Tweet
Hi everyone, it's been about 1 year since our last update on my R14 (AWD-RB26 swapped S14 240SX). We got that car pretty well developed but its at the point where it cant go too much farther and still be a "Street car". I've been so busy with the BorgWarner EFR turbocharger development that there's been no time to work on my personal projects... so ive been itching to build a dedicated ultra-lightweight track prepped race car to see what Full-Race and this R14 swap is really capable of. This thread will document that journey with photos and info. The biggest initial hurdle is to retain a full 240sx chassis, and move the engine back 7" using a lightly modified off-the-shelf R14 kit.
The next challenge to design a front suspension that will provide improved performance and be much less weight than modified skyline front suspension:
Our target is to be on the track, next Feb/March 2012. please leave comments and let us know what you think!
__________________________________________________ __________________
1) we started by organizing all the parts required for the build:
^^donor R32 GTR clip, purchased for $3800 on ebay
^^complete R32 GTR rear suspension with factory LSD and ATESSA pump, included with the clip
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails
^^R14 transmission mount
^^^the crossmembers and suspensions disassembled from the R32 GTR clip, ready for a lookover and installation into R14.2
^^^base model S14 (no sunroof) stripped down completely shell stripped
^^^placed on rotisserie
2) Before we start we needed to know how far back can the RB26 move without losing AWD? This will provide proof of concept for the vehicle and also allow us to identify the exact location for the engine/transmission
^^^first we needed to cut the RB26 Front differential/oilpan combo down to length. Fortunately Full-Race has some GIANT bandsaws here for cutting our thickwall merge collectors before CNC machining. The entire RB26 diff fit perfectly
^^^next, we did a test fit on the shortened front diff moved 6.75" forwards
^^^what it will look like in the car
3) Next we prep the chassis. I have built many cars of the years, and the worst part is always prepping the chassis. Removing sound deadening, undercoating, rust protection etc is dirty and laborious. I considered acid-dipping this chassis, but heard many horror stories of cars that continue to leak acid from the seam sealer for many months after the has already come back from paint. My good friend Andrew Wojteczko from Auto Analyzer in Canada suggested to media blast the chassis - so we took it to "The Stripping Shop" in Phoenix, AZ. these guys had the entire chassis immaculate and ready for fabrication.
^^S14 chassis stripped of all paint, undercoating and sound deadening. Ready for installation of R14 kit.
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails installed on passenger side
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails installed on drivers side
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails installed, verifying alignment with stock subframe bolts
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails installed, alignment verified
^^punch alignment marks to guide drillbit
^^start drilling new subframe bolt holes, a 1/2" unibit drillbit and a good quality 1/2" high-speed-steel drillbit is your best friend here
^^checking GT-R subframe fitment
^^clamping down R14-LHD steering rack
^^R14-LHD steering rack installed
^^trans mount test fitted
^^R14 kit installed, ready for engine mockup
4) Next we have to make clearance for the engine/transmission from the firewall and trans tunnel. We decided that we want this swap to come out factory, so the only way to do that was to surgically remove the entire firewall/floor from the GTR-Clip we had here, and graft that into the S14 chassis, except moved back 7".
^^we cut up the remains of the gtr clip, carefully removing the floor, firewall and trans tunnel. We cut much more than we actually needed initially, to make sure that what we did need would be intact
^^^next we cut up the S14 with fresh R14 conversion, to remove the firewall and transmission tunnel
^^^smallish S14 tunnel compared to giant hulking R32 floor, will make working on the car MUCH easier, especially now that we have a getrag 6 speed trans form an r34 gt-r
5) Now it is time to get the motor in it's new home, 7" back. I believe very strongly in clean swaps, so I wanted to do this as OEM factory as possible. We used the stock motor mounts and stock motor mount bracket, just relocated the point:
^^ OEM skyline motor mount and bracket VS the new 7" back position. you can see the stock GT-R mount point on the right, and the Full-Race fabricated mount point on the left.
^^engine getting dropped into place
^^fabricated passenger side bracket, had to do this to clear differential
^^GTR floor in place before getting prepped for installation
^^another view of how far back this engine now sits
The next challenge to design a front suspension that will provide improved performance and be much less weight than modified skyline front suspension:
Our target is to be on the track, next Feb/March 2012. please leave comments and let us know what you think!
__________________________________________________ __________________
1) we started by organizing all the parts required for the build:
^^donor R32 GTR clip, purchased for $3800 on ebay
^^complete R32 GTR rear suspension with factory LSD and ATESSA pump, included with the clip
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails
^^R14 transmission mount
^^^the crossmembers and suspensions disassembled from the R32 GTR clip, ready for a lookover and installation into R14.2
^^^base model S14 (no sunroof) stripped down completely shell stripped
^^^placed on rotisserie
2) Before we start we needed to know how far back can the RB26 move without losing AWD? This will provide proof of concept for the vehicle and also allow us to identify the exact location for the engine/transmission
^^^first we needed to cut the RB26 Front differential/oilpan combo down to length. Fortunately Full-Race has some GIANT bandsaws here for cutting our thickwall merge collectors before CNC machining. The entire RB26 diff fit perfectly
^^^next, we did a test fit on the shortened front diff moved 6.75" forwards
^^^what it will look like in the car
3) Next we prep the chassis. I have built many cars of the years, and the worst part is always prepping the chassis. Removing sound deadening, undercoating, rust protection etc is dirty and laborious. I considered acid-dipping this chassis, but heard many horror stories of cars that continue to leak acid from the seam sealer for many months after the has already come back from paint. My good friend Andrew Wojteczko from Auto Analyzer in Canada suggested to media blast the chassis - so we took it to "The Stripping Shop" in Phoenix, AZ. these guys had the entire chassis immaculate and ready for fabrication.
^^S14 chassis stripped of all paint, undercoating and sound deadening. Ready for installation of R14 kit.
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails installed on passenger side
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails installed on drivers side
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails installed, verifying alignment with stock subframe bolts
^^R14 conversion kit frame rails installed, alignment verified
^^punch alignment marks to guide drillbit
^^start drilling new subframe bolt holes, a 1/2" unibit drillbit and a good quality 1/2" high-speed-steel drillbit is your best friend here
^^checking GT-R subframe fitment
^^clamping down R14-LHD steering rack
^^R14-LHD steering rack installed
^^trans mount test fitted
^^R14 kit installed, ready for engine mockup
4) Next we have to make clearance for the engine/transmission from the firewall and trans tunnel. We decided that we want this swap to come out factory, so the only way to do that was to surgically remove the entire firewall/floor from the GTR-Clip we had here, and graft that into the S14 chassis, except moved back 7".
^^we cut up the remains of the gtr clip, carefully removing the floor, firewall and trans tunnel. We cut much more than we actually needed initially, to make sure that what we did need would be intact
^^^next we cut up the S14 with fresh R14 conversion, to remove the firewall and transmission tunnel
^^^smallish S14 tunnel compared to giant hulking R32 floor, will make working on the car MUCH easier, especially now that we have a getrag 6 speed trans form an r34 gt-r
5) Now it is time to get the motor in it's new home, 7" back. I believe very strongly in clean swaps, so I wanted to do this as OEM factory as possible. We used the stock motor mounts and stock motor mount bracket, just relocated the point:
^^ OEM skyline motor mount and bracket VS the new 7" back position. you can see the stock GT-R mount point on the right, and the Full-Race fabricated mount point on the left.
^^engine getting dropped into place
^^fabricated passenger side bracket, had to do this to clear differential
^^GTR floor in place before getting prepped for installation
^^another view of how far back this engine now sits
Comment