Question about building a 240 "race car"

[nismofly]

sohc ka-t's are all custom, theres a few companies that make the manifolds and then you assemble the other stuff yourself

[GhostDriver]

Definately...I think that the SOHC KAs are gnarly because you need to know about turbos to build one. NOt an off-the-shelf kit. I'm actually looking to build a track worthy/ daily driver 240SX but I know it won't be easy or any time soon for that matter.

[benemorius]

But wouldent I blow the sh*t out of the stock ka lets say if i put a t-66 on it and kept the boost somewhat low? heh heh

No.

yea, there are people with reliable 400whp (and up to 600 now) KAs but not on stock internals. Ivan did make over 400whp on stock internals but that was for a couple dyno pulls and a little road time then the ring lands went. i would never trust 400whp out of a stock block KA.

I probably worded that poorly. I meant that in more of a "not quite at 400, but knocking on it's door" sense. Everybody seems to agree on 350 being a perfectly safe area.

[sanioll]

for a daily driven workhorse that'll put smile on your face, I wouldn't go more than 300 rwhp on stock internals.

[HashiriyaS14]

You can really run 300whp on bone-stock KA internals?

I figured it'd be like 200-225. Shows how little I know about KA-T setups....time to go read up.

EDIT: How many ACTUAL 240 race cars do we have on NICO? By "race" I mean road-racing, and not autocross. Who all actually has a 240sx (or S12!) that they race in sanctioned roadracing events that aren't auto-x?
Modified by HashiriyaS14 at 2:21 PM 5/4/2005

[nismofly]

meaning like club racing? quite a few people run hpde's at the various tracks, but i think theres not that many actual racers, only like 2 i can think of off the top of my head

[vvaffle]

meaning like club racing? quite a few people run hpde's at the various tracks, but i think theres not that many actual racers, only like 2 i can think of off the top of my head

Who would they be? I would love to be able to do that, but it takes alot of money, and skill. Right now, I don't have enough of either but it would still be nice to know how other people got to that point. Regarding the coupe vs. hatch thing, does anyone know which one has a stiffer frame? Also the welding thing, I hear terms like spot welding and seam welding. I have a slight idea of what they mean but if someone could explain it in greater detail that would be great.

[duff0000]

Im sorry, I should have been clearer on the title, I dont really plan on making this a "track only" car, even though i plan to taking it to a track once or twice when its finished. I plan to drive it on the street and just want somthing that gets up and goes pretty fast bascailly a "race car" for the streets, it will not be my daily, and like Ive stated before, im gonna strip all I can out of it. 400hp should satisfy me fine... Untill i start to get tired of it and want more power lol, its such an addiction

[TurboKA37]

seam

Who would they be? I would love to be able to do that, but it takes alot of money, and skill. Right now, I don't have enough of either but it would still be nice to know how other people got to that point. Regarding the coupe vs. hatch thing, does anyone know which one has a stiffer frame? Also the welding thing, I hear terms like spot welding and seam welding. I have a slight idea of what they mean but if someone could explain it in greater detail that would be great.

to make production more cost efficient a lot of manufactuers use strong epoxies to hold together sections of the car (take a look around the engine bay and near the firewall, you will see what i am talking about) what seam welding is, is when you go and re-enforce these joints by welding the sections together, this makes the joint much stronger and the car more rigid.

[Juujai]

the coupe is about 30~lbs lighter and stiffer. but you should choose based on looks rather than on that. it's nothing marginal.

i personally wouldn't buy a 240 just to "turbo it" in your situation. you already have an s2000 which outhandles, outbrakes, outcorners, outruns any "mildly 5k tuned 240" anyday. the 240s handling would feel like slop compared to your sports car, everything is jus t so worn out especially all the rubber on the car. if you want to track: so turbo on a 240 wouldn't really be a solution for you. if you want a 240 to beat on at the track just buy one really cheap, maintain it, drop it, buy multiple sets of sticky tires, a 2-way lsd, carry some track only brake pads

if not then just put some RHEEEMS!!! aye, drop, eKhaust, aero and paint job.

[duff0000]

I would think a 240 with an sr engine (stock turbo) mildly modded (full exhaust,bigger injectors, and some upped boost, and a decent tune) would beat an s2 in streightline perfomance. Am I wrong, what do they usaually put out hp wise with the mods I stated.

I just want to gear my car towards hauling *** lol, i figure I can get a shell anywhere from 400-800 and just pt the rest into the motor....

[HashiriyaS14]

Wait, I must have missed that... You have an S2000?

You're going to have to put a TON of money into an S13 to make something that'll lap faster than a stock S2000.

Just put the money into the S2k. Get a TODA stroker kit and stretch that redline up to 11,000. Get some carbon fiber bodywork (extensive, not just hood) to drop that weight even more, then improve your braking and add incredible tires.

Hold on, do all that in the totally reverse order of what I just said. :-D

[duff0000]

Guys, I do not want to make the 240 into a track car. I want it just to haul on the highway, for that purpose only. I have the s2000 to handle well and play around the track.

I need to change the title of this thread

[Juujai]

if you want the 240 for a daily driver then... rb26dett gtr motor for you. since theres no track involved and you just want to kick some aszz right? it owns on the freeway for sure, eat anything alive wangan style and it pulls hard to like 180mph+ =).

ditch the twin turbo for bigger single, giant maybe dual injectors, dual pumps, giant intercooler, 3row radiator and efan, and ecu tuning, push it to like 500-800hp and damn its over.

if youre good with motor swaps/wiring harnesses... get a gtr front clip and some custom mounts and gogogo. since it doesnt matter if the car has down time. a lot of us use our cars as daily drivers so we need it running all the time can have it up on jacks...

youre looking at about 6k for a typical front clip from a 32 or 33 +custom stuff+goodies.

[Juujai]

to the flywheel itll push 205hp in brand new condition, downpipe can add about 10-15hp, exhaust can add from 5-15hp, fuel pump needs to be changed for more boost, same with the stock smic after about 10-12psi it doesnt cool as well not sure how much hp is gained from a bigger intercooler, an aftermarket air filter sponge/cone can add some hp. raising the boost will basically get you around 250~rwhp.

i suggest rb26 still. sr is more of a lighter weight engine thats easy to get replacement blocks/heads for circuit/drifting. rb is a heavy circuit/drag motor.

[duff0000]

An RB motor would be great. I dont have the funds for one though. How do you feel about a done up SR with a t-66 on it?

[drifter_for_life06]

lets be honest some of your questions are "iffy' to say the least on these boards(i.e the KA vs. SR idea)

TO answer your question:

No year is necessarily "better" than teh rest. Your budget plays a huge roll in bulding the car. Start off with a set budget of what you want the stock car to be. Find one that sutis your budget and has the right "criteria" for what you are looking for. Research into the type of racing you plan to do and find some good suspension setup and go from there. Once you have the suspension plans, invest into them further and get the car handling good. This gives time to"learn" the cars capabilities. Aso a good time to gut the car to save weight before power too. Once you are done/satisfied with the suspension and entire handling of the car, begin to modify it. Start out small or go big with a swap/turbo, whatever your budget can call for. I would recomend turboing the stock motor and doing the BPM(i.e. intake, exhaust, dp, bov,fmic and all the necessary tubro upgrades) if you plan to run high boost be sure to get new internals and new fuel system or you will find yourself SOOL. If you plan to go the swap direction, again do the BPM and get a bost controller to slowly increase the boost, the stock tubro will be needed to be replaced if you want to exceed 15psi(on the S13 Sr's that is) upgrade the fuel and turbo(everything mentioned for the stock turbo build)

Somewhere in the lines of power upgrades you are going to need new drivetrain, too much power you are going to burn your clutch to pieces. A new clutch and flywheel are a great idea. A short shifter works too. If money permits and you feel the need a new LSD and drive-shaft would also not be a bad idea.

That is just my take on things.

[GhostDriver]

giant intercooler

Let's not use the word giant. How about 'more efficient.' But then again, a single slug RB might need a "giant" cooler.lol

[nismofly]

An RB motor would be great. I dont have the funds for one though. How do you feel about a done up SR with a t-66 on it?

you were talking about wanting it to be just like a nice streetable car and everything but yet now you want a t-66? thats like opposite ends of the spectrum...the stock turbo is fine for daily driving

[Florida240sx]

The car is streetable with a t-66.As long as he never sees boost .

[nismofly]

it would be pretty fuel efficient that way too

[drifter_for_life06]

the t-66 idea is preosterous

if you wanted to upgrade the turbo just raise the stock boost or get a T-28 or something. t-66 IMo is out of the question

[Juujai]

3037 is probably the biggest i'd do.

lol t66 would be very gas efficient. since he wanted a street online car. suspension tuning wouldn't be as effective. all u need to do is pretty much replace the worn out bushings.

then slap on big hp like all the "other" drag racers out there without coilovers. a lot of supra owners only have lowering springs... and dump on their money on turbo tuning lol. i guess only drifters and circuit guys care about coilovers arms/rods and lsds.

seriously though if you really want to tear every 427, ls1 whatever supra, ferrari, porsche gt2, you see. save up and invest in a rb26 with some heavy turbo tuning. its a small amount of money for what it can do so i say save until you can do it and drive the stock car daily for a while. thats if you're down