Altezza Build!
Altezza Build!
Hi everyone, been on this forum for a few days and loving it so far. Everyone is very helpful and friendly, just how a car club should be! More of a repair at the moment but will be turning into a pretty big long term build with lots of custom fabricated bits
Anyway here is the car when I bought it
About 2 hours later
Didn't like the bodykit anyway!
Managed to get her pulled out and towed to work where she's been since 4th of jan
Next day I got straight under the car for a damage report. Not as bad as I thought but still pretty bad! Broke a wheel
Welded my wheel
Did not drive on this wheel, was just so I could roll in and out the workshop
Now that she was rolling again I could look at the other problems...
No pics for this but managed to bend a lower arm where the balljoint connects to the upright. Bent it by about 3mm! It's scary to think how much force it needed to bend metal that thick. Got a replacement arm and threw that on.
Next was bodywork so I started on the wing which was pretty bad
I've never done any panel beating before but turned out pretty good!
Can't even tell it's been in a crash! Apart from the bumper. The bonnet had a nasty dent in it too before I beat it out.
Got some wheels! Took AGES to arrive.
Ultimate grip! I hope
Can only afford 2 wheels at the moment due to a huge insurance deposit and buying other more important bits. Was looking forward to driving her home that day but after a test drive I noticed it was horrendously underpowered and then the engine light started coming on. Sounded like a misfire so I unplugged each coilpack one by one and pack 2 wasn't doing anything having a pre 2001 altezza I had to get the old spec packs which I couldn't find at a reasonable price so bought a new spec. Slight mod to the mount point (cutting the thing off) bit of silicone to stop it moving about because it's a little thinner than the old one and a bracket made up just to lean on it a little to be absolutely sure it doesn't go anywhere. Haven't had any problems with it so far and the power is back so all seems to be good!
Oh yea, also done the thermostat. If you own an altezza and your thermostat is gone I feel very sorry for you. took me 4 hours! Ended up dropping the manifold out and pulling the housing off with the hose attached.
Just got to get new locking rings for the coils and I think that's the main bits done! Going to strip all the suspension arms down too next month, all new balljoints and a nice coat of paint for a proper *** up and to fight off rust.
Nothing interesting yet but it's been quite the educational experience. The plan is to get a standard front and rear bumper in april, get a lip front and back to make it look aggressive, paint the bumpers, wing and bonnet and hopefully by end of spring she will be on matching wheels and spotless body. Then the real fun can begin :kiltsmilie:
Hi so you decided to come over to the out law side glad to see you fixed the coilpack good stuff apart from your recent modifications the car looks awesome everyone on here is well up for helping with questions unlike dw ive been trying to stay away from turning my car into a drifter but shes getting there more power an solid bushes have a look at my build thread also got a weldd diff you wanna swap
Cheers chief, will look even more awesome next year got big plans for the next winter
You got a pretty build by the looks of things! Deffo keeping an eye on that. I'm running a cusco 1.5 way diff and it locks up very easily so I'm alright for a diff, cheers anyway though.
Thanks to Sparkystav, got myself some standard is200 dampers so got to swapping them over. Got my fronts off easy enough, the locking rings look very safe!
so quickly dropped the springs off and swapped em onto the standard dampers.
Pretty nice fit!
Took AGES to get back in but eventually I managed to get em all mounted and dropped on the wheels. Got some mega rake now! nose pointing to the sky
Got onto the rears next and the springs are way too short but didn't have much time so I left the old dampers on untill I can find some springs at work. Hit another pretty big wall at this point. Top mount is completely gone
Going to ask machine shop today to see if they can make me 2 new top mounts cos I can't seem to find any, and they will cost a bomb anyway.
I did get some new locking rings made though, I didn't even ask for them! One of night shift came in and saw my destroyed rings so measured em up and made me some the same night. Love my job, so many unofficial benefits
Going to send them off to anodizing allong with the top mounts for major corrosion proofing. They are made from a high quality aluminium too instead of the cheap rubbish they normally use. Desperate to get it back on the road fast, not just cos I want to drive it but the engine is starting to sound a bit off, needs a proper good run. Dampers are going on the dyno soon too so I can see if they are ****** or the really slow rebound is normal.
Ah nice mate ive only stripped down one set of coilys in my time off my old s14 there was a lot of effin an jeffin once the rings take hold there an absolute nightmare to take off without wrecking the main threads like that you can get them made up ive also been looking around for top mounts you can get them I think they were from ksport but they weren't cheap defo market if you could get them made up give me a shout if you can coilovers usualy have a slow rebound are yours adjustable ?
Nice job of the spring mounts. Their only a few quid on eBay but free is even better.
was wandering how long it would be untill someone asked for bits machined unfortunately our machine shop is absolutely flat out at the moment, they are literally running 24/7 so it's a pretty massive favour to call as the lads have to catch up after making my bits. The rings took 4 hours! When and if it does actually quieten down eventually I might be able to sort out bits as group buys but cant promise anything I'm afraid. I can fabricate stuff though if people need bits welded and whatnot.
I've got some ancient teins which for some reason have a 3mm pitch on the thread so can only get em from tein at 130 for all 8, plus they are usually cheap poor quality ali so these new ones should outlive my car.
My coils are only height adjustable, they feel like they aren't pressurized as much as they should be. Going on the dyno Tuesday so will know for sure what's going on and if possible I'll strip em down and re-gas them. Bit OTT to be fair but anything to save me forking £700+ on a decent set of coilovers