99 GSX Rebirth/Clean-Up/Build

[bettfootball]

This one:
View attachment 770370

Just giving you shit, man. But I'm a little bummed out that you think I didn't know that was a water pump bolt to be completely honest with you. You know I've taken this car completely apart and got every bolt blasted and zinc plated, right?

 

[Justin DuBois]

Just giving you shit, man. But I'm a little bummed out that you think I didn't know that was a water pump bolt to be completely honest with you. You know I've taken this car completely apart and got every bolt blasted and zinc plated, right?

Hehe - Sure I know you know. The subject is juicy - I just wanted to make sure your followers get the info.

 

[bettfootball]

Yeah good point haha

 

[fourgsixty3]

Hehe - Sure I know you know. The subject is juicy - I just wanted to make sure your followers get the info.

No one is following him. Boring build.

 

[bettfootball]

I wanted to make it to at least one car meet this summer so that meant I needed to button up the interior. I basically had the center console and the under dash panels off because I was waiting to get a few hundred miles in before finalizing the engine harness. But since it is easy enough to remove these panels I went ahead and installed the interior 99% to give it a good cleaning and look presentable for the car show.

Doing this let me also start a list of things I still need for the interior for it to be 100%.

-I need two of the little gray clips that hold the 3rd brake light cover on.
-I would like to get a plug 3D printed for the wiper stalk hole in the steering column that I removed.
-I would like to get a new A-Pillar gauge pod. Mine has two holes in it, and I would like to redo one with a single screw. Very minor..
-I would like to get all the windows tinted 35% or around there, including the windshield.

-I don't have a solution at the moment for the Recaros, but I know I don't like the seating position at the moment. It's just too high. I could lower them almost 2" probably if I had some custom brackets. Maybe a project for the winter. I cannot believe no one is making a bracket for these. The Planted brackets I got were over $300 for the pair. $360 I believe. I just wanted them in a hurry and didn't want to fab up my own so I bit the bullet on them.

-I also want to get the centers of the rear seats redone to match the front seats. Probably just alcantera insert with red stitching to match would be sweeeeeet.

-I spent some time cleaning the wheels/tires as well as a full wash with some new adams polishes products I picked up. The wheel cleaner and tire shine are amazing.
-I really want to get a full paint correction / ceramic coating soon also..

Peace!

 

[jesse12345]

I also bought those planted seat brackets and they were awful. I had to customize them heavily and the holes had to be drilled out because they didn't line up. In the end the seats sat way to high so I tossed them all to the side. That was very disappointing to say the least. I saw on ebay someone is making brackets that cost half of what the planted ones cost and they look way more low profile, I may give those a try. Your seats don't look bad at all with what you have, the tops of mine were just about hitting the roof.

Anyways awesome setup and very very clean car. Maybe one day I'll have something like that.

 

[fourgsixty3]

I'm not sure if it's possible with the a-pillars currently sold but what I did back in the day is to glue the gauge pod a- pillar on top of the factory piece. No holes to drill, no screws.

 

[bettfootball]

I'm not sure if it's possible with the a-pillars currently sold but what I did back in the day is to glue the gauge pod a- pillar on top of the factory piece. No holes to drill, no screws.

I've definitely seen this, but the ones currently available are absolutely made to be 100% replacements. They just have no mounting provisions. A single screw works great IMO, and you can get the screws with the color matched head cap.

I'm surprised there isn't more information on how people mount their gauge pods on the forums. I've tried a ton of no-drill methods, but nothing ever lasts. One screw gets the job done.

 

[bettfootball]

I believe it's an Acura PN, but it's an off the shelf plug that'll fit the wiper and antenna holes. Could probably dig up the info on here.

I do not have a wiper hole, and I use the antenna for the OEM radio still.

 

[gsxitement]

I wanted to make it to at least one car meet this summer so that meant I needed to button up the interior. I basically had the center console and the under dash panels off because I was waiting to get a few hundred miles in before finalizing the engine harness. But since it is easy enough to remove these panels I went ahead and installed the interior 99% to give it a good cleaning and look presentable for the car show.

Doing this let me also start a list of things I still need for the interior for it to be 100%.

-I need two of the little gray clips that hold the 3rd brake light cover on.
-I would like to get a plug 3D printed for the wiper stalk hole in the steering column that I removed.
-I would like to get a new A-Pillar gauge pod. Mine has two holes in it, and I would like to redo one with a single screw. Very minor..
-I would like to get all the windows tinted 35% or around there, including the windshield.

View attachment 770716

-I don't have a solution at the moment for the Recaros, but I know I don't like the seating position at the moment. It's just too high. I could lower them almost 2" probably if I had some custom brackets. Maybe a project for the winter. I cannot believe no one is making a bracket for these. The Planted brackets I got were over $300 for the pair. $360 I believe. I just wanted them in a hurry and didn't want to fab up my own so I bit the bullet on them.

-I also want to get the centers of the rear seats redone to match the front seats. Probably just alcantera insert with red stitching to match would be sweeeeeet.


View attachment 770718


-I spent some time cleaning the wheels/tires as well as a full wash with some new adams polishes products I picked up. The wheel cleaner and tire shine are amazing.
-I really want to get a full paint correction / ceramic coating soon also..

View attachment 770723

View attachment 770724

View attachment 770725

Peace!

f*** it looks good.

 

[fourgsixty3]

I've definitely seen this, but the ones currently available are absolutely made to be 100% replacements. They just have no mounting provisions. A single screw works great IMO, and you can get the screws with the color matched head cap.

I'm surprised there isn't more information on how people mount their gauge pods on the forums. I've tried a ton of no-drill methods, but nothing ever lasts. One screw gets the job done.

I was surprised at how well mine covered the OEM a-pillar so I just glued it on top and made some holes in the back for the wiring. No issues even with the heavy old school Greddy gauges and the stiff suspension setup.

 

[bettfootball]

I had the Mitsubishi Cookout scheduled on the calendar so I wanted to wrap up the Prius power steering swap. It was pretty straight forward, just a little tight to work under the dash obviously. But this is easily one of the best mods I've done in a longgggggg time. It is so nice to have power steering back.

I didn't take a single picture at the Mitsu Cookout, but someone snapped some amazing pics of all the cars there.

Peace!

 

[pboglio]

For the timing cover, try and find a rubber grommet that would fit or upsize it. I'd personally want to cover the hole.

 

[jamel16]

It looks amazing, very nice build

 

[bettfootball]

For the timing cover, try and find a rubber grommet that would fit or upsize it. I'd personally want to cover the hole.

The only reason there is a hole is because the bolt is too big. If I put a grommet it will just hit the bolt.

 

[Bergfoot]

This is beautiful, I will be saving this build to reference. Awesome work!

 

[Idle_Serge]

Hey!

I got some new 235 40 on the wheels to fit a little better, I also raised the car up 1/2" and nothing rubs! Love the way it looks. I want to get a camber kit up front to bring the tops of the tire in but other than that I love the new wheels.

View attachment 580588Untitled by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

View attachment 580589Untitled by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

View attachment 580590Untitled by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

View attachment 580591Untitled by Brady Dingeldein, on Flickr

Peace!

-Brady

Maaaan, I had to dig into the old post to find the wheel specs but was only able to see the width. Could you elaborate on the full specs? 18X9.5 with I'm assuming around +30 offset?

Sidenote - we should all aspire to build with the level of commitment you have shown throughout this thread. Godly level.

 

[bettfootball]

Maaaan, I had to dig into the old post to find the wheel specs but was only able to see the width. Could you elaborate on the full specs? 18X9.5 with I'm assuming around +30 offset?

Sidenote - we should all aspire to build with the level of commitment you have shown throughout this thread. Godly level.

Standard Evo Volk Specs, 18x9.5+22!

 

[bettfootball]

So I noticed a tiny leak from my transfer case output seal and wanted to get that taken care of.

When I had the car lifted up I noticed the axle boot on the right front was rubbing the LCA ball-joint nut and slinging grease everywhere......

SO frustrating. So I had to pull all the crap down there and clean it up. Our 2g axle situation is just so frustrating in general. All these OE axles are all just different. I wish we had a solid solution for ALL the axles.

You can see the boot on the old (bottom) axle is just way different and has too much rubber or something on the boot.

At least now I know that's something you should look at while getting OE axles from rockauto or AutoZone / oreilys etc.

 

[gsxitement]

So frustrating.

 

[Doubleot]

That almost looks like they used the wrong boot, it's giant.

 

[miguelmcv]

They all come with that kind of boot, the OEM is thicker.,
I had so many problems with the aftermarket once, so I found an OEM in the junkyard and I stick with it, I rebuild one of them and the other still holding after 4 years, I do clean the boots once a while when I do oil change.

Find an OEM and rebuild it when need it, that’s your best bet if you don’t want to change axles so often.

 

[chrisman287]

I sealed a boot with silicone and it’s been holding up great

 

[Noranuzoki]

I took it to MOD this year, first time it has been to any kind of show really.

View attachment 498508

Well that pretty much took all of the summer and I had to put it under wraps, in a new garage, while I went to school at Iowa State.


Here are some pictures of it that I took right before I left for school.

View attachment 498509

View attachment 498510

View attachment 498511

View attachment 498512

I went back another weekend and took some interior shots since I haven't really taken pictures of that before.

View attachment 498513

View attachment 498514

View attachment 498515


My girlfriends mother goes to Germany a couple times a year so I figured it would be a good way for me to get some rare parts from over seas.

View attachment 498516

I went back and put them on/wired them up, thanks to the spidey write up here on tuners.

View attachment 498517

View attachment 498518

Ever since the BSE I've had some pretty high oil pressure so over break I decided to port the OFH.

View attachment 498519

View attachment 498520

I also took the time over break to fix my camber via the bolts in the upper arms in the rear, and also to put some spacers on all four to bring the tires out to be a little more flush.


View attachment 498521

View attachment 498522

View attachment 498523

View attachment 498524

You know what's crazy? When I was still in high school I had a background picture of your car on my phone. That was before I could even drive yet alone buy/own my DSM. So another words, I love the car.

I just happen to find a picture of this car with google. I was searching for a DSM I really liked. And it just so happen that this one was it. Small internet world.

 

[bettfootball]

You know what's crazy? When I was still in high school I had a background picture of your car on my phone. That was before I could even drive yet alone buy/own my DSM. So another words, I love the car.

I just happen to find a picture of this car with google. I was searching for a DSM I really liked. And it just so happen that this one was it. Small internet world.

Haha that's crazy! Yes small world, but even smaller DSM community.