It’s getting hard to contain my excitement at this point. The combination of how good the S15 looks now and the fact I haven’t really driven it since I parked it for winter back in October or so, means I’m dying to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin. Fortunately I shouldn’t have to wait too much longer now though because its extended sleepover at Speedy is almost over.

Since the last update on the blog I’ve been back to the shop a couple of times, the first being to drop off the middle piece of the front lip to assist the guys in the fitting of it (more on that in a moment) and the second to see it in its entirety prior to being wrapped and having its paint “locked in” under the coming PPF.

This, excitingly, will be the last update on the car before I return to pick it up! We can now see the almost-complete exterior and really start to get an idea of how this thing will look once its back on the road.

So, visit one. At this point the body of the car was just about fully reassembled and was even sporting one of the mirrors and skirts. The last time I’d seen it in person was when it was just out of the booth and didn’t have any panels bolted on or the side and back glass in. It was incredibly dusty at this point but the insane shine of the fresh paint was still plenty visible.

On a nearby workbench sat the underhood bracing I’d included as well as one of the OEM rear spats, while the front lip was off somewhere; the Aero Workz piece I’ll be running is a 3-piece design and to assist with the fitting of the outer two components I dropped off the middle carbon fiber piece for the team. With that delivered and these few photos nabbed, back home I went.

Incidentally, that is indeed Levi’s BNR32 next to the S15. It had just been sprayed at this point but I don’t believe he’s revealed the new colour yet so I edited it out of the photo. All I will say is that it looks AMAZING.

The second visit was at the end of last week, as mentioned to quickly see the car prior to any of the PPF going on. The polishing was just being finished up on the wing, which is temporarily back on the lid for the coming transport back home.

The trunk lid’s removal was so that the arms could quickly be sprayed Chalk to hide what would be the last visible trace of the OEM colour. Any white that can be seen in these photos now will be covered by interior panels or trim once the car has been fully reassembled.

Case in point, the doors. Under the vapor barriers the shells are still white but once the door panels are back on all of that will be out of sight. And yes, new vapor barriers are on my agenda because these are definitely a bit tired! And messy.

No matter where you looked on the car there used to be paint issues, door jambs included. Now it’s nothing but a fresh and pristine finish. And I’m SO HAPPY.

This right here was the shot of the day for me. Most of the aero on, Meisters popping nicely against the now-darker body, and that small touch of carbon fiber up front. I love it when a plan comes together.

If you’re familiar with local S15s, you may notice that at this stage of the build I’ll be running a pretty similar exterior setup to Eric with the OEM skirts, wing, spats, and the Aero Workz front lip. Granted Eric did have the middle leg of his wing deleted (and has an aftermarket hood) but for the most part the cosmetic spec/mod lists will be the same. The OEM pieces are honestly just hard to beat for this chassis and the Aero Workz lip pairs beautifully with them. There are some small touches that will be added though just to put my own spin on the look, a little bit.

One super subtle detail that’s already been carried out – which I hinted at in a previous update – was the painting of the mirrors. From factory S15 mirrors are fully body-coloured but mine now have their bases wearing black. When I bought the S15 it came with the bases plasti-dipped (to hide flaking paint underneath, what a surprise) and I found I greatly preferred the look as they then flowed nicely with the glass. The team at Speedy set the bases aside and sprayed them a deep gloss black (ironically alongside a Porsche wing, according to Devon) and I couldn’t be happier with the end result. I’m sure no one will ever notice, but I will every time.

The shifter/headunit surround had been painted too and placed inside, giving an idea of how that one small touch of body colour will look; and I like it! I had thought about getting all of the OEM textured plastic painted as I’ve seen it done in other S15s but I feared that may be too much. Or way too much.

The braces were resting on the windshield, waiting to be fitted once this is back in my hands. In reality I don’t think the hood will ever be popped at a show (until the bay is at least tidied up substantially, if not fully repainted) but these will be eye candy for me whenever I’m working on the car. Haha

With everything else now taken care of the only thing left to do is the paint protection film, which is why the exterior has all of the aero on now. Tommy will be coming in this week to wrap a fair bit of the car – lip/skirts/spats included – and having all of the pieces mounted will make his life easier. I had originally planned to take the S15 over to Personal Touch for the PPF at a later date (that’s where the S13 was wrapped) but it will make much more sense to have it applied at Speedy so that I don’t risk any chips or other damage before it gets there. I’ve seen Tommy’s work before and I know it’ll be amazing anyway!

In preparation for the ever-closer return of the S15 I’ve been working on the various exterior pieces that will be making their way on the car so that as soon as it rolls in the garage I can get right to the reassembly. I’m mostly through the process of polishing the lights, have the front wiper arms repainted, all of the brand new hardware is sorted, and there are some new decals to toss on too.

Friends and neighbours (not that those are mutually exclusive categories mind you) are constantly asking when it’ll be home so that they can see it, given its been about 3 months now since it was hauled away…the answer is soon. Very soon.

-Bill