Project Shitbox 12's....or radial tire 12's on the cheap.

[ziptieracer]

Finally took some crappy pics with my crappy camera, so I guess I'll start a build thread now.

So, this is my first Saturn. Before this, I've built a few pretty quick VW's and that's about it. I picked it up from a friend for $350 and a couple old VW parts I had laying in the garage. It's a 94 SC2. The final goal with this thing is to get it to run into the 12's on radial tires while still remaining street legal and looking as stock and ugly as possible.

THE MODS: short ram intake, cat-back exhaust, NX wet single fogger(currently jetted at 75), Wiseco 9:1 forged pistons, MSD coils, Magnecor wires, welded diff pin, phantom grip LSD, Centerforce clutch, aftermarket dog bone mounts, short throw shifter, and a fair amount of weight reduction(A/C, carpet, interior panels removed).

THE BAD: Car was hit while it was parked, leaving it with no front bumper and a mismatched l/f fender and headlight assembly. Alignment is completey fuct and tires are completely shot. Sunroof is broken and pops open every time you close the door. Radiator sidetank busted and leaking coolant, coolant reservoir busted and leaking coolant, engine is puking oil from the timing cover area, my friend(the previous owner) is a savage carkiller and never changed the oil after the fresh rebuild on the motor for about 7k miles and many nitrous pulls(more on this later.... :lol:

[ziptieracer]

Okay, got to work on the car a little bit at work today. First order of business was getting rid of the coolant leaks and changing the oil. So in the morning I had parts pick up a new aftermarket radiator and a factory reservoir. On my lunch break, I swapped out the radiator and reservoir(this things are way easier to work on than VWs btw). I also removed the washer fluid reservoir as thats extra weight I don't really need. After that, I changed the oil. I also cleaned off as much oil residue as possible and added some dye so I can see where the oil leak is coming from. Draining the oil was discomforting. What came out was something along the lines of oily metallic paste, and the magnetic tip of the drain plug looked like it had a little mini metal porcupine. Not good. I also forgot to mention that the motor has a lovely death rattle when started up cold that gets quieter as it warms up. So yah, I'm not sure if I'm even gonna bother with fixing the oil leak. This fucker is probably gonna give up the ghost the next time it's gets a nitrous pull.

After work, I pulled it back in on the alignment rack and straightened the alignment out. Rear was OK, but the front was BAD. Only thing in the green in front was the caster. Right front camber was out 3 degrees. I also peeled off the Saturnspeed.com stickers from the PO. [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif[/img]

Total cost so far: $480
Car $350
New radiator and coolant reservoir: $130

[ziptieracer]

Went to the junkyard today on my lunch break. Damn there's alot of these things in the junkyard. Haven't had so much fun in a junkyard in years. I can never find anything useful for my vw's. Anyways, I picked up a 95 style front bumper and an early non-airbag 3 spoke steering wheel for $40. I also pocketed a couple upper radiator grommets since they're missing on mine. Oh yah, the bumper is purple, so it should take the look of the car to a whole new level of amazing..... [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/lol.gif[/img]

If it's not too wet this weekend, I'm gonna hit up the good yards down south and see if i can finish my JY shopping list.

Total project cost so far: $520

[ziptieracer]

Re: Project Shitbox 12's....or radial tire 12's on the cheap.

Lunch break today I installed the front bumper, figured out where the oil leak is coming from(from all over the timing cover, and the threads are pulled on the 2 valve cover bolts that go into the timing cover), hooked up the manual radiator fan switch, and did my ghetto cheap rear drag spring setup.....blocked the rear springs. [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif[/img]

Total cost still at $520.

[ziptieracer]

Re: Project Shitbox 12's....or radial tire 12's on the cheap.

Well, today wasn't a good day for project shitbox. Tried to have the car smogged today. Failed on HC pretty bad, but not enough to be labelled gross polluter. The car kinda felt like it had a miss since I got the car and seemed down on power. So I checked the plugs and wires. Plugs were fouled and the #4 plug was missing the screw-on end piece which is jammed in the wire. Also, the plugs were platinum, which isn't cool since they were being run with nitrous. So I check compression just to be sure. 210-210-210---------90. :mrgreen:

[ziptieracer]

Re: Project Shitbox 12's....or radial tire 12's on the cheap.

Weekend update: Junkyard trip was a complete waste of time. Apparently all the yards down south suck for saturns. the one yard by my work up here had a better selection than all the others combined. i did find a couple 91-92 manifolds, but after inspecting them up close and seeing the nasty crimp bends in the runners, i didn't even bother. obx header is pretty cheap and looks like it would flow much better. other than that, there was nothing. oh well, at least now i know for sure the best saturn yard is close to me, which is nice. [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif[/img]

[SL2sleeper]

Re: Project Shitbox 12's....or radial tire 12's on the cheap.

What yards did you go too in SD?
I know the ones down by the border are good well at least when i lived in SD.

[ziptieracer]

Re: Project Shitbox 12's....or radial tire 12's on the cheap.

What yards did you go too in SD?
I know the ones down by the border are good well at least when i lived in SD.

yah, i hit the yards down in otay down near the border. and the selection was horrible. i've always had bad luck down there. it's because the ecologys down there have their own guys pulling out everything valuable to sell off that they can take off easily. pcms, radios, etc. i see them doing it everytime i'm down there.

[97sleeper]

Re:

Draining the oil was discomforting. What came out was something along the lines of oily metallic paste, and the magnetic tip of the drain plug looked like it had a little mini metal porcupine. Not good. I also forgot to mention that the motor has a lovely death rattle when started up cold that gets quieter as it warms up. So yah, I'm not sure if I'm even gonna bother with fixing the oil leak. This fucker is probably gonna give up the ghost the next time it's gets a nitrous pull.

Sounds like you have a bearing takin a shit on you man. Same thing happened with my ol man's car bout 1.5 years ago, and its all thanks to my retarded driving style back then......I am so glad I'm done with my teenage years and have smartened up too.