wolf904
12-22-2017, 12:15 AM
It's been awhile since I've done one of these. The last time I did was my first s13 from a bare shell when I was like 18, I guess this is fitting considering I feel this coupe my first attempt at an actual build...
I miss threads from the older days where they documented the builder's progression through their life along with the car itsself, so that's how I will try to do mine. Drifting and trying to finish a car has had a hold on my mind and attention span for the past 4 years, interrupting most of my adult life goals, so I might as well have something to look back on in depth to remind myself how crazy this shit was one day.
To explain the title real quick;
-As you all know, I am from the tErRiBlE state of florida which is completely doing it wrong and no style, so had to make the title reflect that (;
-Breakshift is my group of good friends in north florida that share a similar outlook on grassroots drifting with the same goals, drive hard with the homies in good looking yet functional cars. In a joking sense we are also Breakshit since thats usually all we do with our cars. This is my main drift car I plan to drive with the team so that's the reasoning on that.
Background before we begin. Let me just say there is SO much more to each of these stages, but I could go on forever about things leading up to 2017 and the coupe, so I will just briefly summarize the main things:
2014:
Be 18 and trade some dad a 2003 acura tl daily plus 2k for their son's RB25 Zenki (guess he wanted a more comfortable daily) after going to a local track day and realizing this shit was way cooler than parking show cars
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3861/14965622907_e43f54e72a_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oNsJia)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/oNsJia) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/esquge/), on Flickr
Go through alot with that chassis, and essentially learn how to work on cars through it. Also during this time, pickup a s13 hatch shell to build as a track car.
2015-2016:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7479/15947955270_9daeccb2f3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qigru3)side (https://flic.kr/p/qigru3) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/esquge/), on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7509/15949224639_eb24211663_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qinWPH)bare bay (https://flic.kr/p/qinWPH) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/esquge/), on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7554/16133392051_e6830f5222_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qzDRnV)caprep (https://flic.kr/p/qzDRnV) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/esquge/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4692/25345058248_e73d5ef0c9_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBE3NU)IMG_20151123_153732245 (https://flic.kr/p/EBE3NU) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/27435884069_3f3b79c6e3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HNq5tX)IMG_20150728_172539265_HDR (https://flic.kr/p/HNq5tX) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/656/23151084054_5bc1d2a4b4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/BgMmHC)s13 (https://flic.kr/p/BgMmHC) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5655/23671213692_8ed0f5e86b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/C4Ka91)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/C4Ka91) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5775/22583473570_93e086ab84_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ApCcTY)S14 (https://flic.kr/p/ApCcTY) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
2016-2017:
Things start to get interesting here...
So at this point I know about, and look up to, most popular blogs throughout the years, basic traditional styling ques, the basics of a drift car's suspension and components, and have experience interchanging most parts on a schassis. Still little to no seat time drifting, occasional street drift fucking around, but nothing serious and noone really who knew what they were doing to point me in the right direction.
I ended up parting the gold hatchback, trying to get another caged hatch with an sr20 that didnt work out and got parted out as well, got a stock KA beater zenki for 600 that needed work, doing a ton of maintenance stuff that that car needed, essentially learning to drift in that car, selling the KA zenki, getting a SR hatch shell with a ton of japanese goodies, and also eventually seeing through a short navan phase on the rb zenki, and eventually a origin stylish phase before that car went downhill.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4601/24349081637_3f4070c643_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6DpEn)13938274_114830405630001_155964555837599759 _o (https://flic.kr/p/D6DpEn) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4736/39182156282_501228dfde_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoMYE)20170710_091759 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoMYE) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/25345339578_d64d497c9e_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFurq)IMG_20160923_154649 (https://flic.kr/p/EBFurq) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
Went to final bout SSE , decided actual drifting was pretty cool ( Canaan was a road course and I rode in a near 400 hp rb25 cressida, KA had to go and I needed to start driving my own rb car. but not before picking up my friends hatch project)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4588/25345338678_894b090686_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFuaU)IMG_20161014_134503 (https://flic.kr/p/EBFuaU) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4737/25345338018_2ac8598d64_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFtYw)IMG_20161015_134435 (https://flic.kr/p/EBFtYw) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4679/39183251272_611304a053_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GuptN)IMG_20161015_134658 (https://flic.kr/p/22GuptN) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4690/39183248922_71eae6803a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GuoMh)IMG_20161031_115349 (https://flic.kr/p/22GuoMh) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4600/25345335218_761b1dfeac_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFt9f)IMG_20161031_145851 (https://flic.kr/p/EBFt9f) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4590/39210748321_3c70cdee60_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22JVkoR)IMG_20161031_170858 (https://flic.kr/p/22JVkoR) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
Wanted to go drift more than I wanted to get started on this sr hatch project, which I had very high standards for, which also ends up in alot of money, so I took cool parts off of it and used it on the rb zenki. Got it put together enough to fix most of the little issues it had over the years, and went drifting in it.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4587/25345282508_9b36a604f3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFcts)12963860_1213213728730174_74711417436903685 44_n (https://flic.kr/p/EBFcts) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4726/24349111047_67db9b5aa9_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6Dypr)IMG_20161120_154245 (https://flic.kr/p/D6Dypr) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/24349112377_0dfc0fbac7_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6DyNn)IMG_20161120_152741 (https://flic.kr/p/D6DyNn) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4691/38334598755_a2e1da137b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21puQDR)IMG_20161210_155953 (https://flic.kr/p/21puQDR) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4634/38502429214_2324b0412f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21Ek1Ns)IMG_20161224_165309 (https://flic.kr/p/21Ek1Ns) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/25344276738_27a125086b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBA3uA)IMG_20161219_085919 (https://flic.kr/p/EBA3uA) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
December 2016, my friends that make up Breakshift ( the ones who drove final bout) decide we should change the team color to green and go do fun dumb shit in low, kitted, themed cars like our idols from the golden age of japan, with a few modern styling ques here and there. I've got the car driftable but no cage yet, aero kit but no paint, and also the turbo manifold stud had broken by the turbo trying to replace a turbo gasket the month before. I wanted to paint the car asap, but decided itd be best to fully dial in the suspension, chassis, and engine/drivetrain stuff and paint last, that way after paint I could get in it and go drift, then get a cage last. This is where everything went downhill with my first 240, which i had daily drove in highschool and college for over 2 years, and was now about to make my dedicated drift car.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4592/38502428164_bcb84cb9c4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21Ek1um)IMG_20161226_172550 (https://flic.kr/p/21Ek1um) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4638/24348156047_729540e5bc_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yEvV)IMG_20161226_173937 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yEvV) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
dropped the stylish off for some repairs, had no will to drive the car aero less, and brought it back home to put on stands to go over the entire car and make someone elses build my own in a sense and fix all the little things I hadn't liked over the years, and make it a good reliable drift car.
2017:
Spent the first half of the year constantly working on the rb25 car. After SSE everyone kind of stopped drifting on the team. My friend sold his miata to build his s13 coupe, and my friend with the cressida had used alot of his funds to make that event so he was out for awhile. Without any real urgency to finish the car, I definitely started getting lazy with the progress of it all. I ended up getting my first full time job at a pizza place down the street to get constant flow of money to build the car, previously had been working several part time jobs and selling parts on the side and whatnot. Working full hours a week helped a ton, but however left me with no TIME to work on the car, but all the MONEY to do it. Which had been the complete OPPOSITE all the other years before, hahaha.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4734/24348217577_59a8014bde_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYNM)20170422_150121 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYNM) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
I still had the sr hatch at my house unregistered, but for whatever reason my neighbors complained about it being under a car cover in my driveway to the town ( I don't even live in a home owners association so I was mad, but had to comply). I had to get the car operating. Having all the parts, but working a full time job, and another project already not finished, it was tough. It was my first sr swap, and I didnt really have much help except for my past experiences helping people with their cars years ago. Threw it all together, and it worked. It wasnt up to the standards I had for it in the long term, but I ended up liking it so much I registered it over the zenki since I was redoing lots of things on the rb25 and chassis.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4727/24348217077_226a6d65f3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYEa)20170424_152038 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYEa) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4641/24348216497_803d977de5_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYua)20170427_010206 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYua) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4688/38333639525_f32d5699b8_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVvp)20170501_173637 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVvp) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
The ka zenki from before was stock angle and just coilovers, and I felt i learned the basics of drifting in that car and learned alot about momentum in a slow car haha. this car was stock sr20, coilovers, suspension arms, no bumpstops on lca's, and decent working ebrake. Basically the next step graduating from learning in a ka car, without going too overboard. This car was just as reliable as the zenki, and never let me down. LOTS of street drifting ( imagine going to final bout at a 3rd/4th gear road course, being hyped on drifting, then taking your rb car down and not drifting for months but working till 4am every night thinking about drifting. If you were to get into another turbo driftable car, you'd drive it every other night too). I drifted the car stock boost at first but it was definitely very slow. Eventually the boost got turned up to 14 psi and that helped, did 2 events in orlando along with countless nights of street drifting for about 2-3 months.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4639/38333638735_ffb72b2613_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVgM)20170512_043413 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVgM) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4588/38333639395_c23af53c6d_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVta)20170504_165626 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVta) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4732/39182157162_1600f8fd5f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoNeQ)20170709_132400 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoNeQ) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
Eventually I redid the whole rb car how I wanted, got it running again after fighting a broken stud in the hotside of the head that prevented me from putting the manifold back on for a while. Got everything put back together, ran good, just needed the fans wired. However, there was more things I wanted to do it , and realized I was running out of money for 2 cars. One had to go, and I had liked the sr20 so much, and the feeling of ground up building your own car to drift, that I would just start over.
At first I was going to part the car out, however someone on facebook who was going to buy the rb swap, ended up buying the whole car without ALOT of things. It took me a total of 4 days to sell the car for 6500 non running with me keeping a ton of parts. I never once made a forsale post or a partout post.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4637/24348211647_bc314bf197_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yX3x)20170624_124022 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yX3x) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4635/38333638165_ae8c6a038b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppV6X)20170624_124054 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppV6X) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4728/39182171682_e353b50e48_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoSyb)20170624_124404 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoSyb) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4600/39182170082_e4b1fcd76a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoS5A)20170624_125831 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoS5A) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/27433856289_880e8f46e6_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HNeFGe)20170624_170100 (https://flic.kr/p/HNeFGe) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4599/27433925529_fd3699273b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HNf3h2)20170624_170643 (https://flic.kr/p/HNf3h2) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
With 6500 in my hand, a storage unit of s14 parts still to sell, freshly coming off of about 7 months of building a car to drift only to get 90% of the way there to sell it, I had a great desire to pickup a car and make it my own like I had with the hatch. This time my goal was to make the sr swap cleaner with even more upgrades and power, way more suspension modifications, a cage, an aero kit, and paint.
2017 pt. 2 - THE COUPE:
This is where it officially begins. Definitely my first, and last, build for a while. I'm pretty burnt out on cars at this point, I just really like driving and want to get seat time at this point while minimalizing working on the car. For this car, I took allllllllll what I had learned from my past s chassis. Now knowing how to build these cars inside and out, and having done it multiple times to my own s chassis's, I was pretty ready. I had the budget, knowledge, and had also quit working so I had the time. For this car I wanted to buy more new parts than ever in the places it counted, for most aftermarket stuff get good deals on BNIB things or lightly used to save some money off of retail, and used parts in places where it didnt matter. At the end of the day, this car is a streetable drift car. My standards for this were not as nearly as high as the ones I had initially had for my red hatch. My goal is I can daily this coupe if I want, drive it hours to the track if I want, but just as easily load it up on the trailer and not worry about it. The main purpose of this car is to shred and throw down, however I still like some creature comforts and reliability.
The day after I sold my zenki I went to buy the coupe. Compression test was 150 across the board, car ran good for a stock blacktop, and manji'd in 3rd all the rainy drive home.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4685/39182168952_a9d2ee4e68_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoRK7)20170626_012125 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoRK7) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4636/39182167102_7d404de7d8_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoRcd)20170626_012220 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoRcd) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4640/39182165872_a2552f3caa_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoQQ1)20170626_012235 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoQQ1) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4735/27433920699_a0b73c2d3e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HNf1QK)20170626_012305 (https://flic.kr/p/HNf1QK) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4729/39182163812_7f5e42774c_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoQdu)20170626_012352 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoQdu) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4683/39182162422_b7ef384f37_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoPNw)20170626_012430 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoPNw) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
A kid in the same position as me when I was 18 had put the car together. It had enough good parts it was worth it, and was a clean enough base for a drift car I was okay with the flaws as I could fix them all.
Details on the car when I picked it up:
1989 SE Coupe
Clean pop front with pig lip
power windows/locks/mirrors
full clean interior front and rear minus headliner ( I thought it would be a simple fix, boy was I wrong)
S14 SE Seats (the original ones out of my blue zenki, I had sold them to him years ago)
Aftermarket steering wheel
Original HUD car, with HUD uncracked dash
S13 Blacktop sr20 (engine was in a local drift car from years ago, had reputation for ripping in the scene and the history could be traced back online as far back as when the previous owner got it from the importer, to when he got it running in his old hatch.)
Head decked/cleaned and I believe valve stem seals
Cometic metal HG
ARP headstuds
150 consistent compression sr20det stock bottom end
Spec stage 3 clutch
one piece driveshaft (something thatd come back to fuck me)
welded diff
factory axles and subframe
New ISR arm kit front and rear
255 fuel pump
ISR blast pipes
ISR test pipe
Non working ebrake lol
stock leaking rack, stock lca and tie rods
megan engine mounts
t25 with blitz turbo elbow and downpipe
High mount intercooler setup with HKS BOV and working pop ups
stock radiator
oem fan shroud and clutch fan
stock ecu, injectors, maf etc.
no powersteering but the entire system was there.
17x9.5 cobras
Cusco coilovers (from my old gold hatch hahaha)
Thats the jist of the car. I got everything for $2900, title signed in my name.
Drove the car around for about a week on previous owners plate and registration. Acquired bricks and a shit sil front in that time, then registered the car later. Went to take it out the first night legally, car made it 20 minutes to the local spot before the trans took a shit. Felt really sick coming from my thrown together hatchback SR never letting me down and going to orlando and gainesville multiple times to drift/cruise. With the new car already down, I decided it was time to start the build earlier than I had anticipated. Instead of just pulling the trans, I decided to pull the engine and do everything I wanted to do at once. I wasnt happy with how the engine bay looked at all, and knowing I was going to invest alot of money into the car, I wanted the bay to reflect the work I was capable of.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4596/39182160422_6a0900a59d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoPd3)20170626_112839 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoPd3) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4644/38333628005_71ac5674b6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppS5M)20170723_013638 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppS5M) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4590/38502458824_fd80e6d78a_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21EkaAY)20170723_151319 (https://flic.kr/p/21EkaAY) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4738/38502457374_5af87a1371_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21EkaaY)20170727_102511 (https://flic.kr/p/21EkaaY) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/38333622905_855f6ac919_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppQyR)20170727_125216 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppQyR) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
Unfortunately thats my stopping point for now since it's 2AM and I've reached a "50 image limit", However as soon as the thread goes live I will update it to the cars current stage, which is basically just getting ready to paint it [=
I miss threads from the older days where they documented the builder's progression through their life along with the car itsself, so that's how I will try to do mine. Drifting and trying to finish a car has had a hold on my mind and attention span for the past 4 years, interrupting most of my adult life goals, so I might as well have something to look back on in depth to remind myself how crazy this shit was one day.
To explain the title real quick;
-As you all know, I am from the tErRiBlE state of florida which is completely doing it wrong and no style, so had to make the title reflect that (;
-Breakshift is my group of good friends in north florida that share a similar outlook on grassroots drifting with the same goals, drive hard with the homies in good looking yet functional cars. In a joking sense we are also Breakshit since thats usually all we do with our cars. This is my main drift car I plan to drive with the team so that's the reasoning on that.
Background before we begin. Let me just say there is SO much more to each of these stages, but I could go on forever about things leading up to 2017 and the coupe, so I will just briefly summarize the main things:
2014:
Be 18 and trade some dad a 2003 acura tl daily plus 2k for their son's RB25 Zenki (guess he wanted a more comfortable daily) after going to a local track day and realizing this shit was way cooler than parking show cars
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3861/14965622907_e43f54e72a_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oNsJia)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/oNsJia) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/esquge/), on Flickr
Go through alot with that chassis, and essentially learn how to work on cars through it. Also during this time, pickup a s13 hatch shell to build as a track car.
2015-2016:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7479/15947955270_9daeccb2f3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qigru3)side (https://flic.kr/p/qigru3) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/esquge/), on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7509/15949224639_eb24211663_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qinWPH)bare bay (https://flic.kr/p/qinWPH) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/esquge/), on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7554/16133392051_e6830f5222_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qzDRnV)caprep (https://flic.kr/p/qzDRnV) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/esquge/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4692/25345058248_e73d5ef0c9_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBE3NU)IMG_20151123_153732245 (https://flic.kr/p/EBE3NU) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/27435884069_3f3b79c6e3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HNq5tX)IMG_20150728_172539265_HDR (https://flic.kr/p/HNq5tX) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/656/23151084054_5bc1d2a4b4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/BgMmHC)s13 (https://flic.kr/p/BgMmHC) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5655/23671213692_8ed0f5e86b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/C4Ka91)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/C4Ka91) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5775/22583473570_93e086ab84_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ApCcTY)S14 (https://flic.kr/p/ApCcTY) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
2016-2017:
Things start to get interesting here...
So at this point I know about, and look up to, most popular blogs throughout the years, basic traditional styling ques, the basics of a drift car's suspension and components, and have experience interchanging most parts on a schassis. Still little to no seat time drifting, occasional street drift fucking around, but nothing serious and noone really who knew what they were doing to point me in the right direction.
I ended up parting the gold hatchback, trying to get another caged hatch with an sr20 that didnt work out and got parted out as well, got a stock KA beater zenki for 600 that needed work, doing a ton of maintenance stuff that that car needed, essentially learning to drift in that car, selling the KA zenki, getting a SR hatch shell with a ton of japanese goodies, and also eventually seeing through a short navan phase on the rb zenki, and eventually a origin stylish phase before that car went downhill.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4601/24349081637_3f4070c643_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6DpEn)13938274_114830405630001_155964555837599759 _o (https://flic.kr/p/D6DpEn) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4736/39182156282_501228dfde_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoMYE)20170710_091759 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoMYE) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/25345339578_d64d497c9e_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFurq)IMG_20160923_154649 (https://flic.kr/p/EBFurq) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
Went to final bout SSE , decided actual drifting was pretty cool ( Canaan was a road course and I rode in a near 400 hp rb25 cressida, KA had to go and I needed to start driving my own rb car. but not before picking up my friends hatch project)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4588/25345338678_894b090686_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFuaU)IMG_20161014_134503 (https://flic.kr/p/EBFuaU) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4737/25345338018_2ac8598d64_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFtYw)IMG_20161015_134435 (https://flic.kr/p/EBFtYw) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4679/39183251272_611304a053_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GuptN)IMG_20161015_134658 (https://flic.kr/p/22GuptN) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4690/39183248922_71eae6803a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GuoMh)IMG_20161031_115349 (https://flic.kr/p/22GuoMh) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4600/25345335218_761b1dfeac_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFt9f)IMG_20161031_145851 (https://flic.kr/p/EBFt9f) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4590/39210748321_3c70cdee60_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22JVkoR)IMG_20161031_170858 (https://flic.kr/p/22JVkoR) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
Wanted to go drift more than I wanted to get started on this sr hatch project, which I had very high standards for, which also ends up in alot of money, so I took cool parts off of it and used it on the rb zenki. Got it put together enough to fix most of the little issues it had over the years, and went drifting in it.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4587/25345282508_9b36a604f3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBFcts)12963860_1213213728730174_74711417436903685 44_n (https://flic.kr/p/EBFcts) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4726/24349111047_67db9b5aa9_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6Dypr)IMG_20161120_154245 (https://flic.kr/p/D6Dypr) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/24349112377_0dfc0fbac7_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6DyNn)IMG_20161120_152741 (https://flic.kr/p/D6DyNn) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4691/38334598755_a2e1da137b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21puQDR)IMG_20161210_155953 (https://flic.kr/p/21puQDR) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4634/38502429214_2324b0412f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21Ek1Ns)IMG_20161224_165309 (https://flic.kr/p/21Ek1Ns) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/25344276738_27a125086b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EBA3uA)IMG_20161219_085919 (https://flic.kr/p/EBA3uA) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
December 2016, my friends that make up Breakshift ( the ones who drove final bout) decide we should change the team color to green and go do fun dumb shit in low, kitted, themed cars like our idols from the golden age of japan, with a few modern styling ques here and there. I've got the car driftable but no cage yet, aero kit but no paint, and also the turbo manifold stud had broken by the turbo trying to replace a turbo gasket the month before. I wanted to paint the car asap, but decided itd be best to fully dial in the suspension, chassis, and engine/drivetrain stuff and paint last, that way after paint I could get in it and go drift, then get a cage last. This is where everything went downhill with my first 240, which i had daily drove in highschool and college for over 2 years, and was now about to make my dedicated drift car.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4592/38502428164_bcb84cb9c4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21Ek1um)IMG_20161226_172550 (https://flic.kr/p/21Ek1um) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4638/24348156047_729540e5bc_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yEvV)IMG_20161226_173937 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yEvV) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
dropped the stylish off for some repairs, had no will to drive the car aero less, and brought it back home to put on stands to go over the entire car and make someone elses build my own in a sense and fix all the little things I hadn't liked over the years, and make it a good reliable drift car.
2017:
Spent the first half of the year constantly working on the rb25 car. After SSE everyone kind of stopped drifting on the team. My friend sold his miata to build his s13 coupe, and my friend with the cressida had used alot of his funds to make that event so he was out for awhile. Without any real urgency to finish the car, I definitely started getting lazy with the progress of it all. I ended up getting my first full time job at a pizza place down the street to get constant flow of money to build the car, previously had been working several part time jobs and selling parts on the side and whatnot. Working full hours a week helped a ton, but however left me with no TIME to work on the car, but all the MONEY to do it. Which had been the complete OPPOSITE all the other years before, hahaha.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4734/24348217577_59a8014bde_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYNM)20170422_150121 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYNM) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
I still had the sr hatch at my house unregistered, but for whatever reason my neighbors complained about it being under a car cover in my driveway to the town ( I don't even live in a home owners association so I was mad, but had to comply). I had to get the car operating. Having all the parts, but working a full time job, and another project already not finished, it was tough. It was my first sr swap, and I didnt really have much help except for my past experiences helping people with their cars years ago. Threw it all together, and it worked. It wasnt up to the standards I had for it in the long term, but I ended up liking it so much I registered it over the zenki since I was redoing lots of things on the rb25 and chassis.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4727/24348217077_226a6d65f3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYEa)20170424_152038 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYEa) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4641/24348216497_803d977de5_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYua)20170427_010206 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yYua) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4688/38333639525_f32d5699b8_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVvp)20170501_173637 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVvp) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
The ka zenki from before was stock angle and just coilovers, and I felt i learned the basics of drifting in that car and learned alot about momentum in a slow car haha. this car was stock sr20, coilovers, suspension arms, no bumpstops on lca's, and decent working ebrake. Basically the next step graduating from learning in a ka car, without going too overboard. This car was just as reliable as the zenki, and never let me down. LOTS of street drifting ( imagine going to final bout at a 3rd/4th gear road course, being hyped on drifting, then taking your rb car down and not drifting for months but working till 4am every night thinking about drifting. If you were to get into another turbo driftable car, you'd drive it every other night too). I drifted the car stock boost at first but it was definitely very slow. Eventually the boost got turned up to 14 psi and that helped, did 2 events in orlando along with countless nights of street drifting for about 2-3 months.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4639/38333638735_ffb72b2613_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVgM)20170512_043413 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVgM) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4588/38333639395_c23af53c6d_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVta)20170504_165626 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppVta) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4732/39182157162_1600f8fd5f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoNeQ)20170709_132400 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoNeQ) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
Eventually I redid the whole rb car how I wanted, got it running again after fighting a broken stud in the hotside of the head that prevented me from putting the manifold back on for a while. Got everything put back together, ran good, just needed the fans wired. However, there was more things I wanted to do it , and realized I was running out of money for 2 cars. One had to go, and I had liked the sr20 so much, and the feeling of ground up building your own car to drift, that I would just start over.
At first I was going to part the car out, however someone on facebook who was going to buy the rb swap, ended up buying the whole car without ALOT of things. It took me a total of 4 days to sell the car for 6500 non running with me keeping a ton of parts. I never once made a forsale post or a partout post.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4637/24348211647_bc314bf197_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/D6yX3x)20170624_124022 (https://flic.kr/p/D6yX3x) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4635/38333638165_ae8c6a038b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppV6X)20170624_124054 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppV6X) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4728/39182171682_e353b50e48_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoSyb)20170624_124404 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoSyb) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4600/39182170082_e4b1fcd76a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoS5A)20170624_125831 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoS5A) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/27433856289_880e8f46e6_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HNeFGe)20170624_170100 (https://flic.kr/p/HNeFGe) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4599/27433925529_fd3699273b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HNf3h2)20170624_170643 (https://flic.kr/p/HNf3h2) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
With 6500 in my hand, a storage unit of s14 parts still to sell, freshly coming off of about 7 months of building a car to drift only to get 90% of the way there to sell it, I had a great desire to pickup a car and make it my own like I had with the hatch. This time my goal was to make the sr swap cleaner with even more upgrades and power, way more suspension modifications, a cage, an aero kit, and paint.
2017 pt. 2 - THE COUPE:
This is where it officially begins. Definitely my first, and last, build for a while. I'm pretty burnt out on cars at this point, I just really like driving and want to get seat time at this point while minimalizing working on the car. For this car, I took allllllllll what I had learned from my past s chassis. Now knowing how to build these cars inside and out, and having done it multiple times to my own s chassis's, I was pretty ready. I had the budget, knowledge, and had also quit working so I had the time. For this car I wanted to buy more new parts than ever in the places it counted, for most aftermarket stuff get good deals on BNIB things or lightly used to save some money off of retail, and used parts in places where it didnt matter. At the end of the day, this car is a streetable drift car. My standards for this were not as nearly as high as the ones I had initially had for my red hatch. My goal is I can daily this coupe if I want, drive it hours to the track if I want, but just as easily load it up on the trailer and not worry about it. The main purpose of this car is to shred and throw down, however I still like some creature comforts and reliability.
The day after I sold my zenki I went to buy the coupe. Compression test was 150 across the board, car ran good for a stock blacktop, and manji'd in 3rd all the rainy drive home.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4685/39182168952_a9d2ee4e68_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoRK7)20170626_012125 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoRK7) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4636/39182167102_7d404de7d8_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoRcd)20170626_012220 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoRcd) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4640/39182165872_a2552f3caa_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoQQ1)20170626_012235 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoQQ1) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4735/27433920699_a0b73c2d3e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HNf1QK)20170626_012305 (https://flic.kr/p/HNf1QK) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4729/39182163812_7f5e42774c_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoQdu)20170626_012352 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoQdu) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4683/39182162422_b7ef384f37_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoPNw)20170626_012430 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoPNw) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
A kid in the same position as me when I was 18 had put the car together. It had enough good parts it was worth it, and was a clean enough base for a drift car I was okay with the flaws as I could fix them all.
Details on the car when I picked it up:
1989 SE Coupe
Clean pop front with pig lip
power windows/locks/mirrors
full clean interior front and rear minus headliner ( I thought it would be a simple fix, boy was I wrong)
S14 SE Seats (the original ones out of my blue zenki, I had sold them to him years ago)
Aftermarket steering wheel
Original HUD car, with HUD uncracked dash
S13 Blacktop sr20 (engine was in a local drift car from years ago, had reputation for ripping in the scene and the history could be traced back online as far back as when the previous owner got it from the importer, to when he got it running in his old hatch.)
Head decked/cleaned and I believe valve stem seals
Cometic metal HG
ARP headstuds
150 consistent compression sr20det stock bottom end
Spec stage 3 clutch
one piece driveshaft (something thatd come back to fuck me)
welded diff
factory axles and subframe
New ISR arm kit front and rear
255 fuel pump
ISR blast pipes
ISR test pipe
Non working ebrake lol
stock leaking rack, stock lca and tie rods
megan engine mounts
t25 with blitz turbo elbow and downpipe
High mount intercooler setup with HKS BOV and working pop ups
stock radiator
oem fan shroud and clutch fan
stock ecu, injectors, maf etc.
no powersteering but the entire system was there.
17x9.5 cobras
Cusco coilovers (from my old gold hatch hahaha)
Thats the jist of the car. I got everything for $2900, title signed in my name.
Drove the car around for about a week on previous owners plate and registration. Acquired bricks and a shit sil front in that time, then registered the car later. Went to take it out the first night legally, car made it 20 minutes to the local spot before the trans took a shit. Felt really sick coming from my thrown together hatchback SR never letting me down and going to orlando and gainesville multiple times to drift/cruise. With the new car already down, I decided it was time to start the build earlier than I had anticipated. Instead of just pulling the trans, I decided to pull the engine and do everything I wanted to do at once. I wasnt happy with how the engine bay looked at all, and knowing I was going to invest alot of money into the car, I wanted the bay to reflect the work I was capable of.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4596/39182160422_6a0900a59d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22GoPd3)20170626_112839 (https://flic.kr/p/22GoPd3) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4644/38333628005_71ac5674b6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppS5M)20170723_013638 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppS5M) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4590/38502458824_fd80e6d78a_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21EkaAY)20170723_151319 (https://flic.kr/p/21EkaAY) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4738/38502457374_5af87a1371_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21EkaaY)20170727_102511 (https://flic.kr/p/21EkaaY) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4681/38333622905_855f6ac919_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21ppQyR)20170727_125216 (https://flic.kr/p/21ppQyR) by Gabe Esquivias (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/), on Flickr
Unfortunately thats my stopping point for now since it's 2AM and I've reached a "50 image limit", However as soon as the thread goes live I will update it to the cars current stage, which is basically just getting ready to paint it [=