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Bakemono Nissan S15 - Build Thread!


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wow, being a welder/fabricator i must say that is a terrible weld especially from tomei! would expect them to have certain testing procedures before sending products out to ensure there are no returns.

hopefully there is no faults with the next one, cool build thread too!

I agree. Very disappointing. Also, thanks man!

Well, another update.

The exhaust is installed - the system is a CES racing front/dump pipe, straight through stainless cat, and a HKS silent catback.

Massssivee power and torque gain. The car is super punchy, especially around corners. It has completely transformed the car.

The 2 cracks and potential problem areas in the front/dump pipe were completely tig welded, followed by being hit with VHT flame proof header paint.

There has been talk on the forums that if you get a JDM catback, you need to get a cat that is 1 inch shorter than the ADM cat. This is nonsense.

The cat pipe I bought was 300mm long, and was then extended another 50mm with a piece of 3 inch stainless to ADM length, and then flanged up to suit. The exhaust fits perfect this way. The guy who did the exhaust work can completely build cars, and has his own 10 second Datsun SR20 drag car.

Front/dump pipe painted.

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Test fit of front/dump pipe

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Stainless cat pipe, tig welded with painted mild steel flanges

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Car now looks hoon spec =P

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  • 5 months later...

I haven’t updated this thread in a fair while, but construction is still in progress.

Having a great time with the car - still using it as my daily driver and will take the car on a spirited cruise every now and then. Most of the cruises are fairly low-key and with just a few good friends.

Wisemans Ferry

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Rolling shot….

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Now back to the build progress - In September, I received a set of Nismo braided brake hoses and my replacement Tomei N2 Oil Pan arrived. Tomei chucked in a free T-shirt.

Nismo braided brake hoses installed and now running Project Mu G-Four 355 Dot 5.1 Brake Fluid
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Tomei N2 Oil Pan replacement
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In December, developed an exhaust leak because studs/nuts and bolts had rattled themselves loose. It sounded like I was driving an NA. Thus, I took the front/dump pipe off (which only had one bolt left and was sitting on two studs lol). I had some stainless thread cut to length to use as studs, fitted a genuine Nissan turbo gasket… and fitted everything back up.

Car is running great again =D.

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I contacted Streeter on Feb.4th asking for a price on an intercooler from a very well-known company. Hint - their intercoolers have been used on Super GT race cars. I went to the website and found out (thanks to a Japanese friend who translated for me) that this intercooler is now discontinued and once remaining stock is sold it's game over. Talk about timing. It took a few days for the company to reply to Streeter and at this point I was a bit nervous as I had no idea if any were actually left. Got a reply around 10pm on Feb.7th advising me of the outcome…..will it be a happy ending or have I now gone down a different path? Stay tuned.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Thanks Daniel.

Cameron, here is a quick summary of whats been happening:

Suspension Issues, Tuning & Corner Weighting

For a while, I've been feeling a bit disappointed with the handling of my car. At first I thought it was alright, but the more I drove the car the more I felt the suspension isn't responding as it should be. I'd also occasionally been hearing a 'knocking' noise when braking ever since a mate fitted all my suspension stuff way back. I booked into a professional workshop and arranged the S-chassis guru to do a full corner weight on the car, and I asked for the workshop to diagnose the issues I'd been experiencing. It turned out the suspension hadn't been adjusted correctly when it was fiddled with, the drivers side lower control arm was loose (it wasn't tightened enough after the bush was reset) thus causing the knocking, and a few other things that just shouldn't have happened.

Anyway, with all that sorted I told him the type of driving I do & gave him freedom to work his magic. So the car was fully corner weighted - ride height adjusted and spring preload dialled in.The car is setup with rake & FS is within 3.5kg now. From there, the car was set up with an aggressive wheel alignment. The handling of the car is absolutely unreal now, nicely balanced and super responsive.

Rear Brake Pads - Premature Wear and the Solution.

For the past few months I've been having rear braking issues - I was chewing out rear 'Remsa' brake pads in 5,000kms driving normally. The brake pedal felt very firm, the rear pads would bite hard instantly and the rear end didn't feel particularly stable under braking. So I ended up getting fed up and took the car to another mechanic (the previous mechanic who was installing the pads wasn't able to work out the issue). The new mechanic I went to told me that it was a simple case that the rear pads were sitting in the caliper too tight thus causing the premature wear. He filed down the backing plate and problem solved. I'd already bought a genuine rear caliper rebuild kit, so I got him to rebuild the rear calipers as well. Safe to say I will be using this mechanic again in the future.

The mechanic who didn't install the pads properly also claimed my Circuit Sports engine/gearbox mounts took 4 hours to install. Funnily enough, a mate of mine bought these exact engine/gearbox mounts... and it took him 2 hours to install them without a hoist. Needless to say, after the brakes and after hearing this... I will not be going back there. It's gotten to the point I am now very selective and careful with who I get to work on the car, due to the issues I've had with poor workmanship etc.

Clutch

My clutch has been slipping for a good while now, even at 1/4 throttle in 3rd it will slip above 3000rpm.

I have ordered a new clutch from Japan which is being made as we speak for the S15. I should be getting the package sometime in May so I will leave the details as a suprise.

~Thanks for reading

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Will try get some good pics next month.

Here are my alignment specs:

FRONT:

Castor

7°16' (Left)

7°01' (Right)

Camber

-1°53 (Left)

-1°52' (Right)

Toe

-0.9mm (Left)

-0.9mm (Right)

-1.7mm (Total)

REAR:

Camber

-1°37' (Left)

-1°37' (Right)

Toe

0.8mm (Left)

0.3mm (Right)

1.1mm (Total)

Thrust Angle

-0°01'

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  • 3 weeks later...

The standard clutch which has been in the car since new, has been lunching itself for the past few weeks. Surprised it lasted so long before slipping. I've booked the car into the mechanics on Tuesday & the car will be driveable again by the end of the week.

I've gone ahead and bought an ORC 559 Twin Plate Clutch Kit (Damperless Version). This kit is made to order for the S15 so expect to wait a few weeks if you want one. This clutch will stand up to 550ps and 650nm of torque which is necessary due to my plans for the car. This clutch has no damper springs and is not for the feint hearted, it will be loud and it will sound like samurai swords clanging together. It comes with lightweight chromoly flywheel, release sleeve assembly and grease.

I've also bought the following parts seeing as the gearbox will be out:

Nissan Genuine OEM Seal Kit
Nismo Reinforced Release Pivot
Nismo Reinforced Pedal Bracket
Nismo Braided Clutch Line

I actually wasn't sure which flywheel bolts I needed seeing as I will now have a single mass flywheel - so I bought S15 & Z32 flywheel bolts and will just sell whichever set I don't need.


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When you painted your dump with the VHT paint, did you prime it first or just sprayed it straight on? I just applid it straight to the metal but mine is all flaky wheres yours looks mint!

Cheers = ]

No man I didnt prime. I sanded off the existing paint then sanded the pipe. To do this started with 180 grit (from memory) and finished with 600 grit.

Then sprayed the paint and let it sit in the sun for about 15 mins between each coat. Once on the car just followed the instructions to bake the paint onto the pipe.

Has held up nicely.

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  • 1 month later...

Finally got around to installing the replacement oil pan that Tomei sent out to me.

Have had very little time for the car as have been working 60-72 hr weeks.

I reinstalled the stock pan when I was running stock engine/gearbox mounts. Was easy enough and could use basic tools.

Now that I've switched to the circuit sports solid engine/gearbox mounts, oil pan install was not straightforward at all. These mounts are supposed to sit the engine slightly lower.

Dropped the swaybar and cusco tension bar, and in hindsight I probably should have dropped the front crossmember as well.

I noticed on the passenger side of the crossmember there was about about 2-3mm less clearance compared to the drivers side. I find this weird. Fitment isn't the cause as the pan has 4 studs - 2 on drivers side & 2 on passenger side.

Fabbed up my own extension by modifying a bolt LOL, because a 1/4 drive or 1/2 drive didn't fit between the crossmember gap. Also, my fuel lines are rubbing against the side of the pan.

Replacement Oil Pan

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Minimal Clearance - had to slide the socket in horizontally with the bolt in it, and then fit the homemade extension into it. Big risk for cross-threading so I don't recommend.

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Drivers side front crossmember clearance - approx 10mm, and a line rubbing on oil pan.

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Passenger side front crossmember - approx. 8mm clearance.

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In other news, my clutch pedal is now squeaking as the workshop who did the install didn't grease the Nismo pedal bracket (I noticed the absence of grease when I had a look under the dash at home)...and they also didn't adjust the pedal heights to within factory specs like I asked. The clutch pedal is lower than the brake. Sigh. So next weekend I'll be disassembling the clutch pedal, greasing it up, then I'll adjust the pushrod and pedal stopper myself. Very few workshops pay attention to detail, and too many just take shortcuts.Very annoying.

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  • 5 months later...

Bought a Nardi wheel....350mm deep dish w/ Works Bell Short Boss + Rapfix II Kit.

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Decided to spice up the interior a little. Carbon bits are by Superior Auto Creative.

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Entered the track day at SMP South so took the car to a new workshop recommended by Mat. Great service & workmanship. Got the brake bits & nismo engine/gearbox mounts installed (the solid poly mounts I was running were too brutal, couldnt stand the vibrations & bolts kept rattling loose). Also had a wheel alignment done. The mechanic found the previous workshop had taken several shortcuts with the twin plate install (on top of the ones I mentioned) so he went about sorting the issues. Clutch feels a lot better now, but need to sort out the drivetrain as theres too much play given how aggressive the clutch is.

So at the track day I clocked a 1.12 which is semi-reasonable, considering my only power mod is a full exhaust. Nontheless can still push harder so im itching to get back out there. Also managed to save a major sideways moment with Nick in the car. Finished up the track day late afternoon and the car was still in one piece - so I was happy lol.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Had 5 packages arrive from Japan this week.

Bought a stack of parts and a full set of forged monoblock TE37SL's. These wheels are the real deal, will need to massage the guards to fit these puppies.

Most of the other parts are still boxed up, I'll post some more pics later.

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