The Blue Bachelor

DirtyGaze · 08:15:44 PM / 13-Feb-12

Yea I dont know why I named this thread that...sounded like a good idea at the time.

Lately Ive put a lot of time, effort, and...pennies into my 86 notch. A lot of the parts that were supposed to go to another S12 are now being put into this car. The reason for all this is simple and a little romantic actually...I just couldnt bring myself to tear down a car thats been great to me for 2 years to build a project car that Ive never seen run.

Anyway, I rattle canned my car a couple months ago, painted a set of 17x7 rims a buddy a gave to me for free, got new tires, bought LOTS of goodies that arent actually on the car yet, filled my sunroof hole (long story), and installed canuck springs, new oem shocks (that are now blown...it was good while they lasted) and a front addco swaybar and rear swaybar bushings and endlinks. This is how the car currently sits.

Shes stripped, ugly, and dailyed...and I love every second of it.

Soon Ill be replacing the rear subframe, control arms, brakes all the way around w/ stainless steel lines, new(er) shocks, and front strut assembly, new ball joints and new MMR/Prothane bushings. The car will be going 5 lug when this all happens.

Here are some more pics of things Ive accomplished since I was last active here.

Had the Sunroof filled in...still needs work, but lookin good.

have some overspray from the bondo on the trunk somehow...will fix this eventually.

This is how the rest of the car looks currently. Interior is fully stripped for now, parts have been taken off and reworked. Will be playing with later.

Trunk has been primered for now (much better than the hell it looked before)

And some pics of how she looks overall

DirtyGaze · 12:57:31 PM / 17-Feb-12

Just bought new brakes off of R1Concepts.com. Theyve got a good deal goin this weekend...if you use "Special15" in the promo code, you get 15% off, plus free shipping on anything over $100. I just saved $60 dollars total.

So the past few days Ive been taking apart the parts car in the back and planning the next stages of my build. Ill be installing painted tension rods and bushings and tokico shocks this weekend hopefully.

Ran into a snag yesterday. When I first looked at the front suspension of the parts car, I noticed that the right tension rod was only bolted to the control arm with one bolt and the holes on the rod and control arm didnt match up at ALL. Thought it was odd, but chalked it up to human error at the time.
After taking both of the control arms off and looking at them, they are indeed different. Ill have pics up later, but one of the control arms looks like it was from a Z31 or S13. Theyre almost exactly identical, except for the tension rod bolt holes.

Sean_howell1 · 01:03:36 PM / 17-Feb-12

That 2 tone looks good.

Colonel Gustard · 11:11:15 PM / 17-Feb-12

i need that steering rack yo!

StephenG · 11:25:24 PM / 17-Feb-12

I am totally digging that two tone black on blue thing you got going, especially with the gold/bronze wheels.

I'm jelly.

sideways_s12 · 12:41:43 AM / 18-Feb-12

not a bad little project....

DirtyGaze · 11:33:56 AM / 18-Feb-12

Thank you guys. Its a rattle can job and its not as pretty in person...yet. Those rims w/ tires will be sold soon, make offers, tires are almost brand new still. Gusty, that rack is F*CKED! I dont remember WHY I thought that, but Ill take pics, you make the call..it can be taken off in 10 min now.

I got pics of the 2 control arms off the parts car..this car.

These are the 2 control arms. Side by side they look almost identical.

Except for the tension rod holes, bigger sway bar end link hole, and that weird welded bracket on one side.

Got pics of parts to be put on soon. Heres my little S12 room thats connected at the back of my garage.

Im at work currently, but tonight when Im off I plan on installing painted tension rods, and tokico shocks.

DirtyGaze · 10:54:44 AM / 20-Feb-12

This weekends been slow going. Got off word friday, hit my buddies house and INSTANTLY started drinking games...so much for gettin done that night. Didnt wake up till 11AM the next morning and had a serious problem getting motivated. Tried workin on the car again at 5:30. Got the car to my buddies, rear was jacked up, and old shocks were out by 6:30. Those tokico z31 rears are an incredibly tight fit in the rear control arms!! Car wasnt back on the ground with rear shocks in till about 8..haha yea hang overs suck, shut up.

So todays monday, got the day off work still. Gonna get ready in a second here, get to my buddies and FINALLY get the front shocks and tension rods in. Gustard is comin by later to take the steering rack out off the parts car and Nissan86s comin by to take some shocks, springs, wheels and tires. MIGHT install them on her whip..depends on how the day treats us.

At buddies pad

Ass all high

Tokico rears on

Post Merge: 09:10:59 PM / 20-Feb-12

Been a long day, lol. Gustard and Nissan86 came by to help me out today. Gustard took some parts from the parts car and Charlene took some suspension peices and wheels and tires...nows shes hella stealth status.

So besides taking way to long to do ANYTHING on this S12, today eventually came back together today. Getting stock tension rods and strut assemblys off werent all that bad..getting painted tension rods ON with prothane bushings turned out to be a pain in the f*cking ass. First side went on with a lot of time, muscle, and sweat but it went in without a hitch once I figured out a trick. Then came the second side. I painted the tension rods off of the parts car which happened to have a Front control arm from a different car...well apparently it wasnt the only thing that was from a different car. The second tension rod bolt holes didnt line up on the front control arm and for a while I couldnt figure out why. I took off the rod, compared it to one of the ones that just got pulled off...its 20 degrees to one side to or something...basically it LOOKS like an s12 tension rod but isnt..fun fun. Anyway, cars now sitting on tokico illuminas and prothane bushings in the tension rods and I gotta say its become quite a fun little car to drive!! Thoroughly enjoying it currently.

Pics -

Stock besides swaybar and endlinks

New tension rods installed (almost..)

Gustard and Charlene showing up

Charlene goin from Sick!

..to Stealth..

DatsmoZ · 12:28:00 AM / 21-Feb-12

+1 for eventually getting most part of what was planned done. My buddy already asked what house or store I robbed when I pulled up to his workplace.

DirtyGaze · 01:42:04 PM / 21-Feb-12

...You robbed me?

So one of the reasons for this build thread is to give an assessment of the cars abilities as each new part goes on. Some may find the info useful and some may find it a total waste of time and thats fine...so here goes.

Currently the car has front addco sway bar and stock rear sway with prothane bushings and endlinks, canuck lowering springs, z31 rear 280zx front Tokico Illuminas, prothane tension rod bushings, not excessively heavy rims, some pretty aggressive 205/40/17 tires, and practically no interior (so quite lite).

Over the last couple weeks as most of these components have found there way on the car, the car performs MUCH better. I may have a weak CA20 engine, but at least I can now USE every horse there is in the stable. The car no longer shifts its weight to the back as much during acceleration, it doesnt feel unstable under braking, turn in, and although it FEELS like the tail wants to step out during a hard corner, theres just endless amounts of grip. The ride is EXCRUTIATINGLY bouncy (Ive had the shocks 5 way at the stiffest the last day) but fun as hell. Im still young enough to enjoy the hard cornering and ignore the bouncyness without breaking my back. Even so though, Ill setting the shocks lower before I go home and see how that effects the ride.

I still dont like how the rear of my car sits up high and Im unwilling to cut the rear canucks (re sale value I guess) Ill be picking up new rear springs with adjustable spring perch so I can adjust the height back there, but what spring would anyone suggest? Ive heard the 350lb is pretty light (think Justin rides on that in the back) and I think Sideways S12 is now on a 600lb spring and loves it. Just lookin for some opinions on what might work best for the illuminas and front canuck.

DirtyGaze · 02:47:48 PM / 22-Feb-12

Shocks set to 4...love it. Still firm, still fun, but now my kidneys dont feel like an MMA punching bag.

Found new inspiration for my build today as well.

God that car is sexy.

sideways_s12 · 09:15:15 PM / 22-Feb-12

yes it is and to think it was wrecked at one point lol you wouldn't even know.....

DirtyGaze · 02:12:03 PM / 23-Feb-12

No that was his other car..his first car S12. I think he got a second chassis and just transfered most of the parts.

sideways_s12 · 06:39:35 PM / 23-Feb-12

I coulda swore he just fixed it

Post Merge: 06:39:50 PM / 23-Feb-12

either way its still badass

I_heart_VVL · 11:00:25 PM / 23-Feb-12

how do the tokico shocks compare to the stock ones length-wise?

DirtyGaze · 03:48:55 PM / 24-Feb-12

Quote from: I_heart_VVL on 11:00:25 PM / 23-Feb-12
how do the tokico shocks compare to the stock ones length-wise?

Ya know, I have no idea, lol. I think they are exact stock length if Im not mistaken. The shocks I just pulled out were MR2 fronts and foxbody rear oems. As far as fitment though on the tokico..perfect. The bottom of the rear strut fits into the LCA REALLY well..it was a pain to get in, but great fit. The fronts fit in the strut assembly with no wiggle room. I got these from Ling Ling and he told me they used to be Justins.

Came home last night to a 53 pound package. (smoked a bowl before taking these pics and theres terrible light in my room...better pics later)

When I ordered these, I didnt know one of these sets would be black (premium apparently). Didnt know they could DO black..but the black rotors are my fronts and I didnt know the rear brake rotors on the SE were so big either!! Seriously, they're bigger size wise than the fronts. Less bite room I know, but still, had no idea.

Mock up with calipers for fun.

LOVE how that looks...SUPER STOKED! Should be throwing a lot of crap on my car in a month or so.

On a side note. After installing the shocks last weekend, Nissan86 and I went for a tandum run through a local windy road. We stopped at a gas station to take a pic.

Post Merge: 12:45:34 PM / 25-Feb-12

Came home to a box of A1 Tie Rod Ends last night which makes it official. I now have all the parts and all of it (almost) ready for the next step of my build which is gonna be a big step. Im thinking of recruiting some help on it because it needs to be done in a weekend lol.

Next step, the following items will find their way on my car
Subframe w/ MMR Bushings
Rear Control Arms w/ Prothane bushings and 5 lug rear hub
R200 welded Diff w/ MMR Diff Bushing
R200 Axles
SE Half Drive Shaft
Addco Rear Sway Bar
Front Control Arm w/ Prothane bushings and Moog ball joints
A1 Racing Tie Rod Ends
SE Brake Calipers and Rotors
SE Stainless Steel Lines
Change the Springs and Shocks from the front to the 5-Lug Shock Assembly

It JUST hit me how much that is. This is the first time Im taking on a project of this caliber. Thinking about doin this March 10th and 11th so if anyone is willing to commute to North San Diego to help out, I can make it a party...food, drinks, hoes...ya know, normal SoCal S12 get togethers.

Colonel Gustard · 09:27:05 PM / 25-Feb-12

im soooo down, let me save up for gas to get up there

DirtyGaze · 02:39:56 PM / 26-Feb-12

Been up to my usual tricks again. Painted the subframe and control arms for the car to be installed soon.

DirtyGaze · 09:50:42 PM / 04-Mar-12

Justin came by this weekend and weve been BSin with S12s for the past day and a half. Justin bought paint...had to paint something.

Fixing Justins E Fans

Nice wheel comparision pic

Mock up of rear Assembly. Addco rear sway bar bushings and endlinks dont work at ALL!! FYI! With modification Im sure you could make them work, but fuck all that...imma use prothane when install comes around.