Car Progress Thread v2.0, Replacing rusted out quarter panel... yay body work. Options

[jcbass7]

wet roads and bald tires, nice combo Jesse

Glad you got everything up and running.
how does the top mount feel compared to the front mount ?

haha cautious driving until the new tires arrive. The top mount is great, I didn't get my boost gauge installed until after the front mount was gone so I couldn't compare when and where I reached boost pressures, but I have noticed boost response is better. That front mount set up wasn't bad though. The car doesn't torque steer as bad now, and I believe its because the power band is smoother from the top mount. The front mount would lag and then the boost would hit hard all of a sudden and I'd get some torque steer, now its not so bad.

I pushed it a bit today as I boosted to see what the previous owner had the MBC set at and I hit 18 psi on a hard push. So whats the next steps to increase power and also protect the engine.. fuel cut defender, meth injection, actuator spring mod? (I plan on turning the boost down a bit for daily driving since I think 18 is a bit high on this set up)

I realized the gas light location as well when I installed mine. Since the car is unplugged I haven't been able to see if it is completely out of view from my seat position, but I may need to replicate the mod you came up with.

If you have any questions feel free to ask, if I were to do it all over again, I would have used hot glue to tack the pieces into place instead of the 3m Weather stripping adhesive I used..

[jcbass7]

been a while..

update:

Been working on the body and sound deadening as well as the exhaust. pics..

Raamatt and P/S Ensolite, love this stuff! (also used frost king and carpet padding on the plastic rear panels)

I know the mat is probably overkill, but I want it silent. I have a loud exhaust and I plan on removing the seats which help kill some sound so the rear needs to be really well covered.
















Finally fixing this rusted out quarter.. haven't welded anything yet, just fitting it first.








And I also cut off the vibrant muffler I had (for sale) and put on a Magnaflow from my old system. The Vibrant was too loud for this exhaust system and I needed to move it back anyway since this exhaust came from a coupe and its on my hatch now.

old muffler:




This post has been edited by jcbass7: Dec 4, 2012 - 3:59 PM

[ricochet1490]

Did all the plastic panels go back together correctly with all the sound deadening and carpet?

[jcbass7]

Did all the plastic panels go back together correctly with all the sound deadening and carpet?

The passenger rear is in right now, driver side not yet. I had to remove a bit of the carpet padding to get it back on there, its a much tighter fit. Honestly I bet the whole car would be fine with just the raamatt and Ensolite. I probably could have skipped the frost king and carpet padding.

This post has been edited by jcbass7: Dec 5, 2012 - 11:52 AM

[jcbass7]

got a bit more done, just need to do a bit more smoothing and then primer and paint







also decided to shave the antenna hole since I never ever listen to the radio.

[FOCUS2SCSS]

So you didn't have to weld the quarter panel? Could you explain a little more how you got it in? I have the exact same rusted spot that I have to deal with

[njccmd2002]

did you zip tie that rusted panel?

[jcbass7]

So you didn't have to weld the quarter panel? Could you explain a little more how you got it in? I have the exact same rusted spot that I have to deal with

did you zip tie that rusted panel?

I did weld the new piece into place, there were some gaps left that I filled with metal filler and then over the whole joint I used a fiberglass reinforced body filler. On top of that normal bondo, spot putty, primer, paint and clear.

..There are no zip ties on this repair... lol

More pics:






Done!




BEFORE REPAIR




But now... my transmission broke. Was at a stop light and the car won't come out of nuetral. Clutch pedal feels fine, the shifter linkage goes into each gear, but when I start the car you hear rattling in the tranny. I'm hoping its a transmission issue since this one was a bit rough anyways and I have a spare. I'm really hoping its not the clutch, since I thought I had bought one that wouldn't have any issues (unsprung).. updates soon..

This post has been edited by jcbass7: Dec 15, 2012 - 11:52 AM

[njccmd2002]

prove it, show me the welds, LOL


looks very good

[Box]

Good job! Sorry to hear about the transmission though.

[Ted95]

having the same issue right now with my tranny as well. havent dropped it yet to see whats going on, but the car felt like it slipped out of gear if you will and wont shift, can shift through the gears with out using the clutch. i too have a brand new unsprung clutch and can hear rattling in the tranny

[jcbass7]

Well... the bad news is that it was in fact the clutch. I really thought it was the transmission, I think I had too much faith in the Stage 5 clutch I bought from Clutchmasters. The clutch failed right at the center hub rivets. It was in the car for 6 months and only had 4,000 miles on it. Properly broken in and everything. No real hard launches, some hard pulls, but no real hard launches since FWD and crazy wheel hop.

The rep at clutchmaster's said he thinks it died since I was daily driving an unsprung clutch. I can understand the logic, the clutch was made more for weekend racing and not daily driving. Still very disappointed that it happened after only 4k miles. The whole reason I bought the unsprung was because the sprung discs fail at the springs often in this set up.. When I bought the car the clutch was broken and of course it was the springs. That clutch made it 30k so its a better option than the 4k this made it.

Clutchmasters sent me a stage 3 or 4 sprung disc that looks real nice, but it has the wrong hub, I think they thought it was an MR2 even though they had my old clutch to go off of. Now I'm waiting to get the new correct disc to put it back together. They charged me 200 to resurface my pressure plate and to build me a new disc. Not terrible for the disc they sent, but very frustrating to be buying a new disc after only 4k.

Pics:






While I'm waiting on the new clutch I decided to fix my leaky power steering pump. Bought a rebuild kit, time to get dirty..

This post has been edited by jcbass7: Jan 2, 2013 - 4:22 PM

[Ted95]

im probably looking at the same thing then.. i too was recommened the same clutch and it let go on me as well. bad times..

[jcbass7]

im probably looking at the same thing then.. i too was recommened the same clutch and it let go on me as well. bad times..

At least a clutch is cheaper than a transmission (potentially). Please let me know what your issue ends up being..

[Ted95]

im probably looking at the same thing then.. i too was recommened the same clutch and it let go on me as well. bad times..

At least a clutch is cheaper than a transmission (potentially). Please let me know what your issue ends up being..

I will keep you posted for sure. At least the pressure plate is reusable, that's half the cost lol

[Hamburgler]

Amazing work and attention to detail! My favorite mods are the seat warmers and various switches you added just because haha. I love that kind of stuff. It's the little things that make the all difference.

Sorry to hear about your clutch, that has to be annoying. Hope it's back on the road soon!
Definitely looking forward to more updates on the gas filler relocation. Will your tail light actually pop out
like a hinge or something? Very neat.

[jcbass7]

Yea I'm going to have the tail light hinge at the license plate side of the light to allow an opening for the filler hole.


Here's the new clutch I'll be putting in today.. Another Clutchmasters

[Ted95]

interested to hear what you think of the disc once its installed, may be going the same route..

[enderswift]

if that's an FX300 then you're gonna like it alot. Mine has been great so far; really easy to daily, and holds power perfectly

[jcbass7]

So new clutch is in.. did some body work today and put on my jdm/euro side markers while I was at it. Welded some metal in from the backside of the old marker holes and filled them in. I had a spare set of fenders with no dents that I swapped on as well. The patchwork/multi color car will be one color tomorrow..

Also started rebuilding a spare hub with a new wheel bearing since mine is going.










Hub work and my excuse to buy a shop press.




This post has been edited by jcbass7: Feb 5, 2013 - 11:22 PM