Ben's N12 ET Turbo [Updated Pics 2018]

[KiloooNL]

Name: Ben
Location: Adelaide, SA
Year/ Model: 1986 N12 ET Turbo
Colour: Silver
Period of ownership: Since Dec 2015

About:
I recently blew the head gasket in my N12 N/A. I've had the NA for about 5 years now, and I have wanted an ET for a damn long time. So I said f**k it, I'm getting one!!!

I bought the ET in Victoria, drove a good 600km for it. But I got it at a steal of $1300. The paint is mint, body is mint, no rust anywhere except for a small spot on the hatch.

The owner repaired the car as it had a blown head gasket, with a new machined head and rebuilt it from the head up.

Being able to register it in SA was a bit of a process, and I did a lot of work before I took it over to regency to ensure it would pass inspection (albiet a simple ID inspection, I didn't want to give them anything else to notice).

I passed inspection and registered the car in SA. Let the ET Journey begin.

Performance:
- Unknown. Stock Standard.
- Custom Strut Brace

Engine Mods:
- Head gasket replaced at 308xxx KM's, machined head.
- 2.5" Catback Exhaust System
- T25 running 10psi.
- AFM Relocation
- Front Mount Intercooler 450x180x50
- Walbro 255 Fuel Pump
- N12 gearbox with N13 internals

Interior Mods:
- N14 SSS Steering Wheel
- Replaced interior map light with a white LED
- 2 x 4" Sony Speakers at rear
- Sony Xplod head unit.
- Boost Gauge mounted next to CD player

Exterior Mods:
Nothing yet

Wheels:
- 15" King Wheel Dakota Hyper Machined Rims
- 185x65 Tyres

Future Plans:
- Custom airbox for AFM relo.
- 3" Dump to suit T25
- Microtech MT-8 ECU
- King Springs Suspension Setup
- New sound system
- Wideband o2 sensor

Pics:

Exterior:

Engine Bay:

Stock:

After:

N14 SSS Steering Wheel:

[15exa]

looks good

[The Renegade]

Call it "The Angry Nana"

Subtle on the outside, same colour as a nana's hair rinse, but a fighting shandy drinker underneath.

[KiloooNL]

Call it "The Angry Nana"

Subtle on the outside, same colour as a nana's hair rinse, but a fighting shandy drinker underneath.

Haha... that's actually quite fitting, I like it. The owner I bought it off, purchased it from a Nanny. She gave the car up when the head gasket went... so he fixed it up and sold it to me.

[txateu]

I vote for angry nana too. Change the we heels to 13inch hub caps and your all sorted.

[KiloooNL]

I vote for angry nana too. Change the we heels to 13inch hub caps and your all sorted.

I do actually have the stock 14" rims. The car had them on when I bought it, but it wasn't till I got home I realized the tyres were 11yrs old!!! And one went flat after 2 days. Scary thought driving home 5-600km like that!

The current wheels are off my NA (they compliment the white paint better than silver!), once I get new tyres for the stockies they'll go back on.

[KiloooNL]

A lot of stuff has been going on behind the scenes. I have a lot of pics to get around to uploading as well as some mod/build/fix logs.

Gone are the days where owning the N12 N/A was a blissful experience, as those little NA engines never had bloody issues!!! ET's on the other hand... boy oh boy!!

Anyway, a new 2.5" catback exhaust is being installed tomorrow to replace the stock zorst which is giving me major issues as I've now blown the exhaust manifold gasket for the 3rd time!!! In goes a flex pipe.

I'll try to update with pix from December to now when I get the time.

[KiloooNL]

So much more has been going on... I really should be updating this thread but I get lazy and end up with a large backlog of pics haha.

The new 2.5" catback zorst sounds great, stopped many annoying rattles. I had to send it straight back to the shop as I couldn't get into 2nd gear!!! The guys install the exhaust in the way of the shifter and putting it into 2nd would have the shifter HARD up against the exhaust.

They fixed that free of charge (as they should have) and it was OK for a while.
Now it's started to rub against one of the shifter supports and vibrates like crazy when the car is around 1500 rpm right under the footwell.

Exhaust manifold is finally good after replacing the gasket for the 6th time in a few months. Flex pipe, machining it flat, NO gasket goo were the ultimate solutions.

There is a nice before & after video I made up, comparing the stock & aftermarket exhaust.

I still need a new cat, Evan is making me up a dump pipe which is gonna be killer.

Other than that, I have been sorting out small issues here and there. I am nearly ready to go mod frenzy.
I have the following ready so far:
- T25 Turbo with T25G Exhaust Wheel
- AFM Relocation bits (steel plates for the coolant channels when the log goes, pod filter, a custom made airbox for the pod filter)
- A nice FMIC, smaller than most, but will definitely be effective over no IC!
- 2 1/4" Ally Piping for the IC and associated silicone hoses to go with it.
- An N13 gearbox and also a spare ET Gearbox. I intend to do the popular, 'drop the guts into the et box' modification.
- Some King Spring Super Low springs & shocks - score at $100!!!

I have since replaced the SAAS racing wheel with an N14 SSS steering wheel, direct bolt-on mod and looks a million times better!

Just waiting on a few more bits n bobs, then I'm ready to go.
That's a brief update for now!!

[The Renegade]

Nice one buddy.

[KiloooNL]

Little update.
I got 2 10" radiator fans and installed them today. At the moment they are just running in series and boy! you can't even hear them come on.

This is step 1 of my mods done, this allows me to now install the intercooler as the stock fan was just way too thick.
I have a week off work coming up so I'm going full throttle on the mods. More to come...

[Ztealth]

Can't wait to see the update!

[KiloooNL]

Alright, here we go! Update 1.

Here's a few pics of the T2 vs T25 with T25g exhaust housing/wheel for comparison.

Bye bye, little T2!!!

And hello, T25!

Log removed. I've made up blanking plates but they are not in this pic.

Relocating the AFM cable, tore down the whole loom. 30yr old leccy tape sure is sticky stuff.

This is a cold air reg. off an RB30 engine. I'm using this for cold start and hopefully I can adjust the valve once warm to idle happily. See how it goes, otherwise I'll have to rig something else up.

Started on the IC install today, finished off piping. Just need to attach hose clamps, make a bottom mount for the IC and it should be OK.
I welded up a short pipe with a bung for the cold air reg vacuum hose just to the left of the throttle body there.

Enjoy!

I'm using 2 1/4" ally piping here. As you can see I have avoided cutting the body up to route piping. It fits nicely as is, and with the front lip body kit back on you can't even see it hanging at the bottom. There's no ground clearance issues either.

More to come.

[KiloooNL]

Much more has been in the works, I need time to update this thread. Some exciting stuff is happening!
I will do my best to update when time permits!!

[The Renegade]

Roger that! Looking forward to see the end product

[KiloooNL]

So continuing from where I left off last, here's a picture of the piping going under the front chassis. There's about 5mm clearance gap between the piping and the chassis, leaving enough room for engine movement.

Instead of just attaching the silicone hoses to each individual pipe for the intercooler piping, I welded up this little tool.
I cut a short length of tube in half and tack welded it to some vice grips, so I could make some lips at the ends of each pipe.
Here's a few pics:

And here's a pic of the engine bay after the job was complete (mind all the tools )

More to come...