Shifty's Spec R s15

[shifty]

may as well stick a project thread up for this as i plan to make several changes, both small and large

Bit of history, bought the car on Tuesday from SVA in Dover. Quite a nice spec all ready, suspect it was a drifter in Japan as it seems to have had some decent parts on it. SVA seems to have removed most the good bits though including a z32 maf and we suspect they removed a aftermarket ECU which is a pain as i plan to fit one.

Anyway current spec :

Body:

Aero body kit (this is what is listed as but i don't think it is?)
FRP vented bonnet with pins
Possible ADVAN? 17" alloys with ****e tyres.

Engine:

Uprated front mounted inter cooler with hard pipe kit
Koyo Rad
HKS filter
Blitz nur spec exhaust
Heat wrapped tubular manifold
Downpipe
silicone hoses
oil catch tank

Chassis/drivetrain:

Cusco 2 way LSD
Fully adjustable coil-over suspension
Cusco strut brace


Interior:

Nardi steering wheel

Picture after i got her the 80miles home on Tuesday.

First things first i gave her a good going over with a machin polisher on the Wednesday, Use a cutting polish, followed by poor boys white diamond and then a layer of wax. paints in pretty good condition so pleased with how it came out

Took her to work yesterday and broke down on the way in. One of the coils gave up so a trip to Dover after my night shift and i came home with a fresh one. Problem solved.

Also fitted a snap off boss (no pictures) for a bit of security and have someone coming round on wednesday to fit a clifford 650 to it.

The passenger headlight has some condensation in it so need to whip that off and give it some new sealant and i plan to coat the centre console in vinyl as its looking a bit ropey

Will be buying a new set of blue wheel nuts tomorrow as the ones on it are very worn and a new set of bonnet catches as the silver ones look slightly tatty.


Future plans are to stick a small set of spacers on to get the wheels sitting slightly better untill i can afford a set of Rota Grids. Pick up some gauges, Boost, oil pressure and water temp. (looks like the fittings for the water temp gauge are all ready in place) Set of bucket seats, harness and possibly a cage. Also looking at a link ECU and z32 maf for some more power.



Immediate plans are just to enjoy it and hope it doesn't go wrong again!

 

[S15AK]

Looks good pal, its come up a treat. Have fun

 

[Mike]

Paint does look like its come up lovely mate! Really like the look of them with big kits on but couldnt do it round here would get ripped off by speedbumps within the week! Heat wrap on the mani looks tidy! far superior to the job i did on mine!

Glad your enjoying it, you'll have to bring it along to Japfest and show it off now!

 

[S15_SAM]

It is techinically an aero body kit but aftermarket. Think it's the full vertex ridge kit, it's a very very nice kit!

And if you ever want to get rid of the 2 way diff for the standard s15 spec r helical diff give me a shout! Plus abit of money your way ofcourse!

 

[Fruitbooter]

Looks so nice after you have gave it a good clean!

Shame they took some decent parts off the car

If your gonna get some gauges you should check out depo, also get oil temp not water as you already have a gauge on the dash and its more important to monitor oil temp rather than water..

 

[shifty]

Cheers for the comments !

Thanks for the info on the kit, least i know what to look for if it gets damaged! have caught the front bumper twice so far, forget how long the front is so need to learn to crawl over speed bumps lol

not heard of depo gauges? i was looking at r-spec but will have a looky at those

spent another few hours on her today. fitted my pioneer out the evo, and wrapped the centre console. not a perfect job but the first time iv done it so.quite happy with it. can't believe how fiddley it is to do though, had to rope my brothers in for extra hands!

few pics...

 

[ichigo-300]

Nice looking 15.

It's a Vertex Lang kit or copy (the Ridge is the wide body version), looks the same as my kit and I also got mine from SVA. Mine even has the same strut bar...

Looking good mate. I like the poorboys white diamond (used to use the Black Diamond on my old BM and the white on the wifes Alfa) but I'd suggest rather than use a wax after the glaze, instead use a sealant, the pearl pops awesome with the sealant on the pearl white, I find a wax layer makes it look to warm. (plus moderm acrylic sealant protect better than a single layer wax anyway)

I do a far bit of detailing (have a 3M rotary and DAS-6 Pro DA and a small fortune in pads and other products) and on my 15 I use Dodo Juice - Lime Prime (or Werkstat Acylic Prime) as the cleaner (after claying which on don't do that often) and then Werkstat Acrylic Jett Trigger as the sealant and that's it, i've polished out any swirls so I don't need to use the White Diamond anymore, the pop from the paint is fantastic with the sealant, far better in my opinion to a wax finish. (I get mine from Polished Bliss).

Also use Autosmart Tardis, G101, Iron-X (Iron-X is amazing stuff, stinks though, lol) on the wheels, finished with Chemical Guys Jetseal 109, far far better than the horrible wheel wax they try and flog you.

I use Dodo Juice Supernatural Wax on the BM as the flake in the paint responds better than the sealant, also use Dodo Juice wax on the wifes Alfa, but for the 15 i've found the Werkstat stuff to be the best. Just though i'd pass that on as I have the same paint as you.

 

[Alex De Large]

Lovely looking S15!

My friend just linked me too this the other day. Love the kit :thumbs:

As above, the Werkstat Acrylic Kit is great for bringing out the pearlescent paint. I'd highly recommend it.

How are you getting on with the 2 way lsd?

 

[shifty]

thanks for the advice about detailing! i always get my self in a bit of a muddle with what order to apply bits. Iv got some (well my brother has ) chemical guys jetseal 109 that i could use instead of the wax, would it be any good on the paint or do you just recommend it for wheels, if so il pick up a werkstat acrylic kit Whats the purpose of the sealant instead of the wax?

Will pick up some dodo juice aswell, been meaning to look at a new shampoo as im pretty much out so will pick some up....the paint on my evo was terribly soft, not sure if the paints the same on the s15 so is the dodo juice light better matched rather than the standard stuff?

Iv got some bilberry? (think its called that) for the wheels on my mx5 and poorboys wheel sealant which brings the rotas up nice so will give that a go on the advans.

Sorry for all the questions btw, just thought i'd get them all off my chest seeing as you seem to know what your talking about



The 2 way lsd's mental, it locked last night at a hefty speed which gave me a shock lol Ideally i need to take it to lydden or something to see if i can get my head around using it, it seems to lock at every opportunity!...i normally drive a s13 with a welder so it'l take me a little while to get to grips with it...if i cant it'l be up for sale


the usual skid car

 

[ichigo-300]

I don't want to spam your thread, but here it is, plus some pics of my detailing (all I can't find).

For the order it’s pretty much the same on all cars, but you just remove the stages that your not going to do, but the order stays the same.

• Pre-treat (Chemical Guys – Bug Bugger) – softens the bugs on the front (leave for 1-2 mins)
• Pre-Wash (Snow Foam and lance) – leave for 5 mins
• Rinse (The pre-wash (Snow Foam) stage is to do as much actual cleaning without ever touching the car, the less you touch the less chance of actualy creating swirls/spider webs etc)
• Repeat if necessary
• Wheels (Autosmart G101 (best all purpose cleaner I’ve found) spray tires and scrub
• Rinse Wheels
• Now spray wheels with wheel cleaner (Bilberry/Wheel Brightener etc) leave 30secs (do one at a time, don’t spray all and leave, ever!!)
• Attack wheels with assorted brushes until done.
• Rinse
• If you have tar deposits these won’t come off with regular cleaning, use Autosmart Tardis, safely melts of the tar, honeydew, bugs, rinse. (I also use Tardis on the paint as well as the wheels, typically between the wheels half way up each door and the front bar – be careful with this stuff if you get some it’s a proper detailing product and easily misused)
• For a super wheel clean use Iron-X, this removes Iron contamination (turn red in contact with Iron – you will be amazed and how much contamination you have) - rinse (i've used this stuff on the paint work as well, just be careful)
• Clay paint work, use lubricant like Dodo Born Slippy (lots of) – use a soft clay unless the paint is hard – strong clay is good if you have any overspray anywhere.
• Rinse
• Pre-wax Cleaner (this provides very light swirl removal and really cleans the paint) – Dodo Lime Prime – Werkstat Prime (I love Werkstat great stuff but expensive)
• Now you would do the paint correction (with a machine polisher but I’ll leave this stage)
• If your not doing a machine polish and you want to hide (not remove) some of the swirls you can use a Glaze (Poorboys White Diamond etc), personally you better off with a DA polisher and some pre-wax cleaner on it for light swirl removal, I haven’t found glazes to be that good at hiding the swirls and that’s all they do.
• Now the paint is polished it needs protecting, this is the purpose of wax or sealant.
• Wax provides unsurprisingly a layer of wax to protect the paint
• Sealant also provide a layer of protection but in the form of a synthetic polymer.
• Some people do both, seal first and then wax (but not the other way around usually)
• It’s horses for courses, Wax and Sealant serve a similar purpose (so you can choose based on the finish you want) Wax is always a softer/warmer effect, sealants are quite clinical in the look, sharper.
• For the sealant I usually lay down 2-3 coats, 30mins between each.
• Wax 1-2 coats depending and again probably 1-2 hours wait between coats to allow the wax to cure, on expensive waxes there is sometimes a phenomena called ‘gassing’ and this happens hours after waxing so additional buffing is required (makes the wax go slights cloudy)
• Done (basic list)

Jetseal 109 – Was originally meant as a paint sealant (like the Werkstat Jett Trigger) but I use the Werkstat now and use the sealant properties of 109 on the wheels instead, but you can also use it on the paint. (not as sharp as the Werkstat though)

Shampoo – Really there is loads of choice, my favorite is Dodo Born to be Mild (I also have Dodo Supernatural but I don’t like it as much). For the pre-wash I use Meguirs Hyper Wash (great snow foam wash)

I have a lot of Poorboys and Chemical guys stuff, can’t fault it really for the price, the Poorboys wheel seal is fine, but try the 109 and see what you think, the real proof is on the next wash, see how much brake dust is embedded using the two products.

Bilbery wheel cleaner is an alkaline cleaner, there’s lots of info floating on the web about not using acid/alkaline cleaners, but if there used carefully they are fine, Dodo Juice wheel cleaner is acid based for example.

I usually use Meguiars wheel brightener, but sometime change for the Bilberry. But the brushes are the key, I have about 10 different ones.

This is the Iron X stuff

 

[vinnie]

That vented bonnet is too sick.
Cool silvia you have mate.
Also great write up on the cleaning products Ichigo :thumbs:

 

[S15 SILVIA]

Wow, what a cleaning write up!
Wanna do mine Ichigo?

Love the car shifty! They really do look great in white with a kit on.

 

[S15AK]

Ichigo - you should put that post as a sticky thread, I spend hours cleaning mine but no were near as in that much detail... How long do you did for a full detail?

I will definitely pick up some products you have mentioned in that post.

 

[ichigo-300]

I'll stop spamming Shifty's thread and start a new detailing one. Good idea.

 

[shifty]

thanks alot for that Ichigo! Thihnk i'l pick up some new cleaning products this weekend and follow some of those stages. Always wanted a snowfoam so might just have a good enough reason to buy one now

Just need to hope it doesn't snow so i can use them!!

 

[ichigo-300]

haha.. Indeed... Snow Foam is the coolist stage for sure, once you start you can't stop, lol.

 

[john]

love the white ones..it looks clean too!

 

[shifty]

Not a particularly good update this one. Day before i left for Bulgaria i figured id give it a quick wash before packing end found this

nipped down to my body shop and left her with them to have the bumper repaired. Going to cost around 400 sheets. Suspect it was some muppet with a trolley in Tesco.

Should be picking her up Tuesday after i get back of holiday so hoping its a good repair!

Pissed to say the least!

 

[Fruitbooter]

Bad luck mate! £400 though!!!

Take it a machine polish wouldnt fix it? Is it too deep?

Id shop around or think about spraying it myself for that much lol!

 

[Mike]

I had my front bumper and half my door done for less than that! Bummer though mate, hate annoying marks. Like Fruit said id shop about!