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, I 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 RGII 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.
