Craig's S15

[craig8585]

Ho man you have started something here! Firstly a credit to yourself you have done an amazing job to an already amazing example of an S15.
I will be picking up my pewter S15 Spec R on Saturday. And am now thinking of all-sorts of upgrades and alterations including the Z32 rear brake set up, and then K-sport all round. Then I look at this thread and Christ that looks good!!
I have the Nismo R-Tune bodykit and 17" Rays 57c Gram Lights fitted to mine, but I prefer your front bumper.. Very sleek and cool.

My last S15 had the R-Tune bodykit on it too What I've done has been a lot of work but it's well worth it!! BTW, if you have 17" wheels you'll probably only be able to fit the 330mm front K-Sports under the wheels. I've got 18's and theres about 3mm between the calliper and wheel on 356mm rotors.




I took the car out for a short drive today round the block after reconnecting the fuel filler pipe and replacing the fuel pump that fell off the bracket when I tipped the tank up to empty the old fuel out. I didn't go fast or far enough to tell if it felt any different but it pulls to the left slightly so I didn't want to drive it any further until it's all set up. Especailly as rear tyres are £300 a pop!

 

[DeanS15]

we need pics though, innit

 

[craig8585]

Haha! It's hard to get pics where it is now. I'll get some tomorrow when it's being aligned

 

[DeanS15]

can't stop myself now craig.......front wings are off, front suspensions off, front bumper is off.....in fact i've got more car around my house now than in my garage

 

[craig8585]

Oh dear! It better be ready for the summer meet this year! I want to do the same to the front but am glad I stopped where I did as there were just too many parts floating around. Was starting to forget what went where!

 

[DeanS15]

what the plan is, is to get the rear finished and re-assembled in between drying times on the front portion of the car or while bits are being coated etc. that way one pile of bits should get smaller while the other gets bigger..... i'm also going to prime and stonechip the inside of the front wings as a bit of extra protection, thats at least a very quick job

car will be finished by march and the start of the good weather, then its off down to sumo power to have the alignment set up

 

[Fruitbooter]

Craig

Need your help!

Where did you support it on the rear, its just that in this photo -

It looks like youve done it on the triangle bracket thats attached to the subframe..but you cant drop the subframe when its here?

My stands are on this bracket now as that was the only option as the chassis rails are to far forward and not strong enough and I dont have any blocks for the stands...and the box section around that bracket isnt strong enough even if the stands were flat?

So any help would be great as I dont know hows best to support it and be able to drop the subframe!

Thanks and im looking forward to more photos of yours now its done

 

[craig8585]

I supported it on the sill jacking point but you have to cut bits of wood up so it supports the weight of the car on the actual sill plate rather than the lip as it would just be crushed. there is a strong point on the inner side of this. Funnily enough, I asked Dean this exact question and he gave me this info which originated from 'Petrol' on SXOC IIRC. I supported the front on the inner wishbone mounting points with jacks and foam pads.


I keep meaning to get pics up but it's really hard taking photos of something that is gloss black, and I'm not at home for the next 6 weeks - hence the rush to finish it! I'll get the photos up soon. The brakes do look brilliant though and they were originally the reason for this work that escalated wildly!

 

[Fruitbooter]

Okay thats great cheers!

I need to get to B&Q now then and get me some wood :nod:

Bet they only have mahoooosive bits for sale lol...

 

[Tokyo-Joe]

Man this is a sweet silvia

 

[craig8585]

Here are the photos at last. It is really difficult to get a decent pic of it as an assembly because of the dark colours but here is what I have so far..




Wheel bearing and hub assembly was a bit crusty so I plated the hub and fitted new bearings. They went from this..

to this..

The hub carriers were stripped and replated to their original condition. The main reason for doing this was because they were originally like this from the factiory and the thickness of the plating would not compromise the fitment of the bushes. Before..

And after..

Exhaust heat shields had a couple of rusty spots and were quite dull so I had these replated too. I decided to stick with the silver finish on these because this is how they were originally, although the yellow finish does have better corrosion resistance.

The diff cover looked ok before hand, but when I removed the diff it had clearly seen better days. The diff cover was polished, diff case was wire brushed, zinc primed and painted matt black. Bolts were re-plated and half shafts were finished in gloss black to match the driveshafts.

Before..

And after..

New ball joints fitted to the rear lower arms..

Brakes - the main reason why all of this took place! Then one thing lead to another

 

[craig8585]

General before..

And after..

 

[Sideways Simon....]

Wow, great work.... outstanding even!!! love the attemtion to detail on the underneath, keep up the good work

 

[DeanS15]

very nice mate, love it - how are you finding the ride now with the bushes and alignment sorted? also, did you have any problems when it came to refitting the balljoints on the lower arms cracking the coating etc? cheers mate :thumbs:

 

[meddler]

very nice indeed!

 

[AllanOrr]

Hi5

 

[craig8585]

Thanks for the comments Just the front end left to do now which I hope to do before the summer.


The ball joints were really easy to fit. Don't try pressing them in as they really don't need it - the circlip holds them in place once fitted, not the pressing force. I found this out when I took them to get pressed out and my mate put them in the vice and one knock with a hammer and they were out!

Make sure you clean off all of the new powdercoat or they won't go in and it'll probably chip off. Smear a bit of copper slip around the edge and then line the ball joint up as well as you can by hand. Then, support the arm on some wood/cloths and hammer it home with a socket over the end. It's obvious when it's in properly, then fit the circlip.


There is certainly a fair bit more NVH but I just love it! Not sure how much is due to the solid front diff bushes I fitted though. I didn't fit the Energy bushes because they change the angle of the diff and I didn't want to fanny around milling them down so they fit properly. Before I did any of the this the car used to drive 100% true and straight as it was set up really well but now it does pull very slightly to one side. I'm not sure why it does this so when I get back I'll take it to get checked again. If this fails I'll take it to the place in London that set it up originally. I'll scan and post the alignment sheet when I get home too.

 

[tooley]

Dude awesome you must have so much patience ! Fancy doing mine!!!

 

[Fruitbooter]

Really great stuff mate looks brilliant!

The items that got plated look really good

Shame about the energy diff bushes though, I dont fancy getting them now if they require adjusting to fit! and I dont want solid mounts either..

 

[LuPix_S15]

Awesome dude!!


But we all know YOU'RE NEVER going to drive her anymore lol... even in dry weather lmao