Watch me try to fix this s14!

[PoorMans180SX]

Originally Posted by JoelC

I guess I should address what I’m going for with this car at this point. The scope I had for this car previously was to put in a full cage and prep it for pro-am. More recently I realized that professional driving is a massive financial drain and i’ve seen more than my fair share of drivers quit altogether because of the cost.

As a result, i wanted to keep this car as a streetcar/track car.

I had the same revelation a couple years ago hah. Do yourself a favor and get some chassis reinforcement (strut bars, fender braces, etc). The S14 is better than the S13, but these chassis' still flex a lot, and eventually will fatigue and start pulling themselves apart.

Looks like a ton of fun, and proper styling.

[JoelC]

Originally Posted by PoorMans180SX

I had the same revelation a couple years ago hah. Do yourself a favor and get some chassis reinforcement (strut bars, fender braces, etc). The S14 is better than the S13, but these chassis' still flex a lot, and eventually will fatigue and start pulling themselves apart.

Looks like a ton of fun, and proper styling.

I've had a front strut bar but didn't really like the way it felt when drifting. They aren't expensive so maybe I'll give it another shot. I've been interested in the fender braces for a while now, however.

Do you know of any decent brands for these?

[brndck]

Originally Posted by JoelC

I've had a front strut bar but didn't really like the way it felt when drifting. They aren't expensive so maybe I'll give it another shot. I've been interested in the fender braces for a while now, however.

Do you know of any decent brands for these?

I have the uras ones, but TBH just make your own.
I don't really see anyone currently making them.
Nagisa still does iirc but they're $$$
https://www.ebay.com/i/233240299865?...xoC4D4QAvD_BwE
IMO this shit is NOT worth $400

[JoelC]

Little update:

Just purchased a major piece to the puzzle of this car. My current hood is in poor condition so I'm going to be replacing it with a new hood. I'll post more about this when it actually arrives.

As for latching, I'm not sure what I'm going to do this time around. I don't really want to do O'Reilly's hood pins and I'm not a big fan of aerolatches either.

I like the idea of the Quik latches and I'm considering using these for my body kit as well. However, these run roughly $120 per latch. I'm looking to spend a bit more on quality stuff this time around but this seems a bit much.

My question is if anyone has had experience with their Amazon Chinese equivalents?

Link:

https://www.amazon.com/STETION-Unive...07L428V3W?th=1

I'm hesitant to use it on my hood without a proper OEM latch. I don't feel so bad using it on my kit.

[brndck]

Originally Posted by JoelC

My question is if anyone has had experience with their Amazon Chinese equivalents?

Link:

https://www.amazon.com/STETION-Unive...07L428V3W?th=1

I'm hesitant to use it on my hood without a proper OEM latch. I don't feel so bad using it on my kit.

I use the smaller ones, QL-25, on my carbon hood, and they work great. My hood does use the oem latch as well, but these are plenty beefy and only around $60 per pair

https://www.quik-latch.com/QL-25-ser...i-latches.html

the actual hood ones from quik latch are HUGE.
way too large imo.

I have used the amazon ones for mounting body panels (side skirts) and they work great tho, and for only like $25 per pair.

[JoelC]

Originally Posted by brndck

I use the smaller ones, QL-25, on my carbon hood, and they work great. My hood does use the oem latch as well, but these are plenty beefy and only around $60 per pair

https://www.quik-latch.com/QL-25-ser...i-latches.html

the actual hood ones from quik latch are HUGE.
way too large imo.

I have used the amazon ones for mounting body panels (side skirts) and they work great tho, and for only like $25 per pair.

Thank you for pointing this out. I'm not actually running an OEM hood latch as the center part of my core support is removable. On their site it mentions that the QL-25 should be used in tandem with the factory latching. However, I did notice that the QL-38 can be used without OEM latches and is half the cost of the QL-50 set.

$130 makes the choice a little easier. I'll definitely utilize the cheap Amazon/eBay ones for the bodywork, side skirts, rear/front bumper etc.

I would like to get all of this major bodywork handled before summer so that I can paint it.