OFFICIAL: NicoClub's Rally 240SX, by Finnish Fury Rallysport

[Razi]

Sweet stuff Ian.

What's that RSX doing in the back?Poor thing has no wheels. :P

[gmac708]

WOW is right! Looking real good Ian.Something tells me you are having fun. Can't wait to see more updates.

question. Doesn't the navigator usually sit lower, Imposable to sit lower than Morgan, but most rally cars have staggered seating height?

[IanS]

Sweet stuff Ian.

What's that RSX doing in the back?Poor thing has no wheels. :P

One of my co-workers owns it. It stopped shifting into 4th, and reverse, so he pulled the transmission to rebuild it. Turns out he burred up the selector gear for 4th.

WOW is right! Looking real good Ian.Something tells me you are having fun. Can't wait to see more updates.

question. Doesn't the navigator usually sit lower, Imposable to sit lower than Morgan, but most rally cars have staggered seating height?

Fun isn't even the half of it.

You are correct. The co-driver seat is usually mounted lower. Currently the only way to mount the right seat lower, would be to bolt it straight to the floor. The reason the Drivers seat is lower, is because of me. I am 6' 3", and the inside of a 240 is a tight fit. I had to put extra effort into eeking the extra 1/2" out of it. Lesson learned.

[nismofly]

I'm not looking forward to the floor modification but its unavoidable for me too.

Nice project, looking forward to seeing it coming along. I don't know how I missed this thread for 4 months, but better to get caught up in 2 hours than have to wait for all the updates that have come and gone I guess.

[Ajax]

Yay updates. I've been bored here at work, now I can look at pictures again.I finally started working on my car again, but I'll try to find some time to head out to your build soon.

[PooPooButter323]

sun roofs on 240's are limited and you weld yours up lol...

sorta like all the 240's that get parted out. there wont be 240's pretty soon lol

[Ajax]

They cut a hole in the roof to get better access for the cage building. Sunroof was long gone

[heartofaskyline]

sun roofs on 240's are limited and you weld yours up lol...

lol. no there not, its harder to find a hatch without a sunroof than with one. i can throw a rock and hit 5 240's with sun roofs

[Didderson]

lol. no there not, its harder to find a hatch without a sunroof than with one. i can throw a rock and hit 5 240's with sun roofs

I agree, slickroofed 240's seem harder to find. It's all 'dem early 90's secretaries :P

On topic, Good update on the final seat install

[IanS]

Well, I didnt get nearly enough done today, as I had some other stuff to take care of, but whatever.

I cut out some pieces of metal to fill holes in the floor. I did the drivers side, but my knees and back were hurting, so I decided to move on to something else, once I had them welded in.



Im sick and tired of looking at the hideous engine bay. Plus, some of the work I have done, has built up some surface rust on it. I decided to get the front end ready for primer.

I started out by sanding everything, then cleaning up the heavy dust. Then I sprayed the whole mess down with Marine Clean, and scrubed away.



Then I rinsed it off, and let it dry. Once dry I sprayed it all down with Metal Ready.



Check out that foaming action.



I kept it wet for 20 minutes, then called it a night. I will get pictures of the results tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the problem areas POR 15d, and get everything primered.

[bllabong89]

looking good, like usual. I just ordered a mixed six pack of their por-15, a quart of their new flexcote, metal ready and marine clean. it cost a little bit but it sounds like you get what you pay for so Im excited

[IanS]

it cost a little bit but it sounds like you get what you pay for so Im excited

Do you ever. This stuff goes a long way. I did have an issue with painting it. On the can it said allow 3 to 5 hours for drying. I had the shop at 65 f, and I waited about 4 hours, yet I experienced some primer cracking. I will have to re sand, and primer some of it. Note to self, wait longer. Anyways, Im babbling, on to the pictures.

After a night with metal ready, left all the bare metal with a nice white haze.





After cleaning off the excess, Cale and I got down to business.



I had only planned on doing the problem areas, so I only poured a tiny bit. It ended up going way further than I thought.









As I said before, I allowed about 4 hours to cure, I went over it with tack cloth, and I hit the whole engine bay with a light coat of primer.





And after a third coat. It wasnt until midway through the third coat that I noticed the cracking. You cant see it in pictures.



Even with the cracking, its great to see in a solid color. I cant wait to see it gloss white.



Thats all for tonight. Hopefully I will get more done on Thursday.

[SR24DET]

Wow, everything is looking nice! When do you plan on haveing this beast driveable?

[motoman399]

And after a third coat. It wasnt until midway through the third coat that I noticed the cracking. You cant see it in pictures.

where is it cracking? im about to shave my bay and im just curious to know where i need to spend more time. thanks and looking good man

[Speedy7_7]

its cracking where the por 15 didnt fully dry. mostly the areas that we hit the hardest. if you allow it to dry, it wont crack, its all good though. The wonderful thing about paint is that; if you screw up, you can always do it again.

I think we need some opinions on the roll cage color. We want it to be different so no white or black, shoot out some ideas.

We will be fixing the primer on thursday, my heater took a dump and I threw my back out, so the projects going to have to wait a day.

i am going to force Ian to finish the steering rack, so that everyone can see how its done. he will finish the rack by next week or he will suffer.

we also need to finish assembling one coilover setup and paint them both.

Sorry, I'm so long winded, just one more thing. If anyone has a need for advertisement in MN or on any of the central regional events, shoot Ian an e-mail.

Thanks for reading guys, this project is a handful and we love to bounce ideas off teh intarwebs.

[Ajax]

The wonderful thing about paint is that; if you screw up, you can always do it again.

Damn Straight

I think we need some opinions on the roll cage color. We want it to be different so no white or black, shoot out some ideas.

Tiger stripes.

[eidk]

Ian i like your style. If/when im ever in your neck of the woods. I want your number. Cause we are gonna get DRUNK.

if you ever come to milwaukee and wanna drink.... let me know

[Ajax]

My drinking team has a rally racing problem.

[troskinatior]

Flat pink.

Thats diffrent

[IanS]

Ian i like your style. If/when im ever in your neck of the woods. I want your number. Cause we are gonna get DRUNK.

if you ever come to milwaukee and wanna drink.... let me know

Im stupid enough, I dont need alcohol to make bad decisions. I live a lame and boring life, which is why I feel the need to blast through the woods in a glorified shark cage on wheels.

Flat pink.

Thats diffrent

Im dead set on using a bright color, but pink has been done by someone else, so Im going to stay away from it. Im thinking bright green, blue, red, orange, or purple.

I also need to start thinking about the full paint scheme of the car, because that will have an effect on the choice. If any company is looking for some advertising, now is the time to speak up. This build has already picked up more than 20,000 views here on Nico, and its only going to get bigger, (wink wink).

i am going to force Ian to finish the steering rack, so that everyone can see how its done. he will finish the rack by next week or he will suffer.

Whats a steering rack?

[kouki munster]

Im dead set on using a bright color, but pink has been done by someone else, so Im going to stay away from it. Im thinking bright green, blue, red, orange, or purple.

Safety orange with neon green poke-a-dots.

[IanS]

Safety orange with neon green poke-a-dots.

Hahahahah. Ill consider it.

[kouki munster]

It is bright, and it is original, just don't stare at it to long, you might go into a seizure.

[bllabong89]

It is bright, and it is original, just don't stare at it to long, you might go into a seizure.

lol. nice. Imagine that, goin 100 plus through the woods and then start twitching away, for some reason that sounds like a bad day.lol Just remember, if you paint it a bright color that the sun will reflect off of, it will put a haze on the windshield. Kind of like if you were to paint your dash white, the bottom half of your windshield will be white from the reflection of light onto your window from the dash(my buddy learned that the hardway after he tried some ricer s***). Thats why dash boards are almost always dark. Where the cage gets close to the winshield, It may reflect the light, in whatever color you chose, onto your windshield. Just something to think about

[Ajax]

Green and purple for a color scheme- mimic the original joker-mobiles from the early batman?

[lbreevesii]

[QUOTE=bllabong89]lol. nice. Imagine that, goin 100 plus through the woods and then start twitching away, for some reason that sounds like a bad day.lol Just remember, if you paint it a bright color that the sun will reflect off of, it will put a haze on the windshield. Kind of like if you were to paint your dash white, the bottom half of your windshield will be white from the reflection of light onto your window from the dash(my buddy learned that the hardway after he tried some ricer s***). Thats why dash boards are almost always dark. Where the cage gets close to the winshield, It may reflect the light, in whatever color you chose, onto your windshield. Just something to think about[/QUOTE

pfftt the grey dash in my f'n camry does that. its HORRIBLE!

Lookin good as always ian. I would wait until you've decided on the rest of the paint to decide on the cage color.

[mattblancarte]

Hey, Ian. Been watching your thread closely.

Very interested to see what you do in terms of roof repair.

My car has some roof damage, and I am considering chopping the whole deal off at the pillars; then, welding a donor coupe's roof right back on.

I will also be adding cage braces to those pillars, so I figure I may as well go that route.

Have you heard of any issues with chopping the roof at the pillars, or have you seen it done anywhere?

Love the build, very inspiring!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Have you heard of any issues with chopping the roof at the pillars, or have you seen it done anywhere?

I believe Magikdragon and DJbutton did that with the NICO Time Attack car. IIRC, it was just to gain better access to welding in the cage.

[IanS]

My car has some roof damage, and I am considering chopping the whole deal off at the pillars; then, welding a donor coupe's roof right back on.

I will also be adding cage braces to those pillars, so I figure I may as well go that route.

Have you heard of any issues with chopping the roof at the pillars, or have you seen it done anywhere?

Love the build, very inspiring!

Well. The roof is a supporting member, and removing it without adding extra supports will cause the car to sag. If you decide to cut the whole roof off, you will need to add temporary bracing between the A, B, and C pillars to keep the car true.

Depending on the damage, you may be better off just cutting the skin off the roof, and welding a donor skin on.

I resanded the parts of the engine bay that needed it, and layed down some fresh primer. It looks good, and with a small amount more sanding, I will be ready for paint. The white is going to look good.

[mattblancarte]

Ah, yes, thank you for sharing your wisdom. It's a tough call. Some of the damage goes along the sides of the roof.

I could have a dent repair guy get the roof to "orange peel status" and then use filler to smooth it out, too. Either way, thanks a ton for the bracing info.