Mac's 94 DB8 project thread AKA: Project Aeris.. ITR stuff, body work.. ect

[mac_24_seven]

Well the time has come to start my own lil project thread. Maybe I'll have as much success as Andrew has had on his

So here goes nothing... I'll go back in time alil bit and bring you up-to-date later in the post.

I own a 94 GSR Sedan that I bought from jappwr on H-T. Paid $4200.00. It had 17x,xxx miles on the O.D. and around 50,000 on the new engine (stock from Acura).

Here's a few pics of how it was when I bought it.


A pic of me at the track.


I bought the car w/no thermostat. Since I wanted to have heat, I decided to install one. Long story short, I have a blown headgasket.. Nothing too bad, but I have exhaust gases in my coolant. So, I've been saving up to get that fixed.. More on that later.

One of the first things I did was clean up the headlights.. As you can see from this pic, MOthers mag polish and a lil elbow grease do wonders. The passenger side is polished and the driver-side is not.


Looks much better IMO.

After some leather seats and an ITR header, the next modification for my car was some Rota slips...
Before:

After:



My bro in law (andrew) had bought them for his CRX, but messed up on the tire size.. he Orderd 55 series instead of 50's.. So, the HUGE tire size was NOT my choice.. But my tires here shot... Heres what was on my car:


So the deal ened up working out good for me.. He got my fat fives and $300.00 and I got new wheels/tires.

Next up was the 98-01 conversion. I disliked the front/rears of the 94-97 Tegs alot.. Plus my front was kinda geeked up in the first place.
The first thing I bought was the rear, which was white so it matched pretty good.
Before:

After.. ANd It even has the DOHC Vtec emblem on it =)


Then I found a real good deal from another H-T member.. lonnieboosted. He was selling the front of off his turbo 00 DC2, in milano red :P . $300.00 for everything including lights. I drove nearly to Miami to pick it up

Pics of the install:

me lookin like a retard being happy I'm getting a ew front end..


Ta Daa!!


Sexy My car has lipstick now :P


I also installed a CTR lip that came w/my front end.


Around that same time, I was checkin out a cool thread on city lights and decided I'd do it myself.
I had a high beam bulb out, thus I never used them, so I would'nt miss not having high beams. I decided to just take a 194 socket out of a civic and trim it to fit where the bulb went in the headlight. I used a 4 led amber bulbs I bought from Discount Auto for like $10.00. Turned out real nice I think.




Now jump to present time (2-22-07)
That pretty much catches me up on the body work.. More to come on that in the coming weeks/months.
On to my headgasket :thumbup:

So, I took $800.00 from my tax refund and dedicated it to my car. After much deliberation and changing my mind from a complete rebuild to a JRSC, I figured I"d go w/a very mild build, including the following components:

ITR Throttle cable
ITR Throttle Bracket
ITR 98 Spec Camshafts
ITR Valve springs Int/Exh
ITR CAI w/ New K&N filter
ITR 4-1 polished Header
Head milled so it's good a flush.
Honda OEM 3 Layer Head Gasket/gasket set
1st Generation Skunk 2 Intake Manifold
Fidanza Red Adjustable Cam gears
Carsound high flor catalytic converter
G-Reddy Exhaust w/stock GSR muffler
Throttle body bypass
Temperature Control Switch
Custom Al. Catch can
NGK Spark Plugs, indexed
Chipped ECU
Dyno Tuned w/Chrome

So far, I've ordered:
Skunk 2 Intake Manifold
Gauge pod, ITR Throttle cable/bracket
ITR Cams
Gauges (oil,temp,volt)
Temperature Control Switch
Password JDM Gasket
Fidanza Cam Gears

I pick up the cam gears tomorrow and the gauges got to me on Tuesday. ANd I just went downstairs and picked up my Password JDM IM gasket :>

My cams shoudl be here either tomorrow or next week and my IM and gauge pod will be here Monday, which means I'll be installing my gauges/pod the following weekend!

Exciting stuff, for me anyway

And to make it all the more exciting,this Friday (2-23-07) I'm getting Ground Control Coilovers w/KYB GR2 struts and installing them. So I'll have lots of pics of that.

And SAT I'm meeting up with DoctorVtec (yet another H-T member) and I"m trading my slips for his GSR blades =) So I'll be dropped w/ new wheels (at least to me anyway) by the end of the weekend!

I'll update w/pics from this weekends work. Within the next week or 2, I'm starting to work on the body, prepping for paint. I'll start with shaving the license plate holes in the front bumper.

It's gonna be some exciting stuff for me! I will have my car dyno tuned and I'll be goin to the track, so I'll get vids and pics of all that. Plus, new paint, wheels.. I'll be shaving the door moldings.
Good stuff! I'll detail on all the work I do as well.. Maybe it'll help somebody out one day.

So you guys enjoy! I'll update this as often as I do stuff (which I'll be pretty busy in the coming weeks/months) so their will be lots of updates.

And please, NO FLAMING!!!! Suggestions are welcomed, but don't go sayin I'm a retard for doing something or not doing something, please.

[Seany-izzle]

great stuff!!! cant wait to see it all painted and tuned! Im not really feelin the ctr lip, because where the lip protrudes it doesnt match with the bumper. But hey, thats just me, if you like, keep it Hopefully during march or early april ill be getting my gsr motor Those blades should look real good, espcially with some right sized tires :P

[vanillakilla]

nice dude good luck with everything. I plan on getting 98-01 gsr this summer.

[EGProject]

Nice project. I love fodo GSR's. The owner of AMS in Mass has a grey GSR fodo with a P28 and a whole bunch of mods and I love it.

[SlushboxTeggy]

Very nice. I wish I could pick up a 98+ front end for that cheap. Why did you change the fenders though? I was under the impression that they were the same from 94-01.

And I've been to FLA, good luck with that lip with those roads. Even though it looks good.

[Matts96HB]

Nice project, can't wait to see after paint and whatnot.

[BrutalB83]

Looks really nice man, future plans sound good too. One quick question though...why the Greddy exhaust with a stock GSR muffler? Surely there's got to be a better option than paying all that money for a Greddy exhaust and then hacking off the muffler to replace it with a factory muffler. I'd say stainless piping from k-teller with a stock looking dynomax/magnaflow muffler maybe?

Anyways, keep us updated man!

[vanillakilla]

he is using a stock muffler because 1. it will be quiet and 2. it is already on his car so why not

[integraslut78]

I would say it's coming along quite nicely. Good Luck with it mang.

[Andrew]

We just got it lowered(and I mean LOWERED), so I'm sure he'll post up his latest pics tonight.

for Terrance having a build thread!

[mac_24_seven]

Well, the coilovers are on!!!! I cant believe how straight forward of an ordeal it is.. I have never touched any time of suspension work before in my life and I did this...My bro in law (andrew) helped me put everything back on.. but I could have done it. Just not as quick or as easy.. 2 sets of hands are always nice.

Unfortunately, during the swap, I got a Migrane..If you have nevr had one, say a prayer of thanks because it's rather painful.. If you get em like I do.. Then you know how it is.
So, I'll post a lil DIY later.. I took a bunch of pics but I just feel like Z)&*^#$& now and have no desire to type for an hour.

So, enjoy these pics. I'll update sometime in the next day or so

Before:


During:


And the uber sexy after





I'm very very happy. Just gotta invest in a camber kit sometime soon. I'll bite the bullet and get skunk2 and be done w/it.

I'll have GSR blades on it next weekend.. stupid discount tire screwed me yet AGAIN and I had to cancel the trade I had goin on untill next week.

Oh, and the ride is better than I ever expcted..I liken it to going to lower profile tire.. Bumps are more noticeable, but by no means jarring at all and it handles 100% better than it did on the stock crap. My friends nor I expected it to be this nice..

I'm very very VERY pleased.

And my ITR cams came in today..cam gears are a done deal (dude forgot them, I'll pick em up next week)

It's startin to come together.Gonna be pretty exciting guys.. Your gonna get to see it all

[Taco15]

yo! nice thread. The car is coming along nicely. it looks so much more aggressive with the drop. Evn more with the new blades.

[Seany-izzle]

that is low! little too low for me. still looks good, no doubt. I bet it'll be lookin real sharp after paint and the new wheels!

[Andrew]

Too low for him, too.

He wanted to raise it up right away, but we went driving instead. lol.
It'll look good with the new Blades. heck, it'll look good with the 4/4 slips

[SlushboxTeggy]

Why did you use the red fenders though? Were they in better shape?

[Andrew]

^ yes. his white ones were scratched/dented BAD.

[BrutalB83]

Originally Posted by vanillakilla

he is using a stock muffler because 1. it will be quiet and 2. it is already on his car so why not

Yeah but he said he was going to get a Greddy exhaust but keep the stock muffler. If he's getting a Greddy exhaust than he'll also be getting a Greddy muffler, unless he's just getting the mid-pipe portion of it.

I was just saying that it seems kinda wierd to have a smooth-flowing Greddy exhaust pipe and then have a restrictive factory muffler on it. If you want the factory look you can get mufflers that are freer-flowing than stock but not "fart-can" looking, and if you want it quiet you can always add a resonator or two.

But whatever, I don't mean to take away from your project thread man. Car looks great lowered, makes me want to drop my Teg. How much did you pay for the shocks and springs?

[brian11to1]

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[Andrew]

Originally Posted by BrutalB83

Yeah but he said he was going to get a Greddy exhaust but keep the stock muffler. If he's getting a Greddy exhaust than he'll also be getting a Greddy muffler, unless he's just getting the mid-pipe portion of it.

I was just saying that it seems kinda wierd to have a smooth-flowing Greddy exhaust pipe and then have a restrictive factory muffler on it. If you want the factory look you can get mufflers that are freer-flowing than stock but not "fart-can" looking, and if you want it quiet you can always add a resonator or two.

1. He's not 'getting' that setup, he's already got that setup(I know it looks like it's on his 'shopping' list, but thats whats on there now.

2. I agree completely. It's dumb to have 2-1/4 piping flowing into a 1-3/4 crappy stock muffler... but he wants it quiet, so thats what he's getting.

[Seany-izzle]

shop around for an rsr exmag, i have one on my car and from in the car all i can hear is intake from my puny d16. highway noise is well, non existant. It still makes noise, just deep and quiet, very low tone. NOTHING like an apexi, greddy, hks, spoon, etc. IMHO, best exhaust period.

[mac_24_seven]

I get migranes. Loud exhaust and migranes DO NOT MIX. I'll sacrifice some power to be quiet. Though, Andrew is getting a OBX twin loop.. If it sounds good and isn't too loud, I'll get one and maybe pick up 1/2-1 hp I'm losing w/the OEM muffler.

And, the reason why I went w/the complete red front end was because I wanted to make sure evrything matched up real nice. My car had a few incidents w/parking lots and being bumped into and whatnot.. so the fenders werent in the greatest of shape.
I wanted ot make sure I didnt have any damage to the frame or anything (which I don't so YAY! for me).


Unfortunately for me, I woke up w/another migrabe today so I didnt feel like going out w/anybody.. but I felt good enough to work on my car (it went away thankfully).

I started on my front license plate holes...


Then I used a dremel to grind em down..


And I bought some Bondo and put it on, but it's not warm enough for it to dry, so I'll wait and sand it down/primer later this week. I've taken lots of pics so I'll do a writeup on it whenever I'm done.

I woudl have doen it today, but no gauge pod yet So, in my quest to find something to do on my car, I figured I'd clean my engine bay, since it was rather nasty.

Before:


After:

You can see around the head is much cleaner. I just bought some Gunk and used a high pressure washer from a car wash to get it all clean.

And I figured out how I'm gonna run my gauges, so I'll definetly be doing that this week. And, I've changed out my instrument cluster lights w/soe wide angled LED's that I snagged from Andrew..Looks sick.

I'll post pics later tonight when it's nice and dark.

Also...
My dad painted my truck this weekend ( I just helped prep it) so he's got everything that I need to actually paint my car. It's a real bright white which, I havn't seen in the sunlight because we had to leave the truck in the shop to dry. Should look really nice, we'll see. Regardless, since the paints free (have an extra gallon of white) thats what I'll be painting mine with

And, it's very possible I could have my car ready to paint by the end of march! We'll have to see how money/time goes this coming month.

Thanks for the props.More to come guys... stay posted

[Andrew]

Heck yeah man! that engine bay is lookin HOT.
Man, your car must be fast... you went so fast you blasted the black paint off the radiator after you cleaned the bay. the dirt and grime built up on the motor musta been holding back the JDM powa

And have you decided what you think you'll do about the valvecover? powdercoat, paint, ITR maybe?

And dude, you gotta get some pics up of the painting process....I can't wait to see what the Ranger looks like....

[mac_24_seven]

As promised.. the pic of my gauge cluster. Sorry it's blurry.. It was taken w/a very nice canon digital SLR but I'm not the photographer in the family and I can;t take pics w/it at night.

So this'll have to do. Again, sorry it's blurry. This was the best out of five :P



I'll get better pics when I get my gauges installed ( I'll have my wife do it )

And Andrew.. I"ll get pics of the ranger as soon as I can. Mom said it looked great I'm curious to see how it looks as well.

[Andrew]

lovin those gauges.......... (that'll be $2.50 for the 3 bulbs you stole from me.) =)

[mac_24_seven]

Whatever! You gave em to me and YOu got em for free. Plus, I took 8 suckah!

And.. Oh man... I've got REALLY nice pics coming later today (can't wait!!!)