Kind of starting where I left off. I finally lined someone up to get this painted and finally had the tune front and all the little things welded up. I hauled the car over to a friends house and did some light prep work. Everything seemed to be going ok until I started rolling the passenger side rear fender. Found some filler so it made for un-even fender rolling/pulling. I was unhappy but what can you do. Knowing that I eventually wanted wide fenders, I left it be.
Met the guy who would be painting the car, seemed pretty cool. Older hot rod guy who does a lot of the painting for circle track dudes. Got the car on a trailer and sent it off and was told it would be a 2 week turn around. I have come to greatly hate relying on others to do work I just don't have the tools myself.
Along with many other pieces of this build, I decided to switch up the paint as well. I've always enjoyed black cars and how well they fit in and seem proper. I decided on an 80's Chrysler Jet Black with more metallic flake in the clear. And I had the engine bay and interior done in Battleship Gray for a clean and subtle look.
The car ended up taking almost a full month to get back and I was already way behind a deadline I wanted to reach (I was getting pretty bummed at this point). And upon receiving the car, I was further distraught by the lack of time that was put into certain area's, given that painting was his full time job. But, there was nothing I could do and when it boils down, it was free (paid for by a sponsor) so repairs and resprays were easy to come by.
I was hoping for the engine bay and interior to have a clear coat shot over the top for durability but it came out decent. It'll end up being redone some time in the future. And the exterior came out alright, a few clear coat runs and small fish eye area's. I tell myself it's a drift car and it shouldn't matter but it's my first decent build and I want something that looks good and is photogenic.
Tried to show the pearl as much as an iPhone would allow. It pops pretty good in the sunlight and I'm happy with color overall. I immediately took the car back to my buddies shop and dropped the motor back in and try to assemble everything and salvage what we could, mid season.
I believe it was May or June at this point, so all I wanted to do was finish and go drive. I had a the PCM reflashed with an HP Tuner and set everything where we wanted it. Also hooked up with ACT Clutch to run their 6 puck sprung setup with lightweight flywheel. This is a heavy duty setup and as most know, can hold a great amount of torque. Got everything in the car and it came down to wiring and other small bits.
The car sat at my friends shop about 45 minutes away so it was a hassle getting off work and driving over. On top of this, the guy helping with all the fabrication work got pretty sick and was no longer working on the car. I finally made the decision to pull everything out of his shop and take it back to my garage (my fiancé wasn't too happy with my choice but allowed it). This is where motivation got to an all time low.
Having to run three drift events in a three weekends every month doesn't allow for anything to get done. I was completely over building the car but sitting out from all the fun was depressing. Nothing about the v8 was exciting to me at the moment and I got bored so I did a 180 and picked up a buddy's SR
It's mostly stock besides a few bolt on's, still t25. Threw it in real quick and started going at the wiring to work with my switch panel. My brother came over and took some random photos. Car looks like shit, it needs a wash and some attention on the body but I have been enjoying the car much more now.
I traded off the LS for a base model 1jz with 5 speed (horrible w58) and $1500 cash on top. The goal was to find an x8 Cressida shell and have a fun sedan to drive around town in. I should know by now that plans are just plans that aren't in writing.
That's a cock with semen if you couldn't see it.
All my friends wanted me to just finish something and start driving, and that's all I wanted to do as well but I've always had an urge to trade off cars and parts. The trend still continues.
I ran into some minor wiring and Ecu issues. At first, the injectors weren't firing but with fuel through the throttle body, it would start up and idle just fine till it ran out. Found a bad ground and then the Ecu somehow fried itself. With a custom harness and no more chassis harness, it made tracking stuff down pretty easy but stressful at the same time. Switched to an E5 Ecu, car started great but ran like shit. Found out that the 97-98 type x ecu's can't be switched so we repinned the J4 harness for the e5 Ecu and BAM, greatness.
I threw in the basic bits to drive the car and felt good enough to drive the 1 minute to my local events (literally .5 miles from my house).
Last weekend, everything was ready for the SLD open drift on Sunday and I was pretty nervous. It had been exactly one year since I last drive my own car at an event. I for sure thought something was going to break or the car would catch fire. But holy hell, I couldn't have been happier. The ERA1 knuckle system worked flawlessly and even with no power steering, I was able to handle the car pretty well. I hit full lock maybe once and there was no over centering or weird mishaps.
We did a quick eye ball alignment and I pulled out as much rear camber as the metal fenders would allow and threw on some Yokohoma 235/45/17's in the rear with a 225/45/17 up front. With the amount of camber I had, I still had a fair amount of grip and forward bite but not as much as I'd ultimately like.
These are the only photos so far from the open drift, I don't think they do this hoe bag justice. She's classier then that. I'm trying to prepare the car for a two day event October 5th and 6th that I'm putting on. Saturday is a three car team tandem comp and Sunday is an open drift. All I really care to do is pull the fenders some more for less camber and put a windshield in, maybe a hood as well.
And that brings us to today. I want to make enough power to run the 5/8th's bank for competitions but have a good range of low and mid power for some of the tight tracks around the PNW like PARC.
I also let my closest companion go, it had been almost one year but he was getting filthy. So the beard went and will come back in a few months. The last photo of said beard.
