Not a owner, but here for research.

[Church944]

I have a friend who after much discussion decided, 100% to go for a early 90's 240sx hatchback for his next project. We are sharing rent on a multi-car garage with a lift for both of our projects.

He wanted something <3000lbs, "2+2" format, Front-engine, rear-wheel drive. Hard-topped, independent suspension and "close' to a 50/50 Weight ratio.

Needless to say, since I'm the "mechanic" of our endeavour, I'm doing some research on typical things to look for when purchasing including rust, typical failed parts, etc. I'm not expecting to find any with maintence records, which is going to make things a bit harder for knowing the overall condition. I'm assuming we'll have to assume that all wear and timed replacement parts will need to be replaced immediately, unless other proof can be made.

Anyways I'm hoping that this place is full of information, especially as we get into prepping the car to become a weekend warrior. I've had luck with the Local PCA having tons of experience and technical expertise for my car. I hoping (very positively) to be able to say the same about the 240sx crowd.

[laxands13]

The crowd here is very knowledgeable, if you know where to look. Basically be ready to search! People will help but if you just throw a question out there that's been answered 100 times, like which engine swap is best, inevitably you will not end up getting what you want. Just check for janky mistakes and "mods" made by previous owners whenever you buy. Rust becomes an issue mainly on the frame rails and in the spare tire well (here in the south at least). Not sure where you're from though. Anyway, good luck, and definitely search around any and all questions here- they've probably been answered before!

[adrianfromthecastle]

welcome to NICO.

You'll find tons of info in the tech and DIY sections as well as just searching the forums for topics already discussed.

[Church944]

He's running with a 3-4K budget. So as far as purchase cost goes it's decent. We live in NH, which has both bonuses and negatives. The Bonus being we don't have to worry about emissions for OBD-I, the negative being rust. So far we found one car that doesn't have rot on frame rails. It was a 89 hatchback, But it had a 1.8L turbo swap, which had a rats-nest wiring job, including exposed sections of wires , and half of the cluster wouldn't turn on/work. No A/C or PS, and the kid went from saying he wanted 4K in the ad, to asking us for 4.5K. We walked. I would maybe pay a grand, as it's only good for a roller.

After some discussion (while working on my daily) this is what he decided. He's looking at a hatch as we expect the large glass surface to have more rear weight and to keep the car road legal he needs the rear defrost, so weight reduction there is a no-go. Most motor swaps are saved for the highly modified group for autocross and DE days, so it looks like a swapped car is out of the question, especially when compounded with the fact that god knows what they did to get it running. So a DOHC 2.4L is now the engine of choice, for now atleast.

Some things I have noticed about these cars in "relatively" stock form.

1. They are old, most of the rubber has died of and been kept together by pure necromancy

2. They're a bit sloppy, the suspension is soft. Stiffer springs, dampers, strut towers are an immediate MUST. It's obvious that the suspension was set up with the daily average joe commuter, and not the sport's enthusiast in mind. They have a bit of snap oversteer in them, but it is manageable. The brakes are a bit on the small side and thin tires are the norm. The open Differental Doesn't help. A good 2-way diff would make a nice difference.

3. RUST. If he stays serious about this path, we might have to consider picking up a "southern" example, surface rust we can deal with but rot is a nightmare. I told him I won't be cutting out sections of the unibody for him and chasing pinch welds.

4. Interior: It's cheap, like worst that parts-bin porsche 944 cheap. The S13 seats suck and made me glad that my car came with OEM recaros that while ugly, are still comfortable after 20+ years of use.

5. Ownership. It seems like these cars are anywhere from the 6th to 20th owner by now. Meaning no maintenance records or knowledge of what's been repaired and when. This means budgeting to accomplish all general maintenance immediately after purchase is a must.

I'm currently advising him to wait till he has saved another 5-6K in the bank. Based on my observations, this seems to be a "$10K" car. As in between purchase price, immediate maintenance/repairs, and almost must have modifications. This is just an estimate as I'm excepting us to have to do immediately in order to make it at an "acceptable" condition.

Alternator
Water pump
Accesory belt
engine mounts
New seats
Stiffer springs/struts, thicker swaybars. (will decide spring rate and diameter after purchase)
300ZX Front brakes (remanufactured), inspect/replace rear calipers and new pads & rotors in the rear. Depending on how much it f*** with bias we may look at a Z32 rear option too.
Replace Proportioning Valve
lightweight rims, possibly with bridgestone potenza R11A's or Pirelli P Zero Corsa
Rebuild balljoints or LCA replacement.
New clutch & Flywheel
And the probably some other small things to within the first few months

[waxdnuggz]

why replace stuff that doesnt need to be replaced or something your going to do away with completely in a bit. like the alt? if it works why replace it? and why replace the spings ball joints and stuff if your going to modify it? contact a distributor and talk to them about a package deal. its coming up on winter so chances are you wont be driving it in the snow. talk to them about coils and camber arms. reman the 300zx calipers yourself its so damn easy. 5 mins each caliper. and the kit is 12$ from advanced auto. 21 from nissan.

240sx dont have a seperate proportoning valve its incorp in the mast cyl. and z32 brakes arent big enough to need to replace it. especally if your only doing the front.

are you planing on swapping the motor? if so why do mounts and flywheel ect? and if your going to build it pull that sucker out and go to town. dont waste money to pull it off the car and sell it to someone else later with little to no use.

why new seats? im confused as to what your trying to achieve with this car? a daily driver or a street/ track car?

yes you can easily drop 10k into the car and it not even be able to run but you can also drop 5k and get it to make 10 sec passes in the 1/4

spend that money wisely dont get the car up to par and take it back apart.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Rocker panel rot is going to be a big deal in NH.

I've never had a problem with my factory brakes. I swapped to Z32 fronts on one of my 240s just for the hell of it. Its not worth it.

And +1- what are your goals for this car? Autocrosser? Stock class?

[Church944]

Thanks for the replies.

His idea is a car he can enjoy on the weekends, but wants to take it to the track for autocross and DE days. We've been sharing my 944 at PCA events, but since they don't care about the brand (we have MK1 GTIs, some WRX and STI's and plenty of early 3series that come out.) He's going for a "all-in-one" package and the 240sx is his target. We need for cost reasons to keep the car in "street-prepared" class

Engine: No swapping unless it's to swap back to stock. That would put him in "modified" class for events, which would add another 30K for to be competitive since everything from fiberglass/carbon fiber panels, to tube frame fronts is allowed. We are looking at keeping it in Street prepared. So we will be keeping the Alternator, PS, A/C, ext.

Allowable Engine modifications:
Any fuel injector
Any Air filter
Any Intake Manifold
Any Exhast Manifold
Reseated valves (for unleaded cars only)
Any cat-back exhuast
Removal of emissions devices
Any oil pan
Any oil filter
Any oil heat exchanger
Thermostat
Silicone replacement hoses
oil catch can
Re-bored to manufacturer first over-bore spec ala maximum OEM bore
Alternate Engine fan & Shroud
Setting of ignition system on factory adjustible units (reprogamed counts from my experience)
Accessory Pulleys that are not dampers/balancers

Tansmission:
Any Metal Clutch
Any Metal flywheel
Any Short Throw Kit
Any LSD
Any Half-shaft retention devices
Any Scattershield
Any Oil-cooler



Suspension:
Any springs W/ adjustible perches
Any tube style strut
Any sway bars
Removal of bump stops
Alternate Camber adjustments


(Adjustible controls arms, re-enforncement of control arms, and replacement (non-oem) is not allowed.


Brakes:
Any brake in Stock location
Any brake pad
Any brake rotor except crossdrilled and slotted
Any brake line
Alternate Brake fittings
Any Brake master cylinder (single unit only)
any Vaccum booster
any Proportioning Valve

Electrical:
Any Battery
Battery Relocation
Any Spark plug
Any driver started electric system
Any spark-plug wires



Interior/body
Bolted/welded rollcage
Rear Spoiler (limited)
Bodytrim/spoiler (decorative only)
Front spoiler
remove non-permanent held items from interior
Roll inside fender lips
Any fully padded front seat
Driver restraints (OEM must be retained)
Any alternate Steering wheel
Tow hooks added

wheels/Tires:
Spacers
Any rim diameter or width
DOT approved Race tires
Any diameter or width tire
Any wheel mounting bolt or stud


(I removed a lot from the suspension list as it referred to torsion bar and leaf spring systems.)