After many months of work, car went in the shop Thanksgiving weekend, the project is nearly done and on the street. The car was stripped down to the chassis, leaving the dash and wiring harnesses. Everything else, and I do mean eveything, was removed and refurbished or replaced. From the firewall back the unibody was sanded and or sandblasted bare. The underbody was epoxied and coated with truck bed liner, the exterior was epoxied, primed with a high build urethane and top coated with a single stage matte black polyurethane. Body kit is an old school Pacific knock-off, whale tail is Mariah.



The entire suspension and brakes have been replaced, except the idler arm. Eibach's, Illuminas, all poly bushings, ST front and rear sways, Brembo slotted front rotors, ss brake lines, pads calipers etc. Epsilon wheels with 225/50/15 front, 245/50/15 rear. Power steering added due to front tire size, not sure if I like it yet, it's twitchy. Very different from my 2nd gen. GSL rear end added, ( car was a GS originally).



Engine. 1/2 sp-1/2 bp with large ported exhaust. Running a Mikuni 44PHH for break-in, have a 650 dp ready. If the Mikuni can be tuned for the 1/2 bp, I'll keep it. Everything that could take the heat was powdercoated, everything else refurbished. FC oil cooler added. Fuel tank replaced with a GSL-SE tank. Mallory Comp 140 uiel pump with return style regulator. Supply and return fuel lines replaced with 3/8" aluminum tubing. Fusible links replaced with FC fuse box. Line lock mounted but not cut into brake lines yet, too tempting.



Interior. Chassis had 216k on it when I bought the car and had the cleanest interior in a 1st gen I've seen. Not a single rip, tear, cigarette burn or broken piece of plastic in the entire car. The body also had minimal rust and has never been wrecked. Sad part is the mint door panels will not fit with the Competition Engineering 8 point roll bar. Stock tach and speedo kept, all other gauges replaced with Autometer, including the fuel gauge. Boost/vac gauge added (winter project, Phase 3).



Rant on:



Now for those of you who want to rag on the choices I've made in this build, or those that want to yell rice, let me say a couple of things first.



Most of the parts on the body are old school. The kit, the wheels and the wing were all first produced over 20 years ago. The wheels themselves were built in 85 and are true 3 piece wheels, $1200 each back then. The only thing that I concider even close to being 'rice' are the tinted tail lights, but to me they add to the steath look. The only badge on the car is the one on the hatch glass, and nobdy seems to know what the car is. Not even the police, who seems to like to follow me quite a bit while I drive around and break in the new engine.



The 2 little hands, typing this post on the keyboard, have done every bit of work on this build, except setting the fixed glass and tinting the windows. While you may not like the car, at least respect the work and effort it took to build it.



Rant off:



Enjoy the pics kids.





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thats nasty. in a good way.lol



so what are your plans for for/with the car?

I like it!

Looks clean.

hell, i like it!

gets my vote too https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/bigok.gif

Yep, definately a nice looking 1st Gen. Congrats!

This winter I hope to go megasquirt, replace the mikuni with a tb and a hybrid S5 turbo or something larger. This past Wed was the last test and tune night at the local 1/8 mi. strip. I didn't have enough miles on the breakin to go test. Really wanted to see what the bp will do before the winter upgrades.



Other than that I'll do a little drag racing and try an autox or 2. Oh and I do use it to get groceries. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.png

how do u go about breaking in your engine

you drive around and put some miles on it

who would call that rice? thats a nice looking rid eif ive ever seen one. How big of a widebody is that? FB widebodies always look like they have an additional 10 inches on them or something lol.



but seriously that **** is hot, especially since you did all that work yourself, congrats man enjoy your baby, i know how it feels to work so hard and finally have the car youve always wanted, altho im only halfway there cause i have no motor and am slowly losing my will to go on with my project...but ill leave that rant for another time.



kevin.

Don't lose your will, and trust me, somedays it can take more than one thinks they have, but it is there if you look deep enough. Take a break for a few days and catch up on the other things you have been putting off, because all the effort has been going into the 7. I had many little set backs and do overs. Little **** like: the front bumper took me 2 weeks, and I'm still not happy with it and once I got the engine running, I fought fuel issues for 2 weeks, and on and on. The fun part is, this winter it goes back in the shop for Phase 3, and that will be a major headache.



Sat nite I took the car to a club meet in a nearby town. Street rods and restorations from the 40's on. There were only 2 imports, my buddies S4 TII and mine. The only other one that was close was a late model Neon with a bunch of mods. I was very suprised, and pleased with all of the positive feedback I recieved on the car. Funny thing is, nobody recognises it as a 7. Even though the TII and I were parked side by side with the hoods open.



Keep with it, even if it is just a little at a time and look at some of the others out on the forums that are done.



I'm not sure how much wider it is, but the mirrors are nearly worthless when trying to park close to a curb and not scrape the rims.



If you need more incentive, I have probably 200 some pics taken during the process. I need to burn off some cd's of them. The task can seem daunting, the trick is to break the whole down into smaller, more manageable parts.



If you need and engine, I may be up for building another one. You will need to supply the parts and decide what you want for ports. Labor will be nominal.



Now, get off the computer and get some work done, https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png

nice job! it looks really good.

i see you have a a piller gauge pod. question is was it designed for a first gen or did you find one for another car that fit and works on the pillar

2nd gen pod and a heat gun.

very,very,very nice.

mine is looking much like yours.I am still not completed

I just got my new wheels & will be installing my wing over winter

[attachment=34974:attachment]

Looks good. Kudos on doing it yourself.



I think it needs wider wheels and/or tires though.

now thats a wide boddy like it ?

Looks good but that scoop is outta place 1979rx7

Thats hot... bet that thing screams.

Rice.







































J/k https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png

Great lookin car! Sounds like you did it right. You should be proud and kick anyones ass who callsit rice.

Thanks Carl. Comeing from you, the compliment is greatly appreciated. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...1047683329.gif Now for Phase III this winter, and more work.

Does phase 3 include some wider wheels? Cuz the wheels not quite filling the widebody is the only thing that I am not a fan of. But OIverall your car looks very nice.

yea i dont need it any more the scoop was to let the carbs get some fress air bout now i have a front mounted inter cooler to go with the t2 setup fuel injected

thats my new motor waithing to go in the car

Agreed, the front needs either wheels to match the width in the back or 2" adapters. Haven't gotten to that part yet. Epsilon wheels are rare and hard to find.



Phase III is FI, with a Megasquirt then turbocharging.