[SE-R Kid]

It looks to be in good mechanical shape, but it spun a rod bearing pretty badly.

I've already got an entirely new engine on it's way from California, and a buddy and I are going to be doing the swap upon receipt.

How's $800 for a complete car, with only a spun rod bearing, 102k on the chassis sound?

I think I got a pretty good deal.

Any suggestions for best/first mods?

As you can tell by my signature, I'm not a novice at this

 

[Zak91SE-R]

Sounds like a good deal. If you want to go the bolt-on route, then I suggest starting with a CAI, then a Hotshot header. It doesn't matter too much what order you do the mods in, really. If you want cams, I suggest some JWT cams and a JWT ECU upgrade to go with them. Don't bother with an exhaust upgrade until you've done the cams and header, because you won't see a noticable difference until then.

I see you built a Civic up already, so here's some things not to do to your SE-R: Don't modify your throttle body. Don't change your MAF out for a bigger one unless your stock one is broken or unless you're going to push over 250 HP though it. Use STOCK spark plugs and wires. Aftermarket ones for the SE-R generally suck nads, and people running stock wires and plugs (albeit colder heat ranges) have seen well over 400 wheel HP with them with perfect reliability.

Don't bother with aftermarket engine management (tecII, etc) unless you really know what you're doing. The JWT ECU is a better solution unless you really like to tinker with your maps all the time. Remember the SE-R is MAF based, not MAP.

And that's all I can think of right now... hope you have fun with it.

 

[hotboy]

hotshot intake, headers, unorthodox pullies, greddy catback, jwt ecu for moderate power. if u want the gusto, jwt turbo kit! just remember first to get everything in in shape internally. as far as chassis i would go with ground control coilovers (300f/200r) with agx's in the back and motivational struts in the front. suspension tech. antiroll bars and Front strut brace dragon speed control arm brace. that suspension will put u in a class all by yourself.

 

[ihateloops]

yeah, pretty much everything that hot boy said about the engine was corect, except id say that instead of the jwt turbo, go ahead and get a det swap into it. and for exhaust, rather than the greddy, go with a hks sport. it will look and sound a whole lot less ricey, and ive actually heard that it makes a little better power. and, like the man andreas miko said, you can only eat as much as you can shit, so make sure that your car is breathing out as much as it is breathing in.

 

[SE-R Kid]

Oh, don't worry... I made a 1.6L Honda run 14.80, I'm sure this li'l 2 Liter will be a BLAST when I'm done with it!

Sooo In this order

- I plan on custom making a cool air intake, modeled after pics of the AEM I've seen. <I made boost piping, I can do this>

- Unorthodox Racing Pulley Kit

- Hotshot Gen 3 Header

- Make a test pipe

- Comp Cams Cams

- JE 11.0:1 Compression Pistons

- My buddy had an Extrude Honed SR20DE head from his NX2000 turbo car, I might swap that next

I'm hoping for 14.5's or better with this stuff... Any thoughts?

 

[coachflip]

don't do comp cam cams, get JWT cams, any set from them will be better than the comp cam ones. It is worth it trust me, and get that ECU upgraded when you have the header, cams, and cai installed.

brent meints

 

[Zak91SE-R]

I agree. Use JWT cams and get their ECU. Also, the pulley set will only give you a few HP, just wanted to make sure you knew that. It's still a good idea but if you want more power there's better things you can spend your money on at first. After you do cams, ECU, header and cold air intake you might want to consider doing a full 2.5" exhaust system.

Also... just keep in mind that this isn't a Honda you're working with. Things that would work on a B16 won't necessarily work on the SR20, and could hurt it. Just make sure you know what you're getting into before making decisions, that's all.

 

[dho]

If you are going to do a full 2.5" exhaust system, go with a Dynomax Ultra-Flow Welded Round Muffler, 17230 @ www.summitracing.com for $70. Just run a High-flow cat or the test pipe of yours and run it to the 2.5" round muffler and dump the exhaust. Save's you some weight and piping. It'll be unique.

What about doing a FMAX turbo Kit? It'll cost about the same as all of those bolt-ons you are wanting to do but it'll give you a lot more power. (I wish I had an SE-R or just the whole front clip of one.)

 

[SE-R Kid]

Problem with a turbo kit, is this car is to remain my DD car, I jsut want to have it running deep 14's and keep it turnkey reliable, unlike my Civic, which I can't even hold together with Hondabond

I break it ever couple of weeks, and it's down 2-3 months at a time for repairs and upgrades all the time.

See my point?

As far as the exhaust, I think I'd rather lose 3-5 HP than have another loud rice burning sounding import... I'll see... I gotta get the car running first!

Thanks for all the help guys, keep it coming!

 

[dho]

I don't believe the dynomax systems would sound like rice, that's why I chose the 2" dynomax on my NA GA16DE. I completely understand what you mean about reliability. My car's in the shop again to get this POS ATK reman'd engine replaced under warranty. It's only been in the car for 8 months and it's already got a bad timing chain, compression loss, and piston slap.

If you would like, you can hear some exhaust clips on my website. The one that's cruising by I couldn't get my car to go into lock-up (4th gear on the auto) so it was doing 2,100rpm. Should have been doing 1,500rpm.

 

[Zak91SE-R]

Problem with a turbo kit, is this car is to remain my DD car, I jsut want to have it running deep 14's and keep it turnkey reliable, unlike my Civic, which I can't even hold together with Hondabond

Well let me be the first to welcome you to Nissanland, where turbo and reliabillity go together like bacon and eggs. This is why I keep saying not to compare the SE-R to any form of Honda - they're not the same and in fact they use fundamentally different methods to acheive power.

One thing you must understand is that the SR20DE engine was very literally built to use a turbo. The US-spec SR20DE simply has higher compression pistons, and some of the turbo-related goodies have been removed, such as piston coolers. Why else do you think stock SR20 engines are capable of pushing well over 400 wheel HP? It's not luck, I'll tell you that much.

If you want reliable turbo power, you need to buy an SR20DET motor and install it. You will have a turbo and you will also have a factory stock Nissan engine, one that has gone through the same rigorous reliability testing as the SR20DE and every other stock engine.

Believe me when I tell you that a stock SR20DET engine in a B13 car drives exactly like a stock motor should drive. It idles perfectly, it's nice and responsive when it's not in the boost, the boost comes up quickly and gives you about 200 HP right off the bat. And again... this is with a completely stock factory engine we're talking about here. Reliability is not an issue.

Best of all, it only gets better from there. If you want more power you can up the stock boost to maybe 10 or 11 psi. If you want more, replace the turbo with a bigger one.

In fact I would go so far as to say that a clean, completely stock DET engine in an SE-R might actually be MORE reliable than a regular SR20DE with bolt-ons, especially if you're trying to hit low 14s. You've got to get some big cams to get into low 14s NA, but the DET will have you there without doing anything. I ran a [email protected] 101 MPH in my NX with a DET... completely stock. 6.5 psi of boost.

Anyway, like I said before... make sure you know what you're doing before you do it. You're not in the Honda universe any more, the rules are different here. Search some archives, see what's out there for the SE-R. If you want low 14s, I do think the DET is the best way to go about that, if reliability and daily drivability are major concerns.

 

[SE-R Kid]

See, now. That is exactly the info I'm looking for.

Thanks Zak.