A Build in the Mitten State...

[SolaraOnBronze]

Got my HKS SSQV3, flange, recirculation fitting, D-Max position/turn signals, and clear side markers yesterday! Thanks to Teddy for hooking me up with the D-Max goodies and Edgar at Swapped for the HKS stuff!



Snapped some pics this morning before I left for work. I took a bunch last night, but they didn't turn out very nice due to it being dark out. Please excuse the dirt- the car hasn't been washed in 8 months, lol:









Camber was sitting at about -2 degrees last season to fit my 245s back there, so I think I will take a little bit out all around to compensate. Front end is all just mocked up anyway, but I still snagged a couple fitment shots. Ride height is not final either- I dropped it by about 6 turns all around, but I'll need to even it all out and get it perfect when the car is running:





I am very happy with my exhaust setup- the PBM Cobra Downpipe is awesome! I think the D-Max catback makes a big difference too- allows everything to be tucked up really nicely:



A couple of the less-than-perfect night shots:







I am super happy with how everything looks together and sitting on the ground- I couldn't have gotten better motivation from anything else. It's really cool to see your vision from the last 8 months or so (the last time I drove the car) come together. You can see things in your head and Photoshop stuff all day, but nothing beats it coming together in real life!

So yeah, not a lot of huge things left at all. Hope to see it running very soon!

[zach-Ka]

What did you end up doing with the fuse box?

[SolaraOnBronze]

They're hanging out behind the fenders just outside of the bay- I posted pics on the previous page. I just need to make a bracket to hold them and something to protect them from water splashing up.

[SolaraOnBronze]

I don't have any pics at the moment, but here is the progress recently:

-Wired gauges and ran wiring for sensors
-Routed wiring and mounted Power FC
-Finished interior assembly
-Installed catch can
-Installed clutch fan & shroud
-Installed radiator feet/brackets/hoses/radiator
-Wired Z32 MAF
-Dropped driveshaft
-Tucked wiring away from tire (passenger side)

Currently waiting on:

-Adapter to install AEM oil pressure sender
-Correct Deatschwerks injector clips to finish main harness installation
-Driveshaft Shop one piece steel drive shaft
-Hot pipe & having the HKS flange welded on to it

I've gotta say thanks to Russell for overnighting me stuff and Chris at Deatschwerks for helping me out with the injector clips! Getting very, very close to running after these things are here and installed. I just have miscellaneous wiring and lines to finish up. It shouldn't be long now!

[DeatschWerks]

Hey Damon,

Your clips made it out yesterday. Should be to you soon.

[S14Kouki10]

[SolaraOnBronze]

Hey Damon,

Your clips made it out yesterday. Should be to you soon.

I got the tracking number- gonna install them when they show up tomorrow! Thanks so much for the help!

[SolaraOnBronze]

So... I have been meaning to update this!

Everything is installed in the bay for the car to run except for the intake/maf/filter, intercooler piping, bov, boost controller, fluids, and a couple of vacuum lines. The ground for the battery will not stay there, I was just checking to see if the car had power or not.







I got my steel one-piece driveshaft from ZeroLift yesterday and tossed that on- very nice piece!



The interior is all back together, I'm just in the process of soldering the power and ground for the gauges- then it will be all set.





So yeah- I am going to pick up some odds and ends tonight. T-bolt clamps for all of the intake and intercooler piping are on the way. It should HOPEFULLY fire up early next week after my BOV flange is welded!

[SolaraOnBronze]

So last night I made a bracket for my throttle cable, wired my front turn signals (I have never had turn signals before that actually work! haha), finished wiring my gauges, and trimmed the front bumper a little more to clear the intercooler. I hooked some jumper cables up to the car from my Camry to see if things seemed to be working ok, since my slim battery has been sitting all winter and just sucks in general. To my delight, the fuel pump primed, the lights turned on, and the gauges/Power FC came to life. So stoked!

I need to do a DCC unit sometime soon...









T-bolt clamps come on Tuesday- hoping to fire it up by Thursday!

[bllabong89]

That thing is looking sick for sure. Can't wait for that thing to be finished up. It is by far one of the sickest s13's ive seen

[DeatschWerks]

Looking better and better each day. How close are you to firing her up?

[nevertheless]

Its thursday. wheres the videos at!?

[SolaraOnBronze]

It's alive!!



My buddy Tim came out last night and we got the car running. It took a few cranks to get it to fire, but it did start up and idle for a few minutes! No leaks that I have seen thus far, just some lifter tick. The place that did the head said that they bled the lifters, but I should have done it again myself to be completely sure. I have to pull the cams to re-torque the head studs after about 200 miles anyway, so I will bleed them then.

I still need to connect the BOV hoses, PCV valve, and boost controller- but after that, all of the vac lines should be done and I can let the car idle for a while to let the Power FC. We started and ran the car with Tim's hands over the open vacuum ports.

So anyway, I didn't have much time after we got it fired up. I did select the correct MAF and put my injector values in, so it should run and idle a little better when I start it next, but it didn't run rough or anything either when it fired up last night. I fixed a bad headlight harness and got the light back in, then bolted down the bumper and the bumper extensions. The lip isn't installed completely, it is just sitting there- so I need to do that and put the side skirt extensions on, and then the exterior will be set! Here's one more with the lights on- my wife had the camera today, so I just grabbed these pics with my cell on my way out this morning:



This weekend is my wife and I's first wedding anniversary, so I won't be touching the car until Sunday or Monday. As soon as the car has idled for a while and everything seems good, I'll pull it out of the garage for a bath and a coat of wax- and take some pics.

I'M STOKED!!!! Big thanks to Tim for driving all the way out to my place to help me fire it up!

[SolaraOnBronze]

I still don't have the ride height right, but I will need to see it out on the street to get it perfect. I didn't plan on doing anything with the car last night, but Alicia got me/us a Cannon Rebel XT for our anniversary! Super awesome- I have wanted a nice camera for a really long time. So, naturally, I had to take some pics!

I don't really know how to use it yet, so I'm sure the pics will get a lot better. I didn't even know how to turn the flash off when I took these, haha. The front coils are currently maxed out- might need to remove a collar up there:









I haven't messed with the camber yet from the previous chunky tire setup out back, so that is on the list as well:



Alicia showin' off her sweet ride, haha. She wanted a picture since she is the "bride" :lol::







If you see things missing our routed really poorly, they will be corrected- promise! haha Some things are just mocked up at this point:





So yeah- updates with the car washed, running, and out of the garage sometime next week when I get back!

[mRodiek]

Yay! So exciting

[zach-Ka]

Looks great man. Very clean..

[SolaraOnBronze]

Thanks!

Fired it up again last night and let it run a bit longer. The fuel leak is solved, but now there was a coolant leak. I believe it is one of the lines on the head back near the firewall- the ones that suck to get to, lol. So, I need to sort that out. It was idling at about 1700 RPM even after setting the TPS, so I think the IACV needs to be adjusted. It was also idle hunting while it was running- constantly going back and forth from higher to lower.

I have the injector values and MAF entered in the Power FC, but not the rest of the base tune. I am hoping that a friend can make it out here next week to give me a hand with the Power FC and checking the timing, since I honestly don't really know what I am doing.

I snapped a couple pictures for the hell of it, lol. Got the front lip and the sideskirt extensions installed. I just thought it looked cool in the garage with the hood up- I love how the car and the bay look, I just need it to be drivable now! :lol:

[bllabong89]

You will get everything figured out. It's just down to the little bugs to be fixed now. Don't rag on me too much guys but I never really cared for s13's but yours is the sickest one I have seen and I watched it come together. This is one hell of a build. It is also the cleanest one I've ever seen and hopefully I can see this thing in person sometime...but really, once the bugs get worked out, you need to make a video of a walk-a-round and then one of you driving it

[SolaraOnBronze]

^ Thanks man! I'll see what I can do, haha.

I drove the car around the block a few times last night! First time driving it in over 9 months... it was great!











With my brother's new car:






I just need to get the idle right and have it tuned- other than that, it just needs some minor things adjusted- really excited!

[urcaptnspeaking]

Coming together nicely man!

[zach-Ka]

Only car that I have seen that makes those wheels look good.

[S14Kouki10]

i love your car.

[Dazzla]

easily one of the best 240's in NA

[mRodiek]

Looks great. I would love mini coops, if they were RWD...or AWD hmmm

[S13Teddy]

Holy shiiiiiit Damon your car is so effing nice man! Jesus Christ!

[SolaraOnBronze]

Thanks a lot guys!

And thanks Tedster- as soon as it's tuned I will come find you!

[SolaraOnBronze]

Well, my HKS BOV was broken by the shop I chose to weld the flange for me last week, so it put me in a bind. They are not going to replace it and HKS will not either, so I was left with scrambling to find something else to use so that we could get the base map on the car this weekend. Thankfully, Enjuku stepped up and was willing to help me get a setup here quickly!

So the weekend went like this...

Friday:
Left work a little early and my GReddy Type RZ BOV, flanged hot pipe, and recirculation fitting from Enjuku Racing were waiting for me- just in time! So I threw that stuff on the car- haven't installed the recirc hose yet, though.







Saturday:
Shane and Trevor came out to help enter my Shadowerks base map into the Power FC. It took some messing with it, but Trevor got the car running really well! We drove it around the block and checked a few things, but everything seems to be in great shape. Idle was strong and drivability was great. I ended up cruising around town a bit and everything seemed great! Thanks again to Trevor (MagicalTrevor) and Shane (Holemilk) for coming out all that way, really appreciate it guys!





Sunday:

My wife and I ended up going to Brighton for dinner and some dessert. The car drove really well and we didn't run into any issues, aside from a few exhaust scrapes.

Tuning is scheduled for Tuesday night at Monkey Wrench. Once the car is tuned, I can have a good time! Looking forward to seeing how the car does. I drove the car to work this morning (about 35 miles) and everything went well once again, so I think it is ready to rock for tomorrow evening!

Couple quick cell pics- height looks lame in the second one for whatever reason:

[hoosier240sx]

Man you're car looks AMAZING! Props for a job well done That's pretty scummy of that shop to break an expensive a** BOV and not replace it though, I would've probably knife handed that guy. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how the hell I can get my hands on those D-Max lights for the front bumper, anyway you could hook me up?

[SolaraOnBronze]

haha, yeah pretty lame. That's what I get for trusting a shop in Michigan with anything... (Aside from tuning, and even that is sketchy haha.)

I got the DMAX lights through Teddy, but FR Sport sells them as well!

[hoosier240sx]

Wow go figure, I must be blind or something because I looked on FR sport! Anyway, Thanks man I appreciate the help and keep up the good work. This is by far one of my favorite threads on this site!