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the white car project

Releated topic:
Overkill exhaust project (on bstuff)
My big brake upgrade (front) (on bstuff)
My shock tower brace (on bstuff)
Ported exhaust manifold (on bstuff)
Custom Euro headlight project
Rear disc brake conversion (on bstuff)
My current TODO list what i update to keep track of everything


Summer 2005 - Prehistory


Remembering back to those days, when this all started, i had bought this 1990 GTZ,
to be my parts car. It was sale for pretty nice price, so i just went and bought it without thinking too much.
Car had some broken parts and many things to fix, thats why the low price.






I think these are the first pictures i have taken from the car.


Mileage of the car, actually 4 years later it's still almost the same.

Back then i was driving daily my eurospec 91 GTZ, also white, However, rusting process on it turned things upside down later.



As the car being parts car back then, it soon donated US-spec rear bumper and deck lid to my 91 GTZ,
parts from it was swapped to this car.


I also pulled the front bumper off to fix the odd shapes and cracked lip.
While the cover was off, i also spend some time trying to do some weight reducement to bumper support, ended up being experiment with not that much result.
Rear bumber didn't get the weight reducement, but it got sandblast+repaint.

Look at the working conditions on that pic, that's where is started,
Back then i only had few basic tool to do anything, and barely no skill at all.


Soon i had better ramp to put the car on so i could work under the car without lifting it up.

I think i was fixing crank oil seal on that pic, thats why the tire is off.
You can see the missing trim on the door, it also had some damage.
Oh, and do not ask why i was fixing what still was a part car.


Bumper was now fixed, no more oil-leak... it was ready to put it on it's new home:


My 'garage'. Now it was just waiting for things to come...

Very nice. It's good to see people shooting high with their cars and actually getting there.

Spring 2006 - Maybe few small mods?

After winter, i realized my 91 GTZ had gone beyond the point of too much rust for easy fix.
I used quite a lot time planning things up. The 91 would now turn to parts car, and i would
make the 90 my new Weekend car to be used only on summer to keep it rust-free, and
i would like to also build it a bit to match my needs.

And to describe my 'needs' then, car had to be build to take a LOT of beating, usually after midnight in deserted countryside roads,
also maybe see some track & roadcource sometimes.

What i planned back then, was not nothing that huge, i wanted to improve handling, reduce weight\balance it better
and fix all the issues it had, also swap in the newer interior from my previous car.

My first TODO-list looked something like this:

- Big brakes to front (since i already hated the useless stock brakes
- Interior swap
- CAI
- Battery to trunk
- AC-delete and other weight reducement.
- Euro headlights
- Fix everything whats wrong



I started Everything by taking the front end apart again.




Took all the unnecessary parts away, cat wanted to pose on the pic too.

Then, some parts started to collect around my place:




Majority of these parts were shipped to me by Rodville, he really showed lot of support for me making this all happen, thanks again!


Oh, like the first set of new tools i bought for the project then, CHEAP and crappy jacks. I only had bottle-type jack before that.

Awesome dude. Looks like you are making some real progress! Can't wait to see it when it's finished.

Now, i started building the CAI pipe like the original plan was. It was cut through where the bat used to sit.


Looks it would be functional.


Then the First mis-step from the original plan, i might just improve the cooling while at it.
I wired the fans, that both could be pushed on from the dash, and ecm could turn on other one when it wants.
Wiring drawing if anyone needs it





I bought high-end Apexi cone filter for my car. It's placed directly behind the bumber support, where it gets
loads of airflow from grille and the front lip.

Good luck with Mantapart.......

Looks nice otherwise.  While you are upgrading wiring I would consider upgrading the wire from the alternator output to the battery.  I am assuming you may have already done this.

2006 Late summer - Should i do more?





Front end was now back together, European headlights from my old car, but all the light units (not sealed beams) were brand new,
also i did some modifications to them, light-adjuster motors were stripped out and frame was reinforced.

I also wanted to re-do the wiring for the headlights & add relays, since i wanted more visibility to my nightly explorations.
Oh and because the bat would now move to trunk, i would need some changes anyway. Maybe i'd just do the Big3 while at it too.


What it looked like back then, i'v done couple changes after this pic, and plan to re-do it again to water-proof case maybe.
2 of the small relays are for cooling fans, rest are for lights.





Car was without suspension for long time, i wanted to replace Everything what's there, I also ordered set of 'street' Bilsteins from Mantapart,
At the end, took 18 months to get the stuff, so later after taking this pic, i got bored of waiting, and just threw the old struts there.


Subframe was sandblasted professionally, and then i replaced everything, including poly bushings in front suspension. Too bad i didn't had the struts.


Some new parts.


Filled up transmission mount.


And the rear engine mount.

2006 Fall, Some brakes.. and driving?

I had been working on my front big brakes, now was time to put em on the car, this was the #1 major modification done to the car.












Now i could drive my car again, at this point i had already did a lot stuff, witch was all new to me back then, i didn't really have much experience about working with this stuff before, so i was kinda happy that my car was functioning like it should after all i had done in the past year. (modifications listed, and lot of changing gaskets & stuff).


LINK for the video of the first start that year


I hope everyone loves this pic as much i.

were can i get that gtz brace like the one shown in the top pic?

nice weba

2006 Fall continued


Now was time to work with the rear end of the car.


First place to find rust on the car, this was the after-pic, i did what i could back then to get re rust off, and then added protection over it,
one of these days it will be fixed like it should be, maybe next winter?


May the ADDCO be with me. Springs that you can see there are eibachs after 1 winter on my 91.


Also i pulled the dead 16 year old shocks off, and put better set in while still waiting for the Bilsteins.

Exhaust was off the car after cat, since i was already planning my masterpiece exhaust thing that you have seen later.

Cause i bought the MRZ strut brace to front, i wanted to add brace to rear too, ended up designing own one, that would let room for
adding subwoofer box under it, in case i wan't to use one someday.


Here it is, unfinished.


And here finished.




Ended up being extremely heavy.. and strong. When i'l later add rollcage, this will be replaced by it.

2006 - Fall continued


Hmmh, whats this? Better pull the door off to see.


Oh-noes, more rust, happily it's only on the surface layer of the sheet metals. Waiting to be professionally fixed, slowed down with rust preventer.


Door was out, so i could just swap in the 91 doors now, they didn't have the damage my passenger door had, and already had the never interior pieces i wanted.


Like you could notice from last pic, i pulled the carpet too, it was wet. I removed all the padding you can see, for weight reducement.

I wanted to remove the faded door moldings from the 91 doors.

2006 - Late Fall




I rushed to get the old interior out and new one in before snow falls.
This is how far i got before it got too cold to work outside.


Old dash was not bad, only warped by the windshield, but i threw it away, maybe a mistake, but i just don't like the old interior that much, unless black.


I pulled the IDI cover off to be glass ball-blasted and repainted + clear coated, ended up looking tits!

I had decided i want to use the open style grille, because i wanted more airflow to cool down the engine.


After seeing someones idea here, i wanted to try this.


It's not yet finished, cause i'm not sure will i use it or create something else, i like the looks of solid grille, but i need functionality on this!
Oh and my 'garage' had lights now.

Looks pretty amazing to me.....