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Unvieling: 12a-BP Widebody
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Well, here it is. The car went in the shop last Thanksgiving weekend, and I have been at it most every day since then. I thought it would take me 2-3 months to do the restoration, rehab and rebuild. Man was I wrong. :rlaugh: A brief description of the work performed: Unibody stripped down to the chassis. The ONLY things not removed from the car were the wiring harnesses and the dash. Everything else came off the car!!! Body and under carriage stripped bare by sanding or sandblasting. Minimal rust repair needed. Body was epoxy coated and the undercarriage was then coated with truck-bed liner. All seams were caulked prior to undercoat. Epoxy was then followed by a polyurethane primer and single stage polyurethane topcoat in matte black. All 4 fenders and air dam are fiberglass, as is the wing. Rear fenders are bonded to the body. I had to trim out and reweld the original rear fenders and liners to increase height clearance for the wheels. Even though they are a slightly smaller diameter than stock. Body kit is from CP Racing. Wing is the Mariah whale tail. Front bumper is the stock sub-bumper modified and glassed to fit the kit. The kit was designed for the SA's. Power steering added due to width of front tires. A/C removed. FC front mount oil cooler added. Every suspension piece replaced, except the idler arm, lower control arms and rear links. If it was a wear item, it is new. All new poly bushings, solid motor mounts are on the way. This also includes the brakes. GSL rear end added along with Brembo slotted discs in the front and ss brake lines all around. Epsilon 3 piece wheels with 225/50/15 T/A’s in front and 245/50/15 rear. Eibach’s, Illumina’s and ST front and rear sway bars. Motor is a fresh rebuild with 1/2 bp secondaries, large street port primaries and large ported exhaust. I have a thread on that titled '12a builders and porters wanted'. Engine, and everything else that could take the heat, is powdercoated. 8 point roll bar, with hinged door bars, fully padded. I have tried to keep as much of the stock interior as possible. I still need to make new door panels and bin covers due to the cage. The body was originally a GS without a sunroof. A po installed an aftermarket sunroof, but not the headliner. That was a pita to install properly. Autometer gauges for: boost/vac (boost is this winters project), oil pressure, temp, volts and fuel. The 4 redundant gauges in the cluster were removed and filled. Added gauges are on their own separate dimmer switch. GSL-SE fuel tank with new 3/8” aluminum supply and return fuel lines. Mallory comp 140 fuel pump (a bit too big) and return style regulator. Mikuni 44 PHH for the breakin period. Holley 650 dp, waiting on the shelf. 5% tint on the hatch and quarter glass, 35% on the door glass. Those are the limits here, I would like the doors darker. Now a little rant about courtesy and decorum. There are 2 things in this entire rebuild that I haven’t done myself. I didn’t set the fixed glass or tint the windows. Everything else was done by these 2 little hands now on the keyboard. If you don’t like the choices I’ve made as far as the kit, the wing, the paint, whatever, at least show some respect for the work it has taken to get the car this far. If you don’t have anything nice to say, STFU. Just in case some of the younger members want to say ‘ricer’, the kit, the wing and the wheels go back more than 20 years. The wheels were made in 85, the wing came off of an ’82 found in a junk yard and the kit is a knock-off of the old Pacific style kit. Rant over. Enjoy the pics. https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=131088&stc=1 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=131089&stc=1 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=131090&stc=1 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=131091&stc=1 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=131092&stc=1 |
looks pretty cool. Although the front looks a little wacky if you ask me.
How much did the body kit end up costing? IMO it looks a little tall for all the body work... Maybe im just crazy. But I really appreciate all the work it must have taken for you to get your car to that point. Did you do alot of the work yourself or did you take it to a shop? Do you have any more future plans for the car or are you just planning on driving it? |
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The front end looks tall because the lip is about 4" off the ground, and the car is lowered, of course.
Re-read my post on the work. I thinking on megasquirt and turbo this winter. Still need to break in the engine and then tune the Holley to see how it runs. If I start heading past 250 hp later, I have TII tranny waiting. |
Originally Posted by trochoid
The front end looks tall because the lip is about 4" off the ground, and the car is lowered, of course.
Re-read my post on the work. Ahhh sorry I suck at reading offiously.... It did turn out really nice. I have always loved the looks of a widebody first generation. |
Abso-fucking-lutely badass. I love it. Just needs some boost to finish it off. ;)
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Originally Posted by REVHED
Abso-fucking-lutely badass. I love it. Just needs some boost to finish it off. ;)
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Nice work..
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How does it ride? Your suspension setup is exactly what I'm going with in my SA. My FB has ST springs, ST sway bars (rear in the middle adj. point) and Tokico Blues. When I'm kicking ass this setup rocks, but on these MD city road I wish I could carry another backbone.
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do you plan on putting spacers on the front wheels to have them flush? Or would it take away from the fuction?
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wow very nice man, one day i hope to have my car look like that, one day...
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Nice wide body! Keep up the good work.
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Originally Posted by rotor vs. piston
do you plan on putting spacers on the front wheels to have them flush? Or would it take away from the fuction?
The ride is pretty firm. The Illumina's are set at mid range and the rear sway is set neutral in the middle hole. I had the suspension done last summer and with stock wheels and tires, it handled like a skateboard. With the extra weight of the widebody, cage and wheels, it feels heavier and seems to lean a little more. I can't push it until I get the engine broke in, but with the huge tires on it, it corners well. Stops pretty damn quick too, for stock brake pads. |
- wide body too... well, wide, for me but the car looks great, the suspension must be amazing, and the wheels look beutiful, in the end, I'd drive it. All night long.
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very nice, however i'd like to see the corner markers frenched into the front of the body with the bumper reinforcement hidden behind the kit and the stock bumper off of the car, it looks like it was just glued on the front of the car, very out of place. is the carpet original or did you get it from VB? overall amazing job tho, i'd love to see it in person
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Looks good. I'm not a huge fan of widebody kits, bit this one looks pretty good.
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Originally Posted by whitey85mtu
very nice, however i'd like to see the corner markers frenched into the front of the body with the bumper reinforcement hidden behind the kit and the stock bumper off of the car, it looks like it was just glued on the front of the car, very out of place. is the carpet original or did you get it from VB? overall amazing job tho, i'd love to see it in person
I had concidered eliminating the bumper entirely, and smoothing out the front end, but it just didn't look right. Made the front end of the car look huge, no where near as svelt as the original design. When I bought the car, the chassis had 216 k on it and the engine came in 2 boxes. The interior is mint. I know the door panels have been redone because they are missing the chrome strip, but they look brand new. Those will be for sale. They are just too nice to chop up so they can fit around the door bars. The carpet is oem, but I suspect it is a replacement, the back hatch carpet has been replaced at some point. The drivers seat seat fabric is getting thin, but when I bought the car, there was not a single cut, tear, cigarette burn nor broken piece of plastic in the entire car. The carpet now has a burn in it because the gauge pod is so close to the steering wheel, it knocked the coal off a butt while I was turning. :banghead: FYI, don't buy the VB carpet. I bought thier's for my Z, and returned it because it was so cheap in quality. 1AAutomotive has better carpet, and a wider selection of carpet and colors. Thier replacement rubber is cheaper too. |
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Here is a pic of the bumper 'in the process'.
If anyone one would like to see any process pics, I have taken over 200 pics during this re-work. Included is an early pic of the sandblasting, and yes, that is bare metal, not silver paint. Notice how much the rear wheel wells are radiused for suspension travel. https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=131119&stc=1 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=131120&stc=1 |
Holy cow!!! Good work... The cp kit is one I was considering but it just turned out to be too wide for me. Excellent job though. Are you planning on staying flat black?
As far as ricer goes I'll be more ricer than you but to each his own. When you do your own shit let'm say what they want and then have'm show thiers and tell you what they did on it. Toxic_d |
that looks like a 944 so much. lol.
kudos on all the fab work. looks great! |
i reckon it looks pretty sick, my only complaints are the with the height of the car all around, i would try drastically dropping the tyre diamater or even try lowering it a touch more, as if you have that lip practiaclly on the ground it would look badass,
maybe a vented hood and a tow ring to give it a more racer look. apart from that it look good, what the weight difference like is the kit really heavy or what? |
You got a purtey fb. I'll bet she squeels like a pig...:)
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Nice ride. Hows it drive? Are you required by law to have the front plate? I bet it'll look a lot better without.
Also, do you have a bigger photo of the wheels? They look bitchin'. Keep up the great work. |
VERY, very, very nice. Good job, especially doing it all yourself!
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Where did you get the strut tower bar set-up from?
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