First Move

Not long after purchasing the car, I made plans with a good friend Travis of Shiomi Garage to do a cage and some fabrication. I had some prep work to do before bringing the car up, which included removing all of the interior, wiring, windows, and other miscellaneous parts that needed to be out for him. 

I tackled under the hood while my partner Nick got to work on the inside. We had a lot of fun taking pictures along the way!

The interior panels were already out, so all that was left was the wiring. We decided it would be a good idea to take pictures of each plug as they were taken off and label them. This was our first time working with the car's wiring and thought it would be a good idea for future reference. It would be a good amount of time before putting it back in.

It was a little extra work, but it was out in no time.

I had all the wiring removed from under the hood soon after.

Before

After

Wiring was successfully removed and was in pretty good shape. 

Next was to take out what remained: motor mounts, fluid reservoirs, and miscellaneous brackets. 

I wonder how much horsepower I would be? Hmm.. ^. ^

With all of our tasks completed, the car was rolled outside for some fresh air. Actually it was so I could snap some pictures while we waited for a friend to arrive to remove the windows.

Kenny arrived and began to remove the windows. The front windshield had been installed incorrectly with clear silicone and was also cracked, so I wasn't able to salvage it. The good news is that I was able to save the rear windshield and quarter windows, which were in great shape.

They were out in no time!

This would be the last time seeing it this way, so I took a few pictures of her before she would be sent off to have a roll cage installed. I appreciate the vintage and original touches the car had. It was going to look very different before long!

I packed up some parts I had been collecting over the past few months to take with us.

After all of the work was done, the only thing left to do was load the car on the trailer. The next morning we would be making the trip to Shiomi Garage.

We arrived at our destination and had everything unloaded shortly thereafter. It was a pretty rainy day, but to our luck, the rain had stopped just long enough for us to unload the car and not get too wet.

This is where Sheena would sit for the next 8 weeks hanging out with her new friends, Travis's S13 coupe and the sil80.

It felt good to finally start working on it after having spent months planning what I wanted to do with the car. My dream was starting to become a reality. I couldn't wait until the next visit!

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

-Lao Tzu

The Big Picture

As previously mentioned, Sheena will be a drift car. The main focus of this build is primarily just for that, getting sideways. When laying out everything and discussing plans for the car, I decided to build it with the Formula Drift Pro/Am rule book in mind. I wanted everything within the rules when it came down to it, not because I think I will ever compete in FD, but because I want to be well-prepared. If there was an event that had strict guidelines, I would be set. Another major aspect I looked at was making it reliable and somewhat comfortable for short or long distance driving. I didn't want to go overboard with power or with things I didn't necessarily need. The goal is to keep things relatively simple and to make it easy to drive. With my boyfriend having a 240sx, I figured it would be a good idea to use as many s-chassis and similar parts as possible so we could share spare parts or be able to swap parts from car to car if needed. 

With that being said, the choice of going SR20DET was an easy one for me. It's a familiar motor for the both of us and makes plenty of power without being overkill. It's a small aluminum 4 cylinder that will help keep the balance of the car and there's a good amount of support behind it so swap parts are easy to find. 

Along with the engine, S13 coilovers and front suspension also seemed like a great choice. It's known to perform well with drifting and Nick had a few pairs of knuckles laying around which can easily be modified to achieve extreme steering angles. This would also mean I would need to do a steering rack conversion since the 510 doesn't have a steering rack from the factory. 

As for the brakes, Z32 was what I decided to go with for the front and rear. They are the biggest brakes I can fit inside a 15 inch rim and they are affordable.

Lastly, I wanted to make sure I was safe. This meant investing in a cage, and not just any cage. This was going to be well thought out and have a proper design. It needed to meet FD guidelines, which requires a full cage with door bars in order to tandem (two cars side by side). 

With the plan set and goals made, it was time to start working on the car and begin the build process. The fun was just beginning!

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blue print, and begin to build." 

-Robert Collier