93 SR Hatch build in the Mitten State

[Touge_Monster]

Glad to see this thing back together! Looks good dude

[Juusan]

Congrats on getting the car running and out of the garage, must give you a real feeling of satisfaction dude. I followed and loved the first Kouki-based iteration and this version is no different. I like the subtle approach you have taken and the combination of Itai and Koguchi elements.

Keep up the good work man!

[CamryOnBronze]

Originally Posted by JRex

Yes finally! I think we are all almost as excited as you were to see this thing out of the garage.

haha! Thanks man. I have definitely been geeked lately.

Originally Posted by RurouniMidnight

So happy for you! Car came out amazing again and i love the Blitz's, hopefully you can do some more driving soon and make sure its all sorted out.

Thanks Justin! Hoping the driving goes well as I ease into it. Really hard to find time to drive the car lately- kiddos are always asleep! lol

Originally Posted by Touge_Monster

Glad to see this thing back together! Looks good dude

Thanks man, great to see yours out and about too! Looks amazing as always. I still love your hood lol.

Originally Posted by Juusan

Congrats on getting the car running and out of the garage, must give you a real feeling of satisfaction dude. I followed and loved the first Kouki-based iteration and this version is no different. I like the subtle approach you have taken and the combination of Itai and Koguchi elements.

Keep up the good work man!

lol, thanks a lot man! It's a great feeling for sure. I really appreciate the kind words!

__________________________________________________ ____________________________

My wife was out on Saturday night, so after I put the girls to bed I had the night to myself in the garage. I managed to knock out a lot of small things I needed to do to the car. I tossed in a fresh set of spark plugs and finished sorting things out in the engine bay- mounted the boost controller, shortened some vacuum lines, zip tied wires together, attached grounds, etc. I’m content enough with the engine bay for now as I am not really going for the crazy show car vibe I was previously. I should probably replace the air filter though. I really want to pick up an additional valve cover and have it done in gloss black at some point, so I’ll probably try to do that soon.





There was a bit of wiring on the front of the car that needed to be sorted and cleaned up so I took care of that as well. I also picked up some bulbs for the position lamps and turn signals. I raised the rear ride height just slightly as it was sitting a hair too low for my taste.



Moving to the interior, I wired up my Defi gauges and mounted my link controller in the DIN pocket below the radio. I found that my oil temp gauge I bought from someone on Zilvia doesn’t work, so I need to find a replacement for that. I’ve decided to just run four gauges in the dash and not add any on the top for now, but maybe I’ll decide to do that later. I also installed a fresh OEM shift boot from Russell at NissanParts.cc





I’ve always used a Nardi 330mm wheel in my S13, initially starting out with a deep corn and then switching to a Classic later during my ownership. I initially installed a 360mm Classic I kept from the Lexus this time around, but found that it was too large and left me without much leg room. I decided to try something slightly different (Inspired by Koguchi) and picked up a silver 330mm Classic. I was iffy on if it would look good or not but I really like it!





At this point my checklist is looking pretty short. I’m planning to add insurance to the car today and head over to the Secretary of State to handle the title, registration, and get a plate for the car tomorrow. After that it’ll be off to the alignment shop- possibly as soon as Friday, but we’ll see how things shake out.

[future]

How do you get that registered and smoged? We can't do nothing in California ):

[rv_zenki]

Originally Posted by future

How do you get that registered and smoged? We can't do nothing in California ):

We can do anything in Michigan lol.

Car looks great by the way! Hope to see you at a Michigan schassis meet or something

[CamryOnBronze]

Originally Posted by future

How do you get that registered and smoged? We can't do nothing in California ):

It goes something like this:

SOS: Hello, how may I help you?

Me: I would like to register and plate my 1993 Nissan 240SX.

SOS: OK, I need the signed title and proof of insurance.

Me: Sure, here you go!

SOS: Great, the fee for your title, registration, license plate, and tab comes to $1XX.XX. How would you like to pay for that today?

Me: Credit please. *hands over card*

SOS: *swipes card* Here is your registration, temporary title, license plate, and tab. Have a nice day!

Me: Thanks, you too! *drives away*

It really is pretty wild how easy we have it here. No front license plates (yet... knock on wood) here either. Our downfall is we have one of the most expensive (if not the highest) insurance rates in the country, so we make up for it a bit lol.

Originally Posted by rv_zenki

We can do anything in Michigan lol.

Car looks great by the way! Hope to see you at a Michigan schassis meet or something

Thanks man, hopefully I'll be out and about very soon!

[kyles1988]

Oh man, you guys have it so good. I don't think they take credit cards at DMV in Illinois.

Everything else is the same though.

[CamryOnBronze]

Originally Posted by kyles1988

Oh man, you guys have it so good. I don't think they take credit cards at DMV in Illinois.

Everything else is the same though.

lolol. And you have front plates... but no one uses them. They take CC here, but there's a crazy processing fee. But I never have anything else on me at the time, lol.

[future]

That's insane. Sure you pay more but you get to drive anything how you want. No smog either? I'd much rather have that then being ticketed for everything like in SoCal

[CamryOnBronze]

No smog. Pretty nice haha.

After getting the car all buttoned up a week or two ago, I went through all of the necessary hoops to get the car titled, insured, registered, and plated. Fortunately we don’t have many restrictions as far as cars go here in Michigan, so all I really had to do was present the title and proof of insurance to the Secretary of State and the car was legal for road use.



My family was kind enough to allow me the free time to detail the car on Father’s day. I don’t know a ton about detailing on a professional level, so I basically just used some swirl remover, glaze, and wax I had laying around. My car has a ton of dents, scratches, and other paint flaws but I am always really surprised how decent it looks when I put some time into cleaning it up.





I found that the license plate didn’t fit with the Hot Road rear valence, so I had to pick up one of these license plate angling kits in order to install it. I was skeptical but it seems to do the trick!





With everything in place I was out of excuses- it was time to get this thing in for an alignment. I wasn’t happy with the place that did the alignment last on this car, one of the reasons being the fact that they had to use 2×6 ramps to get the car onto their rack. Fortunately I found out that my friend Ken is a technician at a Toyota dealership in my area with an in-ground hunter alignment rack. I made an appointment for last Friday and committed to getting the car there that day.





Friday morning came along and I pushed the car out into the driveway to avoid waking my daughters up. After the car warmed up I set out on the 35 mile trek to the office. I decided to take back roads to keep speeds a bit lower with the sketchy alignment (or lack thereof.) It felt awesome to drive the car through the twisty country roads between my home and the office. I was paranoid about the various noises the car makes and constantly worried about something going wrong, but I made it without any issues.





The drive from the office to the alignment shop went off without a hitch as well. It was really nice to have someone I trust align the car and the dealership was very friendly. I ended up with around -3 degrees of camber all around. I like to have a bit more in the front than the rear, but this the least amount of camber my rear pull would accommodate out back and I don’t want to go more aggressive up front. Overall I think it looks pretty solid. Everyone at the dealership was freaking out about the car which was kind of funny and felt cool after getting the car back after so long.



I took the freeway for the drive home and the car drove really nicely. I think I was in shock just about the whole time- it feels weird to be back in this car again! Very cool. The first 100 miles of driving since getting the car back went off without a hiccup.



Now that the car was aligned, I was able to install my Hot Road front bumper and DMAX position lamps. Hopefully I am able to keep this bumper together for a while without smashing into anything.



I’m glad that I am essentially done working on the car for a while. I still need to install my aftermarket oil pan, gauge sensors, and my Koguchi Power hood. The hood is scheduled to arrive today, so I took the stock hood off last night to prep for its arrival.



I’m hoping to drive to work a couple more times later this week and into next week on the days that I don’t need to pick the girls up from daycare after work. If that goes well, I am planning to drive the car down to Peoria, Illinois next Friday for Kyle’s wedding. That idea kind of freaks me out a bit, but it will be a great durability test before my wife and I drive the car to Wisconsin for Final Bout in September. Wish me luck!

[ehhhregartless]

Man, it seems like this is coming to an end. I'm really happy for you. I can't help but feel a bit off because this is one of the best build currently going and it's about done. Kinda like Seinfeld or Friends coming to an end on a high note. KP will be an ultimate finisher. Good luck buddy.

[future]

Hopefully you actually drive it this time! Last time you got to this point the car got parted out

[JIMB0]

Look at that dude in the green shirt staring! lol

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by future

Hopefully you actually drive it this time! Last time you got to this point the car got parted out

Just don't let him ride in any Evos again....

[future]

Is that how the whole part out Evo thing hhappened? I don't remember a back story but the "it'stime to grow up blah blah"

[CamryOnBronze]

Originally Posted by ehhhregartless

Man, it seems like this is coming to an end. I'm really happy for you. I can't help but feel a bit off because this is one of the best build currently going and it's about done. Kinda like Seinfeld or Friends coming to an end on a high note. KP will be an ultimate finisher. Good luck buddy.

Thanks man. It feels great to have the car at this point. I have a bit of a different mentality with it this time around as now I know what the result is when the car is parted out and gone. My life is a lot busier now with two kids and family is the primary focus, so it doesn't bother me if the car sits in the garage for days or weeks on end.

I'll always have the itch to mess around with it and try to improve on the car to keep busy, but I feel like there will be less of that this time around. I've tried a lot of different things with the car and I think I know what to steer clear of now. I guess I know where to draw the line if that makes any sense.

Originally Posted by JIMB0

Look at that dude in the green shirt staring! lol

Too cool lol. I think he might work at my office.

Originally Posted by Corbic

Just don't let him ride in any Evos again....

Evos are fun cars, but I won't be able to afford one of those things again lol. It was a great car though, I don't regret owning it one bit.

[Initial Drift]

This is what 240's should strive to be. Both yours and Broadfield's S13 define what a classy well done and put together car are. There are others as well but cars of this caliber are far and few between.

[gbaby2089]

Oof.

This makes me regret my Miata purchase every time I see an update on your blog.

[va240dude]

Looking good Damon, glad to see you back on the road in your Kouki!

[CamryOnBronze]

Thanks guys!

It's been a while since I updated. Let's see...

- My Koguchi Power hood arrived. Went ahead and installed that along with my old Cusco hood pins. Need to take it in for paint sometime next week.

- I installed a set of Stoptech slotted rotors and pads.

- Installed a new GREX shift knob.

- Drove the car about 800 miles last weekend to and from Illinois for my friend Kyle's wedding. Car ran great and didn't run into any issues on the trip.

Here's a few recent photos of the items mentioned.

[IIIXziuR]

I think the real question is NOT if the Power is by Koguchi, but...
if the garage walls will ever get painted.

[xilovelsdx]

Sorry if I am blind but what tire sizes did you end up going with?

[tricky_ab]

Originally Posted by IIIXziuR

I think the real question is NOT if the Power is by Koguchi, but...
if the garage walls will ever get painted.

Nope... That was to happen a while ago...

[CamryOnBronze]

Maybe someday I will paint my garage, but I highly doubt it lol.

Hmmm, last update in July. Let's see, what have I done with the car since then?

- I sold my Blitz Z2 wheels and picked up a set of bronze Volk TE37s. 17x9 +15 front and 18x9.5 +22 rears. I have always wanted to see what my car looked like with bronze TEs, so it was pretty cool to finally own a set. I think I will drop to a 225/40 and run a 10mm spacer on the rears in the spring to bring them to the same specs my old silver TEs were.

- I got my hood painted.

- I picked up a pair of Ganador mirrors. After trying something different and running the factory mirrors like Koguchi for a while, I finally caved into temptation and got another pair of Ganadors.

- I installed a Canton racing oil pan just before Final Bout. The pan took a beating on the trip and I ended up selling it. I have since replaced it with a GReddy unit like I had previously. I also picked up an Xcessive skidplate that I haven't had a chance to install just yet.

- My wife and I drove the car a total of just over 1,000 miles to Final Bout and through the upper peninsula of Michigan over Labor Day weekend. Aside from a cracked coolant hose we didn't have any major issues, so that was a lot of fun.

For now I am just enjoying the car for the remainder of the season. The weather has really been cooling off here lately and it won't be long until the snow begins to fly. I don't have any huge plans for the car this winter but I am sure I'll find something to dink around with.

[JIMB0]

needs more final bout photos

[Heywood Jablomie]

So glad you resurrected this, perfectly captures my favorite kind of style since I was ten watching option videos. Same with the final bout crowd. So glad that there are still people out there keeping the vibes alive.

[Malik]

sweet ass ride

[ixfxi]

why do the tires say KENDA on them?

[mastadon]

Kenda is a tire company. Could be the reason.

[ixfxi]

Originally Posted by mastadon

Kenda is a tire company. Could be the reason.

i thought they manufacture tires for bicycles?