my s14a project thread :)

[nash`s]

thought it was a bout time to start a project thread so here goes.

originally had around 6k to spend on a 14a, and i thought id easily get a mint one with a few mods fairly quickly. i was wrong, i religiously searched pistonheads and sxoc for 9-10 months every day. nothing came up for sale that i really liked, and the ones i did, sold really quickly. the one good thing about waiting this long was that the whole time i was looking i was saving more money, so by the time i found one i had around 9k to spend. wasn't really to keen on spending that much really but when s14 dave on here put his up for sale, i just had to have it.
so within a few days and numerous pm`s to dave i was on my way to view it. this was the first 200 i was viewing so wasn't really sure what to expect, but judging by the pics in the for sale thread it looked a minter. one thing id say to anyone looking for the right 200 is that you've got to be prepared to travel. its a 520mile round trip for me but was totally worth it imo (oh and thanks for abbott for borrowing his dad`s car to go view the car).
anyway got up to whitby and pulled into the car park where dave and his 200 were sittin, and i instantly new id buy it. the car was immaculate and i couldn't fault it.

pics from when i viewed it.









took it for a test drive with dave (who`s a top bloke btw) and fell in love with it even more.
so instantly said id buy it and left a deposit with dave.

a week later i was doing the 520mile round trip again, this time id be coming back in a 200 met up with dave, done the deeds and it was mine, i could tell dave was properly gutted to see it go and i actually felt a bit guilty taking it off his hands considering the amount of money and time he had put into it, but i knew he was moving onto bigger and better things. the drive home was awesome although it was in low boost the whole time. this was my first rwd car and with 375bhp i wasn't keen on just jumping in at the deep end, so low boost it was. was still quick enough though (estimated around the 300bhp mark in low boost) got the car home and still had fuel in the tank i was surprised how fuel efficient it was. a testament of apt`s mapping i suppose.

the next day it was time for a wash and some piccys















i bought it in october 2008 and tried to drive as least as possible over winter for obvious reasons and the times i did, it still mostly stayed in low boost what with getting used to rwd and all.

november i took myself along to the sxoc surrey rolling road day. wanted to get the car dyno`d, wasn't really bothered what it made just wanted to make sure it was running ok.

previous dyno was at apt when it got mapped and made 375bhp and 350ftlb

at SRR it made 374bhp and 350ftlb. spot on, charlie at SRR said she was running spot on


2009 i wasn't too worried about modding it as in all fairness it didnt need to be imo.i just wanted to enjoy it and get to some shows/meets.

various pics from show`s etc.

[nash`s]

half way through the summer new disc`s and pads were needed



new ap racing goodness and ferodo pads

fitted the vented disc`s the right way this time.

more pic whoring






towards the end of 2009 i started collecting a load of goodies to fit onto the 200 will do an update in a day or two as to what mods iv doin/done.

[S14AXL]

Much love for this car matey

Looks even better in the metal........... and carbon!!

[Chriscooke]

Love this car. Looking forward to seeing what you have planned for it

[SidewaysThough]

previous dyno was at apt when it got mapped and made 745bhp and 750ftlb

at SSR it made 744bhp and 750ftlb. spot on, charlie at SSR said she was running spot on

Jesus thats one powerful typo!!!

Dude, car looks absolutly beautiful! Really nice motor, looks like youve kept it well too!

[clive]

Jesus thats one powerful typo!!!

Dude, car looks absolutly beautiful! Really nice motor, looks like youve kept it well too!

just what i was think...

over 700 BHP



lovely car

not much left to do surely

[crazyshad1]

I saw this at Daves a few year back, its simply stunning

[kingj]

Love the car,hate the bonnet shes looking a beast fella what turbo setup is she running?

[Sideways Simon]

Wow, very clean and uber clean engine bay!!

[nash`s]

cheers for comments people

Jesus thats one powerful typo!!!

Dude, car looks absolutly beautiful! Really nice motor, looks like youve kept it well too!

lol how the **** did i come up with them figures ha ha

changed it now

not much left to do surely

there`s always more to do

Love the car,hate the bonnet shes looking a beast fella what turbo setup is she running?

greddy tdo6 20g

[Quail]

Mighty fine motor!

[marky89]

loving your car mate, looks imaculate, and the engine bay looks sweet!!!

[crouchy]

the engine bay is beautiful, and so is the car

[nash`s]

ok next was a nice small subtle mod which if it wasnt for aideo for doing the thread i dont think i would of done it. SXOC FTW
http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=435433

i was looking around on ebay etc to find a nice set of dark headlights to finish of the front end nicely, but when this thread popped up i realised not only could i do it myself but id be saving myself a fair amount of money.

removed all lights. a job i dont like doing as i have to remove my carbon colling panel and more important my bonnet pins, which are a bitch to line up again .





gave the lights a bit of a clean up then in the oven they went (removed all the bulbs first though). this was the most nerve racking part of the process as not only does the plastic get super hot. but when prising the plastic away from the glass, the glass cracks and chips. it took a while and i had to reheat it several times to keep the glue from resetting.

finally got it off and removed all the chrome plastic casing.





then i rubbed off all the chrome paint with some 240 wet and dry then went over a few more times with finer grits until they were nice and smooth





gave them 2 coats of plastic primer, then whilst i was waiting for them to dry i cracked on with the other headlight in the oven, with the second one i left in the oven even longer and it definatley came apart alot easier than the first.

got them both all in primer before i applied the black paint. wanted to get a real nice finish with the black paint so i opted for some halfords satin black and applied 3 coats. finished result came out really good imo.







it was then a case of screwing the parts back in the headlight and then resting the glass back in place before putting back in the oven to resoften the glue.

once it was out the oven i applied the metal clips back on the headlight and job done



i tried to do the same with the side lights but gave up after one started to crack quite badly.

so i masked up the outside rubber trim of the sidelight and just sprayed the outside with some tint spray.









have yet to get some good pics of them refitted but will try and get some this weekend.

only pic of them fitted atm.


next project was fitting these bad boys

[nash`s]

just after fitting the headlights went out to go pick up some uber pimp harness form
jerry3167.

cheers jerry

[stu80]

love this car one on my fav s14a's

[Jonny Mac]

good build so far and thats a good power figure

[nash`s]

right gauge pod time.
always wanted to stick them where the heater vents are, but havent seen to many people attempt this with 60mm gauge`s. i had a spare heater vent trim knocking about so i had nothing to loose.

right luckily with the defi`s i got the cup/bezel things the gauge sit inn, so the plan was to still use these but insert and glue them in to where i want the gauges to sit, this by far the easiest way to do it.

first had to grind off the little mounting holes with a bench grinder.



then i cut out on the trim three rough circles. be really careful when doing this as you have to get really close to all the clips which hold it too the dash.



then using a glue gun (found glue guns to be perfect for doing this as they hold it super strong and you can pull it apart easy enough if you make a mistake) i glued the cups in place.



used a bit of tipex to line them up properly. another tip is to try and do this whilst in the car as you need to get the angle just right other wise the gauges will hit the top of the heater controls. this took a couple of attempts to get right but luckily i was doing this at abbott`s house so had his s14 there to keep test fitting it

this pic shows how close you need to get to the clips.



next stage was the fibreglass. done about two coats in total with sanding any high spots between each coat. also added a few further coats on the thin strips between the gauges for extra strength.





and one final rub down and test fit (in abbott`s s14 again, cheers mate) before i add the filler.



right then started to add the filler, wasnt totally sure what kind of filler to use so just opted for the loctite professional body filler seemed to do the trick though

first coat.



was taking ages to sand down the high spots and giving it a nice shape, but luckily found a sanding drill bit in my tool box which was perfect for the job and took no time at all. then added more coats to fill in low spots and to give it a nice shape etc.
then finally rubbed it down using wet and dry starting off with 240 then 400, 600, 800, 1200, 1800. final result i was really pleased with considering iv never done fibreglassing and filler etc before .





and an idea of the angle you need to achieve to make 60mm`s fit.







gave it a coat of primer and sent it off to get flocked along with the radio surround trim and gear gaitor surround.

[200jim]

looking good. who is flocking your parts?

[nash`s]

went to pick the bits up a few days later and was really pleased with the results.



had one problem though i used my white face defi`s for the mock up and when i went to fit my bf`s. i realised that they have got a very slightly bigger depth which ment they didnt fit flush.





was no real big deal as i just cut out the back of the bezels where they were touching.

another little touch i thought id do was to paint my avcr black to match everything else with the black theme . i know they do the LE black avcr but didnt want fork out extra $s if i can achieve they same look myself, plus i wont have to reprogramme all my settings.

was a fairly easy mod to do( with the help from abbott) was just a case of taking the screws out and carefully taking prising it apart. then to push the blue screen and buttons out.





was then a case of fitting it all back together and putting it all in the car. along with a dvd headunit i had lying around in my room.

all finished.









all thats left is to conect up the two oil gauges and properly secure the defi control unit in the glovey aswell as securing my power fc commander back in place.

all comments welcome, and sorry for being a bit pic heavy