MAZE’s Tiburon - F/L2’d 2003 GS-R
Now that I feel I finally have something worth showing I am making a profile thread.
My name is Mark and I am 21. I’m currently living in Kitchener, Ontario where I am taking a mechanical engineering program that specializes in robotics and automation. I have owned my Tiburon since June 2010. It is a 2003 GS-R (a trim level available in Canada until mid-2003) V6 6-speed, with leather and the Infiniti sound system. At the time it had 171,000kms (106K miles) on it. The previous owner installed aftermarket rims, a double DIN touchscreen headunit, 1100W amplifier, 1.2 farad capacitor, and upgraded battery and alternator. He also was running a 15” subwoofer but had blown that and removed it. Other than this the car was bone stock.
Other things I have added during this time include: A subwoofer gain control knob, Alpine iPod cable for my HU, DC Sports headers with a high flow cat welded in.
On June 1st 2012 I hit a pole with my car. I was going a little quick, the pavement and my brakes were slick, and my ABS was disabled (waiting on a wheel speed sensor). Accidents happen, I take responsibility for it. I completely destroyed a headlight, ripped off my front bumper cover, broke my washer fluid reservoir and pump, destroyed my fog lights, bent my passenger side tie rod, blew my driver side front tire, blew my passenger airbag (also damaged my glove box latch), shifted my sub frame, crushed part of my bumper, and crushed the frame (headlight support, front portion of the upper apron, upper radiator support) on the front right corner of the car. WHAT A MESS!
For a month after this I quoted body shops to fix the car. I also test drove and quoted the 2013 Genesis Coupe 2.0T Premium in Tsubaka red. It was awesome. After much debating I decided to fix the car. BUT I was going to make it better. I always take breaking something as an opportunity to improve it. So after much research and part searching and sourcing I decided to do a F/L2 front end conversion. If I’m not mistaken I am the first in Canada, maybe 1 of only a couple in North America. To proceed with this I located a wrecked 2007 Tiburon is a London, Ontario junkyard. It had been rolled, but had no frame damage to the front end. I had them tower cut the frame and this gave me all the appropriate frame components for the F/L2 fenders, headlights, bumper, and hood. Only thing it was missing was the upper tie bar / radiator support. This put in motion the entire conversion. I called up Import Shark and got a Tomato A&P bumper, Siebon CF hood, OEM KDM headlights, and GT-Tech Type II sideskirts on order from them. They offered me a great price with combined shipping.
By the time I had all my parts I needed for the body shop to proceed it was now the start of August. I was originally told by the shop it would take about 3 weeks for my car. This turned into 2 months. I chose a Maaco body shop for their lower labour rate and this guy Chris who did all the quotes and ordering, and basically coordination of the shop was extremely thorough, helpful, and knowledgeable. A week before they started work on my car he quit. This made the manager step up and coordinate operation. This was unfortunate because he is a major a$$hat. If my car was being covered by insurance or was a car from the dealership up front the building my car would’ve been done in 3 weeks. I even checked on my car every 2-3 days and always stressed I wanted it as soon as possible.
So finally on September 26th I received my car back. I still have lots of work to do on it. I have already wired the F/L2 headlights, installed the F/L2 tail lights, installed and calibrated my BROS gauges, and installed my Injen SRI. I made the mistake of buying one for the 03-04 Tiburon. With a little modification it will fit in behind the headlight.
Things yet to do:
Fully secure GT Tech sideskirts
Replace the dashboard
Replace the windshield
Finish installing my Zenesis ZN-502AS alarm & security system.
Get new tires, and possibly rims
New/upgraded brakes
Install wheel liners (something the body shop failed to do)
Have a proper alignment done. I have adjusted the tie rods to eliminate the ½” ‘tow-out’ the body shop left after replacing the inner tie rod. Currently sitting at 0 tow-in.
Give the interior the cleaning it desperately needs
Here is how the cars sits now… In its dirty, mismatched rim state.
