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Thread: Mats red s14a long term project

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    Mats red s14a long term project

    first excuse some bad photos, my phone is past it and the lenses is scratched to hell and is well due an upgrade!!

    Right so I have been on here for a while and thought that it was about time I started a build thread on my s14a. I brought it two days before Christmas last year and have loved every moment ever since, even if it costs me a fortune and had its temperamental moments. And it pisses the neighbours off to no end so that’s a bonus to ahaaaa

    I have wanted an s14a for years and decided last year that I would save and get one. I worked 70 hour weeks at the bar that I worked in solidly over the summer to build up my budget to something reasonable. Then when I was getting close I started looking for one. Found one that I liked that was reasonable, needed some work to get it to how I would want it but I was looking for a long term project so went to look at it. Long story short I brought it at I price I could not refuse. It was being built as a drift car but as I didn’t want to drift it I was going to have to take all the drift ready stuff out over time. Welded diff, hydro, lower ratios, solid bushed through the whole driveline ETC were all going to go.

    Then driving it home I went and got done by a mobile van sat at the side of the road. It was pitch black, pissing down with rain, the speedo was 10mph out due to the diff ratio so was using satnav speedo, headlights might as well have been two zippo lighters taped to the front, one of full beam didn’t work and it was a small unlit back road going down a hill and I only saw the van when I drove past it. I remember thinking as I went past, BUGGER.

    What annoyed me more was my mate that took me was right behing me, doing the same speed and didn’t get done, just my luck.
    39mph in a 30mph and was offered the course so that’s what I did. £110 later and that was behind me.

    So this is how I brought it, it’s a stage 1a with all supporting mods and is ready for stage 2, tho I am happy where it is at the moment. Was fitted with the kouki bumpers, grill, indicators etc and came on standard wheels. Also its bloody loud, 3” straight through turbo back to shotguns!!


    Not allot really happened to it over then next phew months as I was only just able to afford to run it with minimal shifts at work it was just being driven, while I made a big shopping list of bits I wanted but couldn’t afford!!!

    I never really liked the kouki bumper from the get go, and I didn’t want to spend all the money on the kouki lip etc, I also think the only way to make them look good is running stupid lows so when someone local to me wanted to swap for a standard open that had allot of work done to it I headed over there and swapped. He was willing to spend the money on it that I just couldn’t afford, and he was dropping his on air so could get it low enough to look good!!


    Also while I was there we swapped some interior bits so that mine would match up as I was running cream front seats and black back ones. So I had his cream set away to.

    Then not allot happened for a while again, I started an apprentership so took even more of a pay cut. Progress was slow and that annoyed me!!!


    Then leaving work one night the car had a moment and threw all its toys out the pram!! It wouldn’t idle right, when driving and coming of boost the revs would drop and the car would stall, and the oil light came on. Had a friend bring me some oil to endure that it was topped up, then limped the car home. Turned out the idle air control valve had pretyy much died and a replacement from Nissan was nearly £600 :0
    Then a someone on here said that he had one sat in his garage and wanted £20 for it, so that was snapped up as well as some more bits for a full service and some other parts like track rod ends (ones on the car were shot to bits, someone suggested not driving the car they were that bad!!) so all these were replaced and the car was back on the road and running better than ever!!



    Then it slowed down again but still had issues with the car. While I was away on a training course for my apprentership 3 hours from home the heater and all air-con died completely. Meaning the windscreen would steam up in seconds as soon as I got in the car. Not handy with a 3 hour home trip looming. So a bodge was made with an in car phone charger and a soldering iron to power the motor just to get me home running the motor of the 12v supply from that. It bloody worked!!!

    Next was to find out why the heater had stopped, turned out the arch wiring wasn’t tucked as well as thought and had been warn away some what by the tyres that were on it before my ownership, the salt and crap ate away at it over the winter and several of the wires were broken. So some soldering and heat shrinking later and it was all repaired, hey presto it spring back into life.

    Then it got a clean

    After some saving and a first pay check from my new job I did a spend. So picked up some new wheels. Ultralight nurburgrings, wasn’t on my radar initially but they came up, went for a look and really like them so picked them, got some new tyres fitted to the rear as they were shot and got them on the car

    The weekend after had a car day with a mate doing some tidying up, cleaning and fitting parts on his mx5

    Weekend after we went to pick up some more mx5 parts he was buying and turns out the guy had and s14 grave yard as well 

    Had the front alignment done. Struggled to get it on their ramps at standard height!!

    Next months pay came around and it was time for some coilovers, I was determined to get them before japfest as I didn’t want to go being standard height. So some driftworks finance later and a set of HSD monopros arrived at my door. YAY!!!!

    There gorgeous.

    Then came fitting them to the car, it went surprisingly well, had both rears done in on evening and the fronts went on surprisingly easy as well. Longest but was to get them so they were the right height. On and off several times over but we got there in the end!!





    Felt a bit like this after they were done

    While it was jacked up we found some rust!!! Getting this sorted asap. Net payday cant come soon enough


    While the car was off the road for the weekend I took the opportunity to have a go at paining the front bumper back to red so that it matched the car.
    Sanding, sanding and more sanding



    Primer
    Many layers of paint


    Then lacquer

    Got it outside and wasn’t 100% with it, needed more coats of paint really as its patchy. Wish I had used red primer now . And has come out more of a satin rather than gloss but it looks ok when on the car, cant really complain considering it was done in a night in the garage  . Defo better than the purple anyway.
    Last edited by mathew8717; 05-05-2015 at 16:59.

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    Next challenge, getting off the driveway!! Must have mm of clearance, cutting it close to say the least!!

    Then the obligatory drive and photo opportunity as well with a mate and his new BMW!











    The list is long but I am making a start.
    - full respray
    - interior sorted
    - big gay wing
    - more exterior stuff
    - wheel refurb
    - wheel spacers
    And much more as well. Progress will probably be slow due to apprentership pay, but it will get there slowly

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    Guest Zeldoz's Avatar
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    Like it matey! Keep it up!

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    cheers fella! got some more things done so will update the thread soon! still saving for rust repairs at the moment, but that's been you problem for a while i believe! once that's out the way progression will be allot faster, and a pay rise might help to but we can all dream!

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    Guest Zeldoz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mathew8717 View Post
    cheers fella! got some more things done so will update the thread soon! still saving for rust repairs at the moment, but that's been you problem for a while i believe! once that's out the way progression will be allot faster, and a pay rise might help to but we can all dream!
    Yeah.. Im not going to lie mate. Unless your handy with a welder it's not cheap. - But you can plate it etc if your not fussed. Im keeping this for awhile so i paid for everything to be cut out etc.

    Just make sure its done right! Otherwise your spend your life fixing the brown stuff!!!!

    How much were those HSD's they are absolutely sexual.

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    yeah this thing isnt going anywhere (as much as it annoys the parents ahah) so im going to get it done properly. my dads a fully qualified welder but has never done a car this bad before so going to get it done somewhere that does it allot. and they can under-seal and all that for good measure!

    and yeah they are a thing of beauty, i had a moment when they arrived i got them from driftworks, something like £800 for them, but they do 0% finance so its like £60 a month, that was a price that i could live with so did it that way. couldn't justify a whole months wages in one go to buy them outright!

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    So an update on the car, made some decent progress recently with it and I am nearly happy with it now. It’s coming along slowly.

    Firstly went to japfest on the club stand and had an amazing day, the early start was well worth it! Even picked up some goodies to, a steering wheel and a tow hook. Though now I’m home I am undecided on the tow hook, bit of an impulse buy so will do a trial fit and see what it looks like.



    Then I brought a normal, un welded diff to swap out the welded one. Got it delivered from garage-D and then had to get it fitted so off to my mates dads body shop to use their lift to make it easier. Got it swapped out in a morning and its so much nicer to drive. More like a daily now. And even better the ABS now works to!! Funny that plugging it all back in makes it work eh.

    Next up was sorting the interior mess out, got the hydro removed and un plumbed, the original hand break back on the correct side and a new centre console in too along with gear gaiter ETC. Now it’s looking much much better.

    Then went and collected a black leather interior to replace the cream one. So got that all swapped over and the interior is a much nicer place to be now.





    Also while I was picking up the seats I also got a pair of adjustable driftworks camber arms and a un flocked heater vent/control surround to. Lovely. No pictures of them as I am going to be getting them powder coated before fitting.

    Final piece of the interior for now was making a boost gauge and gizzmo holder in the ashtray slot to keep it all in one place and so that I can see it.

    Engine bay got a clean too!


    Then finally went to a local show and organised an SXOC stand for us to display on, was a good day and the s-bodies where getting allot of attention!!





    Then went for a nice long drive in the car, it was nice to just drive. Then ended up in a car park and the local corsa boys loved a bit of a fire show



    That it for now as I am still saving for rust repairs, though little purchases will be done in the mean time to keep things ticking along.
    Last edited by mathew8717; 05-06-2015 at 11:42.

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    Guest Zeldoz's Avatar
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    Likeing it!

    You suffer from the same problem as me. - Needing spacers! Do it!

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    Yeha o defo do pal, I got 10mm on the back at the moment, but untill the camber is out I can't really judge what size to get so gunna wait for that before I purchase any!!!

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    No way this is my mates old car, wondered what happened to it

    And my old strut brace on there :P

    Still looking decent, enjoy it
    Last edited by mike_je94; 05-06-2015 at 19:42.

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    man... all you had to do was buy good wheels.

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    Guest burgerboy78's Avatar
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    This was mine before I sold it to the guy you bought it from. This was how it was when I sold it

     photo P6020686_zps2656fc6b.jpg

     photo P6020702_zps74f41311.jpg

     photo P6020688_zps1bbddf23.jpg

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    was good to have a read through that pal, nice to know that the old owner is on here to. now i know what has been done to the car! safe to say it wont be doing that much drifting ever again, well maybe when i get some new tires but that's it!!

    some bits been done recently, will get pics and update soon.

    also plan is well under way for the rear end refurb, i have all the adjustable arms and another sub frame ready to be refurbished and powder coated. when its done you will get an idea of what color the car will eventually be. just need some new sub frame bushes now. I have a week booked off next month for stripping it all down, rust removal and then re underselling while its out. it would be rude not to!

    watch this space!

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    so another update.

    had a weekend stripping the front end off last weekend again, i am getting bloody good at taking the front end of a s14a.

    plan was to tidy things up, move wiring stuff around, remove battery tray and see what damage was underneath that, put more blue pipes in and assessing any rust that may be there.

    first was getting the old battery tray out, found a thread on here that was a massive help for funding the spot welds. eventually got it all out and found some rust holes underneath it, looks like it was never protected or painted from the factory, it was all grey, no red paint at all and it was decided that it all needs cutting out and replacing, found some material and made a template that needs to be replaced. that will be a job for another day tho as my dad wasn't around to do the welding bit so for now surface rust was removed and had a couple of coats of hammereite to protect until the time comes to cut it out. painting some of the driveway in the process, i wasn't popular sorry mum!!!



    next moving the coolant tank back to where it should be, not cable tied to may electrical things at the bottom of the engine bay. also running blue hose to it in the process.



    then installing the catch can, was quite easy, nothing major, might get some different lines tho, these are quite bulky.

    also got the engine dampener installed to



    while the RAD and FMIC wer off we changed the coolant making a mess in the process, defo should have got a bigger tub to catch it in. an empty celebrations tub, in hindsight wasn't the best idea considering the size of the RAD, i got quite wet

    lastly got all the adjustable arms for the rear separated and ready for blasting and powder coating as well as picking up a second sub frame to get powder coated too.



    Hopefully dad has taken them down to the powder coaters for me today, i am jolly excited to get that little lot back now!!

    as soon as i get it all back i will post some pics up. then just a case of getting it all changed over.

    in other news, i have decided that i need a BGW in my life like now. im on the hunt for a japspeed one! let me know if anyone has one!
    Last edited by mathew8717; 18-06-2015 at 17:03.

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    Guest holdawayt's Avatar
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    Ha, I've been following this car with it's previous owners for a while now. In fact when it was on the nice wide black wheels I had a pic of it as my desktop background for a while.

    With regards to the paint finish on the front bumper - it's all about the lacquer. As long as the paint is red and smooth you should get an excellent finish if the lacquer is done properly. We either use stuff in a rattle can from our local paint shop or we use single pack acrylic lacquer through a gun.

    If I were you, I'd flat it back and apply a shit tonne more lacquer, wait 2 weeks, flat it back and machine polish it. It'll look 1 million times better.

    Keep it up dude.

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    Glad to know that the car has been arround the scene for a while then, hopefully soon will be back to how it should be.

    As for the wheels, seems that allot of people don't like them, they defo need to be wider tbh, but there better than standard ones which were on it before. Tho I have my eye on my next set already, anyone got a spare £1500 lying arround they wanna donate to a good cause?!??

    The bumper definitely needs more work, should have been alot better than that, might do as above with it see what it comes out like, can't do any harm I dont suppose.

    Lastly the subframe stuff all went off to the powder coaters today, it's gunna ne bright thats for sure. :-)

    Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

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    Guest ryry92's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mathew8717 View Post
    Glad to know that the car has been arround the scene for a while then, hopefully soon will be back to how it should be.

    As for the wheels, seems that allot of people don't like them, they defo need to be wider tbh, but there better than standard ones which were on it before. Tho I have my eye on my next set already, anyone got a spare £1500 lying arround they wanna donate to a good cause?!??

    The bumper definitely needs more work, should have been alot better than that, might do as above with it see what it comes out like, can't do any harm I dont suppose.

    Lastly the subframe stuff all went off to the powder coaters today, it's gunna ne bright thats for sure. :-)

    Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk
    £1500? That's nearly as much as my Equips!

    Haha don't rush anything... you'll only end up having to do it again.

    Good stuff mate

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    Guest auz200sx's Avatar
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    Stock wheels? I personally like them. Never bothered changing them on the Skyline either



    Must say your HSD were expensive I thought I paid over the odds at $1200 but at 800 quid that $1700 normally it cost more here even if it closer to Asia as demand is far less. Saying that they are pretty impressive so far and million times better then stock.

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    Guest auz200sx's Avatar
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    PS the old cops get a bit pissy here if you go two low I think its something like no less then 100mm clearance all round. I wanted to make sure it cleared the stoppers as seen in the picture as they are everywhere here. Plus the drop curbs to driveways are not exactly drop curb more like a step thats rounded off

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    Guest mathew8717's Avatar
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    ok so another update with this, not allot has been done to the car, but i have been gathering parts and researching lots and planning what needs to be done in my week off in two weeks time.

    firstly a set of side skirts came up close to me for cheap so i snapped them up, they came in primer so they are ready for paint when i redo the front bumper, they are just what i was after to. they are going to look good when they are on!





    i also picked up a Bailey BOV local to for cheap, just wanted to see what it would be like running one and how the car would preform and how it would affect the fuel economy. its already not great i cant afford for it to get any worse ahahah, and this way i could get it cheap and not waste loads on one for it to be no good. safe to say it is fine and i love the noise to, still get the turbo flutter at lower speed and when higher in the revs gets a nice woooosh sound to. defo going to be getting the SARD R2D2 one in the future.

    next i got my stuff back from the powder coaters, got an amazing deal to, lucky my dad knows them quite well! it is defo bright and i love it, can you all guess what color the car is going to be now???

    just need to get some copper grease so i can assemble all the arms ready for fitting. i am very very excited to get all this on now. just need a set of nismo lower arms for the rear too so that can be done, then to work on the front end powder coating.







    i am also getting much better photos now as i have a new phone, i can snap happy now!

    Also anyone want a cream interior? FREE to anyone on SXOC, come and take it out of my way!



    Thats all for now, still trying to get a new rear bumper and wing but i need to start saving for my insurance next year too!

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