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Father son(s) S5 build. AKA, mid life crisis number 5
So I guess I’ve waited long enough for this. Divorced moons ago and pretty much raised my kids on my own (whoppie), but they didn’t die of starvation so I guess I did ok. They’ve both become car nuts and we’ve had some interesting projects. My “baby boy” has a 2002 WRX and my older boy has a 330i. They spent the year going to superfly events and other car meets and when I finally got tired of sitting home waiting for them, I dove in and joined them for a few events. Being 45, let me tell you that a lot has happened since I was a car nut in the 90s and building mustang GTs! Anyways, my first car was a 81 RX7 and I loved the uniqueness, so after a few events I caught the bug and decided to join in. Initially wanted a FD, but the price of admission is too high for a project so I kept looking. Everything I looked at brought me back to the beautiful FC. Fast forward about a month and we have 2 of them.
Going in pretty blind, I quickly decided I wanted a S5 turbo. Many beers and many hours later I found a white 91 2000 miles away in Tucson Arizona for 1200 bucks. It was a NA auto, but I instantly fell in love. Talked to the seller for quite a bit and convinced him to work with me to buy it and have it shipped to Ohio. Sounds easy enough, but more on this later.
So so I in theory have a car, and now need a T2 drivetrain for it. Simple enough I think and eBay has the answer for the low price of 2800 bucks. I’m about to pull the trigger when I find the deal of a lifetime sitting under a tree (via craigslist) in Pennsylvania. A 86 with a S5 swap. Engine was rebuilt by Speed1 and is half bridgeported, studded, installed, but never completed nor started. Car has Megan street coil overs, full cork sport race exhaust, poly bushings, drilled and slotted rotors, full cage, and the entire car is stuffed with extra parts. 2 grand later and I’m on a road trip with my truck and a u-haul trailer to drag it home.
Back to the S5 and shipping it. Well this was my first time shipping a car, and honestly, how hard can it be? Well, it was a nightmare. Tried uship first and the best price I got was 1500. I laughed and started submitting requests to brokers on google to have it shipped. Fast forward a week and some woman from waytogo calls and says “I can’t help you, but you need to know your car is listed on the board 4 times and it will probably never move as the brokers are fighting against you”. She then says fire 3 of them and pick one and I might have a chance. Seeing as how she reached out to me, I fired all 4 and called her back. We agreed on 1350 and within 2 hours she called back and said it would be picked up in an hour. Car was loaded last Thursday and supposed to be delivered last Saturday. Drivers truck broke down in Missouri and sat for days but it was finally delivered today.
So so while waiting on the S5 (Tuna) the boys and I put the S4 (No crust) on stands and started stripping. Got the engine and trans out. Coilovers, swaybars, brakes, and about 100 things I’m forgetting removed. Engine looks great. Spark plugs have never fired and rotors still have assembly lube on them. Turbo is junk (lots of play) but is being replaced anyways.
Plans are... hoping for 350 to 400 whp. FMIC
, Stand alone ecu, better turbo, etc. bought a QuickJack system for the garage and hope to get the S5 up in the air by Saturday to start the stripping and transformation. If you’re still reading, I’m impressed, and welcome any and all recommendations as to how to succeed without breaking the bank. Going to try to post some pics, but all I know is photobucket which is long gone so who knows what will happen. Thanks for listening to my rant.....
So we’re reading and learning at a geometric rate and stumbled upon some older posts that brought up an interesting question. Is a stand alone absolutely necessary or could we see decent results with a piggyback? The loose thought process is that with a full stand alone the project takes longer as more money is needed but if piggyback was an option (even if just temporary) the build could be in stages and be able to be driven before final completion. Or maybe we’re crazy. Would love to hear some input though.
A piggyback MIGHT work, but you would be limited by the original N332 or N370 ECU's parameters. A Piggyback simply lets you 'step outside of the box' on certain things to a certain degree, while a Standalone throws the box out completely. Based on the mods you've listed (turbo upgrade, FMIC, exhaust), an Apex'i PowerFC with adapter harness from Banzai Racing might be the best option for you. It reuses the original Emission Harness, and requires a second igniter to be added to the trailing coil (how-to on their site), but you'd be up and running reliably in a day or two.
The power FC with Banzai adapter was the original plan. Luckily my plan isn’t set in stone though. As of today I’m thinking BNR stage 3 turbo and keeping the top mount intercooler for now at lease. Second car is white as well and half the paint came off it today with the pressure washer. Got them both in and up in the air though. Quick jack system is pretty nice. Thanks for the help offer, I may just be in touch.
Weird day. Lost all energy on this project after getting tuna in the garage and up on the lift. Took a few hours off and it all came back. Didn’t get everything I wanted done, but got the coil overs, rotors, calipers, and braided brake lines installed. Resisting under hood work until the donor car can sit on wheels and get out of my way. Got shocks, rotors, and calipers on the donor so hopefully tomorrow it can sit on wheels and get out of my way.
Great to see another fellow Ohio resident here on the board!! The white S5 looks like a great car to build. You may even have enough parts left over to in a sense rebuild the S4 and have it to play with as well. Have a TII and an NA so to speak. The S5 looks like its a super clean car. How's the interior?
Great to see another fellow Ohio resident here on the board!! The white S5 looks like a great car to build. You may even have enough parts left over to in a sense rebuild the S4 and have it to play with as well. Have a TII and an NA so to speak. The S5 looks like its a super clean car. How's the interior?
The interior is interesting. One of the reasons i picked this car was the black interior, but everything from the doors up is dark blue (but headliner is still black). Looks neat and i originally thought it was factory but it turns out someone replaced the power seatbelts with standard and therefore the A and B pillar trims were swapped out. Seats are dried out bad but are being replaced anyways. Rest of the interior looks pretty good all things considered. Body is straight and rust free but being white, the paint is falling off so a pretty in depth paint job will be needed. The Caged S4 shell is already sold to another forum member who has been helping me figure things out.
Very cool project, I'm hoping my kids are interested in cars when they get older.
Good call on the standalone EMS, get a good crimper and make up the harness with what you need- you shouldn't have any trouble. Regarding the turbo, you'll have a blast with an EFR 7670 but it's a pricey kit.
Not a ton of progress, but got the caged shell back together and able to be pushed outside, until we were reminded that the diff is welded and pushing it around a curve sucks, so grabbed the tractor and drug it out to await its next home. With some space cleared up, I hope to be able to wrap my mind around this a little more. Heading to New York for a few days to play with locomotives but hotel time gives you lots of time to read. Can’t believe how high this thing sits with stock suspension, unless the S5 suspension differs from the S4.
Spent the day prepping the S5. Got the engine and trans out and washed the engine bay. Going to touch up some of the paint in there but not stripping it to completely repaint. It’s not a show car.
So the next question is turbo and injectors. Probably going with BNR but can’t decide between stage 3 or 4. They recommended 3 with 550/1600 injectors. Just afraid of buying 3 and wishing later I had bought 4 but at the same time I want a driveable car and not a light switch. And feedback is welcome and appreciated.
I didn’t want to completely strip the engine bay and spray it, so we cleaned it up good and one of my sons had a beer or 2 and started brush painting it with Imron white. Not done but looks great so far. Hope to drop the engine in over the weekend.
Can’t believe how good the bay came out considering my son brush painted it. We did use the best paint around but still. You can see the line where he stopped above the tunnel, but He will do that part later. Might try to get the engine in Monday. Tore the NA engine apart today because I want a rotor to put on the mantle, so I’m sore, because I’m old and do too much when I should take a day off, but we only get one ride through life, and I’m not big on wasting time. Anyways, if I get the ambition I will straighten out the wiring in the bay and secure it nicely. Then I need to start making my patch harness to go from the Haltech to the OEM ECU harness. Was originally going to just cut and pin the factory harness to the Haltech, but I think I want to make a patch harness so I can sit in the house when I’m bored and work on it.
Last edited by Locoelectrician; Sep 1, 2018 at 09:00 PM.
Reason: Missing pic
Looks like its coming together very nicely!! I'm only an hour or so away so if I can help in any way feel free to shoot me a message! What are your plans for that 86 shell?
Looks like its coming together very nicely!! I'm only an hour or so away so if I can help in any way feel free to shoot me a message! What are your plans for that 86 shell?
It is officially for sale. Make me an offer. Fully caged and welded diff. Can discuss more details if anyone is interested.
Stuck in a hotel again for the night and got to looking at some of the pics that the previous owner of the donor car sent me. Paperwork says half bridge ported, but these look like nothing I’ve seen. Can anyone fill me in?
Last edited by Locoelectrician; Sep 5, 2018 at 09:20 PM.
Reason: Pics
Father son(s) S5 build. AKA, mid life crisis number 5
