89 Hatch Build-$300 shell to clean daily

[Wvslider]

Old thread but an update on the purple coupe I own and daily drive it it was cool to see this

[Rustys14]

Originally Posted by Wvslider

Old thread but an update on the purple coupe I own and daily drive it it was cool to see this

Glad to hear its still alive and running around! Post up some pics, I'd love to see what it looks like now.


Since this was bumped I figure its time for a long overdue update since a lot has changed. In the off season I decided to go ahead and rework the suspension on the hatch so I purchased some s14 lower control arms, Tein inner tie rods with some Touge Factory V2 outters. I also installed some basically brand new ISR HR Pro coilovers that my friend gave me after he upgraded to Fortune Autos. Still not the best coilovers but they were nice replacements for the ageing EMUSA coils that were still on the car lol. I also installed a brand new rack and pinion as well as a Chase Bays powersteering line kit while it was at it. The result was a much more stable and predictable car on the track.

Photo dump of said parts:










And all installed:


Once the suspension was sorted I moved on to the clutch. I was in a hurry when I did the swap and couldn't wait for parts so I had reused the OEM SR20 clutch which I smoked within two events. I wanted something bomb proof so I rebuilt a used Exedy Hyper Single that I got for cheap and threw that on.

Looks so pretty, too bad nobody will ever see it haha:


After tackling all of the mechanical issues I moved on to installing some fun things that I had accumulated for the car.

First I installed a Cusco/Safety 21 5 point cage that a local importer had given me for cheap. I had been sitting on it for awhile because I knew that I wanted to keep full interior with the cage but put it off because I knew it was going to be a pain. I eventually just decided to take the plunge and was really happy with the results.

Initial Mockup:



And after some careful measuring the finished product!




I also installed an OEM 180sx Kouki hatch and wing that I had purchased from the same importer. My initial plan was to have the wing and hatch painted prior to installing it but I would have had to remove the cage in order to change the hatch so I knocked it out at the same time. Why did I go through the trouble of bringing an entire hatch and wing assembly over you ask? The answer is that I always see poorly mounted Type-X wings and wanted OEM fit and finish. I had talked to Dave about bringing one over for me and they happened to have one in storage in Japan that he agreed to bring on the next container. $150 bucks and a few months wait later I had an OEM hatch and wing assembly!

When I brought it home:


Installed on the car:


I also installed and color matched some replica Kouki valances. This was the final product:


After getting everything installed I did an alignment:


Then it was time for some drifting!










A few more random shots of the car from around the same time:









Sadly, that's the end of my story with the car since I traded it away for an S2000 last weekend. I still some mixed feelings about getting rid of the car since I had so many good memories and put so much effort into getting it to where it is today. At the end of the day though, I wanted a newer car with AC that I can daily drive since my truck is going to be down for awhile. I also feel myself starting to get away from drifting a bit and want a chassis that is more suited to grip racing so I made the tough decision to let her go but don't worry, I still have the Two-Tone so I'm not out of the S chassis game quite yet. I'm actually working on another drift car at the moment as well since I don't know when to stop. I will post another update shortly and try to keep the thread updated with progress on those two cars from here on out. Picture of the new whip:

[Wvslider]

I'll take a couple good ones tomorrow its definitely a little thrashed now but still pretty solid I'll be swapping in a 4.8 or my 1jz this winter

[Wvslider]

This is the only decent pic I have of it currently
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJq_DEuhH9H/

[Rustys14]

Small but slightly significant update. I had been working two other 240 projects, a s14 beater and RB powered track car, but decided that it would be in my own best interests to cut myself down to one project car. I really wanted to finish them up but I needed the space and to free up some much needed time so I got both cars running and kicked them out the door (no pictures, I'm too lazy to upload them and they weren't much to look at).

Maybe I'm just getting old but being down to just two cars and just one project has helped me focus and more importantly given me the time needed to actually build something special. With a renewed focus I knocked out all the simple projects that I had on my list.

First up I installed an Apexi World Sport 2 exhaust on the S2k since the Berk exhaust that it came with was much too loud and drony for a DD. Really impressed with the quality and finish on the Apexi unit, it looks great and more importantly has a quiet yet aggressive note.



With that done the S2000 is more or less finished. I plan on getting some track wheels and sticky tires for it eventually but for now its just a pleasant DD.

Once the exhaust was done I had a free garage to pull the Two-Tone in and get all of the small odds and ends that I had been neglecting done. I replaced the headgasket and got it running about a year and a half ago but got sidetracked by life and other builds so it just sat in the corner of my property waiting to be finished. Since I was down to no drift car and there are still a few events I want to run this year I decided to get the car ready to see the track. With that said the first order of business was to install a good differential. Luckily for me I still had the old 4:36 geared Carbonetic 2 way from the purple coupe in the shed so I rebooted some 5 bolt axles, put in some fresh fluid and installed it.



Out with the old:



Next I needed a good seat so I popped by the local importer and scooped a beat up Zeta II for $100. After some cleaning and a patch it came out looking great! Stoked that I was able to quickly source a Zeta since I think that it fits the 90s style that I'm going for really well.



I also installed some SRP pedals that I've had laying around forever while the seat was out.





After everything was on I scooped some tires for the Super Advans so that I could get the car rolling again. I had been using the Advans as drift spares but I'm going to have to figure something else out since they're now on the car.



They're super dirty from sitting outside lol



Now that all the minor stuff is out of the way, its time for the big update. I finally picked up a Silvia Aero bumper! With the bumper in hand I finally have everything needed to send the car off to paint. I plan to shake the car down at a local event on the 16th and if all goes well I have a appointment to drop it off at the shop on the 22nd for paint so the next update should involve a fully painted car!

[Jocktech]

Niceeee


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rustys14]

Small update because I'm excited lol. Car has been in the shop for about a month in a half now and I figure I'd post some progress pics since I can't help myself. Base coat is down and clear is being sprayed as I type this so everything should be cured and ready to pick up by Saturday! Kind of bummed that I'm going to miss 100 drifters on Sunday since I probably won't have the car back together but its overshadowed by the excitement of finally having paint lol.

Mocked up aero:


Pre-event alignment:


Been years since I've had an OEM spec alignment (or a car capable of having one haha)


On the way to Drift Nirvana for shakedown run (had tons of issues lol)


Body work being done, no more fucked 1/4 panel!


Random dusty shot:


Some more prep shots:



PAINT!!!




Hopefully next update will be of a fully painted and assembled car! I have a whole bunch of parts laying around that I can't wait to install so the next update should be pretty substantial.

[Rustys14]

Time for the most exciting update yet. The car finally has paint!!!! I still have a lot of finish work to do (do the lower body tape and make my valances fit a lot better) but I'm stoked on the results. Of course the car gave me all sorts of issues on the way home so yesterday was the first time I was able to move it out of the garage since I got it back home and assembled it.

Pics!






Having the car painted also motivated me to get my interior up to par so I added some cool bits.

Picked up a Brix passenger seat to match my Zeta driver:


Got some phase 2 checker mats for cool points:


Also found a NOS Daikie boss kit to replace my crappy eBay unit. So nice to have a working horn again lol:


Finally I scooped a dash mat to cover up the cracks until I can source a uncracked HUD dash:


And the finished product! Stoked how everything came together:





That's it for now, now that I have the car running properly again I should be able to focus on the finishing work for the paint/body and grab some high-res shots. As always feel free to let me know what you think, good bad, I don't care lol.

[z31andrew]

Paint looks killer man and really digging the interior!!

[Dolph_KYAS13]

Im floored by the fact you traded an S chassis for an S2000

[supersayianjim]

I'm digging the coupe. rust free??? and please don't wreck or cage it...

[Rustys14]

Originally Posted by z31andrew

Paint looks killer man and really digging the interior!!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Dolph_KYAS13

Im floored by the fact you traded an S chassis for an S2000

Yeah, it was one of the better trade offers that I got for my hatch so I went for it. I gave him 2k ontop and the millage is pretty high so it worked out to be a fairly even trade.

Originally Posted by supersayianjim

I'm digging the coupe. rust free??? and please don't wreck or cage it...

Thanks man! Its pretty much rust free sans a bit in the trunk/spare tire well from the taillights leaking. I've been meaning to take it to bare metal and put some POR15 down but haven't got around to it. I'm going to make a point to do it this spring though.

Its actually going to get a Autopower or Cusco half cage in the near future. I'm going to start doing some grip days at the local track with my friends in the spring and one of the requirements is a half cage. I think that it will fit the 90s touge theme pretty well too. I'm also to the point now that I have enough experience to be confident that nothing major will happen to it on track. As long as I don't find myself in the middle of any tandem trains the car should stay clean, can't make any promises since there's always a risk though.

Not a major update but I put some JDM S14 front brakes and Stoptech pads on the car over the weekend. Not that there was really anything wrong with the stock setup but I think the S14 calipers just look so much cooler on the car lol. They fill out the wheels so much better and hopefully will resist fade better when I start doing grip days since they're basically 30mm Z calipers. Didn't hurt that the calipers only ran me 100 bucks from the importer either lol.

Installed Pic: (forgot to snap one with the wheel off)

[rhd_stevo]

Love that colors and wheels!! Keep up the good work

[MistyBlueS13]

I think my dad and I came and looked at your hatch when it was for sale haha, your two tone is beautiful. Updates please!

[Malik]

very nice two tone... came together great.

[Rustys14]

Originally Posted by rhd_stevo

Love that colors and wheels!! Keep up the good work

Thanks!

Originally Posted by MistyBlueS13

I think my dad and I came and looked at your hatch when it was for sale haha, your two tone is beautiful. Updates please!

Haha, I remember. How's the car search going?

Originally Posted by Malik

very nice two tone... came together great.

Thanks man!

[Rustys14]

So last post I had the car running and everything was going great. That lasted about a week (a solid run for this car!) before it developed horrible misfire on cylinder 4. I spent the last month or so trying to to figure it out whenever I had free time to work on the car. The ecu was throwing code 21 which meant there was an issue somewhere in the wiring or ignition circut. The car was running a wiring specialties harness so I figured it wasn't in the harness but after replacing the ignitor, resistor pack, and testing the ecu I decided to build a new harness on the whim. (Insert boring wiring pictures here) I didn't expect any change with the new harness but low and behold it fired up on the first crank and idled better then it ever had before. I looked over the WSP harness but didn't see any breaks or anything so there must be an internal failure somewhere. It makes sense because I have always had random ignition issues since I did the swap but never had time to sort it out because of other bigger problems. I guess I could be mad at WSP but the truth is I'm not sure what caused the failure and I'm just happy to have the ignition issues sorted out.

Crappy roller my friend took while I was on a test drive lol:



Anyway once the ignition issue was sorted I started daily driving the car to work to see if any other issues came up and just as I was starting to feel confident I walked into the garage to find this.



Ever since I've built the car I've had nothing but cooling system issues (among other things) so I pulled the manifold and replaced every single hose. It was a pain in the ass but its been about a month and I haven't had a single issue with the car after 1000 or so miles.

Since I'm finally starting to trust the car I'm feeling motivated to work on it more. I don't have any major updates but I've added a few small bits here and there over the last week or so.

First up was the lighting. I love small details and lighting is something that can really set one car apart from the rest. I want to keep things subtle so I sent my stock taillights off to be retrofitted with LEDs (still waiting for them to be finished) and installed some brand new OEM 180sx half and halfs. I also have some bricks for the car, but I've been lazy about going to pick them up from the importer...

Pics of half and halfs:



I also got around to making the dorki dori valances fit properly. The skirts were a good fit but I was disappointed with the fitment on the valances. I considered just buying OEM units but didn't want to spend the money on them especially since I'd have to have them painted. Eventually I decided to sit down with my heat gun and see what I could do. After a few hours I finally got the fitment good enough for me to live with:





Moving on to more small details I installed a Greddy Turbo Gauge that I'd had laying around forever. After spending awhile deciding where I wanted to mount it I settled on the two dead spaces in the cluster surround. Really stoked on the location, its out of the way and easy to see. The gauge also adds the perfect 90s touch to the interior IMO:





I've always liked the look of these cars with rain visors so I scooped a cheap set to tie me over until I can source a clean OEM set. Actually pretty impressed with these things, they're coupe specific and look reasonably close to the OEM units.



I went on a small spare parts buying spree so I scooped an extra CA longblock for cheap:



Its nothing special but leakdowns well and it has a Tomei headgasket and some other goodies, for $400 I couldn't say no lol. I also grabbed a pair of 2 piece Rays Huhrer Racing wheels to use as spares this season, I've always loved this style of wheel for some reason; just a solid classic wheel:



Probably the biggest part of this update is that I scooped some new shoes for the car!





They're the exact same specs at the Advans on the car now but are in 100x better shape so I'm stoked. Big ups to Atticus_Jay for getting them from Japan to my door in less then a week!

That's about all for now. Next update the Bricks and LED tails should be on the car. I've also ordered some Federal 595 RS-RR R compound tires for the new Advans which should hopefully be a good track day tire. The project is finally winding down. I've been saving for a house so I've slowed down on my parts ordering but the only part I really have left to purchase is my half cage and I'll have everything I need to complete the car. Supper excited to be on the home stretch!

[rawgarage]

Damn bricks and leds next up....

[240sx_sr20det]

I'm curious about the Maaco paint jobs...

Was the two tone painted by them as well? Anymore close-ups?

I wonder if they'd do a few extra coats of clear, if you paid for it, so you could spent time correcting it after. If so, that's a killer way to get a quality paint job for cheap.

[MaxfromVA]

Nice build man. lol i know it's what everyone says but i'm just speechless. and i also live in NOVA around Aldie.

[Rustys14]

Originally Posted by rawgarage

Damn bricks and leds next up....

I'm super excited for the led tails, just got word that they're done and are shipping out on Friday!

Originally Posted by 240sx_sr20det

I'm curious about the Maaco paint jobs...

Was the two tone painted by them as well? Anymore close-ups?

I wonder if they'd do a few extra coats of clear, if you paid for it, so you could spent time correcting it after. If so, that's a killer way to get a quality paint job for cheap.

I've had several cars done by Maaco over the years and have always been impressed by the work they do for the price. The thing to remember is that they're a franchise so some locations are much better then others. The key is to read up on the reviews or stop by and check out their work before you commit to a location. I'm fortunate enough to have two very good Maaco's within 45 mins of me so I usually go with the one that gives me the best estimate. You also want to take your car when they are having a special since it cuts the price significantly. I've had pretty much every level of paint job that they offer so here is my take on them:

The two tone was done at a Maaco but its kind of a special case since I knew the painter. The work was done through the shop though and ran $2100 out the door. $1300 was the actual paint job and the rest was body work since the shell wasn't the greatest starting point. The paint itself is 1 coat of primer, two coats of base and a thick layer of clear. Its not show quality but its better then the average OEM paint job that I see on new cars these days and is certainly better then the factory job that came on the car.

If your looking for a cheaper option, the paint that was on my hatch was their single stage urethane with clear mixed in. That job was $1200 total if i remember right. Paint was about $500 after tax since I got the UV protection and the rest was body work. It looked good and held up great but had nowhere near the luster the two tone has.

The purple coupe was their basic $250 special that they offer (its $350 not on special I think). Total for that job was $400 or $450 out the door which included "fixing" the driver rocker panel which was rusted out. You could definitely tell that it was a lower end paint job and it had a few imperfections but was still better and cheaper then anything the average person would be able to do on their own.

PM me if you want some close ups of the two tone, I haven't done the final buff yet but it shines pretty nicely so I could probably get good enough shots to give you an idea of if its something you want to look into.

Originally Posted by MaxfromVA

Nice build man. lol i know it's what everyone says but i'm just speechless. and i also live in NOVA around Aldie.

Thanks man, your actually pretty close to me. A lot of my friends are in the Haymarket area so we cruise through your Aldie from time to time. Feel free to come over and say hi if you see us at a meet or the track.

[MaxfromVA]

Alright man, and I am only around Aldie i live in Winchester near the summit point raceway. PM me if you guys ever go up there, love to see the car in real life.

[Rustys14]

Small updates since I got some knickknacks for the car. I sold my old Okachan Meter to another member on here and instead of transferring the balance to my bank account I just decided to blow it lol.

I found a deal on a BNIB square Silvia trunk lock (on Ebay of all places) that I couldn't pass up so I scooped it and put it on. It looks sooooo much better then the stock round lock but now I feel like I need some OEM Silvia or 240sx lettering in the stock location to make the rear end look less plain.



On the car:



I also picked some cup holders and big angle plates from Unique Auto Creations on here. I'm missed having cup holders like I had in my hatch and I have to say that this new UAC design is 1000x better then the simple plate that I had in that car. I'm still waiting on speakers before I fit the plates and I'm a bit skeptical if they'll make a difference or not but I figured I'll give them a shot. I'll post my thoughts once I get them fitted.



Installed:



Moving on to cooler things I went ahead and installed the SAFC2 that I had laying around from my old KA-T setup:



I don't plan to tune with it but I can use the decel air setting to run this agian:



I've been running no BOV for a bit since it was running pig rich with the Abby Road valve before. The SAFC seems to have fixed the issue and the car runs great with the atmospheric valve now. Finally my LED retrofitted tailights arrived! I'm super stoked on how they turned out, they look 100% stock during the day and add just the right amount of rice to the car at night lol. I'm in love...

Off the car:



And heres some pics on the car! Its kind of hard to capture with an iphone camera in low light but you get the idea. First pic is versus the OEM light and second is both installed.





That's all I got for now. I did place an order for my half cage through my friends shop (even at cost brand new Safety 21 stuff is a bit pricey lol) late last month so hopefully it will be in before the first event on the 26th of this month. The car is pretty much ready either way so I'm pretty excited to get out there and slide this thing this season!

[Rustys14]

Update time!

Not much has changed to the exterior of the car. Unfortunately I waited too long to scoop my bricks so they ended up getting sold, i wasn't too worried about it since I got my money back. In the meantime I picked up a mint dual projector from KrisKouki on here to replace my busted driver side light (all the tabs were broken and it was held together with a fineline repair bracket), its amazing how much better the light output is now that I have a driverside light that's actually aimed properly lol.



I was super stoked to have the car ready for the first event of the season last month but I didn't get any pics because I blew my turbo about 10 laps in I can't wait for the day I can actually run a full event without this car breaking down, I'm sure it will get there soon but right now its a bit discouraging...

Anyway I was in need of a turbo and a as luck would have it my friends new Tomei setup came in a few days after mine let go. A deal was struck where I could have his S14 BB T28 if I took it off the car for him.

His new setup, always loved the looks of these ARMS turbos:


And the S14 BB turbo for me!


With the new turbo in hand I got to work replacing the blown turbo on my car. The factory CA18 manifold makes accessing the bolts kind of a pain but I was able to wrestle the old turbo out pretty quickly.

Goodbye dead turbo:


So much room for activities!


I had originally planned to run a tubular manifold with the new setup but it turns out it would only work on a RHD car and wouldn't clear the brake booster. Shame because I spent a bunch of time warping it up real nice...


Of course I had to grab some lines and all the misc parts needed to make the T28 work on the car. You basically need all the same parts you would need to put the turbo on a s13 SR to install it on a CA (clocking adaptors, oil lines, etc.) I was moving through the install pretty quick so I didn't take pictures of most of it. I did get some awesome goodridge lines for the car though. They utilize forged fittings and 2000 degree heat sleeve so they should be pretty much bomb proof.

Race car stuff!


I spent a good bit of time trying to install the tubular manifold before realizing that it wasn't going to work so I transferred everything over to the OEM manifold which made the rest of the install go fairly smoothly.

Once the turbo was on it was time for a tune. The original plan was to source a CA18det power FC and some GTR injectors but finding a CA pfc proved much more difficult then I thought so I started looking at other options. My research led me to Horsham Developments in the UK who actually offered a chip that fit my setup to a T. I'm always a bit skeptical of mail order tunes (especially from people I've never heard of) but after some poking around on Driftworks and some other European and Aussie forums I discovered that they were legit and well respected so an order was placed.

The only issue with the Horsham tune is that it left me needing a socketed ecu. I didn't really want to send my ECU out to have it done and wasn't super comfortable doing it myself so I hopped on Yahoo Auctions to see what I could find. I've always gotten super lucky with things on YAJ and I was able to score a socketed CA ecu for under $100 landed.

The sellers picture, kind of took a chance since I it wasn't fully opened and the translation wasn't the best but it was cheap so I rolled the dice:


Once it arrived I fully opened it and was relieved to see that it was exactly what I needed! I busted out a small flathead and started some delicate surgery lol:


Old chip out, kind of curious what its tuned for. I think I got it so cheap because the seller didn't know either:


And the new chip installed!


Once I got the tuned ecu installed I put my Vibrant MBC on, set the boost to the recommended 14 psi and took it for a drive. All I have to say is holy shit! the car is super quick now. The tune seems pretty spot on too, its a tad on the rich side so I'll probably do some tweaking on my friends dyno with the AFC but for now I'm super happy with it.

I celebrated by giving my bay a much needed cleaning. I still need to drill/tap the turbo outlet so I can pull wastegate vacuum from there, reinstall my BOV and heat shielding but I'm having fun driving it around as is for now:


Hopefully next update will have some action shots since I'm hitting an event next weekend. Also hoping to have my cage installed this week if it comes in (it keeps getting delayed) but we'll see...