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 or . 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.
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[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.
