UnLowGS

Hi guys, first post here but I've been lurking for quite a while. I gathered a lot of information from previous build threads and other posts on here so I was hoping that maybe my build thread would help someone else out during or before they start their build...
So to start. I picked up my GS in Late February of this year as a birthday present to myself. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it but I knew I didn't want air (been there done that nothing against it) and I knew I wanted it to be aggressive.
Here is the first picture I took of it when we stopped for gas on the way home. I was super excited. My wife and I had a baby almost a year ago (sheesh) and I thought i'd be out of the car scene for a lot longer.

Here it is once i finally got it home. I don't know how easy it is for you to notice that my driveway is at a decent slope so not exactly ideal for working on cars.. Throughout this build you will see my car in many other driveways I just want to reiterate how excited i was to have a car again!

The paint wasn't as good as the dealerships pictures.. of course.. yes i bought it off a used car lot but i didn't know that was going to be the case until i was on my way.. I was under the impression that it was the dealers personal car.. We agreed on a farily reasonable price even for the mileage and paint it ran and drove good and i couldn't argue with it.. It leaked a liiiitttle bit of oil but what NA2J with relatively high mileage doesn't.....

Dent in the trunk.. Not too worried about it.. Now that i'm seeing this picture again it reminds me that there is one at a pick'n'pull place near me with a wing that I need to go grab.. You can also see the not so great paint...

Interior shot.. Not too bad. I plan on buying seats and having the wood grain bits painted over a solid black and of course buying a steering wheel in the coming weeks.. Almost to the pictures of fun parts.. stay with me here..

I was very happy with how this looked.. Since I have a daughter now, having good backseats is a must. Although this isn't my daily driver I'm sure she and my wife will be with me when I drive it occasionally.

NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF EH? A local friend of mine was selling these for 850$ A deal I could not pass up. I didn't even like them I just couldn't let them go to someone else (is that bad?) Holy ****** i'm using so many parentheses.
18x9 +43 18x8+43

SOOOOOO I brought them home, they were already apart luckily so I didn't have to worry about stripping anything.. Knowing my luck.. that would happen... Whoever owned them in Japan painted them black and I was not a fan.. so I had to remove all that..

Maybe a week after I brought them home I ordered lips from VR wheels. I had absolutely no idea what to order and i was so nervous and I immediately regretted it after I ordered them because i thought i was just wasting my time and money. After mocking up the face with the lip it made me happy but i was still super worried that these wouldnt fit. SO worried that i posted them for sale or trade for something less aggressive.. Boy was I in for a surprise.. **OH by the way.. this was the one face the previous owner had removed the paint on. my lazy *** hadn't done anything yet...

BAM. LOOOOOK AAAAT THAAAAT. I was so happy when I saw this. By this time i had my arms and coilovers ordered but since they hadn't come in I couldn't even test fit anything. Another thing I don't have a picture of sadly is I painted my barrels black because the previous owner in Japan did a half assed job of doing it so I made it look nice. At this point I thought what I was looking at was 18x12.... Thought....

LOOK WHAT CAME IN!!. Ok so this will be a little bit longer of an explanation because I have a lot I'd like to say about these parts.. For one.. Coilovers.. Man oh man did I do soooooo much research before buying these. Most people I know run BC's or PBM's BUT I only know one GS owner and he runs CX racing. I searched all over for "slammed gs" "static gs" etc etc just to get an idea how how low people got their brand of choice's coils to go.. I'm sort of a future proofing kind of guy.. I have no idea what I'll want later on so I like to have options.. A close friend of mine is building a big turbo 2J FD legal S13 and he swears down that PBM's will go so low the fram will be on the ground before the wheels hit so I was certain that's who i was going with.. Until I saw they were out of stock and wouldn't be getting any more for two months then build time etc.. So being the impatient person I am I kept looking... Then randomly another friend of mine posts about how he got an awesome deal on fortune auto's and tagged this guy named terry.. So I messaged terry on instagram and I asked him what was up and I told him I was going to go with PBM's because I heard they go the lowest and I included the part about the wheels not even touching the ground and his response was nothing short of perfect.. "we'll make these go lower".. He gave me a deal that only a fool would turn down and I am so grateful for him hooking me up. SO! FOR ANYONE LOOKING FOR COILOVERS I STRONGLY ADVISE FORTUNE AUTO. YOU WILL NOT FIND SOMETHING THAT GOES LOWER AND I WILL SHOW YOU WHY IN THE PICTURE BELOW.



Picture is awful quality but this is it.. this is why I chose fortunes.. Now you might be thinking "my BC's go that low so what" well sir/ma'am.. For one I can promise you your BC's (if they are this low) don't ride as well as these and two. I HAVE TWO AND A HALF MORE INCHES I CAN DROP without doing some shady ****. I'm going to act like this is the morning after the last picture i showed but in reality it took us 3 days to do arms and coilovers due to limited time of me and my friend Jordan who was in Airman Leadership School but we got it done. I took this because i was proud but I live on base and there are speed bumps to get on and off and I didn't think I could make it so I drove my truck..


As soon as i got off work I wanted to seal my wheels and test fit them so here is the front.. AT THE TIME I thought were 18x11.. Looks totally doable with a roll and pull and obviously drop the car.. It's so high because of the 65 sidewall on my stock wheels and tires...

here is the rears that I THOUGHT were 18x12. Again, they look doable with roll and pull but I'd have to raise it depending on how far I can pull the fenders out..

So I bought these for my centercaps.. But I'm really just posting this to talk about why i keep saying I THOUGHT my wheels were 18x11 and 18x12.. When I bought them I was under the impression the barrels were both 6 inches just the faces were different disk and lips were different sizes.. it wasn't until after I ordered my lips and sealed two together that I realised I had 6.5 and 7 inch barrels (inners). SO WHAT I ACTUALLY HAVE is 18x12 IN FRONT aaaand.... 18x12.5 in the rear.. I found this out after I ordered tires.. So that part was upsetting but I looked at the wheels on the car and I was like " i can do this, it's really not that bad" Which leads us into this...

I ordered 245/40 for the rear that i thought was 18x12 and 225/40 for the front that i thought was 18x11.. so.. before this car goes into paint I wanted to get all the rolling and pulling done and doing what I need to, to the body, to make it work (pardon my horrible excuse for punctuation) that way when it gets painted I don't have to worry about sh$% else other than putting the wheels on. These are Federal SS595 and I would recommend them to every person I meet that wants to stretch tires. I got these on without a cheetah. Super simple. (thanks to zach at Pepboys for doing this **** after hours and for free, not that you're on here but I'm bringing you money when I get my other two tires in)

LIttle picture of the stretch. Don't fear. It's fine.

OH SHEEEEEET. Kinda out of order but I did actually make it to work over speedbumps and all. I just drove really fast. I want to reiterate that these coils are not maxed out.. not even close..

Another driveway! The car is at my friend Gene's (another GS owner) because he is going to freshen the front end of the engine up for me. With it being VVTI I would rather have someone who knows what they are doing VS me who has no idea what to do. Of course I will be there to learn. I'm not trying to pawn off work, I just want to watch it be done IN PERSON the right way, than wing it based on a youtube video or a CL DIY. ( no offense )

First mock up with tires.. This was before any roll or pull. and.. meh.. I kind of don't like the way it looks in this picture.

I never thought it would come to this but we were mocking up flares.. I kind of had an idea in my head of how I wanted it to look and it wasn't looking like it was possible to achieve that without this.. so for two days we did some measuring and we cut and rolled front and rear fenders and my decision was.....

MAKE 'EM FIT. The fronts are raised because we couldn't roll the fender with how low the coils were.

I hate that this picture is sideways and I would fix it but making this was more work than i was ready for lol. So. this is without a pull. When Gene gets back from working for hankook in the FD event(s) next week we'll pull it and see what we can do but for now I'm kinda set on staying stock body. I have about an inch of clearance before the strut but.. The TCS RUCAS are threaded all the way back.. So if I need a bit of camber I'll cut a sliver off the arms and screw it back in and hopefully we'll make them fit. There were a few things I left out like the install pics of the arms and coils but they aren't anything different than what most other people do. If anyone wants any help on picking out parts or how much "X" part does "X" Please feel free to ask. I want to give other people the help I couldn't find easily. I had lots of other GS owners private messaging me helping me out and I'd love to pay it forward. Hopefully I'll be updating this frequently as I have a lot still coming. This week I'm paying for.. Paint.. Kit (oo what could it be?!?!?), spoiler, tires for the other two wheels, toe arms. So that's what's coming.

Thanks for checking out my thread

UnLowGS

Well no replies yet but that won't stop me. A bunch of the stuff I ordered has started coming in and i'm continuing to make progress. Here is another photo dump..

Tail lights and carbon fiber grille I found that I liked.


Adam LZ X Garage Moon power mats, HIC USA roof spoiler and NRG quick release (hub came the next day and I didn't bother taking a picture of it.


I have ALWAYS wanted this wheel but I never owned a car long enough or that I felt this wheel suited but I did it! Interior bits are my favorite because it's stuff I can actually see


Headlights! I couldn't decide what I wanted.. I love black but I wasn't sure if I wanted black housings or tinted lights. These popped out at me and I snagged them. Pardon me for not remembering brands of stuff I buy. I can check if you'd like to know but for now deal with it!


OK so little back story behind these arms.. I ordered from 3 different companies because they all said in stock and then sent me an e-mail after saying they had no ETA for them getting to me because they were on national back order. SO! I took my business to E-bay and got them in around 3 days.. Street Faction side mounts! They don't sell the bottom bracket so I'm going to make my own and I'll post how I do that if anyone is interested later on.


A close friend of mine is sponsored by Sparco and he got me a deal on seats that I couldn't turn down. It took me a while to decide on seats because I originally planned on importing some Bride Gias but like I said this deal was too good to pass up. Since I wanted to go with more of a street build I think these suit it better anyways.


So while all of the parts are coming in.. A close friend of mine is doing cam seals, front main, water pump, timing belt, tensioner blah blah blah. But he knocked it out in maybe 1.5 hours it was awesome! everything went so smooth. (ignore paint and crap headlights)


Well the plan for staying stock body would have 100% worked but after some serious thought I decided against it. Luckily I'm surrounded by talented people so one of my buddies is making me welded flares. I didn't want something insane I still like the body lines of the GS. I kind of want it to look like a big roll and pull in the rear at most, but going off of the body line in the rear. We'll see how it turns out after it actually being done but for now take my mock up pictures.




Here is the terrible fronts. Body guy says he can make it work so I pulled them as much as I can and he'll go back around and do his thing to make them good for my paint guy.


Thanks for reading my thread! Even though no one has replied I can see you guys are looking at it and that is good enough for me! If you have any questions about any of the stuff I've done or ordered feel free to pm me on here. I come here daily, I've just been waiting for all of this stuff to come in to make one big post instead of spamming my own post everytime I get something in the mail. I still have a kit on the way and a spoiler but you guys won't see that until it's painted or maybe I'll sneak a shot or two in. Here's the most recent exterior picture I have of it in its current state. Gene is back at another FD event so after he gets back we'll continue the fender work then it's off to paint!

UnLowGS

Spamming my own thread... Here's a height comparison. White GS is on 20's and coils. I feel like I should also reiterate that my coilovers aren't even close to maxed out.

Hayce

Good luck with your build - you seem enthusiastic enough to see it through!

What spring rates do have? Surprised your arms aren't hitting the body.

UnLowGS

Coils came with 14k Front 12k Rear but I bought some 26k swifts for the rear. The arms up front might be an issue but i havent had to worry about it because I couldn't go any lower with stock wheels. Once my kit is on and I can see how low I can really go I'll worry about cutting the bay etc.

Baddneuz

nice build man I'm looking to widen my fenders as well good luck

UnLowGS

Let me know how it goes! Are you doing flares or what?

nyc80rick

nice start. Terry from F.A. is a good guy I actually know him first time i've been up here in a few weeks. but nice to see new threads like this popping up keep the post coming if you're on IG follow me on there if you post pics there i'm more active there than here

UnLowGS

yeah my Ig is @haisha_gs

UnLowGS

I haven't had the time to update you guys but a lot has been going on. Lots of challenges have come up so I'm back again to my dead thread to add countless hours of work put into a few pictures.. I'll start off with my Favorite ones so far..


So since the last time I've posted I have 100% finalized the fact that I am staying stock body for one reason.. We didn't drop the car on all four wheels when we were mocking up the flares.. and when we did... LOOKY THERE just about perfect.. this is with just a roll and again.. 18x12.5 6 inch lips.


I know my wheels are filthy. I'm actually going to be breaking them down again and cleaning everything while the car is at paint.. I needed them built quickly because fitment is such a crucial part of this build and I can't do that without wheels so I didn't get all the paint off and I didn't take the time to polish them so I'm paying for it on the back end but eh.. not worried about it.

MY KIT CAME! You guessed it. fake as F^#&. It was also supposed to be a full vertex rep kit but the bumpers and side skirts I got were clearly not vertex styled but I'm super happy with what I got. They fit fantastically. Gene trimmed a little bit up front but they look fantastic in my opinion.

At this point I still needed to roll the drivers side.. I got the otherside done enough to get the fitment where I want it to stay (Didn't take anypictures and you're about to find out why) but I ran into issues...

Based on other peoples suggestions I had the tab on the inside cut before I rolled it because I was under the impression that, that would keep anything bad from happening. Clearly I was wrong. This really stressed me out.. I have friends with welders and who are good with metal but things are already taking longer than planned and I'm so anxious to get this on the road..

I FIXED IT! Sort of.. I beat it in with a hammer with my hand supporting the other side and it actually made the metal flush again and I know its a temporary fix but it's driveable (not like its going anywhere right now anyways). Super stoked on the little bit of pull I got. It's sitting high (i know that sounds crazy "high" compared to stock) so i can drive it to paint without issue. You can kind of see how awful the front fender is but I assue you that will be fixed, we just needed the biggest pump we could get before ole body guy comes and smooths everything out.

Gene actually rolled this side and holy **** it was done so well. the paint makes it look bad but in person this is seriously the best roll I have ever seen. Again the car is raised to drive this isn't how it will be when it's done.. (still needed to do fronts at this point) BY THE WAY THIS IS THE COILOVER AT MAX HEIGHT

Ok so i had to take the coil out to set the preload and adjust height because it was easier than reaching around the spindle and a few people asked me personally whether it be on Facebook or Instagram about my clearance with these arms and coils so I took these really awful pictures for referance.. Megan Racing Extreme camber front uppers with custom FA coils.




Couple more shot of it low before it goes to paint and stuffs



But now it's up! Didn't get a picture of the bumper on. we (of course) have some work to do before the bumper can be mounted right which I'll explain when we do it.

...

UnLowGS

I still need to raise the passenger side and tighten the toe arm in the drivers rear but after the car was raised I called it quits for the day I love how i can spend 6 hours doing work for like 2 pictures and you can hardly tell anything happened..
Also installed 26K swifts in the rear..


Here's a few lame pictures I took before I went home for the day





I knew I only had that one coilover, the toe arm and the kit left that Gene or myself can tackle before body guy hits the fenders and car goes to paint so I almost didn't go over there today but.. of course I went back to work on the car. I didn't feel like messing with the suspension for the 100th time so I decided I would install some of the new parts I had sitting around...


(Also installed roof spoiler but was too excited and forgot to snap a picture it looks really good)


Alright so.. to sum up todays dump.. Fitment is a lot harder than it looks and I understand if you think stance is dumb but I love it. It is so fulfilling to see my friends and I's work coming together slowly. Super stoked on the lights. worth the money 100%. They look fantastic at night but they're too bright to take pictures of. I think I'm going to order some LED interior lights next week and I want to look into getting a dope hood but I'm unsure of what I want... Thanks for checking my thread out. Here's a dump of random pictures of my car in no specific order....P.S Sorry if some were already posted I'm just trying not to leave anything out..



(sorry for finger)



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Sevenevez

iTrader: (2)

Wow. You sure don't waste any time. The coilovers go hella low. Thats crazy. Great deal for those wheels too. She is coming along nicely, and fast! great job

UnLowGS

Yes they do! I'm a little worried about ever needing to lift it because the pictures of it raised is the coilovers maxed out.. Yes it is moving very quickly but I'm super excited about finishing it and a little impatient.. well.. maybe more than a little...

Spyder78

iTrader: (7)

Liking the build! Please keep us up to date. Can't wait to see it done

UnLowGS

It's late and I just typed out everything that's been going on and it timed me out or something so now I have to re-write it. Perfect representation of how things have been going lately. My buddy Jordan and I spent 5 and a half hours dialing in fitment for how I actually want to drive when the car is done. I know if I had bags it would take 2 seconds to do and I'm not going to get into that debate. Literally two days ago I posted the car raised and things were going great.. Today not so much. I'll post more tomorrow when I have the energy but for now here's a picture of how the car sits after a day of trying to make it low but still driveable.. PS NOT DRIVEABLE. Some good things have happened but generally speaking it's becoming a one step forward, two steps back kind of project. ALSO NOW TINYPIC IS NOT WORKING WHAT IS HAPPENING. Goodnight CL i'll post tomorrow I promise.

****EDIT*** Yes my wheels need cleaned.. When the car is at paint I will tear them down and do a deep clean I promise.