93 SR Hatch build in the Mitten State

[CamryOnBronze]

Thought I would post a bit about my build now that i have a premium account I am 23 and Im a graphic designer in Michigan. I just graduated from GVSU in December and wanted to pick up a new project car after my previous love was totaled- 99 Toyota Solara:







The car was supercharged at 6 psi, put down about 254 whp. Did the first black interior swap into a Solara complete with defi gauges and sparco torino seats/ 4 pt harnesses. I loved everything about it, but I got rear ended and insurance totaled the car. I got a good chunk of cash from mods and insurance, but I wanted to get something a bit cheaper with more potential and RWD. I picked this car up on election day:













The car wasnt all bad and the chassis was rust free- something really rare up here in the midwest. The body seemed to be pretty clean as well, just some very slight rust starting on the bottoms of the A pillars. Mostly the car just needed a lot of TLC. The previous owner didnt have time for the car anymore with a wife and kids, so it had pretty much just been sitting for the past few years. I saw a lot of potential and decided to give it a shot.

I drove the car and enjoyed the power for about two weeks until I left the lights on and killed the battery. At some point int he jumping process, we are fairly sure that one of my friends must have tuched the cables in reverse and fried something. The car wouldnt turn over and had no power. I found that the alternator fuse had blown. Upon replacing it the car got power again, but still wouldnt turn over. Starter was good, etc, so my wiring nightmare began after a lot of troubleshooting.

Current status and planned mods in the next post...

[CamryOnBronze]

I still dont have the car started, but I have a good friend with a lot of SR experience, as well as wiring expertise, that has been helping me out as we have time. In the mean time, I have began to fix a lot of the things that were half assed with the car. This is about how it sits right now:

The first thing I did was get a front bumper and have it painted, so I dont have to ride around without a front end...



Here is a pic of the interior project beginning. This was a few weeks ago- since then I have removed about 80% of the sound deadening. Im hoping to have the rest removed by sometime next week. The dash and center console have been pulled since this picture as well:



The car is just chillin in my grandpa's garage for the winter. Sold the SE wheels since I am going 5 lug anyway, so those are now gone. I pulled the fenders to hammer them back for tire clearance and to relocate the wiring harnesses:



This is why Im not in a huge hurry to finish the car at the moment:



Next post will be the parts I have and what's on the way...

[CamryOnBronze]

Alright, so plans and parts- the good part Here is what I have ready to install:

Koyo Aluminum Radiator
Flex-A-Lite Dual Slim Fans
Samco hoses
NISMO oil cap
ARC radiator shroud
Wilwood 4 pot front calipers, 13" rotors, ss lines (got a super good deal)
Ichiba 5 lug conversion hubs
Brembo blank rear rotors
Hawk HPS rear pads with SS brake lines
OEM plug cover
Circuit Sports coolant tank
Circuit Sports hood struts
Circuit Sports turbo lines
Defi Link gauges (oil temp, oil pressure, boost)
Triple Gauge Pod (dash vents)
Autometer angle rings
B&M short shifter
NISMO shift knob
Buddy Club super low seat rails
Corbeau FX1 Pro fixed back seat
New black carpeting, including hatch carpet
Harness protector bracket (for DS fender)
Gram Lights 57 Maximum 17x9 +12 time attack wheels
Summit battery relocation kit

Here are some random pics of the parts I have waiting to go on- sorry about the poor quality, I will borrow my brother's baller camera for the next update.














(not really faded)













I PROMISE the next pics I post wont be such poor quality... as you can see, I spent all of my dough on parts instead of a camera :lol:

I am ordering some SPC suspension goodies for the rear today, as well as some rays lugs so that I can get the suspension and brake stuff going soon! Thanks for reading, Ill try to get another update very soon.

Damon

[PoorMans180SX]

Yeah, Michigan represent.

[CamryOnBronze]

Got my Boss harness protector last night:



Also ordered SPC rear camber and toe arms. Ill install the brakes and the 5 lug components as soon as that stuff shows up. Modified my gauge pod last night to fit the angle rings in- Im going to paint it a textured matte black before I install it for good:

[Dirty Habit]

Tons of goodies!!

I get up to Ann Arbor at least once a week. I sold my sx a couple months ago, but when I get my zx back up here we should meet up and go for a cruise.

Also I got a xenon front lip which is hard to find for that sharknose. Would look nice on there, let me know if your interested.

Mike

[CamryOnBronze]

For sure, I will hit you up!

Got all of the sound deadening out and the car has spark nbow (Ignitor was bad). Should be up and running very soon!

[CamryOnBronze]

Well, we got the car to fire up yesterday and it runs great! Im going to install my brakes and 5 lug conversion this weekend, then start on putting the interior all back together. Good to finally hear the car running again!

[CamryOnBronze]

Well, we made some progress last night. Got all of the old crappy stock brakes removed from all four corners and got the front 4 lug hubs removed. I did not have a large enough socket for the rear hubs, so I will have to pick one up today after work. I started to remove the RUCAs and other alignment parts in the rear to install my SPC components that came yesterday, but called it a night before I finished the removal.

I ran into a snag with my front Wilwood kit that I purchased from another zilvia member. The front rotors look like they were designed for another vehicle and had small metal spacers pushed into the stud holes to make them fit. However, they do not slip over the ichiba hubs and I am afraid they will damage the studs if I try to push them on. On top of that, one of the spacers is missing. Long story short, these are too jenky for me to try to mess with. I will have to come up with another front rotor solution and go from there.



SPC Goodies:




I also installed my B&M short shifter without any big issues. My friend took pictures and I will post them as soon as I get them from him. SHould make steady progress from this point on!

[C. Anderson]

Looks like this car will be pretty nice! Super props on the Solara! I've always wondered what a Solara would look like nicely modded.

[kuruptR]

dope, you went with spc, gonna try running it for next year.

[CamryOnBronze]

^no doubt man, the parts look super nice... Ill let you know how they hold up.

Planning on finishing up the rear suspension and brake install tomorrow since I have the day off. I might get to installing the carpet as well and removing the valve cover to be powdercoated.

[Soup Nazi]

Nice. Got some great parts there. Did you make that triple gauge holder?

[CamryOnBronze]

Nah, I copped out and got it on ebay :/ haha I modified it for the angle rings and sprayed it textured black, but I cant claim any credit past that.

[CamryOnBronze]

Made some progress yesterday. Not as much as I hoped, but still not bad. I got all of the suspension pieces broken loose on both sides and removed everything from the driver's side. I am now trying to get the spindle off of the car so that I can remove the old 4 lug hub. The bolts are on so tight that I think removing the whole spindle from the car will be the only way to get the 4 hub bolts loose. All that is holding me up is the balljoint- Im not sure if I can just hammer this off or if I need a specific tool to remove it:



SPC pieces vs. Stock



I threw one of the rear rotors on the front to test fit the wheel... need to do something about the monster truck status and slam those tiens! All in due time...



Im gonna need some more camber too...





Going back at it after work tonight, hope to bet the stubborn stuff broken loose so I can put it all back together.

[PoorMans180SX]

A tap with a hammer and that ball joint should just pop out.

[CamryOnBronze]

^ yep, that did it! Too bad the boot was already smoked anyway :/

The hub bolt on the other side is still being stubborn, so I am going to have a friend bring his torch and air tools out soon to help me remove it. I tore a CV boot when trying to remove the spindle, so I am just going to install the VLSD and axles that the previous owner gave me with the car. At this point, with so much torn apart, I might drop the subframe and do the bushings as well. Always better to get everything done right the first time if possible, so that might be the best route. A little nervous because I have never dropped a subframe before, but I might just go for it.

I also removed the 4 hub bolts from the hub to the spindle, but I am not sure how to seperate them. My friend told me I will need a press, but I have not confirmed that yet. Ill search around the forum some more to see what I can find out.

[CamryOnBronze]

Ordered:

OEM rear balljoints
OEM radiator bracket/bolts to install Koyo Radiator
Circuit breaker for battery relocation
EnergySuspension rear subframe bushings (poly)

No more dicking around, need to get all of the parts ordered and slap this thing back together!

[silviaguy240]

Originally Posted by CamryOnBronze

I also removed the 4 hub bolts from the hub to the spindle, but I am not sure how to seperate them.

just use a prybar and be careful

[CamryOnBronze]

Thanks for the advice, I need to spend some more time with it.

Got some stuff on the way to get this thing all back together and on the road:

Energy Suspension Subframe bushings (backordered for 2 weeks)
OEM Radiator Mounts/Hardware (to install koyo)
Circuit Breaker (for battery relocation)
GReddy oil filter relocation kit
Rays Aluminum lug nuts (black)

I still need to order front brakes, since I sold the Wilwood kit I had, and do something about the bad balljoint I have. After some research, I found that Nissan doesn't sell just the rear balljoints for this car, only the lower arm with the balljoint already pressed in. You can use some from a sentra, but I think Im going to go with the whole arm... I read a couple of tutorials and it looks like a joke to do.

I am pulling the valve cover to be done wrinkle red tonight. I think it will look pretty sick with the time attacks.

Interior:
I think I am going to try to install my carpeting and get the dash back in as well tonight. I will run the wiring for my Defi gauges and the link controller. Im just going to put as much of the interior back in as I can while I wait on the CDM seatbelt conversion.

Suspension:
Got that pesky rear hub bolt loose with the help of a friend, a torch, and a thick steel bar last night. This allowed me to pull all of the arms and whatnot on that side last night, as well as the axles. Have to remove the spindle from that side, then get the hubs swapped to the 5 luggers.

Drivetrain:
I am going to drop the diff if I can tonight or tomorrow. I have a JDM/CDM VLSD that came with the car, along with 5 bolt axles. I was going to buy a nicer LSD, but I decided to save the cash for now and rock this one- it should be sufficient for my needs. Pretty sure I have to swap the diff covers, so I will change the fluid as well when I do that.

Anyway, slow progress as always. Going to get a formulated list going and start knocking things out, I want this thing cruising out of the garage by the end of April!

[PoorMans180SX]

When you drop the subframe, but a jack under the diff, it's pretty well balanced around it, although the front is a little heavier, but it's really no big deal. It's much more of a pain to get it back in.

You should check out the Megan Racing roll center adjuster ball joints. I don't normally recommend Megan Racing anything to anyone, but they're really the only ones that make them right now. They're $168 for a pair, which is cheaper than complete arms.

Megan Racing

Megan Racing

You'd probably want to do all four, but they're due for replacement in any S13 anway, so why not? It can only help.

I'm not that far away from you, and I'm always down for wrenching on a buddies car, I just need to get my car fixed first, but if you ever want some help...

[CamryOnBronze]

Yeah, I did see those, but I feel the same way... not sure I want to rock the megan stuff, haha. I might only need a balljoint on one side, but it would probably be best to do both at once. Arms are about $240 shipped, so megan would be a cheaper option. I like the idea of not having to press anything in or mess with it.

[Dirty Habit]

Looking good! I missed what suspension you have, or are going with..?
I went with stances on my coupe and liked them alot. Pretty harsh on ohio/michigan roads when slammed but if you softened it up a bit it was tollerable for moderate periods of time.

[CamryOnBronze]

hey thanks man, the car has some old school tein HEs on it now. They seem pretty low mileage and in good shape, so Im gonna stick with those as long as they go low enough, which I think they should.

I started putting the interior back together tonight, exciting to see it starting to look like a car again! I trimmed the new carpet and got it in along with the dash, carpet is about 85% trimmed (crap pics AGAIN, so sorry haha):

Before the carpet, most sound deadening removed (decided to leave a couple really stubborn spots, got lazy haha)



With new carpet and dash:





If my brother gets not lazy tomorrow he will pull my corbeau seat I bought off of him from his RS and I can test fit that... Im guessing it wont happen though, haha. If that is the case Ill work on the diff swap.

Im getting some momentum now, need this car back together!

[yabeet]

You have one hell of a good taste in wheels!

[CamryOnBronze]

thanks man! A lot of people will give me crap for time attacks being "played out" and whatnot, but hopefully the stance of the car will deter that a bit. I got too good of a deal on them without the usual wait for wheels from makin industries, so i had to take it!

[CamryOnBronze]

Well, I test fitted my corbeau FX1 seat with buddy club super low rail yesterday, but unfortunately it still sits really high. I am almost hitting my head and there is no way I would fit with a helmet, so Im not sure what I am going to do. At this point I dont care much about cost, I just really want a seat that feels good and sits low enough. Not sure what I am going to end up going with, update soon...

[yota man]

IIRC that seat is a bottom mount... check out some of the Sparco and Recaro seats. There is a group buy on them right now. Most of their seats are side mounts. They're likely to be lower.

[CamryOnBronze]

it's actually bottom or side mount, which is how I have it bolted to a side mount bracket right now If you look at corbeau's website, it explains that the seat can be side or bottom mounted. I will check out the group buy though for sure, thanks!

[yota man]

No problem man. Let me know what you find out. I'm having trouble deciding on what I want to do for a seat. I'm having the same problem as you. How tall are you?