My First 240

[Zecrono]

Hello everybody!
This is going to be my intro and how I bought my 240 (for those of you that enjoy reading this kind of stuff).

A few years ago my mom let me use the family Xterra (a 2000 V6 not 4x4 with 180k miles) to drive to school and work after my first car died (I'm 19 now). After driving it extensively for about a year or so I became a Nissan guy because that truck was fantastic and I couldn't believe that it was as faultless as it was. I really liked it, but it was still an SUV and I wanted a sports car. After searching craigslist I found a Toyota Celica GTS and bought that for 6k. It was ok, but I hated spending money to fix stuff on it because I never really enjoyed it. FWD was a total buzz kill and I would have to drop 2 gears and hope it was above 5k rpm to wring out more power than a Smart Car.

So, (as you read) I was getting really tired of my Celica and wanted to get something new (and more importantly RWD). After a few weeks of searching I found her. As soon as I saw the ad I fell in love, she was a grey 91 Hatch that was stock (or close to stock there were a few little things modded) and the owner was pretty much the original owner (his godfather originally owned it). I texted him and we set up a date. The day finally came and I drove to his house. He pulled the cover off of her and I was amazed, no rust and the paint was perfect! She had a nice layer of dust on her and he told me it had been a few weeks since he had started her. He got in the car and literally on the second turn she roared to life and sounded great. I took her for a test drive and that really sealed the deal for me. The car had so much potential and I knew I needed to have her. After a little bit of negotiating I bought her for $3500 dollars. Yesterday I went to pick her up and drive her back (which was about 100 miles) and she made the trip with no problems at all.

She feels so great to drive and it has A LOT more torque than my Celica. The only thing I can not stand is the seats. They are horrible! I'm not a big guy but the bottom of the seat cuts off my circulation because the bolsters are too far in and the seat back doesn't go forward enough for me to sit up straight (it looks like I have the gangster lean lol). Are there any seats that I can drop in that are more comfortable and won't break the bank?

She has 187k miles on her and I hope to take her to 300k. The owner said she has the factory LSD and was purchased in Pennsylvania so the underbody was sprayed (I looked under her and there was no rust at all). Future plans are to keep the KA and get it rebuilt then turbo it and add some coilovers and rims, nothing too crazy. Oh, and maybe replace that dash that has more cracks than a crackhead!

I look forward to the future, filled with fun and a great car!

Here, have some pics: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tgqyvkwcsgec ... 3jAGa?dl=0

[SoundEfx]

Congrats on your purchase of your first fun car.
It does look good and well kept.

[2_Liter_Turbo]

Looks like a nice clean start, congrats on the new car! S14 (95+ 240SX) seats bolt right in an are way better than the factory seats. S15 Silvia seats are superb (and bolt right in), but can be a little more pricey. They are leagues better than the stock seats though. Good luck with your project!

[Zecrono]

Looks like a nice clean start, congrats on the new car! S14 (95+ 240SX) seats bolt right in an are way better than the factory seats. S15 Silvia seats are superb (and bolt right in), but can be a little more pricey. They are leagues better than the stock seats though. Good luck with your project!

Great idea! Looks like I'm going to be making a trip to the junkyard soon.

I'll post here whenever I do something to her or replace something not oil related lol.

Also SoundEFx, thank you!

[Zecrono]

What part number is this PS hose? Its weeping and the bottom fitting is dripping. I think I ordered the wrong one off of FRSport. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ucynvfu3pdy9k ... 5.jpg?dl=0

[Zecrono]

Just swapped in some clean S14 seats and HOLY COW what a difference. I can corner without feeling like I'm falling out of my car! I have the back seats too, but they don't fit. What should I do with them?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i3ce8jqg636hy ... 6.jpg?dl=0

[2_Liter_Turbo]

I would just put them up on craigslist. Unless you really want to get creative (they can be made to fit with work). I believe there is a write-up on here on how to do it, I just don't know where. You'd have to do a little searching.

[Zecrono]

Fml... I was just driving down a backroad (not doing anything crazy and going UNDER the speed limit) when a curve decided to pop out of nowhere (a hill peaked and the curve was unseeable until you were over the peak). My rear end started to step out (the whole car pretty much floats along causing this more than I would like f*** stock suspension and wheels) and to miss an oncoming car I over corrected and (unintentionally) flicked the car sideways. I forgot to add power to keep from going into the dirt on the side of the road and ran over a little reflective sign (that had no purpose other than to dent my car). Luckily she didn't flip and no other damage was done (other than an exhaust hanger needing some zip ties ). The dent isn't creased at all so I'm hoping that it won't be an expensive fix... Next thing to get is coilovers so my car does float anymore!

[2_Liter_Turbo]

A quality body guy should be able to get that out without too much issue, but it looks like you may need a tad bit of smoothing, it looks like the stretched a little at the "peak". Totally sucks though, I've been there!

[Zecrono]

A quality body guy should be able to get that out without too much issue, but it looks like you may need a tad bit of smoothing, it looks like the stretched a little at the "peak". Totally sucks though, I've been there!

Thanks for letting me know that! Hopefully it won't be too expensive to get out (broke college student whoop whoop ). What happened to yours?

[2_Liter_Turbo]

I was driving up mountain in my celica when I hit a patch of ice and tapped a guardrail, lol. I was pissed, because it was a rare AWD turbo celica!

[Zecrono]

I was driving up mountain in my celica when I hit a patch of ice and tapped a guardrail, lol. I was pissed, because it was a rare AWD turbo celica!

Oh dang I'm sorry to hear that! Those Celicas are awesome though, definitely a step up from the regular Celica.

[Zecrono]

Well the dent can't come out because its too far to the wheel well to get anything to pop it out. The guy tried his best but all it did was kink... So eventually it will need to be bondoed to normal. Eventually I want to paint her white so that will be fixed along with my cracked front bumper.

In other news I just spent $260 because the valve cover gasket was leaking all over the front of the engine and it was stalling at lights. My mechanic said I was lucky it didn't catch on fire! He also replaced the distributor cap and rotor and cleaned all of the injectors and throttle body. All is well now.

[Zecrono]

Does anyone know if my car sounds normal? That loud clicking sound is what concerns me but it only makes it under load.

http://youtu.be/DjpcVCJThZQ

[Zecrono]

Does anyone know if my car sounds normal? That loud clicking sound is what concerns me but it only makes it under load.

http://youtu.be/DjpcVCJThZQ

So, it turns out my EGR pipe was totally rusted out. It has 2 huge holes, so it sounds (and smells) like a lawnmower lol. That's getting fixed Monday.

[jza80king]

I was going to suggest that the sound did resemble an exhaust hole/leak. Also, it sounds like maybe the valves might be sticking, was this video shot after the car was warmed up? Have you drained the oil by chance? Do you know if the timing guides were removed on the car already?

[Zecrono]

I was going to suggest that the sound did resemble an exhaust hole/leak. Also, it sounds like maybe the valves might be sticking, was this video shot after the car was warmed up? Have you drained the oil by chance? Do you know if the timing guides were removed on the car already?

I can't remember if it was warmed up or not, it probably was. I did an oil change last month and that stuff was definitely past time to be changed. The previous owner said she was sitting for awhile, but it was pretty bad lol. I put in Castrol part synthetic 10w-30 (then probably move to 40 in the summer). Previous owner said timing guides were removed.

[jza80king]

I would suggest seafoaming your car. Put 1/3 in the gas and fill the tank so it mixes well, 1/3 in your brake booster line, and the last 1/3 in your engine oil. Run the car for a good 250+ miles or so and then drain the oil. Next, I would do a transmission and diff flush. If the engine oil was as bad asyou say, I can almost guarantee both the transmission/diff are disgusting.

[Zecrono]

I would suggest seafoaming your car. Put 1/3 in the gas and fill the tank so it mixes well, 1/3 in your brake booster line, and the last 1/3 in your engine oil. Run the car for a good 250+ miles or so and then drain the oil. Next, I would do a transmission and diff flush. If the engine oil was as bad asyou say, I can almost guarantee both the transmission/diff are disgusting.

I'll probably get that done soon because I can guarantee the fluid is going to be the darkest shade of black (no matter what it is lol). I got some Christmas money so I'm starting to amass some parts for the eventual SR swap.

[Zecrono]

Coilovers are a go!

I bought some BCs a few months ago and recently installed them and got them aligned. What a big change over stock! After taking the old ones off, I am led to believe that they were the ones that originally came on the car in 91. It went from cornering like a crown vic to cornering like a sports car should. Perfect!
Also I replaced my fuel pump with a Deatschwerks DW200, since I was having weird power losses and I think this fixed it. So far so good, but boy was my fuel pump cover nasty.

There were also a few old wasp nests as well.

My Celica is up for sale if anyone wants to buy it lol. Its been up for 2 months and hardly anyone has been interested. As soon as it sells I can start collecting parts for the SR swap.