Projekt SE-RRRRRRR

[Dave]

this is the thread to document the development of my 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R. I've got big plans for it, but lets start with the basics. I bought the car with 139,803 miles on it, I am the 3rd owner (past owner had for 11 years) and I got an awesome deal on it, I feel. It's got a few bugs (surface rust on top of car, sunroof non functional, sunroof seal is F'ed, engine leaking oil all over the place, dash lights need new bulbs), but overall I think it will be a great platform. My intentions are to get the service up to date (although it appears to have been maintained religously based on the paperwork that came with it) and have a few mods done on the car before VIR in February. This could get interesting...

something to give you an idea of what I started with (this is actually the 92 post-suspension swap, so it has a different front bumper and a shorty antenna, but you get the idea)


Last Friday night, I put this car and my 92 SE-R up on 2 lifts at work and swapped all four corners of the car in 2 hours with the help of one of the techs. Car now rolls on KYB AGX shocks and Eibach springs. I'll be doing an alignment this week. I'll also take a pic so you can see the car and difference between the suspensions.

Yesterday I wrenched all day on the 2 cars, and Linds came out and lended me a huge hand in the afternoon (THANK YOU LINDSEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

1) Compression test: 155/153/167/171. Looks like a very healthy motor, although I'm going to try to do a full leakdown test soon to confirm this.
2) I drained the old oil from the car (took a sample for Blackstone Labs, sending out tomorrow), but left the old filter on. Poured 2/3 can of Seafoam in while I put some cheap wal-mart 5w30 oil in it; basically using it as a cleaner for the crankcase. Then ran engine between 1000 and 2000 rpms for 20 minutes. Drained oil, installed purolator filter with Castrol GTX 5w30. Outgoing oil was very black, despite it being fresh oil, hopefully that means a lot of shit came loose and out of the engine. Had to use my handy flathead oil filter removal tool b/c some people don't know how to put an oil filter on.

3) Put 6 gallons of 93 octane mixed with 2/3 can of Seafoam. Hopefully this will clean up any deposits in the fuel system. Will continue to run 87 octane under normal conditions.
4) Lindsey jumped in and cleaned the throttle body for me. I was in the car (see below) and gave virtually no direction or help and she came through with a sparkling result using a toothbrush and some Deep Creep.



5) I spent pretty much all afternoon removing wires from the inside of the car. I'm not sure if a home entertainment center was installed in the car sometime in the past, but apparently they forgot to take the wires with them when they decided it would be more functional in a house. So, I pulled it ALL out. I left the factory radio harness and there is one wire that I have not traced yet b/c I ran out of daylight. It was an absolute mess and took forever, but I'm glad it's done and I know I probably removed 10-20 lbs of crap i'll never use. Now to put in a new head unit and get some speakers that actually work. Any audiophiles got some recommendations and want to help a guy out?
just a taste of what I cleaned up

Most of the aftermath. Believe it or not, there was actually more wire than this, but I just didn't have it all collected together in one place.


More to come soon.......

[D_Eclipse9916]

aftermarket amp, EEWWW crimps...Use the aftermarket amp and just throw on some aftermarket speakers all around. No need to go too good unless you really want to put on a really nice 4-speaker amp.

Where are you getting your alignment done?

[Andy]

Are you planning on making 1 good SE-R out of your two? Also, have you read SCC's writeup on racing for cheap with an SE-R. Pretty interesting stuff, they point out some of the obvious SE-R failings such as the trans.

[Evan]

is this the SE-R that I posted about from Craigslist? Why are you building up this one as opposed to the other one you have?

what are your plans with the car Dave? Im curious why you are building this car when you have the 240

[CaptainHenreh]

Im curious why you are building this car when you have the 240

He's tired of getting rolled by SE-R's.

[.RJ]

Should have bought a type-arrRrRr omg vtak!

[Dave]

Yeah, they are both the SE-Rs from craigslist, one Evan found, one Boobies found IIRC. Both of them have a pretty long list of problems, but almost all of them are easy fixes and both are solid cars. Essentially I wrote up the pros and cons and compared to determine which I would keep. Both have zero rust in the rocker panels and door jambs and neither have 5th gear pop, which makes them both pretty good in the world of SE-Rs apparently. I'm pursuing the SE-Rs cuz the 240 bores me and I want to do something different.
I've got the 240 for sale, I'm just not avidly going around trying to sell it. Like Rex said, I get rolled all the time by SE-Rs and I want to see what it is that is so good about them.
I'm getting the alignment done at the dealership after hours hopefully. I'll get up with you about making up a sound system.

[ScottyB]

awesome Dave! if there's one thing i love about that era of nissan's, its that the car's have very stout engines are there is a good deal of cross-platform parts sharing. i think you'll really enjoy the SE-R, it didn't become a "classic" for any reason.

[Jeff]

I like these cars. Some good ole FWD for Dave. My buddy had a Sentra E and it was a mighty good POS. They bought it new in 94...it didn't even have a radio. We beat the piss outta that car...never gave up. They gave it to a charity last year and he got his 01 Sentra POS. lol. Keep up the good work Dave, I am waiting to see this one come up. I will live vicariously though you...seeing as the Daytona is slowing to a snail's pace.

[Andy]

FYI-Another common problem in SE-R's is the camshafts can get oil starved and it will grind itself away on the valvetrain and camholders. The cool part is that you can stick your finger in the oil fill hole and feel for roughness on the cam lobes. If it's rough, the cams are already on their way out along with valvetrain.

[Dave]

1/21 update!
1) flushed the intake manifold with the last 2/3 bottle of Seafoam via an intake hose. Once it was all sucked up, let it sit for 15 minutes, then drove it. It spits out a nasty fog for the first mile or so, then tapers off. Hopefully that is crap being cleaned out of the engine, but if nothing else it is fun to watch
2) changed spark plugs, distributor cap, and rotor button. New wires are on the way, but haven't arrived yet.

3) shorty antenna for my car with no head unit!!

4) got an alignment done at work
5) took the car for a quick run over 33W. Held up nicely considering I haven't done anything for shock adjustment and I'm running around on all-seasons. It's going to be a ton of fun once I get some good tires and better brakes. Would also be nice to be able to see my guage cluster next time (I keep putting off the dash bulb replacement)
pics will be up in a couple days hopefully.[/img]

[CaptainHenreh]

FYI-Another common problem in SE-R's is the camshafts can get oil starved and it will grind itself away on the valvetrain and camholders. The cool part is that you can stick your finger in the oil fill hole and feel for roughness on the cam lobes. If it's rough, the cams are already on their way out along with valvetrain.

This is only a problem if your SE-R has been driven like a sissy.

[ScottyB]

so Dave, as of right now are you liking it more than the 240?

[Dave]

eh, they both are a lot of fun. Once I get the Sentra finished, in terms of preparation, I think it will be a lot of fun. Let me answer that question after VIR

[Nis01]

Nice Dave. I'm looking forward to seeing more about this project. Seems to be coming along really nicely. Even if it is FWD. :lol:

[WRXRacer111]

Even if it is FWD. :lol:

Yeah yeah yeah, all wheel drivin' bastaaaaard. Oh wait...


Dave, should be fun. I'd really like to go for a ride in Andy Turnbull's SE-R... Koni 8611 DA-based coilovers, looks pretty entertaining!

[ScottyB]

Even if it is FWD. :lol:

hehe, Dave your plate should have been FWD LOL

[Nis01]

^^LoL. That would have been classic.

[Dave]

1/23 update
installed OEM plugs and fuel filter yesterday before work. Got 2 of the plugs mixed up when putting the plugs in, so the car ran on 2 cylinders for a bit :-D

bunch of pics added throughout thread, go back and look! :twisted:

[Dave]

1/29 update: lotsa work been done
1st off, thanks a ton to Linds, Thayer, and Shea for giving me some of their time.
car before work


prepared for another long day


1) Changed the transmission fluid. Put in Redline MT-90. This did wonders for clarifying the vagueness of the shifter and made a marked improvement on shifting.
2) Flushed the cooling system. Old stuff was very thick, seemed like it was straight coolant, instead of mixed with water.
3) Brake upgrade. I put on front brakes from a 91 Nissan NX2000 that I purchased a pair of remanufactured calipers (loaded) from Advance. Also put on new Brembo blanks (huge in comparison to old rotors) and stainless steel lines on all four corners. Flushed system with Superblue. Due to the increased piston size of the new caliper, the brake pedal has a little more play than before, but it isn't too bad.
The Total package


Rotor comparison


Old brakes


New goodies


4) Also added a little bit of bling. Kosei K1 15x7 with Fuzion ZRi 205/50/15 tires. Tires were scrubbing a lot on the rear lip of the sheetmetal, but nothing a little hammering couldn't remedy.