Black & Blue

[Meech]

*copy pasted from another forum*


Interestingly enough, this build all started very abruptly. Keep in mind, this is not my car. The friend I have been building this for doesn't really yet understand the idea behind build threads and he doesn't really even have the time anyway. So, I'll be posting it for him.

It all started in early 2013 when Derko needed a daily and he didn't really know what to get. He wasn't even an automotive enthusiast in the slightest. So, he went to the friends he remembered from high school that would always talk about cars. Plus, he did a little searching himself. By the time he got to me, he had already bought the car. I would have most likely suggested against it heavily if he hadn't. But, it was there and the nasty kit was falling off, another friend had already helped him freshen up the KA24DE, the shocks were blown, it was riding on lower and stiffer springs, it had over fenders that were riveted on, and finally, small ass SE wheels.







He put on the SOAD sticker. Toxicity FTW!

Then he started asking about upgrades... I never even implanted the idea onto him. I guess he just got carried away with searching to make the car look more presentable, so, here we are. First thing we ever did to the car was the Z32 5 lug and big brake conversion. Derko managed to get the whole Z32 setup plus 2+2 e-brake cables for under $1000, but, we ended up running into a few problems. The hubs he got were used off of Zilvia and the brake lines we got were also shit. We ended up having to wait a little longer for new Ichiba hubs and braided conversion lines to come in. Once they were here, it was time to get to work!



The swap is fairly straight forward. The rear is slightly more complicated than the front because of the extra bolts you have to get to, but, it doesn't really make the job harder. You just need a heavyset friend (me in this case) to get the fucking axles out of the hub to replace the whole S13 hub with the Z32 setup. Don't forget to rebuild the e-brake drum while you have everything off of the car and connect the e-brake cable to the hub. Then run the line through the holes where the S13 cable went. Bolt everything down and move on to the next side. Time consuming and heavy work, but, fairly simple.

The fronts were even easier. You basically just break the axle nut loose after getting the cotter pin out, remove the brake line, and everything comes off. Replace with Ichiba hub, slide in Z32 disk, bolt up Z32 caliper, connect conversion line, done.

Sadly, this is the only picture I can find of the swap as of now...



We did run into some problems with the wheels we decided to use though. We got Z32 rims to make sure they'd be able to clear the brakes without any problems, and they did, but the studs on the hubs were not long enough... Plus, fitment looked like shit so Derko decided to get extended studs plus some spacers to push out the wheels some.



Random epicness...



Then he started saving up for more shit...

First thing he bought after getting the big brakes was coilovers. He went with the PBM coils with 10/8 spring rates. They are very nice and surprisingly smooth for how stiff the rates are. The shock valving is what does this so basically, the coilovers are well worth the money. We did run into a problem with them though. The Z32 wheels would not clear the springs on the coilovers... He decided to get a nice set of 18x9.5/18x10.5 Varrstoen ES3's that were special edition. They were just powdercoated candy teal from the factory. Only downside is that he bought them used so they did come with a few scuff marks. Plus, the tires were shit.

BMFH in action






Another nice picture



Then the KA started giving us problems.... First it was struggling under idle but we fixed that by cleaning a few things. Then it started losing power in the midrange and didn't want to rev higher. We suspected a leaky intake manifold so we replaced that and checked the injectors just in case. After we put that in, it ran decently. Then the next day we saw white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe... We just ripped that shit out since it was practically committing suicide in front of our eyes.

Then we decided to go all out and stripped the interior, ripped off the beat up kit, painted the engine bay with rattlecans, cut off the speaker/seat mounts from the rear interior, started cleaning up the rear interior wiring (which I haven't finished), he started to save up to buy a 180sx front clip but decided to buy some Type X stuff instead, and now we just finished installing said Type X stuff. He also bought the front clip finally and we have the engine in his bay. It's starting to look like a car again. Pictures of all this soon... Now we just need to finish the wiring for the SR and we wait for his Type X wing to come in from Canada.



*few days later*

He didn't really like the teal color at first but it has grown on him, thankfully. Anyway, here are a few more pictures.

His dad was getting shit done inside the wheel well. i think we couldn't get the old lines off.



Me modifying the spacers to try to get the crappy spindle to fit. I ended up failing though so we just went to the wreckers for another pair of spacers and replaced the shitty hubs with brand new Ichiba hubs.



And another picture of the coilovers. :thumb up: from another friend. Might start a build thread for his forged KA-T project also.

*few more days*


The wing finally came in so it's time for some Type X pictures! There were a bunch of holes in the hatch because of the 240sx SE spoiler that was on it at one time but the Type X wing covered most of them. The other problem is that the skirts, valences, and wing came used over the internet so they were colored. The front bumper was bought BNIB so that was unpainted. As a result, the car needs a paint job badly.

















And finally, Derko and I trying to get the drill bits that rolled down the hatch when we opened it... You can also see that the Speaker/rear seat mounts are gone.



The only thing is that Derko is planning on an unconventional Type X look. We're going to finish the body work and get a few dings out of the 240sx but then we are going to finish it up with a matte black paint. Should look nice and should compliment the rivets and bolts used throught the car. Let us know what you think so far! As for the powerplant, wiring is still in the way. I probably will not get around to that until the weekend. So, hopefully, this thing should be running by Monday.

Also, the front bumper needs lights but they're being shipped. Soon enough they'll get here and we can officially have a full Type X kit.


*this "night" (morning)*


It's about that time...

So, we finally found the problem. I probably shouldn't have touched that harness. I'm sure it was a simple mistake somewhere that I overlooked and it was throwing everything off though. I followed whatever I found religiously but I still couldn't make it work. In the end, Derko still had to buy the Wiring Specialties harness to get his SR started... At least I tried...



But, the good thing is that I got to get back to what I'm good at. Wrenching and fabbing shit up. We got the harness in about an hour after it had arrived. I had gone with another friend to pick up a down pipe I was going to weld for him and Derko decided to start the car without us there...



So, everything works fine now but none of the turbo piping was connected so...massive vacuum leaks... I was surprised it started at all since I was planning on trying to plug up a few holes with fingers. I did manage to fabricate a mount for the SMIC so it's not just dangling there. Although I did have to source a USDM washer from our random hardware pile to be able to secure the single bolt that holds the intercooler to the chassis. The rest is all the brackets job to hold it in place. Should be good up until the point where he decides to go FMIC.

As always...you can't do anything to an S-chassis without having to sacrifice a knuckle a day.



Flux core welder FTMFW. At least until I can afford a decent argon MIG...





Sadly...no startup vid thanks to Derko up there. We'll make it up to you guys though.