y33 Build , a little different

Hey all, 
Thought I would start logging my build. 
I gave an overview when I did the intro in the new members deal but a recap would be good I suppose.

Picked up a 97 Q about 3 ish months back, always wanted one ( I am a Nissan / Subaru guy ) and am a mechanic by trade although I now teach high performance engine theory at a local vo-tech school. I am a roadracer etc so I want to not only have the look of the vip cars that i love so much but also keep some performance in mind. I routinley drive twisty roads etc and nitpick the handling of all my cars so that will be a biggie for me.

Anyway, I found this car on craigs for 950.00 needing some body work and the power steering didnt work ( turned out to be the previous owners changed the power steering pump and never bled it , so it was a 15 minute job to fix ) 

so on to some pics, when I first got it it looked like this [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/driver%20side%201.jpg[/IMG]

and the banged up side [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/pass%20side2.JPG[/IMG]

so first thing was to start on some body work, 
I replaced the front fender, and started on the 1/4 panel , as it sits this second the quarter is roughed out and ready for some filler ( going to repaint the whole car when we do it ) [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/quarter%20rough.JPG[/IMG]

so thats the start, in my next post I will show how to shorten a strut housing and what the car looks like dropped!!

Ok,
so as I said I am picky about my suspension. My problem is, I want this thing LOW but , I dont want to sacrifice handling that an air ride setup will get me, nor do I think importing a set of coilovers from japan is easy or cost effective. A friend of mine with a q is doing the S14 conversion on the front but I didnt really like that route either ( namely the loss of the front swaybar ) . So I started looking at the suspension and decided to go a different route, I am using coilover hardware from ground control ( worked with them MANY times on projects when I had my shop ) along with some springs I spec'ed the spring rate on. I also decided for as low as I wanted the car if the suspension was going to work I needed to find more travel in the front,  I have achieved this by shortening the strut housings. A pictorial How To is to follow on that process:

Ok, step one of this whole deal is to remove your front strut, now this process is the same with ANY strut suspended car, so regardless of the vehicle , as long as it has a strut and you can get a strut INSERT you can do this.

so , strut removed , remove the gland nut on top of the strut housing ( this is the big nut on the top that keeps the insert in the strut housing, some of these housings are what are referred to as a "wet housing" so be sure to be aware there may be fluid in there ) Once you have pulled the insert out, pour out any fluid that may be in the housing and then grab your inserts you will be using. I happen to be using koni's out of the front of a WRX, even though the vehicle is lighter, these are adjustable, and the heavier vehicle will soften the effective feel anyway ( which is a big deal if you want a good ride ) so, at this point the strut should look like this:[IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut%201.JPG[/IMG]

now grab your insert, put it in the housing and tighten the gland nut down, the insert will be loose ( these specific inserts are 2" shorter than the stock Q inserts ) . We will now measure how much to shorten the housing. So with the insert in, push it all the way down and wrap some masking tape right at the gland nut like so: [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut2.JPG[/IMG]

Ok, now pull the insert up ( make sure that it comes all the way up and doesnt hit the edge of the gland nut stopping it short ) , mark this spot with masking tape:
[IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut%203.JPG[/IMG]

Now , remove the gland nut and pull the insert out and grab your measuring tape, we are going to measure from the bottom edge of the lower tape marking to the bottom edge of the top tape marking, that measurement will be how much we will shorten the housing [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut4.JPG[/IMG]

I usually will add an additional 1/8" to the number to allow the gland nut to tighten well against the insert. so first things first, cut off the spring perch from the housing [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut5.JPG[/IMG]

Now with that removed cut the housing AT THE LOWEST POINT POSSIBLE, in the case of the Q that is right above the sway bar mount, once you do that cut the amount you are shortening the housing off of the top piece ( the piece with the threads on it ) you should have something that looks like this [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut6.JPG[/IMG]

now its time to put it back together!
I use the original strut insert to line everything up square, be SURE to get all the fluid off the parts and clean the pieces to BARE METAL where you will be welding ( SIDE NOTE: you need to be good at structual welding for this, do NOT do this if you cannot trust your welds, your strut takes severe stress and will BREAK if this is not done right. If you cant do this part take it to someone who can ) 
This pic shows the parts lined up before welding [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut7.JPG[/IMG]

and after the welding is done [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut8.JPG[/IMG]

now, I am using what GC calls a "D" ring for perches, it allows more clearance for the tire/wheel etc, so slide this on to above the welded point, make sure its straight!! and weld [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut9.JPG[/IMG]

and welded
 [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut_10.JPG[/IMG]

ok, now clean everything, paint it with something that wont let it rust. and slide your new insert in and tighten the gland nut down. once thats done you can put your hardware on ( you may have to cut the threaded sleeve if it sticks up past the gland nut ) [IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/strut_11.JPG[/IMG]

and thats it, this allowed me approx 1 7/8 more travel out of the front, the car rides very well and is very low. Now I forgot to get pics of the springs on with the rest of the hardware ( it was getting late ) but I will snap some when I do my custom camber plates.

hope this is at least interesting to someone!!

oh and what the car now looks like ( yes I did lower the rear as well )[IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/lowered2.JPG[/IMG]


it will look waaay better when my wheels finally get here ( hopefully next week )[IMG]http://driftsub.com/q/resize/newwheels1.JPG[/IMG]

tomorrow I am hopefully doing the camber plates so I will post some pics of that if I can.

this is awesome. can't wait to see how this Y33 comes out.

This really is some cool shit! Im excited!! Are those weds?

coo nice diy thread ... those wheels are gonna HELLA need spacers though ... those cars can fit anything in there (no homo)

Wow, your automotive knowledge and ingenuity really show! I cant wait to see what this car turns into. And as "Bippu PxrLex" mentioned, those wheels are weak for Y33, mainly the front hi disk.

Great work.  I gave you some rep points.  Like mentioned above, the wheel offsets are most likely too high for a Y33.  I recomend placing the wheels on the car and messuring the edge of the lip to the fenders to figure out how big of a spacer you will need.  Good luck.

nice build and great info.... can't wait to see the wheels on

I agree the wheels have a higher offset than ideal for the car, the specs are ( if I remember right ) 
Rays Arthur Exchange 401
20x8.5 fr with +22
20x10.5 rr with +25

I may need spacers to get them to sit flush, which I am ok with ( a couple hours on the mill and I can get them to the exact size I need ) but I picked hi-disk front because I am planning on some rather massive brakes in the future , and honestly I love the look of the wheels. 
thanks for the replies guys, ill be sure to keep the thread updated.

as a side note, this is my normal thing, my s14 road race ( time attack actually ) car.

its mid re-build with a AEM full universal standalone, hks gt3528 , external 44mm Tial , LS1 coils etc

[IMG]http://www.driftsub.com/q/IMG_0055.JPG[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.driftsub.com/q/resize/2401.jpg[/IMG]

damn! the s14 is nice as hell too

pretty cool stuff man!are those the wheels you bought off craigslist?

very nice, this is what I had planned out and plotted for almost a full month and then the week before I was scheduled to go in and have my buddy do all the cutting and welding, a set of Y32 coils came up instead so I scrapped that plan.  Glad to see that someone is moving forward with this!  can't wait to see all the other thing you do as well as the final project!  G/L

looks like its going to be a sick build.   Love the 401s. one of my favorite full face wheels.  great choice.

Awesome work...I'm almost tempted to do the same.  

But if you were going to do all the work, why not just make a custom bracket for the stock sway bar to work with S chassis coilovers?  Was ride quality a big factor as well, because it seems like aftermarket coilovers would do just  as well (handling wisee) considering how many choices you have.  Then there's the added bonus of having an S14 and parts being somewhat interchangeable between vehicles.  For example, in a pinch, you could pull bearings/hubs, etc.

Just wondering as I'm looking to do something to my Y33 in the near future besides just the lowering springs, but am pretty adamant about keeping some semblance of a comfortable ride.

[quote=20sburning;236949]damn! the s14 is nice as hell too[/quote]


Thanks!! Ill try to get some updated pics of it.

[quote=//935GS400]looks like its going to be a sick build.   Love the 401s. one of my favorite full face wheels.  great choice[/quote]

I love them as well, which is why I am not so worried about the HI disk front =)

[quote=LS14]Awesome work...I'm almost tempted to do the same.  

But if you were going to do all the work, why not just make a custom bracket for the stock sway bar to work with S chassis coilovers? Was ride quality a big factor as well, because it seems like aftermarket coilovers would do just as well (handling wisee) considering how many choices you have. Then there's the added bonus of having an S14 and parts being somewhat interchangeable between vehicles. For example, in a pinch, you could pull bearings/hubs, etc.

Just wondering as I'm looking to do something to my Y33 in the near future besides just the lowering springs, but am pretty adamant about keeping some semblance of a comfortable ride.[/quote]

Well there were a few reasons I didnt want to do the s14 swap, and you are correct , I could have just fabricated a new sway bar mount to solve the swaybar issues, but depending on the coilover of choice that could prove to be more difficult than it would seem ( IE anything with a full threaded body ) . 

The other thing is the bearings in the s14 hubs are not designed to handle the loads of a car that wieghs what the q does, and it would have a tendancy to eat bearings especially if it was driven hard. The other thing was the ability to tune the suspension. Meaning , with this setup I can get custom valved koni's if I decide the valving wont work , I also have the ability to use eibach ers ( race line ) springs so I have access to any spring rate I want, rather than a choice of one or two different rates. I can also go to double springs in the future ( which is something I may do ) so I can basically custom tune a progressive spring rate and make the thing ride exactly how I want and handle well still. 

Oh, yes my ride quality was a major deal, this is my daily, I dont need it to ride like one of my racecars ( I have the s14 and a Datsun 510 ) and my other driver is my 02 F250 with a large lift and it rides like crap. So long story short I guess, for me this setup provided me with more long term options and more tunability as well as letting me dictate the ride I wanted :biggthumpup:

oh forgot to add, if you calculate how much the s14 front end swap will cost with coilovers and then figure what this costs, you will spend WAY less $$ =)

man 8 posts and you're already my favorite newb in recent memory.
 
i half want to ask if you considered the fact that riding low on a "comfortable" suspension will leave you scraping all over town, but i get the impression you know what you're doing. :biggthumpup:

nice custom work! keep the pics coming!

[quote=BLKonBLK98;237074]man 8 posts and you're already my favorite newb in recent memory.
 
i half want to ask if you considered the fact that riding low on a "comfortable" suspension will leave you scraping all over town, but i get the impression you know what you're doing. :biggthumpup:[/quote]

Thank you =)

Yes normally low + comfortable is a recipe for scraping everywhere, but the key is in spring rate choice, right now I have the car tucking about 3/4 " of tire in the front ( which will be damn close if not tucking rim on the new wheels ) and it rides very nice. Now its firmer than stock, which it must be in order to be lower and not hit everything.  I have yet to have it hit much, some speedbumps give me issue, but other than that its fine. If I find that the springs are too soft as is I will set it up on dual springs and go with firmer main rates which is what I did on my wrx. That car has a 225 lb/in tender ( soft spring, trapazoid shaped wire that when wound into a spring creates a rectangle shaped coil. When the car overcomes the spring rate its designed to coil bind and act as a spacer and let the main spring rate take over ) and 450 lb/in mains ( basically a race rate ) and that car rides very good, corners exceptionally flat and handles very close to my s14.

damn.. this thread gets better everytime I come to it.... keep up the great work

Wow very interesting way to slam your Y33!

Awesome...let me know if you're interested in doing a second set. :D

You are actually the second person to ask me that on here :) , yea pm me and we could figure out exactly what you are looking for in ride/height etc and figure something out.

making that money bro!

[quote=20sburning;237366]making that money bro![/quote]

lol side work is what pays for my toys :biggthumpup:

mine too... thank god for america

Nice S14. Nice start with the Y33. Fender damage = good time to flare or widebody :biggthumpup:.

Thank you! I wont be doing widebody tho , I really prefer the ultra clean look so that is my goal with this one.

Can the mods move this guy from vip-in-training. He obviously knows what he is doing :biggthumpup:

:biggthumpup: best newb ever.

hehe thanks guys, Ive been doing the car modding thing since I was twelve ( and I dont care to reveal my age cause it makes me feel old lol ) but I have had 60 vehicles since I got my drivers license ( 3 before lol I am an addict ) I dont think I have ever left one stock =)

this has started out to be an amazing thread im gonna keep my eye on this one to see how the build continues.. keep up the good work man

Nicely done cant ait to see the outcome of this...

test fit the wheels today and did a little more work on the quarter, also did my custom rear upper mounts/. 

only got pics of the wheel test fit tho...

[IMG]http://www.driftsub.com/q/resize/wheel1.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.driftsub.com/q/resize/wheel2.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.driftsub.com/q/resize/wheel3.JPG[/IMG]

Oh man.... Those wheels look so good on there... I am really loving this build

great build thread, take as many pics a long the way as possible.

goodluck and Godspeed!

DEFINATELY subscribed

so I have hit a delay, my tires didnt get shipped even tho I ordered them last sunday :sad: so I am waiting on them to get here to mount the wheels. The camber plates for the front will probably be done next weekend now ( I have a week long trip I am leaving on ) but I am still trying to figure a couple more things in my plan..

I want to do at least ..

35% titanium tint all around
get the suspension sorted the rest of the way, I think I am going to experiment with some double springs on the front to fine tune it a little.
Trying to decide on what interior mods I want, I think at the least a freshen to the seats is in order ( easy to do as my job has an uphostry dept ) 
3rd muffler delete at the least, or a full manifold back exhaust ( or build headers but that is a more involved deal ) 
I am still trying to convince myself that this is a daily driver and I dont need an extra couple hundred horsepower but man, it would be nice .... ;)

lookin good.

damn basturds.... tell em you want a refund on shippin

[QUOTE=drftsub;238661]
I am still trying to convince myself that this is a daily driver and I dont need an extra couple hundred horsepower but man, it would be nice .... ;)[/QUOTE]

I'm going through the same thing every damn day.  =)

Yea it's hard when you get used to driving fast stuff, then all of a sudden a stock engine just doesn't cut it anymore lol.

yeah really... And when you are having to haul 4000lbs around

Yup, I figure I can do somebasic engine stuff to see how that helps it out , still gotta put it up on the dyno to find out it's base power first. I figure if I do the basics then tweak the afr's a little that should do something. And if I'm still lacking a pair of turbo's at low boost could do the trick. Two t25's would work great at 6lbs and be really easy to fit. At that boost I could get away with no intercooler and basic piggyback stuff to tune for ignition and fuel, hmm Aem fic , 2 t28's and just flip the manifolds hehe, should be good for an extra hundred ish to the tire. I built a 350z for someone when they first came out and did a vortech and man that thing was fun afterwards.

yeah I did a twin turbo kit on a z and it was the shit... really addictive

LOL boost is like crack, it only takes once to get hooked. The q isthe only vehicle I own with no forced induction , driving me nuts!!

man, nice work on the suspension

Thank you!

wow! i love this thread! really interesting way to go about the suspension. that was one of the reasons i wasn't sure if i wanted a q or not i didnt want to pay an insane amount for coilovers or do a conversion. ive really enjoyed reading through the thread! 
keep it up!

loving this build.where you at in norcal man? i really like what you did with building those coilovers.

You're off to a good start man.  You'll definitely need some spacers to set it off, but those wheels will compliment it well.  It's nice to see some other road race guys in here...question though, how well do you figure the rest of your components will hold up since you've changed the over all suspension geometry?  I assume you have arms/bushings in store in the future?

Thank you, Yea now that the wheels are on I think the fronts need about 5-10mm spacer (gotta measure it still ) the rears seem pretty good but I am going to wait till after I get all my alignment stuff sorted to space those. I am planning on some bumpsteer correction of some sort, and possibly modifying the front frame rails above the tires for more suspension travel ( I want it lower ) the rear will get some one off parts to get the roll center back to the right spot etc. 
Here are a couple pics of the car with the wheels on at the beach last week ( rear is up a little cause the car was packed full of stuff on the drive down ) 
[IMG]http://www.driftsub.com/q/resize/IMG_3104.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.driftsub.com/q/resize/IMG_3105.JPG[/IMG]

[quote=urmyhero4now;240129]loving this build.where you at in norcal man? i really like what you did with building those coilovers.[/quote]

I am up in sac, thanks for the compliments!

looks good! more fitment pics after you get it all set up properly

looking good. def one of the most refreshing posters ive seen in a good while.

Car looks good!

:biggthumpup: Looks great.

looks very nice, i like the wheels, keep up the good work:biggthumpup:

any updates on this car? Did you sell it?

very nice,just went through the whole thread

its came a long way! very nice!

Awesme build so far. Shortening strut housings reminds me if my AE86 days. Lol.

niceee!!!...