blownb310's e-series modification lists

RiceBox · Oct 25th, 2002, 07:16 PM

This should make your life easier blownb310. I'm going to sticky this for a few weeks.

I know there is only a small, but dedicated group of you B11 people out there, and good useable performance tips are far and few between. So here's a few ideas for your old Sentra or Pulsar. If you aren't worried about emission tests, and you have an '84 and up B11, you might want to dump that heavy restrictive iron exhaust manifold, with the pre-catalyst in it, for one from an '87 or '88 E16 [S] or [i]. These manifolds are shorter, lighter, and flow better than the earlier ones. You will need to replace [or modify] your front exhaust pipe however, as it will be too short for the later manifold. While your at it, why not take a die grinder and a carbide grinding bit, and port out the new manifold as well. Every little bit helps. Next, you might want to get rid of the troublesome "hopeless chokeless" electronic feedback carburetor, and replace it with a weber 32/36 progressive downdraft replacement, which uses an adapter, to mount. I replaced the stock cam with a Nissan Motorsport # 13020-25M00 "Euro" cam. It is a nice street cam that is O.E. in the European [non-emission] market. And if your crank angle sensor, [a.k.a. distributor] craps out, you can use the regular electronic ignition distributor assy. from an '82 or '83 B11/N12, and ditch the ECU completely. Then you can set the timing where you want it, and not have the ECU constantly changing the timing on you. Are we having fun yet? OK, how about improving the handling? My rear control arm bushings were shot, [they are really wishy-washy soft bushings in the first place]. Have you ever kicked the rear wheel of a B11 Sentra while it was on a jack, and saw the wheel wobble? Ah, the joys of owning a B11. Well, I took out the rear arms, and replaced the stock bushings with urethane bushings from Energy Suspensions. What's that? They don't offer them for an old Sentra? That's right. I bought a set for a Mustang GT, and had a friend cut them down in his lathe. Then, while reinstalling them, [with silicone grease] I added a set of aftmkt. camber adjusters to set the rear camber at .5 deg. neg both sides. I then bought a rear sway bar from Nissan Motorsport, [it was an Addco] and added that. Next was wheels and tires. I bought a really nice set of factory 15" '97 Altima alloy wheels. I mounted Bridgestone Potenza RE71 tires on them, 195/50-ZR15. These fit great on the front, but the rears rubbed a bit on the inside. I had to use ¼" wheel spacers, along with some longer lug studs [Napa]. Then they needed just a bit more room on the inside where the inner tire sidewall, passes the lower control arm. I ground a bit of clearance into the lower control arm, and I was all set. Lastly, I replaced the front sway bar bushings with urethane ones, and I now have a really good handling car. Mine is a manual steering car, and the responce is quick. I've probably got a few more mods to tell about, but this post is getting long. I'll have to post more later. Does anyone have any good B11 performance tips to share? I know there is a small group of you out there who fool with the old Sentras!

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[How many of these will work on the B12?]

Five out of eight will work. Assuming you have an '87 B12 sedan or hatchback [not including the sport coupe hatch], with a carbureted E16, the Weber carb, the '82-'83 dist, the Euro-cam, and the ex. manifold porting will all help. You might want to opt. for the Pacesetter header, if they still make them. The last time I bought one was about three years ago, and I had to wait a few months for them to get enough orders to make another "batch" of them. On my B12, I did a cheap wheel upgrade by using a set of '87-'90 sport coupe alloy 14X5.5" wheels, with the black center caps. I ran 185/60-R14's on them. I read in the Nissan Motorsport cat that the sport coupes also had larger diameter sway bars too. That's another cheap upgrade for B12 people. As far as dealing with a throttle body injected B12, be it an E16i or a GA16i, these offer very little in the way of increasing performance in any big way. The throttle body injection is the major restriction here, in my opinion. That's why on my B12, I am replacing the GA16i, with a '93 GA16DE. Then you've got something to work with. Especially with the new turbo kit becoming available shortly. How about brakes? I used the front calipers and rotors from the station wagon version of the B12. They have vented rotors and larger [AD18V] calipers. It's a direct bolt-on, and another cheap junkyard priced upgrade. OK, anybody care to add anything to this potpourri of low dollar, early Sentra performance upgrades? I'd love to hear your experiences.

RiceBox · Oct 25th, 2002, 07:16 PM

OK, it looks as if I'm talking to myself here, but that never stopped me before! I started to run my '86 B11 Sentra at some rallycross events here in the northeast, and got tired of bottoming out the exhuast system. I needed some stiffer front springs. To stay with the low dollar approach, I had to search the boneyard for something that would fit. Well, I found that front struts and springs from an M10 Stanza wagon will work, with slight modification. First, you'll need to cut 1.5 coils off of the springs, for proper ride height. I found this out by cutting off a half a coil at a time until I got it right. Secondly, you have to use the strut tops off of the original B11 struts. That's right, the coil springs are the same diameter, it all goes together fine. Lastly, the M10 struts are about a ¼" wider at the bottom mounting points, where the two bolts go through the spindle. I had to make ¼" steel shims and drill two mounting bolt holes in them. Now, for practically pennies, I had some serious rally springs up front. Keep in mind, this is a gutted race car, so I don't know what it would ride like on the street. I also built a tubular steel skid plate, to protect my Pacesetter header. Now, for the front brake upgrade. Most people don't know that Nissan made B11 diesel Sentras. They have better front brakes than a gas B11. They offer thicker 18mm vented rotors, and larger AD20V calipers. The pads have 30% more area. The front hubs are different, so you'll need them too. You can buy the set-up used at the junkyard, or buy it all new, from Nissan motorsport. Here's another small upgrade for the clutch. My clutch started to slip after I built up my E16. The disc was fine. I saw in the Motorsport catalog, that the clutch assy. from the B11's were interchangeable with the Datsun 210 [B310]. So I went to factory shop manuals, and looked up the pressures of the clutch covers, As expected, the RWD 210 cover offered a higher clamping force, than the FWD B11. I had a new 210 clutch cover in my basement, so I put it in, and never had the clutch slip again. I also upgraded the driver's seat to one from an N12 Pulsar. They are a direct fit, and have much more bolster support than a crappy B11 seat. I could do without the tiger-striped upholstery though! I still run my B11 race car occaisionally, but I have to admit that I now am getting into B13's, because they are now older, and affordable. I have got a pile of B11 and B12 high performance parts. Things like Motorsport engine insulators [motor mounts for E-engines], 4.17 ring and pinion gears, for the B11 five speeds, [stock gears in a B11 range from 3.55 to 3.89]. I also have an extra [new in box] E16 Motorsport "Fuel injection" big valve head part# 11041-15M00, with all new valves. I have two E16 Isky cams, and also, a very trick downdraft carburetor intake manifold, that I custom built. I can scan pictures of it, and email to you guys if you want a look at it. It is based on an old Ford Pinto aluminum intake, which has four individual runners coming off a common plenum, instead of the E16's two small siamesed runners, that split again right at the ports. I also have some pictures of a supercharger intake that I never heli-arced together. I built it for my 70 cu. in. two lobe roots blower. Yeah, I know what your thinking, he's nuts!

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We all know that no one ever made a performance downdraft intake manifold for our beloved E-engines. The stock piece only has a single runner coming out of the carb plenum, which splits into two, right before the cyl head. Not a very good design, from a performance standpoint. I had no choice but to build a custom manifold. I looked at other O.E. 4 cyl. intakes. I found that the old 2.0L Pinto intake had nearly correct port spacing, and four individual port runners coming out of the carb plenum. This is the same intake used on Formula Ford spec racers. I got one for $25 at the junkyard. I glass beaded it, and sawed off the stock manifold flange. Next, I used a piece of ½" aluminum stock to make a new flange out of. I scribed the outline of the E16 gasket on it. Then I milled out the holes on a milling machine. Then I had it heliarced together, which was followed by some porting to blend the welds and match the ports in the E16 head. It worked out great! I ran a larger carb off of an '83 Nissan pickup [Z24 engine] and the thing pulls hard to about 6,700 rpm. Sometimes when you want something bad enough, you've got to make it yourself. To see the pics go to: http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.a...lbum_id=69157. Click on the pics twice to get the full size pic.

blownb310 · Oct 25th, 2002, 11:01 PM

Great job Ricebox. I appreciate you saving my in depth B11 and B12 technical posts from the old B15sentra.net boards. This should help the new people who occaisionally start their first post with "What performance upgrades are there for my '85 Sentra?"

Here's my personal 13 to 1 forged pistoned E16. It makes fantastic power for an eight valver on steroids!

RiceBox · Oct 25th, 2002, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by blownb310
This should help the new people who occaisionally start their first post with "What performance upgrades are there for my '85 Sentra?"

I actually burst out laughing when I read that.

blownb310 · Oct 25th, 2002, 11:12 PM

I have an extra Nismo E16 "fuel injection" head, as it was referred to in the Motorsport catalog. It is part # 11041-15M00. It is new in the box, and I also have new matching oversize valves for it. For those wanting to upgrade to dual valvesprings for an "E" cyl. head, you'll find that the Motorsport catalog offers an optional valvespring seat, to accomodate the inner spring. That's fine, but what about a retainer that will work with dual springs? The stock one won't work. Here's a good tip to solve that problem cheaply: you can use an O.E. set of intake retainers from a KA24E engine, part# 13209-40F00. They are an exact fit. I have these too. If anyone is interested in buying these items, send me a private message. I also have two reground street cams, by Isky. They have spec sheets with them. They are .417" lift. Cheers!

wrnealis · Oct 29th, 2002, 03:27 PM

Great info.

I've got an '84 Sentra that I ran at Wake County Speedway (NC) this past year. It was mostly stock, but I did cut the airbox up and stick a K&N circular filter with a filter topper on there.

I also cut out the exhaust and put in the Pacesetter header. That made a nice difference in the lower end power.

blownb310 · Nov 3rd, 2002, 04:12 PM

Here's an idea to put a larger carburetor on your E15/E16 intake manifold. I used a progressive two barrel carb from an '85 Nissan pickup, with a Z24 engine. I opened up the carb mounting area of the intake with a die grinder. Shown is the baseplate gasket for the Z24 carb in place. Check out: http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbumPh...036&image_id=7

ryco n12 · Dec 4th, 2002, 05:38 AM

Absolutely incredible! I'm going to try some of this stuff on my Pulsar. Couple of questions:

What year Mustang GT for bushings?
Are they just for the rear or for the front too?
Where do I find a camber kit for it?

blownb310 · Dec 4th, 2002, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ryco n12
Absolutely incredible! I'm going to try some of this stuff on my Pulsar. Couple of questions:

What year Mustang GT for bushings?
Are they just for the rear or for the front too?
Where do I find a camber kit for it?

***** I bought them for an '86 Mustang GT. I'm not familiar with Mustangs, but I'd imagine that other years use the same bushings. They are for the rear only. I never felt the need to make urethane front bushings. They aren't wobbly like the rears are, on a B11. The rear camber kit, was actually sold through an auto parts supplier as a camber "correction" kit. I learned about it through our alignment guy at work. The company is called Specialty Products, out of Longmont, CO. The part # for a B11 is #85700. There is a special hole-saw tool [1 1/8th"] needed to install them. It is # 85750. They list a toll-free tech hotline at 1[800]525-6505.

SuperHatch · Dec 4th, 2002, 05:09 PM

What about the larger carb? Does it sound better and perform better? Cause I'm tryin' to get some more horespower outta my peice..

SuperHatch · Dec 4th, 2002, 05:30 PM

Hey, about replacing the clutch cover from the one from a 210 Datsun.. I'm looking to make sure this clutch is stiff... cause I want some clamping force, like tire chirping force!! I want it to chirp in 3rd if all possible... with the pressure plate from the 210 let me do this?? And also, they make a performance clutch for the 87 Nissan, will this one fit in our B11 sentra's?

blownb310 · Dec 4th, 2002, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SuperHatch
Hey, about replacing the clutch cover from the one from a 210 Datsun.. I'm looking to make sure this clutch is stiff... cause I want some clamping force, like tire chirping force!! I want it to chirp in 3rd if all possible... with the pressure plate from the 210 let me do this?? And also, they make a performance clutch for the 87 Nissan, will this one fit in our B11 sentra's?

***** The 210 clutch will definately not enable you to chirp third gear. You'd need an aftermarket clutch for that. The '87 Sentra [B12] clutch is 190mm. The B11 clutches are 180mm. So, no the aftmkt. B12 clutch will not fit the B11. Nissan Motorsport makes a higher clamping force B11/210 clutch cover, but it is a bit pricey, and I don't know if it will "chirp" gears or not.

Dec 4th, 2002, 11:05 PM

This is my first post but from the sounds of it the fuel injected E is kind of out in the cold performance wise? Would it be worthwhile to track down a carbeurated one to swap in?

blownb310 · Dec 4th, 2002, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SuperHatch
What about the larger carb? Does it sound better and perform better? Cause I'm tryin' to get some more horespower outta my peice..

*****The larger '85 Z24 carb worked great. I don't know that it was louder, but it made more power for sure. I had a Pacesetter header, 2" exhaust system, and a .417" lift reground Isky cam in mine. That's why it liked the bigger carb so much. If your B11 is bone stock, it might not make much of a difference.

blownb310 · Dec 4th, 2002, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by spankenstein
This is my first post but from the sounds of it the fuel injected E is kind of out in the cold performance wise? Would it be worthwhile to track down a carbeurated one to swap in?

***** Well....I'd have to agree. It is easier to hop up the carbureted E-engines by traditional methods, i.e. cam, larger carb, header, etc. But we are all still waiting for the first guy to figure out how to get the larger tbi from the GA16i engine to work on the E16i. Much bigger bore, and it bolts on. Check out the thread called "GA16 tbi on an E16i". With the stock E16i tbi, you are really limited to any power gains.