My Simple Rb25 Hatch Build

[slidewayz240]

At 7:30pm on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, November 21st, 2015 I traded my northern 1991 Infiniti m30 for a rust free southern 1990 s13 hatchback. The 240 was gutted behind the doors, was lowered on Megan track coil overs, and came on a set of 4 lug xxr wheels. The SOHC had been swapped out in favor of a s14 ka with an intake, header and exhaust. Aside from the kouki tail lights shoved into the 240sx tail light trim and a rattle can paint job, the rest was essentially stock.





When I received the car it was only running on three cylinders. Some quick diagnostic work lead to a faulty fuel injector. Monday morning I woke up early and headed to the junk yard. I got a set of 4 injectors off an Altima and the issue was resolved. At 3pm, having owned the car for less than 24 hours, we set off on a 700 mile trip to NY for thanksgiving.

I only had two issues on the trip. a hose clamp rubbed through the signal wire to the distributor, and I found the castle nut on the right front tie rod was loose when I developed a wobble. Once we arrived in NY, a crazy week began.

I parked the car at about 6:30 am on Tuesday morning. After a quick nap, we were off to the garage. By Tuesday night the KA was out and the engine bay was degreased and pressure washed. Wednesday we stole my rb25 out of my coupe and dropped it into my new chassis, and after some quick wiring it came to life. Thursday was spent having thanksgiving with the family. Friday was spent buttoning up final details and street tuning. Saturday we left at 6 am for the return trip to Wilmington. Surprisingly there were no issues on the return trip.



I have been toying with my RB in some form or another for the last 8 years. In its current configuration I am running a Holset hx35 turbo at 22psi, on a custom made stainless twinscroll top mount turbo manifold. I am using dual Tial 38mm wastegates and a Greddy RS blow off valve. 750cc Deatschwerks injectors supply the fuel, and a Nistune chipped z32 ecu controls all of it.

After the trip I focused on the interior of the car. I found replacement parts for the rear of the car, and a nice crack free dash.



I then put a pignose lip, and some sideskirts I had on the car.



After driving the car for a couple of weeks I was starting to notice some wiring gremlins. I started with completely going through the engine harness again and cleaning everything up.




I then tackled the chassis harness, eliminating all the plugs that weren't needed and using two marine fuse blocks in the driver's side kick panel to replace the factory boxes. The only wires that go through the engine bay are for the lights and electric fans.





While I was taking on the wiring project, my roommate tackled some fender tubs. I knew I wanted the car low so we made sure to clearance everything that we possibly could. We also extended the front control arms .75" and cut and welded my front knuckles for some more angle.




Once all the fabrication work was done I did some body work, laid down some seam sealer, and sprayed the bay.




Shortly after The cable on the passenger's side window regulator broke. I found a good deal on power doors out of a junk yard, and swapped them on and wired everything up.




Then I went drifting. The people that put on events at Myrtle Beach speedway are some of the most fun and relaxed people I have met. I had an absolute blast!



I happened to be poking around Ebay one day and found a set of Chuki side skirts about 4 hours away in Virginia, so I went and picked those up. Did a quick test fit then tucked them away in the garage.



I also picked up a new center tail light section and metal trim piece for my kouiki tail lights from Kriskouki on here. Amazing seller BTW.



In July, my parents came down to visit for my birthday and my Dad gave me some help with some much needed body work.



Then I did some more drifting.



In August I took another seamless road trip up to New York. I grabbed my Nardi wheel, and Tien Super Drift coilovers off of my coupe.



When I got back I tackled my bacon fenders. I wanted more durability than fiberglass could offer, so I decided to make some metal flairs for the front. I used some 1/4" steel rod bent in the shape of the front wheel well opening as a base. I then made a template for the shape out of masking tape, and laid that down on a flat piece of sheet metal. Once the piece was cut out I welded it all into place. After the driver's side was done I did the same steps on the passenger's side.







After 9 months of only having a driver's side door speaker, I decided it was finally time to upgrade the audio some. I bought 6" round Rockford Fosgate speakers, and started on a custom fiberglass sub box for my Rockford 12" sub.





The next project was to get some more rear grip. With around -4* of rear camber I was having a hard time keeping up in tandem. The rear uper control arms were almost out of adjustment, so I had to cut and lengthen them. The tow arms got the same treatment. Once the wheels could be stood up straight i cut the fender metal loose from the inner fender and worked the metal out wide enough to cover the wheels and tires. I then used some spare sheet metal to fill in the gap and sealed it all back up.



The Thursday before thanksgiving this year I gave the car its first real bath, then installed all of the parts I had collected for it.




After work the next day, I left for New York.



I arrived mid day Saturday, and began disassembly. The next week was spent with my dad in the garage doing body work, paint prep, and spraying the car. I cant begin to thank him enough for all the help he has given me over the years. By Wednesday, the body work was finished and the car was in primer.





Thursday was spent wet sanding in the morning, having thanksgiving dinner, then spraying the roof that night.



Friday we sprayed color and clear (I forgot to take pictures). and Saturday we assembled everything. One of my good friends came by and took pictures of the final assembly/wet sanding bits, as well as a few shots of it completed.







Sunday morning, we left to return to North Carolina. My roommate used my suburban to bring is Northstar swapped Fiero back with us.



13 hours into out 9.5 hour trip we had to stop for a break. I took the opportunity to snap a picture of it in parking lot light. It ended up taking 15.5 hours to make the trip due to the holiday traffic.



When I got back in town I washed all the road grime off.



Last weekend I took a cruise down to Myrtle Beach to hit one of their Friday night meets before it started really getting cold out.



And that brings us up to current day. Next step is to replace all of the worn rubber bushings and the remainder of the stock suspension arms with some adjustable bars with hymn joints on them. Then I'm really just looking to finish up the rough bits of the interior and enjoy driving it. If i can come across a good deal on type-x rear valances I'll probably pick them up to finish off the rear of the car.