I purchased my 1988 Cefiro in the summer of 2005.
Seeing as i live in Canada, the car is quite rare, it is based off of a s13 nissan chassis with the heart of a skyline, so it suited my needs quite well.
The car is very plain looking, it blends in quite well, i have yet to get a ticket in this car...compared to the old sil40 RIP.
Soon after the purchase of the car, the problems started. In 1 full year and then some of ownership, the car has been insured for a total of 5 months, with a grand total of 3656km to it, bringing it to 111000km roughly. To this point everything has been maintenance out of necessity.
The power steering went, that was replaced with a new ps pump, as well as a non-hicas pump from japan for sub-frame replacement(coming soon). The turbo decided to start to make noise, so it was pulled, along with the turbo lines(stainless now for ease of removal) it was replaced with a custom built unit of the to4e verity and attached to a custom built downpipe, with divorced and vented waste gate and 3" exhaust.
The stock side mount IC was ripped out in favor of a new front mount core and custom piping. To avoid lag, a front facing plenum was sourced, modified(to remain emissions compliant) and installed. A turbosmart plumb-back 38mm BOV was used to keep the turbo spooled as well.
Gtr 444cc injectors were thrown in the mix and a walbro 255lph pump were thrown in to do the fueling. The system still utilizes a stock ecu, albeit, modified to run a romulator and NRE or live edit. Currently it runs a TEC map in the ecu.
The rad and coolant system has been entirely reworked with a custom made copper core 2" thick rad, electric fans and new turbo coolant lines.
As of writing this the car is stored again due to blowing apart a stock head gasket. Replacement gasket (1.8mm tomei), Studs (arp), timing belt (tomei), cams (tomei pro cams, lash type 270 duration, 8.5mm lift), and cam gears (tomei) have been ordered for installation.
Goals for 2007 are: Install s13 dash, install sparco seat, Coilovers, wheels, Bigger brakes, and Uras body kit.
Summer 2007
For starters, the rb20 was shot, i ordered the parts to rebuild it. While the motor was out in pieces i sent out all the covers to have a less attention grabbing powder coat applied to them. I also decided to pull the air conditioning and position the intercooler where the condenser once sat. I also finally got off my ass and completed the 5-speed swap. All this should make for an entirely different car to drive.
Piping should effectively be reduced to under 3 feet.
While the Coating was out i figured out a solution to the water distribution problems i ran into with this Ebay intake manifold, once the Coatings were back i quickly solved the problem with a few JIC(an) Hardlines, some fittings welded to the manifold and a distribution block. This setup not only is way less restrictive than the stock setup, but should evenly distribute water throughout all the ports and prevent the old rubber hoses from blowing apart at 8000rpm.
The goal with the bay was to make it look as close to something stock as possible, so the obvious choice for colour was black. I think it turned out just right. Once the piping and IC have been coated and the wiring has been cleaned up and re-run, the engine and turbo setup should look like it is from the factory.
Further plans for 2007: Install Advan wheels, purchase coilovers, and Aero Kit. Also have car tuned.
September 07/2007
Progress has been slow, seats, steering wheel, hicas removed, Origin Aero Installed, Paint soon, bla bla bla.
Motor: Finished mid-mount intercooler setup, ducting comming soon.
Finished IC piping, coated same black as engine.
Updated
Kit:
Feb 10 2008
I find motivation to get out to the city the car is stored in difficult, especially since it is so cold out right now.
Not much accomplished, just small things here and there.
Made an adapter to fit my 1970's vintage mohagany wheel to my HKB hub.
Whats left? Paint, Coils, brake overhaul, duct the ic, bla bla bla. We'll see how much gets done when it gets warmer out.
