y33 build threaddd

[cheez80]

hey all,
i thought i'd make a build thread. the car's going through some changes and i thought it would be nice to put them into post form

it's a 2000 infiniti q45 anniversary edition -- i got the cool wood grain wheel and all the options sans nav and heated seats.

i don't have any photos of when i got it (october/november 2006), but it looked something like this:

(thanks to whomever took this photo)

i drove it stock until may 2008 (damn, that's a long time) when i picked up insurance group coilovers



(they call it the high performance styling kit. awesome. totally indicative of how stiff they are :P)

at the same time, i also picked up a set of work euroline n's with sizing something like 19x9.5 +8 19x10 -10, as well as the full complement of peak performance s14 multilink in the rear (RUCA, toe, traction). hooray for aurora rod ends!

and FML, i can't find photos of the car at this stage, not even an iphone photo. it was ugly though -- i'm sure you guys can trust me on that.

come january 09, i decided to sell the eurolines. a cat with an s14 in fresno picked them up, then i scooped up a set of MAE japan's. i thought these were going to be sized 18x10 +5 and 18x11.5 +13, but the seller misrepresented the offset (they were actually 18x11.5 -13. fml). here's a photo of the car, right before i realized the tire was sitting on the fender (keep in mind that's about -6.5* of camber):

[cheez80]

one last photo of this stage:



then, i took these MAE's to a wheel shop which shaved down the pad 15mm (making them +2, effectively). the same day i got these back, i lowered the car a little bit more -- driving the car on 18's means it has to be lowwwwww (well, at least lower than it was on 19's)




a few months later, i decided it would look good lowered a bit more:



that's when i found out the lower limit of these insurance coils, without playing with spring droop. fml.

i then drove the car without many changes.

oh yeah, here are some rolling photos i took a couple weeks back:








(yes, that is a defi vsd visible in the first photo :P) if you're bored, i made a quick video that night too: http://vimeo.com/14980178

a couple weeks ago, i decided that i'd take the car to the next level -- i'd get rid of these dried jizz-faced MAE's, get the car as low as possible, and get custom front lower control arms, so i could space out the front track and get more negative camber. it was getting weird looking at the rears, with -7* and the fronts with barely -4*.

here are the rims i picked up (apparently everyone on zilvia knows this car):



sizing is 18x10 -6 18x12 -7.

here's the best part about these wheels, though:



at the same time, i ordered some more cool shit for the car:



(thanks tuan at aspec!)

i got the front fucked up wheel back from the refinisher last night, and now this is what the car looks like:



the refinishing shop only took care of the bend and the rash -- i'm totally undecided on what i want to do with these right now. and fml, it totally needs to come down wayyyy more in the front.

the car's running 225/40/18 and 245/40/18's right now with -4* camber front (which is the max this suspension design can do with just camber plates) and -9.25* rear (!). when the car goes under the knife next week, i'm going to ask alex pfeiffer (battleversion.com -- shameless plug. cool cat, even better s-chassis, 86, 350z, and mazda sus parts) to dial in less camber for me.

i'm going to keep this thread updated with progress over the next two weeks leading up to autofashion's VIP festival. i'm hoping the car will be done and the stance will be correct by then.

thanks for reading!

[cheez80]

reserved!

[kramerbuccs24]

So simple, I love it! Don't change a thing.

[JasperThomas]

god DAMN.

[Drama]

UUUUUNNNGGGHHHH!!! so sick

And yea, that S13 is pretty famoso

[Oxer]

I have always Loved your car dude! One of my fave y33's stateside for sure!

[CSBolger]

I'm starting to really dig Y33s. Good work!

[cheez80]

ok guys,
both pairs of swift springs are in (i'm going 12kg/mm front and 8 kg/mm rear), i have a new set of muteki (lol) lugnuts sitting in the trunk, and i've locked down a time with alex pfeiffer (tuesday the 2nd). i'll post progress then. yay! so excited!

[BLKonBLK98]

what was the original insurace spring rates? swifts seem kind of soft to justify $$$.

[cheez80]

what was the original insurace spring rates? swifts seem kind of soft to justify $$$.

they are 8/6 kg/mm. i'd like to go stiffer (maybe 18/16 or something) but i'm unsure whether i can find a shop to revalve the insurances. i've also considered doing the s13/4 suspension swap. consider these a stopgap measure for the moment

[cheez80]

ok all,
here's an update:

alex @ battle version helped me build some custom FLCA's yesterday, but i got owned by swift -- they sent me 7" front springs instead of 6" and i didn't catch the discrepancy until after they were installed. aspec and swift won't take them back, saying that it was my error for not checking. oh well, lesson learned.

as a consequence, the front of the car is about the same height -- it's maybe half and inch lower than it was previously. alex also helped me setup the rear alignment properly; i'm no longer rubbing the inner wheel well. by the way, these swift springs are amazing. highly recommended as an upgrade for your street-driven coilovers.

the next step is doing what i should've done from the beginning -- get the s13/4 suspension swap in this car. it'll allow me to lay frame (if i wanted to, not that i'm going to. it'll be nice to have that much adjustability) because the coilovers themselves have much less vertical height. i'm also looking for something that can be revalved here in the US. i'd like to run a much higher spring rate, just to control the vertical movement of the wheel within the well -- i'd rather run stiffer suspension than bottom out and rub everywhere. does anybody have any suggestions for coilovers that have an adjustable lower mount AND are able to be rebuilt? only baller coilovers come to mind -- zeals and aragostas. fml.

anyway, here are some photos:


















nice. lots of camber. i'm doing something like -9* rear and -5.5* front. i'll need to cut and extend both my tie rods and tension rods if i want more camber out front, which just wasn't in the cards yesterday.

as always, comments and criticism are welcome!

[ollycarbs]

that's great work for a great car!
love the massive camber, your tire prvider must love you!

I did not know swift for springs, as i will certainly change mine in a while, can i ask a price for yours to have an idea? what rate do you run for such a big car?

i saw you have 3 adjustment rings on your coilovers, why don't you remove one to gain a bit of lowness?

for rebuildable coilover, do you think about the Bilstein PSS9? i don't know if the fit your car and your budget but i guess there are some workshop in the US able to rebuild them if needed...

Will check forward to see how this build turns!

[Petis]

I love those stitch wheels. If you EVER sell, please lmk.

Willing to bet there are about 20 ppl in front of me on dibs though

[cheez80]

love the massive camber, your tire prvider must love you!

the tire shop loves me, indeed, haha. but my toe's been spot on, and all of the rear suspension bushings are pillowball (also known as heim or rose joints, i guess) so there's no play; the alignment is always in spec. therefore, i don't go through tires as much as some people would expect -- i'm aiming for 12k miles a pair in the rear.

I did not know swift for springs, as i will certainly change mine in a while, can i ask a price for yours to have an idea? what rate do you run for such a big car?

i just put in 12kg/mm front and 8 kg/mm rear -- it's still pretty soft for such a heavy car. the ride's pretty good. i paid about $85/spring for the swifts (probably overpaid slightly)

i saw you have 3 adjustment rings on your coilovers, why don't you remove one to gain a bit of lowness?

we didn't have time to pull the shock body out of the housing -- plus, alex pfeiffer (the suspension tuner) is a stickler for function

for rebuildable coilover, do you think about the Bilstein PSS9? i don't know if the fit your car and your budget but i guess there are some workshop in the US able to rebuild them if needed...

i'm unsure whether they make an s13 configuration, and i also think the bottom shock mount isn't adjustable, but i'll do some more research today. thanks for the tip!