CamryOnBronze

Let’s see here… where do I begin this time around? Well, when we last left off in late October of 2023, I had just finished parting out my S13 coupe project and decided to focus my efforts on one singular project- the S13 hatch that I first purchased in 2008 when I was in college.

While I immediately felt very relieved to shed the coupe project and motivated to finally paint and restore my 240SX hatch, the enthusiasm quickly began to fade a bit. I decided to remove the side skirts to check for rust as they had not been off of the car in about seven or eight years. Much to my dismay, I found what I would consider to be a fairly large amount of rust behind the side skirts. Despite people reassuring me that it was not bad in the scheme of things and could easily be repaired, it really took the wind out of my sails to make that discovery.

I get it: S13s are pretty old and Nissan metal isn’t known to be the most resistant to rust. But finding that my rockers were in rough shape was sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. A lot of people online saw my decision to part out the car and move on as a knee-jerk reaction to finding a little bit of rust, but it was the culmination of many years of regret. Many years of decisions, modifications and mistakes that I had grown to regret. I shaved the bay and welded everything shut only to cut it back out and try to convert it back to factory specs again. Removed sound deadening just to add it again. Removed the HVAC system and reinstalled it. Pulled the quarters as a young twenty-something a lot more than I would have liked as a guy pushing forty. And though most of these things could be reversed by repainting the car, I ultimately decided it was time to make a change, take a risk and shake things up. If I was really going to pour all of this time and effort to try to build a beautiful S13 to my standards, I started to wonder if it made sense to start with the real deal: a late model 180SX.

Around the same time I discovered the rust, I took another leap of faith by applying for and accepting a new job. I was very happy at my role at the time, but the commute was brutal- typically an hour and a half or more one way due to construction. I ultimately decided to apply for a different role at a company twenty minutes from home and was thrilled to learn that they were making me an offer. My start date was pretty close to my birthday in December, and it just felt like a big shake up for the better. Taking a risk had worked out for the best. Birthdays are often a time of reflection, especially as I get older, and it got me thinking that maybe it was time to part ways with my hatch as well and take another risk. It was scary, but it felt like the perfect time to make the switch.

So I ended up doing just that – I parted out my S13 hatch again just like I had back in 2012. I was greeted again by that familiar feeling of relief with each set of parts I sold and shipped out. I went into the process with the mindset that I would be importing a kouki 180SX to replace my 240. The goal was to find one as stock and clean as possible – with the least amount of rust possible as well, of course. I knew this was a risk and that I may not find an example that ticked all of the right boxes for me, but I decided that with the way I had been feeling about the hobby over the last year or two it was worth the risk. If I didn’t find the right car, I would simply cash out and enjoy the simpler life many of us often dream of – a life without modifying a car.

Just as I was becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of not owning an S13 anymore, I stumbled upon a car that ticked just about all of the right boxes for me. I am very excited to say that I am in the process of purchasing that car and jumping through the hoops to bring it home to my little garage in the USA. I’m sure it is going to be a relatively long and tedious process that will require more patience than I have to give, but I am hopeful that it’s all going to pan out as it should. Fingers crossed!

As of this writing, I am essentially done with parting out my S13s. I am hoping a friend of mine can come get the bare shell out of my garage soon, but aside from that nearly everything is gone. I kept a number of parts from my hatch to use on the 180SX, and am still holding onto some of the harder to find Silvia parts for a while just in case I end up with one someday. Unlikely, but it shouldn’t hurt to keep these parts around.

With any luck, I’ll be able to share some details about the 180SX in my next post if things continue to progress as they should. I’m hoping to start posting more regularly to document the parts I am gathering for the car while waiting for it to make its way here on a slow boat. It’s been a while since I have tackled the build process from scratch, but I am looking forward to experiencing it again – especially with this platform. It’s nice to have some time to put a plan together and gather parts before the car arrives.

Thank you as always for stopping by and joining me in this journey. I am really excited about what’s to come in 2024!

Damon

It’s been a while my friends! Man, life sure can be crazy sometimes. I can’t believe this is only the second blog post I have made in 2023. After getting an email informing me that my hosting fees are going to be charged to my account soon, I realized it was probably time to get back to utilizing this space again and stop throwing my money away. Let’s get caught up a bit!

It’s no secret that I have not felt very motivated when it comes to my S13s in 2023. Kind of ironic for someone that coined the phrase “Unwavering passion for S13,” but I think it’s the reality for just about all of us. I think in many ways the trouble started when I decided to take on building a second car before I even managed to “finish” the first one. I told myself the typical things we all do when I got my coupe chassis back in 2018:

“I’ll just get the shell now and keep it until I have time to build it.”

“I know I should only focus on one project, but I’ll just get things for it as I have the time and funds.”

“If I don’t get one now, I may never get the chance to own one again.”

Of course, it’s hard for me to not hit the ground running when it comes to building a car. It’s a blessing and a curse, really. Things escalated quickly, and before I knew it I had two cars at about 90% completion. All of the desirable and hard to find parts were there for the most part, but I just couldn’t seem to come up with the time, money or motivation to get either car across the finish line. I had fallen into the same trap I had always warned other enthusiasts to be wary of. A lack of money and feeling discouraged about the visual state of both cars was definitely killing my enthusiasm.

I mean no offense by this, but I have never been a hoarder or a collector. I have seen lots of people like this in our scene over the years: the ones with a giant collection of the rarest items in their basement without a car to install them on. Conversely, there are lots of people that own 3 or 4 or 7 or 12 cars, but none of them are necessarily something they can feel proud of. None of them are finished. Sometimes none of them even run. There’s nothing wrong with this of course – we should all be free to enjoy the hobby however we see fit. But for me, neither of these situations has ever been ideal or something I was seeking out. By building the coupe, I sort of fell into both – I was hoarding parts in my basement like moldings and weather stripping for a rainy day. At the same time, I had two cars- neither of them really in a place to be considered roadworthy or polished.

I put a fair amount of miles on my hatch at the start of the season and was really enjoying it. My wife and I even took a summer road trip up North to the lake house in the car and had a great time. The coupe was sitting waiting until I had the funds to buy a set of 17″ wheels for it as I did not like the look of my 17/18 TEs. As fate would have it, I started having some issues with the hatch. I noticed one night that the car was smoking heavily at idle after a long drive. The rear tires were bald, which should not have happened nearly as fast as it did. After some inspection, I noticed that my rear toe was somehow way off. I got fairly overwhelmed and frustrated even at these small things because they both meant spending money I didn’t have. As a result, I now had two cars sitting and collecting dust.

Another big life event happened in May of 2023. I had some surprise medical/educational bills arise for a member of my family that I simply could not afford without parting ways with items from my cars. I did not want to take on any debt, so I decided to part out the suspension and brakes from my coupe to cover those expenses. It was not an easy decision and I was pretty upset and depressed about it at the time, but I knew I was making the right choice for my family. As a parent, sometimes you have to step up and make sacrifices. This was a big test and challenge for me, but I felt very fortunate to be able to provide in that way.

As summer continued and began to transition into fall, I knew I had to make a change. I had been stressing and thinking for months about how I was going to climb back out of this hole. After telling myself to just let both cars sit until I had the money and my passion had returned, I finally accepted that I needed to make a change. I bit the bullet and decided to part ways with my S13 coupe project. It was a really difficult realization to accept, but the fact that the car had been sitting on jack stands with no plan for being operational again made it a bit easier.

I tore into the car in early September and began listing items for sale. By mid October, just about everything was gone and I was ready to sell the rolling chassis. I ended up selling it to a really nice guy I connected with through Instagram (@infamous_twotone) and I feel really good about him getting the car. He came and picked it up last Sunday, and I immediately felt such a surge of relief. I swept out that side of the garage and immediately pulled Alicia’s van into the garage for the first time since the winter.

At last, the burden of trying to own and maintain two project cars at a high level was gone. Once I dove into parting out the car for good, I felt immediate relief. I know there are people out there saying “you’ll definitely regret it,” and in some ways I know they’re probably right. But at the same time, I know I did what was best for both my mental state and for my family at the time – and that feels really good. I had no idea how much owning two of these cars was wearing on me. It was adding a lot of stress that I didn’t even realize was there. If you are struggling with multiple projects and that strong feeling of trying to avoid letting go, I highly encourage you to take a break for a while. If that doesn’t seem to be helping, I would try downsizing your collection and focusing on one project. I know I am only a week into it at this point, but it’s so validating and freeing to lose some of the stress and feel productive and passionate again.

That being said, I didn’t fully shed my newly acquired hoarder tendencies just yet. I elected to keep a number of parts from the coupe that have become pretty hard to get a hold of these days including the dash and defrost vents, Silvia front end, aero kit, and moldings/weather stripping. I also kept my new-in-box Silvia lighting. There’s a chance I will part with these items eventually, but I wasn’t in a dire situation where I had to sell them right now and decided to store them away just in case I find another use for them one day. Time will tell how long this idea sticks.

All said and done, five years later, do I regret owning the coupe? Yes and no. I had an amazing experience putting together my second S13 build and feel so fortunate that I had the chance to do that. Even if I didn’t get to finish it like I wanted to, I do feel a sense of accomplishment to have put together what I did. I’m hoping I might have another chance to own a coupe or an S13 Silvia someday, but that thought is definitely going to be put on hold for quite some time – at least until my house is paid off. But my kids are going to be starting college shortly after that, so I highly doubt money is going to be growing on trees for me any time soon- not to mention that mental strain I was talking about earlier in the post. For the foreseeable future I am definitely a one project kind of guy. I learned a ton about myself from the experience though and I am really glad it happened, even if it distracted me for a few years.

So what about the SR20DET drivetrain from the coupe? Well, I am working on finalizing a deal with a friend of mine to take that drivetrain and turn it into a full paint job for my hatch. I won’t be taking the car in for paint until the spring, but I am beyond excited to finally accomplish a goal I have had since I bought the car in 2008. I am really eager to tear into the hatch and start getting everything ready to go while adding some new touches to the build along the way. It should be an awesome winter.

My motivation is in full swing right now and I couldn’t be more excited! I’ll dive into some of the plans I have in my next post. I may backtrack just a bit to try to really have a clear record of 2023, since in a lot of ways that is the reason I like to maintain this blog. But then I will be ready to move onward and upward! Things are beginning to start rolling and I am really excited.

Thanks as always to anyone that manages to still read this. The random messages I get from people that enjoy or have enjoyed this content over the years definitely fuels the fire I have for tinkering with these things in the first place – so thank you! Have a great weekend.

Damon

The older I get, the more difficult it becomes to devote any amount of time to car related activities between mid-November and mid-February. It’s such a busy season with lots of birthdays, holidays, and family gatherings. For myself and many others, it’s also a time when budgets tighten. I get hit with a lot of large bills during these months due to when my wife and I’s birthdays fall. Add to that Christmas and birthday gifts (and even several surprise medical bills this time around) and conditions just have not aligned for me to be doing much with my S13s. Limited time, limited budget, the day to day duties of parenting, and winter weather are all factors that combine and feed off of each other. It gets hard to find a balance and everything can pile on to kill my motivation quite easily.

However, I am pleased to say that it’s a new day. While it’s already mid March and I haven’t done much at all to the cars in the last three months, I can feel the motivation and excitement beginning to build. I’m slowly starting to poke my head out of hibernation, improve my mental state, and show interest in my cars once again. The simple fact that I am here updating my blog feels like a great accomplishment and a sign that things are trending in the right direction. With spring and warmer weather (soon hopefully) will come a renewed sense of enjoyment for the hobby.

So let’s backtrack a bit. Back in late November, I had just gotten a hold of another Koguchi Power bonnet. I did a quick “test fit” of sorts purely just to grab some photos and see what the hood looked like with OEM kouki 180SX aero. There are plenty of examples out there, but I had never seen my car with this combo installed at the same time before. I was disappointed to find that it almost feels like the quality of Koguchi Power hoods has gotten even worse since I last owned one in 2015 or so. It’s a really cool piece, it just takes so much work to make them actually look nice from a fit and finish standpoint. More on this later…

I tossed the car on jack stands for the winter to address a few general maintenance items. Aside from the new hood I didn’t really plan to make any big changes during the off season this year. I started by removing my turbo and exhaust manifold to refresh all of the gaskets. I had noticed a slight exhaust leak developing from somewhere near the manifold and decided to just bite the bullet and replace everything. While I tore it apart back in December, I didn’t get around to reassembling it until about two weeks ago.

I found that the hardware for both my O2 housing/downpipe and the turbo had been backing out. The gaskets were still largely intact despite this, but it was definitely the source of the leak. Considering the fact that I got about seven years and 20k miles out of the setup, I can’t be too mad about it. I installed all new OEM gaskets including an S15 metal exhaust manifold gasket. I debated using Nord Lock washers exclusively for the turbo to manifold nuts, but ended up just using the trusty OEM locking tabs. I managed to snap a stud on my exhaust manifold during removal, so I took the easy route and bought a replacement, spray painted it, and bolted everything up.

I finally scored a decent pair of 180SX power folding mirrors and a switch from Zilvia legend Johnny. I’m hoping to find the time to wire these up this spring before I get the car back on the road. The older I get, the more I prefer the looks and functionality of the factory mirrors on a tastefully modified S13. In fact, I ended up selling a couple pairs of East Bear mirrors over the winter. I wanted to hold onto a pair just to have in my collection, but I couldn’t pass up what people were willing to pay for them. They’re awesome looking mirrors, but the quality does leave a bit to be desired.

You may recall that I re-relocated (is that a term?) my battery from the hatch back into the engine bay last summer. When I shaved my engine bay, I removed the stock tray as it was pretty rusty. Well, when I removed the battery for winter, I found that it had destroyed the paint in my engine bay. Oops. I’ll have to come up with a temporary solution in the mean time, but I was able to source a replacement battery tray from Japan. Eventually I would like to have this welded back into the stock location like on my coupe.

In January, my good friend Brett from Florida reached out to me and offered me a smoking deal on a black Bride Maxis. I didn’t really intend on owning one of these again, but the deal was too good to pass up. Thank you Brett! My local S13 homie Nick came by one Saturday to hang out and eat some White Castle, so we decided to bolt the seat into my hatch to check it out. I’ll always love the look of these seats. I’ll be holding onto my kouki 180SX seats should I want to swap them back. I’ve always felt the Maxis and Zeros look best with a Brix next to them, but I think I can live with this for right now. I’ve been debating if I should put the Zieg II in the passenger side of the hatch, but I think it will find a home in my coupe so that both cars will have a proper period-correct Bride bucket in them and offer a similar driving experience.

I acquired a few different parts over the winter in addition to the Maxis. A RHD Japan order came in with two 25mm Works Bell steering wheel spacers, two Bride FG seat rails, and some Cusco hood pins like I used on my previous Koguchi Power bonnet. I purchased left and right Bride seat rails so that I can install my Zieg II as either a passenger seat in the hatch, or a driver’s seat in the coupe.

A few nights ago, I snuck into the garage and installed the steering wheel spacer on my hatch. Wow, what a difference! I was so tired of having my arms nearly fully extended to reach the steering wheel with a bucket seat. I wish I had discovered this a long time ago. I haven’t gotten to drive with it yet of course, but it should be a great improvement.

I also spent some time working on getting my Defi gauges functional once again. I was able to install the GReddy sandwich plate, NISMO oil filter, and all four sensors in the engine bay a week or so ago. I need to go back and finish running the wiring, as well as wire up and mount the controller. But the feeling of having the sensors installed if nothing else is a good one!

As for the coupe, the car is still in winter storage. I was able to source replacement clips from Japan for the Silvia trunk carpet that I installed a while back. This was a nice find since I thought they were discontinued. I also finally received my StopTech front brake pads for this car that I had been waiting on for about ten months, so I’ll swap those on this spring. I know I sound like a broken record, but I still want a full set of 17″ wheels for this car. Every time I get close to pulling the trigger, I need the funds for something else. I am looking forward to bringing that car home this spring and – with any luck -finally realizing that goal. I’ll also install the Bride Zieg II, Bride FG seat rail, and Works Bell 25mm steering wheel hub spacer when I bring the car home.

It looks like some decent weather is on the horizon, so I am excited to get back into the garage a bit. I decided this week not to keep my Koguchi Power hood, so a friend is coming to pick that up this weekend. I’m still a little hesitant since it is such a cool piece, but I think it makes the most sense right now to move on from it and focus my funds and energy on finally getting a set of wheels and tires I love for the coupe. Hopefully I can keep the progress flowing!

Good luck with your projects this weekend and finding that elusive motivation. Remember that spring is just around the corner! Thank you as always for stopping by- I appreciate it!

Damon

After spending the better part of the last 18 years with a passion for modifying cars and some sort of project goal that I am working towards, I have learned that this time in mid to late November tends to be one of high hopes and high motivation- at least for those of us building cars here in the Midwest. Most of us have just gotten our cars put away for the harsh winter months ahead and no doubt have some shortcomings we experienced with our vehicles during the season that we now finally have the time to address. I know with my own cars, it was often a mechanical failure or issue that forced an end to the season- sometimes a bit earlier than I would have liked.

While it’s not true for everyone, the winter off season provides us with plenty of time to work on the next round of improvements for our builds. If you didn’t managed to get your car out at all this year, it signals a clean slate- a fresh opportunity to spend the next five months or so getting it together to ensure that you don’t meet the same fate next seaspn. I’ve been in that boat as well in the past.

Whatever the case for your specific situation, there’s no denying that one event this time of year can make us all feel a bit more hopeful and motivated for our projects- Black Friday. It’s easy to think that throwing a few thousand dollars at that shell sitting in your garage during the last week of November is going to be the saving-grace that helps you get across the finish line and finally lands you with a car you can be proud of. And hey, you might even save a few dollars and score a free t-shirt in the process.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have fallen prey to this mentality many times in years past. Vendors can convince us that our lack of activity, motivation, and progress during the past year can be cured by capitalizing on special savings. To be honest, it almost makes you feel like you are missing out if you don’t buy something for your car on Black Friday. Only in the last few years have I managed to make it through without spending a dime and feel OK with it.

While there’s no doubt there may be some great deals to be found out there, don’t let yourself get sucked into spending a lot of money on that junky old car that’s been collecting dust for as long as you can remember without first coming up with a plan of attack. I’m not saying it is always a mistake to make purchases during the notorious holiday shopping season, but I’ve seen a lot of people spend tons of money on parts they got during Black Friday sales mistaking spending for motivation- only to abandon the project a few months down the road and sell everything at a steep loss.

My advice to anyone out there trying to build a car right now (specifically an S13) is this: come up with a plan. It’s always best to go into any long-term project with a detailed idea of what you want to accomplish and how you plan to go about it. I always find it helpful to split the build into categories and tackle them one by one: Drivetrain, Suspension & Brakes, Interior, and Exterior. Come up with a blue sky list of what components each category would include, then go back through for a second sweep to rule out things that aren’t must-haves or may break the bank from a budget standpoint. It’s important to prioritize- and even plan for multiple stages of the build if it’s helpful- to get you on the road as soon as possible. There’s no connection with a car you’ve never even driven, and that makes staying motivated pretty difficult.

With my cars for example, I have sacrificed things like having a cool Japanese-branded clutch or suspension arms in favor of having genuine JDM OEM aero components. While I have a specific mentality and set of standards I like to maintain with my vehicles, I’ve had to take a step back and prioritize which things mean the most to me in recent years- especially with owning two of them. I don’t have the funds to do everything I want to, especially not all at once- so I have to make compromises on certain areas to get other aspects of the build where I want them. Compromising on certain parts doesn’t have to mean cutting corners.

Once you have a plan, put in the work on the car itself. Don’t mistake spending for motivation. While it may work for some people to drop some serious coin and harness motivation from it, if you haven’t touched the car in six months and don’t feel like putting in the time and effort, spending a few thousands dollars on parts that are just going to collect dust isn’t likely to make you feel any more love for the project. It’s easy to dig yourself into a hole financially that will only lead you down a bad path- one that often ends in selling the car and quitting the game completely.

I get it – there are sometimes going to be key components that you need to buy in order to make progress on your build. I definitely understand this and have been there many times. You’ll find that there’s just no way to move forward without certain components, and you’ve got to save up and make those purchases when you’re able to to make progress. Those are the types of parts you should be trying to score on Black Friday. Spend the minimum needed to get you through those next several tasks on your to-do list, combine it with a healthy dose of time in the garage, and you’ll probably see massive strides in the project. Sure, you may spend $20 more on a part six months from now than you could have gotten it for this week, but are the savings worth derailing the entire project?

I don’t exactly know where I was trying to go with this post, but I guess I wanted to share my two cents as this has been on my mind a lot watching all of the Black Friday deals fly in on Instagram over the last week or so. I chat with a lot of younger folks on Instagram trying to put their cars together and thought they might like hearing an old timer’s take on the subject. I’ve been there before and it’s still something I struggle with getting sucked into at times.

In any case, do what you will with one guy’s opinion. Have a detailed idea of what you want to create. Make a spreadsheet to track what you need and a checklist with the tasks you need to complete. Once you get rolling and can celebrate some wins, the motivation piece will probably take care of itself.

Thanks for stopping by as always and good luck with your build. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Damon

It’s amazing how redundant the passing of time can feel sometimes when updating this blog. As I took the hatch to the gas station earlier this week through a sea of snowflakes to fill it up for winter storage, I reflected on this being the 13th time I have marched into the off season as an S13 owner. It’s honestly pretty hard to believe, and while it is repetitive in so many ways, I’ve definitely grown accustomed to it being a part of my life. While the blog posts have been a bit few and far between in 2022, it’s not from a lack of passion or enjoyment for the hobby.

My last post was in late September. As you may recall, it took me quite a while to get my S13s on the road this summer due to a number of reasons, the primary ones being road construction and the cost of gas. Gas prices skyrocketed in the spring right before I would have typically gotten the cars out and it felt irresponsible to spend the additional $1 per gallon on driving them around. Combine that with a hefty dose of road construction on my route to the office, and I simply didn’t feel extremely motivated to get the cars on the road. In the end, I ultimately decided to keep the coupe parked for the summer and enjoy the hatch as much as I could. This saved me some cash on insurance and generally made life a bit less stressful as I only had to worry about keeping one of my cars roadworthy.

Looking back, I guess the 2022 driving season was a pretty short one. Fortunately though, it doesn’t really feel like it when I think back on it. I officially got the car on the road August 26th, and once it was aligned I pretty much daily drove it until last Thursday, November 10th. In the 11 weeks I had the car out, I managed to put about 2,500 miles on it. I would of course have liked to drive it more, but I’m happy to report that I didn’t have a single issue during that time. We’ve gotten a solid 3″+ of snow last night and throughout the day today here in Michigan, so I definitely pushed driving it as long as I could.

To backtrack a bit, my replacement rear 5 lug hubs and bearings for the coupe arrived at the end of September. This allowed me to put the car back together and get it on the ground once again. I really can’t stand the look of the coupe on 17/18 wheels and tires. I love the look on coupes with bigger aftermarket aero, but the rake and stance just do not sit right with me at the moment. Most people seem to prefer the 15″ Equip 40s, and I completely understand this sentiment. They simply worked better with the current multicolored state of the car. However, I have faith in the final vision and I’m going to keep marching towards that end goal. If history has taught me anything, it will be worth it in the end.

Around this same time, I decided to try to source a piece I have wanted for the coupe for a while now. The S13 Silvia in Japan came with a carpet trim panel that mounts to the inside of the trunk lid, while its USDM 240SX counterpart did not. I’ve always thought this was a piece that would be cool to own, but it’s pretty hard to track them down. Fortunately, I found a smashed up trunk lid on Yahoo! Auctions Japan that still had the carpet panel installed. Jordan from Tweed Auto Garage was able to buy the trunk, remove the panel, and ship it to the states for me. A lot of importers would not have wanted to deal with this, so I am really grateful Jordan was up for it. I highly recommend him for importing parts from Japan, especially if your request may be slightly unconventional. The panel arrived safely and I was able to clip it into place. Sadly, one clip was missing from the trunk. I think these are long discontinued, but if I am able to find anything I will definitely share it here.

I did have a few packages arrive in the last couple months, the first being from trusty RHD Japan. This order included a GReddy oil filter sandwich plate to install the sensors for my Defi gauges, the bolts needed to install my Bride Zieg II in the hatch, and a pair of Cusco solid engine mounts (more on those a bit later in this post.

I don’t think I took any photos when I actually completed the installation (which is hard for me to believe,) but I ‘ve really been enjoying having a Bride Zieg II in the hatch again. It’s definitely the most comfortable seat I have ever owned, and I really missed the headroom and overall position of a bucket seat. Climbing in and out can be an annoyance sometimes, but it just feels right as far as driving an S13 goes. I think I may try to add one to the coupe someday as well to keep the driving experiences in line between the two cars. The steering wheel hub could definitely use an extension so that my arms aren’t as stretched out, so that’s probably another thing I’ll try to add to the mix this winter.

The next package was also from RHD Japan. This one included two pairs of OEM Nissan S13 fender braces that I used to replace my aftermarket Auto Collect Storm fender braces. While the Storm braces are beefier and a great product, I couldn’t resist passing up the OEM ones when I found out they were still available. I also picked up a NISMO oil filter for service on the hatch during the off season.

Finally, I received a small order from Courtesy Nissan that included some hardware for the fender braces and two components for the rear wiper assembly- the rubber seal that goes in the hatch itself, and the plastic cap that covers the nut on the wiper arm. I still need to go back and finish the rear wiper install, so it’ll be nice to have fresh components when I do that.

Back to the coupe for a minute- I elected to install my pair of Project Kics 11mm spacers on the front to keep the wheels from rubbing the front springs. I have the same suspension setup on my hatch, so I am not sure why I am having this issue… but I like the look with the spacers a lot. I’ll probably keep these in place for whatever setup I end up with on the car next season.

The month of October marked four years since I purchased my coupe as a rolling shell. If you told me I would put about 100 miles on an S13 over a 4 years span ten years ago, I would have been pretty disappointed in myself- but life is a lot different at 36 than it was at 26. I know I said it this year, but I really hope to spend time putting miles on the coupe and enjoying it in 2023 once the wheel and tire setup is sorted out. I am absolutely looking forward to it!

By late October, I took the coupe over to my mom’s house for winter storage. It’s so nice to have the option to keep the car safe with family and free up a spot in our garage for Alicia to park inside and out of the snow during the winter months. My list for the winter is much shorter for the coupe than the hatch, but I do have a few things I would like to address. They’ll likely have to wait until the spring since I won’t really be able to work on it much at the storage location, but I’ll get it sorted out eventually.

My friend Frankie from Faction Motorsports reached out to me about the new S13 SR20DET throttle cable bracket he designed and offered to send me two of them to try out. After taking entirely too long to finally install one of them, I finally got around to it and was really impressed with the results. I’ve had a modified OEM bracket on both cars for several years and it always kind of bothered me, so this was definitely a welcome change. Check out the link here to snag one- it’s definitely worth it!

During the first weekend in November, Alicia and I dropped the girls off with family for the weekend and drove the hatch a few hours North to the family lake house for our last trail riding trip of the season before the snow falls. Believe it or not, this was the first time I had ever taken the hatch to the lake house, and also the first road trip we have taken in it since Final Bout Gallery in 2019. Despite being a bit nervous, the car was perfect for the whole trip- even in heavy rains. That weekend marked the 14th anniversary of buying my hatch, which was a very cool milestone that also made me feel really old. I’m so thankful that I have been fortunate enough to enjoy this car for so long.

Fall was strangely warm this year, which almost felt like being rewarded for waiting so long to get my car out. However, last Thursday was the final day in the 60s and the temps began to drop off harshly by the weekend. My friends Nick, LA, Mel (and his family,) Matt, and Simba traveled to my house from Chicago to hang out and watch the Lions vs Bears game last weekend which was a blast. Since I haven’t been to US Air in a few years, it meant I hadn’t really seen these guys either- so it was awesome to be reunited again. I definitely want to take one of the cars to Chicago next summer (and maybe even Shawano if I can stand it) to see all the people I have missed over the last few years.

LA and Chob were kind enough to haul the Koguchi Power hood that I purchased from 180 Dave (the one that bought my friend Tim’s S13 hatch rolling chassis that I sold last fall) from Chicago to Michigan for me. After waiting a couple months, we finally got together for the game and I was able to take delivery of the hood. While I know there are a lot of things about it that bothered me the last time I owned one, it’s just one of those cool pieces that feels awesome to have in your collection. The quality definitely seems to have gotten worse since the last time I had one, but we’ll see what can be done to make it fit OK and look presentable. This is why I purchased the Cusco solid engine mounts though, since the engine needs to be lowered a bit for the hood to fit properly. I am looking forward to mocking it up on the car and seeing how it looks.

Anyway, that brings you up to speed on what’s been going on in my garage over the last two months. I am going to do my best to update this more frequently during the off season with my projects and small updates. I don’t have crazy plans for either of the cars this winter, but there are some things on my list I would like to take care of. If nothing else, it should be fun even if it’s not anything drastic. Winter can be a long and challenging time around here, but I am looking forward to making the most of it.

Thanks as always for stopping by to read the blog- I really appreciate it! Take care.

Damon

Wow, here we are in late September after another summer has flown by. Evening temps have been dipping into the high 40s here in Michigan, bringing with them one of the best times of year to enjoy driving an S13. All three of my daughters are now attending school and are already wrapping up their sixth week. It’s been a big change and adjustment for all of us, but it’s also a really exciting shift into this new season of life with a fifth and third grader at home in addition to a kindergartener.

I haven’t spent a ton of time working on my cars lately with everything we have had going on, but there have been some pretty exciting developments. As I mentioned in my last post, I wasn’t able to get the hatch to go into gear the night before my S Chassis BBQ and had to push it outside the morning of the event. After attempting to bleed the clutch again later that week, I ended up replacing the clutch master cylinder and adjusting the engagement point on the pedal. This worked like a charm and I was finally able to drive the car around the block for the first time in 2022. The month of July is pretty late to achieve that goal, but the excitement level always remains the same when it finally happens.

After getting the car on the road, I noticed that the blower motor only worked on the high speed setting. This was a bit odd since it worked before I tore it apart, but I did end up throwing my friend Tim’s AC setup in the car during the off-season. I realized his setup had a JDM blower motor resistor installed for the digital climate control (DCC) setup, so I swapped back to my old one (that I had kept luckily) and that solved the issue. This prompted me to get out the DCC setup I purchased from his part out and look things over a bit. As it turns out, I’m missing a couple of the needed components- but I should still be able to get it to work someday. I want to have the AC system charged and confirm it works properly before I attempt the install, so that will have to wait until next year. I’ve owned a couple different DDC setups over the years and have never actually installed one, so it would be really cool to finally make it happen.

My next move (no pun intended) was finally installing my NeXt Miracle Cross Bar that I purchased back in 2020. I think I’ve owned four of these now if memory serves and it’s always been one of my favorite pieces for the 180SX. I’ve been dragging my feet on installing it since it requires you to remove the rear seat belts. I always enjoy being able to take my daughters in the car with me, so I haven’t wanted to do that. But with the girls getting older and being right on the edge of sitting in the front seat (and having a second S13 available to drive) I decided to go for it. Installation can be a bit of a hassle, but I’ve done it so many times now that it really wasn’t so bad. It’s such a cool looking piece!

While working in the hatch area, I installed some factory plastic clips that attach the rear carpet to the upper portion of the back seat. I’ve been running without these for many years and saved some from a car I parted out a while back. It definitely helps to hold the carpet in place and keep it from looking wavy along the back seat.

After all of these projects were completed, it was time to take the car out on the main road outside my neighborhood. When I did, I found a nasty vibration from the rear of the car at speeds above 30 MPH. When I jacked the rear of the car up, I found there was some play in both rear wheels. I messed around for a while with tightening different things, but ultimately found the wheel bearings were causing the issue. This was disheartening as I had just shelled out for brand new OEM S14 rear hubs and bearings, but thanks to the help of some people on Instagram I found that I pressed the hubs into the bearings incorrectly and damaged them. An expensive lesson, but an important one. I did not support the bearings with an arbor plate when I pressed them and this caused the damage as it pressed the inner races of the bearing out the back side.

I ended up ordering some cheap bearings from Rock Auto and replacing them. I took the car for a drive again and found the same issue. Next, I swapped the hubs and bearings from my coupe onto the hatch- but the issue persisted. It was during this test drive that I realized I had not tightened the driveshaft bolts back at the differential. I tossed the car up, tightened the bolts, and was delighted to find that the issue was gone. Again, another stupid mistake, but I was so glad to have the issue behind me.

Next on the docket was installing the new sub harness for the rear hatch. Back when I got the car, I cut the harness (per the internet’s instruction) to replace my hatch with a rust-free wiperless unit. Fast forward to today and the rear wiper system had really started to grow on me again. I sourced a complete setup from a part out and took the first step towards reinstalling it by fishing the harness through the rear hatch. It was a bit tedious, but a stretched out metal coat hanger and some patience got the job done.

All of these small projects in the garage were a lot of fun. It felt great to get some wins and be back out there again, even if I was only working on quick tasks each night. I kept the privacy cover from a part out to modify for use with my Miracle Bar, so I took some quick measurements and started cutting. A dremel made quick work of cutting the cover, and I was able to make it fit quite nicely. I had done this once before years ago but rushed it and didn’t do a very good job. I prefer the look of the Miracle bar without the privacy cover, but it’s nice to have on road trips to conceal my cargo and keep a cleaner appearance.

Next on the docket was installing my front speakers. I used the same Pioneer units and Amazon templates my buddy Kev recommended and the install was pretty straightforward. I have been dragging my feet on purchasing an aftermarket head unit since choosing one is a bit overwhelming and I hate the look of them, but I’m hoping to do that soon so I can test the speakers and finally enjoy having some music in the car. I had a short stint of using a tape adapter with an iPod and the blown factory speakers many years ago, but it was short lived as the tape deck stopped working. Having a working radio is a pipe dream for me much like having AC, so if I can manage to get both working next summer I’ll be blown away.

Lately I’ve had the urge to add a few cool pieces back onto the car. It’s been through many stages over the years, and while it’s nice to have things feel really nice and factory, I miss the cool parts sometimes. I found an opportunity to snag a super clean set of white face Defi Link Meter II gauges on Yahoo! Auctions Japan via Jesse Streeter and bit the bullet. I must have owned 5 or 6 sets of these now and they’ll always be my favorite, so I was really excited about finding such a nice and complete set. I elected to swap my dashboard back to the car’s factory dash that I modified to house four 60mm gauges some years ago. I’ve done this so many times now that I was able to get it done during a lunch break while working from home, so that was a plus! I haven’t installed the sensors or wired them up yet, but at least the tedious process of swapping the dash is behind me.

While I was at it, I also reinstalled my Trust GREX shift knob to spice things up a bit inside the cockpit. The chrome compliments the Miracle Bar out back quite nicely. With the interior getting a bit more spicy again, I also tossed my black and gray checkered floor mats in. I scored these on eBay many years ago and really like them because the checkers are smaller like all of the old mats from Japan. I wish they were a cool brand and specific to the S13, but they get the job done.

Speaking of cool parts I miss owning, it’s been quiet a while since I had a bucket seat- maybe five years? And while there’s a lot of inconvenience with it, they can actually be quite comfortable. With my rear seat belts removed anyway, I don’t really need the easy access to the rear seat that the factory seats provide. A really clean original FRP Bride Zieg II popped up for sale in Thailand and I couldn’t pass on the chance to own one again. Of all the seats I’ve owned, my Zieg II was by far the most comfortable. I wish it was a kevlar back Pro Type, but I can appreciate the more subtle look with a kouki 180SX passenger seat.

I went with a tried and true Bride FG seat rail that I sourced from RHD Japan, as well as a set of Bride mounting hardware for the seat (that I of course forgot to order when I ordered the rail.) That should be here next week and then I’ll finally be able to install it. I also snagged a really clean original Bride head pad for the seat from a seller on eBay that removed it from their seat when they bought it new and had it sitting in a box in their garage for the last 10+ years. It was even a reasonable price which was a nice surprise these days.

As far as parts go, a couple other items showed up. I have had a few sets of 180SX window visors over the years and I have been worried they’ll be discontinued soon. I’m not sure I actually want to use them, but I found a vendor that hadn’t updated the price in many years and offered $10 shipping to boot. These visors cost a grip to ship properly, so I reached out to them and found that the info was correct and they had one set in stock. I snagged them and put them in storage for a rainy day. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up using them eventually.

The other item that arrived after a 3 month wait was a lower metal garnish for kouki 180SX tail lights. This is another item I didn’t really need, but bought one after hearing all of the fuss that the item had been discontinued. After doing my homework, it seems it is still being produced and I was able to get one for less than half of what other places were selling them for – I just had to be patient. I’m not sure what the miscommunication was, and I’m sure they’ll indeed be discontinued eventually, but from everything I’ve seen all of the kouki 180SX tail light components are alive and well – at least for now. It’s a good feeling to have spare lights and a spare lower garnish in case anything ever happens to mine.

So back to the car itself- the next order of business was getting an alignment. I haven’t had one in years on the hatch and it was needed after modifying both the front and rear suspension. To my disappointment, I found that the rear hubs still had some play in the new Rock Auto bearings. I am pretty confident I pressed them correctly this time, so I’m not sure what’s causing it. It wasn’t as severe this time, but I elected to take the ones off of the coupe (again) and put them on the hatch for the time being. The coupe is awaiting a replacement pair that should arrive today- then I’ll have it back together and ready to head to my mom’s for winter storage.

With insurance added to the car and the hubs replaced, I made the 45 mile drive out to Detroit Drifting Co. for an alignment. My friend Mike is the owner and a really great dude. He was able to get the car up on the rack and dial everything in for me. I’ve known for a few years that the rear fender pull isn’t even on either side, so we had to settle for about -3.2° of camber front and rear. I intend to pull the driver’s side quarter panel another 2-3mm to hopefully end up with about -2.5° of rear camber. Up front, I may run a 5mm spacer and add a small amount of camber- but nothing more than -4°. However, I’m happy with how the car looks and drives right now. Wheel fitment is always something I like to have perfect when I can, but I can live with this until my next alignment.

A lot of what motivated me to get the hatch out was my Vibe breaking down on me one day heading home from work. I lost power and suspected it was the alternator, but it ended up being a healthy dose of corrosion on the battery causing it not to charge. After towing it home, I ordered parts and let it sit for a few weeks, driving the hatch to and from work instead. I did eventually get around to installing a new alternator, battery, and ground cable- so hopefully that solves the issue and it’s ready to complete another tour of duty this winter.

My latest accomplishment is finishing the installation of the factory rear wiper. After testing the motor, I found that it was stuck on and would not turn off, even when pressing the button. As it turned out, the “uncut” harness I was sold had been cut and twisted back together without any solder. Many people told me their harness wiring broke at the point where it travels into the car due to opening and closing the hatch over the years. I was annoyed, but ultimately used my old chassis harness to add some wiring and extend my harness a bit to hopefully avoid it breaking someday. Once I did this, everything worked as it should. I made a template out of cardboard to determine the placement of the wiper hole in the hatch, got some really helpful dimensions from Noel on Instagram, and entered the moment of truth. It hurt a little to drill into a wiperless hatch, but the end result was worth it. I still need to wrap up some details with the install, but I am really happy to say it’s there now and working properly. I used it during a rainy commute this week and it worked like a charm.

To be honest, the hatch really isn’t looking it’s best right now. In fact, I would argue this is the worst it’s ever looked. But let me tell you, even with the car needing some TLC, even with crazy construction and tons of traffic, and even with annoying gas prices, I’m so thankful to be driving this car and enjoying it here at the end of the summer. I think a lot of times there’s two paths to take with your build- lower your standards a bit and get to enjoy driving the car in an unfinished state, or tear it apart before you have the means to finish it and wait for the pursuit of perfection. While it drives me nuts, I’m so happy to be on the former level right now. I can’t tell you what driving this car to and from work every day does for my mood and appreciation for it. When you don’t drive a car for a long period of time, you lose your connection with it and it just becomes another unused asset. Another burden. But getting out and logging some miles, even if it’s not complete or what you feel is your best work, is the best motivation there is.

I recently decided to throw a pair of TE37s on the rear to see how the car looks with LMGT4s up front. I’ve never been into the mismatched look, especially because I don’t drift, but this is a combo that is too good to pass up. It’s not a bad look!

As for the coupe, things have been pretty stagnant. I did install new headlight rubber seals and trim rings a while back as well as some bulbs in my temporary brick headlights. One of the housings is broken on the back and the inner shroud was loose. I ended up taking it apart after heating it up in the oven, repainting the black housing inside, and sealing it back up. The chrome was peeling on the shroud, so I painted it with some silver paint I had laying around. I’m not happy with the fix as it doesn’t feel like my desired level of quality, but I have to remind myself that these are temporary. Once the car is painted someday, I’ll install my brand new set and sell these.

I couldn’t resist grabbing some yellow bulbs for the fog lights. They work really well with the Key’d Performance fog light harnesses I picked up a while back. When you depress the button typically used for the pop-up headlights, it turns the fog lights on. I don’t expect them to last very long since they’re cheap ones from eBay, but we’ll see what happens.

I also started sanding my temporary OEM Silvia center grille. It had yellowed a lot over time, so I worked my way from 800 down to 2000 grit wet sanding to try to make it look clear again. I need to try polishing it with something to bring the gloss finish back, but I would say it’s an improvement overall. Again, not too big of a deal since I have a brand new one I can use once the car gets painted, but it will get the job done in the mean time.

As I mentioned, the coupe is sitting right now awaiting some replacement rear hubs. Once those arrive, I’ll move it over to my mom’s house for winter storage. I don’t have many plans for it this year aside from sourcing a set of 17” wheels and tires. Once I am able to accomplish that, I definitely want to finally spend some serious time driving it. The car feels a bit sluggish, like something isn’t right with it, so eventually I need to work that out and get it running better. It starts and idles nicely and doesn’t seem to be breaking up, but generally seems down on power. I would really like to add a bucket seat and some gauges as well, but we’ll see if that actually happens. Next season will probably be the deciding factor on if I keep the car or not. It feels like a waste having it just sit around for another year. Ideally I would like to keep it, but we’ll see what happens. I really think it could be a great car and very rewarding if I am able to stick it out and finally finish it.

Anyway, that just about brings you up to speed for my very busy August and early September. I’m looking forward to enjoying the hatch for as long as the weather allows. I’ve got a couple more exciting things in the works that you’ll hear about next time, but for the most part it should be pretty uneventful.

One final thing- a photo with the car we decided to recreate around Alexi’s recent fifth birthday:

Thank you as always for stopping by and taking the time to read the blog. I really appreciate it! Have a great weekend.

Damon

Despite the fact that this event just took place a little over a month ago, the story actually begins way back in 2010. Back when Zilvia.net was the place to be, Instagram was about photography and widely unused, and you sent the big shots a “PM” to ask them about their wheel specs, not a “DM.”

I bought my hatch in November of 2008 just before graduating college. I ended up making some improvements over the winter and driving it a bit in 2009 despite it being a busy summer (that was the year my wife and I got married.) That phase was known as the chuki stage for me, and though I improved the suspension and exterior appearance of the car, it was pretty unreliable. I tore it completely apart in the winter of 2010 and that’s when the big changes happened. By that summer it had new wheels, a complete exterior transformation via OEK kouki 180SX aero, and a refreshed engine with an S15 turbo setup.

It was around this time that the car ended up garnering a bit of attention on Zilvia after I shared some photos of it completed sitting in the driveway of my wife and I’s new home- certainly much more than I had ever anticipated. I got a PM from a dude named Kyle that would end up becoming one of my best friends (I even stood in his wedding many years later.) Kyle said he thought my car was cool (well, probably in a round about way that should have been considered an insult, but that’s just how Kyle is) and offered me a place to crash if I wanted to make the six hour trip down to Illinois to attend Toby Broadfield’s Annual Nissan BBQ.

Toby was a legend on the forums. His white stock body S13 coupe with a big turbo S15 SR20 setup was probably the tidiest on the plant. I had saved tons of photos of his car even before I owned an S13 and looked up to his clean execution and modest style a lot. I couldn’t pass up a chance to meet Toby and see his car in person, so I decided to roll the dice and drive my car down to hang out with those guys (despite the fact that I had literally just finished putting it together.

I ended up having a great time hanging out with Kyle and Toby. Kyle took some cool photos of the cars, and we snapped some of them parked together in Toby’s driveway at the BBQ that day. I met a lot of cool people that I am still in touch with today. Toby would essentially post his address in an event thread on NICO Club and Zilvia inviting anyone local with a Nissan to attend- something that would largely be unheard of in this day and age. He usually had Forza set up in the garage and grilled some dogs and burgers- a very chill event that usually had about 20 cars or so in attendance.

As fate would have it, I ended up getting a PM on my local Michgan forum from Peter Tarach’s brother asking me to send an email to PT. When I reached out to PT, he explained that he had seen the photos of my car parked with Toby’s in the driveway at the BBQ and he wanted to shoot a feature story for Modified Mag about both cars. He liked the fact that they were clean street cars, built at home in a garage, and had sort of a yin and yang effect representing both versions of the S13 chassis. Alicia and I ended up taking a second trip down to Toby’s for the photoshoot, and we ended up on the cover of Modified Mag together. This was definitely a childhood dream of mine and I still can’t believe it happened to this day. I even got to do some freelance feature writing for Modified after that before the mag was shut down. I essentially owe all of those opportunities to Kyle and Toby’s invite to the BBQ.

Fast forward ten years to 2022. My life is now a lot like Toby’s was back in 2010. I’ve got my own home, a few daughters at home, and I am in my late 30s. I don’t get out as much to go to meets or cruise around with other car enthusiasts, but I still tinker with my cars and am just as passionate about it as I’ve always been – even if I can’t quite devote as much time to it as I used to. There are several local S13 guys that I consider friends that I often chat with on Instagram, but rarely have a chance to hang out with in person. If I do see them, it’s usually to buy or sell parts, get something welded, or have a set of tires mounted. Family life is just too crazy to allow me to get out much more than that.

For the last few years I have wanted away to connect with friends new and old that are passionate about the S chassis. After kicking around the idea of hosting my own BBQ for years, I was finally pushed over the edge by my friend Alan. Alan dismounted the tires off of my Work Equip 40s from the coupe in April of this year and refused to let me pay him. He instead said “Host that Nissan BBQ you have been talking about and I will consider that payment.” This was the final boost I needed to get motivated and make it happen.

I ended up sending a group DM to about 15 people or so and invited them to come over and hang that day. Most were current S chassis owners, but some of them sold theirs and recently moved on to other platforms. I had met the majority of these guys in person before, but some I had only talked to on the internet. Much to my surprise, they were all really excited and happy to come hang out with an old dad on a Saturday afternoon. They all put a lot of work into ensuring their cars made the trip out.

The first person to arrive was Nick. Nick lives pretty close to me and has a really nice 240SX hatchback with a rowdy KA-T setup in it. I first met Nick at a local car meet back in 2016 or so. I was really impressed with his car, especially for his age. It’s evolved a lot since then and so has his driving- he’s a pretty talented dude!

Alan is the one who finally helped convince me to host the BBQ, along with Alicia. He’s owned a couple S13s now and has put a ton of work into his current one. He even daily drives this thing year round in Michigan which is crazy impressive. Al is a part of team D-Walk-In with Nick, and they have been getting quite a bit of seat time this summer. Very nice young dudes.

Ethan, a young S13 guy from Ohio, and his fiancée came to hang out. He happened to be in town anyway for work, so things kind of just fell into place. I was really thankful for this since we had only met once before and he lives a few hours away, so this turned out to be a great opportunity to hang out. Ethan does a fair amount of drift events as well. I still want to see your car in person one of these days Ethan!

One of my favorite cars at the BBQ was Justin’s relatively stock hatchback. The paint is in amazing condition for the car’s age and it has really low mileage. I think almost all of us loved staring at this car because it reminded us of when we first got our S13s. You just don’t see them in this condition anymore. I am so thankful Justin brought this thing out! We had never met in person before but he is a really nice guy.

Aidan was another guy I met for the first time in person at the BBQ. He rolled up in a really cool drift inspired G35 sedan, but had previously owned an S13 coupe and was in the process of finding another one. I am happy to report that he was recently able to trade the G for a 240SX hatchback. I’ve been enjoying reading about his progress so far and can’t wait to see what he does with this one.

Jalen is a really good dude that also lives relatively close to me. We met on Zilvia (I think?) when I sold him some parts and realized from his address that he lived in the apartment complex Alicia and I first moved into when we got married. What a small world. Jalen was my go-to tire and alignment guy for many years until he left Belle Tire to work at a dealership, but we still manage to stay in touch. Another great young dude that I am thankful to call a friend. I know he hadn’t really had his car out in quite some time, so it meant a lot to me that he went through all of the effort to bring it.

Eric has been a friend for quite a while now as well. I am not sure when we met, but he has had his S13 longer than I have had mine. He’s very passionate about Hot Wheels and has given me some really cool ones over the years. A super kind and generous dude with a lot of love for the S chassis as well as cars in general. His car has a super unique style that I always get a kick out of.

Tyler pulled through in his S14 on air suspension. The car has a super nice paint job with a lot of flake in it. Tyler is yet another really young guy with a big passion for these cars, and actually works at a detailer with my neighbor down the street Blake. Blake has a Subaru, but I shot him an invite to walk down and hang out for a bit as well. I love seeing so many young guys that are passionate about these cars and take good care of them. It definitely feels like the torch has been passed!

Another car I really loved was Ki’s red hatchback. I actually used to chat with the previous owner of this car quite a bit, and my friend Mike from Detroit Drifting Co did the SR20 swap on it. Ki bought it a few years ago and has been making it his own- the most recent addition being the Work Meister wheels from Tim’s S13 that I parted out last fall. They look amazing on the car! Definitely the nicest kouki 180SX aero car in the state that I am aware of. Ki has a bunch of cars and is always working on them – tons of passion for the hobby and a very nice dude.

Speaking of Tim, he was in attendance as well. These guys were the first two S chassis people I met when I got my hatch in 2008. Tim used to chat with me on AIM (remember that?!) when I first got the car and was a huge help with me getting it running properly. We’ve lost and regained touch a few times over the years, but I am definitely glad to call him a friend. I parted out his dark red hatch for him last fall and he’s got an old Camaro now. He seems to be enjoying it, so that’s all I can really ask for! Tim also brought our long time friend Greg out with him. He’s been building a super clean S13 hatch for many years and is deep in the process currently, but it’ll turn out really nice once it is finally complete.

I met Mike from Detroit Drifting Co when he was just a young dude. I sold him a kouki 180SX bumper in 2009 or so and we became friends from there. I used to go hang out at his parents’ house while he worked on his S13s, one of which he had a short campaign in Formula Drift with. He now runs a successful shop and it’s super cool to see how he has grown up. He didn’t have an S13 in attendance, but Mike and his wife Rachel came out for bit which was a lot of fun. I actually need to get both of my cars in for an alignment with Mike soon, so I am looking forward to seeing him again.

Finally, a gentleman named Matthew came out as well. Funnily enough, he actually owns the old red S13 hatch that Mike owned when I met him. The car is currently at Mike’s shop having some work done, but should be ready soon. I met Matthew last year when he came to buy some parts from Tim’s part out and he is a really solid dude. I am super thankful he came out to hang and look forward to seeing his car in person one of these days.

Hosting this event definitely felt like a passing of the torch for me from one generation of S13 dudes to the next. It’s so encouraging to meet good people that enjoy these cars and have a mind for building them in a way that preserves the culture and does them justice. It was also motivating for me to get my own cars back in a more presentable state and try to bring my hatch back to its former glory. It still feels surreal that this event happened, even a month later. I am so thankful for everyone that came by and pitched in to make this a success! Thank you for making this old timer feel like a kid again.

Thanks as always for checking out the blog. Have an excellent weekend!

Damon

Alright, let’s talk about the hatch this week and recap what I have been up to for the last four months. With the price of gas and all of the road construction going on in Michigan, I decided to take a more relaxed approach to getting my cars ready this season. It’s such a big additional expense that I figured it made sense to work on the cars as motivation allows and not stress about having them out at all this year. If it happens before the snow flies I will consider it a bonus.

I ended up deciding to replace my GReddy intercooler kit with a new one. Faction Motorsports offered me an excellent deal on one and had it in stock stateside. Mine was still working great and in decent condition, but I had lowered my car down without remembering to remove the scissor jack a while back and dented the bottom of the core. My friend Kevin in Houston was in a minor crash at Final Bout SSS and needed a new core, so I thought it made sense to sell him my used one to save him some cash and order a new kit for myself. You can’t beat the look of a fresh intercooler kit!

While replacing the chassis harness and moving the fuse boxes back to the engine bay, to re-re-locate my battery back to the engine bay. This meant that my spare tire was sliding around in the hatch, so I purchased a new spare tire bolt from Japan since it was discontinued in the USA. A silly thing to order, but it’s cool to have. I of course can’t use the spare tire because of the ride height and the fact that the car is no longer four lug, but I like having it in there to support whatever I am hauling in the trunk. I ended up ordering and modifying the same generic battery tie-down from Amazon that I used on my coupe. The battery tray is removed on my hatch, but it still mounted up OK. It feels good to have the rear hatch area empty again and not worry about something metal contacting the battery terminals back there.

With things torn apart in the rear hatch area, I installed a new pair of Pioneer speakers. Believe it or not, I have never installed aftermarket speakers in any car I have ever owned. It seemed relatively straightforward, so hopefully they work. I have a pair for the doors as well but have not installed them just yet. I also still need to select and install a head unit, but I’ll get to that later. I have never really had a working sound system in either of my S13s, so it feels pretty surreal to think about it actually working. I’m looking forward to enjoying it eventually!

Speaking of things I can’t imagine having in this car, I installed the AC compressor on the engine. I kept the CodyAce AC adapter bracket from Tim’s car, but found that it located the pulley for the AC compressor too far forward with it installed. I ended up bolting up the compressor directly and it lined up nicely. I am still not sure what AC components I have on the car, but I have a feeling someone must have modified US lines to work with the JDM compressor at some point. Whatever the case, I am really hoping it works without any leaks when the time comes to get it charged! I still have one wire from the compressor that I need to figure out how to wire up and then I should be ready to give it a try.

I sourced all new OEM drive belts for my coupe from Japan since I needed the correct AC belt and my other belts were aftermarket. I did the same thing for the coupe and figured it was worth doing on the hatch as well.

To finish the new chassis harness install, I had to tuck my wiring harnesses up above the chassis so that the wiring doesn’t get eaten alive by the tires. I have done this a few times over the years now so it wasn’t too terrible of a process. I may need to revisit the driver’s side since I am not totally confident that I got it tucked up enough, but I was really worried about bending my new OEM metal front fenders. Fingers crossed there is just enough clearance and it works out OK.

A while back I decided to reinstall the rear wiper. I hated the look for a long time, but a lot of kouki 180SX I see online still have it and I think it is a pretty cool option to have. I sourced a full setup from a partout and began fishing the harness through the interior. I still need to source a wiper button, test it, and drill a hole in the hatch for it. This is one of the many things still on my list to finish, but I will hopefully get to it soon.

Another item that my friend Kevin damaged in his crash was his passenger side headlight assembly and metal headlight cover. I’ve had a pair of brand new 180SX metal headlight covers in storage for a while, so I decided to use them and send my old ones to Kevin. My headlight assembly had a few broken bolts in it, so I sourced a replacement one of those as well from a part out. As it turns out, I broke a bolt off in the new one during reassembly and one of my brand new metal covers already had a dent in it when I opened it. I ended up back where I started, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Gotta love it! I’ll leave those issues alone to deal with another time.

Back on the inside of the car, I finally got around to painting my gauge cluster trim with some SEM trim black like I did when I built my coupe. I love to avoid painting interior parts whenever possible, but the results were nice enough on the coupe that I gave it a shot. I also installed a new old stock gauge cluster lens that I have been holding onto for a while. The refreshed cluster and trim looks really nice. I need to source a switch for the rear wiper assembly since I seem to have lost mine at some point, but otherwise it’s good to go.

I reinstalled the Koyo radiator with a set of brand new OEM SR20DET radiator hoses and clamps. Next was the clutch fan and shroud as well as the front fenders, bumper, and lip. It felt amazing to see this thing looking like a car again, even if the paint didn’t match. It had only been apart since March, but it was definitely a sight for sore eyes seeing it look relatively complete again.

After going back and forth on what I was doing about wheels and tires for both cars for a very long time, and being worried that my 17″ & 18″ pairs of LMGT4s would not be a good match from a bronze standpoint, I decided it was time to pull the trigger and give it a shot. I ordered a set of Kumho Ecsta PS31 tires from my buddy Mike at Detroit Drifting Co. and had him mount them up for me. I really wanted to run Advan Flevas again, but they discontinued the 225/40/18 size. The Kumhos were the best looking street tire we could find that also came in a 215/40/17, so that’s the route I went. I think they will fit the bill OK since all I really do is street driving.

With the date of my S13 BBQ looming, I had about ten days to finish the car. I spent some late nights reinstalling the interior, finishing the rear suspension upgrades from back in February, setting the ride height, and dialing everything in with the new LMGT4s on the car. I also elected to replace all three of the two bolt exhaust gaskets since I remembered having a leak somewhere last fall. I suspect it’s the four bolt gasket up at the turbo, but we’ll find out once I get it back on the road. One thing I am really bummed about is the fact that I tapped my windshield with a ratchet when reinstalling my dash and cracked it. I’ve done this countless times over the years, so it’s no surprise that it finally gave way. Better to crack the windshield than the dashboard though!

Finally, I reached the moment of truth- would the car start with the new chassis harness in place? Fortunately, it fired right up first try. The car seems to crank a bit faster and sounds really healthy, so I am hoping the old, hacked up tucked chassis harness was the cause of the starting issues I was having last summer. From what I can tell so far though, things seem to be working as they should! This is a huge relief since replacing the entire chassis harness was a pretty intimidating endeavor.

When I dropped the car down on the ground and attempted to drive it off of the ramps, I couldn’t get it to go into gear. I had ended up having to roll it into the driveway for the BBQ, but at least it was back together and looking decent enough on the new wheel setup.

During the week after the BBQ, I rolled the car out to try to capture some decent shots of the car on the new wheel setup. Bronze 17/18 Nismo LMGT4 in these specs are sort of the final frontier for me, so it feels amazing to check this off of my bucket list. I think the bronze match is about as good as my TE37 which is about all I can ask for. I really dig the look! I still have an extra pair of 18×9.5 +12 LMGT4, but I haven’t had any bites on those just yet. I may hold onto them until the right opportunity comes along, but we’ll see what happens.

So there you have it! That’s what went down with the hatch over the last four months. I am trying to knock out the list of remaining tasks to see if I can insure the car and get it out to enjoy for the fall this year. It definitely seems doable if I can buckle down a bit, so that’s the goal!

I’ll step back a bit in next week’s post and talk about how my S-Chassis BBQ went. It was a really important and cool event for me so I want to take some time to ramble about it. Thank you as always for stopping by- I appreciate it!

Damon

Whew, what a whirlwind the last four months have been. I can’t believe it has essentially been 1/3 of a year since I last made a blog post! It’s been really difficult to find the time to put into documenting the progress on my cars lately, let alone finding all the time needed to actually work on them. But when I really think about it, I have gotten a fair amount of work done since my last update. Since I have so much ground to cover, I am going to split this update into three separate posts: one about the coupe, one about the hatch, and one about my first S13 BBQ that I hosted in early July. Let’s dive in!

So, the coupe. Back in March, I had just brought the car home from winter storage at my mom’s house. Shortly after I shared that update, we took a family trip to Florida which was a lot of fun. My daughter Hattie also turned 8 years old just after we got home which is very hard to believe. Time is flying!

The first thing I did when I got home was sell the pair of power East Bear mirrors I had sourced in order to buy back a pair of black manual ones I had owned previously. I sold this black set to a friend in Chicago way back in 2016 or so and he never used them. The red pair I had was decent enough, but they had a few cracks that needed to be repaired. Since the coupe never had power mirrors anyway, I figured it made sense to sell them and get my cleaner, manual black pair back. I am glad it worked out!

In early April, I finally decided to commit to converting the car to five lug. It took me a few weeks to sell my Work Equip 40s, but eventually they sold and ended up on a really cool Miata down in Austin, Texas. Shoutout to my friend Allen for dismounting the tires for me. With the car on jack stands and the wheels gone, I started removing all of the suspension components I didn’t intend to use with the new setup. This was a little bit silly since I had just installed all of those parts in 2020 when I built the car and had put about 80 street miles on all of it, but that’s just the way it goes for me sometimes. Fortunately everything sold fast and I was able to order the new parts for the conversion.

Once I saw the car mocked up on my 17″ TE37s, I knew I had made the right choice. I spent most of the month of April sourcing the parts I needed for the conversion. I ended up essentially mirroring the setup on my hatch: NISMO S14 lower control arms, S14 knuckles, DIF knuckle bolt adapters, KTS S14 roll center outer tie rods, OEM S14 hubs and wheel bearings all around, and some new OEM hardware to finish things off.

As for the brakes, I went with Parts Shop Max Z32 calipers this time around as the OEM ones are becoming more and more difficult to find for a reasonable price. I didn’t want to deal with rebuilding and powder coating them either, so this option made a lot of sense. I didn’t love the gold color at first, but it is growing on me a bit. I went with Stoptech Street pads and stainless steel brake lines as I have had good luck with those over the years. I utilized the Z32 rear e-brake assemblies and cables that I held onto from Tim’s part out and picked up a GK Tech cable adapter bracket to round out the brake conversion.

The front suspension went together without any major snags. One tip to note- you can use S14 ABS front wheel bearings & five lug hubs even if your car does not have ABS. This saves you a lot of cash as the non-ABS version is much more expensive. It felt super cool to bolt up one of my TE37s and step back to see the car with a five lug setup and 17″ wheels for the first time.

When it came time to do the rear suspension and brakes, I ended up taking a day off of work strictly to work on my cars. I thought this might help with my motivation a bit since I had been having a hard time finding enough energy and free time to work out in the garage. And of course, I ended up hitting a few snags that day. The first issue was the GK Tech e-brake cable bracket. Once installed, the cables contacted the driveshaft. I ended up having to heat it up and bend it to get it to clear. While it wasn’t a huge problem to solve, it was still pretty annoying for something touted as a bolt-on solution. A few people told me they had the same issue, and others recommended the Street Faction bracket instead. Just a tip for anyone out there planning to do this conversion!

At last, after using my trusty press to assemble the rear bearings and hubs, I had the car on the ground and ready for a test drive. When I attempted to pull the car forward, the car made a strange noise and wouldn’t move. I was pretty baffled by this, but decided to come back to it the next day. When I took the rear wheels off, I found that the inner lip of my brake rotor had shattered on one side. There were small pieces of brake rotor in the drum assemblies and on the ground. Very strange! As it turns out, the Z32 rear drum assemblies on my coupe were different than the ones on my hatch. I can’t remember which was NA and which was turbo unfortunately, but the ones on the coupe had a crude metal washer/spacer in them to simulate a metal tab the Z32 rear wheel bearings have on them. There’s supposed to be a centering pin that holds the anchor bolt in place on the knuckle, but these spacers did not have that. When I tightened the large nut on the drum assemblies, it twisted the anchor bolt causing it to contact the inside of the brake rotor.

It can be really frustrating when you run into issues with something you’ve already done once before. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I guess that was not the case! However, it was really rewarding to find the solution. I destroyed one of the large nuts on my e-brake assembly when taking it all apart to solve the issue. It was discontinued stateside, but luckily still available in Japan. I stole one from the hatch while it was taken apart so that I didn’t need to wait for the new one to arrive from Japan.

When the replacement brake rotor arrived, I hit all of them with a coat of paint and some templates I made in Illustrator. I like to paint my rotor hats since the temp swings during the winter seem to cause surface rust to form. Sure, I could just spray the whole rotor and let the pad remove the paint, but this just feels a bit less sketchy to me.

Finally, I had the car back on the ground with the brake issue solved. I got to drive it around the block a few times and everything felt really solid! I love the look of the car on the bronze TE37s, I just really want to see this car on 17″ wheels all around. I prefer 17/18 on my hatch, but the OEM aero on Silvias is so subtle that I feel they look better with 17″ wheels front and rear. I’ll figure out a way to run 17s when the time is right, but this works for the time being.

Having my brand new Silvia brick headlights, corner lights, and center grille on my car was driving me nuts. The car is not going to be painted anytime soon and it felt like a waste to have them on the car in this state. I ended up putting them back in their boxes to save until the car is properly painted one day and sourced a used setup to run in the mean time. I got lucky on some really clean corner lenses with good brackets – one from Richard of GTR Garage, and one sourced through YAJ via Jesse Streeter. I found some bricks through an IG contact that had a bit of damage, but all of the mounting brackets themselves are intact. That seller also had a center grill with a good amount of sun fading, but I decided to grab it. Maybe I’ll try to clean it up at some point.

While the brackets are all intact on my temporary bricks, one side is broken on the back of the housing where one of the bulbs goes. The rubber seal and plastic ring are missing, and it looks like the relfective inner housing has water damage as a result. I was able to source all new rubber bulb seals and plastic trim rings from Japan which should help refresh these a lot. I also gave the top of the lenses a fresh coat of SEM Trim Black to make them more presentable. At some point I will need to open up the driver’s side headlight and see if I can repair the damaged reflective housing, but that’s a project for another day!

Finally, a local friend of mine was getting rid of his project and sold me a brand new Silvia corner lens. I have a new pair of these in storage and didn’t really need it, but couldn’t pass it up.

So that just about brings you up to speed with the coupe! Last night I put the car up on stands to swap out my front springs. I ordered shorter, stiffer springs when I got these coilovers knowing the car was going to be very low on 15s, but found that the inside of my wheel was contacting the spring with the 17″ wheels on. I elected to swap out the shorter 10k springs in favor of the standard, longer 8k springs. I am also in the process of finally installing my front fender liners while the car is in the air.

There’s still a weird rotating noise when I drive the car that I haven’t tracked down. I almost wonder if it’s the bearings in the diff since the car has so many miles on it, but I’m just not sure. It’s also still leaking a bit of oil from the rear main seal, but I haven’t had the energy or time to dive into that yet. Aside from those problems and needing an alignment, the car should be ready to log some miles. I haven’t even bothered to insure my cars this year since gas prices are so high and there is some massive construction going on throughout my entire commute to work, but if I can get at least one of the cars road worthy by September I may get it out and enjoy it a bit before the snow flies.

Thanks for popping by to check out the update! Next I’ll share what happened with my hatch between March and July to bring you up to speed on that car. When I step back and think about it, it’s actually a decent amount of stuff! Thanks as always for stopping by.

Damon

I am pleased to report that I have made decent progress since last week’s update after spending a few of evenings in the garage. Michigan brought us some really nice days this past week that allowed me to clear all of the patio furniture and the girls’ trampoline out into the backyard- which buys me some much-needed garage space.

The first item I tackled after my previous update was re-drilling the holes in the firewall for the engine harness and the AC evaporator. I had welded all of these shut when I shaved the bay since I was never running AC and routed my engine harness through the trans tunnel for a cleaner look. It hurt a little bit to drill through the nice, clean firewall, but it’s all in the name of achieving what I envision for the car in my mid-30s. I also cut through the passenger side chassis harness pass through up near the core support and got that sorted out.

With all of the needed holes redrilled, I was able to install the evaporator assembly behind the dash. I had installed a gutted version of this that was essentially just an empty housing back when I reinstalled my heating system in 2017 or so, so I simply swapped that box with the complete evaporator assembly I kept from Tim’s car when I parted it out.

In order to finish routing the chassis harness and install the AC condenser, I had to remove my clutch fan, shroud, and radiator. While I had the radiator out, I decided it would be a good time to swap from my aftermarket Samco hoses back to a set of OEM Nissan SR20DET radiator hoses and clamps like I am using on my coupe. No specific reason for this other than a desire to keep things as simple and factory as possible.

I also removed my custom tucked coolant overflow tank that I had mounted on the headlight bracket between the intercooler and radiator. It was a cool piece, but again- I want to return things to a more factory look like on my coupe. I’ll be replacing it with a GK Tech OEM-Style coolant overflow that I mentioned in a previous post.

I bolted up a pair of factory horns that I kept from a previous part out. This is another item that has never worked on this car during my ownership. As cheesy as it is, I was so excited when I got the horn to work on my coupe. It’s little details like this that I get way too excited about in my old age.

After getting the chassis harness in pretty good shape, I moved on to installing the AC condenser. It was neat to see where this item mounts up since the AC was removed from my car by the previous owner that did the SR swap many years ago. This was my first time seeing my car with a condenser on it which is a bit weird. It’s definitely not as clean of a look, but if it provides me with cool air on a hot summer day it will absolutely be worth it.

I had to do a bit of research about which condenser fan to run. From my understanding, my entire AC setup is from a 1989 chassis, since that’s what year Tim’s car was. I learned from Nick (@nscardingo) down in Florida that the KA24E cars use this fan, but KA24DE cars had a condenser fan placed between the clutch fan and radiator shroud. I thought I needed a DE fan, but he later informed me that all 180SX and S13 Silvia use this style fan on the front of the condenser. With that knowledge, I bolted it into place. This particular fan uses two plugs while the DE only uses one to accomplish the task of sending two different bits of info to the ECU, so only the one plug on my 93 chassis harness is needed. I did have to extend the pigtail a bit to reach the front of the condenser since the 91-93 fan is typically on the back side of the radiator. But once that was done it was smooth sailing!

After finishing the fan install, I cleaned up some rust on my fuse box bracket and installed the passenger side fuse box. I was also able to bolt up the AC dryer and connect the line from the dryer to the condenser. I have my battery mocked up in place at the moment but need to order a mounting kit for it. I decided to keep my circuit breaker in place, so I shortened my positive cable and got all of those items situated. I previously had the battery relocated to the trunk on this car, but moved it to the original location during this refresh process. It will now be mounted in the same place as the battery on my coupe. Having the battery in the trunk was always kind of annoying so this should be pretty nice.

Back on the inside of the car, I was able to finish routing the chassis harness after reinstalling the dash bar. Everything seems to be sitting correctly and it feels great to have this portion completed. I also reinstalled the carpet, blower motor, and ECU. All that’s left to do in the main cabin is to connect the battery properly and check for power. Once I confirm that things are working as they should be, I can go ahead and reinstall the dashboard and the rest of the interior.

So that’s about where things stand currently. I’ve got to finish cleaning up some wiring in the bay and complete the AC component installation before I am able to put the intercooler, radiator, and clutch fan back in. After that things under the hood should be in good shape. I made a long list tonight of everything left to do before the car is road worthy again. It’s likely going to take me all of April to finish it with the way life goes, but I would feel great about having this car back on the ground in early May. It might be too lofty of a goal, but we’ll see how things shake out.

As for my coupe, I brought the car back to my house from its winter home at my mom’s place this past Friday night. I was shocked that the car fired right up and made the short trek over to my house without any issues. It felt amazing to see, smell, hear, and drive an S13 again as it always does after a long winter. We aren’t out of the woods yet, but just being able to see it in the garage again is awesome. I have also been referencing the car a lot to solve chassis harness questions and copy how I went about some of the things I did when I put that car together back in 2020. There are a couple small items I want to tackle on the coupe this spring, but nothing too taxing right now. I’m considering trying to raise it just a bit to see if I can’t put some more miles on it during the summer. We’ll see if I can get away with it without making it look too lame though. I’ve still got a five lug conversion and 17s all around on my mind…

The weather is slowly getting nicer and things are falling into place. I am hoping to keep plugging away a couple nights a week and check things off the list until the hatch is finally running and on the ground once again. Here’s to hoping this motivation continues!

Thanks as always for stopping by to check things out- have a great week!

Damon