Following on from the high performance engine build detailed in earlier blogs, and a very careful engine running in process, Phil brought his cherished S14 200SX back to us for a check over and to tune the HKS FCON VPro ECU to maximise the performance and to see whether our number crunching had been close to the designed the specifications.

Considering that we had specified the engine package to hit a target of 400hp at the hubs, the result of 412hp (DIN corrected) and a very flat 336 ft/lbs at the hubs should put a smile on Phil’s face!

Here’s the raw dyno data. You can see that as it was quite a cold day (8 degrees C) the DIN correction is making quite a substantial downwards adjustment from the 432hp observed at the hubs!

After trial fitting the new Garret GT Turbine and tubular exhaust manifold, it’s time to get the engine off the build stand on to the re-assembly cart.

Nissan SR20 DET

We have used the HKS LA clutch kit on this application as it has a nice pedal feel and has sufficient torque handling capacity.Although we do alos offer many other types which you can see here

The standard transmission is being refitted.

The engine now back in the engine bay but we have to ensure that the turbocharger and exhaust manifold is aligned properly priot to receiving the Zircotec plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating.

As you can see, the exhaust manifold is very close to the ABS unit so attention must be paid to this!

Here you can see the exhaust manifold with Zircotec plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating. It is absolutely vital in this case to reduce under bonnet temperatures and prevent brake fluid over heating.

We’ve fabricated a custom turbocharger intake pipe, and mathced it to an HKS air filter.

Here’s the engine finally fitted and ready for road testing.

The car is now in the hands of our client undergoing the running-in process. It will be returing in due course for an engine service and ECU mapping.

Following on from part 1 of the SR20 high performance engine build thread we’ve now turned our minds to the turbocharger package.

We designed the turbocharger to meet specific objects as the correct specification doesn’t exist “off the shelf”. The standard exhaust turbine housing was machined out to within an inch of it’s life (!), and was internally ported to maximise gas flow, the interal wastegate apperture was bored out and now incorproates a larger flap valve to prevent pressure creep. We used a Garret GT30 ball bearing core with a billet compressor wheel, and a modified GT35 compressor housing.

We’ve used a stainless steel high flow tubular exhaust manifold to minimise exhaust flow restriction and optimise pulse tuning.

We’re currently in the process of manufacturing support brackets to reduce the stress on the exhaust manifold, then we’ll be sending the hot components off to Zircotec for their plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating, for whom we’re a processing hub.

Our full range of high performance components for the Nissan SR20DET engine can be see here

A regular who is client running a very nice S14 Nissan 200SX has decided that it’s time for an engine rebuild, firstly to freshen up a tired engine and secondly to meet his objectives of 400hp at the hubs!

The SR20 engine is so called because “SR” is the basic engine designation, “20″ is the 2.0 litre displacement, “D” is for dual overhead camshafts, and “T” is for turbocharged. The 16 valve variable intake cam timing engine with Garrett T28 turbocharger responds very well to correct tuning methods.

We’ve removed the engine and transmission in order to strip the engine down for inspection and rebuild.

The engine gets wheeled through to the strip down area where the “dirty work” takes place.

The engine comes apart piece by piece for inspection.

Removing the  oil sump reveals evidence of the engines age!

We had previously installed HKS high performance camshafts which are still in good condition.

Here’s the cylinder block components following the stip down.

The HKS camshafts are removed from the cylinder head and are still in great shape, albeit quite dirty.

The original pistons, connecting rods and oil squirter jets are shown here. They’re not in too bad condition considering the the mileage and the use.

The cylinder head prior to removing the valves, springs and followers.

The SR20DET cylinder block is constrained by the strength of it’s cylinder walls, and it’s not unusual for them to crack at high cylinder pressures so the remedy for this is to install HKS high performance cylinder liners or Toda Racing high performance cylinder liners

The cylinder block has to be machined to accept the HKS or Toda Racing cylinder liners, then bored and honed to suit the pistons. Here, the block is completed and ready for use in this high power application.

We always measure each finished bore for size, ovality and taper to ensure that each cylinder has the correct clearance. Also specifications and toerances are recorded to ISO9001 standards.

The original crankshaft has been measured for wear, ovality and taper, and has been crack tested and micro-polished.

The standard Nissan pistons are quite weak and tend to fail in the ring land area when subjected to increased cylinder pressures. It’s always a good idea to uprate the pistons to heavy duty forgings, and we tend to prefer high quality brands such as HKS, Toda Racing or Wossner which will provide reliable performance with low noise level and low oil consumption.

The standadrd connecting rods are not robust enough to withstand the objectives so we use forged steel H section rods with ARP high tensile bolts from Cosworth, HKS or Toda Racing.

During an engine rebuild we normally have many of the components plated to get them looking like new again.

Heavy duty high tensile Cosworth head studs and Cosworth metal head gasket are used to withstand the higher cylinder pressures that the standard Nissan components are unable to cope with.

The pistons and rods are assembled and installed into the cylinder block.

Unfortunately the valve guides were badly worn. Nissan do not offer valve guides separately (only with a new head casting), so we used Toda Racing high performance valve guides.

After installation of the valve guides and machining of the valve seats, we gas flowed the intake and exhaust ports to improve the airflow efficiency which improves engine performance.

The valves were duly lapped in with course and fine paste, the cleaned and reassembled with the HKS valve springs

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We’re using a Cosworth metal head gasket and Cosworth head stud kit.

We’ve fitted the ported cylinder head to the cylinder block, and are now fitting the HKS camshafts.

We’ve painted the valve cover the same colour as the car, which should look good.

The painted vale cover is now fitted to the engine.

Continuation of this build thread can be seen here