My old S13 got eaten by the rust bug. I haven't actually bothered to find out how bad it is, but given that the inner sill on the passenger side was pretty buggered, so I decided to look for another solution:
a) reshell
b) break it and save cashings for an S15
c) break it and buy a tidy, decent spec S13
Went for option A so I could get exactly what I wanted from the car with a completely fresh start.
For those who haven't seen the old car...
And yes, I do really regret doing that to it. Negative offsets + small wheels =driving experience.
What killed the old car, or at least made me decide I didn't want to carry on trying to fix it up:
Then back in May I bought a new shell. It's a J reg, lots of history with it and was completely bare - no loom, no interior, nothing. It came with 3 pedals, a BMC servo and a CMC and that was literally it lol
Set about stripping it back to see how rusty the underside was. Mostly OK, few bits that needed attention though. Not got any pics from this stage really as I just wanted to crack on and get it done!
The main bit was the passenger side sill though. I didn't get any pics but the outer sill was quite rotten, inner sill still very much intact though. This is getting plated along with the arch area behind the sills and some small bits on the floor while it's in the body shop:
The beige bastard has been sat there looking sorry for itself for quite some time now. Last time I paid it any attention it looked like this:
Dropped it off at MC Auto Services in Swindon on the 12th July and had a peek in yesterday evening to see how it was looking. It's all been rubbed back and is waiting for the oven to be free'd up to get it on axle stands to finish the welding off and get the shell painted. All the dents have been filled and sorted out too
Projected pick up date is the 31st July for the shell, and all the detachable parts next weekend. Can't wait!
I've bought quite a substantial number of bits while it's been off the road to go on. Summary:
R33 GTST Auto diff (4.36 ratio)
R33 GTST driveshafts
Cusco rear strut brace
Kouki rear lights
Lexan screen smoothed tail gate
Sparco Rev seat + rail (bargain!)
Z32 rear brakes
Wilwood front brakes + grooved discs
Stainless downpipe
Coilovers
Alignment arms
FMIC
Power wise, the car is staying Stage 1 for now. I'm heading back to uni in September so I have several months out of not driving the car much and I'd prefer to just drive it as it is rather than faff with turbos and other shenanigans as well at the moment.
Long term plans? None. I just want to enjoy it once it's back on the road. Perhaps if/when the engine goes pop (it's on nearly 120k) I'll look into some other options. For now though, I just want to get it back on the road as soon as possibleMore to the point, I have a trip to Anglesey booked on the 3rd September!
Updates next week once I've picked up some pretty painted new panels
-edit-
Spec list as the car stands in January 2011!
Reshelled 1992 Nissan 200SX (S13)
All rusty areas stripped back to bare metal, zinc primed (electrox), painted matt black
Both sills welded
Small holes in the floor welded
Front of rear arches welded
Whole underside stone chipped
Shell painted Pirates Black (NH605P)
Interior painted satin black
Kouki 180SX rear lights
Smoothed tail gate with lexan screen
123k CA18DET
Air Filter
3" exhaust (minus elbow)
FMIC
Boost @ 17psi
Stage 1 chip
8/6 coilovers
Whiteline ARBs front and rear
Adjustable tensions rods
Adjustable camber arms
Adjustable toe arms
Adjustable traction arms
Polybushed S14 front lower arms
Polybushed rear lower arms
Polybushed rear subframe
Braided clutch line
R33 GTST Auto diff (4.363:1 ratio)
R33 GTST driveshafts
ABS removed
All brake lines replaced with braided equivalents
Z32 rear discs and calipers
R33 GTST ally calipers w/ yellowstuff pads
RBF600 brake fluid
Enkei RPF1 17x8 ET35 and 17x9 ET35 (10mm spacer rear)
Sparco Rev drivers seat
OMP Trecento Uno steering wheel (300mm)
Battery relocated to boot
Battery isolator switch under dash
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Pete C
I don't know what's been stolen yet... there is a lot of stuff in there though that I can't afford to replace! 
