# Making an 89 Sentra a rally car



## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

I want to make my 89 Sentra a FWD Rally Sentra. So that means, I want me a lift of about 1-2 inches. I want to do this because I live close to a river and I have a bunch of trails big enough for a car to get through and they cause me to scrape body parts. I know what you're gonna say, GET A TRUCK. well I want to be different. Can anybody help me out?


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## meangreen200sx (Dec 28, 2004)

lol im not sure how to help you, but its sounds ******* as HELL and pretty tight. keep us updated.


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## Dwntyme (Dec 18, 2002)

Gisss put da body on an S10 4x4 frame....


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## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

I dont want to go that extensive. I just want to know what springs do I get off of what to make this thing taller.


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## Omega3k1 (Jan 6, 2005)

probably going to have to go custom for something like that.


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## lshadoff (Nov 26, 2002)

http://www.nissanforums.com/showthread.php?t=74730
http://www.nissanforums.com/showthread.php?t=50918
http://www.nissanforums.com/showthread.php?t=32164
http://www.nissanforums.com/showthread.php?t=16392


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## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

None of those threads really helped me. I just want me a ******* lift kit. And if I havent said before, I am a level 2 machinist/welder, I can do any fabricating.


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## BII (May 13, 2004)

Biscuit said:


> None of those threads really helped me. I just want me a ******* lift kit. And if I havent said before, I am a level 2 machinist/welder, I can do any fabricating.


I'm sure its doable, but it will need some custom work, you should study your suspension, I'm sure you will be inspired.


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## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

I dont have any experience with suspension. I can already tell this is going to be fun. There isnt any springs or stuff like that I can cross reference that are taller than my stock ones?


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## WhiteFox (Sep 4, 2002)

Well... you could always sledgehammer the wheel wells and stick some really tall tires in there.. maybe pop a chunk of 2x4 in the springs to add some height 

Hey, you asked for it! :thumbup:


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## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

Ill have to goto the junkyard and match up some springs that are taller and the same width. Would that work for me? I am not jacking it up to the sky..just a small 1-2 inch lift.


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## dange (Aug 23, 2004)

Biscuit said:


> Ill have to goto the junkyard and match up some springs that are taller and the same width. Would that work for me? I am not jacking it up to the sky..just a small 1-2 inch lift.


well i guess im going into my *******/mexican engineering state of mind!
between being a minitrucker (aka fabricator) and belonging to a ford escort rally site (i own a 1988 2door escort) i can give you some pointers

would a set of ground control coilover conversions be able to lift it? knowing they are adjustible, put it on the highest setting and get some larger velocity sensitive shocks to mount them on that would probably help you from bottoming out stiffer springs maybe 1" of lift and those shcks will comfort on street but as soon as you hit a bump it would immediatly change the dampening and get stiffer so you dont have as much movement and the inside of the shock wont bottom out which = you not hitting the ground!

alot of the following comes from tricks us minitruckers use so we can drop a vehicle all the way to the ground and still fit large wheels in the fenders while at the same time not dystroying your exhaust by dragging it off:

now what you will also want to do is tuck the exhaust up above the frame( unless your unibody you cant exactly do that: no frame!) if you want you can probably tub out your front fenderwells and either enlarge them or even remove them, which will alow your wheels to go up in the fenderwell if you have larger/wider tires and if that still isnt enough we also "roll" our fenders, what we basicaly do is get a baseball bat and stick it in the fenderwell then we pull back using the bat as leverage and slowly roll it back and forth to bend out the fender a little basically giving you fenderflares! all this gains you room for a bigger tire which as you probably know going up a couple inches in tire diameter gains you a couple inches in ground clearance so now you can probably have your 1-1.5" of extra ground clearance from your tires and wheels and your extra 1 inch or so from suspension wich comes out to 2-2.5 inches higher than stock so now you have the existing clearance you need plus the suspension combo from the velocity sensitive shocks to stiffer springs everytime you hit those bumps that before madeyour car drop like 3 inchs and hit the ground will be absorbed and maybe only drop like up to 2 inches and not bounce around as much after! oh and as a fabricator can i suggest you make some light weight skid guards under your tranny and gas tank that can save you from alot of potential probelms

oh and another word of advice bigger rims do not equal better as far as rally, most will suggest a 15" rim and some tres with really stiff sidewalls for a few reasons, speed/weight: 1lb on your wheel is equal to 8 lbs in your vehicle so you go for those 17" that weigh 2 lbs more each that is equal to 
64 lbs of extra dead weight in your vehicle! unsprung weight is a killer! and the other more expensive problem: bumps, more tire will keep you from hitting your expensive new lightweigt rim on those rocks every time you hit a bump and denting a rim is the last thing you want to do everytime you go out!

well i hope i helped some i could keep going but i noticed i already started a small novel, if you have anymore questions e-mail me or pm me ill help anyone with whatever i can


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## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

I wasnt exactly thinking about like going fast. Just a little ground clearance to get over sticks, rocks, etc. Ill be going kinda slow because the trail arent made for going fast. Ill think about getting some bigger tires. Plus my speedo on it is fast by 5 mph.

Here is another Doozy...I was thinkinbout getting a bar to go across the front. Everybody knows that this car has some really sucky lights. So where would I try and mount one at? Gah if only had a digital camera, I could give yall pics so yall can see what yall can go on. Thanks a bunch.


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## BII (May 13, 2004)

My best suggestion is to go out to some rallys and talk to the people, they could give you some ideas.


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## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

There arent many rally events around here. Just a bunch of ******** with jacked up chevys goin through mudholes. Thats the closest to rally I can possibly get. I am going to have to ask a ******* experienced in jackin their truck up on what I should do. All he might do is spit some bakker and give me a bunch of bullshit. I am a confederate son which makes me a ******* but I aint THAT *******.


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

you're trying to LIFT a sentra... dude, you can't be much more ******* than that!

your easiest way to do it is to buy some struts off a larger nissan- like a Maxima, altima, or maybe even a B14.. that will give you some lift there. the springs should be close enough to the same rate that you won't ruin the ride.

your next option is to pick up a set of ground control coilovers, but get a 12" spring that's really soft- like 150-200lb/in instead of the 7"long 3-400lb springs the track guys are using.
should give you a lift and still keep the ride.


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## BII (May 13, 2004)

******** are going to tell you to take the body off the sentra, and put it on a pinto frame or whatever.

Its too bad FCS hasn't chimed in, he'd really be able to help more than anyone else. Of course he might suggest just buying a rally car someone else has built, this really is the best way to go for your first race car, at least you have something you can learn on, then later you can build your own. This ultimately will be cheaper in the long run too.

You probably won't want to do that, but it should give you something to think about.


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## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

Well my main object was to make a semi rally car that I am not going to race. I wouldnt be able to race anybody because there arent any people around with rally cars. Ill look into Altima, Maxima, and B14 springs and see if they will do the job. Thanks everybody!


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## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

Well Biscuit,
What did you end up going with? I used M10 Stanza wagon struts and springs in the front of my B11 sentra. Worked great. 

Since we're talking "*******" here, I've got another low buck raise 'er up idea for you. I saw a guy with an AE86 Toyota at a rally event recently that used some [gulp] 4" plastic pvc pipe under his upper strut mounts to jack up his car about 2". You could make some spacers like that out of steel and call it good.


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## Vector (Aug 18, 2005)

Two ******* options:

1 - Wedges. They sell 'em at Autozone. Give you a 1-2" lift, and effectively increase spring rates but reduce suspension travel. Works surprisingly well, and costs under $20. Get the small rubber ones for the fronts and the really big ones for the back.

2 - Weld up a box (round) that sits on top of the top strut mount, and below the strut tower. Effectively a spacer. I've seen this done on a Production-class rally car and it seemed to work well.


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## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

So how much lift will I get with M10 springs?


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## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

Biscuit said:


> So how much lift will I get with M10 springs?


 Way too much. I had to cut off a coil and a quarter to get it right. I don't know what it would take for a B12. Probably one coil. Worked out beautifully on the B11 though. I just got back from the RPI Rallycross near Saratoga, NY and finished 1st in 2WD modified, and 3rd *overall*! I was only beaten by a well driven STi and my buddy's rally prepped Saab 99.


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