White S14 Kouki LS1 DD Build Thread

[GoodzKouki]

Hey guys, new to the forum and wanted to finally do a build thread once in my life. I've always wanted to find a clean stock kouki and put an ls1 in it, well the day has finally come and I decided to go ahead with it instead of buying a BRZ or something else that was new, expensive, and slow. I want to build something that's perfect for me. My first car was an s13 that I KA-T'ed, then I got a S14 that I KA-T'ed, then I got my current car that was a 100% stock S13 with a RB25 thrown in. This is my current baby that I have sent a lot of time/money working on and turning into a fun car, but now it's time to say goodbye to the S13 and start the project I've wanted for some time now. So here we go, this is my newly acquired 1998 240sx se auto with 76k original miles 100% stock .

Just picked her up and got her loaded on the trailer. Car was purchased by a kid who didn't put it on the road, but just let it sit outside under a tree for 8 months You can't really tell in the pic, but she was very dirty.


My good buddy and my soon to be brother-in-law helping me out.


Used a 3M magic eraiser wheel to get rid of the black and gold pinstripe. This is before I gave the car a wash. Plenty of nasty green smegma hidden in all the nooks and crannies


Finally after I got back from the dmv and inspection station I gave her a wash.




I'll try my best to post regularly, like I said I'm new to this whole "being a part of a forum".
Pretty much here is the general game plan for the car:
Suspension - ordered
Brakes - ordered
Q45 rear - picking up from salvage yard this weekend
Sikky LS1 kit w/ wiring specialties harness (keeping A/C )- will purchase after motor is ready
Gen 3 LS1 with T56 - being delivered this weekend
Stuff to freshen up the ls1 + a cam - will order once I decide on what I'm using
wheels/tires - running out of budget money so these will be purchased last
cosmetics both interior and exterior will come later down the road, don't worry not going to "rice" it out. I like stock looking clean cars.

[nissangirl74]

Subscribed.

[stm37s]

This should be a fun build, a lot of people are putting LS1's and so forth into smaller cars from Japan and putting up some good numbers. Keep us posted man

[sx moneypit]

I would keep it bone stock except for the LS1 and the diff.
Super sleeper!

[GoodzKouki]

Pretty much lol, The only things looks wise I'm doing is wheels and an oem kouki lip black. I'll have an update coming tonight or tomorrow. Today was a busy day and I have lots of cool stuff to share. Thanks guys for follow this build.

[GoodzKouki]

Hello everyone. So I was very busy with weekend with boring life stuff, but I did manage to get some stuff done with the car. I also got a bunch of parts in.

I'll start off with the most important item:


Starting taking the motor apart, changing all the seals, new water pump, oil pump, timing chain, the valve train is getting pretty much replaced, LS7 clutch/flywheel, and finally dropping it in with a sikky kit.




Picked up a 1991 q45 complete rear subframe from a local salvage yard. VLSD with 3.54:1 ratio, big a** output shafts & axles, aluminum knuckles same as 300zx. All I need is a driver side 300zx TT axle and I'm ready to bolt all this up.


Here's some random other stuff that showed up over the weekend.





It was a solid weekend of getting stuff done. I'm still waiting on parts to arrive. During the week I'm going to wire wheel and sand blast the Diff/knuckles. Hopefully I'll get all the energy suspension bushings pressed into the knuckles this week. Have to thank my buddy John for giving me a hand this weekend. He has a LS1 swapped s13 coupe that he built over the winter so he's been a big help.

[stm37s]

Good update brother, keep us posted

[GoodzKouki]

Hi Everyone, Here's a quick update. Got a bunch more stuff in the mail, but still waiting on everything to arrive.

A bunch of gaskets for the LS1.


Isis suspension arms.


Finally found a 300zx TT driver side axle. Lost an ebay bid a couple days ago for a lot of damn money, then the next day find a listing from a salvage yard with the axle for next to nothing . This was after I cleaned them up. The top one is the q45 driver side axle and the bottom one is the 300zx TT Driver axle.


Going to be sandblasting the q45 aluminum knuckles this weekend and pressing in the energy suspension polyurethane bushings.


Was a little pissed to find out I have a LS1 intake manifold on my motor. All 01+ LS1 came with the LS6 Manifold, the serial number on mine indicates that I have a 97-00 Corvette LS1 manifold installed on this 01 Camaro SS motor.


Plans for the weekend are to get the motor cleaned up and reassembled with all the new gaskets. Install the cam/head stuff. Install new seals in the diff and clean/paint the pumpkin. Next post should come early next week.

[nissangirl74]

Looking good!

[GoodzKouki]

Thanks I'll have another update soon. Stupid work and life get in the way of race car

[GoodzKouki]

Wilwood Superlite front brakes


Comp Cams Kit, 224/230 cam 114 lsa, billet duel row timing chain, ls7 lifters, hardened pushrods, duel valve springs, new valve seals & valve locks. Also a Melling High Flow oil pump.


Burned the old rubber bushings out of the aluminum q45/300zx knuckles, sand blasted them, and pressed in the energy suspension poly bushings.

[GoodzKouki]

Started taking the motor apart, cleaning old caked on head gasket is the worst









Cleaned up the rear diff and primed for paint.



Just a quick shot of the s13 looking at the work being done, and also a shot of the big a** garage



Here is what I hope to get done:
This weekend get most of the motor back together.
Next weekend get all the suspension, brakes, and rear/axles/hubs in the car.
Weekend after that get the KA & auto trans pulled out.

Next update should come next week. Peace out

[Fbomb19]

AWESOME!
Is that q45 rear set up a direct bolt on for a s14? I never knew it was. Sweet.

[GoodzKouki]

Kind of lol. I forget the exact years, but the early 90's Q45 rears have the even spaced 6 bolt output shafts same as the 300zx TT diffs. You have to use a 300zx TT driver axle, a Q45 driver axle, and hubs from either a q45 or 300zx TT cause the splines are different on these axles. The diff cover has the same two bolt pattern that the s14 diff has so I hope it fits, if not then I'll just swap over the s14 cover. After you have all that stuff then yes it is bolt in.

[2.4Loflove]

Always liked Kouki S14s, subscribed!

[Caramanos2000]

This is badass!

[GoodzKouki]

Hey guys, more motor stuff. staring this week hopefully I'll get the suspension and brakes into the car.

Got the factory cam out



Put the new cam in


Started taking the heads apart, out with the old.



Just a little valve lapping to make sure the valves are seated nice and tight


Here's one of the heads assembled with the new comps cam goodies


Dropping the valves back into the other head


Taking off the stock timing chain gear and oil pump collar


The new billet sprocket double chain


Drilled some drain holes into the lifer trays and installed them with the new lifters


Head gaskets on, I have the heads sitting back on the block. I'm just waiting to get my hands on a better torque wrench before bolting the heads back on. After I'm done that then I have to degree the cam in to make sure everything is good to go.


Till next time.

[2.4Loflove]

How long have you been working on engines?

[stm37s]

You really put in work on this one bruh!!!

[GoodzKouki]

How long have you been working on engines?

I've been working on cars for about 9 years. Before that it was dirt bikes, go-karts, go-peds, lawnmowers, etc. My first 240 I got my senior year of high school. I boosted the KA with 200K miles on it. That one ran great for about 3 years until I hit a pole on some icy roads The next one I had was a S14 Zenki that I swapped my turbo kit over to and did a bunch of other stuff to. I sold that because of rust issues. Finally I bought a bone stock s13 that had a stock rb25 swap. I've done suspension, wheels/tires, brakes, interior/exterior (still needs paint), GT30 turbo, tuning, etc. I've had her about 3 years now. As far as messing around with Merica engines this is my first time. I've also never done valvetrain work other then putting cams in. Lets hope this thing runs Me and my buddies are constantly wrenching on cars. We help each other out with all our projects.

Here is a shameful plug for my 240's

1993 240sx SE, KA24DE-T, T3/T4 50 Trim Turbo, ~220-230 whp, RIP





1996 240sx SE, KA24DE-T, T3/T4 50 Trim Turbo, ~ 220-230 whp, sold




1990 240sx SE, RB25DET, GT3076R Turbo @ 16psi, 335whp@12psi & 400whp@18psi, maybe for sale

[2.4Loflove]

Neat! I've had my s13 since high school, the KA is still going with 230k on it. Never went boost, just going to go SR. The chassis has some rust issues but nothing I can't tackle. I would like to some work to te engine before we put it in. My buddy is going to help me, he's working on rebuilding an RX 7 at the moment and we are both mechanically inclined engineers so all should go smooth......

[GoodzKouki]

Me and my buddies say the same thing haha. We all pretty much think our engineering jobs are boring and would rather work on cars.

Oh and a little update, because I didn't know any better my double timing chain and melling oil pump combo isn't going to work out. So I went back the single sprocket and went and got the beefier ls2 timing chain.

[GoodzKouki]

Quick Update:

Switched back to the original single sprockets and installed a new ls2 timing chain:


Torqued and angled the head bolts to spec:



Installed the comp cam hardened pushrods:



Installed and set the preload on all the rocker arms, then made a homemade degree wheel to verify the cam lift and duration:



Friday I'm hoping to bolt the rest of the motor together and order the Sikky Kit. Then Saturday is brakes/suspension/rear diff install day

[bpshonyak]

Great work! Sub'd

[GoodzKouki]

Had a busy day, here are the pics

Oil pump bolted on:


New front crank seal:



New seals installed in knuckles to keep crap out of the wheel bearings:


New seals in the diff:


All my stuff moved to my buddy's garage that he rents:


Getting ready to start putting in some work on the 240:

[GoodzKouki]

The front suspension pretty much out:





More fire for the front lower control arms:


Rear subframe out:





This is how she was left. Wish I could work all night, but we have to be out of there by 9:00pm cause there is an apartment above the garage that doesn't want to hear us all hours of the night:


I'm hoping tomorrow that I'll be able to work on the car some more, I'll keep you guys updated.

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

Well done so far. Subbed.

[GoodzKouki]

So I wasn't able to finish the suspension/brakes over the weekend, but that's what countless hours after work are for

Most of my time was spent burning out old crappy bushings and getting the nice new stuff pressed in. Here are the lower control arms with the poly bushings and new moog ball joints.


Now the fun part starts, everything is ready to be bolted back together. I would like to have it together by Friday so I can drive it around a little before I pull the KA on Saturday.

[GoodzKouki]

With the little time I had last night I was able to mount the Q45 diff in the S14 subframe. The Q45 Diff Cover fit perfect, so I get to keep the heat-sinked cover . I swapped the input shaft flange from the S14 diff and filled it with gear oil.

[Lobo240sx]

Nice Build.