After sitting down to think abut the direction I want to go with the car I came full circle and decided on going with the cars original plan, an SR20.
Full parts list
View Google Sheets →A little history
Since I bought the car in 2008 I was dead set on getting an SR. I remember obsessively scanning JDM importer pages looking for a perfect redtop SR. At the time they were like $1,500. Which for my broke ass it was still a lot of money (I was 19 at that time working part time as a server at Applebees along with a couple other odd end jobs). So being that I couldn't afford something, my adolescent brain decides on the next logical thing. "Let's start buying parts for it, then I'll have to save up and get it" (Makes total sense right.....). I proceeded to start buying parts but didn't really get that far. I bought a Greddy FMIC kit, HKS BOV w/ hotpipe, Cosworth Headgasket, and ARP Studs. My SR dreams fell short. I can't remember if I changed my mind or I needed money, but either way I ended up selling everything.
SR20 Pickup
I was going back in forth with a dude in Michigan a week or so before Memorial day (2025) before pulling the trigger on it. I was actually driving an all weekend event (DD102) at USAIR in Shawano, WI when I finalized the plan. Saturday after driving I hit Kyle (same name) up to send a deposit. After the deposit went though the race was on to find someone to come with me and getting a truck to get the motor. Luckily my Dad was available Monday (Memorial day) to come with and my homie Brendan hooked it up by letting me borrow his Duramax. Luckily nothing major broke to leave me stranded at the track (While driving home my wife calls me to tell me none of my lights are working. It was a little sketchy driving home 2 hours not having brake lights, but we made it work). After dropping the car at the shop, grabbing the truck, and driving home it was about 8:30pm. Relaxed a bit and prepped to leave at 6am to go to Michigan to pick up the engine.
6am came quick and we’re off. 6 hours go by and we show up to Kyle’s house. Kyle and his pops greet us, super cool dudes, after checking out the engine we start loading it up in the truck. As i’m loading parts into the truck I couldn’t help but chuckle as I look up and see my dad having a beer and chopping it up with Kyle’s dad. My dad has always been the nicest dude you could ever meet and it still always amazes me to see how he can get along with anyone
Back on the road
We get back to the shop around 9pm and unload the truck, get the engine on a stand and clean up. It was a long day. Left the shop to drive home at about 11pm.
S14 Notchtop (97-98') Approx mileage: 100,000k
Included Parts with the engine
Exedy Stage 2 Clutch + Exedy Lightweight Flywheel
HKS Intake Kit
Koyo Radiator For an S14, ran into fitment issues (sits 1/2" taller) with my S13 — selling
Greddy FMIC Kit
Tomei Turbo Manifold selling — changed direction
Exedy Stage 2 Clutch, Exedy Lightweight Flywheel, HKS Intake Kit
S14 Koyo N-Flow Dual Pass Radiator
Greddy FMIC Kit (Piping Not shown)
Tomei Expreme Manifold
Parts research begins
My plan is to take my time to research the common fail points, address those, make this SR as reliable as possible while utilizing stock internals, and “future” proofing it so when I’m ready to add more power I have all the infrastructure ready to do so without having to do things twice.
It’s been fun doing research on each item to make sure it will actually benefit the engine opposed to hammering my keyboard aimlessly buying parts off the “trust me bro” playbook.
I’m not trying to come off as pretentious. Put simply, the older I get, the more I try to understand the “why” of things. Too much of my life have I fallen into the trap of just doing something because other people did it that way and not knowing why they did it that way.
It’s fine if you think like that, many people do and they do just fine, the caveat is that it’s very superficial knowledge and you don’t really understand what is going on. Which can lead to frustration when things go wrong, you’re may not know what to do to fix the problem or why it’s happening.
I remember seeing this in the 2009-2015 era with SR’s where people did zero maintenance, up the boost to arbitrary numbers, put cams and a big turbo on because so and so did, then the engine blows up. All of a sudden “SR’s are garbage”. There not, it just needed supporting upgrades and an understanding of how said upgrades work with each other. That was a different time though, where SR’s were basically disposable and we were a bunch of teenagers just trying to figure it out lol. So I guess its just the nature of progress.
Parts collection continues
Tomei high capacity oil pan, oil block adapter, ARP fLywheel bolts, and some OEM filters
I chose the Tomei Oil pan for it’s capacity upgrade (.63 qts more), steel contruction, and the trap doors to prevent oil starvation from slosh during drifting.
I was back and forth with this one or the Greddy pan, but the steal construction sold me to protect it better from any impacts as I still street the car.
Oil Block-off plate is for my remote filter setup and an oil pressure sensor.
Parts collection continues
OEM water pump, ATI Super Damper, Cusco solid motor mounts
I didn’t need to replace the water pump but its a good measure to start fresh while everything is out. Used one will be a backup.
Not gonna Lie, Factions review video on the Super Damper one sold me on it. Pairing this with solid motor mounts seemed like a smart play as i’m going to be introducing more vibrations to the engine.
I used to run Cusco mounts on my KA24DE, had zero issues with them so I stuck with what worked.
I’ll include the video review from Faction below.
Parts collection continues
Drivshaft Shop aluminum driveshaft
Ditching the two piece and freeing up some driveline weight
ISR Transmission crossmember and Stance oversized water pump pulley
I decided on an ISR trans Xmember because it was inexpensive, its just a mount, I didn’t need anything special or to try and track down an OEM one.
The Stance oversized pulley felt like a must to get. Anything I can do to keep the SR cool is the goal. This component will help eliminate any cavitation issues from the water pump at high RPM during drifting.
Turbo Manifold Update - Decided to go another route and sell the Tomei manifold
Parts collection continues
OEM Front Main Seal, Rear Main Seal, Injector O-rings (upper, lower, and insulating bushings), Intake Gaskets (Collector and Manifold), Exhaust and Intake Cam Oil Squirters)
More maintenance items I picked up to replace while the engine is out.
I don’t think it’s necessary to replace the oil squirter assemblies but after hearing they can clog up and prevent lubrication, I decided to start new instead of rolling the dice.
Parts collection continues
OEM Fan Shroud, Lower Shroud, Belts (Power steering, alternator, and AC), Valve Cover Gasket and Spark Plug Gasket
I’m keeping tit simple utilizing the stock shroud after it’s been proven to help provide adequate cooling.
New manifold arrives
A friend told me about this manifold and after watching watching videos hearing how it sounds I had to get it. Shoutout to Sinco for having great customer service. Highly recommend them.
Teardown and cleaning
Before and After Simple Green HD cleaner
Before and After Simple Green HD cleaner
Started disassembly to clean up the engine and begin installing parts. As for degreaser, I used Simple Green Pro HD cleaner, it’s safe on aluminum and worked pretty well to clean it up. While the engine is out, I’m going to replace as many gaskets, hoses, and seals for more preventative maintenance.
Cleaning and starting assembly
More cleanup
Tomei oil block adapter installed
Got the rest of the engine cleaned up. pulled the crank pulley, installed the new water pump, and oil block adapter. I’m still undecided how/ which remote oil filter setup I want to run. I’ll have to test fit the engine to really get an idea of the layout I want because it needs to be clean and accessible.
Parts collection continues
Powered by Max HMIC w/ Cold and Hot Side pipes
Early Christmas gift from my wife showed up. I’m going with this over the Greddy kit I have.
The PBM HMIC offers faster turbo spool, less couplings for boost leak points, and space saving for oil and power steering coolers. The only caveat for running this intercooler is that my car is a hatch, so i’ll have to relocate the headlight motors. Luckily Englishtune makes a set. It’s a little added expense I didn’t want to have to do, but i’d be naive to think this is the only one that’s going to happen.
As for the Greddy kit, i’m going to hold onto it for now.
Assembly continues
Exhaust manifold studs installed in the head
I’m a little skeptical about this install. I don’t care for the fact that the shank portion of the stud went so far into the head after torquing them.
Exhaust manifold studs installed
Turbo manifold studs installed. These turned out how I thought the studs into the head would look with the middle collar sticking out a bit.
Exhaust manifold installed
I don’t care that the stud doesn’t protrude past the nut.
Bent oil pickup tube
As I went to install the new oil pan I found that the pickup tube is slightly bent. Kind of a bummer, but once again not a bad item to replace as these have been prone to crack. Z1 had them in stock so I was able to get one in a couple days. At some point this oil pan must’ve been replaced because the pan wasn’t dented.
Parts collection and Assembly continues
Slave cylinder (and a spare), thermostat, radiator bushings (upper and lower), oil pan windage tray, transmission cover plate, and Greddy BOV w/ weld on flange
More parts showed up. Picked up a spare slave cylinder after Rockauto had a closeout, and am going to replace the windage tray because that was bent too.
Pickup tube, upper oil sump, and windage tray installed
Oil pan installed
The Tomei oil pan is a very snug fit. If anything is out of line, it will hit it. Even after i installed the new pickup and windage tray It needed a little love tap to seat it fully.
Before and after installing cam oil squirters
This is me being overly protective. I like the piece of mind knowing that I will not have any oiling issues on the cams as these can have the tendency to clog on higher mileage SR’s.
Front main seal, ATI Damper, thermostat, oversized waterpump pulley, intake manifold, acessory brackets, and alternator installed.
Assembly continued
Pilot bearing removal
Removed the pilot bearing with the “Bread Trick”. Hilarious that this works. You just take one slice of bread, jammed it the pilot bearing hole, pound the tool in, and repeated the process until the bearing came out.
Installed the new rear main seal as well. I didn’t have a tool or a big enough socket to install it so I found a old hub flange laying around that worked as my install tool.
Engine Test Fit
I test fit the engine to check brake line to turbo manifold clearance and to mock up intercooler piping, power steering cooler location, and the oil cooler location. I made some templates out of cardboard of the dimensions I planned on using.
I’m going to have to make some minor cuts in the core support for the Intercooler piping and relocate my headlight motors to clear intercooler. Fingers crossed Englishtune will have have a restock on there headlight kit soon.
Heat Exchangers
Power Steering
10 Row 13 x 3 x 1 7/8" Setrab Cooler w/ M22 Ports (P# SET-610-7612)
I didn't get too technical on deciding this — I simply copied the size Chase Bays used in their kit. Another good option I was looking at was a 13 Row, 8 3/4" x 4" x 1 7/8" if you want to go a little smaller for more space savings.
Engine Oil Cooler
19 Row 13 x 5 3/4 x 1 7/8" Setrab Cooler w/ M22 Ports (P# SET-619-7612)
Chosen based off the HP range in the application sizing chart Pegasus Auto Racing has on their site.
Setrab application guide — red box indicates my selection
Back to dissaembly
After test fitting the engine and looking at it, I felt like I’d be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t take the time to clean up things a little more. With that being said, engine is back out to clean some parts.
Sandblasting all of the engine brackets
Applied High temp paint
Make that shit bang
Before and after vapor honing
Before and after vapor honing
After vapor honing
Intake manifold mocked up
Vapor honing is such a cool cleaning method. It pretty much sandblasting with water. Doesn’t damage your parts and makes them sparkle like brand new.
I’m really glad I went and cleaned these parts up not just for visual purposes but to clean off areas of grime that would have posed a problem later. I had an injector bushing seat on Cyl #4 that was excessively corroded, it was screaming vacuum leak just looking at it. Just about every coolant neck had a layer of corrosion that needed to be cleaned off for my hoses to seal right.
⚠ Things to note
Vapor honing will remove the nickel plating on parts. I don't personally like the nickel look so I was indifferent with it being gone.
You'll need to apply metal protectant after the process to guard against future corrosion. My friend recommended Sharkhide Aerosol — apply after vapor honing and drying the parts off.
Sharkhide Spray
Don't half ass it
Coolant necks and intake pipe vapor honed
Since I started vapor honing, everything I cleaned with degreaser looks like shit in comparison. So naturally I had to redo them.
Ear candy
Kazuto Ichiyanagi's 180sx w/ Kakkimoto GT1.0Z exhaust
After seeing a couple video’s of Josh Deliz’s giveaway car and hearing it’s exhaust (Kakimoto GT1.0Z), it made my decision on the route I want to go for the exhaust. Called up Touge factory the next day and they were able to order one directly from Kakimoto, should see it in 2 months.
Parts collection continued
Powered by Max Cobra downpipe and S15 xmember exhaust hanger
Down pipe showed up today. I went the PBM route for the ease of “plug in play” and the flex pipe is installed already. Originally, I wanted to go the custom route but right now I don’t have the means to easily get my car to my fabricator homies.
My buddy Brendon hooked me up with his crossmember exhaust hanger off his S15 that he’s not using anymore, so that was super cool.
Brains of the operation
Link FuryX | MXS 5" Dash Street Edition| Wiring specialties Pro harness Link Boost Control Solenoid | Carshop D-Style IAT sensor, Oil pressure, Oil temp, and Fuel pressor sensors | AEM MAP sensor | Bosch 4.9 LSU Wideband| Five-O 550cc Side feed injectors | NGK Iridium plugs Heat Range 7
Parts collection continued
MAKO Motorsport 3D printed dash insert
The quality of the dash insert is top notch, tabs are rigid, Link Dash fits perfectly, and all the edges are smooth. It’s an expensive piece but it’s worth it seeing the quality of it.
Chase Bays power streering reservoir
550cc Five-O injectors installed
My dumbass dropped one of the injectors
Dinged the side of the cap on one injector, it should be OK. If I run into some issues, it’s going to be my first spot to look (#1 Cylinder).
Make that shit bang
Coolant hard pipes before vapor honing
After vapor honing. Coolant hoses installed
Assembly continued
New vacuum hoses, IAT solenoid, and lower IAT pipe installed
Removed my power steering rack and cleaned up the area
Parts collection continued
Sparkybuilt power steering rack
The rack I sent off to Sparkybuilt showed up today.
This rack looks SO good! I highly recommend this service if your looking to replace yours. The rack is completely rebuilt, powder coated, and converted to AN fittings.
Powdercoating
Re-worked all the painted brackets
After powder coating
After installing all my brackets/ supports after painting them I realized I must’ve did a poor prep job. All the paint seemed to scrape off rather easy with bolt and accessory contact.
So since my buddy had a powder coating setup., I decided to learn how powder coat everything. Everything turned great!
Stud Removal and Extraction
Exhaust stud removal
Broken exhaust studs
Studs removed
I decided to remove the new studs I put in and install OEM studs. Reason being, I didn’t like how the studs didn’t extend past the nut.
Upon removal, three of the studds snapped off in the head, which was pretty lame. Thankfully my buddy Brendon helped me out to remove them.
He was able to use a fine tip cone bit to grind a center point in the stud (a center punch wouldn’t work in this situation) then drill the center and pound on an extractor tool to back the studs out.
GK Tech Shifter Springs
I bought some GK tech shifter springs after seeing Josh Deliz talk about them on his latest raffle car, he mentioned they made the return feel better so I wanted to see for myself.
The kit comes with 3 different strength springs, Hard, medium, and soft. I tried the hard springs first and did not care for it. It reminded me of my Z32 trans with my VH (Maybe it was also due to the short shifter, idk). It felt less natural and you had to put more “muscle” into your shifting.
So I took swapped them out for the medium springs. These felt great. It has a very natural flow to the shifter now, shifting from 2nd to 3rd is simply pushing up with no slop. The springs center the shifter very quickly with just the right about of tension to make shifting very smooth. I didn’t bother with the soft springs after installing the medium. Install was easy, one bolt on each side of the shifter. Remove it, pull the old spring out, install the new one, and your done.
Accessories and intake manifold installed
Remote MAP sensor installed
I did my best to mount the sensor in a way to have the shortest vacuum hose possible while keeping it easily serviceable. As for the vacuum line, I made it a dedicated line to have the most accurate readings.
I found a sensor specific mount on Colab garage. Really impressed with the quality and intuitiveness.
Exhaust stud and manifold install
OEM vs SINCO exhaust gasket comparison
I ordered a OEM turbo manifold gasket to have as a spare and noticed a couple key differences from the Sinco gasket.
OEM is the upper gasket, lower gasket is the Sinco
OEM: 7 layer
Sinco: 5 Layer
The most subtle thing I noticed is that the stampings are opposite (OEM is inward while the Sinco is outward). I’m not to sure how this effects anything but it was worth noting.
OEM studs and high temp (2,400 degrees) marine grade antiseize
OEM exhaust studs installed
Studs installed. I fastened them until they were good and snug then measured each stud to ensure equal lengths were protruding out (1″). After loosening the double nuts, the stud still stayed fixed so i’m confident they aren’t going to back out.
Exhaust manifold and turbo installed
Exhaust manifold and turbo installed
Flywheel Install
I replaced the old hardware with ARP. Following the instructions I used a medium strength loctite 243 (anaerobic, and oil resistant) and applied the provided ARP assembly lube to the bottom of the bolt head.
Flywheel installed
Flywheel installed and torqued. I started by snugging up the hardware in star pattern, then I torqued in two stages.
Stage 1: 50ft lbs
Stage 2: 100ft lbs
Notes: The Exedy flywheel did NOT come with the dowel pins installed. So I took a measurement of the depth in the flywheel, marked the dowel pin, then used a small socket (I think it was a 6mm) to sit on top of the dowel pin, then used a hammer to lightly tap on the socket until it bottomed out to my mark.
Clutch install
Exedy Stage 2 Clutch Installed
I used the same tightening sequence as I used for the flywheel install.
Stage 1: 15 ft lbs
Stage 2: 33 ft lbs
Notes: Clutch is a metallic compound with 290 ftlbs torque rating
Throwout bearing install
I started by using a 26mm socket to remove the throwout bearing sleeve.
Once out, I used a 32mm socket to install the new bearing, the socket will bottom out on the sleeve before it seats fully. So you’ll have to use a separate piece to place on the inner race to finish seating the bearing.
Transmission installed
Surface rust repair
Some slight rust repair from when my VH45 was in. The headers rubbed on the frame exposing the paint, after 10+ years it finally had surface rust developing. Ground it down and sprayed it with primer. It’ll do for now until I can address it after the season.
Engine Installed
Engine Installed
Engine Installed
I’m waiting on a shifter gasket and some transmission crossmember hardware to finish securing/ leveling the engine.
In the mean time I can start getting the intercooler installed, pick locations for the remote oil filter, power steering cooler, and the oil cooler.
HMIC Install
I made a template to figure out the exact areas to cut
Marking out areas to be cut
Core support cut
HMIC Test Fit
Hot and cold pipe test fit
Hot and Cold side pipes installed with the radiator to check clearances, I had to mark out the minimum areas as the pipes didn’t fit fully in the couplings.
Radium catch cans installed
PCV catch can on the left. Crank case catch can on the right.
Power steering resewrvoir installed
HKS intake modification
I was disappointed to see it didn’t fit on the turbo inlet. One hole was slightly off so I had to take a cone bit and oval out the hole more.
Parts collection and assembly continued
Turbo gaskets, transmission shifter fork boot, slave cylinder bolts, shifter assembly gasket, PS cooler fittings and mount
ISR trans xmemeber and GK Tech polyurethane trans mount
ISR trans bracket, GK tech polyurethane trans mount, s15 exhaust hanger, and new trans bracket hardware.
PCV catch can hookups
PCV valve and bushing, radiator mounts
PCV catch can lines ran, PCV valve and bushing replaced
More preventative maintenance replacing the PCV valve and dry rotted bushing
More cutting needed for HMIC fitment
More cutting needed for HMIC fitment
Final fitment
Initially I thought I cut enough for everything to work, but after trying to fit my headlights back on, I was wrong. They hit the end tanks. Hindsight I should have checked this right away.
This was an easy fix though, I simply traced out the edges of the end tanks with a sharpie and trimmed it out. On the plus side the hot and cold pipes fit a lot further in the couplings so I don’t need a minimum mark anymore.
Power steering cooler mocked up
The fittings are very close to the bottom of the intercooler. To install the hoses i’m going to have to use each side as a pivot point and swing the cooler out.
Parts collection and assembly continued
Power steering cooler, oil cooler, and fuel lines
This is the fist time using Redhorse hose/ fittings and I must say, I really like them. In the past i’ve typically used Earls/ fragola/ aeroquip.
The fittings have this gel like coating on them which stops them from getting dinged up from tightening them. Also, the hose has better pressure ratings than other brands and is incredible flexible and aesthetically look good.
Englishtune dipstick hold down
Englishtune dipstick hold down installed
I’m really impressed with the quality of this piece and the simplicity of the design. I’ve heard some SR’s like to blow dipsticks out so this was a must add.
Modified Englishtune brake reservoir fluid shield
Modified Englishtune brake fluid reservoir shield
Shield installed
I had to put it in a vice to bend it so it would fit around my brake lines, I still want to apply some heat tape to the shield for some added protection.
Upper HMIC supports
Added some rubber bushings and supported the top of the intercooler as well.
Power steering cooler hoses made and installed
Power steering pump feed hose and mockup high pressure hose
Power steering pump feed hose installed
Greddy remote filter diagram
Remote filter and bracket mounted
Remote filter and bracket mounted
Oil cooler mounted
Oil cooler lines installed
Oil cooler lines installed
I made a mounting bracket out of aluminum flat stock from Menards. It turned out pretty good.
I chose this spot because I wanted the feed and return lines as short as possible. I tried to have the hoses go directly into the engine oil block but due to the in/out’s of the remote filter and engine oil block being opposite of each other it wasn’t possible. So I had the hose returning to the engine as short as possible and the one leaving with a small loop.