nbjeff

In this episode of Destination Sideways... I set a bucket on fire, I fail to remove the race from my hubs, and I finish up the stitch welding in the engine bay.

nbjeff

Not a whole lot has happened as of recent. Just doing a little update, got some new parts and did a lot of interior grinding. engine bay is basically stitched up just need to finish the tubs...

New axles


New EBC Rotors

nbjeff

Okay finally some progress worth posting...

Got all the tubing for the cage, DOM 1.5inch .120 wall ONLY $375 delivered!



Received my jewelry that I've been waiting for years to get, used with only 4k miles







Threw my new wheels under the car with some body just to see how it can look, Just messing around but i'm in love!







What's that In the car???

nbjeff

So the main hoop took us 4 hours to get done, that's okay though it's the most important part! Fitted it up very close everywhere





A-Pillar bars are bent as well, and I finally got mounts for my new mom seats... Momo=<3









Then I started practicing some of my welds on this material to get them dialed in before the real work begins

13.bREW

Nice progress, those coilovers are on point!!

ninja_sloth

very nice progress man! I can't wait for this cold to pass so I can start making my own progress in this department.

What are your plans for the braking system besides the upgraded rotors and pads? do you plan on doing anything with the master cylinder or anything?

nbjeff

Thx guys! I know the coilovers are gorgeous I just want to look at them not drive on them haha. As for the braking system I probably won't do anything other than a hydro at this point. Bridgeports don't give much braking power as it is so It might be something that I would want to look into eventually..

nbjeff

So since I have cut the rear fenders I still have not welded the two pieces back together, this is my first time doing this as is everything on this car haha. Umm but anyway this is obviously a rough start but after going back over it again and then with a grinder it looks good just have to do another run to fill some holes and it should be good to go!









I don't know why the green bars are there but these are the boxes/plates for mounting the cage. I wanted the fronts tucked up higher for more foot room and a closer bar to the a-pillar. The rear plates didn't take that long but with the weird angles it was interesting bending the plate haha









Progress is progress, I have 6 weeks to finish this car!

ninja_sloth

Are those rear plates what you're welding the main hoop to? I like those front boxes though. those look good

nbjeff

Yeah 2017 FD spec plates are wider than 2 inches all around and at least 1/8 thick material

nbjeff

Huge amounts of progress from my last post...
Also a few new videos uploaded from Destination Sideways

Added two new gauges to the assembly, now I can monitor my exhaust temps and my oil temps. Both important in rotary land.




Added another row of switches as well, not exactly sure what they will all do at this point but i'm sure I can find many reasons to have them.


Mocked up


Finally ordered and received my new angle kit from parts shop max, also rear camber links since mine were stock and gross. BYE MONEY


Painting my rear subframe and control arms


So something I learned that I feel like can really help alot of people unless I am just plain stupid, anyway I realized that on these rear control arms they have metal inserts for the bushings. A few years ago I tried to install poly bushings into these and was driving around with one side done with the metal 'race' still in the arm. How I got that bushing in there is still beyond my comprehension.


Two rear parallel bars mocked up, trying to figure out all the angles and just getting it straight so it doesn't look ridiculous.


We decided to go with the 'x' style of door bar after realizing it's way easier to do, looks clean still, and saves weight.


Took forever but got the first 'x' tacked in place, might need a little more messing around with to get it to seat better.


Got my new harnesses and seats all mocked up and feeling nice, the A-pillar bar is so dang close to my head, (only with my helmet on) without it on I'm not even close to it but the helmet adds like a solid inch I swear. Might have to look into dropping the seats down even furnther.



This looks good right?!?!? haha so we moved the cage foward and got the A bars welded up on the edges where you can't reach when it is in place so having got that done last night, now everything can go into the car and actually be tacked in for good and hopefully all welded together this weekend!

ninja_sloth

Damn man looking good! Wish I could get myself into the garage to actually start on my FC. I got all the same stuff from PBM and Fortune Auto just sitting in boxes in my room right now waiting for me to get to work.

nbjeff

All of the 4 main mounting plates are all welded in and I also made a heat shield to not only cover up imperfections and mistakes but also to look pretty and not burn our arms anymore from rotary heat... Also beat the crap out of the passenger side floor to get the seat at least kinda level with the drivers side, took alot more than I thought it would, ill have to weld up some new sheetmetal to make it look nice again but it did help. Finished stitch welding the passenger side as well, doing this more and more you start to get the hang of it.























Everything got mocked up and was almost ready to fully weld in, just needed a few minor adjustments to make it all perfect

nbjeff

So actually had the idea of waking up before my job to go and get work done, and what do ya know it worked! So the entire main cage was finished that morning and I did some nice heavy tacks to keep it all in place, then that night my welder friend came over and we got it all welded in, a few little parts here and there that need to be cleaned up but most of all done. Just have the back bars and intrusion bars to finish her up!

Rotary_Knight

iTrader: (4)

Nice work on your build so far. Also, digging the build vlog. Ironically, I too have started doing the same thing. However, your motor and power goals would spank mine any day.

Did the oil catch can solve your problems with the oil blowing back into the turbo? I couldn't tell if you had one when that happened. Additionally, what seat rails are you using, Planted? I had to make a frankenstein mount with an old corbeau mount and some steel flat bar to get the seat to a low and comfortable position. Anyways, good luck and I dig the intro to the vids!

nbjeff

Thx so much dude! Yes I am on planted brackets and its been a pain to get everything perfect. I have been running a catch can but that problem was from my crankcase being completely blocked off. When I was at ORP my catch can overflowed and sprayed oil all over the place but that problem should be fixed with some new parts I bought a while ago.

Rotary_Knight

iTrader: (4)

Gotcha, well good luck, look forward to updates!

nbjeff

New LRB Speed door panels, finally won't look like a ghetto car whenever I open my doors.



15 Gallon sumped fuel cell from summit along with all my new fuel line goodies





Bent up my new supports for the front tubs



Cut the massive hole for my fuel cell, should probably make it bigger still



Finally cut the rest of the ugly spare tire well out, I always hated that thing, so gross looking



Mocked up the fuel cell, I know it will have to mount alot higher now just didn't know that before I took this pic



Rear bars in place



Welded in, might look weird but there was such a huge gap and I didn't want to just leave holes on my base plates





Front tub supports welded in, I did this both for strength from upper to lower frame rails, and also to give me a point to mount my tubs



Tig Vs. Mig

nbjeff

Episodes 14-16 are up as well






Started making up the front tubs, 18 gauge sheet metal, thick enough to actually add structure







Made a panel that fits over my trans tunnel and extends long enough to mount my hydro on, still have to make some sort of bracket to actually hold it up but for now its at least roughed in







Started welding in the new tubs, love the way they turned out still have to finish welding them all up but they look so different from what I have seen which is what I wanted so i'm happy



Sanded the body down, still have to do a little more but it will be enough to take some off the paint bill





Mounted headlights so I can figure out where tabs have to go and also hood pins



Radiator mounted back up because I have to figure out how to mount that again as well, thinking of just using some simple inch wide steel, no actual weight is on it just for angle and support

ninja_sloth

I think that inch wide steel will flex too much as you're drifting since it won't give any rigidity being flat. why not bend some tubing that can bolt down to the frame area or make a simple hoop coming up from that cross bar? or bend and notch a tube to come off of those tubes you have welded to the tubs?

I also really like you're tub idea! that is looking really good!

nbjeff

Yeah I know what you are saying, and I thought of that too but even from the factory metal in there it will be more supportive, and like I said it doesn't carry any weight just for placement really. I did want to do some sort of tube at first but at this point I'm not really sure haha we will have to wait and see.

ninja_sloth

Yeah man. Well it's looking good either way! Keep it up!

nbjeff

Made a plate for the back box I am working on



Got it all welded in



10x better than the factory spare tire well if you ask me



Got the tubs fully welded in







New rear wheel bearings



It really sucks that I have to put something so pretty and clean under this car, but it's a car and I believe in driving them no matter what they look like



I've wanted to do this for a while... just doing a rough count of how much this small pile costs is around 7 grand.... don't tell my girlfriend that haha



Wire brushed all my wheel tubs, haven't got that dirty before was like I became black



Painted them with just regular black spray paint, just because seam welding the whole car made it so the paint melted or burnt off on the other side of everything so half the car would rust if I didn't paint it

nbjeff

Made plates for the factory fuel straps, since I decided to go with a fuel cell I cut out half of the factory mount so that the fuel cell could be more forward, since I did that all the strength of the factory mount was lost so the plates got welded in to account for that



On the other side of the fuel cell straps the mounts are never to be seen again, that's because they were on the spare tire well which is now a box for things. So above that there were these little factory holes that had plugs in them, took the plugs out and used a rivnut on a washer and then welded the washer and the nut to the back of my box, shortened the straps and they work great for the fuel cell.



Marking off everything for my painter to delete





The rear setup looks great in the car! The Pbm coilovers are very nice, i've owned this car for close to 5 years and this is the first time its had coilovers on it. I had already pressed the bearings together before I put the ARP studs in, so I actually had to pull them back apart so that I could fit the studs without hitting the rear knuckle. Then just used the axle nut to pull them back together worked great actually.



So sweet that you can see the diff through the floor, I realize it won't be like that when the fuel cell is in there but it certainly makes it easier for me to do fluid changes



This is the front setup so far, going to work on the front wheel bearings tonight, hopefully I can figure them out I'm still learning so hope it all goes well.



Looks nice with the front subframe in and the PBM tophats shining all gold like.



New EBC Rotors are hot, everyone keeps telling me they wont stay black forever, I don't believe them haha



Looks so beefy in there with everything painted and fresh, I realize this is just adjustable arms and coilovers but to me it's so much more

jinstacee

iTrader: (1)

Your build is looking tight! Subbed.