Two-Tone Coupe Resurrection: Street Style

[Rustys14]

Since photobucket killed my last build thread about my hatch I figured I minds well start a fresh one for my coupe. I've probably built/sold/parted/traded around 12 S-chassis over the years but for one reason or another this car was the one that was special enough for me to hold onto. I've owned the car for around 5 years but it has always been on the back-burner while I worked on other projects so progress up until now had been super slow. Its really only been within the last year that the car has become something that I'm proud of, so prepare for a huge photo dump while I bring you guys up to date!

Lets start at the very beginning, its October 2012 and I'm a broke college sophomore browsing Craigslist because I have way too much time on my hands when I stumble upon a listing for a two-tone coupe with a blown headgasket that the owner's HOA had decided needed to go. It was one of those "if not gone by this weekend I'm selling it for scrap" deals. At the time I had just finished putting together a hatch shell that I was using as a daily drifter and being young and dumb, I decided this coupe would make for a perfect missile to use at local events. It was nearing the end of the semester so I sold some of textbooks that I didn't need (Academia is such a racket you're forced to buy $400 books and then only open them once :rant2:) and went home that weekend to barrow my dad's truck and trailer. After a brief negotiation I handed over $600 and the car was mine!

Pictures from the day I picked it up. I took a bunch of crappy pictures in the parking lot of the guys apartment because I was excited thinking I got a great deal. Looking back on these I probably should have just let the guy scrap it haha.

https://i.imgur.com/ACEG3U6l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Vn2rVCyl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1e53gTPl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/k1P4WT1l.jpg

At least the passenger side looked decent...
https://i.imgur.com/Sft6Ts5l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/38OmwMxl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/h23bbTtl.jpg

Had some rust in the trunk but the rest of the car was completely rust free
https://i.imgur.com/aKLBlVxl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dUwT61Dl.jpg

I have more but you get the idea, the car was a total pile lol. Fast forward to later that night and I pull the car into the garage to see what exactly I had gotten myself into. I jokingly sat in the trunk and pushed on the smashed 1/4 with my feet and lo and behold it popped out!

https://i.imgur.com/Wd1y0e4l.jpg

Feeling motivated I ran to Walmart and picked up some BARS headgasket repair to see if the mechanic in a bottle stuff actually worked. To my surprise, after following the directions on the bottle, the white smoke bellowing from the tailpipe stopped and it happily idled in the garage for an hour without overheating. I was super stoked so I took the car for a quick spin up to the local gas station to fill it up. I was so excited I didn't even care that I had no tags or registration lol. I had owned a few 240s at this point bit this was the first time I had seen a working HUD and I think that's what won me over, I was in love.

Awful out of focus picture from the first drive:
https://i.imgur.com/e7or942l.jpg

I got the car registered and titled shortly after and drove it around a bit before parking it in anticipation for winter break when I would have the time to really dig into it and do some upgrades.

Parked waiting for the next time I came home from school lol:
https://i.imgur.com/kry0k9ol.jpg

I had some Battle Version tension rods and Silkroad RMA8 coilovers laying around from a previous build that I knew I could use on this car, so as soon as I got back to school I ordered the rest of the suspension pieces I wanted and promptly installed them.

Tension Rods (I love how beefy the first gen rods are):
https://i.imgur.com/z8r7VW5l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Bv8K1UFl.jpg

I was broke and pressed for time so I bought some generic camber and toe arms along with some subframe collars since I didn't have time to replace the bushings:
https://i.imgur.com/o5P2vJvl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/iJhJhP0l.jpg

Oddly this is the only picture I have of the coilover install.
https://i.imgur.com/KXr0nXPl.jpg

Looking a bit better at non 4x4 height but still a total POS lol
https://i.imgur.com/oEvwS3Rl.jpg

Summer rolled around and the car developed the common broken timing guide issue that every SOHC KA seems to develop at some point. I figured I minds well pull the engine to make things easier and actually replace the headgasket since it was still on the mechanic in a bottle fix at this point.

Engine out!
https://i.imgur.com/f7N7Ntol.jpg

Head off and sent out to be tanked/decked
https://i.imgur.com/fc1kIm7l.jpg

Fresh metal backed guide:
https://i.imgur.com/DzUVG3Cl.jpg

I also threw on a new clutch while it was out:
https://i.imgur.com/HIz90kil.jpg

Put the engine back in and fired it up for a quick test drive. The car ran great!
https://i.imgur.com/Bgd73gfl.jpg

Around this time I stumbled on another Craigslist deal and because I'm impulsive and bad with money I couldn't bring myself to pass it up. What was that deal you ask? Well it was a Silvia front end for $350! Truth be told the conversion was pretty beat up and missing some small pieces but it I figured it was still in better shape then the current front end that was on the car. I was super excited so I put the new front end on as soon as I got home.

https://i.imgur.com/dn0hgi3l.jpg

Ended up being night by the time I finished so I ran up to grab some gas and visit some friends to show it off lol

https://i.imgur.com/0PE38r7l.jpg

After that I sourced a OEM GTR style grill, some other odds and ends then gave the car a wash. I also put some teardrops on since I thought they fit the car better.

https://i.imgur.com/32F4Wiil.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/JxMALGsl.jpg

Random picture of the car with my old hatch:
https://i.imgur.com/nn1B2udl.jpg

And a roller that my friend shot, man this thing was embarrassing at this point haha:
https://i.imgur.com/8pZNGc7l.jpg

The car stayed like that for about a year while I focused on my hatch and other projects. I did get a set of Super Advan SA3R's in a trade that found their way onto the car at some point during this period.

Fresh kicks but still ugly...
https://i.imgur.com/n8mLABwl.jpg

Shortly after I got the Advans on the car I was driving to a friends house when the old single jingle decided to throw a rod...

Waiting on the tow truck:
https://i.imgur.com/VapRZDpl.jpg

At this point in my life I was almost finished with my degree and kind of burnt out on cars so I had it towed to my parents house where it was stored, patiently waiting for me to do something with it.

In hibernation waiting...
https://i.imgur.com/qqgCucyl.jpg

I think I'm close to the photo limit so I'll stop here and do part two in a separate post. Part 2 is where the actual build/fun begins!

[Rustys14]

Part 2:

Fast forward to early-mid 2016 I had traded my hatchback for an S2000, but started to miss driving an S-chassis so I pulled the coupe out of hibernation and got to work. I was searching for another KA to quickly get the car going again but stumbled on what looked to be a very clean CA18 swap for a reasonable price at a local importer. I had owned SR20 and KA-T cars in the past so I figured the CA would be a nice change from the norm. This was a huge mistake since the CA turned out to be a giant POS...

Engine on the way back from the importer:
https://i.imgur.com/V0Pjx3cl.jpg

Replaced the timing belt, water pump and front main seal before dropping it in:
https://i.imgur.com/sr6lt3ul.jpg

Spec stage 3 clutch and lightweight flywheel:
https://i.imgur.com/yHBymaVl.jpg

Ready for its new home:
https://i.imgur.com/88eK5ABl.jpg

Finished product!
https://i.imgur.com/Gichencl.jpg

Around the time I did the swap I also came across an old school Nismo CA strut bar that I had to have. It was a little beat up but I can't complain.

https://i.imgur.com/34L5Joql.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/vDUdS23l.jpg

Once I got the swap done and all the small kinks worked out I took the car for a test drive only to be met with a overheating issue that turned out to be a blown headgasket :picardfp: After being jerked around by the place I bought it from for awhile I ended up just saying fuck it and replaced the headgasket. I was too frustrated to take any pictures of the headgasket replacement but it was much easier to do then I expected and the car seemed to run great.

First test drive:
https://i.imgur.com/3GB7xFel.jpg

I was excited that the car was running and happy with how it felt so I decided to buy it some new shoes. After looking around for a bit I found a set of A-Tech Monoblocks at another importer (not the one I got the engine from lol) for a good price and threw them on.

https://i.imgur.com/OQesgPcl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/5ab9KEel.jpg

I liked how they looked on the car but after thinking about the direction I wanted to go, I decided that the Advans would be a better fit. Up until this point I hadn't really given much thought to what the finished product should be. I had always been a fan of the mid-late 90s to early 00s Japanese street cars so I decided I would do my best to emulate that time period with the car and parts selection.

With a theme in mind I started to source the parts needed to get the car ready for paint. I love the OEM+ styling of the late 90s-early 00s drift cars so I sourced a poly replica OEM areo bumper from a member on here along with some Dorki Dori OEM Silvia replica skirts and valances. I also scooped a Zeta II driver seat so I would have something more supportive then the s14 seats I was running for the car's shakedown run. The open diff wasn't going to cut it either so I threw in a Carbonetic 2-way and 4:36 gears I had saved from a car I parted out a couple years before.

https://i.imgur.com/vreetnwl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VRYmq25l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pj54b9wl.jpg

All of the parts mocked up:
https://i.imgur.com/kOh1Akvl.jpg

I wanted to make sure I had the car dialed in and running perfectly prior to paint so I decided to go with some friends to the local track and see how the car did. Unfortunately I only have a picture from the cruise up since the turbo seals decided to let go after about 4 laps...

https://i.imgur.com/fkxuddul.jpg

I was bummed about losing all that track time but also kind of excited because it meant that I could install the S14 BB T28 that a friend had given me when he upgraded the turbo in his car. I didn't want to run the car on the bigger turbo without a tune so I sourced a socketed CA18 ECU from Yahoo Auctions Japan and a chip for the setup from Horsham Developments in the UK. I moved pretty quickly through the install and didn't take many pictures but you guys know the process.

Turbo off:
https://i.imgur.com/Lq2CyOml.jpg

New Goodridge turbo lines:
https://i.imgur.com/DOgm41Al.jpg

Soketed ECU:
https://i.imgur.com/DgPlLkil.jpg

And new chip installed:
https://i.imgur.com/FkpiHLml.jpg

After the turbo install the car ran like a raped ape. The new setup pulled really hard and I was super happy with it, but after a few weeks the car developed a horrible misfire on cylinder 3. I spent countless hours trying to diagnose the problem and replacing parts to no avail. After a month or so of tinkering I was feeling discouraged and decided I needed to do something to renew my interest in finishing the car. My solution was to send it off to be painted lol.

As you have seen the car needed tons of body work so I shopped around and finally got a quote that I could live with from a shop somewhat local to me. The shop was pretty busy and said the car would probably take a couple of months but I told them to take their time since my only goal was to have the car finished for the Low Style Hero's event that took place earlier this year and I thought I would have plenty of time to spare...

Dropping the car off at the shop:
https://i.imgur.com/uKPpC9Yl.jpg

The deadline wasn't meant to be and the start was delayed far beyond what I expected so I ended up going to Low Style as a spectator. Things weren't all bad though and my friends and I all got to meet and get our picture taken with Abo! Props to the organizers for creating such a great event, even as a spectator it was awesome to hang out and meet a driver that most people outside of Japan wouldn't get to see.

https://i.imgur.com/bxySM8al.jpg

Shortly after the Low Style I finally got the call I had been waiting for, my car was in the shop and being worked on! I wanted to stay out of their hair while they worked on it but one of my friends, who works nearby, was nice enough to swing by and take some progress pictures for me.

Body work being done:
https://i.imgur.com/SP47Pf3l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/5lNRXd6l.jpg

No more beat up 1/4!
https://i.imgur.com/Iayrv6Ml.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zYUdVall.jpg

Laying down the base coat:
https://i.imgur.com/Y7qZG1Ll.jpg

Then clear:
https://i.imgur.com/4ZD8OUHl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KkVx6IKl.jpg

And finally fresh out of the shop and ready for me to pick it up:
https://i.imgur.com/JDYcTxhl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bustuAul.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/29wPttbl.jpg

As soon as I got the car home I quickly installed the bumper and mocked up the skirts and valances, I was in love...

https://i.imgur.com/pz7m1xDl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AfoSOw6l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VrTEoR1l.jpg

First drive with the fresh paint (still had a massive misefire):
https://i.imgur.com/D1HfuPNl.jpg

I also got my hands on some OEM pignose half and half turn signals that I think look 10x better then the stock amber signals.

https://i.imgur.com/0JdNXgNl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7Sj5QbZl.jpg

The car spent almost 3 months at the bodyshop so in the meantime I was able to build up quite a stash of interior parts that all went on the car as soon as it came home. I wanted to stick with same the simple/clean OEM + look as the exterior, in addition to sticking with items from the time period I was going for.

Finding an uncracked HUD dash proved to be next to impossible so I did the next best thing and had a custom dash mat made for the car. When I first ordered the mat I was iffy on if I would like it or not but it turned out looking much better then I expected and fits the 90s theme!

https://i.imgur.com/cnhBKwAl.jpg

I also sourced an NOS Daikei hub to replace the crappy eBay unit that was on the car:
https://i.imgur.com/rdjig3vl.jpg

Some SRP pedals because they look cool lol:
https://i.imgur.com/baaycujl.jpg

I also found a cool Greddy Turbo meter that I had to have for the car. I'm really happy with the mounting position too, its visible but out of the way and fills the blank space on the cluster trim:
https://i.imgur.com/juMIXGal.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gkLK9LYl.jpg

And finally a Brix passenger seat and rail to go with my Zeta:
https://i.imgur.com/kfHQKJQl.jpg


The finished product came out looking great! I also added some smaller things like checker mats and an old logo Nismo horn button to help tie everything together:
https://i.imgur.com/757kLtDl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/p9HhiBel.jpg

I was happy to have the car finally looking cool, but at this point it still had the cylinder 3 misfire. Fortunately having the car painted really lit a fire under my ass to get the car going, and after hours of diagnosis I was able to trace the problem to a short somewhere in the harness. I was disappointed since I had used a new Wiring Specialties when I did the swap. I didn't want to complain to them and be wrong so I built my own harness from the harness that came with the swap and to my surprise the car fired up on the first crank and ran with with no issues! I was stoked to have the car running on all four cylinders again and immediately took the car for a spin. I drove all over town and it ran perfectly so I put it back in the garage thinking I could take it to work the next morning. As I walked into the garage to take the car I was met with this scene, fuck...

https://i.imgur.com/WkQsJBnl.jpg

It turned out to be one of the lines to the OEM oil cooler that had burst. Of course the little bastard was in a super inconvenient spot to get to, so I put the repair off for a few days. Eventually I got around to fixing the line and slowly started to trust the car to drive longer and longer distances from the house. I also installed some coupe rain guards and redid the black body line around this time.

https://i.imgur.com/Nc4aaQ0l.jpg

I drove the car around for a bit and was starting to trust it so I decided it would be a good idea to do another track day. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from this event either since my bad luck continued and I cracked a ringland about 3-4 laps in... The motor was salvageable but I was done over it at this point so I yanked the whole swap out and pondered where I wanted to go from here.

Engine back out for the 3rd time :facepalm:
https://i.imgur.com/SsMRtFpl.jpg

I think I'm at the photo limit again so I'll do a part 3 that takes the car from this point up until today.

[Krusty_s13]

Can't beat a two tone coupe. Looks good!

[TheRealSy90]

Man a fresh two tone paint job looks so good. Definitely keep the black stripe cause I couldn't figure out what looked off about it until that point haha.
I'm assuming you never got the chip actually tuned for the setup or ran a wideband, probably was running lean eventually cracking that ringland. I've always liked ca18's myself they definitely feel unique to drive! Maybe get another from a different importer and better tune? It really fits the theme of the car.

[JrDarknes]

Love the story and nice build man, Love how the car turned out after the paint job. Looks super clean.

[codyzsilvia]

Love it, your two tone is what mine should look like... RIP.

On another note, you have the factory oil cooler? I hope the importer you got the engine from didn't advertise/sell it to you as a "JDM" swap; because you have the Euro CA18. They came with four port intake side of the head and the factory oil cooler. JDM had no oil cooler and had the 8 port head. But, I think you should keep the CA18...I rebuilt mine this time last year, fully built minus stock cams, with 460cc injectors and z32 maf w/S15 turbo probly making 220 to this wheels...am on an RS Enthalpy tune, I need a retune at some point. Sorry for the long comment hahaha just happy to see another CA18 car!

[Ratpack_Chad]

This car is amazing dude, great work looking forward to the next update.

[deolio]

good shit mayne

[Rustys14]

Can't beat a two tone coupe. Looks good!


Love the story and nice build man, Love how the car turned out after the paint job. Looks super clean.

This car is amazing dude, great work looking forward to the next update.

good shit mayne

Thanks guys!

Man a fresh two tone paint job looks so good. Definitely keep the black stripe cause I couldn't figure out what looked off about it until that point haha.
I'm assuming you never got the chip actually tuned for the setup or ran a wideband, probably was running lean eventually cracking that ringland. I've always liked ca18's myself they definitely feel unique to drive! Maybe get another from a different importer and better tune? It really fits the theme of the car.

Yeah, the two-tone paint definitely needs the body line to break it up lol. I'm just using electrical tape as a temp fix right now but I'm probably going to order some of the side moldings from Shirtstuckedin soon unless I stumble on an OEM Silvia set.

I actually did run a borrowed wideband and was surprised how close the Horsham tune was. You're right about a lean condition cracking the ringland though, I'll get into it more later but the car ended up having a collapsed fuel feed line coming from the pump that I think was the culprit that did the motor in. I should have replaced the lines when I put my Walbro in but I was in a hurry and never even looked at them. Live and learn I guess haha.

Love it, your two tone is what mine should look like... RIP.

On another note, you have the factory oil cooler? I hope the importer you got the engine from didn't advertise/sell it to you as a "JDM" swap; because you have the Euro CA18. They came with four port intake side of the head and the factory oil cooler. JDM had no oil cooler and had the 8 port head. But, I think you should keep the CA18...I rebuilt mine this time last year, fully built minus stock cams, with 460cc injectors and z32 maf w/S15 turbo probly making 220 to this wheels...am on an RS Enthalpy tune, I need a retune at some point. Sorry for the long comment hahaha just happy to see another CA18 car!

I'm pretty sure at least some of the JDM cars got the OEM oil cooler as well. My friend's Silvia has the cooler and my new CA which I pulled straight from the donor 180sx does as well. I wonder if it varies by year or if its an s13 or s12 CA? Don't worry, I did stay CA for the time being. They are super unique/fun motors to drive!

[Rustys14]

Alright time for part 3:

So after the ringland incident and pulling the engine back out for the 3rd time I was starting to get burnt out on cars again, so I took a quick break while I decided what I wanted to do next. I was initially considering a SR20 but I also thought about just going back to to a NA KA and swapping in a 4:90 gear set lol. In the end I decided the most cost effective solution would be to just source another CA. Part of this decision was because I had located a semi-built longblock that was listed super cheap. The only problem was that it was about 3.5 hours away in Philly...

One road trip and some cheese steaks later I had a fresh longblock:
https://i.imgur.com/7cH84Svl.jpg

I also scooped some new spares while I was there. The guy I picked the motor up from was selling a old school pair of Ray's Huhrer Racing wheels for $120 and I couldn't say no. I've always liked this face design or some reason, its like a 2-piece Ray's copy of Autostrada's lol.
https://i.imgur.com/hG9TneKl.jpg

Once I got home I started tearing into the engine. It had a Tomei headgasket and some sort of cams in it but looked to be in overall pretty meh condition. I had videos of it running but I wasn't really sure if I wanted to throw it in without a refresh. Fortunately while I was still mulling over whether or not I wanted to use the engine, a local who had just bought a blown CA 180sx offered me twice what I paid for the longblock. At first I was reluctant to come off of it because I didn't think I would be able to source another longblock easily. It ended up being too much profit to turn down though so I decided to let it go. The only problem was that I was now back to square one and without a replacement engine. After selling the semi-built CA I had enough to buy a new swap but no local places had any CA's in stock and I didn't trust ordering one that I couldn't see first.

As luck would have it, I saw on Instagram that a local guy I knew was pulling the CA out of his 180 in favor of a 1j and was selling his complete swap. Things really couldn't have worked out better since the 180 had been a Japanese Classics car and I knew it fairly well. The car had been an automatic car until it was 5-speed swapped prior to sale in the States so I was confident that it hadn't really been run hard other then some H2Oi burnouts. It was also priced decently well at $1500 so I let him know that I was interested and before the end of the week the engine was yanked from its home for the past 25 years and in my garage.

https://i.imgur.com/iLJJITPl.jpg

I mixed and matched parts from my old swap and sold everything I didn't use with the old CA for $500 to a local who wanted a swap for his car and didn't mind rebuilding the engine. All said and done between the profit from selling the longblock from Philly and my old setup, I more or less broke even and more importantly finally had a engine I could trust.

The 180 that the motor came from had pretty low mileage at 48,000 kilometers, but I still went ahead and replaced the timing belt and water pump for piece of mind. This time I went with a Greddy belt:
https://i.imgur.com/LDubsVnl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ysrlyWdl.jpg

Once the timing belt was on I bought some beers and called up a few friends to help get the new engine in!
https://i.imgur.com/lhMJ9pFl.jpg

I also took the opportunity to install some neat trinkets I had purchased from yahoo auctions like this sweet high response throttle pulley (I was actually super surprised at how big of a difference this made lol):
https://i.imgur.com/6JY916Vl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dGxfKnTl.jpg

And this cool old school Abby Road BOV I had won for 10 bucks. I was iffy on if it would leak or not since its so old but it holds boost great and is super responsive. Its also not super loud which I like:
https://i.imgur.com/xC1Tq7Rl.jpg

And swap installed! It fired right up and ran great! I also decided to run a RB style dual catch can setup this time around since CA's have a tendency to throw a bit oil when ran hard:
https://i.imgur.com/CMoC3XJl.jpg

When I was doing the swap I decided to go back to the OEM CA turbo since I enjoyed instant response it provided over the T28 I put on the last engine. Since I still had the chipped ECU and I was happy with the previous Horsham chip so I sent off for a new one tuned for the OEM turbo. Once I got it installed I took the the car for a spin and noticed that it was running super lean under boost. Like most people I immediately suspected the tune as the culprit so I wired in a SAFC II that I had laying around and tried to see if I could get things straight. Not the best method of tuning but it certainly fits the 90s theme haha:
https://i.imgur.com/P018G8Hl.jpg

I was able to get things a little better but not to a point I felt comfortable so I decided to try a stock ecu. Surely this will fix the issue, I thought but as soon as the car saw load the AFR's were even worse, WHAT THE FUCK... I swapped back to the chipped ECU and avoided driving the car until I could figure things out. Over the next week or so the car got progressively worse until it would idle fine but die under any sort of load. Thinking it may be a spark issue I got new plugs and some Yellow Jacket coil packs:
https://i.imgur.com/pqC4TdVl.jpg

The plugs and packs helped a bit but the car was still obviously struggling so I gave up trying to figure it out on my own and called in some friends to try to help diagnose the issue. As soon as I turned the key to show them what the car was doing there was the sound of a line bursting under pressure and the distinct smell of gas. Turns out the the feed line from the pump had internally collapsed. That stupid line had been the problem the entire time and was likely what killed the first CA. The worst part is that I probably would of never found it had it not burst :facepalm:

Anyway after that fiasco I replaced all of the rubber fuel lines on the car with fresh injection line and it ran like a dream! To celebrate and test the new engine I jumped in on a Skyline Drive cruise with a couple fiends and locals from the car community. The car did great and I had a blast:
https://i.imgur.com/skX5j4xl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dw1QEFtl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0seN303l.jpg

Now that I was confident that the car was running how it should I got around to installing some of the other odds and ends that I had collected. The most important of which was my Safety 21 half cage that had just arrived after a 4 month wait!
https://i.imgur.com/1JTj34hl.jpg

I had run a Safety 21 cage in my hatch and was supper happy with the fit and finish so I knew that I wanted to run one in this car too. I had a hard time locating a used cage for a coupe with a sunroof coupe so I eventually broke down and ordered a brand new one through my friends shop. The only issue was that there was no US stock so I had to wait for one to arrive on a container from Cusco Japan. Lead time aside, I was stoked to finally have the cage in my hands. I had kept full interior with the cage in my hatch and knew I wanted to do the same for this car so I got to work.

After a ton of measuring I prayed and drilled my holes:
https://i.imgur.com/Jrga8hrl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9nblUDWl.jpg

Mocked up, not quite as tight as I would have liked but not bad at all:
https://i.imgur.com/HgJewNBl.jpg

And the finished product, totally worth all of the agony that goes along with a full interior cage install lol:
https://i.imgur.com/dnonvHyl.jpg

With the cage in I could finally call my interior more or less completed. Its a pretty generic 240 interior but I'm super happy with how everything came out!
https://i.imgur.com/WLUmWQBl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ib7EG4wl.jpg

With the cage installed I moved on to the next part that I was most excited about, my custom retrofitted LED OEM Taillights! Originally I wanted to do all clears but I was worried they would be played out with the group buy going on. Status LEDs offered a retrofit service at a reasonable price so I bit the bullet and sent mine off. They're definitely not Clear Corners but I'm still super happy with them and they're one of my favorite parts of the car!
https://i.imgur.com/ZzIvAaMl.jpg

Sticking with the rear of the car, I also sourced an OEM Silvia square trunk lock. I stumbled across this guy on ebay BNIB for $20 shipped and couldn't pass it up. I love these Silvia locks, they look soooo much better then the OEM lock and gives the car a higher end look imo:
https://i.imgur.com/wijU4zwl.jpg

The lock looked a bit out of place without the emblem so I ordered some OEM Silvia badging. I couldn't decide if I wanted a dark or light silver badge so I ordered a package of all 3 colors figuring I could sell the other two I didn't use. The dark silver ended up being a near perfect match to the lower half of the car so that's the one I went with. As a bonus I managed to quickly sell the other two badges which almost paid for mine!
https://i.imgur.com/I3LaH5cl.jpg

And the finished product (I need something better then an iphone camera to really capture the tails):
https://i.imgur.com/RHJx8Gil.jpg

Also around this time I got sick of looking at the car with its tiny OEM brakes so I sourced a set of JDM S14 calipers and thew them on. So much better!
https://i.imgur.com/srqYqNul.jpg

Once all the parts were on I signed up for a local drift event confident that the car was dialed in and I wouldn't have any issues. I went out for the first few laps and the car felt amazing, I had a bit of understeer on initiation but I was running an OEM spec alignment so that was expected.

The car was super responsive and felt like it was working awesome:
https://i.imgur.com/22gHLv1l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rnJv1Dll.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/EY72i4Sl.jpg

Unfortunately right at the point where I was starting to feel comfortable the car started overheating and steaming. I pulled into to pits to find that one of the coolant lines to the throttle body had burst. No big deal, it was a simple fix and I got back out on track. 3 laps later its steaming and overheating again. Fuck, what now? I open the hood and its that same damn line to the oil cooler that had burst on the previous CA. I guess the high pressure APEXI radiator cap I had installed was too much for the 25 year old lines to handle. I figured it was time to call it a day so I did a half assed repair at the track and drove the car home.

I was determined not to run into any issues like this ever again so as soon as I got home I ordered a complete silicone hose kit for the car, hoping that they would be nearly indestructible. About a week later they arrived and I got to work installing them.
https://i.imgur.com/WVVoJR9l.jpg

It was a nightmare of a job to do with the engine in the car but I got it done fairly quick and fortunately had no leaks that I had to go back and fix. Also before someone says something, yes I am fully aware that I have now made my headgasket the weak point in my cooling system. We'll cross that bridge when I get there haha.

I got the car finished up the day before another local event that I wanted to check out. Unfortunately I missed the deadline to drive but decided it would still be worth checking out since I'd never been to this particular track. Another reason that I wanted to go was because they had flown in Koguchi and I wanted an autograph lol.
https://i.imgur.com/5FlCDhsl.jpg

Getting to meet one of my driving hero's was awesome and really motivated me to get back on track, so cautiously optimistic that I had solved every foreseeable problem with the car I signed up for another drift day. I was hoping it would go better then the others I had with this car and for once I wasn't let down!

The day of the event ended up being pretty rainy which made the track fairly difficult to negotiate (there was a weird amount of grip in certain spots and none in others lol) but it was overall a successful day and other then blowing an intercooler coupler, the car ran all day without any issues. This was exactly the confidence boost that I needed!
https://i.imgur.com/Zf8kgncl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/b1nnFL2l.jpg

Since I didn't have anything to fix after the event I decided I would reward the car with some aero mirriors. I'm not a fan of the OEM mirrors and had run Eastbears on my hatch. While I love the look of the eastbears, I found them to be overall pretty shitty quality for what they cost so they were out of the running for this car. After missing out on a few sets of Ganadors, my friend turned me onto the GKtech aero mirrors. The price was super easy to stomach and as an added bonus they came in LHD! There was no way I could talk myself out of buying a set haha.

Fresh out of the box:
https://i.imgur.com/mCgPUxVl.jpg

I wasn't a fan of the black so I had them painted:
https://i.imgur.com/BGDkLqjl.jpg

Next to the stock mirror:
https://i.imgur.com/8fZHwWjl.jpg

After I got them installed I went out to do some exploring and found a neat spot to take some pictures:
https://i.imgur.com/O5aK16Vl.png
https://i.imgur.com/OaixPVRl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0ji36ENl.png
https://i.imgur.com/ym7RnaVl.png
https://i.imgur.com/MQDUNBel.jpg

After installing the mirrors I didn't do much other then enjoy the car for awhile while I waited for the final event of the season to arrive. Finally, earlier this month, it was time for 100 drifters of December! Wanting to try to get an early start and avoid the mayhem and long tech lines I met up with the homies at a local gas station before the sun was up and headed out!
https://i.imgur.com/xPQCG9Ol.jpg

I was super nervous because it was wet the only time the car didn't break down and I was worried that the added stress of a dry track would awaken some gremlins I may have overlooked. Fortunately, I was able to hot lap the car all day with no issues at all! Finally the moment I had been waiting for, I had finally turned this POS into a reliable drift car lol. As an added bonus we got to slide on the freshly paved main circuit which isn't normally open to drifters, so that was special.

https://i.imgur.com/AKASkl7l.jpg

That about brings this thread up to date. After the event I pulled the car into the garage to do some suspension and steering work that should make the car easier to drive next season. Feel free to let me know what you guys think, good or bad, I don't care. I still need to prof/tweak these posts so bear with me on grammar lol. Thanks for reading!

[TheRealSy90]

Awesome that you stuck with the ca after all. I had the pleasure of driving a stock ca car years ago when I had a stock Sr, and it was a blast to drive. Totally different feel and response.
Keep up with oil changes before events and it should treat you well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[codyzsilvia]

Hell yes dude I love it.
What exhaust are you running? I used to run an ebay screamer with an sr20 RS*R downpipe to 3 inch megan test pipe to blast pipes, now one piece moonface turbo to cat/test pipe downpipe to blast pipes and shit hangs low lol...also, those silicone kits are the work of god, I have the same one on my car and absolutely no issues, replaced all hoses, even heater core hoses with them. Super nice. You probably have THE MOST reliable ca18 in the US right now!

[bluecoupe]

^^ you estimate 220 at the wheels with that setup.seems low to me.should at least be 250 wheel on healthy motor.

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[IvoryWhiteS13]

I like this build alot, very clean. Love the two tone and wheel choice.

[Rustys14]

Awesome that you stuck with the ca after all. I had the pleasure of driving a stock ca car years ago when I had a stock Sr, and it was a blast to drive. Totally different feel and response.
Keep up with oil changes before events and it should treat you well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hahah, yeah they're a blast to drive. It's nothing like any of the other Nissan motors. Feels kinda like a turbo B series with a bit more torque and the response is awesome. I've been using Amsoil and changing it before most events so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that if I treat it right it'll return the favor lol.

Hell yes dude I love it.
What exhaust are you running? I used to run an ebay screamer with an sr20 RS*R downpipe to 3 inch megan test pipe to blast pipes, now one piece moonface turbo to cat/test pipe downpipe to blast pipes and shit hangs low lol...also, those silicone kits are the work of god, I have the same one on my car and absolutely no issues, replaced all hoses, even heater core hoses with them. Super nice. You probably have THE MOST reliable ca18 in the US right now!

My track record with CA's hasn't been so great but I'm hoping it will be reliable, all the elements are there for it to be a super stout little setup. The first one left a bad taste in my mouth so I'm still not 100% sure if I trust this one yet lol. I'm excited to give it a good thrashing next season and find out though!

I'm running a slightly modified eBay 1 piece cobra style downpipe (couldn't get verification from PBM as to whether or not the real cobra works with the CA or not) to a generic test pipe and a Megan stealth exhaust. I don't have any clearance issues but I'm not super slammed either. I will say that everything does tuck up pretty nicely so I could probably go a bit lower without dragging the exhaust everywhere. Its funny you mention that the blast pipes hang low, my friend bought a set for his car and was disappointed with how low they hung too.

^^ you estimate 220 at the wheels with that setup.seems low to me.should at least be 250 wheel on healthy motor.

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I would love 250 at the wheels but I switched back to a stock size turbo since I preferred how responsive the car felt with it. Even with my full bolt ons and tune I think my 220 estimate might even be a bit optimistic lol. I do have access to a dyno through my friends shop so I should probably do a few pulls for fun and see where I'm at. It's kind of an ordeal by the time you set everything up and strap the car down though so I've been putting it off haha.

250 with the T28 should be attainable though. I still have turbo and tune for it, but the tune is for the stock maf so that would be my limiting factor. I do have the SAFC installed now so I could set it up to work with a Z32 maf and tweak things a bit. If I get board with the current setup I might have to revisit the T28. I'm getting bad ideas now lol.

I like this build alot, very clean. Love the two tone and wheel choice.

Thanks man!

[tjcbar]

wow awesome!

[deolio]

Fortunately I was able to hot lapped the car all day with no issues at all! Finally the moment I had been waiting for, I had finally turned this POS into a reliable drift car lol.

that's the best feeling! i had to rebuild my sr 3 events in a row lol AMAZING feeling when everything finally works and stays working!

if they make pfc d-jetro for ca18 i'd suggest going that route and eliminating the maf all together. along with the t28 and some 550's you'd probably be in that 250+ range.

[Rustys14]

wow awesome!

Thanks man!

that's the best feeling! i had to rebuild my sr 3 events in a row lol AMAZING feeling when everything finally works and stays working!

if they make pfc d-jetro for ca18 i'd suggest going that route and eliminating the maf all together. along with the t28 and some 550's you'd probably be in that 250+ range.

Haha, its the best feeling in the world! Hopefully things will stay working properly now lol.

I've been keeping tabs on CA18 PFC's. They seem to be kind of rare and expensive when they do pop up though. I'll probably end up breaking down and scooping one eventually. Ideally I'd like to do a gt2871 setup if the CA holds out. The plan right now is to run this setup through next season and do some power upgrades next year after I get my suspension/steering where I want it but I'm always changing my mind so we'll see haha.

In other news I just got my hands on a BNIB OEM HICAS power steering rack that I'm beyond pumped for! I've always wanted to give the HICAS rack a go for the quicker steering ratio but I didn't trust a reman unit to be an actual HICAS rack and I didn't want to chance it on a used one so finding a new OEM HICAS rack with part numbers attached was a godsend. I'll get some pictures up when I open the box up to install it, which might be a bit since its currently -3 outside with windchill...

[bluecoupe]

You don't need pfc but they are nice.im running a rom tune z32 maf 440cc inj and t28 on 17 psi with poncams pulls pretty nice.rs enthalpy is the way to go.

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[Rustys14]

You don't need pfc but they are nice.im running a rom tune z32 maf 440cc inj and t28 on 17 psi with poncams pulls pretty nice.rs enthalpy is the way to go.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Yeah, I ran an enthelpy tune on my old KA-T setup and it was more then enough, shame they don't do maps for CA engines though. We'll be running a similar setup if I do go for a 2871 since I'm running GTR 440s right now, I'm still undecided on if I want to run cams or not though.

I'm running a socketed ecu so I already have the ability to have someone do a new map for me if I change my setup but I would enjoy having the some of the extra monitoring/features that the PFC provides. The ricer in me would also like to run a commander on the dash lol. I've been planning on picking one up eventually but haven't had the incentive since its kind of frivolous for my current needs.

[gaz_moose]

the Horsham chips are pretty well regarded over in England so I would just stick with that. some people have repined SR power Fc's to work on CA's but IMO power FC's are pretty old technology for the money you will spend on a rare CA one.

the 3 bolt exhaust flange on a CA turbo elbow is at a different angle to an Sr one so you would have to cut and rotate the flange if fitting a SR cobra downpipe.

my friend runs a 2871r on his CA and I always think its pretty laggy, I would just stick with the BBt28 and have a nice street car.

[bluecoupe]

I have a rom tune for 550cc and 2871r if you are interested.since your ecu is socketed just pop it right in.

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[Rustys14]

Small update:

After not doing a damn thing to the car all winter I finally stopped being lazy today and started my front end refresh. Time got away from me and the first event of the season is right around the corner so now I'm rushing to get the car ready like always... Anyway, I was moving kinda fast and didn't take a ton of pics but figured I'd post a brief rundown to try to stay motivated.

At the end of last season I was lucky enough to track down a BNIB HICAS rack. The car badly needed a new rack and I've always wanted to upgrade to a HICAS unit for the quicker ratio but had given up on finding one until I happened into this one. Needless to say I was stoked, just not stoked enough to install it right away lol. I had done a new rack in my old coupe as well as my hatch and while the job isn't hard, its not much fun so i had been putting it of. I finally ran out of excuses today so I grabbed the rack out of the shed and got to work!

Fresh out of the box in all of its brand new glory:
https://i.imgur.com/hlDcSznl.jpg

I had to remove my PBM skidplate in order to access the bolts to remove the old rack. I love this thing, its taken a beating over the years and hasn't failed me yet!
https://i.imgur.com/MmbRLRXl.jpg

Once the plate was off I could actually get a good look at the old rack. The OEM bushing on the passenger side was just barely hanging on. That's probably where some of my steering slop was coming from lol.
https://i.imgur.com/ENQYUOpl.jpg

Yup, this busing is toast. Sadly, I have seen worse...
https://i.imgur.com/zifVvbPl.jpg

Glad I went ahead and bought some energy rack bushings ahead of time so I didn't get delayed waiting on bushings.
https://i.imgur.com/sIitVt3l.jpg

And out with the old rack!
https://i.imgur.com/f4q0bi2l.jpg

I completely forgot to take pictures from this point on but I pretty much just did the reverse of the removal lol. I did take the opportunity to replace the shit ChaseBays rack fittings with some Cutworm fittings that actually seal. I can't even begin to describe how awesome it is to finally have no leaks coming from the rack after all these years:
https://i.imgur.com/fiNUSOKl.jpg

I also installed some Circuit Sports inner tie rods while I was at it. These came as a package deal with my Touge Factory outers so I figured I'd give them a go. They're super beefy but I'm a bit skeptical of CS stuff so I have some Ikeya inners on order in case these go bad.
https://i.imgur.com/o4CtxMJl.jpg

Once everything was instaled I did a quick eyeball alignment and parked it for now. The plan is to run to my friends shop this weekend so I can finish everything up and do a proper alignment. I have some S14 lower control arms along with some roll center corrected ball joints and new bushings that I still need to go on. I need to use the press to do the bushings before I can install the arms though. I also still need to install the TF outers since they were slightly too long with the s13 control arms and I didn't want to cut the inners down. They should fit fine once I install the s14 arms though.

[shakotanking]

sizes of the rack fittings?

[Rustys14]

sizes of the rack fittings?

The fittings are M14x1.5 and M16x1.5. I purchased them from here https://www.cutwormspecialties.com/products/power-steering-rack-an-fittings

[shakotanking]

thank you so much!

[Rustys14]

Update time:

We had a freak snowstorm come through yesterday and both local drift scheduled for this weekend are cancelled but at least the car is done for now. Sucks because I could have procrastinated longer and I really wanted to do some drifting lol. Anyway in anticipation of driving this weekend I went to my friends shop last Saturday to knock out the rest of my suspension and do an alignment. It was nice working on a lift for a change, I forgot how much nicer it is not laying on the ground haha.

First order of business was to get the car in the air and the tires off, a process made much more difficult because I forgot to bring the tool to remove the center nut on the Advans :facepalm:
https://i.imgur.com/3sIzJ7Ol.jpg

First time I really got a good look at the new rack, makes the underside of the car look so much cleaner. Too bad it probably won't stay this way:
http://i.imgur.com/hBVKHENl.jpg (https://imgur.com/hBVKHEN)

I had picked a cheap set of s14 control arms with shot ball joints and bushings from a member on here. I planned on replacing everything anyway so the only thing that mattered to me was that they were straight. Here they are in all their well used/limp glory:
https://i.imgur.com/NyFCg3xl.jpg

Air hammer made quick work of the joints and bushings:
https://i.imgur.com/WbcR0xpl.jpg

And all out!
https://i.imgur.com/a2DbE2Wl.jpg

I needed s13 ball joints to fit my knuckles so I figured I would give the Megan V2 roll center joints a go since I'd heard whispers that they're the same as Hardrace and actually do something unlike the V1s:
https://i.imgur.com/H19F3oMl.jpg

I also grabbed some of their bushings since I was able to get them at a deep discount through another friends shop. These buggers were a pain in the ass to press in, even with proper tools...
https://i.imgur.com/EUrFeejl.jpg

Arms assembled with new joints/bushings and ready to go on. I probably should of painted them but I was lazy and pressed for time:
https://i.imgur.com/XzHJCd8l.jpg

Next up was to install the Touge Factory ends that I held off installing with the inners because I didn't want to cut my tie rods. The s14 arms were just long enough for me to avoid cutting. I really like these things, they're fairly well priced and held up to a ton of abuse on my old hatch:
https://i.imgur.com/9p6opnml.jpg

And installed (sort of). Even not adjusted/tightened you can see that the geometry is going to be much better with the new setup:
https://i.imgur.com/Qh9lZ1sl.jpg

Finally alignment time!
https://i.imgur.com/p283rgbl.jpg

With that all of the major work I wanted to do during the off-season is finally wrapped up. The plan is to drive the shit out of it this year and hope noting breaks. The next major project I want to tackle is subframe risers/reinforcement but that can wait till next winter. I'm hoping that the wider track from the s14 arms along with the improved geometry and more aggressive alignment will help solve some of the steering bind issues I had last year but it looks like I'm going to have to wait until next month to find out. Here's to hoping this thread is only action shots and small trinkets until next winter!

[tuzzio]

Interested in seeing how long those outers last for. I've heard the spherical/adjustable style ones don't last that long street driving. I was considering a set for geometry correction, but opted for the GKTECH grip knuckles instead to use OEM style outers cause they last fo-eva-eva.

[Rustys14]

Interested in seeing how long those outers last for. I've heard the spherical/adjustable style ones don't last that long street driving. I was considering a set for geometry correction, but opted for the GKTECH grip knuckles instead to use OEM style outers cause they last fo-eva-eva.

I've had good luck with the TF outers. I ran a set on my old hatch that saw a decent amount of street and heavy track use and never had any issues. Most of my friends run them as well and none of us have had a problem yet (knock on wood). I doubt they'll ever come close OEM s14 style replacements when it comes to longevity but TF uses Aurora pillow balls so I feel better knowing that the important bits are made from quality stock.

I heavily debated going your route with knuckles and the tried and true ikeya inner/s14 outer combo but opted to give these another go since it was cheaper and I had success with them on my hatch

[na6miata]

Hopefully there isn't another freak snow storm this weekend to cancel this drift nirvana as well. Thanks for those S13 LCA's btw! What were you alignment specs?

[Rustys14]

Hopefully there isn't another freak snow storm this weekend to cancel this drift nirvana as well. Thanks for those S13 LCA's btw! What were you alignment specs?

I run essentially stock specs except for front camber which I keep at around -3. I still have that subframe if you need it!

The first event of the season was a success! The new suspension setup worked great and I didn't get any of the steering bind that I was experiencing last time the car was out. The day started kinda rough after a spectator backed into the car while I was in the drivers meeting. Didn't really do much damage but it definitely isn't how I wanted to start the day. Mostly got the paint but it somehow broke the metal part of the fender behind the corner light so now it fits even worse then it did before lol. We paddocked in the corner away from everyone too so idk how he managed to hit it but he was cool about it and stuck around to give me his insurance so I can't really complain.

I swear the world just doesn't want me to own nice things :facepalm:
https://i.imgur.com/PQkQuxjl.jpg

I was worried the accident would be a bad omen for the rest of the day but to my surprise the car seemed to perform flawlessly the whole day! Unfortunately, the same can't be said for my driving as it took almost the entire first session for me to shake the rust off my drifting skills lol. The afternoon sessions went much better and I was able to get a bunch of good runs in. By the end of the day I was back on form and dare I say shredding haha.

Few pictures from the day, some aren't watermarked so feel free to chime in if you took these!
https://i.imgur.com/ssBGlP3l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yvA8Fl6l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/sRX6XOGl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IFWkbjLl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Kqjvylol.jpg

And some glamor shots because they're fun:
https://i.imgur.com/6D9vEgRl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HgL6Fiql.jpg

Ignore my ugly ass lol:
https://i.imgur.com/HXRXeOPl.jpg

Trispoke brothers:
https://i.imgur.com/oybeYbBl.jpg

Unfortunately my day was cut about an hour short after I picked up a selftapper that must have fallen off of someones kit and got a flat. I didn't have any plugs handy and my tires only had a few more laps in them anyway so I decided to just call it a day.

:down:
https://i.imgur.com/UXxI0Kol.jpg

It was probably a good thing I stopped when I did since on the way home I noticed a puff of smoke coming out of the hood after every shift. I pulled over to investigate and discovered that it was oil shooting out of my blow off valve so it looks like my turbo seals are gone again :picardfp: Good thing I still have my T28 setup from the last motor!
https://i.imgur.com/CfVtDnbl.jpg

I just dropped the car off at GEICO's shop to get the damage from the parking lot incident fixed. They're fighting me a bit because they don't want to fix the fender but hopefully it'll all work out. Once its back I'll throw the T28 on and get ready for the next event. I'm finally starting to trust and feel confident with this car now so I'm really excited for the rest of this season!

[Rustys14]

Picked the car up from the body shop the other day and instead of starting on the turbo install and gearing up for the next event like I should be doing, I decided to piddle around with small things. My headlight wiring had been kind of haggard and was something that I was always a bit embarrassed by so I decided to order some conversion harnesses to clean things up. I'm really glad I did because the lights are way brighter now that everything is powered properly, its awesome being confident driving at night again!

Pics of the harnesses: They were really well made, although I didn't end up using the ones for the corner lights. I would have had to modify them to work with the 180sx half and half turn signals and it was easier to just make my own.
https://i.imgur.com/7ldeMNll.jpg

The body shop somehow managed to loose the trim piece that goes around the ignition slot so I also scooped a light up key ring from the same guy I got the headlight harnesses from. I always thought these were kinda dumb but I figured it was easier then tracking down a new OEM piece. Now that I have it installed I don't hate it and feel like it adds a nice touch, it even matches my boost gauge illumination as an added bonus!
https://i.imgur.com/2qBkTepl.jpg

Doesn't look as bad as I thought when its off:
https://i.imgur.com/LBqh6TPl.jpg

And its kinda cool at night lol:
https://i.imgur.com/zZwOmqKl.jpg

Since I was going to have the column trim off I also decided to order up some new OEM turn signal and wiper stalks. These were always something I wanted, but it took me awhile to pull the trigger since the old ones worked still functioned fine. I'm super glad I decided to go for it though since they turned out to be the best thing I've ever done to the interior of the car! Its amazing how getting rid of the old crusty stalks made everything look so much newer and cleaner.

Old vs New:
https://i.imgur.com/ut3qDqMl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0Ws56gml.jpg

No more crusty nonsense!
https://i.imgur.com/VBLG8o8l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/63Zntuel.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Loz3slIl.jpg

Somewhere in the middle of my interior spending spree I also acquired an old logo bride headpad for my Zeta. I prefer the looks of the older Zeta buckets with the headpad so I'd been searching for awhile but it took a long time to one that didn't have crazy markup. I don't have any installed pictures but we all know what they look like lol
https://i.imgur.com/UghvdPXl.jpg

That's about where the car sits as of right now. I'm going to try to get the T28 on this weekend so I'll have plenty of time to mess around with smaller things before events pick up again next month. Now that I finally have the car more or less dialed in, I'm really looking forward to getting back out with extra power.

[codyzsilvia]

Looking good! New stalks look amazing as well, wondering if they're still available for RHD models as the headlamp stalk on my Silvia looks like its been chewed on by a dog LOL.

[tuzzio]

Is that keyring light plug and play? I have one in the garage somewhere but for whatever reason could never get it to light up when the door was open.

[S-Nation S13]

Is that keyring light plug and play? I have one in the garage somewhere but for whatever reason could never get it to light up when the door was open.

no its not a plug an play, if you want it to light up you need to tap into the the dome light or if your lucky enough to get the model with the courtesy lights tap into that. all you need is a signal and a ground.

[Rustys14]

Is that keyring light plug and play? I have one in the garage somewhere but for whatever reason could never get it to light up when the door was open.

no its not a plug an play, if you want it to light up you need to tap into the the dome light or if your lucky enough to get the model with the courtesy lights tap into that. all you need is a signal and a ground.

^^^ Pretty much what he said. I originally wired mine to the courtesy lights but I didn't find it to be very useful since it goes out the second you close the door, so I ended up wiring it to the parking lights instead. I know the Maxima's that these rings come from had a timed relay so the light would stay on for a bit after the door was closed but the 240 doesn't have anything like that to tap into.

Looking good! New stalks look amazing as well, wondering if they're still available for RHD models as the headlamp stalk on my Silvia looks like its been chewed on by a dog LOL.

I know that they still have the RHD headlight stalk available because I saw one while I was looking for mine but idk about the wiper stalk. I would assume that they're still in production though.