My wallet died to resurrect my 240sx

[Cody240]

OK so I have not posted in like a good two months because of random crap going on in my life but here we go. I have had my 240 going on 8 months now and It has made me very happy, that is until something goes wrong on it and I have to fix it lol. So about oh 4 months ago the water pump pulley on my SOHC decided to snap off while I was driving which strangely didn't cause my car to over heat on the half mile drive home. So I replace it and every thing seems fine but then it starts to get hot like it wants to overheat after I put the new pump in so I test the thermo and it failed so I got a new one and put it in. Still it over heated so I flush it (multiple times) and see if that does it, nope. At this point I am thinking I blew a head gasket so I do a compression test on it and one of the cylinders in low on compression but not enough for it to be a head gasket. Well I pop the valve cover off and check the torque on the head bolts, turns out the exhaust side was under torqued so I torque them down to spec (I know they are stretch bolts and they will lose torque but I needed the car fixed). OK so this seems to work but them the problems starts again but slower so I guess it was still leaking. Well after that i parked it for about oh a month and a half and then two weeks ago I gathered enough money to get it fixed and what not by my mechanic. He does some tests then tells me the head is fine but the cooling system (radiator, fan clutch, Etc) besides the pump and thermo were either clogged (radiator) or broken. I have him replace/fix them and he calls for me to come get the car because it runs "fine" now.
I go and pick up the car (1990 240sx sohc automatic ) and start to drive it home and it seemed fine but I had a bad feeling it my gut that it wasn't fixed. As i am driving it starts to heat up a little so I turn off the A/C but it still climbs so I call him up and say it is doing it again and turn around (after driving about a half hour) and go back. On my way back it gets hotter and hotter so I blast the heater in attempts to cool it. By the time I got there it was just about to over heat so I park it and he checks it out over the next day and calls me saying he F*cked up, and that it did need a head job and a new gasket *sigh*. Ok that's fine I say I just want my car back so fix it (this is after already paying $380 for the previous stuff). Now normally I would be doing my own car work but I have school (UTI) from 1:00pm till 7:00pm and cant really get anything done. So today (07/29/10) I call him and ask what is up and of course nothing is easy because he tells me that the machinist came to pick up my head for redoing and did some tests on my block to make sure it was ok..... well it had a crack in cylinder 2 going threw to the water jacket. OK now I have only one option..... swap the b*tch and move on. lol my course of action is this; pick up a Dohc motor and 5spd trans and other required parts for swap (slave cylinder,clutch pedal, Ecu and harness, etc.), an exedy clutch, Nismo motor mounts, K&N intake, shift boot, Nismo shift knob, and possibly a Flowmaster cat back exhaust to round it all off. All of which will cost me about $1300 to $1800 with out labor and with him just installing the motor set and nothing else ( I can do all the normal sh*t) it will be $700 more on top of that. So ya sorry for the long a** post but I had to get it off my chest some were lol. But ya my wallet as the title says is dead. Now that amount may not seem like a lot to some but I am 17 and in college with no job, so it is a lot to me. There will be more to come when I get stuff together and there will be pics.

[bova17]

if you didnt get the ka yet think about getting an sr from herehttp://www.japangeneralmotor.com/index. ... &limit=all
its $695 with 20to60 thousand miles
doesnt have a turbo but you would probably buy a new one anyways
could cost lil more but less miles

[hatedinthemind]

^ Thats an sr20de dude ^

[OM3GA]

super rad. It will all be worth it

[rms13Mike]

i hate it when that happens. they diagnose something and say its for sure then turns out their wrong and leads to a worse problem with price and labor double as it progresses... i salute you though. your car look better than mine and im 18 almost 19 and barely starting college. i wanted to go to UTI at one point too. GL!

[costa_rican13]

my opinion is get the ka24de. get everything good and running, then probably boost it? unless you just want it running, then yea get the ka24de.

[Cody240]

Ya I will probly boost it when I get more money but for the moment I need my car back cause I am using someone else's car to get me to and from school and that is getting old have their car and not mine lol I want my baby back. But I am calling around for parts and what not so I will have updates on progress.

[Seanzyyy]

dohc swap.
you should be able to find one on CL for a decent price.

[Cody240]

So I checked out the dual cam and it has everything with it and I should be picking it up this week as soon as I get a little more cash. Woot I cant wait for my new motor well that and the other parts I am getting.

[RustspecS13]

So your going to UTI and paying some one to work on your car?

Get out the wrenches. real life experience > school.

I was about to go to UTI, and after talking to some people in the industry I heard the joke about UTI is it stands for UnTrained Idiot. Of course that isn't to say its all bad, but its easy to not get the full educational value from a school like that, so do every part of working on your car you can, and if you get stuck, thats when you can really ask your teachers for help.

~Alex

[KYZAAC]

i know you need your car and just want it running as fast as possible, but if you can find some free time you should try the swap yourself, and save some money. you could get it done in a weekend, then have the experiance for an sr swap in the future good luck

[Cody240]

Ya I know I wanted to but I am having a hard time convincing my parents that I have the ability so I will have to see. I mean I would much rather do it than have some one else do it, but Idk I have to see what my parents say cause it will be being worked on in the front yard if I do it, plus this guy is a good friend and he knows what he is doing plus he has the facility to do it in instead of a sloped driveway in the front of my house. Oh and about the UTI thing people can think what they like but if you actually went and saw one of the campuses you would think otherwise it is really awesome and the instructors are really helpful and knowledgeable about the industry.

[RustspecS13]

I did go on a tour, and I talked to people that went there and were going there. Wasn't for me. Which one are you going to? I was going to go to the one in chicago. I moved there and everything.

Seriously, I would do it your self. It can be done in a weekend no problem, especially with some prep work on your part. Plus imagine the satisfaction of finishing it and having a swapped, running, driving dohc 5 speed s13 YOU built. It really is an amazing accomplishment.

~Alex

[Cody240]

I did go on a tour, and I talked to people that went there and were going there. Wasn't for me. Which one are you going to? I was going to go to the one in chicago. I moved there and everything.

Seriously, I would do it your self. It can be done in a weekend no problem, especially with some prep work on your part. Plus imagine the satisfaction of finishing it and having a swapped, running, driving dohc 5 speed s13 YOU built. It really is an amazing accomplishment.

~Alex

I go to the one in Rancho Cucamonga CA. any way I am picking up my new motor set tomarrow and cleaning it up to get ready to put it in. I am so excited because I have wanted to swap this thing for so long plus I now have some knowledge to help me do work on it and not have it be done half assed. So ya I will have pics up if i can get my camera to work right when i get it and the finished product of it installed, oh I forgot to mention it came with a stage three clutch on it I forget what company right now but I will get a pic of it.

[allenms240]

Yes personal experience and satisfaction is the BEST.
Do it yourself.
Hell, maybe ask for some forum locals in your area if they have time, maybe, maybe not.If I was in the area and had the time, I'd lend you time. I like that kind of work

[RustspecS13]

congratulations dude, lmk if you need any help i'll be glad to give any advice you need. I've worked on tonns of KAs

~Alex

[PyR0NiAk]

I'm sure there are at least 1-2 people in your area on this forum. Check the regional forums...

[Cody240]

UPDATE! I picked it up yesterday and I got a bitchin' deal it came with all the normal swap stuff ( motor, trans, harness and ecu) as well as a stage three ACT clutch, new MAF sensor that came along with a K&N performance filter (saving me the hassle of buying a new one) as well as new intake piping, throttle cable for this motor, ignition coil, all sensors needed to make it run, clutch pedal, shift boot (upper and lower), shift knob, clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder with hard lines and soft lines, and the drive shaft, the only thing I need to get are new power steering lines, AC lines, a dual cam gauge cluster (because they are different from the single cam ones), a new throw out bearing, and some misc. bolts. Plus I ordered my Nismo motor mounts last night so they will be here in a few days. I will get pics up when I get the mounts and go over to where my car is at since I cant work on it at my house (stupid neighbors and zoning laws) its at my friends shop who is helping me swap it in.

[Cody240]

So hey again, I just got my Nismo Motor mounts today and I have to say that these things are bad a** strong and really well made plus Frsport.com did a good job of getting them to me fast it only took two days and bam they got here So I am taking them over to the shop in the morning before school and getting some pics of the motor and stuff. I love the fact that on the box in both English and Japanese it say " FOR COMPETITION USE ONLY" and when my dad read that he was like " are you sure these are ment for YOUR car?" thanks dad way to support the project lol NIsmo FTW! so ya update asap I shall do.

[Cody240]

Hey so I got my 240 back yesterday and it is awesome the new engine and trans are putting out good horse power and are very reliable horse power at that. Its like a whole new car all that needs to be figured out is why it some times it grinds when I try to shift into first with the clutch pedal pressed idk I think is my shifter because it is way loose and it may not be ingaging properly. oh and for some reason in third or 4th I will accelerate and at a certain point it acts like the governor turns on and it wont accelerate any faster until I change gear. idk my gauge cluster is not working so I dont know what rpm it does it at. other than the trans it runs like a dream. I will have pics up when I clean her up.

[PyR0NiAk]

You should add pics of things. It would increase traffic in your thread. Sadly, a lot of people on forums don't seem to like reading.