sr20det s13 hatch build for wife!

General discussion forum about the 240sx, and a great place to introduce yourself to the board!
bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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So I finally got a chance to do the rest of the front suspension. I bought the energy suspension front sway bar bushings, steering rack bushings, and some stock front lower control arms.
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I should of took them out the bag for the picture but I didn't want to lose anything in the leaves on the ground haha. I first attacked the steering rack bushings that were pretty simple. Just remove the 2 17mm bolts on the passenger side and take bracket off. I use a pry bar to lift up the rack about an inch to slide the old bushing off and the new bushing in. The driver side was a little bit more tricky because the little tear drop had to match up perfectly.
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Here is the passenger side.
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Here she is all buttoned up.
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Here is the driver side, RIP haha. It took like an hour to get this in and at this point it wad a race against the sun thanks the season changing so I was unable to take more pics. The control arms on the driver side came with a few smacks but the passenger side took almost another hour of smacking with a hammer and taking turns with my brother. It finally broke loose and bolted the new ones in. The and easiest thing was the sway bar bushings which was pretty much self explanatory. The reason I focused on the front suspension because it was shaking violently and that had to go. So another hour later in the pitch black darkness I finally took the car for a cruise and it didn't shake or make noise over bumps. I was so relieved that it was finally done and I can move on to coilovers and wheel/tire set up.


bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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haloman222 wrote:Wow! I love it! Are you planning on any drifting :naughty: ? Or is it just a daily driver? Either or, still nice for an old 240, loving it, any updates?
Thanks for the kind words! I think we are going for auto x and maybe a little drifting. This is one out of 4 cars do it's not a daily driver. My wife wants a fun budget friendly street car so we will see haha.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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So I decided to start addressing the rust spots on the car. We will start at the hatch were it looks like someone already tried but obviously didn’t do it correctly. Here’s the rear hatch.
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I just took a flat screwdriver and popped it off to reveal whats underneath. This what I found.
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Just surface rust so time to bust out the dremel and grind it away.
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I had to use some por15 fiberglass to fill the hole. I also found a nickle size rust spot on another spot of the hat. Then I went to prep it for por-15 so it wont come back. After the prep I laid down the por-15.
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I ran out of day time so the next day I scuff the por-15 and lay down some body filler.
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Of course I had to do multiple layers of body filler and sanding and this is the final layer.
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The whole hatch was body filler it looks like haha. The car is 23 years old so oh well its not a show car. I also found some rust under the hood I sanded, prepped and painted with por-15.
The passenger side strut tower and the underside of the hood.
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After I prepped and por-15 it.
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I pulled the passenger fender liner off to start fixing the dent in the fender and look what I found that has to be fixed next lol Image
The battery is sitting on the windshield washer fluid container lol, until next time my friends.

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centralcoaster33
Posts: 2634
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 1997 Nissan 240SX #5
Location: Central Coast, CA

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Battery relocate to trunk maybe?! :) Glad to see what you're up to. Is your wife driving it? Have you had any driving fun/ shenanigans with it yet? A little shake down per se...?

haloman222
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:17 am
Car: Planning on a 1998 240sx with a 2jz super
Location: In your yard, watching you

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A lot of work on the beast! The rust problem is probably a pain in the a** lol, have you tried centralcoaster33's idea yet? Loving what you are doing, resurrecting one of the track drifters' classics! Who's driving it currently, or is it in the garage for now? Good Luck!!

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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Even though its around 20 degrees I still managed to get some work done on lilly(240sx). The wheels are faded grey primer or something so its time to give them some actual color so they aren’t an eye sore anymore. I had some hyper silver paint laying around.
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They look a little better now. Time to tuck the fender harnesses so when the car is lowered it wont rub through the wires on both sides.
Before. I cut the notch in the frame. After
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So I noticed that some parts of the fender bottom on both frame and had surface rust due to water getting trapped with dirt and leaves. So I grinded the rust and prepped then por-15 for preventative rotting.
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So now to hammer and dolly the passenger fender. Then body filler to smooth it out.
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Went ahead and upgraded the fuel filter with the z32 one Image
I went ahead and relocated the battery to the trunk to address the rust under the battery tray.
I used the stock ground wire and found a bolt to the frame under the carpet.
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Then used a 4 gauge wire and connected it to the positive wire and taped it up.
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So now its time to remove the windshield washer bottle to tackle the rust. It practically fell out.
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All I could really do is trim this up and por-15 it since the intercooler pipe with run through here anyway.
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That’s pretty much it for now. I was seeing the prices of sr20dets and they exceed the price of the car at 2300! Is it because they are getting rare? Well we were thinking of going ka-t due to budget. We will see thanks for looking reading boys and girls.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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centralcoaster33 wrote:Battery relocate to trunk maybe?! :) Glad to see what you're up to. Is your wife driving it? Have you had any driving fun/ shenanigans with it yet? A little shake down per se...?
Yes battery relocation was done! Shes not driving it just yet just because I want it to be a little decent for her lol.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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haloman222 wrote:A lot of work on the beast! The rust problem is probably a pain in the a** lol, have you tried centralcoaster33's idea yet? Loving what you are doing, resurrecting one of the track drifters' classics! Who's driving it currently, or is it in the garage for now? Good Luck!!
Rust sucks but I had experience on my 240z so its not too bad. What is centralcoasterr33's idea? She is sitting next to the garage which is being occupied by the z lol thank you for the kind words.

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centralcoaster33
Posts: 2634
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 1997 Nissan 240SX #5
Location: Central Coast, CA

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My suggestion was trunk relocate and you responded to that just before your asking what my idea was... Anyway, did you put the battery in a box or how did you fasten it to your trunk? Do you have a picture maybe?

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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centralcoaster33 wrote:My suggestion was trunk relocate and you responded to that just before your asking what my idea was... Anyway, did you put the battery in a box or how did you fasten it to your trunk? Do you have a picture maybe?
Sorry guys had a brain freeze from these artic temps here or something haha. Yes here is a picture of a enclose box I got from the auto parts store that a bolted to the floor right next to strut tower. It actually clears the fuel pump door completely. Sorry about the bad pic and clutter lol.
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bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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I was able to pick up a 5 speed with another ka24de for super cheap from a buddy of mine. So I was able to grab a spare fuel injector to fix the misfire in cylinder 2. I changed the cap and rotor with oem parts because they were old and corroded. So I was able to a compression test and the results were as follows:
Cylinder 1-160
Cylinder 2-160
Cylinder 3-160
Cylinder 4-155
I guess that’s ok for a motor with 232k on her. So instead of getting a sr and doing all the sorting again we decided to just turbo this motor since its plenty healthy for now along with another ka block if needed vs 3k plus for a motor swap. So now that we have the foundation of the car solid meaning it runs, stops, handles, tune up and all the electronics/buttons function properly, we can FINALLY think about the fun stuff stay tuned yall.

camshaft343
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 11:03 am
Car: Scion Xb (looking for a 240sx)
Location: Florida

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What a great build thread! Looking forward to seeing the future progress.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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camshaft343 wrote:What a great build thread! Looking forward to seeing the future progress.
Thank you for the kind words! I started up a youtube channel: mintyzee
Feel free to go check it out. I will update soon I have been juggling this car and the 240z plus the cold frigid weather.

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2002 3:20 pm
Car: 2017 Corvette, 2018 Focus ST, 1993 240sx truck KA Turbo.
Location: Merrimack, NH

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Agreed! Great build thread. This is the real deal ha. I see a lot of people that seem to get these cherry cars that don't need anything but adding power/upgrading things.

I've been pretty happy with my KA-T setup to be honest. Do it right and you won't be disappointed. I suggest replacing the wiring harness if you've ever got the engine out. Definitely the best upgrade I did to mine. No more chasing weird gremlins :)

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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I had some time to start prepping Lilly Roxanne (240sx) for body and paint. I used some 180 grit sandpaper and my electronic palm sander and went to work on her. Here is her before.
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The color of her is faded dark green metallic or something like that. The top suffered from faded clear coat. The bottom was actually pretty decent for 24 year old paint. I felt bad but I only knew she will look brand new soon. Here is her after the 180 grit sand down before a wash down.
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Looks like most of the green came off too lol! Well on to the washing part which was super messy.
Here she is after the washing.
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Sorry about the terrible pic haha here is a link to it on youtube though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Ut_ARc8c0
That’s pretty much it for now, next is to remove the tail lights and parking/turn signals.
I’m thinking about removing the bumpers too, Then all the masking which is a pain in the butt for me since I don’t really have patience. My wife will help with that hopefully lol.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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PapaSmurf2k3 wrote:Agreed! Great build thread. This is the real deal ha. I see a lot of people that seem to get these cherry cars that don't need anything but adding power/upgrading things.

I've been pretty happy with my KA-T setup to be honest. Do it right and you won't be disappointed. I suggest replacing the wiring harness if you've ever got the engine out. Definitely the best upgrade I did to mine. No more chasing weird gremlins :)
Thank you for the kind words! I cant wait to go ka-t. I had a previous 240sx with all kind of gremlins lol I learned my lesson this time around. I have to go backwards in order to go forward. I have a whole extra ka24de engine in case I ever do need some extra bits. Thanks for the advice will do!

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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I went ahead and took off the bumpers, sunroof, all the lights, and the rear wiper to prep for paint! Here is a video link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2awpPEYmfcU

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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Hey guys! It beautiful day today so I went ahead and masked up the car to prime and block it. Sorry I keep forgetting t take pics, I making videos on my youtube channel if you have time please check it out. Thanks guys!

and also taking the bumpers off from my previous post.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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So the coilovers came in. Not bad looking and they fit into the budget for now. I will make a review for them after a little street and track experience. Yes they are fleabay lol maxspeedingrods. Many s-chassis guys run them and love them so I thought I would give them a go. Remember this IS NOT a daily drive, I heard the rears are super stiff. I made a video of unwrapping them check it out!

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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Got her all painted up! Did this myself with a harbor freight gun and compressor with bc/cc from automotivetouchup.com, and chartrouse .004 flake in the mix. Also installed some led headlights
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Time to assemble and cut and buff. Here is a video I made too!

wa-chiss
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Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:23 pm
Car: 1990 Nissan S13 H/C KA24E
2005 Toyota Sequoia
1976 Honda CB750F Super Sport
Location: San Angelo, TX

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You tested the lights yet? I'm curious if they're worth it.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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I installed the coilovers!
wa-chiss wrote:You tested the lights yet? I'm curious if they're worth it.
Yes the lights are super bright! Well worth the 60 bucks . I also posted a pic of them on above I'll post a night one soon.

jturnia
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:43 am

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Nicely done!! Keep at it.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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jturnia wrote:Nicely done!! Keep at it.
Thank you for the kind words!

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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Hey everyone hope all is well, I made a short video of the new look. I took her out for a cruise and it was just fine. The front left strut makes a clunk sound once in a while just like other cars I had.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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Got a few pics of the headlights on at night
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I made a quick update of the coilovers too!

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centralcoaster33
Posts: 2634
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 1997 Nissan 240SX #5
Location: Central Coast, CA

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I want to paint my S14 someday... I think. What did it cost you overall (I mean even the tape and plastic, vent fans, painter tools, actual paint, primer, body filler, etc.)? How many hours do you think? Thank you.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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centralcoaster33 wrote:I want to paint my S14 someday... I think. What did it cost you overall (I mean even the tape and plastic, vent fans, painter tools, actual paint, primer, body filler, etc.)? How many hours do you think? Thank you.
Hey bro go for it!! so here is a little breakdown a lot of the stuff I had from previous paint jobs I did
2 quarts Paint and clearcoat-300
Tape-10
Compressor-170
Paint Gun kit-40
Hoses(100ft long)-70
Plastic wrap-free
Paint thinner-5
Goof off-5
Windex-5
Rubbing alchohol-2
10x20 portable garage-200
2k p/u Primer-40
Sandpaper-50
Sanding block-15
Carwash kit autozone sale-20
Body filler-10
Buffer-40
Pads-40
3m rubber compound-80
3m polish-80
Microfiber towels-15
3m scratch filler-10
Micro flake-22
Air hose filter and gauge-10
Total=$1239
At least 20 hours it took from start to finish on this s13 for bodywork, paint, cut and buff.
I collected the equipment over the last 4 years that I used to paint my previous s13, and s30.
For this peach s13 I only had to buy paint, sandpaper and replace a busted air hose. Most of the equipment I got from harbor and haven't gave me issues yet. Hit me for anymore questions.
I installed my double din pioneer radio!

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Car: 2017 Corvette, 2018 Focus ST, 1993 240sx truck KA Turbo.
Location: Merrimack, NH

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Those headlights are pretty interesting. Where'd you get them? All the LED headlights I've seen have been WAY too expensive for me.

bestlowrida
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:17 pm
Car: 92 nissan 240sx
99 estoril m3 vert
92 325i-sold
99 eclipse gs-traded
92 volvo 850-totalled
92 300zx tt-sold
93 240sx se-sold
89 535i-sold
92 honda accord-sold

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PapaSmurf2k3 wrote:Those I've seen have been WAY too expensive for me.
here you go
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-x6-LED-Headli ... Nt&vxp=mtr


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