This will be my build thread I suppose. I have been wanting this car ever since I met the guy I got it from, since 2008. It has been a rough, emotional road just to finally get the car. Financial ups and downs, was full on sleeping in bushes homeless, college, life, etc. Life has come together for me now, in only a way I can thank God for. And even now, I know the long road to ruin is just starting, but I am hopeful and excited.

I ended up trading mine and my girlfriends 2000 Mercedes ML430 to my friend for his FD. Its a 93 R1 in Brilliant Black, and has seen better days at this point. He ended up getting hit when a Honda ran a red light, and it totaled the car. He bought it back, had it fixed right, etc. But never quite got it back on the road. He spent gobs of money on the engine build, and he and I both suspect a solid 400hp at the crank. Non seq twins, ALL reliability mods, power fc, pretty healthy street port,on and on and on.





But I did say he never quite got her back on the road.

The car has been sitting at his parents house for the better part of ten (10) years! Less than 2000 miles on that fresh fresh engine and its just been sitting. He started it up every so often, and put fuel treatment stuff in the tank. But even still. Ten. Years.

And to my extreme surprise, with a jump, it started right up and purred like a kitten....with a chainsaw.




He drove it up onto the trailer and we tied her down for the several hour long trip to her new home.




Driving for 3 hours or more at 65mph is maddening by the way. And people enter the freeway SO slowly!

Anyway, I got her home, and started unpacking all the extra parts she came with.




And then it felt like I hit a wall. Already, just like that, I became unsure of what to do. The car needs a lot to be road legal again. A lot of dmv paperwork and smog, brake and light inspection. Needs to have some electrical things addressed, as he says the car hits fuel cut WOT. There were literal rats living in the rats nest. Apparently there was only very minor damage. They chewed some wires under the UIM. Hoping that will be an obvious fix. Needs wider front fenders, as the Fikse FM5 wheels with 245/40/17 tires rub a bit. Stock fenders appear to have been rolled a bit already. Needs new front bumper, headlights, fog lights. Needs a battery. Needs a few random interior pieces, but they very well could just be in a box somewhere. Needs paint. Wheels needs to be scrubbed. A lot of tlc.

But thats ok.

So, I figured it would be a good place to start. With the TLC. To find out what I'm really working with.

















After cleaning her inside and out, it felt and looked as though I had done.....mostly nothing haha. But that's ok.

Started to pull out all the wiring from what appeared to have been remnants of a truly epic stereo. I was very careful, as it was just a jumbled mass, and I didn't know what was what, especially once it went into the dash. But I, with the help of a friend, got it out. He did the tough under dash bits.




And in this picture, yiu can maube get an idea of the amount of stereo wires from the car.




And then I had to go to work. So here I sit, in my car for 12 hours securing a gas station haha.


And I still have no idea where to really start.

 

cool story. So how bad was the damage when he got hit by the honda? What are your plans with the build?

 

It slightly tweaked the frame on the front driver side fender. He had it all laser straightened and such. Going through the car the last day or so, I cant see any signs of damage whatsoever.

My plans for the car?

Overnight some parts from Japan, so I can decimate all! Haha

Just a good looking, fairly fast street car.

 

Started tearing into things. Trying to find the chewed wires the previous owner was sure existed, due to rats moving into the engine bay.





Took a friend of mine and I several hours, combed the engine bay pretty well, didnt find anything.

Until I decided to vacuum up some leaves up against the passenger sidle firewall, about where the harness goes through the firewall.





This goes to the Greddy Profec. Could be whats causing the supposed fuel cut the PO said he experienced, after the car sat for a while.

Unfortunately, after contacting him, he said boost was being controlled by the PFC and a manual boost valve.

So back to square one.

Then it hit me, right as I posted another thread, specifically about the problem the PO described. I couldnt find anything wrong. So...what if...since the car has been sitting for ten years...what ifbthe problem is just bad gas? He said he put a chemical preserver in the tank, but thats still a damn long time.

Then people started chiming in on the other thread, and said to check the fuel, secondary injectors, etc.

So today I drained the fuel tank.

It was pretty clean in there. Virtually no corrosion. But that doesnt say anything for the gas!

What a smell!!!

I popped the sending unit/pump out of the tank, and drained via the plug on the bottom. Did it in my driveway, obviously outside. Very well ventilated. But the smell was so strong I nearly blacked out, as did a friend of mine. And we were both wearing breather masks. It was out of this world....pretty sure I got high... certainly got an epic headache.

Now I'm trying to decide what to do...

I feel I certainly need to upgrade the fuel system. Pump, filter, injectors... but since I dont have power goals of 9000000 horzpowrz, I dont want to make life difficult. I dont want to have injectors that require a top feed fuel rail. I dont want a pita fuel pump installation. I dont want a fuel filter that will turn to goo.


So what is the internets thoughts/opinions?

Looking for 400-450 flywheel hp I guess... car is supposedly around 400 right now... just want a fuel system that will provide a bit of a safety net.

 

Ordered a modified primary rail with 850 primaries and 1200cc secondaries. Aeromotive 340 fuel pump and 10 micron Filter. A case of idemitsu engine oil and a case of their premix. Got a set of ngk 9's and wires. They might all show up tomorrow actually. Going to relocate the fuel filter to the rear subframe.

Then I put her together and buy a battery. See if the R1 lives...

 

Been working a ton. Like... just so much. But I got around to doing some stuff on the car.





Got the aeromotive pump installed, rewired it with the beefier wires it comes with. Hopefully it performs well...it gets rave reviews across the internet lol.

I tackled the fuel filter. I read many threads on that job, and I must say that I was very intimidated. But I guess after owning and working on ( very very often) a turbo mr2, the fd so far has been an absolute cake walk....knock on wood. Its not too bad if you lay with your head facing the front of the car and the diff at about your chest. Can really get boths hands on it... I also cheated and used VERY long curved needle nose pliers for the hose clamps haha.





My girlfriend who is 46 (I'm 27) even crawled under the car and lent a hand.






Tomorrow I tackled the injectors... the UIM is already off, so hopefully it is smooth sailing for that job.

Then its oil change, with Idemitsu 20w50, and a red top optima, and new belts. She if she will start....

Exciting.






Calling it a night for now.

Stuff like this is so much nicer when you have a couple buddies over to laugh and talk **** with...but I missed a very good friend coming by today, whom I haven't seen in a while... miss that guy.

 

Good deal!

A project like this is just something you have to take slowly, one bite at a time. It's intimidating, but you just slowly work on it and chip away. Before you know it you've got something.

Always makes me happy to see an FD get saved and not just left to rust into nothing or junked.

Personally, I'd get the car starting, running, and driving right first. Then start worrying about cosmetics. No sense spending money on paint and bodywork for a car that doesn't run.

If you're staying with the twins, your fuel system is kind of overkill. If you're thinking of going single turbo down the road, you'll have some head room. I will say that 850cc primaries can be a bitch to get a good idle out of. I have 550 primaries and 1300cc secondaries, that's plenty of fuel for the twins.

The wiring for the Profec, I think you can get just the harness from Greddy. Also, some times people have parts of the systems for sale, just keep an eye out.

As far as the boost cut the previous owner was having, I wouldn't worry about that too much. You got a lot of other bridges to cross before you get to worrying about too much boost.

If you haven't done so, I'd change ALL the fluids in the car - coolant, oil, brake fluid, gearbox, and diff. If the gas was that nasty, imagine how all the other stuff is.

Dale

 

Thanks man. I keep telling myself I got a good deal but really missing the second running car right now haha.

The car actually does run and drive and such, I just took it slightly apart to try and address the issues he described, and figured since I need to do an EXTREME tune up, I might as well use quality parts. I do plan on going single sooner vs. later, hence the fuel system, but am more interested in ironing everything out right now. I have been really focused on getting mechanical things straightened out, but I have been given the opportunity to purchase some cosmetic things for very cheap, which the car does need, like a front bumper, and a driver's side headlight, you know?

I will be changing the diff, brake fluid, clutch and trans as well, but am kind of iffy on the coolant, and here's why-

He treated the cooling system to completely void it of any water, and then filled it with Evan's npg+, and that stuff is good for...forever, from what I understand. And is really rather pricey. I would hate to drain all the money out of the system for no real reason...

 

Indtalled the injectors this weekend and changed the fuel filter. Was actually pretty easy haha. I was objective going in, as I had read many horror stories about how difficult those jobs can be. But.... when you have a girlfriend with small hands, the hard parts get a lot easier!






Honestly, the injectors were a little tricky. Some coolant hoses and such were a little in the way. But got it done. Installed a modified primary rail with 850's and have fresh 1200 secondaries.





Thats a picture of my friend getting upset with some of the things that were in the way haha.

So... aeromotive 340 stealth pump, new fuel filter, larger injectors... should be good to go!

This weekend I will be picking up a plateless 99spec front bumper with lip, changing the oil-twice- once to mostly just...rinse it out, using valvoline vr1 20w50, then will change to Idemitsu 20w50. Will pick up a red top optima, and start her up!

 

Today was a grand day. The R1 coughed into life!! Did an oil change and put some fresh gas in her, and she was very eager to start. I will REALLY to sort out the previous owners.... dodgy terminal connections... they are pretty scary... couple of strands of house wires on the positive side... But all the parts stores were closed, and it had slipped my mind to be honest. So I made do with what was there. I will probably fix them tomorrow. Get my soldering gun out, and some heavy duty length of cable, and shrink wrap the whole thing...

However.... the idle.

The idle is insane.

It hovers about 1100 rpm, and just POURS fuel out in the form of very heavy smoke lol. 850 primary injectors for ya I guess. Need to dial that in at least a little tomorrow...

 

Long day trying to figure out PFC tuning for 850cc primary injectors. Was a bit of a learning curve, but there is ton of good info on this forum. Got a semi decent idle....about 1100 or so, give or take. Got good injector duty cycle, timing is ok... nothing is by any means stellar, and it still belches smoke because its pig rich haha. But I drove it around the block at least.

 

Good find man! Always glad to see a car brought back to life rather than just left to rot. Your gf is a trooper for getting down and dirty! Take your time with it and it will surely be worth it in the end.

 

Looks like she's getting there though! Amazing find! I always get jealous when I see people pick up FDs for next to nothing and in a year they're a gorgeous, well built car.

I'm with Dale on the 550cc primary injectors. I stuck with them because I wanted a nice clean idle out of the car but I slapped in 1300cc secondary injectors to run the BNR's.

You have a lot of work ahead of you but you seem to know what you're doing; which is comforting that you're not going to destroy this car even further.

 

i dont think you want this car anymore, you need to sell it to me

 

If the price is right, sure!

Got front bumper on, mostly... headlights are in as well, but only have picture of bumper currently.

Was going to gonwith 99spec plateless, but the stock one just looks so very right in my eyes...

 

I went with 850 primaries because from the reading I have been doing.....which is quite a lot, I started seeing where people were blowing their engines during the transition from primary to secondary injectors, as the 550 injectors can really only do so much, and I didnt feel like bother with a fpr...

I now may end up with one anyway lol, but installing the primary rail was such a bugger that I don't see me taking it off.

The 850s can certainly be tuned, it just takes time.

 

Dont' know where you've been seeing people blowing motors with the transition, tons of people (myself included) run 550/1300's with zero problems.

Dale

 

It wasn't a bunch of people, really just a few... but I really don't care to leave anuthing to chance. It being harder to tune is of literally zero concern to me.

 

I'm running 550/2000's with zero issues.

 

That's cool man.

I am running 850/1200s. Because it is what I feel comfortable running.