fiasss, yes, but only if you take me for a drive in your rally car one day when I'm blessed to visit your country!

PM me an email addy, I'll put you in direct contact with the maker, if that avenue does not work, I'll buy it from him and personally ship it to you.

P.S. this thing is petrolhead porn, the finish is excellent with only slight port matching do be done, it is almost as if BMW used the same specs on their intakes ports.

arent these thingies drive-by-wire throttle with no cable? or you making them cable type.

D you're correct, the second pic shows a black thingy ma bob on the left side connected to a throttle shaft, that is just removed and replaced with a cable mechanism.

February 2013 – Damn, Upgrades this soon

Seeing that last month was a particular happy and also a very dark period for the project, at least things are looking better as I type this.

Here is my list of issues/improvements to fix or at least diagnose and understand it better. In the next few updates, I will work thru the list:

Motor: fix combustion chambers, reassemble
Fuel Lines: new 10mm OD x 8.5mm ID steel lines into -6 flex line thru -6 bulkheads, a much bigger and better setup.
Oil Cooler: relocated to the front of the radiator, add an hot air separator between it and the air filter, -8 lines swopped for -10 flex lines.
Induction upgrades: Stock SR20VE Throttle to small, will install BMW E46 M3 throttles with new velocity stacks and plenum
TPS: starting to show signs of aging, will be replaced with new E46 unit as they actually have a O-ring to keep the insides water tight, good idea on a rally car.
MAP Sensor: will be moved to the engine bay closer to the ITB's
New Suspension: all depends on time, but the front S13 parts will be swopped for MKII Escort Bilstein type Monotube setup, rear shocks will also be swapped for MKII rally units
Wheel Speed Sensors: will be in place on the new front suspension
Look at Digi Dash Config: will ask for some advice around the setup to get the unit to read from 0 km/h.
Switches for Motorsport functions:
Launch Control on D1-6
Flat Foot Shifting needs lock out switch, basically ON/OFF for the limit switch

Seeing that I had some damage to the combustion chambers in the head from the screw’s Friday Party, I took the head to a company called HeadZone for cleaning, blending and finally a resurface of the head. Seeing that the company does not do their own porting, polishing and blending, this was done by one of their employees, thus it took way longer than I expected. But at the end of the day I'm quite happy about the work that was done. While all this waiting for the head was going on, I was busy with the following.














Fuel Lines

Work started with the fuel lines, the old ones was removed or I should rather say destroyed, all good and well for getting them out of the car, but once you sit with the new hard lines, pipe cutter and bender in hand, you quickly realise that it would have been much easier if you just kept the old ones in tact to use as samples. Well as you would have guessed, I sometimes get a little over eager to get some work done, this is exactly the situation I found myself. Seeing that I had nothing to work from, I actually got my chair and had a good long sit down next to the car to plan the new setup. Seeing that the old setup was quite difficult to get correct seeing that it run thru both the front and rear firewalls. This time around I decided to take the easy route, slightly more expensive and use bulk heads. The beauty about these is, you just drill the correct size hole, fit them thru the hole and fasten them, then you just fasten a flex line to them, as easy as that. I ordered some bulk heads and fittings for the oil cooler. Having made a decision to use bulk heads, I decided to use Parker brass push lock fittings and hose between the hard lines and bulk heads on the inside of the car, seeing that the hose is fire retardant, it will work 100%. Seeing that the old setup was way too small, 8mm OD feed and 6mm OD return, which yields an effective 6.2mm ID feed and 4.2mm ID return with the use of 0.9mm wall Zista tubing, this resulted in the regulator not being able to do its work effectively and quite considerable aeration in the lines. This time around I used 10mm OD Zizta tubing for the feed and return, which will not hinder the supply of fuel thru the flex lines of -6AN. Seeing that I had to start from scratch, I made a few changes in the route the lines follow to make it easier to fit and remove these. Two pairs of -6 Male plugs was drilled and silver soldered to the bend Zista tube and fastened to the vehicle. The only outstanding work to be done is the flex lines in the boot and in the engine bay, but I first have to finish the new induction before I’ll order the fittings.










Oil Cooler

First order of business was to strip the front-end of the car to get easier access, especially since i was about to remount the oil cooler, a fixture that was mounted with the idea that it will never have to be removed. Once everything was stripped and cleaned, the only obvious place to remount the unit was next to the radiator fan, the only problem with that was the fittings that was then needed, seeing that the pipes had to turn between 150-180 degrees. I took my change and ordered some fittings for the oil cooler and thermostat housing, luckily at the end of the day the gamble paid off and it seems that everything will work out, just not 100% sure about the 45 degree fittings on the thermostat housing, as the space is limited. With the next order of fittings I'll also order the black nylon braided hose to finish the relocation.






Front Suspension

While all the above was going on, I managed to strip the front right strut to start the measuring process for the new gravel rally struts. It was decided to convert the majority of the front suspension parts to legendary Ford Escort MKII units, this makes more sense than would have admitted a year ago, seeing that a friend is also building a MKII rally car, another a Escort Track car and my brother will use Escort parts on his new project, interchangeable parts could always become very important, especially on the rally cars. After numerous conversations we decided on the proven Bilstein Monotube setup, this replaced the original Escort strut with a new unit with a different strut tube to accommodate the Monotube inserts, which also provided the opportunity the strengthen the body to stub axle fixture. We got in contact with Gaz Shocks in the UK seeing that they do offer a package that is really exactly what we are after as their inserts are based on the Bilstein units but are available in an adjustable version also. I'll also be replacing my rear shocks with a gravel rally version of the Escort Grp4 rear coil overs. After about 3 months of research we took the plunge and placed an order for 10 coil overs for 3 different vehicles. I've never seen such a vast amount of emails flying around to gather all the necessary detail. Hopefully these units will be in the country to the end of March.




















Independent Throttle Bodies

Seeing that Ian from RAW picked up that the intake manifold goes into vacuum on Wide Open Throttle in the higher rpm range, suggested that the standard throttle body is just not big enough to support the N1 cams, this on a motor that is otherwise stock on the intake side. Since I'm not a fan of my particular throttle since it developed a habit to cause me grieve, I decided to swop the entire intake for a new independent throttle setup, this time around I'll use BMW E46 M3 throttle bodies linked to a sourced adapter plate designed for the SR20VE motor. I took the plunge and ordered the adapter plate and 4 throttle bodies, on arrival I opened the box to be mesmerized with the beautifully CNC machined adapter plate, this thing will look better against my wall as an art piece than on the motor. Closer inspection of the throttles suggested that I will have to make my own throttle plate linkage, fuel rail, vacuum manifold, idle control manifold and a new air box. First order of business was to mount the throttles to adapter and test their fitment on a spare head, everything looked good and suggested a few things, I'll need to source a set of top feed injectors in place of the current side feed units, big enough to support the power levels for the future, seeing that the current ones already were used above 80% duty cycle @ 3bar and a new TPS.






First order of business was to start making my own 50mm ID velocity stacks, as I'm unable to source some in the country and the imported units are very expensive. The best strategy my brother and I could come up with was to make a mould of one of his 48mm ID x 65mm High ITG units, once this was done I basically destroyed it in a lathe trying to open the ID to 50mm. In the mean time I bought a carbide insert boring bar for the lathe, this time around I'll make a much stronger unit to clamp more securely to the chuck and use the sharpest possible tools.

As I was busy figuring out what would the best solution be to make my own throttle linkage, I noticed one of the roller needle bearing was missing and another one badly damaged, these was replaced by new HK1210 units. Here is a very good [url]http://6-city.blogspot.com/2013/01/overhauling-throttle-bodies-on-m635csi.html[/url] to help with a few ideas to make your own puller, unfortunately the E46 units have a shoulder that does not allow a bolt to pull thru the housing, I had to get creative by breaking a quarter out of the bearing housing after removing all the rollers, then grinded 3/4 of a M8 countersink Allen cap to get a snug fit inside the bearing casing in order to pull it out, with allot of heat applied.






As for the shaft between the throttles a piece of 12mm OD Zista tubing was polished in the lathe to get rid of that 0.1mm to enable it to pass thru the new needles and cams that actuate the butterflies. I just need to turn a few Polypropylene bushes to restrict movement of the shaft. Once this was in place I was able to measure the amount of travel on the cable to allow the full use of the throttle pedal range, this then was used to determine the size of the cam needed to pull the shaft thru 90 degrees to open the throttles from close to open. This would give the best possible throttle pedal modulation with what I have available. I managed to finish the mounting for the throttle cable, even if this is not my best work to date, it is done, I'm pretty sure something is disturbing the Argon flow out of the TIG torch as you can feel it, but it is as if it is not directed to the tungsten tip. In the next few days I'll make an adjustable mount for the throttle cable cam.
















Seeing that I wanted to keep the vacuum take off separate from the Idle control manifold for the best possible readings, I came up with a plan that involves drilling and tapping into the beautiful adapter. Trust me on this one, I triple triple checked everything, seeing that I was not willing to mess up and replace the adapter. I( purchased a few weld on banjo's and set about drilling and tapping holes for the 10mm banjo bolts, I even had to get creative by cutting a piece of wood to the exact angle in order to clamp the adapter in order to drill the holes 90 degree to the face. Afterwards I made a nice big reservoir from 30mm pipe to remove as much possible pulses from the vacuum readings. I even had to mill the heads smaller on the banjo bolts to clear the water temp sensor. The unit will have two take offs, one for the MAP sensor and the other for the Fuel Pressure Regulator.








Next inline was the Idle Control Manifold, as I only got 3 of the original connectors between throttle body and reservoir tube, I became creative and made my own one on the lathe and a piece of 20mm OD Aluminium pipe rounded off the reservoir and link between the standoffs, I had a few brackets laser cut to mount and strengthen the unit, once more of the pieces is in place I'll add probably a -8AN male alu plug for the intake, I'm pretty sure -10AN is overkill for idling, it is not as if I want to use the intake to blip the throttle, hmmmm, maybe this idea could work, I'll have to spend some time on it.




Fuel Rail

I tried my absolute best to try and find a way to use the old SR rail, but it turned out to be an unfruitful exercise as I would have to make adapters to space the rail away from throttle bodies, thus ruining the spray pattern of the injectors, it was to just do it correct from the start, I spend countless hours researching injectors as an injector previously was just an electrical solenoid opening and closing to allow fuel to enter the combustion chambers, well not any more. I more or less decided on the design needed that will be easy to make a rail, available connectors, size and spray pattern. At the end of the day I settled for a set of brand new Bosch 0280156127 440cc 42lbs-hr EV6 Blue Giant units, seeing that they have a very thin body and with a dual wide cone spray pattern, made them ideal for the SR head with the divider in the intake port. Being armed with all these new knowledge regarding injectors, I bought a piece of aluminium fuel rail from Flat Four Racing for a very decent price. On this subject, what kind of business opens at 9am and closes at 3pm in these days, it is virtually impossible to get to them during the week. Anyways, the holes was drilled very carefully again, luckily with the mill in the garage the finish on the holes was perfect for using a normal drill bit as we don't own a 14mm end mill. Now I just have to wait for the injectors to arrive from the States in order to finish the mountings on the rail. All the brackets and reinforcements have already been laser cut and is just sitting and waiting.








During this time RAW supplied me with another box of goodies to get the motor together in the form of a Cometic gasket, ARP Head Studs and some fancy NGK plugs. Also a separate order from the States arrived with more original Nissan OEM parts than ever graced my parts collection.














Port Polishing

It took more or less 3-4 weeks for the machine shop to finish with the head, once it came back, I decided that I will remove all the casting marks on the intake and exhaust ports, finishing the job by polishing the exhaust ports and combustion chamber to the smoothest finish I can manage and treat the intake adapter and ports with some rough sanding paper. My only rule before I started was that I will not touch the head with a carbide cutter as I don't have enough experience with it, yes chuckle all you want, but we all know a die grinder only follows its own head. I used a lot of sanding barrels and flap wheels to get rid of the cast marks and to polish all the ports, then the intakes was roughed with some 36 grid sanding paper and the exhaust and combustion chambers polished with my home made cross-buffs. At the end of the day I'm very happy with the outcome, I'm pretty sure the time (about 9-10 hours) and money spend to do this will not result in a mayor power increase if any, but I learned allot and it would just feel as if I did my best on the head before re-installing it.

For someone that says they are not that skilled compared to your dad etc.... Wow.

Unfamilia, seeing that the car is in my garage these days and he is not close, I just had to rise to the occasion.

For an IT geek I'm able to work with my hands without losing any fingers, but compared to the old man, I'm still a junior in his shoes.

glad to see this thing progressing well. Mine is still progressing though at a much slower rate than yours!

As long as there is some progress, my old man always said, do at least one thing per day, as long as you can show progress.

Ford Escort MKII Adjustable Monotube Gravel Shock

Some goodies arrived from the pommies, but they forgot to add the springs for the front units.

2 x Gaz GMO-368RBT - Ford Escort MKII Adjustable Front Monotube Gravel Shock
2 x Gaz GP6-2069 - Ford Escort MKII Adjustable Rear Monotube Gravel Shock










These are Ford Escort MKII Adjustable Monotube Gravel Shock Units, basically the same spec Bilstein units that were run on the legendary MKII of the late 70's and 80's but the shocks is adjustable. A friend and I will use the same setups, thus we will need less spares between the two of us, also making playing with imported springs easier on the pocket.
You will also notice these are all steel, ALU does not last to long on a gravel car.

Current spring rates will be 250 lbs/in front and 225 lbs/in rear for the initial setup until I have a better idea of what I'm doing on the gravel, all springs will be 12" long with a 2.25" ID with a helper spring to assist with keeping tension on the main springs in the event of some airtime.

Now the fun starts to build new lower control arms, top mounts, spacers and steering arms.

March 2013 - Fixing the list

Hmmmm, why am I sitting here in front of this machine and not slaving away on the car, well March was one of those months that a lot happened but not a lot of pictures to prove it. Everything is just quite frustrating currently as everything is half due to some sort of part, tool or work on the way or still on order, but this presented itself with the unique opportunity to do some planning, especially spending time behind the computer designing a few parts for the throttle bodies and front suspension, I even found some time to design a camping table, but more of that at another time.










Since all my parts arrived back from either the machine shop or the states, I was finally ready to close the motor again. Seeing that I polished the ports and combustion chambers, the head was washed various times to make sure everything is out that has no place in a motor, I started assembling the head, but this did not last long as I looked at the new set of BC valve springs and the previously bought Valve Keeper installation tool, this thing is great at removing the kotter's  but definitely not at installing them, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the new springs are much stiffer than the OEM units. I must admit, after building 3 years on the car, I'm finally starting to learn some patience  not a lot, but just a little. I realised that I will need to get a better tool to install these valves without damaging anything. I ordered a new contraption, by this time you may ask why I ordered it, I only had enough patience to realise I will have to wait before I can install the valves, but not enough to wait for laser cutting to arrive to make my own tools. Maybe oneday I will be able to wait for both. Once the tool arrived it literally took minutes to have to bunch assembled.








Seeing that the OEM head bolts and head gasket will be replaced with a ARP Head Stud Kit and Cometic head gasket, neither that I have used before I was quite cautious since these stuff is a little more expensive than the normal parts. The threads was cleaned over and over, studs test fitted to make sure they enter more or less the same amount into the block etc. Head Gasket test fitted. Ian from Rezlo Auto Works also warned me to not install the head with the studs pre installed as they limit the head movement dramatically which makes getting the timing chain thru the head a mission, part of this warning was the installation of the head studs, the mandate was, hand tighten and then half a turn back. After reading the attached instructions the process was quite easy, apply a decent amount of ARP lube to the washers, studs and nuts, torque them down in 3 equal steps. After that the rest was quite familiar  as it was not the first time installing the followers and cams. Timing was triple checked, checked again and confirmed a few times. During this whole process the original crank pulley went back on until it can be replaced with a decent harmonic balancer. Just on a side note, I did notice the water pump turns a little slow if the underdrive crank pulley and water pump pulley is used on low rpm.








For those reading this that have not done business with companies or individuals in the States, make an effort to import something, you will be pleasantly surprise to realise that in South Africa we have no customer service. I placed an order for a new set of Bosch 0280156127 440cc 42lbs-hr EV6 Blue Giants, in a matter of 3 hours the order was packed and a tracking number was sitting in my inbox, 5 working days later a phone call from Customs asking me were I want these delivered. And the best part of it all, They actually have functional websites with detail descriptions etc, not like the current RSA trend to create a &#!%(&^ facebook cover page with your companies contact detail. Better for me to stop here regarding this thing called facebook and the way people use it.


















During this time I played a little with my brothers new toy, a milling/drilling machine, I used it to start the work on a set of adaptors between the throttle bodies and new backing plate, they will form the seal around the units and the backing plate will be welded to it, this will form a practical and clean solution. The throttle cable mount kept me busy for awhile as I lost the ability to Tig weld, everything was a mess, until I disassembled everything and started again, still not my proudest piece of work, but not that bad to hide it. Seeing that the injectors arrived I was able to complete the fuel rails mountings and fittings, these are in the form of -6 AN units. Finally I managed to finish with my 50mm ID velocity stack mould. If I have to say I spend 10 hours on it, I will be telling a lie, I destroyed one, learned a few lessons working with fibreglass on small parts, etc Even this mould is not perfect, but 95% there.






A warning for those interested in importing some parts with a value of more than R20 000.00 in a single shipment, either have your story straight with signed affidavits stating it is for private non commercial use and a one time deal, or just ask the company shipping it to ship it as individual items. Let me explain, my brother wants four a coil overs for his Mini project, a friend wants a set of front shocks for his up and coming MKII rally car and I'm in need of front and rear shocks for the car, after more than 4 months of research we place a order with Gaz Shocks in the UK. Let's not kid each other, this is one big order, so big we had to confirm that the credit card used for the transaction can handle that amount of money in a single daily transaction, thus a few k more than R20k in a single go. A few days after I received confirmation that the order is shipped, one of TNT custom officials phones and asks for an Importers permit, the first reaction is why, well the answer is easy, any single order bigger than R20k must be done via a company holding a Importers Permit, well well, we did not know this as we were just importing a few shocks, seeing that the current rand-Pound exchange is so bad, they should make this limit a R100k and leave us alone. We want to trade and don't mind sending our money over the water. Anyways, we were instructed that our only way out was to sign a affidavit stating it is for private non commercial use and a once of deal sort of thing and hope for the best. At the end of the day our shipment was released from TNT's storage facilities without additional fees besides the normal customs.

To add the cherry on the top, once I finished opening all the packages, i realised that they forgot to include 4 helper springs, main springs and retainers. Luckily Gaz send these promptly as back order items.

And the moral of the story, the majority of the parts are cheaper to import yourself, we are rapped by the performance part resellers in this country, the only person I would recommend contacting for parts out of the States is Ian from RAW. If he can't source it, import it. I have forgotten about the "Proudly SA" saying, I'm more than happy to send my money to the States or the UK, becuase I do like to be handled in a individual manner.




Mini project: Securing Throttle Body Screws

Seeing that thsi was the reason for all the fun since January on the motor front, I was determined to try my best this time around to not have another screw loosening and starting a party on the pistons.

This is my story.




1. Remove throttle screws and plate from throttle shaft




2. Clean, clean and clean them again, in my case I used thinners and acetone




3. Dry and wipe clean with a clean cloth




4. Re Install the throttle plate while taking care to align it with out scratching the sides of the body




5. Apply a decent amount of genuine Super Strong Loctite, no fake stuff here




6. Fasten the screws without stripping the thread, if you did, turn it a half turn back and be done.

7. Clean the excess loctite






8. Apply a droplet of paint to the underside of each screw, this will form a bond between the screw and throttle shaft.