UPDATED 3/26

First a little history on the car! So Feb. 26 2009, I finally get a response from a posting on Craigslist for a black '99 Si with some front damage on the cheap. I had been waiting for a week already and had gotten no response, so I thought it was a lost cause! Alas, I call the guy up at 8:30am as soon as I see the email on my phone with his number, and drive down to O-Town the next day, only to return with a mildly damage, otherwise MINT EM1. And here she was when I got there:




Front damage was a bit bad, but nothing sub-$1000 couldn't fix with some good searching for parts and patience. So, I undertook it. Driving it back home on the Turnpike felt like heaven; I had just gone from an automatic '94 EJ1 with a shot motor mount to a '99 Si. Life was good.

So I decided to go for a wash, car was dusty:






(ABS, wut? no the car does not have ABS, no idea what that light is doing there. It never lights up, though)

I take down my bumper to find this sad, sad reality:




Ouch..but I was ready for it.

So, in the days to come I took her to my local reliable body shop and got an estimate: $200 to get the frame pulled into place on the frame machine. But the guy said I had to bring in the parts to be put back on, and they would align it for me if I did.

A couple of days pass by, and I find a bumper up in Lake City for a good price. Off I go, and I return with this:



Primered black, just needs to be painted. No place for it yet, since my front end is all bent out of shape. But soon.

So I drive down to my dad's for spring break, and the car comes with. I decide to make a trip to the local U-Pull, just to see what was going on. Luckily, I find a bumper support off a fresh '99 EX. After some hitting, bending, twisting, I got some improv bodywork done, and the car looks a lot better:



It'll keep my afloat until I sell my EJ1 to afford the real bodywork. And since she was looking better, I decided to do a full claybar+wax:



(1977 911 SC hanging out in precarious conditions in the garage, to be fixed before year's end)



(facing the dad's prelude)








!



Thanks for dropping by

 

Looks pretty good, whatd you pay for it? Also, why not get the correct mats? Those fit like crap.

 

Also, get an OEM lip instead of the Fugen.

 

Not gonna use the fugen lip, came as a freebie with the bumper. Go figure. On the lookout for an HOP Si front lip and rear lip, don't wanna have to go hit up Honda and pay $300 for one.

Anyhow, the mats look better in real life. I'm taking them to a seamstress to have them fit perfect, but that's in the near future.

Car was $4500 with the damage, 100% stock. Repair is gonna cost me about $800, so came out to $5300.

Thanks

 

nice pick up

 

nice em1....

What did those floor mats come out of? They look good.

 

Nice

 

Nice find.

 

damn, a virgin EM1. keep it safe and clean.

 

Nice, I'd get alarm first if it doesn't already have one.

 

slam it

 

Knew that was coming Nice addition!

 

Thanks man, and yup, I was pretty surprised when I found her.

02-05 EP3, fitment is near perfect, not 100%. Back mats need to be fitted under armrest console, but look good.

Not going to publicly mention my security on the car, but trust me, it's pretty secure!

Soon to be dropped on Mugen Showas or Eibach Sportlines.

Thanks for all the comments

 

Nice EM. lol at the wheel gap though. Just takes me back to those days. My car is much lower now.

 

Nice!!! Good luck with her

 

Yah the wheel gap pains me, hopefully it will be gone soon! Needs a drop real baaaad.

 

My suggestion is Koni, gcs. I know you can get complete coilovers, but out of all of them, I have yet to hear anyone say anything bad about Koni yellow/gc. Plus they're suppose to have a better range and ride nicely even with a large drop.

 

I was just thinking that for a 1.5-2" drop for a more comfortable ride just Eibach Sportlines with stock shocks would cut it. My plan was to try it out, and if I don't like it I'm hitting up AMR Engineering for a custom setup.

 

For springs, I think eiback is the way to go. But like I said, having the Ground Controls, you can get for a very resonable price 300 or so which includes the spring perch and spring. And, you can get custom spring rates for something like 50$ more. I'm sure there are other good coilovers out there, but for the performance, ride and bang for your buck, I haven't met anyone that preferred anything over Koni/GC. Just wish I had more money to get Konis.

 

looks clean

 

Yeah, looks like a good find

 

sweet deal is the core support messed up?

 

Mint EM1 man, nice find.

 

Thanks all! Will look into my suspension options.

Yes, I need to replace the upper tie bar on the core support. I already have one on the way, just waiting to get enough $ to get it welded on by a body shop and all that.

 

nice job