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Haven't posted anything here in years but I thought I'd share.
I began building this car 2 years ago with the intent of having a (fairly) street legal drift car that would be as much at home on a track as it would be on the street. I picked it up without a single modification, automatic KA24DE engine with over 186,000 miles on it, bad paint, blown suspension, etc. After about 3 weeks of driving the car around town, the old iron block KA had just about had enough of life and exited out the bottom of the car.
So I got to work.
With the help of a few good friends I began taking the car apart. I pulled the old engine out and sourced a much younger and more powerful SR20DET engine complete with manual trans. The car had rust cut out, new seats installed, body kit, paint, a 5 lug conversion to mount the bigger wider Cosmis Racing wheels, a rear 4pt cage fabricated and welded in, etc, etc etc. The majority of the work I learned to do myself along the way so its been an incredibly rewarding experience. Originally I had all of this done within 6 months and the car made its debut at a local drag race/drift event here in Ohio in 2014. The last year I turned my focus to getting the car ready to hit the track and pass tech correctly. Making sure the relocated battery was properly installed, harnesses mounted correctly, etc.
The car finally made its very first pass this weekend and I'm beyond thrilled with how it performed. Unfortunately as I have little to no drift experience whatsoever, I thought it'd be best to give the car to a friend who was much more skilled at drifting and could extract the cars maximum potential on his home track that he's driven every year since around 2008. The video below is of the very first time he's ever driven my car and its very first pass. Hope you guys dig it. I drive the car around my city almost daily, whenever the weather permits
Car looks sweet and handles nicely! I wish I could see a before and after picture
Theres one there I posted. I didn't take very many before photos since I had no idea it would turn into what It did in the end. If I ever build another one i'll definitely document everything much better. I have lots of in-progress pics but not much of the outside of the car itself until it was done
A few more details on the car in case anyone's interested. Things we installed to get it to this point include:
A Competition 6 puck clutch
Wiring Specialties engine & transmission harness
3in ISR turbo back exhaust
Moroso battery box, battery relocated to trunk
Body kit from Forcewerkz areo
Front bumper is from a kouki 180sx Type X edition hatchback, not available on US models
Extreme Dimensions hood with Aerocatch latches
Ichiba 5 lug hubs
Nissan S14 brakes
Wheels are Cosmis Racing XT-005Rs in 18x9" fronts, 18x10" rear
Hand built rear suspension arms, all made from 1 3/4" steel tubing
ISC coilovers, 4.5" drop, neg 3 degrees of camber all around
Nardi Steering wheel with NRG quick release hub
Sparco R100 seats and brackets
Takata Drift II harnesses
Manual boost controller, car runs 11LBs making approx. 215hp
Working on a hatch myself right now. Doesn't look near that good lol
Thanks, dude. Took a long time and a lot of work to get it to this point. If you have any questions about building yours let me know, or get a build thread going. Pretty much all of my friends have these things. We've taken them apart and put them back together again more times than we'd have liked to!
I'll post a build thread here sometime. Working on floorboards this weekend and hopefully taking it for a spin to see if the differential blows up or not.
I welded my diff myself (under the supervision of a professional). Never welded a thing in my life! That vid of the car on track was its first time out with that diff in it. Performed flawlessly. Been driving it on the street with it ever since, no issues.
KA for now. Motor stuff is next winter's project. Put an LSD in mine but me and the other guys helping me were intoxicated at the time of that part of the swap lol. I'm actually learning to weld for the first time this weekend on the floorboards
Try that diff, see how you like it. If you ever get the chance, find a welded diff, or weld an open one yourself. I have both, a built J30 LSD and a welded diff. The welded one is by far the best thing for drifting. Its much more predictable. An LSD is fine for street drifting or occasional slides. The problem with them is that when they heat up they start to slip and sometimes open up entirely, which is a total pain in the ass if you're hot lapping on a track day.
I have the LSD as my street diff. Let me know how it feels, you might have better luck with it
Got some floor boards replaced. It looks ugly as hell but it will work lol. Didn't get a chance to get the car on the ground this weekend but I'll do that on friday and let her rip
I actually dig the stock wheels (for now). If I get hardcore into autocross I plan on picking up some expensive wheels.
Does extreme dimensions make any stock bumpers? I may need some sideskirts and a mild body kit sometime if the rockers get too bad. I'm not into flashy stuff though
hood looks awesome man! if you ever need anymore parts make sure to let us know!
Oh Hey!! Yeah, I'm super into the hood. Huge thanks, you guys did a great job with it. I think the cars done for now. I've checked off just about everything on the list and watched it do exactly what I built it for on track. I couldn't be happier with how it all came together
I actually dig the stock wheels (for now). If I get hardcore into autocross I plan on picking up some expensive wheels.
Does extreme dimensions make any stock bumpers? I may need some sideskirts and a mild body kit sometime if the rockers get too bad. I'm not into flashy stuff though
Oh Hey!! Yeah, I'm super into the hood. Huge thanks, you guys did a great job with it. I think the cars done for now. I've checked off just about everything on the list and watched it do exactly what I built it for on track. I couldn't be happier with how it all came together
haha all good and well drift cars crash eventually so let us know!
03-29-2016, 01:17 AM
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