♠ S14driftr's zenki build ♠

[S14Driftr91]

Hey everyone, my name's Craig. I first bought this 96 se with 131xxx miles when I just turned 17. I became the 3rd owner after a friend of mine had bought it off a girl that moved to NY from Cali. The car's under body was rust free besides for some surface rust here and there. The body wasn't in bad shape either and the stock 5spd Ka ran perfect.

Here is a few pictures of when I first got it.

http://i56.tinypic.com/97tvmu.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/206imnq.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/nejhgn.jpg

Shortly after I ordered a set Stance Gr+ coilovers. Unfortunately I have no pics of the install but here is a picture of her lowered on them.

http://i54.tinypic.com/2cdwbqq.jpg

After I put the coilovers in I didnt do much with the car besides get an AEM intake for it and one day I was driving home from school when my exhaust pipe broke off from the dummy cat, so I then ripped the stock exhaust off and purchased a Blitz Nur spec r... such a great sounding exhaust lol.

As you can see in the photos above the hood and front bumper looked like complete sh*t so I picked up a jdm bumper and later located a used oem hood. A friend that works at a body shop helped me prep the front so we did that and then had it sprayed by a local body shop.

http://i51.tinypic.com/nou0dy.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/317dr3p.jpg

And the finished product !
http://i55.tinypic.com/i3z2j8.jpg

Time went on and last summer while driving a friend home a heard a loud ticking/knocking coming from the motor. I knew about the timing chain guides so the first thing I did was remove the one under the valve cover. Sure enough it was broken but it didn't solve the problem. My dad and I then had learned that my motor had slipped a connecting rod bearing. We pulled the motor and had the crankshaft machined and purchased a new set of bearings along with new connecting rods, then reinstalled everything.

http://i51.tinypic.com/11v5ymr.jpg

Finally after the long wait of being able to drive the car again was over... or so i thought. About a week after we just had installed the motor, I had driven the car to the local car wash. After I was done, I was pulling out of the bay when the motor started to knock again. As I pressed in the clutch I heard a loud bang. I shut the car off and then had it towed back home. The motor was then pulled again. This time I blew hole through the block. Come to find out the torque wrench I borrowed from a friend, to torque down the rod caps was broken and gave an incorrect reading causing the nuts to vibrate off.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2dj9apd.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/259ab9e.jpg

I then parted out the motor this past fall. I still have parts boxed up so if anyone needs any KA parts just ask me.

I always knew that one day I would put an SR in so I figured now was the best time. I got thinking and planned to basically rebuild the the entire car taking care of any flaws. My project then started...

[S14Driftr91]

This past winter the car went up on jackstands and rebuilding started. I figured i start on the rear end first and make way towards the front.

I started pulling apart the rear end by taking off the the lights and bumper, and also dropping the complete rear end.

http://i53.tinypic.com/1z3a4af.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/oh1nvc.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/un50k.jpg

Part of the plan was to completely coat the underside of the chassis and most of the rear with POR-15 rust preventive paint.

After grinding down any rust and prepping the rear with the required solutions, Marine Clean and Metal Ready, I was ready to start painting.

http://i53.tinypic.com/x3twky.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/2ep6o8h.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/2m3hesl.jpg

After the rear was finished I moved on to the underside. I removed the gas tank, took off all the brake and fuel lines, removed any cracked undercoating and grinded down any surface rust using a wire wheel.

http://i56.tinypic.com/eqaeg.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/2m4sozt.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/8vsxlf.jpg

All painted up using 4 coats of POR

http://i56.tinypic.com/2ypb37s.jpg


The subframe along with the all the oem suspension arms and the hubs/knuckles were then prepped and painted. I also cut out the subframe bushings since they were broken.

http://i56.tinypic.com/33l1lky.jpg

After the subframe was coated with the POR, I used one of POR's top coats called Chassis Black. Thats the black you see on the bottom of the subframe.

http://i53.tinypic.com/rv906e.jpg

A first coat on the hubs and knuckles.

http://i56.tinypic.com/t9cf38.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/b7jecm.jpg

New Energy Suspension polyurethane subframe bushings

http://i54.tinypic.com/rh8h78.jpg

[s14tan]

Not a bad start man.

[S14Driftr91]

Not a bad start man.

Thanks man! Since I started working on the car in the winter alot has happened with the car since then. I dont know why but I waited to put started the build thread. Now I just need to catch up with all the photos so where i currently stand.


After the subframe and arms were painted the rlca got some new balljoints.

http://i53.tinypic.com/293denk.jpg

While making my way down the chassis I found some expected rust. Where the jack point is on the rear passenger side was all chewed up, a hole along the rocker panel on the passenger side and a hole in the floor pan under the gas pedal..guess I got a heavy foot haha.

http://i55.tinypic.com/2njd15s.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/2h4fibk.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/2qltzsn.jpg

All the rest of the areas didn't look too bad so once again I took the wire wheel to everything and cleaned it off.

http://i52.tinypic.com/2j4272w.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/9i4qx5.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/2vadw20.jpg


To repair the jack point and part of the frame we first started by getting as much rust out as possible. After that I grinded down whatever was left. We then took a steel plate and started to mock up a replacement section

http://i55.tinypic.com/t8t3tf.jpg

Here's the custom piece we made to fit in the rusted spot.

http://i55.tinypic.com/1045cwj.jpg

Making sure everything fits nice.

http://i51.tinypic.com/30tozed.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/ezkeif.jpg

New piece welded in ! On the top on the metal piece you can see the hole from the factory. Unfortuanly the mig wleder gun couldn't reach so I bought some POR Putty, mixed it up and placed it on the parts where we couldn't run a bead. Within an hour it was rock hard. Whats nice about this stuff is its water proof and can bond to nearly everthing.

http://i51.tinypic.com/9zvxmt.jpg

MORE PICS AND UPDATES TO COME! THANKS FOR LOOKING !

[J_SquidYO]

nice build craig i bought marks convertible s13 and im putting my sr in it if you need help im down im friends with steve so i live in poughkeepsiee let me know buddy =]

[sr20sean]

nice craig!

[conrad_s13.5]

helllllllz yeah!

[S14Driftr91]

thanks alot guyz !

With the rust fixed in the rear i figured it was time to start reinstalling the gas tank and and other parts.

I cleaned up the gas tank really good and and installed a Walbro 255 fuel pump. Unfortunately I never took any pics.

The gas tank straps weren't in too bad of shape but I decided to replace them. From Nissan they were charging about $35 for each one. Since they are a simple design I decided to fab up my own. I went to the local metal supplier and had them cut too strips of sheet metal for me. It cost me $10. Now since the OEM straps have the brackets on them, all I did was cut them off and weld the brackets to the new straps.

http://i55.tinypic.com/nzk83m.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/qqbi9e.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/2prd3xl.jpg

Exactly the same as the OEM ones, maybe even better ! :bigok:

And to top it all off.. I had them powder coated and got new hardware!

http://i56.tinypic.com/fa3cpj.jpg

If i was going to have to a fresh looking gas tank with some nice straps, I was forced to do something about the heat shield. The shield i had on there was garbage and it rusted out but I managed to salvage one from a parts car i had a year ago. It wasnt in bad shape at all besides a a small hole. I took the POR Putty and filled the hold, then sanded it smooth.

Here's a picture of it soaked with the POR Metal Ready.
http://i51.tinypic.com/358qwpx.jpg

I then POR'd the top and bottom of the shield. After 2 coats of that, I then took the Sterling Silver, a POR top coat, and did 2 coats of that.

The finished product!
http://i53.tinypic.com/6jczh5.jpg

Up goes the gas tank !
http://i52.tinypic.com/6tl639.jpg

And following that, the heat shield !
http://i53.tinypic.com/2apbb9.jpg

[stockbee]

Loving this.

[dreamin240sx]

impressive sir

[s14tan]

I saw the rust and I was like, ouch!!!!

Then I saw what you did and I said, Fvck yeaahhh!!!!

Keep it up man.

[JDMwannaBE]

This is inspiring me man, keep it going!

[S14Driftr91]

Thanks alot guys! I have high standards and expectations for this car but with parts being so expensive and the time to work on it can sometimes be difficult but, hey you gotta pay to play!

Continuing on with the photos to get up to my most recent phase..

While the underside of the chassis was mostly bare. I decided to take out all the fuel and brake lines out. I was going to replace them but surprisingly they were still in pretty good condition.

http://i55.tinypic.com/qph4rk.jpg

After I laid them out, I took a fine grit sandpaper and just cleaned them off. After they were cleaned I coated them in the POR.

Since most of the plastic clips that hold the brake & fuel lines in place had broke, I went ahead and order all new pieces from Nissan. While I was at it, I also ordered a new gasket for the diff cover, nuts and bolts to mount the subframe.

http://i55.tinypic.com/15q9oue.jpg

After the rear subframe was complete it was time to put it back in.

http://i51.tinypic.com/by3ba.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/sgsuhu.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/5etsvk.jpg

If your wondering why I never installed the diff or drive axles or maybe even why my brake calipers are ziptied to the subframe lol... Its because I'm not too sure if I'm completely satisfied with the outcome of the subframe so it may come out again. Plus the diff was getting a little makeover...

BAMMM !
http://i51.tinypic.com/2dksj8.jpg

Here's a better picture of the diff cover powder coated.
http://i53.tinypic.com/11gni9j.jpg

...At least with the subframe in i was able to make the car a roller and take her off the jack stands. With the help of friend, we pushed the car out of the garage and turned it around.

Rolled out with my brother's zenki undergoing a 5speed swap haha
http://i51.tinypic.com/70dlbb.jpg

Time to start working on the front end !
http://i54.tinypic.com/15xllwp.jpg

Here we are in the beginning stage of stripping down the front end.
http://i52.tinypic.com/154edef.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/anxy1l.jpg

So this is what is hiding behind my fenders...
http://i55.tinypic.com/mcfarl.jpg

I was hoping I would at least find some change in there. Unfortunately nothing :facepalm:
http://i55.tinypic.com/jug4k4.jpg

Carefully taking everything out
http://i56.tinypic.com/ziqcxw.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/34q5tu1.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/2zxzfk9.jpg

As were trying to take everything out we ran into some problems. Both the engine and headlight harness were being a pain in the a$$ so to make things easier I took the dashboard out to have easier excess for wiring. I also have a Viper alarm on the car that I no longer wanted since it was not operating correctly.

http://i52.tinypic.com/15nlwll.jpg

To snake the engine harness though I had to remove the blower on the end.
http://i51.tinypic.com/szkgh1.jpg

And the mess of wiring I have to deal with lol.
http://i51.tinypic.com/i6f4h1.jpg

As I was sorting through the wires for the alarm I was really surprised. My friend who previously owned the car had purchased the Viper alarm from Bestbuy and had them install it... They did an awesome job..... :nono:

Their "quality" work is pathetic.
http://i53.tinypic.com/23sg4gh.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/246m06t.jpg

After the alarm issue and everything was out, we taped up any holes or lines and got ready to power wash the bay.
http://i54.tinypic.com/mc3ixj.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/2929sw8.jpg

[s14tan]

What color is that diff cover?!?!?! I wanna do my bay a color like that.

[S14Driftr91]

What color is that diff cover?!?!?! I wanna do my bay a color like that.

its like an aqua-teal.. i forget the name of the actual color but ill find out for you. i love this color so much. im also doing a few other parts in this color

[s13silvia_R]

I like how you por the whole under carriage :D.
I like the powder coat on the diff, looks pretty rad.

[S14Driftr91]

I like how you por the whole under carriage :D.
I like the powder coat on the diff, looks pretty rad.

Thanks alot man ! theres plenty more to come !

[s14tan]

its like an aqua-teal.. i forget the name of the actual color but ill find out for you. i love this color so much. im also doing a few other parts in this color

Thanks bud!

[S14Driftr91]

Its been a couple weeks since a new update but I have been making some progress! As the car went back into the garage we put her back on the jack stands and starting taking apart the front subframe.

http://i56.tinypic.com/hv7wap.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/k3w4n7.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/2myalub.jpg

Once the subframe was out of the way it was time to clean the bay and fix up some rust. I started by removing unnecessary brackets such as the OEM air box mount and battery tray. I first drilled out the spot welds, after the bracket was removed I then went over the spot with a wire wheel, cleaning everything.

http://i55.tinypic.com/11v1hcg.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/15z1gts.jpg

I then tacted up the holes... wind kept blowing into the garage thus the shit welds and it doesnt help that they kept traveling since the metal is so thin :facepalm:

http://i56.tinypic.com/29wi20.jpg

http://i55.tinypic.com/14brwp2.jpg

After the brakets were removed my dad an I focused on repairing the strut towers. The passenger side had hole on the front side and the driver side had holes on both the front and rear of the tower.

Passenger side strut tower
http://i56.tinypic.com/2je8eax.jpg

Driver side strut tower (front)
http://i54.tinypic.com/10hj5n5.jpg

Driver side strut tower (rear)
http://i54.tinypic.com/s3gisz.jpg

We planned to cut out the rusted areas and made custom pieces to fit in using 16g sheet metal.

To cut out the pieces we used a die grinder with a cut-off wheel.

http://i56.tinypic.com/intsgy.jpg

After we took some measurements we test fitted them in.

http://i51.tinypic.com/5umyaf.jpg

After we got the placement and fitment we were looking for we then drilled holes for the spot welds.

http://i54.tinypic.com/mubk2q.jpg

All welded up !

http://i55.tinypic.com/14ugaqg.jpg

The same process was used for the other 2 holes too.

Here's my dad welding up the front of the driver side strut tower.

http://i52.tinypic.com/2cygp4o.jpg

To bring down the welds we then hit it the grinder.

http://i53.tinypic.com/a3ox74.jpg


After all the new patches were finished up I painted over them with two coats of POR-15. When the POR was almost dry I sprayed a light coat of primer over the spots.

http://i54.tinypic.com/blswk.jpg

[victorw210]

so much nice work going into this should turn out very nice

[S14Driftr91]

After all rust was fixed I was left with some welds that I could not grind down any further. I went and got some Duraglass body filler and spread it over the welds and any where else that I needed to.

http://i55.tinypic.com/np02ti.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/2z71m4y.jpg

I messed around with the filler a few times, sanding out high spots and filling low spots until I got it perfect.

After everything was how I wanted it I was focusing on the radiator support. At one time this car had been hit and it was pretty obvious. The top portion of the rad support looked like crap, it had body filler in it and wasn't strait at all so I ordered a new one from Nissan. As for the other parts of the rad support they weren't in bad condition. I just heated them up and worked with them until everything was back to where it should be.

You can see the body filler in the picture and notice how uneven it is.

http://i53.tinypic.com/11c9xdl.jpg

I went to the local harbor freight store and picked up a few spot weld bits. They worked great and I literally took the top portion off in less than 10 minutes. Alot better and faster than using a standard drill bit !

http://i53.tinypic.com/2m304sx.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/5p4cg.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/sxgltt.jpg

Here is the new radiator support compared to the old one.

http://i56.tinypic.com/11b4r3a.jpg

Test fitted on..

http://i51.tinypic.com/6i67sw.jpg

All welded on. Soon to be prepped for paint.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2regqo1.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/2qwok0w.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/11gq3oy.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/156cmc4.jpg

Finally ready for primer. Masked everything off and covered the car using drip sheets I picked up at Home Depot. I also hung a sheet from the ceiling to prevent any over spray from going on the tool boxes or quads :D

http://i53.tinypic.com/2ni37sz.jpg

I took my time and shot it using SEM high build primer. It came out great. :bigok:

http://i52.tinypic.com/1i1xjn.jpg

[S14Driftr91]

Well now I'm finally caught up on where I stand with my process. The bay got its first coat of primer yesterday and all the seam sealer was laid down too.

Since I wasnt too sure how I liked the outcome of my rear subframe, I dropped it about a week ago and arranged for it to be sandblasted since it would not fit in a standard sanding cabinet.

I picked it up early this morning and then dropped both the front and rear subframes off along with a bunch of other little brackets to be powder coated

http://i52.tinypic.com/es82mb.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/345xy6r.jpg

Everything should be coated within the week !

[Okinawandrifter87]

Lovin the build so far man!

[laxrider]

Looking good man! I like the attention to detail!

I think it's cool you and your brother both have Zenki's

[S14Driftr91]

thanks alot guys! I've always wanted to build a car so now im getting the chance to do that. I know my work doesnt stand up to some of the other cars on here but I just keep doing what I like. With the plans I have in my head I'm positive you guys will enjoy the outcome.

When my brother turned 16 this past year, he was looking at cars but nothing in particular he had on his mind, until one day he came across a craigslist ad for 96 zenki se in Long Island. I think the guy wanted 3g for it but the shape of the car is kinda rough so it wasnt worth it. It had a poorly replaced quarter panel, maaco paint job and the front end was also hit at one time because i noticed an aftermarket hood. Anyway my bro gave him a call and the guy went down to 2g somehow.. i guess he really needed to get rid of it.. so my brother told him he was still gonna look around and think about. A few days later the guy called and told us we could have it for 1600 so I told him, alright ill be down this afternoon lol.. it was automatic but right now its being converted to 5spd using my old tranny and parts.

[rich250x]

nice build thread man very inspirational makes me want to do more work on my car

[kamikazeplus]

any updates

[stockbee]

yeah, this is pretty thorough build coverage. Keep it up.

[single_slam_ka]

great biuld man

[S14Driftr91]

Hey everyone, sorry i really haven't updated anything yet. Im still waiting on the all the pieces that were given to the powder coater. Whats nice is my brother works at Hudson Valley Powdercoating so i pretty much get anything I want coated for free lol. However the down side to that is the wait time since he works on my parts when he has free time. I was told they'll be done soon though so im hoping this upcoming week. As for more body work i cleaned up the front wheel wells and started to Por-15 them.

More updates will be on the way guys ! Ill post some pictures up either this week or next week. Hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of july !:rawk:

[aKaFlipSide]

Just read through the thread and I'm loving what you are doing!
Keep it up man!

[Dek-Thai]

nice build man

[Killa_D]

i like very much,very nice, high 5

[quantum-kid]

I am getting my first zenki in a few weeks. I've had a 92 coupe and hatch, excited to get into the s14 chassis. Your build looks legit keep the updates coming.

[S14Driftr91]

thanks everyone ! ive been meaning to upload pictures because ive started painting por-15 under the front wheel wells BUT i took my camera to jones beach the other day and i cant find it. idk if i misplaced it or it fell out of my bad. :facepalm:... im continuing to look for it but expect an update soon !

[blueshark123]

how much to powdercoat my rear subframe and both front and rear lca i want it in black or wrinkle black if it matters maybe some little brackets possibly

[tricky_ab]

Looking good so far!

[Enrique909]

Subscribed!

[S14Driftr91]

how much to powdercoat my rear subframe and both front and rear lca i want it in black or wrinkle black if it matters maybe some little brackets possibly

To powdercoat the rear subframe with the arms would be around $220... the finish doesnt really matter as long as its not a "specail order" powder but i believe Ed at Hudson Valley Powercoating usually has that in stock. I stopped there today and he had just finished up with a brush bar for a jeep done in "wrinkle black" finish.

Thanks to everyone who is following !

[S14DOOD]

Man off to a good start looking forward to seeing more!

[S14Driftr91]

Alright everyone, it's took me a little while to get an update up but here it finally is... It's been hot as hell out these past two weeks and between working alot I've barely had any time to devote to my car.

As you guys know I'm been applying POR-15 throughout the entire underside of the chassis. I finally had the time the start applying it under the front wheel wells and along the frame rails.

I used 3M rubberized undercoating to seal up around the patches that we cut out around the strut towers and coat other little bare spots.

http://i53.tinypic.com/28lgx94.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/2qcgsbd.jpg

I laid down 3 coats on each side.

http://i54.tinypic.com/2poxvea.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/2juo01.jpg

A few weeks ago I dropped off the subframes to the powdercoater's.. I finally got them back this morning. I was more than happy to see the outcome of them !

http://i55.tinypic.com/o9nx8i.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/2l9759j.jpg

[nighthawk48]

shiny haha. I still have to put up the one I picked up from you lol. Doing solid bushings or risers with them?

[rb25det powered S14]

total props... its nice seeing 240's get the proper love..

[S14Driftr91]

shiny haha. I still have to put up the one I picked up from you lol. Doing solid bushings or risers with them?

I got all new Energy bushings for the diff and subframe... I've heard good and bad things about them, but we'll see haha

total props... its nice seeing 240's get the proper love..

Thanks! I totally agree with you. My goal is just to build a nice, clean car that I love and that can get respect from anyone. I respect anyone that has dedicated any little bit of time into their car to make it nice. From muscles cars, to high-end sports cars, even just your everyday honda or nissan, whatever it may be.

[speedracer5]

subscribed. dude this is what u call attention to detail more people should take notes of this like the build.

[iamtheyi]

subbed to see a fellow zenki doing things far more legit than I :]

[S14Driftr91]

thanks guys !

While I get some more photos together of my process together, here is a sweet video from Drift Fraction's Lebanon Valley drift event that my friend Vinny made. Hope you guys enjoy it.

‪Lebanon Valley: Drift Faction Event‬‏ - YouTube (http://youtu.be/MdfdbSQJwmo)

[illvialuver]

Hats off to you, normaly I do not read build threads, A matter of fact my own build thread was a joke compared to this. I would love to be able to dedicate this much attention to detail, I have the attention just not the time or the resources. Good job, I will be reading this every other day to keep up on it.

[supratrdlova]

wow subed for this, looking good

[doriNIGHTS]

Wow awesome man inspiring to restore my car

[S14Driftr91]

Last time I gave you guys an update I posted pictures of the subframes after they were powder coated... Well, going back a step I wanted to show everyone how I removed the bushings. Now there is probably a good chance most of you have seen this before on here or some other thread but for you new comers here ya go...

For removing the differential bushings you first want to burn/cut the centers out. Save these, you will need them if you use the Energy Suspension Bushings like I did. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that but this is what you should have after you clean the centers out.

http://i52.tinypic.com/28slcsl.jpg

You should now be able to see a sleeve such as this.

http://i51.tinypic.com/8z0fgm.jpg

Then I took a reciprocating saw and started carefully cutting into the sleeve.

http://i55.tinypic.com/fci2br.jpg

When you get almost completely through, stop and then take a chisel and start to pry around the sleeve.

http://i51.tinypic.com/2u4hrig.jpg

Eventually you will be able to break the metal sleeve and start overlapping the two sides. Then I slowly started working the sleeve out.

http://i51.tinypic.com/2ega8ia.jpg

Done!

http://i53.tinypic.com/rvlrbq.jpg

After the sleeves are removed you can then take a wire wheel and clean them up.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2d10jv8.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/2rx86lh.jpg

Energy Suspension Diff bushing set.

http://i54.tinypic.com/9q8jtw.jpg

Going back to the centers you cut out, set fire to them and burn the remaining rubber off them. This is the inner sleeve that you will need.

http://i53.tinypic.com/11sjrc9.jpg

The new bushings were then pressed in using a clamp and pieces of plywood.

http://i54.tinypic.com/245g5s6.jpg

The same process is used for the main subframe bushings too.



Sorry for all jumping around but while we were working on the subframes, we've also been prepping and painting the engine bay. I posted up a picture of the bay primed a while back but now we started to add some color! I didn't want to do anything too crazy so I kept it simple and choose to go with the OEM wk0 color (pearl white). It's a 3-stage pearl job so, first was to lay down the base, then the pearlescent, and finally a clear. I also planned to repaint under the hood and the kouki sideskirts I had gotten way back when.

After the bay got primed we then wet-sanded it until it was all smooth.

http://i53.tinypic.com/j9bts2.jpg

After we hit it with wax and grease remover and a tact cloth, we started spraying using a HVLP gun.

http://i54.tinypic.com/vep3cg.jpg

Heres the first coat of base.

http://i52.tinypic.com/149895g.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/mjy9ly.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/2a0aw69.jpg

[S14Driftr91]

Today I went to CT to meet with Yury, the owner of Wiring Specialists. I picked up both a engine and tranny harness for a s14 zenki sr20det into a s14 chassis. I have to say I'm every please with the overall look of the harness and I couldn't be happier. Yury is a great guy to deal with and I thank him alot !

http://i51.tinypic.com/2e1as5d.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/195r1k.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/2zokh0x.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/swxzs7.jpg

[RB180sxChris]

OMG this build is amazing i wish i had time for my s14 =(...... sick build man!

[Swifty]

Looking good!

[Howie Felter Snatch]

This makes my chin all sweaty..

[sil80d]

You good sir are my hero.

[Imarvin240]

great job building her up so far! its always good to see people clean up all the rust and get them back to being perfect. keep up the good work.

[S14Driftr91]

Hey guys thanks for all the support! Loving the avatar Howie! Hahaha

Anyway on with the update...

This weekend we checked off a huge milestone off our list. We finally finished up painting the bay, along with the underside of the hood, and my set of kouki side skirts. For doing a 3-stage paint job in the garage, I'm happy to say I'm very pleased with it, especially since this was my first time ever using a gun lol. I used PPG products throughout most of the process, besides the primer, in which I used SEM high build self-etching primer. I talked to a clerk from the local auto body supplies store and he gave me alot of good tips I could use. He suggested that if it was my first time painting, that I should go purchase a cheap gun such as one from Habor Freight so I did just that and purchased two of their HVLP spray guns.

I ended up going through:
-1 quart of WK0 base = 2 quarts with reducer
-1 pint of pearl = 1 quart with reducer
-1 quart of clear + half pint of mid hardener

http://i54.tinypic.com/28k579t.jpg

2 coats of base, 2 coats of pearl, 3 coats of clear.

http://i54.tinypic.com/2ns1kp2.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/9rribc.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/2djv5zn.jpg

Now we can finally start putting some stuff back together ! :w00t:

[mad-ass]

that looks beyond awesome.

superb job!

[Howie Felter Snatch]

Holy chin sweat! That came out spectacular! :boink:

[S14Driftr91]

Small update for tonight!

Tonight when I came home from work, I had a nice surprise from my brother!

All my pieces were finally powdercoated, clean and shiny, just the way they should be! Only downside is one of the sway bar brackets went missing or got misplaced... guess i'll be ordering a new one of those soon haha :wtf:

http://i54.tinypic.com/io2f6c.jpg

[tricky_ab]

^ Looking good...I bet you can't wait to install them...:)

[rb25det powered S14]

ahhhhh hurry and give us another update!!!!!! this is so exciting!

[S14Driftr91]

Hahaha thanks guys, Im so exciting to finally be able to put some parts back on. Tonight I started working on the front subframe along with a few other little things! I'll take some pictures tomorrow!

[misterdumby]

nicely done sir :bigok:

[Om1kron]

looks great, love it so far. subscribed.

[dking240sx]

Dude you are one rich 17 year old. Lol.
Good luck on your build!

[Om1kron]

Dude you are one rich 17 year old. Lol.
Good luck on your build!

I wonder how much his wealth has grown since, be it clearly states he's 20 in the first sentence on the first page. And it doesn't cost a lot of money to do what he's doing. It takes time, patience, and research.

[S14Driftr91]

Hahaha yea I was 17 when I first got the car, now I'm 20.

Like Om1kron said, it hasnt cost me that much to do all this. I'll have to add up all my receipts between, replacement parts, paint, engine upgrades, and other items. It's almost been a full year since this car had been on jack stands but hopefully soon it will be finished. I go by the saying, "Do it once, not twice" so I take my time with everything and make sure everything I do meets my expectations which are pretty high.

[Om1kron]

Hahaha yea I was 17 when I first got the car, now I'm 20.

Like Om1kron said, it hasnt cost me that much to do all this. I'll have to add up all my receipts between, replacement parts, paint, engine upgrades, and other items. It's almost been a full year since this car had been on jack stands but hopefully soon it will be finished. I go by the saying, "Do it once, not twice" so I take my time with everything and make sure everything I do meets my expectations which are pretty high.


That's what I like to hear, I wish I had been making the money I am now, and had the space I had then because this car would still be on stands becoming perfect rather than getting tested daily on the streets.

[Godfoot]

Just read this and was highly intrested, great thread

[S14Driftr91]

Thanks alot guys! More pictures coming soon!

[95sx]

If I had a garage my car would be getting worked on as much as yours is. This looks like a really awesome build keep us posted on the work. Subscribed!

[xBandiTx]

tight build dude.

[S14Driftr91]

If I had a garage my car would be getting worked on as much as yours is. This looks like a really awesome build keep us posted on the work. Subscribed!

tight build dude.

Thanks guys, and yea having a garage is definitely an A+ haha. I could never imagine doing this outside.

Anyway time for an update!

The last picture I posted up was when I got the all the brackets back from the powder coaters. (That one bracket for the sway bar was left in the sandblasting cabinet, but I got it back :D). I installed the front subframe, along with the brackets for the tension arms. Looks so awesome.

http://i56.tinypic.com/wbtpat.jpg

I figured it was time to start putting everything back together in the bay, but I was unhappy with the appearance of many parts, such as the abs module, brake booster, stuff such as that. I decided to just to give some parts a makeover.

Brake Booster:
Before

http://i52.tinypic.com/6q88zd.jpg

After

http://i53.tinypic.com/fxxni9.jpg

The cowl and the plastic try that the radiator sits above looked dull and unappealing so I scuffed them down with a scotch pad and resprayed them with SEM trim black. This stuff works amazing and I use it all the time when repairing lips.

Before
http://i56.tinypic.com/2yxeng4.jpg

http://i55.tinypic.com/2w20ta9.jpg

http://i55.tinypic.com/2dliqz9.jpg

After

http://i51.tinypic.com/n48g1w.jpg

I also got a little bored one day so instead of replacing all my bolts (f*ck paying about $2-3 per bolt) I decided to just spray them with a silver.

http://i54.tinypic.com/29l1mir.jpg

Labeled all the bolts so my stupid self doesn't get confused haha

http://i53.tinypic.com/jtxbo9.jpg

A view from above.

http://i53.tinypic.com/118qgb6.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/20sj72f.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/jtuvee.jpg

[A54]

Nice thread...

[yomisiu]

looking real good man keep it up

[EDacIouSX]

if I had the garage space to do this I would have started doing this to my car :(. keep up the great work.

[Vanity]

ahhh, this build is going to be even more immaculate once everything is put back together!

[truckmtrS13]

looking real good man keep it up

I wish more people would take the time to restore a car properly like you.

[Crondy]

I saw this mid summer, I'm glad i got back to it. Perfect cheapo ways to make clean n shiny:snoop:

+420 pizzointahs
:l101:

[S14Driftr91]

Thanks for the all support guys!

[conrad_s13.5]

lookin awesome!

[S14Driftr91]

Hey guys back with a little update! I've been working alot more lately so I can start saving up and buying more parts and any other things that I may need, however I did get a little time to work on the car... nothing special but its something lol

Previously, when I took out the dash board and took out the harness, I posted up a picture of how Best Buy butchered my wiring harness when they installed the Viper alarm. I finally took the time to fix the harness today.

http://i53.tinypic.com/qpjuiq.jpg

After I cut and stripped the wires, I then soldered the wiring back together and put a heat shrink of them.

http://i54.tinypic.com/i5ylxx.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/zw0una.jpg

When i was done, I simply put the loom back over the exposed wires and wrapped it up nicely.

http://i56.tinypic.com/azi1kj.jpg

I also spent some time trying to get my seized Stance coilovers apart, but the lower bracket to adjust the ride height doesn't seem to want to budge. It's really been pissing me off because I have plans are to powdercoat the springs along with some other pieces and these coils are holding me up. I've soaked these f*ckers with PB blaster, used heat on them, beat them with a rubber and metal mallet, and still nothing wants to move. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get these off ?

[kalypso123]

wow... thats outrageous! @[email protected]

( i meant engine bay paint job )

[xruffwvrydax]

Nice build. Love the attention to detail.

[blueshark123]

u should have gone on mcmaster and bought brand new stainless steel bolts a bag of 50 cost under 10 bucks and will never rust or paint flake off. like yours i painted my bolts also but they eventually got rusty again i just placed a 200 order to replace almost every bolt on my car

[myg0t]

This is such a nice build. The rust made me cry but then I was happy.

[S14Driftr91]

wow... thats outrageous! @[email protected]

( i meant engine bay paint job )

Hahaha I figured that, thanks alot !

Nice build. Love the attention to detail.

Thanks man!

u should have gone on mcmaster and bought brand new stainless steel bolts a bag of 50 cost under 10 bucks and will never rust or paint flake off. like yours i painted my bolts also but they eventually got rusty again i just placed a 200 order to replace almost every bolt on my car

Yea trust me, I would love to replace every bolt but its so much money lol. The spray paint was just a last minute touch up to make everything look somewhat better. I've never heard of that website but I just checked it out and its pretty sick. I'm definitely considering ordering some new stuff now. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it!

This is such a nice build. The rust made me cry but then I was happy.

Ahaha yea finding that rust was heart breaking but most of it is fixed now. I still have some little patches to take car of, like in the floor pan but hopefully this week i'll be able to get to it.

[XiaoAZN]

Wow awesome build, any updates?

[slydin240sx]

It's nice to see builds like this. The attention to detail and time and effort put into restoring these beloved s chassis. Not many of us can do this for many reasons. It's good to know not all of these cars will be complete shit in 10 more years. Props man! Wish my zenki could go through a makeover like this. Maybe one day though. :)

[S14Driftr91]

Hey guys thanks alot for the good words. I've been meaning to update this for a while, I haven't been able to do much because of a recent trip and working alot. Lately I haven't had much time to myself. Hopefully this upcoming week I'll have a nice update for you guys!

[S14Driftr91]

Hey everyone, I'm back with a bunch of pictures and updates for everyone. Unfortunately it's been quite some time since I've last posted. I had a bunch of computer problems and was terrified I had lost all my pictures (i think its time for an ext hard drive lol), but now everything is better so we can get on with the show.

Last time I updated you guys with the minor wiring harness repair and briefly talked about how my coilover sleeves were seized... Well I never did end up getting them off with all the PB blaster and heat so what I did was cut them off....

Wetting than your gf.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2pskuoi.jpg

We ended up having to take the grinder to them :-/

http://i40.tinypic.com/25spl6o.jpg

Had to be extra careful not to cut into the threads.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2ccnzuw.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/ibctjo.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/jztdna.jpg

Now that those were cut off I could finally remove the springs to have them coated.. or so I thought.

From so much NY salt and the weather conditions the lower sleeves and threads had become fusion-ed together. I had to purchase a thread file from Summit Racing and spending hours running it back and forth through the threads... talk about time consuming...

http://i40.tinypic.com/28cojsh.jpg

Almost there..

http://i40.tinypic.com/j6sm55.jpg

At some point, new lower sleeves and collars will be ordered from Stance.

After the coilover issue was taken care of, it was time to tackle the rest of the rust holes on the car.

This hole is from a heavy foot lol... on the driver side, right where your heel meets the floor board.

http://i43.tinypic.com/110libk.jpg

And two pin holes..

http://i44.tinypic.com/z4e3r.jpg

Scraped away some of the sound deadening.

http://i41.tinypic.com/9k6o2w.jpg

I then used a cut-off wheel

http://i42.tinypic.com/1s0g1h.jpg

If recall we used 16g sheet metal... Here's the patch with overlaps stamped onto the edges.

http://i40.tinypic.com/oggp4o.jpg

Test fit.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2aaavj8.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/v6huma.jpg

For the pin holes we used a copper spoon, without that you have a great chance of making the hole even bigger.

http://i40.tinypic.com/xc3oyr.jpg

Another two sections that needed to be replaced were on the rocker panel. These holes were also replaced using 16g sheet metal.

Hole 1
Before:

http://i40.tinypic.com/24et4ar.jpg

After:

http://i43.tinypic.com/14spbg3.jpg

Hole 2
Before:

http://i39.tinypic.com/16ayyxd.jpg

After:

http://i39.tinypic.com/25ge836.jpg

I'll be back tonight with more updates, I have a bit to catch up on but g2g to work!

[slider2828]

Damn quality of work looks awesome!!! Whats awesome is your dad is helping too. Nice project, god I wish I knew how to weld.....

[tricky_ab]

Man you sure have more patience than me, I would have just bought new coils. With all the work you are putting into this, are you still planning to drive this in the winter when it's completed?

[S14Driftr91]

Damn quality of work looks awesome!!! Whats awesome is your dad is helping too. Nice project, god I wish I knew how to weld.....

Man you sure have more patience than me, I would have just bought new coils. With all the work you are putting into this, are you still planning to drive this in the winter when it's completed?


Haha thanks a lot guys. Yea my dad is helping me with all the welding. He's a local iron worker so he loves doing anything like this.

And no tricky, I don't plan to drive it every day during winters since I have a truck too but everytime the roads are clear it will be taken out. It will just be washed everytime it comes home like it was in the previous years :)

[blueshark123]

I am going to be reapairing a whole i have very similar to your hole 2 in the rocker panel

[S14Driftr91]

I am going to be reapairing a whole i have very similar to your hole 2 in the rocker panel

It seems like right where the factory seam sealer is along the two panels they butt together is very thin and doesn't seem to do much good. Good luck with your repair man! Send me some pics when you do it cause i love knowing different alternatives to situations such as these haha



* Back with another update tonight...

In the previous post I showed what I did with the remaining rust! After I had grinded and smoothed down the welds, it was time to make sure that rust would never come back again. First on the bare metal I applied 2 coats of the POR-15. That was then followed by 3 coats of 3M rubberized undercoating. After everything was cured, 3 additional coats of POR-15 were applied to the remaining chassis.

Here's the outcome!

Hole 1..
http://i40.tinypic.com/117xrnd.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2zoirtc.jpg

Hole 2..
http://i41.tinypic.com/14wdguf.jpg

And here's a picture of where we cut out and replaced a section of the floor board.

http://i43.tinypic.com/245wx1h.jpg

I wish I could get better angles for some of these pictures... Ugh if only I had a lift :facepalm:

Here's a shot taken from the rear looking towards the front.

http://i41.tinypic.com/4ru5bk.jpg

And the opposite... from front to rear :ssex:
http://i41.tinypic.com/dnj3wm.jpg

...

http://i39.tinypic.com/e37gy.jpg

Driver side wheel well.

http://i41.tinypic.com/ft7bl.jpg

Passenger side wheel well.

http://i40.tinypic.com/2j0b335.jpg

Finally the entire chassis from front to rear has been coated. Now it's time to start assembling everything back together.

[sebastianwrx]

cleannn ...

[blueshark123]

damn thats alot of por 15 lol. I already spent 1 quart in just the rear. It gets expensive. I am also using the 3m schultz

[unknownkris_s14]

cant wait till see it finished.

[sash_ak21]

Nice build! Dont see quality like this very often, most ppl just half ass it. You can work on my car anytime!

[dozug]

how do i subscribe this thread??

[blueshark123]

almost all the way to the top you see a tab that says thread tolls let it drop down then click subscribe to thread

[S14Driftr91]

Thanks for the support guys!

and thanks blueshark for pointing that out!

[jdmunlimited]

good job on the build keep it up man

[PureShadowed]

siick build so far. hoping for an update soon!

[06_footy]

Love it. Sub'd

[project_silvia]

damm i wish i was as patient as you lol

[dreamin240sx]

hell ya man your the shit i need a garage lol

[iLOVEASIANGIRLSS]

awesome work man. looking forward to seeing the final product

[nyc240sx]

nice work on your s14

[Tubasteve1]

Holy hEll that's clean!!

[s13 loverr]

Great job you've inspired me! I was planning on going with black por15 and using chassis black as a topcoat, but you have changed my mind. I'm in love with that white undercarriage. :drool:
What colors did you use in order to get white? There is no white por15 on their website. Did you use a brush to apply or did you spray it? Thanks!

[S14Driftr91]

Thanks for all the compliments guys! I hope you all had a great new years! I know I did! :w00t:

Great job you've inspired me! I was planning on going with black por15 and using chassis black as a topcoat, but you have changed my mind. I'm in love with that white undercarriage. :drool:
What colors did you use in order to get white? There is no white por15 on their website. Did you use a brush to apply or did you spray it? Thanks!

Hey man thanks alot! I too was originally going to go with the black as most people think that's the only color it comes in. I ended up using the gray POR-15. I brushed 3 coats of this sh*t on from the trunk to the front rad-support (talk about a lot of time lol). I didn't end up using a top coat since one of the POR representatives had told me, "as long as the sun is not exposed directly to any painted part, you'll be fine." I took his word for it because those guys have some awesome products. To see for myself, I painted one of my ruca and left it out in the sun for a few days.. sure enough the POR grey, turned to almost an gray-emerald color. Anyways I couldn't be more satisfied with the outcome! Good luck with your project!

[s13 loverr]

Thanks! I'll be stealing your white undercarriage idea soon.

[DallasTXjdm]

Absolutely meticulous in detail! Excellent work! Have you decided which Zenki headlights you are going with? European glass or buffed plastic? What about the front and rear bumpers? Are you going with aftermarket or OEM?

Two thumbs up! :bigok:

[S14Driftr91]

Absolutely meticulous in detail! Excellent work! Have you decided which Zenki headlights you are going with? European glass or buffed plastic? What about the front and rear bumpers? Are you going with aftermarket or OEM?

Two thumbs up! :bigok:

Thanks! I have been thinking for awhile about both the lights and the bumpers. Frsport just had the euro lights for sale for an awesome deal but I had to pass on the opportunity. I've buffed my plastics once before but I really would like to retrofit my headlights with projectors one day. As of now I'll most likely just rebuff the lights; they are not in that bad condition. For the bumpers I'll be keeping the rear stock, maybe a kouki rear in the future. For the front I'll be keeping my jdm zenki bumper. It would be nice to track down a mint navan bumper but I'm in no rush lol.

[S14Driftr91]

I've been slacking on updating this but I've been super busy between work and trying to get everything situated with the car.

Anyway awhile back I brought all these pieces to get coated over at Hudson Valley Powdercoating and I was waiting on them for some time. Well I finally got them back and here's the "before" and "after" pictures...

http://i42.tinypic.com/2mi1he0.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/1zbt5j6.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2rpsfo1.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/25anq8n.jpg

I have to say, I'm very pleased with the work these guys do. The owner, Ed is an awesome guy and his prices are pretty fair! :bigok:

With all these little parts back, I could finally start reinstalling everything. Being that I am working in a semi-tight garage with all the shit in the way, I figured I would start with the rear subframe and diff since I'm tired of tripping over it and to free up some room.

In goes the nicely coated diff cups...

http://i44.tinypic.com/25h0s38.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/25qqjhh.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/iel1cl.jpg

Then came the Energy Suspension differential bushings. I've heard both good and bad stories about these poly bushings but i'll have to see for myself :x:

http://i39.tinypic.com/fz13tg.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/20kc6io.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2w3x0np.jpg

Subframe and differential all done.

http://i39.tinypic.com/dqpxxe.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/fodpis.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/hvapfs.jpg

I'll be posting a bunch of more photos tomorrow night so stay tuned!

[Om1kron]

awesome stuff kiddo!

[D1S13]

hope the powdercoat was free! super money waster if you had to pay for each item. Could have/should have started with a westcoast s14 shell, but AWESOME WORK!!!!!!! NON THE LESS- LOOKS SUPER FUN!

[S14Driftr91]

awesome stuff kiddo!

Thanks!

hope the powdercoat was free! super money waster if you had to pay for each item. Could have/should have started with a westcoast s14 shell, but AWESOME WORK!!!!!!! NON THE LESS- LOOKS SUPER FUN!

Yea I get all my powdercoating done for free. My brother works there so I got the hookup haha... Surprisingly this car is a west-coast car. The original owner had lived in california but then moved to new york. I was really surprised to find as much rot as I did but whatever, its fixed the proper way now. I guess thats the price you have to pay when you live in shitty NY haha

[kalypso123]

this is going SOOO WELL

[Buddy]

Thanks!



Yea I get all my powdercoating done for free. My brother works there so I got the hookup haha... Surprisingly this car is a west-coast car. The original owner had lived in california but then moved to new york. I was really surprised to find as much rot as I did but whatever, its fixed the proper way now. I guess thats the price you have to pay when you live in shitty NY haha

Awesome work dude, i just wrapped up the whole rear end off mine over winter. Same thing, bushes, powdercoat, adjustable arms etc etc.

Looking really good man. Though, you think thats a lot of rot, should see some of the sbodies from across the pond :p

Keep it up man, look forward to the updates...

[project-D180]

sweet build bro

[wattupbaii]

how long has this build been going on?

[hellaflush95]

Awesome build man its really looking good

[S14Driftr91]

this is going SOOO WELL

sweet build bro

Awesome build man its really looking good

Thanks alot guys!

Awesome work dude, i just wrapped up the whole rear end off mine over winter. Same thing, bushes, powdercoat, adjustable arms etc etc.

Looking really good man. Though, you think thats a lot of rot, should see some of the sbodies from across the pond :p

Keep it up man, look forward to the updates...

Haha I shouldn't complain too much. It was just a few little spots here and there. I've seen some where its like holy sh*t what has happen to this car? haha.

how long has this build been going on?

I started back in November of 2010 so its been a little over a year. It's been a long ass time since i've gotten to enjoy this car. It would have been nice to have this done all time ago but between going to school, working as much as I can and still having a social life, it's tough. My car and every thing that has been done to it is all out of my pocket.

[hellaflush95]

Thanks alot guys!



Haha I shouldn't complain too much. It was just a few little spots here and there. I've seen some where its like holy sh*t what has happen to this car? haha.



I started back in November of 2010 so its been a little over a year. It's been a long ass time since i've gotten to enjoy this car. It would have been nice to have this done all time ago but between going to school, working as much as I can and still having a social life, it's tough. My car and every thing that has been done to it is all out of my pocket.


ya i hear ya i got mine october 2010 and i still dont have its all finished but im hopping to have it done by this spring

[S14Driftr91]

Nice nice. If everything goes as planned you guys will be seeing more of this car by spring/summer time.

[S14Driftr91]

Alright so the last update I posted, I had gotten the differential and the subframe ready to be installed. Here is a bunch of pictures of what has been going on the past few weeks...

It's a shitty picture, but here is the subframe ready to be reunited with its mother :)

http://i40.tinypic.com/nl9y77.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/30azvc8.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/k69hi.jpg

Made sure I put some anti-seize on the bolts...

http://i43.tinypic.com/2eyuz5s.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/25iuj2f.jpg

After waiting for about 3 months, these finally showed up!

http://i39.tinypic.com/152mhqu.jpg

Por-15-ed all the arms and then sprayed them gloss black

http://i39.tinypic.com/2n2457c.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/jha4qh.jpg

Since the incident with my coilovers... im terrified of rust and shit binding up so I use anti-seize like its going out of style.

http://i44.tinypic.com/35i7g49.jpg

I'm going to need to get me some nice rotors! Here's everything loosely bolted together

http://i40.tinypic.com/43xgj.jpg

In the meantime I was going back and forth with parts. My front knuckles/hubs looked hideous. The dust guard was rusting away so I figured I would do with out it.

http://i44.tinypic.com/mu7pzp.jpg

To remove the metal guards I found where the spot welds were and went at them with my spot weld drill bit.

http://i41.tinypic.com/20uy6qf.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/11bszdv.jpg

I then saved the ABS hub guard to be re-welded on.

http://i42.tinypic.com/169n3vb.jpg
Re-fitted...

http://i41.tinypic.com/6gzgjc.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/1jqko1.jpg

And finally Por'ed!

http://i40.tinypic.com/353eesy.jpg


Unfortunately since I had to cut off the brackets on my coils, I had to purchase new ones. I also bought two new collars because mine were all chewed up from vise grips and pliers. Thank god for the helpful staff over at Stance for hooking me up with a little deal! These fresh new pieces came within under a week!

http://i41.tinypic.com/260sxeg.jpg

After a quick picture, I got to work.

http://i44.tinypic.com/30cm8sj.jpg

Anti-seize and silcone spray...

http://i39.tinypic.com/28vx2.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/345blg0.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/1erhp1.jpg

Time to be installed!

http://i40.tinypic.com/b8n2h4.jpg

More updates coming this week!

[tricky_ab]

Looking good...Thanks for the updates :)

[S14Driftr91]

I kinda let this thread die down but ive been plenty busy... Here's whats been going on...

I last posted what I had done to some of the suspension. Since I had coated the rear suspension arms in the POR-15, I also did the same to the flcas. Here is how they were when pulled from the car.

Busted up ball joints and all around looking nasty.

http://i45.tinypic.com/23gxv2c.jpg

Cleaned up and coated in the POR.

http://i50.tinypic.com/azjsiv.jpg

After everything I sprayed them gloss black and cleared them.

http://i45.tinypic.com/302tjd3.jpg

The steering rack also got a touch up, POR coated and then sprayed gloss black.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2qmnalu.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/2euk1a0.jpg

New Moog ball joints and outer tie rod ends.

http://i50.tinypic.com/51oug4.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/14n2s1g.jpg

Unfortunately when installing the ball joints, I f*cked up the paint. :facepalm:

http://i46.tinypic.com/2iudr7o.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/2004kdk.jpg

Time to go back together...

http://i49.tinypic.com/mkbpg4.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/mt6uc4.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/eleg5x.jpg

The universal joint on my steering column had seen better days so I picked up a used one from a member on here.

NY vs. CA lol
http://i45.tinypic.com/rirpdk.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/23rua9l.jpg

Going into the bay, there was a few needs that just didnt meet my standards. One being the fusebox...

Scratched up, dirty, and faded.

http://i46.tinypic.com/2jeu07s.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/257dra9.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/1z4ux46.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/15rjv2d.jpg

Final product sprayed with SEM trim paint.

http://i48.tinypic.com/153xl5y.jpg

Polished up the ABS unit so it didn't look as hideous as it does.

http://i50.tinypic.com/34hf4sz.jpg

Cruise control painted as well with SEM trim paint.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2irw7sx.jpg

Cleaned out the power steering reservoir the best I could.

http://i45.tinypic.com/95vtlj.jpg

And here's a picture of the Wiring Specialties harness going in.

http://i45.tinypic.com/1z3w9vq.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/359mfx3.jpg


A friend and I took a trip down to queens to visit the guys at JDM Engine World. There, we picked up my s14 sr20 and a k20 for my friend's project. Jack, the owner, and all his employees maintain a friendly, and well kept business. They were all great guys and answered all our questions and did not try and rush us one bit. If anyone around is looking to buy any type of motor, I definitely recommend calling Jack down at JDM Engine World. A+++ service :bigok:

http://i49.tinypic.com/34fm7th.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/20ha80p.jpg

The shop's gorgeous s14.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2sbpoo6.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/2gwyp2u.jpg

[blueshark123]

Since you are such a detail whore like me you will love this. The best 16 bucks i spent

Fuse Box Covers (http://www.jmgengraving.com/fuseboxcovers.html)

[S14Driftr91]

Since you are such a detail whore like me you will love this. The best 16 bucks i spent

Fuse Box Covers (http://www.jmgengraving.com/fuseboxcovers.html)

Haha already have it in mind! Thanks:bigok:

[Okinawandrifter87]

Any progress updates? :)

[1jzjoey]

rename this to Epic build of the century

[s0fa king]

Nice build! SEM trim paint is epic...I gotta pick some up.

[first_choice]

just bought my first zenki this week and this build is an inspiration for where i may begin to clean it up.

[S14Driftr91]

Any progress updates? :)

Yes ive been slacking big time on my build thread, not enough time to sit down and write haha

rename this to Epic build of the
century

Haha glad you like what you see! Thank you

Nice build! SEM trim paint is epic...I gotta pick some up.

Thank you and yes, SEM products are very excellent!

just bought my first zenki this week and this build is an inspiration for where i may begin to clean it up.

Congrats on buying one, theyre definitely fun cars. Thank you.


On with a update since its been forever... I need to take the time to catch up to where I am one night. ANYWAY...

When I got the motor home, I started tearing some of it down to inspect it further more and to rid of some of the oem parts. I started with taking the tranny off so I could get the motor on the stand. I also took the valve cover off to be powder coated.

Welcome to your new home! haha

http://i49.tinypic.com/4ihk5v.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/210a7bd.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/fn445l.jpg

Oem clutch to be replaced.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2md1hqp.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/51suuc.jpg

The parts that were going to be powder coated were dropped off right away so I could get them back ASAP.

Boring, plain, ugly...
http://i47.tinypic.com/f56d5v.jpg

Gorgeous...
http://i48.tinypic.com/zbfhi.jpg

While I was it I also took the sway bars and had them coated as well.

http://i48.tinypic.com/28cj5v8.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/24b52y1.jpg

The engine was dirty from sitting in the warehouse, covered in dust, grease and grime, I had to take care of that. I went to autozone and picked up a small wire brush and a few cans of engine degreaser. I went to town spraying and scrubbing away till all looked decent.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2hcmij8.jpg

In the process of cleaning the motor I put in on the engine stand. Here's just a few side/front/etc shots.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2m3fs78.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/1vz3c.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/ve0l7a.jpg

For only using a small ass brush I did the best I could, I'm happy with it. If I had the money and was tearing the entire motor down I would have hot tanked everything but that will come one day in the future.

http://i45.tinypic.com/u69ky.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/2mpx4sx.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/2zp14w7.jpg

Over the past year, I've had a parts pile piling up in my room... Finally the time has come to install all this.

http://i45.tinypic.com/991lps.jpg

Since I had the valve cover off already I decided the install the Tomei RAS first. I know some people are either for or against these. For me I'm not building a high boost building monster so I went ahead and bought them.

Tomei also provides step by step installation instructions so installing these is literally fool-proof.

http://i48.tinypic.com/zmbpmt.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/96xpgy.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/20pu5jb.jpg

Installed in about 15 min. Don't forget to torque all your bolts with the correct ft/lbs and pattern!

Haha here's one of my best friends, Tom, acting like hes doing serious work, even though he works at Nissan as a lot attendant, hes been learning a little here and there from the shop and me!

http://i46.tinypic.com/34s5lix.jpg

I'm in love with the teal :boink:

http://i45.tinypic.com/14xgvht.jpg

With the valve cover on, I figured I'd turn the motor over and work with the oil pan. The oem pan had a small dent in it which could be easily hammered out, but I planned on getting a bigger pan regardless. I decided to go with the Moroso, from 240sxmotoring. Being aluminum opposed to cast, it wouldn't break, just dent if something hit it...(at least I hope lol)

http://i49.tinypic.com/ngqdg3.jpg

Scraped off the old nasty rtv sealer and hit it with a brillo pad for a clean surface.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2roqkvo.jpg

Used some good old loc-tite on the threads because they do tend to spin pretty easily.

http://i50.tinypic.com/a08668.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/atn6lj.jpg

Lay a nice bead down of new sealer

http://i46.tinypic.com/72556w.jpg

Make sure every thing is tight and there you go. Finished!

http://i46.tinypic.com/15jcr4.jpg

A common thing to change when doing the SR swap... The thermostat. I went ahead and picked up this Nismo thermostat.

http://i47.tinypic.com/34y5k0p.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/9jhfko.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/2i76c01.jpg

Picked up a new water pump as well, my old one seemed fine but hey, who knows how long this motor has been sitting.

Removing the studs can be a pain in arsss so do this with two nuts, and twist in the opposite direction of one another.

http://i49.tinypic.com/vifx1v.jpg

Out with the old, in with the new.

http://i50.tinypic.com/34xqg3t.jpg

Some more rtv sealant..

http://i45.tinypic.com/33y3ncw.jpg

Be back soon with more updates. Follow me on Instagay(gram) for some more pictures @Kreg_el

[sparkyS13]

Amazing build and amazing progress! subscribed :)

[zoneorigins]

This is beautiful, attention to detail is just crazy, I'm looking for a s14 zenki at the moment and i thought i was the only one in the poughkeepsie area that loved 240sx's. Seriously awesome work man, keep at it! Hopefully i can get my future 240 to this state.

[S14Driftr91]

This is beautiful, attention to detail is just crazy, I'm looking for a s14 zenki at the moment and i thought i was the only one in the poughkeepsie area that loved 240sx's. Seriously awesome work man, keep at it! Hopefully i can get my future 240 to this state.

Where about in the Poughkeepsie area are you? I'm right in Wappingers.

[zoneorigins]

What a coincidence! I used to live in the Wappengers a couple years ago but now i live a little deep closer to the Beekman area in Poughquag. Its like a20 minute drive. That's awesome though someone in the area doing some sweet fab work Keep at it dude. I just wish i could find a nice rolling chassis near here... I have the dough but ones selling hahahah.

[S14Driftr91]

What a coincidence! I used to live in the Wappengers a couple years ago but now i live a little deep closer to the Beekman area in Poughquag. Its like a20 minute drive. That's awesome though someone in the area doing some sweet fab work Keep at it dude. I just wish i could find a nice rolling chassis near here... I have the dough but ones selling hahahah.

Alright yea I know where Beekman and Poughquag are. Thats cool! There's a few s14's around here, maybe 3? S13's keep poping up since all these kids fresh out of high school want to drift, anything rwd is cool to them but, theyre always wrecking them hah. If you find one let me know! My names is Craig by the way lol

[zoneorigins]

Alright yea I know where Beekman and Poughquag are. Thats cool! There's a few s14's around here, maybe 3? S13's keep poping up since all these kids fresh out of high school want to drift, anything rwd is cool to them but, theyre always wrecking them hah. If you find one let me know! My names is Craig by the way lol

Mine's James, and i definitely will, probably within the next few months, probably have to drive to the city or something but it'll happen. Just wondering though where is this shop where you keep sending your parts to get powdercoated? It looks like really high grade work.

[S14Driftr91]

Nice! I get all my parts done at Hudson Valley Powdercoating.

[blueshark123]

Ha, the only reason i know where poughkeepsie is was because of back in the day thats where heavy throttle used to be around.
Hey zone if you want a cheap running kouki lmk

[zoneorigins]

Ha, the only reason i know where poughkeepsie is was because of back in the day thats where heavy throttle used to be around.
Hey zone if you want a cheap running kouki lmk

Definetly interested,Pm'ed!

[S14Serge]

Sick as build bro!! I plan on going the s14 sr route as well so ill keep my eye on your thread.

[Motary]

Loving the attention to detail, good work!

[S14Driftr91]

Ha, the only reason i know where poughkeepsie is was because of back in the day thats where heavy throttle used to be around.

Yea I wish that place was still around. I'm about 15 min from where they used to be, sucks that shop went under :down:

Sick as build bro!! I plan on going the s14 sr route as well so ill keep my eye on your thread.

Thank you!

Loving the attention to detail, good work!

Thanks alot!

[Mr.Clerc]

Good shit Craig reppin the 845, i was a friend of Bretts havent talked to him in a while but veryyy good shit man. Hopefully my build will become more serious over time. Subscribed!! :axe:

[s0fa king]

all that OEM goodness. keep it up dude.

[onehundredoctane]

Holy SHIT BALLS how have I never seen this thread?

Kudos to you sir and your determination.

[FKC]

ive benn lurking on this forum for about a month now and came across this thread. read through the whole thread and had to finally register to tell you amazing job! any updates recently?

[Eazy_tom]

Everything looks like quality work man, good job!

[S14Driftr91]

Good shit Craig reppin the 845, i was a friend of Bretts havent talked to him in a while but veryyy good shit man. Hopefully my build will become more serious over time. Subscribed!! :axe:

all that OEM goodness. keep it up dude.

Holy SHIT BALLS how have I never seen this thread?

Kudos to you sir and your determination.

ive benn lurking on this forum for about a month now and came across this thread. read through the whole thread and had to finally register to tell you amazing job! any updates recently?

Everything looks like quality work man, good job!

Thanks guys for nice words!... Jeez I have to stop being a slacker on this thread. Its a rainy day here in ny so why not put some time into this.

Last time I posted pictures of how my motor was coming along heres some more of what happened after the waterpump install...

When doing my swap I wanted to pretty much have everything functional on the motor such as a/c, p/s, and cruise control. Cody Ace has a great solution for the a/c with his brackets. He even includes the belt. Sweet deal and a decent price too.

I painted up the A/C bracket just cause it looked nasty but anyway the Cody Ace bracket kit just bolts right up with just a small modification to the Sr20 A/C bracket

http://i50.tinypic.com/8xpn5i.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/jb7pyw.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/nd06f8.jpg

Once the two lower tabs are cut off the brackets go right on using the supplied flush bolts.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2cyfqyu.jpg

Then followed with the KA compressor.

http://i49.tinypic.com/mutk4y.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/9blqfo.jpg

Next was the turbo manifold. I plan on going with a top mount setup in the future so I figured the Megan manifold was decent for the price.

http://i46.tinypic.com/x8zex.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/ftlkx5.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/210n7dd.jpg

The last thing I upgraded on the motor was the clutch. I decided on and installed a Spec stage 2+ clutch.

Old nasty shit.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2ziptza.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/5f0ymv.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/10eq3cz.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/f19jjr.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/2uhy8ex.jpg

And of course, I couldn't forget a fresh one of of these babies

http://i47.tinypic.com/16m7ibs.jpg

With the motor coming together, it was almost time to put in the car. Here's how shes sitting...

http://i46.tinypic.com/2hmitmg.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/1qn792.jpg

Finally it came to put the motor. The day has come!! haha

http://i47.tinypic.com/t9703b.jpg

M dad making sure everything is good since I was too impatient at this time:fruit:
http://i50.tinypic.com/rw1gmc.jpg

I know almost all people put the motor and tranny in as one but having a shitty driveway and being worried about nicking my paint in the bay, I dropped the motor in by itself.

http://i48.tinypic.com/uphm1.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/20fosjp.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/29cvzwj.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/2wn2scz.jpg

[future]

Almost there!

[scarface_613]

bro this is sick, im loving that your not half ass'ing it lol, cant stand seeing sick engine swaps and then crap work everywhere!!! good job bro, give your dad props some hate this stuff lol

[Camaro Chris]

Nice build!

[Apex Eight]

Subscribed! Great job man, keep it up

[nismostormtrooper]

cant believe it, just read threw the whole thing and didn't even find out if it starts lol.
Great build dude, one of the best ive seen so far.
MOAR UPDATES!

[Supra_Lover]

Not a bad start man.

I agree:rofl:

[nsxot1c]

Build looks great... very clean nice work!!

[first_choice]

It works well working with someone much older, they have patience. Me personally I say fuck it lets get this done and usually I'll scratch something haha.

Props to your Dad helping you out, mine just checks on me in the garage making sure I don't break any of his tools lol.

[cfrank30]

This is the best build I have ever seen or read about in a very long time. The attention to details and the time you take is something you just dont see anyone do anymore and I congratulate you on all of it well done