93 SR Hatch build in the Mitten State

[ixfxi]

Fast forward to 4:11

Coincidence? I think not.

[KoukiMonsta]

Ha ha ha !

[CrimsonRockett]

Originally Posted by CamryOnBronze

Thank you sir. Do you still have yours?

Still sits around. Got a baby on the way. Who knows when I'll actually put the damned thing together. Hah.

[gbaby2089]

Damon, why don't you put the A/C heat back i?, Making it a bit nicer to drive if the conditions are not quite perfect.

[CamryOnBronze]

Originally Posted by ixfxi

Fast forward to 4:11

Coincidence? I think not.

Hey man, Hot Rod knows their stuff.

Originally Posted by CrimsonRockett

Still sits around. Got a baby on the way. Who knows when I'll actually put the damned thing together. Hah.

Dang nice, congrats man! Just an FYI- they're not too helpful in the garage. lol.

Originally Posted by gbaby2089

Damon, why don't you put the A/C heat back i?, Making it a bit nicer to drive if the conditions are not quite perfect.

I purchased everything to install A/C in the car back in 2011, but I never went through with it. When I thought it was cool to tuck my engine bay, I removed the heater core and ducting to make room for the fuse boxes and wiring that now reside on the inside of the car.

If I could do it all again from a fresh chassis, I wouldn't shave the bay and I would leave the HVAC system in place and fully functional. But since I bought the car with the A/C components removed and some of the wiring cut out, it's just not something I have ever felt competent (or motivated) enough to tackle.

Opportunities to drive the car will be few and far between these days compared to how they used to be before my kids were born, so it should only be a minor inconvenience really. When I do drive it, conditions should usually be pretty ideal.

[innovation]

A bit off topic, but humor me, thought you might like it.





I also thought maybe this might be one of your old Camry friend's ride. Since the guy modified a Camry and all. J/K

By the way, do you ever miss that Solara?

[CamryOnBronze]

Originally Posted by innovation

A bit off topic, but humor me, thought you might like it.

I also thought maybe this might be one of your old Camry friend's ride. Since the guy modified a Camry and all. J/K

By the way, do you ever miss that Solara?

haha, not familiar with that car. I don't miss the Solara too often really. Maybe for a comfortable daily driver though.

__________________________________________________ _______________________________

I'm way behind on keeping this up to date. Let me see if I can get this caught up a bit.

I carved out a good chunk of time last Friday night to work on the car and was pretty pleased with what I was able to accomplish. Here’s a quick list of what I was able to install:

Alternator
Power steering pump
Drive belts
Clutch fan
Chase Bays power steering lines & reservoir
Coolant overflow tank
GReddy intercooler & piping
SPC rear suspension arms
Front coilovers
Front brakes
Rear brakes
C’s short shifter & NISMO shift knob
Nardi classic 350mm wheel and Works Bell hub
I attempted to install my Koyo radiator and Samco hoses as well, but found that I actually purchased a radiator for a KA24 by mistake. I have the correct radiator on the way from Turn 14 Distribution and expect it to arrive any day now.

Here are some quick photos of how the car sits from my phone:












The next order of business will be running new fuel lines from the tank to the front of the car. The factory hard lines were removed by my friend and replaced with braided lines for the LS setup, but I prefer to run hard lines. I’ll be bending and installing my own lines with supplies I purchased from Jegs.

Once the fuel lines are sorted out, I still have a few things to install before I can fire the car up. The main items include the downpipe, the rest of the exhaust, engine wiring harness, vacuum hoses, blow off valve, intake , MAF sensor, boost controller, and battery. When those items are done, I’ll be able to add the fluids and try firing it up.

Shouldn’t be too long now. I am excited to have the car running so that I can focus on the fun stuff like the interior, exterior, and wheels & tires. I’ll post a more thorough update soon with details and nicer photos of the items I just installed so stay tuned.

[CamryOnBronze]

It’s crazy that a month has gone by since my last update. This February has been one of the coldest on record for much of Michigan with numerous nights in the 0 to -25 degrees F range which has really done a number on my motivation. The car was close enough to completed for me to slow down a bit and only spend time out in the garage when I was really motivated to do so.



Despite the cold, I have managed to make some progress since my last update. The correct Koyo aluminum radiator arrived from Turn 14, so I was able to toss that in the bay and get all of the associated brackets and hoses buttoned up.



I picked up a set of NISMO engine and transmission mounts from a friend of mine, but found that the engine mounts just raised the engine up too much. I decided to sell them and replace them with a set of Cusco solid mounts. I ran these on the car previously and thought they had been discontinued, but was happy to find out that they were still available.



I decided to replace the knock off exhaust that came with the S13 coupe with some higher quality components, the first of those being another Cobra downpipe from Parts Shop Max. The craftsmanship is top notch and the downpipe is tucked as close to the chassis as possible, reducing the amount of scraping and blown turbo gaskets by a huge margin. I also really like the fact that it utilizes the factory downpipe to transmission mount bracket for a stronger overall setup.







Along with the downpipe, I picked up a cheap test pipe from megan. This piece will see the most pavement, so I wasn’t too worried about getting anything nice. This setup worked well for me previously, so I figured there was no sense in changing a good thing. As I mentioned in an earlier post, a friend was able to track down a Kakimoto N1 catback for me and I finally got a hold of it last weekend. I’m really looking forward to getting it on the car and seeing what it sounds like. Finally, I grabbed another set of Circuit Sports exhaust hanger bushings to keep everything mounted up nice and high.



Yury at Wiring Specialties was kind enough to hook me up once again with a brand new wiring harness. This time I am running the Pro edition harness which I am really impressed with so far. Super nice piece- can’t beat the quality of a brand new engine harness!



With the wiring harness and most of the exhaust now mounted up, I turned my attention to the fuel setup. I ran brand new hard lines from the fuel tank to the engine bay. I forgot to snap a photo, but hopefully the fuel setup should be all set. This was not very fun at all and I really hope I never have to tackle a job like that again. Really glad to have that out of the way!

I am very close to being able to try starting the car. I still need to fill all of the fluids, connect a couple more vacuum lines, and install the catback before I can give it a try. Hopefully with the weather warming up next week I’ll be able to complete the finishing touches and try cranking it up.



As for the interior, I received my Bride FG seat rail for the driver’s side and was able to finish installing the interior. I found a pair of rear plastics locally and tossed those in, as well as the hatch carpeting and NeXt Miracle Cross bar. I ended up selling the Safety 21 roll cage I had purchased because it was designed for a non-sunroof chassis. Rather than go through the work of cutting, welding, and powder coating it I decided it was best to make a little cash and address the cage later down the road someday. I still need to install the gauges and Pivot controller, but I’ll worry about that stuff later.





I sourced an OEM kouki 180SX wing from Japan (with cool racing stripe), thus completing the exterior setup. I dropped everything off with my friend Tim to have a buddy of his paint it, so that should probably be done soon. Still waiting on the Hot Road hood to arrive from GTR Garage, but I would imagine that will be here just in time for spring. I am definitely pumped to see the exterior of the car come together and hear it come to life again soon!





Some boxes arrived the other day from Work Wheels. They should contain some pretty nifty doo-dads. Waiting on a set of tires and I will be ready for spring!



I’ll try to keep the updates going, I know I am bad at that. There should also be a lot of new content hitting Speed Academy soon as well, so stay tuned for that! Thanks for reading.

[future]

I like this

[STL240SXDRIFT]

Any hints as to what wheels they are? Or did I miss it earlier in the thread?

[Exiled 240]

i dislike this. why cant mine look this good.

[gbaby2089]

I greatly prefer the interior this go round than last time. Just enough red now IMO.

[Spach]

This was a great read! ill be following it closely now! im currently doing my first s13 sr20 build i have the engine it and ready to fire but it only cranks, its getting no spark im thinking it could be my ignitor chip! but ill get it figured out! but been struggling threw picking a color i want the car and what body i want to use as well as rims and sizes lol, so much thinking but your build is by far one of the best ive ever read! keep up the good work plus happy to see you back and building

[Skilz10179]

Damn brother, I didn't see this coming lol! Glad to see you back in a s chassis.

[TheRealSy90]

Hey, you're missing the two side pieces for the radiator shroud that wrap around the ends of the radiator.

Glad to see this car back.

[tricky_ab]

I need to come here more... I'm diggin' this car build!

[CamryOnBronze]

Originally Posted by STL240SXDRIFT

Any hints as to what wheels they are? Or did I miss it earlier in the thread?

They were Work XT7 in silver. I actually ended up selling them though, haha. More on that later.

Originally Posted by Spach

This was a great read! ill be following it closely now! im currently doing my first s13 sr20 build i have the engine it and ready to fire but it only cranks, its getting no spark im thinking it could be my ignitor chip! but ill get it figured out! but been struggling threw picking a color i want the car and what body i want to use as well as rims and sizes lol, so much thinking but your build is by far one of the best ive ever read! keep up the good work plus happy to see you back and building

Thanks for the kind words!

Originally Posted by Skilz10179

Damn brother, I didn't see this coming lol! Glad to see you back in a s chassis.

Thanks man! Really happy to have it back. I am looking forward to seeing your car this summer. Haven't seen it in forever!

Originally Posted by TheRealSy90

Hey, you're missing the two side pieces for the radiator shroud that wrap around the ends of the radiator.

Glad to see this car back.

Hmm, not sure what those are. Don't think I have ever had those, haha.

Originally Posted by tricky_ab

I need to come here more... I'm diggin' this car build!

Thank you as always my good man!

__________________________________________________ _____________________________

Well, I haven't spent a lot of time on the car during the month of March. I did manage to button a few things up so that I could fire the car up though, so I was pretty happy about that.

Prior to firing the car up, I buttoned up a few of the many loose ends that need to be addressed on the car. After finishing up the putting the Wiring Specialties Pro engine harness on the car, I filled all of the fluids, installed the driveshaft, and bolted the remainder of the exhaust in place. I also picked up another Braille battery and mounted it where it previously resided in the hatch area.

The car didn’t want to start initially, but I quickly realized that I did not have any ground straps in place like I did when I owned the car previously. A couple crude & quick ground wires from the head to the chassis and the car fired right up! Here’s one of the first starts prior to installing the catback:



Here are a few other relatively boring videos of the car running. I was a little excited so I took too many, lol.









I ended up selling the Work XT7s I bought because I am super indecisive. I decided they just didn't fit the period-correct look I was going for so I sold them and picked up something else. Hopefully they will be here around the end of April when the weather breaks, if not sooner.



My Hot Road aero is painted, I just haven't had the time to pick it up. Hoping to get that next week so that I can begin fitting it all to the car. My hood should finally be stateside as of yesterday after about three months or so, so I hope to have that here soon as well to complete the exterior.





In addition to switching wheels, I also decided to part ways with my red Zeta II and Ergo. I picked up a black Brix 1.5 a friend found for me at Up Garage and installed it last week. The new driver's seat should be here by the end of the week. I will always really like red seats, but I wanted to change it up this time around and keep things a little more subtle.





It's getting to the point now where I am working on the small styling details and buttoning things up to be able to drive the car which is always my favorite part of a project. Really excited to see it come together. Hopefully by the end of April the weather will have turned and I will have the car on the road. We'll see!

[Ramonesfreak2010]

Love the build man!!!! Been following since I first came across the thread on NicoClub when you had the black wheels with the red lips and CF hood. lol!

[a13x.]

love this build, getting super rad. Very excited which wheels come next

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by a13x.

love this build, getting super rad. Very excited which wheels come next

MB Battles!!

[a13x.]

Originally Posted by Corbic

MB Battles!!

nah dont think so ;P

I'd say:

TE's
Blitz Technospeed
Advans

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by a13x.

nah dont think so ;P



I'd say:



TE's

Blitz Technospeed

Advans

CST Zeros ^_~

[DrtyRat]

Originally Posted by Corbic

CST Zeros ^_~

^^^This

CST>Battles!!!!

[danny92]

God that thing looks good, cant wait till it finishes. Just wondering about the rear trunk/rear seat carpet, is it custom made? Or is it an off the shelf item from somewhere? Makes the rear seat delete look so tidy.

[scottie]

I am soooooooooooooooooooo happy you came back to this board and the community. The hatch looks awesome

[CamryOnBronze]

Originally Posted by Ramonesfreak2010

Love the build man!!!! Been following since I first came across the thread on NicoClub when you had the black wheels with the red lips and CF hood. lol!

haha, thanks man. I remember your username over there for sure.

Originally Posted by a13x.

love this build, getting super rad. Very excited which wheels come next

Thanks man, trying to make it decent without totally breaking the bank like I did the first time around. I am sure that will happen eventually though at this rate.

Originally Posted by danny92

God that thing looks good, cant wait till it finishes. Just wondering about the rear trunk/rear seat carpet, is it custom made? Or is it an off the shelf item from somewhere? Makes the rear seat delete look so tidy.

Thanks! I am dying to see it all together at this point. The carpet is actually OEM style replacement carpet from StockInteriors.com. When you remove the back seats you can just lay the carpet down over the metal and it fits decent enough. It's far from perfect, but in most photos it ends up looking really clean haha.

Originally Posted by scottie

I am soooooooooooooooooooo happy you came back to this board and the community. The hatch looks awesome

Thanks man! I am glad to have the car back. Can't wait to drive it again in a few weeks. Should be a strange feeling.

__________________________________________________ _______________________

My new driver's seat has arrived, so I am going to pick that up on my way home today. With any luck I'll finally pick up the aero after work tomorrow so that I can begin putting the interior back together later this week. New front wheels will be here Thursday and really hoping the hood ships sometime this week. Should be pretty exciting!

[Brian]

Cool. Maybe you will inspire me to make a new car someday.

[DeSantes]

Originally Posted by CamryOnBronze

It's getting to the point now where I am working on the small styling details and buttoning things up to be able to drive the car which is always my favorite part of a project. Really excited to see it come together. Hopefully by the end of April the weather will have turned and I will have the car on the road. We'll see!

I think this is what trips people up the most with the 240. IMO, it's the little details that add up to making a special car. Not the set of $3000 wheels on a primered car. I'll notice brand new window trim before flake overloaded paint, but that's just me. In summary, this build makes me happy. lol.

[hotrodjoseph]

COOL car man!

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by DeSantes

I think this is what trips people up the most with the 240. IMO, it's the little details that add up to making a special car. Not the set of $3000 wheels on a primered car. I'll notice brand new window trim before flake overloaded paint, but that's just me. In summary, this build makes me happy. lol.

It's called "restoration".

25 year old cars now.