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I've always liked reading the well documented project threads on this forum. I have a project of my own now, so I thought I’d create a thread for it. From this point forward, I’ll document everything I do here with plenty of pictures and commentary. Here is the car:
It’s a 1998 Sentra SE that I purchased from a forum member in January. It’s already got quite a few mods, but there is always room for improvement. My performance goals are somewhat modest, I’m looking for 250-275whp. I want a quality setup though. I won’t be half-assing anything, I can promise you that.
Here is the setup as it is now, mostly from the previous owner:
Roller Rocker SR20DE
T25 Turbo
Bluebird Manifold
2.5" Downpipe
Greddy SP Exhaust
Black FMIC with 2" Hot, 2.5" Cold Piping
1G DSM BOV
FAL Slim Fans
JWT ECU- 3 Bar, 370cc, Stock MAF
ACT HDSS Clutch
PS Short Shifter
Hyperco Springs
AGX Struts
Courtesy Front and Rear STBs
Wilwood 11" Brakes Front
Maxima Brakes Rear
SS Brake Lines
Altima MC
I’ll end up adding quite a bit to that. The list above is just the general direction I’m going in, and loosely speaking, the order in which it will be completed. I’m sure I’ll address some cosmetic mods as well, but don’t get too excited. I’ll keep it pretty tame. I’m always open to feedback and suggestions. Please check back frequently.
I purchased this Hass downpipe from a forum member a couple of months ago:
It is for the most part a standard T25 downpipe, but unlike a normal T25 downpipe, it came with a 3” j-pipe flange. The stock j-pipe is 2.5” and won’t bolt up. I knew fabrication was going to be necessary. Rather than downgrade the downpipe to a 2.5” flange, I decided to upgrade my j-pipe. I purchased a RWD j-pipe from ebay (along with some flanges, bungs, a reducer, and misc other supplies) with the intention of modifying it for FWD with a 3” flange.
Shortly after it arrived I stumbled upon a diamond in the rough on ebay. I won this downpipe for $75 shipped.
It arrived yesterday. I immediately had one of the guys on my team check it out.
In a previous post I made (before it arrived), Chriscar had some great suggestions and questions. He noticed that the flange lacked a divider to help ensure wastegate/exhaust flows were adequately separated.
Here is the RWD piece as a reference. Note the extra piece separating the exhaust flow from the wastegate flow.
Also note the divider on the RWD piece can be removed with 2 allen bolts. I’m going to take it off and have a local machine shop replicate it for the new downpipe. I’ll keep you posted on that.
Chris was also curious about the length of the wastegate tube. Apparently 18” is ideal. I used a string to measure. It turned out to be 14.5”. A little short, but I still think it will work great.
Once the divider is welded in, I’m going to cut it just after the wastegate tube re-enters and put a flange on it. Then I’ll cut and flange the downpipe to match. Something like this:
As for exhaust, I’ve got that covered as well, once again thanks to a forum member. It is a 3” VRS cat-back. It will be mounted up after I finish the downpipe.
Yeah, she's a Texan. Many people remember this was Spaceman Spiff's car. I just couldn't pass it up. Fresh motor swap, great suspension setup, awesome brake setup, and the car is clean as hell. In my opinion, the car would have been worth what I paid for it without the turbo setup.
I'm definately going with the Z32 MAF, but I've been agonizing over the injectors. As I mentioned above, my goal is only 250-275 whp. The 370's @ 4bar could handle about 290whp.
If I ended up going overboard (nobody ever does that... right?), I'd not only have to get bigger injectors, I'd need to have the ECU reprogrammed yet again. That would set me back an extra $100 or so, plus extra downtime.
On the other hand, if I upgrade injectors now, and never passed my original benchmark... the injectors wouldn't have been necessary after all. That's $300 or so I could have spent on other goodies. Despite the risk, I'm leaning more and more toward just throwing 555's in there and getting it out of the way.
Blackb13se-r, chriscar is the current heir to the downpipe. I'll let him know you're next in line.
I'm going to use it and don't really plan on getting rid of it. You never know, though. I might decide 6 months from now to buy a setup that I wouldn't be able to use it on. If I ever get rid of it in the future, Chris said to let him know.
I Think S4's would be a better choice as cams go. It'll help that T28 breath easier and at proabably less boost to achieve your H.P. goal. Anyway good luck and keep us updated. Everything else looks right on point.
Today I dropped off the downpipe at the machine shop.
After talking to my guy down there, it wouldn't be cost effective to recreate the separator piece. I am going to sacrifice the RWD dump and have them use the separator off of it instead. It is supposed to be done tomorrow, but I'll be tied up with work. I'll be picking it up on Friday.
I got the dump-pipe back from the welder and all looks well. I need to figure out now where I want the O2 bung and have it welded in. I also need to take off the manifold and tap it for EGT. The current setup has it in the downpipe and I don't really care for that.
I've been tearing the UPS man a new @sshole this week. He's had to stop at my house almost every day.
I'll be upgrading the fuel system before I finish the downpipe. Running the stock fuel pump is really sketchy, as it's only good to about 190whp. Once I have this stuff in, I should have about a 250whp ceiling (limit of MAF and injectors). That should be fine until later on, then they will be upgraded too. I'm still waiting on the T fitting for the FP gauge. I hope it arrives tomorrow so I can knock this sh*t out before I have to go back to work.
Not pictured, I also picked up some Redline Shockproof Heavy. I've been running it in my daily 200sx for a while, that stuff is the sh*t. Hopefully it'll make my non-LSD gearbox last forever ... or at least until I get an LSD tranny for it.
I know there are more interesting projects than mine. Thanks for taking time to check mine out.
dead SR20VE-T 
"I stays breakin stuff" 
... or at least until I get an LSD tranny for it.