Stock 95 240sx, 5 - 7k, want 300 whp, can it be done??

[dxevin]

Hey guys, im getting a 1995 240 with 43,000 original miles, car looks like a showcar its immaculate all round, Its pretty much stock with the exception of a full exhaust system. I want to build it up to about 300 whp, I'm hoping you guys could give me complete mod lists of what i should buy in your opinions to get this beauty up to 300. Its being shipped to hawaii right now, so im trying to plan this mod process, and i want to do it right and in the order that i should mod it. Thinking whether or not i should swap sr20 or keep the stock ka b/c it has so low original miles. Any help and mod lists w/brands and prices would be so lovely. thanks again guys.

[livinglegend2100]

boost the motor. despite what some people say, its a great motor. its just finicky sometimes.

there is a TON of information on the site about boosting your motor so just search around.

G/L on the build

[pj]

turbo the ka, get a little more air and fuel going to the motor, get a quality tuned ecu or get it dyno tuned. dont skimp on the tune.use the rest of the money for good coilovers and a tough clutch.

thats what i would do anyways if i had around 7 g's to work with

[ashibah83]

suspension first!!!!!!!!learn to drive the car right, its 14 years old and chances are here IS some suspension wear and slop, new bushings, or adjustable arms, springs/shocks or coilovers, then worry about making more power once your car can handle it without being to squirrely

[C3Sierra_S2000]

Drop in a LS motor. You can pick up the 5.3 truck motors cheap, like $800 complete. Drop on a LS6 intake, F-Body accessories and you will be putting down 300+ horsepower and gobs of torque too. If you do the work yourself you can do this swap easily for $7000 or less.

[ashibah83]

Drop in a LS motor. You can pick up the 5.3 truck motors cheap, like $800 complete. Drop on a LS6 intake, F-Body accessories and you will be putting down 300+ horsepower and gobs of torque too. If you do the work yourself you can do this swap easily for $7000 or less.

yeah this is exactly what he should do.... espically if hes asking us what he needs to achieve 300 whp(not trying to insult the op)

[xX RB Xx]

suspension first!!!!!!!!learn to drive the car right, its 14 years old and chances are here IS some suspension wear and slop, new bushings, or adjustable arms, springs/shocks or coilovers, then worry about making more power once your car can handle it without being to squirrely

omg i know what you mean.. i have a 84 corolla, and it had its original suspension.. as i was taking it off the struts, they crumbled in my hands.

but your car is no where near that condition.. you can get 300hp out of your ka for abour 1500, but your going to need a tune.

[ashibah83]

well i didnt mean that its 14 years old so the suspension is shot, i meant it like i doubt that he would like the way the car handled with 300whp and worn OEM suspension, i wouldnt want to drive it very much, new suspension will only make a reliable balanced car that much more so.

[IanS]

STOP

There are 8000 different ways to build an S chassis car.

Each and every person will have a different way of building a car. You need to build your own car, we cant do it for you. Every single person who posts in here will most likely give you different advice, which in the end is useless.

Start by making a plan. What do you plan to do with the car? Will it be tracked, will it be daily driven, drifted? Will it need to pass Hawaii emissions?

Once you have that figured out you need to research how different engines/tuning methods effect the feel of the car. You will never be able to achieve 300 whp with an NA KA. This leaves you with a great deal of options, there are tons of possible swaps, and a KA-T would easily reach those goals.

You also need to think about other aspects of the car too. With 300 hp, the stock brakes will be easy to fade on track, not to mention the stock suspension which could surely use some updating.

I urge you to do some reading here on Nico, it is a huge repository for information. I also urge you to get out to your local car meet/drift days. Find out what other tuners in your area are doing with their S chassis's, they will tell you what works for them and what doesn't. Then you should read some more.

Once you have goals in mind, start buying parts, and always remember, you get what you pay for.

[C3Sierra_S2000]

If the car only has 43,000 original miles the suspension should be in good enough for a street car. Most people really don't need anything more than upgraded urethane bushings on the street and some coilovers or a good shock/spring combo. Now with V8 power I might look into stiffening up the rear suspension if you are planning on doing any drag racing or clutch dumps on the street. Drifting and track days are what stresses stock suspension components.

[DrifterXRPS13]

It sure can...listen to what ian said...everybody on here is gonna give you different advice, i'm a ka-t guy, i have 300whp and 300wtq, it can be done with the money you have, now this is not enough for me, it was in the beginning but now i want to upgrade to an ls1 but that's just me...

Nobody on here is going to give you a step by step guide on parts and whatnot on what you need to attain that, if you want look at what i have i my sig, that'll get you there with a really good tune, it took 4 hours on the dyno for me to get to where i got...

Search the forum, there's a lot of good info that's already covered your basic questions...

[C3Sierra_S2000]

FlatBlackIan has great advice. I agree with him completely. I did forget to mention brakes as that should certainly be a number one priority regardless of your power levels. I picked my car up with the LS1 in it already and almost wrecked it rather quickly due to the lack of braking. My 5800lb truck stops better than the 240 does LOL.

[dxevin]

Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it.. and I know people are going to tell me different things, but im just here to see everyones opinions, i know it will ultimately be my decision and whatnot, but i just want to see how you guys feel on the matter so i can incorporate it into my decisions, I don't plan to track the car or drift at all, I just want it to have some power for daily driving and i might punch it on the freeway every now and again. Thanks for your again for your help, im just looking to see peoples opinion on the ka-t and what other parts (brand and price) people prefer, and more or less what i should do first.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

1. Brakes2. Suspension3. Engine

Cosmetics come at any time if you want any at all. And 5-7K?!? I wish I had that kind of budget. You can get 300HP out of a KA fairly easily for around 2K-3K reliably.

[MastaYu]

suspension first!!!!!!!!learn to drive the car right, its 14 years old and chances are here IS some suspension wear and slop, new bushings, or adjustable arms, springs/shocks or coilovers, then worry about making more power once your car can handle it without being to squirrely

[dxevin]

so, whats a cost effective way to get it up to 300 whp reliably ? i dont want to spend too much money if i dont have to. i just want to do it right, so the mods i get don't stress other parts of the car that i didn't know i needed to mod, know what i mean? sorry im not really knowledgeable about mods and parts.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

^ The most cost effective way would be to go KA-T. Here's a basic list of what you would need. Someone correct me if I miss a thing or two:

T3/T4 turbo (you could get by with a t28)wastegate (if needed)piping for the turboturbo manifoldwalbro fuel pumpoil linessome kind of fuel management (tune)550cc injectors or something around thereintercooler + pipinggaugesboost controller (optional)electric fan(s) or bigger radiator, preferrably bothblow off valve

That's about it. I don't think I missed anything. And dude, a 43K zenki!?! I bet that thing is in fastastic shape!

[dxevin]

^ The most cost effective way would be to go KA-T. Here's a basic list of what you would need. Someone correct me if I miss a thing or two:

T3/T4 turbo (you could get by with a t28)wastegate (if needed)piping for the turboturbo manifoldwalbro fuel pumpoil linessome kind of fuel management (tune)550cc injectors or something around thereintercooler + pipinggaugesboost controller (optional)electric fan(s) or bigger radiator, preferrably bothblow off valve

That's about it. I don't think I missed anything. And dude, a 43K zenki!?! I bet that thing is in fastastic shape!

thank you very much AZ89 for taking the time to make that list for me bro, im very greatful, thats the kind of response that i was aiming for with this thread. and the 43k 95 is in show room condition ! it has a kouki front end conversion with custom front fenders, carbon fiber hood and trunk and full vertex body kit. its white right now with exception of the carbon fiber parts, but im planning to paint it a nice gunmetal color or possibly black. ill post pics when it comes to hawaii and after i paint it ! ^^

[Koshin]

suspension, suspension, suspension

[dxevin]

suspension, suspension, suspension

have any good reccomendations for coilovers that are 1 step above decent for daily driving and handling 300whp? i wont track at all or drift.

[mrgreeneyes]

suspension, suspension, suspension

yes

[dxevin]

thanks, anyone have any other build opinions?

[GIJOE69]

first build is get a very good alarm, your going to need it...

[Darkness and Light]

Hey, I'm over on Big Island Hilo side. I know you guys have to worry about recon so you might want to read up on that first.

Look, its really easy to go too extreme, why don't you take it slow and work your way up? I recommend that power wise you find a shop that can take care of it for you from ordering parts, to installation, to dyno tuning the ECU. Getting 300 whp is going to take some planning so you might as well have it done by someone whos done it more then once. Between the shipping rates and shipping times you DON'T want to screw up.

In the mean time throw on some sticky tires, (I have Kuhmo MXs on my '95) and do maintenance work.

[dxevin]

yeah thanks bro, recon is a *****

[Ghast]

Well if it is in super nice condition.... You could use some of that money to get a Different KA to abuse ( and i do not mean this in a way to insult KA-t owners ) and toss that one into a DD. With it being so virgin and all. I dunno

But ya pictures would be nice too. And everything everyone said is also nice.

But pictures would be really nice. If there is anything i have learned when it comes to getting horsepower it is usually the little things that are over looked that aid the engine the most. ( when looking for reliability. )

DrifterXRPS13 - I my goal will be 300wtq out of a SR. You say 300whp 300wtq is not enough for you anymore. For someone who likes to just cruise the highway and enjoy the sounds of Trance bass mixed with engine noises do you think i will be satisfied with 300wtq 300rwhp? Cuz i was thinking that it would have a nice feel to it but if you are saying that it is not enough. U have me worrying. WILL 300wtq Be enough to make my gf scream "slow down"? because she sometimes thinks she is fearless and she has never been in a turbo modified car before so i would REALLY like to know if i am going to be happy with 300wtq. Will it have a steady climb all the way to say 80mph with a decent hum and still a not so aggressive idle? Ya let me know please haha.

ya people i know i chatter on, sorry

One Love,

Ghasty

[IanS]

Well if it is in super nice condition.... You could use some of that money to get a Different KA to abuse ( and i do not mean this in a way to insult KA-t owners ) and toss that one into a DD. With it being so virgin and all. I dunno

But ya pictures would be nice too. And everything everyone said is also nice.

But pictures would be really nice. If there is anything i have learned when it comes to getting horsepower it is usually the little things that are over looked that aid the engine the most. ( when looking for reliability. )

DrifterXRPS13 - I my goal will be 300wtq out of a SR. You say 300whp 300wtq is not enough for you anymore. For someone who likes to just cruise the highway and enjoy the sounds of Trance bass mixed with engine noises do you think i will be satisfied with 300wtq 300rwhp? Cuz i was thinking that it would have a nice feel to it but if you are saying that it is not enough. U have me worrying. WILL 300wtq Be enough to make my gf scream "slow down"? because she sometimes thinks she is fearless and she has never been in a turbo modified car before so i would REALLY like to know if i am going to be happy with 300wtq. Will it have a steady climb all the way to say 80mph with a decent hum and still a not so aggressive idle? Ya let me know please haha.

ya people i know i chatter on, sorry

One Love,

Ghasty

I personnaly am happy with the 250 whp and tq with the SR in my S14, its more than enough to piss off my wife.

Actual horsepower numbers are always thrown around, but a good power curve is what really makes a car shine.

[im_looking_for_a_240sx]

yeah thanks bro, recon is a *****

whats recon? what do they do?

[Darkness and Light]

Recon is short for reconstruction. Its a set of laws in Hawaii about modifications to cars. When you modify a car you need to pay for a recon inspection and receive a sticker proving you had the inspection for that modification. If you get caught without it you are fined something like $200.

On the neighbor islands recon isn't enforced even though its a state law, I don't think we even have any inspection stations either.

[roplusbee]

The bad part about RECON, is they used to be pretty strict on folks that are not origionally from that area (from my experience). I was stationed there and they gave me a hard time about changing wheels and using a cone air filter. They tried to pass it off as a safety issue.