I’m not a blogger; honestly speaking I never really documented the the work I’ve done growing up. I told myself i would change that so in the future i could look back at the things I’ve done. I’ve had this Z32 for the better part of about six years now. My very first car was a Z32 and even-tough I’ve owned about 11 cars something about the Z32 keeps bringing me back. This car has been in the family for so long I have sentimental value for this particular Z; I want to keep it alive and do something special with it. This segment is on the very first steps towards the SRZ32 world; The rest of this will follow on to the first track event and the build of my RWD VVL Conversion. Pardon the cellphone pictures, IÂ am working on improving that.
First Track Event
From a very young age I acquired a fascination for Signal Auto’s SR20 Z33 & Smoky Nagata’s 3S-GTE MKIV Supra. Fast forward little over a decade to find myself with my good friend Franklin (@franklin_ca) discussing about how cool it would be to do an SR20 swap into his Z32. I am not exactly sure what exactly motivated him to do the swap but I was on board. At that time I had a very decent amount of experience; both with the Z platform and the SR20 motor to know it wouldn’t be a big deal. When we completed his Swap and I took his car around the block I was hooked, My Z at the time made a respectable 408bhp and yet Franklin’s Z felt better (Realize.jp Franklin’s Z32). (Pictured: The Narita Dog Fight: Franklin’s SRZ32)
The Narita Dog Fight, SRZ32
I purchased a zenki S14 SR20 front clip from my long time supplier of JDM engines and front clips; J&R Auto Parts in South El Monte, CA.
While we kept Franklin’s swap rather simple by keeping the factory drive-train and engine management; he planed on improving that at a later date. Between Franklin’s swap and mine I had thought about a better way to make motor mounts. Franklin’s mounts worked but like anything as time goes on you think of ways to make things better. So I made the mounts completely from scratch this time around. I was also planning to use a Nissan FS6R31A Transmission (CD009 for you guys not familiar with transmission codes) for gearing & strength purposes.
I performed all the things I’ve always recommended to my friends and customers when an engine is out; (with sub 400WHP power in mind). I ripped the head off the block, scraped it with a carbide scraper & checked for deck surface straightness along with the cylinder head. I re-installed the head using a brand new set of OEM Nissan Head Bolts, a Tomei Japan MLS head gasket & all new OEM Nissan gaskets. New Water pump, thermostat and other maintenance components went in at this time as well. With the engine mechanically sound I put it in it’s resting home; I also installed the Koyo Racing N-Flow radiator for S13 SR20DET, Yashio Factory Water pump under drive pulley, BNR34 Clutch fan & Skyline fan shroud for an OE Like fit.
The next few days were pretty straight forward. While my driveshaft was being made by the guys over at Driftmotion I had to keep moving. I mounted my Blitz intercooler core & fabricated all the charge piping along with my 75mm intake. Making the Gear selector mechanism was a bit tricky; I was able to get creative with it and make something that works without cutting the transmission tunnel at all. The exhaust consisted of a Custom Downpipe midpipe combo that I made specially to work with a Tomei Expreme Titanium Exhaust provided by Nissan Race Shop.
The final bits of the swap were basically clean up. I re-painted the rocker cover with the help of my friend Ernie, polished the aluminum piping, installed a set of Apexi ELII gauges, a set of freshly powder coated Advan RGIIÂ wheels thanks to my friend Edgar (@articdragon192), Denso 565cc injectors, an R35 MAF, made an oil cooler kit for the car, installed the JDM Front bumper & Dyno tuned the car to a Healthy 284WHP & 310Ft/Lbs on 91 octane.
