never did like those rear fenders, those are pettit fenders? i think they look better riveted on.. but when a tire explodes and shrapnel and tire track goes flying everywhere.. sucks when it kills the fiberglass. but i agree with what ur saying, being able to take them off and jus put other ones one makes mroe sense.

So I have read this build thread about 4 times already. Just going through it and picking up on different things each time, and getting ideas for my car. Anyways, just wanted to let you know, I'm making this my signature:

I have a hard time explaining to my wife my obsession with my car, and she just doesn't get it. This explains it perfectly. Good luck with the rest of your build, I'll be back for sure!

yeah, andy has the pettite flares. I'm not a big fan of them but on his car they just look right.

Thanks so much!, its always cool to know that people like and understand what i'm trying to accomplish:icon_tup:

Not much of an update.. besides the fact that I got the body harness free and ready for relocation. My engine harness is done and i'll take pics of that tonight.

http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...818_190904.jpg

I've decided to share what body parts i'll be going with for asthetics

1. Pan-speed GT300 Carbon or Shine Feed Carbon hood
2. Shineauto Feed Front wide fenders
3. Origin-lab rear Over-fenders
4. JP/Visage side skirts
5. Stock rear bumper W/shineauto Carbon feed Diffusor
6. Craft Square mirrors.
7. feed roof/hatch spoiler

Nice choices. I love the Pan-speed hood.

How do you feel about the Feed front fenders having the flat edge on the fender? That's the part I dislike about most wide fenders (pans-peed flares as well). It won't match the origin rear flares, as they are rounded.

^Thats exactly what I hate most about 99% of body pieces!!! It disrupts the flow of the natural lines of the car. I'll be doing some work on the fenders to smooth those flat edges out.

Nice, that's what keeps me away from the FEED stuff, I might go that route once I see how yours turn out.

i think the craft square mirrors disrupts how the FD flows(course doesnt matter to me they still look good) i have to get a rear diffuser also. u going with a street or pro diffuser?(or do u mean the lil diffusers that are like the feed sides?)

Awesome build man, very meticulous and well thought out. Sub'd for sure...

and to answer this question
seam welding has been shown to add no more rigidity to a chassis than spot (or stitch) welding. The negatives to seam welding are the added weight (sometimes as much as 40-50lbs) as well as the possibility of warping the chassis if you run any single bead too long.

no way man haha.. you may be talking about one of the types of mirrors they make. one for the actual door mount to be used in the stock location and the other ones that bolt to the plastic jig in the corner of the window. The corner mounted ones are the ones I have. :icon_tup: I can't get over how terrible the stock alien head mirrors look :blush:

Also, I already have a street diffusor :nod:

Thanks much!

Finally got pics of my Wiring Harness completed..
Before
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...810_182743.jpg
in transition
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...811_092755.jpg
Complete
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...828_225904.jpg

Overall I was really lucky that the harness was still pliable and not too "CRISPY." I was able to completely strip it down to wires and connectors and delete everything that wasn't hooked up. For those of you who didn't know this car was already single turbo. So pretty much I completely eliminated anything that wasn't hooked up and cleaned up everything that was. I got rid of a lot of wires and connectors. I am pretty happy with the end product...but I really don't want to go through all that trouble again. So if for some reason this harness doesnt end up working I've already decided that i'll be purchasing a mil-spec custom harness from a member here on the forum. For anyone who does this... I really feel like wiring has put a damper on my build. I have looked forward to doing everything else. And i'm glad i'm done with this part of the build. Next is the relocation and clean-up of the body harness and also cleaning up and relocating engine bay fuses and relays into the drivers side bin.

Here are a couple small tid-bits of work i've done lately as well.
alt covers before sand blast
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...829_155012.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...829_155036.jpg
After
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...829_173028.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...829_173004.jpg
and Power steering Bracket
before
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...829_155018.jpg
after
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...829_173040.jpg

I forgot to push the bearing out of the front alt case.. so i'll have to take care of that before I assemble it:icon_tup:

how did u take the core out of the alternator? once you take the front cover off, the piece with the axle/shaft.... last time it just came out and now its giving some resistances so im getting a bit nervous..

B enny hit me up on FB on anything you need to know about taking alt apart done it too many times lol. mannykiller your shit is looking prime dude keep up the good work!

I really admire this thread.

Thanks man!

I think your rear fenders are AWESOME right now, but I guess it's obvious I would love them haha. I do understand your reasoning though. For the record though, the stock rear fenders are VERY sturdy, even when stretched. The only thing I worry about is getting hit there and having to redo it. Have you thought about using riv-nuts to attach them instead of just regular rivets? It will make removal and install much easier I think.

Also, are you planning on powder coating the alternator housing? If so, you'll need to mask off a couple parts on the inside of the rear housing, otherwise it won't charge. It took me a while to figure out why mine wasn't working haha.

Also, that has to be the cleanest tranny bell housing I've ever seen lol.

Great work all around! Can't wait to see it when it's finished! I always liked the way it was already too though haha.

Thanks Gordon! ...but yea this was by far the most tedius and time consuming wiring job i've ever done. I've actually never done anything of this calibur, and I still have to do the body harness:(. But at least I know EVERYTHING there is to know about how my car is sitting and i have a much better understanding of how the car is set up electrically etc. And yes.. Roan does AMAZING stuff. I might be selling my harness just for the sake of having one of his pieces of art:icon_tup:... Who say's art has to be done with a paint-brush or pencil..?!!

there should be 3 screws holding the core in.. 1 of them is on the side and is a little tricky to get to. Just be careful and take your time. after those 3 are removed it should just pop out. ....but just give it a little "tap tap tappy" <--(happy gilmore quote). It should really just take a little bit to get the shaft out.

You ruined my surprise haha.. Yes sir! i'll be using Riv-nuts to attach them :icon_tup:
I won't be powdercoating the alternator housing just because after blasting them.. i love the way bare alum looks. But I do want to protect it so it doesn't get all gritty and grimy again. So i just picked up some 2000 Degree alum engine enamel and sprayed them. I'll take some pics soon.


You know it's funny how the car sits right now... because there is still all sorts of little things to do, that I don't even need copious amounts of money to complete. I keep thinking "oh I need money for this and this, so I can get this done." Which is true... but there are lots of things that give me just as much satisfaction as a nice shiny new part. Such as being able to touch the underbelly of my car with a clean hand and know that it won't have soot/grease and oil all over it after. I know it won't stay ooober clean.. but I'll never let it get to how it was when I purchased the car. I think man hours in cleaning have made this build pretty unique.

My primary objective is the following:

I have pretty much followed howard colemans biblical like threads as my build templates..just with my own twists.:icon_tup:

By the time the car is ready to be started.. I want to make sure there are no little gremlins or tiny little things that we all say "we've been meaning to fix," on our cars for so long...but never get to.

To get the car to where if something breaks.. I can simply replace it without worrying about something else breaking due to the first failure.

Which brings me to something I forgot.. I'll be seeking out a Bonzai Diff Brace to to help reinfoce my pumpkin. I'm not the easiest on my car when I'm out on the track.. and I really push things so I'm hoping the car will be able to withstand the punishement :icon_tup:

not much of an update.. just spent yesterday cleaning my garage.. and putting my alternator and power steering back together.

I used a zip tie to get the bearing back into the hole for the alternator. It only took 4-5 tries and then it just slipped into place.. I kept light pressure on it and didnt let it slip into the hole all the way as it would pinch the zip tie and prevent it from being pulled out. Then just pulled it out and the alternator core dropped right in:icon_tup:
power steering:
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...901_164245.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...901_170124.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...901_170050.jpg
Alternator
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...901_162907.jpg
It's always nice to have clean motor parts. I hate knowing I have to put gloves on to handle anything. Its cool to just be able to pick up the altnernator and not have greasy hands and fingers.
After a lot of debate.. I decided I'm going to be keeping my motor pretty stock looking as far as paint/powder coat. Although some paint schemes are cool for some.. Ive decided to keep it at a min. Plus I loved brusghed aluminum

they...loook...amazing...... are you just sandblasting them? what abrasive is youre arsenal? ive been watching american restorations and really wanna try out that "charcoal" they started using...

hes using glass beads to blast

^thanks evan! yea glass beads for the blasting. Then i've painted them with High Temp Engine Enamel.

Not much of an update.. Just spending some time gathering some cash for some larger expenses in the build. Also, getting closer to finishing my Body harness. Such a pain in the ass...but should be worth it in the end.

Since one of my rear links was bent... I purchased a low mileage set from jaime(aka battlecat). The pillow balls looked and felt like they were in great condition so I didn't bother pressing them out and replacing them with my super pro bushings. Instead.... I masked the pillows off and blasted them to make them nice and clean. Paint to follow.
Before blasting:
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...909_163452.jpg
After:....sorry for the not so sharp pics
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...909_164218.jpg

your attention to detail has got me thinking of a ton of things i want to do to my FD, and now since i picked up a bone stock one i wont have to go through withdraws of not driving an FD while i complete some projects lol.

woooohhoooooo!!!!!!!!