'88 L Street/Track Build- Coilovers • B6ZE • Weber DCOE's • Widebody • Chopped Top •

[firebush357]

The flange wasn't straight when I bought it, that's what I get for buying the cheapest one on ebay. The header build started out just as a test to see if I could piece together a header from a different car, so if it doensn't hold up I'm not out much.

I knew it looked a lot like the one I got on Ebay for my Sentra. Mine also came bent on both of the flanges. I was constantly putting new gaskets on the downpipe flange because it would burn through them.

[theastronaut]

All of the new suspension parts came in so I've been assembling that. The supplied spring hats for the front were too tall so I used the rear spring hats but had to cut them down and add a chamfer on the lathe to get them to clear the strut tower at full caster/camber settings. I'm using 10" tall 120# springs from Southwest Speed. I also had to cut the brake line tab off, bend the brake line, and weld it back on about 1" rearward.






Spring hat clearance before and after trimming.











Brake line interferance. (the lines aren't as rusty as they look, they had some sort of soft clear coat that's flaking off that has rust stains)




Camber/caster plates installed.





I cut down an reshaped the Capri upper radiator mount and mounted/wired the fan using factory plugs from the Capri. This is temporary since I'll tilt the radiator back about an inch so I can mount a condensor.




The guys at Oreilly let me go in the back to look at all of their radiator hoses so I could pick out a pair that were shaped correctly.




I found a set of NOS Motorcraft plug wires and sorted out the carb linkage and accelerator cable brackets.

[/QUOTE]

[theastronaut]

Rear suspension, this is the usual KYB GR2 shocks made for the rear of a MK1 Cabrio with 36mm Bilstein sleeves/adusters to turn them into coilovers. The springs are 105#, 10" tall, 1 7/8" diameter.








Fully assembled.




Ryan's spring insulators in place.

[theastronaut]

I made it to the Festiva show in Raleigh, just not in the red car. The starter was grinding badly and shimming the solenoid didn't help. It also leaked antifreeze from a freeze plug, so I had to remove the header to change it out. I didn't have the rear axle built or in yet either. I was able to pick up a US style dealer option sliding sunroof at Madness. The cover is in good shape, just needs cleaning. It'll need a new headliner but that will be an easy fix. It's dark grey so it'll blend in well with the bumpers, side trim, and wheels.




I plumbed the lines for both manifold and ported vaccum (the distributor uses both). Not the best looking but I'm not building a show car. It may need a vaccum tank to smooth out the pulses from each runner, won't know until I start driving it.




The leaking freeze plug. Someone had put JB Weld over it in the past.




I finished reshaping and welding the downpipe and installed it in the car. There's still a short section of original exhaust pipe that'll be replaced once I can drive it to the muffler shop. I'm pretty happy with how the header and downpipe fit since they were originally for a completely different car. The downpipe actually tucked up a little higher than the transmission crossmember so ground clearance won't be a issue.







I stripped and painted the rear axle and assembled the passenger side brakes and camber spacer.

[theastronaut]

How-to vid for the rear camber spacers.

[theastronaut]

I got the rear suspension finished and installed, bled the brakes, and swapped the wheels over from the white car so it would roll. Also started polishing the velocity stacks.

[TWFodor]

Looks amazing. Love it.

[theastronaut]

Looks amazing. Love it.

Thanks!

[theastronaut]

Not much to update other than I've flushed the gas tank and started the engine for the first time. The initial setup of the carbs carbs seems to be off; it's running very rich at idle, enough so that it actually runs best with all four idle mixture screws closed. I'll check the float heights and fuel pressure first, hopefully its something that simple.

My brother in law works for Michelin and signed us up for an autocross on the 18th at Michelin's Laurens Proving Grounds. From the sign up list there will be some pretty stout competition- a 2012 Nissan GT-R, numerous BMW M cars, a Pro-Touring Chevelle, etc... Time to buckle down and get it sorted so it's ready to race!

[Flw Sock]

Sick build. Love the carbs

[Smoker]

I'm sure you mentioned it and I missed it, but what are the specs on your wheels and tires on this car?

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[theastronaut]

Sick build. Love the carbs

Thanks!

I'm sure you mentioned it and I missed it, but what are the specs on your wheels and tires on this car?

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They're 13x6 +18 offset with 185/60-13 Toyo R888 track tires. It's a really tight fit with the 185's even with the fenders rolled and pulled.

[Smoker]

Thanks!





They're 13x6 +18 offset with 185/60-13 Toyo R888 track tires. It's a really tight fit with the 185's even with the fenders rolled and pulled.

Well it looks sexy.

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[theastronaut]

Well it looks sexy.

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Thanks, I just stared at it and took pics for about an hour after I mounted the wheels and dropped it off the jack stands lol. I'm really happy with how it's turning out!


Forgot to upload and post this one earlier.

[theastronaut]

I drove the car around the school parking lot for the first time last weekend... needs serious tuning to make it run smoothly. Right now it's slower than my white '89.

I went over the carbs- checked the float level, fuel level in the bowl, adjusted the accelerator pump linkage, and reset the butterflies in the barrel so both barrels close completely at the same time. It idles much better now but there is still a dead spot. After searching arouind a bit I found that I have the wrong emulsion tubes- the current one are meant to lean out the mixture as it transitions to the main jets which is exactly what seems to be happening. I ordered the correct tubes from Italy today with expidited shipping, hopefully they'll be here in time to get it running properly before the Michelin autocross.

I tried to take the distributor apart to modify it for more centrifugal advance but was unsuccessful. I thought maybe the b6d advance parts would fit in the b3 distributor but that didn't work either. The b3 distributor only advances 17 degrees compared to the b6d's 25 degrees so it'll be down on power until I get that straightened out. I also started plumbing the engine for an air/oil separator, and began wiring the AFR gauge. I'll spend a few nights this week going over everything on the suspension- dialing in the ride height and alignment, and double checking all bolts/fasteners before I get it out on the road. Still need to go to the dmv to register it, get the bumper/hood/grill installed, and hook up the e-brake too.


First pic of all three together.




b3 advance mechanism.