Base to VR4 Swap + Complete Restoration

[green-lantern]

Yea I used to be mudvaynedude122

OK yeah I remember you, thought some of the pics seemed familiar. I got to say you have done a great job so far. One question though, why did you put so much work into the shifter when it won't be seen unless the boot is off? Sorry if that has been asked already.

[IPD]

for me, the stock lines aren't the problem...it's the fittings on the end of the stock lines that are the problem. your shell must have come in significantly better shape. i can't even swap out some of the smaller section lines in the wheel wells for fear of destroying the main lines on my car.

[CoreyB]

Very nice work!!

[n2nsanity]

Wow. Some amazing work. I don't know where you guys find the time to do all this. I'm lucky to get 15 minutes per day for this stuff
I was going to say be careful with powdercoating some pieces like the ptu bracket. Forest beat me to that though. A lot of things require exposed metal for grounds.

[99ishVR-4]

OK yeah I remember you, thought some of the pics seemed familiar. I got to say you have done a great job so far. One question though, why did you put so much work into the shifter when it won't be seen unless the boot is off? Sorry if that has been asked already.

I just feel better knowing its not covered in rust under there, probably the same reason people are powder coating their rear subframes lately. Never gets seen unless its on a lift, yet there is a good feeling knowing that it isn't a mix of 20 year old chipping paint and rust under there. . At this point, I don't think I am leaving any part of the car untouched.

for me, the stock lines aren't the problem...it's the fittings on the end of the stock lines that are the problem. your shell must have come in significantly better shape. i can't even swap out some of the smaller section lines in the wheel wells for fear of destroying the main lines on my car.

Yea I really didn't have any problem with the fittings, the fittings you see in the finished pics are basically what they started out like, just let that end of the tube w/ fitting sit in an ultrasonic cleaner for a little bit. I have been pretty happy with the condition of my shell so far. I have not seen any rust except under a few paint chips here and there, when the car gets painted, I will see how far it spread.

Wow. Some amazing work. I don't know where you guys find the time to do all this. I'm lucky to get 15 minutes per day for this stuff
I was going to say be careful with powdercoating some pieces like the ptu bracket. Forest beat me to that though. A lot of things require exposed metal for grounds.

I work from home, and that basically consists of me waiting around all day for people to call me to come buy stuff(not drugs) so I have plenty of time to spend doing this, although that is also the reason why this is taking so long. I did a 60k and powder coated some brake calipers for a local last week, and I had to deliver the car back to them, made me miss actually driving mine instead of just working on it all the time.

[99ishVR-4]

Well it has been forever since I have updated, I haven't gotten much done. Not long after my last post, I experienced my first real back problem I have ever had. Something to do with a pinched sciatic nerve, I couldn't walk or sit for longer than 30 seconds before I felt intense pain in my lower back and left leg. After a couple of weeks of seeing a chiropractor, the pain went away, but still lost 2 months of my life to laying in bed.

Anyways, I don't have any updates that don't have to do with cleaning and powder coating, guess that is just the stage I am at.

Here are a bunch of before and afters:

Center console brackets: The holes were masked so the brackets could still ground to the chassis and each other.

[99ishVR-4]

[99ishVR-4]

[99ishVR-4]

Coil Pack, the parts of the actual coils, I sandblasted and just used spray paint. Then I cleaned up the studs on the bottom with a wire brush. Probably will end up selling this though as I would like to get a new coil pack.

[99ishVR-4]

This is the brake pedal / clutch pedal assembly for a na. It weights slightly less than the 2 individual pedals of a vr4. This piece came out really nice, pictures don't quite do it justice.





Ultrasonic Cleaner: