At this point, we're in summer of 2010. I did the manual swap, barely knew how to drive stick, and drove from Texas to California for a family reunion. Necessity is a great teacher.
Fall comes around, and tragedy strikes in the form of a semi that caused a 4-car pileup in Waco, TX. Thankfully the only injury was a nick on my forehead (headliner whipped back and hit me when the car was rear-ended).
The back of the car was ruined. Big time. The guy behind me was a pickup, so he went straight over the crash bar into the trunk/rear left quarter. The semi rear-ended him and pushed him into me.
Note: these were taken 5 years after the accident.
Then began the looooooong hiatus. Not sure why. I had a lot going on, and pretty soon it was 2015. I checked with a local shop, and they confirmed that body work was out of the question.
I was on the verge of getting married, and I decided it was now or never. So I got on craigslist and found the next one:
The good news was that unlike my previous one, this had remote locking, a sunroof, alloys, and the infinity sound system. And I paid a quarter of what my first one cost.
Now began the labor. I needed to transplant EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. Wheels/tires, brakes, suspension, engine, transmission, and most of the interior.
And I got to do it while fighting the douchiest code enforcement officer ever. He couldn't tell me what law I was violating, just stayed on my ass about it. He wouldn't tell me how to appeal and never gave me a copy of the violation notice that went to my landlord. I threatened him with a harassment suit, which got his supervisor involved, and by the time they resolved my dispute, I had put everything back together
Empty engine bay on the donor body:
It ended up being easier to unbolt the subframes and move the whole front driveline clip. I lost ABS (old wheel hubs didn't have sensors) because of it.
Sadly, I was in a hurry (due to the city code compliance business), so I didn't get a chance to change wheel hubs or clean the bay out. But I got it all buttoned up, just in time to move. It wasn't the most stress-free period of my life. But it was definitely worth it.
Saying a final farewell (me, not the tow-truck driver in the picture)
I'll be honest, I got a little emotional watching him leave. That car stuck by me through everything, took tremendous punishment at the track, and kept on ticking. But it's in a better place now.
The new one is sitting with the current mods:
- Tein S-Tech lowering springs, KYB GR-2 struts.
- 17" Enkei wheels, Sumitomo HTR ZIII tires 225/45/ZR17
- StopTech big brake kit (still running drums in back, lol)
- Outlander intake manifold/throttle body/TPS/fuel rail
- Reupholstered leather seats
- 5spd manual (got the tranny brand spankin' new), <20k miles
- Megan racing short shifter
- Brass shifter cable bushings, poly shifter base bushings
- Act2100 clutch kit, lightweight Fidanza flywheel
- Defi VSD-X heads-up display
- Valentine1 radar detector, with the phone connected app (custom frequency sweeps, yo)
- Black painted headlight interior frame/shrouds
- Clear corners
Plans for the future:
- Custom tablet mount in stock radio location
- Custom shifter bezel
- Repaint (clear coat is coming off everywhere)
- Straighten some mis-matched body lines on the rear quarters
- Old style VR-4 bumpers/sideskirts with super-VR-4 aero add-ons
- Carbon fiber hood/trunk
- Turbo (still daily driveable, shooting for ~220-250hp on a 4G64T)
- Custom gauge work - I REALLY want the electroluminescent needle/dial setup from the hi-viz VR-4s. Will start experimenting with Diamante needles
- Possibly trying to get a world/euro-spec interior from a LHD car.
- Evo or recaro VR-4 seats (or similar)
Here she sits now, from her best angle:
These cars are still almost unmatched in the styling world. I'm keeping this one as long as I can.
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