After stepping out of the rotary game for roughly a decade, I decided to get back into it. I had another FD with an LS2, but honestly, I didn't feel like I was in an FD, and I missed that. Fast forward, I start hunting for a car and come across one which I felt was reasonable.

This was a 1994 Chaste White PEP, optioned without a wing and had a total of 2 previous owners. Stacks of paperwork and a 1 year warranty on the motor by APU.

The car already had a laundry list of things I wanted to do, but it had a solid foundation:

-Fresh Rebuild
-Turblown 8374
-Coilovers
-1994
-Black Interior
-SBG Ignition
-Working A/C

Anyway, after arrival I started to tinker around with it to see how it was doing. Plugs needed replacing and after that I realized the car was running super rich. This wasn't a huge issue as it's hard to tune for various climates if the ECU can't adequately compensate, so I figured a retune was necessary upon purchase.

I ended up replacing the plugs and driving it on a warm morning (around 93F) and a few miles from home, I was on the freeway and saw the coolant temp hit 101F. It didn't climb beyond that, but I turned around and went home. At this time, I figured I might as well install my Greddy V-mount kit that I had been sitting on.

This is where I fell down the rabbit hole.....

The exterior paint was in pretty damn fine condition. A few dents on the fenders which could be removed from PDR, but it looked great. However, the engine bay was another story. It looked like things had been in and out of that bay dozens of times over the history of the car, it was filthy and no amount of cleaning would save it. The paint was missing, minor surface rust in various places, it was enough to make me start yanking things out right after I saw it all.

Here's where we're at with the body:

-Removed sunroof
-Replaced with OEM slick top and all appropriate supports
-Purchased spare hatch with glass
-OEM 99 Rear wing on spare hatch
-Repainted slick top rear hatch
-OEM 99 Front
-Resprayed car OEM 99 Pure White
-Let Goodfellas talk me into some wheels (not pictured)
-Went back and shaved the rear antenna

Right now we're reassembling the bay with the main harness and I'll need to mock up the Greddy A/C condenser mounts temporarily so I can have custom A/C lines made, rather than bending the OEM stuff - which is fine - but I just want it to look proper.

The engine is sitting on a stand at my house and is undergoing a bunch of changes.

-High output alternator
-Custom LMS EFI harness
-Banzai Racing Mounts
-Banzai Racing Pulley Set
-Excessive LIM
-CJ Fuel Rails (6 injectors)
-New Fragola fittings/lines
-Radium FPD
-New OEM A/C Compressor
-Overhauled OEM P/S Pump
-FFE Hall Effect Trigger Kit with 36-1 Wheel
-Greddy V-mount as previously mentioned

Other stuff to include:

-SBG HID Headlight Kit
-CJ Dual fuel pump kit
-Flex fuel setup
-Injector Dynamics Fuel Filter
-Chip Motorsports custom master cylinder

On the list or up for debate:

-Feed Hood
-99 sides or Feed sides
-BBK

I'll post them as I make progress. Hope to have this guy up and running sometime in September/October. At this point it's just time and I'm running short on it these days!

 

You're welcome for getting you back into the FD

 

Actually, a local friend bought a CYM FD that was posted here. That was what did it.

 

Wow, nice looking car! The hardtop is icing on the cake. Congrats!

 

New paint looks great! and x2 on that hardtop swap...


Curious as to what skirts you go with as im a sucker for the FEEDs

 

Have a set of OEM, but it'll likely be FEED.

 

What wheels and tires are you planning to run?

 

fikse's on order - tires up in the air

 

Nicely done. I like the Fikse 701s in 17" on the FD personally. I feel like it fits the car well.
I run Federal 595s on my 7 in a 275/35-18 R 255/35-18 F and love them for the price. $92 shipped, but for the money your spending on a set of forged Fikse im sure your not even considering cheap tires lol

 

Federal 595S are terrible tires that don't belong on a sports car like an FD.

On a budget I would and have used the Federal 595RS-R as it costs about the same as the 595S and has damn good performance (though not great quality).

 

welcome back....

 

Let me rephrase... Im running 595RS-R tires. When I say 595s im meaning plural not the SS595. But yet again "for the price" I love these tires. Under a $100 a crack compared to an R888 or NT01 at $250 so it makes me happy

 

 

Beautiful car Darren! & Welcome back

 

What alternator did you go with?

 

I've run the 595RSR in the past, decent tire until it gets real hot, then it's a bit sketch. Used to track with them on an M3 I had years back.

Up in the air on tires, I do like the Michelin PSS, but there are tons of options. I'll be using the current TE37 wheels for a track setup with a much stickier tire.

Not sure? I'll see what the stamping says. I picked it up from another member.

Thanks! Too bad it wasn't your old car, looking back on things now it would have cost me less!!! LOL

Thanks Elliot, hoping to make it to SS this year. Will you be there?

 

Love the hard top addition.

Good luck with it and look forward to some killer track videos

PS White is the new black

 

Looks great, welcome back. The hardtop conversion is one of the most eccentric yet best things I've done to mine.

 

Yes sir! so I hope that you make it down.

 

from the looks of your build... youre probably right
would have been nice if you ended up with the old fd... she needs to be rescued

 

Eager to see more updates, great choice on wheels and I may be able to help on the tires if you'd like..... reach out sometime old chap, I miss all our conversations from back in the day

 

If it can go wrong, it has... but I am moving along and she's almost ready to fire up.

One of my blankets had something on it and it absorbed whatever it had into the clear coat, looks like we'll be repainting a fender and a headlight cover and doing some small work in the bay to get rid of the staining. It won't buff or cut, will either be a wet sand or a repaint.

Dropped the a/c compressor on my radiator, put 3 holes in it. It's been welded/fixed. Banjo bolt for P/S went missing, as did the cable. Banjo bolt for the oil thermostat snapped off, it was some cheap thing, I've replaced that as well. One of the Bosch 044 pumps was dead, I had a Walbro 450 in tank and I used the CJ fuel rig to mock up a dual 450 bracket setup, now the tank has dual 450 pumps... way more fuel than I'll ever need. A bunch of other things along the way that stop me from finishing one thing and forcing me onto the next.

Picked up some Tyco heavy duty latching relays on the advice of Abel Ibarra, also used Prowire Tefzel wire at his request... it's some serious stuff and they ship extremely quickly. Very happy with their product.

Wired in the relays into the bin, which was already cut out for a battery, just put some nutserts in place for both of them, the breaker and the 12v bus bar for misc stuff. I'll need to do more wire cleanup later, but this will do for now.

To Do:

-refill coolant
-tighten alternator and belts
-connect second drive belt
-run input cable from wbo2 gauge to ecu
-check oil thermostat bolt
-wrap excess ecu wires
-wrap downpipe
-connect egt sensors
-make boost controller adapter cable
-wrap boost controller cable with fire sleeve
-load base map onto ecu
-test / configure ecu gauges
-charge a/c
-start car
-leak check
-wire in stereo amp

 

if its just clear... have you tried buffing it out

 

I’ll have my body guy take care of it when he paints the side skirts - I haven’t tried anything that’ll get heat under it

 

I can tell you’re frustrated with the car, you should unload it on me. ;-)