Ye olde "white elephant" gets prepped for a new home

[Didderson]

Mozilla died on me after the first attempt at writing this so excuse me if I write weird.

Well I have been bothering everyone in NJ and PA about a shell for some time now, and I have secured a frame. More on that later.Most of these mods are maintenance and cosmetic, they still show DIY on how to prep an SR even more than my last thread.

First thing I did was take the intake manifold off because I was afraid of dirt and rocks that got inside from the accident. I was very relieved to see there was none, but I still cleaned the runners and log chamber with carb cleaner to prep.

I had a sealed O ring set lying around since my old KA was having problems. Now was the perfect time to replace those old crispy 16 year old seals! Twist the yellow screw driver to remove:Careful not to scratch the injector, you will love these pick tools for this job.I also did the o ring for the FPR:

Before I got it back together I did some pro taping with a razor: Don't mind my emo legs, the pic makes em look funny I don't have emo legs!I soon learned the sexiness of semi-gloss black. I painted everything separately, even the screws, fpr and injector caps.

My old NGK v power plugs got fouled when the motor ran after the accident because the intercooler piping wasn't hooked up anymore. Iridiums with 1 colder heat range ftw! Funny story, Keegan gave me these as a present for helping him on the coupe last year and I never put em in!I'm going to go eat some pizza so I will be back in a few with another update lol.
Modified by Didderson at 10:04 AM 2/13/2010

[Didderson]

That was a few days ago, today I finished the PCV line and touched up the upper mani, then assembled! I'm lovin' it.



Later on I replaced the hose for this cooling line because it would be so hard to replace if I had to with the motor in. These cooling hard lines were actually rusting in some places so I cleaned em up and shot them with some silver rustoleum.Now that was taken care of, I actually cut the thermal intake gasket a bit because it didn't fit perfectly when matching up, but only by half a milimeter. I just cut it at an angle because it fit fine on the block.Installed it looks like a new motor.

In other news my Kenwood head unit was failing on me. It was just the display so I searched the interwebs for a solution and sure enough, just the solder on the resistors for the screen cracks out just like our window motor amplifiers, so this fixed it! I'm really glad I didn't have to buy a new one.

The valve cover is getting an update also.

[mRodiek]

Looks good dude! When do we get to see pics of the new shell?

[Didderson]

Good question. Next weekend man.

[White Comet]

that is looking great so far.

I soon learned the sexiness of semi-gloss black.

be careful, semi gloss black is a strong drug, next thing you know, everything is getting painted that color lol.

i'm so glad i have the local friend hook up, and have seen pics of the car to come already. omg its fresh as f*** (all i'm gonna say about it)

[AZ89two4Tsx]

I also love the semi-gloss black. After I painted the bottom of my hood with it I'm hooked lol.

Btw, any hints on the new shell? Coupe? Hatch?

[White Comet]

i'll give you a hint. its a rwd nissan. that should narrow it down big time

[Didderson]

Well my last one was an SE hatch.Humans are creatures of habit.Should be a good enough clue lol.

[Logan76]

is that just rustoleum semi gloss? cheapo s***?

[AZ89two4Tsx]

Hatch ftw! Did you salvage your old wheels? I loved how they looked with the gray.

[White Comet]

is that just rustoleum semi gloss? cheapo s***?

if its the same stuff i used its duplicolor engine enamel

[Didderson]

Lol yeah logan it's duplicolor. Why not, I don't have a top mount fuel rail so i'm just cleanin it up for now. The intake mani I have to admit is painted with 1500 header enamel also by duplicolor. I'm a known purist for letting aluminum shine through it's natural color though. In the event of a new manifold I won't paint it.

I do have my wheels. 1 of them is curbed slightly and 1 has scratches from dorifto angle. I'll be using probably 2 xxr's in the rear and 2 swastikas up front. The xxr wheels are all fine and in working order, i'll just leave them off the car to be touched up and refinished. It's gonna look sweet.

[Logan76]

I wasnt bashing you, I need to paint my engine bay and I considered semi-gloss black, I just was wondering what brand you used.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

I can vouch for the Duplicolor engine enamel, specifically semi-gloss black. It looks great.

[Didderson]

No biggie man I didn't rly think so. I was just like what other paint would i use for this application lol... I've seen you ask about paint a lot so I just thought it was funny.

[Logan76]

I suck at paint, its not my thing man, trust me lol.

[Didderson]

I'm not trying to go off topic or keep bumping a thread buttt, one auto body repair class will change your life Logan76. I took one in high school. One of the best things I could have done as an extracurricular educational activity.I've been prepping sanding priming painting and clearing ever since lol. I think there was a thread where i fixed jeff's old hood with fiberglass mat and some resin. I'm about to do it again with the 2nd hood .

[Razi]

You have started my semi-gloss addiction again.Good idea on painting the rail, I will do this whenever I pull it off.

[Logan76]

Nice, my next classes I take will be alluminum welding and tig welding classes, but I will for sure put that on my list of classes to take.

[mRodiek]

The addiction is real. All I did was my engine bay and I want to do the whole car..we'll see if I can resist. Cant wait to see what youve got comin didderson.

[hbpignosePA]

soooo are you gonna have it done by carlise?

AND

are you keepin the sentra for DD?

i think that would be the smartest thing; that way you dont risk killing another car.

oo and i dont think staggered wheels are a good call... im only runnin them till i get my one tire looked at that constantly looses air

why not all 4 swastikas till you get money to get one new xxr?

i got a set of em im gonna use as spares

[kietdude]

Tom, let me know when you are working on your car, so I can lend a hand. I am off Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends. maybe this time I will actually get to see your car running.

[Didderson]

Awesome kiet! I definitely will. It's coming home thursday night (easter break starts thurs til sunday) I'll be workin on it friday and sat. At this point I work 4-9 both days aka friday and saturday.

Yeah I don't like the handling that will come with a staggered setup, causing more understeer, but it'll ride like that for a little, or on steelies. I always wanted to use the swazis only for a rear drift set until i can get the other 2 fixed professionally.

I am definitely shooting for carlisle. The May 9-10 one aka nicofest.I think I can do it even with finals and s*** coming up lol crunchtime holy s***.

[hbpignosePA]

i got a full set without tires... you could borrow them if you want...(i desided im keepin them for track spares)

[Stripes]

I'm psyched to see that you are doing another build.Good luck with this one man

[Didderson]

Small educational update. Painting techniques, some stuff on what I've learned and what works for me.

I don't normally show what goes into painting stuff, but this is a low grade job for the parts done 2nite. Basically these sand cast iron pieces aren't for show, but they were about to start rusting sooooo.

Dawn and water in a bucket is your best friend. Get the paintable piece wet, then use the orange brush to remove the dirt on it.

For higher quality jobs where a nice smooth finish is desired, start wetsanding with 400 grit, then 600, then you can skip to 1000 if you'd like. Pretty much after a good wet 600 you're ready to lay paint though.Key to wetsanding: You'll be able to feel the difference if it's not wet enough, the paper won't slide as easily and it will 'bite'. This is bad, get more dawn-water on that sand paper because it provides a barrier between the grits and the paint, sanding much less than it would without a water barrier.

Just a tip for if you rattle can your car with a nice 2 coats of clear: Start with 400 and wet sand. Wipe the surface with a windshield wiper or something (3m makes this nifty sanding block that doubles as a wiping arm). Once you wipe the surface it's dry. You can then easily see the sanding marks. Look for high and low spots (called orange peel because it looks like an orange peel), if you see any, the high spots are dull and the low spots are glossy (aka haven't been sanded yet) so you're not done sanding.

Once you get close to removing the orange peel but not totally, finish removing it with the 600 grit wet sand. 1000 grit wet sand comes next. Remember, this whole time you have a bucket or spray bottle of dawn mixed with water solution. The dawn cuts grease so paint will lay and also helps the water kinda stay on the car.

After the 1000 it's up to you to go over it with 2000 grit wet sand. I'd say go for it especially if you're new to buffing out a paint job. I'm still not very good at buffing because I don't have a buffer LOL.In any event, consult youtube for buffing, but the gist of it is keeping the surface moist with the buffing compound to avoid burning through the paint. If you burn through the paint there is no turning back, full respray must be done. Keep the buffer moving is also a huge thing u need to do.

Some say you need a tack rag before painting, I just use an old T shirt with paint thinner on it to pick up any extra debris. Who likes buying tack cloths? Not me!Also, wet sanding makes your sand paper last 10x longer. Get the 3m stuff, it'll last years!

So anyway, tonight i just did the quick brush clean and then only 400 grit because these aren't pieces ppl care about, I just wanted em to not rust yet . I also forgot to mention that once you are done sanding, rinse the pieces in regular water and let them dry naturally, no wiping! They're ready for spray once they're dry.

The water pump pulley:

I also failed to mention or take a pic of the dirt that was compacted into the grooves of each pulley from the accident throwing a shovel load at the motor. It was kinda not fun scraping every last bit of it out of each groove lol.

But yea, hope this helps some ppl who haven't yet painted with confidence find that edge!
Modified by Didderson at 9:41 PM 4/8/2009

[White Comet]

very informative. i look forward to seeing the end results

[Logan76]

I would rather rebuild a motor than paint my own car, painting/body work scares me to a point lol, its very intimidating to me, where as any kind of mechanical work on the engine/suspension/brakes/interior Ill tackle no problem.

[White Comet]

here in lancaster we do it all

[mRodiek]

here in ILLinois we do it all

fixed