S130Z, Dottie

[PurePontiacKid]

(everything in here until a certain point is c/p'd from one of my other build threads, so sorry if it seems generic... cuz it is lol)

Back on May 5, 2008, I bought my Baby Blue (as my mom calls her haha) for $400. She was in what I thought was pretty rough shape when I bought her but once I started cleaning everything up and making everything look nice she turned out to be one heck of a deal!

This is how she looked the day I bought her:

When I bought her, the previous owner had taken the head off and had it rebuilt, but apparently lost interest as he never put the head back on the motor and just left the head sitting on a blanket that was covering the block

When I first got the motor and everything put together, it looked something like this:

And finally after sorting out the many upon many upon many problems with the EFI (and learning pretty much everything about the way this style of EFI works) I was able to start modifying her

The first things I got for her was a pair of headlight covers, and an MSD Blaster 3 coil (stock one was dying) and a cone air filter (was easier than getting a stock style one) and also replaced the cracked headlight sugar scoop for another and primed it for the time being.

Then I started deleting stuff off of the intake manifold and painting some under hood components Pontiac Metallic Blue:

Finally got rid of the ugly ass turbine wheels on super old tires for a set of stock six-spoke wheels on 235-60-14 balloon tires that I bought for $60 for the set and also put on a pair of late style 280ZX taillights:

Then I bought my pride and joy!

My JDM valve cover! In that pic, you can also see my fuel rail that I modified to be just a single rail across the engine. I ended up ditching that for a stock fuel rail that I like better now lol

Then I bought this from the junkyard for $20:

I didnt put this on for a long, long time because it didnt (and still doesnt really) fit in my car as it was built for an S30 chassis car But it was rare, so I had to have it lol

Got it dynoed at my car clubs dyno day and laid down a pretty impressive torque number:

At this point, the car sounded like this:

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Edited March 31, 2019 by PurePontiacKid

[PurePontiacKid]

at this point, it was May 5, 2009, my one year anniversary with my fun little car

Then the fun started:

The original open R180 diff decided to finally let go on me right as I left home for school one morning. I was actually able to drive the car home after this happened!

Now for the REALLY fun stuff that gave me the most headache, lowering my car. I wanted to go really low, not just the lame 1-2 that normal lowering springs get me, I wanted LOW.

Here is my first iteration of low:

El-cheapo sleeve type coilovers up front on stock struts, and cut springs on the rear with KYB gas struts

Had to get some used tires to clear the suspension since the 235s ended up waaay to interfering with the spring collars (along with Pep-Boys ¼ spacers).

Drove like that for a week or two, took some pics with my boso pipes I had made:

Also painted my sugar scoop and bondo/rust spot to match the rest of the car and placed an uber awesome band-aid sticker:

some time before that, I also spent like an entire week hand rubbing most of the oxidation out of the paint, and made the whole car look a bazillion times better!

Then I started having tire problems ended up having to buy a full set of Falken 912 tires in 195/65-14 size all around. My best performance investment to date, these completely changed the way the car handled and reacted to everything, I love these tires!

Also bought a set of Tokico HP shocks and struts, and finished my coilover installation properly:

Made a short shifter out of a truck shifter in the junkyard along with a Honda shifter boot and a Nismo leather shift knob:

Also finally got my header installed and painted my valve cover super JDM purple. Plus, I also did a mild wire tuck and moved my engine harness to run behind the intake manifold (took me 6 hours to do it!):

And now she sounded like this:

(note that in that video I had A LOT of exhaust leaks that I fixed over time)

[PurePontiacKid]

Then, I found an N42 non-EGR intake manifold in the junkyard and shaved and ported it along with installing a 60mm KA throttle body and a Toyota Cressida AFM:

 

Then I dynoed her, and was very pleased with my results! She laid down 130whp and 152wtq! Not too bad of gains for just bolt-ons, I think sorry, havent scanned in the dyno sheet though L

http://s115.photobuc...�t=MOV03663.flv

^happy photobucket video, but you get the idea

Got bored one day and took some pics:

And then my worst nightmare happened I got into an accident :(

I couldnt drive the car with the fender on the tire like that, so it was at that time I decided to put her up on jackstands and do everything I had wanted to do on her and fix all of my previous mistakes and do stuff right so she would drive like a new car when I get her back on the road

On jackstands:

[PurePontiacKid]

removed all of the front suspension,

Before:

(yea, you like that droop travel, huh?)

After:

and now Im in the process of doing the front suspension parts and powdercoating most everything in this hue of blue (hehe, it rhymes )

front control arms looked like this when I started:

halfway done!

[PurePontiacKid]

Then, I decided since Im going to get a larger Nismo sway bar, Id better brace up the wimpy stock sway bar mounts:

(Im still a n00b at welding, and thats actually the worse of the two ;) )

bought a set of wheels from the junkyard for $133 for the set:

(pic is with a ¼ spacer)

sold those wheels that day as I have different plans, and I want to reuse my Falkens

And just today I powdercoated my intake manifold:

Ive got a pair of Koni front struts on order that Im going to use and also section my strut tubes so I can go lower than I was (hey, couldnt go over speed bumps as it was, why not go lower? xD )

Next Im going to order some urethane bushings and then all new ball joints and tie rods.

Ill keep you guys updated as stuff happens ;)

[PurePontiacKid]

got a small update:

pics of the valvecover

undercoated the fenderwells and stuff too

(before)

(after)

[PurePontiacKid]

woot, finally bought ball joints, tie-rod ends, and front wheel bearings, should be in tomorrow, and I'll finally start takin my hubs apart to powdercoat and reassemble.

 

STILL waiting on my Koni's to come in... (3rd week on backorder <_< )

 

all I need now to put the front suspension back together (besides the struts) is bushings, which should be the next thing I buy :D

 

did some stuff today... got the front hubs completely taken apart and sandblasted everything. I even got around to trying out my new chrome powdercoat on my bolts, which looks like this:

 

And this is what the original, 30 year old ball joints looked like o.o'

 

And here's what my hubs look look like now, along with my steering knuckle thingys:

 

Tomorrow I should be buying wheel seals, lug studs, brake rotors and caliper rebuild kits.

 

 

[metalmonkey47]

Nice!! You got it that low just from cutting the springs?

[PurePontiacKid]

reassembled the hubs today, just need the seals now :D

I REALLY don't like how the powder came out on the hubs but oh well, they're good enough for who they're for lol

[PurePontiacKid]

finally a tiny little update:

That's how much lower I'll be able to go while still having the same amount of suspension travel I had before :D

 

getting them welded either today, or tomorrow for sure

 

lol you can see my dad's shop in the bg of the second pic, as well as my Jr. Dragster on the stands :P

 

 

[PurePontiacKid]

got my strut tubes back, welds came out epic, much much better than my two lame ass attempts lol

next comes more media blasting then powdercoating them.

 

did this (I took the cover off and was like "whoa wtf! I have a Z?!?" lmao)

^I don't think I'll be able to get that out too easily lol

 

and this is how it fits with my 15x10 wheel that I have:

And I beat on the rear part of the fender a bit more after that pic, hopefully it won't have too many problems...

 

 

[PurePontiacKid]

I did this stuff on Sunday:

(seeing those welds, I now realized why I took it to someone else to weld my strut tubes lol)

I did that for the SOLE purpose of going lower and not banging on my exhaust. Have I made the Slamburglars proud? hahaha

 

And this stuff came in today:

inside the box still...

All laid out! lookin at it now, it's pretty depressing that I spent $320 for just that little bit of crap lol

 

Also, I'm NOT happy, I wanted red bushings, but they sent me black... oh well, I don't want to deal with sending **** back and forth... black it is! Plus, the bushings didn't come with any sort of directions... no problem for me, but what if someone was more of a n00b than me? tisk tisk MSA...

 

blue header paint=freakin awesome.

having to cover it up with wrap to cover up ugly ass welds=not awesome...

 

And today:

 

 

[PurePontiacKid]

WTF IS THIS s**t.

http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n290/pu...ing-3-28-10.flv

yay for s**tty cell quality vid made s**ttier by being uploaded to photobucket!

[PurePontiacKid]

Did this today...

yes, I know some of them are crooked, nothin I can do about it meow... <_<

[PurePontiacKid]

I've got more to put on, as well. not just from the list (I think I'll put those randomly throughout the car lol) but other kinds ;)

 

oh, and I went to the junkyard today, and scored this super awesome/hard-to-find interior stuff:

The old stuff is the busted ass s**t on the left, the "new" stuff is on the right, I think I'll be pulling the covering off the one part and just painting it like I did with the other one.

The best part? I got those BOTH for $5! lol

 

And then I got home and was bored, so I went down to the exhaust shop and bought a couple two bolt 2" exhaust flanges. Why you might ask? So I could do this with them:

So now; f**kIN FINALLY; my strut tubes are DONE, minus the powdercoating...

 

 

[PurePontiacKid]

OKAY FINALLY DONE. lol

 

stupid ass 10 pic per post limits suck <_<

 

And the fronts in those pics have $75 coilover springs on, and the rears in some of the pics (with the rear higher) has two coils out of the stock springs, but the ones with it level are with the rest of the coilover springs, but just sitting in the spring seats on the shocks (no collar)

[metalmonkey47]

It looks pretty damn good. I wanted to slam my B310, but noone really makes those parts for an old economy car. haha

 

Looks like I have no choice but to cut the springs!

[JDM510]

all this work have you fixed the dent yet???

[Skib]

video no worky :(

[metalmonkey47]

video no worky :(

 

Thats what I was just thinking =/

[PurePontiacKid]

lol well, the video was a super crappy vid of my motor runnin (open header) for the first time since I took it apart.

 

And the springs I got for it were meant for a Civic/Integra/CRX/whatever other Hawnduh you can think of. What I did was just cut the stock spring seat off, ground the welds flush, got a piece of exhaust tubing about 2.25" in diameter and 9" long for each side and slid those on, then the threaded collars, then the springs, and voila, super el-cheapo coilovers that work for pretty much any strut tube equipped vehicle!

 

Nope, and I don't plan on fixing the dent (either one) for a while. I don't want to ever fix the one on the fender, it's like my trademark now :P

[MicroMachinery]

Good job man. Lots of hard work and persistence going on here. :thumbup:

[BayArea510]

its freakin awesome reading and watching your progress even after that nasty sideswipe! Are you looking to pull out the damage or cutting and welding a replacement panel? Keep practicing on the welding tecnique for that new panel

 

 

[metalmonkey47]

lol well, the video was a super crappy vid of my motor runnin (open header) for the first time since I took it apart.

 

And the springs I got for it were meant for a Civic/Integra/CRX/whatever other Hawnduh you can think of. What I did was just cut the stock spring seat off, ground the welds flush, got a piece of exhaust tubing about 2.25" in diameter and 9" long for each side and slid those on, then the threaded collars, then the springs, and voila, super el-cheapo coilovers that work for pretty much any strut tube equipped vehicle!

 

Nope, and I don't plan on fixing the dent (either one) for a while. I don't want to ever fix the one on the fender, it's like my trademark now :P

 

Are those the cheap ass ebay coil-over's I've been seeing that you used?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-93-94-95-Civic-Scale-Lowering-Springs-Coilover-BU_W0QQitemZ290419916552QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item439e603f08#ht_5832wt_1019

 

[PurePontiacKid]

They're pretty much those, but I bought mine locally from the local "speedshop" I do plan on getting proper springs for the front eventually. I like how the rears are super stiff, and they don't allow the back end to dip hardly at all.

 

and for the fender, right now I'm just going to rock it like that, but with a bit more pull to clear my wheels/tires.

 

I'll eventually get it replaced, I want the whole thing replaced, too. I don't trust myself for something like that, so she's going to the body shop when the time comes lol (might as well save up and do it right and get it painted while she's up there)