deguzzi's S13 coupe

[DEGUZZI]

Don't project car your daily!
A daily driver S13 build (PICTURE HEAVY)



This is my 1993 SE coupe that I've maintained, upgraded, and painted myself




ENGINE

• Stock KA24DE
• Koyorad Radiator
• HPS Hoses
• NGK plugs and wires
• K&N Air filter
• HKS Hi-Power Exhaust
• Tomei FPR
• Fidanza Flywheel
• ACT Stage 2 Clutch
• Xcessive Engine Mount
• Nismo Trans Mount
• GKTech Cooling Fan
• J30 VLSD

SUSPENSION

• Stance XR1
• Carbing Strut Brace
• S14 knuckles
• GKTech roll center correction kit
• GKTech inner+outer tie rods
• P2M Traction Rods
• ST Suspension Front Sway Bar
• ES Bushings
• GKTech RUCA and Toe Arms
• Voodoo13 Traction Arms

EXTERIOR

• G-Corp Flash front bumper
• M-Sports hood with AeroCatch
• M-Sports 20mm Overfenders
• Origin Type 2 50mm Rear Overfenders
• Bricks with HID Projector retrofit
• Circuit Sports corners
• P2M turn signals
• Circuit Sports LED tail lights

INTERIOR

• OMP Corsica 350mm wheel (NRG QR, Works Bell short hub)
• Bride Zeta III FRP driver seat (Bride locking seat rail)
• Bride Zeta III Sport passenger seat (EVS Tuning locking seat rail)
• Alpine 10" S-Series subwoofer (Alpine A60M 600w amp)

WHEELS

• MB Battle 17x9.5 +15
• Toyo Proxes Sport: 235/40 (+5mm spacer)
• Toyo Proxes Sport: 235/40 (+18mm spacer)
• Z32 Front and rear calipers/drum brake
• Z1 Motorsports rotors

Now, from the top:

[DEGUZZI]

SEPTEMBER

This car has been within the family since ~2013, bone stock; my mom daily'd it, my dad daily'd it, and when my hatch became too unreliable, I started dailying it.




The coupe was down for a few years with coolant leaking issues prior to me taking over ownership of it. A hole had developed somewhere in the intake manifold where it rusted through, so it had to come out to find where exactly it was at.

While I had the manifold out, I decided to freshen things up with a FPR, new OEM injectors, O-rings, insulators, hoses, gaskets, thermostat, hoses, and hardware.




I also took the time to paint the intake manifold and fuel rail since I probably wouldn't have another chance at it.




To continue on returning it to daily-worthiness again, I swapped over almost all of my suspension from the hatch (tension rods, traction and toe arms, S14 knuckles, rotors, pads, 5-lug rear hubs, and wheels). I had some S14 FLCAs with fresh Moog ball joints and ES bushings that I put in instead of S13 FLCA






Got an alignment and the coupe was officially my new daily!






Continuing on the streak of refreshing things, I got my A/C converted and recharged, and got new spark plugs, O2 sensor, and dizzy cap and rotor.




OCTOBER

With the wider track from the S14 FLCA, I put on the Origin fenders I had in storage.




I had 255s fitted onto the rears that were rubbing, so it was time to widebody the car with the Origin Type 2 rear overfenders.




When I was happy with the fit-up, the cleco pins went on.




These overfenders had mediocre quality, so I tidied up the edges.




I found it best to cut the final arch on the outer panel, then stretch and shape the inner panel to the new outer lip. But if I had to do this again, I would weld the panels first, then cut the excess off the inner panel to minimize weld blowout.



I then painted the bare metal with etch primer and waterproofed the inside and out with seam sealer.



-------------

[DEGUZZI]

JANUARY

The valve cover looked really out of place with a freshly painted intake manifold, so I bought a spare from something_offensive and painted it Toyota 219.

A new oil cap was expected and I picked up a P2M oil cap, along with replacing the valve cover and spark plug gaskets.








FEBRUARY

Since I went widebody, the factory wing was lacking the width to match the silhouette of the rear end. I bought a very clean 3rd brake light and a wingless deck lid on OfferUp to put on.



The decklid had one major low spot, but after separating the skin from the skeleton and redoing the glue, it straightened out quite nicely.






MARCH

My gf talked a lot of shit with widebody cars lacking a proper fuel door, so of course I had to make my own. The one that comes with the kit was absolutely disgusting, so if you want it done right, you gotta do it yourself.




The shape was particularly tricky considering where the body line sits, but in the end it was managable. At this point however, it wasn't fully mounted and usable, and the worst has yet to come.










MAY

I picked up some GKTech rear arms to finally have a matching set of arms, but they were a little boring for my taste...



The color is simply a red pearl toner, sprayed over black and faded, then marbled. This was a technique I've always wanted to try and finally had something to do it on.



They replaced my PBM and Cusco arms that would go back into my hatch.






JUNE

Was never much of a fan of the chuki front, so I finally changed the bumper to AIT. Surprisingly fit great, and I just needed to extend the bits that wrapped behind the fenders.



The rest of the car needed to match the new silhouette, and I could finally put on the G-Grow style valance I got from Driven08; the fit of this piece is phenomenal!



Car had full aero for the first time!






While I was still in the marbled paint craze, I painted the shifter bezel as well.



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[DEGUZZI]

JULY

Alas, it was time to finally get the fuel door mounted. From when I first made the door back in March, I was researching hinge solutions that I could possibly use. I tried retrofitting an entire hinge assembly from the junkyard and aftermarket hinges that hot rod guys used, but they just didn't work out for me.



My eureka moment was from watching a Chronicles Vlog that I knew exactly what to look for:



I asked around, and Varis doesn't supply the assembly by itself, but I did find cabinet hardware very similar to it--I now had my hinge decided on.

To secure the door, I planned on using a magnetic pop latch, which is also found within cabinet hardware. To utilize it, I panel bonded sheet metal to my fiberglass fuel door.



Next, I mocked up where I wanted the fuel door to sit and taped it secure from the outside. From the back side, I located where the hinge would mount, and where it would attach to the fuel door.

First I bonded the hinge to the fuel door. After that, I mounted the assembly back onto the overfender, positioned it and secured it with tape, then drilled holes and cleco'd it so I can easily adjust it as things went on.



The same mounting process went for the pop latch. With everything fastened with clecos, I had a working fuel door!



BUT WAIT-

The pop latch needed to be pushed in before it popped out, but the hinge I used closes at a hard 90 degrees and didn't have the pivot I needed--I couldn't use my pop latch.

Another trip to a woodworking store and I grabbed a magnet latch and a ball-catch latch. The magnet latch was ugly, so it was my last resort. Thankfully the ball-catch was adequate and still pretty stylish!

Victory.

[DEGUZZI]

AUGUST

The car was still an open diff, so I picked up a VLSD that reused the factory 6 bolt axles.



Up until now, my A/C had been working great. On a few occasions, however, when the A/C clicked on, the car would stall. I assumed the compressor was seized so I had the refrigerant drained and I took out the compressor.

Since the sway bar was out, I put in the ST Sway bar I had, along with fresh hardware and ES bushings.






SEPTEMBER

My all-time favorite side skirt is the Type X, so I had to put it back on. The car didn't look as aggressive, but it paired very nicely with the G-Grow valence.



I also had the lingering worry of the car catching fire, so I finally picked up an extinguisher and built a bracket for it to sit just in front of the passenger seat. I don't have a picture, but it clears the factory seat sliding forward.






OCTOBER

By some miracle, I had a coworker with a Sileighty ask me if I wanted to trade front ends so he can get a Type X front--I didn't hesitate for a moment.

We traded cars for a weekend so I could swap front ends: my hatch's pop ups onto his, take his front end off to put onto my coupe, then put my coupe's front end onto my hatch. Follow? lol





This was an amazing moment:



...Until LITERALLY my first drive with it , I sprung a major coolant leak getting onto the freeway--just my luck






NOVEMBER

The car was out of commission again, so I had to daily my hatch. Despite both being 240s, driving the hatch felt different, in a good way, and very nostalgic for me. Maybe because it was my first car and everything, but I just felt so at-home driving it again.




The culprit this time was a hose that was missing a clamp completely. No idea how the car lasted a whole year without it if I did indeed forget to put one on during reassembly.

Thankfully that was a simple fix, but I drove the hatch some more so I can keep working on the coupe to sleeve parts engine harness to renew some of the components.

Ordered the Wiring Specialties kit and sleeving of every diameter available, and got to work.



Only a portion of what I did are pictured, but it's a nice closeup of my sleeving:



The coupe was back in action






DECEMBER

Just daily driver things



R.I.P.

I drive the 605 freeway a lot in the early mornings that have a lot of gravel trucks; I assume it was a rock that came hurling onto my windshield, but from my dash cam video, it came from WAY up--very peculiar.

Luckily a buddy of mine had a new windshield on-hand and hooked it up with installation that same day.


You would think a California car would be relatively rust-free but...



I originally planned to paint the car at the start of the year, but the pandemic hit and that plan fell through. Now I absolutely needed to paint the car ASAP.

On the bright side, the HUD still works even with an aftermarket windshield




The grille I had was pretty beat up: lots of chips, runs, and some parts were flaking off.



Prepped and painted it a metallic grey from Hyundai, and finished off with matte clear.



It was a little unique and almost OEM-ish

[DEGUZZI]

JANUARY

Alas, the meat and potatoes of the build so far: paint.

My original plan was to only spray the exterior to get the car in and out of paint ASAP, but a coworker said to me, "why would you make the outside look so good, but have ugly jambs?"

Okay... He got me.

The color was gonna be two-tone: 3P2 Black Cherry Pearl from a Prius Persona as the main color, and a black roof, either solid or something fancy.




First thing's first, detrim the car.






The doors were pretty dinged up over the years, so I marked everything to be repaired that primer wouldn't be able to fill.




I had previously started body work on the right overfender, so when the car was in the shop, I was able to focus on the left side.



The body line is awful to work on, on top of being so wavy everywhere.




You're wondering why the front end is still blue? Well, the paint was literally starting to lift off the panels and repair rings were bleeding through. Before I started prepping the front end I decided to take a paint thickness gauge to them and...



That's a no from me, dawg.

For reference, typical factory 2-stage paint is roughly 6 mils. In some areas, I measured up to 21 mils; a couple sections on the fender didn't even give a measurement!

I was not willing to open that can of worms of prior work, especially considering I planned on getting wider fenders and a different bumper so the front end stayed untouched.


I got the overfenders into some high-build poly primer and they were looking good!



I was very excited to finally see the fuel door and the overfender in one color. The body line still needed tweaking though.




The sight of the rust around the windshield dam traumatized me, so I for sure had to epoxy the car.

I started with the roof so I could get a glimpse of the car two-toned.




Man, it looked pretty cool if you squinted, lol.




I continued with prepping the rest of the car for epoxy:







The car was now fully black in epoxy primer and it was at this point I had a change of heart: I'm gonna paint the car black instead.



A few reasons reinforced my decision:

1. The paint is cheaper
2. I can panel paint the car
3. When I spray the front end separately, I don't have to worry about a color mismatch

HOWEVER, my body work and blocking had to be top-notch. I was ready to showcase what I've learned over the years.

-------------

[DEGUZZI]

FEBRUARY

After blocking the polyprimer down, I then shot some urethane primer on the roof and left overfender in case the polyprimer left any pinholes.



At this point, I needed a change of pace; I couldn't wait to get the rest of the car in primer, so I started final prep on the roof for some COLOR.



You love to see it.



Flash-off before clear:



Winner winner:



When I finished the roof, I had the roof sanded, staged, and masked around 6:30pm that night, having started right after I clocked out from work.

To beat the hustle and bustle of the shop, I came in at 5am and was shooting by 5:15. I kid you not, as soon as my last coat was done, my my body immediately was like, "we done here??" and all the exhaustion hit--I was ready to collapse lol.

It was only 8am with a full day of work ahead.




With color on the car, my motivation picked up again, and I wanted to see more of the potential final product of my car.

I blocked the primer down and shot a coat of my black epoxy primer over it.



Things were getting good!






MARCH

I wanted my jambs candy. Why? Just because.

I was impatient again so I shifted my focus on getting more color on the body.

The body prepped and staged, with the gravel guard applied to match the factory rear body:



It was on the fly that I decided to fade the candy to black, so it looked seamless as it transitioned outside to the body--it added even more flair to my jambs!





When the sun hits just right...






I've been shooting PPG EC550 clear, but I'm realizing it doesn't play very nicely with the HoK kandy basecoat I'm using.

HoK's Show Klear is pretty much the same price, so I figured I'll try it out and wow... It is pretty amazing.

It's a clear that I classify as "what you spray, is what you get." Meaning if you spray it with texture, it's gonna keep that texture, and if you really lay on, you can get a glassy finish off the gun.

It's pretty hard to run it, too-it holds on so well.

To test it out, I shot my rear reinforcement beam and a friend's tail gate panel; I really hammered it on to see where it's limit was, and... I don't think I reached it:



I never went back to PPG's clear.


All the jambs were done, so now it was time to suck it up and finally block the right overfender.

I really dreaded it because it was extra wavy from the fuel pocket, and I had to block the fuel door with it to try and get as close to a seamless finish.




Uhm... I'll just thank Lee's Coffee for being so delicious and cheaper than Starbucks


It was time for the final coats of paint for the body.

The process of spraying clear over prepped clear is flow coating; it leaves even MORE of a glass like finish (because I don't want to polish this thing lol)

The roof the blocked, and the jambs were carefully hand sanded to not burn through to the color.



This would be the last time the car would be in the booth:



The paper in the jambs were to minimize overspray when I shoot sealer and color from painting the quarter panels.

When I had coverage, I peeled it off, faded some black base into the jambs, and it was ready for clear.


I have a clip of me shooting a coat of color on my IG, but I'll put a screenshot here:




The result? A painted body with no visible masking lines:




Fast forward to the deck lid finally getting paint and installed, and I could almost cry.

[DEGUZZI]

APRIL

From here on out, things were honestly smooth sailing; the body is done, and as parts get finished, they're going on and no longer lingering about the shop.

When the overfenders finally went on, I couldn't stop smiling!



This was the home stretch



As you've noticed, my focus changes from different parts of the cars, so I actually got the passenger door jambed, painted, and installed before the overfenders were actually painted.


But each door got a coat of epoxy primer inside and out, body filler, 2 sessions of primer and blocking, and of course paint.

The initial step of black epoxy primer really helped highlight the dents:






When the last session of primer was put on, that's when I jambed the doors. That way, any overspray that lands on the outside will be sanded off before paint.




Thankfully Nissan still sells brand-new door hardware; I picked new strikers, door pins, weatherstrips, and sensor boots.



I'll be replacing the belt molding and door opening weatherstrip later down the line.


All that really remained for me to drive it again was to paint the door handles...




...YEAH RIGHT! I threw my plates on and took it to get some gas!




Of course, I did it while the door handles were flashing off before clear--they got painted that day:




My recommendation to anyone getting their door handles painted:

ABSOLUTELY GET CLEAR BENEATH THE HANDLE!
- You have no idea how good it feels to open the door when it's silky smooth on the inside

MINIMIZE PAINT BUILD-UP AROUND THE KEY OPENING! (or carefully sand down)
- When you reinstall the rubber piece, the clearance is so tight it can actually start to push the paint film out


But wait, where's the bumper??

I hate prepping bumpers, so it actually didn't get prepped until almost 2 weeks after I was already driving the car around lol

Overall it was in good condition so it didn't need any crazy prep.



Of course, I needed to add some pop:



Well would you look at that! Another thing no one will be able to see, LOL




Installed the bumper during my lunch break:



Yeah... The car got pretty nasty.

Technically you're not supposed to wash the car with any soap, wax, etc for a month while the paint is still "continuing to cure."

But a distilled water rinse is okay to do:



As of writing this post (7.6.2021), I have not yet cut and polished the paint--we're off the gun:



However, once the front end gets painted, that's when I'll get a cut and polish, and very likely ceramic coat and/or PPF

For now, I am too busy enjoying the car again, but the journey will continue!

[DEGUZZI]

MAY

First thing to address with the car back was the leaking PS pump. I had a spare in storage and also swapped in the Pro Shop Noble hose.




While I was at it, I finally cleaned up the engine bay from being in the shop for so long, lol




As much as I love the HKS Hi-Power, it's the lowest part of the car, and all the speed bumps at work got back at me:



Thankfully I also have a spare exhaust and that was a quick swap! The drive back home with no muffler was AWFUL!



Polished the exhaust a bit, and decided to rinse the car with it.




Obligatory May 13 pictures:





Finally, it was time for a REAL wash! I heard good things about ONR, so I tried it out.



Basically you pour an ounce of the concentrate into 2 gallons of (distilled) water for the solution, and drop your sponge in it.

Soap the car, then immediately dry it off with a top quality microfiber towel, and that's it!





JUNE

It was finally time to get my butt into gear and drop some big bucks on restoring my AC.

For my AC compressor, I was recommended a place by my AC shop, and opted to check them out before dropping $400 on Rock Auto.

Over the phone they quoted me $180 to refurbish my compressor--not bad!

I decided to swing by to show them my compressor and they were like... "You are very, very lucky: I have only one, and it's brand new! I'll sell it to you for $200"



BRUH. WHAT??

I installed my new compressor, and the next day I went back to the AC shop for a new condenser and custom lines to accommodate it... I got quoted for $950--no thanks, lol.



They did suggest I find a universal condenser online that fits (they didn't have one with the right dimensions on hand), and install it myself. That way, they only have to do the lines for a cheaper price.

So if anyone has a condenser recommendation, let me know!


I finally went to my first car meet with it, but I got there too late and there was no more parking. A buddy that tagged along got a pretty sweet rolling shot though:







It was time to suck it up, and permanently mount the overfenders. Installing rivets were pretty nerve-wracking, but at least it's finally over.




My order from restomodninja also arrived: vanity plates and a fuel door label



Trying to get that Gran Turismo showroom look




I haven't mentioned much of it, but I finally got my lighting "finished". I have dual projectors, yet I really was only using one pair as my headlights.

For the unused pair, I bought some white "demon eyes" to use as DRLs. My turn singals are switchback and my corner lights will flash accordingly.

It finally looks like a Silvia at night:




I also ordered some components for a DRL circuit I have planned that will use the factory fog light switch (expect a write-up for that)




Now we're all caught up; see you in the next update!

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[tuzzio]

Love this thread man. Well deserved. Attention to detail is excellent.

[DEGUZZI]

Originally Posted by tuzzio

Love this thread man. Well deserved. Attention to detail is excellent.

Appreciate it!! I'm going through over 600 pictures just from the time I spent painting the dang thing, so it's taking awhile to wrap things up lol

[FaLKoN240]

This is CRAZY. I am subbing and sharing this with a few people for sure.

GREAT WORK.

[DEGUZZI]

Originally Posted by FaLKoN240

This is CRAZY. I am subbing and sharing this with a few people for sure.

GREAT WORK.

Thank you!!



Thread has been updated--I actually just painted some more parts today! But I'll be including them in a later post.

~Thanks for reading!

[tuzzio]

That color is out of this world. Excellent choice. Seems like a significantly better version of the new F-150 color (which I love) which does the black/dark red thing depending on the lighting.

[EF_jaycee]

Hey, I sold you my burners a while back lol. Man this thing looked great when I saw it, can't imagine how it looks in person with the new paint!

[Jyttah]

Well... Thank you very much. You just left me speechless!
Kudos to the fantastic work!

[DEGUZZI]

Thread updated! We are now in present time!

Originally Posted by tuzzio

That color is out of this world. Excellent choice. Seems like a significantly better version of the new F-150 color (which I love) which does the black/dark red thing depending on the lighting.

Is it that RR Ruby Red? That's a great color; 3T3 and 3R1 from Toyota are some beautiful reds, too

Originally Posted by EF_jaycee

Hey, I sold you my burners a while back lol. Man this thing looked great when I saw it, can't imagine how it looks in person with the new paint!

It was quite a mission driving back home with them, lol--thanks again!

Originally Posted by Jyttah

Well... Thank you very much. You just left me speechless!
Kudos to the fantastic work!

Appreciate it, thank you for reading!

[DEGUZZI]

JULY

I'm not sure what took me so long to get these painted, but I finally bought some more clear and finished painting my B-pillar plastic and rear finish panel.






At first, I missed the red, but the completed black rear end is growing on me--just patiently waiting on my Silvia emblems from RestoModNinja.




But with the freshly painted B-pillar trim, I DEFINITELY need to freshen up my weatherstrips, lmao. So there goes another $600+




Driving to Final Bout this year in my coupe was something I really wanted to accomplish, as well. I was hoping to have A/C, but that did not go to plan.

I changed all my fluids, nut and bolt checks, bled my coolant, and of course a wash.



I MADE IT! It was hell driving in that heat for 2 hours, but lots of water and a change of shirts got me through it lol



Had no idea the event was gonna end so late into the night, but I was fortunate to have friends to make the drive back with at 2 in the morning.




The more I've been looking at my car, the more I realize I need my aero back on. Better I spend money on paint materials rather than smaller wheels to match the temporary stock look I have going on right now.

The first order of business would be my side skirts.

My set of Type X skirts are in pretty solid condition. Passenger side is 8.5/10, and driver side extension is in great condition. The main driver side piece, however, was beat up.



When I first got them, it was absolutely unmountable. I had a lot of heating, and quenching to get it into shape, and keep it into shape.



Despite it being silver, it was pretty unnoticable until you actually LOOKED at it.

Most of the repair was straight forward, but fixing the top edge will be pretty tough; it'd almost be easier to section it in its entirety.







Ultimately, I'm gonna be getting Dorki Dori's Type X skirts for the single reason that it is one piece. With that in mind, I'm not trying to get this particularly job perfect--just better.

I have plans to change the bumper as well, but maybe for now I'll wait for Dorki Dori's lip for the aero bumpers.

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[andisan]

Nice update

I?m looking for that rear Silvia emblem too

Just saw he had a web site

When are you suppose to get it by??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BryanS14]

Body work and paint are amazing, great job. Since you work at a shop and are a painter why don't you just tape and spray some cheap single stage black on the front to hold you over? Once again the car looks great, love the red fade.

[DEGUZZI]

Originally Posted by andisan

Nice update

I?m looking for that rear Silvia emblem too

Just saw he had a web site

When are you suppose to get it by??

He had pre-orders open last week and production started on the 16th or 17th. But who knows when they'll start to ship out.

Originally Posted by BryanS14

Body work and paint are amazing, great job. Since you work at a shop and are a painter why don't you just tape and spray some cheap single stage black on the front to hold you over? Once again the car looks great, love the red fade.

Thank you!

Yeah, that's currently one of my options, but I haven't even been driving it for as long as it was down for paint, so I want to enjoy the car a little longer before it goes under the gun again.

I considered getting it wrapped, but from what my buddy quoted me, I might as well do the single stage route--I just don't have the patience to open that can of worms for paint.


You can see here how badly one of the fenders is lifting:

[BryanS14]

I work at a body shop too, I write estimates but can do my own body work so I completely understand owning a can of worms. I suffer from a horrible disease called "while Im at it". For some reason like to work on older Mercedes and every small project turns into a giant open can of worms because of while I'm at it. This has been my worst case of it.

[DEGUZZI]

Originally Posted by BryanS14

This has been my worst case of it.

Beautiful save on that W201! I can totally relate to that disease though!


I wanted to get it painted, but this car is my daily driver, and by daily driver I mean... This is like my only reliable car at the moment lol--it would've added on another month or so (I was working on it after hours and during my lunch)

I know if I tried a basic prep, I'd find something that will bother me, and that'll lead me to stripping it down, and starting from square 1. I was also under pressure from management to get my car out of the shop, so I finished what I wanted just in time, heh

But when I do get the wider fenders I had in mind (and bumper), I can take my sweeeeet time prepping those on the side and just throw them on the car when they're done

[DEGUZZI]

AUGUST

I was digging around and managed to find a picture of how the top side of the bad skirt looked.



Got it repaired and mostly leveled.




Of course, epoxy was the first thing I put on, then primered it.




After the repairs, however, I lost two of the subtle body lines that these skirts have. I doubt 99% of people would notice though.




The "good" side just had some minor defects that I blocked down--nothing crazy.




Both the main pieces and extensions got some gravel guard on the bottom. It accomplished two things for me:

It deters paint chipping from road debris, and that the same time, hid all the deep scrapes I didn't want to sand out of the bottom LOL




These were in great condition so I shot a few coats of epoxy and blocked that down.




Managed to not get any runs on the tighter edges, heh.




If you know, you know...



For that, I drilled a hole at the bottom of the fender and put in a plastic clip to hold it against the body.




Double-sided tape on the dog leg, and it's done!




I was worried the skirts wouldn't line up well without a front bumper/lip and my rear valance, but I was surprised that it was almost perfect!

It's good enough that I might just not run any more aero LMAO

[DEGUZZI]

SEPTEMBER

It was a long time coming, but my fan clutch started to fail. Luckily it failed in a good way: it was starting to seize up/spin faster rather than no longer spinning.

Also caught a cracked fuel hose under my fuel filter from when I redid my fuel lines; I made the mistake of using regular fuel hoses as opposed to fuel INJECTION hose.




I finally was able to throw on my GKTech fan when the Rock Auto fan clutch came in.



It's definitely louder than the stock fan when you're standing over the engine bay, but hardly noticeable when you're driving.




The lifted paint on my fender also finally chipped when I was washing the car.



...But it's not quite enough to convince me to paint it, haha

[andisan]

Good update

I had the same thing when I was redoing my fuel lines, I noticed it when my new lines said ?not for fuel injection? I wish the guy at the auto store would of a least mentioned it, but what do you expect from those guys


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DEGUZZI]

Originally Posted by andisan

Good update

I had the same thing when I was redoing my fuel lines, I noticed it when my new lines said ?not for fuel injection? I wish the guy at the auto store would of a least mentioned it, but what do you expect from those guys


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If I remember right, the aisle where I bought my pre-cut fuel line didn't have a fuel injection counterpart. I had to ask a worker if they had any, and they had to cut it from their spool in the back lol

[DEGUZZI]

OCTOBER




It's been a pretty lowkey month for me, but things sure are ramping up now lol


The rain came to visit SoCal and I found my first rock chip after the wash






Picked up some M-Sport fenders though!



They're in great condition--just some minor trimming and repairs, and it's a scuff-n-shoot type of deal.


Jamb is still intact underneath lol








Gaps work for me! And it was a nice glimpse of seeing the car one color along the whole side; the fitment is much more ideal now, too.


This has given me a second wind, so I might be buying a bumper real soon... Then before I know it, I'll be finishing the paint on this thing, haha

[DEGUZZI]

NOVEMBER

Welcome back, Zilvia.

Since the last update, there has been some big changes, but very gradual progress on the car. My new shift at work also still has me figuring out my day and seeing where I can squeeze time in to work on the car.




As much as I wanted to keep this OEM bumper, it's honestly not my first pick for a bumper. Furthermore, it's pretty far gone for me to invest the time it needs to be on par with the rest of the car.

So I picked up with G-Corp style from Duraflex; I knew I was gonna experiment some looks with it, and I was able to buy it locally and pick it up within a week so it was kind of a no-brainer for me vs the real thing.



Obviously the headlight gap was really bad, and fitment with metal fenders needed work. But with my new fenders it surprisingly fit even better.




Aftermarket on aftermarket usually needs work, and got the sides contoured to the fenders:




I've never liked the "horns" on G-Corp's bumper so I cut them off to keep my grille:




The horns were actually used as mounting points for the center section of the bumper, so I made a tie bar and fastened a center support to it to help hold the bumper up:




Some mounted pics:






I was able to find and fit these push clips that fixed all my mounting issues.



Not only were the gaps and sags cleaned up, but I can easily pop out my corner lights, release the clips, and slide the bumper off with only 4 of them.


The biggest hurdle is still the headlight gap:



I had a couple of ideas to go about it, and my least "invasive" method was to section the top part and fiberglass it in the new position:



If you can't tell, I love my clecos, lol:



Unfortunately this wasn't effective, so my next plan is to completely section the top portion and reconstruct it.


And I'm not sure if it's common knowledge yet, but OEM fender grommets and screws fit perfectly in the headlights for the GTR grille to mount to:



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[tuzzio]

Dawgggg, link me to those bumper clips