[VTi BB8]

"Starfire Pearl White" euroR lude project - 2014 comeback!

For 2014 updates skip to page 18
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They say every end brings a new beginning... :bigthumb:

Most of you know my story but for those that don't, here's a quick summary. I used to have quite a nice ride. It was a '97 Super Marine Blue BB8 in VTi trim with 4WS and 185hp, wooden inserts in the interior and those hillarious 16" rims. I had a modification list even before I owned a lude and over the years the list got longer and the quest to make my car unique and to improve its performance turned into some kind of obsession, I guess. I've been in heaven and in hell with this car several times and the love for the car only got bigger with time. Anyway, here's the complete story...

The epic "My Super Marine Blue BB8" thread

Allow me to start this thread with a couple of memorable moments...

Now, the lude is having a complete makeover. I might have pushed things too far with some mods and I know that some decidions might not seem reasonable to you, but I'm doing it for myself and I don't want it done any other way.

I'll paint the lude to Lexus Starfire Pearl white and at this moment the car is just about to get the paintjob done.

This is what happened in the meantime...

The body was badly damaged in September '08 when I drove into a summer ice storm. The damage was actually so extensive that the dents on the pillars couldn't be repaired and needed to get fixed with filler. The problem was that there was so much filler in some places that it would most probably deform if not even crack over time if I rushed with the paintjob. Experts advised me to leave the car resting for 2 or 3 months in a dry place for the filler to dry completely. And that's just what I intended to do. I had the time to strip the car to bare chassis and that's when it started...

 

[VTi BB8]

Since I had the car completely stripped out, I intended to fill the hollow parts of the unibody with chassis stiffening foam.
I already bought the stuff, but when I actually stripped the chassis of all of its components, I realized that if I wanted it to actually work that there wouldn't be any space left for the wiring harnesses, hoses and other parts of the interior.

I then decided to TIG weld the chassis instead and so I began to slowly remove the paint and that rubber compound that covers all the joints. 2 angle grinders, 1 drilling machine and 20+ wire brushes later the chassis looked like this... Ready to be welded.

All the welding was done by a friend of mine and he did a hell of a job... Thanks Rok!

On its way to the welder...

10kg of welds later... here she is.

I reinforced the subframe in the most critical spots, since it already started to show signs of fatigue.
The car had about 270hp in its best days and the chassis made 200k+ miles so far.

Here's the subframe after sand blasting...

Reinforcments on the critical spots...

...and 7mm steel plates where the sway bar is attached to the subframe.

Coated with primer...

...and then painted with final layer of 2-component paint.


I also coated the welds with epoxy primer in order to prevent rusting. I'll add the rubber compound on all the joints before the paintjob, to make it as it was from the factory.

Steel tube reinforcment for extra stiffness.

And finally, back on its own feet... ready to head to the shop where it's going to be painted.

 

[VTi BB8]

Since I had time to spare I decided to remove all of the suspension components in order to have them refurbished and to install the ES hyperflex kit bushings.
I will apply a new underbody coating later.

ES bushings, waiting to get installed...

I cleaned all of the suspension parts with wire brushes and then neutralized the remaining rust with the liquid that does that.
LOL... I don't know how it's called in english, sorry.
Here are couple of pieces after such treatment.

The next step was to coat them with primer and then paint them black.
On top of that I applied the bitumen based anti-stone-chip paint and finally covered it with 2 layers of clearcoat so that it stopped being sticky.

Every piece got the same treatment...

...and here are the finished products...

...with ES bushings installed...

...and ready to be bolted back to the chassis.

 

[VTi BB8]

Meanwhile the lude was sadly waiting for the next step...

Installation of the renewed parts...

And finally back on its feet...

I ran out of time to finish the E-4WS system, but will do it later.
That's why there's that rusty part.

And ready to be painted... :bigthumb:

 

[cifer6425]

wow...
incrediable.

 

[thepreludedude]

i have an erection

 

[VTi BB8]

Here's the overall plan in general...

Body & chassis:
- unibody chassis rewelded with TIG on all the joints that are normally just spot welded
- chassis reinforced with thick steel plates on the most critical places (for ex. on the suspension anchor points, etc...)
- extra reinforcment with steel bars where it makes sense
- new underbody rust & stone-chip protection
- all of the suspension bushings replaced with ES hyperflex kit
- 330mm floating front rotors and probably 310mm for the rear
- 4-pot Brembo calipers in front and 2-pot in the back
- adjustable brake force distribution valve
- KYB AGX adjustable shocks
- H&R lowering springs
- Suspension Techniques front sway bar
- modified, adjustable OEM rear sway bar

Engine and drivetrain:
- engine stays the same JDM euroR as before, but with a complete makeover
- new main and rod bearings
- new pistons and rings
- head stays the same factory P&P'd euroR as before, but lowered an additional 0,6mm to increase compression
- new crower stainless steel valves with crower springs and Ti retainers
- new valve seats and repolished exhaust outlets
- Crower stage 2 cams with modified idle lobes
- 440cc RC injectors
- S2 adjustable cam gears
- Hondata IM gasket
- S2 intake manifold, modified to match the 72mm TB
- Erick's racing 72mm TB
- Accord TypeR header with modified 62mm 2-1 collector pipe and 62mm highflow Magnaflow cat
- GreddyEVO catback
- Daikin heavy duty street clutch capable of handling 400+hp
- XTD Cr-Mb lightweight flywheel
- Magnecore spark plug wires
- AEM pulley kit
- ES motor mount inserts
- engine vibration damper
- Greddy oil catch can
- OBD1 ECU tuned on Mustang dyno with Neptune software
- ALU racing water radiator
- new water hoses
- MFactory oil cooler with dislocated oil filter and thermostat
- euroR short ratio gearbox
- euroR LSD

Interior:
- new leather/alcantara upholstery
- Sparco racing seats
- custom made gauges
- 4th gen digital climate control unit
- new speakers with all new HQ wiring
- 3 pod CF gauge cluster as before, maybe one day with Nexus units
- maybe a couple additional CF parts
- additional LED lighting
- CarPC unit with all the extras (BT, GPS, WiFi...)

Exterior:
- brand new Lexus Starfire Pearl White paintjob
- Seibon CF front hood with Aerocatch flushed hood pins
- unique CF rear spoiler with integrated NSX style brake light
- improved rear bumber with Mugen skirts and a diffusor
- Mugen front bumper with CF inserts
- Work Emotion XC8 18*x7.5* rims with 225/35/18 tyres
- Blue Alumite Work wheel nuts
- euro style side markers moved to sideview mirrors
- new windshield with blue anti-glare stripe on the top
- bi-xenon projector headlights, JDM fogs, rear LED tails and all other details will probably stay the same as before

That's just a quick outline of the overall plan... And here are some the parts mentioned above, waiting to get installed.

Lowered, polished, with new valve seats, new valves and spring&retainer kit from Crower.

Daikin clutch... supposed to handle 400+hp.

JVTR racing Alu radiator...

How about some 330mm floating rotors off an EVO9? :bigthumb:

...forcing me to sell the NSX calipers since they're too small now. :laugh:

Test fitted to the hub and it looks promising...
I just need to find some Brembo calipers now.

Some OEM parts and the MF oil cooler... all like new.

Cold Air Intake...

Suspension Techniques sway bar in racing red, MF oil cooler with euroR logo and AC condenser.

...and other misc parts...

 

[vince22SH]

i agree!!! wooooww....

 

[VTi BB8]

If this isn't sexy, then I don't know what is... :bigthumb:
Work Emotion XC8 18" wheels in bronze finish.

Work wheel nuts...

 

[VTi BB8]

Custom made gauges with tacho scale up to 290km/h and rpm's going to 10krpm.

Thanks xTuners! :bigthumb:


Well that's about it for now... I'll post new pics as the build gets along.
And comments are always welcome, as usual!

 

[kmart64]

wow that is nice...I didn't know the aem intakes came in flat black? did you paint it ;P

 

[lude4lifeh22]

speachless....

 

[VTi BB8]

wow that is nice...I didn't know the aem intakes came in flat black? did you paint it ;P

It's actually a Bomz CAI painted flat black and since I had some AEM stickers on hand, I gave it a try... I think it looks better than any AEM intake out there. :laugh:

Besides... rice is nice, seafood no good. :bigthumb:

 

[krayzieLuDeR501]

wow! i am speechless, wish i had the money and knowledge to do this! so what did you do with your ep3 type r wheels?

 

[VTi BB8]

wow! i am speechless, wish i had the money and knowledge to do this! so what did you do with your ep3 type r wheels?

The rims ended up on my gf's Lexus. :bigthumb:

 

[krayzieLuDeR501]

so envious!! if you dont mind me asking, what do you do for a living?

 

[chuitron]

Thread subscribed!
Amazing job so far, can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[netzyo98]

oh damn...i've always loved this Lude from the very first time I saw it years ago, and Love it even more now.

You sure do love your cars. Keep up the great work

 

[nordic97mist]

omg! that is amazing. this thread is going to be even more legendary than the last! i cant wait to see it when done!!!

 

[Crazy97Lude]

HAWT!!! I was waiting for this thread!! Your friend from Croatia told me you were you re-doing it in white....looks perfect man.