dizzariot's S13 & Lessons Learned

[dizzariot]

So I figured that I'd start one of these now that 'I'm back'. I bought my first S13 three years ago. It was built by a guy that owns a classic car restoration shop in Orange County. He put it together for his son and you could tell no corners were cut. The car had fresh paint, a superb SR swap, and all new interior. It was honestly a steal at $4,500 when I jumped on it. A few months later I found another forum member's car was for sale. It had Type-X aero and not much else worth while but I was too impatient to realize this and I sold my car to purchase his.

....well that car ended up being a ref ticket waiting to happen so I offloaded it onto someone that was looking to build a track car. I tried to contact the buyer of my first S13 (some young cat who had zero fucking idea what he was getting himself into) to see if he would sell it back to me. I almost begged. I offered more. The kid said he wasn't selling it...

...then he sold it to someone else. I couldn't fucking believe it. I ended up buying an S14 and completing the NaVaN aero. I grew tired of that and sold it as well. Just before I left for boot camp I bought an S13 coupe with ~70k original miles on it with a working HUD and all the OEM goodness you could ask for. I decided that this would be my 'big build' when I got back from basic training and my school afterwards. I took the car to my buddy at Final Speed Garage to get the necessary fluids changed and wouldn't you fucking know it? The guy that bought my first S13 was there getting a catalytic converter put on. We talked and he told me he bought it for LESS than I had sold it for. I guess the kid was too embarrassed to sell it back to me. Words cannot express my dismay. Words. Cannot. Express.

I ended up getting the dude's phone number and we stayed in touch and still talk to this day. While I was in training out in FL (seriously...fuck that place) I picked up an FRS. I had been on the hunt for another decent S13 since I finished basic training and hadn't seen anything. My wife thought it was time we had something with, you know, airbags or some bullshit. The idea behind the FRS was alluring and I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.

The FRS isn't a bad platform at all. Besides the torque dip in the mid-RPM range it was a blast to drive. Don't believe all the fancy blog features: this car is a ton of fun without a fucking turbo. I had even purchase my first set of TE37(RT)s with the FRS but it wasn't making me happy. To make matters worse the community has got to be THE shittiest community I've ever been involved in. You think cheap fuckers on here are bad? Try dealing with kids who's parents bought them their car...exclusively. The offers on my TEs were downright laughable when I decided to part the car out. I hate everyone on the forums. I got banned for telling someone who lowballed me to fuck off. Go figure.

I ended up getting stationed back in CA. Fuck. Like I really wanted to end up in the shitty state I came from. I sold the S13 coupe since my wife wanted something with, you know, airbags or some shit. I found her a nice, low-mileage 2005 Forester. I love it. Our dogs do, too. After a bunch of failed attempts to sell the FRS on the forums I ended up selling it to a local Honda dealership (of all places(. Negative equity was taken. Lessons were learned. I sold it because I found this:



It had R33 replicas on when I bought it and while I was waiting for my TE37Vs to be ready to ship from Australia I bought the Grid-Vs because they had decent tires and a smaller diameter. 17"s only belong on S13s with aero, in my opinion. They were never meant to be permanent. I don't condone blatant knockoffs. Anyways, my connection in Australia stopped contacting me for one reason or another and when we finally spoke again I was informed the TE37Vs were no longer available. I can't explain it but once you own a set of TEs you kind of want to keep on owning TEs until your heart explodes. Okay, not kind of, you totally want to. My second choice was waiting up in Northern CA. I had ordered FEAL 441 coilovers and they happened to show up the same at the same time my wheels did:






...and here I sit. I'm waiting for my 17" Yokohama S.Drives to sell so I can buy some 16" ones for my Watanabes. I have to do/get my fender work done, too. Depends on my schedule (military) and my ability to get my hands on a fender roller.

I wrote all of this shit because I've learned one thing throughout this whole debacle: ibe patient and do NOT settle for less. I plan on this being the ultimate restoration/mid-90's styled S13 build I'll ever accomplish. I've lost a lot of money and taken on the negative equity of a newer vehicle in the process. I've pissed my wife off numerous times. No more of that bullshit. Straight and true from now on.

I almost forgot. For anyone that may recognize my username and the first car I was talking about, you'll be happy to know I bought these back within 3 days of my owning this S13:




The future is looking good. I have some other rare-ish S13 goods I've been saving for this very moment. I'll get to those as this thing progresses. I don't aim to disappoint but at the same time I don't give a fuck. I don't go to all the circle-jerk meets and I rarely associate with others. Maybe a build thread will help me connect with like-minded folks.