The Oldschool Addiction: Budget ED7 Daily Project

[EF303]

Hey SW, I've been lurkin' a good long while but I finally worked up the nerve to post up my build. I've been posting on HT and NWP for a while, but I love the community and support I see on this forum and think it's time I joined you fellas.

So anyway, my name is Ian, I'm 19, and this is my first car. Bought her almost two years ago for $1500 USD with 190XXX on the chassis and 70K-ish on a weird motor swap (D16a6 head on a D15b2 block).

Shortly after buying, with painted filler panels and tirerack steelies inside 195/60/14 Uniroyals








A couple months later I fabbed up some brackets for noname race seats and put them in






Then decided (poorly) to do a hood badge delete and a shittastic spray bomb job to cover it up. It became my ghetto-bra.










Swapped on a 88-89 sedan front bumper/Volvo lip for a better look up front





Then got rid of the crappy race seats, re-upholstered the stock Si seats, added a GSR center console, and doorknob shifter (inspired by slowstefan's fantastic sedan. You rock, dude. Much love.)








Ordered a vintage (from the '70s I think) Nardi Classic 14" steering wheel off of eBay (shipped from Malaysia), NRG quick release setup, and a retro Honda horn button.












More to follow....

[EF303]

Alright, more catch-up for everyone.

So after the steering wheel, I found a sweet deal on eBay for a set of EDM ZC single-bulb headlights. Imported all the way from the Netherlands..







And then installed...

Before.... (herpderpcar)


Apart


Installed


All back together, and working




So that was that for a while.... I've been into stance and stuff for a long while, and finally started to make enough money to make it a reality. As of right now (April 2013), I have been slowly amassing parts to do a full overhaul of the suspension, brakes and wheels. She's going low.... finally...

Anyhoo, here's what I've got so far:

Blackworks Racing rear LCAs


Tokico HP struts (blues)


Ground Control coilovers (shelf rates and size)


DA rear disc conversion...

Gettin' dem bushings out, and cleaning the RTAs


And some fresh paint




Rotora SS brake lines for front and rear




PIC/Suja1 bushing kit (I'm only using the rear UCA/toe arm bushings, and eventually the front LCA bushings)


Hardrace bushings for the DA trailing arms


Full set of EBC Premium Replacement rotors


Blasted and painted rear calipers


And this all came the other day:
Hawk HPS brake pads for front and rear
eBay extended tophats
Napa caliper rebuild kits


Alright, wheels will come in the next post

[Nick475]

Looks good. Can't wait to see it low

[EF303]

What time is it? IT'S TIME FOR WHEELS

Okay so originally I scored a set of GSR Fat Fives off of Craigslist for $150. I got them sandblasted, then filled the curb rash and primed them (except for one that has a bend in it)


(those are a set of Wagovan sideskirts below the wheels. Yeah I'll put them on, someday)





But meanwhile I kept on looking for something better, and sure enough a month or two later I pounced upon some XXR 513s in 15x7 +15.



The black/red wasn't going to work for me. So I sanded them, washed them, and painted them up:

Sanded (first with 320, then with 1500. Then scrubbed all around with Dawn and left to dry)


Primed (3 coats)


And painted (3-4 coats). Originally I wanted to go with matte white. They were spectacular....




Into the cellar with the RTAs to cure for a few nights


But then I mocked them up with the car and realized that the wheels' white was too white to match the car's white. No matter, color change!

Went with blue.





And mocked. (ignore my ugly face, just focus on dat color....)




It looks amazing to me, and I can't wait to put them on.

But first thing's first. I need tires, and need to finish constructing my suspension overhaul. Hopefully in a few weeks' time, I shall devote an entire weekend to changing the entire car. I'm so close, and super stoked. Let me know what you guys think!

[EF303]

Now that you all have seen where I'm at with the build, it's time for the requisite modlist. Here goes:

As Bought
D16A6/D15B2 bastard engine
No-name cold air intake
No-name ricey fartcan muffler
Alpine stereo deck
Pioneer speakers all around
Stock suspension
Stock interior
Stock exterior

Completed
K&N cold air intake
Reupholstered front seats
Nardi Classic steering wheel
NRG quick release
Doorknob shifter
GSR center console
88-89 Sedan front bumper
90-92 Volvo 740 lip
Front mudflaps
EDM ZC singlebulb headlights/corner lights with H4 bulb conversion
New windshield
Tirerack steelies
195/60/14 Uniroyal Touring Trak tires

Near-Future Plans
Full DA rear disc conversion
Rotora stainless steel brake lines
Hawk HPS brake pads
Blackworks Racing rear lower control arms
Tokico HP struts
Ground Control coilover sleeves
eBay extended tophats
PIC/Suja1 hard rubber bushings for rear UCA and toe arms
Hardrace hard rubber bushings for DA rear trailing arms
XXR 513 15x7 +15
Kumho Ecsta KH11 175/55/15
Shaved fenders
Wagovan sideskirts/front mudflaps
Wagovan front bumper
eBay 2" foglights
Rear mudflaps
HKS Sport exhaust system
eBay 4-2-1 headers
D16A6 motor swap/non-vtec sohc ZC swap (with A/C)
Tucked and shaved engine bay (using a Rywire engine harness)
Tanabe Sustec swaybars, front and rear
Reupholstered headliner/armrest/door cards/shift boot/rear seats
Shift lever extension
Hardwood trunk flooring
New glass in front windows and rear windshield
(maybe) Window tint

Long-Term Goals
Koni/GC suspension setup with shorter springs and custom rates
Full body respray
(maybe) Wagovan RTAWD drivetrain conversion
Full interior overhaul w/ new clips and POR15/sound deadening
Overhaul of trim and door/window gaskets
OZ Turbos: low offset, chrome/mirror-polished faces


So obviously I'm making a low&slow daily driver, with a lot of oldschool accent, on a budget. It's gonna be fun.

[EF303]

Looks good. Can't wait to see it low

Thanks man! I can't wait either.

[99sil-teg]

Loving this so far, good start.

[EF303]

Loving this so far, good start.

Hey thanks!

[1mellowkid]

love where this is going and i **** how hard it is to get these things low!
and i'm liking the steering wheel combo, so nostalgiac!
I too have a glass door handle shift knob haha maybe its an EF thing

[BigRuss]

Looks good so far... Been running an antique door knob for about 9 months and still love it

Say Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[EF303]

love where this is going and i **** how hard it is to get these things low!
and i'm liking the steering wheel combo, so nostalgiac!
I too have a glass door handle shift knob haha maybe its an EF thing

Thanks man! Yeah you can get ridiculously low in these but it costs a lot to do I'm gonna try and get as low as I can with the GCs and still daily it, but someday I think I'll just put it on the ground....

Haha yeah it's a pretty perfect fit for the oldschool look. I especially just like how the glass knob compliments the wood wheel

[1mellowkid]

Thanks man! Yeah you can get ridiculously low in these but it costs a lot to do

not to thread jack but ORLY? and thats on 13's with monster truck tires...

[EF303]

not to thread jack but ORLY? and thats on 13's with monster truck tires...

Haha that's pretty dumped, but I'm not about to cut open my shock towers for moar low. I just want it to be clean, more than anything. Scraping frame isn't the name of the game (dat rhyme) for my build; I'm pursuing something simple and clean and oldschool that stands out but is still functional to a large degree.

[EF303]

Though chances are, with the GCs dialed completely down I'll probably be at about that height in your pic. I'm going off of the front mudflap clearance, which is pretty close to my buddy's clearance when he was running the same coilovers...

[1mellowkid]

Haha that's pretty dumped, but I'm not about to cut open my shock towers for moar low. I just want it to be clean, more than anything. Scraping frame isn't the name of the game (dat rhyme) for my build; I'm pursuing something simple and clean and oldschool that stands out but is still functional to a large degree.

Ha i can respect that totally! I was saying its not expensive to go low, you just gotta know what parts to buy/make that is all, And my car is a daily driver so its fully functional.
That thing should handle great on that setup for sure!