m tr4nch's restoration/build thread !! (56k = death)

[m tr4nch]

got a streetfaction fire extinguisher mount and installed it. perfect placement and i can reach over and unstrap it with one hand. just in case!

[VStar650CL]

She looks.... happy. Despite being in New Jersey.

Which, having been born in Paterson, I find remarkable.

[m tr4nch]

She looks.... happy. Despite being in New Jersey.

Which, having been born in Paterson, I find remarkable.

lol the roads down here are a little bit better than up north!

[VStar650CL]

lol the roads down here are a little bit better than up north!

Lol, for sure. Spent a lot of time in Tinton Falls and Asbury Park in my college years, it was true even back then. Passaic and Hudson counties have to be the pothole capitols of the western world.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

perfect placement and i can reach over and unstrap it with one hand.

Oh that's nifty as hell!

[asoomal]

Lawdy that's a beauty!!

It definitely has a 90s vibe going on, love it!

thanks dude! please tell me you're still working on yours?!

Yep, still have it!

Priorities have kind of changed in the last few years but still working on it whenever I can.

[float_6969]

I missed the Nismo graphics somehow. I fuggin' LOVE that.

[hiimelvin]

Do you have any pics of how you mounted the side skirts using those 4 long brackets you made? I keep looking at where it lines up and it doesn't seem to align with any existing holes!

[m tr4nch]

Yep, still have it!

Priorities have kind of changed in the last few years but still working on it whenever I can.

awesome! yeah i feel you on the life stuff.

I missed the Nismo graphics somehow. I fuggin' LOVE that.

thanks man!

Do you have any pics of how you mounted the side skirts using those 4 long brackets you made? I keep looking at where it lines up and it doesn't seem to align with any existing holes!

those brackets install under the plastic sill trim. the trim keeps them in place. the rectangular slots in the brackets line up with the front and rear one on the car, see red arrow in this pic:

[m tr4nch]

i sent some pieces out to get skinned in forged carbon fiber with a hint of red strands for some color pop. @my_fairladyz_ on instagram did them for me and she did an amazing job! i love the way they came out and i'll probably be sending her a few interior pieces to do in the near future.

bought a spare set of b-pillar trims and used the "rps13" center tail panel cover. i wanted everything to fit like oem with no issues.

it's been sh!tty weather here in NJ lately, cloudy every day so the pics don't do them justice. i'll have to get some better pics when the sun decides to come out again.















bonus mirror pic ft. my p11

[float_6969]

Love the forged carbonfiber look! I've been looking at similar looking pieces for my motorcycle because I love the look of it!

[m tr4nch]

Love the forged carbonfiber look! I've been looking at similar looking pieces for my motorcycle because I love the look of it!

it's so good in person!

[m tr4nch]

Forgot to post this up before, but I got one of these NISMO titanium cigarette lighter "kill switch" toppers from 47point9 (the same guy that makes the titanium keys). The quality is amazing! I got his 3d printed base with it so I didn't have to ruin my original cigarette lighter.



And bonus pic from the other day!

[float_6969]

Can we all just get together and collectively agree this is the cleanest S13 build on the planet? SOOOOOO PERFECT! I'm serious, I wouldn't change one thing about this build. You've nailed it IMHO.

[VStar650CL]

Can we all just get together and collectively agree this is the cleanest S13 build on the planet? SOOOOOO PERFECT! I'm serious, I wouldn't change one thing about this build. You've nailed it IMHO.

I second the motion (even when it's not moving). Wow!

[m tr4nch]

Can we all just get together and collectively agree this is the cleanest S13 build on the planet? SOOOOOO PERFECT! I'm serious, I wouldn't change one thing about this build. You've nailed it IMHO.

I second the motion (even when it's not moving). Wow!

thank you guys!
there's definitely more coming

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Yeah man its very well done.
Keep on Keepin on!

[m tr4nch]

added some underhood lighting because why not?
got an LED strip from amazon and some conformal coating to make it waterproof, and got a 12mm diameter push button switch and made myself a wiring harness!





installed the switch in the hole in the radiator support. it fit perfectly in there once i shaved off about half a millimeter from the threads on the switch. stuck the LED strip on the flat part of the hood right behind the hinge loop, and ran the harness down the hood and through the engine bay.





turn it on and boom! super bright light

[m tr4nch]

also scored a set of clear kouki tail light lenses from projekt mayhem!




got started right away. baked off the red lenses and painted the inner housings silver, instead of leaving them the dull grey plastic color.






ordered red LED rings (100mm OD) from diode dynamics which came with drivers that control the brightness for running light (50% bright) and brake light (100% bright). ordered 7443 male and female bulb sockets from amazon to make 4 extension harnesses for the LED drivers to splice into so i didn't have to mess with the original wiring. this way everything is 100% reversible if needed. i hate cutting into original wiring!




the original reflectors are actually clear and are plastic welded to the red lenses and need to be carefully removed so they don't break. once they were out, i used clear epoxy to set them into the clear lenses. i then used clear silicone to attach the LED rings. i pointed the wires to the upper inside as i determined this would be the best spot to run them through the light housing.




i then made the holes for the wires to run through on each side of the housing. the best idea i came up with was to cut a slot coming off the turn signal bulb socket hole and then slide the wires off to the side of that. this made it so i could easily fish the wires through the bulb hole as i'm installing the lens while everything is hot, then slide them over later.

the clear lenses get very soft when heated up a little due to the casting material they are made from, so i determined the best thing to do was bake the housings in the oven without the lenses, and then quickly fish the wires through and slide the lenses on and hold them in place while the glue cooled down. worked perfectly! i actually added a very thin strip of butyl into the channel in addition to the original glue, just to be sure the lens seals up properly.






back on the car, wired up and fired up!
i kept the 4 bulbs in the centers (also LED) but wired them so they are just brake lights, and kept the running lights strictly to the LED rings. the LED rings also go brighter for braking.









and here is the back side of the tail light housing after install. the diode dynamics LED driver wiring is pretty long so i had to loop them up a bit and then zip tied them to the housing. you can see the extension harnesses i made with the wire taps going to them and the original wiring untouched.




overall i think they came out bad a$$! i haven't been able to take the car out with them yet though since the weather has been bad here lately. i'll get some more pics of it out in the wild next time i'm out.

[m tr4nch]

oh yeah and just passed my 20 year anniversary on NICO!

[float_6969]

Great work as always! And welcome to the 2 decade club. I'm thinking we should start and Eras tour for the OG's

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Looks good! Welcome to the 20 year club.
What do the blinkers on there look like?

[Hijacker]

Always love seeing your work! And I apparently hit 21 years this year on NICO. Now my account can legally drink

[splintercell]

Great work on those tails!

[m tr4nch]

hey guys, been a while!

not a whole lot to update. here are a couple better pics of the clear tails out in the wild.






i grabbed a legit old logo nismo radiator cap from the heritage reproduction and installed it. took off the restomodninja sticker from my mid-logo cap. i gotta say the sticker is pretty spot on to the legit one!




i did a couple of other things over the past year since the last post.

i got some split half amber/half clear front turn signals (except they are full clear lens). they look way better to me with the white lights as the parking/running lights instead of amber. and obviously amber is just the turn signal part now.
had to get new bulb harnesses since they are different than the regular 240 ones, surprisingly still available new and cheap. part number 26242-50F00 if anyone needs.








also tackled this mini-project: 350z/g35/gtr aluminum pedal pad swap!

the s13 pedal arms have flat faces for the pads and will not readily accept the aluminum pedal pads since they are curved. i read somwhere on zilvia that the s14 brake/clutch pedal arms swap right over to the s13 brackets and the pad faces are curved to accept the 350z/g35/gtr alum pads. then just use the s15 gas pedal (also aluminum) and boom, you're done. let me tell you it's NOT a totally direct swap, lol.

thankfully i have a friend who had a spare set of s14 brake & clutch pedal assemblies that let me take the pedal arms to use for this swap. he just wanted the actual assembly brackets back so that worked out perfectly.

the clutch pedal assembly and gas pedal are very easy to remove from the car. the brake pedal assembly is a HUGE pain in the a** to remove. the steering column has to be dropped completely all the way down, which requires the removal of the gauge cluster surround and everything in that area including the heater duct.




after lots of hours and swearing, everything is out!




here is the s14 (left) and s13 (right) brake pedal assemblies next to each other.
right off the bat i could tell the arm wasn't going to be a straight swap. you can see the height difference of where the brake switch is mounted, which means that bracket that pushes the switch in would not work on the s13 assembly bracket.
on the other hand, you *might* be able to swap the whole s14 pedal assembly into the s13 directly, but my friend wanted the assembly bracket back so that wasn't an option for me. i unfortunately did not test fit it to confirm or deny this possibility.




after much debating, i decided the easiest thing to do was to just cut off the pad mount from both arms and weld the curved s14 pad mount onto the s13 arm. after carefully centering it, i welded it up with no problem.





thankfully the clutch pedal arms ARE a direct swap. here is the s13 (left) and s14 (right) clutch pedal assemblies. no fuss here, just swap the s14 arm into the s13 bracket and you're good to go!




clutch and brake pedal assemblies done!




now the gas pedal. here is the s13 (left) and s15 (right). the s15 gas pedal assembly can still be had new and cheap, part number 18005-91F10 for anyone who needs.
as you can see, they are pretty similar but the arm is bent a tiny bit different. i had to torch the arm and bend the actual pedal area up and slightly left to clear the trans tunnel carpet and have enough range of motion to get WOT. i bolted the pedal assembly in, connected the throttle cable, checked the throttle body motion and made these adjustments. it took 2 or 3 times to get it just right.





and lastly, can't forget about the dead pedal!
i used an fx35 dead pedal since it was the closest in shape and size to the s13 one. basically just trimmed it all away leaving just the aluminum part and the plastic border, and shaved out all the webbing on the back side. i used 3m double sided tape and stuck it on to the s13 dead pedal and that was that!






and here is the result!
way better looking than the boring black rubber and plastic.




that's about all for now, thanks for looking and i'll definitely have some more to post up soon!

[flartius]

Man I am REALLY glad to see this build come to fruition for you, I must apologize I've been out of pocket a few years (sold my s14) and I missed seeing the build progress. I do want to ask how the stock radiator/clutch fan system is working for you? I have a Mishimoto and a e-fan on my 180sx and there is NO room; my power steering line actually rubs against the back of the radiator. Down here in the south I have heat issues on the really hot days.

If you make it down south again to the dragon or to a show let me know I would love to meet you and see the car!

I absolutely love the Nismo livery, I want to do the hood livery on mine but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[m tr4nch]

Man I am REALLY glad to see this build come to fruition for you, I must apologize I've been out of pocket a few years (sold my s14) and I missed seeing the build progress. I do want to ask how the stock radiator/clutch fan system is working for you? I have a Mishimoto and a e-fan on my 180sx and there is NO room; my power steering line actually rubs against the back of the radiator. Down here in the south I have heat issues on the really hot days.

If you make it down south again to the dragon or to a show let me know I would love to meet you and see the car!

I absolutely love the Nismo livery, I want to do the hood livery on mine but haven't gotten around to it yet.

hey man. the clutch fan and radiator have been working fine so far. in the summer if i idle for too long the water temp starts to creep up a little but once i start moving again it drops back down.

i haven't made it back to the dragon with it in a couple of years, maybe next year i'll go again with it.

and i highly recommend the nismo stripes, they are awesome!

[float_6969]

The pedals and clears look great! Thanks for the updates!

[LSDrift]

Makes me so happy to see this is still coming along. Maybe someday I'll get to catch up. Nice work.