My First Car: Daily Driven S14

[Devocat]

Hey my names Devo, I'm from toronto ontario and this is my s14's build thread.
So it's not a secret that these cars like to disappear. They rust like crazy, especially in wonderful Ontario. Even if you buy one from the south, as soon as it gets to a winter here, its days are numbered. Looking at the car, I didn't think it was that bad. Sure, It had some bubbles in the rockers, but when I managed to kick holes through all of them, I was pretty shocked. It was not a job I could do on my own. I had never welded, I fucking hate body work, and my attention to detail fucking sucks; I'm okay with mechanical shit, brakes etc but ironically this car was mechanically fine. Everything worked. Anyway, I needed help. I asked around, lots of people said they were going to help me but were either too far or hard to get too, or just fell through. Till i texted my friend Mike. He has a dope exhaust shop in Oshawa, a town over, and said he would help me out. I brought the car there and got started. I can honestly say this build would not have happened without Mike. On to the pictures:
The day I bought it, Sitting on the Lot

At my buddy trevors place, on his driveway (Because my parents wouldn't let me park it on my drive way) . I had to fix a headlight

In the parkinglot behind my house, Lots of skids were had there

The day after i kicked the holes in the rockers; I tried just putting tape over them to see if a shop would pass it, but they obviously declined. I even bondo'd over the tape!! (it was a fucking mess)



Then we started digging in on the rockers; They were worst than i thought




It was probably the most eye opening experience I had ever had. Life really sucked, but it was nice knowing I had a friend cool enough to help me with this.




One part of the rear quarter was straight up rotted through, so i cut a piece of metal to replace (i cut, mike welds)



turned out pretty shitty looking, but it was my first time ever doing anything like that and i was proud. plus from 10 feet away it looked fine! hahaha. anyway:

things were looking good and my car finally looked normal:


I immediately got a legit safety and some sideskirts: extreme dimension because at the time, I had issues listening to people with more experience.



fit like absolute shit.


straight up had to chop the ends off both of sides, they werent long enough.

then i got a cute little blast pipe because i thought it was hilarious.



then i got shitty coilovers that were 10 years old and HKS branded and hated my life they were blown up and i got ripped off 600 bucks.

then i let my buddy borrow my car, he came back and my clutch softner line exploded. who would have thought, it rotted right through

got a stainless steel unit locally from my buddy jay. saved my ass, got it installed and bleeded in time for work the next day.


then i saw some cool rims come up for sale so i bought them. four for 250 with tires. feltgoodman


had them on the car and even though it was sunk as fuck i still loved the way the car looked. huge morale boost.


took more cool pix



i was feelin noice



then i was out sliding in the parkinglot behind my house and hit a bump, knocked the camber out and the wheel was rubbing the coilover. so i put some bolt on spacers i had had sitting around for a while on. car looked beefy.





then it snowed.

I was really enjoying the car, in hindsight it was super super super reliable and an awesome daily. never left me stranded (except that time with the clutch line)

unfortunately i had some shitty neighbors who liked to fuck with my shit. i dont know if its because i parked in the street or if the neighbors just didnt like me. but it happened before i lowered the car and made it loud if that helps, and kept happening throughout the stages of owning the car. so i dont know.

but id basically wake up to a ton of spit on the car. like, alot. either one person was hangin out there for 10 minutes balling up spit, or there were a few people fucking with me shit.


so i decided to make my car even more unbearable, deleting my oem resonator and throwing in a welded diff.


oh, and put on a bigger blast pipe.


then i put a number on my door


it was pretty weirdly contraversial. i really liked it, but i got so much flack for it from peers it just sucked the fun out of it for me. the goal wasn't to really piss anyone off, i just really like the way it looked and wanted to try something different. oh well.


then i did some much needed maintenance, spark plugs/oil/valve cover gasket



but partsource gave me the wrong gasket, and by the time i noticed they were closed...soooo yeah.



then i got a cool blastey (benefits of pals with exhaust shops)



then i ended some debates by putting s13 ruca on my car and using it for a full winter/drift season


but at that height the toe was so far out i was going through a set of tires a week. it really really sucked.





it was still alot of fun in the winter time.



low pressure 205/50 winter tires and a welded diff led to constant fun in the snow. i learned and progressed so much as a driver.

then i put my friend jesses wheels on for shits and giggles. kept them for a week because whynot. tires were toast, so i was just doing burnouts everywhere.

and then i got more spacers



then i lowered it



fast forward a few months, im on new coilovers. got some random front wheels because my old ones were giving me issues with tires, and i threw an s13 pignose on.

car was looking extra ratchet.

then i got hit in a parkinglot. cant find photos of that, but some lady basically drove over the side of my car while iw as at work. my first drift event the next day, i decided to not worry about it and party on. I took her number and we worked out a deal, which ultimately lead to me getting a new front end and overs.





i was having alot of fun, winter really helped out alot with the whole sliding skills thing.

[Devocat]

then that lady gave me cash, so i bought some new rims and other things




put the rims on the car, moved the rear wheels to the front. 17x9 all around


it was pretty cool, felt like the car was sorta coming together. also i had bassboat front fenders


then we started cutting for overs

said overs installed:


then i got a cool wheel from a buddy at a good price. ebay hub.


took some cool rollers:





car was lookin noice, it was a ton of fun.


then i did more drift events:



car looked extra shitty here for some reason^^


transformation tuesday thing i did

then the season ended so i parked the car. my aunt has a cool spot on her driveway and was nice enough to let me use it:

plans were to basically refresh the car, whole new rear end, new bushings etc.
step 1: remove rear subframe






then i got some bushings/risers and threw them and the new multilink into the new rear subframe



then i put the subframe in the car, felt pretty accomplished.



special thanks to my friend steve for helping all along the way.

alignment is terrible, but thats something i can figure out in the spring.

step 2: do stuff in the front of the car


as you can see the alignment is out of control

removed bumper and lca's for extendies


got my friend mitch to do them, he does awesome work. i decided against getting them dimple died because whatsthepoint



then he gave them to me...looking like this...

i laughed, its pretty hilarious


got the wild idea that i want to fit the fc wing to the car.

still gotta tinker away at that. some more grinding and filling to do but once its on it will look cool

then steve and i each took a side and installed the front lower arms



it was pretty rad

even at full droop the camber was hilarious.



then i randomly balled out one day and got spl outers and stainless steel conversion lines for some z32s i got a while ago



then i got the car back on four wheels for the first time in what felt like ages



then i got hood pins


snowed again:



i sold my old sideskirts and with the money bought new ones that looked identical but actually fit.


got an R32 master in exchange for some video work for my friend steve (i've been peiceing togehter this swap for a while hahaha)


said video:



found another cool drift photo


took a collage


put my body panels on to see where i sat with the subframe risers. actualy sits higher than before because of the stupid fucking camber.

next day its warm out im fixing it.





incase anyones wondering what happened to my front bumper..


i still have it, but its not in the greatest shape.

ordered a centric kit for my brakes

all i need are pads and rotors, which i wil be buying after xmas

got a little warmer out so i decided to fix my overfenders. one of them cracked in the summer time a while ago when i didnt tighten my wheel enough and it fell off. yeah. growing pains.

[Devocat]

then i put my broke ass front bumper on and took a selfie





still yet to see the car with all the panels on, aligned and whatnot



it moves and stuff and i love it. i still want to do hood pins and move the battery to the trunk and an alignment, but for now it sits until spring. super stoked on my progression with the car. thanks for taking the time to read this long ass build.




alot of updates are on my instagram first, i just bulk post them here and on stanceworks.

@devocat

thanks again guys

[QX8C]

Looks good man. Keep up the nice work.

[nujabe]

I really like this build plus kinda reminds me of mine. Do you have a Instagram pm meh haha

[Pblesh85]

Poor car....

[onehundredoctane]

Originally Posted by Pblesh85

Poor car....

Looks like it's not the only one that's poor.

[Standard]

Some really noobish shit right here haha but hey keep working on it man, it will probably turn out cool

Surprised you would even post a pic of the car with an alignment like that though hahah

Good luck with your build my friend!

[Reece]

What the fuck is wrong with your rear wheels?

[CamberWear]

This type of build gets me hype lol. Average kid figuring it out as he goes but still making something pretty cool. Best of luck bro. Ps is there not a shop that does alignments near you? Kinda important..

[Devocat]

hahah thanks for the comments guys!
I posted photos of it because its a stage that the car is in and the whole point of a build thread is to show the stages hahaha. theres no pride in alignment, who cares. the car is sitting anyway.
the goal was to get the old subframe out, and a new one in with new arms before it snowed, and the day we threw the new subframe in it started to snow so i sorta got accomplished my goal!! haha. I decided not to waste time i could be using pulling the front lower control arms/working on other things aligning the car, when i could just do it later at my buddy's shop since the cars off the road anyway. but yeah it is pretty hilarious

but yeah i am a total noob and am just learning as i go!

[Devocat]

my alignment like:



it will be aligned to zero camber in the rear and im leaving the front camber where it is.

[Onevia177]

I'm diggin this thing man. Kind of the same way i'm S13 is progressing. Need to start a thread on it lol.

[mickluvinnz33]

Can someone help me? I'm trying to post an add for stance 350z coilovers with swift springs on heee


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Devocat]

Originally Posted by mickluvinnz33

Can someone help me? I'm trying to post an add for stance 350z coilovers with swift springs on heee


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

im sure someone can help you, just not on my thread plsnthnx

[Devocat]

Originally Posted by Onevia177

I'm diggin this thing man. Kind of the same way i'm S13 is progressing. Need to start a thread on it lol.

ahaha do it man!! its always super cool being able to go back and remember the fun times, trials, tribulations and lessons i learned owning this thing.

[Devocat]

hey dudes. bringing the car to the shop tomorrow, so ill have some more updates then. in the mean time, i tinted and installed my lights.





first time tinting anything, its alot harder to do it without getting bubbles than it seems. I super underestimated how hard it would be. I sorta got the hang of it on the last light
-_-

anyway, I also reinforced my overfenders with duct tape. put most of the attention around the arches. I haven't really heard of anyone else doing this but i thought i'd give it a try. Im also going to be putting a thin piece of sheet metal behind there to really stiffen them up and make them tire proof. I know it looks dumb but nobody ever sees the inside and if it will save me from this:


ill give it a try. the fenders already much stiffer and stuff so i think thats good news.

[driftsucky]

This that ish I DO like. Solid build kid. You're on your way to enjoying things and not being a snob. Kudos.

[Devocat]

Originally Posted by driftsucky

This that ish I DO like. Solid build kid. You're on your way to enjoying things and not being a snob. Kudos.

Thank you man I really appreciate the words of encouragement

[Wheel Lounge]

dude this is amazing! love builds where people do all their own work!

[Onevia177]

It's funny reading the hate about your alignment on the doing it wrong thread. I'm waiting for my car to pop up there after my thread is posted ��

[Devocat]

Originally Posted by Onevia177

It's funny reading the hate about your alignment on the doing it wrong thread. I'm waiting for my car to pop up there after my thread is posted ��

hahaha those guys crack me up. full of wannabe trolls with nothing better to do. it represents everything wrong with the car community imo. live and let live, man.

[Devocat]

Originally Posted by Wheel Lounge

dude this is amazing! love builds where people do all their own work!

thanks dude!! i try.

[Devocat]

hey guys cars in the shop!! on the list is:
1)Hot cam swap (done)
2) replace bummed axle
3) battery relocation
4)ALIGNMENT
5)Vent Hood
6) tie up any other noticeable loose ends

I was going to buy wheels with some cash i got for christmas, but im leaning towards just buying an electric fan as i've already deleted the mechanical one while doing the hot cam swap.
Here are some photos:

[Devocat]

i miss this stage most

[nick Ritter]

awesome thread ! i subbed can't wait to see how it turns out.

i might have missed it but …. what is the specs on those front wheels ? i love em !

[Ka24Power]

Originally Posted by Devocat

I was going to buy wheels with some cash i got for christmas, but im leaning towards just buying an electric fan as i've already deleted the mechanical one while doing the hot cam swap.

Two things here.
1- Cost of wheels =/= cost of e-fans.
2- Put your stock fan back, by far the most reliable and efficient cooling method.

[Devocat]

Originally Posted by Ka24Power

Two things here.
1- Cost of wheels =/= cost of e-fans.
2- Put your stock fan back, by far the most reliable and efficient cooling method.

1- ok
2- ok


i bought altima fans and some stuff to wire em in (relay, switch etc)

from what i've seen with my friends, and they work great.

[Devocat]

Originally Posted by nick Ritter

awesome thread ! i subbed can't wait to see how it turns out.

i might have missed it but …. what is the specs on those front wheels ? i love em !

thank you very much, man.

[RobbinYoBizkits]

Dig the thread homie! had me laughing from the start of the shit you've dealt with and overcome, but awesome to see you enjoying the car. This build reminds me of when i first got my integra and not knowing a damn thing about cars haha. Keep it up and definitely subbing.