USLiberty's Sleeper '93 L

[usliberty]

I am starting this thread a little late in the build, please feel free to post questions, comments or concerns freely. This is my 2nd legacy build with the first 93 SS costing lots of money, blood, sweat and tears. This build is proving to be a little less painful with great references, like BBS to bring all this knowledge together.


Ouch! The Horror!


Accident happened, noone was hurt. Older woman nailed me from a 9 oclock approach as I was stopped at a sign coming out on a narrow street. I did have the nose out a little far as I trying to peek around some parked cars. AZ law states any person leaving a private property to a public property is to yield and automatically at fault if any collisions occur. The unibody was bent beyond repair, besides that the Ej20g L-intake cam gear was broken and timing belt came off, luckily the phase 1 20g is non-interference and the cambearings weren't damaged. My FMIC was slightly punctured, which I fixed with some JBweld. I wasn't going to spend much money to rebuild this beast, cuz I already had about 10-15$k invested in my SS. I was just going to wait for a perfect donor to come for sale locally. In the meantime I spent my time repairing the motor and also porting the factory exhaust manifold, which ended up being a lot more work than I expected. Also recieved a freebie ACT streetlite 14lb flywheel from another SS owner.



After searching for about 3 months on craigslist, nasioc, bbs, and other sources I decided to go with a light blue 93 L fwd a/t that had a straight body. It had 225,000 miles and had a horrible rod knock and lots of other issues. I paid $500 for it in Phoenix, AZ and towed it 120 miles home in the blistering heat.

[usliberty]

Here goes my 2nd first gen legacy build, this time my goal will be lighter, faster, and less obvious. Here is a list of parts I had on my SS.
-JDM Phase 1 EJ20G(new oil pump,water pump, idler bearings,timing belt,camcover gaskets,camseals,mainseals,rubber hoses)
-Link Plus Standalone EMS
-3" downpipe straight back to a magnaflow
-Exedy stage 1 clutch
-STI motor mounts,transmounts,dogbone mount
-Ksport coilovers
-CXracing FMIC
-HKS SSQV BOV(black)
-HKS EVC2 boost controller
-17"Legacy GTwheels painted satin black with Kuhmo ASX 225/45/17
-AEM UEGO O2
-Custom louvers in place of scoop
-Pioneer H.U, 6-1/2" infinity reference components front/back, Kicker solobaric 12" L5 sub being pushed by a DEI 600D amp
-Optima yellow top mounted in trunk
-Walbro 255 fuel pump
-Recaro sportline drivers seat wrapped with leather/power/heated/cooled(so comfortable, my favorite mod)
-EBC green stuff brake pads
-Autometer Oil pressure/Boost/Exhaust temp gauges mounted under H.U
-new carpeting
Upgrades will include an ACT streetlight 14lb flywheel donated to me by a friend with a white 92 SS. Also the porting of the exhaust manifold should increase 10-15 hp and help spool up.

I immediately installed my black 17" LGT wheels to give me motivation. The rear rubbed on the struts, but they were going anyways. When I pulled the motor out I noticed it was stamped EJ20, This was an arizona car(no rust) so I guess the EJ20 was pieced together. I stripped the N/A fuel rails in case I could use them later and donated the motor to the other SS owner.

3 cans of de-greaser and 3 scouring pads later I had the engine bay cleaned up. I love the fact that this car is a base model and no ABS or sunroof.

I took the dashboard out so I can paint it and run wiring easier.


Then I swapped the clutch pedal set, I had to drill 3 holes in the firewall for the clutch cmaster cylinder to bolt to.

[usliberty]

I then began by swapping the tinted door windowsin , and ended up swapping all the window felt, window motors and a mirror. This was a long day. Here you can see the ugly side with body damage in the rear. I will be doing the body work and prepping it for paint myself. I will have a decent paint job for 300$ with the proper prepping.



I then swapped the front crossmember and coilovers in, there were plastic plugs covering the captive nuts. I broke one of the captive nuts loose and had to drill a hole in the floorboards to reach it.

[usliberty]

To paint the dash I used TSP to clean it and a high pressure washer to spray it off. I let it dry throughly and gave it a light layer of "Bulldog" adhesion promoter, let it dry and gave it another thicker layer. After it dried for 24 hours I gave it 2 cans of SEM interior paint in Pewter grey to match my door panels. Started off light and over 2 days got 2 cans of 15$/each paint. I hope this holds better than the last dash I painted, seems to.


I then began installing my infinity reference series component speakers and all the interior trim that was painted black from the last project.

Also the new carpeting got swapped in, charcoal black I ordered for an impreza and had to do some minor trimming. My weakness is interior but its just practice. I will get some pics of the door panels I rewrapped(3times) with grey vinyl.

[usliberty]

I then installed all the Link Plus Engine management wiring and removed all unnessesary factory wiring. Then ran dual 4 guage power wire to the trunk for the battery. The motor went in like butter, after making sure the clutch fork and throw out bearing were properly positioned.


Im very pleased with all the extra room I have in the engine bay. No battery, no ABS.

Here is the beginings of my power distribution center

And a JB weld repair I had to do to my FMIC

[usliberty]

Here goes the FMIC install, this install I was shooting for a little less piping than previous. I suceeded in losing about 18 inches of extra pipe by going where the ABS was and tucking the piping under the headlights. I used about 6- 4" metal cutting wheels by the time it was over.



It always feels good removing junk like this

I wanted to install the FMIC with endcaps up but it proved to be far too much work as the IC I have is rather large.






After I got the bumper on I noticed one problem. It was still too obvious, so I painted the IC piping in the bumper black with a rubberized coating.
I also spent a day rolling the front fenders so I can fit the 17" LGT wheels with Kuhmo ASX's 225/45/17's.

[SILINC3R]

Can you please resize these to 640X480, can't even tell what the heck is going on lol. Looks like a lot of good work though. Also make sure when you type it is over the picture and not to the side, that will help.

[SILINC3R]

Ok fixed a good amount of it for you. I think resizing should fix the rest.

[usliberty]

Not sure if I fixed the sizing, everything apears normal on my computer and photobucket says its proper.

[silver03]

Outstanding! that contrast in wheels/body color looks excellent.

[kimokalihi]

Best sleeper I've seen yet. Nobody would think that car was turbocharged.

[Legacy777]

Nice work!!!

That's a lot of time invested doing all that.

[usliberty]

Thanks for all the positive feedback, gives me motivation to keep going. It is a lot of work, I know Legacy777 knows how much. I will be keeping an eye out for that 6spd swap. I been watching prices for jdm sti 6spds myself. For now the 5 spd will continue to work with scottys tranny cocktail.
I am begining to swap the rear crossmember, fuel tank and coilovers.

I got the door cards installed. These door panels came with my SS but I guess was swapped for LXi panels at the dealership. The original owner was the service manager at the local dealership so he ordered all leather interior but no VLSD Anyways in the first build I rewrapped the deteriorating top part with grey vinyl and since I am not an uphostery guy I had to reapply glue to keep the vinyl on. I found the best way was to use 3m Superweatherstrip and gasket adhesive.Its a contact adhesive, Unlike what the directions said to wait 5-6 minutes before sticking the contact surfaces, I waited a few hours. Then when I went to apply the two dried pieces together, I reapplied a fresh layer of glue and then stuck the two sides together. They hold so much better now and I dont think Ill have any further problems. This method works great with any contact adhesive I have found. I also rewrapped the front speaker covers with grey to match, in the last build.

[Legacy777]

I like the two tone door coverings.

[usliberty]

Thanks, spent a lot of time on the door cards too.
Yesterday I had a buddy come over and remove the 3 rear windows of each car. They had really nice formula 1 tint job.
Today I got the AWD rear crossmember out, it was a little more involved than the front crossmember, I dropped the diff, brakes and crossmember in one piece so it was rather heavy but an ATV jack along with a hydralic car jack made it possible by myself. Then I dropped the gas tank using the ATV jack. I noticed the AWD gas tank has a few extra fuel lines, and an extra fuel level sender. maybe part of the purge system and I can just delete some lines. I hope the gas gauge still works with just plugging in the AWD tank. I do have a fuel gauge that matches the ohms of the factory gauge, but hopefully I wont need to use it. I also installed the rear speakers while the windows were out, they are infinity reference series 5-1/4" components and they sounded tits in the last car. I installed them with foam speaker pods to seal them off from the trunk airspace, this will help with sound quality. My tweeters are mounted in the rear deck lid cover that I also rewrapped in grey vinyl to match.

[usliberty]

Okay, did some inspecting and the AWD fuel tank has fuel vapor seperator that the FWD does not. My question for Legacy777 is did you swap the vapor seperator also? I imagine the AWD tank being odd shaped fuel sloshes a little more but I don't have to pass emissions. So any real danger in not installing it?
My previous car I deleted the purge valve and just blocked if off at the purge valve, at the time I didnt know what its purpose was. thinking back on it the only side effect I think was a little pressure build up in the fuel tank everytime I would refuel. I am thinking of blocking it off again because I don't need to pass emmisions and in this project, less is more. I guess in a major accident maybe some vapor could be forced out, but in a major accident a little purge valve isn't gonna keep that kind of force in. So I'm guessing its for emission purposes only and a little pressure in the tank wont hurt.

[Legacy777]

Love the skate board lift/moving device

I did something similar when I did my swap, except with furniture dollies so I could move the donor car out of my garage.

As for the fuel separator tank, yes I swapped it over. I would recommend doing it. It doesn't really add much if any weight and doesn't take up any more room, so I'd suggest adding it. The fuel tanks are not meant to be pressured up, so keeping the evaporative emissions system working is a good idea.

Your fuel gauge will work fine. The resistance on the FWD fuel sender equals the combined resistance of both the fuel senders on the AWD tank.

The one thing to note is that sometimes those fuel level senders can get gunk built up on them, which can cause the gauge to go bonkers. I cleaned mine, but a couple years later I ended up replacing both of them because my gauge was reading all funky.

[cj91legss]

i remember my first automotive swap ever was fwd at to 5 speed. i had no idea what i was doing at all.... Ive come a long way. Good luck with the build.

[usliberty]

[quote="Legacy777"]Love the skate board lift/moving device

I did something similar when I did my swap, except with furniture dollies so I could move the donor car out of my garage.

As for the fuel separator tank, yes I swapped it over. I would recommend doing it. It doesn't really add much if any weight and doesn't take up any more room, so I'd suggest adding it. The fuel tanks are not meant to be pressured up, so keeping the evaporative emissions system working is a good idea.
- I swapped it, took an extra 45 minutes, purge valve will be plugged up till I get the car more sorted out. If ever decide to wire up the purge valve function from my stanalone ECM.

Your fuel gauge will work fine. The resistance on the FWD fuel sender equals the combined resistance of both the fuel senders on the AWD tank.
- Those Japs were damn smart, found the AWD subharness will swap into the FWD fuel harness.

The one thing to note is that sometimes those fuel level senders can get gunk built up on them, which can cause the gauge to go bonkers.
-The last build I had the dodgy fuel gauge issue.... chased it everywhere, even ordered an aftermarket fuel guage. Instead while I was installing the walbro I noticed the dirty contacts, cleaned em and it worked.

Today I got the Fuel tank installed and rear crossmember bolted up, let someone else help and they stripped a captive nut >=-( Its pretty easy to fix. It seems, whenever someone helps me out, even for just a second, something happens. Guess, I just gotta do it myself. Tomorrow, I will get a tap and get that last bolt in. I also have to swap a couple stripped wheel studs, courtesy of my tire shop using inpact wrenches to torque the lug nuts.

[Legacy777]

What a second......You are converting it to AWD correct? If so you do know you have to swap the gas tank from the AWD car, correct??

The FWD gas tank will not work since it doesn't have a spot for the rear driveline to come through. I was wondering why you swapped the AWD fuel harness onto the FWD fuel tank....

[cj91legss]

Oh man I didn't even catch that either, That would have sucked big time.....

[usliberty]

Yeah, the AWD fuel tank is in already, forgot to post a pic of it. Crossmember/ diff are in also. I also swapped the vapor seperator. Today Ill be fixing the crossthreaded diferential crossmember nut so I can snug up everything underneath for the rear crossmember. Ill also try to get to rolling the fenders so my wheels/tires will fit. 225/45/17 on LGT wheels fit so nicely. I have to make relief cuts so that I can flatten out the inner fender lip. It has to be completely flat/smooth to fit with the lowered coilovers. Its just about the fattest tire I could get under it without flaring the fenders or lifting the ride height.

[Rubasu]

i love the sleepers.
here is a peek at mine.

[usliberty]

Very nice Rubasu, I was pretty close to doing a wagon myself. I wanted that color also, looks clean. One day I'd like to get a JDM version 7-8 sti/6speed/diff/dccd so I could build the 20g block. I rode in a friends bugeye WRX with one swapped in and the 9200 rpm rev limit was fun.
I spent the day rolling the fenders, not a fun job but nessesary. After I cut and rolled the fenders up they were almost completly flat inside.I used a grinder to smooth them out on the inside, then I sprayed them with black primer followed by a coat of dupliicolor spray undercoating. Then I finally got to put the wheels on the rear and set it down to admire it at ride height. I still have to raise it anohter 3/8" in the front but I will get that after I get the DP, exhaust on. Also had to order a driveshaft bolt drom subaru as I lost one. 2.91$ for 2 at the subaru dealership. Thats the cheapest I've ever gotten out of a dealership for. LOL, I was expecting a 15$ bolt,

[SILINC3R]

How do you like the KSport coilovers, always wanted to get them.