They're the ebay version of the origin coupe tail lights. I'm not the first person to buy/use them. I have not test fitted and will not until after I get paint. Everyone says they fit perfect.

From what I've gathered, they're from the same company who produces the lights for origin, just repackaged. Quality is top-notch. Why pay an extra $200 because the box says origin?

Well, while I'm at it, I might as well give an update:

I'm still shopping for pistons, sort of... I haven't purchased pistons yet and I haven't gotten to the machine shop yet. I probably won't be doing either for about a month.

This weekend, we had a pipe break upstairs while my wife and I were at work. Our kitchen and bathroom are destroyed. The insurance adjuster is coming out today to assess the damage and hopefully hook us up with getting it put back together. We wanted to remodel, but not right now. We don't have a choice anymore. For the next month, I'm not going to be living at home so I won't be able to do much, other than wait.

that vert is going to be sick!

yes it will.

I was just going to bump this. Guess someone beat me to it.

I got ARP rod bolts and head studs on the way. I found a guy selling a trio of arias pistons for super cheap. I'm going to buy them and just order a 4th from Arias. He's also going to sell me a new oil pump and cover for some extra peace of mind.

I also received my under-body plate from Nemo, but it's not going on until the end.

For those of you interested in the plans for the engine, I've posted a thread in the KA-T subforum. That thread can be found here Feel free to discuss engine planning in that thread and let's let this thread here continue to be for the project updates. I'm really hoping to get the shortblock off to the machine shop soon to get things moving with the engine build.

I was originally hoping to have this done in time of the Buschur Sport Compact Shootout in May. After going over the plans and prices, I've realized that there is no way that is going to happen. The new, more realistic goal is to have this thing ready for Nopi Nationals in Atlanta this September. I need to remember to save some money between now and then for some coilovers too. If my budget gets too tight, I might have to cut a few things out so I can afford coilovers before September.
Modified by DeXteR at 11:11 AM 2/18/2008

ill job, ididnt get the blue valve cover till you posted how you wanted to paint it, now it makes sense. Awesome idea fpr a paint scheme wish I would have thought of something like that.

i dont know how you have found the time to work on it, hows it been going lately with the project? did you get the shortblock out?

again amzing job, massive props!

Your project has got me psyched to get mine started. Awesome job so far with the silvert.

Here's a little pre-spring update:

I'm still gathering parts for the KA24DET build that I want to get going on. I just bought those pistons and oil pump and cover last week from that guy I mentioned before. Those should arrive shortly then I'll buy a fourth piston and some rings. I'm also waiting for the ebay guy to get another set of those off-brand forged H-beams so I can get a set of those. Then it's off to the machine shop for balancing and machining.

Here's the short block just waiting for some new internals and it's trip to the machine shop:

After I drop off the shortblock, I'm going to take my head over to a fellow TCE member's house for some port work, a valve job, and a rebuild. Then I'll take it in to get decked for the MLS head gasket.

Here's some of the goodies I have sitting around that I'd like to install this spring or sometime this summer:

Nemo's underbody plate:

HUD cluster (dash and projector all ready installed) and digital climate control:I do need to find a bunch of the sensors for it on my next trip to the U-pull it yard.

HUD windshield:This won't go in until after paint - which is on Zach's long "to-do" list this year.

Here's the vert peeking from under the cover, "Can I come out yet?"

Soon, Silvert, soon...

WOW!!! that look like it damn FUN!! good wook you guys

Funny this should get bumped...

I pulled the cover off last night to try to wake this beast from it's slumber... to no avail.

The battery was dead, so I pulled my trusty DSM into the shop to try to give the vert a jump. Everything seemed to power up all right, but as soon as I turned the key, it was like I was hitting a battery cut-off switch... Great.

So I test the battery and it's sitting at 7 volts. I grabbed another battery that was at 12 volts and tossed it in. Without the jumper cables hooked up, I tried starting it and the same thing happened. I didn't have time to trouble shoot last night, but maybe tonight I can tinker some more after we work on the house for a few hours.

While I was sitting in my recliner, looking at the vert, I made a decision: This thing needs coilovers badly. Since summer is all ready here and I want to drive and enjoy the vert while we have warm weather for a couple months, I'm going to push the turbo project back. This will give me some extra money for suspension and finishing up some of the other side projects for the vert.

Once my house is done being repaired, there'll be a lot more work going into the vert again this summer. Stay tuned.

I wonder if a small animal chewed through a ground wire or something?

Just needed a jump start on a good battery and she fired up. She's running pretty rough, but it's got something like... 215k miles on the original motor and it's been modified a bit.

So here's the first picture of the season:

So after getting it fired up and driving it around the driveway a bit, I backed it it to get started on getting it ready for this weekend. I put a "new" (used) hose on the IAC source from the intake pipe because the blue silicone hose was all kinked up. The hose I put on was pre-bent and won't pinch shut. Hopefully that will help take care of some of the idle issues.

Next I put the wheels back on. I did add some small spacers to the front that we pulled from a junkyard last fall. I believe they're 5mm, but didn't measure them. They really help make the front wheels sit more flush and I was also finally able to fit the center caps on the wheel.

The last thing I did was rewire my passenger side corner lamp. I really need to get to swapping the white vert's wiring harness over to the sil40 vert. Any wiring the previous owner laid his hands on was a complete hack-job. I can only imagine what the rest of the harnesses look like. Anyways, the lights all work again and I'm happy about that.

So the to-do list for this weekend is:Switch insurance from storage to full coverage on the vert and from full-coverage to storage on the Pathfinder.Take the "1HOT240" plate off the Pathy and transfer it back to the vert. Replenish the coolantDo an oil changeWash the carGet some fresh fuel in the tankPull the top cover out of the basementSwitch back to the S13 MAF - I think this might also be contributing to my poor idle and running rich.

My crappy alignment and ride height are really starting to bother me the more I look at the car. Coilovers are in the very near future. I would like to try to track down the source of the horrible front alignment. I need to look over the suspension and try to see if there's anything bent.

The other high priority is a harness bar or a roll bar. I don't like having cheap harnesses bolted in. If my wife and I were in a real wreck, we'd probably both be injured. So I am going to push hard to get a roll bar measured and fabbed so I can take the vert over to TeamTech and have them install sime nice harnesses.

Hopefully I'll make some more good progress tonight and tomorrow.

Yup, s14 MAF doesn't work well with the s13 ECU. I borrowed an s13 MAF from prodigy and installed it. It required a little redneckery since I didn't have the right couplers; but it's on and the vert runs great again.

I discovered the alignment issue when I decided to put the janky deformed coils back on the car. I'm pretty sure my wife swapped sides when she put the struts from the other vert onto this one. I think ishkabibble suggested this a while back, but when I asked my wife about it, she swore she put them on the correct side. I should have just checked a long time ago. So anyway, i put the ghetto heated up springs on to get me by until I get some coilovers.

I seem to have lost my camera as well - somewhere between my shop, my house, my office, and my inlaws' I've misplaced it... I need to find it before I start getting more stuff.

Anyways, we received our Michigan income tax return yesterday. I recently sold some parts and might be selling the Geo tomorrow and received down payment for the old vert from prodigy. With all of that added up, I'll have a sizable chunk of change to blow.

I'm debating whether or not I want to continue messing around with the janky brake upgrade I was gifted with. I have Altima calipers and rotors on right now. Since the install, the brakes have been really crappy. I think it has something to do with the huge pad overlap. I think the s13 hub with the Altima bracket push the caliper further out than it does on the Altima. So I can either try to track down a better sized rotor or do a REAL brake upgrade - Z32 front brake upgrade. I priced it out at lunch and I can do the entire front brake conversion for under $225. This includes a re-manufactured pair of loaded 4-piston aluminum calipers, rotors, and conversion lines. I'd need the rotors redrilled, but that's no big deal. I wanted to do the Z brakes anyway, so I like that idea. However, I do want to figure out how to make these Altima brakes work before I go to the Z brakes.

Next up is coilovers. I'm thinking I'm just going to get those Ksports. I keep hearing mixed reviews from the 240 crowd. I'd like to try them out and give some feedback. I know a few people who say they can get a good deal on them, so I'm willing to try them out. Otherwise, if I come across a good set used coilovers, I might snatch them up.

Lastly, I need to get a harness bar and real harnesses. Again, with some of the connections I have, I can design and draw my own roll bar with a harness bar, and a friend of a friend who works for a Busch Series racing team can build it for really cheap. It would be shipped in pieces, so I would need to have it welded in. As much as I would like to get some TeamTech harnesses, they're expensive. I'm probably going to end up spending $350-$400 on a pair of their harnesses. That being the case, I'll get another better pair of off-brand or used harnesses to get me by for this season.

As I continue to save money and sell off other stuff I'm not going to need, I'll start gathering KA-T parts again. This fall, the silvert will get paint and I'll start building my motor. Stay tuned though, I have a LOT of work to do to the car between now and then.

Hey Dexter!I cant wait till I get some spare time to come up there and give you a hand with that thing, Looks great though.

Hey let me know how that maf works for ya! im down in indiana for awhile so if you need any parts, ask justin he has them all! lol hope everything goes good for ya!

Thanks guys...

I've got a brake upgrade coming and should be ordering coilovers shortly.

There's another little something happening in Dexter's Lab these days as well...

Here's a teaser picture of what I've been working on:

I've been gathering parts for the last two weeks. I finally got everything I need, except the time to complete the job...

I'll get an update when it's finished, but that might be a while. Michelle and I are expecting our appliances to be delivered on Friday and we need to get the floor done before then.

5 lug hubs or still 4 lug? Spacers? What wheels.??

I've got a set of 26mm calipers taken apart in my garage. I just haven't worked up the funds to get them powder coated or get the rotors and other stuff I'll need. Plus on top of it all.. they won't fit behind my wheels w/out some spacers.

maybe I'll just save them for my S14.

4 lug with the real small 17x7.5 962s or what ever the size is. 5 mm spacer on the front.

Prodigy said it.

Hey, Zach. When are you going to start your vert project log?

I finally got everything bolted up and working properly on the hubs. I still need to bench-bleed and install the BMC, then bleed out the lines.

Those are 26mm Z32 calipers (I believe) with SPL conversion lines and the cheapest rotors I could find. This just barely clears my 17x7 962s with a 5mm spacer. I can't wait to drive it with the new brakes.

I'm going to be ordering up some coilovers this week too. Stay tuned. I'm really looking forward to having some of this suspension and braking taken care of before I start building the boosted KA.

FINALLY had time to install everything properly and got some pictures!

The vert FINALLY has a ride-height worth bragging about thanks to Endura Tech coilovers!

Here's the rear coilovers before initial installation:

These are high-quality units. Everything is beefy and clean.

Here's the rear suspension all installed:

The length from top of mount to about the center of the rear mount on the original shocks was about 24". The coilovers are set around 21" right now. For those who didn't know, the verts come with a LOT of extra bracing. A big portion of it is between the rear shock towers behind the rear seat. I don't know of any top-adjustable dampeners that will fit in the rear without having to "trim" the bracing back there. The Endura-Tech dampeners were no different. A few minutes with the pneumatic grinder and a nice carbide tip made pretty quick work of it. Everything fits great.

The rear upper control arms (RUCAs) are super cheap ebay ones. the welds look decent, but it's just spray painted mild steel. So next time the car gets ripped apart, I'm going to take them to Nate's and sand blast them and repaint them.

The rear brakes have new pads and rotors - all stock replacement stuff - nothing special.

Here's the front suspension installed in the wheel well:

... and from the top:

I have not measured the original front suspension and do not recall what Zach set the coilovers to before installation, but it's not quite low enough.

So now the front has the 26mm Z32 4-piston calipers with 26mm calipers (don't recall diameter) and coated teflon/stainless braided brake lines. I definitely need the 5mm spacer to clear the calipers with my wheels.

In the second picture, you can see the Z32 17/16 brake master cylinder that was a pain to acquire. Also that booster is from the old white vert. I'm not sure what exactly was wrong with the old booster, but once we swapped those, all my braking issues were gone.

Here's a few more pics of the install:

Here's me, adjusting the rear camber:

Michelle, tightening up the coilovers:

This is the mad-tight JDM negative camber that Zach was looking for:

:roll: Michelle was not digging that at all.

There aren't any pictures of Zach helping because my camera died when he was out. He made some serious contributions to the installation of all of this, so thanks to him - especially for rolling the fenders. I would have made a mess of things trying that myself. We used a sledge and a dolly(I think that's what it is) to beat the fender lips in. We did the front and rear. All of them turned out great but need a little touch up from the dolly sliding and bouncing on the fenders.

So after everything was finally installed and tightened up, I drove it to the Hemlock spray-an'-wash place while Michelle followed in the DSM. On the way there, I bedded the brakes by doing 60-15mph stops every few minutes about six times. Then I drove for a few minutes to let them cool a bit before spraying the car off.

Initial impression:The coilovers are set on the softest setting they can go per the recommendations of Greg (AZHitman) and I must say, it rides great. It's not harsh or bumpy at all. The dampening is almost stock; however, you can tell you're riding on coilovers because it is a little bouncy and a LOT lower. the ride quality is excellent. We took some of the sweepers at twice the recommended speed limit for the curve and it felt great. I'd imagine taking those sweepers at 80+ would be no trouble at all now. I can't wait to stiffen them up and really carve some corners one of these days. Living out in the boonies where they don't take good care of the roads though, I can't get too crazy.

The brakes are awesome. With the combination I'm running, the pedal requires a little more force than normal to really get the brakes stopping hard, but they sure bite down. They're good and responsive to actual input. It feels good because they're not really touchy, but when you need to stop now (panic brake) they're going to stop the car in a hurry.

So that's all for now, except Michelle and I need to figure out a decent temporary paint that won't require a lot of money or time. The only other thing I can foresee adding to the car this summer would be that zenki lip. We'll install a few other things that I all ready have laying around IF we decide to paint it. When we paint it, it's getting completely stripped down which means the engine will be out and I'll get a chance to seal up those oil leaks...

Still a lot of work left to do. I'm really craving boost though...

I'll get some more pictures of the car tonight and share them tomorrow.

nice drop!

I can see you've been dealing with the same cold weather we have since Michelle is in a sweatshirt. We had frost this morning! It's freaking MAY 19th.. geez I hate Canada!

It would be nice to see a little brighter pics, but I understand. I've got a set of 26mm Z32 calipers as well. I'm debating whether I want to put them on the 'vert or save them for my S14. I know they won't fit w/out spacers with my Volks, so I might just pick up a set of Q45 front calipers and call it a day on the 'vert.

Anyhow... 'vert is coming along nicely Dex. Keep up the good work.

My camera's flash is dieing... I hate it... The only way I can get decent pictures is in the daylight or with extra lighting. I have excuses:

1.) I rarely get to work in the shop during daylight2.) I'm not going to take the time to set up a photo shoot with extra lights and move them around every time I want to take a picture

Hopefully I'll have enough money left over for a camera after I buy a .45 with my economic stimulus check. Stimulate this, Government:

Coilover looks good. Can you get a fender roller? I think you should just roll the top area of the rear fender about 4 to 5 inches and add spacers.. It'll look real good.

It's 94 today here. Hot!!

Looking Good Dex.... I agree with 94, slight roll would look nice.. I ordered my spacers and am hoping to get some pics posted up for everyone. It's nice to see another SilVert. I've been looking forward to your updates. What is going on with the old Vert/deer catcher? I thought someone was working on trying to repair it. Hope y'all are enjoying those cool days. We may be in for a hot summer down here. Keep it up. Are y'all going to NOPI this year?

the vert looks great dex, one of these days im gonna have to swing by and have a look see my self. im finaly gettin my funds in place so im gettin parts in. im about to buy a siv front for mine very very soon too! so any words of advise are welcome! lol

94_240sx wrote:I think you should just roll the top area of the rear fender about 4 to 5 inches and add spacers.. It'll look real good.

4-5" ?! That's not a roll... that's a HUGE pull. I don't think I want to try that. I may get some over fenders in the distant future. In the mean time, my 10" tires tuck real nice. I do need to address the fronts. This week I'm going to experiment with some different size whee's/tires that I just so happen to have access to. We'll see what happens.

Nemo wrote:It's 94 today here. Hot!!

GoinTopless240 wrote:What is going on with the old Vert/deer catcher? I thought someone was working on trying to repair it.

Yup, prodigy (teammate Zach) is working on it. HERE's a link.

topless wrote:Are y'all going to NOPI this year?

With gas at $4/gallon - probably not. Really, that's just the excuse I'm using. My KA is still NA, and old and leaky and my paint sucks. So I'm not ready to show it off much. NEXT summer, things should be different.

Piper wrote:so any words of advise are welcome! lol

Have someone else do it...

I hate body work and making lines match up and all that set, adjust, set, adjust, set, adjust... Nonsense.

Just make sure you've got everything.

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I should have some pictures uploaded later with a little story about last night...

Hokay, so here's some pics from yesterday as the sun was making it's way towards the west:



I hate my camera...

So I got "home" from work yesterday and noticed something - the driver side rear caliper was flipped forward. Great I must have neglected to tighten those bolts when I re-assemled everything (I scare myself sometimes - but you know how the law of averages + Muphy's law can work against you). I thought, no big deal - I can take care of that in 15 minutes.

Not so...

See, we're still at my in-law's (hence the "" around home in the preceding paragraph), so to work on the car, I had to drive it back to my shop. So I kiss my wife and say, I'll be back soon. Well I get it up in the air (which is no longer a quick task), and tear into it.

The top bolt had completely backed out and the piston was no longer contacting the pad. No big deal I'll just turn it back down and slap it back on. Well, the piston would not retract... WTF? It will spin out, but won't go back in. So I messed with it for about 45 minutes before realizing, this is going to be an all night project. See, when I did the rear brakes, the driver side was completely blown out - which was a big contributor to my brake issues in the first place. Also, I had some extra coupe rear calipers laying around from a long ago aborted project. those were all seized up and blown out too. So I don't have any extra parts laying around and I'm stranded at my house.

"Honey... You're not going to like this, but that 30 minute project just turned into an all night ordeal... Can you come pick me up?"

So I called up Zach and he had some extra parts. My wife and I drove over there and swooped up some stuff.

So I tear back into everything and, lo and behold, his caliper was seized up too...

So I said, screw it, I've got enough rear calipers to at least put something together. I proceeded to grab the best looking piston seal and piston and driver side caliper I could and just started putting good parts together. It worked and now the vert is back on the road. I didn't take pictures because I was pissed and in a bind. My story should be sufficient.

Some serious family issues are starting to arise, so I probably won't have any updates for a few weeks unless some things clear up soon. So until then, happy motoring.

Maybe I missed it, but what's the spring rates on the coils? And how's the ride? I have 9/7 on my coupe and would think 9/7 or 8/6 would be best for the heavier Vert.

I would love to do brakes on my Vert as well, but am in the boat that the 002s won't clear Z brakes.

Looks good.

Spring rates are 7/5 and the dampening is set on the lowest setting. I think it's a good choice for a car that sees way more road than track as long as the dampener valving is set accordingly.

I'm hoping to get a chance to stiffener her up in the near future and see how it rides then.

DeXteR wrote:
Some serious family issues are starting to arise, so I probably won't have any updates for a few weeks unless some things clear up soon. So until then, happy motoring.

That doesn't sound good. If there's anything I/We can do to help, just give a shout. Heck if you just want to talk sometime or vent, you know how to reach me.

God Bless brother!

i think its time for an update. hope everthing is goin alright man...