Project Poverty Spec S13

[marcus23]

Well since my last update iv not done much, i fitted the subframe back on and refitted the wheels, got the front end jacked up and wheels off then didnt do anything for a few weeks, until today !

had a couple of hours free so decided to start stripping out the useless crap like air con, un-needed lights and switches that were everywhere ! i started by removing the front bumper and front wings, the front bumper had to be cut off as the previous owner had fitted fog lights to the bumper but attatched them to the bumper support bar with pretty thick bolts that the heads had been rounded . . . so out came the grinder !










This is how my backdoor is starting to look now



And this is some of the shit i removed today, aircon pump, bracket and rad, carbon cannister, fog lights and alot of wiring . . all for the bin



Some of the rust i need to sort out





and the most worrying part of rust



Now for some good stuff, iv collected a few parts recently, got a fmic with pipework, option gauges, sandwich plate, smaller battery all for the awesome price of £150

I then got a full set of z32 300zx brake callipers with braided conversion lines, pads, disks with s13 rear handbrake setup and hubs for £100, then sold the handbrake setup for £40 so i pretty much paid £60 for a full z32 setup which is my kind of bargain







So thats how it currently sits, i have the next week off work so plan to get it done and on the road by the end of the month !

[marcus23]

Well i had a spare hour today so decided to get a bit of work done ! It was pouring down outside so decided to do a bit inside the car, i removed the dashboard as the previous owner had drilled massive holes in it for gauge mounts etc and thats not the look im going for, so picked up a standard unmollested dash last night and took mine out today so i could get better access to the mess of a wiring loom !



now for those of you who are familliar with s13's you will notice there is a shit load of extra wires/loom etc, some of which is for an aftermarket alarm, the rest is for utter useless shite and most of the wires had broken off from where they had been attatched ! so i set about tracing back all the wires and removing them, got about 95% of it done today, will be repairing all the broken wires etc tomorrow !

also im hoping to remove my abs tomorrow so picked up this



about £50 worth of stuff there to remove abs, fit all new brake pipes and connectors, plus ill make my money back on the brake tool from doing homers !

[marcus23]

Well managed to get a bit done today, all of the excess wiring is now removed, abs is removed and front chassis welded, didnt take that many pics tho

heres how it looks with the wires removed, the excess is on thr drivers seat



and this is what alarm fitters consider good soldering/ joining !! im gonna fix this later on tonight



Then set about getting the chassis sorted









Then i stripped the inner arch of any surface rust, treated it then painted it with anti rust primer then a topcoat, still need to underseal the rest





Also got a replacement dash since the one that was in the car had holes drilled in it everywhere !!

[marcus23]

Had a spare hour today so stripped off all the standard s13 brakes and remived the front brake lines, fitted z32 front callipers, pads and disks and gave them a quick coat of paint, then undersealed the inner arches







Jobs for tomorrow are fit the rear brake setup, fit all new brake lines, underseal the inner rear arches, buy welding gas and wire and weld the front cross member and sills, underseal the rest of the car then fit the fmic !

[steff777]

Hey man great project! It's nice to see someone else who's on a budget! I've always thought my s13 was rusty but yours makes me feel a lot better! Lol and if you don't mind me asking how hard was it to get the subframe off?? I've been meaning to ask on here for ages as loads of people have done it. I won't be doing it just yet tho as I can't even afford an mot at the mo yet alone new bushes etc! Lol

[marcus23]

Its really easy bud, loosen the handbrake adjuster, remove the cables underneath the car where they meet the handbrake, remove the brake callipers, remove the bottom suspension bolts, or top whatever u find easier, soak the 4 subframe studs with wd4, stick a jack underneath for support, remove the 4 subframe nuts and a couple of connecting bolts and it should slide right off !


Got some more progress today

managed to get the rear brakes fitted, undersealed the rear arches, and started to fabricate a new front crossmember !

Floating s13



as you can see i was a bit lazy when it came to painting the callipers and just done it after i fitted them ! fitting the brakes was a straight forward job, hardest part was getting the old disks off due to the internal drum handbrake, then i had to cut the backplate to fit the new disks !





That was the easy stuff done, after that i had to pull my welder out from the shed, recently i had been using someone elses welder so mine hasnt seen any action in about a year ! so had to pick up some parts and get them fitted, also the wire feed was jammed and the torch was clogged up so serviced the full thing !



after that was done it was time to start removing/breaking shit







Thats how bad the old crossmember was , the bumper support bar came off pretty easily but everything else snapped when i tried to remove it, so gonna be spending a day just drilling out broken bolts i reckon !

once the crossmember was off i measured up the sizes i needed then started cutting the metal to shape, i have decided to go for L-shaped steel and im making a box section by welding it together, the reason im doing it this was is it makes it easier for me to weld in the captive nuts needed for the tie bar supports etc










I was pretty proud of this section as i bought one longer lengthbof steel and bent this one into shape, this is the top cover and once welded in should add extra support





And all together





So its all ready to be welded but i had no nuts and bolts to weld in the captive nuts, but im back at work tomorrow so gonna grab a handfull and hopefully do that tomorrow night !

and heres a quick shot of my very limited storage space, so if anyone wants to give me a double garage to use id be more than happy to accept !!

[Neelie]

jesus the amount of rust 0_0; hats off to you for bringing this s13 back from the dead!
and here i was worrying about 2 holes i have in my arches lol...
best of luck, keep the updates coming. your making very fast progress

[marcus23]

Finally got the crossmember welded ! Im very dissapointed in how it turned out, turns out the wire feed in my welder needs replaced, i had started welding and its contantly jamming so was causing a lot of spatter and stopped me from getting a decent weld, i managed to fit some washers to it and make a few adjustmemts to get it working



got the captive nuts welded in place, and covered in copper grease



then started welding the sections into place





then i had a look at the welding wire and noticed it looked pretty dull, so jumped down to halfrauds and picked up another reel of 0.6 wire, the welds got much better, a lot less spatter but im still not happy with the wire feed !





then gave it a coat of primer and then gloss black, all thats left to do now is fix the rusty support bar and fit the other 2 !

[Seraphon]

Its good to see someone putting in so much work to save an S13, they are getting too rare these days. Look after it!

On another note; did you throw those fog lights away? If you still have them I'll give you a bit of cash for them.

[marcus23]

Still got them mate but id say you would need to make new brackets for them !



Well today was ****ing shite ! got the front welded and mostly done, but then discovered shit loads of rust in the sill, so had to strip it all right back and start to rebuild it

started off with the supports at the front, the bonnet wasnt closing so had to get that sorted













so all was going well at the front, i decided whilst the paint was drying id patch the small holes at the back of the sills, stuck a screwdriver in to check for good metal and took half the sill out

so out with the grinder again to find some clean metal















So all in all today was a shit but productive day, was close to just setting fire to the thing and giving up to be honest ! just need to plate the rear end of the sills now then spot weld the front brackets !

[Craig_200sx]

lookin gd mate need to come by have a look at it its puttin me in the mood for another 1 lol

[jackm]

See ive been faffing about with the sills on mine for ages trying to work out what to do and then i see people like you cracking on, getting straight in there and sorting them out. makes me think how much im wasting my time! Looking good tho!

[marcus23]

craig if your coming over bring your welder lol !!

[merkybouy]

Top marks on this project mate, specially on your driveway, id have given up ageees ago!! another 13 saved from the grave!

[marcus23]

believe me iv wanted to give up a few times lol !!

[Clint]

Fair play mate. Excellent progress there. Looks like you're getting pretty close to having a useable S13 again!

[MR Roboto]

wow you got heart for this go on will keep on on this good luck to you mate

[Craig_200sx]

haha i'll bring a mad team a welders i know lol build u a new 1 lol wat u got left to weld?

[mark89]

awsome thread wish i had your skills to fix up my rust bucket of a s13

[marcus23]

God not updated this in a while, car is now taxed mot'd and insured

how it currently looks