3NDLESS

Buying coilovers and somewhat lowering my car thats on 15s... 3 finger gap between ground and lowest part (pignose lip). My highschool used to have no speed bumps and now they do.. I look like a fucking idiot going through speed bumps.

R3b

Well as far as car enthusiast go I hardly ever see someone daily there car. Its either a track car/weekend toy or some teen who like me thinking they can drive it every day but after replacing broken parts/waiting for funds its sits more than anything. Its like someone driving an oldschool beetle or even a e30 everyday. I think there is some merit in today having an older car run like it got off the showroom or in some cases better than original design.

feito

S-chassis related? Lets see:
Making a pretty nasty gash on one of my perfectly new tires while driving my lowered s14 to the alignment shop without rolling the fenders first.
Putting a crack on my then crackless dashboard while moving some parts in my garage.
Wasting money on a few stock harnesses before giving up and buying a WS one.
Other car related stuff includes:
Buying a pretty decent 280z with minimum rust, taking the project too far to a rotisserie point, giving up and selling it.
Too many projects at a time.
In life? No to think about my future and start saving from a younger age...

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Tuners are big bullies

simmode1

My comment was really more in reference to apartment renters... You know, those places that will fine you for working on a car or having it sit too long on their property.

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"Simplicity is the key to brilliance." - Bruce Lee

CamryOnBronze

Oh man, too many to list over the last decade of messing with my S13. At this point I regret basically anything I did to the car that cannot be easily reversed- anything that requires cutting, welding, etc. I wish I never shaved the engine bay or pulled the rear quarters, but those are things I have learned to live with.

My biggest regret with my car is not quitting while I was ahead. I made a lot of changes to the car in 2012 that ultimately made me hate driving it and lose interest. Having my first daughter seemed like a good excuse to sell it and get a more family-oriented project car (an Evo VIII,) but I think I really just wanted a new project. I ended up buying my S13 shell back two years later and doing it all over again- now THAT is stupid, lol.

I'm thankful to have the car back now, but if I had just stopped where I was with it in 2011 I would be in much better shape financially now. I enjoy the build process too much and just can't leave anything well enough alone, but I've been making progress with that flaw over the last couple years.

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CamryOnBronze.com

eagleeyes221

I have a bad habit of spending money before thinking of a better solution to my problem. Before doing anything to any project vehicle is to go in with a plan with plenty of notes and you can never do enough research on how a swap can be done. My advice to anyone reading is enjoy the car more and get it to a running condition and leaving it there for a longer period of time before any upgrades. It really keeps your interest peaked longer in the project instead of staring at your car on jack stands

tuzzio

my biggest mistake was buying a 240.

Malik

I had this problem when I was renting... it was terrible my landlord and my neighbors wouldn't cut me a break at all.

SimpleSexy180

How I didn't look to buy any fluid. The other day I still don't use a car for welded diffs.

simmode1

Word. That spelled the demise of my first and favorite S13 hatch

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"Simplicity is the key to brilliance." - Bruce Lee

EFITTZY

In hindsight I did a lot of stupid things in my younger days with my first s13... We're all young dumb and broke at some point right? (still broke, still young, and still dumb btw)

Bought a 91' pos hatch when I was 17. PO was king of DIW. Clapped suspension, slammed on its nuts, and covered in hoonibro stickers

So being a stupid broke boy who wanted a cool car I decided to get some rep chuki side skirts, and try my hand at the illusive "Home Depot" front lip.

Long story short I got flamed for it here on zilvia...

Times goes on and you get wiser. Sold that hoopty to help fund my first proper project car (95' s14 zenki with a red top sr20 swap.)

Best advice is to read as many build threads as you can to see how things should be done... oh and stop half assing things

Zenki_559

umm.... what?

slider2828

Not replacing all the heater hoses under the manifold. Ended up costing me an engine on the track.

Not buying saving and buying an FD RX7 instead....

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Turn and Burn!

Juucso

Going all out before I've driven it fairly stock.

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Juucso - Instagram

Bnr32gtr

Owning 3 of these $ Pits. My thoughts were That way one is always ready jam horrible idea but I can't seem to part with any of them it's crazy

joshg51

Not pulling a screw out of my tire and plugging it right away. came out while driving on the freeway and shredded my inner sidewall which led to me almost spinning out and denting the shit out of my quarter panel. Tire was brand new too.
Untitled by joshg51, on Flickr

Also going overfenders is wack, i wish i just paid a body shop to finish my quarter panels.

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Ayo that's crazy
@originaldonjosh

CrimsonRockett

Keep it simple.

Spend money on quality parts.

Tackle one project at a time. When you start taking on 3-4 project cars at once, you'll have 3-4 incomplete cars versus one fully built one.

I do not regret going over the top on my current build because these would be things that would definitely bother me down the line.

I would obviously rather be driving my cars versus just having them sit around for years at a time for the sake of a tear down / rebuild, but reaching personal goals is also very fulfilling.

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-Jspec-
Instagram/CrimsonRockett

green_bullet

Bought a project 240. O_o .

(It's currently my daily, so not to bad of a mistake... But still taking my money )

Malik

this is really the main lesson though.

k00laid83

For me it was having multiple projects on a college budget. I had a ef civic 4dr that I learned on. Then I picked up my s13 and was building it for 7 years. Then trying to do both cars and have the funds for both was not smart. So, I sold my civic to my little brother, and fully committed to the s13.

My biggest regret with my s13 was buying cheap parts from ebay just to get the car on the road. They've lasted me a while but now I'm at the point where I'll never buy ebay / knock-off. I'm buying nothing but quality parts.

enkei2k

my mistake - going for the exterior stuff first instead of internals...

had authentic Volks rims, Sparco seats, Silvia grill, aftermarket HU and loads of stuff that made my car stand out obnoxiously in a 'steal me' sort of way... all with a stock KA engine.

All that pretty stuff gets stolen and had to start from scratch.

Now keeping outside car stock looking on the outside while focusing on the engine and suspension parts.

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Ask enkei2k

xquizitditz

Kingtal0n

not using mostly stock engines when you want reliable daily






is often a costly mistake

Beanzo

car blew alternator fuse, tracked down 75 amp fuse, blew it again, got another fuse and alternator, swapped them both, blew it again, come to find out there was some exposed wire from my harness grounding on my chassis

Future240

I rushed and bought a bad chassis. The engine was junk and threw a rod in a week. A while later I jack it up and find out the drive side rail is pushed in (looked like someone jacked it up wrong). All of the struts were blown because the jackass prior owner put lowering springs on the stock struts.


When the KA blew I rushed on that too. My pops found a rebuilt ka for $1,000 and I said pull the trigger. A few days later on 240atlanta (rip) a fully built KA goes for sale for the same price.


I didn't set my coils right and blew one.


Life happened, I went through stuff and neglected my car, ended up with a bum engine, with compression dead in two cylinders.


Now she sits in pieces in my basement while I slowly resurrect her.


If I could do it all over, I would have found a better chassis. Saved all the money I spent on KA's and had a shop swap in a notchtop SR, then I would have done suspension mods then exterior.

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Highway Riding

Selling any and all of my toys in order:

My 350z
My Sr20 S14 Zenki
MY 2JZgte sc300

Now I am looking for a new toy. Either another S14 a FDRX7 or effin merican Challenger SRT8 manual! Point being think it over before you sell your rides. Take your time and think it through!

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The Sun Rises in the East!

romo180

Purchased my first s13 in 2012 from the original owner..super clean stock car...decided to make it a “track car”. within a year it was fully gutted and engine removed. ended up selling the shell for 500 because my attention had moved to my Jeep.

Jo_Galezo

Whenever buying parts or anything second hand, make sure you ask for as many pictures as you can of every thing that you think can be messed up & don’t buy something because you are excited finally found it. I’ve gotten ripped off because i was blind to my own hype


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Bnr32gtr

Getting married, dumb as fuck

sr vegas 240

Trading my daily (wrx) for a project car (s13) now I have 2 kids and no backseat. Best mistake of my life never getting rid of her.

shaggyjake

If i could start over with my LS swap i could have done it for 1/3 of the price. I've done almost everything twice now.

I wish i would have started with seat time. Done more track events, then slowly upgrade supsension, brakes, etc. I've spent like 30k on a car that looks like it's not even worth 5 bucks. Again, i could build the same car now for 12-13k and i probably wouldn't hate myself every time i go to the garage.