And now for the rest of the story...
I guess this all starts 6 months ago with PLAN A: we got a wild stick up our ass to build a new engine for the #58 car. Needless to say, the pistons arrived just a few days before we were to leave so that engine build has been postponed. Onto PLAN B: Get a SR20VET to put in the # 58 car. Turned out that the engine had a head gasket that had failed. Ok. So PLAN Crap: Get a SR20VE 8H6 to put in the #58 car. Shipping company delivers the engine a week late with more excuses then you can count so I ended up buying a SR20VE 1N5 for an additional backup plan.
OK! So now we have to get the SR20VE 8H6 put in. Now the challenge is we forgot that the 8H6 uses a Fly-by-Wire Throttle Body. Order a 80mm TB and Xcessive Intake Plenum to fit the 80mm TB and the SR20VE 8H6 intake runner and use a 53J TPS. A quick trip to JWT for a POP charger and a quick trip to CX to get some aluminium pipes to rig up an intake and we now have an engine in the car with a complete intake.
With the Engine in, the 20V header does not clear our radiator that has a gangsta lean to it. After reshaping (banging the F out of) the heat shield it now fits - however getting a flange to make a down pipe is not happening. Thx to Klutch we were able to get a header and ended up ditching the exhaust.
Fueling stayed the same, however bolting the Xcessive plenum on the 20V runner does create an issue where the fuel rail bolts in.
Electrical got a minor overhaul with the relocation of the alternator to the rear (2 days later) and a few new gauges. Engine control was upgrade to a MicroSquirt and Shaggy put together a real nice harness to incorporate the OEM CAS and COP setup. With all of this done, we headed to see Chris @ West End Alignment in Gardena, CA to get the alignment dialed in.
Wednesday Morning: Off to the Dyno we go for tuning. On out first trip we had an ignition coil fail. CRAP! Easy find right? NOT! After several calls, we found a few. Only problem is that I'm an hour south of the dyno and need to go 2 hrs north of the dyno to get the coil and still get the #74 car to West End which is 2-1/2 hr north of the dyno. After getting all of that running around done the car still needed to hit the dyno. On Dyno trip 2 (Thursday AM) we got a decent baseline but the UR water pump pulley failed us 10 minutes in. So we pack it up and head back to Shags for some quick repairs before getting on the road and heading to WCC.
Mind you when all of this is still going on, we still have the #74 car that blew a radiator out coming of the alignment rack. Luckily, we packed 2 spare radiators. In fact, I packed 2 spare of everything that I could find including transmissions, starters, Dizzys, ECUs and more.
It's now 11:30 pm Thursday and we are finally getting our little convoy on the road. WOOHOO!
3:00 am Friday the Torque Converter lets go on Shagg's truck towing the toy box and and # 58 car 7 miles from the Hotel. After circling back around and determining that is was not the Engine I headed to the hotel to unload the # 74 car. I was able to get hold of Steve as he had been just in front of me and we swapped my trailer over to his truck. We headed back to Shaggy on the side of the road and use the Sprinter to tow his truck and trailer off the freeway to the water front stopping ground that we found a few exits up off the freeway. I could not believe that the Sprinter was able to tow his ENTIRE rig without a problem. After swapping my trailer back onto the Sprinter and the car onto to trailer we headed back to the hotel arriving at 5:30am. With a 1/2 hour to spare, I grabbed a quick shower and headed to Buttonwilllow to unload the #58 car and turned back around to pickup the #74 car from the hotel. A quick stop at VatoZone to grab a few parts and we headed back to the track. By 11am we had both cars running and now it was time to get out on the track.
Both cars performed great. I also took the 97 GLE out on the track for several laps too and I had truly forgotten just how quick the turbo spools on that car. Getting out onto the track I was spinning the tires straight through 4th gear. Quite a blast.
By the end of the day, it was 2 trips back to the hotel to get the cars back. JB was able to get the MS Lab from the water front resort back to the hotel.
The next morning it was 2 more trips to Famoso. Thou we did not drag the #58 or #74 cars, I did take the 97 GLE down the strip. The was the first time that the car had ever been on a drag strip as well as my first time since the 90's being on a drag strip. My first trip was against Luis from Mexico. I was sleeping at the line (literally) but managed to pull off a win. The second trip was against a boosted Civic Si and pulled a win there too. The third trip was not only the best time but the most rewarding. I was up against a big marine in his Cobra Mustang. He was rev'n the crap out of his engine at the line. His buddies where laughing when they saw the Sentra vs the Mustang. I got a decent reaction time and manged a win with 1.2 or 1.3 seconds to spare. "Grandmas Sentra" kicked some serious ass. So, after 3 trips I managed a 13.3 (IIRC) on street tires and 10 psi at 107+ MPH. I'm more than happy with that but know that the car can get into the 12's with a little more practice quite easily.
By the end of the day, #58 found a lift home via AAA 200 mile towing. The #74 was back on the trailer. The 97 GLE drove home flawlessly.
The next morning on our way home, we ran into a SS Camaro as we were just starting up the Grapevine. After a quick blast to 120 MPH, the Camaro bowed it's head in respect. Seconds later a R35 Skyline was ready to play. I can't lie. It was close. REAL CLOSE! I was ahead of him by 1/2 a car up to 7800 RPM in 5th when I ran out of trans. I have no idea how fast that was as the GLE Speedometer only goes to 130 MPH. The GLE handled flawlessly and I could not of been happier. Well, a longer 5th would have been nice.
It was great to see everyone - especially the faces that I have not seen in probably 10+ years, Mike K, Frank O, Chuck J and many others. Hanging out with like minded people is always a great way to spend a weekend. I wish I had packed more spare parts to help people out with but we should be much more organized next time. I will post more pics and some videos as time permits.
Well, those are some of lowlights and highlights of the weekend. Thanks to everyone the came and participated.
Thanks for reading and comments and questions are all welcome.
~LAM-PARK aka LamChops
Originally Posted by nissansr20nx 
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