Vesper the 96 Roadster

[— Willywongka —]

nice! I'm sure it'll be a good upgrade.

Hopefully I'll get a torsen in someday... lol

Definitely a nice add on if you like whipping corners =)... which I'm sure you do.

It wasn't the shocks, RB springs are trash. Cool story ans a truly awesome build up!

It all makes sense then... guess people were kind enough to not tell me that when I told them what suspension I was running =).

Tokico blues don't damp for shit at your ride height.
Very nice move on the flex. It's gonna transform your car nicely, especially with the fcm bump stops.

I lost those plastic isolators a while ago. Maybe I should follow suit.

Yeah I've always wanted at least a Tein Flex, though I really wanted the Mono, but I'm sure it'll work out just fine. I actually talked to Shaikh at Fat Cat and he said he recommended running the 36mm on the fronts and 46mm on the rear.

[— Willywongka —]

So I brought my car over to my buddy's house today to get the Teins in today... you don't know how excited I was. I mean I was having dreams of driving my car on them, it was that bad.


There was quite a difference in ride comfort for sure over the tokico blue / RB springs. This is my first time running a Coilover so being able to adjust the damper and height is quite nice.

This last upgrade may be the last for a little while, though I have been noticing a strange 'clung~clank' sound when I engage the clutch / shift etc. My friends have been saying that my motor mounts may have to be changed, so that may be my next update... though a boring one =).

[— Phatmiata —]

awesome!! I need to get some coilovers on my Miata. Your Miata is coming along really nicely!

[— Willywongka —]

A lot has happened between October and November... I guess I'll start with the BAD news!

So in the middle of October I drove my car down to LA with my girlfriend to visit some friends and just get away from the Bay for a few days. While driving around Little Tokyo in in downtown LA I get into my baby gets into another fender bender. My ONLY defense was that I was a bit absent minded, stressed, and didn't know my way around, which contributed to my foolish driving. I was on a one way street, when I attempted to make a left on the second lane thinking the cars in the furthest most lane had to make a left... which lead to this.





This picture was actually taken after I got home.

Luckily I was able to just pay the guy off so I didn't have to deal with insurance. It could have been much worse than just a dent in the fender, so I am grateful and happy that my girl and I was not harmed. This really killed me inside, since it was my fault I have nobody to blame but myself.

Either way I had to use the ratchets I had in my car to bend the fender out so the fender wouldn't rub on my tires when I hit potholes and the such.

At least this time I got hit on a fender that can be unbolted! So I was able to hunt down a excellent condition fender in chaste white from a 94. The only section I had to sand and respray was the black exterior trim on the bottom.



After I got the fender all fixed up I hit up my buddy Ken at Retro Modern to help me remove and install the fender.



We quickly found out that it wasn't going to be as easy as unbolting the fender and installing the new one. After taking all of the bolts out we realized that there was one bolt that is actually connected to the front bumper, which required us to unbolt the front bumper also!!!! =(



After taking off the front bumper we were able to finally remove the damaged fender!



After removing the fender, Ken suggested stitch welding that section of the chassis while it was off so we went and removed the other fender as well.


Note: look at all that crap that has accumulated in the front rocker panels!! Clear those sections once in a while esp before the rainy season to avoid possible rust!



Unfortunately previous engagements did not allow us to stitch weld the passenger side, so I guess I was gonna have to live with just the drivers side done for now.



I would have to thank Ken for re-cutting that hole for the side markers in the new fender as well as helping me install the replacement fender!

This is how the fender looks a few days after the replacement! I feel loads better!

[— Willywongka —]

I figured it was time I did something about that R-lip that came with the car when I bought it about 4 years ago. It looked like it had 3-4 layers of random paint and primer just sprayed on by the previous owners.

So yesterday I had it removed with the help of my buddy Justin. We sanded the lip for a good 30-40 mins to get those layers of paint off... I swear I saw this part's history as we sanded down the layers.

After the sanding was finished we sprayed about 2 coats of primer... and today I saw some sections that we missed so I had to sand it down some more to make sure it is done properly. I try to follow the "Do it right the first time" rule.



That's it for now, hopefully I'll find some time to spray the lip tomorrow and steer free of anymore accidents! My car has been through enough this year!

[etikoner]

Sucks that happened. I know how demoralizing it can feel especially after having your car look all good and fresh.
I need to repaint my lip too haha, it's all scratched up now..

Keep on keeping on!

[morr]

Love the progress of this build so far. Your car is a perfect example of a clean and classy NA. Definitely a muse for when I get an NA!

[— Willywongka —]

Sucks that happened. I know how demoralizing it can feel especially after having your car look all good and fresh.
I need to repaint my lip too haha, it's all scratched up now..

Keep on keeping on!

Yuuuup... the only way to keep it from getting damaged is to keep it in a box on a shelf and not enjoy it. But that would just be a waste!

Yeah man it took me like 4 years to FINALLY remove that stupid lip, sand it, primer, and paint! I'm such a lazy ass.

Love the progress of this build so far. Your car is a perfect example of a clean and classy NA. Definitely a muse for when I get an NA!

Thank you morr! Progress will come to a crawl till about January... that's when I should be getting a nice treat from Japan =).

[ChrisJuliano]

AWESOME build! Love everything !!!

[— Willywongka —]

So after about a day of drying outside... I think the lip is ready to at least be installed. The instructions on the paint said that it will take 48 hours to fully harden.

My R-lip never looked this good!




Two more shots before I go.

[— Willywongka —]

I recently got a free day to go hang out with my buddy Justin and his friend Ricky out in San Francisco and came back with more than I expected. I am truly grateful of Ricky's generosity and don't feel I deserve it.

First off some truly rare and iconic stickers.







I've been wanting to take off my rusted wiper blades so I could sand it down and respray them black, Ricky saved me trouble by giving me a NOS set from his stash of goodies as well as a red powder coated jack wrench (or whatever you call that damned thing).




And finally, but not least he sold me one of his Momo Retro 360mm wheels. I have a KG works vintage horn button I want to eventually throw on there, but I'm gonna have to find the horn adapter for the Momo wheel before I can do that.

[etikoner]

Badass.

That wheel looks awesome on there.

I'm also jealous of your sweet-ass retro stickers lol.

[— Willywongka —]

Recently fitted my KG works vintage horn button and I must say I am very pleased with how it looks!


And a few shots before I go:

[— Madaboutmx5s —]

Looks very nice, I like the new steering wheel, especially with the new kg works horn push.

[maharaj]

Definately one of, if not the cleanest white NA's I have seen....even with you playing bumper cars it is perfect!