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

General discussion forum about the 240sx, and a great place to introduce yourself to the board!
PHeller
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If you do end up going with a Bilstein insert setup, keep track of the information. I've been really interested in that idea, but the setup info, including the inserts themselves aren't the easiest to get ahold of.

How was the frame rust? I love where your going with this car, but I've always hated the dreaded S13 rust that develops. My damn car would need the whole front frame rebuild to withstand rally.


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IanS
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PHeller wrote:If you do end up going with a Bilstein insert setup, keep track of the information. I've been really interested in that idea, but the setup info, including the inserts themselves aren't the easiest to get ahold of.

How was the frame rust? I love where your going with this car, but I've always hated the dreaded S13 rust that develops. My damn car would need the whole front frame rebuild to withstand rally.
Actually the inserts themselves are pretty easy to come by. I thought it would be tougher to track some of the stuff down, but so far everything has been available. I will be detailing the whole setup in another thread, devoted solely to the coilovers.

I do have frame rust, and I plan to do exactly what you mentioned. I will be rebuilding the frame rails completely. For more than one reason. I have even sourced new rails altogether, but I have not decided to or not to go that route.

PHeller
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FlatBlackIan wrote:I have even sourced new rails altogether, but I have not decided to or not to go that route.
That sentence almost made my brain explode.

In your write up, could you detail where you get the parts and how much they were? Everyone always seems to leave that information out.

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audtatious
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Good project

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IanS
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PHeller wrote:
That sentence almost made my brain explode.

In your write up, could you detail where you get the parts and how much they were? Everyone always seems to leave that information out.
Hahahaha you dont even want to know whats floating around in my head.

Just to give you an idea. My whole coil setup will run around $1600, but that is with at least 1 extra set of springs, and 2 spare damper rebuild kits.

If you have the time, the skill, and tools, you can build a coilover setup to rival that of many of the high end brands. The benifit is, you can make them exactly to your specs.

In truth, for me, buying an off the shelf setup would have made more sense, but whats the fun in that. Im building a race car as much for the build as I am for the result. Its just what I do.

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Razi
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I don't know if it's allowed for your to modify your subframe for the race you're running, but there are bits of metal tabs welded onto the 240sx's rear subframe that was put there to help dampen noise.

I forgot the exact areas they are welded onto but if you remove them I heard you can lose a few pounds if you're really wanting to lose every bit of dead weight.

rsagen
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nice build so far..

do you know where a guy would find the white backround for the gauge cluster, that looks sick!

edit: Im not sure if ya have your front bumper off at the moment but if you do could you snap a couple pics and send em to me. Im having a b**** of a time trying to get em to fit 'just right'.

thanks and subscribed!
Modified by rsagen at 11:28 PM 11/14/2009

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IanS
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Razi wrote:I don't know if it's allowed for your to modify your subframe for the race you're running, but there are bits of metal tabs welded onto the 240sx's rear subframe that was put there to help dampen noise.

I forgot the exact areas they are welded onto but if you remove them I heard you can lose a few pounds if you're really wanting to lose every bit of dead weight.
Yep, I know all about those, they are going bye bye soon enough.
rsagen wrote:nice build so far..

do you know where a guy would find the white backround for the gauge cluster, that looks sick!

edit: Im not sure if ya have your front bumper off at the moment but if you do could you snap a couple pics and send em to me. Im having a b**** of a time trying to get em to fit 'just right'.

thanks and subscribed!

Modified by rsagen at 11:28 PM 11/14/2009
no idea where you could get the white face gauges, but Im sure one of the NicoClub sponsors sells them. I will probably ditch these, as the cluster is missing its clear plastic cover, and I have no idea if they work.

What do you want pictures of exactly, because there are pictures of both the naked front end, and the bumper itself off the car on page 2.

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baron_harkkonen
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Ian, still lookin good man. How hard was that rear subframe to get out?

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IanS
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baron_harkkonen wrote:Ian, still lookin good man. How hard was that rear subframe to get out?
Hahahaha, it depends on your level of experience. I have pulled S chassis subframes 5 or 6 times now, Ive got it down. Working on it by myself it only took me about 40 minutes to have it down and out of the car.

I ordered even more suspension stuff today, hopefully most of it will ship tomorrow. Im getting excited.

hbpignosePA
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yay for progress!!

definately interested in what you do for the rack

rsagen
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FlatBlackIan wrote:no idea where you could get the white face gauges, but Im sure one of the NicoClub sponsors sells them. I will probably ditch these, as the cluster is missing its clear plastic cover, and I have no idea if they work.

What do you want pictures of exactly, because there are pictures of both the naked front end, and the bumper itself off the car on page 2.
oh ok i seen the pics, the first time loaded the second page there they didnt load. just a problem on my end.

if you are ditchin em ill take em/buy em

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s13_chris
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FlatBlackIan wrote:I played on a pipe, and got used to the gun in my hands.
Thats what she said. hehehehe

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DMan II-40
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240sx_ch08 wrote:
Thats what she said. hehehehe
Nice lol!

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IanS
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Oh boy.

lbreevesii
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I'm really loving your build man. You're giving me ideas on weight reduction for my 240 hatch lemons build.

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sebazztard
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awesome build man.

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JDM Sil4ty
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lovin the build man .. im witcha !

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IanS
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Update.

Well, after talking to a few cage builders, I think I have settled. As long as the world keeps spinning the same direction, I should be dropping the car off at Davenport Racing within the next couple of weeks. Doug is a cool guy, and he is one of the few local rally guys. Most of my other options would have required trailering the car a long distance to have it caged. This way the car will be local, and I might even be able to check out the progress. I have a lot of work to do before then, but I think I can get it done.

Some of you may wonder why I dont build the cage myself, there are reasons. Rally America cages must be built to FIA spec, and the regulations are very strict. Also, the cage will be very closely scrutinized when I go to apply for a log book. They will closely inspect all the welds, bends, gussets, and mounting points. Without a pipe bender, and prodigious welding skill. Building an adaquit cage is currently out of the question. Its also something I plan to remedy.

On to the updates. I left off last time with the car essentially fully disassembled. Now Im moving on to some of the tougher work. In some of the previous pictures, some of you may have noticed the rust in the typical spots for an S13, where the fenderwell/strut tower meet the frame. I chose this as the plase to start my assault on the rust.

You can sort of see it in this picture. The thin fender well has almost completely separated from the rails, on both sides.



After attacking it with an angle grinder, and cutoff tool, I got to see just how far the rust had gone. Boy thats a big hole.



I also wire wheeled all the seems that will get stitch welded. Man the seam sealer they use is nasty.



The other side is almost as bad.



Besides the hole I cut, there is also a ton of holes in the fenders from the factory. Many are just filled with plastic plugs. Others were used for mounting power steering lines and other such rubbish. I will be changing that.



Gage getting ready to start stitch welding.



And hes off.



Not as pretty as some, but it'll do. The seam sealer was wreaking havoc on the way the weld was flowing.



With the stitching done, Gage took off, and I went to town on all the holes.

Sealed up tight.









With the holes filled, I started grinding them down. It didnt take long to figure out I need ear protection. Man that thing makes noise. I was at it just long enough for Cale to snap this picture.



I will be back at it tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I can get the plates welded on the bigger holes.

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Razi
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Looks awesome so far.

Ugh this reminds me that I want to take off my subframe to redo my bushings but it's such a pain in the butt. I might do it the same time I swap LSDs or something.

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IanS
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Razi wrote: Looks awesome so far.

Ugh this reminds me that I want to take off my subframe to redo my bushings but it's such a pain in the butt. I might do it the same time I swap LSDs or something.
I know what you mean. I will be doing the bushings very soon, and I am very much not looking forward to it.

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MagikDragon
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Ian, this is looking great. This thread really makes me want to get on the ball with the Time Attack car. I wish jobs were easier to come by...

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IanS
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MagikDragon wrote:Ian, this is looking great. This thread really makes me want to get on the ball with the Time Attack car. I wish jobs were easier to come by...
I know how you feel. Ive waited for years to start this project. Now I finally have the space, money, skills, and time to get things done right. Its a little hard to visualize the end result, but Im excited.

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Didderson
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Looks great man. What kinda MIG do you have? Feed set low for that metal? Plz halp i suck at mig but its probably because i have a chicago IT'L welder lol..

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motoman399
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great looking build. awesome choice on the welder. you will be very happy i have the model one below and have had it for 5 years and i love it.

to answer the above question. every welder is different and everyone has a different way of attacking. just practice practice and keep practicing. also flip the lid on your welder it will give a basic diagram of how to set it for the metal thickness.

good luck both!

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SILVIAJayS
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Hope to see you in Salem, MO sometime in the near future. Rally America comes through in February, do you think you'll make it this year? Lookin' good, keep it up!

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IanS
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SILVIAJayS wrote:Hope to see you in Salem, MO sometime in the near future. Rally America comes through in February, do you think you'll make it this year? Lookin' good, keep it up!
Man, I would love to make it to 100 Acre wood. Its a great event, but I will most likely be avoiding national events for most of next season. They are expensive, and I would like to spend this year getting the car sorted, and ready for serious abuse.

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gmac708
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Looking good Ian. It's going to be fun to watch this build.

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s13beast
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Im actually excited about this. Your such a beast.

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IanS
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Thanks for all the kind words guys. I have a metric butt ton of work left before next season, and it really helps to have someone other than Cale pushing me to get stuff done

Im too lazy to upload pictures at the moment, but the inner fenders no longer have holes in them, and sans a few areas requiring touch up, the engine bay is ready for sanding/paint, though that will have to wait till after caging. Pictures tomorrow. Im off to sleep.


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