Raymond's Slow and Steady Build Thread

[Rays_240]

I am starting this thread kind of late since I’ve had my current car for about a year now and have already sr swapped it and all that jaz.

I guess I’ll start this off with a little back story. When I was 17, I purchased my first car in the form of a 94 wrangler. After about a year or so, I got tired of going slow and crappy gas mileage. So I sold that and picked up my first 240. A 93 hatch, bone stock with 165,XXX highway miles. I picked it up off an older guy that was moving to England and needed to unload all his cars. He had two 05+ Toyotas but said he still preferred to drive the 240 on a daily basis. Here are a couple pics the day I picked it up.




The car was supper clean and never gave me any problems. Shortly after purchasing it I began to do little mods to it. I picked up a set of se wheels (painted black, fail), lowered it on tanabe springs and tockico struts, and picked up an em racing z-bar for the back. Heres a few pics throughout its life.








Unfortunately this car met its end about a year ago. I was sitting at a red light, second car back from the light. A girl, new to driving was making a right hand turn onto the road I was on. She was going way to fast and slid right into my drivers door totaling the car. pics...

[Rays_240]

yes the actual build part will be coming shortly

[s13_chris]

Wreck it out to insurance.Buy it back for cheap. Buy a S14 shell. Put the SR in that. You're welcome America.

[badbob2121]

well it was pretty clean, what are the plans for the build??

[Rays_240]

Ok, so after arguing with the insurance company for a week, I managed to get $3000 for the car and I bought it back for $200. Now my original plan was to fix the damage and pick up a sr. But after I explored the damage and talked to a few body shops I decided to just get rid of the car. The unibody under the fender was smashed and the door jamed itself back into the frame bending that all up. Not only that but the steering rack and rim were trashed as well. It only took me a couple of day to find my current 240. A black 93 hatch se with 170,XXX on it. It was decently clean except for the paint, looked like it sat in some acid rain. It was all stock except for an apexi cat-back. I wish I had pictures of when I first got it. Within a few weeks of having it I found a body guy to paint it and fix a few minor body problems. After he found out about my red 240 that was still in my garage, he made me a deal. He would paint my car as a straight up trade for my red 240. Now he was going to originally charge me 2k for the paint job so I took the deal. So the red 240 was gone and I had a fresh paintjob. pics...



I had the front mount installed when It was painted (it’s a little crooked and the car wasn’t actually boosted at the time)

[S13AL]

Nice hatch, very clean!

[badbob2121]

did you vinyl your tails all red? or is that just a glare... i cant tell

looks good though!! sweet deal on the paint

[Rays_240]

I own my own small sign business so I always have vinyl laying around. I used some left over red translucent vinyl on them. I think it makes the car look a bit more modern

[OM3GA]

Those cluster lights were not that bright were they? Did you adjust the camera so theyd look brighter?

[Rays_240]

they are pretty bright but I know he set the shutter really slow so it captured more light. They work with the stock dimmer switch so I can adjust them also.

[Rays_240]

Alright, this update should bring everything up to present day.

After the paint, I decided to save up for a big purchase. I wasn’t sure If I should do motor or suspension. Now I know almost everybody agrees that suspension should come first but I just couldn’t help myself. I purchased a sr swap from a semi local shop (brand j fabrication) that specializes in 240s. Id recommend them to anybody. It cost me 2k which I know is a bit pricey but it came with everything and I was guaranteed it would run great. At this point, I had been doing all the work on my car myself, with the exception of bodywork. I decided doing the sr would be no different. I swapped in the sr myself with the help of a buddy. After hunting down small problems, the swap turned out great. My biggest problem was when I hacked up the harness to shorten it and semi tuck it. But a wiring specialties harness fixed that, definitely worth the money.




After sorting out most of my small problems, I took the car to 75-80, a local 1/4mile track. The car the way it sits now ran 13.6 @ 104. stock sr with Meagan exhaust manifold and 3in turbo back exhaust. basic intake and cx racing front mount. I also had the boost at 12. The car was on stock suspension and 205 tires getting a horrible 2.3 60ft time and this was my first time at the track. idk if this is a good time or not but I was satisfied for the time being.

After the sr I realized my brakes needed an upgrade bad so I found a good deal on some 300zx 26mm calipers. I opted for the 26mm because of both price and the fact that I can fit them behind my stock wheels. I currently have the front on and I’m just waiting to pick up some ebrake assemblies to finish the rear.



These are some of the plans I have for it over the winter
-finish the brake swap
-es bushings
-fix leaky power steering and find a small coolant leak
-recircualte the bov
-get a catch can and hook it up properly
-save up money for stance lx coilovers in the spring
-maybe some interior stuff

[EnjoiNismo]

Thats a clean swap!

[Rays_240]

Thats a clean swap!

thanks man

[S13AL]

liking the car. Keep it clean!

[Rays_240]

I don’t have a good update as of now but I’m having a little trouble I was hoping someone could help me with.

Ever since I’ve installed my walbro 255 fuel pump my cars been making this crazy whining/groaning noise.
It comes from the gas tank area and no it’s not the sound of it priming. It used to happen only when the car had been turned off for a few hours. it would make this random groaning noise that would last for about 30 sec. It’s been getting worse now and it started doing it while the cars on/ driving. It will do it for a while then just stop or if I turn my car off it will stop. If I turn the car back on it doesn’t start doing it again. I’m worried that this fuel pump might be faulty. any ideas?

[Rays_240]

no one has any input on this?

[Gabes13]

Silly question, but does it make the noise on a full tank or empty?

Clean car btw!

[badbob2121]

hmmm... i had a walbro on my old evo 8, and you could definatly hear it whining, but it was constant under any acceleration

i just ordered a walbro for my sr this weekend, after i install it, if you havent figured it out ill let you know if i hear the same

[Rays_240]

how much gas is in the tank doesnt really seem to make a diff. Its not a whine like a normal fuel pump noise its like a loud groan with slight vibration. the fact that it does it with the car turned off is what really bothers me. today it did it agian while I was driving. I stopped and turned the car off but the noise didnt go away.

[Rays_240]

Ok so I’m still having problems with w/e this damn noise is and my cars been running odd now. It seems very slow at times and when it actually has power it misfires a couple times through the power band. I guess I’m going to have to hook up a fuel pressure gauge so I can figure out if the fuel pump is the culprit.

I got my stuff in from frsport last week, I ordered a few things on black friday. Hopefully I can at least get the catch can hooked up by the end of the week.



I have a question about hooking up the catch can. I know the factory one is between the crankcase and the valve cover. However, would it cause a problem to hook it up between the valve cover and the intake? I would still have a hose running between the valve cover and crankcase of course. Or will oil coming up from the crank case cause a problem in the valve cover?

[Rays_240]

also do i run this before or after the maf?

[Rays_240]

Small update...

Got all my radiator hoses on and fixed all the coolant leaks. Hooked my catch can up and kept melting the hose where it runs over the exhaust manifold. I picked up some nylon braided fragola hose and a thermal sleeve and fixed the melting. The car seems to be running a lot better with the crankcase ventilation hooked up properly.

Last week my shifter started to build up a lot of free play. So after doing a little research I found out the plastic bushing on the end of the shifter was toast. So I picked up one of these


Now it feels better than it ever did and hopefully won’t break like the plastic junk.

I ordered a set of nismo mounts that are supposed to be here tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll be posting some more pics then.

I’m still having issues with my fuel pump making noises. When me and my gf were doing some x-mass shopping I pulled into a parking spot and shut the car off, when the pump started making the noise my gf said it sounds like someone was holding the horn down on their car and I can’t really think of a better way to describe the noise then that. If anyone has any info on this or is, having the same problem let me know.

[S13AL]

It's amazing how much of a difference that little bushing will make in shifter feel. Does the pump make the noise when the ignition is in on position? That would be it priming, but aside from that i don't know why it would be running.

Pics of catch can installed?

[MICRoS13]

You have a good taste in clean s13's man

[Rays_240]

it does it when the key is turned in the off position, if i turn it the feul pump stops making the nosie and starts making the normal priming noise.

and thanks micro

[EnjoiNismo]

I bought OEM replacement shifter bushings twice, I broke both of them trying to put it on haha.

Weird issue with the fuel pump.
Is the fuel pump wired propertly?
Did you buy the fuel pump new or used?

[Rays_240]

I purchased the pump new through a vendor on here. Its definitely wired correctly and other than the weird noise it seems to be working great. Is it possible that anything else in the rear could be making a noise like that?

Got my nismo mounts in today, hopefully installing tomorrow.


Me and my friend are currently working on making a custom intake for my car since any decent ones are ridiculously expensive for some piping. I’m not sure however if the recirc fitting on the intake should be before or after the maf... I’ve been searching but without any luck

[Rays_240]

Small update



Inspired by razi's thread I picked up some maxima mirrors with a light blue tint. I think they look great and cut down on some nighttime glare.

I stopped by a local junk yard last week and found a gold mine 300zx. I picked all these parts up for $100




I just need some j30 axles and the lsd is going in. No more peg leggin

I got bored today and made some custom subframe support bar things(not sure what they are called) since mine were bent to s*** ever since I went to the track. If they work, I’m going to get some stainless bar stock and make better ones.

[S13AL]

I always get excited when I see this thread has been updated. I would have recommended s15 HLSD, because I love mine. Though, they get expensive.

[matt_240sx]

Wow, very clean car! Keep it up!