it IS a truck motor after all... *PIC HEAVY*

This is for all those PICTURE THREADS ONLY. Motor installs, product writeups, showing off your car, put the thread in here.
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Razo240sx
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it IS a truck motor after all... *PIC HEAVY*

Post by Razo240sx »

I figured I'd start a build thread on my project Frontier. I sold my KA-T 240sx about 6 years ago and ever since i've wanted another boosted daily. I bought a my first frontier about 3 years ago and picked up this current one a little over a year ago. Whats nice about this truck is that it has a few of the factory options like cruise control, power mirrors, power windows and a factory alarm. The previous owner also didnt drive the truck in the winter which is great since these things rust out really bad. My goals for the truck are about 300-350hp. Im looking to build a truck that is fun on the street, looks mean and can shoot some nice rooster tails in the mud. Let me know what you guys think!



So here's a pic of the truck off the craigslist ad when I bought it. $1500 was not a bad deal at all.

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This is the look that im going for. If you dont recognize this truck then you must have been deprived as a child.

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One of the first things I did was strip the interior out since it was pretty nasty. I took out the whole interior from my other truck and shampoo'd the seats and added some sound deadening material to the floors, roof and door panels. This stuff makes a BIG difference. Way less cabin noise and the interior sounds a lot more solid.

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Purchased a few goodies. R32 GTR intercooler, Greddy 18G turbo, I had a cx racing manifold sitting around.

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T25 vs the Greddy 18G

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One piece I've had my eye on for a long time was a Nardi Woodgrain wheel. I stumbled across a guy selling one for a good price in really good shape on a forum and decided to pick it up for this project.

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For wheels and tires I went with US Wheel 94's. Same wheels as the Marty Mcfly truck. The Tires are Firestone Destination MT's which I got a good discount on through work.

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A few pics before the 2.5 inch lift

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Picked up some Hella Lights from a buddy at work for cheap. I decided to get different covers for them and tint my corner marks and the lights amber.

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It took me constant searching on ebay but I finally found a PROF Sheepdog blow off valve. These BOV's have a pretty unique sound and whats great is that I had one of these on my 240sx when I first boosted it 10 years ago. It was in pretty bad shape so I decided to take it all apart and clean it up and polish it. After that I decided to go ahead and polish the oil cap, injector caps and turbine housing. Took a little while but came out great! Some before and after pics.

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I was lucky to pick up a R32 GTR intercooler for a good price. I decided to flip it over and mount it upside down so I would have more clearance in the front and less intercooler piping for better throttle response. You can see how I used 2 couplers to run the piping from the intercooler into the engine bay.

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Razo240sx
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Re: it IS a truck motor after all... *PIC HEAVY*

Post by Razo240sx »

Here are a few pics of the motor all together. The main differences with the frontier motor are no block girdle. no #6 cam journals on the cylinder head. The oil pickup is towards the back of the motor. Single row upper timing chain. Intake manifold design really sucks. I had the head decked and used a cometic headgasket with ARP head studs. I stock bottom end and 240/232 duration cams. I also ditched the stock intake manifold and im using a s13 intake manifold with the EGR and butterflies removed. I wont be able to keep power steering with this intake manifold but I really dont care. I'll still have AC. If anyones wondering I painted the valve cover with VHT wrinkle Blue

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Heres a pic of the fuel setup. 550cc injectors, stock rail with an fittings welded to the rail. 255 walbro inline pump.

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Welded a V-Band Flange onto the eBay turbo outlet

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took the bed and fenders off. Pulled the motor. POR 15'd the whole frame and undercoated the cab and bed. Im using 2.5in lift shackles and a torsion bar lift with Rancho RS5000 shocks. I plan on swapping the rear axle out with an Izuzu Rodeo rear axle. Its a Dana 44 with a locking rear and 4.1 gearing and it bolts right in.

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Thats where im at right now. I'll post more updates as I go.
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torquefreaks
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Re: it IS a truck motor after all... *PIC HEAVY*

Post by torquefreaks »

sUPER SICK MAN keep the updates coming!
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Re: it IS a truck motor after all... *PIC HEAVY*

Post by ATL240 »

Very nice! I had one of theese trucks, but it was 2wd, and I always wanted to ka-t it. What will you be tuning with?
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Post by SoundEfx »

Wicked plan sir.

Keep us posted on the progress.
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Re: it IS a truck motor after all... *PIC HEAVY*

Post by Razo240sx »

OK so heres a few updates from the past few weeks.

Put some heat foil material on the firewall.

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Welded in a summit battery tray so that I can run a 51 series battery in the stock location while being able to clear the intercooler piping

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Coolant Overflow resivour

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Trans all bolted up Everything is ready to be dropped in

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Motors all in. Also you can see the transmission oil coolers location

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Intercooler piping is all fabbed up waiting to be painted

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The exhaust will be a 3 inch downpipe going to a 3 inch 3 bolt flange. After the flange it will reduce to 2 1/2 inch going to a flowmaster muffler. I plan on having it exit out of the side of the bed.

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RS Enthalpy did the tune and jumper harness for me.

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I also purchased an Innovate SCG-1. Its a boost guage/wideband/boost controller all in one.

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Thats all for now. Ill post some more pictures soon. Until then heres a sneak preview of the interior. Nothing too fancy just a nice steering wheel and the innovate guage.

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Re: it IS a truck motor after all... *PIC HEAVY*

Post by Turnstyles »

This is awesome!! :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
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Post by ICEMAN.KCMO »

That is one cool setup, I came wait to see this completed.
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Post by Tatsu91 »

This has great! Can't wait for the update.. great build so far!
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Re: it IS a truck motor after all... *PIC HEAVY*

Post by S14wayz »

This is really cool. I also did not know VHT made any colours like that in wrinkle. I'm going to have to check it out :).
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Post by Razo240sx »

OK here are some updates. Raised the front 2 .5 inches to match the rear. Painted the intercooler piping. I plan on having it powdercoated but i want to get everything running well first. Did a mild tuck on the wiring harness. Got all the coolant lines installed for the heater core and the transmission cooler lines. The fuel lines with the AN fittings are done. I had to make a bracket for the wastegate to mount to the turbo. I also installed the Innovate guage and welded in the O2 sensor bung onto the exhaust and installed the map sensor and boost solenoid. I drove it around the block on the stock ECU but im having a few issues with the tuned ecu right now. I may have figured out the issue tonight but the battery was dead. Ill keep you guys posted on what happens.


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Post by Razo240sx »

So im having a few issues with the ECU and jumper harness. Hopefully RS Enthalpy can figure out everything. Right now Im just waiting for the snow to melt so I can put the bed back on. After that Ill be fabbing up the front bumper. Here's a few pictures of how the truck sits right now.

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Post by Razo240sx »

Ok so heres some updates. Im having issues with the ECU from RS Enthalpy. Hopefully everything gets worked out. But the vehicle will not run with the jumper harness and ECU I purchased from him. It appears the ignition timing is off. The vehicle will run alright with the stock PCM. I purchased and SAFC in the mean time just so I can start driving the thing in the meantime. Right now I have the bed off and I am in the middle of rust coating it and fixing some rust. I did refinish the rear axle and got it installed. It is a DANA 44 rear axle out of an Isuzu Rodeo. 4.3 Gears with LSD with rear vented disc brakes . Better gearing matches up great with the larger tires that are on there and atleast now I have a posi rear. The Axle bolts right in I just had to use the rear driveshaft yoke off the izusu and install it onto the frontier driveshaft. both vehicles share the same U joints so it was a really easy install.


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Post by supakat »

Keep up the good work.
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Post by S14wayz »

that looks really nice man...great clean work on that rear end
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Post by turbofrontier02 »

Hey man Im actually doing the same build right now and martin Mentioned a guy with a 98 Frontier that's having the same problems as im having with my 02 Frontier with the timing. But your build is way cleaner than mine, mine is just pretty much slapped together because my buddies told me it would be a great idea...... not so much. But before I went to Enthalpy I had a SAFCII. Please do not rag on your truck with this set up. I spun a rod Bearing when I thought it had a good tune with the safc the AFR were right finally and it was very responsive. just retard the timing a bit. SAFCs are faulty. Don't want to see your had work go down the drain man.
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Post by Razo240sx »

Yeah Martin is sending me a different ignition trigger disc right now. Hopefully everything gets worked out. I used and safc on my S13 for about a year and it ran alright but your right a tuned ECU is the way to go. I just didnt expect to run into these issues and im starting to loose patience with RS Enthalpy. I ordered the ECU in December and now it is almost May and my truck still doesnt run right. Thats a little frustrating.

Heres a few more recent picks.

Cutout some Rust and welded in new sheetmetal on the bed and POR15's everything.

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Also cut a hole for the side exit exhaust

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Then I got the bed on and finished up the exhaust

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I also ended up going with a different steering wheel. I went with something with a larger diameter since I wont have power steering and the smaller 330mm woodgrain wheel wasnt as comfortable.

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Post by turbofrontier02 »

Same here man it was around January when I sent mine off too he is having the same issue with mine and the CAS disk. But extremely nice build man how does it run on safc?
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Post by Razo240sx »

I havent even hooked it up yet. I figured the ecu issue would have been corrected by now.
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Post by flip240 »

I'm not a fan of trucks but if I had to get one, I definitely do something like this!
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Post by s14fiend »

Cool truck..... are those US 94 wheels heavy? Is it a 4 X 4 ?
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Post by Razo240sx »

They aren't really heavy especially when compared to the tires. The truck is 4wd it is rwd but has a dana 44 locking rear. I didn't build it to go rock crawling. Just go through some mud and throw some roost.
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Post by signals13 »

Great looking truck always wanted to do this or an Xterra, keep up the great work.
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Post by Razo240sx »

My Mistake. I meant to write the truck is NOT 4wd.
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Post by Razo240sx »

OK I have the SAFC hooked up now. Still trying to get it to run decent. Havent had a whole lot of time to play with it. I recently fabricated this front brush guard. Came out really nice. I just have to paint it now then wire up the fog lights.

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Post by Razo240sx »

Front bumper is painted and the Hella 500 lights are wired up.

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Post by supakat »

Great job on the bumper. Looks legit.
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Post by KENB0SLICE »

Is that just a regular 2wd truck, not a desert runner? and if so what lift did you use? i have 2000 2wd frontier and always wanted to lift it
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Post by Razo240sx »

The truck is RWD. All you have to do to lift it a a set of $60 leaf spring shackles and crank the torsion bars down. It's that simple.


I have a lot of updates about the truck I just gotta get around to posting them. Truck runs well now. I've been driving it for the last month.
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Post by KENB0SLICE »

Ok thanks man, once i get some money saved up gonna turbo mine, you got a sweet set up can't wait to see more pics
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