weld on front clip?

General discussion forum about the 240sx, and a great place to introduce yourself to the board!
bcuz
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I was talking with my brother, and he said that when you get a front clip that they can cut off your front clip ( the stock one ) and weld on the silvia front clip.... I have been researching the sr20 and stuff for a while and read stories about people doing the swap, and I thought that people pull the engine out the 240, then pu the sr20 in the car and if they want the silvia look they take the body panels off the front clip and put them on the 240.

I tried to tell him he was wrong but he insist that the way its done is cutting your clip off and welding the other on...


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89240sx
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I would think that taking the body panels and putting them on the car would be much easier and safer.

MainEvent212
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your brother is an idiot

cosmo
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^^OH!!!

OWNED!!!!!

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89240sx
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dont insult his brother , he may just not know any better.

MainEvent212
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yeah sorry, bad mood...

i just hate when people insist they're right when they're definately wrong...i've had a long day with that...

my friend has been tellin me how his integra w/ a B18 head and bored out type R bottom end is ognna have 250 hp...and he's gonna spend 3k...

i dont know how true this can be, but i doubt it and ive jsut sat and listened alllll dayyyyy

BuudWeizErr
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The closest thing to that would be to cut out the LHD firewall and (assuming it's in good condition), welding in the RHD firewall. To do that, you need to remove EVERYTHING from the 240 chassis, interior and the engine bay, then you have to be very exact on both the clip firewall and the 240 firewall.

Then have it welded in, and then sanded down to look as close to stock as possible (Leave the VIN plate alone), then put everything together and you have a completely legal RHD 240SX.

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89240sx
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MainEvent212 wrote:yeah sorry, bad mood...

i just hate when people insist they're right when they're definately wrong...i've had a long day with that...

my friend has been tellin me how his integra w/ a B18 head and bored out type R bottom end is ognna have 250 hp...and he's gonna spend 3k...

i dont know how true this can be, but i doubt it and ive jsut sat and listened alllll dayyyyy


it's all good :rockon

Cyberkreig
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I have actualy seen exactly what buud described.. RHD.. RPS13 vin stamped into the metal.. over all very nice.. and they moved the firewall back about 1" to give themselves some room to work.

BuudWeizErr
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If I get a job anytime soon that pays more than 10 dollars an hour, I will probably do that. Find a good body shop and have them do it, then do a bone stock SR swap and just use it as my fun car. Might not be a bad idea to do it to a convertible. I think that would be pretty tight with a Silvia face.

bcuz
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What I want to do .. is make mine a hard top convertable. I hate soft tops, they are just so lame. Like cobras.. I would never EVER buy one because whe nthe top is up it looks like a POS(compared to other $300,000+ cars..)

Anyways, I have medium level frame damage in the front, and I think it might be wise to swap in the whole clip. I really wanted to do the install my self, but my brother tells me the guy that will do it will do everything for 4k, and that includes swapping it from auto(geeze I gotta stop being so impulsive and think before I listen to my brother*) to manual. Also this means if he puts it on and something doesnt work.. Im giving him 4k to make it work. Its gonna suck to miss out on the expierence of all this though, but I could order a motor (not even a clip) for 3k with shipping, and then spend countless hours putting it in, and also paying for parts to do the auto-manual swap, plus paying for the body work I need done.. and that owuld come out to way more then 4k.

That is if its true that you can weld it on, and people are saying you can now... soo...

*What I was talking about is.. the car was at a gas station around the corner from my house, it was selling for 300$ and the engine was stalled or something. He convinced me to buy it (I talked the guy down to 250$) and how he convinced me was by saying "oh we can do the auto to manual its no problem". Its not but its a bigger deal then he made it out to be.

And one last question, after the front clip is on.. the frame of a silvia is the same as a 240 right? so I can swap on my stock body panels right? Because when I get the car painted I plan to paint those too, so that way I can have 2 cars :D if I feel like making some money, I go sleep style with the stock panels, if I wanna show off, I put on the silvia panels hehe.

bcuz
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wow that was a long post, sorry about that :D

MainEvent212
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you'd have to swap the headlights and everything also...

bcuz
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ah .. right..

Cyberkreig
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hold on.. I didnt say i had seen the clip cutoff.. just the firewall.

bcuz
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meh.. whatever.. I dont have 4stacks right now.. so when I save some money I will worry about it..

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SWIFT_DRIFT
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You are an idiot if you think you can just cut the front half of your car completely off and "weld" a cut clip on.

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krazy skwerel
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I must agree with swift. The entire cars structural integrity will be compromised. The car would be a worthless pile of scrap.

maxpower
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krazy skwerel wrote:I must agree with swift. The entire cars structural integrity will be compromised. The car would be a worthless pile of scrap.


integrity? this is a unibody... :rolleyes

there are cars where both the rear and front are clipped off, and if done right it will ride fine. I've hit 100+ mph speeds in a talon that had a front and two rear q-panels welded on to it.

Cyberkreig
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Thats right. Its a unibody.

Which means that the perfect alignment of things like the inner fenderwells and shock towers is a must.

congrats to you for making it to 100mph, I am sure there are any number of botchup crap piles that could do that.

Wonder what would happen to said talon in a 30mph Front end colision?

maxpower
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Cyberkreig wrote:
Wonder what would happen to said talon in a 30mph Front end colision?


i wouldn't know...it was stolen.

I've seen more than 2 chopped cars that were totalled after a front-end collision. the first was an eagle vision sedan with a neatly crumpled left beam. There were no visible breaks at welded connections. The second car, this was an amaizing site to see, a 300 series mid 1990s bmw. Head on collision with some type of wall or who knows what; it folded almost like an accordian. One difference witht his car however is that it was joined in front of the strut towers. both of these were fleet vehicles at a friend's shop, who has been doing this for as long as i can remember.

so yeah...wih enough monies you can get it back into good shape.

Cyberkreig
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I do not have any direct evidence to discredit you.. and from previous threads you dont seem like the kind to lie to prove a point.. so I'll take you at your word..

you have to excuse me if I wouldnt trust my life to someone's welding skills.

EDIT: yes i know various parts of the car are robticaly welded.. you probably get my point tho..

I H8 UR DSM
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This is just a retarted thread, LMAO....i cant even dignify it with a nice response.

In some european countries, body shops run a scam...They buy totalled cars, cut them in 1/2, find the other half in good condition, weld together and sell....If you think those welded cars are going to handle a collision the same way a 'normal' car would...you are, as swift said "stupid".

What are you saying is not a good idea. Yes, you can do it...yes your car can go 100mph....whats that mean? IF you have any real power, your chassis is going to flex (even the stock chassis, thats why when we build high HP cars, we have solid subframe connectors welded into the 240), and once that chassis flexes, especially with a car thats patched together, it wont 'flex' back, it your frame will never be straight.

If you had any common sense you would say to yourself to find a straight car, with no frame damage to do a swap.

But i'm sure people in the ghetto would be more than happy with a welded together car.

For what you want to do, i'd save up 5k, get a complete tube frame chassis built, then put whatever body you want on top of it:cool:

I H8 UR DSM
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bcuz wrote:What I want to do .. is make mine a hard top convertable. I hate soft tops, they are just so lame. Like cobras.. I would never EVER buy one because whe nthe top is up it looks like a POS(compared to other $300,000+ cars..)

Anyways, I have medium level frame damage in the front, and I think it might be wise to swap in the whole clip. I really wanted to do the install my self, but my brother tells me the guy that will do it will do everything for 4k, and that includes swapping it from auto(geeze I gotta stop being so impulsive and think before I listen to my brother*) to manual. Also this means if he puts it on and something doesnt work.. Im giving him 4k to make it work. Its gonna suck to miss out on the expierence of all this though, but I could order a motor (not even a clip) for 3k with shipping, and then spend countless hours putting it in, and also paying for parts to do the auto-manual swap, plus paying for the body work I need done.. and that owuld come out to way more then 4k.

That is if its true that you can weld it on, and people are saying you can now... soo...

*What I was talking about is.. the car was at a gas station around the corner from my house, it was selling for 300$ and the engine was stalled or something. He convinced me to buy it (I talked the guy down to 250$) and how he convinced me was by saying "oh we can do the auto to manual its no problem". Its not but its a bigger deal then he made it out to be.

And one last question, after the front clip is on.. the frame of a silvia is the same as a 240 right? so I can swap on my stock body panels right? Because when I get the car painted I plan to paint those too, so that way I can have 2 cars :D if I feel like making some money, I go sleep style with the stock panels, if I wanna show off, I put on the silvia panels hehe.


I dont think you understood what they are saying....you can buy a clip, take out the motor, cut out the firwall....take out your KA motor, cut out your firwall.....weld in the clips firewall, then install the motor. I dont they are telling you to take out the plasma cutter or sawsall, and cut from your apillar forward off, and expect to weld on that clip you have.....And i didnt read fully, but are you planning on cutting off the pillars, and roof, to make it a convertible? Do you realize your whole car is going to start to fall apart, and 'fold out'??

OMG, what a waste of my time this was...

maxpower
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neither would I. But you would be surprised if you knew how many cars that come of a dealer's lot have ben rebuilt, including new ones! anyway, this can lead to a much greater spinoff so I'm going to part.

OT> I'll be in York tomorrow cheking out a car... know of any events?

Cyberkreig
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you are gonna be in york? what car are you lookin @ & where?

singlecamhonduhkilla
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THIS IS A FUNNY POST.. I KNOW THIS GUY THAT I GOT TO SWITCH FROM A NEWER PRELUDE TO A 240SX S14.. AND NOW HE'S BEEN CLAIMING THAT HES GOING TO DO A S15 CONVERSION.. AND NOT ONLY THAT BUT HES GONNA WELD ON THIE S15 FRONT CLIP AND DO ALL THE WORK HIMSELF TO SAVE MONEY.. WUT A FUKKN MORON RICER.. I DONT KNOW HOW MANY TIMES IVE TOLD HIM THAT S15 AND S14 ARENT THE SAME SIZE TO BEGIN WITH.. AND HES LIKE WELL I CAN PUT AND MOLD PIECES TO FIT.. DAMN FUKKN RICER PUNKS!!! I SHOULDVE NEVER LET HIM GET THE 240.. DAMN MORONS...<VENTING!!! SORRY>JOE

I H8 UR DSM
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wow holy caps

Onizuka
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maxpower wrote:neither would I. But you would be surprised if you knew how many cars that come of a dealer's lot have ben rebuilt, including new ones! anyway, this can lead to a much greater spinoff so I'm going to part.

OT> I'll be in York tomorrow cheking out a car... know of any events?


Replacing a smashed quarterpanel is not the same as replacing a whole section of car as Bcuz is refering to. I wouldnt want to know how many laws a car manufacture would be breaking selling a car that does not retain its origional structural integrity. The whole idea of basically welding two difforent cars is RETARDED for quite a few number of reasons:

1) your car will have 2 vin numbers, and the most visible one will be from the clip. As we all should know, having two VIN numvers on ONE car is illigal. If you try and switch the vin plates, inspectors will think the car is stolen.

2) as was previously stated, it would be incredibly dangerous driving a car with a procedure like this performed on it. All of the welding creats new seems and breakpoints that were not in the origional design of the unibody. I side impact to the front of the car and you can kiss your legs goodbye.

3) just because the silvia/180sx has the same body as the 240sx coupe and hatch, doesnt meen it will fit perfectly, every car has slight variations even within its own production line.

4) Clips that come to our country are usually off of cars that have been smashed up a bit, then thrown into a crate where they bounce around till they get to the other side of the ocean, then handled with forklifts. Chances are, the clip will be in worse condition than what your car has right on the front of it already.

just my opinion though, if someone wants to do something incredibly stupid to their car, thats their choice.


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