This page is dedicated to my 2004 Nissan Sentra SE-R SpecV.

I bought the car on May 26th 2004 in Fergus Nissan in IL with 16 miles on the odometer straight from the showroom floor. This is my first car with manual transmission. I learned to drive stick on a the test drive and on the way home from the dealer.

09/20/2004 Update

I had an AEM Cold Air Intake installed by a friend of mine. It made the car sounds nice and throaty. After the cai the modding game and my need to go faster begun.

   

10/18/2004 Update

I learned about some Sentras with 2.5L suffering from pre-cat failure. What happens is that pieces of the pre-cat which is in the stock exhaust manifold gets sucked into the engine. That is not good for the cylinder walls which over time will get scratched. That will result in oil passing between the cylinder walls and the piston rings, resulting into an engine which will consume oil. If pre-cat failure happens the only solution is to get a new motor. Cheap way how to prevent pre-cat failure is to replace the stock exhaust manifold with the pre-cat with catless header. I had my friend to install the header with 3000 miles on the odometer. The header gives the 2.5L also a nice bump in power. About 4-8whp. I retained the stock midpipe and catback exhaust. It sounds like crap, but my engine is safe from pre-cat failure. Stock exhaust manifold with catalyst converter is in the right picture. Installed Hotshot Header is on the left.

    

03/31/2005 Update

I installed Gredy evo2 and Megan Racing midpipe to get rid of the annoying high pitched exhaust note which the specV creates with stock exhaust and any aftermarket header. It was the first two big items I ever installed on any car. It took me three hours, using few jacks, jackstand and few hand tools. The final outcome was awesome! The Greddy evo2 has nice and deep note.

Megan Racing midpipe.

08/28/2005 Update

Another danger to the 2.5L engine is ingesting a butterfly screw. The 2.5L engine has intake manifold with two sets of runners. The second shorter runner opens via rod with butterfly plates & screws attached to it. The rod is activated by vacuum. The butterfly screws may become loose and get sucked into the engine. The engine will than misfire and the spark plug and the combustion chamber may get damaged. The easy way to prevent is to put some red locktite on the butterfly screws. With red locktite on them they will never come loose.

06/13/2006 Update

I had my SAFC-II installed by shop and have the car dynotuned. My mods were; AEM intake, Hotshot Header, Megan Racing midpipe, Greddy Evo2 exhaust and tuned with SAFC-II. Untuned the car made 151whp and 161wtq with the AFR's dipping into the 11's up top. Tuned with SAFC-II the SpecV made 157whp and 160wtq with the AFR's being at 13.1 up top.

06/27/2006 Update

I had my JWT cams installed in a shop. After the 100mile brake-in period was over and I could finally open the car it felt amazing. The camshafts really shine in the 4000+ rpm range. They make power all the way to redline unlike the stock cams. The power falls off around 5k rpm with the stock cams. The JWT cams shine esepcially on highway in higher gears. The engine feels like its not choking for air in the higher revs. The JWT cams are the best modification which you can do to the Naturally Aspirated 2.5L.

07/04/2006 Update

The 2.5L motor is equipped with balance shafts which spin at twice engine speed to keep the engine harshness and vibrations down. Since the balance shafts are driven by a chain from the crankshaft, they rob the engine of some power. By removing the balance shafts the engine can pick-up 2-4whp. I removed the balance shafts in my garage and used JWT Balance Shaft Removal Kit which comes with spacers and oil baffles. The bad side of the balance shafts removed is that the car picks up some vibrations at idle and there is harmonic resonance between 3-4k rpm.

07/13/2006Update

I had the SpecV dynotuned using SAFC-II. My mods were; AEM intake, Hotshot Header, Megan Racing midpipe, Greddy Evo2 exhaust, JWT cams , JWT BSR, Unorthodox lightweight crankshaft pulley and tuned with SAFC-II. First run was untuned and yeilded 165whp and 174wtq with the AFR dropping to the 11's. Tuned with the SAFC-II the SpecV made 171whp and 171wtq with the AFR being 12.9.

 

07/16/2006 Update

Installed Autometer Sport-Comp Oil Pressure gauge and AEM UEGO wideband sensor and gauge. I mounted both gauges into a PTI 2-gauge A pillar pod.

09/11/2006 Update

I had a JWT flywheel, JWT clutch & JWT pressure plate installed by a shop. The car revs faster with the 12lb JWT flywheel. The stock flywheel is heavy steel 24lbs. The JWT clutch has a firmer feel than stock, but its still pretty close. With excellent driveabilty.

03/22/2007 Update

I had Rota Boost 17" rims in bronze installed. The rims look much better than the silver stockers.

06/01/2007 Update

SERCA National Convention. It was held in Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL. It was awesome to meet more car entusiasts and see their cars. We drove on the North Circuit in the Country Club. We divided into groups by experience and we did 45 minute sessions. I had a SPARCO Torino Driver's Seat with four point harness at that time. It was great on the circuit it held the driver in place. Once I drove in the passanger seat around the circuit and it was pretty bad with the stock seat & belt. I was sliding all over the place. My car lasted three 45 minute sessions. In the last session two of the flywheels bolts backed out and the remaining four snapped, leaving them in the crankshaft. I limped it to the pits. I spend the rest of the convention trying to figure out what is wrong with the car. Soon I figured out its not anything I can figure out on the spot. I attempted to drive it home. That was a bad move. It drove for a mile than the two flywheel bolts backed out so much that it prevented the clutch to go in, so i couldn't shift into a gear. I called a flatbed and got it towed to my garage in Chicago, IL.

06/18/2007 Update

I dropped the transmission in my Garage. I found out that flywheel bolts were snapped and backed out. The shop who installed reused the flywheel bolts and didn't put any locktite on them, thats a big no-no. From this point on I will NEVER have any shop work on my car. I will do all the work myself. Red locktite must be used on the flywheel bolts with any aftermarket aluminum flywheel. Flywheel bolts shouldnt be reused, because they expand and loose their strengthe when reused. The flywheel and crankshaft were destroyed. I basically needed a new crankshaft & flywheel. the engine had to be torn apart and rebuild.

12/03/2007 Update

After getting new parts for the last few weeks I was finally able to start the engine rebuild. I had used crankshaft, new JWT flywheel, new flywheel bolts, all new bearings. I started by taking the engine out of the car and putting it on the engine stand. I removed the lower & upper oil pan and the lower engine block to get to the crankshaft. I installed new crankshaft with new main bearings, connecting rod bearings & thrust bearings. I put evrything back together and torqued to specifications per NISSAN FSM. I used new flywheel bolts with plenty of red locktite. The car fired up again on 12/03/2007 six months after the last time it was running on 06/01/2007.

I also replaced the AEM cai with NISMO Gen2 cai.

12/10/2007 Update

I drove the car arund for about 1000 miles and than I drove to Phoenix, AZ from MN. It was a 1800mile long drive. The SpecV with the rebuilt engine made it to Phoenix in two days without any issues. I hit a big snowstorm in Flagstaff, AZ.

12/12/2007 Update

I went to dyno the SpecV in AZ-Chip in Arizona. The SpecV made 175 whp with the rebuilt engine and all these mods; NISMO CAI, Hotshot Header, Megan Racing 2.5" Midpipe, JWT cams, JWT BSR, JWT 12lbs flywheel, JWT clutch, UR lightweight crank pulley, WRP Power Steering lightweight pulley, Ported Intake manifold and ported throttle body. Tuned with A'PEXi SAFC-II. I had stock exhaust and my butterfly valves weren't functioning properly. The dyno run on page 7 is with the butterfly valves zip-tied open. That along with the restrictive stock exhaust probably robbed the car good 4-6whp.

12/16/2007 Update

Drive from Phoenix back to Minnesota went without issues. I noticed I have a little oil leak. It is most likely the rear engine seal.

01/18/2008 Update

On my way back from AZ I played with the car quite a lot and came to a concluison that naturally Aspirated the SpecV with the 2.5L is slow. With all the mods I had I couldn't do much more short of higher compression pistons, headwork and higher redline. I opted for turbocharging. People have been turbocharging the 2.5L to 8-10psi on the internally stock block without issues. With turbocharging its very easy to reach 300whp compared to 190-200whp N/A. I ordered the Treadstone turbo kit without SAFC NEO for $2900 shipped. I already had the SAFC-II so I didn't need another one. I installed the Treadstone turbo kit Link to Treadstone Performance turbo kit in my garage. It took me four days of 8-10hours to install the kit. It was my first time installing a turbo so it took me longer. Right now I'm running 6psi off the wastegate spring with stock exhaust. I street tuned it using SAFC-II and an AEM UEGO A:F gauge.

I mounted Autometer Boost & Oil Pressure into the PTI 2 gauge A pillar and mounted the AEM UEGO gauge on top of the steering column.

03/01/2008 Update

I installed a gauge cup for the AEM UEGO gauge as well as Greddy turbo Timer.

03/11/2008 Update

On my way to work my car suddenly lost all oil pressure and the oil light came on. I immediately pulled into a parking lot and shut the car off. I had it towed home. Later that day I found out that the fitting which fed oil to the turbo oil feed line broke. I have put on it too much stress with the heavy oil pressure sender and Nissport adapter on it.. I have eliminated the fitting and now have oil pressure sender & turbo oil feed line connected to the Nissport adapetr which is screwed directly into the engine block.

04/24/2008 Update

I installed a WRP adjustable exhaust sprocket set at +4 to eliminate overlap caused by my JWTcams, Stromung 3inch midpipe, 3 inch cat back exhaust with no resonators and A'PEXi N1 muffler. I also changed the wastegate spring to 9psi springs a three shims, this combination gave me solid 10 psi. Now that's pretty quick. The car probably had 300+whp at that time. 1st & 2nd gear were useless under boost. It was also very loud even at cruise & idle. Here is a video of the 3" exhaust system at idle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrpcGgmqYJY

08/23/3008 Update.

I knew that I had to address the leak from the rear engine seal sometime. I chose to do it during the summer instead of tackling it during the Minnesota winter in my un-heated garage. I had a few other projects in to do while I replace the rear engine seal. I had to address an exhaust leak which developed between my turbo and turbo manifold. The car didn't respond well off boost. It got pretty choppy between 2-3k rpm. I also removed the Air Conditioning. The A/C lines were getting in a way of the turbo and were starting the leak. The A/C condenser is pretty large and in front of the radiator. The car would overheat in stop and go traffic with the A/C on.

I found out that the exhaust leak completly destroyed my turbo heat shield beanie.

 

I installed AEM FI/C in place of the SAFC-II, the AEM FI/C allows me to datalog A:F ratios with my AEM UEGO and has much more functions than the SAFC-II. I also installed Autometer Oil Pressure, oil temperature and water temperature gauges in place of the SAFC-II as well as AEM TRU-BOOST gauge.

I installed ES Polyurethane front sway bar end link bushings.

 

I replaced all hot parts assembly (turbo, turbo manifold, downpipe, wastegate) 8.8 metric grade bolts with 10.9 metric grade bolts. I used red locktite on all hot parts assembly bolts.

I have replaced all hot parts assembly gaskets with Stainless Steel gaskets.

New Stainless Steel turbo outlet to downpipe gasket on the left compared to crap non-stainless gasket on the right.

New fire ring wastegate gasket on the right compared to crap wastegate gasket on the left.

Flywheel bolts with red locktite residue. This is exactly how the flywheel bolts should look after you uninstall them. Red locktite on the flywheel bolts must be used with any lightweight aluminum flywheel. To prevent the bolts from backing out.

Wiring the AEM FI/C.

I am running a 5psi spring in the wastegate and I have AEM TRU-BOOST to control boost and AEM FI/C to control fuel.

Lastly I installed a mesh grille made by Erix05_SER from myspecv.com.

Few pictures of the AEM FI/C software.

09/7/2008 Update

The AEM FI/C was a big failure. I had tons of tune drift and it was quite difficult to tune. I ditched the FI/C for a FULL fuel standalone called Megasquirt I v2.2 pcb MSnS-extra_HR gsquirt v1.0. When using Megasquirt the stock ECU has NO control over the injectors. Besides being a FULL fuel standalone Megasquirt also controls boost, has launch control, traction control and very good datalogging capabilities. I am very happy with Megasquirt so far. It is great and cheap ($400) engine management system. I removed the AEM-TRU Boost and replaced it with Autometer Boost Gauge. I replaced AEM UEGO with Innovate LC-1. The LC-1 has fully programmable outputs unlike the UEGO and is more suited to work with the Megasquirt. I'm using Megasquirt and GM Boost solenoid from Typhoon to control boost. On the left is Megasquirt in silver box, on the right is megasquirt in black box after I changed the boxes. The black box looks better in the black interior.

On the left is GM boost solenoid, picture on the right shows the boost gauge.

11/03/2008 Update

I relocated the Greddy Turbo Timer. The Turbo Timer used to be on top of the steering column. Pictured below.

I relocated the Turbo Timer into the coin pocket. The timer fits perfectly and its out of the way.

02/06/2009 Update

I overhauled my cooling system. I installed two 12" pusher fans.

I also gutted the water valve. The Nissan's 2.5L has two thermostats; lower thermostat, which opens at 179F (main thermostat) and water valve, which opens at 200F (upper thermostat). That results in the engine block and engine head being at different temperatures. That is not good because the metal expands at two different speeds and that can lead to blown headgasket, especially if the car is run hard. Having the engine run at the same temperature, which should theoretically prolong the life of the headgasket. Upper thermostat housing with the water valve intact in the left picture, gutted water valve in the right picture.

Since I had the coolant drained I replaced my upper radiator hose as well. The Treadstone kit comes with a hose adapter and you are supposed to cut the stock radiator hose and install the adapter as pictured below.

This adapter makes the hose weaker and more prone to leaks. I sourced a cut-to-fit hose from a local auto part store and installed it in place of the hacked-up hose with the Treadstone adapter.

Look at all the room I gained between the turbo assembly and radiator from installing the pusher fans!

Lastly I cleaned up my catch can and here is what i found inside.....yummy! The catch can is hooked up between my valve cover breather and the hose from the catch can goes to the intake pipe before the turbo inlet. It is a great thing to have a catch can, I wouldn't want that grossnes to end up in my turbo, inter cooler piping, inter cooler, MAF, BOV, throttle body, etc...

Update 02/12/2009

Added a myspecv.com sticker. MyspecV FTMFW!!

Update 02/17/2009

I decided to keep my stock exhaust. The stock exhaust is very quiet at cruise and driving around town. I don't want to draw unnecessary attention.

However the stock exhaust doesn't flow very well at all... I can only run 4.5-6psi tops through stock exhaust. Running more psi could possibly damage the turbo due to too much back
pressure. The QTP 3" electric cutout is a perfect solution. I can have the cutout closed and run low boost when cruising. Whenever I want I can open the cutout and run 10psi. QTP Y-pipe next to Stromung 3" midpipe on the right, electronic cutout on the left.

Electric cutout switch.

Update 02/18/2009

Megasquirt II upgrade. Megasquirt II processor daughterboard installed on the motherboard.

Update 02/18/2009

QTP 3" Cutout Installed.

I had to re-install the E-cutout so the motor faces towards middle of the car... As pictured the motor was hitting the ubibody causing pretty bad rattle.

02/23/2009 Update

QTP 3" cutout reversed and re-installed on the car.

02/26/2009 Update

There was a pretty big snowstorm coming through and I decided to pull the car out and take a few pictures.

 

03/13/2009 Update

I sold my Alpine CDA-9851 Headunit. The main reason was that the Alpine HU didn't have AUX in for my mp3 player. I replcaed the Alpine HU with Clarion CZ-109 HU. The Clarion has AUX in.

07/03/2009 Update

I finally got rid of the restrictive 1.8" stock exhaust with restrictive muffler.

APEX'i N1

Installed on the car.

I also un-installed th e-cutout and installed a block-off plate.

07/29/2009 Update

I switched the ES polyurethane motor mount inserts for FI-R solid nylatron motor mount inserts. The solid inserts eliminated all wheelhop. The car just peels off instead of hopping under hard acceleration. The bad part about the inserts is that they transfer a LOT of vibrations to the cabin, BUT that is to be expected with solid motor mount inserts.

Stock rear motor mount on the left FI-R solid rear motor mount on the right.

FI-R solid motor mounts installed in the crossmember.

Come check out www.thespecvboard.com - the best internet for um dedicated to the Nissan Sentra SE-R SpecV. My screen name there is Black04SpecV.

 

Engine Internal modifications:
JWT Balance Shaft Removal kit
JWT Camshafts
WRP adjustable exhaust camshaft sprocket set at +4

Engine External modifications:
A'PEXi N1 60.5mm cat-back exhaust
Ford Racing 440 cc/min Fuel injectors
HKS SSQV Blow Off Valve
NGK one step colder Spark Plugs
Outlaw Engineering thermoblock spacers
Ported Throttle Body
Ported upper & lower intake manifold
Stromung Ultra-Flow 3" midpipe
Treadstone 347 Stainless Steel Cast Turbo Manifold
Treadstone 304 2.5" Stainless Steel Down pipe
Treadstone Air Filter
Turbonetics Evolution 35mm Waste gate
Turbonetics T3/T4, 60 trim exhaust side, 57 trim wheel, stage 3, .63 A/R turbocharger
Treadstone TR8 Inter cooler
WRP Technology Light weight Under drive Power Steering pulley
Unorthodox Racing Light weight crank shaft pulley

Drivetrain modifications:
JWT Clutch
JWT Flywheel
JWT Pressure plate

Transmission modifications:
Axxtion Short Throw Shifter

Electronics:
Autometer Sport-Comp Boost 30 In. Hg. - Vacuum - 20psi boost gauge
Autometer Sport-Comp Oil Pressure 0-100 psi gauge
Autometer Sport-Comp Oil Temperature 100-250F gauge
Autometer Sport-Comp Water Temperature 100-250F gauge
Escort Passport 8500 X50
GM Boost solenoid
Greddy Auto Turbo Timer
Innovate DB Blue AFR gauge
Innovate LC-1 wideband controller
Megasquirt II v2.2 pcb MSnS-extra_HR gsquirt v1.0 full fuel standalone controller

Cooling system modifications:
1.2 bar 300zx TT radiator cap
12" Pusher fans
Greddy Air Diversion Panel
Gutted water valve

Suspension modifications:
Eibach Pro-kit lowering springs 180F/300R (1.2"F/1.0"R)
ES Polyurethane sway bar end link bushings
FI-R Solid Nylatron Motor Mount Inserts
Nismo Front Strut Tower Bar
Nismo Front Sway Bar
Nismo Hard Rubber Bushing Kit
Nismo Rear Sway Bar
Tarmaq rear tie bar

Brake modifications:
Hawk HP+ pads front & rear
Powerslot rotors front & rear
Techna-Fit Stainless Steel brake lines and clutch line

Exterior modifications:
12" stubbie antenna
17" Motegi SP10 rims in matte black
Front & Rear brake calipers painted red
Nismo Gas Filler Cover
Sparco red hood pins
VIS Racing Evo Carbon Fiber hood

Interior modifications:
Auto dimming rear view mirror
Chrome Gauge Rings
Redline boots & armrest
Sparco Grip Pedals
Sparco Dead Pedal
Sparco Classic Shift Knob
Sparco Road Line Hand Brake Handle

Audio:
Clarion CZ-109 head unit

Weight Reduction:
A/C compressor removed
A/C condenser removed
A/C lines removed
A/C heat exchanger removed

Oil:
Castrol Syntec 10W40

Gear Oil:
50% Redline MT-90 + 50% Redline MTL

Brake fluid:
Valvoline Dot 4

Coolant fluid:
Redline Water Wetter
90% water
10% Prestone coolant

 

Page 1 - Intro, Updates & Mod List                                                                                       
Page 2 - Random Pictures                                                                                                       
Page 3 - Performance Mods, Cooloing System Mods
Page 4 - Exterior Mods
Page 5 - Interior Mods, Audio
Page 6 - Suspension & Brake Mods, Tires
Page 7 - Dyno runs & Events
Page 8 - Engine rebuilt after flywheel failure