heres my project ive been working on for about a year and a half. thought some of you may be interested in seeing its progress. i have a track rat that my wife refuses to ride in and i sourced a low mile s14 recently so i thought id build a driver thats fun yet comfortable so she'd come along on some of these drives that seem to be guys only most the time. when its done it will appear very stock with the only visible mods being lowering springs and a set of 15" panasports.
powertrain will be a chipped but otherwise stock s14 with a/c. e21 5 speed amd 3.91 lsd. ill have a mixture of oem rubber and poly bushings to make it civilized yet still maintain some handling. its been at the bodyshop since september receiving all new metal. it just got painted yesterday so im started to get excited. heres a few pics along the way
as i received it from sacramento 2 years ago
not too bad but a lot of rust was in areas i had no idea exsisted. the more i tore it apart the more clear it was id need to spend a lot to get this to the level i wanted it at.
initial cleaning of the s14 before teardown. im basically going thru it and resealing it. i did rod bearings and all new timing components and oil pump and chain while i was in there so i know what i have.
heres some suspension components after i beadblasted everything. i then sent everything off for powdercoating. ive also sent about 3- 5 gallon pails of bolts and assorted fasteners and components off to be yellow cad plated so every bolt on the car will be plated.
initial test fitting of the drivetrain. i assembled the cars driveline and made all the modifications to the nose for oil cooler and a/c components so after its painted i wont have to cut or modify anything. then i dissasembled it all and sent the shell out for work.
miscellaneous items back from the powder coaters
now the body starts to come apart. its receiving all new metal. it didnt start out this way but as i said before,,, the more you remove the more you find and im sinking some serious cash into everything else. i want to know this is truley rust free. its getting new 1/4's, new doors. new rockers, new trunk floor ,new outer wheel housings,new front fenders,nose,hood and trunk and tail section. the roof is however original.
thats kevin , my body guy in the background. hes an artist and doesnt compromise. i was really lucky to get him.
new factory turbo exhaust. i wanted a center exit exhaust and this is a quiet yet decently flowing system. it may be a touch small (2 1/4") depending on who you talk to but it will be quiet and livable. i have one car you cant even talk while inside so i want something mellow. when i get used to the power and do a 2.5 ill change out the exhaust.
a few more of it coming together
trunk floor in.
side exhaust welded shut
the entire car including hood and trunk received standox spray filler. the quality of the mobile traditions panels are less than desirable and in order to get panels like glass it needed quite a bit of work and hours and hours of blocking. here it is receiving the spray filler
i hung the exhaust and had kevin make a cut out in the center for it. he had the idea of cutting slices in the panel then rolling them up and in and then welding those sections together to give it a rolled look. its a small detail but those are the things i like. most everyone else will never notice.
i chose a single angled double wall tip in a 3" diameter. it looks like a bit much now but if you try and picture the bumper mounted i think it will look like it belongs on there.
they painted the trunk , engine bay and jambs and then went on strike. my car sat idle for 4 weeks until they finally settled and got back to work on monday. heres a few of them prepping the outside. i went with colorado and got a ration of shit for my color choice. it was common to hear "you put all that money into that thing and youre going to paint it that color"???
but once the color went on it they all changed their tune. it now has 4 coats of base color and 2 coats of clear. then they sanded the clear and applied 2 more coats. i havent seen the final product yet but it sure looked good after the first 2 coats of clear.
these pics are shots of the base color only. no clear applied. i didnt have my camera with later in the day.
heres the car getting the initial clear sanded. you can get a general idea of what the colors going to look like on the paper.
and heres karl the painter. hes treating it as if it were his own. i really like the guys at sears imported autos. its my local bmw dealership and ive made a few connections there over the years from selling parts etc.
the interior will consist of a pair of scheel mann front seats i scored on ebay for the unbeliveable price of 300 bucks,,,, thanks to greg lavangie, who knew i was looking for some and told me of a set with a buy it now price. i emailed scheel mann in germany and bought enough of the original cloth to have the rear seat done in matching cloth. i shipped it up to canada and had al at seams perfect make me a rear seat out of it. he also supplied a set of german square weave carpets and a wool headliner for it. im anxious to get it back and start assembling it. all the components are restored and waiting to put back together
powertrain will be a chipped but otherwise stock s14 with a/c. e21 5 speed amd 3.91 lsd. ill have a mixture of oem rubber and poly bushings to make it civilized yet still maintain some handling. its been at the bodyshop since september receiving all new metal. it just got painted yesterday so im started to get excited. heres a few pics along the way
as i received it from sacramento 2 years ago
not too bad but a lot of rust was in areas i had no idea exsisted. the more i tore it apart the more clear it was id need to spend a lot to get this to the level i wanted it at.
initial cleaning of the s14 before teardown. im basically going thru it and resealing it. i did rod bearings and all new timing components and oil pump and chain while i was in there so i know what i have.
heres some suspension components after i beadblasted everything. i then sent everything off for powdercoating. ive also sent about 3- 5 gallon pails of bolts and assorted fasteners and components off to be yellow cad plated so every bolt on the car will be plated.
initial test fitting of the drivetrain. i assembled the cars driveline and made all the modifications to the nose for oil cooler and a/c components so after its painted i wont have to cut or modify anything. then i dissasembled it all and sent the shell out for work.
miscellaneous items back from the powder coaters
now the body starts to come apart. its receiving all new metal. it didnt start out this way but as i said before,,, the more you remove the more you find and im sinking some serious cash into everything else. i want to know this is truley rust free. its getting new 1/4's, new doors. new rockers, new trunk floor ,new outer wheel housings,new front fenders,nose,hood and trunk and tail section. the roof is however original.
thats kevin , my body guy in the background. hes an artist and doesnt compromise. i was really lucky to get him.
new factory turbo exhaust. i wanted a center exit exhaust and this is a quiet yet decently flowing system. it may be a touch small (2 1/4") depending on who you talk to but it will be quiet and livable. i have one car you cant even talk while inside so i want something mellow. when i get used to the power and do a 2.5 ill change out the exhaust.
a few more of it coming together
trunk floor in.
side exhaust welded shut
the entire car including hood and trunk received standox spray filler. the quality of the mobile traditions panels are less than desirable and in order to get panels like glass it needed quite a bit of work and hours and hours of blocking. here it is receiving the spray filler
i hung the exhaust and had kevin make a cut out in the center for it. he had the idea of cutting slices in the panel then rolling them up and in and then welding those sections together to give it a rolled look. its a small detail but those are the things i like. most everyone else will never notice.
i chose a single angled double wall tip in a 3" diameter. it looks like a bit much now but if you try and picture the bumper mounted i think it will look like it belongs on there.
they painted the trunk , engine bay and jambs and then went on strike. my car sat idle for 4 weeks until they finally settled and got back to work on monday. heres a few of them prepping the outside. i went with colorado and got a ration of shit for my color choice. it was common to hear "you put all that money into that thing and youre going to paint it that color"???
but once the color went on it they all changed their tune. it now has 4 coats of base color and 2 coats of clear. then they sanded the clear and applied 2 more coats. i havent seen the final product yet but it sure looked good after the first 2 coats of clear.
these pics are shots of the base color only. no clear applied. i didnt have my camera with later in the day.
heres the car getting the initial clear sanded. you can get a general idea of what the colors going to look like on the paper.
and heres karl the painter. hes treating it as if it were his own. i really like the guys at sears imported autos. its my local bmw dealership and ive made a few connections there over the years from selling parts etc.
the interior will consist of a pair of scheel mann front seats i scored on ebay for the unbeliveable price of 300 bucks,,,, thanks to greg lavangie, who knew i was looking for some and told me of a set with a buy it now price. i emailed scheel mann in germany and bought enough of the original cloth to have the rear seat done in matching cloth. i shipped it up to canada and had al at seams perfect make me a rear seat out of it. he also supplied a set of german square weave carpets and a wool headliner for it. im anxious to get it back and start assembling it. all the components are restored and waiting to put back together
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