Hard to put into words everything that went through my head with this but i'll try my best.
( I'll stick with the exterior build process for this thread )
First of all. HI everyone, quick intro, my name is Mathieu I am french canadian from Montreal ... I bought this 89 rb25 swapped 32 in 2009.
The drift scene here was relatively big but there weren't many cool cars around so I wasnt really challenged to step my game up so my car looked pretty much the same for 6-7 years.
(2009-2010)
(2011-2016)
I was the only one of my friends still drifting at the time who really was into Japanese drift style.. and with all the hype around the 1st Finalbout I felt like my car was getting boring .. I needed a change . And I had no choice because ...
(2016)
...this happened... ^
( 2017 )
Original Plan, was to install this ''BN style’’ kit I had laying around since 2011. I got this kit for super cheap and never took the time to fit it correctly . But this never happened I ended up selling it because I just couldn't see myself running fake parts on my car. Also I had the feeling that everyone with a 32 at the time already had a BN kit. I wanted someting different ! ...
*One thing to keep in mind is that my inspiration for this build was fueled by many cars over the years and I tried ( and still trying ) to incorporate some small details to pay them tribute while making sure its well executed!
( I can go full nerdy about that ... Maybe in another thread if you want lol )
In the early 2010's, I was really into Hellaflush, Stance Nation ect ...The most important style aspect for me was the wheel fitment...
One day I came across a event coverage from HellaFlush kansai 2012 and I saw these cars ...
That's when the 326Power 3Dstar kit caught my eye for the first time... It really stood out from the other kits because of all the details...
Of course being only available for S14,S15 I never considered it an option for my skyline at the time ...
Until I came across this Facebook post ..!
Found out he used a Supermade kit for S14 ! ... 1+2=...💡!!
Messing around with S-tuner and mspaint lol 😅
Took me a lot of thinking, time, courage and money ...But I finally made the move !
(2018)
Don't mind the Laurel the Skyline wasn't home when I got the kit lol
DISCLAIMER: This is NOT an ''HOW TO'' thread! This is probably the WORST WAY to attack a project like this LOL
... Keep in mind, I had absolutely no experience in body work ...
1st.. Since my rear quater was damaged in the crash and I wanted to take out some camber to get more grip... I decided to make some metal flares in the back ( I was running like -6 degres before that)
My coilovers were maxed down and removing camber raised the car a lot 🙃( now -1.5deg ). I wasn't happy with the ride height...But I didnt wanted to cheat that by making bigger flares so I made the wheel arches the same height as the stock ones ... I was going to deal with that problem later ...
One of my friends came with some dent removing tools ...
With that semi-sorted ... The real ''fun'' began
Since the s14 and r32 front bumper had similar width I thought this was gonna be the easiest part...
Too much ground clearance for me😑and unhappy with the shape .. Again .. I was gonna deal with that later ...
For the sideskirts I really wanted the "raingutter" shape, so this was not to hard, just had to lengthen them. The hardest part was finding a way to mount them on the car... I don't have a pic from inside the doors but I taped all the interior rocker panels with masking tape and laid 2 or 3 good layers of fiberglass over with a straight part coming out under the doors to make the top of the side skirt...
this, I was very happy with 👍
Next the rear bumper ... This was suprisignly the easiest part to fit ! Just a matter of trimming and pretty much the whole thing fell into place... The s14 is a bit larger in the back so I had to ''squish'' the sides of the bumper in using an heatgun to soften the resin to make it flush with the quater panels
For the top part ... I had to mold my stock bumper to complete the shape ...
Lets call that Phase #1 ( around the end of 2018 )
Took me way to much time... Selling my fake BN kit was a mistake I really should have use it to ''plug'' the 326 kit around it ... Would have saved me at least one year of my life...
Phase #2
(Never satisfied)
2019
Now back in my own garage. I got all winter to think about my work and what flaws I should address on the kit.
First my front bumper.. I really wanted it to match the height of the GTR.
Second my side skirts were way too high off the ground.
I ended up having to cut them twice to acheive the desired height🙃
Oh and meanwhile I painted the body to cheer myself up a bit!
Perfect ride height
Color is ICE SILVER METALLIC from a Subaru Outback
I really couldnt get the shape I wanted with the s14's bumper alone so I bought an ugly random one for skyline and used it to plug the bottom part of the 326.
I really should've done this in the beginning
This was a huge relief I had many sleepless nights thinking about how the f* I would get that front bumper to match the vision I had in mind ..
2021
Finally the kit was done !
Remember I started this porject in 2018 lol
Phase #3
(The details)
Here's the street friendly version of the car
This happened first time I backed up from my garage after paint 🙃 fender got stuck in one of the tire treads.
So I had to do something about it.
I tried to flare the arches a bit plus I wanted to add a little something on the side...
I've always love the sharks gills fenders on the BMW z3
Some mods are essentials to complete the look of a car ...
I really wanted Gp sports/FreedomLegion mirrors cover but I couldnt find any so I decided to make them myself AGAIN ...
At least the replacement blinkers on yahoo are cheap !
Once every details I have in mind will be on the car I wanna take the time to talk about them, why I choose them, what they mean to me ...
2022
love those kit! im wondering if u guys made dlux 326 kit for r32 🤔