I didn't need a new vehicle, but I had decided that it was time to replace my BMW e36, which I absolutely hated every second of owning. German cars are nightmares to own. Anyway, I'm a fan of Nissan's engineering choices overall, and this is from what I consider to be the 'golden age' after car electronics started to make sense (with relays and blade-style fuses) but before they stopped making sense again (with multiple o2 sensors and 30 bajillion ways to set the ECU into limp home mode). This was the only car on Craigslist within a reasonable budget that fit the bill.
... back to my tale. Fortunately, even though the seller was a lazy man indeed, I'm a diligent buyer. Once I find what I want, I'm pretty persistent. I decided that $1200 was altogether too much for an old car with a craptastical engine and no starter motor attached, and called back later that night. I was disappointed to find that he had traded it for a turbo Integra, and asked if the person who ended up with it would be interested in selling it (remember how I said I'm persistent?). As it turned out, he was, so we scheduled a meetup for the next weekend.
I drove my horrid German pile of BMW across the NH border to check it out, and had to try to contain my excitement upon seeing it sitting in the little tent it called home.
The poor car was decidedly jdm-rice'd and had lost a rear quarter window in its adventures, but I was still willing to play ball. I tested all the electrical systems I could, checked the differential, felt my way through the gears, and pushed it around a little to make sure it wasn't seized, and put down a deposit. The following weekend, it came home with me on a flatbed for $900.
There were issues, and I was still looking for a garage space, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. The rear quarter window needed replacing, the wheels that came with it needed to be shot, the headlights had been hacked into the silly sleepy-eye position (sure, it looks kind of neat, but I want to DRIVE this car... even at night!), one of the tires wouldn't hold air, and there was no starter motor. Sitting in that driveway it got some attention that fall, but not having a garage (or even a flat driveway) really killed my motivation and I let it sit while I hunted for a new place to live with a garage.
In the meantime, I decided that the ca20e isn't worth calling a powerplant, kind of like how a bag of peanuts isn't worth calling a meal. I picked up a ka24de locally, and started pulling it apart. I compression tested it (182/181/182/182) and measured the lash on the cams (nearly perfect) so I decided not to pull the head off, but I definitely wanted to be able to get a reasonable base tune on it.
While we're talking about tuning, join me on a tangent for a moment. I'm a big fan of simplicity in cars, and the EFI system on the ka24de requires a LOT of work to become something I'd consider acceptable. The shoddy side-feed injectors, inefficient fuel rail, ineffective air sensor, and terrible base tune on the ECU all knock it down to one of the worst engine management systems I can imagine. Setting all that up adds a lot of time and development to the project, and really doesn't improve it... it just makes it less broken.
... back on topic, I wanted a base tune while keeping this simple and straightforward. I priced out a proper EFI setup and it came to just under $550 at the least, with second-hand parts. It'd take roughly a month to get it running correctly, and I just don't have that much time to spend on this just to get it to move on its own power. So that went out the window, and I ordered a fuel management system that I know inside and out:
These are really straightforward Mikuni BST38 carburettors. These particular carbs came off a Suzuki GSXR-750 (one of my favorite vehicles I've ever owned) for $70 after shipping. I ordered new main jets for $7 and rebuilt/cleaned them. The main jets wouldn't offer the effective tuning I wanted, but they were in the right ballpark to get the 2.4liter engine running @ 5,000rpm instead of a 0.75liter engine @ 12,000rpm. Remember, the point here is to get a very coarse tune and have the engine running and ready to be improved immediately. The stock EFI system wouldn't cut it, aftermarket EFI was too time-intensive, and these carbs will work as long as you give them vacuum and fuel. They mate to the stock GSXR intake with rubber boots, and the intake spacing for the ka24de was nearly perfect... they should line up pretty nicely.
With the fuel issue solved, I moved on to the other part of engine management that the stock ECU screws up pretty badly: ignition timing. Unfortunately, the ka24de doesn't have a vacuum distributor (if anyone knows if I can use the old l20 guts or something, let me know!) so the ECU needs to be involved. The best option I could come up with is a standalone spark management system called MegaSpark Lite Jr. It's straightforward, open-source, and relatively inexpensive (under $200). I could run that with an EDIS system to get extremely strong and accurate spark. If possible, I'd rather not spend the development time, and just use a vacuum-advance distributor or guts. It's a decision I still haven't made as of this writing.
To clear my head, I continued cleaning the engine and transmission. I like the way this picture came out, and everybody loves pictures in build threads, so I'm including it even though it isn't really relevant.
Then, FINALLY, I had to get ready to move. I went out to clean up the s12 for moving, and got a little carried away. Stuff came out.
So, here it sits in my new garage (finally), but it's been pretty frigid here for the past few weeks. I just picked up a kerosene heater for the garage after going to the gym tonight, and am wicked excited to get back into this thing. I have a lot to do this week.
Troubleshoot the ignition circuit wiring issue. I have a strong feeling that it has something to do with a previous owner's handiwork (there's no + signal going to the ignition tumbler):
My solution is elegant and simple (what I strive for). Forget about the key entirely, they really don't prevent car theft anyway. Instead, I like switch panels, and these boat panels are pretty cheap and include circuit breakers instead of fuses (MAJOR bonus). I'd just have to wire up my circuits individually (fuel pump, ecu, ignition, etc).
Get the ca20e running (the starter is in and wired up now) so it can push itself around.
I also need to ship my old wheels from one of my 240z's here from California, where I had to leave the cars. Honestly, I think they'll look pretty sweet on the s12:
Identify the differential. I BELIEVE the mk1.5 (it's an 86) had u-joint axles, not CV axles. I'm also fairly sure this particular car didn't come with an LSD from the factory, but the lift-and-spin test proved that this is a limited slip, so I'm trying to identify which r200 it is. If anyone else can tell just by looking at the rear cover, I'm all ears. Right now I'm GUESSING z32 shortnose r200.
Tonight, it sits happily in the garage, waiting for me to give it some attention.
If anyone's interested, I can fill in some of the blanks on my car history. I'm not gonna go more nuts with the pictures than I have already unless someone asks, though. This post already turned into a book.
