What it cost me to own a $500 car, part 32

"StudyStudyStudy" (jesterjin) 05/02/2016 at 15:00 • Filed to: None

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This is stupid.

How do people drive this low?

Car comes a little bit above my waist, I high centered on the exhaust trying to pull out. I had to go back in and raise it half an inch before being able to roll out without awful scraping noises.

The culprit that held me up?

2 inch lip...

Crazy thing is if the collars are to be believed, it can sit another 3 inches lower, at least in the rear. When I step back up to a normal tire size that should lift me maybe about 1/2 an inch to an inch off the ground, so I can lower the car to compensate, but it is just crazy how much lower it feels. I was planning on taking some better pictures, but disaster hit so this will have to do.

The car feels really sketchy. Once you start moving past crawling speed the car feels like it wants to turn on a dime. The steering wheel feels like it doesn’t do much at all. I imagine my attempt at eyeballing the alignment is really off, at least I hope that is the case. The -4 degrees of camber in the back probably doesn’t help either.

That and the fact I could not find my insurance card meant driving it this weekend was a no go. I’m going to have to take the struts out to dial the negative camber out a bit before I take it in for the alignment. It should only be 4 bolts and the sway bar, but I can’t expect the alignment shop to do that I think, I’ve sent them a question to see what they plan on doing. I’ll have to also get my track width fairly sorted as well as trying to align with that out of whack is going to be irritating and possibly costly for me.

So off I went to visit my friend, to my surprise in addition to his Turbo E30 he picked up another car.

They really are just happy looking cars! He managed to pick up a 95, so 1.8L, Limited Slip Diff, but still retains the awesome flip up headlights for a good deal. I’ve put my name in line if he ever plans on getting rid of it. I had forgotten how much fun these are, and with the top down on a nice day the limitless head room is amazing. It took me a while to remember, but I actually learned how to drive manual first in a miata almost a decade ago.

First order of business was a coil pack mount, pretty spiffy, you can note my handiwork with the zip tied wire separators.

Much better then it was before.

Then it was off with the exhaust to weld on a louder muffler and tip. Before his car was spooky quiet. The turbo spool and engine bay noise was all you could hear. Exhaust was so quiet despite a straight through exhaust with a magna flow muffler that the car almost sounded electric.

You can see my welder hard at work, I also made him one of my LED panel lights which you can see was being used to great effect.

Of course wouldn’t be complete without the glamour shot. At 10lbs of boost it has quite a bit of pick up and go. 2.7L engine using the i head and the eta bottom end. Matched up to a custom tubular turbo manifold. The previous owner of the manifold cut up the thing to cut down on shipping cost, we had to weld it back together and accommodate the differences for the turbo and the waste gate.

In theory we should be running about the same amount of power a little north of 300hp by our estimates. I can’t wait to get my car on the road and see.

Well nice little tangent. Kind of gets me revved up to get my car nice and working again. I saw a pretty cool idea for a front bumper that I am excited to try out, so a more complete looking car soon to come.

Money spent - 0 :)

Total spent so far: 21954

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Big Bubba Ray > StudyStudyStudy 05/02/2016 at 15:03

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What wheels are those on your Z? I need new ones but I’m not sure if I wanna go with black steelies to hold me over for a while or if I should just grab some nice wheels.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Big Bubba Ray 05/02/2016 at 15:07

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Look like Watanabe or clones. I got Enkei comps and I like them.

StudyStudyStudy > Big Bubba Ray 05/02/2016 at 15:08

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They are Konig Rewinds with a little bit of shaving done to the centers. They are styled after Watanabe wheels, panasport makes a similar one. Rota makes very very similar ones called the RKR. Atara racing also makes a very very similar one as well.

I’m not too big a fan of steelies, I’ve seen some of them come fairly bent. If you are looking at diamonds, I would steer you towards basset as they do a better job with the lips I have been told.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Big Bubba Ray 05/02/2016 at 15:09

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We are fixing my whole rear hatch and corner area right now. No more rust under the tailgate!

StudyStudyStudy > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 05/02/2016 at 15:11

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Look good, that really takes me back!

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > StudyStudyStudy 05/02/2016 at 15:15

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We put some eibach lowering springs on I think and good shocks, totally changed the car. I did disks in the rear with a 5 speed on the original engine. It’s a fun car now. My friend specializes in Zs at his shop.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > StudyStudyStudy 05/02/2016 at 15:17

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My friend and his brother own the place. His brother is a really good body guy.

StudyStudyStudy > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 05/02/2016 at 15:17

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I’m digging it, it is interesting to see a car with all the trim I don’t have anymore. My car almost seems naked without it.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > StudyStudyStudy 05/02/2016 at 15:19

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Yeah most steelies I’ve seen are for racing and have a short lifespan. I was told not to use them as a permanent wheel. I saw the Enkei comps on a car and looked different than Watanabes but simile so I went with those. Inch wider and taller than stock

StudyStudyStudy > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 05/02/2016 at 15:21

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I need to do quite a bit of body work in the future. Unfortunately it looks like you are down in california.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > StudyStudyStudy 05/02/2016 at 15:22

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I am keeping bumpers but eventually the side trim will go. I hate it but it’s not cheap to get rid of them since they are riveted through. In the front I will eventually take the vertical bumpers off and mount fog lights in their place.

StudyStudyStudy > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 05/02/2016 at 15:22

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Same thing I did, 1 inch wider and taller. I thought of stepping up to a 16, but I think a 17 is far too big, and tire prices and sizes in a 16 isn’t that great.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > StudyStudyStudy 05/02/2016 at 15:27

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Yeah SF area and Marin. Big wheels and restomoders with Zs are not my favorite people. Mine came with the aluminum slotted wheels but one was messed up and not safe. This is when I first got it. It was a $6k car and now it’s probably 30k. Rebuilt engine, suspention, new tranny.... triples...wheels.... lots