1986 Nissan S12 Silvia *NOW V8*

[ToolsnTrack]

Is it ok to have a few retro ride projects? lol...

Playing second fiddle to the Supra at the moment is my old beater from a few years ago that I didnt have the heart to scrap. Originally a 1.8 auto CA18-et lump, it ran out of tax and was passed onto my brother as a project. It then had a 1.8-det lump installed (from the s13) but has not been finished. My brother is off satisfying a Scirroco fetish at present so I have decided to take this back on as a 3rd car.

Plans are for it to be a slow burner. Need to get the Supra back on the road for summer so any spare cash will be thrown this way.

First up, the paint. Looks ok in the pic and is a very solid shell, hence me not having the heart to scrap it. Light rust bubbles on the arches which have been taken back and primered, but plans are to fit a set of the universal wide arch kits available in the for sale section on here (hopefully they are in the post now). Primer grey is the colour of choice for the respray... I want an old school street look with this one.



Wheels are undecided as yet too, but I do think a set of the American style ones from Daveyboy20's capri thread would work. S12s are 4x114.3, so a bit of a funky pcd to find wheels for. Naturally this will be the last thing to be done as there is a budget to adhere to! The compo's in the pic above are not on the car anymore btw!

Engine:
Not a fan of the CA lumps. Will be pulling the engine and box back out of this and leaving to my brother to sell on (for sale thread imminent) and making way for an Essex V6. Plenty of room under there for one and reckon it will be something a bit different!

Limited pictures at the moment as I'm offshore but will be starting on the bodywork once I get back. Watch this space!

[hongkongphooey]

Now that's a completely hatstand engine swap....good work!

[ToolsnTrack]

Hatstand? I presume thats a good thing!!

Merci!

[datman]

bleeaugh. boat anchor,. Why not stick in a Nissan V6 (OHC) I know someone who did this. Went quite well. USA spec S12 had optional V6 I believe

[ToolsnTrack]

Feb 6, 2010 22:52:31 GMT datman said:

bleeaugh. boat anchor,. Why not stick in a Nissan V6 (OHC) I know someone who did this. Went quite well. USA spec S12 had optional V6 I believe

ECU's, EFI WTF, cant be bothered with a spaghetti junction under the bonnet. Plus, there is a budget to stick to of thrup'ny and sixpence, so not hunting out a J v6 when theres a cheap brit one on my doorstop.

don't expect to please everyone with this, but everyone wont be driving it.

[ToolsnTrack]

Heres the latest pics. Wide arches arrived, test fitted:









And this is the current lump. Will be taking this out once I get a chance off from work. Anyone need an s13 engine and manual box?

[ianlea73]

Nice project mate
Stick the engine & box on the SXOC forum mate,as long as it runs it'll sell!

[ToolsnTrack]

Will do, but don't have it out of the car yet. Still trying to scrounge a hoist for free. As said, this must cost as little as possible!!

[ianlea73]

It'll sell better if peeps can hear it running as bottom end failure is common on the Ca lump & I wouldn't part with my money without hearing it run!
Just a thought mate.

[twincammy]

i have some nice enkeis that would suit this a treat!

[datman]

spaghetti? whats running the CA then! Hardest bit of any EFI install is the fuel pump etc, and the S12 already has all that. Fit a thirsty old heavy Essex V6 (does it even take unleaded?) and the car might be hard to sell when you get bored of it. Keeping it all Nissan would be cooler IMO and make for a better car. (Yes it is more work because its bigger than an Essex. Needs bonnet bulge for a start. ) Heres my friends one, he was going for a sort of Knight Rider thing....

[ToolsnTrack]

Feb 15, 2010 9:01:30 GMT ianlea73 said:

It'll sell better if peeps can hear it running as bottom end failure is common on the Ca lump & I wouldn't part with my money without hearing it run!
Just a thought mate.

Well then it wont sell, as there is no loom in the s12 to run it. It never got that far.

Twincammy: Will the enkeis fill the arches? To be honest i think i want something more dished.

Datman: When have you ever built a car with the resale in mind? I am not building it for someone else, I'm doing it for me. I don't expect it to sell, hence not spending a great deal of money on it.

And as stated before, your mate had a nissan v6 hanging around. I don't.

[useless inc]

Go for it mate. It's your car. I can pretty much guarantee you'll have the only essex v6 Silvia in the world and that's pretty cool.
Once you've fitted it you should get some nice dress up rocker covers and air filter for the underbonnet what the flip factor.

[datman]

Feb 16, 2010 9:03:03 GMT ToolsnTrack said:

When have you ever built a car with the resale in mind?

only.. always. I know I'm not going to have any car for ever.

[ToolsnTrack]

Feb 16, 2010 15:19:37 GMT datman said:

Feb 16, 2010 9:03:03 GMT ToolsnTrack said:

When have you ever built a car with the resale in mind?

only.. always. I know I'm not going to have any car for ever.

Well if i ever had resale in mind, i'd have never bought an S12 in the first place. when it had the stock CA18 ET i tried selling it for a year, and it never sold. I don't expect it to sell with this v6 either, but it will have an engine in it that i want for a change. I buy a car on gut feeling, if i like the look of it, it gets bought. If i like the idea of doing an engine change, it gets done...

Reserve judgement until the jobs done at least, its fairly unconstructive to criticise a project when its in progress.

[luckygti]

Like the look of the Silva. An old boss had one, he drove like a complete nutter, remember taking a sideways trip over the village green when he went too fast round the corner (Maybe it was intentional ) V6 is definitely different, how do they differ weight wise?

[dude]

Why not go 24v cossie power?

Edit: apparently i have trouble reading, fear of electricity, then tripple-weber a 24v cossie! ;D

[ianlea73]

Sr20det lump from a S14 or rb25.If you go on SXOC there's curse word loads of info & peeps always willing to lend a hand.
There is actually a seperate section for S12 tech.

www.sxoc.com/vbb/forumdisplay.php?s=&f=39&page=1&pp=25&sort=lastpost&order=desc&daysprune=-1

[twincammy]

Feb 16, 2010 9:03:03 GMT ToolsnTrack said:

Twincammy: Will the enkeis fill the arches? To be honest I think I want something more dished.

what's the offset on the s12? any idea, i think my enkei racing s have a +32mm ... 16x7

[ToolsnTrack]

No idea what the offset is on them, only that the pcd is 4x114.3.

Very familiar with the sxoc, good knowlegde base on there, although knowledge on Nissan lumps isnt needed because, as previously stated, its a Capri V6 going in there.

Have owned S14as, S13s and driven RB's before. Not denying the capabilities of the engine, but i have been there and done it, and just don't want to walk the beaten track and do that conversion. I want to put an old school V6 in there.


I'm really looking forward to this now, a proper controversial engine swap!!