SR Powered

Today I installed the fuel lines that I created yesterday. I also took this opportunity to install the water feed and return lines for the turbo as well. In addition, I assembled the intake manifold for what I hope will be the last time.

I found that there may be some clearance issues with the temperature sender for an aftermarket water temperature gauge when used with the Custom Steel water adapter. It appears that there may not be enough room between the water adapter and the alternator bracket. I will address this issue when the time arises.

Here are some of the things I want to take care of before I can try to start the car.

• Secure the ECU grounds on the back of the block
• Finish the wiring of the IACV
• Cap an unused coolant nipple
• Mock up part of my old CAI with the MAF and filter (To start the car in N/A form)
• Finish the vacuum routing for the IACV-Air Regulator
• Connect vacuum line for EVAP purge solenoid

Some of these things are not needed to start the car, but they are things I would like to get done. I will post updated pictures when I make some more progress.

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project

Building your own AN lines can be a great source of frustration for many car enthusiasts. This is the first time I have attempted to make my own lines, and I thought that doing some research first would make the job easier. Unfortunately I found that almost everyone had a different method on of what worked for them.

There were a few times when I was trying other processes that I thought about scrapping the idea of using braided stainless steel line. Earls Performance Plumbing has a system of creating custom hoses using their Super Stock hose and Super Stock hose ends. The Super Stock system is a push-on type system. This may sounds a bit flimsy, but the system is designed to hold around 250PSI without the use of hose clamps! Take a look at the Earl’s Store #1 (anplumbing.com) YouTube page for videos on how the Super Stock hose is assembled. The following is my account on what process worked well in my case using Earl’s Perform-o-Flex hose and Swivel Seal hose ends.

The first step I took was to mark the braided stainless steel line at the length I needed it. For this I ended up using regular masking tape, since I found using other types of tape (electrical, etc) did not have an impact on the amount of fraying caused by the cutting process.

Next I cut the hose, being sure to leave about 1/8” of tape on the side of the hose that will be inserted into the AN hose end socket. To perform the cutting, I ended up using my Dremel with a reinforced cutting wheel. The down side to this is that you will go through the wheels quickly when using stainless steel hose. In addition, depending on the size of the hose, you may not be able to cut through the entire hose with one cut. This is because the diameter of the Dremel wheels is not that large. Using -6AN hose, I had to make two cuts (one on the front and one on the back). If you already have an angle grinder, I suggest getting a cutoff wheel for that instead. In any case, you will still be able to make a clean cut with minimal fraying using a Dremel. Just make sure you have plenty of cutoff wheels!

After the hose is cut to length, the freshly cut end needs to be inserted the socket portion of the AN hose end. This is probably the most difficult step in the entire process. Some people suggested using a small screwdriver to wedge the hose into the socket, but this requires a somewhat elegant touch which I don’t possess. I came across a tool called the Koul Tool from Koul Tools LLC. This tool makes inserting the hose into the socket much less difficult. In addition, it reduces the likelihood that you will scratch the socket during this step.

Once the hose is in the socket portion of the hose end, you need to assemble the rest of the hose end. For this step you need to secure the socket and hose in a vice. Summit Racing sells the vice jaw liners made by Earl’s Plumbing. I suggest using these, since they will not only properly secure the hose and socket, but it will also reduce the likelihood that the vice will scratch the finish on the socket. Next, I coated the nipple portion and the threads on the hose end with engine oil. After this, I thread the hose end into the socket until there is only about a 1/16” gap between the socket and the hose end. You should be able to use a regular chrome open ended wrench for this, but if you wish Earl’s sells special wrenches that are designed to prevent scratching of the hose end. During this process, ensure that the hose has not backed out of the socket by using a reference mark. If the hose has backed out, you should start over.

That’s all that’s needed. A few people have suggested that you rinse the hose with some solvent to make sure it is clean. For my custom fuel lines, I will probably run some gasoline through them to ensure they are clean and that any debris is flushed out.

This is the process that worked for me, but your results may vary. It will take some practice to get it right. I scratched up my first few hose ends, but I slowly got better as I gained more experience. Below is an example of some of my first lines. You can click on the image to be taken to my gallery with more pictures.

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project

Taking advantage of some warmer (I used that term loosley) weather, I have been doing some workon the turbo setup.

I purchased a used B14 valve cover and confirmed that it fit on my engine. SInce it did, it will be going to the powder coaters along with a few other parts. I am waiting on a few more parts to arrive so that I can button up the rest of the B14 intake manifold conversion.

Today I focused on getting the turbo parts in order. They came back from Sawin Technologies a few weeks ago. I painted them with some high temp engine paint, just to match the other powder coated parts. Below is a link to the gallery with pictures of the newly finished parts.

The rest of the weekend I will be working on wiring a few things up, and hunting down some properly size fuel hose.

Things are moving slowly, but they are moving!

Gallery of Swain coated parts

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project

When I was installing the top portion of the B14 intake manifold (along with the throttle body) today, I discovered what has been a known issue for a while.

What happens is that the B14 intake manifold puts the throttle body closer to the valve cover. In addition the roller rocker engine valve cover juts out just a bit more than a standard SR20DE valve cover. This causes the rod that the throttle plate connects into to rub against the valve cover. Not only will the scratch up an non coated valve cover, but it would quickly rub the finish on a painted or powder coated valve cover (which I planned to do).

A secondary problem to this is that the roller rocker valve cover has the PCV closer to the distributer side of the valve cover. The standard DE valve cover has the PCV located right next to the oil fill cap. I call this a secondary problem because you can still run the roller rocker valve cover with a custom hose from the PCV to the intake manifold. However, since I want things to look as stock as possible, I want to run a factory PCV hose.

The throttle body rubbing issue can be solved in a few ways:

1. Use Outlaw Engineering thermobloc spacers. These will move the intake manifold further away from the valve cover, providing more clearance.
2. Use a regular DE valve cover. This will allow for better clearance of the throttle body. In addition it will allow you to use the factory PCV hose from a B14, since the PCV is in a different location.

Note: A regular SR20DE valve cover will fit on a roller rocker engine, but a roller rocker engine valve cover will not fit on a regular SR20DE.

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project

The last few coolant hoses and clamps I was waiting on arrived earlier this week. Today I installed the lower portion of the intake manifold as well as installing the injectors, fuel rail, and the injector wiring harnesses.

The injector harness for injector number four will not seat properly, so I have to check that out tomorrow. I may need to solder on another connector. One thing I did not realize is that the JWT fuel rail requires that the B14 air regulator unit be relocated. Right now this is not a big deal, since it seems like the air regualtor may not be needed (more research will be required).

Other then that, I need to try getting the B14 hoses for the heater core coolant inlet and outlet. The B15 ones could work, but they are a bit stretched out after almost ten years. In addition, I am going to do the same for the main vacuum hose that goes to the brake booster. I’m not sure that I can get the B15 one to work without kinking it.

I will be doing a bit more work tomorrow, so I will try and grab some pictures of the progress.

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project

Today I installed the B14 water neck, thermostat housing, and a new thermostat. After that I spliced the B14 TPS harness in place of the B15 one.

I also took the time to mock up the lower portion of the B14 intake manifold. This was more or less to see how everything would sit, as well as to attempt to find some smaller parts I may need. This is an important step, as no matter how through you are there will always be small things that you overlook. For example, today I discovered that I had not order hose clamps for the coolant tube that connects the intake manifold to the coolant neck. I also need an EGR block-off plate.

After recreating my ECU conversion spreadsheet today, I think I may have discovered an error in my wiring. It’s not a huge deal, but it is something I have noted in case it causes issues on startup.

Not a whole lot of progress was made, but I’m OK with that, as long as everything is done correctly.

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project

Good news! The manifold and turbo hot-side ar back from the fabricators, which means I am ready for an external waste gate! The manifold, hot-side, and J-pipe will be shipped out to Swain Technologies in the next few weeks for an application of their White Lightning ceramic coating. This coating is far superior to other ceramic coatings for a few reasons. First, it is applied thicker and in a different manner than other ceramic coatings applied by many powder coaters. I have read many reports of the traditional ceramic coatings flaking off after being exposed to the harsh heating & cooling cycles of a street car. Second, the Swain coating will keep more of the exhaust heat inside the manifold, turbo, and j-pipe, thus reducing under-hood temperatures. They will even apply the White Lightning coating inside a header for an N/A engine (if possible) to increase it’s effectiveness.

The rest of the parts from Nissan have arrived, and  the rest of the parts from the powder coater have been completed.

Today I finished wiring the B14 ECU harness into the B15 harness. It was hard on the back to do this with everything in the car, but I was just too lazy to remove the harness from the car. Right now the wiring is not all cleaned up, but it will remain that way until I get the car running and running to my satisfaction.

Recently my home file server suffered a major failure which ended up taking out my entire RAID array. I lost a total of about 1.5TB of data, but out of all of that only about 50GB was stuff I cared about, and only about 100MB were really important files. Among everything I lost all of the documents for my turbo project, including my parts list and ECU conversion spreadsheet. Unfortunatley, I will not be able to post some of the information that I would have liked to.

Tomorrow I hope to install the B14 cooland neck and begin the final installation of the B14 intake manifold.

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project

I spent this past Saturday doing a bit more work to the car. I wired in the Cobra MAF harness and maked all of the wires going to the B15 ECU. I was going to start soldering the B14 harness into the B15 one, but my back had had enough about an hour of bending over the car. Hopefully I will get the chance to finish that some time this coming weekend.

After ordering the external waste gate, I dropped the waste gate, manifold, and hot-side of the turbo off at that fabricators. That stuff should be done in a few weeks. I decided to go with a Tial V44 waste gate instead of the Synapse Engineering one. My motivation was getting a good price on the Tial unit over the Synapse. You can find some pictures of the waste gate in my gallery. I’ll have more detailed pictures when the manifold comes back from the fabricators.

After much debate, I have decided to get the manifold, J-Pipe, and hot-side coated with Swain White Lightning. It will add a good bit of money to the total cost of the project, but I think it fits well with my goal of doing things right the first time. Reports say that the Swain coating will help keep under-hood temperatures in check as well as helping spool time.

I’m still waiting on a lot of parts from Nissan. The dealer said the coolant neck came in, which is good since that was the last piece I was waiting for before I dropped off another order at the powder coaters. Hopefully the B14 IACV equipment will not be far behind.

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project

The intake manifold has been powder coated along with the turbo compressor housing, so I decided to kick off the installation!

Yesterday was spent removing the factory B15 intake manifold and EGR components from the car. I labeled everything the best I could just to make it easier to identify any parts. There are a few minor issues that I need to address.

The biggest issue is how to get the B14 intake manifold to mount to the B15 coolant neck. Apparently rigging the B15 neck is possible, but using the B14 coolant neck is preferred. If you have never looked at the coolant line routing on the back of a B15 SE, it is a maze of lines that seem to have little to no function!

Once I get the coolant neck, I will mount the bottom part of the B14 intake manifold, as well as the injectors and fuel rail. That should keep my occupied while I wait for the new IACV parts to ship.

More pictures can be found here.

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project

I had some concerns about differing part numbers for the 1993 Mustang SVT Cobra MAF that could be used with a JWT programmed ECU. Because of the age of the car, it was becoming difficult to find a new MAF. In addition, I found differing part numbers from what JWT listed.

Below is an e-mail from JWT stating what is needed:

The OEM stock 1993 Ford Cobra MAF sensor is the only MAF that we
program for and not any aftermarket MAF sensors that exist (ie:
Granatelli, etc.). There are two different part numbers associated
with this MAF sensor and the part numbers must be an exact match for
the MAF to be the correct one. Here are the part numbers for your
reference.

Ford Dealer parts number = F1SZ-12B579-A

Ford Engineering number on side of MAF itself = F1SF-12B579-AA and
also on MAF = AFH70-02

That cleared up the confusion I had, since many of the remanufactured MAFs had the F1SF-12B579-AA part number listed. Hopefully this will do the same for anyone who has similar concerns.

Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Parts & Vendors, Turbo Project