I forgot to mention that when I took off the OEM rear bumper I learned that the car didn’t have a bash bar. Not too sure if it’s not out of the ordinary to delete safety components but I managed to find one for free in LA from Pedro (@lowborghini). It’s pretty funny, back in the day meeting people through the internet was such a taboo concept but now interacting with some of the coolest people is made possible via the internet. He also hooked me up with an OEM hood grommet ($55) which made a world of difference.
With the exterior of the car nearing completion, I decided to start bringing the aesthetic of the interior together. I wanted everything to be relatively simple: black and silver – two buckets and a cage with full interior. Rhyss (@rhyss) conveniently had a Bride passenger seat rail and sold it to me for $100 and Tim (@not180sx) hooked it up with a Shirts Tucked In headpad to match the driver seat. Super excited to see both buckets in the car!
While the car was in the air I figured now would be the best time to take out the roll cage and door bars to send them off for powder coating. It was complete hell taking it out, but after a couple smashed fingers, a few hours crouched in the back seat, and a lot of brute force and ignorance, I got it out. I found a local place called Reliable Powder Coating and they were willing to get it done for $350, I’m not entirely sure if that’s cheap or not but hey, why not add to the ever expanding hole in my pocket?
I also ordered some bent ISR tension rods ($175) to address the front caster issue, don’t think anyone cares about that though. OH and I got this suck ass URAS turndown tip from Pedro too for $100.
After a couple weeks the cage was done and I started piecing everything back in. I forgot to tell Reliable Powder Coating to mask off some sections that slide into eachother on the cage so I spent a good amount of time grinding before I was able to start putting it back in. So if you ever have a cage powdercoated, don’t be like me and be smart about it, think ahead! Anyway, after even more brute force and ignorance than removing the cage, I got it in and I couldn’t be happier!
A lot of a little can create a day and night difference when building your car, be sure to focus on the little details as much as the drastic changes! A lot of a little also adds up to a lot in terms of money: $17,836 + 55 + 100 + 350 + 175 + 100 = $18,616
1997 Nissan 240sx 