So for the last 6 years or so I have been working on a 1993 3000gt VR4. It started as my daily driver, which I was very proud of since I was only 17. After I began taking classes at a distant campus I decided to buy a junk car for my daily driver, that freed the 3000gt to be in a perpetual state of being in pieces. Here are so highlights since I started the project.
This 1993 3000gt VR4 came from the factory with twin 9b turbos, all wheel drive, all wheel steering, active suspension, active exhuast, twin intercoolers, and a bunch of other crap. The manufacturer spec is something around 300hp at the crank. I have since upgraded the turbos to 13t's, seitched to a front mounted intercooler, installed fuel control, larger injectors (not actually installed yet, still sitting in a box)... blah blah...
The PO had significant undisclosed damage to the front end, hidden under a poorly mounted bumper. He also had the car painted blue, poorly. It appeared as though someone used a paint bush on the car. The first step was to repair some of the damage and pant the car back to the correct green. At this point I was still in highschool, and using the car as my DD:
The results were very nice, however I was still too poor to be able to really put time and money into the motor... or even the muffler tips form the PO... please... be gentle:
Then came the time where the car was no longer my DD, and I had the time and money to start doing some real work.
So out came the motor, my first time pulling a car motor:
Go out and get yourself a scissor lift, its an excellent use of money:
Striped and power washed:
Moved the car off the lift and onto jacks, that was tough. Began paint prep:
I drove the engine to the Hamptons, we had a nice weekend together:
I decided to really take care of the damage the PO left me, and chopped out all the parts I wasnt satisfied with:
My father sprayed the the frame, excellent job as usual:
Engine ready to go in. The rocker covers are candy blue, looks cool in person:
Fire extinguishers are important for first start-ups:
A very sad color scheme, but dont worry it gets better:
My first ever aluminum polish. This piece was a very very rough casted manifold, had to start with 80 grit.
So I dont have any 'before' pictures of the interior, but you can guess what 15 year old leather seats in a car with 160k on it may have looked like. I upholstered these seats in my living room using a leather kit from leatherseats.com. I highly recomend them:
I had the steering wheel re-upholstered in extra thick alcantara. Looks cool, feels cool, but I dont suggest you pu one in your project car. It is very susceptible to dusty hands:
I had every piece of the rear suspension sand blasted. All those hoses are part of a very strange all wheel steering system. Sadly I removed the all wheel steering system, I was afraid of having to fix it in 20 years. Also, it feels rather strange when you turn at high speed:
It is hard to tell from the pictures, but the color is a custom metalic blackish/grey. Again, expertely painted by my father. And yes... I know it was stupid to not replace the bolts in the differential, I caught hell for that on the 3000gt forums:
I replaced all the syncros and transmission bearings. I never cracked into one of these before:
Custom fit new digital gauges into the factory gauge cluster. The factory gauges didnt have any real senders. I made a full wiring harness for these gauges that run with the factory harness, that way the next owner can just unplug the harness if they need to remove teh dash. I know... I'm a saint.
I somehow forgot to take pictures of the finished product.. or even of the car while its clean, so these were the best I could find. Notice I finally got rid of that stupid exhaust and replace it with a respectable, straight through, 3" quad exhaust:
