Project : Eagle Finder

[EarlFairweather]

Okay guys, I have chosen to start my project earlier then expected because I want my beast done for college.

 

 

I plan on doing a body off, while the frame is away from the body I am going to grind, sandblast , sand and weld it back to perfection. And hopefully stronger then ever.

 

 

While The body is off I will be working on it, It's not to bad. Worst spots are under back seats, around the fuel access hatch and there is the mother of all holes under my drivers floor ( Or what used to be a floor )

 

 

 

I will be putting a body lift and hopefully upgrade some of my suspension components.

 

 

If I get my student line of credit I am going to use that to pay for a new 3.3 L JDM engine and maybe a Turbo kit. The engines are on Kiiji for 700, Complete turbo kit runs for 900.

 

 

I am also going to put a wider tire and hopefully taller.

 

 

 

I will be redoing the Interior,and stereo system. My color scheme is a Flat black body, with Red and White accents. The interior will also be red and white.

 

 

 

I will be redoing my exhaust, new headers and duals. I want them to come out in front of the rear wheels.

 

 

 

 

I hope to have the frame and body done in 1 and a half months. After during that time I can save up for the body lift and any suspension components I need.

 

 

 

My first step will be stripping the vehicle down and removing frame from body. I don't really want to make a large wooden structure in my yard so I am going to ask one of the farmers I know if he can lift the body off with his tractor.

I am looking for some major advice on this part, mostly in the direction of hidden wires and cables or anything to avoid taking off that I don't need to.

 

 

 

 

I am going to make a detailed photo gallery online and also keep notes so anyone wishing to do this project them selves.

 

 

 

I took pictures today of what im dealing with. In the pictures you can see the rust and holes in the frame ( I can stick 4 fingers in one ) There are also two cracks under the passenger doors. The frame by the trailer hitch has been patched before but who ever did it did a horrible job and and there is already holes starting again. There is rust holes starting over top of the suspension and along the bottom of the frame rails. The front part of the frame looks good except for a lot of surface rust ( Witch I will get rid of.

 

 

 

 

In the pics of the body you can see the hole in my drivers side floor about the size of a large platter. And it's falling apart more and more every day. There is rot under the back seat and a large amount around the fuel tank access point. So much that I didn't have to undo the screws, i just pulled it away from the floor.

 

 

The outside body is in good shape, only bad spots are on the rockers, wort being in the left passenger side corner. There are some small dents but they are fixed easily.

 

 

Enjoy and thanks!

 

 

http://picasaweb.google.ca/110474407708868683434/ProjectEagleFinderWeekOne

[GrimGreg]

I wish you luck, but doubt you'll even get half that done. Just have seen a lot of posts like that from teens, and they tend to either give up halfway through (and part it out), or decide against most of their original ideas, get it running and sell it.

[EarlFairweather]

Thanks for your confidence buddy..

 

I have done a restore before and worked on many cars. My father has 40+ Years as a body man and painter. Maybe you would like to tell him that.

[Precise1]

Ryan was just stating an factual observation, not calling you a slacker.

 

I'm pretty handy with cars and I'm a machinist. I would be hesitant to undertake such a large project without a dedicated work space and plenty of time and resources. Even then, I don't think I would do it for a non classic or common vehicle.

 

If you want a solid pathy, you can get one for $2-4k from a rust free state, drive it home and then just do the mods. I bought my second one to fix up and spent $3300 on one with no rust and under 100k on it.

 

Regardless, good luck and I'll be watching the progress.

 

B

[GrimGreg]

Ryan was just stating an factual observation, not calling you a slacker.

 

 

 

B

Exactly.

 

Not doubting anyones abilities.

[OldSlowReliable]

I wish you luck, but doubt you'll even get half that done. Just have seen a lot of posts like that from teens, and they tend to either give up halfway through (and part it out), or decide against most of their original ideas, get it running and sell it.

Haha! I'm not one of those!

 

 

 

But don't make the rest of us look bad!!

[jj big shoe]

I'm wondering how much you'll get from a 3.3 with a turbo. Have you thought about a SBC swap instead? You could easily get 400hp and no spool up time, you'd have torque from the get-go. Supercharge that and you're gold. Then again, I'm more of a hot rod kinda guy than I am a tuner.

[EarlFairweather]

I'm wondering how much you'll get from a 3.3 with a turbo. Have you thought about a SBC swap instead? You could easily get 400hp and no spool up time, you'd have torque from the get-go. Supercharge that and you're gold. Then again, I'm more of a hot rod kinda guy than I am a tuner.

 

 

 

Do they even make super chargers for that engine? And what would the price be compared to a turbo kit?

 

 

Sorry about getting defensive, but I don't like stereotypes, that's like me saying all you ole guys can't get it up anymore.

[Precise1]

Sorry about getting defensive, but I don't like stereotypes, that's like me saying all you ole guys can't get it up anymore.

 

Wow.

 

I'll leave it at that...

 

B

[4X4pathy94]

lmfao

[slade420]

Do they even make super chargers for that engine? And what would the price be compared to a turbo kit?

you might want to look at centrifugal superchargers. belt driven, easy to mount. They also make more power at low RPM than a standard "roots" style supercharger.

 

this one the V-9 series is designed for engine compartments with limited space.

http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/view.php?pcat=21

 

It sounds like your building a nice truck, give em hell.

 

note: I know you said 3.3, but others might find it useful that to put a turbo or supercharger on a vg30e you gotta get an ECU from a late 80s 300zx with the VG30ET (Z31) engine, not the VG30DETT(Z32) as i thought before.

[nunya]

Like what GG said, I've seen people get discouraged and give up over less, (remember I drive wrecker, I have taken a fair share of lost causes on their last ride) and I'm from a "partially automotive" family (no "restorers" so to say but we generally keep our old rusty crap on the road longer than "average" and all the classic iron was built, not bought) Alot of times it is the young kids who are the cause of the lost ambition. Either "I want it I want it" types or the good old father/son project that good old sonny would rather have a v6 02 Camaro with altezzas or a yellow Neon with a wing and worry about a paintball gun than build a friggin awsome 67 RS with his dad and have a work of art when done(even though I ain't a fan of 1gen Camaros... well Camaros in general besides the early 2gens) I hope the best of the project at hand, prove us wrong! Don't be a statistic!

 

My color scheme is a Flat black body, with Red and White accents.

 

 

 

The rat-rod look? I personally don't even like that on the junk azz, unfinised, rotted out, cobbed togher, scrap-rods. Just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions...

[GrimGreg]

My 88s scheme is flat black, bright green and grey...it's still to white, and has been for 5 years. It's never my plan to make it pretty, so anything I do is ment for fun. The body is rusting all to hell, but it just makes me care even less if I smack a tree or a rock outcrop. Why go get nice pretty body work then go out and smash it all up? I only fix the rust where it causes leaks in the cabin. Hell, if I ever do the things I want to do to that 88, it will be a fun truck, but I go back and forth so much, it just sits as is. Though, for a stock truck with nothing more than good tires (not even LSD rear), I have gone places some built rigs couldn't go. One reason I flip flop on my plans, it goes good as is, so why try and fix what isn't broke?

[EarlFairweather]

Flat black is not bad as long as you add color. I am going to tint the windows and buy myself some light covers.

 

 

Can my ECU be tuned? So you think I would be better off finding a 300zx and take the turbo components off it and just putting it on my engine?

 

 

 

I plan on keeping this truck for years to come, that's why I am doing this. Also I vehicle is one of the first things people notice about you, we all looked at the guys with cool cars when we were younger, I just want to be one of those guys thats all.

[GrimGreg]

You would have to modify the exhaust tubing if you used 300 stuff, their crossover pipe goes right where our firewall is.

[Kittamaru]

Earl, take a moment and ask yourself something:

 

What do you want to DO with that truck?

 

A Pathfinder is, and always will be, an Off Road machine. It's meant for it. It lives and breaths it. Take it away from that, and it'll be sad. Quite literally.

 

Be careful how much "pretty" work you put into it if you plan to off-road - those high-dollar stereos and paint jobs and light covers and other things are nice... but one dip in a puddle or a stray branch and that's hundreds of dollars down the drain.

 

If you want it to be a mall crawler, don't lift it - you cut your fuel economy and if you dont' plan to wheel, that just doesn't make sense

 

I'm doing some major restoration myself (though I don't have a father around to help me (lazy bastard left) and I'm not as mechanically inclined) and I'm honestly daunted by the task I have ahead of me. You're doing my work times ten... and I hope you can follow through. Not doubting you, but it is a LOT to do, especially if you have limited resources / space. I'm doing most of it in a garage barely bigger than the truck itself with two dogs, poor lighting, and a cobbled together toolset - maybe that's part of my problem

 

Either way, good luck Just make sure you keep a clear goal in sight for what you want the truck for, and then go for it!

[slade420]

Can my ECU be tuned? So you think I would be better off finding a 300zx and take the turbo components off it and just putting it on my engine?

some of the parts..

The thing about a normal turbo is all the exhaust and air piping that takes up space under the pathy hood. With a centrifugal supercharger there is only an air intake. it also reduces engine temps and all the rest. No need to have to fit in a down pipe and all the rest. If you get a 300zx ECU, you can get it tuned. There is a product called Nistune, they install a chip/computer port to connect a laptop to it and the Nistune program lets you tune on the fly, with 3D air/fuel charts displayed in real time.

[laxman0324]

Good luck, you will need some patience to get through some parts of the project, I think thats when most people give up. Be sure to post up pics as you go along...

[GrimGreg]

Also I vehicle is one of the first things people notice about you, we all looked at the guys with cool cars when we were younger, I just want to be one of those guys thats all.

 

Sorry to say, but aside from the crowd here, you won't be turning any heads in a Pathy. If you want vanity, you're driving the wrong vehicle.

[EarlFairweather]

Sorry to say, but aside from the crowd here, you won't be turning any heads in a Pathy. If you want vanity, you're driving the wrong vehicle.

 

 

 

You can make any vehicle turn heads man, and I am not looking to do heavy offroading, even if something did break ill just fix it.

 

 

 

Ill look into the superchargers more they seem to be the better option right now.

 

 

 

 

As for an update on the project I took out the rest of the interior and 80% of it was good, the rest was rusted on the floor. There was alot of moisture trapped in the carpet and it was really effecting the metal.

[adamzan]

Sorry to say, but aside from the crowd here, you won't be turning any heads in a Pathy. If you want vanity, you're driving the wrong vehicle.

Actually you turn lots of heads if its coated with mud! Other than that no one really notices...Maybe it was a chick magnet back in 95?

[EarlFairweather]

Adam I already told you this, im a mega chick magnet. So no matter what im driving the girls are all over it..

 

 

 

Update on project: I took off the fender flares and mud flaps today when I got home from work. The guy had them attached with drywall screws Wtf??? When I took off the mudflaps there was also about 5 tons of sand and mud in there. How ever there was very little rust. Makes me wonder if the frame is made with worse steel then the body?

Edited April 13, 2010 by EarlFairweather

[skulptr]

Actually you turn lots of heads if its coated with mud!

 

i did that yesterday!

[OldSlowReliable]

I'll be interested in where the $$ comes from.....I know I go about broke keeping mine in moderate condition (I battle rust though), and I make a fair amount of money that goes straight to the pathy....idk how much rust is on yours, but if one thing could kill a restore its rust repairs, THEY SUCK THE LIFE OUTTA YA!

 

 

 

Personally I'd kill to have a completely rust free truck (like one or two on here right now) and make it just a nice wheeler than do what you plan....seems like overkill for a mallcrawler..

Edited April 14, 2010 by OldSlowReliable

[Kingman]

Sorry to say, but aside from the crowd here, you won't be turning any heads in a Pathy. If you want vanity, you're driving the wrong vehicle.

 

I tell you what, when you have a loud burly exhaust system that sets of car alarms and booms under freeway overpasses, people tend to turn heads to see what the hell it is.