89 lx hatch from wisconsin

[kjbakke2]

Hey guys I just started my build and wanted to finally have a build diary here. I posted this on my local forum but I have learned so much about what direction to go with this car from here.

Alright guys so here's the scoop, after spending a piss load of time scouring Driftlive.com (this is basically verbatim from the other site, showing props!!) and watching all of their drift fox videos I decided its time to get my hands on a car I wont be afraid to huck.......and scrape a wall with if need be. Up until this point I have been beating the hell out of my beloved 04 and while I drive her hard she gets maintained like non-other and has never been in an accident......I would like to keep it that way.



So i hit craigslist in search of a foxbody that needs some life breathed back into it. After loking at some targa tops and notchback that were between 900 and 1400 I finally got a call from a guy that had his donor chassis sitting around for his fox road race project. I went and checked it out and decided it was a hell of a deal. I got the whole roller chassis some interior and a second set of wheels for 350 total. I sold the old turbine wheels for a hundred so now I'm at 250 for the roller. she had some rust spots and floors were a bit sad in the front but i figured most of that steel is gonna be replaced by other way more fun shit anyways.



so there it was, he's a tired lil' fella but hope is not lost. I got it home and started ripping out interior which i cant find the pictures of, i think they're on my buddys phone. anyways once I got it gutted, pulled the headliner etc started pounding out dents and hacking away at some of the more nasty exterior cancer things are showing promise. I pulled out of a pile of old parts the 7.5 rear end that came stock in my 2004 and went to town with a welder..... the rear end is going to have to fail pretty catastrophically to make this rear end unusable, its also set up with disc brakes, five lugs, wider track width, and lighter.

before

after


then i painted it yellow with black center section because i had the paint lying around, cant find this picture

gutted and scraped off all the sound deadening
before

after


the assless gutterslut


I will snag some more pics and start typing out all the plans for it but im working on scoring some 03 cobra front lower control arms today and new edge sn-95 spindles and brakes for the front this weekend, wider trackwidth, some bonus camber and better steering angle until I can afford coilovers on all four corners and custom build my front control arms. I will eventually rob a BMW E36 of its steering system but it wont drift without an engine, it will drift without coilovers so first things first.

[347_IRS]

Looks like a good start. What did you use to remove the sound deadening stuff? I have heard of using dry ice, but it looks like you just scraped it out...is that right?

[suo]

It's a long way to go, but good luck with your build!

I wouldn't recommend the BMW rack as one of the priorities. If I was you I'd rather think to make/buy some angle friendly FLCA's and max out the stock steering rack in the first place and than only when your unhappy with it think of an alternative

Don't forget a panhard bar

[kjbakke2]

As for the sound deadening i used a heat gun (ten bucks at harbor freight) and a combination of a gasket scraper and a putty knife......worked super well, took me maybe 2-3 hours

Thanks for the wishes suo, and the rack isn't a priority its just future plans. I have a ton of fab experience and have been machining since I was 15, four years for the government and have helped build roadrace cars and do restorations since i was 10.

I scored some 03 cobra control arms for $20.51 yesterday haha.
Can't afford coilovers right now so I'm gonna run some H&R race rates and start bashing shit with a hammer and selectively trimming for as much angle as possible.

I have started getting parts together for my panhard, As with most of the things I build I'm going for nukeproof. 3/4 inch spherical heims for the attachment points, aluminum hex rod for weight savings but killer strength and its sexy so double bonus there.

Probably gonna go with manual brakes, I like it to be clean and simple not much to fail. some serious reconfiguring of sheet metal in the engine bay.

I'm going to the Columbus all ford spring swap and hopefully will pick up some sweet stuff there on the cheap.

I'ts insanely nice out today, maybe I'll snap some pics

[kjbakke2]

Hit up the local pick and pull today. scored some five lug spindles from an sn95 and new edge brakes for the front, goodbye four lug bullshit!

Took the fenders off today, shes looking a little sad but i gotta attack some serious rust issues in the engine bay......oh and cut a bunch of shit out because having metal in your engine bay is for wimps


I yoinked the steering column today and holy balls those things are heavy. I might custom fab one or pop this one in the mill and give er the old swiss cheese treatment. Orrrrr i could man up and drop the 200 bucks for the light weight holcomb one.
Decisions.

When i was at the junk yard also picked up a new master cylinder that I'm going to use to make my hydraulic handbrake, Its a two stage but im gonna link the stages so literally all of the stopping power available is gonna be rammed right to the rear cailpers. Hello instant lock up!

Should have the springs ordered sometime next week then i have to figure out what shocks I'm gonna pull the trigger on. Toying around with some really obnoxious paint ideas for the interior. I'm between three seats right now but will probably end up with a Corbeau fx1 wide, I want a Sparco evo 3 but 800 bucks is kinda steep for one seat at this point.

I have not a semblance of a clue why but I feel the need to rock this steering wheel


The lower radiator support is fucked pretty badly so that's gonna get chopped out and I'm gonna custom fab a unit out of tube, should help strenghten as well as shed some poundage.

[Keck]

Congratz on the shell! Great progress and ideas for your build, I'm using many of the same!

I'm looking forward to seeing your fab work and ideas.

+1 Corbeau FX1 Pro! I have two and including the double locking seat rails. Great quality and fit. The seat rails don't fit so easy if the car has sound deading and carpet still, but that's obviously not the case for your build! It's just the only bad thing I've found about the Corbeau FX1 Pros and DL Seat Rails.

The seats are expensive if buying new, but just wait for an impassable deal. When I bought mine, CJPonyparts.com was having a Gift Car Rebate, with every $100 you'd spent they'd give you a $30 GC. I jumped on that.

Since your chassis is bare right now, I'm going through the same point in my build, here's a few things to reinforce while they're easily accessible. Front Strut Towers, Front and Rear Driver and Passenger Seat Mounts (these have actually torn out on me before), Floor Pans (some stitch welding goes a long way), and Rear Shock Mounts.

[kjbakke2]

Originally Posted by Keck

Congratz on the shell! Great progress and ideas for your build, I'm using many of the same!

I'm looking forward to seeing your fab work and ideas.

+1 Corbeau FX1 Pro! I have two and including the double locking seat rails. Great quality and fit. The seat rails don't fit so easy if the car has sound deading and carpet still, but that's obviously not the case for your build! It's just the only bad thing I've found about the Corbeau FX1 Pros and DL Seat Rails.

The seats are expensive if buying new, but just wait for an impassable deal. When I bought mine, CJPonyparts.com was having a Gift Car Rebate, with every $100 you'd spent they'd give you a $30 GC. I jumped on that.

Since your chassis is bare right now, I'm going through the same point in my build, here's a few things to reinforce while they're easily accessible. Front Strut Towers, Front and Rear Driver and Passenger Seat Mounts (these have actually torn out on me before), Floor Pans (some stitch welding goes a long way), and Rear Shock Mounts.

Hey keck, thanks for the tips man! I'm actually gonna be welding custom seat mounts to the frame, at least thats the plan right now. I'm also planning on stitch welding the whole car but we will see how tired of that i get after two hours

luckily i know a guy who is a corbeau dealer and hopefully he will give me a good price, fingers crossed!

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna sandblast this weekend and start making headway on metal replacement.

thats all for now!!!

[Keck]

Originally Posted by kjbakke2

Hey keck, thanks for the tips man! I'm actually gonna be welding custom seat mounts to the frame, at least thats the plan right now. I'm also planning on stitch welding the whole car but we will see how tired of that i get after two hours

luckily i know a guy who is a corbeau dealer and hopefully he will give me a good price, fingers crossed!

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna sandblast this weekend and start making headway on metal replacement.

thats all for now!!!

You're welcome, but I don't think I can provide many tips to anyone with the kind of experience you have though.

Ah yes, custom seat mounts would be great, I don't have that kind of skill yet. I'm brand new to metalworking and welding.

Here's the thread I started on stitch welding, please put your progress there if you decide to go through with it. http://www.driftlive.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1080
I need to put some updates of my progress.

[kjbakke2]

Well dude sometimes a fresh set of eyes and a lil different brain does wonders. If you need any help with the fab part let me know I've got all sorts of tricks in my bag.

I'm beginning to scheme on my handbrake setup, should be beastly, and there's gonna be no missing the damn handle haha

side note, some crooked fuck stole my beloved macbook pro, I swear he better start praying the police get to him before I do.

[kjbakke2]

Well gentlemen, I had a few hours on my hands today and decided it's time to tackle the handbrake. This entire thing was made out of scraps we had lying around the shop so it was essentially free. let me know what you guys think!

Knurling the handle

close up


modified the pushrod so it is threaded then i machined a brass bushing so that it will freely rotate in the handle






drilling a big hole, that plate is 4" by 4.5", the backing plate for the master cylinder.


this is getting kinda picture heavy so ill skip some, here's with the sides on it


starting to get placement, its gonna be a weld on instead of bolts, the stock e brake in my 04 didn't last long, i pull hard.



I was going to machine a pocket bearing but i wanted to see how smooth this was first, its like butter with no side to side wobble, overall im very happy with how it turned out.

[RACKSTOP]

Looks great, nice work. I see one issue though, if you mount it where it's sitting it will hit the dash board. Unless your not putting one in, then all is well. that's where mine is mounted also.

[kjbakke2]

Hey rackstop thanks! There's gonna be a sheetmetal dash but that's not the placement I was thinking, mainly that was to show the size of it

[J smoke]

Nice work on the hand brake. How are you going to plumb your set up? Looks like you will be going to duel caliper or no back brakes?

[kjbakke2]

Thanks smoke, gonna be running independent systems, dual rear calipers.

[J smoke]

dual rear calipers.

Very nice.

[Keck]

Very kewl! If I didn't already have a H-Brake I would want to buy one from you!

I can't wait to finish the intallation of mine with a dual caliper setup.

[kjbakke2]

Originally Posted by Keck

Very kewl! If I didn't already have a H-Brake I would want to buy one from you!

I can't wait to finish the intallation of mine with a dual caliper setup.

this thought actually seriously crossed my mind, i guess now its crossing it again. hmmmmmm. Maybe once i get the car working i can toy around with the idea of making kits and experiment with designs.

[Keck]

Originally Posted by kjbakke2

this thought actually seriously crossed my mind, i guess now its crossing it again. hmmmmmm. Maybe once i get the car working i can toy around with the idea of making kits and experiment with designs.

If you fab up a kit, with H-Brake (i.e. mounting bracket, handle, etc.), Dual-Caliper brackets and then a list of required/compatable items (i.e. Brake Lines and fittings, Master Cyclinder, etc.)

I'm sure a few people on this website would buy it. I don't know about anyone else providing such a service for a Foxbody or a Ford Rear Axle for that matter.

[kjbakke2]

Originally Posted by Keck

If you fab up a kit, with H-Brake (i.e. mounting bracket, handle, etc.), Dual-Caliper brackets and then a list of required/compatable items (i.e. Brake Lines and fittings, Master Cyclinder, etc.)

I'm sure a few people on this website would buy it. I don't know about anyone else providing such a service for a Foxbody or a Ford Rear Axle for that matter.

After I design the rear dual cal brackets I'll see how long the fab takes, anybody be interested in buying those or other parts? suggestions? I'm all ears guys and open to doing this if it helps me get my paws on a set of those ksports.

[kjbakke2]

Hey guys, been busy with school and stuff but have had a bit of time so I wanted to give you a lil update.

i sandblasted the engine bay but lost the pictures =/ derp

ill start off with the carnage, trying to swap over to the 03 cobra arms, the stockers were very unhappy, i gave them a bit of persuasion via a 4 1/2" cutoff wheel. needless to say, they're out now


stitch welded and primed

whole bay in etch, primer


white base on the whole bay


stitch welds on the firewall seam


cobra arms


first color coat


second color coat


final coat and two of clear


the sun kinda messed with the color, its more fluorescent than that but you get the idea.

Thats all for now, onto the body!

[Keck]

AwwwwwweeeeeSOME! Glad you decided to do the stitch welding with me! Kewl color too!

[boosted302sleeper]

Originally Posted by kjbakke2

After I design the rear dual cal brackets I'll see how long the fab takes, anybody be interested in buying those or other parts? suggestions? I'm all ears guys and open to doing this if it helps me get my paws on a set of those ksports.

I would 100% be down to buy a pair of the dual cal brackets keep us updated as im also doing a 5 lug swap at the moment

[kjbakke2]

QUICK UPDATE: K-member is in and the 03 cobra arms, should be finishing exterior paint this weekend provided weather hold out. Pics will follow..... and will explain the name of the project haha. Also got started on my through floor SFCs.

[suo]

put a like on the custom fab keep up the good work

[kjbakke2]

alright gents, photodump time. so one of the things i have found is that after a lot of this, http://www.youtube.com/embed/z6V1f3Y1TSc

this happens
http://www.youtube.com/embed/jIjlmkfUKTk

sooooooo I decided its time to do something about that on the cheap, because I'm a poor college kid and I decided building a racecar is economically responsible.

I SHOULD MENTION THAT I MADE SOME EXTRA BLANKS SO IF ANYBODY WANTS ONE I WILL FINISH IT AND SELL IT TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!! =]

alright on to the pics

so the stock ragjoint is bullshit, time to drill that bitch out.



TO THE LATHE!!

drilling

drilling

drilling

big drilling

[kjbakke2]

faced part stock

parting the blanks

Moved to the baby lathe, chamferring and deburring

the first run of blanks
I used the lathe to etch my layout radius to keep everything concentric

I tend to measure things wayy more than they need to be

final layout

installed on the shaft

[kjbakke2]

alright, now on to the other work done on the car.


also got started on my rendition of through floor subframe connectors,




voila!

[Ben Zirpoli]

Wow man, it looks like your well on your way to a successful build. What are you doing for the V8 you still need to build? lol

[kjbakke2]

Originally Posted by Ben Zirpoli

Wow man, it looks like your well on your way to a successful build. What are you doing for the V8 you still need to build? lol

thanks man! i like hearing feedback on my work, i have a lot of pride in my fab skills and am always looking to improve so, yeah, that haha.

as for the engine its going to be a carbed sbf. I can see positives in all three of the engines (289 has awesome stroke to bore ratio, with a good set of heads and a light rotating assembly that can sing about 10,000 rpm for a damn long time. then the tried and true 302, nuff said. or a 351w for bonus torque.)

we have a huuuge swap meet that im going to this weekend, maybe ill score some new hottness for a decent price, if i don't have to take a week to build this engine and i can find a drop in that would really help my timeline.

but i did procure an electric choke vac secondary holley 600 for 70 bucks, with shipping, woot woot.

my fuel cell is on the way so i can get to hacking the trunk apart and make it all sexyfied, i may run the mechanical fuel pump i already have for this season, funds are getting a little thin and i still need to buy engine parts and my drivers seat, and the tubing for the cage.

aaaaaand still have to paint the interior and replace the floor, fabricate the panhard.....fuck ive got so much to do haha maybe ill try to bash out the panhard tonight, it depends on if my coffee maker is up to the task

[8BYAV8]

You do some amazing work man. I love watching the transformations of solid pieces of metal, lol. Thanks for putting up so many pictures. Good luck with this build. I watch.