Back from Dropping off the Face of the Earth

[USC Justice]

Hi everyone. I registered right at a year ago when I bought my vert. it was bone stock with 193K on the clock. I gave a whole $600 for the car. Much has happened in the intervening time, most of it unmentionable. Now I'm finally getting much accomplished with the vert and wanted to share with everyone.

Here goes:

When I bought it

With the new wheels courtesy of a parts car

More recently

Now here's the short list of what has been done, and what is still on the horizon...

Done17 inch Enkei RP05's with Falken tires5 speed swapB&M knock off short shifterDRL's wired and set up as fog lights300ZX calipersStainless steel linesCross Drilled rotorsS14 seatsRed Top SR Swapnew NGK plugsFluids swapped to syntheticNismo front and rear sway bars with Poly bushingsEnergy Suspensions Poly Tension Control RodsManual fan removedElectric fans installed3 inch thick Greddy intercooler2.5 inch IC pipingFront strut tower barStill to doWaiting on the wiring harness to come backWalbro fuel pumpupgrade to T28 turbo (sitting in the garage waiting on me)BRM exhaustcool taillights on EbaySubframe bushing kitTein SpringsKYB strutsnew carpetcomplete paint jobNew Topdoor swap for pillar removal

Open for suggestions as to what things I might be missing, or might be better to do. Busy close to the year. I have also decided that come December 31, 2007 I will be COMPLETELY DONE with this project car. Come Hades, High Water, and Pygmy Indians I will be DONE.
Modified by USC Justice at 11:25 PM 2/7/2007

[wirelessalpha]

welcome back...ride is lookin good...

ps..keep my updated on the nismo sways...I was thinking of getting them...

[AZhitman]

DUDE!!!

We missed you!

[zenkii]

resurrection!!! more pics!!!

[Eikon]

Nice Work!

Man, that SR looks comfy in that engine bay! Very nice

Did you replace your ball joints and tie rod ends? I'm working on that shortly.

Where did you get your 300zx rotors drilled? That's something on my horizon.

I freaking love seeing beat up old 'verts brought back to life with HOTNESS!!! I'm excited to see how you finish this one up. Nice to see you back around!

[USC Justice]

Thanks for the welcome back. Hoping to get the car up and happy in the coming weeks. I have not checked the the tie rod ends or the ball joints. I'm sure sooner or later it will be time for them to be worked on as well. I'm just trying that one thing at a time approach.

There is a local machine shop here that drilled the 300ZX rotors for me. I want to say they charged 5 bucks per hole drilled. You can use one of the existing holes, so it works out to be 15 dollars per rotor for the work. I also took a stock rotor to them as well as giving the hole pattern for them to double check.

It worked out really well I thought.

The new hood for the vert came from the donor coupe that also gave the pedals, clutch master, and hard lines.

[94_240sx]

That's a lot of progress you've made in a short period of time. Props on nice work! I'll just throw some here.

Suggestions:Should have gone with adjustable tension rodsNismo power braceDIFFRear z32 calipers and e-brakeRUCAs(maybe)Cooling panelPulley300zx fuel filterTie rod endsKoyo radiatorYou might want to check this thread for the rotors. zerothread/212613

Question:Are they NISMO front and rear sway bars in the pictures? Are they green like that? I'd assume that they come in grey color just like other typical Nismo parts. Do you have part numbers for them? Where did you get them? I'll still prefer Whiteline adjustable, but curious...

eBay seller sportbrakescom is a local guy and they charge $25 per rotor for drilling service. $15 is a pretty good deal.

[USC Justice]

oops, forgot to mention the LSD from a J30. It's already in, and was done quite a while back so I don't think about it.

Why the 300ZX fuel filter?

The power brace I have gone back and forth about. Is it really worth it? I have heard no convincing argument.

I have a set of 300ZX rear calipers sitting in the garage, just been too lazy/unmotivated to go to my favorite salvage yard to get the rest of the parts that are needed.

RUCAs??? enlighten, as the abbreviation doesn't come to mind...

Why the adjustable tension rods over the Energy Suspension ones?

I'm building up this car purely as a play toy. It won't see any serious track time, and as you might imagine I'm not into the race scene. This is all just fun for me.

The sway bars are NISMO. I had no idea they would be Green and neither did my parts guy. When they were delivered we opened the box, and his first words were "Damn that's Green." I agreed. Kinda neat looking.

Good feedback though, and I certainly appreciate it.

[94_240sx]

oops, forgot to mention the LSD from a J30.

Good! Anything better than open diff.

Why the 300ZX fuel filter?

It's just a common upgrade that many 240 people do. It's bigger and believe it or not cheaper. It fits perfect on 240 fuel filter bracket. If you haven't replaced your fuel filter for a while, try 300zx filter this time.

The power brace I have gone back and forth about. Is it really worth it?

It just stiffens up the front end a little bit. Don't get it now. You can try it later if you feel like your front end is kinda loose.

I have a set of 300ZX rear calipers sitting in the garage, just been too lazy/unmotivated to go to my favorite salvage yard to get the rest of the parts that are needed.

z32 brake parts are hard to come by these days. They are the first ones to go if z32 arrives at junkyard.

RUCAs??? enlighten, as the abbreviation doesn't come to mind...

Rear Upper Camber Arm. Will you get S-Techs? I don't know how much drop you will have, but they allow you to adjust rear camber easily. You have to push out upper portion of rear tires out side after the drop. Stock ones will max out.

Why the adjustable tension rods over the Energy Suspension ones?

You can adjust caster up to 10 degrees.

The sway bars are NISMO. I had no idea they would be Green and neither did my parts guy. When they were delivered we opened the box, and his first words were "Damn that's Green." I agreed. Kinda neat looking.

Hmm.. I couldn't find s13 sway bars in Nismo catalog. I found s14 and s15 ones though. They use same sway bars. In the picture, they are grey as usual with no Nismo decals on them. Parts numbers are:54610-RSS50 Front 30mm 53% stiffer56220-RSS50 Rear 23mm 17% stifferDo you have part numbers? Whiteline used to have them in green, but they changed to grey BTW.

Looking good and keep us posted how your project goes....

[USC Justice]

Thanks. I have not as of yet changed the fuel filter, I suppose I can go ahead and go that route.

I will in fact probably get the S-techs as they are fairly cheap all things considered.

I'll ask the parts guy when I get back from vacation. They were in two boxes and I remember seeing Nissan stickers with part numbers on them, but could not tell you what they were.

Where does one get the RUCA's?

Here's hoping that I'll be driving it sooner rather than later. I'm out of town untill the 29th. on the 30th I have about a 7 hour round trip to pick up car parts for the next project on the horizon, and then back to waiting for the wiring harness to come back.

[wirelessalpha]

Do not buy tien's. They suck...

[USC Justice]

A. Why do they suck?B. What do you recommend instead?

I'm always open to others opinions, especially when I haven't made up my mind. I have had Eibach before.

[wirelessalpha]

Well...Tiens in general are not favored much in the race/track going community. For the most part, I haven't ran into a person yet at a track event who didn't proclaim they weren't. Here is a typical example of the crap I hear all the time (and i mean...ALL the time):

Chi: Hey, that run wasn't so good...maybe I need to adjust the dampening more in the rear

Arbitraty person: Oh word, what you running for damps?

Chi: Tei..

Arbitrary: Oh, p&ssy coilovers.

Chi: Flex set....er eh. I get that all the time.

Arbitrary: Dude, man up - it's those weak coilovers...

Now, that said - that's only in my sphere of influence...so I might have jumped the gun a bit and making the previous statement. I've got TONS of reasons why...and all of them are valid...but it's hard for me to translate it all here...

kinda like an equation you might have done back in hs. You remember how it was explained...and you got a confident reason as to why. But you can't remember now all the derivations to make it work. You just know it's right.

That's kinda how I feel about my flex kit. I heard a ton of reasons, all were validated...but I just can't remember them all or even explain it properly...since suspension is really not my forte...yet (I know...I'm still a newb drifter! e-brake! clutchkick! yeah!...ok...backing off tangent now).

I'll give you 2 reasons for now though...just kinda popped in my head as I am writing this:

1. Old design for the Flex Kit. It has something to do with the valving.

2. Tiens in general..are kinda considered ....whats the word for it... "commercial" in the purist scene (or maybe I live in a bubble). They are all the hype and ****...and honestly, when you do a comparative study on their offerings vs others...they just don't ante up. I remember doing alot of this research on my own as well via the net as well as getting driver feedback from my local club members...and all of it pointed to what I mentioned earlier. Basically, they get no respect. On that same note, let me give you a similar example:

For instance, I run with a pair of Crow Harnesses for my car. Why? b/c why should I shell out the loot for a "hot" pair of weak *** Takata's that are all the rage and overpriced. I mean...I'm here to race...not flash. I need serious equipment...and I'm on a budget. So I buy a set of Crow's. They get the job done and are track proven.

[wirelessalpha]

oh and just to add something else. In the end, I'm a simple man and not yet at the level of a super engineer who can tune minute differences and relay all that back into informative tuning sequences. So what do I do for now? Real world testing of course.

I ran in a comparable car (another vert) with a different coilover setup...

it was like night and day.

- Chi

PS: Keep in mind that I am talking about freaking $1400 coilovers. Imagine what to expect in the lower line..

PPS: I love eibach. Also, I get good feedback from guys running verts with a Greddy setup.

[wirelessalpha]

oh - and I wasn't kidding about the "pu$$y coilovers" comment. I hear that sh_i_t so much that its starting to become a running joke around the local events I attend.

Chi: "hey guys it's me..."

Friend: "oh wassup chi"

Friend of Friend: "Who is chi?

Friend (with a straight face): "you know, the one with the ***** coilovers"

Friend of Friend (with a straight face): "oh...right. The tein's".

Chi: "wtf".

[94_240sx]

Do not buy tien's. They suck...

Haha!! I hear you. Here's good info on why TEIN sucks. Front is not inverted.zerothread/212451

I've found this page is very informative.http://www.hksusa.com/info/?id=2838

Anyway, S-Tech should be alright. Many people are running them with no problem w/KYB, KONI, Tokico...etc. It's just a set of springs, so not much can go wrong. Eibach springs are progressive, so I wouldn't get them. Just go with S-Techs. They are good bang for the buck. Other choices are RSR and Tanabe GF210. They are linear springs. I've learned that Tanabe springs give you a good drop and performance gain. It's cheap too.

TEIN outer tie rod ends are OEM replacement and cheaper than stock. If you want aftermarket, you can get SPL or Kazama w/pillow ball joint.

RUCA. There are several choices out there. SSAC(no good), ProjectNissan(same as CourtesyNissan), Megan, Kazama, Cusco, SPL...etc. Or you can just make the holes bigger on OEM RUCAs with Dremel and done with it. I have SPL RUCAs and they are in top of the line quality.

[USC Justice]

Chi,Tell me how you really feel about the Tein. :-)

As you mentioned they are not well regarded in the race/track community. I am not looking for a race or track set up vert.

This is a secondary car for me that I am building up to be fun to play with. I don't drift, and won't be on any tracks. I do occasionally make trips to the mountains and Deals Gap is only a couple hours away.

Bang for the buck and simple is what I was looking for. I can't really see a 1400 set of coilovers for what I will be doing with the car. Granted, were I drifting, or otherwise racing then yes this would be a valuable purchase.

Interestingly enough in case anyone is curious, I only have 3328 total wrapped up in my project. That is the purchase of the car, all upgrades, and the SR Motorset. :-) I think I'm doing alright.

For what I am looking for with the vert is good handling for everyday use and the occasional mountain trip.

Grand total for the project I only expect to spend about another 3k or so to be done with everything. That's BRM Exhaust, full paint job (buddy who owns a paint booth), PDM front lip, etc.

:-) Then again if you don't like and catch so much hades about having them, you can sell your flex set to me. :-) That would help put you towards another set.

94_240SX, Thanks for the recommendation on where to go for the RUCA and so on. I wonder if I can go through the local parts guy. He's been good to me for some years now and I get pricing below Courtesy Nissan so I try to go to him for everything I can.

What other things might I want to think about for the vert?

I wouldn't mind having a HUD display and of course the matching dash. Those seem to be a bit hard to come by. If I can find it in another car that will become my next project, then all the better.

That would be the ideal, as the next project is going to be a RHD conversion. That project is going to be done on a coupe (best friend has had a 240SX Hatch for about 10 years, so I don't want to steal that identity from him). The plan for that is an RHD conversion and simply do a KA-T. That means that the next project will be the recipient of the leftovers when the current project gets upgraded, such as the turbo. I already have an RHD front clip sans engine, but with the dash, digital climate control, steering lines, etc. As I know everyone is going to say Yes it will be a pain in the arse to complete. I am not planning on starting that one until the vert is finished and happy. I'm doing it simply because I want to, no other real good reason.

Ok that turned into a much longer post that anticipated. Hope everyone is amused.

[USC Justice]

The harness is back. I just took it out of the box from Wiring Specialties. I am very pleased. Everything looks very cleanly done.

I had them do both the upper and lower harness, along with the automatic to manual wiring conversion. That will leave me with only convertible top modification.

After the Carolina game this afternoon I shall be back in the garage putting in all the wiring.

Here are a couple pictures of the harness

Upper Harness

Lower Harness

Both

[GoinTopless240]

Good to see you back USC Justice,Just started my swap this week. Slow going as the kids are home and driving me crazy. I will keep you posted as to the progress. I glad the harness came back looking good. I thought wiring specialities did the convertible top wiring already? I'm still working on scanning the Vert Supplement (but it has been moved to the back burner for right now... sorry gang). I'm through the first 9 chapters...

I'm hoping to put up some photos as well (thought I'd bypass the ... lolHope everyone had a good holiday and has a fun and SAFE New Years.

[USC Justice]

Glad you got started on yours. It's moving along well. I think Wiring Specialties did a good job.

I'm going to be in Charleston for work the end of January (24th-28th). Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out.

[USC Justice]

OK, went to Wilmington, NC to pick up the RHD front clip for the next project car (a 92 Coupe). To my pleasant surprise it also had a couple of extras. The complete digital climate control system, and the split turn signals. I'm thrilled with that, and those goodies are all going into the vert here in the next week.

head and signals on the back seat of the Xterra this afternoon.

More pics soon to follow.