240sx's condition worth to restore?

[mana]

Hello! I'm new to the 240sx community and want to fix one myself!

I have a 240sx s13 hatchback with 52k miles, bone-stock (I believe) that I had wanted to start restoring. Problem is, I have no experience in restoring cars or an understanding of ANY components in a car. My main goal is to daily the car itself, keeping it mostly stock.

My main question is by the FIRST looks of this car, is it even worth restoring?
I can take more pictures if needed. I rather do that than waste money for full diagnostics. (The car has been left under a cover for 10-20 years?)

Images: https://imgur.com/a/C063QUI

[BoostnS13]

LOL 100% yes. This should be an "easy" restore as well. Wash and detail the car and already its on its way. That looks like a clean, straight 240sx.

[mana]

Originally Posted by BoostnS13

LOL 100% yes. This should be an "easy" restore as well. Wash and detail the car and already its on its way. That looks like a clean, straight 240sx.

Thanks for the quick feedback! Though I found rusting with a lot of the bolts and their holes, any suggestions on cleaning/replacing that? as I believe it's just surface rust.

[Corbic]

That's like a weekends worth of work.

[BoostnS13]

Originally Posted by mana

Thanks for the quick feedback! Though I found rusting with a lot of the bolts and their holes, any suggestions on cleaning/replacing that? as I believe it's just surface rust.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...2143&FORM=VIRE

One quick Youtube search. You can also buy some parts new from the dealership. As mentioned, this is a weekend project. Pull stuff out, clean, and reinstall.

[SupaDoopa]

I'll buy it from you to save yourself from so much daunting work just to have Honda kids flip you off while they pull away with their fancy twin-cam engines with all that VTEC.

[mana]

I just took out the battery and the tray doesn't exist at all... Did it eat through the frame?
https://imgur.com/a/FD9rR25

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by mana

I just took out the battery and the tray doesn't exist at all... Did it eat through the frame?
https://imgur.com/a/FD9rR25

sand it down to metal, rust remover, etch, prime, paint and 2k clear. Will be just like new.

[dorkidori_s13]

keep it, restore it. car is in great shape... especially considering whats out there and what people try to price gouge for. youll be hard pressed to find a better chassis than what youve got.

honestly, id recommned building a nice SR from the ground up and swap it in. give the car a bit more "umph" as S13s get to be A LOT of fun when theyre at the horsepower level they were built for. its a night and day difference. im not saying go nuts and put out 400whp. simple bolt ons with a factory ECU (including stock S15 Spec R turbo) will put down 210-220whp easy, and honestly... thats all the car needs in near factory spec condition to be a total blast!

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by dorkidori_s13

keep it, restore it. car is in great shape... especially considering whats out there and what people try to price gouge for. youll be hard pressed to find a better chassis than what youve got.

honestly, id recommned building a nice SR from the ground up and swap it in. give the car a bit more "umph" as S13s get to be A LOT of fun when theyre at the horsepower level they were built for. its a night and day difference. im not saying go nuts and put out 400whp. simple bolt ons with a factory ECU (including stock S15 Spec R turbo) will put down 210-220whp easy, and honestly... thats all the car needs in near factory spec condition to be a total blast!

SR's are trash.

With no mechanical experience, I'd say leave the engine alone and just work on cleaning the car up and making it a great driver.

Engines are soooooooooo damn expensive anymore. 10 years ago the easy answer was a $2,000 S1 RB25det which would smoke most modded SR's out their with just some boost cranking.

Now an S1 is like $7k for a bag of dicks.

KA24's, LS, and even a 2JZ are just too exotic for a plug and play weekend warrior. All sorts of adapters, fabrication and fitment concerns.

Most logical swap these days would be a complete VQ35 drop out. I recall a huge thread in here years ago doing the swap. 250whp which exceeds any "basic" SR, solid reliability, great transmission and cheap engine-set.

Still not plug and play.. but.. eh.

Soo... hmm

KA-T it is.

HAZE Drift Team of Final Bout fame out east rocks all KA-T's.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...63.-2207520000..

[tuzzio]

I can confirm HAZE shreds. And look good doing it too.

For the love of god do not cut up those fucking quarters either.

[dorkidori_s13]

Originally Posted by Corbic

SR's are trash.... 250whp which exceeds any "basic" SR, solid reliability, great transmission and cheap engine-set.

funny... ive had my current SR for over 11 years. currently making 260whp at 14psi with pump gas. unknown mileage on the motor, but pushes 145psi across the board with unknown mileage. so... not sure how youre reaching your opinion about SRs being trash?

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by dorkidori_s13

funny... ive had my current SR for over 11 years. currently making 260whp at 14psi with pump gas. unknown mileage on the motor, but pushes 145psi across the board with unknown mileage. so... not sure how youre reaching your opinion about SRs being trash?

Did I stutter?

Surely they are "reliable" since tens of thousands of kids have pulled them from junk yards and trashed on them for two decades now. However it's just a "blah" motor. It also sounds freaking awful. You are not making 260whp on stock turbo and injectors. I bet you have cams as well.

Drive a Turbo K-series, B-series or 4G63 and you'll see what I mean. They made sense at $2k and a weekends work to go from 110whp to 200whp, but they are sooo damn expensive now. Cost wise a turbo K24A makes way more sense, but that's a HUGE project best tackled by an experienced veteran.

For the OP -

Get the car cleaned up, running good and looking good. The KA-E is slug but it's got a lot of torque to move it around. I remember going from a FC to a S13 and it was like going from a Honda to V8 Camaro.

If you want umpf down the road, and are limited on skills - I'd look at going turbo on the KA. Plenty of info here - > https://www.ka-t.org/

You're on the East Coast, try and reach out to those guys at Team HAZE, etc.
http://www.jgycustoms.com/ is also out that way and a decade ago was solid.

[gabefromcali]

That car is absolute garbage man. Not worth it.. Sell it to me instead!!

[Whitey13]

Guys, this person came here, politely asking for advice.

Let's not ruin this with the standard Zilvia commentary. No one asked about engine swaps or body kits. I'd love to see this cars journey.

[SupaDoopa]

Fuck these haters. Toss a LS in there and get a tattoo when it's done. Welcome to the brotherhood of dudes who wake people up at idle.

[silviaks2nr]

You have a good car there. Make a list of all the things you want to address and just start working down them. There's a youtube video for just about everything these days and that can help a lot, even if it's not s13 specific. At the top of your list should be a good vaccuum, steam clean the bay, and pressure wash the weather striping around the car and give it all a proper cleaning. Post some updates in the preservation thread.

[mana]

Originally Posted by silviaks2nr

You have a good car there. Make a list of all the things you want to address and just start working down them. There's a youtube video for just about everything these days and that can help a lot, even if it's not s13 specific. At the top of your list should be a good vaccuum, steam clean the bay, and pressure wash the weather striping around the car and give it all a proper cleaning. Post some updates in the preservation thread.

Thanks for the advice!
I want to steam clean the engine bay, but I am so worried about the battery tray, would sanding it get it off? I have no idea how to approach this mess? Is this something I should have a professional deal with?
Images:
https://imgur.com/a/FD9rR25
https://imgur.com/gallery/ujkDxOQ

[mana]

Originally Posted by Corbic

Did I stutter?

Surely they are "reliable" since tens of thousands of kids have pulled them from junk yards and trashed on them for two decades now. However it's just a "blah" motor. It also sounds freaking awful. You are not making 260whp on stock turbo and injectors. I bet you have cams as well.

Drive a Turbo K-series, B-series or 4G63 and you'll see what I mean. They made sense at $2k and a weekends work to go from 110whp to 200whp, but they are sooo damn expensive now. Cost wise a turbo K24A makes way more sense, but that's a HUGE project best tackled by an experienced veteran.

For the OP -

Get the car cleaned up, running good and looking good. The KA-E is slug but it's got a lot of torque to move it around. I remember going from a FC to a S13 and it was like going from a Honda to V8 Camaro.

If you want umpf down the road, and are limited on skills - I'd look at going turbo on the KA. Plenty of info here - > https://www.ka-t.org/

You're on the East Coast, try and reach out to those guys at Team HAZE, etc.
http://www.jgycustoms.com/ is also out that way and a decade ago was solid.

Thank you for the advice,
I want to ask if there are any components in the engine bay the I should be careful steam cleaning so it won't mess up, or any other recommendations to clean the entire engine bay?

Also reading your defense on KA-Ts, I would like such modifications but would the car be reliable enough later over the years for an engine swap?

[mana]

Originally Posted by Corbic

sand it down to metal, rust remover, etch, prime, paint and 2k clear. Will be just like new.

Did you mean to sand it completely down into nothing? because i'm pretty sure the tray is rusted onto something that's holding it and I can't find any explanation online on how the battery tray is on there.

https://imgur.com/a/FD9rR25

[mana]

Originally Posted by tuzzio

I can confirm HAZE shreds. And look good doing it too.

For the love of god do not cut up those fucking quarters either.

Sorry,
what are "quarters" exactly in this context?

[dorkidori_s13]

Originally Posted by mana

Sorry,
what are "quarters" exactly in this context?

quarter panels.... the bulk of modern day 240sx kids think that in order to get attention, you have run a "type x" kit and wide fenders. wide fenders ruin the car. a simple roll is all thats needed to run wider wheels.

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by dorkidori_s13

quarter panels.... the bulk of modern day 240sx kids think that in order to get attention, you have run a "type x" kit and wide fenders. wide fenders ruin the car. a simple roll is all thats needed to run wider wheels.

Wide Fenders are awful on a S13 Hatch. Type-X however is mandatory, or at least Hot Road or Version Select.

[ixfxi]

Originally Posted by Corbic

You're on the East Coast, try and reach out to those guys at Team HAZE, etc.
http://www.jgycustoms.com/ is also out that way and a decade ago was solid.

haha

2021, by now you'd think people would stop recommending this shop... word of mouth has been terrible with that shop

[mana]

Originally Posted by ixfxi

haha

2021, by now you'd think people would stop recommending this shop... word of mouth has been terrible with that shop

noted that. thanks!

[deolio]

if you're going to do the restoration yourself i'd suggest taking your time to learn the correct techniques and practice on scrap metal/parts before doing anything on the actual car.

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by ixfxi

haha

2021, by now you'd think people would stop recommending this shop... word of mouth has been terrible with that shop

Literally not heard or seen anything from them in +10 years. I just remember they are out East and was a big name in 2005.

They did some of the first B13 Sentra SR20DET swaps, a complete GTI-R swap and a RB25Det into a Fox Body Mustang as I recall.

[KC240SR]

Originally Posted by Corbic

You are not making 260whp on stock turbo and injectors. I bet you have cams as well.

Tell us you don't know what you're talking about without saying you don't know what you're talking about.

[mana]

Originally Posted by Corbic

sand it down to metal, rust remover, etch, prime, paint and 2k clear. Will be just like new.

The part of the engine bay of the battery tray has a hole. should i learn to weld or have someone payed to do so? (if i can find one lol)

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by KC240SR

Tell us you don't know what you're talking about without saying you don't know what you're talking about.

T25 isn't going to make 260whp. Period.

Stock 370cc injectors are not going to cut it.

Cams make the engine actually snappy.