A few of you guys may know me....anyways, my name is aaron but all my friends call me ap or parker. i've had my fd for a little over 2 years now and it has truly changed my life. This build is going to be done completely by me as much as possible. I'm pretty tech savvy..but welding and the motor build will be out-sourced. The car will be a dual purpose car.. and although grip and drift are 2 completely different planes... i'm convinced I can build a fun street/drift/time-attack car.
I''ll be designing a custom V-mount I/C set up with ducting, Dual Oil Cooler set up with Ducting, and a trick completely divided Exhaust Manifold with dual WG outlets...no noise suppression here.. i'll be running the dual gates to the atmosphere.
I'll be tackling suspension first and then moving to my motor and turbo set-up. This isn't the first build i've done but it is the first Full build so i'm open to all opinions..as long as they're constructive!
So here's where it all started... A little smoke.. revealed this:
click to watch video..


After having my turbo checked and returned from elliot at turblown (turbo was in excellent shape)..and with New coils, and new plugs.. Greddy 7250's...there was only one option.. Time for a rebuild.

 

is that legal in Cali? lol i hope this build has tons of pics.

 

A basic motor rebuild turned into a full car build... as there were things that considerably bothered me about the car. First..the suspension was sloppy.. I had tein flex's but my bushings are shot.. and a few pillow ***** were definitely in need of being replaced so I got to work.
First time pulling a rwd motor...so my buddy evan helped me out. Wasn't too bad...and i was suprised how quickly we got it out.

so dirty...uhhhh...exhaust leak anyone? haha

 

My buddy Evan knows...A LOT and has kind of guided me through most of my build. Anyways...motor pulled!

In the process of all this i'll be cleaning up everything possible. I labeled the wiring harness to help save my A** on the install when the time comes.

After I pulled the motor... It was time to get to cleaning. There was a major oil leak and it got everywhere... so i spent some time under the car getting all that crap off. Also decided to get my subframe and front suspension arms off in prep for new bushings and paint. I'm a little bit of a clean freak when it comes to my car... so I decided to clean up all 4 wheel wells. And take care of a little bit of rust that was eating my ladies bod..

My buddy BJ let me use is Sand blaster..so I bought him a bag of sand for it.. but I blasted all my suspension arms...they were filthy!!
Finished product is great.. ready for paint!!

 

Wheel wells before....

After some major scrubbing with a wire brush..and a little grinding with the wire wheel to take care of some rust on my strut mount. Sealed and ready for rubberized undercoat!


I did this to all 4 Corners... More pics to come!!! off to gay work..

 

Looks good. Keep it up.

 

looking good, more pics!

 

is anything fun legal in cali?

 

nothing fun is legal in ca hahaha

 

Looks like you are putting together a quality machine.

 

the FD just sucks you in... you start by claybarring it and end up stripping it down to the tub.

as an owner since 99 let me tell you one thing that i know to be true.

it never ends.

the upside is that the car properly modded may be the best all around sportscar ever to roll down an assembly line so your efforts will be repaid.

warning to anyone thinking of cleaning any aluminum suspension member:

the clean up like jewels and you will be unable to stop til you have done them all.

good luck on the project Aaron,

howard

 

Nice work, good luck with your built.

 

From your lips to God's ear, Mr Coleman!
.
.
.

 

I'm proud of you man! Keep me up to speed and remember I'm always here to help...

 

Holy crap dude! You fired it up with no manifold on the block! Ballsie ...very ballsie.

I've always wanted to do that but 1) didn't want to melt my car or burn my house down and/or 2)still want to be able to listen to classical music in my 80's without a hearing aid ...LOL

Great build...keep it up!

Regards,
Crispy

 

^^ i know what its like... i did that with my hbp to check to see if my oil control ring was leaking... it was deafening anywhere in the garage... across the street you could barely hear yourself speak...


nice build.. reminds me of me a few years back.. continue to add pics! pics are KEY!

 

cant wait to hit up streets of willow

 

I just finished the process of rebuilding my FD and finally being able to enjoy the car. I'll tell you this, I have NEVER pulled an engine before and to be honest, I know the engine bay by heart and where everything is. It seems daunting, but it really is not that bad of a job. Just like you did, make sure you label everything and take lots of pictures so it's a lot easier putting everything back together.

Good luck!

 

it had to be close to 130 dcbls... I couldn't believe how loud it was.. I had 2 neighbors come out of the house and come check it out haha...in the middle of a friday afternoon!

Thanks for all the posts guys!! i have TONSSS of pics and its my goal to illustrate the whole process!

 

Got the Rear suspension off as well....
A little sandblasting never hurt anyone.. dont worry... all pillows were properly sealed haha. And the ones that werent i didn't care about because i'm replacing them..

 

^ god damn thats a beautiful site....

 

A little paint never hurt anyone... plus I have to represent for "my people," hahaha..as you guys may know..us colored folk looooove gold..jkjk



I also had a hell of a time removing the rear exles from the hub/bearings/assembly... I have all extended ARP wheel studs to press into the hubs...but you couldn't get tot he rears without pushing the rear bearings out.. SOAB... YES a complete pain in the ***.. but 18 year old bearings aren't fast.. and I like to go fast haha. So out they came.. Blasted the rear hubs as well and painted them Black.
check out how we got the axles out
Bj doing his thing..


Custom spray cans ordered from my local paint shop. AV auto-paint.. really nice people. there were a few different shades...but in the end. I picked "Volkswagon gold" as it was dark enough..and the flake in it was brilliant!

 

rear suspension painted as well...
Bj let me use his press to push my studs out.. and then back in.

also pushed the rear wheel bearings into place.. being careful to support the outermost casting.. at 60 something a pop.. I was obsessively careful

I had to get some new tires this morning on my dd.. so I took the rear hubs with me and my friend at the tire shop snapped the bearing clips into place for me.
ooops forgot to take a pic of the clips installed.. hah.. oh well..how about another pic just because

 

god damn thats beautiful

 

Before blasting them..these things were absolutely filthy. Just seeing the process of them go from looking like dog S*** to looking nice, keeps me inspired!
check it out..
first

second

all clean

painted

ARP extended studs pressed in


and one more pic of my sandblasting... I've come to enjoy it.. you just get into a rythme...like the car enthusiasts happy place haha. I spent hours doing my whole suspension... But the end results were definitely worth it!