Japanese Buick Couture

[Ninjabread 0]

Hey there, your ride height is a little off :keke:

 

 

Good progress, and I LOVE the MK2 front end

[Bill 0]

why does every garage pic have to have good ride height? MATT?? lol.

 

 

that car is pure secks. if it WAS lowered properly with the motor in it would probably cause world war 3 or something.

[Keith 0]

It's fresh off the Formula D tour...so it's about right.

[Keith 0]

Got my injectors back from being cleaned. Figured it was cheap insurance to make sure they were all flowing well since they have been sitting for a year. Also dispels the ongoing myth that MKIV injectors only flow 4XXccs.

 

 

Turned out they were all peachy anyways. Cool.

 

Oh...and for no reason at all.

 

 

 

I think I'm just procrastinating because I don't feel like hammering my transmission tunnel tonight.

[Ninjabread 0]

Oh sweet!

 

Those are USDM spec?

[Keith 0]

Yep.

[Ninjabread 0]

Cool. I thought it was common knowledge that they were 550cc?

 

Anyway I like the way this build is going. Making me excited for when I have to do motor stuff.

[Keith 0]

Anyone know what was chopped off?

 

 

Per the pic in the wiring guide, it looks like I don't need it anyways?

[Mats 0]

looks to be tranny plugs or ignitor/fuse box plugs

[Ninjabread 0]

Hard to say just looking at it like that, but it's either fuxebox/tranny or all the oil pressure sensors and etc.

[Keith 0]

....the conclusion from my motor mount thread....

 

Got JZX90 mounts yesterday. Better. Way better. Trans is straight and in the correct spot.

 

 

Started tearing apart the harness last week, will get wiring underway shortly. Have to get a radiator and get all the accessory stuff hooked up.

 

Diff is out being welded now. Will get real deal clutch diff eventually.

 

Front fenders done. Got started on the rear fenders today. (It's not wavy at all, just reflections.) Still need to pull a little more but it's close.

[Jason 0]

awesome. glad it all worked out.

 

that sucks the RIP mounts werent working.

 

the fenders look good. be sure to make room INSIDE the tub. theres a ridge in the tub that needs to be smoothed out otherwise youll rub like crazy. the fender roller will do the trick, but i think feisar used a sledge with ease. that might make a mess of the work youve already done though.

[Gseventythree 0]

Ball peen hammer man.. Its all about directing the energy to a small area.. it works very well.. AND its actually precise whereas most hammers that have a flat face or a sledge that has a squarish face the force cannot be directed to the center perfectly every time.. and you are working on a concave surface.. therefore the ball peen is perfect. . Just work that ridge front to back end to end .. and it will fold outwards instdead of inwards, then continue working it so that you make the inner edge as vertical as possible for the most tire clearance. .. . I usually hammer the inner BEFORE i roll. . But just finish roll the fender AFTER i've done the hammering cuz the working of the inner will alter your previously perfect roll. .

 

Goodluck..

 

Werd..

 

G.

[Bill 0]

i used a sledge because my car had rotten fenders that needed bodywork, ball peen that bump for the win for sure.

[Keith 0]

Thanks for the tip on the ball peen.

 

The fender roller worked to clear some room on the inside - but I'm going to need some blunt force I think. The outers are pulled and look great though I may need to go a little more once I get the arms & camber finalized.

[Keith 0]

A few small updates. I'm at that point where all these little things take me weeks to do.

 

Spent a while figuring out how to mount the intercooler. Went back and forth on a few things but ended up going with this. It's flush with the bottom of the radiator support and clears the headlights. Not enough room inside the bay to do a true stacked setup but this does the job. Intercooler piping mock up actually went together really smoothly.

 

 

Mounted the PS cooler, not sure if it will stay there. Waiting for my radiator to show up early this week and then I'll finish up the oil cooler.

 

Took forever to get the high pressure PS line made. Earl's uses double wall SS line, not teflon. Makes assembling the fittings a pain. I finally figured out that a few minutes in the oven makes it much easier.

 

L bracket welded in for my seat. Welded on the sides and reinforced to the floor. Thanks Ryan.

 

Another PITA, the fuel lines. The factory fitting froze and tweaked the line pretty good. Had to hack off a decent junk, put on a tube fitting and now I'm golden. Also got the full length SS clutch line in, that sucked. I bought a pre-made one from Driftmotion. I should have just made my own so the fittings were angled the way I want them. I had to twist the hell out of the line to get it in, though I was going to strip something for sure but it turned out ok.

 

A random pic of the GS, still with super ugly seat. The only thing that is maintaining my sanity until I can drive the car.

[EDub 0]

Looks really nice man, did you anodize the valve covers or just paint them?

[7MX63 0]

Looking really good, I like how the engine compartment is looking. IC piping looks good, simple and effective.

[Keith 0]

It's the Krylon anodized paint. Happened to have it laying around so I wire wheeled and shot them. Will probably powdercoat eventually.

[Keith 0]

Updates in no particular order:

 

Burned the old rubber bushings out.

 

Pressed in new pieces.

 

Sumo really, really likes latex gloves. He goes crazy trying to lick, then bite them off of me.

 

Had Ryan finesse the dump pipe so it is a little further away from the steering rack.

 

Got my intercooler piping welded up today. It fits like a glove. I'm really, really happy with it. I can grab one and shake the car with it. Also tapped a 1/8 NPT fitting on the turbo elbow for vacuum.

 

Even Sumo likes zipties.

 

The car spent some time over at Ryan's getting a full custom chassis & engine harness. Engine bay is done, just about done with the rest of it. I would not be surprised at all if there is 50lbs or more of wire and related garbage that we removed. You can also see the JZA80 non-tc throttlebody I socred. Sweet.

 

So I have my awesome OMP seat. I came upon a deal for a pair of JIC/Cross seats that I couldn't pass up. Even though matching would be cool, I like my OMP seat too much to sell after comparing. I'll probably keep one for the passenger and sell one.

 

Finally bolted up the MKIII diff after modding the subframe to fit it.

 

Tomorrow: redo one of my oil cooler lines, put in the subframe/axles/driveshaft, add some fluids and a few misc loose ends. Ryan will be finishing up the wiring...and then... ?

[toycoma 0]

i seriously can't wait to see this thing done. So far this is truely one of the best builds if not the best build on here ever.

[exciting sedan 0]

I've been checking out your build almost everytime I go on here, and I can't wait for it too be done....it's really looking good and you pay a lot of detail to the little things and quality.

[ChriSOL 0]

ps, i like your dog.

[Keith 0]

Thanks guys.

 

Made some exciting progress today. Got the switch panel powered up and several accessories tested. Turned on the PowerFC for the first time and it showed no errors with sensors/wiring. It's a damn good feeling. Still waiting for radiator hoses and I have a few minor things to do before turning the motor over.

[LikeHoy 0]

how long did you space the diff to the subframe???