WHAT TO INSTALL

[Dnumbuh1stunna]

Alright guys heres the deal: I turn 16 in January and I am getting $30,000 to build my car. What im going to do is get an early 90's 240SX and hook it all the way up. I have two people telling me what to get but some extra opinions would be very much appreciated. I have a $30,000 budget to buy the car and everything. My first priority is performance. Thanks guys. Im pretty set on putting in a SR20DET J-spec engine. I want the car to be as reliable as possible while still being able to win a street race 9 out of 10 times. I also am planning on gettind the Tein EDFC so i can raise and lower the car. If there is any better type of suspension that offers that raising and lower charachteristics better let me know.

(NEW PLAN) alright after reading through all your guys' reply's, the overall mood is that im either BSing u guys or i'm gonna kill myself. So, here's my new devised plan: I have three brothers and for each of their high schools graduations they've gotten a new car with the last one getting a 03' ford lightning (36,000) so the new deal is to get a suv when i turn sixteen and over the 2 years i have until i graduate build that 240sx and have that be my graduation present. I figure that will give me enough time to adjust to the power the car has and such. do you guys agree?

Modified by Dnumbuh1stunna at 8:16 PM 6/16/2005

Modified by Dnumbuh1stunna at 5:44 AM 6/17/2005
Modified by Dnumbuh1stunna at 1:58 PM 8/15/2005

[AeonTorpor]

$30,000 at 16yr... for a 240?... Get everything.

[BadMojo]

$30,000 at 16yr... for a 240?... Get everything.

Hmmm... $30K for a 240sx? What should you get for it?

A 350Z...hah!

Anyway, $30K is a lot of money to spend on a 240SX. I suggest going to the 240SX & Silvia subforums and checking out the various engine swaps. Once you've got an idea of which one seems good to you, then you can start planning what to buy.

Any debate about which engine is better always ends up getting ugly, so I'd recommend picking one based on what seems right for you. With $30K you have enough money to get nearly any manner of weird engine in that car, limited mostly by the ability of the shop doing the fab work.

I suppose you can start by figuring out what your goals for this car are going to be.

[TheOne]

how about you spend 20k on a built ka with big turbo and supporting mods, even big brake upgrade, and give me the other 10k for givin ya this idea?.....good deal isn't it.

[Florida240sx]

Whatever engine you get if it's import 4k,Build it 7k, Turbo setup 7k install 3k suspension 2k then you get to cosmetics.You can tkae your car to Ivan he will put a built Ka in with AEM EMS for think he said 11k, think it was 13k with the same setup he had for the twinz car which is the 638rwhp/599ft/lb.You can have a car with a fresh engine and kill pretty much everything out there.On the street you will.Looking for street races you might lose once or twice but most likely not.What you want out of this car?

[RaceBoy69]

Let's say it's true. I will suggest to you to come down to Miami and talk with Frank a friend of mine that owns a place call Auto World, He has 2 skylines sitting at the port in Fort Lauderdale. All you have to do to make them street legal is toreplace the front bumper bar for a reinforced one. He can tell you where to get it custom made..I hope you will learn to drive on the RH side..

[wannawangan]

Interesting. Any more info on this? This info could put a certain Skyline importer out of business.

[TheOne]

but first of all.....get a stock 240sx, do not work on it till you have learned how to safetly drive it and control it, then control yourself to not speed unless it is on a legal place.

[Fenvy]

exacrly, I almost turned right into the curb after driving rwd for the 1st time... and I been driving 4 years when I first got the car

[phuphyter]

but first of all.....get a stock 240sx, do not work on it till you have learned how to safetly drive it and control it, then control yourself to not speed unless it is on a legal place.

I second that. All that power + rwd will get you into a lot of trouble in no time, especially with the amount of driving experience you have/don't have.

[Red coupe]

Not to sound like the jerk of the group...but.... your 15, any car with like 15k put into the engine is honestly going to be to much. Alot of young drivers crash their stock cars...it happens and with an engine that built it will definatly happen.Whos giving you 30k to build a car now?????? honestly you can have a damn fun 240 for less then half that, 15k would be so much better spent putting into some kinda investment, your to young to have a car worth that much, there is time for that later.

[Dnumbuh1stunna]

Is there any way you can get me the information on the Skyline(s) that your boy has in Ft. Lauderdale?

[jmw19_99]

Now don't take this the wrong way all, but even if the 30k is legit, I know i would never invest it in a 240. There are so many other options available when there is that kind of money involved. Also, I do agree that if there is gonna be money spent on a 240, do NOT spend more than 10-15k. You'll be stupid fast and torquey at that point. And because ur a new driver, it may only be a few weeks before you get into ur first accident because the car was too much for you to handle. I AM NOT SAYING DON"T DO IT. Do whatever you want man. I just don't want anyone to be dissapointed in their project, esp. if they crack it up. Good luck to you in whatever you do decide though. 1

[VinceSez]

i would use that money to buy a new car, say SRT-4? =X =) =P but yea... like red coupe says, you're still young and will most likely ruin your car before even having it for a year...

[bcar240]

From my experience (no stats here, just my observations) of males at that age. ~60-70% have an accident within the first year of license. ~90% have accident in first 3 years. Of those, ~50% are totalled cars, rest are non-terminal/fixable damage. This is overall, some of the wrecks were not the guys fault, so I am not saying you will crash your car. It is just a trend that is repeated over and over. But if you get a powerful car, just so super careful!

[Chingon]

How 'bout sending half this way so I can finish my double major?

The edfc is only a dampening adjuster, not height adjuster. I do not know of any coilover in the market that is remotely height adjustable.

You'd need airbags or hydraulics for that.

[97ka-t]

Buy my Kouki- drop a NEO Skyline engine in there. You'll be golden.

[Codeman05]

im sorry guys, im not trying to be a ttoaly d!ck or anyting because i dont even know this kid but im going to call BS on this one. i have seen this same thing hundreds of times on different boards. plus if you had 30k to spend on a car. why spend it on a 240. i could see 10-15k for a serious car but still you would almost never EVER get out of it what you put in it. personally i think that i would weigh that in on my decision because no matter how much money you have it never feels good to sell a car for $5k less than you have spent on it. and that doesnt include all the blood and sweat you put into it yourself.

and to the kid. if this is true and you have the money and you are set on a 240 then go find a nice S13/S14 (whatever your preferance) and learn to drive it first because no matter how good of a driver you may think you are once you get out on the road you will learn something new all the time. you can have the fastest or nicest car in the country but if you wad it up a month later then you dont get much satisfaction. then learn about your car, its capabilities, and research the mods that you want to do. dont go slapping whatever you can find on there and not have a goal to achieve. all that leads to is a waste of money and time.

and remember...doing things to your car yourself is almost always more satisfying than taking it to a shop (not that shops are bad). so learn about your car and ask for help when you dont know about things. dont be one of those dumb sh!ts that knows absolutely nothing about their car except where they took it to have it modded.

Disclaimer: if i offended anyone during the writing of this post i am sorry. i was only stating my personal opinions about this thread and it by no means reflects on NICO or any of its members.

[kingjag88]

You really should think a lot about what you really want from your first car. I got my 240 a few years ago, even before getting my license, and I had all kinds of huge plans for it...but now after learning the basics of driving, my plans are more rational and are more about what I want out of the car than just having the fastest car out there, and when things start to come together, I'm sure I'll be happier because of it. You're definitely lucking out with 30k in your lap (everything going into my cars are from me working/saving since 7th grade ) but I'd say you should get a car, and not necessarily a 240 either, you might find something else within your range that might fit what you're after more than an S13 since you have to remember the basic problems you'll have with a 15 year old car that might be a real pain if you don't first learn to maintain a car, and progressively mod it, rather than just piling money in it to find out it might not be what you really want, but rather what you think other people want you to want.

[dfw240_EE]

and remember...doing things to your car yourself is almost always more satisfying than taking it to a shop (not that shops are bad).

Exception, A/C stuff should LEGALLY be done at a shop, you aren't supposed to service that yourself.

i would use that money to buy a new car, say SRT-4?

I would go for a Saturn Sky myself when they come out RWD 2.4L, nice sharp-looking car to drive around daily. I guess for a new car I want something nice I can keep stock and running for nearly forever so I am free to play with the 240SX. I am thinking autocross or maybe even Open Road Racing, like targas. http://www.bborr.com/rules.html as an example. (Of course with gas prices I may be getting a scooter for a daily driver!!!)

[Nanaimo]

Alright guys heres the deal: I turn 16 in January and I am getting $30,000 to build my car. ...

(NEW PLAN) alright after reading through all your guys' reply's, the overall mood is that im either BSing u guys or i'm gonna kill myself. ... so the new deal is to get a suv when i turn sixteen ... do you guys agree?

Absolutely not. SUV's lead you to have a false sense of security. It actually makes you more likely to injure yourself or others in an accident. The size of an SUV leads people to believe that they are safe, so they take more risks. Unfortunately due to their size, SUVs have horrible active safety (braking and handling), and due to their truck-like construction they have horrible passive safety (the frame folds or the cabin is sheared off the frame in a crash).

A well set up but not overpowered for your experience level sporty car can be far safer because of the better handling, braking, and crumple zones, and less unrealistic feeling of safety.

If you must spend $30,000 and your desire is for performance, my recommendation is this:

1) Take drivers ed.2) get a used stock KA24DE 240 or something similar in really nice condition. Have it thoroughly inspected and fix anything that's wrong.3) take a really good defensive driving course4) Try autocross and time-speed-distance rallies a few times5) Get a cold-air intake and/or a CAT-back6) Try more Autocross/rallies7) Get a performance header and high flow CAT8) Try more autocross/rallies9) Take a really good performance driving class10) Try more autocross/rallies11) Suspension upgrades and LSD12) more autocross/rallies13) now it's time for either (a SR20DET swap) or (Cams, port & polish, injectors, spark, pullies, flywheel, clutch, and ecu upgrade)14) more autocross/rallies15) if you didn't do the SR20DET, add boost and intercooling16) more autocross/rallies17) nitrous wet kit, if it can still be done without blowing up your engine18) More autocross/rallies

Between the mechanicals, the lessons, tires and brake pads, and all the entry fees for the autocross and rallies (practice!), that should use up about $30,000. Sure you could do it cheaper by getting all the upgrades at the same time (At least WRT the engine), but this way the car grows with your ability to drive it.

Of course my car is only at step 5 (and it's a SOHC).

[rexhunta]

You should watch pimp my ride and hook it up like qouk vets..fully sick, it'll looks sooooooo fast.

[dfw240_EE]

Nanaimo, if he would be focusing on autocross, then shouldn't suspension upgrades come before cold-air or cat-back? Unless you suggest CAI/cat-back for him to gain experience working on his car. That might make sense.

[Nanaimo]

I was using the combination of autocross and TSD rallies so he could have practice with both performance driving (but at lower speeds) and driving smoothly, not so he could win lots of titles.

[smokey240sx]

give me the 30k and i'll build you a super duper 240. Once done I get to keep what is left.

[GripR]

$30K

go to kart racing school

buy a stock 240 and leave it stock

go auto x'ing i'd say have 10 events before you try road racing.

as i always say to newb's don't let your car out grow your driving abilities.

[Nismo_Freak]

Alright guys heres the deal: I turn 16 in January and I am getting $30,000 to build my car. What im going to do is get an early 90's 240SX and hook it all the way up. I have two people telling me what to get but some extra opinions would be very much appreciated. I have a $30,000 budget to buy the car and everything. My first priority is performance. Thanks guys. Im pretty set on putting in a SR20DET J-spec engine. I want the car to be as reliable as possible while still being able to win a street race 9 out of 10 times. I also am planning on gettind the Tein EDFC so i can raise and lower the car. If there is any better type of suspension that offers that raising and lower charachteristics better let me know.

(NEW PLAN) alright after reading through all your guys' reply's, the overall mood is that im either BSing u guys or i'm gonna kill myself. So, here's my new devised plan: I have three brothers and for each of their high schools graduations they've gotten a new car with the last one getting a 03' ford lightning (36,000) so the new deal is to get a suv when i turn sixteen and over the 2 years i have until i graduate build that 240sx and have that be my graduation present. I figure that will give me enough time to adjust to the power the car has and such. do you guys agree?

1. Your parents financed the 30k, big difference between paying it out in cash. 2. Your parents would be stupid to give you that kind of car at your age3. Yes I know what I'm talking about, and no I'm not old. 4. Don't worry, odds are you will pull off some stupid stunt and wreck the car. 5. Buy a crapbox, and learn how to drive before you decide to spend the money.

You have zero driving experience, much less any actual high performance driving experience, the last thing you need is a high performance machine.

I know you don't want to hear it, my parents told me the exact same thing and I thought "what do they know" but truth is, you will soon see why when one of your buddies gets a fast car and puts it into a ditch.

Best advice you can possibly get right there.

[compression]

calling BS on this complete post.

Dont waste your time guys.

If the guy is serious, then he can just follow the path of the thousands of other S13/SR 240's out there, its not a hard path to follow.

[Mr.Sandman]

1. Your parents financed the 30k, big difference between paying it out in cash. 2. Your parents would be stupid to give you that kind of car at your age3. Yes I know what I'm talking about, and no I'm not old. 4. Don't worry, odds are you will pull off some stupid stunt and wreck the car. 5. Buy a crapbox, and learn how to drive before you decide to spend the money.

You have zero driving experience, much less any actual high performance driving experience, the last thing you need is a high performance machine.

I know you don't want to hear it, my parents told me the exact same thing and I thought "what do they know" but truth is, you will soon see why when one of your buddies gets a fast car and puts it into a ditch.

Best advice you can possibly get right there.

Nismo_Freak...Thank you, thank you. You've stated what needed to be said right after the young guns #1stunner cat. I agree on every point you made, and more needs to be said. I dont know who died and left this dude a will for 30k, but all i know is.....This cat will have all the stupidest sH*t put on a 240 and end up wrecking it....With out a doubt this guy is going to through away 30k on little dreams that will crash and burn.

#1stunner, my opinion..dont have to listen, most viewers will read it. Find a garage, buy some tools.. Not that bull**** cheap stuff, get as much craftmen tools as possible.(life time warrenty on plenty of tools)Second go out and buy yourself a 240sxS13, put only 5 grand into it. You do your own work with your buddies. You must first learn how&why a car works before you can race it. If not, you crash and cry. Once you learn a sh*t ton about cars and motors, then learn some more. Once you understand, Get a FDRx7 and do a 3rotor swap. If dont beleive me, and all you anti rotary guys. http://videos.streetfire.net/P...1&p=1

By the way, thats not a 2.6litter...That engine is way to high pitch, even for a 2.6. Its a A-10motor, displacement 2-rotary=1 liter. X2...oooyeah, and its NA
Modified by Mr.Sandman at 5:48 PM 8/22/2005

[GripR]

craftsman tools will no longer be offering life warrenty...