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Sleeperhit's not so 'sleeper', crappy low$ build |NO 56K|

7.6K views 51 replies 21 participants last post by  mondojackal  
#1 · (Edited)
I picked this car up a few months ago...just never got around to making a build thread.

Heres the thing. I got sick of not having another 240 to work on.
So I jumped on the chance at a cheap S13 coupe the second I heard the price.
Don't worry about how much....it'll make you jelious.
Just know that the price i paid wouldn't have been enough for a single S13 headlight.
I didn't say front end....just 1.:heyhey


It had some issues but made it home eventually
1990 sohc
5spd
RUNNING <-important
HUD dash with nonworking analog sohc cluster not working
S13 front end <-crappy fiberglass but, eh...
title read 110k miles reported last year.

What I plan to do;
Fix interior
Rewire a chit load of crap
Make use of the beat body
$50 paint job
Get her running perfect
keep in mind...it needs to be a dd. So power is not my goal with this one. It'll be a suspension whore. A verycheap suspension whore.

I didn't take a cam with me when I bought it and missed on some better pics of the process on the first day.

The car had/has no PS, AC, wing (but holes), intake filter, washer fluid tank, lights, shifter (kinda), speed cluster or any freak'n gas.
Yes I said shifter....On the way home while on the pass comming to Sacramento from Reno, the stick came out....yes.....it came out while driving.
The previous driver hadn't bolted it down...
Then, when i pulled up to my driveway the waterpump went out.
yay so far....:dancingwt
kk enough...here are some pics.

The cam I used sucked ass
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yup, not sure if you noticed but it has overfenders (which i've used before but check this out
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He used self tappers & cared not for his wing...
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This is what i had to drive home with.
Notice the plug shoved into the tubing.
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more on the way...
 
#2 ·
So the waterpump had to go and the new one was a piece of cake.

It was dark...
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The intake had to go since it was ****'n dirty
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Interior has a cracked dash, ripped seats, broken bezels and missing pieces
but...he included the stock F bumper (which is worth about as much as I paid for the whole car:happyfing) sorry i didn't take pics before the B&M short shifter. but it was one of the first things i did.
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Worst paint job...ever...
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Notice the shape formed on the hood. it was from a hood scoop.
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The non working cluster was ticking me off so.... (notice the cloth on door panels is gone:thumbsup
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replaced EGR, Canister, Filter, Intake, lines (yeah blue, but they were free with the filter), radiator bracket and some plugs.
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HUD is in and working=)
Had to swap parts between 3 different clusters:basher
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Next i started sanding, pulled the self tappers out and fixed more crap.
It'll be a while before i get those pics ready.
 
#3 ·
looking good so far. congrats on getting a sick deal for a coupe, they're getting harder and harder to find for a decent price and it sounds like you pretty much stoal it haha
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
I pulled the overfenders off to check out the body. Noticed a small dent on the bottom rear wheel well. Behind the bumber. Desided to leave the fenders on after seeing the holes the tappers left. so...

Took the self tappers out, replaced them with rivits.:thumbsup
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Ripped the bumper off since it had a nasty gash. Then tested out how much sanding was going to be needed.....it was a long process.
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LOTS of paint on this car.....i've counted 5 different THICK coats on the hood.
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While i waited for a buddy to come over so i could push it back into the garage (batt died) i ordered a cheap body kit. Yeah, i know that fitment is always an issue with cheap kits. but when the box arrived, i didn't expect the packaging to be this bad.
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by the way, the car is now sitting on Megans. They're cheap, but i like um...:sweetass
Then i molded the rear fenders so they look like part of the body. bondoed up the trunk holes using some cut tubing as a holder. Worked perfect imo. Also included are pics of the kit with a temp fit to see how well it lined up and looked. which was bad...
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Here is what it took to get a bit better fitment on the rear bumper. (The skirts took some cutting)
(before=left - after=right)
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^Same for other side + front bumper.

More sanding.....better fitment....aligning headlights and rewiring lamps.
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And now...this is where she stands. I need to fill the sunkness...
Too bad my budget can't afford wide wheels with good offsets:wgaf
Looks like my poor mans stance is going to be accompanied by the poor mans wheels.
sportmax? or does somebody have any other recomendations?
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btw i'm tempted to mold the kit to the car to hide the lines....Normally i wouldn't do it, but it's a beater....so who cares if i get into a fender bender and ruin the entire body...also...still have to cut the inner fender on the rears....to make use of the over's.
 
#6 ·
$100 for car
$40 gas, so far
$300 in misc fixes
$300 on the cheapy kit
$30 worth of sand paper
$15 for the bondo

I might be missing some stuff

but yeah $800 so far into this car...
thats including the car lol.

About to order some 18x9.5 all around +35 sportmax 962s. So there is another $580 +shipping.
not sure on the spacers or tires yet. I'm guessing after tires/spacers + wheels i'll be under about $1800 total.

They'll be ordered on monday. I won't get back into town to work on the car again till friday. (work makes me travel)
 
#11 ·
About to order some 18x9.5 all around +35 sportmax 962s. So there is another $580 +shipping.
here are a few more pics till i can take more when i get back home.
keep in mind. I had just picked up the dslr right before I took all these so its not the cams fault they suck, it's the photographers lack of skill...
Lights 100% interior cleaned up big time & HUD 100%
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#8 ·
my 4 lug selection holding me back.
I cannot find a good set of shoes under 1.2k
rbwheels has good stuff. But i've been checking for weeks now with nothing over 8in in a 17 or 18in size with offsets under 30.
The 35+ offset of the smortmax isn't what bothers me. It's the 26lb issue that buggs me.
but no worries.

btw I picked up a Canon E0S Rebel XT DSLR.
Now my picks won't be so crappy :thumbsup

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#9 ·
Im really diggint that kit. Especially for the price. This summer I plan to use the skirts and rear bumper that you have paired with a Origin Lab front bumper.

And go 5-lug. Have the hub redrilled to fit 5-lugs. Cheap way since its so hard to find nice wheels in 4-lug

What color are you planning to paint it?
 
#13 ·
mini news update;

Got around to buying the wheels. I searched for too long for better wheels but couldn't find anything in the size I was looking for.

Went through buywheelstoday.com and picked up some 962's for $580 shipped:thumbsup
Can't beat that.

Just ordered them, so it should be here in a few days. I'll be out of town again for a few days due to work so i'll post some better pics of the car before I go since I've gotten better with the DSLR, plus i picked up a tripod.

Almost forgot to ask if anybody could help me choose a good tire size that I can slap on these 17x9's that I won't have to stretch much or at all. (I'd like to be able to use my 9"'s)
Also...why is it so hard to find some wheel spacers?!
I can't seem to find any in stock anywhere that are not those cheap looking adaptors with built in studs.
Can somebody point me to the right direction for some hubcentric 25mm spacers?

thanks guys.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Ready for pics of the wheels?
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Here ya go!
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lol just kidding;
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Arrived on monday. I was at work till early this morning though.
Tires are on the way and i'm still shopping for spacers. Just wanted to see the wheels on the car themselves before buying spacers.
 
#18 ·
Ebay. Off of; frpbodykits on eBay.

Didn't even come close on fitment.
Took a lot of work to fit. I didn't get enough pics to cover what I had to do.

Stay away.

http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/frpbodykits

That is them.

Was dirt cheap but wasn't worth it.

P.O.S. :nono

Good thing i'm the shit and made it work=)
 
#21 ·
oh yes, Nismo Power Brace, any random named 3 tier tower brace (if i can find one), droped on Megans and have a buddy that can weld me up a chitty cage. Just not sure if I want to go that far with this thing since I really won't be driving it hard.
If it's not going to have power. I'd like for it to be able to handle at least a little nice.

I may be on a budget. But it's an all around budget.
Cant kill 1k on coilovers and 2k on an engine.
More like 1k in suspension (if that much) and about .5k on engine upgrades.

plus the things that must be done to help her keep running perfect.

btw, picked up;

Seafoam
Brake MC Heat Shield (spur of the moment)
Spacers arrived
&
Shadow of The Colossus

Which means I better do some work before SotC gets here. Otherwise i'm not working on the car till I get some game time=)
 
#26 ·
Yeah but i'm not dumping alot into the paint for now an it's either going to be the Semi Gloss Smoke Gray or High Gloss Black. If i get tired of it i can get a good paint job later.
Yes I should do it right the first time but i just want to get her looking decent for now so I can drive her. (not driving it the way it is)

UPDATES w/ PICTURES OR BAN!
I've been working out of town for a while now man. Calm down Phil.

I have a pic of the Spacers on (ones I already had).
The ones I ordered I have a pic of but they're not on yet.

I'm out of town for another 2 weeks, then I get a day home to install them. It's going to be a slow build. I'll post pics as soon as I wake up guys. I've been up for almost 39 hours now so i need sleepy time.