240sx noob questions

[AWilliams27]

Hello I am new to the Nissan community but i have recently decided I am going to start a "build" this summer, as I am only 16 and money is rather hard to come by, I plan on buying an already running s13 with a ka24de and then doing an oem rebuild and whatever else is needed to get it into good mechanical state to start doing low end mods for some sort of show car form, this will be a basic thing just to get me started eventually i plan to turbo it but for now just stock, please don't give me shit or hate i'm new to this and I just need some pointers on whats a good starting point, best places to buy good parts, and anything else you think is good for me to know. thank you for your help.

[bmxer882x]

If you're going to do a rebuild why does it matter if it's running? Anyone selling a running s13 asks a stupid high price because they think they have some pro drift car and not a 20 year old pos.

[AWilliams27]

lol because that way i can test drive it and make sure everything else is working right, when i say rebuild i mean like gaskets, pistons, piston rings, etc.

[206sx]

replace all the old/worn out crap... 20 year old suspension= :(

inb4flames

[fliprayzin240sx]

You want a good pointer for somebody who's 16, with limited money, who more than likely will need a reliable daily driver?




















Don't buy a 240...

[J90lude]

replace all the old/worn out crap... 20 year old suspension= :(

inb4flames
Yea...206 is right. Adding in new parts when you need to replace your old parts is like fucking...buying new shoes laces for shoes wholetime your shoes are busted and dirty.:eek3:

[97nismo]

Don't buy a 240 for a daily

[Aspire818]

Get all the parts in zilvia instead of buyin it sumwhere else overprice

[JF_OverBoosted]

If you plan on boosting this motor, why rebuild with stock oem parts? Do it right the first time. Saves time & money.

goodluck sir !!

[240boi115]

buy a camry for 500 bucks and drive that, then buy a s13 shell and work on it as a hobby to learn off of. that way you have a daily and wont be so stressed when the 240 has problems because kid.... they all have problems. if you buy a 240 with not one problem then be scared, one will eventually pop up. not saying dont buy one but if you have little money and mechanical knowledge then a 240sx isnt the best car to be your first.

[Sileighty_85]

have you ever rebuilt an engine?

im guessing you wont have a machine shop do it since you are poor.

Hope you plan on buy a spare KA to rebuild since it would be dumb to tear apart a good running car and have nothing to drive and possibly ruin it.

[sleepyS14se]

Op, you sound just like me when I got my first 240 and I was so convinced the ka was gonna be good enough, boy was I wrong. 1 year later and I just bought a sr20det swap. The ka24 honestly sucks IMHO so I don't recommend doing anything with a ka24 unless you plan on leaving it stock forever.

For a 240 to be decently quick you need at least an sr20 swap, an sr20 is a good choice but there are several different swaps available but from my understanding an sr is a good place to start and they have a lot of potential

As a 16 year old I think a honda civic would be a better beginner car. They're cheap and easy to maintain and is a good way to learn the basics of a car before you Jump into a Rwd car.

[Duker]

I would personally disagree with the civic idea. I mean theirs plenty of room in any s-chassis bay. Ka24 is a reasonably easy motor to maintain, it's going to be everything else that going out. Bushings, struts, window regulators, and RUST. Save your pennies and buy the nicest, cleanest, and closest to stock 240 you can afford. These cars quickly turn from a one and off again hobby to an obsession and life style.

[shawn1331]

Idk. Engines are easy to rebuild. Most people on here that tell you otherwise use handtools almost exclusively. If you're lucky like me you have a shop with tools. Mechanical is the easiest shit in the world.

Body work and rust is your enemy

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[snafupossum]

Idk. Engines are easy to rebuild. Most people on here that tell you otherwise use handtools almost exclusively. If you're lucky like me you have a shop with tools. Mechanical is the easiest shit in the world.

Body work and rust is your enemy

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sweet, I have a 12 piece craftsman rachet set in the garage. lemme go rebuild a motor and see how long it last... everyone has a forte on what they see is easy in working on a car, some prefer motor builds, some prefer body work, and some have a nack for wiring

[fliprayzin240sx]

Idk. Engines are easy to rebuild. Most people on here that tell you otherwise use handtools almost exclusively. If you're lucky like me you have a shop with tools. Mechanical is the easiest shit in the world.

Body work and rust is your enemy

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You really think a 16 yr old, who made this type of post, has the capability to rebuild an engine? His whole post screams I don't have a fucking clue how to change my damn oil, might as well rebuild a damn engine.

[shawn1331]

You really think a 16 yr old, who made this type of post, has the capability to rebuild an engine? His whole post screams I don't have a fucking clue how to change my damn oil, might as well rebuild a damn engine.

I'm 18...rebuilt my first engine on my own at 15..your point? You guys are proving my point. Worst case scenario you fuck up a ka and buy another for $100 and drop it in.

If you're scared to rebuild an engine that costs nothing if you fuck up than I'm sorry to tell you but you probably shouldn't own a 240

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[JF_OverBoosted]

Op, you sound just like me when I got my first 240 and I was so convinced the ka was gonna be good enough, boy was I wrong. 1 year later and I just bought a sr20det swap. The ka24 honestly sucks IMHO so I don't recommend doing anything with a ka24 unless you plan on leaving it stock forever.

For a 240 to be decently quick you need at least an sr20 swap, an sr20 is a good choice but there are several different swaps available but from my understanding an sr is a good place to start and they have a lot of potential

As a 16 year old I think a honda civic would be a better beginner car. They're cheap and easy to maintain and is a good way to learn the basics of a car before you Jump into a Rwd car.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, BUT
An SR averagely cost roughly about $2K-$2.5K...
Do you know what you can do to a KA with $2K-$2.5k?!!
Some-what semi built KA-T? Or BONE stock SR ?
The whole misconception about SR > KA-T is becuase you're
boosting a motor that wasn't made to be boosted, unless you build it,
but I've seen many KA-Ts that have been abused & still running with no
problem what so ever.
+side about the KA (ie) Starter goes out. You can go to Autozone
that same day & get your car back up & running. As for an SR?
*Searching on Zilvia / eBay* lol. You can find KA parts almost ANYWHERE
compared to an SR.

As for a "beginner" car... It's a Nissan, not a Ferrari.
240s are cheap & easy to maintain as well. My first car was a SR'd coupe.
I did fine with it. Learned everything I know about driving, auto-cross, & drifting with it.

[Sileighty_85]

I'm 18...rebuilt my first engine on my own at 15..your point? You guys are proving my point.

You want a cookie? You "rebuilt" an engine in your automotive class in high school, cool.

Just because you're possibly a child prodigy doesn't mean everyone is capable of rebuilding engines so easily.

Yes engines are easy to build for ppl that understand mechanics.

For ppl that done nothing more than changing their oil not so much.

[Frank_Jaeger]

If the kid wants to rebuild an engine then he should. Research research research. Other than that hands on work is the best way to learn.

The only reason I would ever go with an SR over a built KA-T is if I found a 100% fresh turnkey SR for a good price. A built turbo KA is going to make more power for your dollar.

[RavenSpirit]

If you can pull together the money for a nice, running KA car in decent condition, I'd try getting a job and having a little supply of money, or you are quickly going to find yourself with a bunch of scrap metal in your garage/driveway.

Murphy's law is prevalent in all cars, understand this, plan for it.

Also see if you can score a spare KA to practice on FIRST, as Sileighty_85 said. If you tear down your running KA and break something by accident due to inexperience or simple mistake (happens to the best of us.), you will be SOL until you can afford new parts.

Also, I personally commend you for wanting to take on a project like this, but my advice to you is to try and make sure you have an idea of what you are doing BEFORE you do it. Google is your friend!!!

Good luck on your future 240SX adventures!!! I've got a V8 swap in my future when I get another 240sx again (hopefully in a few months)

[SuperBlackS14]

FlipRayzin said it first, and best.

These cars have issues, for the same reasons people want more money for them, they're the abused workhorse of the drifting movement. Even if you manage to find a cherry, it will have problems soon... Yeah, they're easy to maintain if you owned one since it was new and maintained it right. The fact is, a lot of people who own cars, have no clue how to maintain a car.

I recently sold my KA because I had planned to purge myself of these Devil's Cars, and the guy I sold it to actually stopped by my work to pay me after he'd pulled the valve cover off and was amazed he could see silver.

As far as the KA-T vs SR debate, it's mainly personal preference... I will say that Jim Wolf's original set-up was a low-mileage, stock-internal KA-T...

OP, it's fine if you want to get one to tool on, but you really, really should get a reliable car you DON'T have to work on as a daily. I wish I'd listened when people told me that 5 years ago... Don't make the same mistakes I did.

[Ilya]

Stay in school. The best pointer ever given to me

[shawn1331]

You want a cookie? You "rebuilt" an engine in your automotive class in high school, cool.

Just because you're possibly a child prodigy doesn't mean everyone is capable of rebuilding engines so easily.

Yes engines are easy to build for ppl that understand mechanics.

For ppl that done nothing more than changing their oil not so much.

Never taken an automotive class in my life. How else is he gonna learn how to do it without doing it. All you guys scare kids away from working on engines/cars because you're too scared to.

I'm telling you right now there's not much you can fuck up permanently when you rebuild an engine. If you put your c clip in tightly and the piston in facing the right way you're fine. You just follow the order of operations and put everything back as it was. Checm everything is to spec and put it together. Not rocket appliances

Where as trying to fix rust you can literally ruin your car beyond repair if you don't know what you're doing.

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[trooperwx]

Since I've been where you're at, let me tell you, if you want an on-going PITA then go ahead and get a 240. Things will break, it will be "out of service" on and off(more off then on), and if you do things right and don't waste your money on cheap crap, you will also be broke. Otherwise I recommend what 240boi115 said "buy a camry for 500 bucks and drive that, then buy a s13 shell and work on it as a hobby to learn off of."

[jkfdhklfchil]

have you ever rebuilt an engine?
http://newfinancehelp.com/hu3b.jpghttp://interinsurances.com/huht.jpg

[Sileighty_85]

Never taken an automotive class in my life. How else is he gonna learn how to do it without doing it. All you guys scare kids away from working on engines/cars because you're too scared to.

I'm telling you right now there's not much you can fuck up permanently when you rebuild an engine. If you put your c clip in tightly and the piston in facing the right way you're fine. You just follow the order of operations and put everything back as it was. Checm everything is to spec and put it together. Not rocket appliances

Where as trying to fix rust you can literally ruin your car beyond repair if you don't know what you're doing.

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Ok Tony Stark.

Hope you arent referring to me on that too scared comment you clearly dont know who I am.

Oh that's all? C clips and pistons facing the right way? Lets not worry about bearing clearances, piston ring gaps, Crank thrust. Thats just a few things you can fuck up an engine permanently on.

There also improperly sized pistons, Main or cam bearing caps installed improperly, cams switched, improper valve lash set.

Those are a few things Noobs can fuck up since majority of the time they dont keep shit in order.

cant tell you how many kids on here have install new OEM Head gaskets and not Machined the head before install

lol comparing body work to building an engine.... you fuck up body work you cut it away and weld in new metal. Fuck up an engine and sling a rod trough the block, you throw that shit in the scrap metal dumpster

[zerodameaon]

I'm 18...

*Looks at age on profile, 21, looks back at post...*

Yup certified troll, we can't take anything you say seriously. As for people we are trying to scare away, we are only trying to scare your type away.

[supasan]

if you want to rebuild your engine then i would suggest getting the 240sxtech vids and watching it over and over several times before taking on the project. the video has helped me out a lot.

[Trap Star]

I have an s14 and an s13.







I drive my Honda every day. Its boring but it gets me from A to B every day without issue.


It's not what you want to hear but listen to the older, wiser, folks in this thread. Buy a daily first, then save for a 240. Its pretty hard to make money (or keep a job) if you can't get to work reliably because your 20+ year old car is broken. Once you do start a project, DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME and save yourself a ton of headaches and money.

[shawn1331]

I think you guys are looking way to far into what I said. I never said it was a good idea for him to rebuid the engine.

What I said was if he has his heart set on rebuilding the KA then go ahead, it's not nearly as scary as people make it seem. Because lets be honest 90% of this forum has never done it.

As far as a rebuild goes I don't know what you consider a rebuild, compared to what I consider a rebuild. What you're talking about sounds more like an overhaul by my standards, which yes is different because you have to deal with the crank and seals/bearings. That can be tricky yes.

What I consider a rebuild is pretty minor shit, pistons, rings, gaskets. Just the top end basically. I've had my 240 for 2 years and it hasn't given me even the slightest reliability problem, EVER. I mean not even stalled on me or idled rough. EVER. But you come here and most guys on this forum claim 240's are so unreliable. Most of the problems come from them trying to get cool race parts like cold air intakes, fucking it up and having a bad idle or a vacum leak somewhere. If you do everything to spec and the way it should be 240's are so reliable it's insane.

Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what theyre doing. Just because a car is 20+ years old doesnt mean its unreliable. It's from a lack of maintenance and a lack of doing stuff properly. My friends always go"yea thats good enough" and then have to do it again right the second time.

As for my age in a profile, hard to believe but it's possible I clicked random dates for everything when I made my profile no?

I'm not going to argue anymore because you have your oppinions, I have mine. As far as I'm concerned if you want to rebuild an engine then theres no other way to learn than to just do it. Don't let someone stop you because it's "hard".

Is a 240 a good daily? Yes.
Does that mean you don't have to do maintenance? No.

Do your maintenance and you're fine. Rebuild your engine if you want to.

[Trap Star]

There is a reason why every thread like this is flooded with people advising AGAINST buying a 240 as a daily.

They don't do it because its fun or because they don't like 240's. They do it because they own or have owned 240's and have learned from their own experiences with the car that its not a good buy for a daily (especially if you don't have much money or don't have much mechanical experience).

I hope you do buy a 240 one day, they can be a lot of fun. I just would not recommend it as your daily.

[89bucketsx]

Get a daily.

[JDMBart]

what part of chicago are you in? Im south of chicago in burbank il and i have a rhd vert. Feel free to ask for some help