PSI240SX
06-01-2003, 01:02 PM
Hello all... Yesterday I got a wild hair and decided to delve into these swaps just for fun lol. A job like this required a trip to my favorite store in the whole world, Harbor Frieght Tools. $433 and 1 hour later I was on my way back to the shop to start wrenching. I bought a 29 Gallon, 4.5hp Compressor for $125 Pictured below near my a$$:
http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Liftoff.jpg
I got an impact wrench and ratchet as well for $49 and a 50 foot air hose for $7
I also bought a handy dandy grinder for $16 which you see here being used to cut my ball joint in half because I couldnt get it out of the dang spindle: http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Grinding.jpg
The swap took roughly 13 hours... I know, I know, why so long? Well first off I accidentally bought two RH spindles... DOH! Try finding an S14 spindle on short notice late saturday afternoon. We found one and of course the car was buried so they had to move like 6 cars with a forklift and then remove the spindle and hub. That took about 2 hours. Then I had to go to a shop down the road 5 different times for tools that I didnt have. I left all of my parts in my trunk, I put a car cover that was too small over the car and folded the cover into the trunk to keep most of the car covered. I couldnt get home fast enough when it started raining last week and all of the water ran right into the trunk ontop of my parts. I figured the rotors were wrapped in plastic inside of their boxes but 2 of them werent. When I opened the boxes the cardboard was embedded into the rotors and they were completely rusted. I had to grind them off, what a PITA. I researched these swaps before hand and the information I got was all true so I would like to pass it on. You will need: S14 Spindles, (from base or SE makes no difference) S14 SE Front and Rear Hubs, Z32 NA rears will work as well, (thats what I used) (4) S14 Shock to Spindle mounting bolts and nuts, S14 Ball joints (pressed into your S13 LCA) Z32 Calipers, Pads, and front rotors, S14 rear rotors, and a J30 LSD. I also installed JDM Tokico M's 5 way shocks and HKS Camber Plates and Pillow Ball Mounts. Tools you will need that you may not have: Axle nut sockets... they are huge! 36mm for the rear and 32mm for the front. And a Grinder of some sort (preferably a bench grinder and wire wheel combo)
The swap is pretty straight forward, even for someone who is not a mechanic. I started in front by removing all suspension components and taking my LCA's and new ball joints to a shop where the old could be beaten out and the new ones pressed in. Got back and drilled out the 2 holes in each shock that the spindle/shock bolts go through. The S14 Spindle uses larger diameter bolts then the S13's do so this is a must. Bolted everything up and got ready to hook the brake line up. You can go buy the pdm kit for $100 or you can modify things a little and use your factory line, I chose the latter. What you will need to do is remove the brake line from your S13 caliper and take the banjo bolt out and grind it down about 1/8" or so to make it fit into your Z32 calipers. I took my time and very carefully removed the material and cleaned it up with the wire wheel. You must be sure not to damage any threads or your screwed. Once that was done I hooked up the line with 2 new 10mm copper crush washers which I got from Napa. No leaks. Then it was off to the rear. Since the axles have to come out for the hubs to come off I started there first. Get under the car like this: http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/LSD.jpg
ANd remove the 6 bolts from each axle, remove the 17mm nut from the bottom shock mount to get it out of your way, and remove the cotter pin, and 36mm axle nut, the axle will slide out with some muscle. To get the drivers side axle out remove the back halh of your exhaust so you can get to the 6 bolts at the diff. Once the axles are out of your way you can gain access to the (4) 19mm bolts holding the hubs on. Remove those and the hub will come right off. I went ahead and removed the dust shields as well for weight reduction, LOL. Put the new 5 lug hubs and rotors on and remounted the calipers and I was done. Now for the LSD, just remove the 4 nuts on the rear cover and then place a jack under the diff. Take the 2 bolts out holding the front of the diff up and start taking it out. I left the rear sway bar in to help hold the front of the diff up at times but it would probably be easier to get the diff out with this removed. Once out, swap the rear covers with your S13 diff and put the LSD in. It was pretty tough to get the axles back into the output shafts, you really have to muscle them in by compressing the axle. Bolt it all up and your drifting!
I only had two post installation problem and I dont know whay they occured. Maybe someone will have an answer. I drove the car and felt and heard a loud grinding and thumping coming from the front. After inspection the grinding was caused by the (2) 19mm bolts that hold the calipers on, they were actually making contact with the rotor on the drivers side front, but not the passenger side. I used washers to space them away. The thumping was caused by the inside of the rim hitting the caliper on the same side. this struck me as weird becuase I have had these wheels on 3 different 240's, all with Z32 brakes and this has never happened. I had to run an additional spacer on that side to cure this problem. Being as I didnt have another spacer, I had to improvise. I siliconed 5 nickels to the rotor, underneath the spacer. Laugh all you want, it worked and I really wanted to drive the car last night hehe. Anyone care to offer an explanation?
Anyways, here are the rest of the photo's and the end result: http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/5lugfinish.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/CamberPlate.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/LiftOff2.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Suspension.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Suspension2.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Suspension3.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Volks.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Lake.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Lake2.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Lake5.jpg
Hopefully soon I will have a beefy motor to go along with my stunning good looks! LOL Anyone with questions about the swap that I didnt cover, go for it. The car looks night and day different with some good quality wheels on it in my opinion.
http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Liftoff.jpg
I got an impact wrench and ratchet as well for $49 and a 50 foot air hose for $7
I also bought a handy dandy grinder for $16 which you see here being used to cut my ball joint in half because I couldnt get it out of the dang spindle: http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Grinding.jpg
The swap took roughly 13 hours... I know, I know, why so long? Well first off I accidentally bought two RH spindles... DOH! Try finding an S14 spindle on short notice late saturday afternoon. We found one and of course the car was buried so they had to move like 6 cars with a forklift and then remove the spindle and hub. That took about 2 hours. Then I had to go to a shop down the road 5 different times for tools that I didnt have. I left all of my parts in my trunk, I put a car cover that was too small over the car and folded the cover into the trunk to keep most of the car covered. I couldnt get home fast enough when it started raining last week and all of the water ran right into the trunk ontop of my parts. I figured the rotors were wrapped in plastic inside of their boxes but 2 of them werent. When I opened the boxes the cardboard was embedded into the rotors and they were completely rusted. I had to grind them off, what a PITA. I researched these swaps before hand and the information I got was all true so I would like to pass it on. You will need: S14 Spindles, (from base or SE makes no difference) S14 SE Front and Rear Hubs, Z32 NA rears will work as well, (thats what I used) (4) S14 Shock to Spindle mounting bolts and nuts, S14 Ball joints (pressed into your S13 LCA) Z32 Calipers, Pads, and front rotors, S14 rear rotors, and a J30 LSD. I also installed JDM Tokico M's 5 way shocks and HKS Camber Plates and Pillow Ball Mounts. Tools you will need that you may not have: Axle nut sockets... they are huge! 36mm for the rear and 32mm for the front. And a Grinder of some sort (preferably a bench grinder and wire wheel combo)
The swap is pretty straight forward, even for someone who is not a mechanic. I started in front by removing all suspension components and taking my LCA's and new ball joints to a shop where the old could be beaten out and the new ones pressed in. Got back and drilled out the 2 holes in each shock that the spindle/shock bolts go through. The S14 Spindle uses larger diameter bolts then the S13's do so this is a must. Bolted everything up and got ready to hook the brake line up. You can go buy the pdm kit for $100 or you can modify things a little and use your factory line, I chose the latter. What you will need to do is remove the brake line from your S13 caliper and take the banjo bolt out and grind it down about 1/8" or so to make it fit into your Z32 calipers. I took my time and very carefully removed the material and cleaned it up with the wire wheel. You must be sure not to damage any threads or your screwed. Once that was done I hooked up the line with 2 new 10mm copper crush washers which I got from Napa. No leaks. Then it was off to the rear. Since the axles have to come out for the hubs to come off I started there first. Get under the car like this: http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/LSD.jpg
ANd remove the 6 bolts from each axle, remove the 17mm nut from the bottom shock mount to get it out of your way, and remove the cotter pin, and 36mm axle nut, the axle will slide out with some muscle. To get the drivers side axle out remove the back halh of your exhaust so you can get to the 6 bolts at the diff. Once the axles are out of your way you can gain access to the (4) 19mm bolts holding the hubs on. Remove those and the hub will come right off. I went ahead and removed the dust shields as well for weight reduction, LOL. Put the new 5 lug hubs and rotors on and remounted the calipers and I was done. Now for the LSD, just remove the 4 nuts on the rear cover and then place a jack under the diff. Take the 2 bolts out holding the front of the diff up and start taking it out. I left the rear sway bar in to help hold the front of the diff up at times but it would probably be easier to get the diff out with this removed. Once out, swap the rear covers with your S13 diff and put the LSD in. It was pretty tough to get the axles back into the output shafts, you really have to muscle them in by compressing the axle. Bolt it all up and your drifting!
I only had two post installation problem and I dont know whay they occured. Maybe someone will have an answer. I drove the car and felt and heard a loud grinding and thumping coming from the front. After inspection the grinding was caused by the (2) 19mm bolts that hold the calipers on, they were actually making contact with the rotor on the drivers side front, but not the passenger side. I used washers to space them away. The thumping was caused by the inside of the rim hitting the caliper on the same side. this struck me as weird becuase I have had these wheels on 3 different 240's, all with Z32 brakes and this has never happened. I had to run an additional spacer on that side to cure this problem. Being as I didnt have another spacer, I had to improvise. I siliconed 5 nickels to the rotor, underneath the spacer. Laugh all you want, it worked and I really wanted to drive the car last night hehe. Anyone care to offer an explanation?
Anyways, here are the rest of the photo's and the end result: http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/5lugfinish.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/CamberPlate.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/LiftOff2.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Suspension.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Suspension2.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Suspension3.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Volks.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Lake.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Lake2.jpg http://www.planb-attack.com/Jay/Lake5.jpg
Hopefully soon I will have a beefy motor to go along with my stunning good looks! LOL Anyone with questions about the swap that I didnt cover, go for it. The car looks night and day different with some good quality wheels on it in my opinion.