Carnage from dragging LR brake and what the used calipers and new rear rotors looked like after painting. No pics of the front rotors because I was able to order them pre-coated.

 

I also got this spoiler in a trade and picked up a hatch from a '95 R2 that has no glass. The R2 hatch has a spoiler but I'll need to put my glass in it so I'll probably just store it until i get the car painted. Since my hatch is rusty I might see how this wing looks on the car

 

A few months have passed and they have been busy. I really haven't done much with the car until recently due to family matters that required extra attention.

I left off talking about the EMS change, I received all my parts and stuffed them away- the Elite 1500, custom loom, CAN 02, TC-2, all the sensors, the SBG AI kit, and the additional components needed to map the AI. I was planning on installing the parts but we started a large project to regrade our yard and a car popped up that I began to eye, it was a total loss '93 base- SSM on black. I ended up buying the car for a few parts and am parting out the rest- a couple pics are below; unfortunately profits this time are going back into my home projects and not the FD.



The most recent change to my car occurred last night, I installed some Apexi N1 EXV coilovers I bought from Fritz and set them too low so I'll need to revisit and raise the car. The feel so great compared to the old Koni Sport strut/PFS spring combo I had and the front left strut or mount had failed, it was a good inch shorter than the front right assembly. I truly am surprised with the difference in feel, the more aggressive spring rates and damping are not as harsh as I anticipated. The car is very smooth now but it's at the detriment of my sanity, the bad pillowball clunking is now more pronounced which I think is due to the lack of a rubber top mount. Other things I did yesterday were changing the oil and replacing the spark plugs, the plug job led to more stress. Both front rotor plugs had rust around/on the electrodes, when it has rained water has been running down the front plug wires and been trapped in the boots because I don't have drip loops. I went ahead and installed my new plugs and cleaned the wire terminals the best I could, I had to drive the car today and figured it would hold up for one more drive. I ordered new plug wires this morning and I will used some industrial heatshrink with glue to seal the terminal boots this time around.



This car and stupid problems go hand in hand for me. I also look at the more complicated things as the cause of my problems and they typically end up being so simple. My thought process has been " Boost issue? It must be the solenoid or something under the hood, not the re-pinned connector" and after chasing the problem halfheartedly for months it was an easy fix at the repinned connector. the next one "The Power FC sucks and I don't like the way the car drives with it" my solution- Spend around $5k + on a new EMS. The plugs probably contributed to the issue but if the new EMS does not meet my expectations and is similar to the PFC I'll feel like an idiot. It would be nice to be right all the time...

Some other misc stuff that I forget where it falls:

• I bought an RX-8 4.44 rear diff for a donor ring and pinion and cover. I've called a few shops regarding assembly and have gotten many different prices, I haven't pulled the trigger with anyone yet but hope to have this done and installed before the new tune.
• I bought some of the door sills from the guy in Taiwan. I guess they were a good price but I'm not very impressed.
• If budget holds up I'll probably shoot for 500whp with the next tune
• I installed the '93 adjustable rear strut bar on my car
• The spare hatch I got is pretty nice.
• My part of of the '93 is underway and going well. PM me if you need any parts.

 

Great build. Following with interest as we have a very similar setup, including family/time/budget limitations. Wish I had had IRP do my rebuild/tune. Check out my build sometime. Should've taken you up on your ECU setup offer last year.

 

Well, the ECU and harness are still available :P , I have not installed the new EMS yet.

I'll check your build out. I really hope to have this all adjusted and tuned up by next week for driving to work but I'm losing hope as I haven't received a shipping notification for my plug wires yet.

 

This thread is due for an update. I'm terrible with updates and so much has changed since my last one. I've mostly been collecting parts and doing cosmetic work on the car, due to home projects and kids keeping me busy, I also was delayed because I parted out two more cars, but hey- who cares, everyone's busy. I still haven't installed the new EMS and meth kit but am hoping to finally do it over the winter. I'll just throw up a list of what's to come and some pictures to catch up, I finally made a flickr account so hopefully update swill be easier.

Things I have ready:

• Haltech Elite 1500 with new harness and AI kit plus a bunch of sensors
• 4.44 rear end with a 1.5 way unit and poly mounts
• Full sets of front and rear control arms with new poly bushings, pillow *****. Front controls arms are all new parts and I install new OEM bushings in the lower rear arms.
• J-Auto Trailing arms and toe links
• ST front and rear sway bars, J-auto front end links
• Widefoot front sway bar mounts
• JP3 Short throw and transmission with late model shifter spindle and 5th synchro
• Exedy Competition twin disc clutch
• Garage Alpha fuel baffle
• IRP 450lph pump mount and pump
• IRP Haltech elite mount
• SBG dual oil cooler kit
• R1 seats and Black leather seats
• All new outer weather strips/seals (for after paint)
• Work Meister M1's with new RE-71R tires
• Xcessive LIM with JP3 support and JP3 nut blocker for while the car is apart
• JP3 fan relay relocation bracket
• Body parts

I still need to pick up a new secondary rails and 4x ID 1300CC injectors to run. I plan to max out the fuel setup with the 450lph pump and call it a day - we will run fuel pressure engine protection for the tune and I hope to hit low 500's.

The car is currently with Chris "attackFD3S" on instagram and his friend who does bodywork. They are doing the rear clearancing and widebody install along with dent repair and paint prep. My chassis ended up being ate up with 90's repairs so instead of swapping chassis I just went widebody. I'm planning on getting it back from them in primer but things could change and it could see paint sooner than later, I would like to roof swap to a slick top but obtaining a panel has been difficult- time will tell.

Here are some pics:

 

Nice update! Shes getting some sweet parts!

 

It's enough to keep me busy for a while! I'm most excited for paint though, I may put some other things on hold to make it happen sooner.

 

Latest photos don't seem to be showing up

 

Two years have passed, somewhat of a necrobump but I'm still delivering.



The car is still not done but there have been several changes and some color is finally on it! Unfortunately, for the purists, stage 0 did not return. The car is actually wider now, with different fenders, wheels, and a whole lot more. It's got more of a haunchy look and the wing definitely fits better, the wheel setup is more aggressive with squared 295 tires 18x11's. The front bumper look was completed with a racebred splitter which I find pleasing as well.



All of the shine auto parts widebody parts were abandoned and replaced with Chargespeed parts which ended up having a better fit and finish for not much more money. The rears are 50MM and the fronts are 20MM but actually measure closer to 27MM and are wider than the shine fenders.





The side profile is money.





And the almost final look, just missing the wing and roof swap. I did have carbon Seibon DS hood which is basically a copy of the hood D-Max made for the FD but decided not to use it. It killed the front lines of the car and cheapened the look. Don't mind the brake cooling hose tucked back, the side vents on the front bumper are all used. The bottom ones on each side have brake cooling ducts fitted around them and the top two holes on each side will be ducted to the oil coolers. Revisiting front fit, I put a few hours into getting the panel gaps and headlight covers as tight as I could and was happy with the result.







Finding a painter was a huge pain, painful enough that if I don't have a budget of $20k I doubt I'll ever pursue something like this again. I thought I had things straightened out twice and ended up bailing on both those plans. Fortunately, through talking with other enthusiasts, I found a small business 3 hours away and hit it off with the owner very well. He said he needed a few weeks before he could take the car in and called me halfway through that time and told me to drop it off on June 3rd with a turnaround time of 5-6 weeks. I got busy stripping the car the rest of the way down and doing some more fit work, bought a new roof skin (finally in stock) and then my best friend who lives in NC drove up to hang for the weekend and make the trip to drop off with me.

 

continued...















Sad looking, ready to go on the trailer.





We made the trip down and dropped it off, no pics because the turnaround was quick. I left with a really good feeling about things and my friend liked the guy I picked as well. Over the next few weeks I didn't get any progress updates. I reached out and spoke with the painter for about an hour, he moved his business into a bigger shop and entered a period of trials in his home life. I told him everything was good and that I just wanted to be able to manage expectations. After all, most of us who build cars seem to experience long delays. I expected things to take a few more weeks and moved on with my life. In fact, I moved on so hard I moved myself into an overnight stay at a hospital.







I usually don't ride my ATV with a full face helmet but threw one on because I was planning to ride in the woods. I took a rip down the dammed side of my father's pond at WOT and then locked the front brakes up, shifted load, and positioned myself to engage in a drift through the banked dirt patch on the far side. Going much faster than I ever had before I overshot the dirt patch and thought "I'm about to ride into the pond" at that time I don't clearly remember what happened. I remember thinking to myself "do I ride in or try to brake", anyway, right after that though the quad caught edge on the grass and flipped. It shot left and rolled over one full rotation and then rested on it's side and I flew right and plowed into the ground hard.



I blacked out for a moment and then got up thinking "Everyone is going to come over here, I need to pick up my handgun that flew out". I checked myself over, amazed that nothing felt broken, and then leaned down to pick up the pistol. At that time I realized my arm didn't work right and felt intense pain and began to black out. My vision dimmed out just as my friend pulled up and grabbed me to keep me from falling over and I was on the brink of consciousness, slurring my speech. I finally got out the word "water" and was brought some water to drink. Amazingly, I quickly became lucid. After that I got a ride in to the ER and found that my collar bone was broken in 5 pieces and I had 3 broken ribs.



Aftermath of the helmet and bent AT steering rack.







I had pretty much blown my Summer due to the accident and stopped worrying about the car. Surgery was scheduled for about two weeks after the crash and I've got a reinforced collar bone now.





I've been in the recovery period since and should finally be cleared for PT and normal use next week. Timing has worked out with the car and I've stayed in touch with the painter, things have been good. The roof swap was completed a couple weeks ago (which he subbed out) and he took the car back to his shop last week. At 4:54 a.m. yesterday I was texted a video and was thrilled! The color I picked was finally on parts of the car and it turned out better than expected which was refreshing. My interest in the car has received a new life-blood and I'm looking forward to getting it back within the next month.



After all that, finally, the color reveal (if the video doesn't work click on it to follow the link:






I'm looking forward to getting back on this project! I need to call today to see if I can buy an OE windshield without selling a kidney.



Here are a couple reels from the shop's IG page.

 

The rear quarter molding is looking good, as far as I can tell its nice and smooth for being fiberglass. He's got a few more areas around the perimeter that need attention but I like it.

 

Some color out of direct light, this is a good look at how this color can look subtle.

 

First off, I'm sorry to hear about that accident but SUPER glad you came through OK and are on the mend!

I'm not a fan of wide body kits but GOOD LORD that looks good. VERY smooth and subtle. One of those where you have to do a double-take to figure out what looks different about the car.

Do you have an ETA for the car being back home where you can start putting Humpty Dumpty back together?

Dale

 

A few more pictures came in prior to the weekend. These were after the flow coat of clear dried, cut and buff to follow. He also just signed a lease on a shop with a paint booth so he will be painting the chassis and doing any touchups in there. I've got some logistics to figure out but I'll probably head down to meet him to do the final exterior assembly and stay overnight so he can get some marketing photo's before I leave with the car.

 

Thanks Dale! I'm cleared for 100% use but I still have discomfort at the incision site on a regular basis, I've accepted it will serve as a reminder to "take it easy" for the rest of my life.

The body kit is looking good and I'm glad I changed kit choice to the Chargespeed parts with a stock hood, the front bumper will be the tell it has a body kit. As far as the timeline goes I'm thinking it will be ready for pickup around Thanksgiving but I'm not pushing it.

 

When I had my hips replaced, the incisions were the last things to stop reminding me. Each one took about 6 months before being totally pain-free. Hopefully yours will do the same.

 

Thanks for sharing, I'm hopeful my experience will be similar. This was my first time ever having invasive surgery like that.

 

Taking it easy is for wimps.

The purple is sick BTW

 

:P I'll be a wimp for a year or two then!
I'm extremely happy with the color, it really blew me away.

 

Collar bone fracture is a bitch, i had a bad accident back in the late 90s and the collar bone still hurts every time there’s weather change or high humidity.
i wish you a speedy recovery

i am a big fan of the molded quarter panels when they are blended in. Very nice work

also, great color choice. It seems to be similar to the midnight purple.. Very nice!

 

that paint looks fantastic. Seems like he's got some good body and paint skillz.

 

Thanks. He started in 2019 and has really scaled things up. This has taken a while but its been a good experience for both of us.