Grilled's Project S14

[GrilledCheese33]

Well the car is finally back together! Everything went well and its looking awesome. I buffed my headlights out and installed a bunch of new bolts in the front bumper. All i'm missing is a new front badge, putting the skirts and valences on, then working in the engine bay. It will be done in about 2 more weeks. I'm about to pack up and hit the road, so heres some daytime pics for you guys:






Needs a massive cleaning, but otherwise is looking great

[motoman399]

it looks killer man. congrats. making me super jealous. really really clean!!

[Dano]

Hotness! More pics after the skirts are on!

[MoSinister]

Man, this makes me miss my old '95 FN2. Love the blue interior. And your build is inspiring; true to the brand, but tastefully updated where needed. Well done.

Regards.

[ddgsxr504]

Welcome to my build thread guys! Its been a long time since i've been in these parts of nico so i'll introduce myself. My name is Darren and I live in Palm Coast, FL. Some of you "old school" 240 guys remember me by this:


I joined here 5 years ago with my first car, the 96 S14 above. I moved on from 240 land, had a couple hondas, then a wrx that I just totaled.

Welcome back Darren, I told you that you would be back. They always come back!!

[midgeman240]

that's a really clean build you have going! it makes me jealous that I can't do any work on my car by myself. there're too many little things wrong with it that bug me.

[GrilledCheese33]

it looks killer man. congrats. making me super jealous. really really clean!!

Thanks a lot alex, more coming soon

Hotness! More pics after the skirts are on!

Thanks Dan, I should have the skirts on by saturday, maybe tomorrow if I get the time.

Man, this makes me miss my old '95 FN2. Love the blue interior. And your build is inspiring; true to the brand, but tastefully updated where needed. Well done.

Regards.

Welcome to my build thread guys! Its been a long time since i've been in these parts of nico so i'll introduce myself. My name is Darren and I live in Palm Coast, FL. Some of you "old school" 240 guys remember me by this:


I joined here 5 years ago with my first car, the 96 S14 above. I moved on from 240 land, had a couple hondas, then a wrx that I just totaled.

Welcome back Darren, I told you that you would be back. They always come back!!

Yea yea lol. I never expected to come back, but really glad I did. I have enjoyed fixing this thing up every step of the way and love driving it every day. I should be around for a while this time.

that's a really clean build you have going! it makes me jealous that I can't do any work on my car by myself. there're too many little things wrong with it that bug me.

Just teach yourself how man! I did. Plus, any car you own will have small problems. Its something i've learned well after 5 cars in 5 years lol.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

You know, when you think about how many parts that go into an automobile (and how many MOVING parts they have), its pretty amazing how reliable they are.

[GrilledCheese33]

You know, when you think about how many parts that go into an automobile (and how many MOVING parts they have), its pretty amazing how reliable they are.

So true.

[midgeman240]

what did you use to paint your windsheild wiper arms? mine are almost completely silver now

[ridge]

nice job man. i love how you painted it the factory color. why mess with a classic right?

[GrilledCheese33]

what did you use to paint your windsheild wiper arms? mine are almost completely silver now

Rustoleum flat black, best spray paint ever

___________________________________________________________________


Well folks, another great busy and productive day out in the garage. I've come to the conclusion that I need a bed in my garage, its where I am 24/7 lol. Anyway:

Tuesday I seafoamed the 'ol KA. This stuff works wonders. I sent 2/3 of a can down the brake booster line, 1/3 into the oil, and a whole can in the gas tank. I am really impressed. I have never used the stuff. The smoke show was rather fun and the results are amazing. It runs smoother and I no longer have a buzzing sound under acceleration. Hopefully the dose in the tank will cure my misreading gas gauge.


Now on to today. The first task was to detail the engine bay up nicely. I then got to work removing the pesky timing chain guides:


Check the wear out:



I also used this opportunity to re-paint my valve cover and do a tune up:


I think these may be original, they still look good...




I also installed my new Fujita short ram. I was really impressed with this. Its the nicest intake I have had to date, and coming with a heat shield is excellent!



The car runs like an absolute champ. It actually pulls good for a KA. The improvements in motor condition after this weeks activities are awesome.

Thats all for tonight. I'll get around to putting the side skirts on this weekend. My new front emblem comes in monday, I will do a formal photoshoot then as the build with be mostly "completed."

[badbob2121]

wow the paint turned out great... the car looks super clean...

im not sure about the white valve cover though... it REALLY stands out.. (unless thats what you were going for)

awesome job so far non the less...

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I actually like the white valve cover. It seems to brighten up an otherwise dark engine bay.

[ridge]

i think a glossier white would be better but thats just my opinion. i like how youre not beating this beast. i hate when people get a clean 240 and the first thing they do is strip it with plans to do an amazing build and then you see it on craigslist 2 months later as a "rolling shell". keepin it classy and i love it nice job

[GrilledCheese33]

wow the paint turned out great... the car looks super clean...

im not sure about the white valve cover though... it REALLY stands out.. (unless thats what you were going for)

awesome job so far non the less...

Thanks a lot. The vc is exactly how I wanted it. Its not as bright in the daylight, its just the pic was taken at night so makes it stand out a lot. The white gives the dull engine bay exactly what it needed!

I actually like the white valve cover. It seems to brighten up an otherwise dark engine bay.

i think a glossier white would be better but thats just my opinion. i like how youre not beating this beast. i hate when people get a clean 240 and the first thing they do is strip it with plans to do an amazing build and then you see it on craigslist 2 months later as a "rolling shell". keepin it classy and i love it nice job

I'm happy with it so far, and thats all that matters right? LOL. And yea the full purpose of this build is a clean, reliable, fun to drive daily. I would never tear a nice car apart in hopes of being a mad tyte drifter, y0.

[I WE TODD ED]

I now appreciate zenkis a whole lot more. Love the stock color and 350 wheels also. Keep it up

[GrilledCheese33]

Well folks, project s14 is now "complete" in my eyes, for now lol. Heres the shoot:

my-project-s14-the-finished-product-t509075.html

[GrilledCheese33]

Hey guys! Got a bit of an update for you. I picked this up from a local nico member:


And guess what? It turns! Lol. So that was a nice pickup.

I decided while I was dropping the good diff off at storage I would pull the cover off the bad one and see what was going on:



Geeee, I wonder why it won't turn??? Looks like thats something to be sold for scrap metal

And for those of you who don't venture into general chat, heres the photo shoot:














Until next time

[motoman399]

such a clean car!! congrats dude.

[ConnorS13]

Wow man looks awesome.

[GrilledCheese33]

Thanks guys! Well today I did the not-so fun task of compiling every penny spent and adding it up. It came out much better than I thought it would. The project, which is all parts and labor, set me back $4000. I have a total of $8500 in a great looking car that I absolutely love and will last me a long time. Plus, I have tons of parts to sell to offset that cost. All in all i'm a happy camper lol.

[GrilledCheese33]

Hey everyone, had some time to get more work done today. Went over to where I keep my parts and did a pinion seal and a rear cover gasket on the j30 diff. It will be going in the car Thursday hopefully. This one is mint! Beats rust for sure.

[GrilledCheese33]

Talking to myself ftw lol. Well did some finishing touches on the car today. I got my j30 diff put in:



I only drove it around the block so far but it really feels much different/better. Getting up my driveway without a run & go is also a major plus. I think the gear ratios are a bit shorter than my automatic open diff, but I will know that for sure after I go driving here in a bit.

I also replaced my thermostat and belts. The thermostat was hung open meaning no heat. It was kinda cold driving around in NC at night with the engine dead cold and no heat lol. But I know what your thinking and yes it does get cold in fl, so this was needed.


The coolant passages were very clean.



I think it was time for new belts huh?



Well out for a test drive to try the diff out

[Hooked on 240]

Looks great!. But ive come to one conclusion. I want some god damn grilled cheese

[pc240sx]

Hey everyone, had some time to get more work done today. Went over to where I keep my parts and did a pinion seal and a rear cover gasket on the j30 diff. It will be going in the car Thursday hopefully. This one is mint! Beats rust for sure.

wow it look like new ,i hate sell it ! but i really need the money . how is the drive.

[GrilledCheese33]

Hey everyone, had some time to get more work done today. Went over to where I keep my parts and did a pinion seal and a rear cover gasket on the j30 diff. It will be going in the car Thursday hopefully. This one is mint! Beats rust for sure.

wow it look like new ,i hate sell it ! but i really need the money . how is the drive.

Hey Juan, yea man the thing was mint inside! It drives great with the diff in, handles real nice. Haven't done anything wild with it yet tho lol. Thanks again man

[Razi]

That is clean!!!

[pc240sx]

hye d this my friend Jingo pratice some drift in 89 s13 ka24e & S14 diff..

[GrilledCheese33]

I think its way overdue time for an update! This one isn't much, but heres whats been going on over the past few months:

First off, I took my car to the track. They kicked me off the strip for going too fast without a cage and parachute . Ok not really lol. But I did really go. Some friends of mine went and I decided to do it just for fun. My best run was a scorching 16.1 @ 85 mph. The track we went too was so bad that even my car wouldn't hook up no matter how I launched. Heres a blurry pic of me staging:


And a video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cijPTQFYT7o[/youtube]

Excuse the straight piped rsx lol.

Next thing I did was buy a new battery. The one in my car just didn't seem to turn over good in the mornings so once 30% off weekend came around at work I took the plunge:



I think that battery was one of the best investments I have made so far, it rocks.

The next exhibit is some more car audio. One of my friends needed money asap so I bought a Rockford 10/Alpine amp setup to help him out. Little did I know that I would love the thing so much. Its not blow your ear drums loud, just adds the lows to the music that 6.5" speakers just can't deliver. I ran the power off the side post of my optima so most people can't even tell I have a system hooked up by looking under the hood:




I have been noticing a steadily increasing leak from my oil pan gasket so I decided to knock that out the other night. Now that was a job! Well worth it, just a true PITA. My KA looks great, everything nice and clean and mint cylinder walls as well...


Happy to have a non leaking car now, my new tires came in shortly after:


They are the Hankook Ventus v12 K110. They made the car ride, drive and handle so much better. It feels great to be off of worn down tires!

I got an alignment right after the tire install so I decided to lower the car more before this to make it look a bit better. All I did was lower the front a bit more and even out the rear:


Looks soooo much better.

And finally, I ordered a set of sub frame spacers. I had a set of these exact ones from Techno Toy Tuning on my old 240, I guess it slipped my mind during the initial build to get some. Either way, install was super easy and the improvements in the way the car drives and handles is phenomenal. I put grease on them to prevent creaking like my old set. So far, so good.






And thats a wrap! Up next is to freshen up the braking system within the next month or 2. Until then