Mad tyte KDM build

[andybob]

Today I finally got my slide pins for the rear brakes so I could finish this thing up. Hit them with some silicone brake grease and got to building:



Put on the brakes and spun the coils down a bit:



After making sure everything was tight I threw on the wheels and put her down. Took it for a spin to get some food, pulled it back in the garage and here is how it sits:



Looks pretty good but I still want it to be a smidge lower. I'm sure the new springs will settle in a little bit thought.

In order to go lower I am going to have to move the cv boots as close the the joint as possible so I have room the thread the coils down more. I'll look into that tomorrow night. If that works, I'll spin them down more.

Subframe sits 2 3/4" off the ground. Pinchwelds in the front are 3 3/4" and 4 1/4" inches in the rear.

[FittedDownLow]

FUCK YES! cant wait to see this thing on the ground!

[andybob]

looks so much better awaiting finished pics. btw do u paint the chassis saver on with a brush?

Thanks.

You can brush it or spray it. I used foam brushes so I didn't splatter it all over myself because it takes about 2 weeks to come off skin.

[mattmac2007]

looks so much better awaiting finished pics. btw do u paint the chassis saver on with a brush?

[andybob]

Time for another update (not that any prolly cares...lol)

So today my much anticipated shorter coilover springs arrived from Megan Racing. They are 150mm tall at a 8kg/mm spring rate (replacing 200mm 6kg/mm springs.)

Pic compared to the other not-cut spring:



Started building them back up making sure I put dabs of grease where the springs rest on the perches so they don't make any noise:



All built up:



After that it was a matter of putting them in, bolting them up, putting the brakes back on etc. Right side:



Left side:



In the spring I'll clean up the calipers and rotors (if I don't need brakes by then.)

After getting both fronts in, I threw on a wheel, jacked it up to where it almost started lifting the corner off the jackstand and took a pic:



Not bad, but I still want it lower. So I spun them down. Problem now is the coilover is threading down out of the piece that bolts into the spindle and almost into the CV boot. With that said I wen't about a 1/4" lower and I'm sure the springs will settle a tad when I get it back out on the road.

All that's left to do is throw the brakes on the rear (still waiting for slide pins, I'll have them tomorrow), spin the rear coils down some and get it on the ground.

Hell yeah.

[andybob]

Thanks guys.

It occured to me I've never posted a pic of my engine bay so here it is:



I'ts a little dirty but I haven't cleaned it since SoWo. So far I've done:
-Battery relocation
-Relocated the cruise control
-Built my own intake out of 2.5" aluminum intercooler pipe.
-Tucked few wires here and there and that's about it.

I may also paint the strut bar while I'm at it because I can't stand the chrome.

[nellydragracer]

Looking good man, not many people bother with Kias so props to you for doing so.

[1982gl4]

Looks good. Great Idea to paint the subframes I've seen a lot rusting out on anything from Subarus to Nissans. I just por15ed mine on my legacy, then I oil undercoated everything, anything to keep the rust away in the good old North East.

[andybob]

Update #3:

I can't smell anything but paint and have a bit of a headache but everything is looking real good. While it isn't 100% perfect its a hell of a lot better than it was. I'll let the pics do the talking.

"Chassis Saver" paint:



Right front:



Left front:



Rear subframe:



I didn't paint the threads for the toe adjustment. Paint can said it will stick metal together and that wouldn't be good if I couldn't adjust toe.

Left rear:



Right rear:



And I got the backsides the best I could:





In all not too shabby. It would have been a hell of a lot easier to drop the subframes and paint them, but I don't really have the equipment here at home to do that. Its a lot better than it was. Depending on how ambitious I feel over the next few days waiting for some parts to arrive, I might drop the sway bar and paint that black too. I'm not feeling the white.

Up next, rebuilding coils when I get the parts in.

[andybob]

tomorrow, we head for battle and glory.

[121scale]

tomorrow, we head for battle and glory.

[andybob]

Unexciting Update #2

So I got my ass out of bed fairly early this morning so I could head down to Lowe's and pick up some needed supplies. After reading the paint directions all they really want you to do is wire brush loose material, make shiny surfaces dull by sanding them, and wash with a general degreaser.

So I picked up a gallon of this for only $10 and it came with a handy sprayer:



Before I could get cleaning shit I had to take the rear pads and rotors off so I could get to the backing plates and such. That's when this happened:



Not sure what the hell happened but I need new slide pins so off the parts store. Ordered new ones and they will be here the 16th (same day as coil springs). I also picked up a new set of ceramic pads in the rear as I didn't like the way my current ones were wearing. (Pads were siezed up in the brackets.)

So after I got all tat bs dealt with and got the rear pads and rotors off I got to prepping for paint.

Not too many pictures with this. Use some elbow grease and a wire brush to get the big stuff off. I used a combination of that and a wire wheel on a die grinder. Worked pretty good.

Then I sprayed everything down with the degreaser:



I let it set for a few minutes then scrubbed everything I sprayed with a gray scuff pad, then soaked it all down again with degreser for a few minutes before I sprayed everything clean with water.

I did the same thing to the back subframe but did it twice because some of the shit was pretty heavy. Pic if the rear subframe:



After everything had time to drip dry after rinsing I went through with towels and dried all the little valleys where water collected and I'll let it all sit overnight and dry out really good. The directions say there can't be any moisture on the surface or the paint wont adhere.

It doesn't seem like I did much today but prepping for paint is such a pain in the ass.

Tomorrow I paint.

[birdy]

to bad you cut that spring, I would buy the old ones off of you.

[coconutt]

Whoa you actually went through cutting the coil! The need for moar low in us...

Good you bought some shorter/stiffer springs. And that computer you have there, that is totally shop material lol.

[andybob]

why didnt you just cut the strut housing in stead of the spring?

I thought of that but its threaded where I would have to cut it.