Build Thread: Adam's Nissan Stagea C34

[Run-It-Hard]

Well I've done a shitload of reading today!

I wanted to learn everything about intercoolers, also wanted to compare the volume/effiency of what coolers I was deciding on etc.

I've decided to go a 600x300x76 intercooler (just like the normal kits) but adapt it for return flow. I've measured up everything and with some further trimming of the reo, I should be able to get the piping to go behind the cooler.

I figured that because I'm pushing the car hard at the track, I should try keep inlet temps as low as possible and reduce the chance of performance limiting heatsoak (was getting that quite a bit last event).

Also realised my cooler is bar and plate, I should really be using a tube and fin for drifting haha. Oh well live and learn. The one part I didn't do extensive research on came back to bite me in the ass.

Thanks for all your input guys

[C34S2STAG]

Make sure you post up a pic when you get it on! Keen to see how it fits. I want to get a top and bottom tank coole twitch outlets on the same side with modded stock pipes. Should be fun! What else is next Adam?

[Run-It-Hard]

decided to go the HKS, uses a 600x300 core and I can see the piping being a nightmare/more hassle then its worth lol. I need to get a welder =/

I want to go lower, so I'm figuring out how to do that at the moment. I'll need to cut and extend the inner guard on the rear for more clearance. The front is the tricky part, the upper control arm is hitting the chassis atm, so I dunno what I can do here.

I'm going to adapt some S14/R33 KTS tie rods and ends to suit the Stagea too which should be cool and hopefully I wont bend any more tie rods.

Oh and I've got a photoshoot on this weekend, some guy is keen as mustard to take pics of it so yeah lol.

[Run-It-Hard]

Suichuuka – flower gear knobs - view on the blog

One thing that I’ve been meaning to buy the Stagea was a fresh gear knob, the old blue bubble shifter from the Skyline just didn’t cut it anymore. There’s nothing blue on the Stagea, it looked so out-of-place so it had to go. But it had to be replaced with something even quirkier.

For years now, I’ve always wanted a ‘Suichuuka’ … a flower gear knob. After some half-assed searches for one the trail went cold. This happened multiple times, they definitely aren’t easy to find if you don’t know where to look. It was until I went to the gong to catch up with the boys from Cursed Sundays that my search had re-commenced.

Luke is rocking one on his widebody S13. It’s the first one I’ve seen in person and I knew that it was time to find myself one.

The following days, I spent some time on the translator, trying my luck in Yahoo for something cool. I found lots of odds and ends that’s for sure, but not a Suichuuka (check out this post on Nori Yaro about the history behind them). The trial had started to get cold again, but then I came across a company called Seiko that produces the very gear knob I was after!

Julie was in the same boat as me, she saw Luke’s Suichuuka and wanted one pronto! Heck she was getting into her Asain mode, trying to haggle him to sell it lol.

Seiko produce these gear knobs in two different lengths (as I’m sure you’ve worked out by now). The short version is roughly 150mm long.

The long version is roughly 200mm long. It’s also quite a bit thicker than the short version. They have 2 different threads built-in too which is cool. Unlike the bubble shifters where you need to use that chatty thread adaptor that tends to snap. So each Seiko flower shift knob has M10x1.25 and M12x1.25 built into it.

I’m so glad I finally got my hands on a flower shift knob. If you’ve always wanted one yourself, feel free to hit me up!

[4bidn1]

Baha gold all this time looking and you could have just gone to the sex shop and bought a dildo lol .. I was cracking up when you where saying you finally got your hands on one ... And how bad you wanted one .... Looks ummmm sensual ....

[pistol-pete]

ive had one in my charade for years. yahoo auctions, always on there

[jet_r31]

Thats one of those items that , you'll look back and laugh at yourself when you get older and go..wtf was i thinking...

cheers

darren

[Run-It-Hard]

Baha gold all this time looking and you could have just gone to the sex shop and bought a dildo lol .. I was cracking up when you where saying you finally got your hands on one ... And how bad you wanted one .... Looks ummmm sensual ....

It's crossed my mind (for shits and giggles), I think it'll be a little wierd using a plastic cock as a shifter though lol.

Ignore their shape for a second, I prefer the feeling of the throw when shifting with a longer/extended gear knob add one with flowers or some other quirky shit and boom I'm JDMASf**kYO!!!! lol

Edited February 28, 2013 by Run-It-Hard

[jet_r31]

Can't beat the Greddy Grex classic, thats a real mans ..knob..lmao

cheers

darren

[Run-It-Hard]

Video – SMP drift practice 27/02/13 - VIEW ON THE BLOG

The ARDC held a drift practice night on the 27th of February, on the new SMP South circuit. With a cheap entry fee and close to home venue, Benny and I were keen as mustard to get out there and see what the fuss is all about.

We only had 3 or so hours of track time, but it was enough to get a feel for the track. It’s short and sweet and I dig it a lot, I just hope they let us drift a few more corners. Time will tell I guess.

Enjoy the vid!

[Run-It-Hard]

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND - VIEW ON THE BLOG

Alrighty with the ADRC South circuit practice night done and dusted it’s time to put the Stagea to rest for a month or so, why? well rego is about to lapse and I don’t happen to have the ludicrous amount that the RMS/Insurance company (for greenslip) want just sitting around. I also happened to blow my diff towards the end of the night. So regardless the car wouldn’t be moving for a while haha.

Aleks from All Stars approached me last week, he asked to do a photo shoot on the shaggin’ wagon. As usual I was down for whatever. So that happened today with Dahtone Racing being the back-drop (thanks Anth for opening the shop!). While the car was looking all pretty I took some photos too, it could be the last time the car will be wearing the SSR Viennas. Oh and I lowered it too. This is the height I want but there’s some work needed to be done so I can drive it properly.

The rear inner wheel well needs to be cut and extended so there’s from the rear wheels to travel. As for the front, well I’m thinking of converting to a McPherson strut setup. As it sits right now the double wishbone setup (more importantly the A arm and Upper control arm) rests around 10mm from the chassis, so imagine what happens on every small bump in the road.

If I went McPherson (think S chassis) I would reduce a lot of weight on the front end from the factory cast items, driveshafts and control arms. I would also be able to run more lock, a lot more. I’ve had a look under the car and I think it’s do-able with the 4WD subframe. I’ll need to mod the RWD LCA to suit the ball joint the 4WD LCA mounts to off the subframe, I could get top hats and bottom mount for my current Teins, and the castor rod looks like it’ll line up (or be very close to it). My only problem at the moment is the sway bar and how to mount it.

As for the diff, I’m going to swap it out for a conventional R200 RWD setup. On the Stagea there is the ATTESA pump that mounts above the diff. Seeing that I have no desire to ever run the car in 4WD again, it can go to the scrapper. Depending what I can find I may go for the 5 bolt drive shafts too.

The subframe will be coming out yet again ( I think this is the third or fourth time now) and I’ll be getting it braced using GKtech’s new reinforcement kit. I’m also swapping out my intercooler for a larger HKS unit as its limiting the turbo and engines potential.

Theres many other things I have on my mind that I might or might not do, time will tell I guess. The goal is to have it back up and running by April for a full day of thrashing at South circuit.

[Run-It-Hard]

Photo dump: South circuit practice night - View on the blog

Pictures from the last south circuit are up! quite a few photographers were out on the night and got some snaps of the Skyline and Stagea. Thanks to Kinetic Imagery, MPN Digital and James H for the snaps!

[Run-It-Hard]

MY SECOND YEAR OF OWNERSHIP - VIEW ON THE BLOG

One day and two years ago, I was in Camperdown (somewhere in Vic) picking up a completely original Nissan Stagea RS4 DAYZ edition. So I thought it would be good to go over the past two years of ownership, all the ups, downs, achievements and heart breaks.

A group of four (including myself) headed to the Sydney domestic airport at the crack of dawn. We flew to Melbourne, hired a car and drove for 2 hours to get this Stagea. At the time, it was the exact model I wanted, colour and had the elusive DAYZ bodykit. It was reasonably priced and had low kilometers too. It was a very clean example compared to others I had seen previously.

March 2011

At this point I had only owned the car for 6 days, there was a skid pan event coming up and Yuan, among with a few other mates were suggesting I should take the boat for an afternoon sailing session. I ended up being convinced a few hours before the event so straight after work I headed to Dahtone Racing and Anthony pulled out the front shaft for me … it has been out ever since.

I was keen to see what it’s got and it blew my expectations away, I was very impressed with it.

May 2011

This was probably the peak of the first build, a lot of parts I had ordered from Japan had arrived and made their way on the car. I had my old Weds Borphes (which made their way to Julie’s S14) on at the time too. Most mods were mainly cosmetic and suspension.

June 2011

This is the month where everything was tipped on its head. I had just been informed that I was going to lose my licence for 6 months, for speeding in Victoria when I picked up the Stagea. I was pretty shitty to say the least but life goes on.

Anyway at one point I took this as a positive, as I had my manual conversion parts lying around, along with aftermarket ECU and all sorts of stuff … waiting to go onto the car. But somewhere along the line I decided that I was bored with the car, and I should get rid of it seeing that I can’t drive for 6 months.

It was also the first time I drifted it in the dry, again exceeding my expectations … the Stagea loves the skids.

August 2011

At this point the Stagea was stripped back to stock and I even put it up for sale. Somewhere along the line I bought that bucket of shit R33 skyline and well the Stagea was neglected.

November 2011

The first Raceline Wakefield matsuri, the Skyline was destined to drift at this event but I blew my first engine at Wakefield two weeks prior. I couldn’t sell my spot so I took the Stagea out on the track to try my luck. Did it skid … yeah, nah.

July – September 2012

July was the month the Stagea got a new lease on life, after the brand new rebuilt engine had failed in the Skyline, I decided enough was enough, so I cut my losses and parted it out. I did keep some goodies off it for the Stagea though.

Parting out the Skyline ment I could go on a shopping spree, so I did and I bought a stack of parts from Japan that landed around September.

October 2012

The Stagea had made its way to Dahtone Racing, ready to under-go an extensive list of modifications. Everything I had originally planned and more.

Manual conversion, bigger turbo, exhaust, intercooler the lot. We happened to have a lot of set backs during this period and ultimately it cost me missing out on two events I had planned to go to since the new rebuild.

December 2012

December was a good month, I finally got out to the track in my own car. Although there were many flaws with the setup I still managed to have some fun in it.

January 2013

This month was pretty shitty, I had a brake caliper fall off, a turbo oil drain hose perish, a truck side swipped the passenger side and I got pulled over and fined for running an amber light.

definitely wasn’t a good start to the year.

February 2013

I did some more drift days and sorted out some bugs, I was starting to get comfortable with the car and more confident.

March 2013

Here we are, right now I have a broken Stagea … kinda. The diff blew at the last South circuit practice night and rego runs out this month. So the Stagea is getting a rest and will be revamped slightly. There are a few things I want to do that have been bugging me for a while now.

So within two years, my Stagea has gone through a lot of changes. Although all the shit that has happened with it, it’s still been the best car I’ve ever owned. I hope to have it in my possession for many years to come.

[pipster11]

Hey Adam

What gktech suspension stuff are you using?

I need to get some rear camber arms, and maybe the traction arms too, and i'd like to get some proper front caster arms

The gktech stuff is all rwd r33 gear but from memory you use quite a bit of it

just wondering if you could enlighten me to which stuff you've tried and what fits the stag?

[Run-It-Hard]

Hey Adam

What gktech suspension stuff are you using?

I need to get some rear camber arms, and maybe the traction arms too, and i'd like to get some proper front caster arms

The gktech stuff is all rwd r33 gear but from memory you use quite a bit of it

just wondering if you could enlighten me to which stuff you've tried and what fits the stag?

Right now I'm using their rear camber arms and toe arms. They don't make any 4WD castor arms so I'm using some JJR/Generic style.

I've left my traction arms stock and boxed the bottom section up, as I actually snapped an aftermarket arm.

[pipster11]

Right now I'm using their rear camber arms and toe arms. They don't make any 4WD castor arms so I'm using some JJR/Generic style.

I've left my traction arms stock and boxed the bottom section up, as I actually snapped an aftermarket arm.

ok cool

looks like harddrace do gtr items

http://justjap.com/store/product.php?productid=20747&cat=396&page=1

[Run-It-Hard]

Those are exactly what mine look like, but my ends are silver not black.

[Run-It-Hard]

If anyone is after some swaybars, I'm selling mine ... I want to go slightly bigger.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/421211-nsw-whiteline-sway-bars/

[Run-It-Hard]

Random Snap - Close call

This photo popped up late last night on Facebook, captured by GottaStayRare. It was taken back in December when I took the Stagea to Driving Sports last north circuit drift day.

The Stagea was kinda sketchy to drive, it was the first time I’ve drifted it with all the extensive work carried out completed shortly before this event.

Over the day I was building confidence and manjiing everywhere I could pretty much cause it was just too laggy to do anything solid with. Anyway half way through the day just after turn 4 I came over the crest and the Stagea straightened up, heading straight for the wall. I thought I was going to hit for sure but the boat pulled up in time … just.

Lets just say I didn’t go trying that again for a while, haha.

[Run-It-Hard]

Controlled breathing - Part I - VIEW ON LE BLOG

If you’ve owned a RB series engine long enough, and like to give it a beating. Chances are that you’ve found oil build up in your catch can, or intake pipes quick smart! For some though (like Benny) you might not have a single drop of oil in the intake pipe after a long hard day of drifting. Unfortunately I happen to have the former. So I decided to do something about it.

My whole goal with the build of the Stagea was to keep the engine bay as standard looking as possible, so I really wanted to keep the standard breathing in place. After the last event I attended (it was IDA at Wakefield, December) I knew that I needed some sort of setup. The Stagea happens to have a lot of blow by. So I looked around on Ebay and found myself a cheap catch can that has a removable base and lid.

This old Greddy style can wasn’t baffled though, like many small cans on the market. So I came up with a design and got to work. Anthony welded it up for me and it now rests inside the catch can. The idea was that the air must pass through the baffle in order to escape, which would mean there would be minimal oil in the outlet hose unless the can was filled past the baffle plate.

Many people run steel wool wrapped in stocking inside their catch cans, and that just didn’t sit right with me. Anthony suggested I used some fuel cell foam instead so I went with that and stuffed the bottom section of the can full of it.

The catch can originally came in some gay polished finished that looked tacky, and as we all know anything shiny in an engine bay is a defect these days. So I scuffed that shit up with some 800 grit sandpaper and painted it with my favorite, White Knight flat black engine enamel.

With the Cursed Sundays drift day just around the corner, I got it all installed and ended up venting it to atmosphere. So did this can actually do anything? Well it’s hard to say because my magical RB25 was filling it up after a few laps! All I could do is drain it and repeat. The blow by problem was worse than I thought it originally was. It was good to be able to gauge exactly how much blow by it had though.

Part II coming up soon!