1993 st185 with st205 swap nearing completion

fhalperformance

New member
I havent really had time for a project thread but I am coming to the end of my 1993 barely rolling chassis restoration. Thought it get everything up here while Im taking a break from working on her. I started collecting parts & the chassis about a year ago. I moved into a garage 6 months ago and started the process. She started going back together in april and was first started wednesday the 18th for the first time since I owned her. I still got some wire tucking left to do, code 34 (didnt happen until I went wide open throttle to red line going up a hill) & the IG fuse value to figure out (ST185 7.5A : ST205 15A).

Mods:
ST205 swap with 80k miles (clip)
ST205 WTA oem setup
ST205 rear differential
ST205 engine wiring harness (unmodified - mostly) using ST185 fuse box
6th gen exterior rear view mirrors
xiimotorsports solid motor mount inserts
xiimotorsports solid rear differential mount & bushings
Solid Stainless Steel North-South Crossmember bushings
Berk Tech 3" ceramic coated down pipe
Berk Tech 3rd gen 3sgte straight patch harness (extended)
3" ebay downpipe back exhaust
Ceramic Coated every single bracket inside & outside the car
Thousands of dollars of new OEM hardware
Ceramic Coated Headlight Buckets
POR15 rear chassis floor from suspension attachment points to rear of vehicle
JDM Clear Corners
Aston Martin Lion Red Paint
RC Hood
RC Bumper Cover
RC Bumper Bar
Customer 3" Intake
91 Tail lights
Short Shifter in painted shifter housing w/ solid mounts
Solid Shifter Bushings
Taylor Battery Box
Interstate I-34 battery
Gold Plated 0-Gauge battery terminals
0-gauge positive battery power cable
2-gauge negative battery ground cable
Walbro 255lph Fuel Pump
Custom Quick Connect Nylon Fuel Lines
Custom Switched Fuel Pump relay setup mounted in trunk (dual radiator fan relay/fuse wiring harness setup)
Custom Reproduction Aluminum Fuel Tank
Customized aftermarket sending unit/fuel level sender
New Rear Suspension Arms
Superpro suspension bushings (not installed yet)
Sway Bar Elimination
Custom sprung/valved BC Racing Coil-overs with 3 different spring rates for each axle ranging from 8k front/6k rear to 12k front/10k rear
Dropped 1.5" from factory
New Front Ball Joints
17x8 Volk GT-7s with 215/40r17 Kumho Ecstas
New calipers, pads, rotors, hardware, SS brake lines, & copper brake hard lines






-note my coolant overflow placement. makes the turn signal bulb pretty hard to change lol.
 

fhalperformance

New member





-these pictures really dont do the color justice. Well worth the money.

And when I say nearing completion I mean almost done getting it running mechanically lol.
 

killemalltrac

New member
Lookin good man!! I have that same ebay exhaust on my car with the 205 swap. Pretty nice sound, I'll probly ditch the canister for something with a better tone soon.
 

quieter

Member
yeah same here, got the ebay exhaust with an st205 swap, its actually really quiet! happy to see that your almost done with your swap, the bumper and hood look really good!
 

fhalperformance

New member
I was rushing to get it ready to race at watkins glen so I didnt finish alot of things all the way. I didnt finish it in time to take it so now im going to slowly finish the wiring making it run properly. I am still missing some parts I have to pick up yet but Im hoping to start driving it regularly very soon. I was planning on running a custom exhaust in combination with my reproduction aluminum fuel tank and a diffuser idea I had but the tank didnt come out how I had spec-ed it so I just bought the ebay exhaust for now.

It only came with one 93 tail light (with no vented sections) and I already had a spare set of 91 tail lights with light scratches from my other trac's restoration. I am not a fan of the orange "vented" section on the 1993 rear tail lights and am planning to do some tail light modifications so I didnt bother to spend more money to complete the 93 tail lights.
 

fhalperformance

New member
I haven't quite decided exactly. I was thinking about black-ing or red-ing the tail lights & license plate "holder" so they were all one color/tint. It would be done properly by clearing at the body shop. I also just ordered my NY plate that says "ONEOF81" to match the Maine plate that came with the car.

I am hoping to spend some time this weekend on the car finishing up the filler neck, solder/heat shrinkle the unfinished wiring, the OEM electronic speedometer conversion, and several other small things on the car. I got a rear axle that is throwing grease so I have to see if I have another axle or if Im planning to replace them both with new. I also need to figure out what electronic boost controller I plan to install to solve my over boost issue.

I am selling a couple of vehicles to fund the finishing of this trac and and put together a down payment for an upcoming truck purchase. I got too many projects and not enough to go around.
 

fhalperformance

New member
Been working on finishing up the little details and the wiring on the vehicle so I can start putting the interior back together. I have finished making a filler neck so I dont have flexible gas hose sticking 2 feet out of the fuel fill door. It looks like it will do the trick just have to take it out and make it perfect at some point. I also have the rear brakes apart right now to install new parking brake hardware to get rid of the rear brake noise I experienced on the total 14 miles Ive driven the car.

I have almost finished the electronic speedometer conversion which is coming together pretty nicely. I still have some trimming to do of the plastic and then to hook up the wiring/see how it fits with that together. The trip odometer reset arm broke off somehow so Im not going to bother to get that working right now on the first prototype.

I dont like how the gas tank straps fit my reproduction tank so im dreaming up some alternatives right now. I still have yet to fill up the gas tank to see how close my new fuel sender electronics get to full on the instrument cluster. Of course I have to finish my instrument cluster to be able to do that and I got more then one vehicle that need my time and attention right now.


-current state of the vehicle.


-custom fit filler neck.


-almost ready to go back together.
 

fhalperformance

New member
I havent updated in a while so I figured id get it out of the way while my wrist. I have yet to start working on her my current projects and extra hours at work have eaten up too much time. My new mr2 spyder project has gathered some local interest so finishing that is pretty high on my priority list.


-tire blow out on track. That was a fun ride and whats worse is I just got that fender painted. Luckily it didnt hurt anything other then the fender and the windshield wiper motor wiring close by.


-parked with one of its friends a couple hours away while I pulled parts off a parts car.

I did finally pick a color its Aston Martin Lion Red pretty expensive but totally worth it. My friends on track said the car looked great as it grew larger in their mirrors throughout the corners haha. Really glows in the sunlight makes the car seem so much quiter. I had the fender molding pieces painted but the car looks so much more modern without them. Ill probably shave the rest when it goes back to the paint shop.

Other projects:
2000 celica gts veilside custom TRUE widebody kit (not fender flares molded in).


2001 mr2 spyder 2gr paddle shifted rocket ship
 

fhalperformance

New member
I havent updated in a while so I figured id get it out of the way while my wrist. I have yet to start working on her my current projects and extra hours at work have eaten up too much time. My new mr2 spyder project has gathered some local interest so finishing that is pretty high on my priority list.


-tire blow out on track. That was a fun ride and whats worse is I just got that fender painted. Luckily it didnt hurt anything other then the fender and the windshield wiper motor wiring close by.


-parked with one of its friends a couple hours away while I pulled parts off a parts car.

I did finally pick a color its Aston Martin Lion Red pretty expensive but totally worth it. My friends on track said the car looked great as it grew larger in their mirrors throughout the corners haha. Really glows in the sunlight makes the car seem so much quiter. I had the fender molding pieces painted but the car looks so much more modern without them. Ill probably shave the rest when it goes back to the paint shop.

Other projects:
2000 celica gts veilside custom TRUE widebody kit (not fender flares molded in).


2001 mr2 spyder 2gr paddle shifted rocket ship
 

fhalperformance

New member
Got her out today and had some fun. Car is going to the body shop in the next couple of weeks to get the rest of the car finish painted to match. The moldings are getting shaved and possibly the hatch emblem. Spoiler will go back on the car and so will the rear bumper (as soon as I find one in good shape).

I need some st205 rear arms for my suspension in an effort to not make it so twitchy (3 degrees of camper difference between the front and rear right now lol). I also am going to raise the front an inch in order to fit some wider/taller tires & to get the weight distribution closer to 50 50. Right now it is like mid 60 percent of the weight on the front wheels. I have about a half inch between the tires & fender in the front with 215/40r17 tires and that doesnt seem to be a very popular size now a days so I need the room. Car is going to look weird which Im not all that happy about.

I need to decide between making it a track car build or street build thats my whole problem. Ive had alot of interest in my v6 swapped mr2 so If that sells I can finish this like I want to. Otherwise that will be the track car until my mr2 spyder is finished.
 

fhalperformance

New member
I have to daily driver her right now so Its hard to get anything done on her. I picked up some non abs parts from a mr2 that im curious to know how it would work on the alltrac. They were free with some other parts I bought so even if they dont work its not a big deal. Ill have to see if I can find some more information on how that might work in my car.
 

fhalperformance

New member
Picked up some ST205 rear axles and arms to gain some much needed camber in the rear. Will have to realign and set ride height again as I may go to a larger tire/need more clearance.



-some water proofing work


-st185 on left st205 arms on rear.
 

fhalperformance

New member
Picked up an ABS delete off of a 5th gen which I plan to install without removing the motor. This will be fun lol. Going to go proportioning valves for the rear in cockpit so I can get the brakes sorted. I will probably upgrade to racing compound brakes like I did on the circuit mr2 maybe Project Mu although I havent looked into it.

I have a problem with front brake pads burning off in less then a half an hour of track time. It has to do with my suspensions design and factory brake system. The rear brakes have never needed replacement so Im sure its a pressure issue.

The st205 arms was to even out the large difference in negative camber front to back. I only took her to the track once and only found the grip limit in the wet, then had that frustrating tire blow out.

Rims and tires will be next. I am also picking up another st185 to build a 5vz turbo powered rocket ship with my nascar dash motor. AND my mk3 mr2 2gr swap sits and stares at the other vehicles getting all the attention lol. Hopefully when I sell my audi I will be able to finish everything.
 

fhalperformance

New member
I finally found some ST205 rear arms and got them installed a couple of weeks ago. I got ST205 rear axles but the ST185 rear axles seem to be perfect with the extreme drop. I definitely have more camber out back but I havent got a chance to get it aligned being winter and all, and im not driving it.

I may be putting the st205 swap in my 90 alltrac new winter toy and dropping a v6 in this car to compete with my buddys new 93 2gr awd turbo swap hes working on. 2500 lbs is the target weight with 500+ hp. I still have to test fit the motor I have chosen. It should be epic I just have to find time and stop hurting myself on accident so I can actually get something done lol.

Stay tuned for more updates this winter!
 
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