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So had a day off of work and finally decided to throw a thread together. About 15 years ago I was big into the Nissan scene. Built, showed, raced, blew up & crashed about 6 different S13 240's. Then got busy with a new job and got out of the car scene for a while. Fast forward to 2012, moved from Chicago to SoCal, had some extra time on my hands and started on a new project.
Was looking for something older, preferably a Datsun, but ended up picking up a half started project from a buddy in Texas, a 1950 Chevy Styleline Coupe.
After about 15 months of having it… Laying frame nice and bombed out haha
Went from turbo 4 bangers to an all American rat rod NA V8 Muscle bomber haha. Was a bit of a 180 from what I was used to. Had the coupe for about 2 years and you know how it goes... Never satisfied, always looking for the next project and really really missed boost. So in 2013 I came across this cherry Volvo for sale up north that had a lot of the leg work done (which helps, considering I didn’t have a ton of extra time to devote to working on it) and by some weird stroke of luck, happened to be swapped with one of my favorite motors, a notch top S14 Sr20det. Long story short, immediately bought the Volvo, sold the Chevy and so began my never ending vehicle identity crisis...
Needed new wheel bearings. So rented a hub puller from O’Riley’s that didn’t work, and ended up using some of that redneck ingenuity that my pop’s learned me… Worked like a charm.
Then did the typical suspension mods, poly bushings, IPD swap bars, new ball joints, new brake shoes, etc..
Then…. Blew the head gasket haha. So next few months was spent fixing that. New metal head gasket, upgraded the valves (bent a few) and picked up a few new odds and ends to try and make it my own.
Wood grain Nardi deep corn wheel, Nardo evolution shift knob, AEM Truboost and UEGO
The wheels had to go. Was back and forth on dropping a few grand to rebuild some BBS RS’s to a custom offset or doing a cheaper VW bug kinda look with some wider negative offset steelies and Vovlo hubcaps. Decided to go the less expensive route and spend the money I saved on a turbo upgrade, because 10psi just wasn’t cutting it haha.
Sanded off the primer and mounted up with some dope old school Portawall whitewalls.
Rolled, pulled, cut away the rear fenders’
Then picked up some rebuilt front calipers from Eric @ Hi Performance because I know from experience, it’s better to crash at 10 mph than it is at 60mph.
Then started source the turbo upgrade. Picked up a ball bearing BX550 from JP Turbo (similar specs to the Garrett GT3071r), and some 810cc injectors.
Just installed the injectors last weekend and am now in the process of getting it tuned.
That’s where I’m at today. Moving back to Chicago in a month and waiting for a few little surprises in the mail. But overall, super happy with the look, feel and performance of the car so far.
Did pick up a Recaro Profi SPG and threw it in, only to decide that I didn’t really love how it looked. So as of today it’s back to the stock driver seat. (Recaro is for sale if anyone is interested haha)
Looking forward to keeping this one for a few years. I'll keep this thread going with any of the new stuff I end up doing.
Thanks for looking!
Was looking for something older, preferably a Datsun, but ended up picking up a half started project from a buddy in Texas, a 1950 Chevy Styleline Coupe.
After about 15 months of having it… Laying frame nice and bombed out haha
Went from turbo 4 bangers to an all American rat rod NA V8 Muscle bomber haha. Was a bit of a 180 from what I was used to. Had the coupe for about 2 years and you know how it goes... Never satisfied, always looking for the next project and really really missed boost. So in 2013 I came across this cherry Volvo for sale up north that had a lot of the leg work done (which helps, considering I didn’t have a ton of extra time to devote to working on it) and by some weird stroke of luck, happened to be swapped with one of my favorite motors, a notch top S14 Sr20det. Long story short, immediately bought the Volvo, sold the Chevy and so began my never ending vehicle identity crisis...
Needed new wheel bearings. So rented a hub puller from O’Riley’s that didn’t work, and ended up using some of that redneck ingenuity that my pop’s learned me… Worked like a charm.
Then did the typical suspension mods, poly bushings, IPD swap bars, new ball joints, new brake shoes, etc..
Then…. Blew the head gasket haha. So next few months was spent fixing that. New metal head gasket, upgraded the valves (bent a few) and picked up a few new odds and ends to try and make it my own.
Wood grain Nardi deep corn wheel, Nardo evolution shift knob, AEM Truboost and UEGO
The wheels had to go. Was back and forth on dropping a few grand to rebuild some BBS RS’s to a custom offset or doing a cheaper VW bug kinda look with some wider negative offset steelies and Vovlo hubcaps. Decided to go the less expensive route and spend the money I saved on a turbo upgrade, because 10psi just wasn’t cutting it haha.
Sanded off the primer and mounted up with some dope old school Portawall whitewalls.
Rolled, pulled, cut away the rear fenders’
Then picked up some rebuilt front calipers from Eric @ Hi Performance because I know from experience, it’s better to crash at 10 mph than it is at 60mph.
Then started source the turbo upgrade. Picked up a ball bearing BX550 from JP Turbo (similar specs to the Garrett GT3071r), and some 810cc injectors.
Just installed the injectors last weekend and am now in the process of getting it tuned.
That’s where I’m at today. Moving back to Chicago in a month and waiting for a few little surprises in the mail. But overall, super happy with the look, feel and performance of the car so far.
Did pick up a Recaro Profi SPG and threw it in, only to decide that I didn’t really love how it looked. So as of today it’s back to the stock driver seat. (Recaro is for sale if anyone is interested haha)
Looking forward to keeping this one for a few years. I'll keep this thread going with any of the new stuff I end up doing.
Thanks for looking!
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