1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R - Transforming A Classic SE-R From Vermin House To Power House

Since the Nissan is going to be an all-around car with handling capabilities to match its straight-line speed, we helped our weight distribution by relocating the battery to the trunk with a Moroso relocation kit. On small FWD cars, this makes a noticable difference in handling; moving the battery's 30 pounds from the front of the car to the back improves weight distribution.

An Optima red top gel cell battery was used for safety reasons. The Optima won't spew acid in a crash and can be placed in any direction. It also does not vent acidic, corrosive gas as it charges.

With the interior sanitized and smelling much better, our car was no longer a health hazard. A cherry, used low-mileage JDM engine from Soken, a local engine importer, was bought for the bargain price of $375 so Project SE-R could get rolling under its own power again.

Before bolting our engine to our tranny, we installed a heavy-duty Stage 3 clutch and a lightweight 11-pound aluminum flywheel from Jim Wolf Technology (JWT) in anticipation of our future turbo kit. The JWT clutch features a hard-holding metallic puck friction material on the pressure plate side with a smooth-engaging organic side on the flywheel side of the disc. The JWT pressure plate has 40 percent more clamping force than stock to go with this composite disc.

An Unorthodox Racing's CNC-machined, billet aluminum underdrive pulley set was also added. This pulley set has been dyno proven to add 6 wheel hp to the SR20. As a side advantage, the UD pulleys also help with a classic SR20 weakness. The SR20's water pump cavitates at about 6500 rpm. This makes track-driven SR20s prone to overheating. The UD pulley reduces the water pump drive speed and makes the engine a lot less likely to overheat when the car is roadraced.

We also took this opportunity to polish our valve cover and re-plumb our engine's vacuum lines with high-temperature Hose Techniques Silicone hose.

To make the faded and battered body look somewhat presentable, we enlisted the help of Brian Kono of After Hours Automotive. Brian color-sanded and buffed the faded paint that had been scorched from sitting outside for several years. Although the paint was still not really 100 percent, it was good enough to look decent from 10 feet away.

Brian replaced our dented and smashed rear deck with a new, genuine Nissan deck. In doing so, he noted that our car had been hit hard from behind and poorly repaired. The rear frame was bent and the previous decklid had not closed right. Brian straightened the back part of the chassis on a frame machine.

New rear taillights and a back panel with clear turn signals and no amber sections from a Mexican Tsuru supplied by Mossy Performance were used to give the rear of the car a fresh look.

In Mexico, the B13 was produced until the year 2000 and sold under the name Tsuru instead of Sentra. This long production run of the B13 for the Mexican and Canadian market is why Nissan freaks often refer to the B13 as the Classic. Mossy Performance is the high-performance division of Mossy Nissan, a large chain of Nissan dealerships in the San Diego area.

Since the B13 has a horrible 0.42 drag coefficient and a lift-producing boxy shape, we decided functional aerodynamic aids were needed. Fiber Images supplied a carbon-fiber rear wing for the car. The wing is made of Carbon Kevlar and has a red Kevlar weave to complement our car's red paint. The wing also has a true aerodynamic profile so it is capable of actually providing badly needed downforce.