Jumbo's Silver FX - 2nd custom build

[jumbosrule]

Nice shaft B!

Never seen a dude's shaft a liked more.

Should have seen those coming... and I'm sure we're not done with the shaft jokes. Wanna close-up of my shaft? I snapped this at powerfab this weekend while pressing out a wheel bearing:

With the parts and experience behind you, is this build 'easy'?
Will Silver most likely be your daily driver?

Well, I feel like I know what to expect this time but we really haven't started the real, "build" yet. To this point it is 100% bolt on mods, which is exactly where I was with the Red FX when it came time to install the built motor and turbo.

The plan for the Silver FX is to take the built motor and built transmission from the Red FX, swapping in the Carbon Fiber driveshaft at the same time. At that point, custom fabrication for the turbo manifold (hot side & cold side) will require just as much work as the first go-around. Mainly because I'm pretty much starting over. The hot side was damaged in the wreck and I have decided to go with a different configuration for the cold side. On the cold side I will require a different intercooler and new pipes from the turbo to Throttle Body.

The hot side will get fit up with the wrecked Stillen exhaust (Mufflers, resonators and X pipe were not damaged). We will cut out damaged pipes AND any part of the exhaust that wont fit with the braces. I'll be fitting the GTSpec braces to the car first, then routing the exhaust around them in order to take advantage of the braces.

Two of these arrived today (thanks tchuck!) but will be going to media blast and powdercoat before install. The lower engine tie brackets will actually be welded into place rather than bolted. The smallest brace came off the red FX's sub-frame undamaged.



And the STB has been installed since around the time I swapped over interiors.



So that should take care of all bracing & suspension I plan to do for this FX.

 

[jcasanova]

Dang you brad, I was 2nd in line for those braces!! Looks like the new fx is coming along nicely.

Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G 2

 

[jumbosrule]

Dang you brad, I was 2nd in line for those braces!! Looks like the new fx is coming along nicely.

Ya snooze, ya looze! lol, thanks man. Hopefully it's be better and badder than before.

I have spent a lot of hours on the FX over the past few weekends. All four wheel bearings are now brand new - replaced the rears on consecutive weekends, then both the fronts yesterday morning. This isn't the first time I've done hubs so it goes pretty quickly now that I have all the tools and tricks figured out. No issues at all - my ABS sensor came right off. I hit everything with WD-40 and wiped it down as I disassembled. I'm sure the suspension has never been wiped down in 130,000 miles so it felt good.

The new hub/bearing on the right has a dust shield on it the other does not. In fact, in the 6+ front hubs I have swapped in/out, these are the first I have seen with the dust cover.



While I do have new rotors and pads waiting for install, the ones in these photos still have life so I'm going to stay on them at least until the motor swap. Replacing the front bearings fixed what I thought was warped rotors. I thought I would replace the bearings since both the rears went out and I had a hard time believing the Stoptech BBK rotors were warped. A major point of having upgraded brakes is to be more heat resistant/ faster cooling to avoid warping.

New hub installed, Stoptech BBK and Ichiba v2 all cleaned up:



And the wheel installed - I Like the random arm reflections.



Fresh and clean with a full exterior wash wax and trim dressings.

-Wool mitt wash with Turtle Ice car wash top down
-Leaf blower dry
-Machine application of Collinite 845 on all paint, removal with MF towels by hand
-Machine compounded the windshield to get rid of water marks that have been there since March.
-Optimum Metal polish on the wheels
-Meguire's gold class tire gel
-Turtle Ice synthetic polish on the plastic body trim
-Mother's back to black on the window trim


Looks as good as she ever has!





So you might notice my exhaust tips are dirty. Actually, they have never been cleaned since I bought the car. This is on purpose - it's my little personal reminder that this exhaust is only temporary. I won't clean it until the new custom exhaust is in place.

 

[tchuck]

Nice. I have to admit, you're slowly winning me over with the polishing progress pics. Cant say Ill ever actually do it, but every time I see your pics I want to a little more.

Are you still planning to paint the silver FX?

SfmDRuT2

 

[jumbosrule]

Are you still planning to paint the silver FX?

Man I just don't know. I want to, but I keep waffling. Some days I have conviction and KNOW that's what I'm going to do and other days I look at the silver and feel like I should stick with it. New build, new color.

But I don't LOVE it like the 04 Laser Red.

I've always wanted to paint the lower plastic trim pieces - I've seen enough of them done to know I like that look. Body color has been the standard but I think the trim painted gloss black might set up a cool contrast.

Then again I've had some custom fiberglass flares kicking around in my head since before Big Red was boosted. So until I figure out what I really want to do with the trim/flares, I can't say for sure if I'll go for a full color change. Seems like a big expense if it really isnt needed but I know I'd be thrilled to have that second chance at that sexy red.

I'm not feeling pressure to make a decision any time soon so I'll keep playing with what I have for now. I keep thinking about silver/black/chrome combinations. They would be different than the Red/black/chrome thing I had going on and either of those would need to be inline with the future custom staggered wheel choice...

 

[twin turbo fx35]

Nice setup bro


Sent from my iPhone

 

[Logan]

Silver's not so bad

 

[mbarb15]

ahh, there we go... was wondering what was going on with big red pt2

 

[raymond]

Wow i also didn't know about this tread. Glad to read you are starting up again as well buddy...!!  Your "shaft" is looking great, i thought ours was a 2-piece version. Is it tested in any way and now 100% sellable or are you still in the test mode fase with it...??I'm beginning my project up from tommorow again so hopefully will run when spring comes.Good luck and talk soon. Ohhh and please PM me the pricing on the shaft...??

 

[jumbosrule]

Shaft is not installed yet but it should be good to go. The company that made it used the stock shaft for development so they had the ability to compare both side by side when they were complete.

Today was my first day of holiday vacation. Yesterday was my last day at work until Jan 7th. About half of this vacation will be at home and I plan to attack some car projects. I got started early this morning with a Stoptech rotor and pad swap for the front BBK.

Not sure if you can see the wear line on the rotor but there is a shelf or step where the pads have worn down the rotor on both sides.



So the new rotor comes with hardware but you have to retain the original Stoptech hub hat. Breaking the bolts with a 4mm allen wrench.



And I gots my hatz



out with the old





In with the new - had to wash with soap, water & scotchbrite, then follow up with brake cleaner to get all the factory anti-rust coating off.



torque per spec - ALWAYS



locktite the backdoor per mfg instructions



rotor on the hub, caliper installed



having quality stuff is nice. the pistons push back with a peice of wood and a screwdriver levered between the cylinder and rotor. No clamps, no compression tools, just easy.



Slide the pads in from the top side



Close up the gate and put the wheel back on - torqued per spec of course.



Then was the obligatory bed-in procedure. 60mph - 10mph on a hard brake, 10 times in a row. The rotors gave up a little smoke by the end of the bed in but not much. By the 5th or 6th hard brake, the pads started biting the rotor - the brakes became more "grabby". I drove around for a few minutes to let them cool and she's good to go.

 

[paul35]

Those red calipers look great on it! Awesome job so far!

 

[Slamming45]

Great read and progress, looking forward to seeing the finished build, and these custom flairs u speak of ! Like Lance said Silver isn't all bad. +1

 

[jumbosrule]

So funny after such a long break from spending money on the Silver FX, her time is almost here. Should be going into the shop for the build motor & transmission swap, fabrication work and turbo install - within the next few weeks.

To celebrate I bought myself those nifty little Infiniti puddle lights. Yes I did and I plan to rock them unlike they have ever been rocked before.

Whipped out my 12V power supply and shined it on the bathroom wall in my house. I have four of them - one for each door.



Impressed they even included a hole saw of the proper size to aid with the install. Shouldn't take too terribly long to install.

 

[Cruiser]

Coming along nicely Brad. I've got a new thread to follow closely now. Great job!


Sent from my iPhone

 

[toy4x]

So funny after such a long break from spending money on the Silver FX, her time is almost here. Should be going into the shop for the build motor & transmission swap, fabrication work and turbo install - within the next few weeks.

To celebrate I bought myself those nifty little Infiniti puddle lights. Yes I did and I plan to rock them unlike they have ever been rocked before.

Whipped out my 12V power supply and shined it on the bathroom wall in my house. I have four of them - one for each door.



Impressed they even included a hole saw of the proper size to aid with the install. Shouldn't take too terribly long to install.

When you get to Cali, hook them up to your landscaping lights and then shine them on your garage door. Baller! Lol

Sent from my GT-P5113 HD

 

[BIGTURK]

Awesome! Very excited to follow silver's progress :good:

 

[jumbosrule]

Spent a few hours on her today but didn't get around to the puddle lights. Instead, I finished the brake job I started a few minus ago by changing out the rear rotors. The cross drilled rotors still have plenty of life left so I'll either sell them or hold on to them for a backup set. The rear pads were also fine with more than half their useable life left. I have some new axxis ultimates but decided to stay with the pads I had since there was so much life left. Easy swap, used a c clamp to compress the piston and when I was done I didn't need to bleed e brakes. Test drive was totally normal... Bedded the brakes with a few hard accel brake cycles, smelled them but never saw smoke.

I also installed the PLX sensor modules in the passenger footwell. Did some of the wiring but not all of it before I ran out of time. The only thing I need to make the OBDII multi gauge work is power. The AFR module needs an O2 sensor input, which will be welded into the new exhaust. The boost gauge needs a vacuum line, and the fluid temp needs the sensor wired in. The fluid temp and the O2 sensor are at Powerfab, still installed in Big Red's driveline. The vacuum line is shared with the Haltech, so I have a T fitting that links the Haltech and the PLX boost sensor, then feeds through the firewall to the motor.

All four modules share power, so my next project will be tapping ACC power. I'll be able to fire up the gauges, read up to four OBDII permameters at a time and confirm I can see the other sensor modules, although they will be reading flat with no sensor inputs. I'll also make a bracket to mount the Haltech.

I'll snap a couple photos once things are working. In order to wire from gauge pod to sensor modules, I had to remove both lower sides of the dash, and part of the center console. I have a feeling I'll have to do that all again for tapping power and installing the Haltech mount.

 

[jumbosrule]

Well after quite a break, we are back at it. Spending money, that is, lol.

In addition to the custom intake and exhaust piping for this new build, I have decided that we are going to do some major surgery under the front bumper. Essentially I gave the shop free regin to remove the current support structure and to build new framing and structure (tubular if it makes sense) to allow us to place all of the heat exhangers - AC condenser, Koyo radiator, Oil cooler, transmission cooler and intercooler with the goal to minimize multiple layers and to use molded fiberglass to duct the bumper into the heat exhangers.

Disassembly is under way and parts have arrived. placement and routing are going to be next. Not too much in the way of exciting photos... but there are photos!

 

[jsjwc]

awesome build. im watching

 

[jdTrader]

Looking great!