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Trying to keep it “stock”: Mr OEM

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Also finally stopped procrastinating and pulled the rear lights and bumper off to clean and restore the area and found a dirty little secret she had hiding. Does not look too bad and explains why the key was kinda “hard” to turn in the trunk and the rear lights were just a couple mm offset from each other. Never know with these cars right??!

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This is why I am doing so much work too btw. Once I am able to get access to all the frame rails I am spraying and cleaning everything and this is an example of the dirt and grit that comes out.. no rust anywhere (just on rear rocker panels) though so SUPER happy about that.

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So I have definitely been slacking on getting updates on here. So here are a few from the slow restoration of the suspension/drivetrain/ and frame. I have spent sooo many hours under the car and got it all the way down to frame and body. All fuel lines and brake lines are off and slowly removing the paint and light rust and then priming it.

Also finally sprayed the differential rear cover and treated the diff housing too.

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After all the hours under the car, only to the second driveshaft mount area. Takes forever to get in all the areas and get it all the way down to metal. Just put a shot of the tunnel in here to show how much work it can be to bring these cars all the way back!!
 
Also finished all the fuel component restoration as well. The tank and straps are sprayed in 3M rubberized compound and the rest are in rustoleum truck bed lining for harder protection. I took everything down as far as I could including the fuel neck and then put everything back together with new hardware and a zinc lube for best rust protections.

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So finally got around to finishing the undercarriage and frame... it took soooo much work and so much time but it came out amazing and will last forever. So happy there was not rust on anything and no broken bolts. Would have been a breeze with a portable media blast machine but then it would need to be on a lift or rotisserie. I just did it that hard way and with hard work.

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Now needed to redo all the crap seam sealer and make it better than stock, so used near and better seam sealer on EVERY seam and even some that were not sealed from the factory. Came out really good but takes forever to cure. 92hrs in fact haha. But it was worth it and next I am priming and treating then undercoating everything..


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I want to try and give anyone doing this resto to please be careful when applying the undercoat while crawling under the car!!! I used the professional grade rust oleum undercoating and I have to say.. it’s amazing. However, it smells awful while it is drying!!! I wore a respirator the entire time I was adding coats and of course when I took breaks I knew the smell was strong in the garage but figured it would go away over a short time. I was very wrong.. it took a full three days for the smell to go away INSIDE the house and another two for the garage LOL. Plus it mists everywhere while spraying so please wear your goggles too. I did and it for sure saved paint on me and the respirator is a must.


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So now comes the fun part!!!! Starting to put everything back together. I waited a full week to start messing with the frame, and so far I just have the brake lines in the back routed. But like I said I wanted this to be one of the cleanest OEM or better GSX out there so I am using all new hardware for every single bolt and washer I can. Here is the small progress so far.

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Got around the getting the rear suspension parts out and sent to the powder coaters here is a look at the before and after for the subframe. The subframe came out amazing and worth every penny to get it so clean and covered correct. Here is a look at the before and after. HUGE difference and so clean now.





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Pressed in the new bushings I got from @Gsx-Dude too and can’t wait to feel the difference. Used the homemade way of sockets and nuts/washers to press everything in.

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Alright, back to the grind getting more routed and things installed. Got the fuel lines ran thanks to @Kai Hefner and his amazing 3D printed parts! If you are needing some things made you HAVE to get in contact with him. His stuff is so quality and perfect design. Made the install so clean and easy.


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Well decided to turn my attention to the interior part and clean it up as well. Continuing on the quest to make it one of the cleanest GSX out there. Cleaned up some small areas of surface rust and after everything dries I am going to start getting the wires ran back like oem. All the tunnel parts/brackets/ebrake stuff are all at the powder coaters getting cleaned up and sprayed.

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Well I am not super happy with it but I finally got the fuel hose ironed out and assembled. In the end I went with a Ford Focus hose and a gates fuel hose with the adapter for the two different sizes. Had a small leak at the tank entry until I tightened the t-clamp on torque with the drill hahahaha.

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A lot has been done since my last update so just doing to photo dump everything... got the entire fuel system leak checked and done, dsmlink v3 ECU changed out, fuel pressure sensor wired into input monitoring, ENTIRE suspension up and torqued finally!!! Abs sensors resolved, and all interior wiring ran and super cleaned up!!

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Also forgot to say I had ALL the interior tunnel parts cleaned and powder coated. Came out amazing and super clean too. Broke down the axles and did the rebuild trick listed on here for getting new 2G AWD axles. Worked perfect!!

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Got the hubs and ebrake components mounted. If you have never done work with ebrake shoes and parts you are in for a huge treat. They suck, and are a pain in the ass. Need like 5 hands to be able to hold springs etc in place and get pins in. I bet there are probably specialty tools designed specifically for the work but just stayed patient and got it done. Turned out good though! Oh and cut the lip off the shield to make room for the evo X brembos I am putting on the rear. Then painted them and test mounted the new Ecs evo x rotors.

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Made more progress on the restoration. Finally got around to rebuilding the driveshaft. I have been putting it off for a while now and I remembered why. It’s a huge pain. Having three sections flop around and pressing the spiders joints in turned into a lot of work. But thanks to all the help from the guys @rtmracing for helping me out with all the parts for the rebuild. Made it so much easier and cleaner knowing all parts were oem and all there.

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So figured while I had the driveshaft out I would pull the transfer case and give it some love too! So broke it down and checked all the lashings and got new oem hardware to rebuild it. Came and apart and went back together with no issues. Stripped it to bare metal on all parts and coated the fwd casing and cover in por-15 then painted the rear two housings and dust cover. Everything is within spec according to the rebuild manual so super happy with it.

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