Having given my engine bay a bit of a clean, I was struck by how colourless it looked. Not one to sit about if I can change something fairly easily, I did!

For those who have opted to keep the filter box on your S14, you will probably know well what a bitch it is taking the top off. Three clips are easy to deal with (the top one and the two along the long sides), but that bottom one!

One of the biggest complaints you will hear about the S14/a is that their headlights are pitiful! There are various options you can take to partially overcome this problem. Fitting high power bulbs, 'special' white or blue bulbs, etc.

Uprated Wing Mounted Intercooler

Cold air is the like the Holy Grail to a turbocharged engine. The colder the air entering, the better the performance. The way to achieve this is to 'charge cool' the air using an intercooler. Unfortunately, the S14/a is not blessed with a particularly large intercooler and, to this end, a popular modification is to fit a Front Mounted Intercooler in front of the radiator. This is a very expensive option and requires some bodywork cutting. The battery also needs to be either relocated or replaced by a half size item.

If you are running more than 12psi of boost, you should really upgrade your fuel pump. The standard fuel pump will start struggling to deliver enough fuel above this and that means your could start running lean at higher revs. Running lean means Det and bye-bye engine. Even if you simply need to replace the fuel pump, replace it with an uprated pump, as it will undoubtably be cheaper than the Nissan replacement.

Combination caliper/handbrake solutions are not as good as dedicated caliper/disc and independent parking brake solutions. The S14 and S15 both have rear combination brakes. A relatively straightforward conversion is to fit the rear brake setup from the Z32 300ZX.

If you are changing brake discs, you may find my guide here useful.

This guide was written for the fitting of a BMW M3 front disc conversion. However, it can be applied fairly easily to the Apex big brake conversion, or just for replacing standard sized discs.

Standard Recirculation Valve Removal

Try breathing-out through your nose whilst half pinching your nostrils. This is akin to what your engine has to do to get exhaust gases past a catalytic converter! This obviously has an impact on the car's performance. It is a simple matter to replace the cat with a de-cat pipe. It should be noted that the S14a has a second smaller cat in the downpipe from the turbo and a replacement pipe is available for this too.

The A'PEXi AVC-R (Actuator Valve Controller Type-R) is probably THE best electronic boost controller current available. It allows control over exactly how much boost to apply AND where to apply it throughout all gears and revs.

Fitting a boost gauge is a relatively simple task when you know where and what to look for. It is more fiddly than difficult. I have provided a number of photos to assist in the fitting of a gauge into a A-Pillar GReddy mounting pod.

Boost valve or Free Boost Upgrade? Which is best? Read on...