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97 GSX "Restoration"

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Getting started on the wiring. I'm a visual person and needed the big board for building the main box. It's going to be a slow process doing it this way but the systems will be so simple that it will be easier and lighter than hacking a factory harness.

I also gutted the dash for mock up purposes. I forgot how much fun it was to pull a dash. (Not) I also needed the harness for the cluster to depin and attempt to use the factory instrument cluster.

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Holidays put a hold on progress but I'm back at it now.


First of all Santa came with some more parts
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I got the console mocked up for the switch panel. This works pretty good as long as the SRS unit and bracket are removed. There isn't enough clearance underneath for the underside of the switch panel. You have to cut the tabs off the SRS bracket for the screws that go in the sides of the console. Pretty simple job if anyone is thinking about it.
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I got the cluster pinned out. Lots of trial and error but there are some good references out there from people that did the S2000 cluster swap. I also got the combo switch working with the faster unit and all the lights but didn't take a picture of that wiring nightmare for some reason

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The Book. I already have it about 1/3 of the the way filled with pinout break downs and locations

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Dug out the pedal assemblies and some brakets to get cleabed up in the blasting cabinet and then painted.

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Had to put a seat in it. I got tired of laying on the floor.

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Got the dash in. Its a whole lot easier without the windshield in the way. Haha
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Speakers installed.
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Started on the doors. Got the actuators installed and working for the lock, handle, and window.
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I should have installed this stupid thing months ago. I was getting tired of the door winging closed hitting me in the head.

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More to come soon. Next up is finish the drivers door and start running wire.

Thanks for following!
 

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Wow nice im hoping to pick up another dsm this spring, she needs a little work but i love wrenching and some body work. truly a restoration.
 
Apologies for the long delay in posting. Got tied up with some household projects that bound me up a bit.

Shes come a good ways since the last update. I spent the mind numbing time figuring out how to get the flashers, turn signals, and lights to all work properly with the factory switches while building a harness from scratch.

To start with I built my 2nd mock up of the power distribution box. A couple of improvements but nothing too wild. The main goal was to get it setup so that I could get proper measurements for running wires from the chassis harness. I couldn't find the relay board I wanted to use so I've had to settle for what you see. The main thing I was looking for was a socket of some sort that used ring terminals instead of spades. The thought is that its alot harder for a ring terminal with a screw to vibrate loose than a spade that just uses friction. Seeing my endless search came up with nothing, I've got some plans for some rubber mounting points that should help a little bit.
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Here I am mocking up a mounting bracket to install this in the passengers foot well pretty much where the old HVAC box used to be. Its just a rough product for the time being so I can check function and get some more wiring measurements.
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Then comes the lights. Over all it wasnt too difficult, but seeing I didn't have wire to match the factory colors I had to take extra care/time to be very detailed in my notes about what wire went to what and exactly what AWG it was. I reused a few factory connectors just because they were in good shape and small but for bigger things like the headlights and the tail lights I just put new ones in. Please ignore the gaudy looking butt connectors, there were a few in there temporarily for testing purposes.
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I did go ahead and put the wire loom on the easy to reach parts. If anyone is interested I used the Painless kit. It was around $120ish and works great. If your doing long runs get the stupid little tool to help. Its worth a million bux and saves your finger tips. The only thing I would do is not use the rubber self vulcanizing tape and get a roll of the fabric style. You will see it later on in some of my pictures but I think the fabric looks alot cleaner and is easier to use.
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Then the dash work started. Ill skip the boring pictures of figuring out the switches and what not and just post up stuff that might be interesting. The 2 connectors on the hazard switch and the flasher unit are just for testing/troubleshooting. I remove those later for final installation.
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Almost forgot the horn!
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Gotta have a radio of some sort. Ill probably go with a smaller head unit in the future but this one happened to be just laying around.
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Here is what the jungle looked like prior to installing loom and cleaning up a few things.
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Annnnd after. (this part took a good number of days)
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Bulkhead connector for the power box. This should make removing the harness if necessary alot easier.
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Final power distribution box. I think it came out pretty nice. Bulkhead connectors for the harness, power and ground.
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e any of that anymore so all I needed was the face plate.
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And she almost looks like a car again. (sorta) Everything is working at the moment. (to include the horn that I got a pin crossed up on the relay so it blew at 34534 decibels when I first put power too it.
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Thanks for following! Ill have some more to post in a few weeks.
 

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Thanks! It's certainly tedious but it seems to pay off in small increments. I've got the interior just about done so I should have another update with pictures soon.
 
Suscribed!!!
Inspiring, Impressive and Amazing!:hellyeah:
Are there are any updates!!??
 
I should be studying for my finals but I had to read through this!! This is a "dream" build, I love the attention to detail and not taking short cuts. Definitely subbed to this thread! Good luck on the rest of the project!
 
Thanks guys! The cars been down for 10 years so doing it correctly and taking a little longer is worth it for me.
 
Its been a while but good progress has been made. My laptop died and making posts like this on my phone are a pain in the butt.

I finished up the last of the wiring and got the power distribution box mounted like I wanted too. I also got the bulkhead connectors and circuit breakers installed for the starter and alternator. (better safe than sorry)

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I've still got to work on the mounting of the cable behind the clutch pedal. Its a little too close for comfort with the pedal all the way to the floor.
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The circuit breaker and fuse in the hatch area are a trial placement. I think I am going to have some clearance issues with interior panels and my electric cutoff switch mounting idea.
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I wanted to temporarily fit the interior before doing the roll cage to make sure I had everything and so I could get the wiring harness where it needed to be. Finding all the pieces was the hard part. Good thing I have 2 parts cars. I wanted to go with an all black interior so I had to do some more painting. The door panels are out of the 1999 GS that I got.
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Next I wanted to get a motor and transmission in the car to do some measuring and what not. I have a spare empty block and head sitting around so I cleaned them up and found some head bolts. I don't currently have an assembled AWD transmission but I do have a FWD so I just bolted that up for the time being to fill the space.
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I got my diff mounts in so I pulled the rear subframe back out to install the diff mounts, billet mains and install the diff cover. I did see a few people with a gusset to help support the 4th mount on the subframe so I decided it wouldn't hurt to add one here as well. My welding is getting better but could still use some work. haha
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Now more fab work. I want to be able to use the hatch floor area as the firewall for the fuel cell so I had to do alot of measuring before ordering the fuel cell... and I was still off a little. I want a little more ground clearance in the back than I got with the 16 gallon fuel cell. To counter this I made a little skid plate the goes under the sump. This is more to save the plastic from driveway scrapes than to be structural. I also wanted to be sure that if it did catch something that it would dig into the fuel cell so that took some more measuring. I also got the battery box beefed up a little and installed.
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Next onto my grand idea of the switch panel on the back of the car. I wanted it to go where the license plate is but be able to keep it hidden for street driving without a whole bunch of effort going into it. I still have some kinks to work out but here is what i have so far.
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Now you see it...
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Now you don't!
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I also decided it was finally time to clean all the dust and pollen off the car.
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Thanks for following!
 
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