Mine's Front Pipe Pro

So while my car was at Mine's last week in order to solve the overheating problem, I decided to go ahead and have the Mine's front pipes installed.

I had changed my normal standard exhaust for the Fujitsubo Super Legalis R (89.1mm main pipe, 117mm exhaust tail pipe) quite some time ago, around the time I got a boost controller which raised the boost on the standard BCNR33 turbines to 1.0:



I also changed the standard catalytic converter for an Apex'i sports cat, and the standard front pipes for Fujitsubo front pipes.



I had not considered, however, that the radius of the cat - on both ends, was 80mm. And now, with the new GT-SS turbos in place - these have outlets measuring 70mm. So, the Fujitsubo front pipe dimensions are 60.5, 60.5 and 70mm. So - we are missing 10mm on each end.



The Mine's front pipes, however, fit perfectly - 70mm at the turbo side, and 80mm on the cat side.

Mine's Front Pipe Pro:


I considered getting the titanium version because it's nice and light, but 1)it's also more expensive and 2) prone to cracking, according to Nakayama-san. So, got the regular SS version above.

The car now SOUNDS different - definitely less constricted, but also more baritone at full throttle. And, it seems that the engine response is a bit better than before. When I had picked up the car, Niikura-san had said that the front pipes were causing the car to sound a bit different. I now see what he meant.

Overheating problem... solved?

Picked up my car today. I was planning on returning it after a quick blast, but events conspired so that I couldn't return it. No matter, it runs! There is STILL one problem left, but this time it's something Mine's Nakayama-san found which is not related to the new engine - a dead O2 sensor.

Which makes the car idle very poorly. Mine's has ordered the part, and we were set to have it installed on Monday, but it will have to wait till the weekend.

Anyway, the good news is that the overheating problem is solved! Apparently there was crud from the old radiator that became dislodged. So this was all flushed out, and a new radiator installed. A Koyo Type-Z - a nice big aluminum radiator.



I drove the car very, very hard, and the temp never got above the horizontal line. In fact, it hovered about 10 degrees south of the horizontal. So, I'm very, very happy!

Did I mention the car is now extremely quick? Almost frighteningly so. Boost is set at 1.3, which Nakayama-san says is somewhere above 500ps, even with the GT-SS turbines. We could set to 1.5, but this isn't good for the sport catalyzer, so were are being conservative. Yikes, how much more power could this car pump out? Although I'm tempted to put in a straight pipe, and set for 1.5, just for the next track day... I wonder if I could go to Top Secret to take care of this? Mine's was a bit reluctant to do this, in case I got caught. BTW, anything above 1.5, and the turbines can't respond effectively, supposedly.

So here is a pic of the engine, check out the enormous new radiator:



Also note the new Samco radiator tubing I had put in. Somehow though, the engine just lacks "flash." Maybe I need to get some chrome bits, or carbon fiber, or something to spruce up the look. I do have earthing wires already installed, but the silver wires don't do much.

Maybe I should have gone with the purple Samco hoses, to match the Mine's purple crinkle finished engine covers.


Here is another shot of the rear - apparently they are still working on getting the new Mine's logo in - the one with the red "S" - can't wait to put that on. I do really like the subdued look of this, though. Very Mine's philosophy of not being flashy.



Will keep the car in the garage at my apt this week - and will drop off again at Mine's on Sat, when they will fix the O2 sensor. Hopefully, I get it back on Sunday. Stay tuned!

Oh, PS - check out this link - when the UK GTROC guys were in town, they paid a visit to Mine's and found my car being serviced:
http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/upload/85923-akis-bottom.html#post780345


Great pics, thanks Rob!!

I am NORMAL!! (relatively) 「比較的」普通ですよ！

Why do I make such a proclamation? Well, I thought I was GT-R crazy. I know the car, the history...

Not a chance. Spent a few quality days with some guys from the UK GTR Owner's Club who very quickly caused me to overdose on the GT-R.

Let me introduce you to my newest GT-R friends:



In the front, left to right - John and Steve
In the back, from left to right - Mo, Rob, myself, and Grame. (unfortunately, Mo insists on owning an BNR34, but I won't hold that against him). These guys were in Tokyo for the official unveiling of the new Nissan GT-R.

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/upload/new-nissan-gtr-announcements.html

Finally, a picture where I am DEFINITELY the best looking guy in the bunch!

Sat in the new GT-R!! どう、似合う？

Here I am with the world's newest and most exciting Supercar!!

Engine:



Headlight:



Me in the driver's seat!



This is GORGEOUS!!



And, for those of you who don't care about cars:



Will also update with my little adventure with some photo and video journalists this evening, a bit later..

How Mine's Did It! (Engine building) エンジン組み立て説明

Block - topside after polishing


Bored out cylinders


Block - bottom side


Intake port before


Intake port after


Exhaust port before polishing


Exhaust port after polishing


Tomei forged pistons


Conrods weighed


Pistons and conrods come together


Lightened, and plus minus zero balanced crankshaft


Crank installed.


Valves - intake (r) and exhaust (l), both polished


Combustion Chamber - pre headwork?


Head Assembly. Looks Full Squish to me


Mine's Cams - 252 each, 10.05 mm lift


HSK Cam Gears and Belt


Intake, Intake gasket installed


Tomei Expreme Exhaust Manifold


Oil pan and baffle completed.


Tomei Exhaust Manifolds Installed!


HKS GT-SS Turbos!


Turbos added- now just need to add hoses


Engine Done!


Cleaned Engine Bay, ready to receive new engine!

Finally - Reunited!

Went to MINE'S today to finally pick her up. Wow!

Here is what the new engine looks like (will post better pix tomorrow)



And here is the destroyed old engine - it was so bad, they could not reuse.






And this is what I asked them to put on - to show off! But, I may exchange this mature bragging for the new Mine's logo - where the "S" is red!



Driving impression: as I am still breaking the engine in, I cannot rev the engine above 4000 rpm. Further, the boost on the engine is turned down/off (to about 0.7). However, even with these two handicaps, this engine feels so much stronger than my old engine. The engine feels stronger than when I first bought the car - there is lots of low end torque - and feels stronger than after having raised the boost to 1.0 from stock, and installed the Tomei B cams. The engine is very linear now, and I think it's even quieter (save for the noise coming from the new dual plate clutch). The engine begins pulling at 1500 RPM (the idle is at 1000 RPM! - previously, it was around 800-900) and then the turbos kick in at about 2200 RPM. Overall, the engine is SO smooth, it's like a Honda engine.

This has me thinking - was something inherently wrong with my old engine? It was like a truck engine in comparison. Further, Nakayama-san said that the cam gears were set to 30degrees, way too much. Not sure if that had anything to do with the failure, maybe it was caused by it (as Nissan Ps told me that it was 2 degrees after installation...) Anyway, now that I have a brand new engine - overbored by 10mm, so additional 60cc of engine capacity - I can break it in properly. I am starting to suspect the prior owner did not take that good care of this car. So I will!

As for specs - some things have changed. One problem is that, over these 11 weeks, Mine's never called me, even ONCE to let me know how things were going. I was the one who always called them. So, despite having asked for a Nismo oil pump and Nismo intake plenum, these items were not installed.

When I arrived, Niikura-san introduced himself immediately and apologized for the situation. He then told me that, even with their demo cars, they don't always have the Nismo plenum. The difference is minor - reflected on the dyno, but not really noticeable when driving. Plus, it can always be installed later.

As for the oil pump, well, that requires that the engine be removed, and I didn't want that, and I'm sure they didn't want that either. I called Nissan Ps earlier, and a cost estimate of the new pump would be about 30 man, that is 10 man for the pump, and 20 man for the labor. The plenum installation would cost another 20 man - 15 man for the part, and 5 for the labor. So, in the end, I decided it wasn't worth it - I could leave it with Mine's again - assuming they would want to work on it - but frankly, I am simply tired of not having my car. Plus, all of the tuners apparently use the N1 oil pump without problems, and Nakayama-san guaranteed that there would be no problems. I will take his word for it.

So, these two items were not included. What WAS included - and unexpected - was I got everything done that is done in the Stage 2 engine - that is, internal polishing work wise. So, I didn't get the PBB, but polished combustion chamber, polished intake/exhaust ports, and strengthened engine bolt washers (more important than the bolts themselves, apparently).

So in the end, the engine is somewhere between the Stage 1 and Stage 2. No N1 block, no PBB, and no Nismo oil pump, and different cams (more efficient than the Stage 2s) than are listed in the menu.

So am I happy? Ask me when I've taken the engine to its 8000rpm redline!

650 kms to go until I finish breaking it in!

24 more hours! Maybe....

Called MINE'S earlier today. Supposed to get back to me this afternoon, but have not heard anything yet. Car is supposedly done... we shall see. Am worried that all of those parts I ordered after the initial work order was written, may not have made it in...