Scott Buwalda's new 'vert

[Eikon]

Here are pics of Scott Buwalda's new 'vert.

[Scott Buwalda]

Thank you Eikon!!!

I e-mailed those pics to him at 4:45 AM this morning, because the convertible had me up; I couldn't sleep. Has a car ever done that to you? Happens to me all the daggum time...I am so pumped to get started.

The budget's gonna be tight at first, so I was thinking of dropping the rear subframe and installing an LSD, subframe bushings, give it all a pressure washing, pressure wash the underbelly of the car, undercoat the underbelly, and install the subframe all back in there. I also think a body kit is a necessity (future), and some low-offset wheels, both of which are 6-10 weeks out, I reckon. The body looks pretty straight, but I'll get in there and fix all of the dings and scrapes. I think I new paint job in the same color, once the kit is installed, would be a good move. My painter went AWOL, so I am looking again for a guy that can man a paint gun here in the ATL for some weekend work.

Off into the future, I envision a fully built KA-T crate motor with a GT35R turbo. Anyone for a 500 whp vert?? ME!!

Start throwing some ideas at me gentlemen. I have been working on S14's for 11 years now, but (believe it or not) have NEVER turned a wrench on an S13.

Scott

[biggie]

Very nice. Just picked mine up in ATL in Oct. And if you are who I think you are, then make Russ do all the work.

[rotorimp]

An RB shure would look nice in there!!! We all know you can do one up right!!

[Scott Buwalda]

Russ has been pretty incommunicato for a while now. He put about 20 hours into my blue car sorting the RB26 wiring (about two years ago) but since then he's just been around occassionally. The red car of mine has no Russ input at all...although I did leave a message for him with my recent red S14 braking woes.

And rotorimp, an RB25 would be nice, eh? I dunno, I am liking my KA-T crate motors recently. For $8-9K, you can get a fully built 600+ whp KA-T with standalone, and it doesn't require sourcing parts from Japan.

Scott

[DeXteR]

looks good (except the door panels - ubholstery rivets ftl)

i don't know if this is obvious, but i haven't seen you metion it anywhere yet - get rid of the slushbox and put a nice crisp 5-speed in the tunnel.

i personally don't care much for the typical wide-body overfenders on the vert. my reasoning: the vert has such straight lines that the typical over-fenders take away from the sleek look. the front fenders seem to have a bit of flair to them as it is, whereas the rears do not... so this also complicates the situation slightly too... maybe roll the rear and put some sleek blisters on the corners... if you do fiberglass/bodywork, get creative.

sleepy eye mod looks nice, but if you're going to be dropping big cash on it, i like the supermade replacement units.

i don't care for that red on the verts - change the hue if you're going to paint it so it's a bit more unique. carbon fiber lids would look good with the black top - it'll give it a nice 2-tone look.

wheels & tires - just pick something you like. if you want to go the extra mile, import something. definately do the 5-lug swap and some sort of oem brake upgrade.

bodykit - again, i like the clean look of the vert. don't get too wild with the bodykit. simple works well. maybe even jdm aero from a 180sx...

oh yeah, don't forget to drop it with some coilovers or a nice spring/strut combo. but with over 400hp, i think coilovers would be the better way to go.

as far as the engine goes, you seem to have a good idea - for the most part a ka is a ka. build it right, build it once.

wow, i just rattled off a ton of stuff... in case you couldn't tell, i've been kept up many a late night thinking about cars. s13, dsm, ka24det, ca18det, 4g63, g4cs, rally... just a few things i think about late at night.

[Eikon]

psshhh. Rb's suck!

I have a feeling another massively built KA-T will be a nice powerplant for this car.

I think a nice triple wing spoiler and some green neon running lights would be perfect for this car!

Actually.. knowing your ability to customize.. here's my suggestion for you Scott. I would love to see someone do a really nice roll bar that would integrated into a fiberglass enclosure over the rear seat as well as a boot cover. Here is my inspiration.. clearly the rocket boosters looks are overdone for the Porsche Carrera GT.. but I like the idea..

The Saturn Sky is similar and a little less Star Trekish..

Here's the closest I've seen on a 240 'vert... But I would love to see two rounded circles vs. the straight bar across. I would also like to see it nearly adjoining a painted fiberglass mold like the pics above..

[DeXteR]

I would love to see someone do a really nice roll bar that would integrated into a fiberglass enclosure over the rear seat as well as a boot cover.

oh, for the love of tarmac! any of that would be marvellous!

[Scott Buwalda]

Well, to sell this to my wife, I mentioned how cool it would be to cruise down the road with the four of us (wifey and two kids) headed for the mountains for a day away, with the top down. That means back seat needs to stay. I could *definetely* build a fiberglass roll-bar/adjoining batmobile thingy, but don't think it'd work with a fully functional back seat. I could be wrong though---I guess I will have to get the car here to see what's possible.

Also, Eikon mentioned how the vinyl parade boots are hard to come by. If I were to produce these, would there be an interest/group buy? I know a lot of trimmers if I can't do it myself, and might be able to get a really good rate for a dozen of them. I don't know what they'd cost, but it's something I will definetely have for mine.

Also, speaking of JDM bumpers and side steps...the 180SX Type-X front bumper seems to look pretty good. Is there a Type-X rear bumper? Side steps? Also, is there a JDM taillight conversion for the coupe? Sorry for so many dumb questions. I'll get up the learnign curve pretty uick in the coming weeks...

Scott

[biggie]

Also, Eikon mentioned how the vinyl parade boots are hard to come by. If I were to produce these, would there be an interest/group buy? I know a lot of trimmers if I can't do it myself, and might be able to get a really good rate for a dozen of them. I don't know what they'd cost, but it's something I will definetely have for mine.

Also, speaking of JDM bumpers and side steps...the 180SX Type-X front bumper seems to look pretty good. Is there a Type-X rear bumper? Side steps? Also, is there a JDM taillight conversion for the coupe? Sorry for so many dumb questions. I'll get up the learnign curve pretty uick in the coming weeks...

Scott

Definately a big market on the vert boots. I need one.

If I'm not mistaken the Type X was hatch. There is a complete kit for Type X, but the rear bumper wouldn't work with the vert/coupe. Sides will work.

And S13 coupe/vert tails are all the same US and JDM. No conversion, unless you are molding something in or buy/modding the ebay type tails.

[Grandpa01]

I'd be down for an aftermarket boot. One that resembles the miata boots would kick ***.

If you want to do something crazy, I'd say a hardtop or convertible hardtop similar to the new miata release.

BTW, this is Bragelman.

[Scott Buwalda]

John Bragelman re-appears?? Last I heard you were a Scion xB guy.

Scott

[cmkelly]

Did someone say, "Aftermarket boot?" I'll take one please

[biggie]

John Bragelman re-appears?? Last I heard you were a Scion xB guy.

Scott

He learned his lesson, finally.

[DeXteR]

you start talking aftermarket boot and a lot of the vert guys will perk right up.

here's the skinny on oem aero/lights.

let's talk kouki 180sx: front bumper will work, sideskirts will work, rear bumper - well that doesn't really matter. the jdm 180sx and the usdm 240sx hatch are the same thing. the rear bumper is the same on zenki, chuki, kouki - the only difference is the "type x" 180sx had some rear valences that look super sweet.



they don't fit coupe/vert. however, i know i've seen these on coupes. i don't know if they're aftermarket or if they're modified. where there's a will, there's a way.

as far as i know, there's no oem kouki verts - none that i've seen, so a kouki front end would be different.



coupe/vert tails are the same everywhere. there are some aftermarket ones that look really nice though - they're clear on top and red on bottom. they're the way to go.



as far as putting someone in the backseat... i don't really see that happening (sorry). unless they're small children, i wouldn't plan on it. maybe if the driver and passenger are very short, the backs of the front seats almost touch the rear seat.
Modified by DeXteR at 2:06 PM 12/29/2006

[Grandpa01]

I wa

John Bragelman re-appears?? Last I heard you were a Scion xB guy.

Scott

I was a Scion guy for about a year but decided to go back to 240s. I had a hatch for about a year and decided to go with a convertible instead since I've always wanted one.

[Paradox]

I wa

I was a Scion guy for about a year but decided to go back to 240s. I had a hatch for about a year and decided to go with a convertible instead since I've always wanted one.

Why not have both a 240sx vert and a Xb? I have both, along with 6 AE86's and a toyota 4x4...

The box is my wifes' but I love it too. She wanted a black box, I wanted 5 speed, so we both got our wish.

Nice red vert, get that auto transmission out of it!

[Grandpa01]

Why not have both a 240sx vert and a Xb? I have both, along with 6 AE86's and a toyota 4x4...

The box is my wifes' but I love it too. She wanted a black box, I wanted 5 speed, so we both got our wish.

Nice red vert, get that auto transmission out of it!

To be perfectly honest, it was a money thing. I lost my job after a year of owning it, and I was forced to sell it. It sucked, but I stand by my decision. I wasn't upside down, and the money I had left-over covered the hatch I bought and all the parts I needed to get it running.

edit: I do miss it though. It was a great little box.

[afracer]

you start talking aftermarket boot and a lot of the vert guys will perk right up.

here's the skinny on oem aero/lights.

let's talk kouki 180sx: front bumper will work, sideskirts will work, rear bumper - well that doesn't really matter. the jdm 180sx and the usdm 240sx hatch are the same thing. the rear bumper is the same on zenki, chuki, kouki - the only difference is the "type x" 180sx had some rear valences that look super sweet.



they don't fit coupe/vert. however, i know i've seen these on coupes. i don't know if they're aftermarket or if they're modified. where there's a will, there's a way.

as far as i know, there's no oem kouki verts - none that i've seen, so a kouki front end would be different.

Kouki looks the best on ANY S13, especially convertibles!

[Paradox]

Sorry about hearing that you lost your job, I guess i was assuming that it was a choice to not have too many cars.

[ishkabibble]

Your car's exterior looks pretty clean! I personally wouldn't touch it, but I'm biased because I have a similar car.

Don't do a body kit unless you are going with a Silvia conversion - just get a Xenon front air dam.

VQ35 swap, too.

[zenkii]

stock is hawt...all you new is a 5 speed change over and slam it

[94_240sx]

Kouki looks the best on ANY S13, especially convertibles!

afracer,I really like your front end and side skirts. You know one time I wanted to go that route but gave up somehow. It's good to see someone really did it. I bet you are the only person who has 180 kouki oem body kit on a vert.

The red vert is in pretty good shape with clear rear window and straight body etc. It'll be a good project car to start with.

[slownslurious]

the reason people put in roll bars is usally to meet the requirements for racing, a twin hoop design doesn't meet the requirements for SCCA, NASA, or NHRA. I'm currently working on something that will end up sort of like chris forsberg's convertible 5.6 liter powered Z33. Modest humps behind each seat to allow for the racing harnesses, with a regular cage (probably one by S&W fabrications). As soon as I finish with the Z32 rear swap I'm doing the cage, and then finishing up the v8 swap and supercharged/mega squirt...

at some point in time it will get paint, looks like crap now with the hood, widebody, bumper, sideskirts, doors, trunklid, fenders, are all different shades of black.