28 replies to this topic

[StratosWRC]

I love the Autoart Fairlady, really awesome in every way and hard to come by these days. Found one locally for a decent price as I've been wanting to do this engine swap for a while. Here is the model prior to violation







And here's the 1:1 inspiration for this build. It's got almost 500 whp (if not more) which must be insane in such a small car.



Engine 3D printed from 3broductions superscale on Instagram. It's okay... I say if you're looking to get one, wait until the TKDiecast version comes out. It'll be much better











Quick dry fit to assess how cramped things are







Pretty cramped, so I decided to expand the bay a bit





Having done that I started painting engine bits with Molotow Chrome over gloss black









I sanded the engine down (super important with 3D printed parts as the surface looks like a turd) and drilled out a hole on the valve cover for a different oil cap from TK Diecast that I'll be using



painted



For the wheels I decided to go with Work Equip 40 from TK, painted in semi gloss gun metal over gloss black and molotow around the edge







Barrels - same story, primer > gloss black > molotow chrome





This should look nice





Hoping to coat the Molotow with this, which apparently preserves the shine



Then some Alclad Candy Yellow to make the turbo hot side look like it's been treated with gold heat coating like in the 1:1



I'm thinking of a nice wine colour for the interior



Also, here is what happened when I sprayed a chrome part with 2K clear. It definitely dulled the finish. Just Molotow left, 2K clear right

Edited by StratosWRC, 23 December 2020 - 07:47 AM.

[Advertisement]

[RSIevolution]

I like the idea a lot!!! The engine will look very nice in there. Unfortunately chrome spray hates clear coats... Keep going, don't let this stop you.

[StratosWRC]

RSIevolution, on 23 December 2020 - 10:38 AM, said:

I like the idea a lot!!! The engine will look very nice in there. Unfortunately chrome spray hates clear coats... Keep going, don't let this stop you.

Oh I already resprayed the intake manifold and it looks even better now. Just wanted to show what the clear coat did. According to the forums the Alclad Klear Kote Gloss (horrible name lol) doesn't dull the shine, so we'll see...

[Alex SZ1996]

interesting build. that 3D printed engine looks pretty good, will definitely look great with paint.

[D N'D-Land]

Wow, Wes, you've been BUSY! Looking forward to seeing how this one comes out!!

[StratosWRC]

Alex SZ1996, on 23 December 2020 - 01:07 PM, said:

interesting build. that 3D printed engine looks pretty good, will definitely look great with paint.

Yep hopefully

D N, on 23 December 2020 - 06:05 PM, said:

Wow, Wes, you've been BUSY! Looking forward to seeing how this one comes out!!

Aye I have! A man needs a hobby haha

[StratosWRC]

Engine painted



Turbo painted





Detailed





Intake manifold





Also toying with this ignition coil cover idea which at the moment isn't going very well



Now the interior - splash paints Burgundy



Kept spraying light coats until the desired shade was achieved, and I wanted it to be quite dark



Perfect!



Pop the interior back in









Much more classy I think.

[StratosWRC]

Back to the engine. First attempt





Didn't like that  corrugated wire very much so I went with a tried and true shrink tube method instead. Oh and the rad needed a fan





Second attempt. This time including HKS ignition module with gauge, catch can, throttle linkage, warning labels etc.



Battery



Throttle linkage cable



Cone filter



Pretty happy so far. Not too extra and not too demure either. Still missing a turbo down pipe and maybe a couple other things.



Unfortunately the hood hinges had to go to make room. I tested the hood clearance and it fits fine on top.





Attached one of the wheels as well.





Waiting on a blowoff valve and hks decal from TK and need to do the wheels meanwhile and pay some attention to the underbody. Finish line in sight.

[Alex SZ1996]

the interior color looks good and quite fitting. but the engine is very the business is, it looks very nice already.

[RSIevolution]

Great looking engine and the new seats color is lovely! Nice and sweet work!!!

[spikyone]

Epic engine work as always Wes, I think I like the interior even more - gorgeous colour choice

[StratosWRC]

Alex SZ1996, on 25 February 2021 - 01:15 PM, said:

the interior color looks good and quite fitting. but the engine is very the business is, it looks very nice already.

Thanks Alex, I do tend to spend the most time on the engine haha

RSIevolution, on 26 February 2021 - 02:13 AM, said:

Great looking engine and the new seats color is lovely! Nice and sweet work!!!

thank you sir

spikyone, on 26 February 2021 - 04:09 AM, said:

Epic engine work as always Wes, I think I like the interior even more - gorgeous colour choice

thank you, yeah I knew I wanted some kind of dark red and splashpaints seemingly read my mind and introduced a new range of interior colours and this was one of them.

[Craig]

Top work there Wes!! Really nice!!

[StratosWRC]

Craig, on 26 February 2021 - 02:49 PM, said:

Top work there Wes!! Really nice!!

Thanks Craig!

[StratosWRC]

Turbo downpipe



Molotow chrome over gloss black



Then Alclad yellow plus a rivet for the clamp



Wastegate from TKdiecast





And a super tiny HKS decal



One on the fuel rail as well





Nismo decal on the intercooler



Gauge decal with Microscale Kristal Klear



Downpipe and wastegate complete



Another catch can, and the engine is complete!





And here is the 1:1 I used as inspiration





Now to the underbody, to take care of the exhaust, and then wheels.

[RSIevolution]

Well done, it looks very nice, all the details are welll done and looks functional! These tiny decals make big difference!

[StratosWRC]

RSIevolution, on 15 March 2021 - 02:53 AM, said:

Well done, it looks very nice, all the details are welll done and looks functional! These tiny decals make big difference!

Thank you!

[StratosWRC]

Now off to the wheels. I attached them - although the stance took some time. The rear wheels need to be tucked and the fronts need to have a healthy gap, otherwise the car looks like the front suspension collapsed. Haven't attached the calipers fully yet so disregard those





And now with the hardtop, which I vastly prefer I have to say













Satisfied with that, so now it's on to the final step - the exhaust.

[BaseGTR]

Yeah man totally loving the engine work and those wheels suit it so much.

[jandro_f1]

Wow! A top class work, congrats. Really like the color in the interior and the wheels are the perfect ones. With that engine, I will always have that hood open 24/7.

Edited by jandro_f1, 16 March 2021 - 02:49 PM.

[StratosWRC]

Thanks guys

[genkov4336]

Great details. One of the best modeler in this forum. Top engine work and congratulation for your amazing skills.

[wrx_triggerhappy]

GOOD. LORD.....errrmmmaawwwwwwdddddddd

Wes, this is amazing work. I have dreams of one day modifying my models....and then I see this an I say to myself...dreams are nice....dreams are nice. Your skills are amazing man!! Can't wait to see the updates on this!

[StratosWRC]

Haha thanks Sam. I don't know if you were around for my first few builds but let's just say it took a lot of trial and error to get to this point and it's still nowhere near perfect.

[StratosWRC]

Okay so I started on the exhaust. Having a turbocharged engine, it felt weird to leave the puny pea-shooter stock exhaust in place, and it felt like cheating to do a half ass job of it. A small 4 pot engine like the SR20 is always going to have a lot of rasp with a freer flowing exhaust, so I decided to integrate a catalytic converter just after the downpipe and then a giant Vibrant (company which produces exhaust components) resonator, and I may yet sandwich a muffler just under the trunk. I also incorporated flanges and gaskets for realism, and there are photo etch pieces in there believe it or not, but they can't be seen lol. I mostly just used them as a way to guide the shape.

There are two challenges here - the first is having the exhaust fit under the frame:



And the second challenge is the U-shaped segment going over the rear axle. I had to do pie cuts here and I will basically join the two sections aft and rear of the axle after painting them



I also decided to do the dampers in metal as opposed to OEM black plastic.









I also did the handbrake mechanism, all based on images of the 1:1



So the exhaust is ready to be painted