90 ZC Swapped RT4WD

bkmc24

So I scooped this from Austin (Ludeman) last weekend and am in love.

I had to dolly it home in 2WD but it made it safe.


Literally the first day I tried to drive it, the front driveshaft lost 3/4 bolts and was causing a mess. Luckily it wasn't bad and Mr Tire hooked me up big time. Got to put it in 4WD and play in the snow we got that day and made it through about 3 foot drifts. Quite fun. Pics!






Plans are extensive but initially are to do some serious TLC. It seems a bit neglected in my standards and thats a no no.
Hood and fenders will be roller painted and the rest will be cut and polished to see if I can rid it of oxidation.
RT wheels are rusty and nasty so I already have paint and rust reformer to take care of soon.
New U-Joints for now until I can hopefully peep a DSS one if they will make us some.
Energy Bushings as far as I can go. It is needed.
If I can't afford FF coils soon, I'll snag some cheapo struts to fix that temp issue.
Removing the nasty purple tint as well. And that is the closest goal set for now.

Long term, lower, roof rack and snow attachments, Gold OG Sakura wheels, boosted to 200-260 and DD the shit out of it.

bkmc24

Well, the oxidation is really bad, so I decided to see what I could get out by hand. Here is how far I made in about 30-45 minutes. Use front door for reference.



If I can get ahold of a cutting pad and buffer, the outcome will be substantially better. But for now, I am doing what I can.

quarters

nice work sir.

bkmc24

Thanks man. I'm going to put some more time into it today and see where I can get by hand.

bkmc24

Okay, so I put a little more time into it today. Clay bar on the spots with paint I felt worthwhile to reclaim, more rubbing compound and some back to black on trim that needed some help. A little sad because while claying the car was i found a substantial amount of rust bubbles on random spots that need attention and a lot of what seems to be tar on the roof. So even though I didn't want to paint a lot of the wagon, I will have to. It probably won't be a full paint all at once. A little here and there but it will get done. BUT, here are some pics of the progress today.


Front door is untouched, back door is yesterdays progress, and quarter panel is todays progress.


Close-up of the difference of today and yesterday.


Close-up of all three "phases"


Polished everything. I like it is close to one color...lol

bkmc24

Decided to see how I would go about repainting the wheels white. So I took one and stripped it down pretty well;

Once I got most of the paint off, I used Rust Reformer by Rustoleum as a base coat since majority of the issues I am having are rust related;

And, once that dried, I painted it with flat white Rustoleum. It looks decent in pictures but I am not even near satisfied;


Compared to what they originally looked like, it looks worlds better. Up close, it looks like crap. I have contacted a local powder coating company to get all of them done flat white and potentially hydro d

chaos

Great work bringing the paint back as much as possible, its night and day difference!

bkmc24

Thanks man. I used to detail a few years back so I am pretty good at it even by hand lol. It will all be one color this summer since I will be fixing the rust and matching the paint all to one shade. Also will be ordering new struts, eibach pro-kit, energy master kit, new U-joints and will be having an exhaust made for it. That should take car of all mechanical things I am concerned with and then I can focus on the cosmetic. Also ordered an eBay wing so that goes with the fixing theme.

To anyone who actually reads this and did the u-joint replacement, did it balance well and get rid of vibrations?

bkmc24

Well....my wallet is lighter now!

Just ordered KYB GR-2, Eibach Pro-kit, Energy Master Kit, Energy Trailing Arm Bushings, Intake, Muffler to get an exhaust made, eBay Wagon Wing, Rockford U-Joints, POR15 starter kit, PORStrip, and POR Patch.

bkmc24

And after reading a few sites, reviews, and DIY's, I just ordered some POR15 Powermesh and another starter kit. Going to use this to repair the rust issues that have holes since I don't want to have to cut and weld a lot. I intend to use the GroPro on the head and do an entire DIY, start to finish with a one week later check up so everyone can see how to use it, how well it goes on and how hard it becomes.

bkmc24

Struts, Springs, Bushings and U-Joints just came in! I'll prob try and get the struts and springs in this weekend if I can. I'd really rather get the bushings pressed in before I put them on.

Queef|Chief

Good stuff buddy!

bam-bam

Nice work. The driveshaft will balance just fine- that is if it's balanced now! Make an index mark on the shaft and yokes to keep them matched.

bkmc24

bam-bam wrote: »

Nice work. The driveshaft will balance just fine- that is if it's balanced now! Make an index mark on the shaft and yokes to keep them matched.

Thanks man. It's balanced mostly. It vibrates from 30-45ish so hopefully this fixes that.

bkmc24

Intake came in today. Ultra tight fit but I got it to work. Better than the dirty OEM filter and a little bit of fun noise.

MegaWagon91

I love my Fun noise. LOL

bkmc24

Alright, so part of my POR15 order came as well as

The muffler I plan to use in my exhaust. The plan is to angle the muffler, and cut the tip and using pie-cuts, making it look similar to an Evo exhaust that has the angled muffler but straight out tip.
Similar to this, but with a name brand muffler and 2.5 inch inlet. Should be nice.
http://www.hk5motors.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/1/-/1-mu-30503bl-rs_hk5_.jpg

drfink

When i got my first wagon, the driveshaft was in the back of the hatch in pieces with a frozen u joint. No phase markings of any sort. When I replaced the u joints and pug it back together, I didn't have any problems.

bkmc24

So I had an oil leak pretty bad into a sprk plug tube. I replaced the VC gasket and tube seals and fixed it. It looks like the one that was leaking was the only one reused during it's rebuild...
Hoping to get to the suspension one of these weekends because it is finally getting nicer out and I will have the time. I plan to fix the rust and paint it in June when I am on terminal leave and the wife is in Atlanta.

bkmc24

Put these in today:





Took the CD player and set of speakers from an Integra I had and put them in the wagon. The rear speakers were a bit busted and ugly so I swapped them. The CD player is the one that hides an iPod/USB media player. I love it.

bkmc24

Original


Lowered...According to our bullshit suspension thread, my set-up was supposed to be a slight drop, not dumped and tucking. So to anyone reading, this is with KYB GR-2's and Eibach Pro-kit's. Rides well but still a lot lower than I wanted. I need to get smaller tires so I can turn fully again lol

truckslammer

Awesome hidey stereo. I was just gonna go look for a new stereo online and now I need to find one like this. Thanks!:encouragement:

bkmc24

Haha, for sure. Sony makes it.


Does anyone know of a front spacer set-up that is maybe a half inch or so? Would like to space the front so I can have level-ish suspension

jpciii

bkmc24 wrote: »

Does anyone know of a front spacer set-up that is maybe a half inch or so? Would like to space the front so I can have level-ish suspension

THANK YOU for posting pics of a wagon on lowering springs... those are EF springs, right??? and EF shocks??? There are not many pics posted of wagons on EF lowering springs... seems like everyone does coilovers or tries lowering springs or shocks from other vehicles. I wanted to install Neuspeed Race on my wagon and use spacers to lift the front, but now I think the springs might be too low for me, so... thanks for sharing your experience.

You can make DIY spacers out of HDPE plastic cutting boards. The plastic boards are cheap on ebay and come in different thicknesses. If it were me, I would get 1/4", make a bunch, and stack them to get the right height. You might need longer studs for your tophats depending on how much lift you want.

bkmc24

jpciii wrote: »

THANK YOU for posting pics of a wagon on lowering springs... those are EF springs, right??? and EF shocks??? There are not many pics posted of wagons on EF lowering springs... seems like everyone does coilovers or tries lowering springs or shocks from other vehicles. I wanted to install Neuspeed Race on my wagon and use spacers to lift the front, but now I think the springs might be too low for me, so... thanks for sharing your experience.

You can make DIY spacers out of HDPE plastic cutting boards. The plastic boards are cheap on ebay and come in different thicknesses. If it were me, I would get 1/4", make a bunch, and stack them to get the right height. You might need longer studs for your tophats depending on how much lift you want.

Totally just saw this. Yes they are EF springs and struts. The front I solved my issue by moving the fork down the strut. I thread the bolt in slightly, slipped the strut in as far as it will go (sitting on the bolt basically) and tightened the shit out of it. Made the front and rear damn near perfectly level.




MINOR update, I changed the diff and trans fluids with AMSOIL Synchromesh and 80w-90. Needless to say, they are amazing products and everyone should invest!

bkmc24

Major update....the "rebuilt" motor decided to destroy itself. Not entirely sure what went, but i'll be able to look more when they tow it back for me. Sweet ass timing too.

drfink

K series rt4wd swap time! Just kidding, that sucks man, sorry to hear that.

bkmc24

I have been toying with B series and K series ideas. Depends on where I am with it once I finish the track hatch.

bkmc24

Well, I guess my mind is made, scooped a Z6 for $100. Boost build once my hatch runs.

bkmc24

All of the motors I have found have fallen through. Finally found a Z6 with vitaras and paid for it and it is in my brothers possession. Time to finish the build, stock head, and boost. Hooray!

bkmc24

Minor update, just ordered 75.5 Vitaras and P2P0 rods for the Z6. Making slight progress.