Building a 240SX (56K beware)
Oct 18, 2010, 12:41 PM
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Building a 240SX (56K beware)
I've been building 240's for years, and am on to #9 now, figured it wouldn't hurt to share the progress of the build so far with all of you.
From September 14th:
Here's a few pics of the shell (95 240SX), she's rough, but has a clean title, straight frame, and all paint and body will be handled before the car even gets to my driveway.
The original core support was hosed, and therefore removed
Clean cor support waiting to go on, as well as an OEM JDM Kouki Aero bumper
Rear bumper is getting replaced, and the holes from the antennae will be filled. Don't mind the second spoiler sitting on top of the first.
Only damage to the unibody is on the drivers side, and shouldn't be too bad to fix
From September 24:
Donor car should be here in about 8 hours, already equipped with an S14 SR20DET, fmic, aluminum radiator, Z32 brakes, and a host of other goodies. Ordered R33 brake cables to make the Z e-brake functional, as well as new turbo gaskets, an oil filter relocation kit, new corner lights, and a walbro 255lph fuel pump.
From September 25:
The shell was dropped off with the body man today, I told him not to rush on it, because I'm still waiting on all of the other mechanical madness to be taken care of before I bring the car home.
The donor car is in my driveway, already has a wired up and running S14 SR20DET in it, along with z32 brakes (front and rear) and a host of other parts. It has the most obnoxious exhaust I've ever seen and heard (come take the cat-back away $100!!), and a completely fubar passenger quarter panel. So all of the good bits will come out of this car and go into the good shell after it's done with paint and body work.
From September 14th:
Here's a few pics of the shell (95 240SX), she's rough, but has a clean title, straight frame, and all paint and body will be handled before the car even gets to my driveway.
The original core support was hosed, and therefore removed
Clean cor support waiting to go on, as well as an OEM JDM Kouki Aero bumper
Rear bumper is getting replaced, and the holes from the antennae will be filled. Don't mind the second spoiler sitting on top of the first.
Only damage to the unibody is on the drivers side, and shouldn't be too bad to fix
From September 24:
Donor car should be here in about 8 hours, already equipped with an S14 SR20DET, fmic, aluminum radiator, Z32 brakes, and a host of other goodies. Ordered R33 brake cables to make the Z e-brake functional, as well as new turbo gaskets, an oil filter relocation kit, new corner lights, and a walbro 255lph fuel pump.
From September 25:
The shell was dropped off with the body man today, I told him not to rush on it, because I'm still waiting on all of the other mechanical madness to be taken care of before I bring the car home.
The donor car is in my driveway, already has a wired up and running S14 SR20DET in it, along with z32 brakes (front and rear) and a host of other parts. It has the most obnoxious exhaust I've ever seen and heard (come take the cat-back away $100!!), and a completely fubar passenger quarter panel. So all of the good bits will come out of this car and go into the good shell after it's done with paint and body work.
Oct 18, 2010, 12:45 PM
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from September 28:
Circuit Sports Oil Filter relocation kit, walbro 255 (wish I'd known the donor car had one installed already and a brand new spare one before I ordered it), and turbo gaskets showed up today, new corner lights are on the way as well. About to order a new thermostat and water pump along with belts now that I know which SR I'm using for this project, and maybe a clutch as well if more of my parts sell.
From September 30:
Pulled the radiator and intercooler piping today. Disconnected the fuel lines, PS/pump, shift knob, e-fans, throttle cable, and a few other small bits. Tomorrow the ECU and other under-dash harness connectors get unplugged and pushed through the firewall. The motor mounts, trans mounts and carrier bearing bracket will come off, and the SR with trans will come out. My new kouki corners showed up today, and I ordered new turbo lines (since one of the coolant lines is leaking), a new water pump, Nismo thermostat, and new belts. I just want to make sure all of the basic maintenance is done before this motor goes into the other shell. Still trying to make up my mind on a clutch kit, or I may just save my pennies and pick up an Exedy Hyper single later. I had a similar Ogura clutch/flywheel on one of my old 240's and loved it, so I'm leaning heavily in that direction.
From October 1:
Didn't get too much done today, harness has been pulled through the firewall, and disconnected from the chassis harness/relay panel. Disconnected the heater hoses, and hunted down all of the random ground wires. Unplugged the sending units for the aftermarket gauges as well. I also found out that the car had no thermostat in it, which explains why it was running 15-20 degrees too cold.
Circuit Sports Oil Filter relocation kit, walbro 255 (wish I'd known the donor car had one installed already and a brand new spare one before I ordered it), and turbo gaskets showed up today, new corner lights are on the way as well. About to order a new thermostat and water pump along with belts now that I know which SR I'm using for this project, and maybe a clutch as well if more of my parts sell.
From September 30:
Pulled the radiator and intercooler piping today. Disconnected the fuel lines, PS/pump, shift knob, e-fans, throttle cable, and a few other small bits. Tomorrow the ECU and other under-dash harness connectors get unplugged and pushed through the firewall. The motor mounts, trans mounts and carrier bearing bracket will come off, and the SR with trans will come out. My new kouki corners showed up today, and I ordered new turbo lines (since one of the coolant lines is leaking), a new water pump, Nismo thermostat, and new belts. I just want to make sure all of the basic maintenance is done before this motor goes into the other shell. Still trying to make up my mind on a clutch kit, or I may just save my pennies and pick up an Exedy Hyper single later. I had a similar Ogura clutch/flywheel on one of my old 240's and loved it, so I'm leaning heavily in that direction.
From October 1:
Didn't get too much done today, harness has been pulled through the firewall, and disconnected from the chassis harness/relay panel. Disconnected the heater hoses, and hunted down all of the random ground wires. Unplugged the sending units for the aftermarket gauges as well. I also found out that the car had no thermostat in it, which explains why it was running 15-20 degrees too cold.
Oct 18, 2010, 12:47 PM
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Also from October 1:
A friend came by and got me re-motivated to pull the motor.
Notice the lack of a thermostat...
Motor waiting to come out
Up
UP!
and AWAY!
In the garage ready for maintenance
The turbo was wobbling on the manifold, almost no gasket left, you could actually see between the flanges.
So it had to come off, both to replace the gasket, and to replace all of the lines, since the water feed was leaking at the turbo.
Turbo is off and here is all that was left of the gasket. New one is waiting to go on once the lines show up.
So, now I'm waiting on parts to show up and for the other shell to get done with paint before I can make much more progress. I will go ahead and clean up the motor as time permits though.
A friend came by and got me re-motivated to pull the motor.
Notice the lack of a thermostat...
Motor waiting to come out
Up
UP!
and AWAY!
In the garage ready for maintenance
The turbo was wobbling on the manifold, almost no gasket left, you could actually see between the flanges.
So it had to come off, both to replace the gasket, and to replace all of the lines, since the water feed was leaking at the turbo.
Turbo is off and here is all that was left of the gasket. New one is waiting to go on once the lines show up.
So, now I'm waiting on parts to show up and for the other shell to get done with paint before I can make much more progress. I will go ahead and clean up the motor as time permits though.
Oct 18, 2010, 12:49 PM
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From October 3:
I just spent an inordinate amount of time with wire brushes of various stiffness scrubbing parts of my engine that no one but myself will ever see in person for reasons I cannot explain.....
From October 7:
Circuit Sports Oil Filter Relocation Kit is installed
I just spent an inordinate amount of time with wire brushes of various stiffness scrubbing parts of my engine that no one but myself will ever see in person for reasons I cannot explain.....
From October 7:
Circuit Sports Oil Filter Relocation Kit is installed
Oct 18, 2010, 03:55 PM
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i think the good shell (gold one) is going to be getting a nice coat of Le Mans Blue (04-07 Corvette color). Here's an example of a Chevelle clad in it.
The Altima-esque Zenki front end is going away
To be replaced by the more aggressive Kouki front end with the JDM bumper, and the license plate frame shaved...
The Altima-esque Zenki front end is going away
To be replaced by the more aggressive Kouki front end with the JDM bumper, and the license plate frame shaved...
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Oct 18, 2010, 04:39 PM
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a basic SR swap can be done for very little money. If you're willing to do the work yourself, you can put a bone stock motor in for under $3000. That is of course assuming you have a complete 5-speed 240, hunt around for a good deal on a motorset, don't end up getting an engine that needs repairs, and try to get away with not doing maintenance items during the swap. To do it right, you should expect to pay between $5k-$7k. Every motor imaginable has been shoved into an s-chassis, and it's all been well documented, so your engine options are fairly open.
As far as building a bullet proof motor and bigger turbo, no. The stock block will safely handle over 400 rwhp, which is honestly too much power for the chassis. With the seven other 240's I've built and owned, not to mention countless ones I've helped with, I've found the cars to be the most enjoyable between 250 and 300 rwhp, which the s14 turbo will support and still be in it's efficiency range. The engine is very well balanced, with an 86mm bore and stroke (I'm still convinced the 4B11 took some design queues from the later SR engines for this and other reasons) and capable of much higher revs with minimum head work, which I like the idea of if only for some added protection near the factory redline of 7k.
More than 300 hp and the cars start to get a little too squirrely and lose their predictability. That's what I really love about this chassis, you always know what the car is going to do, and it's very easy to feel what can and cannot be recovered from in it. I'd hate to ruin that.
As far as building a bullet proof motor and bigger turbo, no. The stock block will safely handle over 400 rwhp, which is honestly too much power for the chassis. With the seven other 240's I've built and owned, not to mention countless ones I've helped with, I've found the cars to be the most enjoyable between 250 and 300 rwhp, which the s14 turbo will support and still be in it's efficiency range. The engine is very well balanced, with an 86mm bore and stroke (I'm still convinced the 4B11 took some design queues from the later SR engines for this and other reasons) and capable of much higher revs with minimum head work, which I like the idea of if only for some added protection near the factory redline of 7k.
More than 300 hp and the cars start to get a little too squirrely and lose their predictability. That's what I really love about this chassis, you always know what the car is going to do, and it's very easy to feel what can and cannot be recovered from in it. I'd hate to ruin that.
Oct 22, 2010, 12:46 PM
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Very true. I just hate sitting here waiting on paint, it's ruining any motivation I had to work on the motor. I walk into the garage and look at it, knowing all I have left that needs to be done is hooking up the turbo lines, bolting the turbo on, and installing the water pump and thermostat. I need the freshly painted shell to be sitting in my driveway to get me motivated.
Oct 22, 2010, 04:38 PM
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One of my s13's was RB25 powered, it was fun in a straight line, but handled like a brick. A good corner balancing would have helped to alleviate the issue somewhat though.
Dec 16, 2010, 10:24 AM
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I swear one of these days I will find some time to go take progress pictures of the car getting painted, busy time of year and all that. The kouki hood wasn't savable, so I just ordered a CF one, it will get painted though. Catback and a westco battery are on the way as well.