Hey guys, heres the deal.. Ultimately i want my 91 Black N/A to have a turbo swap with a nice set of wheels, lowered on coilovers, and GP-Sports replica body kit, but i figure all the cosmetics, such as the wheels, kit, and coilovers ( i know i know they are functional as well) will cost as much as the motor swap and i've been thinking about just doing everything but the motor first, who has gone this route, what were your thoughts, any regrets?

 

TII swap first.

 

get the coilovers first
It will improve your car no matter what stage.. even lowered stock car looks good. Then I say rims, then the kit last. With the coilovers, you improved your handling so i wouldnt get on yah for a stock motor.

 

^ agreed. get the coilovers and learn your car as it is the most you can before you get in too deep in a turbo swap without a lot of knowledge. and low is always great. slam it put 20's on it and keep it clean, jk about the 20's

 

4 years ago i started with LOOKS and then last year i finished the GO.

If i was to start the go from the begining i wouldnt finish the show,its up to you.... do you want to take a running car out of comission to do a swap or make your car pretty and at the same time start buying the parts for your swap . By then your car should be looking pretty nice then all you have to do is swap and go.

 

GO kills you..
and in some states its illegal to mod the GO parts lmao

the SHOW gets you jacked tho

lmao

 

low and slow. thats what its all about.

 

 

hey man not everyone needs a 3-400 hp fc with stock suspension,body,wheels, and that is somewhat seen alot on rx7 forums...

 

id do the go first

in my personal experience, it make more sense. i painted my car then i swapped it. So all i really did was chip the paint and ding the body. especially in the engine bay. then your probably gonna roll your fenders. so it wouldnt make much sense to paint it and clean then take it all apart again to rebuild it.

 

well here's how i approached this same situation..

originally i had big plans of going turbo swap first, had the money ready and actually pm'd japan2la about prices on the swap parts n ****, then i started reading...ended up deciding im not going to be satisfied with a stock t2 swap..so a lot more thought had to go into it before just swapping, then redoing it within 6-12 months, or getting mad when it blows up...

that plus i honestly dont know as much as i would like to about rotary engines so instead i chose to educate myself as much as possible, and drop money on parts that i am already familiar with- suspension, brakes, and parts that can be switched over later, but benefit on the na as well (ignition) etc..

then once i get the suspension tuned up and feel that it is complete and can handle the double or triple horsepower from the swap, plus i'll have a solid year of breaking/fixing/tuning things on my engine as well as getting acquainted with other people with more knowledge to learn from their mistakes, finding deals on parts, etc..

its really personal choice, but i see myself getting more use out of performance than looks. so i'd say body/paint last though. where as wheels kinda depend on what size you're planning to run...if you are going to need wider fenders etc...

my project will take 2-2.5 years, if you're planning on doing it all within a year, the order doesnt matter so much. just like someone said before - think everything through so you arent going back to take things off again and have to redo ****.

 

pre 2002 it was g0>show, now its seems to be rice>go in most cases I have seen. Coilovers are a nice upgrade that can be useful after a T2 swap but really like I have said before unless you live in excellent road land they are really to stiff if you get a set of coilovers that are worth a **** besides just dropping the car.

If you dont plan on having the car on the track just get a set of GC coils and some AGXs they are normally better than most low end coilovers most people end up with and the ride is more tolerable but the increase in handling capability is significantly noticeable. Just do your reasearch before buying parts that are junk and will cost you more money/quality/performace just to say you have things like coil overs.

 

well i still suggest coilovers... coilovers or nothing.. just dont go used coilovers. Once you go coilovers, its hard to even consider anything else.

But dont be mind set on doing a route first.. save money and do whatever comes up... you find a good deal on so and so, go for it.

just dont put knock off parts imo it ruins the overal quality of the car build. Being a import car tune enthusiast, it kind of ruins the excitement seeing a nice car and a $5 blow off valve lol

 

i also went for show at first. but when you have had a descent paint job and then start to work on the engine, you will damage the paint in numerous places like the fenders...



although if i had to do it over again, i think i would go the same route.

seeing what a major increase in joy i have with the car looking absolutely sexy, its a great motivator to keep the car and just go further and further with it instead of buying something new after a few years...

 

I can understand both approaches but favor the "go" option first.
There is no telling until you begin what mods will be necessary to finish the mechanical installation.
A hole here, a bracket there, a need for clearance here...it can all turn into a trying experience if you have to worry about nice paint at the same time.

I'd get the mechanical work all finished and run the car to make sure everything is exactly the way it should be, then strip it and do the body.

An excellent argument for this approach can be seen by watching any episode of American Chopper.
Those morons never assemble a project with the real parts until after the cosmetics are done- and every single time they end up having to grind/cut/drill on freshly painted parts just to get it assembled.

There is a lesson to be learned from this- you can take advantage even if they never seem to.

 

Handling & Braking > Power > Looks

FOF (Function Over Form) is a nice rule to start building with...

 

There's a limit to FOF though.

 

i did handling, power, and then kit last on my old s13
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7.../Photo_035.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...e/100_0843.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...e/100_0914.jpg
end result was satisfying
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...e/wingless.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7.../100_10593.jpg
But looking back at it, i drove it looking like **** for a looonnnggg time.. and its kinda depressing driving a POS looking car , so at least dont make ur car look like **** in the meantime.

 

Coilovers are ******* **** compared to real springs and dampeners. I don't know why you are always on here spitting the aftermath of sucking coilover dick but it's annoying. Coilovers are cheap and usually perform like complete ****.

 

According to your guys' stories, as long as he doesn't get it painted first, he'll still be fine. most of the arguments were that you are going to scuff your paint everywhere, so just get it painted after you swap =P.

I'm going show first...cause i cannot fund a TII swap yet.

 

please dont make this a coilovers vs shocks spring debate.

Just my personal preference I guess, just like some of you guys rather shock/springs. The OP already said he plans for coilovers. turbo II rotor i thought you have coilovers?

 

id go show first... then swap once you blow your na motor lol..

 

I do have coilovers but will be going with a real shock/spring/camber plate suspension. I'm planing on having them dynoed in the spring just to see how the dampening is, I'm guessing it's not so good and I have one of the better sets of coilovers they made for our chassis. You have no facts on the subject just opinion which is worthless.

 

because 5 years of past experience with coilovers on my prior car isnt worth a dam huh... please stop making assumptions.

Im sure if you do homework, and get custom valved shocks /springs im sure they are great... its just a lot more homework/ sourcing where to have it done/ time for some.
Coilovers is more of an all in one package. Aggressively dampend/stiff setup. Drop em on and adjust.. Spring/ground control setup you have to put them together etc.

Again, the OP didnt ask which one was better, he just stated he plans to get coilovers, just not sure with direction to take first in his build. Hes extreme enough to want to put a gp kit on, so im sure he would accept coilovers.