Baconbitz's 1997 240sx Project/DD

[baconbitz]

Well today (yesterday by now actually) I went and picked up my new car. The Mazda is leaving and being replaced by a 1997 240. I woke up at 6am yesterday morning to get ready to head out to Beaufort, SC from Atlanta to go pick the car up. I got back around 7pm and began knocking out some of the smaller things. The plan for the car right now is to get it running on the stock KA24de until I have time to swap it in the summer. Future plans are probably a stockish SR20 swap for a while so I can get used to the extra power, and then a big turbo with a goal of around 400whp. With school and the Mazda not being sold yet though I don't have the time or money to tackle it right now. Anyway, onto the good stuff.

Current Mods:
350z Purple Paint (I think the name for it is Interlagos Fire Metallic)
Silkroad Coilovers
Bee*R 17x9 +/-0 offset wheels
JDM Kouki Front Bumper
JDM Kouki Side Skirts
JDM Kouki Rear Bumper
JDM Trust Front Lip
JDM Digital Climate Control
JDM Eclipse DVD/Nav unit
215/40/17 Kuhmo 711's (Basically new, and yes I need bigger tires)
S15 Brakes
Walbro 255lph
Z32 Fuel Filter

I believe that is everything but I may have missed something. If so I'll update this post. So, without further delay, here are some pics of it sitting in my garage earlier tonight.

I didn't really get any of the front end because it isn't totally on the car yet. It sits really low with the Silkroad coils and we had to take the front end off to get it on the trailer. I'll get some pictures of that, the interior, and the engine tomorrow.

As of now it doesn't run but the list of things I need to do isn't to terribly long.

Attach header and exhaust
Install stock radiator
Install wiring harness
Install ECU
Put in new radiator hoses and heater hoses
Install an intake
New fuel lines
Install random vacuum lines that may be missing
Eventually fix the A/C (this can wait, its winter)

I already have the header, ecu, wiring harness, and radiator in my garage. I'm heading over to the pull-a-part tomorrow to try and source the rest of the parts before I spend more money on new stuff at an auto parts store. Anyway, thats about it for now. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates over the course of the next week and probably the next several months.

 

[StealthWyvern]

I've always liked those 240s

 

[Knox Joe]

Rb25 Swap!

 

[baconbitz]

Rb25 Swap!

The RB's sound oh so good. I'm not completely set on any motor quite yet but the SR is looking really good on a lot of levels. Availability of parts, cost, ease of swap, etc.


Now for the first part of today's update. I had to wake up early to return the trailer I rented to go pick up the car so I decided I might as well try to get the front end on. It still needs some adjusting in spots and the hood isn't bolted down yet since I still have lots to work on in the engine bay, but it's starting to look like a complete car. I don't have a grill for the car yet but I plan on picking up the JDM Kouki grill when I get some more cash.

The Kouki front looks soooo damn mean. More to come later today.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

wow man, that looks hot...congrats

 

[Concept MSP]

That is hot. Very nice!

 

[baconbitz]

Thanks guys. I have a bit of bad news though. The current motor in the car is out of an s13, so I decided to change over to an s14 distributor to make my life easier. Well, when we went to put the motor at TDC to install the new distributor the crank turned a bit then locked up tight. We tried everything to get it to turn but no such luck, the motor is shot. Right now I'm waiting to hear back from my friend on a time period for the s14 ka that I plan to pick up.

Good news is that the digital climate control turns on and seems to be functional. I won't know for sure though until I get new a/c lines. Also the Eclipse headunit works too. I am probably going to sell that though because I want to use my alpine that I recently bought.

My batteries are dead in my camera right now but I'll update with pictures of the interior when I get new ones.

 

[NCZ13]

subbin.

looks good

 

[freekwonder]

Damn sorry about the problems. I wonder why they put an s13 motor in it. It isn't hard to get an s14 motor. Good luck getting her fixed and running, the car looks good.

 

[baconbitz]

Damn sorry about the problems. I wonder why they put an s13 motor in it. It isn't hard to get an s14 motor. Good luck getting her fixed and running, the car looks good.

S13 was put in because the guy before me basically got the motor for free. His friend's s13 got hit in the rear so they dropped the motor in this car. Thanks for the well wishes.

 

[freekwonder]

Ah ok. And it really isn't hard to get an s13 into an s14 or vice versa. so you going to put another KA in it, or swap in the SR. Though an RB20 would be cool as hell. lol

 

[shane02pro5]

Very nice looking car with lots of potential!

I almost bought a Black 97 brand new 10 years ago but got a 97 Eclipse GS-T instead.

Good Luck with it!!!

 

[moxnix]

Time for a VQ35DE swap.

 

[baconbitz]

Ah ok. And it really isn't hard to get an s13 into an s14 or vice versa. so you going to put another KA in it, or swap in the SR. Though an RB20 would be cool as hell. lol

Going to do a KA for now. I won't have the cash for a SR till I sell the mazda. This summer I'll probably go SR, shoot for around 400-450whp. I'm still looking into 2JZ but I'm worried about wiring gremlins and such. VQ35 is far to expensive for what you get from it. Really cool swap though.

Onto some interior pictures. It's actually in damn near perfect condition. Pretty surprising for a 10 year old car.

I need to wipe down the dash with some Maguires wipes and find an ashtray or build a gauge pod to fill that hole. When I sell the headunit ill clean up the radio area as well. Also need to put my glove box back on. lol. I'll get some better pictures of the seats too.

 

[djarkitek]

yes! nice! subbing!

 

[2.0t03speed]

Ah ok. And it really isn't hard to get an s13 into an s14 or vice versa. so you going to put another KA in it, or swap in the SR. Though an RB20 would be cool as hell. lol

no its not hard at all to swap from a s13 ka to a s14 i had a s13 coupe with a turbo s14 ka motor in it. then that motor popped and i swapped a s13 ka motor back into it. really swapping ka motors on the 240sx is easy as s*** i had my entire motor and trans out in a hour tops. i say **** swapping the sr in turbo the ka!!! with a sr t28 at 8 psi with the stock sr downpipe,3" test pipe,3" catback,fmic,and a safc2 i had 220hp and 250tq. sr20's with the same mods couldnt touch my car. i also turbo'd it and tuned it for under 2k and you cant beat that. i see your gonna shoot for about 400hp good luck with that my best advice to you would be not to cut any corners do it right the 1st time =).

 

[baconbitz]

no its not hard at all to swap from a s13 ka to a s14 i had a s13 coupe with a turbo s14 ka motor in it. then that motor popped and i swapped a s13 ka motor back into it. really swapping ka motors on the 240sx is easy as s*** i had my entire motor and trans out in a hour tops. i say **** swapping the sr in turbo the ka!!! with a sr t28 at 8 psi with the stock sr downpipe,3" test pipe,3" catback,fmic,and a safc2 i had 220hp and 250tq. sr20's with the same mods couldnt touch my car. i also turbo'd it and tuned it for under 2k and you cant beat that. i see your gonna shoot for about 400hp good luck with that my best advice to you would be not to cut any corners do it right the 1st time =).

Yea, I am definitely going to do it right the first time. Not worth the money to continually blow crap up.


I have sourced a new KA for the time being. My friend is swapping an SR into an s14 for someone so I am going to buy the KA off of the guy. As soon as it comes out of that car I should be able to drop it into mine and hit the road.

 

[freekwonder]

Yea, I am definitely going to do it right the first time. Not worth the money to continually blow crap up.


I have sourced a new KA for the time being. My friend is swapping an SR into an s14 for someone so I am going to buy the KA off of the guy. As soon as it comes out of that car I should be able to drop it into mine and hit the road.

Kickass. Like 2.0t03speed I'm on te KA side. I was originally going to put an SR in my dime, but now I have a KA sitting in my garage waiting to go in.

 

[wwpms6]

i love this car, i almost bought the first time is was for sale last year. i like ka's or sr's, bought i love 2jz's. lol

 

[baconbitz]

i love this car, i almost bought the first time is was for sale last year. i like ka's or sr's, bought i love 2jz's. lol

Lol, 2jz's are basically the s***. They are real expensive though. Anyway, got the motor mostly ready to come out. Just gotta go get my jack stands from my friend's house so I can get underneath the car and unbolt the tranny mount. I'll probably go ahead and do all that today so everything is all set up for when the new motor gets here. I'll try and get the car out of the garage kind of soon too so I can get some better pictures for you guys.