Broke Highschooler that knows basically nothing about cars 1991 S13 build thread

[Metal Angel]

Oh lordy... Please move your letterman star! You put it right in front of your check engine light. You are gonna wanna know if that thing turns on.

[nevertheless]

Hey I remember when I was in this situation, but you cant be that broke if you have two vehicles. Looks good so far, I would do Brakes and suspension before going Ka-t.

[troskinatior]

sorry nothing really big, but i tinted all windows except the front windshield. trunk window - 5% , rear windows - 5%, front windows - 20%, they came out pretty good. ill post pictures soon..

i also got done sanding down my front bumper, so when i get my car painted, i dont have to pay the extra dumb $70 for them to fix that.

My plans for now:- Performance rotors(affordable ones)- Short shifter(ebay ones any good?)- Megan lowering springs(will eventually get coilovers but not anytime soon)- HID lights(dont know where to buy em)- Paint job(hopefully a graduation present)- KA24DE engine with turbo(eventually and hopefully soon)- Cold Air Intake(not sure what kind yet)- Exhaust- Steering wheel(suggestions?)

thanks guys...

- I heard that preformance rotors are more for looks then a upgrade. I would personally do a q45/j30 brake swap.- I wouldn't buya ebay short shifter, I would get a cheap one. I think megan makes some, cheak out the Nico sponsers.- Your should just stick with stock untill you get enough money for coilovers.- Hid are pretty contraversal. Also check out the sponsers.- Whats wrong with your paint it looks perfict, except for the bumper.- Suspension before engine.- If you want to get a turbo then theres no point in geting a air intake. I really doesn't give you any horsepower.- For the exaust I would get a custom one made at a muffler shop.- Get A nardi.

[rc1honda]

Ok i think everyone is being way to nice. First let me say nice car! And welcome to the club.

Now don't ruin your nice car. This is not a build thread, this is a RICE thread. Painting wheels, subs, tinted taillights? You are spending your money on the wrong areas and building a Honda.

Sell the subs, sell the Garmin, thats what mapquest is for. You should of saved you money and left the wheels silver. You could of took that money and did some general matainence on the motor, or bought a couple fo suspension parts.

Listen i understand your broke, but don't watse your money. Buy performance and maintainence upgrades FIRST. Then worry about asetecics.

I like your car, and i like the fact that you want to learn and do the work yourself.

But this thread sucks a**, and should be renamed "what not to do to your 240sx".

No one else was telling you so thought i should save you from yourself.

P.S. Adding power steering fluid does not qualify as a update and really should have no place in this thread. I don't care that you are doing things that every car owner needs to do from time to time. I want to see progress not you filling you gas tank up with Shell V-power and calling it a upgrade, or even worse a repair.
Modified by rc1honda at 11:34 AM 2/26/2010

[Sleeping240]

Now don't ruin your nice car. This is not a build thread, this is a RICE thread. Painting wheels, subs, tinted taillights? You are spending your money on the wrong areas and building a Honda.

Your screen name is rc1honda.

[fender-startocaster]

you have the KA24DE engine in your car. It is the better of the two USDM s13 engines

I disagree with this.... ka24e all day !!

[Didderson]

Oh man you have much to learn young grasshopper! Good to see you picked a sweet car to learn about though!Body is clean as heck and it runs and 5lug swap? 1500 is a great deal.

The thing above the door is replaceable, but you can pull the weather stripping off, unbolt the bent window trim, and bend it back then re-bolt it in place. I reccomend sanding and repainting this piece before you put it back on too. It'll make it look nice .

I'm not sure about the direction you're going in with the subs. Once you take your rear interior out like the rest of us you either won't need any subs, or you'll just get 1 10" like me to save weight haha.

The coolant res can be re-fiberglassed or you can head to a junkyard and pick parts.

[Metal Angel]

I'm not sure about the direction you're going in with the subs. Once you take your rear interior out like the rest of us you either won't need any subs, or you'll just get 1 10" like me to save weight haha.

Sound system? 240's come with a sound system?... oh yeah. mine was stripped out long ago. lol. I don't really listen to music while I am driving anyway.

Oh and rc1honda is right... you have spent probably 6 times as much on your car already as I have and you have not done one thing to make it perform better. Down with the subs... down with the wheel paint... down with the garmin... down with the window tint and the tail light tint and shift nob.... add all that up and Im sure its like 400 bucks. that is enough for a semi-decent shock and spring set up... BUT WAIT!!! save up just a few more weeks and you will have 800 bucks... enough for a cheap coilover set up! now you can get your car low and it will really perform better... and look way better! low 240s look better than high 240s with tinted windows and smoked taillights and black s14 wheels.

[speedeast]

I disagree with this.... ka24e all day !!

please...

[Gabes13]

You're in HS,broke,but have 2 cars?

[Metal Angel]

Hey check out this guys thread. zer...build in fact read the whole thing.(skip all the threadjacks and teddy leghumping) This is a young chap like yourself who does really cool things on a budget. His budget may be bigger than yours but you get the idea and it will give you something to shoot for.

Also check out this one zerothread/306682

[240lookis]

You're in HS,broke,but have 2 cars?

[mRodiek]

you have the KA24DE engine in your car. It is the better of the two USDM s13 engines

That would be an opinioned based comment.

[rc1honda]

Your screen name is rc1honda.

Well the RC51 is a race bred homologation super bike, not a car. And I own one.

And maybe Honda was a bad example , because there are some really clean Hondas out there. I wasn't trying to offend anyone, and Honda's are good cars and i like some of them. I really like them when they are done right.

I only used Honda because you see so many fanboi buy them, and put huge wings and altezzas on them and think they are race cars. They give well built and tastefully modded Hondas a bad name.

And know he is young and broke. I have been there trust me. All im trying to do is show him that it doesn't matter how a car looks or how other people precieve it. All that matters is how does it drive!!!

If he wants to rice out his 240 then more power to him if he likes it. But that doesn't mean I'm going to encourage it. lol

Modified by rc1honda at 5:52 PM 2/26/2010
Modified by rc1honda at 5:54 PM 2/26/2010

[tmwnn]

I only used Honda because you see so many fanboi buy them, and put huge wings and altezzas on them and think they are race cars. They give well built and tastefully modded Hondas a bad name.

And know he is young and broke. I have been there trust me. All im trying to do is show him that it doesn't matter how a car looks or how other people precieve it. All that matters is how does it drive!!!

If he wants to rice out his 240 then more power to him if he likes it. But that doesn't mean I'm going to encourage it. lol

I agree with him I think everyone is being too nice. OP, When I was 17 I knew less about cars than you. I didn't even know cars needed to have the oil change, or what V8 meant, or anything really. No friends to help either.

I think you are off to a decent start but from my experience, forget about ebay upgrades and ricer stuff like HIDS etc etc (unless you do them right and retro fit housings).

Spend your money on a good jack, some jack stands, and some basic tools. Learn how to change your own oil. Read online how-to's, watch vids of people doing brake changes etc etc. Slowly but surely you'll learn more about the basics of your car and learn how to do stuff.

Saving on labor makes a HUGE difference, thats why I recommend doing this. For example, you can spend some $50 bucks and get poly urethane bushings for your front and rear strutbars, subframe inserts, and steering rack bushings and install them yourself. This will make a much more noticeable difference than other low-buck ebay mods.

Don't get megan lowering springs if youre gonna keep stock struts. Just save that money and get some good entry level coils. Stance, Fortune Auto, Dmax, PBMax, etc

And if you don't know how to remove your tail lights, something tells me that dealing with a boosted engine would be a pain in the a** unless you are gonna be paying someone to tune it/maintain it for you all the time.

Good luck! keep on reading and learning and don't give in to the rice

[Nathan A.]

That would be an opinioned based comment.

The twin cam has better horsepower and better torque. Those are facts.

[Gabes13]

Has 2 cams and a head that flows better.

[bmr.S13]

The twin cam has better horsepower and better torque. Those are facts.

mell maybe he doens't like better horsepower and better torque.

[Dittoz7]

Ok i think everyone is being way to nice. First let me say nice car! And welcome to the club.

Now don't ruin your nice car. This is not a build thread, this is a RICE thread. Painting wheels, subs, tinted taillights? You are spending your money on the wrong areas and building a Honda.

Sell the subs, sell the Garmin, thats what mapquest is for. You should of saved you money and left the wheels silver. You could of took that money and did some general matainence on the motor, or bought a couple fo suspension parts.

Listen i understand your broke, but don't watse your money. Buy performance and maintainence upgrades FIRST. Then worry about asetecics.

I like your car, and i like the fact that you want to learn and do the work yourself.

But this thread sucks a**, and should be renamed "what not to do to your 240sx".

No one else was telling you so thought i should save you from yourself.

Modified by rc1honda at 11:34 AM 2/26/2010

I Agree, General Maintenance Should Be #1 On Your List. Especially With 220k+ Car.

Don't Tint Your Back Lights, Only A Few Cars Can Pull This Look Off. A S13 Ain't One Of Those Cars.

Sprayed Black Wheels Look Cheap.

If You Want Maybe Just Drop With Springs.

Stop Killing This Car.

[JulianSPAM]

Oh lordy... Please move your letterman star! You put it right in front of your check engine light. You are gonna wanna know if that thing turns on.

haha, i can still see the check engine light

[JulianSPAM]

Hey I remember when I was in this situation, but you cant be that broke if you have two vehicles. Looks good so far, I would do Brakes and suspension before going Ka-t.

thanks man, lol because the honda was given to me. im trying to sell it though, so i can have more money for this car

[JulianSPAM]

And i agree with everyone, with the way im going this car is going to look very ricey. so im going to save for new parts and coils etc. performance and maitenence. the car has been running great, ive been checking everything, and everything is fine. as of now, i just need my rotors machined, a new coolant tank.

but i wonder, i dont really drift, since this car is more of my dd. do i need coils? because my honda has coils and the suspension is really hard(is that normal with all coils?)

and i mean, as little work that is being done to my car, im learning a lot. even if its the little things i do for maitenence, its way more than i knew before i had this car.. =/

thanks guys, ill delete this thread if its an inconvinience

[zeause]

ive had 7 240s and everyone of them has had the engine light on. ofcourse 2 had sr20s in them. Its an old car wires are guna crack and break and sensors are going to go out. you cant trust the CEL. I like the painted wheels and tinted taillights. It looks better than factory and makes you car stand out a little for cheap. Between me and 2 of my friends that have had 240s we have all had ebay short shifters (the ones that come with the base) and weve never had problems out of them. Also ebay 3" catback exhaust are great for the price. Fit good and sound good. Ive even had E-motor Coilovers and they rode better and was hella lower than my tein HA's and my tein basics. Sometimes you just have to take a chance. Oh and Megan is ebay parts with a name the name doesnt make them worth the extra money.

I still prefer a nice set of wheels dont get me wrong but when your on a budget and would rather have a built motor it looks better to paint them. Good luck!

[fender-startocaster]

The twin cam has better horsepower and better torque. Those are facts.

The twin cam also has one extra cam, more valves, more chains making it heavier. Not to mention the sohc has 140 hp while the dohc has 155. There goes the extra hp.

The over all design on the dohc is no good in my opinion.

[rc1honda]

thanks guys, ill delete this thread if its an inconvinience

No need to delete, we are here to help you. To put you on a good path. It's your car do what makes you happy. And being different is a good thing.

I was trying to give you place to start. You say everything is in good working order, so next look how you can enhance the performace and handling of the car.

Save up for some parts and post the install. We can help you along the way, and maybe some of us know good places to find parts for cheap, or have parts to sell you.

Keep it up, you have have to start somewhere.

[Nathan A.]

The twin cam also has one extra cam, more valves, more chains making it heavier. Not to mention the sohc has 140 hp while the dohc has 155. There goes the extra hp.

The over all design on the dohc is no good in my opinion.

well then, I guess the guys a Nissan who MAKE the motors are complete idiots. Maybe you should go enlighten them on how much better the SOHC is. Please..... If the DOHC wasn't a better motor, then they wouldn't have changed it.

[numbnuts240]

actually, the sohc ka was used in different vehicles up until 1997. i'm not really sure why they changed engines in the 240, though. also note that nismo made components for the sohc, not the dohc.

[lovemy89240]

man im not gonna lie... but i remember these days i turned 15 when i got my first car and it was a 240 pignose, and i was lucky, I had a family of mechanics so i kinda new how to work on cars, but i like how you remind me of myself. I to had subs and painted my teardrop stock rims, and bought a set of ebay strut bars, but you learn as you go on, and just do things yourself. i loved my car i had tokico blues and brembo rotors, and from that, IT now sits as an SCCA ITA class race car/DD, almost all built by me, now im not bragging, but if like me youll learn real fast that moneys scarce and if you want your car sleek and sexy, save you money, I mean if you know what you want your car to end up like, and this is the start then go ahead haha i support you. and you live in the bay correct?? if so head over to the skyline community college near SSF and take some of there automotive beginner courses and start off strong. Good luck man and keep us updated!!

[fender-startocaster]

well then, I guess the guys a Nissan who MAKE the motors are complete idiots. Maybe you should go enlighten them on how much better the SOHC is. Please..... If the DOHC wasn't a better motor, then they wouldn't have changed it.

Im not going to do anything you said.

Im just saying the dohc is an inconvinience compared to the sohc.

[JulianSPAM]

No need to delete, we are here to help you. To put you on a good path. It's your car do what makes you happy. And being different is a good thing.

I was trying to give you place to start. You say everything is in good working order, so next look how you can enhance the performace and handling of the car.

Save up for some parts and post the install. We can help you along the way, and maybe some of us know good places to find parts for cheap, or have parts to sell you.

Keep it up, you have have to start somewhere.

thanks man. yeah performance is where ill go with. do i really need coilovers if im not planning to drift?(for now)