The long awaited S13.4 complete how-to w/ pix

[g6civcx]

Disclaimer: I spent a lot of time putting together this writeup due to many, many requests from members. If this isn't your liking, please give me constructive comments on how to make it better. Flaming will not be tolerated.

This mod involves extensive bodywork. There are more than one way to do this. Please don't criticise if you don't like what I say. I will show you the general steps but the particular fitment will depend on your abilities. Of course body shops will have more experience and tools for the job. Use your best judgement when following any of my recommendations.


This is a work in progress. I have a lot of detailed pix I am uploading. Please hold your comments until the end.

If you have any specific questions then please post up ASAP. Maybe I can take pix and show you while the car is half apart without having to tear down to show you later.

This is why I made this thread now. I'll give you guys several days to ask specific questions before I finish putting everything together. I hope to be able to take specific pix for you and save time by not having to tear down again to show pix :)


Difficulty - 3-4 out of 5 stars (5 being the most difficult)
Time required - 2 hours to a weekend, depending on how anal you want everything to fit together, and of course your abilities as well.
Tools required - basic hand tools, sockets, ratchet, wrenches, and maybe a drill, and electrical wiring tools (solder tools, tape, shrink tubing, etc.)

Applies to S13s, USDM 89-94 Nissan 240SX S13 regardless of body style.

Parts required:

S13.4 conversion kit. Currently I only know of 2 off-the-shelf kits: AIT BMagic and RaceonUSA. You can make your own fenders but cost would be higher.

I prefer the AIT kit for price and quality. I have heard bad things about the Raceon kit so I will not comment on their kit here. I will limit my comments to the AIT kit. If you don't like this kit, please don't comment. There are other options available. If nothing else, this can give you an idea on what's needed to fabricate your own stuff.

The kit comes with the following parts:

* front left and right +20mm wide fenders (I took the shiny chicken wire out of my vents)

The brackets are as follows, starting from the center out.

* bumper bracket that bolts to hood bracket (weird triangle looking thing)
* inner headlight and horn brackets (2 long U brackets)
* outter headlight to core support bracket (2 small wide L brackets)
* small L brackets for fenders to bolt to chassis (left one is slightly hidden below the fender)

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/8686/s1341vu3.jpg

I know this looks intimidating. Don't worry. I will show you complete details how everything fits together.

[g6civcx]

You will also need the following OEM-replacement parts from a 97-98 USDM Nissan 240SX kouki S14 unless otherwise noted:

* headlights
* corner lights
* bumper (take your pick. Anything will fit as long as it's meant for a kouki S14). I used a stock bumper.
* grile - optional, but will help you line up everything
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/6528/s1342fj9.jpg

You will also need a kouki hood. Any will fit as long as it's meant for a kouki S14. I use a Chaser Aero "drift" hood for race and a VIS OEM carbon fibre for street.

You can use any S14 hood hinge 95-98. They're all the same. You can also fabricate your S13 hinge if you want, but that will require more work.

Here's a closeup of a stock S13 hood hinge and an S14 hood hinge. The S14 hinge will bolt up using only 1 bolt, but I feel that this is safe for me with the lighter hoods I use and haven't given me any problem. Use your best judgement.

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/7623/s1343ot6.jpg

[g6civcx]

As for wiring, the headlights will use 9005 hi beam and H1 lo beam. If you're in a pinch, you can get 9005 headlight harness from the dealer/parts store and wire them in. H1 bulbs use standard spade terminals. If your headlights didn't come with the harness, you can use spade terminals available at parts stores.

Separate the high beam and low beam power wires on your stock headlight harness and wire them to the appropriate bulb. Connect each bulb to ground. It doesn't matter which prong sees power and which prong sees ground on the bulb. As long as they're both hook up to the 2 prongs the bulb will work. Light bulbs don't care which way current flows.

The corner lamp is parking lights. They use small 3 prong Nissan parking light holder available on many mid 90s Nissans and Infinities. Your OEM side marker light bulb holder will fit as well.

The bumper has 3 lights: turn signal/parking combo bumper lights, and side marker lights.

The side marker lights use the same bulb holder as the stock S13 corner lights. You will need another one for the corner lamp so at least you will have to source a set of 2 of the small bulb holders.

The bumper lights use the same bulb holder as the stock S13 combo bumper lights. No sourcing necessary unless you lost your.

The bumper combo light needs no rewiring.

The stock side marker light will need to share its power with the additional bulb holder and harness. Tap the power wire and route to the new bulb, then connect the new bulb to ground.


If you want to do JDM lights stuff or wire them up in a weird way, ask me and I'll tell you how to do it. Otherwise, doing random stuff with wiring will mess up your car so don't try unless you know what you want to do.

[g6civcx]

First step is to prep your car. You need to take everything off the front end, including the hood. I won't go into details here because other threads have covered this in Silvia conversions.

The hood is self-explanatory. The headlights have several bolts. The bumper and support come out as a whole after you've undone the fenders. The fender liner comes out after undoing the clip.

The only tricky thing is the fenders if you haven't done them before. There are bolts visible in the hood. There are several bolts that are hidden and not visible unless you've done it before.

Look at these pix closely. The arrows indicate the direction you come at it with a socket.

There is one behind the door. You have to open the door fully and perhaps use a swivel extension or u joint to get it.

There is one behind the fender. You have to come at it from the front wheel after you take out the fender liner. TIP: cut the steering wheel all the way to one side to give yourself more clearance. Then turn the other way and work on the other side.

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8839/s1345qp2.jpg

There are a coupel of bolts under the car where you usually jack up the car. They may be rusty or beat up so be careful.

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/4734/s1344un9.jpg

The front is more intuitive. Just follow the fenders at the front where it meets the bumper and unbolt everything.

[g6civcx]

You should have all of your front end off and ready for installation of new body parts.

I recommend that you do the following at this time:

1) Get all of your wiring straight. Make sure you wires work so you don't have to mess with it after you've done all the bodywork. You don't want to mess up anything more than necessary so you don't beat up the body any more than you have to.

Run all your wires and test fit them in the lenses. Make sure everything works correctly to your satisfaction so they're plug and play.

2) Align your doors. It's simple. Loosen the 4 bolts holding the door hinges and line them up.

I really hate poorly fitted doors because they will chew up your new fenders. The new fenders are wider than stock so expect some rubbing. Taking your time prepping will pay off in this area.

3) If you want to install an FMIC, now is a good time to do it because your front end is already off. Plus you will want to have your front end hardware straight before trying to line everything up. Otherwise, you will have to try again later and find out that your new front mount doesn't fit the bumper.

4) Now is a good time to reroute your fender harness is you haven't done so already. The fenders are off. It's the best time to do this.

[g6civcx]

I'll let you guys chew on this tonight. The rest is really easy and depends on how anal you want to be.

Any immediate questions before I finish laying it out for tomorrow?

[MikeisNissan]

Nice job guy.

[singlecamslam]

man i wish you wouldnt post this up haha, now everyone will have this. I'm doing the same thing and i had no idea there is a kit for the fenders, i'm going to have to look into that. Plus rep for you.

[g6civcx]

man i wish you wouldnt post this up haha, now everyone will have this.

That is a good thing in my book. The more people have the swap, the easier it will be to find replacement fenders.

[singlecamslam]

That is a good thing in my book. The more people have the swap, the easier it will be to find replacement fenders.

True true, nonetheless good job man, this already helped me out, haha.

[!nSaNe Dr!fTeR]

great write up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dirty Habit]

Going straight into my favorites file. Thank you sir!

[g6civcx]

Bumper support is optional. I ran mine without the support and the bumper sits fine.

If you want to use the support, there are 2 options:

1) the S13 bumper support fits the body but not the bumper.
2) the S14 bumper support fits the bumper but does not appear to fit the body based on the FSM.

Since I don't have access to an S14 support, perhaps someone else can chime in.

I chose to use an S13 due to availability.

The stock S13 support won't clear the stock kouki S14 bumper. If you're using an aftermarket bumper you're on your own.

I lined the corner with a marker to show where the support hits the bumper lights.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/4699/s1346hk3.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=s1346hk3.jpg)

I had the corners cut off for clearance. Here's the end result. I also hit the support with some paint. TIP: use some antiseize compound on the support nuts and bolts. Torque the nut to 24 ft-lb and the bolt to 40 ft-lb as per the FSM.

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6928/s1347zo6.th.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?image=s1347zo6.jpg)

The bumper lights will fit with the corners sliced off, but the bumper may need some additional trimming, depending on how tweaked your support and bumper is. Mine needed some trimming around the back of the vents on the bumper.

[UsJdmTUner]

any pics of the final product?

[NemeGuero]

Oh man, if G6 is doing it, its LEGIT!

[d0pe240]

do they make any fenders that arent wide, but keep near stock?

[redclaw05]

I am doing s14.3 silvia front end soon my car.

[projekt_s13]

Any updates?

[98koukile]

do they make any fenders that arent wide, but keep near stock?

An s14 front end is wider anyways so you need to account for this

[Gorilla Unit 33]

updates please!!! i'd like to see what this looks like with the oem front bumper

[Stevespeed]

This is an amazing write up
I gotta find a cookie in the junkyards around here

[handinpants]

any pics of the final product?
you forgot 3 of the key ingredients to making this happen. lots of meth, jb weld, and zipties

[g6civcx]

I apologize, guys. Many things keeping me back, including my knee injury which pretty much keeps me off my legs and away from the car. I haven't touched anything for the longest time.

I have everything on my car for 2 years now, but I want everything to be perfect so I didn't have the time to take off everything and show you how everything lines up.

[Maiku240sxS14]

so does that mean its complete? No pix of the end result?

[Gorilla Unit 33]

any possible way you think it will work if you use the factory kouki fenders and the bracket kit from AIT? i just dont like fiberglass haha. I think im gonna run the factory bumper too.

[sijia10358]

this is awesome!!! im doing my conversion in a few month!!!! great help!!

[Om1kron]

2008 was awesome!

[drifter_for_life06]

ive only seen this on coupes....i wonder what it would look like on a hatch

[Flicktitty]

looking good!

great writeup thus far.

[SochBAT]

I don't even have to read to know how legit this is.

G6 makes the BEST writeups/faqs.

PS. Your English is leagues beyond most native speakers. Kudos!

[Kinda-Important]

You are one badass man. Super helpfull

[dillonbear]

so helpful it makes me want to convert mine!

[brndck]

You are one badass man. Super helpfull

so helpful it makes me want to convert mine!

hey you guys, thanks for bumping an ancient thread in order to contribute absolutely NOTHING new or useful!!!

[cloudloks]

can you show pictures of the radiator support and how much did you cutt off of that?