Mitch's Cefiro of ugliness

[Mitch]

Well, it's been sat outside the unit feeling sorry for itself for a year, so I figured it was high time something was done to get Ceffy Mike's old bus back onto the road (and track). Such an ugly car :( (Ignore timings for the first couple of posts, they have been cutted and pasteded)

About a year ago when I bought it...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/CefiroDay13.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/CefiroDay14.jpg

And yesterday. Not a lot of progress apart from a partly painted interior and engine bay, dash fitted and some wiring feeds worked out...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct2010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/138.jpg

I got it onto the ramps to work on and check it was as solid as when I welded Mike's diff all those years ago. I needn't have worried, as it is still pretty mint underneath with just the underseal burned off from where the cage feet were welded in and engine bay seam welded, so I gave it a brush down after removing the suspension and refreshed the paint underneath.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201016.jpg

I stripped the brakes down as the R33 handbrake cables were too long and one was damaged and were replace with short wheelbase Z32 ones, as they were all I had in stock. The discs were rusty so I tried some amazing treatment stuff that I erm... acquired when I was working on an anti corrosion project recently.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct20108.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct20109.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201010.jpg

Dropped them in here...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201011.jpg

And this morning I took them out and wiped them off with a cloth. Literally 30 seconds of wiping, no scrubbing or sanding at all...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201013.jpg

Then took the R33 front discs and dropped them in for a few hours...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201014.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201015.jpg

And they came out like this...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201021.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefiroproject5-6Oct201022.jpg

Apart from that, all I've been doing today is trying to source braided lines and banjo bolts for the brakes and will be fitting them tomorrow, along with camber, toe and steering arms with a bit of extra lock, and some tension rods and then decide on which suspension to put on before fitting the last bits of the engine together and dropping that in.

More to follow:)

[Mitch]

Quick update time.
Yesterday I fitted the coilovers, camber arms, toe arms, tension rods, clutch line along with a new slave cylinder and the R33 brakes, but then I had a job come in and fight the traffic to collect a car in Nottingham.

Today I had to collect another car (all this work getting in the way of toys ) and fix Struggle's S13 as it wasn't pulling properly, but found a bit of time to fit the Skyline tie rods with a couple of spacers for a little extra lock for now, non ABS brake master cylinder and lines, 4.3 diff, but just a welder for now to keep costs down til I find a reasonable 2 way. I wondered why it wouldn't go on at first but it was because someone had fitted the driveshafts on the wrong sides. Easy enough mistake if you didn't realise they are different lengths. Also adapted the handbrake cables to fit the Cefiro front section, and just need to mount them to the body and we're all good.

Now the rolly steery bits are done, I can concentrate on fitting the turbo and injectors to the engine, along with the clutch and box and drop the lot in, probably on Monday if nothing else rocks up. After that it'll be the fun wiring and plumbing in and bleeding evrything up, but before that I'll be putting the Rota Grids on to see how they look, and then decide if they'll be staying or not.

Took it off the ramps and threw some Grid Drifts on to get an idea of how it'd look. iPhone pics are pretty pants but here goes...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-20105.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-20104.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-201010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-201017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-201011.jpg

There is no engine or box in at the moment so height and camber needs sorting out, and also some spacers or different offset rears. Not sure if the bronze goes either. What's the general consensus?

Might have problems with this...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-20108.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-20109.jpg

[Mitch]

More pics...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-20102.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-20103.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-2010.jpg

Cleared the interior out and tidied it up a bit...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-201016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-201012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-201015.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-201014.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-201013.jpg

And received my TD06 copy turbo from Kinugawa, as they did a good job with the replacement core for my T518Z. Looks very similar if a little larger, rated to 420bhp so should easily cope with the 350-370 that I'm aiming for with Z32 and 740's

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild10-Oct-201021.jpg

[Mitch]

Update time. Fitted the Nismo clutch, engine and box mounts from the 180sx, gearbox, Japspeed manifold and elbow and the Kinugawa TD06, which is pretty much the same as the Trust turbo it replaces, albeit a little bigger. Also removed the stock sump and guard and fitted the bigger baffled sump.

This morning I dropped it in and test fitted the radiator an intercooler. Amazing how much room there was in the engine bay, it looked empty with the rad and IC in.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild12Oct20101.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild12Oct20105.jpg

Bags of room in here...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild12Oct20107.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild12Oct20108.jpg

Fuller now...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild12Oct20109.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild12Oct201010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirobuild12Oct201011.jpg

Starting to see light at the end of the tunnel now, though there is still a fair way to go. Next is making brackets for the radiator and intercooler, and plumb it all in. Maybe not much tomorrow though as I need to get the Grey 13 ready for Mallory. Yay, skids :cool:

[Mitch]

That's where we're at at the minute. It all seems like it was flown through but the above posts started on the 6th Oct, so nearly a week old now. Hopefully it won't take too long to build up and it'll be mapped and made road legal ready for painting and drifting.

More soon :)

[billham]

That looks really good on the grids might look better in white tho. Wish i got this car when pete had it as nearly swapped my half built 1jz s13 for it, but backed out at the last min as just could'nt bare to let s13 go, as spend loads on it really want to finish it.

[Mark D]

Amazing amount of roomage in that engine bay. :eek:

How comes you didn't put an RB back in?

[Petrolhead]

nice work mitch, i cant belive that's the same interior.
last time i was up at yours it looked like a skip inside

[Mitch]

Cheers Ad :) You sold yours yet?

Mark- I didn't take an RB out, and have lots of SR bits to use.

[JJ]

Brilliant work Mitch :)
Going to be a nice car when its done!! :thumbs:

[Mitch]

Thanks, I just fancied a change from the 180, which I've had for 3 years now and am sick of.

[Ed]

Impressive work as always dude :thumbs:

Please move to Southampton so I can give you work to do :D It took me 3 weeks to change the rad hoses on my S13 :wack:

[Mitch]

You could have pushed it to Burton and swapped them quicker :D

[Mitch]

Couple of new pics. Most of the plug and play engine loom is done now and I'm dropping the prop parts off today to get a custom one made up.

Got some SSR Professors for it, just need a buyer for my Rota Fighters to fund them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/SSRtrialfit.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/SSRtrialfit2.jpg

I went for 8.5J wheels on the front to allow more clearance for lock. There's plenty of room until the wheel hits the tension rod and the lock stops are still fitted, so there's scope for more angle if required.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Spacersonly.jpg

[pdh 14a]

Looks brilliant! good work on that :thumbs:

[Teggers]

Oooh! always been a fan of the Cef's (since I first saw one anyway!!) Looking good there. Solid base to work with (the front arch would bug the hell out of me though until I fixed it up) and, from what I can see, looking tasty on the SSR's :thumbs:

[ZXSpectrum]

Looking good mitch.. What happened to the Grid Drifts?

[Mitch]

I still have them. They're virtually unused apart from getting the 180 mapped on the rollers.

Teggers, the arches will be repaired but there is plenty of other stuff to do before that. Propshaft should be ready by midweek, so things should move a little more quickly if I get my act together.

[ZXSpectrum]

If you are interested in selling matey give me a shout...

[Ady682]

liking this, always had a soft spot for cef's

[IKRAM]

Very nice, I quite like the look of it. I think we need more info on this "amazing rust treatment stuff" :)

[Mitch]

Not sure I'm allowed to hand info out. I know it's expensive and used for industrial and military applications...Maybe I should start a parts refreshing service with it :D

[Mitch]

Been properly lazy with this and it sat on the ramps for 2-3 months having nothing done. Decided a that I needed to pull my finger out and get it working so knocked up some intercooler pipes and brackets and a mount for the rad amongst other things. Fitted a Z32 AFM and a set of Nismo 740's and the Nistuned ECU from the 180 ready for firing up/setting on fire if my wiring was wrong.

Moose came over to sort the exhaust on his S13 and I thought I'd crack on with the Cef as it was a nice day. I had problems with the Walbro dying and the ECU not grounding out the fuel pump relay and some dodgy FPR stuff, but after a few false starts with the aid of some carb cleaner it eventually roared into life under its own power.

Considering the Nistune was mapped on the 180 with different injectors etc, it runs really well. I'm really chuffed as I had properly lost interest in the car and it was destined to sit around for a few more months if it had many more propblems. As it is, it appears that all the wiring to convert the loom while leaving it intact has worked. Now if I smash the car, the lump, loom and ECU can be lifted out and fitted to an S13 in no time.

Took a quick vid of it running...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/th_Cefirofirstfireup.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/?action=view&current=Cefirofirstfireup.mp4)

Now it's running, the rest is just trivia :nod::wack:

[Mitch]

I've pulled my finger out and done a little more to it this week. I thought I'd best find a way of expelling the gases to the outside of the car so I didn't kill myself...I looked into Ross' S14.3 at Mallory for a bit of inspiration and went for it.

Popped into Japspeed earlier in the week and picked up some back boxes while I was collecting a couple of other parts. Cheers Paul and Ed :thumbs:

Chose the one that looked the best fit and welded the V band clamp on...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirosideexhaust4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirosideexhaust5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirosideexhaust2.jpg

Marked the door then went for the point of no return...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirosideexhaust6.jpg

And whaddya know-the hole matched the pipe :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirosideexhaust7.jpg

The end stuck out a bit much so it needed a bit of trimming...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirosideexhaust8.jpg

Just need to make the hanger brackets and it's pretty much there. Then I need to get some more heat wrap and sound deadening on and box it in ...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirosideexhaust.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/mitchyc/A31%20Cefiro%20drift%20project/Cefirosideexhaust3.jpg

Sounds pretty good, so I'm well chuffed with it. I also did a few other bits like refitting all the flocked interior and a Sparco Pro2000 that I've had in the garage for a couple of years with some side rails I bought recently, and the first setting I put it on is pretty much perfect and is super comfy. I bled the brakes and clutch but they need doing again really, and fitted some R888's to the fronts and some others to the rears along with some spacers. I think the backs need a little less spacering so will do a bit of swapping this week. There are a few more trivial jobs to do and then get the Nistune mapped and alignment set up, and it'll be good to go.

[ross86]

Just seen this mitch gd progress man im a big fan of these so cnt wait to see it finished pal :-)