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So this is a new-to-me FD build. I previously had a 1999 S8 FD back in Australia around 2009 and have been itching to get another for the last 10years.
this build will be a “resto-mod” or OEM+ style, atleast from the exterior. Basically building what I would’ve loved to 10y ago, now that I have the means to do it right.
Base car is a 1994 FD w/ 98k miles and a fresh engine rebuild, 2-tone interior. Honestly, it’s a little rough, but I got it for a decent deal and I’ve been looking for ages for this spec: white, black interior and manual.
I figured the rough aspects (carpet, seats, bumper, hood) would all be getting replaced eventually anyway.
My first “stage” plan is just to tidy it up a little and enjoy for a while, I’ll put up an individual post for each thing.
* Fix the cooling system.
* Rebuild shifter.
* Fix drivers door handle/latch.
* Fix alarm / power drain.
* Replace seats, carpet, mats etc.
* Diagnose intermittent headlight motor.
* Bit of rice… can’t help myself.
Then it’s time for a few mods (Ie my shopping list):
* Work meister SP1
* Fortune Auto coil overs
* Garage alpha ti exhaust
* Vinnyfab V-mount
* Turblown cast 7670 IWG kit
* Haltech elite 2500.
* flex fuel supporting mods.
* scoot style carbon hood, painted.
* s8 bumper + carbon splitter
* Feed style rear wing
I’ll likely start with the ecu, exhaust, wheels/tires, coilovers and maybe fuel system. Then do the single conversion next winter.
tldr: the car spurted coolant out straight after being delivered, it freaked me out. The seller was very cool about it, I took it to a mechanic to confirm no combustion products in the coolant & help diagnose before releasing the payment. They confirmed it looked just like leaking fill cap and AST cap.
So I opted to fix it by deleting the AST with the billet fill neck from banzai racing.
All worked out great and took about an hour total. Thanks to @DaleClark for the tips.
So the shifter was super sloppy. Rebuilt it with new bushings, aluminum bushing for the bottom, all new rubber boots, new insulation, oil etc, all from Atkins Rotary.
I also shortened by an inch. Because I thought it sat a little high, but the throw is nice so I didn’t want a “short shifter”. Since the **** was worn out, also opted for a cheap weighted red carbon one to match my new red Bride seats
Siphoned out the oil and replaced. It was super nasty.
I also reinstalled these “performance items” from my old FD
The story behind those is: In my youth, me and my car buddies used to set various 24/7 McDonald’s as waypoints/rally-points during late-night antics back in Perth, Australia… so I collected these happy meal toys in particular, they’ve been in every sports at since. A couple weeks ago I can neither confirm/deny some tipsy eBay purchases of the missing ones from the set….
It seems that after some wear, the door latch mechanism returns a little too far. That means when you try to pen, you’re basically pushing directly at the pivot. Requires far too much force to open, is sticky and eventually snaps the handle.
so I ordered some aluminum door handles and used a pop rivet as a stop on the mechanism, to stop it returning so far. Also tightened up the linkages, greased everything with a little lithium grease and that seemed to do the trick.
Thanks to these guys (and I’m sure others) for figuring it out ahead of me.
Very cool with the daughter picture! My 3 yr old loves the FD, to a point now I have to take her around the block if she catch me coming home in it, which is hard to miss lol.
The rivet should help prolong the life of your handle
My backordered rails finally arrived last week, so over the weekend I got my new Bride AIR seats installed.
The test for them was a 2x 3hr road trips earlier this week, surprisingly they were quite comfortable. I love how much they change the feel of the car, feels so much tighter.
Can you easily use the stock seat belts with them or will you need to go to a harness?
Also how much did they and the rails run?
Dale
Thanks Dale. I'm very happy with them.
Planning to run standard belts for now. i'll likely replace atleast the driver side with new non-airbag belts + retractors (since I dont have an airbag wheel anymore). Will eventually run Takata harnesses for the track as well, but thats a while away.
I had to modify the stock belt receiver slightly (probably has a different name). The bolt to attach to the rails was slightly bigger than the hole in the receiver, so just had to bore that out slightly.
Other than that, just unbolted the belt from the floor, ran it through the outside seat hole, and was good to go.
Price: They were not cheap.... but this is a "no compromises" build, so fk it... seats = $1260ea, rails = $237.50ea.... total w/ Tax + shipping from JP was $3516.
The other catch is due to the supply shortage, the rails took 3mo to build and ship. But I wasn't in a rush.
Finally got around to installing my new exhaust. The stock 30yo one was well and truly knackered!
I opted for the Tanabe catback, to try and keep it reasonably quiet. Already have a car less midpipe w/ a 3” magnaflow muffler and 3” dump/front pipe installed by previous owner.
very happy with it so far, have a 400mi drive next week to get a feel for it.
Also I’ve been working on the audio system. In my previous build I had a pair of RE subs running 2500wrms….. this time I’m trying not to go deaf.
I followed DamonB’s sub box design (need to add link here), but modified it to be slot ported to suit my sub, a JL 10tw1 slim mount sub. Mounted to the box with be a small 4ch Alpine Type-X amp, and I added a Kenwood 7” touchscreen double din head unit.
need to finish off the box, run wiring and install the front splits + deaden the doors.
Here’s what I have so far.
Setup in my last FD… 10Y ago when I was young and (more) stupid :p
* Carpet install,
* new gear + Ebrake boots,
* couple gauges (drakes center pod)
* some surface rust repair
* finished the sound install.
* battery relo into bins.
Sound system is Focal front tweeters that I had leftover from the 993, infinity splits, JL 10tw and an alpine x amp.
for the battery relo, I’ve got a Miata size battery, made a shelf that fits in the bins from a thick cutting board, cut some slots and mounted some strap hooks to the chassis using nutserts. A marine-style battery strap loops around the battery, through the slots in the bins and under to the strap loop mounts on the body.
used the seat belt mount for the ground.
The solution is solid, required minimal cutting of the bins and has a breaker and distribution mounted cleanly in the bins with it. I also was able to do all of the high-current wiring inside the bin, so everything that leaves the bin is fused and on a breaker.
Bloody mission of a job though. But Interior is now done for a while. It’s a super comfortable and nice place to be.
So I cheaped out a little and got some wheels + tires. Decided that I want to prioritize the ECU + single turbo + v-mount, so moved some of the budget from work wheels to that. In the meantime these look decent and should do the job I think
The front Fitment is pretty perfect IMO, but the rears poke a little, so required some rolling. Once the suspension goes in it will be spot on and minimal rubbing right now.
09-06-21, 11:08 PM
Sweet!!
