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Jimbothemagnificent's Zenki

After that I moved to a house with a garage. WIN.
So I took the time to build a bench and shelves, then organised everything properly. Serious OCD orgasmic release.
There's not much space, so it had to be done. Two years later my system is still working really well, and it's super easy to keep everything clean and organised.

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Now that it was in a dry place the real work could start.
The wiring in this car was a nightmare. Many years of amateurs and gadgets, so barely anything worked. The stereo wiring had been hacked several times, the instruments were suffering from demonic possession, the harness was brittle and loads of sensors were not working. So I striped out the interior and while it was out; did a decent stereo install, built a boot floor and amp shelf, relocated the battery to the boot, soundproofed the whole thing, generally fixed and tidied up the wiring.

I basically started the stereo from scratch. I put in a Kenwood double din, Alpine 4 channel amp, some reasonable co-axial speakers, a self-amplified Pioneer sub, and all new speaker wires. And did the wiring PROPERLY.

The start
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Wiring in amp, speakers and sub.
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I don't think I've ever had a JDM car where the wiring wasn't a mess. Either made a mess over in Japan or the biggest cowboy alarm installer upon import.
 
The centre console had apparently been modified with a machete. There was no good mounting spot for the boost controller, and the switches were either broken or missing. So I went to town on it.

Mounting the boost controller where the ashtray used to be. It's completely reversable as I planning a different form of boost control.

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New switch panel

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I engine turned them, for a classic look. Well, I stuck a scouring pad to a dremel bit and went nuts. Turned out lovely.

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Custom Horn button
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Then I wrapped a bunch of parts in dark brushed aluminium.
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The only switches wired at the moment are fog and flash, the flash is just a setting for the fog light. You will see the fog light in later pics, it's a small triangular one under the rear bumper.
The hazard switch is now where the cigarette lighter used to be. Man, that thing was a challenge to wire in. I had no idea that they tie into so many things!
 
A few of the random little things that happened during this time:

New clutch
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Cool sunset
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Fixed up the front bumper (I certainly wasn't the first)
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Car got me into Roxys pants (I wasn't the first there either)
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It got snowed on
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It got frozen
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It got dirty
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GOLD. BRAKES.
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I always hated the aftermarket rear lights.
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So I wrapped them.
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It helped, but I then decided to really darken the centre section. Looks WAY better now.
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The boot has been repainted a whole bunch of times. It's been three years since I removed the spoiler and dived willingly down this rabbit hole, it hasn't been good since then. Sure, I could have taken it to a professional and had it done perfectly and saved myself many, MANY hours of work and frustration.... but that's just not me. And I learned stuff. Now it just needs cut and polished, then it's ready to go back on, and I think it's going to be the best bit of paint on the whole car.
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While I was at it I tackled a bit on the back too.
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Again, needs cut and polished.
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A spring on the front right coilover snapped just before MOT day last spring. GRRRR.
The coilies were freaking awful anyway, full budget drift spec. Made by NPG, which was a Japan only brand in the 90's, so no hope of parts. Another part which had almost certainly been thrown on the car so it could be sold.
So the credit card took the hit for a set of HSD Dualtechs with the softer spring rate. They're installed and I've done a driveway alignment, but due to life and covid and no MOT I haven't driven on them yet. But the car now moves up and down when you push on it. Imagine that.
I'm going to get some adjustable camber arms for the rear, as even at the highest possible ride height (big old wheels and tyres need it) it's got some hectic camber, and I want lots of grip.

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Endless hours of jacking it up and down and measuring.
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The headlights. Oh dear lordy the headlights.
I have a new appreciation for the phrase "open a can of worms". Never in the history of the universe have headlights had so much time and effort put into them.
They had been opened to fit angel eyes, and stuck back together with..... something. I don't know what it was, but it took me probably 14 hours to get it all off. The clear covers are aftermarket, and they were a horrible fit, but you just can't get covers anywhere. There was holes and modified bits everywhere on the casings.
So after two months they're now super clean, perfectly fitted, and look really nice.

Before
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After
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While I had the front end apart, and was trying not to burn the funking thing to the ground, I cleaned and repainted a bunch of stuff and replaced pretty much every nut and bolt. The bumper had made a mess of the bar underneath the lights from being taken off and on so many times. The tape you can see is Mountain bike tubeless rim tape, to protect it from the bumper.

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Mostly back together
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