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10-25-2016, 09:09 PM
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#32 |
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Zilvia Member
 
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With aesthetics in play, it was time to drive! Shenandoah is an absolutely breathtaking place. The track is perfectly situated in a valley of mountains, and you are surrounded by untouched scenery. Everything is green, and makes the entire driving experience that much more serene. When you first pull in, the road is straight and all you can see is a steep mountain range and the morning fog.
  Everything felt great, nothing broke after beating on it for the entire day. This was the true test of the headgasket job! I was able to dampen the overheating by looping the heater hoses (didn't have heat) and clipping the small valve on the thermostat to facilitate bleeding. It's a little taboo, but helped. Things were going a little too well?. Finally during the Drift Valley/US Drift combo event I had a brusque malfunction. The car shut off on me in the infield and it was low on power for the rest of the day (more than usual). The battery light also came on. After a voltage test, the alternator failed and was no longer charging the battery. Even despite these issues, I kept driving. My head was in the wrong place, and I was frustrated. In order to compensate for the lack of power, I had to manji halfway through the bank to keep the wheels spinning; an abysmal idea. I threw the car too hard and I grazed the wall. The damage wasnt too bad, I was able to pound most it out with a hammer and a 2x4. The overfender effectively rebounded back into place, who would have thought!?  The entire event put me in a fairly somber mood, but I had to keep trudging on. There were other events looming near. I distracted myself by working on the equips, I refinished one of the center caps and the 5.5″ inner barrels came in from Apt5 wheels. I still had to wait on the outers to come in but it was enjoyable figuring out the wheel math to get the perfect tsuda-ichi fitment!  Last edited by relaxamigo; 12-13-2020 at 09:21 PM.. |
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04-04-2017, 08:34 PM
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#35 |
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Zilvia Member
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I also picked up some CR2P, not really sure why. Tucking 18s was exciting, though. I got rid of these later in the year..
 I also distracted myself by finishing up the Farmas while I waited for the Equip parts to come in. Polishing is a meticulous task. Sanding out all the small blemishes was a nightmare! Your hands begin to ache, head begins to pound, and the amount of beer necessary to stay sane cultivates. These came out pretty cool, I'm not all too sure if the huge face adequately matches the style of an schassis, but the divergent style spoke to me. It was around this time that I developed a plaguing addiction for old Japanese wheels. Tom graciously mounted up the tires and I caught him mid cheetah-blast!   The Farmas had too aggressive of a fit in the front, fortunately my ride height wasn't too low at the time and there wasnt much impeding the tire from smashing the fender.  Last edited by relaxamigo; 12-13-2020 at 09:29 PM.. |
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04-06-2017, 06:32 PM
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#38 |
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Zilvia Member
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Despite the exciting new front wheels, I needed to conquer the intermittent power loss issue. Drift Valley was just a few weeks away and the KA still felt feeble. I recollect trying just about everything, fuel pumps, MAF, wiring, vacuum leaks, knock sensor, you name it! I was blindly swapping parts over with the hope of repairing the issue. After a lot of screwing with the engine, the issue seemed to come and go. I tried all kinds of wild things, from wiring a resistor in the knock sensor circuit, to hardwiring it with a coaxial cable. I ended up driving like this for the largest part of the season, none of my friends were able to figure this one out! This conundrum was heavily disheartening, I wanted to outright swap the engine out with something else at times and simply call it quits.
Although I might have overthought it at the time, persistence is key. If you're hardheaded enough, the solution will come to you? eventually. I destroyed my bumper on the way to the shop one saturday, pretty bummed but it sat way too low and it was bound to happen. I got stuck on a grooved part of the highway and hit a gnarly bump. The front end of my car looked like it was blasted by a tornado with the amount of fiberglass that shattered. Repairing the bumper was a messy, itchy task that I hoped to never repeat again (but did many times).  On the way back, around 3 AM in a deserted tunnel!  The next Drift Valley bestowed itself upon us, and the car ran poorly as usual. Although it baffled me a little, it was important to chase the silver lining. This forced me to be more shrewd in selecting my driving line. I kept the angle shallow to maintain momentum, and only used angle when I could afford to slow down. This was one of the first times where we had successful tandem driving. Listening to the turbulence of another engine right beside you was a novel sensation. Staying relaxed and concentrated was more paramount now than ever! You also learn to trust your tandem partner, it's essential for a good dance!  A wangan wing made its way over to the car, I'll freely admit this was an awkward styling point.  I installed a wideband on to facilitate the diagnosis process, but it simply made me overlook other things. The wideband readings were not particularly off-kilter, but it was still constructive to monitor the output of the almighty KA.  I finally got the equips finished, and CLEARLY needed more practice sealing three piece wheels. My technique was nowhere near proficient. I had too thick of a coat of silicone, making it easy for the tire bead to catch it during mounting and cause a leak. That?€™s precisely what happened! I had to take the wheels apart a few more times until I made a leak-free seal. The Equips had a much better fit and were true to the era of the s13.    The wing, however, didn't fit the styling of the car at all! It required a much wilder style like Bad180sx.  ]This matsuri was a total party, around halfway through the day the water came down monsoon-style. I foolishly took a lap and cracked the bumper again! Some people waited too long, and kept on driving. The infield at Shenandoah is concave for water to drain. However given the violence of the storm, the drains' efforts in keeping up with the downpour of the water were futile. The infield essentially turned into a lake, and people were getting stuck and hydrolocking their cars. The calm after the storm sure made for a killer photo-op though!  Bill captured some vivid moments at night:  I remember seeing this next photo and finally understanding the importance of lengthened front lower control arms.  The power loss issue was still rampant. Although it was forcing me to be more aware of my driving line it was beginning to limit my progression. With all the tandem driving we were doing it was time to make the car a bit safer on the inside. I picked up a safety21/Cusco 6 pt bolt in, a Mazworx harness bar and some corbeau harnesses. Having some safety instruments in the car eases the brain to continue pushing your limit! I snagged another matching pair of equips for the rear. This time around, I found some with better starting sizes so all they would need are new outer lips. Best part: they were LO disk! The final size was 10.5 -5, which was a tad wide for my taste but they filled the arches nicely.  I really enjoyed driving on a 16″ wheel in the back. Tires were cheap, and the minimal weight made it easy to keep them spinning and steer the car with the throttle. Only issue is they looked kind of lame, so I found a rare set of Heroes S-911 on ebay! They were also 16s but with forged components, weighed in at 16.5 lbs each. They were also a little more aggressive than the Z32 I had, which was a plus. I mentioned a wheel addiction, right?  We had a private day at Shenandoah and it was the perfect venue to work on technique and get some tandem practice in! These events were great because we all got to enjoy each other's company, and really attack the weak points of each driver to become a more cohesive unit.  As usual, Bill nailed some fantastic moments. The car was going in a better direction without the wing and equips up front.   ]I vividly recall the morning after this event as something that descended from the heavens. I had started the car in the garage to move it, and it ran dreadfully. The entire engine was shaking, the wideband was reading 10.0 and there was fuel pouring out of the exhaust! Aaron came over to hang out and look things over with me. We pulled the fuel rail off and placed a piece of cardboard under it to see if there were any leaks. When I turned the key to prime the pump, injector #2 let out a waterfall of fuel that gave Niagara a run for its money! Oddly enough, the injectors were something I had never looked too far into. I had tested voltage/resistance, but never flow tested. I wasn't sure if it was a seal that broke, or something internally. Injectors are fucky little gadgets. Either way, I was ecstatic that the solution to my issue all year was potentially diagnosed. Ordered some new 270s, and the car was back to normal. It was obviously still KA sluggish, but the difference was night and day. It pulled like it did earlier in the year, and I felt goosebumps spring up along my arm knowing the car was back to its old self. The car may have been a little angry with me for grazing the wall earlier that year, or driving it with a known malfunction. With the new injectors on, I did some testing!  Work wheels from different generations!  Driving the car for the next few weeks was exciting, but I had to do a pull from time to time to be absolutely sure that the power loss issue wouldnt make an impromptu return. The entire issue screwed with my head a good bit for most of the year! Once I was positive the car was stout, I wanted to install some parts Ive had laying around for awhile. These arms took far longer than I had expected to make the first time. The concept seems so straightforward until you really bite into it! They came out great and have held up perfectly after over a season's worth of abuse. These are a 38mm extension.   Camber! Sitting at -10 with the DMAX coilovers. I paired the arms with some shortened knuckles to maximize their full potential. Lastly, I scooped a pair of Cusco tension rods to finish up revamping the front end. I can?€™t stress enough the importance of swapping out the junk stock ones, I held out far too long on roasted bushings. The stock rods on most S13s are most likely garbage, and will make the front end feel incredibly loose; especially at lock.  There was one last important change before the next event: aero! I was getting tired of destroying and repairing fiberglass aero. The time, effort, and itchy arms simply aren't worth riding low and tearing the fiberglass apart. Fortunately I didnt have an expensive kit. The fiberglass also made loading the car onto trailers a nightmare, the time spent removing, and reinstalling the skirts and bumper was starting to add up. It's also the last thing you want to deal with when you're returning from a track day at one in the morning. The answer was clear. I needed OEM aero, and I needed to match the rest of the team. I had been collecting OEM 180sx aero for some time, and finally came across the missing pieces to the kit; the front bumper! Got everything primed and painted for the final consecutive Drift Valley and we were off! This event, I actually ended up driving the car to the track and home, and I was on the brink of perdition the entire ride there.  If youve read up to this point, I'm sure you have attained a grasp of how much I value Drift Valley and its organizers. While Drift Nirvana and Swing Set events have played a part, Drift Valley has had a transcendent influence on my driving. They held the first event I ever attended, and the atmosphere, smiles, and encouragement has sucked me in ever since. The organizers are all drivers, and they keep it strictly grassroots. DV takes driving and safety seriously. Most of the regulars from Drift Valley have molded into strong drivers today, and I fully assert that these events play a large role in their development. Despite the grassroots feel, there is a good deal of competition among the veteran drivers and they push each other's limits frequently.  The knuckles, FLCA, and tension rods getting put to the test!  Even with OEM aero, I still found a way to abuse body panels.  Despite a wet event, everyone had a great time. These are the great people of Drift Valley!  My friend Tom wanted to get his KA vert to the track so I accompanied him to a Drift Nirvana and hung out for the day!  Fall shit!  The last night I got to see my friend Stephen before he was taken from us. Rest easy brother, look over us wherever you are.  Getting to work on the rear equips! The faces were a little hurt and needed some love.      Accurate   At this point I was absolutely drunk with joy having my favorite matching set of wheels on an schassis.  Put the hatch in a ditch after hitting some salt and trashed my front lip. Good thing it was fiberglass! I also wrecked the fuel and brake lines under the car. The ride height was beginning to take its toll on the car. I drove an hour home with no brakes! No going back, though. Got the car up in the air a few days later, and replaced the fuel feed and brake lines that run under the car. This was a total locomotive huff and puff of a task. Thankfully, Tom lent me a hydraulic flaring tool and after a ton of bending and measuring we were back on the road and ready for the Wolfpack bash.  This Wolfpack birthday bash was even more fun than the last! The driving was picking up, and with the hatch running like a top Nick was able to dive in. We all had a great time as usual; pushed each other out of our comfort zones and planned goals for next year. Mel got a sweet moment here!  Made a power brace to stiffen up the car! You'd be surprised how loosely assembled these cars are. Just a bunch of 16/18/22 gauge sheet metal glued together with sealant and spot welds. A strut brace and power brace are essential.  The junkie just can't get enough. OEM 4″ inner barrel and a LO disk!   With the car all braced up, I headed out to 100DOD to finish the year strong! The event was packed, but everything went smoothly. I was extra careful this year with the road course. The car was significantly lower than the year prior, and an off-road excursion would be exponentially catastrophic.   Here's a clip of pistol grip, one of the trickier courses!! Putting 100DOD behind me, I was euphoric with what I had accomplished in 2016. Winter was looming near, and it's the epoch of movemaking! The green engine bay was brooding my frame of mind whenever I looked at it. It sullied the appearance of the car when the hood was popped! I essentially imagined a baby vomiting in the engine compartment. I drove the car around for a little while before I got to tearing it all apart.    Made another one of these shits:  Then I had an unsavory incident in a parking lot. I was cruising through looking for a spot, and a woman in a Lexus backed out quickly and mashed into the hatch! She didn't hit it hard, just scuffed the bumper. She says she didnt see me because the car was too low, but it was difficult to discern what she was saying from her thick Eastern-European accent. She seemed quite upset about the whole ordeal, and it was the holidays so I let it slide.  That's all for 2016! Thanks for sticking along for the post (if you got this far) and I'll have the next update out shortly. 2017 was a wild year, and the most exciting thus far. Last edited by relaxamigo; 12-14-2020 at 10:06 PM.. |
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04-08-2017, 03:44 AM
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#42 | |
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Nissanaholic!
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 2,178
Trader Rating: (8)
  Feedback Score: 8 reviews
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Good shit, keep it up.
Also p l e a s e post some pictures of the updated wolfpack hq...
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04-09-2017, 10:01 AM
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Zilvia Member
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04-09-2017, 01:08 PM
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08-18-2019, 04:46 AM
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#46 |
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Zilvia Member
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WOW this thread is heavily outdated - looking to get back in the swing of things! Got a few updates I'll add in periodically
During all of the prior year, I was disgusted with the engine bay. I was embarrassed to pop my hood for tech inspection. The color was awful, and it was peeling and chipping everywhere. This was a valuable lesson learned in doing things properly the first time! I pulled the hatch in the garage and tore everything apart, even pulled out the main engine bay harness. I wanted things done right without the need to repeat it. That harness is an absolute nightmare to remove, I havent been able to do so without pulling the dash.  Boogers!  ]After doing a semi-shave the first time with the green bay, I now knew what holes were unessential. This allowed me to shave a few more, predominantly on the wheel wells. I wasnt keen on spending a ton of money on paint, so I went with POR-15 top coat diluted from a harbor freight gun. There's a certain chaotic nature in spraying POR-15, and you have to be really careful with the quantity of reducer because it WILL trash the gun, ask me how I know.   Started putting a few things back in  Picked up a few drivetrain upgrades during cyber monday! One piece steel shaft, fidanza flywheel, and stage 2 competition clutch.   Got the almighty KA in the cradle!  With the bay addressed, I could focus on the harness. This whole endeavor took me a few weeks.  Everything I removed! All I kept for the front was headlight wiring and brake master cylinder plugs.  Fortunately, everything needed to complete this was available online. The SMJ pinout and wire color charts were incredibly helpful. I made my own de-pinning tools out of old wiper inserts and went to town! It was nice to get in a groove and mash on instead of figuring out what the hell I was doing. Some hot tea was essential for those cold and long winter nights! One word of advice for anyone that wishes to attempt relocating their harness- label EVERYTHING before you go ripping it out of the car. It makes it MUCH easier to know which plugs/wires do what.  Overall, I was pretty content with how everything came out. I wasnt pursuing a VW ultra shave and tuck, just something mild. I figured if the engine in the car is a refrigerator it might as well look tight. The fusebox relocation really makes the engine look like it's floating. When I got the modified harness in and hooked the battery up, I was THRILLED to see all the lights coming on! The sensation was rewarding and with the car operational, I re-installed the interior.  I'm not entirely sure why I decided to entrench myself in a slew of arduous tasks, but if two wasn't enough I decided to hand polish some battles. Dreadful task.  Finally, I acquired kouki tails!  The first event of 2017 was successful, no mechanical issues, the car didnt catch on fire after the harness tuck, and the new flywheel/driveshaft combo felt amazing. The car revved MUCH faster now, and there was less slop in power delivery. I damn near hit redline pulling the car out of the garage, I didnt know what to expect from a flywheel that weights less than half of its stock counterpart.  With the car stout, my attention wandered to finding cool parts online. Found these R33s for the super low on ebay because they were dipped black.  After more mind numbing work:   R33 is a super versatile, light forged wheel. It's a no-brainer that they thrive from such immense adulation and usage. Finally completed the kouki 180sx aero!   It was late spring, and the Low Style Heroes event was looming near. This event was garnering national attention- and with good reason. Akinobu Satsukawa from A-Bo-Moon had his car shipped overseas to drive our local track! This was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet a gentleman that made a large dent in team matched driving. I took a day off work that week and loaded the car up early. I didn't want to get caught in the middle of any issues and made sure the car was all set. Here's what my event prep looked like the day before!  It was a two day event, and I didn?€™t prepare any sleeping arrangements so I crammed a bunch of pillows and blankets in the passenger area of the hatch (no seat) and camped out in there! It was actually decently comfortable. Jofel Tolosa from Super Street took a killer photo in the infield!  On grid with Akinobu Satsukawa!  Cranking that 80 PSI  I buckled my fender after hitting full lock coming out of the infield!  Took the car for a drive after the event to make sure everything was okay!  Super Street covered the event a few months after, and to my surprise I found a few shots of the hatch in the magazine!   Went to the shop to put in some work. The loft we built provided a cool background for all the cars.  The next event was a matsuri at Shenandoah. This was one of the best Swing Set events, there were very few drivers, the atmosphere was relaxed and the vibes were great!     I wanted to lower the car a bit more, and the DMAX I had were maxed out in the rear. They were excellent entry-level coilovers and handled a ton of abuse, but I needed to up the ante. I went with some broadway static 500s with swifts!  The super short shock body and spring essentially allowed you to bottom the frame out before you reach maximum low. Here's a comparison of my old DMAX and new BWS rears with both maxed out.  Even with somewhat aggressive spring rates, the ride was just right. Took a trip down to Fredericksburg to hang out with some friends! The rears are at their highest setting here with just above the minimum thread engagement. Committed to the low!   I had been sitting on some Blitz 03 for quite some time now. I finally sourced some lips for the fronts and got to work! The practice from sealing and re-sealing wheels was finally paying off.    The new shoes had a total new presence to them! I loved the combo of the limited edition gunmetal/gold colorway. Another great private day in the books  Running 16s in the back is not particularly aesthetically pleasing, but I can?€™t deny how well the car drives with them! Paired with the lightweight flywheel and a small, light rear wheel, the KA is incredibly rev-happy.  Not too long later we all went to Dover for a First State Drift event. These events ran clubloose rules, which I thought was great. The staff was friendly, spectators were hyped, and the weather was great!  This weekend I put the hatch on double duty. As soon as I unloaded the car off the trailer and organized all my stuff, I gave the car a deep scrub and prepared for ImportExpo the following morning! I had never attended something like this, but I had a good time nonetheless.     As I was leaving the event, I got caught in a storm! The event was held in Washington, DC, and the roads had my butt clenched for the duration of the trip. As I left the venue, it began to pour and visibility was minimal. I was driving into every feature on the road from potholes, cracks, man hole covers, and steel plates. I think the car suffered more traveling to and from this show as opposed to a day at the track! Finally found some cover under a bridge  Last edited by relaxamigo; 12-14-2020 at 10:46 PM.. |
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08-18-2019, 04:48 AM
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#47 |
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Zilvia Member
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Picked up some XT7 in preparation for the next event! I was planning on entering a solo competition at Shenandoah in a Meihan- style layout. I was pretty pumped for this, we had been practicing clutch kick e-brake entries all year during our private days.
 To my surprise, I ended up winning the competition! I laid down four consistent runs without mistakes. Grassroots style competitions are phenomenal for the weekend driver that wants to see how they stack up against others. I won back my entry for the event!  I also got some runs in with Preston and Alex, two consistent drivers with good looking cars. They love chasing my slow ass KA!    Followed this event up with another private day where we drilled entries even harder!  If you look closely at this photo, you’ll notice a set of lines that strayed from the rest…   This marks the third time I’ve wrecked this car! I got way overzealous with my entries.  It ended up crumbling part of the rear bumper mount. Fortunately the tails were unaffected, really dodged a bullet there. My buddy Travis hooked me up with a new rear bumper. Got that painted and I was all set! Got some cool shots of car:   Quickstyle Motorsports got a hold of Koguchi and were bringing him down to Dominion Raceway in Virginia. Surely, I was not going to miss out on this opportunity to meet the dude that influenced a good part of our style. I was a little hesitant, this event was held on the road course and it looked extremely fast. I wasn’t sure if the KA was up for such a feat, but in 4.9 we trust! I tried doing the layout in second, and the car wasn’t having it. It was sitting in redline, and it wasn’t garnering the momentum I needed. Running the line properly required trust, and “foot-the-fuck-down!” I overcame my mental barrier and threw the car in third and hoped for the best. I had a few off track excursions at first, but in the end, I found the perfect line!  Meeting Koguchi was surreal, when I first unloaded the car he walked over, looked at the car, looked at me and simply said “Shakotan!”  Here’s a clip from that day! Fast forward to 100DOD, and I stuffed the car into a wall. Had a bit of a mental lapse in the early morning, and crushed the front passenger side of the car. Trashed the kouki bumper, hood, and fender. We quickly loaded the car up on the trailer and headed home to analyze the damage. The corner of the core support was pretty caved in, but luckily the bash bar, strut tower bar, and the power brace all did their job. It’s following wrecks like these that one realizes the importance of bracing the s-chassis. It isn’t until you really analyze the structure of the vehicle that you realize the car is composed of thin sheet metal spot welded and glued together. Anyway, I spent the afternoon pulling the damage out and had things looking semi-decent:  We took the car out for a quick drive to ensure that there were no driveability issues, and to our content, the car drove just fine. I found a diagram that showed all the measurements for the engine bay and everything structural was straight!  I had a bit of a bug in my head following the wreck, and deemed the only adequate solution was to get back on the track as soon as I could. The following weekend an autocross club was holding an event at the same track, and welcomed a drift class. The course was run backwards, but either way I just needed to regain my confidence. Loading the car up in the snow made for a shivering, troublesome and slippery experience. It was great having some friends come by in the 20 degree weather to support me, really appreciated that. The car got some funny looks from the autocross folks, can’t really blame them!  At the end of the day, I did what I came to do.  We took the car out for a quick drive afterwards before tearing everything apart for the winter in preparation for a cage! I still have a soft spot in my heart for kouki 180sx aero, but we will try and do the pignose some justice for now.  Quite a lot has happened since, more updates coming soon! Last edited by relaxamigo; 12-15-2020 at 07:30 AM.. |
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12-15-2020, 07:45 AM
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#50 |
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Zilvia Member
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Yikes this mf over a year and a half old. Here are some updates:
Picked up an Enjuku pre-bent 8pt during black friday in 2017. I began to take driving more seriously, so I wanted to also take safety seriously. The bolt-in was awesome but I felt safer with some door bars. The cage arrives on a pallet, un-notched, and each tube is slightly longer than necessary to allow a custom fit. Before I got started, I removed everything from inside the car, and cleaned up the sound deadening where the cage would need to be welded. I also ordered 8′ of additional DOM tubing to practice on, and have handy in case I fubared a notch or cut (this was needed in retrospect). The cage is certified for Formula Drift, thus compliant for US Drift and pro-am sanctioned events. I have no plans to participate in competitive drifting any time in the near future, but if I?m going to weld a roll cage to my vehicle, I want it to be compliant. After stripping the interior, I began practicing some notching. I had never notched tubing before, and did copious research on the process beforehand. There seems to be a large dichotomy among the realm of race-car fabrication on the utility of a notcher. Some have had success with a cheap harbor-freight notcher, and others swear by expensive JD squared style notchers. Others entirely discredit the need for a formal notcher, and argue that all you need is a chop saw, a grinder, and some math. The latter seemed like a nice challenge, but more importantly, it was the frugal approach. After hours of practice, the process of notching without fancy equipment became second nature, and allowed a nice custom fit.   I even tried some difficult angles to mimic the kinds of cuts necessary for the cage.  Welding on a perfectly notched tube is incredibly rewarding and not to mention highly satisfying!  It was time to get started, I spent a solid few days making measurements and ensuring that everything was centered. The positioning of the main hoop was critical to the front down-bar distance from the A-pillar, but also driver?s seat clearance. I had some good help holding the tubing in place while I made my marks (thanks Lynds), and it was time to weld! The first puzzle I needed to solve was the baseplate for the main hoop. The hoop legs sat on an awkward location on the floorboard, right by a 30 degree bend in the sheetmetal. I contoured a flat 1/8″ plate to the bends on the floor, then carefully cut an incision and reinforced it to create a flat platform for the hoop to sit on. The cuts were really tough, I had to exercise extreme care to prevent over-cutting the platform. In retrospect, this plate was dumb as hell. Should have just made plinth boxes. Was fun to make though.   Here are the plates fully welded in! Side note: not ALL the welds on the cage came out aesthetically pleasing. Given the awkward location of some welds, I was focused on getting full penetration!  Front down bar plates:  Rear x bar:  The diagonal and harness bar really tested the high-angle notching I practiced earlier. After lots of measurements, I was able to get the 0.5″ or 1/3 tube diameter overlap necessary for a safe weld. This next part of the cage proved catastrophic. I wanted the down bars to connect the main hoop to the rear suspension pickup points for truly take advantage of the rigidity a roll cage offers. The pesky rear seat mounts were in the way, and those needed to be cut out and spot welded off the car. I utilized a mixture of both cutting and spot-weld removal to ditch those fastidious pieces of metal from the interior. At one point, I used a grinder to make more clearance for the drill. I was cutting in an awkward spot, and the blade broke, causing the grinder to catch and sever my knee. My girlfriend took me to the hospital, and I had 8 stitches put in, rendering me useless for two weeks (or so the doctor thought). I wasn?t going to let this keep me from working on the cage, After a bit of healing I was anxious to get back in the car and keep working!  I didn?t weld in the additional strut bar brace, simply because I use the inside of the hatch to store and transport tires to the track and the brace would prevent that. Hopefully the cage provides sufficient bracing! If there?s one thing I learned through the process, it?s that roll cage fabricators must be contortionists of some sort, or perhaps occupy themselves with hours of yoga. The angles, positions, and locations you need to weld are an absolute nightmare!  I wanted the door bars as wide as I could get them to allow seat clearance. I notched them at a slight angle to facilitate entry and exit.    The pre-bent nature of the cage does not allow for a true custom fit. You essentially have to adapt to what you have been dealt. I wasn?t a fan of the main halo design, I would have preferred two down bars from the main hoop to the floor. However, I imagine the cage was designed like this for ease of shipping. Either way, I was able to get the halo to hug the roofline and make contact all the way across.  This was one of the more difficult notches of the whole project! The two tubes were not on the same plane, thus measuring was tricky.  The design of the down bars did not allow for the bar to hug the A-pillar, this is the best I could do! Perhaps with a longer end portion, the bar could have hugged the A-pillar, but it would have required an extreme notch by the halo.  For safety reasons both on and off track, I made it a point to have the halo hug the roofline. I was able to get this portion of the cage to sit higher and tighter than my old Cusco/Safety 21 bolt-in. My head has sufficient clearance with and without my helmet!  Color and putting shit back in:     More to come soon |
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12-16-2020, 06:34 PM
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#52 |
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Zilvia Member
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I finally grabbed procrastination by the nuts and tore the car apart. There was a lot of body damage throughout that needed to be addressed. It?s not until you sand everything down that you realize how much abuse the sheetmetal takes; there are even things you don?t notice through the clearcoat. The first thing I did was pound out the damage from Shenandoah?s walls on both rear corners of the car! If you scroll back through earlier posts, the driver-side rear took a decent hit.
A few whacks with a 2?4 and a hammer + dolly and..good as new!  Around this time I had started a new job, and my free time became a little scarce. It made meeting deadlines a bit more difficult, but I was still motivated to get the car ready for Springfest. I found myself sleeping 2-3 hours a night for the two week period. I was running off extra doses of black tea throughout the day to prevent my eyelids from sealing shut at my desk. Fortunately, work was light at first and I could keep mashing on the car in the evenings. Here?s the other corner  Welded hood nozzle holes shut  After two arduous weeks, here we are! Woke up real early one Wednesday morning to take the car into paint. Drove this thing on corded tires a few miles down the road to my Peruvian bro.  When I got there, I instantly tore everything apart so he could paint the front end in pieces. Got a call Saturday morning, and rushed over to pick it up! Slapped the wing, headlight covers, and the mirrors on, and drove it home with my pops.  With everything painted, it was time to address the best part of these ?subtle? changes. I could probably write an entire post on the wheels I selected, but I?ll try and keep things concise. I came across these things in early 2017 from a Russian dude online. I tried my best to hold off, but I simply could not resist the temptation of owning what I allege to be some of the most iconic wheels available for that early 2000s look. Splitting and grinding the welds was a complete nightmare, not to mention highly nerve-wracking. After sitting for over a year, I took all the Blitz Technospeed Z2 apart, and we got them ready for re-assembly!   With the Z2 together, it was time to tie everything together. The look of the car was inspired partly by Koguchi?s 180sx, but I wanted to retain my low ride height and OEM aero for street purposes. The canards added an extra splash of aggression, and the kouki fender extensions help hide the camber some in the front. Somehow, I was able to cram all this work in in just over two weeks, and we made it to Springfest!     Somehow I got the car in a solid five minutes before a tsunami hit (not an actual tsunami) and the streets of VA beach faced a flash flood. The show was decent, some cool, creative builds showed up. On the way home I launched the car airborne a few times on I-95, not too pleasant but the hatch successfully completed the eight hour journey with no issues.    A few weeks later I went to Team Vibes at Shenandoah with TopShelf team. The car behaved all weekend with no casualties. Kicked it with Nocturnal Terror and their wild French Canadian style     this is one of my fav photos of hatch:    After team vibes, my new job?s pace really picked up and I lost most of my energy to do anything outside of recovering after a long work day. It?s so easy to get caught in a routine and focus your energy on one thing and forget the things you used to live for. I found it increasingly difficult to muster the motivation to get back in the garage and enjoy the car the way I had for years. Finally, in October 2018 I hit up a Quickstyle Motorsports event. I really enjoyed the previous one with Koguchi so I was thrilled to return. The car did not require much additional maintenance to prepare, just tires and fluids and we were good to go! My girlfriend kindly came with and helped ensure we had a smooth, enjoyable day! It was her first time at a drift event, she was a little scared at first due to the uncertainty of what to expect. After a few laps, the fear was gone and we had a blast  I also lowered the car quite a bit before this event:    Unfortunately towards the end of the day two things happened: I fucked up on turn 4 or 5ish, caught the wheel late, pulled too much angle, and inevitably scrubbed a ton of speed and Rich made contact! It was entirely my fault and it only damaged the bumper and the bash bar. Second kouki bumper I?ve destroyed! Had a great time shredding with him and the SmileFactory Z! On my last run, I hit some strange bump and the outer lip of my rear wheel went outside of my overfender and snarled the ever-living fuck out of it. Turns out my wheel bearing had a ton of play and all three of the knuckle bushings were destroyed, resulting in excessive wheel movement. I was kinda asking for it, the lip was riiiight on the fender and those knuckles/bearings have been abused for years  After the Quickstyle soukoukai, I REALLY neglected the car. It essentially sat untouched from October until early spring. My job became even more stressful and demanding, which meant drifting was the least of my concerns. Finally, I got kind of bummed always seeing the car sitting around without a bumper and the overfender damage so I decided to find some time to do something about it: I essentially had to re-make the arch with resin and fiberglass mat ? itchy experience.    At this point, I needed to figure out the next move for the exterior. The choice was between sourcing another kouki 180sx bumper, or switching the look altogether. Drove the car around naked:   As much as I loved the look, I wanted to experiment. I had a Parts Station Duce (PS Duce) kit laying around that I purchased on impulse in 2017, but it had a coupe rear bumper. I traded some parts for a PS Duce rear bumper and completed the full kit for a hatch:    Added some nards:  |
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12-17-2020, 08:26 AM
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#54 | |
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Zilvia Member
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12-17-2020, 10:03 AM
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#55 |
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Zilvia Addict
 
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wow, what a rollercoaster this was, from monster energy engine bay and Cosmis to this. I love your vocabulary too, makes reading these at my work desk feel less mind-numbing and irresponsible.
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12-18-2020, 08:36 AM
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#56 | |
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12-19-2020, 07:02 AM
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#57 |
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Post Whore!
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Western Mass.
Posts: 2,605
Trader Rating: (3)
  Feedback Score: 3 reviews
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You know, you almost lost me when you said "the cold winters". I woke up this morning and it was 1* in New England. hahaha.
Awesome content. So much style and clearly shredding that NA KA. Good stuff man. At first I was like man, should've kept the car white! But the wheel choices and aero made the black look good. Good thread. |
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12-22-2020, 04:31 PM
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#58 | |
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Zilvia FREAK!
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: California
Age: 36
Posts: 1,167
Trader Rating: (9)
Feedback Score: 9 reviews
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Killer build and great thread. Thanks for sharing your progression!
__________________
...180 Style... Quote:
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01-12-2021, 06:16 PM
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#59 | ||
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Zilvia Member
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Quote:
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So now that it was almost time to take the hatch back out, I needed to address that busted knuckle bushing issue. no point in fixing the quarter only to roast it again. When the rear of the car was jacked up, I could grab the wheel and move it a couple millimeters in any direction. Further analysis revealed that the hub had some play, the arms had play, and the axle had play. I spent a few days reviewing my options, and concluded that if the whole rear suspension requires an overhaul to repair these issues, there?s no point in re-installing the OEM knuckle with crusty old bushings (or new bushings, for that matter). I?ve thought about rear drop knuckles for quite some time, but I never did much research to understand how they work or how they would help alleviate some of my issues. I already have solid subframe risers, and the subframe sits as high as it can get without making SERIOUS modifications to the body and subframe. I went back and forth between a lot of drop knuckle options and settled on Driftworks. The 50mm correction, rubber bushings, and keeping the hubs in the stock location sealed the deal. While I was at it, I grabbed new RUCAs and traction rods:  Old crusty parts out:  In 2018, I broke a RUCA heim after the joint kept smashing into the frame from the ride height:  same with the other side:  traction rods also hit:  Given that the knuckles are almost entirely custom made and not re-iterations of a factory knuckle, I expected some minor fitment issues. The large cut-out for the bearing carrier to sit in was slightly too tight, and required shaving off 1-2 mm for the carrier to slide in flush. The two mounts for the brake caliper were not perfectly linear with each other, and came a little bent. Those needed to be hammered back straight so the caliper bracket sat perfectly centered on the knuckle in relation to the rotor. Again, these were just minor issues, and I assume fitment varies some across applications given that this was a fully custom part. Despite the minor issues, everything tied together nicely:  The knuckles are THICK and well-reinforced throughout. I was pretty happy with the construction of the units. Note below my suspension geometry prior to the Driftworks Geomaster II knuckles. I?m no engineer, but those arms look ready for takeoff Apollo 11-spec. You can also see the jam nut on the RUCA making contact with the frame in a resting position (imagine the forces those things took under load while transitioning). The P2M angled toe rods which are designed to provide clearance against hitting the subframe bushing STILL make contact under load.  And below, my new corrected angles with the Geomaster II knuckles:  For the height the car is at, I'm VERY pleased with the amount of roll-center correction these knuckles gave me. I wasn't expecting to obtain fully functional flat angles with maximum grip and decreased-camber-upon-compression type setup. I really just wanted my arms to behave themselves and stop hitting my car. For reference, here?s the height of the car when the above photo was taken, just to emphasize the amount of correction one can expect to obtain from these knuckles:  Final thoughts: These knuckles achieved the desired result for me. For you nerds that love function, they also zeroed out my camber quite a bit, even after I pre-set my new RUCA and traction rod to the EXACT same lengths as my previous setup. Obviously I had no desire to change my car's setup, so a few adjustments from a string alignment brought me back to my old setup. I highly recommend these knuckles to anyone seeking to retain some functionality with a lowered car. The GKTech arms also worked well with this application and had a large amount of adjustability. I had to raise the coilovers 50mm to compensate for the drop from the drop knuckles, and when I lowered the car the frame hit the floor before the wheels did. The Broadway Static coilovers are actually at their highest safely-permissible setting at the moment, with 25mm of the shock body threaded into the coilover body. If I wanted to raise the car any more, I'd need to purchase longer coilover body mounts! Last edited by relaxamigo; 01-13-2021 at 06:52 AM.. |
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