Michigan S13 Fastback?

[confusatron]

Okay, so I'm down to one car again (dull daily driver) and am looking for a good project car; an S13 hatchback seems the way I want to go. The plan is to find a decent car (i.e. little/no rust), then drop in an sr20det (possibly bolt on a silvia front if parts or a clip can be sourced cheaply) and maybe autox it.

The problem is that I'm located in Detroit Michigan, which is loaded with American Iron, but seemingly zero 240SXes. Plus, it seems all sources for JDM goodies are in California.

Anyone know of either an available (cheap) 240sx or good source for sr20det/silvia parts a little closer to Michigan? Or is it not as bad as I'm envisioning to have large items like a front clip or engine shipped from someplace like Cali? I commute 100+ miles a day (ugh), so driving a couple hundred miles to pick something up doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I've also started looking for cars/parts in Canada since I work in Windsor sometimes (I guess all their 240s got LSD).

[Daunttless]

I'm in Iowa, I'm about 8 hours west of you, I go up to Kalamazoo every year. : ) Click on my link, I'll have basically any 240 part you can imagine. : ) Also, picking up a Canadian 240 wouldn't be half bad, but Windsor's kinda scary. : ) Then you also have to worry about transporting it across the border and everything... You may be better off just driving down to Ohio and getting one, last time I checked there were a number of them down there. Enjoy your day!

[confusatron]

Kalamazoo? ...Why?

So potentially you (Iowa? IOWA?!?) would be a source for:

-sr20det w/ecu and all associated fidly bits-silvia front fenders, lights, hood etc

yes?

Looks like the webpage is still in progress, but more informative than the other few "JDM engine supplier" sites I've run across (they tend to be very honda-centric and overpriced too).

Still doing the math on things; hoping to get a decent car running for under $4k (though I know it will realistically be more in the end)...

[Daunttless]

And Soybeans. : )

However, I will also be providing just about any performance part you can think of for the 240 and a lot of other cars as well. : ) Let me know if I can help you out with anything.

Also, I'm from Kalamazoo - Go K-Wings! : )

[confusatron]

Hey, I'm not really knocking Iowa, It just doesn't leap to mind when thinking about imported car parts; something about not having a port...

Seriously, how do you get the parts? I'm assuming from your prices they are coming direct to you from Japan?

[Daunttless]

Yeah, I'm the direct importer. : ) In Iowa. I know, it confuses everyone, but its better because I"m right in the middle of the country so its easy for me to get stuff to anywhere. : )

[kyp275]

good luck confusatron, I guess you could try looking around online, but you've probably already done that.

I just won a '91 from Ohio from ebay, although it turned out the exhaust was leaking and the valves were bad :P Still, the guy said he'll sell it to me for $100 plus he'll drop the car off at my house. Can't beat that deal, if it actually goes through :p

[confusatron]

Sounds like a good deal provided the car is in good shape (i.e. no rust). I was bummed out; my friend goes to a lot of auctions (his dad deals used cars part-time) and he was late getting to one two weeks ago and missed... a silver S13 hatch with a dead motor that probably went cheap

I'm starting to look a little more seriously at the canadian angle; there are a few decent cars for sale in ontario.

[illusion]

weird.... i live in kalamazoo... maybe you could deliver???? :P

Jeff

[Daunttless]

Maybe...or you could just drive to me, I"m only like 5 1/2 hours away. : )

[EyeStabPeople]

hmmmm... hehe, i got an 89 240 sitting with a bad motor, car is from texas, no rust but its got assorted dents and misaligned body panels and the interior aint too pretty but theres NO rust on the car, i was going to swap it but i bought an s14 its on crooks right now, my friend is supposed to take it and swap it, but if that falls through its yours, 375 and its yours. im in Utica

[confusatron]

Hmm, Utica eh? I have been seeing one S13 a day in the Detroit area since Friday (driving, not for sale); all coupes. Somebody up there is mocking me...

Is an automatic->manual conversion pretty painless on the 240 (keeping in mind I plan to replace the motor)? The few cars I've seen for sale seem to all be autos...

[confusatron]

Hmmm. So my buddy thinks he might have found an S13 hatchback for me. It's red (one point against it there) and sounds like it has some rust near the spoiler (dunno how bad yet, I guess there is a chronic rust issue in that area?) and he thinks it is a manual. Have no idea the real condition, year, options, etc. but sounds like it will be under a grand...

Dauntless et al - what are some things to look for on S13 hatches (common problems and the like)? I tried a search but only ran across the spoiler rust thing and some general car buying stuff I already know (checking tires, suspenison travel, etc). I may check this car out on the weekend if it sounds good.

[confusatron]

The car is a '91, with minimal rust. For under $1,000 that sounds like a real good deal to me (I tend to buy $2,000 cars, multimillionare that I am...). He mentioned that the 2nd gear synchros might have 'issues', is this a common problem? I'm going to try and look it over this weekend; I really don't know where I'll park the thing at my apartments if I buy it. But, it should run for the trip to Dauntless in Iowa (or, as my friend calls it, "Idaho")! Just need to get some time off...