Oil Change Progress Part 3

Was @ GT Auto over the weekend to follow up on the progress. In summary:

• ECU work in progress and will fit in the same location as stock. ECU will be the latest spec Autronic SM-4.
• Deatschwerks DW301 fuel pump installed. Likewise injectors and custom fuel rail.
• EFR6258 snail including DEI Titanium turbo blanket, turbo manifold and downpipe installed. More on the turbo blanket in another post.
• Associated intercooler piping were in the process of being installed. This also includes intake piping and air filter.
• Tomei Type S fuel pressure regulator installed. Braided hoses were being cut to the correct length and terminate with the relevant AN fittings. Toby uses Earls hoses.

Picture below of the tool used to terminate the hose to an AN fitting.

Here's the engine. Apart from the manifold + snail the trick parts are all inside :) You can glimpse the Tomei FPR on the top right hand corner of the picture. Bling red custom GT Auto fuel rail probably adds 20+ hp.

The downside to using an EFR snail is the physical size. It's f*arkin big when compared to an equivalent Garrett making everything a super close fit. The close proximity to the radiator fan and air conditioning motor is going to be a real problem possibly necessitating slight relocation of the radiator further forward if possible. Every milimetre counts. Orange coloured thingy is Earl's flame guard insulation hose sleeving which helps protect a hose. I will write a separate article just on heat insulation/shielding which is critical on a turbocharged engine.

The custom fuel rail complete with GT Auto logo.

Here's the Tomei Type S FPR before being plumbed. The fpr is taking up the real estate spot where the horn used to be. Horn has been relocated downwards as can be seen from the picture. Need to source a better mount bracket. Maybe some prepreg carbon ones? Dodgy looking connector hose on the throttle body is only a temp.

FPR fuel rail feed/inlet hose and AN fitting. Hose and fitting size is AN #6 or Dash "-" 6. The other yet to be connected fitting at the bottomof the FPR is the fuel exit. Intercooler piping temporarily fitted to ensure hose clears with sufficient length.

And here's my open pod K&N X-Stream air filter.

Another piccie.

The part number - RX-4730.

K&N X-Stream differs from your regular K&N open pod with the addition of a filter within the filter's top adding more filter area for higher airflow and a longer service interval. You can read up more on part number RX-4730 including filter dimensions on K&N's website. Picture below of the filter temporarily installed.

Final pix on the current state of things. Lots more work to be done but I hope to be running the Slowtra by July.

Piping Art Part 3

Piping for the intercooler is back from powder coating @ Dynatech methinks. Need to confirm. Toby choosed a black wrinkle finish for me while I originally prefered plain matt black. End result looks very good though from the pictures below.

The manifold received a black ceramic thermal dispersant coating from Ceramico. As you know a turbocharged engine produces heat. Lots and lots of heat. Improper management and dispersal of the heat will lead to heat soak issues at best and melt plastic stuff or start fires at worse. Furthermore I'm not into bawah pokok lift the bonnet on its hinge via a spacer mod. Looks ridiculous nowadays given the abundance of heat treatment coating, heat shielding and heat venting options available. You can read more on the benefits of Ceramico coatings here.  Turnaround time to get the header coated was pretty fast at a couple days. Pix of the coated turbo manifold.

Closer up.

The downpipe also received coating. The two bungs with holes are for O2 sensors (stock narrowband and wideband). I will probably only use one for the wideband as the stock will be ditched along with the stock ECU.

Silicone hose couplers and joiners will be blue Samco Sport. Final assembly should start soon.

Oil Change Progress Part 2

After one month and approximately three weeks here's the state of affairs.

Fog lights will have to go as in the way of the intercooler piping. Anybody interested in a set of pre-loved ones? Metal box sitting on top of the inlet manifold is a Klingon cloaking device that renders the Slowtra invisible. Nah.. it's just the stock Hitachi Unisia Automotive ECU. Close up pix.

The mess of wiring is what Toby will be sorting out. I only have wiring diagrams for Euro/UK and USDM N16s. TCM keep the MYDM N16 technical service manuals under so much secrecy I might have to join S.H.I.E.L.D. just to get hold of one. Hopefully things (the wiring) are not too different.

If you're wondering the ECU goes into this slot in the firewall behind a plastic box/cover.

Here are my spiffy ARP stainless steel studs for exhaust manifold installed. One stud had to be shortened to clear the turbo manifold. Also in the pix below is my new coolant drain plug and channel plugs. Cast iron engine block has been repainted.

Close up

I also had the titanium fasteners for my brake caliper adapter installed to replace the rusted mild steel ones.

Stock instrument panel removed to make way for the AIM MXL Strada dash. More wiring complications in need of Toby's expertise to sort out.

Likewise plastic cover for steering column.



No I ain't selling my stock instrument panel no matter how forlorn it looks.

Am absolutely chuffed at the progress made. Won't be too long hopefully before the engine fires into life!

Piping Art Part 2

My exhaust has been completed. Tonnka and GT Auto took only about three weeks to complete my exhaust, downpipe and associated intercooler piping. I would like to also thank Bro Mugil for all the assistance. Thanks Bro! Owe you big one! Now enjoy the art work.

Rear "N1" type exhaust muffler. Pardon the quality of the pictures. It was quite dark

Tip is downwards facing for the sleeper look. The last thing I want is to attract unwarranted attention with a drain pipe sized exhaust tip/outlet. Exhaust including hangers are 100% stainless steel.

Entire exhaust is fabricated by Tonnka. I would say quality is as good as the Japs.

 Rear muffler piping.

How do you run an N1 type rear muffler yet keep things relatively quiet? You run a super long resonator that's how.

Here's the weld quality on the resonator. Pardon all the dust. Didn't have time to clean things up before taking piccies.

Exhaust from the front. The black brace is my one year six month old brand new repainted matt black Ultra Racing 4 point lower arm bar which had been residing in my spare room all this while till a couple weeks back. Should considerably stiffen up the front flexi sub-frame.

Super sleeper. You wouldn't know what blew you away looking from behind.

Downpipe and manifold are off to Ceramico for ceramic coating. I am starting to wonder if Tonnka can replicate my exhaust in titanium? Phase Two maybe?

Decision Made on Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Sensor/Controller

Which will be the Innovate Motorsports LC-1. Same as Bro Mugil methinks.

The LC-1 is a complete wideband controller build into a sealed cable with same Bosch LSU 4.2 wideband O2 sensor and similar electronics as the MTX-L. You can even tune individual cylinders by using multiple LC-1 kits which will be 4 in the Slowtra's case. Gulp!

Piping Art

Picture of my downpipe and some of the new piping. You can see the CNC machined stainless steel GCG flange which will mate to the EFR turbine. A TiAL VC355 stainless steel V-band clamp does the locking/sealing job.

Two close up piccies of the lovely immaculate TIG welds.

Just look at the snail manifold! Almost a shame it will be ceramic coated black but this is better in the long run for thermal protection. Everything will turn yellow bronze after a while anyway. Downpipe will also be coated.

T25 sized flange to mate to the turbine section of the EFR 6258. Bolt holes are 40mm apart in height and 73mm apart in width.

The engine block exhaust flange. Almost went for "Nissan Slowtra" instead of "Nissan Sentra". Haha!

This is why I went to all the trouble of having the Slowtra delivered to Tonnka in Malacca for the exhaust and piping work. Top notch craftsmanship!

Oil Change Progress Sneak Peak

Turbine manifold and intercooler piping more or less completed. Manifold is full SUS304 stainless steel tubular construction. Welds look immaculate as per typical Tonnka excellent quality. Pardon the picture quality though as probably taken via h/phone. Thanks Larry!

The EFR 6258 is low mount unlike the more typical top mount and log manifold found in USDM B15 Sentras. I won't go into a debate here on which manifold type or configuration is "better". The turbine manifold is but one piece of the forced induction air pump jigsaw puzzle. If you are interested in theory and details of both types of manifolds click here. More details and pictures in due time. Exhaust is next and needless to say it will be ~3" internal diameter.

Innovate Motorsports MTX-L Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Sensor/Controller/Gauge

I have not decided on my wideband air fuel ratio (AFR) or O2/lambda sensor but it will be either the Innovate Motorsports LC-1 or MTX-L. Both use the famed Bosch LSU 4.2 5-wire wideband O2 sensor with similar electronics with the LC-1 having the electronics build into a sealed cable whereas the MTX-L has all the electronics in the gauge itself. I do not really need a separate air fuel ratio gauge with my AIM MXL Strada Icon dash capable of displaying air fuel ratio. The MTX-L is the same as the LC-1 but a couple hundred ringgit cheaper as the LC-1 comes in a kit with its own gauge. Go figure..

A proper wideband is critical for the Slowtra's tune and build as the stock narrow band O2 sensor is next to hopeless being only able to tell whether the a/f ratio is above or beyond stoichometric and does not give accurate readings elsewhere. A wideband on the other hand is good for measuring and deriving accurate air fuel ratios anywhere between 10:1 to 20:1 which is a range all modern engines operate within. MotoIQ has an excellent article explaining how narrow and widebands work.

This write up is on the MTX-L as I had initially decided on it only to be not so sure later. Blame the gauge.
Picture of the MTX-L box. The LC-1's box gives me a sense of déjà vu. All pictures were taken @ GT Auto while I slow stripped the MTX-L from its packaging.

Manual and CD-ROM with the software. Both the LC-1 and MTX-L are capable of datalogging via Innovate's Logworks application.

The Bosch LSU 4.2 5-wire wideband O2 sensor. The LSU 4.2 uses a wideband zirconium-dioxide oxygen sensor. Innovates uses a different approach known as Direct Digital to control its wideband O2 sensors. Innovate claims Direct Digital results in a faster response time and improved accuracy over conventional control methods. If you want to use back your stock ECU and just replace the O2 sensor,  Innovate is capable of simulating the operation of a narrow band O2 sensor. Click here to learn how to.

All the electronics and controls are build into the gauge itself. Innovate provides both a black and white face plate and bezel which are interchangeable. Picture below shows black bezel and black faceplate that comes standard. Takes a couple minutes max to swap faceplates and/or bezels.

The Slowtra's new exhaust and associated snail piping are currently being lovingly fabricated and the decision (on which wideband) will be made in due time.