My Kouki build. (First car, first project.)
My Kouki build. (First car, first project.)
So, here's the run down: I received this car from my neighbor probably a little over a year ago. He had just blown the engine to hell, so there was no charge. Kind of like a gift. It would become my first car, and now my first project.
I finally got it running, sort of, around about May ot June earlier this year. I had to have the engine replaced to begin with. Over time, I encountered some other obstacles: the alternator on the "rebuilt" engine gave out and the cable connecting it was fried, the tires on the car were rotting and eventually left me nearly stranded one day, and there's a massive oil leak that's 'causing all sorts of hell(I'm still not sure where it's coming from).
On top of that, I wrecked the damn thing about three months ago. Yeah, I rear-ended a family on I-4, leaving my front end and part of my engine bay looking pretty ugly. Luckily, the engine wasn't harmed(as far as I can tell; it's been running smoothly ever since)
That's just a bit of history. It has it's other little pains, here and there, which you'll see, but that's my story with the car so far. Everything else was there when I got it.
My present goal is to get my car back into a healthy, stock shape so that I have a firm foundation for upgrading it in the future.
As I said, this is my first car, and my first project. I have a decent, yet basic, understanding of how cars function, and I know a good bit about my car too, but I am a straight n00b. Any form of help would be great from anyone.
This is everything so far:
Wrecked ass front.
I'll explain the bullet holes...
Fender bendered.
The driver-side door has some problem with the hinge, so it's not exactly aligned properly.
Ouch.
THIS is a royal pain and an embarrassment. I can't use the damn AC and move forward without this shit flying the hell out. Whoever installed the radio really fucked up. Now I have to tape this shit so that I can drive comfortably.
Sometimes this shit pops out too. -_- If you haven't noticed, the fog light is out of place. Broken off from wherever it was attached before.
Mud guard FAILURE.
Yes, it rests on the bumper reinforcement. =[
The shroud is gone, my stock e-fan got owned.
Here we go. I guess my neighbor must have been a real asshole to get his shit keyed. He put the bullet hole stickers there to try and cover up the huge ass slash on the passenger-side door.
You might be able to see how the core support was pretty bent up, and how my bumper was ripped away from the bolts holding it on.
Now, about that oil problem...
Yes, they're all different areas stained on my driveway. I can't imagine how many of these things are on USF's campus because of me.
Oh, it's in there. All four of them.
Shit not in pictures: the starter is acting up, only clicking every now and then and not producing a turn-over; something to do with my alignment is screwed up, so the car pulls very slightly to the right when I drive it; and most of the time, especially on cold start-ups, if I don't at least lightly press the gas upon turning the key for ignition, the engine will turn over only a handful of times, it won't idle, and the RPM will drop to zero(I only need to give it gas for a few seconds before it's acheived idle RPMs ranging from 500 to 750).
I've already replaced the puller fan with a cheap 12 inch from AAP, as well as the radiator cap, which had a busted ass seal. I got some other stuff recently to finally get started on this thing. It'll be slow, but sure.
First on the list is to track the oil leak.
I finally got it running, sort of, around about May ot June earlier this year. I had to have the engine replaced to begin with. Over time, I encountered some other obstacles: the alternator on the "rebuilt" engine gave out and the cable connecting it was fried, the tires on the car were rotting and eventually left me nearly stranded one day, and there's a massive oil leak that's 'causing all sorts of hell(I'm still not sure where it's coming from).
On top of that, I wrecked the damn thing about three months ago. Yeah, I rear-ended a family on I-4, leaving my front end and part of my engine bay looking pretty ugly. Luckily, the engine wasn't harmed(as far as I can tell; it's been running smoothly ever since)
That's just a bit of history. It has it's other little pains, here and there, which you'll see, but that's my story with the car so far. Everything else was there when I got it.
My present goal is to get my car back into a healthy, stock shape so that I have a firm foundation for upgrading it in the future.
As I said, this is my first car, and my first project. I have a decent, yet basic, understanding of how cars function, and I know a good bit about my car too, but I am a straight n00b. Any form of help would be great from anyone.
This is everything so far:
Wrecked ass front.
I'll explain the bullet holes...
Fender bendered.
The driver-side door has some problem with the hinge, so it's not exactly aligned properly.
Ouch.
THIS is a royal pain and an embarrassment. I can't use the damn AC and move forward without this shit flying the hell out. Whoever installed the radio really fucked up. Now I have to tape this shit so that I can drive comfortably.
Sometimes this shit pops out too. -_- If you haven't noticed, the fog light is out of place. Broken off from wherever it was attached before.
Mud guard FAILURE.
Yes, it rests on the bumper reinforcement. =[
The shroud is gone, my stock e-fan got owned.
Here we go. I guess my neighbor must have been a real asshole to get his shit keyed. He put the bullet hole stickers there to try and cover up the huge ass slash on the passenger-side door.
You might be able to see how the core support was pretty bent up, and how my bumper was ripped away from the bolts holding it on.
Now, about that oil problem...
Yes, they're all different areas stained on my driveway. I can't imagine how many of these things are on USF's campus because of me.
Oh, it's in there. All four of them.
Shit not in pictures: the starter is acting up, only clicking every now and then and not producing a turn-over; something to do with my alignment is screwed up, so the car pulls very slightly to the right when I drive it; and most of the time, especially on cold start-ups, if I don't at least lightly press the gas upon turning the key for ignition, the engine will turn over only a handful of times, it won't idle, and the RPM will drop to zero(I only need to give it gas for a few seconds before it's acheived idle RPMs ranging from 500 to 750).
I've already replaced the puller fan with a cheap 12 inch from AAP, as well as the radiator cap, which had a busted ass seal. I got some other stuff recently to finally get started on this thing. It'll be slow, but sure.
First on the list is to track the oil leak.
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Auto Club of Tampa, Member #2
Auto Club of Tampa, Member #2
Last edited by E-Rod; 11-01-2009 at 02:09 AM.
Looks like it will be fun seeing her come back to her original beauty.