Geo's SE-R

 
 
The Purchase
Mailing List
Web Sites
The Mods
The Beast
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Ode to an SE-R
 
 
The Purchase
Mailing List
Web Sites
The Mods
The Beast
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The Purchase:

In the early spring of 1991, my Honduh CRX was getting old fast.  I had already replaced the head since the cam broke on the old one! The new(er) head dropped a valve a week before I bought the SE-R, but I am getting ahead of myself.   I started looking around seriously at a new ride in early March.  I had been wanting an Acura Integra for some time and was sure that would be my new ride.  I had heard that Nissan had come out with a special, performance version, of their new Sentra.  In fact I had recently seen one at an auto show.

I decided that I should at least drive some other cars before buying the Integra.  Then I drove the SE-R.  I only drove it about a mile when it was already giving me a grin.  Within 5 minutes I knew I had to have this car.  Low and behold, would you believe I bought the one that was actually on display (and roped off) at the auto show!

This car is easily the best one I've owned in my 21 years of driving.  It currently (3/28/98) has almost 131,000 miles on the clock.  The following are the only repairs I've had to make to this car beside normal maintenance:

 
 
 
The Purchase
Mailing List
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Mailing List:

In January of 1997 (just after turning 100,000 miles on New Year's Eve) I first went on-line on the internet.  On a whim, I tried a search for Nissan SE-R.  I was surprised at the wealth of information I found.  The mailing list and the various web sites have saved me a tremendous amount of money and I've made some very good friends through the mailing list.

If you are reading this and are not yet a subscriber to the SE-R Mailing List and would like to be, just follow the link provided here.  Beware.  When I joined the mailing list my car was almost completely stock.  I had just purchased my wheels and tires (more about mods below).  In the year that followed, I did mod after mod after mod.  Most of them were never really planned before I joined the list.  Once you get on it, it's amazing how a stock SE-R can seem like it's not enough anymore.

Don't despair.  A stock SE-R is still quite an impressive machine.  Rick Zotz and I swapped rides after breakfast on the way to Texas Rally III.  His car is back to stock, and I must say I am very, very, impressed with a stock SE-R.  I fell in love with it all over again.  It had been almost a year since I had driven a stock SE-R and its refined speed just amazed me.
 
 

 
The Purchase
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Web Sites:

If you own an SE-R, or want to find out much more about them there are several web sites that should be on your priority list to visit.
 

  
 
These two point to one and the same place.  Choose either link you like.  This is the real hub of information regarding the SE-R and all of the other cars powered by the SR20DE and SR20DET engines.

You should also seriously consider joining the SE-R Club of America or SERCA.  Please click on the logo to visit the SERCA web site.  SERCA is dedicated to bringing SE-R enthusiasts together, along with the owners of other SR20DE and SR20DET powered cars.

Other must visit sites are:

    The SE-R FAQ (frequently asked questions)  Many thanks to Ron Chong

 
 

 
The Purchase
Mailing List
Web Sites
The Mods
The Beast
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The Mods:

Like I said in the mailing list section:  the list can be dangerous.  I had never planned engine mods to this car before I found the list.  I actually never even planned an exhaust mod!  Since the original lasted over 100k miles, I figured I'd just buy another factory exhaust.  Then I found the list........
 

People often ask me about the offset and the weight of the wheels.  I don't know.  I didn't ask about the weight, but the offset is 35mm..  My old tires (BFG Euro T/As in the same size) were not a super high performance tire, but that's OK with me.  I don't compete with my car, and I certainly don't street race.  The tires are predictable and fun.  They also wear like iron.  I got more miles (~37,000 and I bought them used) out of them than any of the Dunlop D60A2s that I used to run on the stock wheels.  As of this date (6/14/98) I've had the Yokohama A520 tires for two days and it's too early to report on them.

Update:  (9/4/98)  I finally got a chance to really test the new tires, especially in the rain.  In the dry, the A520s squeal when pushed.  It's rather embarrassing since I'm really not pushing that hard when they start to squeal.  It kind of inhibits hustling the car along unless I am getting serious about it.  I see no need to get, ah, legal attention when I'm not even pushing very hard.  The upside is that they are pretty predictable and certainly do communicate well via feel.  In the rain they are really impressive.  We've finally had some rain in Texas and when it came, it was more like an act of God.  Both times I've driven in heavy rain, it was on the freeway.  I am very impressed.  When the tires started to aquaplane, they hunted more than just giving up grip.  It's the first time I've really felt anything like it with a front wheel drive car.  Every other FWD car I've had (and tire combinations), when they started to aquaplane, they just gave up the grip.  Not so with the A520s.  It really is confidence inspiring since they communicate very well before losing grip altogether.  The limit is high enough that it will probably be awhile before I really find the wet limit in these.  Overall, I'd recommend these tires.  We'll see how long they last.  I'd better get at least 25,000 miles out of them or they won't go back on the car.  So far it's looking pretty good.
 

 
 I also get asked about the Random Technology Cat.  I replaced it at the same time as the intake, header, and exhaust, so I don't know if it makes a difference.  It certainly costs less than the OEM Cat.  The combination made an immediate, and very noticeable, difference.  The GReddy exhaust gets a little loud at times (for me with passengers in the car).  It's generally pretty quiet for an aftermarket exhaust and can be very quiet if you don't "get on it."
 
 
The brakes are vastly improved.  I was disappointed that the SS lines didn't seem to firm up the pedal any more than they did.  It was a minor improvement and wouldn't be on my priority list of mods for this car.  The AD22VF brakes make a big difference though.  If you're inclined towards drag racing I don't recommend them because of the weight.  If' you are inclined towards road racing however (and good street performance) they are great.  Add a good set of pads and they will really get you slowed down.  If you do this mod, I wrote up a procedure for removing the dust shield from the hub that is on SE-R.net.  I also kept the SE-R master cylinder.  I read several accounts on the mailing list that the NX2000 master cylinder presented a softer pedal.  When I installed mine at Texas Rally I, I drove Tim Boles car with the same brakes, but the master cylinder from the NX.  The pedal was definitely softer.  I've also since then adjusted my pedal under the dash.  This improved the feel greatly.  It's a 10 minute job and made a big difference (your mileage may vary).
 
 
I like the Eibach/Tokico combination reasonably well.  The Tokicos seem somewhat under dampened on rebound for my tastes.  At first this was really noticeable, but they seemed to have settled down.  All in all they are a decent compromise for a street car.  Add the Suspension Technique sway bars and the Strut Tie Bar (or Strut Tower Bar/Brace) and you have a fairly flat cornering SE-R.  This is the most common aftermarket suspension set-up for the SE-R.  At the same time that handling is improved, the ride remains reasonably complient.  You do have to beware of speed bumps and other obstacles though.  See Rick Zotz's site for more information about this mod.  Thanks again Rick for your incredible help.
 
 
 
Update 3/7/00:  I installed a prototype Nu Tech adjustable rear swaybar over the weekend.  I haven't had a chance to drive on it yet, but hope to soon and I will give my impressions here.  I have a photo of the end links (the main difference) and am putting it here so people can see it.  I will add more later.
 
 
 
The Jim Wolf ECU was a mod that made a noticeable difference right away.  I had planned on doing this last, but got a really good deal when Mike Gadaria replaced his engine with a SR20DET (yes a real one).  I bought his old engine and his JWT ECU as a package.  It took me awhile to get around to putting it in.  When I did, it felt (seat of the pants) like it made almost as much difference as the intake, header, and exhaust.  Throttle response is very crisp now.  There are none of the days where the engine just seems lethargic like it used to.  What I mean is that some days it ran great, and others not so well.  Every day it seems to run pretty much the same now (great!).

The Stillen shifter is still not installed in the car.  I've had it about 8 months now (3/28/98) and just haven't gotten around to it.  One of the reasons is that my car spent its first 4 years in Upstate New York and I am concerned about getting the nuts off the Cat heat shield bolts.  I'll let you know how it goes.  I was never sure about this mod.  Sounded great, but was it worth the money?  At Texas Rally II I drove Matt Trostel's car with the Stillen shifter and immediately knew I needed to have one.  The difference in the feel is amazing.

Update:  (5/16/98)  Last weekend I finally got around to intalling the shifter.  It really was a snap.  Months ago I treated all of the Cat heat shield nuts with Naval Jelly a number of times.  After I treated the nuts with the Naval Jelly, I treated them additionally with WD40 several times.  The day before installation I treated them one more time.  When I finally started taking them off, I proceeded very slowly.  There are five nuts that hold on the heat shield.  Of the five, three nuts came off cleanly, one snapped while half way off, and one snapped off almost immediately.  The one that snapped off immediately was the one that holds the two shields together.  That was OK since it would not have been used anyway when reassembled.  The one that snapped while half way off, left enough threads to get a lock nut on it (whew!).

Taking off the nuts, as I said, went pretty well.  I eased them off slowly.  When they seemed to bind, I reverted to tightening them a little, sprayed some more WD40, brushed it with an old toothbrush, sprayed again, and let it set.  After a short time, I went back to easing them off.  I repeated this process as often as necessary (fairly often).  The nut that snapped off half way did so because I got a little cocky and impatient.  Word to the wise:  don't get impatient.

I have been living with the shifter for a week now.  It is all that I remember it to be.  I highly recommend a short shifter.  I was a little concerned because some Stillen Shifters were known to buzz.  In addition, mine had a little slop in the spherical bearing.  Rick Zotz gave me a lot of tips for installation.  All of these tips are things other people have done to stop the buzzing.  First, I loaded up the bearing with lots of heavy duty lithium grease.  Second, I used a tungsten carbide bit in a Dremel tool to enlarge the openning where the shifter bolts on.  Additionally, I used tie-wraps to hold the shift boot tightly against the shift knob.  I also bent the heat shield to increase the clearance for the shift rods because the short shifter extends further below the mounting point than the stock shifter.  One last thing of note:  I have heard from owners of the Pacesetter shifter that it buzzes too.

As I said before, the difference in feel is amazing.  I never would have thought a short shifter would make the car as enjoyable as it does.  Do yourself a favor and drive a car that has one.  You'll have to own one too.

This past summer (1998) I was scrounging some wrecking yards with a few of the local guys and just happened to mention that I ought to add cruise control when we ran into a car that had it.  Jon Hall (of Serious Performance) said it was easy.  Just plug and play.  It turned out it wasn't quite that easy (it is on a 93/94 SE-R if you got one without cruise and decide to add it later).  The engine bay wiring harness is the same whether you have cruise or not.  Those items are just plug and play.  The main wiring harness, however, is different.  I found this out after I spent $50 on parts.

After getting over the dejection, I starting looking at the FSM and started believing I could pull this off.  I spent most every weeknight for a couple of weeks looking at the wiring diagram, believing more and more that I could pull this off.  I kept looking for things I was missing.  When I finally was sure I understood all of the wiring, I made copies of the wiring diagram and used white-out to "erase" the wires shown that I didn't care about.  This made things easier.

I had to make another trip to the wrecking yard to pick up some things I missed the first time and then I was ready.  It took me about 6 hours to install everything and splice in all of the wires.  In the end, I spent $135 for used parts and spent probably 40 hours studying and installing it.  I've since created what I think is an easier to understand wiring diagram that is on SE-R.net.  I think that the installation can be done in about 6 hours with about and hour or two to study the wiring diagram.

If you are interested in installing cruise control in your 1991 SE-R, follow this link to SE-R.net for a more complete description of what is involved, a parts list, and the wiring diagram.  If you have any questions, please drop me a note.  Good luck.

Update: (3/7/00)  I finally put together my gauge install.  The gagues are SPI guages (water temp, oil temp, oil pressure).  The SPI gauges are truly aircraft quality gauges.  The housings and bezels are one piece and machined from billet and anodized.  They can make custom colors (face, numerals, and pointers) as well as do custom illumination.  I am still working with them to match the factory illumination, so they will have to come out and get sent back.  Also, the radio in this photo is just sitting there.  I am working on brackets to hold it securely in place. Also below is a fixture that was made for me by a friend to mount the water temperature sending unit.  To insert this piece, you simply cut the radiator outlet hose and insert the fixture.  Use hose clamps to secure the fixture and insert the sending unit using Teflon goo to seal the threads.  The fixture must also be grounded to allow the gauge to function.
 

 
 
 
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The Beast:

The Beast is the normally aspirated SR20DE engine I am building.  It will be the same as the one Mike Kojima built for Project SE-R in Sport Compact Car magazine.  The only difference is that Mike has the low port head, and I've got the high port head .  Here's the run down of what The Beast is going to get:

All of this plus Nology plug wires and a cold air intake have produced 164.1 horsepower at the wheels of Mike's car.  That's over 193 bhp at the crank.  Two hundred bhp should not be out of the question with a little more tweaking.
 
 
I am writing a series of articles chronicling the build up of The Beast.  Follow the link to the table of contents.
 
 

 
 

All text copyright George D. Roffe 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
All photos (except The Beast and shifter comparison) copyright Rick Zotz 1997 used by permission
The Beast  and shifter comparison photos copyright George D. Roffe 1998