looking at the torque value, you need to take the max torque, which is 759.6 ft/lbs and divide it by the ratio, which is 3.711. You get roughly 204 ft/lbs. When the engine hit 194.4hp (to the wheels), it was running lean and therefore tuned down to 182hp.So the output of the RB20DET powered S12 at this moment is 204 ft/lbs and 182hp to the wheels.

Stage 3 – RB S12                                                                                                                                  S12Silvia.com

Stage 1 – Humble Beginnings                                                                                                            S12Silvia.com

Magazine Spots                                                                                                                      S12Silvia.comTurbo Magazine: Reader's RideApril issue 2007

Stage 3 – RB S12                                                                                                                                   S12Silvia.comJuly 2006My car went into the shop yet again, this time a new shop - Axiom Motorsports. This time not to replace anything that was broken or wearing out, but to push the boundaries. I knew I wanted something more than a V6. The VG30E is a wonderful engine, but I was not satisfied. I new I wanted a 6 cylinder engine and would not go anything smaller. So, in the search for me next engine, I had a vary narrow range of choices: VG30DE, VG30ET, VG30DETT, RB20DET, RB25DET and RB26DET.After much thinking and researching, I decided on the RB20DET.

General info on S12 SE and it's uniqueness                                                                                  S12Silvia.comI have the SE model that was only available in the US between 1987 and 1988. I haven’t been able to accurately prove this, but it is said about 10,000 SEs were made. This model came with many unique things. First, it had the same engine as the Z31, the VG30E, a V6 engine. The main idea for this decision was due to the love of torque in the American culture. When I basically rebuilt my car, I had to replace the stock VG with one from a Z31. The intake and oil pan for the S12 are different than that of a Z31, so I had to have those cleaned up and made ready for the new VG.

This was my first car show. I didn’t expect too much. Got a bit of interest due to the nature of the car and learned a lot about just what they look for in a car and what I needed to do. Well there’s so much more to come when improving my car. She’ll be ready for the car show season in ’06. So much more will be done to her by July of ’06.

4 generations of Silvias                                                                                                       S12Silvia.comIn March (2006) as it is every year, we a big nissan meet at Golden Gardens Park on the Seattle waterfront.  At the time I owned a 1980 Nissan 200SX/S110 and a 1987 200sx/S12.  I contacted just about everyone I knew and was able to get 4 generations of Silvias together.  The only one I was unable to get was a S14.  Those whom I knew were unable to make it out by the time I was making phone calls.S110 with a L20.  S12 SE with a VG30E.  S13 that had a Turboed KA.  S15 Aero, Spec R.

S12 and S15: The forgotten and forbidden generations                                                 S12Silvia.comThese two cars are by far up in the top ten of my favorite cars.  After the 4 generation pictures, I wnated some good pictures with the S15 of just it and my car.  I knew I wouldnt have a lot of chances.  At the time I didnt now I would get to know the owner of the car and there would be chances in the future to go for a ride and check out the car in further detail.  It is definately a fine piece of worksmanship.  Up to par with the Skylines in my opinion.  The S15 is by far one of the better Silvias without going classic.

Stage 4 - RB26DETT                                                                                                                            S12Silvia.comAfter modifying the RB20 there is of course the tuning process.  This step was in fact a two part situation.  Within a month of the initial modification and tuning the engine had issues that proved to be based within the head.  To prevent further damage to the engine, I decided to shut down the car.  I obtained a storage unit and after began to work on the engine with a friend.  After taking a part the head and cleaning it, it was found that the cams lobes were being ground down and at uneven lobes.  The head was rebuilt and my E-Manage Ultimate was swapped in.  The engine seemed quiet strong so feeling confident, I felt it was time to attempt to re-tune the engine.  During tuning the engine was quite beastly but due to both tuning and the condition of the engine from modifying it, the big end gave way.  It started to lose compression so I decided to put the car up in the garage yet again.

Stage 3 – RB S12                                                                                                                                   S12Silvia.comRB20DET Specs

Stage 4 - RB26DETT dyno tuning                                                                                                     S12Silvia.comMy goal since I first started much of this was to obtain 300rwhp reliably.  It is one thing to be able to reach peak performance in an engine that rates 300 or more, but to have it on demand at any point of my choosing isn't the same thing.  I had expressed this to the owner of the shop I frequented and knew that housing an RB26 would easily obtain this; the engine need not even breaking a sweat to obtain this.

Stage 3.5 - Modifying the RB20DET                                                                                                  S12Silvia.comInstalling the half cage was tricky for I left the interior in.  My desire was to make it seem as part of the car so there were no gaping holes in the interior.  That meant getting everything right the first time since I didnt have any spares of the black interior I had swapped in years earlier.

Stage 4 - RB26DETT specs                                                                                                             S12Silvia.com

Within the past year I have moved on and been active in the S12 community in a different light.  I assist the owner of S12Silvia.com in writing blogs and finding more information to help broaden the knowledge base that already currently exited.  I was very excited and resigned from my position as admin and moderator on Club-S12.org in order to pursue much of my time and energy on helping to grow the fledging site.

Stage 3.5 - Modifying the RB20DET                                                                                                  S12Silvia.comSo with the following year coming, I knew I wanted to push the stock boundaries of the RB20DET and it's settings.  I did a bit of research on what the RB20DET could take without having to be rebuilt.  After much reading on the Australian sites, I created my setup and found that I had virtually mirrored someone else's build from my accumulated notes.  The only difference was that he ran a Power FC and I had a GReddy Emanage Ultimate.Emanage Ultimate:                                                   Takata 5 point harness:

Formula D Monroe/Seattle 2007                                                                                      S12Silvia.comI met up with Greg Gill, one of the editors with TPR magazine at the shop and he was very interested in my car.  It was about to undergo surgery so he said to get a hold of him when my car was finished.  Plans didnt go through with the car as expected but in the next six months of when I do finish my car, I hope to resume the ideas we had.  Greg was understanding of my situation and the fact that the original date of the upgrade/swap was pushed back but invited me to show my car at the TPR booth at Formula D.  I jumped on the chance and it turned ou t to be a great experience.