Doug's S12

[silvia love]

what happended to your turbo spoiler? wanna sell it? nice job on the fenders! it looked pretty bad at first when you had the 1/4's cut up but it came together nicely. i wanna see that silvia bumper fitted. any more pics of the side skirts from further away?

[Doug]

Ah the turbo spoiler doesnt have "turbo" emblems on the sides anymore, and its got a few cuts and gouges out of the foam, dont know if that would be worth anything to anyone. the first picture of the sideskirts is the furthest shot i could get (small garage lol). I put the silvia bumper on, for the most part it bolts right on, i took out the small metal strip from the back that had bolts in. This part is used on the silvia rebar. Instead i drilled small holes in the backside plastic so it can bolt into the rebar like the stock bumper, small trimmings at the corner edge to fit the fender. And then the final task is to weld a new lower panel on to the front of the fenders, similar to the 240sx front ends, so that the bumper lines up with the fenders properly. Ill be getting more pics of all that work this week.

Another update - big news because all my buildup parts came in (engine and suspension). the unfortunate aspect is that the used front tein coilovers i got had one side with a seal gone, so for now all i can do is send it out and hope that they can fix it SOON!

[TalkingGoats]

Duuuuude pix of the silvia bumper!

[Doug]

Ok so today after work i decided to finish up the silvia bumper conversion. I ended up using the strip of steel with the bolts in it from the stock silvia bumper and drilling holes in the top edge of the rebar to bolt it on, the bumpers are a SLIGHTLY different shape across the front (s12 coming straight back on an angle from the center whereas the s13 curves back away from the centre) but not enough to really notice much of a difference, it has made fitting the bumper a pain in the ass though lol. I've trimmed away about half an inch to an inch from the top corners of the bumper to make it sit flush against the fender. That corner area is my least favorite of the conversion, it doesnt match well and needs to be perfectly cut to blend it in. However, im sure it will look ok once the bumper is red and matches the paint. The lower portion of the s12 fenders curves in too soon for the bumper so i restructured it to match the bumper with a metal patch on each side, that worked out very well and now the fenders match awesome at the bottom. Overall i love the look of the s13 bumper compared to the s12 bumper, it gives the whole front end a more modern sleek look and i think that the now longer fenders match the body lines that the rocker panels create giving the side profile more flow in the styling. My next task is to finish the putty work (that i've been trying to finish for weeks now haha) and to figure out what to do with the grill area and the gap between the red strip under the grill and the bumper. Without further adieu, the pictures lol:

First test fit:


With only one bolt in each side there is a HUGE gap between fender and bumper:


Fully bolted in, barely anymore gap:


Fender restructured, bumper mostly bolted on:


After i get some bodywork done on the fenders tomorrow i'll take some more pictures of the front end with the test fit of the s13 lower poly lip.

[Doug]

update -  the car is going in for paint saturday morning, look for updated pics this weekend!

[The-Noach]

looks great...can't wait to see the new paint

[Doug]

Ok here she is, front bumper wont be on for a while, at least until i get the motor in the car, then ill be putting it back on. Still looking for rims, desparately needed haha. Can't wait to see it with everything on it. I have been taking the motor apart and i found that the turbo that came on the motor someone had thrown sand and rocks inside it... probably hoping i would blow up the motor by just putting it in and starting it. Good thing i'm taking everything apart first to rebuild it (bonus that i have a brand new turbo LOL).

[IggyEGuana]

Paint looks really nice!

[CallaroSX]

pssst. paint the door handles black.

[Doug]

haha yea thats my next step, the chrome peeled off the driver side so i've been trying to figure out what material is underneath so that i can make sure it has good adhesion.

[Kennyboy]

Very job there, what are the arcches off??

[Doug]

the wheel arches are front fenders from a dodge caravan.

[silvia love]

kudos on the paint job! the rear fender looks awsome. i wanna see the lip and bumper fitted now. probably looks better with matching paint.

[asparagus]

too cooooooool, I was going to try a stock silvia bumper but I couldn't find one in my area. Looks good man!

edit: i dunno about using a pignose lip on the silvia bumper, it always looked janky too me because it fits retarded. look around for a nice lip!

[Doug]

i was a little worried about the lip fitting wrong as well because of the different bumper styles and whatnot between 240sx and s13, however, when i test fit it on there it matched up awesome, all it needs is a zip tie on each fender and a rivet through the center of the bumper/lip and its a snug match. It might fit better because the different width of the s12 fenders as oppposed to the 240 fenders, dont know... ill be putting the bumper on as soon as the motor is in the car (hopefully within the next two weeks). I only plan on putting it on once because its such a tight fit that i dont wanna damage anything by taking it off again.

[Doug]

Sad day indeed for my s12... due to financial issues the sr20det swap and all related fun stuff is going to be sold.  im a little sad to see that aspect of this project go down the drain. however i am happy that ill be putting my lowering springs and poly bushings on the rear of my car this weekend. And i will also be looking for a KA24E to start building (since thats something i can afford)

[Doug]

SILVIA BUMPER ON! woohoo, night pictures only for now...

[CallaroSX]

i think a mk2 grill would flow better with the vents in the s13 bumber, you can probly score one for under 20 bucks

[asparagus]

Looks good, hows it look without the lip though?

[Doug]

i didnt take any pictures without the lip, i've been considering taking the lip off and painting the lower portion black not only for protection but to have the option of no lip... im dont hate the look of it, but im not crazy about it... something about the way it goes in at the fenders is bothering me, but until i can figure out a cure i stays this way lol.

callaro- if i get an mk2 grill wouldnt i need mk2 turn signals? i would go this route if i could source the parts.