Project-J | From beginning to now - Photos & Media Forum

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Project-J | From beginning to now
Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:24 AM
Here is a bit of background on my current 96' Z24.
Bought it in April of 2011, drove four hours to pick it up.
Motor was rebuilt the year before, Pacesetter header and a Borla muffler were already installed.

I've got pics of it when I first got it somewhere... I'll have to find them.
The day after I got it, the differential gave up the ghost.
Got a new tranny(well new to me) from Pull-A-Part and got it back on the road.



While it was waiting for its new tranny I installed the 2.3 manifold for the first time.
Also the headlights, corner/bumper and tail lights all got tinted.
Swapped a 00-02 Spoiler for the stock 95-99.
Carbon Fiber radiator shroud also was added.

But I'll save the engine changes for later, as they have changed ALOT lol
First exterior mod was the addition of some 17" Eagle Alloy rims.


Didn't like the silver color so I painted them black.


Got tired of the black spoiler so it went white.

Then finally got a set of 95-99 side skirts, even if they were black.


Managed to get one of the skirts painted


Got tired of the 17" eagle alloys, got a set of 18" DC240's


Looking back at them now, I actually liked them silver.
Ordered some rear spacers to push the rear wheels out a bit.
Wanted to paint them black spokes and white lip, this is as far as I got.



I was loving it, all I wanted to do was lower it down and paint the lip white.

Then.. Tragedy struck first with me dodging a dump truck and busting a rim;

Then in the form of the wife hitting a light pole.


Destroyed the fender, ruined the bumper, door and lights on that side.
Tore the ball joint out of the control arm, bent the strut and sub-frame
Grabbed a 99' Sunfire for $200 for parts.

And thus began 'Project CavFire'(also did this with my 98 Z24).
Used the 95-99 Sunfire SE side skirts

After its first cleaning I was surprised to how nice the sunfire parts were, especially the headlights.

Got tired of the red front end, so I primered it white, trunk and spoiler painted black


Since I only had 2/3 18" rims I got a set of 95-99 Z rims


Got tired of the silver, so painted them black with silver lip
And painted the door handles and mirrors to match body



Got tired of the Sunfire front end.. so found a 95-99 drift body kit on Craigslist and with a free Carbon Fiber OEM hood for $175, couldn't pass on it. Also replaced the Z rims with a set of 17" Neon SRT4 rims painted black


A week after getting the kit on, I busted the front bumper and swapped to a 00-02 Z24 front end

Also at some point the fender portion of the side skirts were cut off so the skirt is even with the door sills
And started molding skirts to quarter panels.
Here is us doing the mod on the skirts and before/after I fitted the skirts to the fender



Got tired of the silver bumper and primered fenders, so got some 00-02 fenders and painted everything white


Then got a set of Amber corner lights from a friend, along with a new sub-frame and control arms with urethane bushings.


Then blacked out the headlights, didn't like this look at all.

Sanded off, then repainted the headlights with a "evil eye" look and tinted the corners - loved it
also got some yellow fog light bulbs

Which is where the exterior sits right now.
Plans for early 2013 include;
*Fixing the sag in rear bumper
*Finish molding skirts to quarter panel
*replace right door
*W-type front lip
*Two tone paint job, white on bottom and gun metal on top

Lets see where the motor has been.
*NOTE* I've slowly cleaned up the bay through all the pics, wires, vacuum lines and even Cruise Control Module have slowly been hidden away

When I first got it

First color scheme with stock 2.4 intake, using Dodge neon 2.0 coilpack swap

Attempt at a full CAI

Swapped back to the 2.3 intake and throttle body - shaved the brackets off the manifold

Swapped colors on the IDI cover

Added TTR urethane bushings all round, and lower dog bone - as well as urethane end-link bushings


Swapped to the 2200 coilpack(also added 8mm Taylor plug wires when I did the bushings)

Shaved the words off of the cam towers and cleaned up the lines on the 2.3 manifold

Getting ready for change in color - first thought I was gonna black it out

Decided on Burnt Copper

Calipers too

Than did the cam towers


Picked up a 2.3 IDI cover

Painted it black, repainted fuel rail and coolant tank



Replaced the broken Borla muffler with a Cobalt SS/SC muffler


Then swapped over the new sub-frame and control arms with the urethane bushings.

Cleaned up and painted all the new parts


Driving right after I got everything together my front wheel broke off. UGH.
Luckily this awesome guy and his son were driving by and moved my car off the side of the road for free.
I owe this guy my life, I was playing chicken with traffic trying to fix it until he came by.

Its now on the road again, pending a front end alignment.


Not much going on inside the car, got a set of leather late 80's Z28 F-Body seats
Carpet removed
Custom weighted shift knob and shortened shaft
Eventually want a charcoal interior with 95-99 Sunfire dash with 03+ round vents



So there you have it, Project J in all its stages.
This is the current mod list;

- Exterior -
'Drift' rear bumper
'Drift' Side skirts cut and modified to sit flush with fenders, molded at quarter panels(WIP)
00-02 Z24 Bumper W/ 00-02 headlight swap
Headlights painted frame and "evil eyes"
Corner lights painted amber and tinted
VIS Carbon Fiber OEM hood
95-99 outer, 00-02 inner taillights tinted
00-02 Z24/LS Spoiler
Trunk debadged
Trunk/Spoiler painted flat black
Door handles and outer part of mirrors painted to match body

- Under The Hood -
99' rebuilt block
96' rebuilt head
95' 2.3 manifold with 56mm throttlebody
EGR delete
A/C delete
Customintake
Pacesetter header
Cobalt SS(SC) GMPP muffler
98-02 2.2 coilpack swap
Taylor 8mm spark plug wires
Mild wire tuck
TurboTech Racing upper motor insert
TurboTech Racing lower dogbone
TurboTech Racing transmission urethane bushings
Cam towers shaved
Cam Towers and Intake Manifold painted burnt copper
Timing housing and fuel rail painted black
Mild wire/vacuum line tuck
Hood Pins, hood latch assembly deleted(have to install pins)

- Wheels/Suspension -
17" SRT4 rims painted gloss black
Michelin 205 45 17 tires
Moog balljoints and wheel bearings
Convertible J-Body 4 point front strut bar(bolted to firewall)
ENERGY end-link bushings
Turbotech Racing Urethane Control Arm Bushings




Could someone delete my old thread? PLEASE?
I'm going to use this one.




Re: Project-J | From beginning to now
Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:57 AM
I was wondering how long the pictures would go on before you finally replaced the front window from the air bag damage.

Not my style with the body kit, prefered the clean stock look myself.





Re: Project-J | From beginning to now
Wednesday, November 28, 2012 2:27 PM
I like the IDI cover holding up the tranny in the first pic.



I think I have OCD. Obsessive Cavalier Disorder.
Re: Project-J | From beginning to now
Wednesday, November 28, 2012 3:02 PM
^^No one would be that crazy, it's actually just holding up the engine.
Re: Project-J | From beginning to now
Thursday, November 29, 2012 2:28 AM
My eyes failed me, you are correct.



I think I have OCD. Obsessive Cavalier Disorder.
Re: Project-J | From beginning to now
Friday, November 30, 2012 9:39 PM
You have done a horrible disservice to this car.
Re: Project-J | From beginning to now
Saturday, December 01, 2012 7:01 AM
how does that LSJ muffler sound? is it loud?
Re: Project-J | From beginning to now
Monday, December 03, 2012 7:58 PM
Jeff Wybrow wrote:You have done a horrible disservice to this car.


Ive mentioned to him a couple times that he has horrible luck with the car.

Seems kind of rushed and not properly thought out before execution.

He does seem to bounce back after the frough times though. Hopefully in the end it will come out the way HE wants.


"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"

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