Vader Vert 2008 SEMA Sneek Peek!!!

[EPD]

C'mon guys!!! Isnt this the vert everyone worships? The least we can do is pretend we are interested!

I for one am a fan, you beat us all to the punch with the s13.4 swap, vq swap, and magazine feature lol.The ITB's are beautiful, i hope bosch kicked in a bit for them with all the advertising you had put on em. Regardless they are awesome to look at and should help wake up the vq, lets see some dyno numbers!

The instant gentleman is all personal taste and youve already taken your beating there. Like i said, personal taste. lol.

I am interested in seeing the new cross member design and mounts, the vq swap is something i have been considering for a while, but i didnt like the design from "vq swap". Dont tease us with new designs and then dont share!!

I had plans to attend this years sema but went overseas instead. There are no s- chassis in spain and no rx7s either, (my two loves). Keep us posted with all the little updates!

Keep up the good work.

[cmkelly]

Oh we're interested all right. This car, as well as a scant few others, is the yard stick by which all our cars are measured. Tastefully done, not too much bling and getting the performance stones to back up the agressive looks.

There are a few owners on this board who are at that magical time in life; making enough money to invest in their dreams without having to worry about just starting out, paying off school loans or getting ready to put their kids in college. Most of us are in the latter category. Kudos to the rest for giving us the chance to vicariously build out our cars. I'd love to buy his brakes but would have a hard time justifying the fact they probably cost more than my car.

Keep us the good work and keep the pictures coming!

[DeXteR]

P.S. I really want to enter the car for the calender DEX. I don't think I will have time to make the submission however. Any chance for an extension?????

I'm pretty sure I can speak for the majority here when I say this: Mick, for you, we'll give an extension... .

[EPD]

Its friday, Sema's around the corner! We need updates!!! i really want to see that motor

[JST2KWIK]

yeah I wish I was at that point! I plan on doing an rb swap into my verty but don't have the money right now...

[SuicidnS13]

Thanks.....

From SEMA guys. Sorry about my pic quality there was a crap load of traffic keeping me from getting decent shots and his car was on an alignment rack 3 feet off the ground. Lighting was also so randomn in the building. Look for another thread full of sema pics soon after the show ends this weekend...

[TIMELSS_vert]

looks really good micky, gotta say, the kit looks much better than i first thought. oh, and we need motor shots!!
Modified by TIMELSS_vert at 12:02 AM 11/6/2008

[SuicidnS13]

looks really good micky, gotta say, the kit looks much better than i first thought. oh, and we need motor shots!!

Modified by TIMELSS_vert at 12:02 AM 11/6/2008

His hood was down, if I run into him again Ill have him pop the hood so i can jump up on the rack and take some decent shots for you guys.

[110octane]

WHEW........it's over! Thanks for the images suicidn.

Sorry to you all for not updating more frequently. I failed. However, I will do a recap and go back and highlight all the fab work and little details for you all to see.

The event turned out great and the car was well received. Unfortunatly, we ran out of time to button the car up properly to get it running and tuned. Upon returning the car will be getting the ecu and all the wiring ripped out. I want to upgrade the ecu and tidy up the wiring throughout. I've got some other things up my sleeve but you will have to wait to see.

Thanks again vert community...you rock!!!

[wmdavis007]

Can't wait to see what's in store. BTW the car looks awsome!!

[240daveTX]

so can we see how sexy the new stacks are in there?

[110octane]

Ok guys, here it goes. I think I should re title this thread "Mickey's SEMA blog". I am going to try to tell you what went down for me last week leading up to and at SEMA. I hope you enjoy!

Well, First off. The boys and I at SPD Metal Works in Placentia, Ca. worked literally around the clock for three days to get the car completed prior to the show. The main problem is that SPD built and maintains the Falken Tire/Discount Tire IS350 drift car. For those not aware, here is what happened to it 2 weeks prior to SEMA:

http://www.wreckedmagazine.com...winda

So, Discount Tire had a customer appreciation event during SEMA week at LVMS and the Lexus was to be used for demos. That meant fixing it took priority over my car getting on the rack. Once SPD got into the car they started to realize pretty much everything on it was bent in some fashion. Just when we thought it was complete they would find something else that needed straightening or replacing. So the motor for my car spent a few days looking like this:





While the boys were fixing the Lexus I was fitting the body kit and installing the beautiful new Wilwood brakes:





Finally, on Friday night we got started on the engine install and motor mount manufacturing. We had to start by dropping the subframe from the chassis and put it on a steel table below the car on the lift. We then layed the motor in place and "trued" it up by taking a lot of measurements. We actually raised the motor in the bay by about an inch over the old set up. The reason for this is that I added a larger oil pan and since I like to drive my car I wanted to gain some ground clearance. Peep the pictures for more details:





So, after a near all nighter on Friday night we new we needed to make it all happen on Saturday because the car needed to be on the SEMA floor by Sunday at 2pm. Meaning we had to fab motor mounts, apply the vinyl graphics, manufacture a custom exhaust system and button up everything else in the engine bay. Doesn't seem like a lot but if you now a good fabricator you know that they don't let half *** stuff leave their shop. The motor mounts are impeccable and the exhaust is bitchin' but only tacked together at this point. That meant calling the transport driver and delaying him until 6am Sunday morning to pick the car up. I am thankful he was cool. After a very long day Saturday and sleepless night here is the send off Sunday morning:



Once the car was strapped down behind the AXIS Wheels R35 I headed home to pack and drive 3 hours to Vegas. Oh man, whata day!? I was tired, grumpy, and just wanted to sleep. Thank god for my lovely fiance and her lead foot. We made it to Vegas quickly and actually beat the car there....all while I slept. Hahaha. Once we arrived we met up with the car and got it into the convention center. Here are the pics once it was on the rack and the cool backdrops that BOSCH produced for the booth:















Now that the car was set up I left it to the pro's at BOSCH to finalize the display. They have just acquired a company called Accu Turn who manufactured the alignment lift you see in the images. Now these machines are label BOSCH and are sold in their and manufactured for their product line. VERY nice equipment! I went off to walk the show and see friends and get a sneek peek of the cars on display. Here were a few of my early favorites:





APR Widebody Stang - The pictures do this car no justice.......it was REAL wide!







Some crazy stuff in the FORD booth:





I was pretty excited to see the new things the companies and builders came up with this year. I was happily surprised to see a lot of sweet muscle cars. Not my thing, but the pro street style new gen muscle cars are AMAZING. Guys like Foose have really forced builders hands to create some amazing stuff. WOW! I wish I had more pics of these cars for you guys but you can look here under SEMA coverage if your interested:

http://speedhunters.com/archiv....aspx

So Thursday night my boy Carter at Import Tuner magazine dropped off 4 passes for the SONY Gran Turismo party at the Hard Rock. We were told it was exclusive with open bar all night and Ludacris was the entertainer. Sweet! I'm not really a fan of HipHop but this dude was really good in person. Here are a couple pics:



After about 8 songs "Luda" took a break and these two shirtless, tatooed, white dudes came out. It turns out to be Hard Rock regulars Tommy Lee and Dave Navarro. Tommy sat down behind the drums and Dave grabbed a sick bass guitar. At this point I was wondering what the hell was about to go on!? So these dudes start playing their instruments and "Luda's" DJ started scratching records. Then Ludacris came back on stage rapping to the music. Believe it or not........this was an amazing show!!!!!......the free drinks and friends were amazing as well.





After the party, my lady and I took a cab back to the posh Venetian hotel where BOSCH put us up. I was greeted by this amazing machine........I Want!



Back at the show on Friday, I arrived to wipe down the vert and walk off my hangover. I came across this Miata that for some reason reminds me of a mini Spoon Sports S2000? I think it's the hard top that gives it the "look"? Whatdya think?





That about does it for my adventure to SEMA. Well, besides the photos from the club that could incriminate a number of peeps and possibly myself. So we'll save those for another time. I did bump into Greg (AZHITMAN) and a few other NICOnauts. Nice seeing you all!

As asked for, here are a couple final parting shots of the vert bay. Enjoy.









Thanks for the support guys! Please feel free to ask questions and I will answer them to the best of my knowledge.


Modified by 110octane at 1:09 AM 11/11/2008

[EPD]

very nice. it looks like you had alot of fun. The car looks nice, its definitely sleeker. im looking forward to seeing it completed.

[DeXteR]

I'm not one to be jealous much... but right now I'm green.

[AZhitman]

I'm not one to be jealous much... but right now I'm green.

Let me make it worse - Mick's now engaged to the lovely Miss Courtney Day.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy... Congrats, Mick!!!

Great hanging out with you guys at the show.

[Eikon]

Let me make it worse - Mick's now engaged to the lovely Miss Courtney Day.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy... Congrats, Mick!!!

Great hanging out with you guys at the show.

Lovely? Dude if that's not the understatement of the year! She's a 10! And I mean that in the most respectful classy way.

Mickey's a freaking RockStar!

I have a question then... Why isn't Courtney a member on NICO yet?Why haven't we asked Courtney to model at a NICO event yet?

Greg?

[DeXteR]

Let me make it worse - Mick's now engaged to the lovely Miss Courtney Day.

Pfft... I don't care about that. I've got a hot car chick all ready. Fiances are a PITA anyway... Although, it's really nice of her to drive your exhausted butt to LV for the show. That's cool for sure.

Greg, you do need to check your email and resubmit for the calendar though...

[110octane]

Well guys, thanks for the great comments.

I just received the car back yesterday and it is up on jacks in the garage getting ready to rip the wiring out!!!! I will update along the way.

Dex, pics coming dude!

[jamesblonde82]

glad you kept this car man, it's amazing. that exhaust looks perfect can't wait to hear what this car sounds like

[94_240sx]

Amazing. I like how the shop taped the fenders and radiator support and install the front bumper after it went up to the ramp. Attention to details!! Oh! yeah, all other mods are top notch too.

[110octane]

All the blue tape is actually my doing. I'm a little anal?

Actually, people think I own stock in 3M because I use the crap out of that tape to avoid mishaps. I often joke that I am just going to use it for my next finish on the car!!!

[EPD]

you can never be to careful bro, you gotta protect the investment especially black, you cant hide the flaws! i wish i had pix of the lotus that i taped up before its turbo kit was installed, the whole rear half of the car was covered lol. Keep us updated

[94_240sx]

All the blue tape is actually my doing. I'm a little anal?

Actually, people think I own stock in 3M because I use the crap out of that tape to avoid mishaps. I often joke that I am just going to use it for my next finish on the car!!!

Haha! That's cool. You are my kinda guy. I use food wrap and put a blanket on top of it. Food wrap is much easier to apply than tape. 2-3 layers should be enough. Besides, tape won't stick to my car because of thick layer of wax. I use NXT 2.0, and it's the best off the shelf wax. There's no point of moding your car if you make damages to it while you're working on it. You know what I mean?

[DeXteR]

There's no point of moding your car if you make damages to it while you're working on it. You know what I mean?

PFFT.

SURE THERE IS!!! You can still make it go fast without worrying about scratching the fender lip with a few tools or scratching the fender with the zipper on your Carharts...

[nis-s13]

super sick!!!

keep up the good work mayn.

[110octane]

Well boys and girls.........nothing exciting to update still.

The car is currently resting in the garage exactly how it rolled off the SEMA show floor. It pains me to walk by it everyday knowing I can't immediately do anything to get it running under it's own power. The plans at this time are to remove all the wiring and rewire the car utilizing a military spec harness and connectors (cannon plugs, etc.) mated to a Motec M600 ECU. Finally, I plan to have it tuned by Motec as well. Anyone that knows wiring and ECU's know this is an expensive upgrade and I will have to be saving for awhile in order to put the coin aside.

The goal is to have a streetable race set up that I can drive everyday.

I'll let everyone know whats up as soon as it's started.

[Topless_92]

Hey Mickey, i need a new wallpaper. Pics

[cagedeyecam]

I want ITBS lol on my vq

[zxman69]

just wondering if you got the car started and how you liked those ITB's?

[EPD]

no, hes going to rewire the car first.