New 240 owner with questions

[ak240sx]

Okay, this is gonna be a little long winded so please bear with me. I recently just bought a 1989 240sx. I got a pretty good deal, or so I thought at the time, on it and I couldn't overlook it. I ran across it on craiglist. The guy said he was selling it because he needed to get a bigger vehicle for his family. The only thing that was supposed to be wrong with it was that the radiator crapped out, which seems to happen a lot on these cars. I've been lurking on this and other forums for about fours years now and have always wanted to get a 240. Where I live they are very few and far between either people are selling them at outrageous pricing (4000 dollars for a stock 1992 240) (2300 dollars for just a shell) (etc.), or those who have them are holding on to them tight.

Anyway, that's beside the point. So, I look over the car and it's not in too bad of shape, a little rust here and there, but that's pretty normal and I figure that I can fix it up pretty easy with just buying a radiator, right? WRONG!!! I buy the radiator and a new battery, since it's been sitting for a while, install them and it starts right up!! Perfect!! I'm totally excited. I hop it to take it for a test drive. I put it in drive and don't move half a block before I hear...........rod knock

So I drive it back to my house and contemplate what to do with it. Originally, I was going to go KA-T. I figured that would be the easiest way to do things and I loved the idea of having all of that torque. But, seeing as I have to get a new engine anyway, I'm debating just going with an SR20det. I know everyone is doing it and I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but I think the experience of swapping an engine would be a lot of fun.

So as of right now, I'm making a list of parts I need for this build to happen. Where I live, I registered the car with seasonal tags, which means I can only drive it in the summer and I don't have to get smogged!!! So I can pretty much do whatever I want. I'm trying to be as thorough with this list as possible so if you see anything that you think I'm missing, please let me know. Ok, on the the list. Well, lists actually. I'm a college student working at a pizza shop so I don't have a lot of money, and I have to plan this build in sections.

The first thing I need to do is get this car running so that I can figure out what else, if anything is wrong with it. So I'm going to order a red top sr20det from a shop in california. I can get it shipped up here for 2100 bucks. I'm also getting a bushing kit because the bushings on this car are pretty worn out.

So Part 1 will consist of:red top sr20det $2100rs*r bushing kit $200shaftmasters aluminum driveshaft $300BRM 3" exhaust with 22"resonator, dual tips, and high flow cat $850Walboro fuel pump $100Dohc power steering resevoir and lines $400Dohc 91 or 92 gauge cluster with HUD $150

I think that that's all I need to get it up and running for now. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I would like to do this right the first time and not have to redo things. My timeline on this is to have it finished sometime before April, which is when I can technically drive my 240 on the streets again. But, since it just started snowing here yesterday, I'm not going to drive it on the streets anyway. So I have plenty of time to relax and do things the right way.

Once this is done, I can evaluate what else needs to be fixed or changed with the car before I turn up the boost and upgrade the turbo. Before I make it any faster that it is with just the engine swap I want to upgrade the suspension and get Q45 calipers. I'm also trying to figure out if I want to get a 1.5 or 2 way diff. I think I want to get a 1.5 because this is going to be my summer car as well as a track car.

So I guess my question for you guys is: In your vast experience in having and building 240's, does this sound like a good gameplan? Is there anything else that I should be wary of? Should I go ahead and upgrade to a front mount intercooler when I put the engine in? Any tips, hints, etc. are appreciated. Please excuse a noob for being longwinded. Thanks.

[S13Joe]

So I guess my question for you guys is: In your vast experience in having and building 240's, does this sound like a good gameplan? Is there anything else that I should be wary of? Should I go ahead and upgrade to a front mount intercooler when I put the engine in? Any tips, hints, etc. are appreciated. Please excuse a noob for being longwinded. Thanks.

sr20 is always a good game plan. i would upgrade the intercooler when u upgrade the turbo as its fine for the time being. these forums and google is flooded with sr20 swaps

http://www.jspecauto.com/files...a.htm

http://www.superstreetonline.c....html

http://www.drifting.com/forums....html

how much did you pay for your car? if u dont mind me asking. the knock wouldnt bother me much if i was you, but thats only me KA = doodie.

[iLLusive240^]

Hey, i just thought i would let you know that i got an energy suspension bushing kit for like 100$ off of srswap.com just thought i would help try n save ya some money :-p

[wynnEZ]

You should probably forget the exhaust and driveshaft and do clutch and oil pump/water pump while the motor is out and stick to a cheaper exhaust.

[gregfarz78]

Why not rebuild the KA, beef up the bottom end, and boost it

[ANVIL]

you bought this in wasilla didnt you?

personally, i would probablly KA-T. i would fully build that block and get a turbo kit/injectors. and a stand alone. probablly be close to as much as getting an SR+installing with all the misc parts.

SR would be nice though, but for the amount of money it would be a stock SR, but lots of room to grow, and you might be satisfied with the power of a stock SR.

[Hijacker]

BRM is a good exhuast, however I don't see how you're coming up with such a high total. They're fairly inexpensive exhausts, even with a high flow cat.

I agree that you should replace the oil and water pumps while you have the motor out of the car. You can do a water pump job easily with it in, but the oil pump requires dissassembly of the oil pans. That's a royal PITA in the car.

Check out or fab market, DJ Button was putting out custom P/S lines for DOHC setups that are much cheaper than what you have listed. All you would need after that is some rubber hose and a resevoir.

I just got a Shaftmasters d/s for an S13 w/ S15 SR, and it only came out to $265 w ith shipping. So I guess you're tacking on extra for shipping to Alaska, or your overshooting price.

[ak240sx]

DGK, thanks for the links. I'll check them out.

[ak240sx]

BTW, I paid 800 bucks for it.

Highjacker, yes I'm adding on a crap load for shipping because shipping for anything up here is usually pretty high. So I'm trying to overshoot a little bit.

Anvil, Yeah I bought it in Wasilla. He said that I was the first on to call him, but after I called he said at least 10 other people called him. Have you had a boosted KA before? You have an RB in yours currently? Have you gone to Tanana Cross?

WynnEZ, So I should get a new clutch as well? I was planning on getting a new oil pump and water pump. Forgot to put that on there. Do you have any suggestions on what type of clutch I should get? Thanks

Illusive, thanks for the suggestion

[ANVIL]

damn, forgot about this thread. never had a boosted ka or a dohc for that matter, blew the hg on my sohc, swapped in the rb and never looked back.

i havent been to tanana cross, or plan to. i just stick to in town cruising/racing and AK raceway park in Palmer. you will see me out there.

check out http://www.alaskamotorsports.com if you havent already. not many nissan heads or 240 guys though.

heres pics of what my car looked like before it snowed







and yes, i will be dropping it next spring