1990 hatch build from the fail state

[KoukiMonsta]

I finally have decided to create one of these cool threads. The car was purchased as a (barely) rolling shell. What a PITA to get it home(on a two wheel dolly behind a limping SUV)...story was I am the third owner after granny and some kid who wanted to build but went broke. It is a pretty clean chassis but nothing amazing. Now lets note this aint no effin' quick build,... its gonna be a while. This is a one man show, no professionals, no 'experts' just some home brew garage built...shit (EDIT: I have sourced a few aluminum TIG jobs - to hard working friends of mine) I am learning a shit ton along the way and hope to help spread knowledge in the process.

This is the first photo I have of the shit bucket



While I was on the search for a solid chassis to build I decided to get to work on re-building my SR setup. Previosly blown up in my last car...machine shop...blah blah blah

block



fresh deck and hone



ACL bearings






Cradle in



CP Pistons, Eagle Rods



Also note the painted block, went for aluminum looking ish stuff, i can dig it




More motor work, hell yes im building inside!


ARP headstuds


BC 264 cams, springs, retainers, seals blah blah



For now S15 t28...then who knows


At this point the motor is pretty much done except for small stuff..

I gutted the car the second it was home...and damn i miss that truck, my old DD shit was fun as titties



and more to come as I upload more pics

[KoukiMonsta]

I then started to tear the car down, give it a full inspection. its a pretty clean shell.

Previous owner did this killer black spray paint job on the bay. I was not too concerned as i planned to tub the thing anyways.


Next up was the tubbing process. I basically taught myself to weld doing them. its not the greatest but its strong enough. As with alot of this stuff it is my first time doing serious metal fab, welding etc so lots to learn





Fender halfs tacked in






Just about done


Plugged these holes, car will not have ac or heat or any excess bs for that matter


Got some primer on that biatch, also drilled hole for clutch master as this car was an auto

More to come

[Twinkies!]

i dig it, keep it up

[daily missile]

sub'd. looks good

[RastaS14]

Nice so far!

[TwelveAM]

Will be checking up on this

[KoukiMonsta]

another shot

[surge s14]

looks real good man

[KoukiMonsta]

Thanks for kind words fellas.

Once I had the tub work done it was time to drop the motor in and do a mockup so I could get oil filter relocation, intercooler, radiator, etc mounted before actually painting it.

I knew from the start I wanted to run a HMIC setup. At first i was going to run the PBM one but after seeing some stuff on here figured I would go a different route

I picked u a core and some cast 90's. Cut the ends off the core and cut a bit from each 90, you can see the KOYO rad covered in cardboard also. needed that to make sure it would fit


The rad was cheap and in decent shape, should hold up for a while


I cant take credit for the welds, I have zero TIG experience...one day



Some drilled and tapped posts on top for mounting to the rad support.



Boom custom HMIC core done.

[CleanAndLegit]

bam very nice digging this, also like the hmic I have the same thing aha, same process

[KoukiMonsta]

Yes sir I searched for pictures/info all over for ideas. Came across yours. Good shit, I like your car!

time for the mockup

I took this silly little 2 liter...



put it in the bay...I even slapped on the cross member first.



Please excuse IG..



I actually got a little out of order with the intercooler post. First the motor went in, then welding - to make sure things would fit properly. At this point I welded on some tabs for my PS cooler. YES I am a poor welder ( its called learning). The cooler is just generic from vatozone. I was never a fan of the stock cooler line, also didn't even get one with the car..



Made this throttle cable bracket, I have a SOHC car and throttle cable is super short. Meaning I will need to source a DOHC one.


Another thing, I need a steering rack. the one that came with the car was..massacred. Someone beat it up previously and I could not remove the end caps even...

Check back soon ladies, I've been working hard!

[CleanAndLegit]

aha thanks man! and yeah aha looks the same also good call on the ps cooler I feel the same ahaha, and as for the rack I'm not sure ); keep up the good work man!

[Jack Bauer S14]

Looks pretty clean!! Keep up the good work!!

Sent from my XT910 using Tapatalk 2

[ShadowMan]

Trailer fenders look so much better than using a 55 gallon drum like I did. Looks really nice and probably worth 60-100 dollars they cost versus the "my free drum is worth the pain in the ass of cutting it all out. Keep it up.

[KoukiMonsta]

Originally Posted by ShadowMan

Trailer fenders look so much better than using a 55 gallon drum like I did. Looks really nice and probably worth 60-100 dollars they cost versus the "my free drum is worth the pain in the ass of cutting it all out. Keep it up.

They couldn't have worked any easier. I ordered the largest I could find from etrailer dot com. I want to say it was like 45$ done deal. Plus you only need one for the whole bay. Got lots of ideas from the tub thread for anyone looking to do this.

Ill search around for some pics, I also did a good bit of cutting up into the seam weld and above the tire for some super low clearance.

[ShadowMan]

Yeah Ive seen the trailer fenders, I just thought I was so smart getting this 55 gal drum for free and fabbing it myself, yada yada yada. Just a huge pain in the ass. I would like to see the pictures of how you went about dealing with that. Ive been stitch welding and what not on my bay as well, but I'm always looking to see how others went about it. I need to update my build as well with the progrees Ive made over the last couple days. I also find it funny that my car use to red and the owner did an equally killer black paint job in the bay that I can scrape off with my finger nails. Look forward to more progress updates.

[KoukiMonsta]

Originally Posted by ShadowMan

I also find it funny that my car use to red and the owner did an equally killer black paint job in the bay that I can scrape off with my finger nails. Look forward to more progress updates.

Man that had me cracking up

not so much an update here, but some shots of how I modded the fender wells

here you can see I split it at the seam


same on the inner side


and here you can see I 'plated' it in, yes I suck at welding and metal fab. As I said I am learning

[s14fbs]

is this the sr that was in your s14 that i pulled apart like years ago ?

[KoukiMonsta]

Originally Posted by s14fbs

is this the sr that was in your s14 that i pulled apart like years ago ?

If you use ur damn reading skills, yes it is lol.

[cchondro]

Not to bad at your first welding experience
just keep practicing and you'll get better at it
Keep the build going
mine is also a garage build and man it can take some time
may I ask where you got the tubs from?

[KoukiMonsta]

Originally Posted by cchondro

Not to bad at your first welding experience
just keep practicing and you'll get better at it
Keep the build going
mine is also a garage build and man it can take some time
may I ask where you got the tubs from?

thanks man! looks like your local too. i have seen your thread a few times good stuff!

I ordered this sucker right here, and it worked damn well.
plus they had good service, shipping etc.

16-Gauge Steel, Single-Axle Trailer Fender, 10-3/4" Wide - 14" to 15" Tires Redline Trailer Fenders F1075X32-1R

[cchondro]

Originally Posted by KoukiMonsta

thanks man! looks like your local too. i have seen your thread a few times good stuff!

i ordered this sucker right here, and it worked damn well.
plus they had good service, shipping etc.

16-Gauge Steel, Single-Axle Trailer Fender, 10-3/4" Wide - 14" to 15" Tires Redline Trailer Fenders F1075X32-1R

Damn didn't even notice you were a local also.
and thanks for the link, I was going to fab up my own but I'm tired of fabbing this car.

[s14fbs]

Originally Posted by KoukiMonsta

If you use ur damn reading skills, yes it is lol.

aint nobody got time for dat

[KevinEdgar]

You can get the rack from rockauto.com it's pretty cheap on there.

[7jpat]

about time something good is coming from the fail state , looks good , im in south fl

[Bumpkin203]

Looks tits man!

[KoukiMonsta]

thanks guys!

I got ahold of a rack, glad thats under control.

mockup has been completed, heres just a lil teaser. got more pics to upload. motor comes out and PAINT

Oil filter relocation, fuel pressure gauge, stock fuel filter holder, and a Z32 filter. look closely, yes those are 2x4 motor mounts..ill be running poly filled oem one once motor goes back in. those were just holding the place for now.



I also tackled this job, what a PITA

[s14fbs]

before u install the subframe make sure to bash the pinch weld on the unibody or your ruca is going to hit it or get fancy and notch it for ultimate clearance

another thing i noticed is u welded up the whole for the engine harness to come threw the firewall it looks ?

[KoukiMonsta]

Good thing the subframe went on already..and I forgot about doing that. Ill try and notch it I'm thinking. Oops

And yea I plugged the harness and HVAC holes. I want to run a plug/bulkhead connector for engine harness through the firewall. (Like the real ballers) But I don't know a lot about them yet. Or ill put it more through the tunnel so it's hidden. Wire tuck is the name of the game

[cchondro]

Originally Posted by KoukiMonsta

Good thing the subframe went on already..and I forgot about doing that. Ill try and notch it I'm thinking. Oops

And yea I plugged the harness and HVAC holes. I want to run a plug/bulkhead connector for engine harness through the firewall. (Like the real ballers) But I don't know a lot about them yet. Or ill put it more through the tunnel so it's hidden. Wire tuck is the name of the game

If your talking about a mil spec plug its totally worth the investment if you are going to be pulling the motor a lot.
I'll be getting one done on my chase bays harness once I get the car going.
I know Jordan's innovation does them for a fee.