[Guest]

Hey guys, this is Chris B. from Elizabeth, NJ. I see a few names on this board that i recognize - Hello to Jordan, Hassinger, Marc, and anyone else I know on the board. Marc, remember at E-town drags when I red-lighted on that damn 'teg but was within .02 of my dial-in??!!! Well, I have a 1991 SE-R (was gorgeous when I got it) that ran a [email protected] (only filter + muffler/100k miles/summer heat) and has now become a barely-rolling hunk of ****.

After I left as head of Team Nismo NJ Chapter, I've had nothing but bad luck with my baby. I was at a stop sign when a bus slammed into my car a few months back, and since then, everything seems to be going wrong with the car. I now beleive in the saying, a car is never the same after an accident. Of course I could always drive my 1993 1.6 *MINT* SE, IF I DIDNT HAVE TO SELL THE DAMN THING (needed the money to pay off loans) about 2 mos. ago.

again. I got a check for $1,700 for the accident, but needed that to pay bills too, so the car remains damaged. Then the clutch went. Then the alternator. Then the 10,000 leaks in the exhaust. Then the SUPER ANNOYING and worsening (valve?) tap in the head. Then the infamous 5th gear popout. (of course this could have happened right before we had the trans out for the clutch job, but noooo, it had to go AFTER the clutch job)

Then I lost 5th gear altogether. Now the freakin heat blows cold when the weather is below 30 degrees, and carries in exhaust fumes from the leaks when the car is stopped - speaking of which - the fresh air/recirculated air lever doesn't work, and it's stuck on fresh air. I think the cable is disconnected or something but I can't find the damn cable behind the console. I know the exhaust fumes would not get blown through the air vents if I could just find the cable and get it set to recirculated air. Can anyone help on this????

DESPITE ALL THIS, I still stomp on Honduhs when I get the chance. I wasted a few shitvics on 1&9 just 2 nights ago! - 1 of which had an "SiR" badge on the back...is that what you get when you cross-breed a civic Si and a 'teg type-R? They looked even cooler with their riceboy fly-by's after I stomped them.

. But, nonetheless, my car just ain't what she used to be. The tap in the motor is worsening by the week (mostly due to having only 4th gear @ highway speeds) and there's a TON of clatter/noise/starter squeal/complaing during a cold start.

Unfortunately, I don't think have the money to restore the car to good condition, nor do I think it's really worth dumping a ton of money into it. I'll probably end up parting it out, which sucks, but you guys get first dibs on the parts if/when I do!

. I'm hoping it'll last a few more months till I have the money for another car. I was thinking about getting a (don't yell at me) Ford Merkur XR4Ti. Any opinions on that car? My best friend had one and it was surprisingly fast bone stock. Some things I like about the merkur are rear wheel drive, heated seats, auto trans, the styling (only nice looking double deck wing i've seen), and most of all TURRRRRRBO! (been itchin for one of those for years) Also, I've seen some pretty sweet aftermarket cosmetic and mechanical/performance upgrades out there for this car. I also saw 1 guy that dropped a 3.8L Supercharched SC motor in there, and another that STUFFED a 5.0 under the hood! Truly, I LOVE the SE-R and I really had alot of plans for it, but if I was to get another one, it'd have to be something MINT, and I just don't have the $$$ for that. But please, give me some thoughts and ideas on what to do because I'm not 100% decided on anything just yet.

About a month ago, I was over at Jamie's house with my friend Chris Lee (fastest Rodedo) checking out that FREAKIN AWESOME 10-sec SE-R. That car is 10x cooler in person, and I only wish I got to see it run this season. I saw some posts on the board about what his future plans are....Chris told me last week that he now has a white SE-R which is to be the lucky receipient of the 10-sec motor and it's stock motor will be built up over the winter to propel the red one into the 9's! Jamie and Chris are really urging me to fix up my SE-R but I just don't know if it's worth it...needs ALOT of work.

So with all that said, I send a big hello to my Nissan bros on the board, and a big F-YOU to the tough-guy Honduh queers hiding behind the screen. Any of you guys wanna run your mouth, go down to Avenue P in Newark, NJ and prove your car is as fast as you say. Also, Marc or whoever organizes the next geekout, E-mail me and I'll come hang with you guys.

Chris B.

~still making Honduh pot pie with my busted-up, valve-tappin, exhaust-leakin, no-fifth-gear-havin, 120,000-mile driven, headed-for-the-boneyard SE-R~

[Edited by ChriszSER (12-07-2000 at 08:16 AM).]

 

[Ben]

Nice to have you on here Chris

Sorry to hear about all your troubles, but man, you can still stomp Honda butt, that's really neat.

Wish there was a way your SE-R buddies could get together and help work on your car if that would help anything. I, as well as most of the other peeps on here I'm sure would offer if we were close to ya.

I don't know anything about Merkurs cept they have those dual-spoiler things

Let us know what you find out about em.

 

[Jason92Classic]

I have a friend who has a Merkur XR4TI. He likes it okay (cuz of the Turbo) but he rarely drives it.

If this were happening to me, I'd save my pennies for one of the ones advertised on se-r.net. Maybe one that is in okay condition, not wrecked, and cheap. Then I'd get a paint job and a motor/tranny swap! Hell, with the one you plan to part out with, you could use it for parts yourself!

 

[Guest]

Sorry about the bad luck with your car. However, you did hit a soft spot with the XR4Ti. I had two of them before I got my SE-R. That car is hard to beat in the "fun to drive" catagory. I loved my 89 with all my heart and miss it to this day. It was fast as hell with very minor tweaking. And a car with A LOT of tweaking, owned by Rick Burns, has the record for the fastest 4-cyl production car ever built-212mph. I had to sell mine because I didn't have any space to work on it at school, and any local mechanic that worked on it messed it up more than he fixed it. So, now I have the SE-R, an extremely fun and *reliable* (in my case) car. Just wish I could have both. Or the SE-R in turbo form....still working on that one. Chris, my advice to you if you go for the Merk is to stay away from the auto trans because they detuned it from 180hp to 140hp.

Max
95 SE-R that's begging for a turbo

 

[paradyme]

What's up Chris, I'm originally from Newark NJ. I now reside in VA, I'll be back in Jersey on the week of the 17th and plan on doing my JWT/S3 cam install. Can you point me in the direction of a local NJ SE-R guru (include yourself) who can assist me with this install.......Nigel
95/G20t/auto

 

[Guest]

Hey guys thanks for all the replies

I've been figuring out the costs of restoring my SE-R to top notch condition and it seems as though I could get a mint condition 92/93 for the same price. Unfortunately, that price is out of my range right now and I could get a good merkur for about half the cost, so I think that's the route I'm gonna take.

mrwillis...I had NO IDEA the 5-speed XR4Ti had 40 more hp!!!

That is a HUGE difference in performance in my opinion. See, but the only reason I wanted the auto is because I drove my friend's 97 Eclipse GS-T which runs around a low 13 sec. 1/4 mile, and I had a helluva time keeping the boost up between shifts. I thought to myself that with an auto trans, the boost would stay up as it was shifting. Then again, that was the first time I drove that car, so not being used to it, I couldn't shift very fast - not to mention it wasn't easy keeping the front tires from breaking loose when the boost kicked in. But, with the Merkur, I don't think traction is too much of an issue with the rear-wheel drive. Nonetheless, that taste of turbo I got from driving that car really got my adrenaline going! So any of you with turbo 5-speeds, after getting comfortable with the turbo and shifting, do you find that you can keep the boost up between shifts?????

paradyme...I've done just about everything to a car, from tranny/motor swaps, clutch changes, bearings, brake lines, etc etc etc, but never cams! LOL I would sure like to learn though, and I'd be willing to lend a helping hand, but you'll need to find someone in the area who really knows cams. From what I've heard, everything has to be done perfect or you can really screw up alot of things. Do you have heated (damn cold here lately) garage space or a place you plan on doing the swap? You could also email Jamie at [email protected] (world's fastest SE-R) and see what information or help he can offer. He's a really nice guy, and I'm sure he can be of some assitance. Let me know what's going on, and make a post about this in the events section!

Chris B.

~still recovering from lastnight's "festivities" that lasted till 6am~

 

[Guest]

It definately is a different beast to drive than the SE-R. You have to get used to it tooling around town because the turbo doesn't really kick in until about 2700rpm. But, when you are keeping the rpms up dring "spirited" driving, you pretty much have constant boost the whole time, except maybe for the instant you are shifting. Plus when you are pushing 19psi like I was you gain so many car lengths during the powerband you can afford to miss a shift once in a while

. But you can get caught at low rpms and end up having to be patient until the turbo spools. But, just like the SE-R, or any other car for that matter, once you learn the characteristics of the engine, gearing, etc., you can adjust you driving style accordingly. I remember my switch from the Merk to the SE-R being a bit challenging, espicially switching to the light stock nissan clutch. Let me know if you need more info about the XR4ti's, cause I have plenty collected over the years.

Max
95 SE-R

 

[Storm88000]

Damn chris, did you buy a lemon or what??

------------------
Jordan
1998 Sentra SE -
Hotshot G3 Header, Hotshot CAI, JWT s4 Cams, Timing @ 19, KYB AGXs, Eibach Sportlines, Courtesy F&R STB's, ES Mounts, MOMO Shifter

15.454 @ 88mph at Englishtown, NJ without the cams.