s13 spring/summer 2011 build---- r.i.p 240sx

[jsturges18]

hey everyone, my name is jeff and i live in connecticut. i picked up my 240sx from new jersey before the winter because my DD had a oiling problem which led to blowing the motor. i bought this car just to get through the winter(i know not the best winter car) and had plans of selling it after until i got hooked.

im the second owner of this 1990 240sx. i bought it for 1900 with 69000 miles on the original motor. the owner before me was an older guy that drove the car only when he was in college. the body is pretty beat up after sitting for years and being bumped into, not too much rust surprisingly! only lower rear quarter panels and fenders. the frame rail is pretty bad tho :/. interior is spotless even the original seats are unwrinkled!! car is 100% stock.

so im using this thread as a log to track what i do to my car and also get other peoples opinions since everyone where i live are too cool to talk about their own car and share their ideas. so if anyone has some ideas on where i should start with this car let me know!! i would really appreciate different ideas

i will update as many pictures as possible and just have fun with this car. my plans are for this summer is to fix up the body, some small interior work(new door/glove box fabric) and to get some kind of suspension on the car (coilovers or springs/shocks) im thinking of ground control coilovers/springs on kyb shocks.

one of my i guess u can say guides to follow is nikolay konstantinov's car. im looking into a type x kit with the over fenders and bigger wheels. so i only have one picture right now to leave you with, the only difference between the picture and now is that i have a bicycle roof rack on the car :/ (DD and i work at a bicycle shop) so give me some ideas on wht to do with this thing!!!!

[badbob2121]

post more pictures

and really look into how bad the frame rails are.... bad news

[jsturges18]

yea sorry about the pics, just got a new computer and havent transferred everything, but yea theres pretty much a big hole in the front left rail which i found that xcessive makes a kit to fix that and another part bent in from a small 1 ton jack.

[jsturges18]

here are the two bad spots of the frame rails


and a few pictures of the car





and just to give some credit to my other car

[jsturges18]

rust spots on body, i dont care about the fenders but i am alittle worried on the quarters


rust free trunk!

clean interior



came with toyo proxes h4! great tires but still suck in the rain
rust free engine bay, havent checked the battery tray yet but around it seems good

[jsturges18]

well today i was suppose to replace my valve cover gasket but its raining so i decided to mess around with some fabric and came up with this

from plain and boring to this!

[BigDAT]

i dig the radio trim.

You need a hoof for a shift knob though, that would be awesome.

[jsturges18]

yea i was bored and tried it. a hoof shift knob would be sweet but idk how long im actually gunna keep the fabric on it. its gunna get dirty fast

[1SickSilvia]

To each their own, I'm not a huge fan of the zebra print but if you like it, thats all that matters.

[jsturges18]

sooo i ended up being able to do my valvecover gasket! what a pita. autozone sux! they gave me the wrong gasket. so a simple 15min job became a 2hr job running around looking for the right gasket.

and yea the zebra print was for fun, its not too bad but like i said it will most likely be changed.

right now im working on torching my aluminum shift knob to give it the bronze/burnt look but its not turning out so well :/ gota get a bigger torch possibly

also ordering some lowering springs and refinishing the stock wheels.(new rims arent in the budget right now) just need better weather to fully get started on this car!!

[jsturges18]

well this might be my goodbye to everyone. i was rearended today twice in the same accident, i had a car slam into me then a truck slammed into that car which cause that car to hit me again. my bumper was pushed in, both quaterpanels wrinkled up and my hatch is crooked and wont open. ill find out in a couple of days if its totaled. this sucks

[jsturges18]

i will find out today or tomorrow about whats finally going on with my car. i know that it will be totaled but it will be sitting in my driveway for alittle bit before insurance takes it away. so im thinking of possibly buying the car back from insurance and rebuilding it. part of my rebuild would be to cut up my quater panels and install +30 over fenders. and since my trunk floor is smushed i was thinking of cutting it out an installing a fuel cell back there and turn this car into a track only car. while the car is in my possesion i will take it apart and fully inspect the damage. if the damage is not worth fixing to me then i will be parting a few good parts out of it. and say my good bye

[breadbox]

Too bad any accident usually totals an S13. That what we get for playing with cheap cars.

[Lobo240sx]

Sux about the fender bender. I would look for another rolling shell for cheap.

[EnjoiNismo]

Buy back, part out, instant money back + more.
Sorry to hear, car was looking nice and clean

[jsturges18]

pics of the inside of trunk. anyone think its fixable?? i was thinking either cutting it out and putting in a new trunk floor. or making my own floor and dropping in fuel cell. any advice would be much appreciated! i wanna fix this car. its such a clean unmolested 240sx and deserves a second chance.




the car is classified as totaled. i will be buying it back. the insurance valued my car at $3,400 and it will cost about $400 to buy it back leaving me with $3000 in my pocket. so the plans are to fully evaluate the damage and fix if possible, then fix my daily driver which is a pt cruiser. it needs a new engine and im doing the work my self to swap it. and also get a motorcycle to toy around with. the 240sx will be a project car for awhile. hoping to turn it into a track whore by next year. so maybe this accident might turn out good. that is whenever the insurance companies are done fighting

[mindovaanything]

fixing the body damage on that would be pretty costly and probably not worth it. But all things happen for a reason and this could be the start to a great project. If I were in your shoes, I'd buy another shell/roller for about $500. Use the totaled car as a parts car and swap everything over, and do a bunch of upgrades in the process at the same time with the remaining $2,500. Then once that's done you can still sell off all the remaining parts that you didn't use. Spending a bunch of money on bodywork to get back a stock and once crashed car just doesn't make much sense to me.

[jsturges18]

well im hoping its not too bad where i could replace the trunk floor and then use over fenders for the quater panels. so it wont be going back to being stock. at this point the car would become a track only car. but we shall see.....

[laxands13]

It doesn't look worth it at all to try and fix. Maybe buy back and part out like EnjoiNismo said, but you could probably find other cleaner 240's for cheaper

[jsturges18]

so its been over a month now and i still dont have my car back nor do i have a check in my hand for it. i cant believe the insurance company is crying over paying for my car thats 21 years old. hello lawyer.........