Elmer continued on, refilling the radiator
with water and the engine with oil more often than topping off his gas tank. As
Elmer neared the Arizona border, he hit yet another figurative speed bump. It
started raining hard. It was monsoon season, and this particular storm had just
started. Driving through heavy rain can tell you a lot about a car, and this
ordeal turned out to be a major eye opener and an even further letdown. The car
quickly started filling with water. The cause would later become apparent – the
rear quarter-panels had been cut for the over-fenders but never sealed; they
had not been welded shut, they had been cut, folded over, and wood screws had
been used to hold the two layers together. Elmer moved his belongings off the
floor and trudged on. He was on the last stretch of road now, only a few hours
from home, when the car simply turned off; there was no electrical power in the
system. With no cell reception, the exhausted, defeated new owner sat in his
dream car and considered his options. Finally a passerby offered him a ride, if
Elmer paid him of course. They went to a nearby Wal-Mart where Elmer purchased
two new batteries, hoping that they would get him home. It turned out that the
previous owner had cut the main power wire to the battery and twisted the two
ends back together, securing them only with electrical tape – naturally, they
had separated. Quickly repairing this, Elmer was once again back on the road.
The
car was drivable for the time being, which was definitely progress
Upon finally arriving home, Elmer went
straight to bed, catching up on some much-needed rest. The following morning,
his new car greeted him with negative 15 degrees of camber on the driver-side
front wheel; the coilover had snapped. At this point, a thorough inspection of
the car was absolutely necessary, who knew what else had been half-assed on the
car? To avoid any further damage to the car, Elmer started tearing down the car
that he had just purchased less than a week prior. What he found, confirmed his
fears. The car was nowhere near drivable condition. Rather than spend even more
money and time just getting the car back to stock, he cut his losses. He had
essentially spent $11 grand on a BN Blister kit, a set of wheels, and a
four-day course on how to drive a car from Washington to Arizona that should
not have been drive at all.
The
car was nowhere near drivable condition
In an impressive display of perseverance,
Elmer found yet another S14, a mildly modified ’95 model. His friend owned this
particular car, so Elmer knew that it had been meticulously cars for. Elmer
then took his new car along with the parts that he removed from his first S14
to a local body shop to have the wide-body installed and painted Daytona Blue.
Elmer expressed that the body shop did a decent job, but he was not completely
satisfied so he began saving up to have it redone. The car was drivable for the
time being, which was definitely progress.
For the next year Elmer saved up funds as
he did more research. During his time online, he came across a photo of a set
of insanely wide Weds ERMs and instantly knew he absolutely had to have them.
There was, however, a slight problem: The owner of the wheels had no intention
of selling them. After making offers for months, the owner finally gave in and
agreed to sell them. The 19-inch wheels were sized at a ridiculous 11.5 and
12.5 inches wide with a negative 35 offset all around. Fitting wheels of this
sizing would not be feasible despite the additional 50mm of clearance up front
and 70mm out back that the Blister kit provided. Elmer continued his research
and decided on Intense Motorsports to give the exterior of his car a makeover.
Intense started working immediately, removing all the glass and much of the
interior, the BN Blister kit – which is insanely wide as it is was widened even
further with the addition of flares to fit the new wheels – a full re-spray was
performed and eight months later the exterior was finally up to Elmer’s
standards.
The
19-inch wheels were sized at a ridiculous 11.5 and 12.5 inches wide with a
negative 35 offset all around
There was no way Elmer was going to put
around with a stock KA in this monstrous-looking car, an engine swap was all
but absolutely necessary. For his new power-plant, Elmer chose the slightly
less conventional route and opted for an RB25. Import Powerhouse in Arizona was
enlisted to perform the swap, and did so flawlessly. Elmer also took advantage
of the downtime and had his wheels refinished. The time that the Weds had spent
in Japan and the salty coastal air had oxidized the aluminum and rusted the
steel hardware. Not being one to settle for anything but perfection, he had the
wheels stripped to bare metal, the lips polished, and faces powder coated gold.
The engine swap was completed and the wheels mounted onto the car, just in time
for Elmer and his S14 to move out West for his new job.
Elmer now resides in Northern California,
initially having made the move there from Arizona to pursue a career as a
program manager, at the same time bartending on nights and weekends to balance
out the monotony and lack of human interaction at his day job. He had since
quit his job as a program manager and works in the bar industry full time. As
soon as we started speaking to Elmer, it was obvious that he was the
quintessential “people person”. He shared with us that one of the first things
he did when having moved out to California was to look for and attend car
meets, a great way to meet like-minded car enthusiasts. At a car meet in
Cupertino, he met his now close Tony, who invited Elmer to join his car club,
StillMotion. Elmer has since been to number car meet with them and even showed
his car for the first time at Wekfest in San Francisco last year. Considering
the sheer amount of misfortune Elmer endured in the pursuit of his very own
widebody S14, finally being able to drive the car that he always dreamt of as
he pleases without worry be an amazing feeling, perhaps made even sweeter by
the memory of the challengers he overcame during the course of this build.
