After getting done everything I needed to Saturday and Sunday, I decided to start on some prep work for the B14 ECU conversion.
If you remember, a month or two back, I purchased a complete harness from a 1996 200SX SE-R. After cutting off the B14 ECU connector and extending the wires that need extending, the harness sat in my closet.
Today, I set out to make an Excel sheet with all of the information that is needed. In the document (a link to a PDF version is below), I included the following information:
- B14 terminal number
- B15 terminal Number
- General purpose
After doing this, I labeled all of the leads from the B14 harness. After I get the Sentra inspected, I will do the same on the B15 harness before making any cuts and splices. My hope is that this will help me out in two ways:
- It will simplify the splicing process, since most of the reference work is done.
- It will allow me to find any mistakes I made quickly. Since both ends will be labeled, this should help me if I think a mistake was made.
B15 to B14 ECU Conversion Document
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
Today I purchased a pair of 12″ fans from E-Bay seller GMotoGarage. I am trying to get rid of my old air conditioning equipment, including the condenser. Since I’m probably going to have to pull the radiator to get to the condenser, I figured I would get the fans out of the way. I’ll be mounting the fans on the bumper side of the radiator and setting them up to be pushers (Meaning they will push air through the radiator rather than pulling it). I will try to detail all of the wiring that needs to be done (even though it should be simple).
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
It seems the sub-prime mess has sent a shock wave through the entire economy. A few people I know said their companies are going through lay-offs. This past week the company I work for went through a reduction in workforce as well. This rattled some cages, and has left me with a lingering feeling that things will continue to get worse before they get better.
What does all of this have to do with my car? Well, I am cutting back on some unneeded spending which includes the purchase of car parts. Progress will still be made and I will continue to post updates as well as other information. Things like buying wheel bearings, a wastegate and blow-off valve (all of which I planned to purchase in March) will be pushed back.
Later this week I received my wire and shrink wrap from Jameco, so today I put it to good use extending some of the wires on my B14 ECU harness. It took me about an hour to extend the wires that I needed to. Tomorrow I will cut the wires down so they are all the same length. I also purchased some larger shrink wrap to clean up the batter relocation kit I built about a year ago.
Last weekend I removed the air conditioning compressor and hoses in the Sentra. Doing so revealed that the system was bone dry, which would explain the lack of cold air! The condenser is still in the car, since I will probably have to remove the radiator to get to that.
New pictures can be found in the gallery.
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
My quest to run an external wastegate has led to a bit of a problem that people in many car communities have went back and forth about for years.
Most factory turbo manifolds (including the GTi-R ones) are made from cast iron. When welding other materials to cast iron you run the risk of it cracking. In addition since the two materials expand and contract at different rates you also run the risk of cracking occurring further down the line. Several people have modified GTi-R manifolds for an external wastegate, but I have yet to get a good answer as to how they held up over a long period of time.
The process of welding to cast iron is sensitive as well. From what I have read, the cast iron must be pre-heated, welded, and then allowed to cool slowly. I have found a local fabricator (JM Fabrications) that has been doing this to DSM manifolds for a while with good luck. Their process seems to be spot-on with what I have read as well. Their cost is about 1-2 hours of labor plus the cost of materials (This should be minimal). Once I receive the Synapse Engineering 50mm wastegate, I will bring it along with the manifold and turbo to have everything welded up. The turbo will have the internal wastegate flapper welded shut.
Why go through all of this and set myself up for a possible failure down the road? There are aftermarket turbo manifolds available for FWD SR20′s, but the problem comes with the rest of my setup. I want the turbo to sit in the stock location (IE: The location that the OEM GTi-R manifold puts it). This will allow me to use the GTi-R J-Pipe and downpipe which can be purchased for a reasonable price. I figure the less custom parts I have to have fabricated the less money I will have to spend. I’m not cheaping out (Which can be a bad idea on a turbo setup), I’m just trying not to reinvent the wheel.
The one tubular manifold that will put the turbo in the stock location is some Chinese made piece on ebay. Based on the experience of others, I’m willing to say that the $240 Ebay manifold is just as likely to crack as my modified GTi-R manifold. Someone in the SR20 community is also working with LoveFab to create a tubular FWD SR20DET manifold that will put the turbo in the stock location. I figure by the time the modified GTi-R manifold cracks (if it does) I can upgrade to that manifold once it is available.
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
Not really woes…
After work this morning I spent about three hours playing around with the parts that I had. First I disassembled the 1998 intake manifold. By doing this I discovered that the extra emissions equipment & ports on the ’98 manifold really is going to complicate things. So my quest for either a 1995-1997 or a JDM intake manifold continues.
I then spent some time trying to sort out the wiring harness. I mentioned before that I got a good deal on the harness, and the reason for this was apparent when I received it the other day. Many of the wires were already spliced, and the wiring near the ECU connector was a rats nest. Trying it vein to untangle things, I soon switched to “cut” mode. I was able to salage a good amount of most of the wires. Some are too short and will have to have either additional wire spliced to them or they will be re-pinned. Either way it looks like I will be brushing up on my wiring skills (Which is a good excuse to buy a new set of wire strippers/crimpers).
When I was all done I went inside, and this is what was waiting for me:
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
Initially I purchased an intake manifold from a 1998 Sentra. It was a good deal since it had most of the sensors that I needed as well as the throttle body. The only problem is that the 1998+ Sentras (With SR20DEs have a hole bunch of extra ports for various emissions equipment. My plan was to cap off and weld shut the stuff I would not need.
After doing a bit more research on this, it seems that this would be a bit more work and money then it might be worth. Now I am looking for a JDM intake manifold that does not have any of the emissions stuff. Hopefully I will be able to mix and match the parts from the 1998 intake manifold and get everything I need. I’m hoping to close the deal on the manifold I was offered this weekend or early next week.
I think I’m getting sick again (Thanks to someone in the office coming into work instead of taking a sick day or two). On top of that I have to got to work early tomorrow morning for some tests. I’m not sure if I will get any work or pictures of my parts up this weekend, but I will try. On the plus side the ECU, wiring harness, and turbo should be here next week!
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
I meant to post a link to my Gallery yesterday, but I forgot. Here is the link. There you can see pictures of my Sentra and Xterra. There are many pictures of previous modifications on done to the Sentra. If you browse around you’ll find many more Nissan related pictures.
Parts continue to arrive on a daily basis for both my turbo and restoration projects on the Sentra. My bedroom is starting to look like either a Sentra chop shop or a junkyard! I’m hpoing to have the JWT ECU, 1996 SE-R wiring harness, GT28RS turbo, and my GTi-R O2 housing some time next week. This weekend, I am going to play around with the ’98 Intake manifold. I want to see what is what, label everything and then disassemble everything.
I’ll try to take some pictures this weekend.
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Restoration Project, Turbo Project