Ok so I finally installed my S13 Silvia front end last week on my 240 and I have a few questions regarding the results of the install.

1. I could not get the front bumper core support from my 93 240sx to work with the Silvia bumper cover. First I tried removing the foam and tried to just use the couple of attach points on the top of the bumper core as well as the4 or 5 studs and nuts where the bumper cover meets the fender to hold my bumper cover on. That didn't work (Bumper core support seemed to wide to properly fit in bumper cover) so secondly I removed my 240sx bumper core support completely only to completely rely on the 4 or 5 studs and nuts where the bumper cover meets the fenders as the sole attaching point. This works, but now I have this ugly 2" to 3" gap in between the bottom of the headlights and grill and where they meet the bumper cover. I mean from 10ft everything looks nice, then you walk up close and you’re like WTF.

2. Do I need to get an 180sx or Silvia bumper core support to complete this swap? I can’t remember back to when I first performed this swap on my 96 180sx and put my first Silvia front end on. I do recall that the swap was simple and straight forward no real issues with fitment this must have been do to the fact that it was JDM to JDM vs. JDM to UDM. Only odd bit of information I can remember a little something about individuals cutting the middle section out of there bumper core support's and just using the sides however I thought that was do to FMIC fitment issues.

3. Has anyone come up with a way to correct or minimize the driver side headlight aim problem? I really can't tell how bad the aim is since my H3c bulb is blown and I can't find a replacement anywhere locally (Advance Auto, Auto Zone, ...) about to have my buddy send me a pair from Japan or Italy don’t like what I find on eBay. Any help with any of these issues would be helpful. I’ve searched but I can’t find any useful info

'bumper core' means rebar, I take it? If so, then yes, they are different and I believe you need it.

Yeah I'm talking about the metal core to the bumper. So I need to find one from a S13 Silvia. Wow shipped back three S13 Silvia conversions from Japan and forgot the most important part the bumpers and bumper core WOW I feel small.

Anybody know of any work arounds or I'm willing to trade a one of my other S13 silvia front conversion for one bumper core
Modified by rawphusion at 11:40 PM 10/22/2007

I had a Silvia one with my frontend,You could just not use one like alot of people do but the bumper sags down and doesnt look as good.

Heres some pics to see if you can tell a difference in size of them.

putting the usd one on the car.

jdm one off the car. the silvia one is alot smaller..

Hope that helps some..

Oh the car the silfront went on,RHD mmm now RHD sileighty 5lug welded diff etc.

reason for the frontend trade was I got a good deal,

Any one Have a better front shot of the Bumper core support, so I can see how much metal I need to cut out to get it to work for me

And this core support is for sale by the way, but shipping would be a bear.............

I wouldn't recommend trying to modify the US bumper support to work. Aside from making it a useless hunk of extra weight, the bumper cover bolts to the support in places that the US support doesn't have holes. So while the support will clear the cover, the cover will bounce and wave in the breeze because it's not tied to the support like it should be.

There's an article on our 240 tech page for NICO that goes through retro fitting a set of Acura TSX headlights into the low beam of the silvia projectors. If you have some good fabricating skills, you can take just about any 2.5" projector assembly and fit it into the silvia housing. That would be the best way to eliminate the cutoff aiming towards oncoming traffic.

Also, I was under the impression that the bulbs were H3 bulbs, not H3Cs. I'll pull mine out soon and check to see what exactly they are. I know I've seen online retailers carry the H3Cs for about $60-$70 a pair (ouch!)

I did this frontend conversion on my '93 coupe and had the same problem with trying to get the Silvia bumper over the bumper reinforcement, it just wouldn't fit and without it the bumper would sag and not look right besides the fact that it's a safety issue also. You don't need the JDM support, just take your stock support off, drill two holes about 1.5 to 2 inches behind the stock holes which will allow you to mount the support further back on the car so your Silvia bumper will fit over it. Mine fits very tight and does not sag. I also fixed that huge gap where the hood meets the grill.