CA18DET Vert Swap - Spectator View!

[trevr]

To get the story started, my '91 Fastback failed inspection September last year due to severe rust throughout the under body. I knew it had rust, but not to the extent that I the garage pointed to me when the car was on the lift, it literally was jaw dropping. After leaving the garage with no inspection, I began searching the classifieds over the next couple months for a suitable replacement and came across this vert with some front end damage on the passenger side on eBay classifieds.



The owner actually had two red convertibles for sale. Here is the other one he had, although it had no collision damage, it had some rust on it where the other had none. Plus it had a price tag of $2400



So I drove the few hours from Upstate NY to Central PA and bought the one with the collision damage for a mere $930, drove it home and basically stuck it into storage till now.

So here is where it begins, weather is starting to improve and I've got a good amount of parts to start transplanting from the Fastback to the vert.

Now before putting the car into winter storage, I had already swap some body parts since we had a few nice days before winter actually started.



For now it will due as you see it. Realignment of the core support and the front end will come later on after the engine swap is done.

Swapped this weekend were the KYB AGX/Eibach Pro Kits suspension, Walboro 255 Fuel pump, and CX racing radiator in the above pic.

Here some pics of the ride height with stock 205's

FrontRear

Today I set about installing the manual brake pedal, clutch pedal and master clutch cylinder. There were just over 8000 convertibles manufactured from Nissan, and only a rare five or so came in manual.



While under the driver's dash I discovered a spagheti ball of wires from the "professionally" installed alarm system. Since poor wiring is a peeve of mine, I've set about cleaning up this area.



So here is where I left off. Next weekend I will go about prepping the cars for the engine swaps and upgrades there after. Here is a pic of some shinny bits that will soon be going on with a handful of electrical gadgets.


Modified by trevr at 11:00 PM 3/16/2009

[float_6969]

Looking good so far!

[campground man]

Laff, the only time we have to have any kind of inspection is when you transfer a car in from another state...and even then an old lady walks out the court house and says "is your windshield busted?" If it ain't then you pass...

Of course this is why catalytic converters are mythical creatures that none have seen nor heard of in decades here...

[r34 gtr]

Should be really cool when you are done. I will have to keep an eye on this thread!

[beans33]

looks good man ! good luck with that downpipe though. Probably have to work with it a little bit. I know I had to with mine.

[sjbsuperman1425]

looks very nice! the is the downpipe/dumppipe from Treadstone?

btw, the clutch pedal and auto shifter threw me off when i first looked at it lol as for inspections...my car is originally from Tennessee, and I switch the title over no questions asked lol +1 for Michigan!

[trevr]

The exhaust pipes were purchased on ebay as an sr20 top mount kit. Another forum member recommended it as he had no problems. Pipe diameter from the turbo outlet starts at 2.5", then expands to 2.75" at the end flange, the up pipe then throats from 2.75" to 3" to the cat. I'm hoping the smaller diameter on the outlet pipe clears the steering without too much headache.

[ca18datsun510]

none of the verts came manual.

put a plug in the CLUTCH MASTER CYLINDER till you get the line run. its bad to leave it open to the elements like that, you will get contamination in there that will eat up the seal.

[trevr]

I didn't have a plug that would fit it, so a plastic bag is zipped tied around it. Thanks for watching out.

As far as factory manual verts, I referenced this on that part of the forums.

zerothread/312662

Okay well, this thread is to help out anybody who is looking into making a very good desicion, buying a 240sx convertible. There are a couple of things the people should look for in a 240sx convertible before purchase. This thread will go over those things. Everyone please add more info that I missed.

Engine/Trans:As with any car, check for normal wear and tear an low miles to the motor. I'd say the average vert has around 110k on it. 240sx Convertibles were only made in Automatic transmission. So if you you dont like Driving stick or have no interest in learning it then this shouldnt be a problem. However, if you do like MT and you find a 240sx convertible with an MT swap for cheap then go for it. Many people do these swaps to thier verts. The majority of the owners on this site have done the swap themselves as well. If you find a factory MT 240sx convertible it could be one of two things. 1. The owner is lying2. You're in dream landI say this because I belive only 6 convertibles were made in MT for dealers?and if the seller is lying then i would reconsider all toghether.

[trevr]

Wideband and EGT made it... more on the way.

[trevr]

Set about removing the ka from the vert... since we had to do this outside on a damp slate gravel drive way, we had to use a slightly different pulling method.. Here some pics that basically sums it up.



From this point we decided to remove the exhaust manifold from the motor when we couldn't pitch an angle since the exhaust from the manifold to the cat was still connect. The heat sheild was also an issue with clearing the steering pinion.



After divorcing the motor from the car, I think something died a little...



Here's a shot of a perfectly good ka



It got dark way to quick.. will have to continue in the morning....

[Liquid_Neon]

Laff, the only time we have to have any kind of inspection is when you transfer a car in from another state...and even then an old lady walks out the court house and says "is your windshield busted?" If it ain't then you pass...

Of course this is why catalytic converters are mythical creatures that none have seen nor heard of in decades here...

You know Massachusetts jsut removed ANY kind of emmisions for cars older then 1996. only a visual inspection of "no smoke" is required and then a simple to pass saftey check. its friggin GREAT!This was only en-acted as of october 2008 though, so its new.

[ca18datsun510]

hey, where is endicott?

if you're not to far i know a dope looking for an auto trans.

my zip is 10509, check mapquest if you get a chance.

[trevr]

13760 is where I'm at3 hours 11 minutes Estimated Distance: 178.54 miles

$50 and he can have the transmission

[trevr]

Engine transplant is now complete.... still waiting on parts to arrive, and have a handful of parts to save up for. For now, just mocking up some things, or getting the small things out of the way. Unfortunately, its been cold, only getting into the 30's

Here are some pics..



This is a little close for comfort



A little porting for the KA throttle body

[r34 gtr]

Lookin good!

[trevr]

Still doing odds and ends.. drilled hole for battery tray, engine wire harness is where it needs to be, and clutch is now operational. Some parts arrived and more on the way.

Of course some pics

[trevr]

Evo 9 560cc injectors arrived



Then took them to the local diesel service shop to have the inlets machined to fit the fuel rail, and then into the car.



The Evo injectors don't seat as deep into the fuel rail as much as the 444 gtr's had. The diesel shop assured that I shouldn't have any problems as long as the inlets are fully seated in the fuel rail.

Here's a more propper interior picture of the new shifter, and the mickey mouse gauge pods installed.

[dangeris]

Nice Work Trev! Anxious to see the finish product

[r34 gtr]

My EVO injectors sit exactly the same way, and no problems for me. You should be set.

[trevr]

Thanks for the double assurance Tim, appreciate it. I'm going to push the top rings up to the fuel rail to help keep debris out of there. I forgot to put the vacuum pipe back, and now its stuck underneath so I get to take it all apart again.

Hey Darryl, what you doing checking out the forums at work... who do you think you are... me? Catch you later...

[badintentions]

A++ nice to see another ca swapped 240 in upstate ny where is Endicott ny

[trevr]

Follow I-88 west as far as it will go, and you'll end up in Binghamton, Endicott is about 15 further West off route 17.

Its about a three hour drive. I have family and friends in Albandy and Schenectady so I frequent the area. I got my motor in Albany a couple years back at Star Japanese Motors.

We have six or seven 240 owners in the area, a few more in the Syracuse area which is an hour north of here. Nice to have another upstate 240 owner.

[badintentions]

we have a few up here in albany one around 700 horse power sr20 of course still to be put in its chassie and another being built to aroung 500 by one of my good friends of foreever

[ser20det]

Hey !

Nice to know that they are some ca18det not to far away down here :P

Could be nice to meet some day. I'm from Montreal and it's a 4hours drive. That's not to bad !

Nice Vert BTW .... i really like it !

[turbo-sil40]

what kind of dump pipe to downpipe are you using and did you buy it or have it made, I have a top mount mani but I cant find a dump pipe that will work that is not custom made, any info would be great, by the way car is looking great.

[trevr]

I'm using this dump pipe, which does not work with the CA topmount manifold i purchased. I did buy an adapter to try and get it to work, which should be here today. I'll have to follow up once I can verify if it works or not.

[ragenasian]

Dude your engine puller kicks my engine pullers a**

[turbo-sil40]

thanks mans hopefully it will work out so i can reinstall my top mount too.

[trevr]

Hey !

Nice to know that they are some ca18det not to far away down here :P

Could be nice to meet some day. I'm from Montreal and it's a 4hours drive. That's not to bad !

Nice Vert BTW .... i really like it !

Yea man definitely! It be nice to get a photo of a bunch of CA powered 240's all together. We'll have to see what the summer time brings.