Did some stuff to my car...

[ghx407]

I got a nice tax refund and decided to splurge some of it on the S13 (with wifey's permission, of course).

My old oil pan's return fitting was leaking a bit and had a weird angle that would sometimes back up the oil and make the turbo smoke. Problem solved with a "new to me" oil pan that I got for free from a buddy, and I did an oil and filter change while I was at it.

Some suspension bushings and the front ball joints were on their last legs so I decided to just replace everything. Got four new ball joints and installed an ES HyperFlex Master Kit. The ES Master Kit install is a pretty tedious job - a bench vise, a propane torch, and a hacksaw will make it a lot easier. The ball joint replacement is cake if you rent the tool from AutoZone.

While the car was on jackstands I replaced/bled the brake fluid with some Castrol GT-LMA and replaced the clutch slave cylinder and its fluid.

I also contacted Jonnie Fraz and ended up with a set of tension rod, fender, and strut tower braces.

Then I went to town on my coolant tank with a milk jug and plastic fusion epoxy to extract some more life from it.

After that, I went to Ebay and got a Nardi knock-off, some 180SX bumper lights, and four XXR 962 17X9 wheels (+35). I kept my old 25mm spacers on to pop them out a bit. Here's some pics:

[Dire91]

Very nice! I really like the black on white. That coolant tank needs replacing, I do like that plastic fusion think you did though, really creative.

[s13_chris]

Looks great. And just like me, time for new floor mats! And nice engine bay. Clean clean clean :] white hb ftw.

[Klits562]

very nice indeed!

[Dazzla]

Paint the red stripe on the wheels black, more low low in the front and your GOLDEN!

Car looks awesome though, nice to see a cleanly done chuki!

[ghx407]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

[Gcustoms]

wow... i ended up doing the exact same thing with my rocker cover XD
lovin the wheels tho... how much you pick them up for?

[daves240sx07]

Vary nice.Vary clean in the engine bay.

[locoluna825]

shes purdy...

[simmode1]

Mmm... makes me wanna go KA-T...

[RIghtwinger1322]

reminds me a lot of my car, nice work

[ghx407]

lovin the wheels tho... how much you pick them up for?

$550 shipped

[Whitecar.]

Looks good. I hate to be the one to ask... But did you get your lip recently? If so, where?

[240sxjoe92]

Thats really clean...Where did you get that lip from? im looking for one that looks like that or very close to it..Thanks

[minkl81]

is your xenon lip painted in black or just original finishing?
i have my xenon lip coming in a week or two and wonder if it needs to be painted.

[ghx407]

I've had the Xenon lip for about two years; it is not painted.

[minkl81]

i should just leave my lip as it is too than. color matching polyurethane is too expensive and i like them black better.

good to know thanx

[badbob2121]

looks great, money well spent....

[ghx407]

I appreciate the comments guys; couldn't have done it without Nico.

[Rays_240]

I also contacted Jonnie Fraz and ended up with a set of tension rod, fender, and strut tower braces.

Jonnie makes fender braces? pics?

[ghx407]

I also contacted Jonnie Fraz and ended up with a set of tension rod, fender, and strut tower braces.

Jonnie makes fender braces? pics?

He does since Fall 2009, but they're not listed on his website. I just sent him an email ordering the fender braces along with the tension rod and strut tower braces and he had everything ready in about two weeks' time. I won't disclose how much I paid for them because of the fact that he is an individual fabricator and I don't want to tie him up to a particular price. However, the price was reasonable. Here's his website: http://www.stealth-custom-fab.com/. BTW, Fraz is awesome to do business with; he kept me up to date on the order's progress, responded to emails quickly, and didn't request payment until the order was ready for shipment.

The install is straightforward; remove outer fender, bolt the brace to the door hinges with the door closed, enlarge an existing hole in the inner fender and drill another one, slip the backing plate into the inner fender through the big square hole, and bolt the brace to the backing plate.

There is no need to jack the car up, but if you do, have the car horizontally level and place the front jackstands under the front crossmember to simulate the weight load on the front axle, thus keeping the unibody in its "normal/natural" position and shape for the install. The job took me about three hours total. There is absolutely no need to remove the headlights. Removing the front bumper before removing the outer fenders made the job a LOT easier.

The pic below is not my car, but those are Jonnie Fraz's fender braces:

[simmode1]

Do you feel any difference with the fender braces? I've always wanted a pair, but I keep hearing that you really need to weld them down for it to work right or be effective...

[Dittoz7]

x2

[numbnuts240]

FEDEX ME SOME ALCAPURRIAS POR FAVOR. grassy a**. oh, and some morcilla.

[ghx407]

There is a definite improvement. I haven't taken the car to the track or anything, but seat of the pants impressions are that the car feels more stable under braking, a lot more solid over dips, the dashboard rattles less over expansion joints, and it requires less corrections through corners taken at spirited speed.

Another improvement is that the sunroof hatch stopped creaking when pulling into my driveway.

The disclaimer is that all the braces and all the suspension bushings were installed at the same time, so I don't know how much of the improvement is specifically due to the fender braces. The car does feel a lot better than before, though.

Also, I haven't been in a car with welded-in fender braces, but it does make sense that welding them in would make them work even better. But it'll be a pain in the neck if you ever need to remove your door.

[zach-Ka]

I need to pick me up some. I see it being a good investment.

[laxands13]

man that looks pretty good

[simmode1]

Thanks for the first impressions review of the braces! Plz give us an update the next time you hit the track... It's easy to see the simple logic behind the braces, but I somewhat understand the reasoning behind ppl saying they need to be welded. I'd like to get your first hand input/experience on whether the braces mounting points might bend or deform under track conditions (therefore negating their usefullness) or are they pretty sturdy in your opinion.

Bottom line = I'm gonna get em, but just trying to see if welding them is gonna be worth it for only light track duty and daily driving purposes.

[ghx407]

Welding will always beat bolting, so it's basically up to you. In any case, practically speaking, the door hinge mounts are not weldable. Removal of the door would require removing the dowel pins in the hinges while the door is mounted to the car, which I figure must be a real pain. Adjustment of the door would be impossible.

To avoid play, I drilled the holes so that the bolts were a real snug fit in them. The bolts are Grade 8 and pretty thick, so I put some LocTite on them and torqued them to 100 ft-lbs.

In general, I seriously doubt that anything other than a collision would bend or deform the fender brace mounting points. A good analogy is that the extreme forces that the tension rods exert through bolts to the LCAs under braking don't deform either part and there is virtually no play where they bolt together.

[simmode1]

That is precisely what I wanted to know! Thanks!