Tiny Update...

Been a few months, not much has changed due to work changing my schedule due to people being "sick". But I did end up tearing the cyl head apart because I apparently forgot to drill the head bolt holes out the extra 1mm for the 6 bolt studs. Did all that, got the head back together and it's just sitting on the block now with a few of the studs keeping it from falling off. I bought the ARP studs new and now have one I can't remove the nut from, and 2 studs that are stripped in the hole that the Allen wrench sits. So I bought a set of oem bolts to use. Not going high horsepower or anything, so ARPs weren't really necessary. Oh well. I did get a new oem clutch reservoir for the billet mount. Will be getting a new brake reservoir soon as well.

New Year, New Parts...

I've done a bit of updates to the project since my last post. Got some parts on order that'll be here in a few weeks, or less. I've gotten tired of my car being pushed aside by, unfortunately, more important crap. So this year, the car will be revived.

The only things keeping me from dropping the engine and trans into the car, are camshafts, timing belt, and bolting on the clutch and trans. That shall be taken care of in the next week or two when I get my orders in. Went and threw in some new adjustable cam gears as well. Decided to treat myself. Ordered a new oil pan, as my current one has been abused for years. Nothing fancy, just a new replacement. Got a new brake fluid reservoir coming, and a few other parts I've been wanting for a while. These parts will be it for a little while. Should be all I need to get the engine running. After that I'll be tackling suspension enhancements, the car badly needs it. It has all the new shocks I put on my old Talon, but a lot of other parts need replacement.

Anyway, I've tinkered a bit with what I already have here. I decided to bypass the FIAV, and do it the free way (found here: https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/free-fiav-block.391977/ ). I decided to do this mainly to just get rid of crap that's not necessary (to me). This isn't going to be a DD car, so I'll be ok with higher idle in colder weather. If not, I can at least reverse it, and buy a new water pipe. I cut the pipe off the main pipe that routes water to the throttle body. Looks a lot better I think, cleans up the clutter.







Before:


After:


I'm gonna search around town this week for a place to weld up the open hole in the pipe. I also swapped the ECT sensor from the front of the t-stat housing to the rear so the wiring won't be stressed by reaching a couple inches further. I will also be eliminating the two extra ports on the housing that were used for the FIAV. Will have whatever welding shop I use fill those holes too, then I'll sand/file them flush and repaint it.

More updates after my parts come in.

I guess you don't need a heater core since you cut off the coolant going to it? I like the way getting the smaller pipes off makes a different to the person. I remember getting rid of my small turbo and cooler take offs and it looks much better to me but still stock to everyone else

Sh!t... I forgot about the heater core.. oh well, I'll get it back. Got another pipe. Gonna have to clean it up and make it serviceable.

spyderdrifter said:

Shit... I forgot about the heater core.. oh well, I'll get it back. Got another pipe. Gonna have to clean it up and make it serviceable.

Click to expand...

Oh my im glad i mentioned it now haha. You could weld it back on still

True. Sucks I just made more work for myself. At least it's not a huge issue. Thanks Bobby.

spyderdrifter said:

True. Sucks I just made more work for myself. At least it's not a huge issue. Thanks Bobby.

Click to expand...

Nah very simple fix

Lol... I can't help it. Here I went with the SS water pipe with out a heater core .

NWHTanK said:

Lol... I can't help it. Here I went with the SS water pipe with out a heater core .

Click to expand...

Where did you get the SS water pipe from? I've seen them, but don't remember what vendor has them.

The Parts Update...

I finally got a bit of time today since I'm off work to update what I've bought for the car. I had cam shafts on this order, but they ended up being out if stock, so this will be part of the build at a later date. I did get some HKS cam gears though, along with an HKS timing belt.




Been wanting these cam gears for a very long time.

Got JM Fab clutch and brake caps and one of their fuel rails. All black of course...





Got some new Prothane mounts and steel braided oil feed and clutch lines.



Last is a new oil pan since the current one needs a retirement, and a huge impulse buy. S90 74mm throttle body. Didn't necessarily need it, but wanted it. It looks great and opens so smoothly. It won't be used for a while, and will be stored until I can get a Magnus intake manifold.





I got a few little items coming in today like seals and gaskets, and new silicone lines to replace the few vac and water lines I have left. I will be getting a new fuel filter upgrade and adjustable regulator that both have -6AN lines, and the new rail is -10AN. So got a couple fittings for that reduction showing up today as well.

Dude those caps are fire!!! I never knew jmf made those! I need them, where did you purchase?

my98gsx said:

Dude those caps are fire!!! I never knew jmf made those! I need them, where did you purchase?

Click to expand...

I got them from ExtremePSi. I have seen them on JM Fab's web page as well. Same price either way. I think you'd probably receive them faster through ExtremePSi though. I placed the order on Tuesday, package arrived on Saturday. You do have to supply your own rubber parts for each cap though.

More Progress...

I've done a little bit more in my spare minutes of free time. I got my new braided clutch line installed along with a new clutch master cylinder. All plumbed up nicely to the new reservoir, bracket, and cap.





I got a new slave cylinder too, but that'll go on later once the engine and trans are in the car.

Also got all my mounts finished up.



Pulled off my oem fuel filter and currently building a list of fuel components to bump up the engines performance.

Relief...

This has been a job I've put off for too long, I decided to remove my front subframe to finally work on the broken compression arm bolt stuck in the body. Well I was wrong. The bolt did indeed shear off, however, it wasn't in the body. Thankfully it bolts to the subframe itself. Happy to be wrong, and no longer have that issue bugging me. All I have to do is pull it out of the subframe itself.




Since the subframe was out, I decided to throw the engine and trans back in. This way I can start routing more silicone water lines for proper length and work on the wire tuck I've been wanting to do. Gotta decide where I want to put the fuse box now. I also have to decide on what to do with the cruise control. I did want to keep it, but tuck it too, but may be more of a hassle, and this car isn't going to be a DD anyway. Will figure that out I guess. Looks way better without it in the way though.

Another Parts Delivery...

This might be my last major update for a while. Not because the car is being sidelined, but because I'll be doing a lot of little crap. Will make a larger update when the time is right though.

I finally got new camshafts, Kelford 272s, and bought ARP cam gear bolts to go with the new gears. Couldn't justify having nice new parts, with old hardware.





Added more to the fuel system parts with a FuelLab fuel filter and line set. Perfectly in all black to match.



Got a new friction disc for my Fidanza flywheel.



New clutch cap, only to have the seal for the JMF cap I bought.



Which I promptly swapped...





Got some new oem flywheel to crank bolts, and pressure plate to flywheel bolts. Always a good investment.

Also bought a Prosport Evo volt meter (to match my other gauges) so I can monitor that info too.



I decided to install some of these parts, temporarily at least, to get an idea of what needs to be done next, or what needs to be modified to accommodate what I'm going for. The fuel filter doesn't sit where it should, and can't really be secured in the normal location since that spot is occupied by the proportioning valve.




So I'm going to move it here since I removed all the emissions parts, and the battery will end up in the trunk.



You can also see I'm in the process of that wire tuck finally...



... but more on the tuck in a future post.

Since deciding to axe cruise control, I got a 94 Galant cruise cable from a friend, and installed it. It's a bit longer than needed, but it seems like it'll work for now, until I can find a non-cruise version.




I'll be getting an AFPR in the near future too, so I decided to test the line from the filter kit, and like others, I'll need to trim my cam gear cover.



Not much else for now, got plenty to tinker with until my next batch of parts get ordered. Still so much more to work on.

A Long Wait...?!? Pt.1...

It's been 2 years since I did anything on this build. I've deleted the posts, but the grey Spyder I found in Sacramento got left behind due to the trailer it was on breaking, and I got screwed over in the process. Can only blame myself. Uhaul wouldn't give me a tow dolly because they claim an eclipse doesn't have enough ground clearance to sit on one. So because of that, I claimed I was towing an Integra. I don't get their bullsh!t since Integras have similar clearance. Whatever. I lied to them, and as a result, they wouldn't bring me another trailer. Oh well, I moved on. Came back home pissed at the world that I lost a near perfect Spyder body and it was my fault (the trailer breaking was all their fault for shitty maintenance). I decided then, that I had been dealing with this platform for 19 years, and there was nothing to show for it except some old parts, and a bunch of new parts I wasted money on and no longer had a chassis for them. So I sold most of it. Kept the engine I built since no one wanted to spend what I was asking, even though it was a good deal. I still wanted another Spyder, but kept trying to ignore the thought. Then I happened to be shown a post of the grey Spyder being parted out by the salvage yard that it was towed to after I left it, so I reached out. The guy said they wanted $2k for it. It wasn't ideal, to me, but figured fine, I'll buy my car back, and made a deal with the guy. The following day, he told me he sold the wheels off it. That pushed my patience to the end. I flipped out on him over the phone. Asked why the hell he was selling parts off my car that we made a deal on. He claimed there was no such deal and they still had to honor anyone wanting to buy parts from it. I told him to go f@&k himself. That was the final push for me to decide to abandon my car hobby altogether, and put me at an all time low. I spent the entire time since with nothing but the few random parts I haven't recycled yet, and the engine still. One of friends asked me if I'd be interested in building his Mighty Max. So I agreed, I missed the tinkering, and the hobby. It made me miss these cars more, and I decided to half-ass look for another one thinking I'd probably find one, but then decide to not waste the money. I was wrong. I found one, and local. Only about 60 miles away. Body is in better condition than the grey one, minus the top needs to be replaced. Interior needs some help, but the body is what counts more to me. The rest can all be fixed. And it came with a bunch of parts and an extra engine. So here I am, either fulfilling my desire for another one, or punishing myself with more DSM problems. Who knows, I got another one, so I don't care. I'm just going to build it and enjoy it, and figure it out along the way.

Welcome back sir!!! Congrats on the new project and let me know if you need anything/help.

Thanks bro. I appreciate the offer.

Welcome back. We’ve all been disillusioned and taken breaks. You have more perspective now.

Pt.2...

I'm now the 4th owner of this Spyder, and it is claimed to have been garaged for most of its life. It started out as a N. Carolina car and made its way to Colorado being exchanged through 2 friends. The body Is in great condition minus a couple little dings that should pull out fine with a little PDR.

The previous owner told me the soft top only leaks from the rear window and this unfortunate tear. So the top will get replaced at some point.




I haven't taken any interior shots yet, so this is what I got from the seller ad. I still have no clue what's in the parts box in the back seat. I forgot to grab that before tucking the car away. Maybe sometime in the next few weeks I'll go over to my friend's place, uncover the car, and do some cleaning of the interior and bring that box home along with all the other stray parts.



It'll need attention like any of these cars, but from first glance, it doesn't look too bad. Just needs a good cleaning and a couple parts replaced.



Engine area needs to be cleaned up as well, but also not horrible. Has some upgrades that I've peeked at, like adjustable cam gears, an FP manifold, and upgraded engine mounts. Once I get the car home, it'll be torn down again so I can see what all was actually done to it. Plus there's things left that I don't agree with, and would never do myself, like leave the valve cover on with no bolts.... So the engine, although "rebuilt/built", it'll need to be rebuilt yet again and cleaned out before running it. Didn't take a pic of it yet, but among the 4 bins of parts, it came with a TD05H with zero shaft play, and is pretty clean considering it was sitting in a bin with light oily parts. I could just yank this engine out though and throw in the engine I built a couple years ago, still with zero miles on it. I probably will, but until then, it too could use a partial tear down just to verify torques, cleanliness, and timing before throwing it in.




This was the most concerned area for me. After my GSX was found to have the severely dented floor pan, and rotting floor rails, I wasn't going to overlook that again. This one proved to be worth it. The areas that look like it "could" be rust, is just a bit of dirt. Floor pan is in great condition considering the age. Has the little dent/ding on the rails and pinch welds in areas, but still nothing major. It can all be straightened or pulled out again. Just apply a little heat and brute force.




No rust on the strut towers either, so that's great too. Only spot I didn't get to check was where the top folds into, since the last owner said the window leaked. That'll be for next time I see the car. She's tucked away under 3 car covers in my friend's shed, since his Mighty Max is in my garage getting its' build. If anything, this Spyder will provide the motivation to finish his truck sooner so I can start my car's build. Until that happens, this is where the updates will stop, for now. Hopefully it'll only be a few short months, my goal is beginning of the summer.

Nice. Looks like a decent car.

Fantastic news! Welcome Back!

Thanks, happy to he back. Anxious to get working on her.

Pt.3...

Made it out the Spyder today to get the parts box I forgot. Turns out it's just rusty clutch parts and a horribly rusty crankshaft, that one will go "In the Bin!" (Love those guys). Got a few interior shots as well.



This is not a oem gauge face set unfortunately. Only hope the gauges got calibrated after the faces went on.


These gauges will all get replaced with the Prosport gauges I kept from the last one.


Driver switch panel looks to be in good condition, too bad it isn't black.


Here's what the roof around the rear glass looks like. No wonder it leaks.


And she's stored like this, 3 covers deep.