FlatBlackIan's project piggy resurrection

[IanS]

Congrats on the car. I hope you enjoy it.

But man, you use, way too, many, commas, lol.

Shut it you, at least I use punctuation and capitalization, unlike most of the air breathers on the internets.

[slyedog240sx]

I almost exclusively use Carquest, they have by far the best parts support, and the most knowledgeable staff, as far as in my area is concerned, plus they have an in house machine shop. .

Next time you need 240parts go to carquest and ask for them to price you stuff from worldpac.Gpi(carquest) Owns worldpac which is a huge oem supplier. I got my oem exedy clutch kit from them for around $75(granted thats cost), My motor mounts,water pump,Strut mounts,Iacv,ect. If you spend over $100 shipping is free. Tire chains or cables for those nasty days will work just get highway rated.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

and its an R12 system so it is very cold, Im excited, Ive never had AC.

N00B question..... Is r12 that refrigerant they don't use anymore that is usually way colder?

[ridecalifornia805]

nice car brooo...great find,.

[IanS]

Next time you need 240parts go to carquest and ask for them to price you stuff from worldpac.Gpi(carquest) Owns worldpac which is a huge oem supplier. I got my oem exedy clutch kit from them for around $75(granted thats cost), My motor mounts,water pump,Strut mounts,Iacv,ect. If you spend over $100 shipping is free.

I have a commercial account, and Im in good with the store manager, I get 10 % over cost on everything, though I may try the worldpac thing.

N00B question..... Is r12 that refrigerant they don't use anymore that is usually way colder?

Correct sir.

Some places still have R12, I think we have 30 or 40 pounds between two tanks. We charge an arm and a leg for it, I think $90 a pound. I actually prefer R12, it uses larger molecules that are less prone to seeping through hoses, and it has a better thermal efficiency, so it cools better.

[White Comet]

^ exactly, but i dont care now, cuz i have no ac

[IanS]

^ exactly, but i dont care now, cuz i have no ac

Out of 9 cars, Ive never had one with working AC, Im a little excited, even if Im not going to use it.

Hmmmm

I cant decide If I want to paint the car or not, what do you guys think?

[Razi]

Flat black, Ian.

[slyedog240sx]

I cant decide If I want to paint the car or not, what do you guys think?

Is it rusty enough to just rattle can or clean enough to actually spray a base,clear.If it's rusty and your thinking rattle can, I'd say leave it be.

[supreamS14]

Ian, could you tell me if this is a good deal and if this rear quarter is fixable? I found a running 92 coupe that needs some work for $500. Rear quarter is F'ed up. But it runs and looks ok. I just suck at body work and don't want to get in over my head doing it myself. I didn't like pop-up's at first but I'm starting to come around looking at s13 coupes.

[gold on gold yo]

both cool cars for 500! get the black coupe. anything that runs for 500 is a good deal.

[IanS]

both cool cars for 500! get the black coupe. anything that runs for 500 is a good deal.

I agree, that QP damage could be easily dispatched with a little hammering, and a set of nice over fenders. As long as the trunk and drivers door work properly, and its rust free, I would go for it.

Flat black, Ian.

I was thinking that, but Id like to leave that for the S14. I dont want to steal its thunder.

I really really want to do two tone, Im thinking silver above the trim line, and charcoal below.

Is it rusty enough to just rattle can or clean enough to actually spray a base,clear.If it's rusty and your thinking rattle can, I'd say leave it be.

Im a bit of a rattle can Picasso. I can do for $50 worth of rattle cans, what Maaco will do with guns and a paint booth. Its all about the prep work and application, paint really doesn't mean much.

[veebee]

i love you

also ac :O i remember when my s14 had ac...

and then a pipe cracked and it no longer worked because it all leaked out... and then i went to school so i couldn't replace it... YET! (leaves it hanging for a sequel there)

[Razi]

Color it minty green.Flat.

[240pav]

for pop up lights !

[White Comet]

both cool cars for 500! get the black coupe. anything that runs for 500 is a good deal.

very true, i thoguht i got a good deal at $300 for my shell, but only 200 more for a running s13

oh i say, paint it seafoam green and grey 2 tone

[niemczykj]

I vote the creme white and gold 2 tone...(dont know the exact OEM colors used) but its the sexiest around

[IanS]

very true, i thoguht i got a good deal at $300 for my shell, but only 200 more for a running s13

oh i say, paint it seafoam green and grey 2 tone

I was thinking about that, but Id like to shake it up a little, Im thinking super silver on top, graphite grey on the bottom, though I plan on playing with it a little.

[White Comet]

^ well i couldnt say no to that

[kenno470]

Flat red.

because why not.

[IanS]

Im going to have a very busy day tomorrow, lots to do.

Ill be heading out around 8:00 am to pick up my bow from the shop, as they finally got my limb replaced. Then I will get started on the car, here is a list of things to do.

Degrease and power wash engine bay, the valve cover had been leaking for a while, and the engine is just generally filthy, I plan to change that.

While the engine drys, Id like to finish stripping the interior, I already pulled the seats and the center console, all I have left is the carpet and trunk stuff.

Once the carpet is up I will decide whether any repairs will be needed to make the floor safe.

Id like to clean all of the interior pieces, the dash, and the windows, and if possible everything can go back in.

Once the engine is dry I need to diagnose the injector issue. When I did the valve cover gasket I must have broken some of the dry rotted wires, though I didnt mess with it much once I figured out it was wiring. Most likely I will end up re wiring the injectors.

Once I get all that taken care of, I will get to work on some less pressing matters. I have a very strong dislike for how cluttered the SOHC engines are, and I plan to change that. I will be going through and removing things that I deem unnecessary. First on the chopping block is the fan shroud and clutch fan. I have a spare E fan on hand, and as this car will see mostly cold weather duty, a belt fan is unnecessary. With that out of the way, I plan to toss the AIV, as this car is currently catless anyway.

Well, stay tuned for a big update, with lots of pictures.

[slyedog240sx]

Not trying to turn off course , but what kind of bow you got. I had a real nice Hoyt enticer with copper john 5 pin camo sights and, i think they were called winners choice strings, Trueball release, Golden tip carbon arrows,and many others ect's plus a nice api climber stand. My parents have 13 1/2 acres. They live on a dead end road ( next to last house) and the lady at the end of road had over 400 acres. Prime time turkey and deer hunting. I begged and finally got permission. Got a nice 26lb Tom and a good 8 pointer the first year i got permission. She died the next year and the kids sold it to some people from New Jersey. C0ck Suckers wont let me hunt there anymore and my parents have dogs that chase the deer away from our land to theirs. I got pissed and sold all my bow hunting stuff cause i won't hunt public w/bow. Couldn't get any permission on any private land for 3years. Sorry to rant i just get pissed when i think of hunting.

[boro drift]

Make any progress on the S13 in the past couple of days?

[IanS]

Make any progress on the S13 in the past couple of days?

Massive progress actually. In the past 2 days the car has gone from being dirty as hell inside and out, barely running and completely devoid of any brakes, to being almost spotless inside and out, running perfectly with adequate brakes. I am uploading pictures as we speak, hold tight.

[boro drift]

Sweet, can't wait to see the pics.

[IanS]

Not too many pictures, I was too busy working.

Well, Wednesday morning I picked up where I had left off on Sunday. With the seats and center console out, I vacuumed and scrubbed all of the carpet. After reinstalling the rear seat I cleaned all of the plastic, and the rear windows then I installed the seats.

Almost back together



When Cale and I got home from the parts store, we were surprised to see a fawn eating from a tree in my front yard, this is the suburbs WTF is going on?



With the seats back in, I took to cleaning the dash door panels, and center console. While cleaning the shifter/radio trim, I realized the shift boot was in pretty sorry shape, so I opted to remove it, I will get into that more later.







With the interior clean enough, I turned my attention to my belly, My good friend Cale had brought with him a couple hunks of venison, and two goose breasts. After sitting in a marinade for around 4 hours they went on the grill, it was a mans feast of epic proportions.



With full bellies, we spent the rest of the night chatting.

Back to work on Thursday I started by cleaning out all the trunk. I say no use for the nasty plastic trim, so I tore it out. Underneath the spare I discovered a nasty amount of dirt, and a lot of surface rust which I completely failed to get a picture of. After attaching it with a grinder and shop vac, I layed down some primer and ruberized undercoating. I think it looks much better now.



With the trunk taken care of, Cale and I took a little time to work on his WRX. His rear brakes were in need of attention, so he went ahead and replaced both the pads and rotors. Before he left I also took the liberty of pouring about half a can of seafoam through his brake booster line. Hilarity ensued.

The garage is a horrible mess due to working on three projects at once.







With the Rubasu all fixed up I got back to work on the piggy, it wasn't long before I was distracted again. The deer was back, this time it was snooping around in the back yard. Its very tame, even for a city deer, I think its too young to fully understand the danger of humans.





Back in the garage I put fresh tabs on the plates so the car would be legal. I also chose to clean the headlight lenses and surrounds. There happened to be a roll of electrical tape next to me while I was working, and I just couldn't help myself.



With the majority of the cleaning out of the way I chose to dig into the more pressing mechanical issues. I started by tackling the injectors, which I discovered had become corroded at the plug, after a little cleaning the Idle is much smoother. While trying to remove the plugs I realized that the rubber seal on the back of the pigtail had dried out, they all but disintegrated on removal.



With the car running better I got the car up on jack stands and the wheels off so I could diagnose the brakes. The previous owner had informed me that the rear brakes were grinding, and there was no pedal. It wasn't hard to see that the passenger rear brake pad had fallen out. The calipers piston had then hyper extended, blowing out all the fluid. I pulled that caliper off, pressed the piston back in, and stuff a 2x4 in it to keep it from compressing and I proceeded to bleed the system. After a little gravity bleeding, and some manual pressure bleeding, I was able to get a good stiff pedal. This was a good sign, as it meant not replacing the master cylinder. Because I still needed to move the car around I had two options, leave the wood in the caliper and just hang it out of the way, or find a way to substitute a pad. It didn't take much to make the correlation, Cale had just done rear brakes, I grabbed one of his pads and was excited to see, the size difference was minimal. After a few minutes on the grinder I was able to make the pad fit perfectly in the bracket. I slapped the caliper back on and pumped up the brakes, I was happy to see no leaks and the pedal held stiff. How many of you can say you've made your own brake pads? This is only a temp solution, but it did afford me the first opportunity to get the car about 5 mph. The car will get new pads and rotors all around, and new calipers in the rear.

Out on the open road the brakes are the least worrisome issue. The struts are blown, like old Buick blown, she bounces something fierce and I will address that next week. The wheels are bent, I put the worst in the rear, but it was band aid nothing more. Ive already lined up a set of wheels for it, I hope to have them next week. I filled the gas tank and the little miss the car had at idle disappeared, I also dropped a bottle of heat in the tank to absorb any water.

Back at the house the belly was rumbling again, and it was decided it would be takeout asian food for dinner. A feast to rival that of the night before was had.





With full bellies I flipped the radio to the VP debate and sat down to take care of the aforementioned shift boot issue. Having memorized the DIY shift boot article, I grabbed a Jones Soda Co bandanna, which Cale had picked up somewhere, and I got to work. I cut up the old boot to use as a template, traced it on to the fabric, and cut it out. With a needle and thread, I sewed up one side, attached it to the top ring, and screwed it to the trim. Its super easy and now that Ive done it on this car I plan to make one for the S14 as well. The color downright clashes with the rest of the car but I don't care, I think its awesome.



Another thing that had annoyed me about the car was the fuel door. It had rusted out in a pretty nasty way, the whole bottom of the door was rust but I was lucky to catch it before it made it all the way through. After grinding the rust off, I primed it and layed on some body filler. Over the course of the day I sanded and painted the door until I was satisfied with it. Even on close inspection its hard to tell the door isn't completely stock besides the color. I painted it black because I had no red paint, and there is a chance the whole car will end up painted anyway.



This is only a small bit of what i accomplished today. I also replaced a bunch of tailight bulbs. Installed a new license plate light. Stripped and repainted the rusting wiper arms. Claybared and waxed the whole car. RainXed the windshield. Replaced the wiper blades. Removed the clutch fan, and shroud. Removed and plugged the AIV. And topped off all the fluids. All in all, it was a very productive day, I just wish i would have taken more pictures. Next week I will be doing either the struts, or the brakes, and I should also have the new wheels.

Sorry if the grammar and spelling suck on this update its late and Im tiresd.

Stay tuned.
Modified by FlatBlackIan at 8:53 AM 10/6/2008

[ryan15]

Awesome build thread dude, nothing better than a simple daily driver build thread!

Also, to everyone bit)hing about not having a/c...

<-------NO A/C, hottest place in america. DD, man up!

[White Comet]

^ im not bitching, i removed teh ac in my last 2 cars. i really dont care

looking good, if you ever ditch the stock seats let me know. that material is nicer then the tweed on most s13 seats

[IanS]

^ im not bitching, i removed teh ac in my last 2 cars. i really dont care

looking good, if you ever ditch the stock seats let me know. that material is nicer then the tweed on most s13 seats

The drivers seat is not tweed, its out of a different car, the original broke at the hinges. The passenger seat is in mint condition, I dont think it saw much if any use considering the passenger door hinges barely worked at all due to lack of use.

If I ever get my hands on a decent set of used rigid buckets for the S14, there will be a bit of musical seats going on. Ill let you know if I plan to ditch them.

In other news, I ordered up struts all the way around this morning. I decided on KYB GR 2s, a connection at Carquest got me them for $223 out the door. They will be in Tuesday, and they will be installed wednesday. I think this will be a good opportunity to do a strut R & R write up for the S13. Ill get pictures of removal, swapping springs using a wall mounted spring compressor, and finally re installation.

Also Ive got a quick question, have any of you guys ever driven and S13 with a welded diff in the snow? Ive driven them on tar, but Ive never experienced snow with a welded diff. Im still debating between welding the stock unit, or just sourcing a used VLSD.

[boro drift]

If you are planning on using this car as a winter driver, I would keep the open diff. Leaving from a stop will be a *****, but once you're moving it will be easier to control.