[Labora]

So late to making a thread since I have mostly lurked here since buying this car in 2013 but figured I would get a thread going. Will picture bomb for now and try and explain some of the things I've done. I have done a lot of maintenance and up keep but nobody cares about any of that so I will try and hit the high points.

When I bought the car it had a few things done to it.

Hard dog roll bar, cut bumper, ground control/bilstein setup, RPF1s, Nardi wheel and some other cosmetic items.

First round of mods I did was bracing and upgraded sway bars with 949 endlinks.

Shortly before/after that I manged to run the car low on oil so had to pull a engine swap while it was out I freshened up a lot and upgraded some.

I ended up doing a flebay header, lighter flywheel, fresh clutch, Garage Star delrin diff mounts and urethane engine mounts and a exhaust/intake cam swap. Along with new gaskets everywhere and other misc upkeep.

 

[Labora]

Re: I'm a Addict and all my Friends are Enablers (97 NA)

Next thing I added was seats, stock seats where tired and after some good driving it was time for something to keep my ass in the seat.

I have been lucky to be friends with a good fab guy so he has helped me a lot with this car. He built me solid seat brackets for these and since I am short we actually raised them up from the floor.
At the same time I put these in I got a detachable wheel since I sit pretty far forward, along with some 5 point harnesses.

I made a trip to the Ozarks in Arkansas was a great time other than I hit a dear.

Luckily it was easily fixed, had a rather large buck run in front of me. Manged to get hard on the brakes and he just ran into the side of the car rather than coming through the windshield.

To prep for autox I did all stainless brake/clutch lines with speed bleeders.

After that I finally started making some Autocrosses with the car.

The car has done well enough for me being a novice, I have only had all season tires on it and during the hotter days here they would basically turn to a greasy mess so the car was always short on traction after a few laps. After 3-4 events I got a good performance alignment and more seat time helped me do somewhat better.

 

[Labora]

Re: I'm a Addict and all my Friends are Enablers (97 NA)

After my road trip the car started to burn some oil and developed a few small leaks so I decided to see if changing valve seals would help. It did some but not enough. I highly suggest you get this tool if you attempt to do these on the car.

Picked up a warm air intake at same time as valve seal job.

I also picked up some delrin door bushings, my car already has door bars so IDK about making things "stiffer" but they did stop a door from rattling since the stock rubber ones where DONE.

Onto somewhat recently I am always finding parts. I bought N2 flares about 6 months ago because I love how they look. I also plan to make 280-320 HP down the road so hopefully the larger tire will be justified soon enough.

I will probably catch some heat for the tire size but I wanted to get these for a STREET tire and later pickup some racing wheels to mount slicks on. I did not want to go to a ultra sticky tire just yet because I want to keep pushing myself to learn with cheaper tires before I spend money on slicks. Even so these should offer much more grip than the 195 all season tires I had previously, and the temp range on them is better so they will not turn to grease.

I picked up some Rota Grid Vs 16x9 zero offset, with a 245/45 tire size.

So onto the fun stuff.

Started measuring how to cut the car up, these N2 flares are a big under taking luckily my roommate is a professional body man so I have some help.

So I am still in the process of getting these fitted, while I had the wheels off I noticed one of my shocks was leaking.

So I am waiting on these to show up now.

I also have a list of other parts that will be going on at the same time which I will post a update on soon, and some other really cool stuff that I will keep under wraps for now probably until the car is painted and looking decent. .

(That's all for now will have to proof read in the morning.)

 

[GreaseMonkey2000]

You're up in the DFW area right? :dunno: Is that Todd aka MC70's old Track Dog Racing air intake? I want to do flares this year or next...looking forward to see how your flares turn out. Glad you made a build thread! :icon_cheers:

 

[Labora]

You're up in the DFW area right? :dunno: Is that Todd aka MC70's old Track Dog Racing air intake? I want to do flares this year or next...looking forward to see how your flares turn out. Glad you made a build thread! :icon_cheers:

Yes east side of DFW.

I did get the intake from him. I have previously bought a engine, catback, and other misc things from him. Always been a great guy to deal with, when we pulled the motor from his parts car he bought pizza and beer. Anyhow, it was a excuse to go sit in his car and try his mirrors like we talked about, unfortunately his mirrors are flat not convex (like I want) so I haven't made up my mind just yet.

 

[ncorlis]

Nice Na. Normally I dislike big flares like that, but since you are putting 245 wide tires on it and not 15x9 -5 wheels with 195 wide rubber, I think you're alright. MC70 always seemed like a nice guy. I was bummed when he got banned.

 

[handballallday]

winlowe, humming and say welcome to CR.

Btw love silver hard tops on black NA's. It just screams old school and looks so right. Is that an Ultra Racing strut bar?

 

[Labora]

I am guessing you are talking about the white brace with the sway bars and braces? If so that is the racing beat sway bar brace.

I was conflicted on the silver top when I got the car, but it grew on me. I am debating if I want to do a solid color or 2 tone again when I redo everything.

 

[ShySausage]

Did you post that second picture on Reddit recently? Man that's a clean NA.

What are your thoughts on the quarter panel braces? I'm thinking of getting them after I install my roll bar and buy some door bars. My thoughts are that the roll bar stiffens the rear; door bars help the middle section and quarter panel braces finish off the front.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Labora]

Did you post that second picture on Reddit recently? Man that's a clean NA.

What are your thoughts on the quarter panel braces? I'm thinking of getting them after I install my roll bar and buy some door bars. My thoughts are that the roll bar stiffens the rear; door bars help the middle section and quarter panel braces finish off the front.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

That picture was taken by Brandon Lajoie he does all sorts of Photography but has done some cool automotive stuff too. It is possible it was posted by some one else there.
http://brandonlajoie.com/


I already had door bars and a roll bar when I installed the Frog Arm braces, I put them on the same time as the butterfly brace, rails and sway bars. So the net benefit was harder to measure for me since I did so much at once. I believe them to be more beneficial to the front geometry than the strut tower braces people like to put on.

 

[white1_again]

Re: I'm a Addict and all my Friends are Enablers (97 NA)

Wow, those flares are huge. Can't wait to see it painted up.

 

[tmar]

What coilovers are those??

Also whoa big fender flares

 

[shiz]

What coilovers are those??

Also whoa big fender flares

Xidas.

 

[porkchop]

Cool project! How much is the valve keeper removal tool?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Labora]

Cool project! How much is the valve keeper removal tool?

Around 55$ worth it.

I also bought this special set of pliers but they where too big so pass on those. Just ended up using needle nose.

 

[GreaseMonkey2000]

What are your thoughts on the Corbeau Forza seat? :dunno: Have been looking at those myself but was planning on using their brackets and sliders.

 

[Labora]

Should have a good update tonight.

What are your thoughts on the Corbeau Forza seat? :dunno: Have been looking at those myself but was planning on using their brackets and sliders.

IDK the ones I have are the Corbeau FX1 PRO. They fit fine for me other than barely hitting the door pad (97 Models have a bigger door pad than any other NA I believe.) I am pretty small/short so the seat fits me great, I actually got them because they are a bit bigger than I need so they would be somewhat comfy on the street.

I have another set of NA door pads and some home made door panels I still need to install, like several small projects I have hasn't made it to the top of my list. These should 100% clear with a smaller door pad.

 

[Labora]

Got a few Race car parts.
Xida Coil overs 700/400 dual spring
Front/rear control arm bushings with grease fittings
Inner Tie Rods
LE/R Outer Tie Rods (for Bumpsteer)
Rack Spacers (for Bumpsteer)
2* Degree Camber Lower Ball Joints
Upper Ball Joints
Rack Bellows
Rack Mounts
Brake Master Brace

Also having the rack machined to depower it.

Did find a bent upper front control arm so will have to try and find a replacement.

The control arm bushings on the car are done not allowing the suspension to travel smoothly, to be expected with 140~k on the car.

Car will hopefully drive like new after this, won't be any wear items in the suspension that haven't been gone over. Can't wait to drive it.

 

[Labora]

Rack apart going to depower it the "right" way, no more internal seals.

I also ordered a pair of these today for the rear uppers. I am not sure I will be able to hit the camber numbers I want so these will help. Hopefully they will prove somewhat useful at getting the larger tire to clear also.

 

[Labora]

Got the rack ready to go moves nice and smooth stop to stop. I might actually have to tighten it down some.

Got all the old bushings out and ball joints out of the control arms. Started drilling and tapping for zerk fittings too. Going to finish that by Friday and take them to sandblast at a friend's place Saturday.