# All the things you can do to a B12



## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

I have a 1990 B12 Sentra 2dr 5 Speed.
It was stock when I bought it, and I have done a few mods to it.










The first mod I did was upgrade to the Cluster with the Tach.









I wasn't much for the green dials, so I looked into changing the color to find that the green was INSIDE the dash panel 
I decided to over power the green by installing over 25 super bright LEDs...








keep in mind that my camera didn't like the contrast, it looks way better in person 


Research led me to find that the stock front sway bar from an 1989 Pulsar would bolt right in, replacing the thinner sway bar that comes with the Sentra. So I went to the bone yard and pulled one out, deciding too take the mounting brackets an bolts with me just for spares. I'm sure glad I did, because when I jacked the car up I found that my car didn't have a front sway bar at all!








All the holes were there and it bolted right in. I had purchsed new bushings and end links for the install, what a difference.


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

*Rear Sway Bar*

Next was the rear sway bar. Now THAT was hard to find...

It seems Addicco made one, and I was able to find one on sale for $100, but they wanted $200 to ship it up to canada. I had it shipped to my mom's in arazona for free, then she brought it up with her later that year.

It was a bit of work to install...

















The instructions left a little to be desired, but I was able to figure it out in the end...





































Now when I jack up one corner of the car, both wheels on that side leave the ground, and it handles like a go cart!


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

*Moar low*

The next thing to go was the stock suspention.

I went with a set of DropZone springs that I found on sale for $100 (you will find that number to be a theme for this car  )
I paired them up with a set of new KYB G2 struts.









The car is now two inches lower an the ride is still very smooth, I guess I fluke out on the combo.









Here is how she looked after upgrading to 15" Eagle Allow wheels and tinting the rear windows kinda custom...


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

*Rear Wing*

I found a cool LED exaust tip at the local car toy store, I just had to get it...










As I am not willing to leave well enough alone, I went to the bone yard.


I found a rear wing on an 86 Honda Accord with an LED light. With a little drilling and wiring, I had it installed and working on my Sentra.










Not wanting two rear center lights, I removed the one from the back dash, but this left a big hole.
So I designed and installed a new back dash (the old one was cracked an fading anyway)


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## Darkone121 (Aug 19, 2010)

Where did you get the Tach Cluster from? OEM Surplus has one side of it, I'm not sure if you need the other side to put them together or?...


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

Oh, you need the entire unit!

The GXE model has it, you will need to take the two plugs as well, be sure to cut them with as much wire as possible, as it will make the re-wire job easier...

I might still have the diagram around here somewhere...

Just in case you noticed, I found the only body kit for this car, it's just two parts that add on to the front and rear bumpers... (got them for $100, lol)


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

*control arms*

another upgrade was the front ball joints.

I did the math, and it was cheaper to buy new control arms with the new ball joints installed than to buy the ball joints an have them pressed in...










that way I could do the install myself too...










later I found another $100 deal! NEON!!!!!










still on my LED trip, I decided to convert all the bulbs to LED's
The rear tail lights were the most fun...










to continue my $100 theme, I found a new steering wheel for (you guessed it) $100 










Maybe she needs more speed...


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## Darkone121 (Aug 19, 2010)

May I ask for a link of where you purchased the Rear Sway Bar? And do you have another Front Sway Bar on your hands that I can purchase from you? I can't find a 88 or 89 Pulsar even if it was the death of me in California.


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

Sorry Dark, this was actually a few years ago...

I did find this link, 
B12/N13 Sentra/Pulsar Cusco Anti-Sway Bar Rear 208 511 a
but it's prob a crap listing, as this was not a cusco...

even tho it was designed for this car, there was a lot of mods and drilling to get it installed.

I will see if I still have the install sheet, and let you know the contact info of the part...


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## Crazy-Mart (Jul 14, 2002)

wow... that brings memories back ... i used to have the exact same wheel in 15" on my sentra too back in the days !!

nice work keep it up !!


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## beansworks (Jul 31, 2011)

Man, I want those sway bars! =D Off to the Junkyard tomorrow!


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## LSDisk0 (Dec 8, 2011)

Darkone121 said:


> May I ask for a link of where you purchased the Rear Sway Bar? And do you have another Front Sway Bar on your hands that I can purchase from you? I can't find a 88 or 89 Pulsar even if it was the death of me in California.


Im in the same boat as you. lol. i found some buy parting out his pulsar and i went to check it out and the ONLY thing gone was the front sway. I haven't been able to find a pulsar since then


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

another option for the steering wheel that is a lot cheaper than the $100 you spent is to grab one from a Pulsar, lot thicker than the sentra one:











you can also just upgrade the rear sway bar to one from a pulsar instead of adding a second one, make sure the pulsar you get the front and rear bars from is one that has the CA18 engine in it, those are the thickest sway bars.

Here are some other things you can do to the plain sentra's if you have one, I've done all this on mine:

Sport seats and door panels swap right into the non sport sentra's, :



















you can also swap the locking gas door (the one you need to open with the key) to the remote release one that also opens the trunk, all the bolt holes are there and threaded, just make sure to pick up the new gas door too.










Sport side view mirrors:










Rare plastic trunk liner with light that comes on when trunk lid is opened, plug for the light switch is under the rear deck:





























no pic but some of the lower model sentra's did not come with the door switch that turns the dome light on, good news the plug is already there just pick up a used switch from the junkyard.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

NOTICE !!!! 

WHEN DOING THE GAUGE CLUSTER SWAP, DO NOT CUT THE HARNESS !!!!

THERE IS A MUCH EASIER WAY !!

Sorry needed to get your attention, I still read about people doing this swap and cutting the plugs off the donor car harness than spending hours trying to match up the wires.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO THRU ALL THAT !!!

Do this, 10 minutes to do, find the car with the cluster you want, remove the cluster, now remove the whole harness, it bolts to the back of the fuse box known as the SMJ (Super Multiple Junction), 10mm bolt, loosen the bolt, pull the big plug out of the SMJ, start removing the harness from behind the gauge cluster, you need to squeeze the clips to get them out I think there are about 5 or 6 of them. Buy the cluster and harness, when you get back to your car,remove your non tach cluster and harness and swap the new harness in, THAT IS IT DONE !! No messing with resistors for the tach, no splicing and cutting. Took me 10 minutes to remove the tach cluster and harness at the junkyard and maybe 15 minutes to remove mine and swap in the new stuff, works perfectly!!


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

Another thing, if you swap seats to the Sport seats you can get rid of the stupid seat belts that clip to the door and put in the normal one's, the hole is behind the side panel for the retractor assembly, just make sure to get the female half of the seat belts that bolt between the seats.

Here's my 90 with Sprint lowering springs, 195/50/15 tires, I drove it for a few months than put the stock coils back in, was tired of hitting everything on the bottom of the car,










notice the remote release gas door.

Pacesetter sells a short shifter for our cars too, one of my favorite mods, here is a comparison pic of the stock and short shifter:










Not a big mod but I think it looks good, pick up a extra valve cover from junkyard, strip it down, paint it and than swap it in, like this:










You can add a mechanical water temp gauge, the JDM cars have the water outlet pre drilled for the sensor and if you notice on the US cars the outlet is not drilled but has a circle on it where it can be, pick up another water outlet from junkyard and drill and tap it to add a water temp gauge, here is mine:



















hard to see in this pic but the red part is the adapter for the mechanical gauge sender, also in the pic is the 110 amp alternator I swapped in out of a Maxima


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## B12Chris (Dec 14, 2011)

Regibus said:


>


If I'm looking at this correctly, doesn't the B12 already have a rear sway bar (or at lest something that looks just like a RSB)? From the looks of it you actually added a second RSB, which, while probably very affective, just seems strange, lol. 

Very nice work on the car so far. Right know I'm just replacing all the broking/worn parts on mine, aftermarket stuff will come in the future (possible even turbo).


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

True, it does have a RTB, but it's more than 20 years old and designed for a smooth ride.

My goal being 'everything' you can do to a B12, adding a rear sway bar is required.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

If you just swapped in the Pulsar bar you would have all the control you would need, I have the front bar from a pulsar and had the rear bar and my car stayed perfectly flat in corners, until the rear bar broke and I think it must have been broke already before I put it in as there was rust on the metal, I also have poly bushings that someone on here had custom made, I haven't seen a B12 with a factory front bar so adding one when it didn't have one before makes a tremendous difference too.


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

I read somewhere that some models of the B12 has a front sway bar, but it was thinner than the Pulsar, I was actually expecting to find a front sway bar on my sentra when I jacked it up to install the one I pulled from the boneyard Pulsar.

I noticed a big difference after I installed the aftermarket rear swaybar.
this is the car during my first auto-x, the picture is being taken from the inside of a sharp turn, even though the car is turning at the traction limit, all four tires are on the ground


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

Well, I have finally found a motor. I have been looking for a 1991 to 1995 B13 and finally decided to pick up this 1997 B14, the block is the same, but it may be a little more work to swap the ECU and stuffs.








I'll prob drop the power steering and AC.

I plan to drive this one around a bit, get it tuned up, then strip it in the fall and drop the engine in the B12...


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## Mobsters (Jul 22, 2007)

All the things you can do to a B12, alltough i dont know what this is called over there...but here this is called sunny coupe B12


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

yes, the B12 is called a Sentra here in Canada/USA.
very cool, did you do a motor swap, or did that engine come with the car?

I was never able to find coilovers for the B12...
wanna share make and model numers?


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## Mobsters (Jul 22, 2007)

motor and brakes etc came from donor car, almera GTi 2.0 -98

those coils were D2 pulsar N14 gtir 4wd model. There are other too that will fit but i did take these at the time 2010.


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## BryanThompson (Aug 23, 2017)

Hey, thanks for the tips. I just discovered your thread all these years after you posted it, but it's coming in handy with my Sentra B12 GXE restoration.


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## Car guy (Mar 31, 2016)

BryanThompson said:


> Hey, thanks for the tips. I just discovered your thread all these years after you posted it, but it's coming in handy with my Sentra B12 GXE restoration.


Same here.


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## Glimtec (Aug 28, 2017)

hey im looking for the sentra build thread . Any links ?


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## Glimtec (Aug 28, 2017)

Or any build thread with a sr20ve vvl swap ?


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Have you tried looking at www.sr20forum.com? They have a lot of swap info at their site.


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## Glimtec (Aug 28, 2017)

Hey ill have Look into it . But cant seem to find build threads of a swap in a chassis like mobsters. What is a more common search term for them ? Sentra coupe / sunny coupe .. Its called a sentra where im from. 

Sent from my TECNO L9 Plus using Tapatalk


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

In the US, we had a B12 2-door sedan, 4-door sedan, wagon (2WD & AWD) and the Sentra Sport Coupe, which was a 2-door, hatchback. The Sunny was used in other countries instead of the Sentra name.


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

I can't believe that PhotoBucket wants $500 a year to release my pictures!

I will update my build thread later with new picture links, but for now you can see the car here

Sentra by Reg Regibus | Photobucket

sorry about sending you to an add laden ripoff site like that


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## Regibus (Jul 8, 2006)

another place to see my sentra

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2341022/1990-nissan-sentra/


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Regibus said:


> another place to see my sentra
> 
> http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2341022/1990-nissan-sentra/


Looks in really nice shape, especially taking in to consideration it's over 25 years old!


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