Operation S14a "Former Glory/Get It Right"
Let's start with some background; way back in the year 2000, when I was 14 y.o., I decided that I wanted a 200SX. I saw a tricked out silver and blue S14a on an Aussie tuner site and it was instant :smitten: Many an IT lesson was spent drooling over pictures of SX's. Fast forward to November 2008, and I picked up a Kuro Black S14a with 77.5k on the clock from Lichfield, Staffs. I remember printing off a buyer's guide from the SXOC, and going over each point on the car :sxoc:
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...4-25142623.jpg
It spent the next 5 years serving as my daily driver. I didn't originally have any intention of modifying the car, but finding that a number of after market parts were cheaper than the standard OEM parts, I went down the path of mostly upgrading as stuff wore out/broke. This started with the fuel pump, then the exhaust, and I've ended up with a stage 0.9 car ( as i call it :) ).
This is where the problems (partially) started. I took the car off the road last summer as I wasn't enjoying driving it any more. A new job meant i was sitting in stop start traffic a lot, plus I hated having to slow all the way down for speed humps, otherwise the exhaust would scrape. The handling of the car was off, braking was off, the rattle from the short shifter was starting to get to me, plus the rear speakers were nearing the end of their life :wack: I didn't have the time or patience for it any more, so i got a Golf as my new daily and parked the SX on the drive.
I think I lasted until around November, before I started missing the car. Now I can't wait to be back in it, as good as the golf is at doing it's job, there's driving no joy anymore.
Hence, I am starting this build thread. I want it to be back to it's former glory, and enjoyable to drive again. :thumbs:
Springs done. Holes poked...
Finally got around to swapping the springs over. The car looks better to my eye for some reason (although the gaps look huge haha). A big thank you to Andy for his help with this :thumbs:
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-13145327.jpg
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-13210111.jpg
While the car was in the air, with the wheels off, I took the opportunity to inspect for rust. There were 2 spots of concern, that with a lot of poking became nice sized holes ;), but nothing that worries me too much. One was in the rear offside wheel arch, and the other behind the rear bumper at the base of the wheel well. I suspect this was caused by a slow impact i received a few years ago; a young guy hit my car up the rear at low speed. There didn't seem to be any damage, and he was sh*tting himself, so I never made a claim. Looks as though the impact caused a crack, which has rusted over time. That'll teach me!
Wheel arch
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-13145610.jpg
Rear
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-13152821.jpg
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-13152841.jpg
And of course, we have the gratuitous oil leak from the front of the engine.....:wack:
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-13145916.jpg
As for the disco ravey clock, I'm still none the wiser. Now when I turn the key to 'on', the tach jumps from 0 to 750 - can't work out what's up with that! But next job on the to-do list is sorting out the fuel leak......
Long overdue update; fuel lines replaced, major rust fixed!
November 2014:
After much investigation, it was decided that the fuel line was something best fixed in my garage. Ended up speaking to couple of people and they all pointed me toward Dal in Gravesend.
Quick chat with Dal about the fuel lines, and the rust in the boot, and he arranged a transporter to collect my car :)
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...121_093353.jpg
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...121_140512.jpg