JimVR4's Spyder picture thread

With the dry winter out west we took the opportunity to take the Spyder out for some morning pictures. After installing 3SX adjustable control arms and running a little negative camber I finally have the stance I've been looking for. With the Tein S-Tech front and H-Tech rear springs on stock ECS shocks I'm running 1 finger gaps on all corners with no rubbing. Tires are Bridgestone Potenza RE-760 in 255x40x18 on my 18x9 +34 Volk SF Challenge rims. My wife of 26 years graciously agreed to be my model for these shots.

http://jns.jimnshar.com/2f100a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/2f300a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/2f500a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/31c00a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/31e00a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/32000a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/2fb00a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/2e700a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/2e900a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/2eb00a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/2ed00a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/2ef00a80.jpg

One of my favorite 3Ss running a set of one of my favorite wheels.

Well done!

She looks great! Both of your girls. ;)

-John

looks great...what kind of tires??

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Originally Posted by BigTyla

One of my favorite 3Ss running a set of one of my favorite wheels.

Well done!

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Thanks!

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Originally Posted by J-Groove

She looks great! Both of your girls. ;)

-John

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I know they'll both be happy to hear the compliments :)

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Originally Posted by NOMIEZVR4

looks great...what kind of tires??

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These are Bridgestone Potenza RE-760

Man that is a clean engine bay. Looks great!

Jim, does your ECS still work with the lowering solution you used?

Spyder envy.

Looking great, Jim. They compliment eachother nicely!

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Originally Posted by Spider-Dan

Jim, does your ECS still work with the lowering solution you used?

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Yeah, not too harsh on Sport mode either. I'm very happy with the suspension.

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Originally Posted by vroom4

Spyder envy.

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Don't envy, just get one :) Somebody on 3SI just picked up a Spyder VR4 for 14K and it sounds like it doesn't need a lot of work.

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Originally Posted by stealthify

Looking great, Jim. They compliment eachother nicely!

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Thanks Shaun, I guess you could say they're both well kept ;)

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Originally Posted by Jimvr4

Yeah, not too harsh on Sport mode either. I'm very happy with the suspension.

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What, exactly, did you get, and where did you buy it? I'm thinking about lowering my Spyder, but I wanted to keep ECS.

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Originally Posted by Spider-Dan

What, exactly, did you get, and where did you buy it? I'm thinking about lowering my Spyder, but I wanted to keep ECS.

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ECS Struts and Springs

Thought about it too since I have new ECS shocks sitting the in closet... I just don't like the fact I have to buy two different spring set-up. And I already had to buy special ramps to get the car on the trailer with stock height, I don't know if the ramps would work with the splitter and lower the car.

As always Jim, awesome looking car.

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Originally Posted by Spider-Dan

What, exactly, did you get, and where did you buy it? I'm thinking about lowering my Spyder, but I wanted to keep ECS.

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April linked it for you. I should add the 3SX adjustable control arms to that page as they wre the final ingredient to adjusting the suspension so that it wouldn't rub the inside rear fender edges.

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Originally Posted by dbest671

ECS Struts and Springs

Thought about it too since I have new ECS shocks sitting the in closet... I just don't like the fact I have to buy two different spring set-up. And I already had to buy special ramps to get the car on the trailer with stock height, I don't know if the ramps would work with the splitter and lower the car.

As always Jim, awesome looking car.

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Thanks, it means alot coming from someone who is as particular as you :)

BTW, I measured the ground clearance just the other day and it's just around 7 inches. Of course I don't have a splitter extending the front edge. I have no bumper scrapes at all since last summer's repaint.

You could alway get the S tech springs first and see how you like the rear end before springing for the H tech, lol.

That page shows what you got (kind of; I presume those are OEM ECS struts?) but not where you got them. Any details?

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Originally Posted by Spider-Dan

That page shows what you got (kind of; I presume those are OEM ECS struts?) but not where you got them. Any details?

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Yes OEM ECS struts. I got them from Cherry Hill mits for somewhere around $650 for four new struts, boots and bump stops. Most of the components from the old strut assemblies were re-used.

Hey Im looking. Local guy has a 95 vr4 spyder with a boatload of miles and the interior/exterior/drivetrain are beat. Just dont want to get into something and end up putting 5 grand into seals on the thing and still have it leaking where the the pieces you cant buy are.

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Originally Posted by vroom4

Hey Im looking. Local guy has a 95 vr4 spyder with a boatload of miles and the interior/exterior/drivetrain are beat. Just dont want to get into something and end up putting 5 grand into seals on the thing and still have it leaking where the the pieces you cant buy are.

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I think you hit the nail exactly on the head. Some of these seals are pretty much unavailable at this point. Problem areas include the windshield header and the quarter window sash seals. I believe the trunk (Tonneau) seal is still available but this is an area where a damaged or bad seal won't really affect other parts of the system.

Some interior parts are hard to come by such as the quarter panels and seat belt guides. The leather is no problem as there are kits out there that are better then OEM. High mileage wouldn't scare me that much. Painting can be expensive if needed.

Just drove it. He couldnt get the top to work, the trunk opened but then it just beeped. The rear window seals were basically falling off. Oil pressure was in the shitter but it went up with RPMs on the stock gauge and no dummy light even at idle (like 100 rpms haha). Interior and exterior were both trashed, the headliner was sitting on my head. He said he had problems with the trunk empty sensor so hes going to try to bypass it to show me the top works...well see. Hes asking around 10k but I think ill offer something more about half of that.

Anyway, beautiful car, thread derail finished :) Ill keep bothering Hans for my questions.

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Originally Posted by vroom4

Just drove it. He couldnt get the top to work, the trunk opened but then it just beeped. The rear window seals were basically falling off. Oil pressure was in the shitter but it went up with RPMs on the stock gauge and no dummy light even at idle (like 100 rpms haha). Interior and exterior were both trashed, the headliner was sitting on my head. He said he had problems with the trunk empty sensor so hes going to try to bypass it to show me the top works...well see. Hes asking around 10k but I think ill offer something more about half of that.

Anyway, beautiful car, thread derail finished :) Ill keep bothering Hans for my questions.

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I have seen salvaged Spyders go for more $5k... just saying. Is this the black one that a shop is trying to sell, it was on eBay multiple times? There is a guy on the other forum trying to sell a Spyder he just won on eBay with like 77K miles, I think he will take $14.5K.

Sorry for the hijack Jim.

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Originally Posted by Jimvr4

I think you hit the nail exactly on the head. Some of these seals are pretty much unavailable at this point. Problem areas include the windshield header and the quarter window sash seals. I believe the trunk (Tonneau) seal is still available but this is an area where a damaged or bad seal won't really affect other parts of the system.

Some interior parts are hard to come by such as the quarter panels and seat belt guides. The leather is no problem as there are kits out there that are better then OEM. High mileage wouldn't scare me that much. Painting can be expensive if needed.

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How easy would it be to fab up your own seals/moveable parts should the old ones go out? I can imagine some of the items required to open the roof could be rather difficult to one-off in-house if they needed replacing.

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Originally Posted by BigTyla

How easy would it be to fab up your own seals/moveable parts should the old ones go out? I can imagine some of the items required to open the roof could be rather difficult to one-off in-house if they needed replacing.

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I don't know anyone who has fabbed parts for the Spyder except maybe a header latch piece. When shopping for a Spyder you have to watch out for broken or missing stuff

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Originally Posted by Jimvr4

I don't know anyone who has fabbed parts for the Spyder except maybe a header latch piece. When shopping for a Spyder you have to watch out for broken or missing stuff

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I can imagine how difficult it will be to maintain these cars once parts that are no longer manufactured start giving the ghost. Any first- or second-hand experiences with that you care to comment on?

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Originally Posted by BigTyla

I can imagine how difficult it will be to maintain these cars once parts that are no longer manufactured start giving the ghost. Any first- or second-hand experiences with that you care to comment on?

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I'll comment...

I do believe Gatecrasher has some hydraulic hoses made, and the little trunk pull piece for tonneau release. And he figured out where and what seals to get to rebuild the hydraulic cylinders.

The only part I haven't been able to get is the damn header weatherstripping. The shop that painted my roof sort of messed mine up... not enough for it to be a complete abortion. Do I NEED that part, no... but I would really like to replace it with a new one. If money is not an object you can get just about anything. I managed to pick up a roof ECU and the whole hydraulic system (motors) for almost no money from a junkyard. This car will make you a hoarder. And there are still some former ASC employees out there that grabbed parts before they left, the fun part is trying to find them.

With people like Jim and Gatecrasher in the platform, I think the electronic parts are covered. And businesses like GZP, they carry a limited stock of Spyder parts.

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Originally Posted by dbest671

I'll comment...

I do believe Gatecrasher has some hydraulic hoses made, and the little trunk pull piece for tonneau release. And he figured out where and what seals to get to rebuild the hydraulic cylinders.

The only part I haven't been able to get is the damn header weatherstripping. The shop that painted my roof sort of messed mine up... not enough for it to be a complete abortion. Do I NEED that part, no... but I would really like to replace it with a new one. If money is not an object you can get just about anything. I managed to pick up a roof ECU and the whole hydraulic system (motors) for almost no money from a junkyard. This car will make you a hoarder. And there are still some former ASC employees out there that grabbed parts before they left, the fun part is trying to find them.

With people like Jim and Gatecrasher in the platform, I think the electronic parts are covered. And businesses like GZP, they carry a limited stock of Spyder parts.

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Good to hear. The Spyder community seems like a tight one!

A few from a nice evening in March:

http://jns.jimnshar.com/35100a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/35900a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/35b00a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/35d00a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/36700a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/36500a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/36c13200.jpg

Thanks for the pics Jim! You're car is one of my favorites.

-John

Daddy like.

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Originally Posted by J-Groove

Thanks for the pics Jim! You're car is one of my favorites.

-John

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Thanks John, it's a labor of love :)

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Originally Posted by BigTyla

Daddy like.

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Awesome new perspective in your life, right??

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Originally Posted by Jimvr4

Awesome new perspective in your life, right??

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Yes! I now recognize the irony of my statement. :D

Here's a few taken at Club AutoSport in May during a Cars and Caffiene event to promote the business. There were a bunch of corvettes there and some serious HP cars including a SuperSnake GT500. Indoors they had several exotics including Ferrari 355, 360, Porsche 996, Rolls Royce, and Bizzarini !!

http://jns.jimnshar.com/38b00a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/38f00a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/39700a80.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/39900a80.jpg

Just installed HIDs from DDM tuning. These are 5000K and 35W.

http://jns.jimnshar.com/3a600ab0.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/3a800ab0.jpg

Here's a couple taken in the garage. I was turned on my Halogen shop light and turned off the flash.

http://jns.jimnshar.com/3aa00ab0.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/3ac00ab0.jpg

Working on polishing / waxing the car this day with a couple helpers

http://jns.jimnshar.com/3b200ab0.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/3b400ab0.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/3b600ab0.jpg

http://jns.jimnshar.com/3bc00ab0.jpg

Thanks for looking!

I spy a 300C SRT8... your car makes me jealous. The only thing you need is some strut cover :suspect:

I could say the same about your car. Maybe we can line them up together at NG some day!

Just for you April:

http://jns.jimnshar.com/39100a80.jpg

You are seriously making me reconsider my future vehicle purchase in the next year.

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Originally Posted by BigTyla

You are seriously making me reconsider my future vehicle purchase in the next year.

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You would make a great addition to the Spyder community :) With your skills demonstrated on your Talon project I'm sure you could take on a less than perfect car and bring it up to top quality :bigthumb:

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Originally Posted by Jimvr4

You would make a great addition to the Spyder community :) With your skills demonstrated on your Talon project I'm sure you could take on a less than perfect car and bring it up to top quality :bigthumb:

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Thanks for the kind words! Your comment reminds me of three years ago when I spotted a ragged VR-4 Spyder as I drove by a dealership near my sister's college graduation. It was red and in pretty rough shape with the trim coming off in places and the trunk seals hanging off the car. Wish I had the cash to get it at the time! The guy said they were probably going to just send it off to the local auction. Oh well, maybe I'll find another one like it one day. I can't imagine anyone letting a car so rare go to waste like that.

Thanks for the new pics Jim!

-John