Jareds RB20 S13 project

[JaredP]

Picked up my second '89 240sx about a month ago. my first one i had a couple years ago and sold due to the rust. this one was in much better condition and im in a better financial situation to actually have a project car.

when i first got her:




shortly thereafter, she got all the interior removed (except the dash), mudflaps removed, rear wiper, antenna, and rear window squirter all removed:




OK..now the original plan was to swap the trans with a manual one (got the full auto>manual swap with the car) but once i got the transmission pulled, and got to removing the a/t adapter bushing..i just said f**k it. the whole motor is being pulled, wire tucked, and dropping an rb20 in it with the help of a friend whos got an rb in his s13.

[JaredP]

so since im still waiting on the $$ to officially buy the rb and get it dropped in i thought id clean up the wiring since the car is staying stripped. i removed all the sound deadening in the car with dry ice (works AMAZINGLY) and i just have to clean it up a bit, and i also started to remove the interior harness, starting at the pass. door and working back towards the drivers side under the dash. dash is removed and this is where the car stands now:


working on removing the rest of the chassis harness. does anyone know if i have to remove it all the way back to the plugs on the ecu? i was just hoping to do the part where it comes out by the fuse box and back...but if theres no way to separate that from the rest of the harness then so be it.

[240sxjoe92]

Nice, ill be watching this one...Good luck

[confused9]

but once i got the transmission pulled, and got to removing the a/t adapter bushing..i just said f**k it. the whole motor is being pulled, wire tucked, and dropping an rb20 in it.

LOL that's awesome. definitely will be watching this.

[JaredP]

thanks guys.

confused - i was gonna swap the motor anyways, i just figured it the a/t adapter bushing was gonna be as much a PITA as it is...i'll just drop the rb in it now

[Didderson]

I'm still not sure how I did it, but I removed a friend's auto trans bushing for his swap. Pain in the a** but a monkey wrench is your best bet! Keep twisting as you pull outward a bit.

I'm interested in this builddddd. Have at it man. Is this going to be a track car or stripped out or what?

[JaredP]

its going to be a track/drift/summer fun car. i have a DD car, so if i ever total this one i DO have a back up. and i plan on bracing/cage/doing everything i can so that if the unfortunate ever happens as much as possible can be salvaged and swapped into a new shell. its gonna stay stripped cuz i hate interior and when you throw in a cage it just gets in the way anyways.

also, this white box/connector thing here:


it kind of holds the two parts of the chassis harness together (the part from the ecu to the fusebox, and the part from the fusebox back around the trunk and to the pass. door). is there anyway to separate the two halves so that i can JUST redo the back part or do i have to pull out EVERYTHING

[JaredP]

anyone? its that white box that you can see in the pic with a harness on each side of it

[Ajax]

i removed all the sound deadening in the car with dry ice (works AMAZINGLY) and i just have to clean it up a bit.

I'm going to be using the dry ice method this weekend- how much did you use? approximate lbs?

[JaredP]

Ajax, i used 15lbs just for under the front seats. you'll notice that the parts that went over any seam sealer wont want to come out (right in the corners by where the driver/pass. floor meets the back seats) so i would probably just take a grinder to it. basically...go buy 5lbs, go back home and try it out. as soon as you lay it on the deadener you'll hear it crack and come loose.

also, for whatever reason the drivers floor deadener doesnt want to come out. if i ever had to do it again..i would personally paint over the deadener because it is THAT much of a pain. also, if you have a heat gun, it works best for getting the stuff on the rear wheel wells.


update: no longer trying to separate the harness at that box. i figured out that is what im *assuming* is the circuit breaker in the wiring diagram i got and im just going to remove the WHOLE thing, and redo it. it'll be the start to my wire tuck (it includes all headlight wiring etc.)

does anyone know what the "headlight timer" does and if i need it? im trying to think of everything i can remove so stay tuned for lots of posts on wiring stuff

[Ajax]

Much appreciated. I already took out a lot of the deadener with a heat gun- mostly on the sides, since obviously dry ice won't stay there by itself. Have fun with the wiring.

[JaredP]

wiring doesnt really scare me. its just time consuming, and frankly i have nothing BUT time. im not expecting this car to be back on the road til next summer so we'll see what happens in the mean time

[JaredP]

got some work done today. got the rest of the chassis harness pulled (turns out it splits at the SMJ junction under the dash so i didnt need to pull the headlight wires). also pulled the radiator, fan, and intake in preparation to get my engine pulled and get things started. i REALLY need to get this thing down to my buddy's shop and hopefully he lets me keep it there while i work on it but we'll have to see. anyways, pics:

you all saw before, so heres after pulling the harness:



and the mess of wires:


pretty soon that will be all unloomed and reorganized and trimmed down. i need to figure out what wires i can get rid of though.

if anyone knows...if a wire was plugged into say, the rear wiper amp, and i traced the wire back..i can remove it all right? it shouldnt have any alternate functions that i may need?

[OM3GA]

You should be fine on the wiring. Just make sure to trace them all and understand what they are for, If you come across one that you want to remove that has some kind of junction in it make sure you can get rid of both or keep the one you need.

Good luck on the swap!

[JaredP]

thanks omega, i cant wait to trim this harness down and clean it up

[hatedinthemind]

Good luck bro

[JaredP]

i'll post pics as i go along. i should have the harness fully de-loomed and started being trimmed by monday

[JaredP]

does anyone know what the check connector, kickdown switch (on the gas pedal) and the headlight timer are for? wondering if i can get rid of them. also, for anyone with an s13 with fogs can you post up pics of the switch? i dont have fogs but i have all the connectors but i dont know where i would put the switch if i got some fogs and wanted to install them. also, does A.S.C.D = cruise control?

[JaredP]

got the harness completely deloomed, now its time to start removing wiring. decided im going to get rid of the power mirrors as well as everything else i was going to do.

completely deloomed harness:


yup, it definitely stretches AROUND my room lol.

does anyone know what this little black box is for:


theres a plug that goes to it and i dont know what it is. its not on any of the diagrams i have. its up in the passenger corner above the blower motor and everythign

[JaredP]

got the harness all de-loomed. LOTS of wires were taken out, accidentally cut two that i shouldnt have so i have to re-attach those and heat shrink them. all i have left to do now is get new braided loom and finish up the harness. that will wait a while though, as my next purchase for this car is my rb engine. anyways, the mess of wires i pulled out of the harness:

[greencar]

looks good! I just bought another running 240 on the cheap and plan on doing the same thing. looks like a great start!

[JaredP]

put aside a LOT of time. its not a quick thing to do, but i got rid of power mirrors, cig lighter, ashtray light, seatbelt reminder, cruise control, dome lights etc. theres a lot of wires i removed

[night240]

damn looking good, but I hate wiring period.

[breadbox]

When I do this I'm just gonna bring it to work when they tear up the street soon and probably no one will walk/drive by.

Keep up the good work.

[JaredP]

thanks guys, im not a huge fan of wiring either but i dont mind it. i just have the time, and might as well learn something while im at it.

[night240]

thanks guys, im not a huge fan of wiring either but i dont mind it. i just have the time, and might as well learn something while im at it.

ah brave man. I don't have the guts to do that hahaha

[JaredP]

well i only cut wires that were directly connected to the things i was getting rid of. hopefully when i put it back in everything still works

[JaredP]

oh goodies!!! so after much deliberation, and searching...i picked up this:











and the crossmember i picked up today for super cheap:


all in all im aiming to get the ka dropped by sunday and somehow find a truck and trailer to get my 240 down to the shop for the swap. in the meantime i'll be looking for a badass purple color for the bay. if anyone wants to help out, im looking for something along the lines of the purple on these rims here:


id need a pic for reference and a name/paint code for the color.

also, does anyone know where i might be able to find an igniter for the rb20? the one with the motor was cracked when it showed up and i may need to replace it. also, what size fmic would i be looking at for roughly 300whp. i've been lookin at the mishimoto ones and theres one its a 28x7.5x2.5 thats cheap enough, i can also get a gtr fmic for $100 off a friend if you guys think that would be a better deal

[Lonismos14]

I am going with a godspeed intercooler kit. Just search on ebay its like 370 shipped. You doing any upgrades or just throwin the motor in the car.

[JaredP]

i'll take a look man. im thinking of going with a mishimoto to match my aluminum rad im getting. like i said i could also get that gtr fmic off my friend but i just dont know if i wanna spend 100 now, then another 300 or so down the road for the new intercooler. since im ok with the car bein down right now i'd kinda rather just get an intercooler i can keep for a while