Hey there from Belgium

Hey what's up ?

So, I decided to get on this forum because I'm buying an S12 from a friend of mine.
I already own an SR20DET Swapped 180SX (track and competition car), a Honda N600 (currently under re-construction) and a B210 Datsun (oldtimer rally car).
My daily driver is a diesel BMW 5 Series station wagon.  :grumpy: It has 180 horses, just enough to move the 12 billion tons chassis

I was looking for a casual track day car, which can also be a summer-sunny-day-cruiser.
At first I was looking forward to buy an abandonned BMW E30 318i down my street, so I managed to find its owner and agreed on a price of 300€, but he ccouldn't find the car's documents or keys anymore,  :glaresad: so while I was waiting for him to call me back whenever he finds that, a friend of mine just called me for random reasons, at the end of the conversation I was like "hey, what's up about your S12 ? You still have it ?"

And then he said what I waited 2 years form him to say : "Oh you know, I'm maybe selling it, cheap, because there's a bit of rust on the chassis and I have no spare time to work on it"  :cry2: :yay!:

So I told him "I'm your man dude, if you sell that car to anyone else I'll kick your butt so hard it's going to hurt your throat"

And that's how I bought an S12  :laugh:

I have no pictures of it because I still have to take away the car from my friend's house, its 120km away from mine, so I'm just waiting for my trailer to come back (lended it to my father in law) but hey, I just can't wait to have this beauty in my garage.

For what about my friend told me, the car hasn't run for about 2 years and needs an overall restoration. I already have a good idea of what engine is going under the bonnet : When I SR20-Swapped my S13, I put away the CA18DET that was there in the first place and stored it in a "cool and dry place"  :angel: assuming some day I could need it to OEM-Back my S13, so yes, the S12 is going 16-valve  :tongue2:

The main thing is that the S13 engine had a knocking rod before I took it off the car, so I guess it will need a full rebuild before going into the S12 :rolleyes2:

In addition to the swap, the car is getting the classical track-car treatment : tear off all the interior trim panels, ugly seats, battery relocation to the back, hole-saw usage more than reasonable, rollcage, strut braces and bucket seat(s)

I'm wondering if yes or no, there is going to be an hydraulic handbrake  :thinking:

So this is it,

I should add that I am an automotive engineer, and I have a big-ass garage with a car-lift and some nice tools to get the job done. I also do have an (almost untouched) second spare S13

welcome post pics when you get it...

^ and welcome!

Welcome ;)

Wow, I like your sense of humor and I like what you're planning to do with this thing... yes someone has done a hydro ebrake, I believe it was David B. He's not as active on here anymore because he moved to an S14 full drift car, but if I remember right he has pics on here of the setup.

Can't wait to see this car... CA18DET is a perfect fit!

Arro on 01:08:35 PM / 10-Apr-13Wow, I like your sense of humor and I like what you're planning to do with this thing... yes someone has done a hydro ebrake, I believe it was David B. He's not as active on here anymore because he moved to an S14 full drift car, but if I remember right he has pics on here of the setup.

Can't wait to see this car... CA18DET is a perfect fit!

So, this week end, I went to my friend's place to see the car, and I took a couple of pictures for you guys  :nerdystraight:

We just put jump start cables, turned the key ... and guess what ?

It didn't even took half a revolution to get the old CA18ET cranked up !  :angel:

Some herbs had grown under the car and got snapped off by the belt and pulleys when it started, so it wasn't tricked out to start properly, the engine really ran for the first time in two years.  :tongue2:

I shall not make you wait anymore, here are the pics :





I'm sorry I couldn't take pictures of the back, but the clutch didn't respond (pretty sure there is moisture in the slave cylinder and a simple bleeding will fix this, had same problem on my datsun when it was stored for 10 years in a warehouse) and also wheels were locked (rusted brake pads ?) and there was this stupid hedge all around.  :grumpy:

Whatever ... all I can tell you is that the interior is in pretty good shape (seats look like new) excepted the trim panels under the rear windows which have shrunk away ?
Also, the side skirts (or whatever they are called) will need some welding to pass the belgian MOT
The rear wing has been removed as it was the foamy-thingy and it used to catch water that would rot away and smell just as bad as an elephant's ass. So I guess I'll have to find some aftermarket for this. I believe an F40-style rear wing would look great

Something similar to this, but a bit smaller :



Don't mind the stupid bodykit !

Maybe a wing scrapped out of a mercedes e190 :



So this is it :)

And oh, yeah, as a bonus, here's a pic of the abandonned E30 down my street, it's still for sale for 300€ :



Maybe next project when I'm done with the S12, if it stills there  :thinking: I'd like to see how a beamer runs with a Nissan engine, maybe RB25DET, dunno, well, that's off-topic

Cheers ! :yay!:

I don't know if they have Pontiac firebirds of there but the wing from and 80 model would look nice...

Edit: I just realized it was a hatch so that would be a no-go lol it works for the notches only...

Firebirds are pretty rare over here, the only ones we have were imported by private companies back when they were brand new.

A few crazy men have recently imported some of them on their own, but there is tons of papers and forms to fill out, and you have to wait for a while (a few months) to get a european COC (certificate of conformity)

And any car coming from the usa has to be modified to fit the european laws (yellow blinkers, rear fog light, kilometric speedo ....) So, yes there are firebirds, but they are rare and expensive. (The cheapest I've seen was 2500€)

Anyway, I'm soon going to the tuner shop, I'll check some "universal fitting" wings

Honestly, our hatchback versions aren't at all like other hatchbacks, and really in my opinion the only spoilers that look good on them are the ones designed for them, either the foam rubber ones (my preference) or the fiberglass ones. They're not like anything seen on other cars and really accent our hatchbacks well.