Widebody FC single turbo LS 5.3

[GhostFC]

So I have been out of the car scene for over a decade and thought what better way to get back into it than build a car from the ground up. I bought this car as a rolling shell from a guy that had put countless hours into it. I have always loved the look of the FCs and always got jealous of my friends' FC's. I didn't originally intend on going full racecar because I like having a cozy interior, nice sound system etc, but I happened to buy a full racecar shell, so here we are. I plan on putting in a 4.8 LS motor with a single turbo. I purchased it with a rollcage, origin wide fenders and body kit, d2 coilovers, a stitch welded body, and resealed underside / new paint.

My goal is to have the car running by the end of the year, I likely will try and run it N/a for a bit and work out any issues before continuing to the turbo addition.  I am a little bit rusty on my car knowledge so I am just gonna give it hell.  Any tips/pointers/advice is welcome, I will need it.

[GhostFC]

So far I have started with new wheel bearings, ss brake lines, Stoptech rotors, EBC brake pads, and ARP extended wheel studs. I also bought some bash bars to put on it. 

[GhostFC]

Started on the fuel system this week, playing mix and match with AN fittings, thank god I am like 15 minutes from the Summit Racing superstore here in Texas.

Also have plenty of parts to keep me busy already, next up will likely be wiring.  Thinking about going obd2 to tablet interface for gauges, does anyone have advice on this?

Bought a rear glass to replace the busted out one I started with.

[digitalsolo]

Looks like quite a project!

[jwvand02]

I really cannot adequately express the amount of envy I feel in your living 15 minutes from summit.

Summit can often get to me next day, but that doesn't always happen on the weekends or when I forget one AN fitting and realize it on saturday night, and I have to find $100 worth of stuff to buy to get free shipping.

[GhostFC]

Managed to make my AN fuel hoses and started figuring out where to route them.  Also started removing the tint off the new rear window just to find out they tinted on top of tint.  So tomorrow gonna try and get the next layer off.  Also bought some black vinyl wrap to freshen up the hatch.  I just found out that apparently all FCs have a black hatch which I guess never occurred to me. 

I really cannot adequately express the amount of envy I feel in your living 15 minutes from summit.

Summit can often get to me next day, but that doesn't always happen on the weekends or when I forget one AN fitting and realize it on saturday night, and I have to find $100 worth of stuff to buy to get free shipping.

And yes I can go to Summit, place my order while sitting in the car, and have it brought out in less than 20 minutes.  It is amazing.

[GhostFC]

I have been slacking off a bit, making little progress here and there not looking forward to starting to wire up everything.  I did spend quite a bit of time scraping off what had to be the original tint.  Brought the window in and got fresh ceramic tint, now just to vinyl wrap the hatch and install new weatherstripping.  I finished routing the fuel lines to the front of the car.  Spent a good while flushing /bleeding the brakes, but also got something to help keep me motivated to make progress.

[GhostFC]

I finished the vinyl wrap on the hatch, it was my first try at wrapping and I think it came out ok, definitely not perfect but it'll do. Also installed some new weather stripping to replace the dried out junk.   Was hoping that it wasn't too hard as I really want to wrap the car in white.  Not sure I want to try the whole car though. 

[shainiac]

The vinyl on the hatch turned out nice. Where did you find replacement trim for it? Mine needs replacing also.

[GhostFC]

https://mazdatrix.com/product/hatch-seal-86-88-around-glass/

They also sell that little trim piece to connect the seal at bottom.

[freeskier7791]

are those metal band clamps for the AN line??  I would be afraid that they will wear through the nylon braiding.  I would use zip ties instead

[GhostFC]

They are metal hose clamps with rubber insulation and metal zipties, was just trying to limit how many holes to drill into the car.  Do you think metal zipties would cause a problem?  My thought was any road debris like a rock may break a plastic ziptie.

[freeskier7791]

They metal hose clamps with rubber insulation and metal zipties, was just trying to limit how many holes to drill into the car.  Do you think metal zipties would cause a problem?  My thought was any road debris like a rock may break a plastic ziptie.

I have plastic zip ties on my AN lines and have not had any issues.  I stood mine off of the brake lines so I did not have to drill holes in the car  I also have heat sleeving over mine to help protect them from debris and abrasion.

[GhostFC]

Noted, thanks for the input.  Ill just double up with normal zipties.  Im sure I will overlook more stuff like this so I appreciate ya.

[freeskier7791]

Noted, thanks for the input.  Ill just double up with normal zipties.  Im sure I will overlook more stuff like this so I appreciate ya.

you are welcome!  I hate to see someone have an issue with their car.  I have worked on plenty of racecars and can point out lots of the little things