I am starting this thread to have a place to document my progress on my project and help motivate me. I bought the car for 3k last August. The car was clean and the engine was recently rebuilt with strong compression. I am currently unemployed and attending college at WWU in Bellingham. My car sits at home and waits for me to drive it (try to go home at least twice a month on the weekends). I have been doing small cheap/freebe mods so far. I get out of school on June 13th and will be working 1.5 jobs (1 full time, 1 part time) and am expecting to get around 5k to play with.

Since I bought the car I:

Replaced the starter
Replaced the thermostat
New Rubber all around
New break pads all around with new rotors up front
New Master Cylinder
Painted wheels black
Took the wing off
Tinted turn signals
Got a 3 inch catback welded up for $80
Gutted all 3 cats
Gutted everything behind the front seats

I am planning on:

Front and rear strut bars
Cold air intake with custom box
Stance coilovers
Mazdatrix steering angle kit
Wheels (probably sportmax)
Full aero including bolt on widebody
Paint job (thinking about a really dark deep green)

Still considering:

Going all out with N/A: Rebuild my current engine and give it a large street port, get some RB headers and a standalone

OR

Turbo swap and slowly build it as the money rolls in



This is the most recent picture I have of it. Il take some more when I go home this weekend.

 

clean S4 GTU

 

My vote = NA w/ ITBs...

Oh wait... Daily driver.... NVM...

Good luck with the build! I'm in the exact same boat as you as far as the money stuff...

 

you should put in a naturally aspirated 20B! that would be sick!

 

why did you take your back carpet out??

 

"weight savings" and I like the raw look of the metal in the back.

 

because he has a *****.

Actually jk, i left my back carpet in because it looks nicer. Please dont get sportmax...find some used R33gtr wheels or something.

 

Il see how much money I have to play with after I finish with the suspension and power modifications. When I have the money I will get Work VS wheels.

I got sick of looking at the wheel gap so I cut the springs for now. I should have coilovers by the end of July.

 

Wow, you're like my opposite. I have a white 88 GTU that I daily drive and am learning to drift with, I just got you beat with a set of sportmax wheels :P

I think Im going to get DTSS eliminators this week or next and probably coilovers by the end of July also. Lookin at KSPORTS or TEIN

 

I daily drive mine and am learning to drift in it too...I wrote daily drifter because it is my DD and at the same time will become my drift car (after its built). I am going to Europe until mid July but after I get back im buying front and rear strut bars, DTSS eliminator bushing and an intake with my first paycheck.

S4 GTU drivers unite.

 

Yeah this will probably be my only car for a while so, I making it both. But if I go out of state for college I might pick up a cheap FC or 240 and do a build because I wont really need to go off campus that much and the price of gas is gonna be nuts :/

I'm looking struts and an intake too. What brands are you looking at

and unite we shall.

 

I plan on doing the same with my Replica FC. Daily/Drifter

 

I added a poll to the thread because I wont have enough to do the swap and get coilovers before I go to school and am stuck between the two. What do you think would be the better choice and why.

 

I'd do the suspension first. I have not swapped a TII in mine (yet), but I have swapped a rebuilt motor in and you can do it cheaply, but I wanted to do it right. So I budgeted in a new clutch kit, hoses, fluids, and etc. It starts adding up after a while. My motor was also broken in so it started right up when I put it in, and from what i've read about JDM swaps is sometimes they don't work right etc (need to be rebuilt) so you'd have to budget that in as well. On top of that it's not the same motor that came with the car so you have wiring issues which would add time to the swap. Having the car not running sucks if you have to get to school/work.

I swapped mine over in less than a day, but I can imagine fixing the wiring issues, swapping the drivetrain over, and sourcing out any other gremlins might take a while if it's the first time you have done it. It just sounds like a project for when you're not in school, have vacation time, or have some buddies over to make sure you do it right and are not in a hurry to finish so you can drive it to work the next day.

On the other hand, you can swap the suspension over in a couple hours, get an alignment, and be ready to go the same day.

 

That is all true. I am on summer break until mid September so time is not really an issue yet. If I get coilovers I will probably buy other suspension components at the same time. My car already handles decent but it feels underpowered. I rode in my friends 1jz supra mk3 and realized how bad I want boost. At the same time I realize that having that power will quickly reveal that I need good suspension to take full advantage of it. If I get coilovers and upgrade other suspension components I wont be able to take full advantage of everything because I wont really have the power to do so. Right now its one or the other...

 

I'm in the same boat you are with that decision. I'm going for the TII, and while I'm at it I'm upgrading my clutch (ACT SS) so I can put down the power once I upgrade the turbo and everything. I'm going to run the stock turbo for a bit, but upgrade my exhaust (3" DP and 3"Hi-flow Cat. out to my Apexi N1). Plus the guy doing the swap says he'll buy my n/a engine so I'm saving some money towards coilovers. DTSS will come right after the swap.

Drifting on stock isnt that bad, when you watch yourself you can see the body roll and it's just like ew... -shudders-

Here's a video of me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-U8IEA6djY

 

Coilovers make it night and day for handling while drifting.

TII gives you the power to get sideways easier without having to go ***** to the wall speed or throttle. As NA, you'll have issues keeping the drift going or linking multiple together without some clutch kicking.

I recommend new rear subframe bushings/DTSS eliminator/Pinion snubber.
I went with delrin mounts in my rear suspension because it's not a daily driver anymore although it feels great and wouldn't mind driving it daily. I went with Ksport Kontrol Pro's and I wish they would go higher in the front. I'm currently getting rub issues.

 

Lol! A ride in a 1J made you want boost?? Lol! Is it single swapped? It would almost have to be...

I voted coilovers cause I don't want you riding on those cut springs till next summer. You'll break stuff.

 

It was single turbo and he was pushing 20lbs at the time.

 

the poll is almost 50/50...any more opinions?

 

Just ordered some powered by max coilovers! will get the pics and a review up as soon as I get them in the mail and install them.

 

drifting is ghey.

chopped springs FTW

Paint the wheels back to silver and you'll like them better perhaps.

 

Sweet! Let me know how they are. I'm looking at those, Stance and Tein.

 

Just got my coilovers. Installed them (its raining...typical Washington weather). I havent had a chance to take full advantage of them and really push them. I did find out I need to roll my fenders.

 

with the gutted cats did you wire your ports open?


keep it n/a just to be diff. (and loud as hell)