Lo and behold, Andy finally decides to post about his project!

I will post some pictures and comments here, but the majority of the information can be found at my project_240 index page (http://www.mysportscar.com/features/project240/index.htm). The articles are semi-witty, and contain both good information for amateur swappers and great pictures. Check it out and lemme know what you think!

-Andy

Here are the aforementioned pictures. I have a lot of them, so beware!

stock KAsian Powuh!
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/00_KAsianPowuh.jpg

Stripped interior
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/01_stripped1.jpg
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/02_stripped2.jpg
Stripped engine bay
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/03_stripped3.jpg

Front clip from Venus (I know, I know...I have learned from my mistake!)
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/04_clip.jpg

"Houston, we have liftoff!"
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/05_cliplift.jpg

y0! Do *** fokeliff got boost, y0?
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/06_clipmove.jpg

Don't need the clutch fan, so I had to find something to do with it

http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/07_fanhead.jpg

Engine waiting to go in
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/08_anxious.jpg

Complete engine, except for the turbo extension
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/09_engine1.jpg

Sans water pump, TB, water inlet, and thermostat
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/10_engine2.jpg

Celebratory engine humping :)
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/11_enginehump.jpg

Beadblasted exhaust manifold
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/12_exhman.jpg

Beadblasted turbo extension
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/13_turboext.jpg

Valvecover fresh off the engine
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/14_valvecover1.jpg

Beadblasted valve cover
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/15_valvecover2.jpg

Notice a theme here? My only superpower (besides Spidey Sense) seems to be anal retentiveness, and I love to beadblast dirty chit!

Weird chit in the tranny after it was pulled
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/16_clutchcrap.jpg

A pleasant surprise awaited us after pulling the tranny
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/17_OSGiken.jpg

"For the cost of a cup of coffee per day, you can give a little Chinese boy the life he's always dreamed of..."
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/18_happyAsian.jpg

After pulling the front cover. One of the chain guides seems to be high-density plastic and the other metal...is this a feature commom to all redtops?
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/19_frontcover.jpg

Assorted parts, including the head, cams, cam gears, rocker arms, shims, chain, chain guides, headbolts, and some other stuff.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/20_parts1.jpg

When she offered me head, I just couldn't turn her down! :D
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/21_head.jpg

Upper oil pan. That oil looks pretty well baked on. :(
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/22_upperpan.jpg

Bearing girdle...or is it a "bearing beam?" Hmmm...
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/23_girdle.jpg

Upper oil pan, bearing beam, bearing caps, and assorted bolts in labeled plastic baggies. Beats the hell outta what your mom packed in your lunch bag!
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/24_parts2.jpg

Shortblock without beam or caps
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/25_block1.jpg

"Hey baby, hold my crank."
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/26_crank.jpg

"Guys...what did I tell you about stealing my crank?!?! Now give it back before I tell my Mommy!"
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/27_block2.jpg

Pistons and block. Do all used SR pistons have that black crap on the dome?
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/28_block3.jpg

Closeup on cylinders 2 & 3. You can kinda see some buildup on the piston domes, and "scoring" on the cylinder walls (if you can call it that).
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/29_cylinders.jpg

Shortblock without pistons and oil squirters.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/30_block3.jpg

Piston and rod.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/31_piston1.jpg

Another piston picture. You can see the black buildup really well in this one.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/32_piston2.jpg

Crank, pistons, rods, rod caps, bearings, and main caps.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/33_parts3.jpg

Shortblock being hauled off to Barnett Performance and Development for measuring and cylinder boring.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/34_blockship.jpg

A subframe I had delivered by Robin of Barnett Performance and Development. Apparently his clips come with more goodies than mine did, and he had this left over. I mainly needed it because I finally came to the decision to ditch the HICAS subframe in place of a non-HICAS one. I am also using this as an opportunity to install some SPL pro aluminum subframe bushings. These completely replace the stock rubber pieces, and thus the rubber needs to be removed.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/35_subframe.jpg

This is a 2" extension I bought from Advance Auto Parts a while back. Appearantly it isn't too "impact-friendly!" :smirk:
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/36_brokenext.jpg

RUCA's, toe arms, and "traction rods" off the RPS13 subframe I bought.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/37_suspension1.jpg

The same parts after beadblasting.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/38_suspension2.jpg

Here I am using a SawzAll to remove the metal sleeves that are part of the subframe bushings. The idea here is that it would make burning them out easier if the metal was gone and some of the rubber removed with it.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/39_bushing1.jpg

This is the metal sleeve after it was removed.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/40_bushing2.jpg

Here I am using an Oxy-Acetylene torch to burn the rubber out. Sssshhhh...don't tell the California Air Resources Board!
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/41_fire1.jpg

"Fiiiirrrrre! Fiiirrre! Fire! Hey Butthead: burning stuff is cool. Eh heh heh heh...cool."
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/42_fire2.jpg

After burning the majority of the bushing out, all that's left is some (relatively) brittle rubber. This is easily removed with a Brillo pad. Make sure to wear gloves, as this is some messy chit.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/43_fire3.jpg

Cleaning with an air-powered buffing wheel. This made short work of getting the remainder of the rubber out and smoothing out the inner diameter.
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/44_clean1.jpg

This is where the old rubber subframe bushing used to be. The SPL aluminum bushings are eager to move into their new home. But the burning screwed up the finish on the subframe, and it will soon be treated to a primer and paint jorb. Since I have no $$ left over from buying all the bling-bling parts, I will probably go with a rattlecan jorb... :cool:
http://www.mysportscar.com/andy/FA/45_clean2.jpg

This probably represents <4% of the pictures I have. :eek2: But I figured it's better to have more pictures than not enough.

Last Saturday we dropped the diff, then the subframe, and moved on to remove the wheels and all 4 struts. I have some KYB AGX's and Tein S-Tech springs waiting on the stock tophats to come off, then they will be assembled and reinstalled.

We are actually still stripping stuff, if you can imagine that. This coming Saturday will witness beadblasting and primering of the donor subframe, and possibly a layer or two of paint (depending on how many fumes I inhale by that point). I may get to install the aluminum subframe bushings, but the freezer at the shop may not be sufficient. We'll see...

I update my site every couple of weeks, so stay tuned. I will also do mini-updates ("are they evil updates?" :) ) on this site. Please provide any feedback, including constructive criticism. Thanks, and let me know what ya'll think.

-Andy

Lol.. You sandblast everything , Looks really good though.

i agree media blasting is the shit....:) keep the pics coming when you start going back together you have me in terested now

looks good. Must be nice having all that chit at your disposal.

Do you guys work for Nissan or just steal some shirts?

Hehe...we actually bought them online...it adds to the ambiance!

While feedback on the content displayed here is important to me, feedback on my website content is also welcome. Please check out the articles linked in my first post, and let me know what you think. Hopefully they'll be at least mildly entertaining!

As for my beadblasting everything...why not? I have it at my disposal, and a lot of stuff needs to be cleaned up. If you look at my website, you can see before and after pictures. The only challenge pertinent to my love of beadblasting though is finding something to coat the parts with so they don't rust back...

whoops

whoops
Errr...did you have a question about something?

Man, I wish I had the time/money to give my car that kind of attention. I fear I'll be reduced to replacing/upgrading things as they break.

Money: there are three of us working on the project, and we split the costs pretty evenly. This helps out a lot. Plus I have sold quite a few parts from our car and clip, which has helped to fund our work. We also picked up Barnett Performance and Development as a sponsor, which has lessened the cost somewhat in the past 3 months.

Time: What can I say? Although I'm newly-married (1-year anniversary was a month ago), I still have a decent amount of time for the car, because my wife is a patient, loving woman. I had more time, but now that we are in a house, I have "honey-do" chit to worry about constantly. I try to get as much done during the week as I can, but it remains a difficult task to get over to the shop to work on the car, even every other Saturday. Between taking care of the house, going out of town for weddings and other stuff, and all the "leisure" activities we have planned for the weekends, it's not easy. And once kiddies come in a couple of years, it will be even harder. I have basically come to an agreement with my wife that as long as I get all of my "chores" done, I can go to the shop every other Saturday or so. We'll see if this arrangement lasts...

We decided to go ahead and do a lot of work at once, which may not have been the best idea, but it certainly has been fun and challenging. I am fortunate in that I am able to keep my head up and keep going even though our car has never run in the 11 months that we've owned it! :(

I did have a question then I was reading all the subtitles to the pics and pretty much figured it out for myself. I also got an s13 recently and am going to start on it soon, already a fun fucking car to drive. Can't wait to see how your guys's turns out :).

Well, I am trying to keep everyone updated if I have time to.

In case any of you guys visit FreshAlloy or CarolinaNissans, I have posted this thread in both of those places as well, to get as much exposure as possible. I would like to think that our project can serve as somewhat of a guide for amateurs like us, but that may be an idealistic viewpoint.

:D How much to sand blast some parts?