chopaholic
RMS Regular
As many of you who have me on Facebook know, I sold my AE86 a little while ago in an effort to scrape together more house funds. A great idea in theory, but COVID-19 kicked in and I decided to hold off for a little while to see what the market does.
So I have some spare cash in my bank account and the next thing I know I have a 180sx, because you know, I am addicted to Japanese cars. Here is the story/build:
Around 3 years ago, after many conversations about JDM legends and trips out in my then PS13, my good friend Hamish decided he wanted to have a go at buying his own 180sx, after some searching we eventually found this car and imported it from Japan, we knew then it had rough paint, but had a solid underside and a good going SR20 Redtop.
A few months later it arrived into Newcastle and he took it up to his parents home in Edinburgh where it would receive its first MOT and be registered.
The car eventually moved up to his work where he done some basic modifications to the car, like removing the body kit in favour of some Kouki stuff. This unfortunately didn't last long as when he was working out of the country someone crashed into the car, smashing the front bumper to bits and giving the wing a serious ding.
He managed to replace the bumper with a stock S13 bumper but unfortunately Hamish then almost lost heart in it, with a heavy work schedule lined up and huge commitments to another project it ended up sitting abandoned for almost 2 years. I actually almost forgot it existed and with the amount he was working, I am sure he pretty much forgot about it too.
Some time in June me and Hamish were having a conversation about S15's as he was potentially looking to buy one, he asked if I would be interested in purchasing the 180sx to 'save it'... Having already bought a Transit Recovery truck the same week my house funds were quickly haemorrhaging but you just can't turn down a 180sx! A few weeks later I made the trip to Edinburgh to collect it.
Gave it a quick wash when I got back and it sat for a few months until I decided what I wanted to do with it.
After some time at home and a bit of a break from work I started to gather a few bits and bobs to start making it back into a good car again, I am normally a real wheels only type of guy but these 17x9 Rotas came up cheap, in 4x114 and I just couldn't turn them down to improve the look of the car. Also managed to buy a few silly under bonnet bits and missing interior parts from the same guy.
Started undoing some of the mental Japanese over painted lights and also fixing the extremely badly placed screw holes from the old FRP skirts (Please never do this if you have an Sbody). They will need a final skim with the buff wheel before some etch primer and high build.
Ordered a full Kouki bodykit from Byba kits last week, awaiting delivery this week coming but I couldn't help myself to see what it would look like with the kit on so I borrowed my friend Kanes kouki stuff and set it into place for a photo.
Next job to tackle is the terrible Japanese wiring, its got earthing kits and cables for turbo timers/boost controllers running all over the place, the plan will be to return most of this back to stock so that I don't run into electrical gremlins. The car will obviously need painted at some stage, I have been thinking about keeping it white for that fresh look, but having a red 180sx and red S15 is maybe tickling my fancy.
More to come soon.
So I have some spare cash in my bank account and the next thing I know I have a 180sx, because you know, I am addicted to Japanese cars. Here is the story/build:
Around 3 years ago, after many conversations about JDM legends and trips out in my then PS13, my good friend Hamish decided he wanted to have a go at buying his own 180sx, after some searching we eventually found this car and imported it from Japan, we knew then it had rough paint, but had a solid underside and a good going SR20 Redtop.
A few months later it arrived into Newcastle and he took it up to his parents home in Edinburgh where it would receive its first MOT and be registered.
The car eventually moved up to his work where he done some basic modifications to the car, like removing the body kit in favour of some Kouki stuff. This unfortunately didn't last long as when he was working out of the country someone crashed into the car, smashing the front bumper to bits and giving the wing a serious ding.
He managed to replace the bumper with a stock S13 bumper but unfortunately Hamish then almost lost heart in it, with a heavy work schedule lined up and huge commitments to another project it ended up sitting abandoned for almost 2 years. I actually almost forgot it existed and with the amount he was working, I am sure he pretty much forgot about it too.
Some time in June me and Hamish were having a conversation about S15's as he was potentially looking to buy one, he asked if I would be interested in purchasing the 180sx to 'save it'... Having already bought a Transit Recovery truck the same week my house funds were quickly haemorrhaging but you just can't turn down a 180sx! A few weeks later I made the trip to Edinburgh to collect it.
Gave it a quick wash when I got back and it sat for a few months until I decided what I wanted to do with it.
After some time at home and a bit of a break from work I started to gather a few bits and bobs to start making it back into a good car again, I am normally a real wheels only type of guy but these 17x9 Rotas came up cheap, in 4x114 and I just couldn't turn them down to improve the look of the car. Also managed to buy a few silly under bonnet bits and missing interior parts from the same guy.
Started undoing some of the mental Japanese over painted lights and also fixing the extremely badly placed screw holes from the old FRP skirts (Please never do this if you have an Sbody). They will need a final skim with the buff wheel before some etch primer and high build.
Ordered a full Kouki bodykit from Byba kits last week, awaiting delivery this week coming but I couldn't help myself to see what it would look like with the kit on so I borrowed my friend Kanes kouki stuff and set it into place for a photo.
Next job to tackle is the terrible Japanese wiring, its got earthing kits and cables for turbo timers/boost controllers running all over the place, the plan will be to return most of this back to stock so that I don't run into electrical gremlins. The car will obviously need painted at some stage, I have been thinking about keeping it white for that fresh look, but having a red 180sx and red S15 is maybe tickling my fancy.
More to come soon.
