hey look; another build thread.

[shadetree.s13]

so, here it goes.

it all started in june of this year.
i had just graduated from high school and with the money i had been saving, combined with my graduation money, i went on a search to buy the car i had been dreaming of all of high school. A nissan 240sx.

i thought i had lucked out when i found this 1989 hatch.



decent paint.
nice interior.
116k miles on it.
and for only $1000.
i jumped on it and that day i drove home my new-to-me 240sx.


and everything was fine; or so i thought.

later that month i had to take my newly purchased 240 in to get inspected. however, in my state (PA), not only is there an emissions inspection, but there is also a safety inspection.
and that's when i found out just how badly i had been f***ed over.

as it would turn out, my mechanically perfect s13 had a few minor problems with the chassis, and by "minor problems" i mean "holes and rust out the a**". The previous owner had apparently found several holes in his frame and decided the best remedy for this was to fill said holes with caulk, sand them down, and spray paint over them.






the inspector saw through this clever ploy and slapped the proverbial "F" on my car.

and that is how my first ever nissan 240sx became illegal to drive on the road.

[S13_RB25]

Sucks bro thats i how i got screwed on my first 240, but i can't blame the seller! IT should of been my responsibility to check underneath for rust! But i sold my old hatch to someone, i did tell him about all the problems, so he bought at his own risk! But hey you got a running kae, just get a shell and swap it over and part out this s13 and you'll have more money on your hand

[shadetree.s13]

Sucks bro thats i how i got screwed on my first 240, but i can't blame the seller! IT should of been my responsibility to check underneath for rust!

definitely. i don't blame mine either. it's not his fault i was an overzealous noob. haha.

[shadetree.s13]

at this point i was pretty much super bummed. i had just spent a good chunk of my money on car that couldn't even, legally, take me from point A to point B. what was i to do?
everyone told me to just cut my losses and scrap the car. i refused.
i'm not wealthy enough to simply throw $1000 dollars out the window.
so i began looking again, but this time for only the shell of a 240. i figured "hey, i all ready have an engine that runs perfectly, all i need now is something legal to put it in."
thankfully i was about to spend a week in georgia, and while i was down there a found exactly what i had needed.
for sale was another 1989 hatch.
the owner had attempted a ka24e to ka24de swap, but completely f***ed it up.
i've never seen such a mess of wires.
but hey, i didn't need the engine anyway, so once again i jumped at it.
ending up with a 1989 hatch with a ka24de was pretty sweet; getting it for $500 was even sweeter.

and so i towed that sucker back to PA and got to work on swapping my close-to-perfect ka24e for this ka24de mess.
i didn't see a point in putting money into and engine swap that i wouldn't even end up keeping.

[S13_RB25]

Hey while you have the kae out, I suggest you replace the timing chain, guides and oil and water pump! If you some cash available to you...

[uber240times2]

Please do as s13rb says, I got a beat to hell frame and a horrible single slammer. Ran great till I found out about the timing chains, at that point it was way too late.

[shadetree.s13]

so should i just buy like a full timing rebuild kit or simply replace the chain, guides, and pumps?
and would there be any kits or manufacturers that you recommend?

[bersh240]

heyooo welcome.
the lancaster area 240 guys are always around. get in touch if you need anything.
that frame can be fixed.

[S13_RB25]

Buy a kit online, IIRC, it should have all the guides and chains! Get the oil pump from online and the water pump from auto zone and you should be set!!

[shadetree.s13]

all right, i think it's about time i update this thing.

well, let's see.
a whole bunch has happened.
Got the engine removed, removed the entire wiring harness, got the entire engine stripped down to nothing, sanded down all the rust, sanded down the entire engine bay, primered the engine bay, painted the engine bay, removed the engine from the red 240, transfered over all of the parts in the engine bay from the red 240 over to the georgia 240, transfered over the wiring harness from the red 240, put the ka24e into the georgia 240, transfered over all hard lines, transfered over the entire interior, transfered over the doors and fenders and hood and bumper, transfered over the gas tank, transfered over the exhaust system, transfered over the trunk lock, transfered over the sunroof, and transfered over the ignition.


such poor wiring.




engine's out. woot woot.


everything removed.

georgia gas tanks are dirty.

everything all put back in it's new home.

so yeah, i'll be putting all of the fluids back in my car tomorrow and hopefully when i attempt to start it it all goes properly. wish me luck, nico.

[wa-chiss]

I don't doubt there will be some small flaming for swapping the DE for the E. Don't worry, I love the KA24E. It's the better choice IMHO. That sucks you got conned into the rust bucket. Good thing it can be repaired.

[shadetree.s13]

well, it all runs. only not properly. when it was first cranked it idled at 4k, so it was a little high.
every time i adjusted it it would just begin to raise and lower. it would sit comfortably at 1100 and then raise up to 2k and then shoot down to 500 and then go back to 1100. it still cycles like this. i'm going to go back through and make sure all the grounds are attached properly. if any one has any input to this it'd be greatly appreciated, until then i'm just going to continue fiddling around with it.

[mastercloak]

This isn't making me feel any better about my situation... just went down to maryland, near ocean city (i live near pittsburgh) and picked up my dream car as well...also right out of highschool.... towed it up on a dolly, put a brand new clutch and flywheel in her...got her running and took her to get inspected...i've got 2 dime sized rust holes in the frame and no one will pass it....

[240sxAli4Life]

Why didnt you just replace/redo the wiring on the ka24de?? It looked like it was rebuilt... looked very clean. Anyway that sucks that you got screwed over. What you need to do is get your new 240 undercoated! Even if it was undercoated a long time ago... get it re done. Good luck with your project 240!

[shadetree.s13]

i've got 2 dime sized rust holes in the frame and no one will pass it....

two dime-sized rust holes isn't a terrible problem. it can definitely be fixed. just take it to a reputable autobody shop.
my car had far more than two dime-sized holes, it had big chunks taken out of the frame and there was holes in the strut tower and a hole in the floor that allowed you to see through into the passengers side cabin. and even that probably could have been fixed, but the shell i found was just a better deal.